A woman accused of killing a nurse and mother of a four-year-old in a wrong-way crash had been drinking all day and night before she got behind the wheel of her car with a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit, according to the San Diego County District Attorney. 

Alexandria Bayne, 34, faces several charges, including one count of murder, one count of felony child endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury with an excess alcohol level of .15 of greater, driving the wrong way on the roadway, and one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired. Bayne pleaded not guilty. 

Bayne was formally charged from her hospital bed on Tuesday in connection with the Dec. 17 crash in San Diego's 4S Ranch neighborhood. 

She looked straight ahead, motionless, as a Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright detailed the day and night preceding the deadly crash on Camino Del Norte, which left Sarita Shakya, 38, dead. In the crash, Bayne suffered major injuries and had to be arraigned in her hospital bed. Officials did not have an update on her condition. 

Bright say Bayne had been drinking all day prior to the crash.

“The defendant began drinking at home, went out for brunch with her children where she continued to drink champagne at lunch," Bright said. "She dropped her kids off at a friend’s house, had several drinks at the friend’s house.”

That evening, her daughter started making calls, asking her her mother was. 

One of her friends told her not to worry - Bayne was at her house, drinking. 

When Bayne got behind the wheel of her car to drive home, she had a blood-alcohol level of .35, more than four times the legal limit, Bright said. At the time of her arrest, approximately an hour after the crash, she had a BAC of 0.33. 

Shakya, a nurse with Scripps Health, was coming home from work at the time of the crash. Neighbors told NBC 7 she took on the night shift so she could spend more time with her daughter. 

She was pronounced dead 20 minutes after the crash, Bright said. 

Friends say the mother was always devoted to helping people.

NBC 7 first met Shakya in May 2015 at Lindbergh Field where she handed out scarves signifying good luck to the Scripps Health Medical Response Team. The team had returned to San Diego after providing earthquake relief to victims in Nepal, Shakya's native country.

"She's constantly helping people and was being a good person," said neighbor Christina Macier. "Good soul, good aura. Just warm."

Shakya leaves behind her 4-year old daughter, husband and extended family. 

"There's a little girl who's 4-years old, she doesn't have a mom anymore and she was so close to her mom," said Shakya's friend Simona Gieselman. "Like her mom, the little girl is very, very smart...so we will take her place for her."

Shakya's family released the following statement:

"She was a beloved wife, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister and sister-in-law to all of us. She was an inspiration to all who knew her. Her joy, beauty and enthusiasm for life were heart-warming. She will be greatly missed."

Bright said Bayne has two previous DUIs: a 2005 charge in San Diego County and a 2008 charge in Los Angeles County. She went to her court-mandated classes because her driver's license was valid, Bright said. 

Bright explained that when someone is convicted of DUI, they are ordered certain conditions of probation, one of which is that they complete the MADD impact panel. 

"Depending on the level of alcohol someone has in their system, it can be a three month class up to an 18 month class," Bright said. "As part of that, they watch videos, one-on-one counseling. They have to go to self help meetings and they have group therapy as well...They have to go through all that process to get their driver’s license back from the DMV."

Bail for Bayne was set at $3 million. If convicted, she faces 25 years to life. 

The NAACP's national president is leading a sit-in at the Mobile, Alabama, office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions to protest his nomination to be the country's next attorney general, NBC News reported.

Cornell William Brooks posted a photo on Twitter of himself with other demonstrators, pledging to stay at the office until Sessions withdraws his name from consideration "or we're arrested."

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on Sessions' nomination Jan. 10, with many civil rights groups standing in opposition.

Sessions is one of the incoming administration's loudest voices for stepping up immigration enforcement, and has argued against expanding protections for LGBT people.

The NAACP cited his controversial record with blacks, including his attempts to prosecute charges of voter fraud by black civil rights activists when he was the U.S. attorney in Mobile in the 1980s, and his failed nomination to the federal bench, which was scuttled by allegations of racist remarks.

