A 44-year-old transient was convicted of animal cruelty for bludgeoning an elephant seal pup to death near downtown San Diego.

A jury found Roy Lee Miller guilty of cruelty to endangered and protected creatures on Friday, according to the city clerk’s office. He faces eight years in prison at his Jan. 15 sentencing.

At Miller’s preliminary hearing, witness Mark Balentine testified that Miller believed the animal “needed to be put out of its misery.”

Balentine said last February, he and Miller were drinking a bottle of vodka and were extremely drunk on Spanish Landing when they encountered the seal.

They heard its squawking, which Balentine described as “a baby screaming.” Miller then took a rock and repeatedly hit the seal over the head, killing it.

A marine biologist who examined the seal after its death noted substantial bruising on the seal’s head, and at least seven fractures to its skull.

The defense maintained Miller wanted to stop the animal’s suffering by killing it.
 

A husband and wife died Friday in a house fire in Chula Vista, and hoarder conditions inside of the house may have contributed to their death, officials confirmed.

The fire started inside the single-story home on Claire Avenue just before 7:30 a.m. according to Chula Vista Fire officials.

Firefighters responded and found people still in the home with smoke and fire showing.

The victims were Bud and Darlene Welker, ages 89 and 79 respectively, according to their family. One victim was found in one of the bedrooms. The other was found in the kitchen.

The battalion chief said both people tried escape the fire, but because they had piled up so many things, they were unable to get out.

Students were walking to nearby Hilltop High School when they spotted the smoke and fire.

Chula Vista Police diverted traffic from the scene north of J Streets and west of Interstate 805.

The San Diego Police Department needs help identifying two women who may have witnessed a shooting that left two people dead inside a car.

Just after midnight on Nov. 1, Deon Fontaine Peterson, 28; Joseph Anthony Ponder, 26; and two others drove into a grocery store parking lot in the 5200 block of El Cajon Boulevard.

The driver stopped next to a group of people standing near a lightpole, and after they exchanged words, at least one man walked to the car and opened fire.

Peterson and Ponder suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene. A woman in the Nissan sedan was taken to the hosptial for non-life threatening injuries, and the fourth person was not injured.

Before police arrived, the shooting suspects had fled.

The SDPD released photos Friday of two women who they believe saw the killings.

The first is described as a light-skinned Samoan woman between 20 and 25 years old. She stands between 5-feet-5-inches and 5-feet-7-inches and weighs about 120 pounds. In the surveillance photos the woman had her curly hair pulled back in a busy pony tail and was wearing a black Raiders jacket.

The second potential witness is described as a Hispanic woman between 20 and 25 years old, standing about 5-feet-2-inches and weighing between 140 and 150 pounds. She had her hair in a bun and was wearing a white, v-neck, long-sleeved shirt and black sweat pants with an orange stripe in the photos.

If you know who the women are or anything about the suspects, call the SDPD homicide unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at 888-580-8477.

A San Diego man who shot and killed his wife outside their marriage counselor’s office will serve at least 35 years in prison.

A San Diego County judge on Friday sentenced Jeremy Green, 40, to a punishment of life in prison, with the eligibility of parole after 35 years.

Green pleaded guilty on Oct. 7 to first-degree murder in the June 6 death of his wife, 37-year-old Tressa Green.

Authorities said Jeremy Green shot Tressa in the parking lot of a business complex following a marriage counseling session he had suggested the couple attend together.

After shooting his wife three times and mortally wounding her, Jeremy Green escaped in a silver 2007 Corvette and headed for the U.S.-Mexico border, prosecutors said.

The shooting sparked a statewide manhunt for Jeremy Green, considered armed and dangerous by law enforcement.

Investigators soon found his Corvette abandoned in the parking lot of a Jack-in-the-Box in San Ysidro, just a short walk away from the pedestrian crossing at the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

Green turned himself in to officials three days later.

A South Bay hospital says hundreds of newborn babies might have been exposed to tuberculosis after an employee who worked in the infant care center tested positive.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center employees spent much of the day Friday calling and sending out hundreds of letters to patients, advising them they may have been exposed to TB.

Hospital officials are also saying, as a precaution, babies who were in the hospital's Mother & Infant Care Center between mid-August and mid-November of this year will need antibiotics.

Dr. Stephen Harris told NBC Bay Area an employee who worked in the infant care unit tested positive for the bacteria that attacks the lungs.

"She was not even coughing," Harris said. "It was unlikely she was highly contagious."

Eight-hundred people, including 350 newborns, might have been exposed to the employee, who is now on leave, according to the hospital.

Adults can be tested for TB, but babies can't.

"With babies, we need to be more cautious because the disease is more serious," Harris said.

