San Diego police are trying to piece together what led to someone's stabbing death in City Heights Wednesday night.
Officers were called to the 2800 block of 46th Street at about 8:46 p.m. for reports of a stabbing.
However, the incident quickly turned into a homicide investigation when they found the victim had died.
More details are expected to be released at a later time.
National Picnic Day is on April 23. In San Diego, there are plenty of places for the perfect, picturesque picnic, plus great spots to snag your meal for your al fresco adventure.
So, take that lunch break outside or pack a basket and make plans to picnic this weekend in the San Diego sunshine. Our friends at Yelp have rounded up this list of local joints with all the fixings for dining outside, plus some cool locations to perch that picnic.
Just Peachy (Encinitas)
Stop by and grab a famous Julian Pie plus all the goods you’ll need for lunch at Just Peachy. From fresh produce to Dudley’s bread, this joint has all of your midday cravings, handled with locally-sourced supplies. After you've shopped, head just a few blocks down to the coast and set up your picnic party at Moonlight Beach, the perfect spot for outdoor bites.
Mona Lisa Italian Foods (Little Italy)
A deli, a restaurant and a market all in one with everything you could crave for a power picnic lunch. The deli has sandwiches with rave reviews, plus calamari and octopus salads. Pack a romantic basket of Italian cheeses, meats, breads and desserts and then head down to Waterfront Park for a bayside brunch or lunch date.
Cardiff Seaside Market (Cardiff-by-the-Sea)
Campers across the road at the San Elijo Beach Campgrounds know they don’t even need to pack a cooler with this handy market nearby. The deli is renown for its ready-to-eat dishes and lunch menu. Stop in and stock up on fresh salads, sushi, sandwiches and more. If your picnic plans are on a strict schedule, you can text in your order, too.
T-Deli (Hillcrest)
Sandwiches and salads dominate at this neighborhood favorite. You can order in and sit outside for a fake picnic if you can’t take the time tomorrow: Close enough! We suggest the Chicken Pesto Torta. It comes with a generous side of fruit and a smile from the friendly staff and owners. If you do have time to travel, the world famous Balboa Park is nearby.
Roma Market (Escondido)
This Italian market has everything you need to create an authentic al fresco experience. If you don’t feel like working for your feast the café deli has sandwiches, fresh Italian dishes, pizzas and more. Add local produce and a homemade cannoli for the perfect meal. For a nearby picnic spot, head over to Queen Califia’s Magical Circle Garden.
La Jolla Country Market (La Jolla)
On your way to La Jolla Shores, stop at this small mart and pick up the perfect picnic lunch: giant sandwiches at reasonable prices made by cool dudes in the deli. Grab other assorted snacks from the shelves and you’ll have an easy, on-the-go meal to make National Picnic Day a solid win.
San Diego scientists say they have created the world’s first algae-based sustainable surfboard.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Arctic Foam, an Oceanside Company, made the polyurethane foam core and glassed the board before presenting it to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer before Earth Day.
The project began several months ago when undergraduate biology students collaborated with chemistry students to solve a simple question: how do you make the precursor of a surfboard’s foam core from algae oil? Most surfboards today are made exclusively from petroleum.
Steven Mayfield, a professor of biology and algae geneticist at UCSD, lead researchers when making the board. Mayfield and his team worked to chemically change the oil obtained from laboratory algae and morph them into types of “polyols” to produce the core of the new surfboard.
“In the future, we’re thinking about 100 percent of the surfboard being made that way—the fiberglass will come from renewable resources, the resin on the outside will come from a renewable resource,” Mayfield said in a statement.
The board was built at Arctic Foam’s headquarters in Ensenada, Mexico and brought to Oceanside. It looks just like other surfboards, Mayfield said, but because of the material it is built from, is sustainable.
Mayfield, a surfer himself, said he and others have been faced with the sustainability contradiction when on the water. His connection to the ocean requires a surfboard made of petroleum, an unsustainable board.
“This shows that we can still enjoy the ocean, but do so in an environmentally sustainable way,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield said they hoped Faulconer would display the board so others would see how the city could be a hub for innovation and collaboration on many levels.
“It perfectly fits with the community and our connection with the ocean and surfing," Mayfield said. "And it also shows the biotechnology and innovation that we can bring to bear here in San Diego in a very collaborative way.”
Violent crime and property crime in San Diego have dropped to a 35-year low throughout the county, though homicides have increased slightly, according to new data released Wednesday.
The rate of violent crime in 2014 dropped 6 percent from the previous year, according to the San Diego Association of Government’s annual regional crime report.
That trend, experts said, are partially the result of technology.
"Think about the people on the street corner who witness a crime occuring, call law enforcement right away, does that speed your response time...having the police there, being able to arrest somebody who would go on to commit more crimes, I think there are a lot of different reasons," said Dr. Cynthia Burke, SANDAG Criminal Justice Research Director, in a statement.
Most crime statistics fell from 2013 to 2014, the report found.
Some residents living in San Diego neighborhoods agreed with the findings.
"I think our neighborhood is safe, there's hardly any crime, I don't see police cars around every day, but if there is, they handle it...I think San Diego is safe," said Daisy Vega, a Carmel Mountain Ranch resident.
She, like many people NBC 7 spoke to Wednesday, feels safe in her nieghborhood.