The driver involved in a possible road rage crash in Mira Mesa Monday night has died, police confirmed Tuesday.

Witnesses told the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) that the driver, identified as 24-year-old Taylor Tannenbaum, had been chasing another car westbound on Mira Mesa Boulevard for four to five blocks before the crash.

Police say Tannenbaum lost control of her vehicle in the 7700 block of Mira Mesa Boulevard and drove into a pine tree in the center median just before 6:30 p.m.

She was taken to an area hospital in critical condition with massive head trauma and other injuries.

Tannenbaum was the only passenger in the car, according to SDPD. 

Police are investigating the crash as a possible road rage incident. SDPD officers initially reported the crash as a multiple vehicle-involved hit-and-run crash, but later clarified it was a single car crash. 

SDPD says that it would like to speak to the driver of the other vehicle, a gray Toyota Camry, to gather more information.

If you have information, you are asked to call the San Diego Police Department.

A couple picked up an unusual hitchhiker during a New Year's Day road trip in the Southern California desert.

Marie Kubin was trying to snap a photo of a rainbow Monday during a drive from Julian to Borrego Springs in San Diego County. As they drove slowly on the side of the road to capture the colorful sight on the horizon, something else swooped into view -- a falcon landed on the car's windshield.

The bird remained perched on a wiper blade for about 20 minutes, having a look around at the desert landscape and his traveling companions. The couple waited on the side of the road with their new feathered friend, who eventually flew away.

The falcon appears to have anklets, used with jesses to tether birds, arounds its legs. The loops suggest it might belong to a falconer and likely is used to being around humans.

A Mira Mesa couple says they were lured into renewing their cell phone plans with the purchase of new phones after being offered a promotional deal that was never honored. 

Sylvia and Teofilo Reynoso says they weren’t planning on buying new iPhones when they went to their neighborhood Costco store in 2015. But, when they walked by the phone kiosk in the store, they say they were offered a deal they couldn’t refuse. 

“[They said] if we renewed the contract that there was going to be an additional $400 Visa gift card that would be given to us from Verizon,” Teofilo said. 

Teofilo said he thought it was a good deal, given the $400 gift card would cover the costs they would be paying for the new phones. 

But months after they made the deal, the Reynosos said the money never arrived. 

“We expected it within a month and it didn’t come,” Teofilo said. 

Several times, Teofilo and Sylvia said they went back to the store kiosk to find out what happened to the money they were promised. Each time they were reassured that the money would arrive. 

“He said it was going to be credited to our statement in ten days,” Teofilo said. 

The Reynosos waited, but said, there was no check or credit on their bill. The couple spoke to the kiosk supervisor but said it didn’t make a difference. 

“They said it’s not their promotion, it was Verizon’s promotion,” Teofilo said. 

The problem stretched out for nearly a year-and-a-half, according to Teofilo. 

So, the Reynosos decided to call NBC 7 Responds for help. 

We contacted Verizon. Company officials told us the Reynoso’s should not have been offered the $400 deal at the Costco kiosk in the first place because they didn’t qualify for it, but since the Reynosos didn’t know that and they’ve been long time customers, Verizon said they would honor the original deal and send them the money. 

“It was a really astounding job that you guys did,” Teofilo said. 

In an email, a spokesperson for Verizon said, "We strive to provide the world-class experience our customers expect and deserve -- at every touch point. In this case, we did not deliver on that promise. We appreciate Ms. Reynoso's business and will do our best to continue earning her loyalty." 

NBC 7 Responds reached out to Costco but has not heard back from the company.

A special education aide at Bonita Vista Middle School has been charged with a felony for allegedly breaking a student's arm in March 2016.

He is also facing a misdemeanor charge for a second incident.

NBC 7 San Diego exclusively confirmed Michael Cobb worked as a special education aide with the Sweetwater Union High School district since 2012, according to public records.

Cobb was charged last week with one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a child, for an injury that resulted in a broken elbow.

He is also accused of misdemeanor cruelty to a child for a separate incident in February 2016.