To prevent infection, Harris is recommending all 350 newborns be treated with antibiotics for the next six months, as a precaution.

"Because the babies have an immature immune system, the bacteria can get into their bloodstream. From the bloodstream it can go everywhere in the body, including the brain," Harris said.

At this point, no positive TB tests have been linked to the employee, and hospital staff says they are taking every precaution.

"We've decided to do chest x-rays and treatment for these babies to protect them from potentially getting tuberculosis," Harris said.

It's not clear why the employee was allowed to work with TB. The hospital requires all employees get tested. According to the hospital, the infected employee was tested in September and the results came back negative.

Anyone who thinks they were exposed should contact the hospital at (408) 885-3444 to set up an appointment. Harris said hospital staff will be talking with each parent about the need to treat their infant with the daily antibiotic isoniazid for six to nine months to prevent infection.

"That's a big deal," Harris said. "That is not something to be taken lightly."

The antibiotic kills tuberculosis and can prevent the infant from becoming ill, hospital officials said. Harris said isoniazid is effective at preventing tuberculosis from setting up shop in both infants and adults.

Only active tuberculosis can be spread, Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said. Inactive or latent tuberculosis can reside in the body for a period of time and then become active again, health officials said.

In 2013, the county health department reported the number of tuberculosis cases in Santa Clara County was among the most in the country.

Bay City News contributed information to this report.

A Fort Hood soldier and his military working dog are recovering after they were injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Photos of the two in recovery have been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook.

Spc. Andrew Brown and Rocky were injured earlier this week, according to the 89th Military Police Brigade.

One photo of Rocky showed a Purple Heart medal pinned to his collar while he recovers, and Brown is now with his family at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

An updated post Friday said, "They are both very thankful for your thoughts and prayers and are in the process of heading back home."

Read more on the soldiers' stories at the 89th Military Police Brigade Facebook page.

Lifeguards locked up the gates to Ocean Beach Pier Saturday morning due to high surf and rising tides, the third closure for the pier this week.

On Monday, high tide popped out a few nails on the pier, forcing a full day closure. On Friday night, a strong winter storm led lifeguards to rope off access to the pier once more.

On Saturday, lifeguards said they weren’t keeping people out of the water or off the beach, but did rope off the steps where water washed up near the pier.

If only we all watched life thru the lens of a kid, “oohing” and “awing” at waves crashing in the Pacific Ocean like 9-year-old Torin and Eva Zeis.

“Those are huge!” the Zeis siblings proclaimed. “They’re really big. There’s even some crashing right over there [on the sidewalk].”

Lifeguards said they closed off the OB Pier so the waves wouldn’t throw people off it. Therefore, a crowd gathered below on the boardwalk.

For some, including Dereck, a man visiting from Miami, it was a whole new experience.

“Yeah, this is cold for me,” he told NBC 7. “I live in Miami, so we’re about 30 degrees colder than I’m used to.”

Meanwhile, James Seggie snapped photos of the high surf through his professional camera.

“A while ago, there were some [waves] that actually broke on the pier and the water running out, like a waterfall after the wave leaves. This is a photographer’s dream. It’s pretty nice out here this morning, Seggie said.

In a turn of events, Dereck felt like a kid again and jumped into the water.

“You only live once. I don’t know how deep I will go; maybe waist deep. We will see how far I make it,” he said.

The water pushed him back to land, where Torin and Eva watched.

“I haven’t seen it that big, crashing over the pier,” the Zeis siblings said.

High tide was at 8:53 a.m. Saturday, with waves at 6.6 feet high.
 

 The 610-foot tanker Independence slid into the water Saturday at General Dynamics NASSCO Saturday, a sign that the shipbuilding industry in San Diego is alive and well.

The new ECO-class tanker symbolizes the new direction in the shipping industry in the U-S toward cleaner, more fuel-efficient modes of transporting products.

The ship was christened with the traditional champagne bottle break over the hull by Allison Moran, CEO of RaceTrac Petroleum. Jayne Rathburn, former CEO/owner of US Joiner, pulled the trigger to release the ship into the bay.

The Independence weighs 50,000 tons and can carry 33,000 barrels of oil from port to port within the U.S.

Construction of the ship began in November 2014.

A search for a computer hard drive and anything else linked to the husband-and-wife shooters who killed 14 people in the Southern California attack stretched into the weekend, as specialized divers with the FBI looked through a San Bernardino lake for abandoned evidence.

Investigators have said the killers tried to cover their tracks by destroying emails, cellphones and other items at their home in Redlands. They were tipped that the small lake in a park about 3 miles from where the shootings took place might hold the hard drive, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

On Saturday, they searched the lake for a third day while funerals continued for those who were the slain.

