A grieving mother and sister are in disbelief over the murder of their loved one, a young woman allegedly killed by her boyfriend earlier this week at her apartment in San Diego’s Bay Terraces area.

“I never expected this. [My sister] is such a good person to everybody. No matter what, she has a smile on her face,” the victim’s sister, Shamika Gregory told NBC 7, holding back tears.

“Seeing her, touching her, that’s something that I miss,” added the victim’s heartbroken mother, Valencia Barnes.

On Monday, at around 3:45 p.m., police found Angelica Gregory, 22, unconscious in her apartment in the 6600-block of Doriana Street.

• Read: Woman, 22 Found Dead in Home

She had suffered contusions to her body and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her boyfriend, Martin Huey, 22, was at her home when officials arrived.

On Wednesday, police arrested Huey in Riverside County on domestic violence charges. On Thursday, the San Diego Police Department said those charges had been upgraded, and Huey is now being charged with the murder of Gregory.

According to Shamika and Barnes, Angelica and Huey had been dating off and on for several years. In an exclusive interview with NBC 7, they said Huey tried to isolate Angelica from her family. There had also been a history of violence in their relationship.

“Any man who hits a girl is a coward,” said Barnes. “He is a coward.”

Barnes said Angelica had moved to San Diego several years ago to escape Huey’s clutches and had recently gotten her life back on track. However, Huey continued to try to make his way back into her life. On Monday, before the murder, Angelica and Huey had gotten into another argument, Shamika said.

For now, that is all the family knows about how things unfolded leading to Angelica’s death.

• Read: Man, 22, Arrested in Girlfriend's Murder

Angelica would’ve celebrated her 23rd birthday on May 10.

Now, instead of preparing to celebrate her life, her family is preparing to bury her.

Shamika said she still can’t believe her sister is gone. She loved her deeply and said she would’ve done anything for her.

“My sister is my heart, my soul, my everything, my life. If I had to give a lung, I would. If I had to give her my last breath, I would. That is my world,” said Shamika.

Angelica will certainly be missed and her family will mourn for a lifetime.

“I have to explain this to my 7 and 8-year-old. Their aunt is gone. How you explain that to your two kids?” added Shamika.

Barnes said she wishes she could’ve saved her daughter. If she could tell her one thing, it would be this: “I’ll protect you. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

Huey is scheduled to be arraigned in court Friday afternoon on a first-degree murder charge. He’s being held at San Diego Central Jail.
 

 A six-year-old student at Chula Vista Learning Community Center got a great pre-Easter surprise, and no, it wasn’t courtesy of some magical bunny.

On Friday, as she and her fellow students stood on the playground with their hands on their hearts to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Nayeli Neciosup heard her name over the loudspeaker.

“Nayeli, we have a very special surprise for you,” said the announcer. “So your mom’s been deployed for 5 months, correct? And she’s in the military, right? Here she is today. She’s here.”

Her mom, Claudia Neciosup -- a Navy sailor on USS Boxer –was flown off the ship early to surprise her daughter at school. Claudia was waiting in the wings with a bouquet of flowers until the surprise was announced.

Nayeli ran to her mother and clung to her as both burst into tears.

“Are you OK?” Claudia said to her shocked daughter. “Are you surprised? Are you happy I’m home? Me too, and I’m super happy.”

The school and Nayeli’s dad, John, all played a part in the big day.

An aerobatic stunt pilot narrowly escaped by parachute Friday when his single-passenger plane crashed in a fireball onto a northern Vermont interstate, charring the ground beneath it.

Dan Marcotte, an experienced aerobatic stunt performer, bailed from the plane in the nick of time, before it crashed into a lane of Interstate 89 North in Highgate, Vt., near the Canadian border and the Franklin County State Airport, NECN's Jack Thurston reported.

Firefighters found him dangling in his parachute from a tree and cut him down. He was not seriously injured, police said.

"Something happened to the plane; he knew something was wrong," Lt. Garry Scott of the Vt. State Police told NECN. "These high speeds; we're pretty lucky no one else was injured."