The charging documents were filed in San Diego Superior Court.

The complaint says one of the incidents happened on February 18, 2016 and the second on March 7.

Sweetwater district sources confirmed Cobb was working at another school.

A fellow aide confirmed the picture of 44-year-old Michael Cobb. The former co-worker said Cobb never displayed any aggression or temper problems when working in the classroom with special needs students.

Tuesday, NBC 7 alerted the district to the charges.

A district spokesman said Cobb is not a teacher, but rather a classified employee. The spokesman said he could not comment further on the legal and personnel matter.

NBC 7 tried to reach Cobb at three different listed addresses for him. His defense attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Cobb is due back in court for a readiness hearing in February.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

One-time San Diego socialite and convicted killer Elizabeth "Betty" Broderick will ask for parole for the second time since her double murder conviction in the shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his bride. 

Broderick, 69, will petition the board at the California Institution for Women in Corona Wednesday after spending decades in prison for the crimes. 

Broderick was convicted in 1991 of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for shooting and killing ex-husband Daniel Broderick, 44, and Linda Kolkena Broderick, 28.

At the time, she used a key she took from her daughter prior to the crime and snuck into the stairs and up to their bedroom, using a five-shot revolver to shoot into the bed where they slept. 

Though the victims dived for cover, three fatal shots hit the them, according to the DA. The remaining two narrowly missed.  

When her ex-husband attempted to reach for the telephone to call for help, Broderick walked to the bed, grabbed the phone, pulled it from the wall and dumped it in the hallway, out of reach, according to the DA's office. 

The socialite has maintained she was driven to kill by a bitter divorce and custody battle.

Her story gained national attention and became the subject of a book and two TV movies. 

On Wednesday, the San Diego County District Attorney's office plans to oppose Broderick's potential release. 

“Elizabeth Broderick remains an unreasonable risk of danger to society,” DA Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement. “She still has not developed appropriate insight or remorse for these gruesome murders, which she committed with a callous disregard for human suffering.”

At her first parole hearing in Jan. 2010, the board decided that then-62-year-old Broderick was unrepentant, had no insight into what she had done and would be a danger to society if she were released. She was denied parole. 

“She has not shown any remorse over the years and really, it’s all about her and not about the victims and the families,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at the time.

Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs will appear on behalf of the State of California at the Wednesday hearing to argue she remains a risk to society.

The Board has two options tomorrow: they will either find her suitable for parole and set a date or will deny parole and set a next possible parole suitability hearing for three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years in the future. 

Four with ties to San Diego have made the shortlist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

A former Chargers player, a former Chargers coach and two San Diego-educated players were listed as one of 15 finalists.

LaDainian Tomlinson, a running back with the San Diego Chargers from 2001 to 2009, and Don Coryell, a San Diego Chargers coach from 1978 to 1986, represented the Chargers on the shortlist. 

John Lynch, a safety with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1993 to 2003 and the Denver Broncos from 2004 to 2007, also made the list. Lynch graduated from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego's Carmel Valley neighborhood. 

Terrell Davis, a running back with the Denver Broncos from 1995 to 2001, was also listed. Davis graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincoln Park. 

The 15 finalists will join three additional finalists under consideration for the prestigious 2017 award. 

For the full list of nominees, click here. 

The downtown homeless population is the highest it’s been in the past five years, and many are calling it a problem that's out of control.

Now, some are taking action. They've asked Mayor Kevin Faulconer to protect the homeless population and suspend arrests, ticketing and stay-away orders.

Many in the homeless population told NBC7 this is only hindering their efforts of getting off the streets.

Dozens marched to Mayor Faulconer's office Tuesday with a petition, asking for change.

"We're calling upon the mayor this first day of business in 2017 to suspend this practice and to focus all of the city's efforts on sheltering people safely until permanent housing can be found for them," said Martha Sullivan of Women Occupy San Diego. The group said arresting, ticketing and implementing stay-away orders for the homeless population is not working.