Divers could be seen recovering at least two possible pieces of evidence on Friday during the second day of searches in the lake. The FBI declined to comment on what was found, but Thursday had indicated it was acting on leads that the identified killers, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, had gone to the area of Seccombe Park some time before they were killed in a shootout with law enforcement.  

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

While the world has been focused on Europe's migrant crisis, apprehensions of unaccompanied minors along America's own border have exploded: More than 10,000 undocumented children have been stopped in just the last two months, according to U.S. Border and Customs Protection.

The 10,588 apprehensions are a 106 percent increase over the same period from last year when President Obama referred to the problem as an "urgent humanitarian situation." Between Oct. 1 through Nov. 30 in 2014, 5,129 kids were picked up.

Apprehensions of family units — legal guardians with children under 18 — have proliferated too, with 12,505 detentions in those two months, representing a 173 percent increase from last year's 4,577 seizures in the same time frame. 

Two men of Syrian origin were arrested in Geneva Friday on suspicion of making explosives and having links to extremist groups, Switzerland's attorney general's office announced Saturday, NBC News reported.

Prosecutors said that a criminal proceeding has been opened against the pair for the manufacturing, concealing and transporting of explosives and toxic gases, as well as on suspicion of violating a federal law prohibiting "groups like al Qaeda, [ISIS] and similar organizations."

The news of the arrest came two days after police in the city said they were looking for several suspects "on the basis of a terrorist threat."

There has been a spike in gun sales following the massacre in San Bernardino, with some San Diego residents looking to purchase guns for protection and seeking carry permits.

At gun stores like Wilde Built Tactical in La Mesa, gun sales have surged since the Southern California terror attack.

“Immediately, we saw a spike,” owner Bryan Howes told NBC 7 Friday. “About 500 percent.”
The local shop’s surge in sales is following a familiar trend of gun purchases and licensing inquiries after mass shootings.

A spokesperson with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) says the department does typically see an uptick in requests for Concealed Weapons Carry permits following violent attacks.

Since the deadly Dec. 2 massacre in San Bernardino, 52 people have been interviewed in San Diego County for a permit, but haven’t submitted an application. Meanwhile, 20 people have filled out applications for permits but still have additional steps to take before approval. Three applications have been accepted, according to the latest numbers.

The gun debate has heated up once again after the Dec. 2 mass shooting.

“San Bernardino is more fuel on the fire, for essentially creeping gun prohibition,” San Diego-based gun owner Brad Tyler told NBC 7.

Fear of potential gun-buying restrictions were illustrated in a graph in “The New York Times” that shows gun sales over the past 15 years.

The graph shows an initial spike in sales after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks – with 754,000 guns sold across the U.S. that month. Another 1.1 million guns were sold the month of President Barack Obama’s first election, according to the figures, followed by 2.1 million guns sold the January after Obama’s second election and the Sandy Hook school massacre.

Tyler bought a gun years ago, front running new gun regulations.

“Back when California passed the expansion of the assault weapon ban in ’99, I bought a firearm in reaction to what the state did," he explained.

Howes says some customers simply want to buy a gun to protect themselves.

“The other reason is straight up protection,” he explained. “People see a clear threat and want some way to protect themselves."

 Alpine residents voiced concerns to a county agency about a neighbor they feel is getting special treatment because of his work with law enforcement and the military.

Marc Halcon has been allowing groups onto his property for shooting sessions as guests, specifically law enforcement and military.

Neighbors say his site is unique in our county and allows special forces and other groups a training opportunity they would otherwise have to travel out of town for.

Halcon petitioned the the county to commercialize his range and, without a public hearing, the planning director approved it on temporary basis while a permanent solution gets ironed out.

Neighbors feel like they got the short end of a backroom deal and appealed to the planning County Planning Commission Friday.

“He should not be able to operate in this environment without restrictions and basically he’s been given a free for all, he can do whatever he wants and no one is going to say anything and that's what he’s been doing since 2006," said Robin Williams, a neighbor.

They brought up environmental concerns, worries of fire danger, and questions about who is regulating whether the bullets from the high powered weapons could end up in their backyards.

“Recreational shooting on an interim basis is not the same thing as saying, ‘you can come down here with as many contracts as you can pack in five days a week and do continuous shooting,’" said Marco Gonzalez, an environmental attorney.

More than a dozen activists with PETA also showed up protesting past instances of live tissue trauma training involving pigs.

Halcon says they haven't used that training for more than a year, but refused to rule out using it in the future.

The question in front of the planning commission is whether the East County land owner can turn his personal gun range into a commercial range for police and military training. 