The section of I-89 was shut down twice during this emergency: once during the initial frenzy, once as the wreckage was cleared away. At times during the removal of the wreckage, one lane of slow travel was allowed. No drivers were hit when the plane hurtled to the ground.

Marcotte is a well-known pilot who performs tricks at events like the Independence Day celebrations on the Burlington waterfront. His Facebook page identified him as the plane's pilot.

He was practicing when he had to jump from his plane, and he is now doing okay, a loved one explained on Facebook. "Thank God for our STRONG parachute!" the page administrator wrote.

"He was very upset, emotionally upset," Lt. Scott said of Marcotte. "But no real significant injuries. He was able to walk. He came back to the scene and talked to investigators."

Scott said the Federal Aviation Administration, out of Maine, will look into what went wrong.

Police and a towing service gathered as much of the wreckage as they could find.

Mike Cota of Cota's Towing said this wasn't the first response of its kind for him, though. "We have about one a year or so; somebody goes down up here," he said.

The Facebook page of Dan Marcotte AirShows was lighting up with well-wishes Friday afternoon, with folks very glad their friend lived through this, likely still with more thrill-seeking left in him.
 

April 20, once a counterculture holiday when potheads would gather to celebrate and smoke pot, is turning into a blockbuster event that could potentially bring in millions in tax and tourism dollars for states where it's newly legal.

Denver is playing host to its fifth annual Cannabis Cup this weekend, and this year's event is expected to be city's the largest yet in the wake of legalization.

An estimated 30,000 visitors were expected at the two-day event, according to The New York Times. At the start of the month, event organizers had already sold about 10,000 more tickets than they had last year, when pot wasn't yet legal in the state except for medical use.

Searches for hotel rooms in Denver on Hotels.com for the 4/20 weekend were up 73 percent over last year, too, according to The Cannabist -- a spike the company attributed in part to the state's legal recreational pot sales.

Scroll down to read some facts and figures about marijuana legalization and usage in the U.S.

4/20's hazy history

While there are no shortages of theories about how the “high" holiday came to be, several published reports give the credit for 4/20's creation to a group of Northern California high school students. The friends say they started using the term as code for pot-smoking in 1971, after planning to meet at 4:20 p.m. one day to smoke and search out a rumored pot crop.

The term spread, eventually reaching, through mutual acquaintances, members of the Greatful Dead rock band, the friends claim. The lingo was picked up by High Times magazine in 1990, according to BBC News, after an editor saw the term on a Grateful Dead concert flyer.

While others have also come forward to claim they are parents of the pot phrase, the friends, who call themselves the Waldos, say they have letters and other documents to back their story.

America's favorite illicit drug

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the country, a 2012 government survey found. An estimated 18.9 million Americans aged 12 and older -- or 7.3 percent of them -- said they had used marijuana in the past month.

And the numbers of Americans who say they have tried pot are far higher. A Pew Research survey taken in February found that nearly half of Americans polled, or 47 percent of them, admitted to having used marijuana at some point in their lives.

Medical research ramps up

The casual use such numbers suggest was the target of a study, published this week, that analyzed the effects of recreational pot-smoking on two neural regions that regulate emotions and motivation.

That study, a collaboration between researchers from Harvard's and Northwestern's medical schools, found the size, shape and density of both the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens significantly altered, even in people smoking as little as once a week. Those who smoked pot more regularly had abnormally large nucleus accumbens.

"When we saw that there was a consistent abnormality and that it was directly related to the amount of cannabis one took in, it gave us some significant pause," the study's co-author said. "Seeing these differences raises a cautionary flag that we need to do more research."

Seeing green

That need for more medical research hasn't stanched the interest in pot's profit potential.

Pot is already doing a brisk business in Colorado alone, and the taxes could provide a windfall for the state. A Moody's report predicted that the state will add an estimated $98 million to its tax coffers this year from taxes on recreational pot use on Jan. 1.

One group of industry investors seeking to capitalize on legal pot estimated in a recent report that the current market value is about $1.53 billion, a figure that includes all states that have active sales to those who are allowed to possess marijuana under state law.