“Besides being cruel and inhumane, it's also totally ineffective," Sullivan added.

John Brady has been living on the streets for a little over a year and has been ticketed for leaving his belongings on the sidewalk. Brady told NBC7 he has no way of paying his fine.

"I think the impression is that if you're homeless and you go to the police that you immediately get a home and shelter, they give you a tent and a sleeping bag; whatever you need to survive. That doesn't exist," he said.

Mayor Faulconer's office has responded to the group's request.

"We are very appreciative of the community's passion in support of the unsheltered. This is a growing concern that we share and City staff are working diligently every day to ensure services and beds are made available to homeless individuals. Mayor Faulconer has made addressing homelessness a top priority and plans to discuss solutions at next week's State of the City address."

The group started the online petition through Change.org and received 1,100 signatures in just a couple of months.

The latest homeless numbers were released at the end of 2016 by the Downtown San Diego Partnership. They show the average population size of homeless people living in downtown San Diego has nearly doubled in the past four years.

A man was killed on New Year’s Day after he got out of a vehicle and started walking in traffic on State Route 94.

An argument broke out between the victim, a 21 year old whose identity has not been confirmed, and the driver as they traveled eastbound on the highway at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

CHP says the driver pulled over in the center divider east of Kenwood Drive and the man immediately exited the vehicle and began running in traffic. He was then struck by an unknown vehicle that did not stop.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to CHP.

At this time CHP has no information on the vehicle that struck the victim, and is asking the public for help in its attempt to identify the driver.

Those with information are encouraged to call CHP Officer Kevin Pearlstein at (619)401-2000.

Girl Scouts cookies fans can look forward to a new flavor that honors an old campfire classic: the s'more. 

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Cookies, the company has added two s'mores-inspired treats. The ABC Bakers S'mores layers a creme icing and a chocolate coating over a graham cracker wafer. The Little Brownie Bakers version is a "crunchy graham sandwich with creamy chocolate and marshmallow-y filling."

The new flavor pays tribute to the Girl Scouts' history of getting girls outdoors, and of course, enjoying s'mores around the campfire, the organization said in a press release.

The Girl Scouts were one of the first to spread the recipe, publishing it under the name "Some More" in 1925 in a Girl Scout Leader magazine.  

During the six-week 2015-2016 cookie season, girls in the NYC area sold 1,107,524 individual boxes. All proceeds from the annual fundraiser remain within the five boroughs, with $0.65 per box going directly to the individual troop. 

Customers can use the Cookie Locator App to find the nearest booth sale. The upcoming cookie season is set to begin early this spring.

An Encinitas baker and her assistant took home the top prize Monday on Food Network's "Cake Wars" with a surreal, action-packed cake. 

Monika Stout of Truly Scrumptious Cakes and her assistant Louise Pass of Fancy a Treat beat out three teams of talented bakers to take home the honors. 

On Monday's episode, the team made an elaborate two-building "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" themed cake that wowed the judges. 

Stout said she filmed the episode late last year with her baking partner Pass. At the time, she said Pass was unsure about doing the show - but she eventually wore her down. 

"I knew she was the perfect choice, as she is a talented cake artist herself and she is so much fun," Stout said. "I knew she would keep me calm and make me laugh. And we had so much fun!"

For the first round, Stout said, the pair had to incorporate at least two pizza ingredients in their final product - they picked tomatoes, cheese and pepperoni. 

Stout and Pass whipped up a tomato soup spice cake with caramel marscapone buttercream and candied pepperoni with cayenne pepper.

"The whole cake was then covered in a dark chocolate ganache," Stout recalled in an email. "The judges said that my cake confused their sense, but in a good way!"

The second challenge was a little more difficult: the second round cake was supposed to represent an epic battle. 

"I decided that I had to have each turtle fighting a villain," Stout told NBC 7 San Diego. "I wanted the cake to seem like a moment taken out the Nickelodeon cartoon."

When the judges picked her cake, Stout said she was ecstatic. 