Veterans spoke about how crucial his range is for their training, but neighbors don't think it should be at the expense of their community.

The Commission denied the appeal in a close vote. The County still has many studies to do and data to gather before they make their final decision, which could be well in the future. During that time, neighbors say they will file a lawsuit to stop the commercialized gun range.

Seaworld rescued a dolphin stuck in the mud in an estuary of the San Diego Bay Saturday.

Seaworld’s Animal Rescue Team and Imperial Beach lifeguards were able to guide the long-beaked common dolphin, who was first spotted Thursday, to deeper water.

The situation became life threatening Saturday when the dolphin couldn’t get out of the mud.

“We were hoping the animal would find its way to open water,” Jody Westberg of Seaworld’s rescue team explained. Unfortunately it did not. The low tide happened and the animal got severely stuck in a lot of mud. We were able to rescue it and bring it back to the park.”

Seaworld’s Team and the Coronado Police rescued the animal who is currently in rehabilitative care in a pool at the park Oiled Wildlife Care Center.

Animals care specialists are assessing the dolphin’s condition.
 

A grieving mother who has been keeping watch over her children’s hospital beds left the burn unit for the first time in nearly two weeks Friday to memorialize the third child she lost in a tragic house fire.

Juana Vasquez said she has just been living day by day since Nov. 30, when an overnight blaze claimed the life of her 12-year-old son Fernando Castro and critically burned her two youngest, 3-year-old Esmeralda and 5-year-old Luis.

"Just holding on. I try to be strong because I still have my three older ones and I gotta be strong for the two little ones, so it's hard,” she told reporters Friday. “I’m trying to mourn for my son so it's like I’m split in three right now.”

But Vasquez’s outing Friday was a worthy one. She attended the Winter Wonderland Holiday Festival at her son’s school, Millennial Tech Middle School, where faculty and students planted a pink lemonade tree in Fernando’s memory.

They also presented Vasquez with a wooden plaque that matches the bronze one to be placed on a boulder on campus.

“I’m happy that there's something that's always going to be reminding me of his life,” the mother said. “He was just full of life. He was very content. Even though he was autistic and slow, he tried to communicate with everybody.”

She remembered how every day, Fernando – whom many people called Nano – would turn to her and give her a big thumbs up before getting on the bus.

“He was always an angel,” she said. “He was happy; he'd always welcome anybody in; he was very huggable.”

Left without her middle child, Vasquez jumps between grief and worry for her children in the burn unit.

The house fire left Esmeralda with burns over about 40 percent of her body, and Luis was burned on about 70 percent of his body.

Vasquez explained an auntie and her boyfriend were staying with the children the night of the blaze. Now, the couple feels the guilt of a child’s death and the injuries of two others.

“I keep just keep telling them it's just a tragic accident; there was nothing they could do,” Vasquez said. “The fire was in the middle of the house. They were on one side and the kids were on the other side. There was nothing they could do.”

The mother said Luis’ condition is more critical. At this point, the family is just waiting for their children to heal. The doctors said each could need more than 80 operations between now and the age of 18 to fully recover, Vasquez told NBC 7.

Getting her through the tragedy, she said, are “prayer, God, not losing my faith. He has a purpose for this and I know my son’s up there. He’s with my mom and with his grandfather.”

Vasquez has also felt an outpouring of love from her community, shown through Friday’s dedication, as well as clothing and money donations.

“I hope the community stays like this,” she said. “It just hurts me that my community, we haven't been this close like we used to, and it kind of hurts me that it takes a tragedy for the community to come together. And I just hope we all stay like this.”

She thanked everyone for their support and said she needs one thing: prayer.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to pay for memorial services, as well as medical costs.

 A Rancho Cucaminga couple has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $1,000 worth of gifts from a San Diego County wedding.

On Oct. 30, Breeana Bock and her boyfriend Jake Rubidoux went into the bridal room at Whispering Oaks Terrace on Pala Temecula Road, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) said. 

Once inside, Bock was seen shoving items into her purse. As the ceremony took place, the couple stole money and gift cards from the room – a total of $1,075 worth of items and cash, sheriff’s officials said. 

The bride obtained gift card numbers and saw they were used at a Target store in the city of Upland.

Detectives got in touch with the store and used security camera footage to identify Bock and Rubidoux as suspects.

Detectives contacted Bock and Rubidoux at their home and brought them in to a substation to interview them.

Bock admitted to stealing the gifts and using the gift cards in Upland, but her boyfriend denied any involvement.

Both were arrested and booked on a commercial burglary charge, a grand theft charge and a conspiracy to commit a crime charge.

Anyone with information is asked to call the San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

No further information was immediately available.