That group, ArcView Market Research, also projected that Washington and Colorado would add $253 million and $455 million respectively their markets in 2014.

As for other states? The national pot market has a potential to swell to $10.2 billion in five years, according to the report. (To provide some perspective, the world's best-selling drug Lipitor at one point peaked at $13 billion in annual profit.)

Sweeping changes 

Americans' attitudes toward marijuana are evolving, too, with a recent Pew study finding that a majority of Americans — 54 percent — now think pot should be legal.

Voters in both Colorado and Washington signed off in 2012 on steps to legalize marijuana for personal recreational use, while other states rethink their own laws on a smaller scale.

Forty states have eased their drug laws since 2009, a recent Pew Research Center analysis found. In addition to Colorado and Washington, another 15 states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized certain amounts of possession, while even more have legalized it for medicinal use.

The Justice Department appears to be giving such efforts the green light. Attorney General Eric Holder has given Washington and Colorado the go-ahead for their state legalization initiatives, as well as called for major changes to federal drug sentencing guidelines.

Those signals from the feds, coupled with polls suggesting more Americans support legal pot, may mean more states could be poised to head in a similar direction.

A 24-year-old woman hospitalized after attending the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival last weekend died of an apparent overdose of illicit drugs and alcohol, according to the Riverside County Coroner's Office.

The office's report, released Friday, indicates the Oakland woman died Thursday -- five days after attending the Southern California music festival. Kimchi Truong died at Desert Regional Medical Center, according to the coroner's report.

Truong went to a medical tent at the outdoor music and arts festival early Sunday morning, authorities told KMIR News. Details regarding what treatment she received were not immediately available.

She became unresponsive after going to a taxi pickup area, the station reported.

• Updates: NBCLA Mobile App

Festival promoter Goldenvoice issued a statement:

"Last weekend, a festival attendee suffered an apparent drug overdose. The individual was seen by on-site medical staff and later transferred to JFK Memorial Hospital and later to Desert Regional Medical Center. We are saddened to learn the individual has died. We believe this to be an unfortunate but isolated incident.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends."

• Read: Chilling Moments After Bus Crash

Toxicology test results could take up to six weeks.

The two-weekend event in the Riverside County community of Indio continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

A Shar Pei puppy’s swim therapy is making him even wrinklier as he works to get up on his own four paws.

And if you thought a wrinkly Shar Pei couldn’t get any cuter, just put one in a wet suit.

For the first few months of his life, “Pumbaa” the Shar Pei acted like any puppy – rambunctious and playful.

“He turned four months old, and he just stopped walking completely,” said Pumbaa’s owner, Daisy Ciru.

Looking for answers, she took the pup to an animal chiropractor, to no avail.

Then, she found Trish Penick, owner of Cutting Edge K9 Rehab.

“When he came to me, he couldn’t stand or walk, and we didn’t have a diagnosis at the time,” said Penick, a human physical therapist who moonlights in animal rehabilitation.

Penick decided to take on Pumbaa’s case for free to find out what’s stopping his little legs from working.

After consulting an orthopedic surgeon, they found out it’s one of two possibilities: polyarthritis or Shar Pei fever.

“What either of those means is that he’s got an inflammation throughout his whole body and in all of his joints, so that’s why it was so painful for him to move or try to walk,” said Penick.

The solution, they found, was mix of medication and pool time.

Suited up in a little dog wet suit, Pumbaa now doggie paddles like a champ once he hits the water, even though he still has trouble moving his legs on land.

Penick said just in the last four days, she’s seen a huge improvement in how the now 8-month-old puppy moves around. Ciru has, too.

“He’s doing much better. He’s stronger now, and he looks happier. He’s very playful now,” Ciru said of the pet who means the world to her. “I thank Trish for that. She’s a wonderful person, and I can’t thank her enough.”

Cutting Edge K9 Rehab has some savings – known as The Max Fund – to help owners who can’t afford to pay for their animal’s therapy.

That fund has made it possible for Ciru to take Pumbaa to his “swimming lessons.”

Penick works with dogs after orthopedic surgeries, strokes, herniated discs and more to help them get back to their lively selves.