"It was so incredible to win!" she said.

For many years, Stout worked for years as a graphic designer, assembling layers of commercial art, before she tried out her skills in the kitchen.

She took a cake decorating class to try out her hand at making original cakes for her kids. 

The class had an immediate effect: Monika says she knew right away she wanted to make cakes. Her experimentation soon lead her to open her business, Truly Scrumptious Cakes.

The "Cake Wars" win is a kind of validation for her, she said. 

"I never went to culinary school, so this was validation that you don't have to be classically trained to be successful," Stout said.

The "Cake Wars" episode featuring Stout and Pass aired on Jan. 2, 2017.

To order one of Stout's cakes, visit her website. 

Police are investigating a bank robbery at a U.S. Bank branch in Oak Park.

A man, described as an African American in his 20s, walked into the bank at approximately 4:30 Tuesday and presented a demand note, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

SDPD says the man said that he had a gun, though no gun was seen by any witnesses.

It is unknown at this point how much money the suspect took.

No other information is available at this point.

The owner of a popular North County horse ranch is facing federal child pornography charges.

A Federal Court complaint unsealed before Christmas indicates 51-year-old Christian Clews is under house arrest pending trial on charges of the possession and distribution of child pornography.

This is the result of a two-year-long Homeland Security investigation that began with images that investigators say were found on the ranch owner's mobile phone.

Christian Clews was last interviewed by NBC 7 in 2007 when he was in dispute with the Chabad Jewish Center of Del Mar over the use of a farmhouse next to his ranch.

Jan Dunning now owns that farmhouse and shares the private driveway, Clews Ranch Road, with her neighbor.

"FBI and Hum-V's and everything else was driving down the drive,” Dunning said.

She was stopped at the entrance three days before Halloween while federal agents raided the defendant's home.

According to the complaint, investigators found numerous child pornography images and video files on multiple electronic devices.

The images showed "sexually explicit conduct" with children under 12 years old. Some involved the use of animals.

The complaint indicates Clews admitted to investigators he possessed and distributed child porn after they read him his rights.

“It is rather disturbing since I am planning on having a school and have building permits to build a school,” Dunning said.

Clews Horse Ranch is an established Carmel Valley horse boarding and training facility. Christian Clews is also an investor representative on the Carmel Valley community planning board.

According to the website, his term ended in 2016.

According to pretrial release documents, Clews is out on bond and under house arrest although the young man who answered the door when NBC7 knocked denied that and told us to leave.

By most accounts the ranch is often swarming with kids.

The complaint does not indicate whether children who visited the ranch could be seen in any of the confiscated images, but those close to the case tell NBC7 San Diego Police are trying to determine the answer to that very question.

The president-elect took another swipe on Tuesday at the intelligence community that will be under his command in just a few weeks, once again in a tweet, NBC News reported. 

Last week Donald Trump had said he would meet with high-level intel briefers this week to hear more about Russian hacking of the U.S. election. 

Trump antagonized the intelligence community over the weekend, telling reporters gathered outside his New Year's Eve party that hacking is a "very hard thing to prove" and that he knows "things that other people don't know, and so [intelligence officials] cannot be sure of the situation." Trump promised to reveal what he proclaims to know Tuesday or Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted, "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!"

A 7-day old infant girl was transported from Mexico to Rady Children’s Hospital Tuesday night to receive treatment not available in her home country.

A San Diego Fire-Rescue (SDFD) crew and a Rady ambulance helped escort the Mexican ambulance from the border to the hospital.

The baby girl is in critical condition and was transported in a life-sustaining incubator, according to SDFD Captain Joe Amador.

The San Diego County medical system policy forbids its ambulances from transporting incubators, so the Mexican ambulance had to be cleared to bring the baby onto U.S. soil with assistance from SDFD.

It is unclear what medical condition the infant is being treated for.

Suggesting that turnabout is fair play, the Senate's new top Democrat said Tuesday night "it's hard for me to imagine" Democratic senators' supporting a Supreme Court nomination submitted by President-elect Donald Trump.