The fate of Carlsbad's strawberry fields may be up in the air as a new developer makes plans for the area.

The leafy green landscape of the Carlsbad Strawberry Co. fields on Cannon Road in Carlsbad has become a north county destination for many.

However, that may change because a Los Angeles-based developer named Caruso Affiliated, which is known for building open-air shopping centers, bought 48 acres in the area and is preparing its plans for the space.

Caruso Affiliated told NBC San Digeo its plans for the area will not be submitted until later this year, but the possibility of a shopping center being paired with the strawberry fields has some locals concerned.

“There are certain things that shouldn’t be touched and I think this is one of them,” said Steve Martinez, an Oceanside resident who visits the fields with his daughters. “I really enjoy my girls coming out here and just having a good day.”

RELATED: Calif. Strawberry Crop Generates $3.4B Annually

Caruso Affiliated says it wants to preserve the agriculture along Cannon Road. The developer has also been busing in Carlsbad residents and seeking input from the community at meetings and online.

Meanwhile, although fans of the fields may be concerned about a new shopping center in the area, Carlsbad Strawberry Co. said a shopping center could simply move farming to the east and may even benefit the fields with added foot traffic.

“It could be a plus. The shopping center that’s developed here could bring a lot of additional people than currently come here,” said Carlsbad Strawberry Co. General Manager, Peter Mackauf.

Mackauf said that lately the fields have taken a hit due to construction on Cannon Road and could definitely use a boost.

“It’s essential for us to have enough easy access and plenty of parking and we’ve expressed that to the Caruso organization… that’s the key ingredient for us to be able to continue farming here,” Mackauf added.

For now, those worried about change at the fields don't have to worry about it coming anytime soon according to City of Carlsbad officials.

Although Caruso Affiliated has already purchased acres from SDG & E, city officials said that once the developer submits plans, the approval process will take years.

A man facing murder charges in his girlfriend’s death pleaded not guilty in court Friday.

Martin Huey, 22, is being held on a $1 million bond, accused of choking Angelica Gregory, 22, to death.

During Huey’s Friday arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Ted Minahan said Huey and Gregory had been dating on and off for about two years.

On Monday, the suspect went over to Gregory’s Bay Terraces apartment, where they got into a fight.

Huey allegedly hit Gregory twice in the face and put her in a deadly chokehold until she passed out.

• EXCLUSIVE: Mother, Sister Mourn Slain Victim

Instead of dialing 911, Huey then called his aunt, who came over roughly 20 minutes later and called police, according to Minahan.

Officers told the prosecutor that they found Gregory on her back with swelling in her eye and a cut on her left cheek.

In an initial interview, Huey told police he had found the victim at her apartment already dead and blamed another man, Minahan said.

However in subsequent interviews, he changed his story, according to police. They said he eventually admitted to punching and choking Gregory because he said she was getting a knife

• READ: Man, 22, Arrested in Girlfriend's Murder

Minahan told the judge no knife was found near the victim or anywhere accessible in the kitchen.

Huey was arrested Wednesday in Riverside County on domestic violence charges, but those charges were changed to murder on Thursday.

The owners of a scrap metal yard in New Jersey were tied up, beaten and threatened with guns when a group of armed robbers stormed the business looking for cash and valuable platinum, then fled while shooting at police officers, authorities say.

The five robbers went into the Bayway Scrap Metals on Amboy Avenue in Elizabeth Friday afternoon and tied up several employees, including owner Carol Navarro and her husband. They were threatened and held at gunpoint for 90 minutes. 

"One of them asked how long we were married," said Navarro. "I told him 45 years, and he said, 'Well, you're going to die together.'"

"I could hear him keep telling my husband, 'Shut up or I'm going to shoot you, I'm going to kill you,'" she said. 

The men were after $20,000 in cash and a pile of catalytic converters worth an estimated $250,000 because of the platinum inside. When they got what they wanted, Navarro said they told her, "Today is your lucky day."

Police spotted the robbers two miles away with a U-Haul truck full of stolen catalytic converters. They allegedly fired at officers as they tried to get away, two of them in a stolen vehicle, but four of them were eventually caught. No officers were injured.