In a measured but blunt interview on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York took on Trump over a number of issues, calling him a "fake" populist who was "dumb" to continue squabbling with the U.S. intelligence community.

But it was the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February that led to Schumer's strongest challenge to the president-elect. 

Senate Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's March 16 nomination of U.S. Appeals Judge Merrick Garland for more than nine months — more than twice as long as any other nomination to the court has gone without a vote. Garland's nomination expired Tuesday as the new 115th Congress was sworn in.

This probably isn't something you thought you needed to be afraid of.

Think again?

A Virginia woman called Animal Control last week after she found a snake in a toilet in an Arlington County apartment. To repeat: She. Found. A. Snake. In. A. Toilet.

An animal control officer was able to safely remove the "lost and confused" snake and brought him to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, the animal shelter said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

The snake is a juvenile yellow anaconda, the animal shelter said. Yellow anacondas can grow to be 13 feet long and to weigh more than 100 pounds.

Fortunately, animal control officers were able to find a specialist who will be able to care of the snake, animal shelter officials said.

"We highly encourage anyone thinking about having a snake as a pet to do extremely thorough research to determine whether they will be able to adequately care for their snake," they said. "...Plus, [no one] likes being surprised by a lost and confused snake in their toilet!"

True. So, so very true.

Information was not immediately available on whether the snake was believed to have been someone's pet.

A Long Island thrift store was condemned Tuesday after investigators say they found as many as 100 rats being raised in the business.

The owner of A Long Island Picker also faces animal cruelty charges following the probe, which was sparked by complaints of foul odors coming from the Ronkonkoma store.

Investigators looked into the unsavory smells and discovered dozens of domesticated rats roaming free inside the business. It’s believed that they were being raised to be sold or adopted as pets.

The condition of the rodents is unclear, but police confirmed the owner is facing animal cruelty charges.

Members of animal control were spotted removing the rats in boxes on Tuesday. 

A Long Island Rail Road train derailed at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn at the height of Wednesday's morning rush, injuring more than six dozen people and riddling the track area with shattered glass and debris. 

Fire officials say 76 people were hurt when the train plowed into track 6 at the terminal around 8:30 a.m.; all were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Pictures on social media showed the train tipped slightly at an angle. The platform also appeared to be smoky as emergency personnel flooded the scene. Photos from within the train showed seats toppled to the ground; splintered wood, fire extinguishers and other debris littered the floor.

The LIRR tweeted only that customers should expect delays in and out of the transit hub "due to an incident" at the terminal. Delays were also reported on several subway lines. Aerial NYPD photos showed traffic at a virtual standstill outside the terminal amid a massive emergency presence. 

Passengers described the train pulling into the station, followed by a crash and a loud boom, after which the train's doors opened.

"I don't know, all I remember is being on the floor," one visibly shaken woman who had been on the train told NBC 4 New York between tears.

Several people complained of neck and back injuries. Some people were carried away on stretchers; others were sitting outside the train holding ice packs to their heads.

Despite the clear damage, many people were able to walk out. 

Danielle Kraese was sitting on a train, waiting for it to leave, when the LIRR train came barreling into the station. She tweeted it was a "silent ride after that." 

"I had to change at Jamaica, but no one came around to clip my ticket," Kraese tweeted. "It felt very 'Ride at your own risk.'"

Gov. Cuomo and outgoing MTA chairman Tom Prendergast, who just this week announced his intent to retire in the upcoming weeks, were en route to the scene. 

The derailment comes about four months after an NJ Transit train crashed into the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, killing a woman on the platform and injuring about 100 other people.

A preliminary federal report on the Hoboken crash said the five-car train accelerated from 8 to 21 mph — more than twice the speed limit — as it approached the end of the track Sept. 29, before the emergency brake was engaged in the final second. Engineer Thomas Gallagher, who later was found to be suffering from sleep apnea, told investigators he had no memory of the train speeding up. That investigation is ongoing.