Michael Howard, 22, and Rafael Clemons, 27, Sharod Saunders, 30, and Steven Chambers, 47, have all been charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree carjacking, aggravated assault and multiple weapons offenses, officials said Saturday.

Bail for each defendant was set at $1 million.

Information on attorneys for Howard, Clemons, Saunders and Chambers was not immediately available.

One suspect remains at large and is believed to be heavily armed and dangerous. Police are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the suspect's capture and conviction. 

Police recovered an AK rifle and three handguns from the arrested suspects. 

Navarro helped identify the suspects in a lineup. Her husband needed stitches but he and the other hostages are going to be OK, she said. 

Navarro said she immediately called her son Jamie Navarro after the robbery. He believes his family's scrap metal business was targeted. 

"They absolutely, 150 percent, they planned this," he said. "This was planned, premeditated." 

"I think they're a bunch of scumbags, and I hope they rot in hell," he said. "I hope they get a long time in prison because that's what they deserve." 

-- Brian Thompson contributed to this report. 

A 7-year-old boy who died while swimming in a North Miami pool was laid to rest Friday.

Police said the boy may have been electrocuted by a light that sent charges through the water.

Calder Sloan died Sunday after he was shocked as he swam through the pool, police said. An officer attempted CPR before fire rescue transported the boy to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he later died.

Friends and family gathered at a public memorial in Miami Beach to honor the life of Calder Sloan.

"He was a superhero. As he grew up, he amazed us with his atheltic ability," Chris Sloan, the boy's father said at the memorial service.

The boy was swimming with his brothers, ages 5 and 22, under the watch of his nanny when the older brother first felt a shock and urged the others to get out of the pool, The Miami Herald reported. Calder apparently did not hear and was jolted out of the water.

A neighbor who performed CPR on the child, Fabian Pesantes, told NBC 6 he was also shocked by the water.

"The minute I saw him, I just started doing what I know how to do and I started performing CPR on him," Pesantes said.  "I cleared the vomit and water out of his mouth and when I was cleaning my mouth I stuck my hand in the pool. When I stuck my hand in the pool, I got shocked."

While police are still investigating the cause of the electrocution, the family suspects a malfunctioning pool light may have been to blame. A contractor was hired to fix the light after it stopped turning on about nine months ago, according to the boy's father, and electricians told the boy's uncle that a problem with the light switch suggested the power was going directly to the pool instead of being diverted from it, The Herald reported. The steel surrounding the light is now rusted and burned, according to the paper.

A fund has been set up at Sloan's school to establish a foundation in his honor. Click here to donate.

E-cigarette smokers took their final legal puffs as the ordinance that bans the device from bars, nightclubs, restaurants and other public places took effect at midnight Saturday.

One club made an event out of the ban and threw a vapor smoke-filled party while it was still allowed -- but the night wasn't all smiles.

"It is frustrating only because customers aren't going to be happy," said Richard Park, owner of the Cindy Club on Beverly Boulevard. "They're going to have to be vaping outside, which I think is really ridiculous, because they're considering it the same as cigarettes right now."

The club's event for the final legal puff came after months of debate into the controversial use of the vapor devices.

Tensions heated up earlier this year when Angelenos butted heads over what to do with the growing mainstream tobacco alternative.

• Read: Coroner Rules Coachella Attendee Death an Overdose

LA Councilmen Mitch O'Farrell and Paul Koretz motioned for Los Angeles’ chief legislative analyst to review a policy proposal related to the general use and classification of e-cigarettes on Jan. 14.

"We need to do all we can with what we know now to protect the public health," O'Farrell said. "It became a real issue in public schools. Youth were sneaking e-cigarettes and vaping under their desks. We don't want to expose a whole new generation to normalizing e-cigarette use."

The ensuing report from CLA Gerry F. Miller recommended actions that would essentially treat e-cigarettes as traditional tobacco products.

Based on Miller’s recommendation, a strict proposal was put before the Arts, Parks, Health, Aging and River Committee and passed unanimously during a LA City Council meeting on Feb. 24.

Read: Teacher in Fight With Student Reinstated

“For anyone to say that e-cigarettes are not harmful, I think they are taking us down the same path that the tobacco industry said in 1954 that cigarettes were not harmful,” Councilman Bernard Parks said during that meeting.

• Read: Teacher in Fight With Student Reinstated

Proponent Mark Burton, who spoke during the council meeting, cited a Drexel University study.

The research “found that contaminate levels of the vapor, if you will, were far below what would be considered harmful,” he said.

On March 4, the ban was approved unanimously by the LA City Council, and endorsed by the LA mayor’s office the following day.

The use of e-cigarettes has been widely controversial as well as popular across the country with similar contentions in New York City.

• Download the FREE NBCLA News app

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, and smokeless tobacco. Only e-cigarettes marketed for therapeutic purposes are regulated by the agency.

"I'm struggling with this because I want to make sure we are solving a problem based on actual facts and justification," said Councilmember Paul Krekorian during the March 4 meeting . "There are a variety of different views on the impact of what that second-hand vapor may be.”

"There's a well-developed body of evidence on smoking. But, from everything I've heard, I don't think a case has been made that adult exposure should be something that this council acts on absent regulation by one of these agencies... equipped to make those difficult assessments."

The new law does not affect vaping lounges or stores, which as of late have been raking in big business. E-cigarettes would also still be allowed for "theatrical purposes.”

A D.C. man who distributed heroin that resulted in the deaths of at least three people in Fairfax County, Va., was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.

Eugene Asomani “Shine” Williams pleaded guilty in January. He admitted distributing heroin in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. between 2004 and September 2013.

Williams, 35, also admitted Joshua Pearson, 33; Kara Schachinger, 22; and Timothy Huffman, a 23-year-old solider at Fort Belvoir, each died from using heroin he distributed.

Ann Schachinger's daughter Kara drowned in her bathtub in early 2012 after taking heroin she got from Williams, her dealer.

"I can't put all the blame on him, but he certainly does bear a responsibility," Schachinger said.

“Williams peddled a dangerous drug and inflicted untold damage to the victims, their families, and our communities,” U.S. Attorney Dana Boente said. “This case exemplifies the cooperative efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement to combat this pernicious crime.”

Williams' defense attorney, Todd Baldwin, is planning to appeal the judge's decision.

"To sentence someone based on the unforeseeable, unintended outcome, more than what normal drug dealing gets a sentence for, I think is just unfortunate," he said.

The discovery of a submerged pickup with skeletal remains in Lake Granbury, Texas, on Thursday may have solved the mystery of a woman who disappeared 35 years ago.

The truck was found near the Lake Bridge on Business 377 in Granbury.

Investigators believe the remains are those of Helen Hollady who disappeared in September 1979.

According to Sheriff Roger Deeds, a city employee first spotted the truck partially submerged in the lake as they were driving near the bridge on Pearl Street and called police.

"The first thing we were thinking was, 'We've been looking for Miss Holladay for years.'"

Sheriff Deeds said the front and rear of the pick-up truck were sticking out of the water.

"When we pulled the vehicle out, we found the skeletal remains of a person and also found identifying information with the body to tie it to Miss Holladay," said Deeds.

Deeds said old police reports said there was some disturbance at the weekend home of Holladay in the Whippoorwill Bay subdivision north of the lake.

The disturbance was between Holladay and her husband Herman. Herman Holladay was a suspect when Helen was reported missing, according to police. 

"Miss Hollady left the home after the disturbance and was last seen heading South towards Granbury on Highway 51." said Deeds. And that was the last time anyone heard from her or saw Helen Holladay.

Holladay's husband died in the 1980s.

Two surviving daughters have been informed about the discovery, the sheriff said.

Deeds also said over the past 35 years the have been searching for Holladay but couldn't find the 1970s model Chevy truck because it was covered in sediment which has built up on the vehicle over the past 35 years.

Deeds guessed the pickup was submerged in 15 feet of water until the lake levels recently began dropping and was about the same distance from the shore.

He said DNA testing to confirm the identify of the body could take weeks.

"It's not a total closure but at least the question of where mom has been all these years, we think we just solved that," Deeds said.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

Two people were killed in a crash in the East County community of Blossom Valley Saturday morning, officials confirmed.

The deadly collision happened just after 9 a.m. in the 9500-block of Blossom Valley Road. Crews from Lakeside Fire rushed to the accident scene to tend to victims.

Officials said drivers should expect delays on Blossom Valley Road and possibly westbound Interstate 8 as traffic investigators collect evidence and begin to clear the scene. The names of the two victims killed in the accident were not immediately released.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

A guilty verdict in a high-profile murder case led to emotional outbursts in a San Diego courtroom Thursday and a family forever divided by tragedy.

Iraqi immigrant and El Cajon resident Kassim Al-Himidi, 49, was found guilty in the murder of his wife, Shaima Alawadi, 32.

On Mar. 21, 2012, Alawadi was brutally beaten in a bloody attack at her home in El Cajon. She suffered critical brain injuries and died three days later.

At first, the case was investigated as a hate crime due to a handwritten note found at the crime scene, which read: “This is my country, go back to yours, terrorist.”

• Read: Screams Erupt as Guilty Verdict is Read in El Cajon Murder Trial

Ultimately, El Cajon police determined it wasn’t a hate crime but rather a crime of domestic violence, and arrested Al-Himidi in connection with the killing in November 2012.

On Thursday, after the verdict and an intense day in court, NBC 7 spoke exclusively with Alawadi’s sister, Mirian, who said there is still at least one person who believes in Al-Himidi is innocent.

That person is his oldest son.

After the guilty verdict was read, the son shouted in the courtroom: “This is bullsh**! This is f***ing bullsh**! My dad is innocent. He was tried unfairly.”

Al-Himidi then began yelling, too, proclaiming his innocence.

• Watch: WARNING - Graphic Language: Courtroom Chaos After Verdict

Mirian said most of her family believes Al-Himidi did kill Alawadi. But the couple’s older son is the exception. That opposition has caused a rift in the family.

“They don’t like the fact that he doesn’t believe it, but at the same time, you’re not going to force a kid to believe something that he doesn’t want to believe,” said Mirian.

For her part, Mirian said she’s now working on forgiveness and trying to heal from her sister’s untimely death.

“It’s been really hard, honestly,” she said. “What I believe is I didn’t see it. If he did do it, I hope he rots in there. If he didn’t do it, I don’t know that. My sister knows that and God knows that. I can’t sit here judging.”

As she tries to move forward, however, Mirian said she can’t help but remember a strange conversation she had with her sister just days before her slaying.

“She did tell me that ‘if the police call you, telling you your sister has died – Mirian, I want you to know it was him that killed me,’” she recalled.

Though the verdict has brought some closure to the family’s tragic, two-year-old case, they still face one major hurdle: Al-Himidi’s sentencing on May 15.

“He’s going to be in there for a really long time,” she said.

Mirian said the family’s main focus has been and still remains on the couple’s five children, who have now lost both their mother and father.

She thinks of her sister every day, and every day is reminded of the family’s new reality.

“I miss her, I would give anything to see her, but then I know it’s not going to happen,” she lamented. “My sister was the most amazing person I’ve met. She was strong.”

 A SWAT operation ended with one woman in police custody Friday afternoon in Oceanside.

According to Oceanside Police, someone called 911 around 2:55 p.m. to report a person with a gun was inside a home in the 700 block of Topeka Street. 

A SWAT team was called out to surround the house. 

Police ordered everyone to come out with their hands up, and eventually, six people did.

Officers said they've been getting conflicting reports about what exactly happened inside the house, but they did safely take one woman into custody. She had a felony warrant out for her arrest.

The suspect started having an anxiety attack, so paramedics responded to help her.

No weapon was found in the house, and no one else was injured, police said.

Check back for details on this developing story.

Some parents and community members are up in arms about a controversy surrounding the principal of Lincoln High School who was asked to leave her job as a disharmonious atmosphere continues to grow on campus.

In recent years, Lincoln has undergone a major, costly remodeling and has tried to better its environment and student's performance.

 San Diego Police are looking for the man accused of indecent exposure in Otay Mesa Friday.

The incident happened around 7 a.m. as a 14-year-old girl was walking in the 1300 block of 27th Street.

She told police a man pulled up to ask for directions. When the girl turned to look at him, he had undone his pants and exposed himself.

The girl ran away from the suspect, and the man drove off.

He is described as a dark-skinned man in his 30s, clean shaven with short, unkempt hair. He was driving a 1999-2004 burgundy or maroon Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Police drew up the composite photo above based on the description given by the girl.

If you know anything about this incident or other suspicious activity, the SDPD asks that you call 619-424-0414, or you can call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Several years ago, a San Diego man’s touching YouTube duet with his young daughter captured the hearts of America and catapulted him to instant fame. Today, the viral star is using his voice to battle immigration issues concerning his own mother, who he says just wants to come home.

Who can forget Jorge Narvaez and his adorable daughter, Alexa? In 2010, the devoted dad covered the hit song “Home” alongside his daughter in a YouTube video that quickly went viral. The duo even appeared on the ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Today, Narvaez is singing the same tune but with a different purpose. He’s lending his voice to the ongoing debate over immigration in hopes of helping his mother, Esther Alvarado, 45.

Narvaez said the song “Home” has a deeper meaning now. It’s the family’s theme song to help bring his mother back home to San Diego.

Alvarado – a citizen of Mexico – was detained last month by immigration authorities after taking part in a protest alongside other Mexican mothers separated from their families in the United States.

The women marched through Mexico before surrendering themselves to U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego’s Otay Mesa area, seeking asylum. However, they were denied that asylum and detained by authorities.

Like many other families, Narvaez said he and his daughters are now living with the pain of being separated from his mother.

“It’s been horrible to know she can’t come to this side of the country,” he said.

In an effort to drum up support for his mother’s move to the U.S., Narvaez has released a new version of “Home” on his YouTube channel, this time adding his youngest daughter, Eliana, to the mix. He’s hoping the song will be an instrument of change to free his mother.

“We sing this son to help people see it’s not just about immigration – it’s about family,” he told NBC 7 Friday.

In the video, after the song wraps, Narvaez and his kids hold up a photo of his mother and he tells viewers: “If you believe in family reunification, please support the National Immigrant Youth Alliance and also the Bring Them Home Project.”

A petition is linked to the bottom of the video.

Narvaez said his YouTube fans – all 457,000 of them – have been very supportive of his new song and mission to bring his mom home.

“The purpose of my YouTube channel is family – being a family. My mom being absent doesn’t make sense. That’s why a lot of my fans stand in solidarity. They see my pain, they know who she is,” he said. “It hurts to see that nobody can do anything.”

According to Narvaez, his mother and father crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in the 1980s with 1-year-old Narvaez in tow. In 2007, she returned to Mexico in an effort to begin the filing process to become a legal, permanent U.S. resident through her second husband, who’s a U.S. citizen.

However, seven years later, her struggle to legally cross the border continues, despite having three sons who are U.S. citizens, including Narvaez’s brother, who’s in the Army.

“He fought for his country. He spilled blood and coming back home to find out he’s still at war to get my mom back is embarrassing,” Narvaez added.

Still, the family’s fight will persist.

Narvaez is hoping his appeals, his daughters’ appeals and the power of song will pay off in the end.

Recently, at a rally, Alexa had this to say: “I want my grandmommy to come to the U.S. because it hurts seeing her struggle.”

Narvaez’s goal is to enlist the help of San Diego-based U.S. Representative Juan Vargas and San Antonio, Texas Mayor Julian Castro.

“I urge Juan Vargas and Julian Castro to support my mother and support her release because my mom is a San Diegan, and she deserves to be with her family. She does not deserve to be behind bars,” he said.

NBC 7 reached out to immigration officials regarding Alvarado’s case. Officials said she remains in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the San Diego area, pending her asylum hearing.

Narvaez said Alvarado has already been denied asylum once. Her appeal is scheduled for next week.