Despite the downward trending crime numbers, the number of homicides in San Diego County was up in 2014 from the previous year. Homicides increased from 70 to 74 in 2014, a six percent jump.
That increase, however, was the third lowest in the past 35 years. Most homicides were related to domestic violence, gang-related activity and an argument, according to the report.
The number of violent crimes against senior citizens in the county jumped six percent from the previous year. Reported domestic violence crimes dropped two percent from the previous year.
The 9.460 reported car thefts continued to decline to a new 35-year low. Burglaries also reached a new 35-year low, to 10,960 reported in 2014, a 22 percent decrease from the year before.
Twenty jurisdictions across the county reported an annual decrease in the number of reported larcenies and five reported an increase.
There were 10,583 violent crimes reported in 2014.
A San Diego man accused of killing a customer at a gas station during a robbery and prompting a shootout with police two days later pleaded not guilty from a hospital Wednesday.
Cuffed to his bed, Ahmed Hassan Mumin, 30, was arraigned at Scripps Mercy Hospital's trauma unit in Hillcrest, recovering from a gunshot wound doled out to him by officers.
Investigators say surveillance video shows Mumin fatally shooting innocent bystander Eric Schade, 48, during a robbery at a gas station convenience store in Clairemont on April 16.
"At one point, the victim makes a halfhearted swipe at the firearm to get it away because it's being pointed at him," said Assistant District Attorney Michael Runyon. "At that point, the defendant takes a step back and fires one round at point blank range into the victim's chest."
Mumin was on the run for two days when San Diego police caught up to him on April 18 at an apartment complex on Winona Avenue in City Heights that he was known to frequent.
Police had the complex under surveillance when a resident reported Mumin allegedly prowling around, attempting to break into apartments during the early morning hours on April 18.
Officers surrounded the complex. When they approached a community-use room, Mumin allegedly opened fire on two police officers, narrowly missing them. The officers returned fire, shooting Mumin at least once in the torso.
He was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital. Once he’s treated, he will be jailed and charged with murder, armed robbery and attempted murder of two police officers, SDPD Lt. Paul Rorrison said.
According to court records, Mumin has a criminal history that includes a 2011 case in which he was charged alongside four others. Mumin was charged with kidnapping and robbery and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of false imprisonment with violence.
He presented handwritten letter to the court dated April 27, 2012, in which he vowed to make “wise decisions” in the future, redeem his life and “become a better man.”
The suspect's preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month.
An Indiana woman undergoing surgery in Los Angeles to remove a tumor experienced a twist worthy of a sci-fi plot when doctors discovered an embryonic twin in her brain.
Yamini Karanam, 26, was unaware of what was happening in her head until she underwent a procedure designed to reach deep into the brain to extract the tumor. After waking up from the surgery, Karanam was surprised to learn of the "teratoma" -- her embryonic twin, a rarity in modern medicine, complete with bone, hair and teeth.
Karanam realized last September that something wasn't registering in her mind. The Indiana University Ph.D. student was experiencing trouble comprehending things she read.
"Problems with reading comprehension, listening comprehension. If a couple people were talking in a room, I wouldn't understand what was happening," Karanam said.
What became more frustrating for Karanam was that her doctors would contradict each other regarding the source of the problem.
"The neurologist would say the neurosurgeon is not being practical in your case," Karanam said. "And the neurosurgeon would say the neurologist is not being optimistic in your case. And I'm like, could someone be educated about this?"
That's when her own research led her to Dr. Hrayr Shahinian at the Skullbase Institute in Los Angeles. Shahinian developed a minimally-invasive way of reaching deep into the brain to extract tumors.
"Unlike traditional brain surgery where you open the skull and use metal retractors and you bring a microscope to see in the depths of the brain, what we're doing is keyhole surgery," he said.
The method uses fiber-optic technology with digital imagery. A half-inch incision into the brain allows for an endoscope to reach in and slowly and very delicately chisel away at the tumor.
Karanam awoke to learn what was causing her all that trouble in Indiana. She lightheartedly called the tumor her "evil twin sister who's been torturing me for the past 26 years."
"This is my second one, and I've probably taken out 7,000 or 8,000 brain tumors,” Shahinian said.
Shahinian said his fear was that tumor may be cancerous. Pathologists, though, determined that not to be the case and Karanam is expected to make a full recovery in only three weeks.
Karanam said her biggest frustration was that so many other brain surgeons had no idea Shahinian's technique was available.
"It's really unfair that people don't know about it," she said. "This has to be mainstream. This is the first thing that they should get you. When they know you have a pineal tumor, they should tell you, ‘You know what? There's a minimally invasive approach in which they won't kill you, they won't leave you with a disability. There's a way in which you can live your life just the way you want to.’”
Shahinian said before he invented his technique, the only option to remove this type of tumor would have been surgery that included removing half of the skull. He says because the brain is such a sensitive organ, the less it's disturbed, the better.
"We want to be in and out without the brain knowing we were there, and I think that's the beauty of this technique," Shahinian said.
A man with ties to the royal family in Saudi Arabia -- accused of trying to flee the U.S. to avoid being tried on a rape charge -- was ordered on Wednesday to be held without bail.
Monsour Alshammari, 27, is accused of raping a woman while on a date in February in Orem, Utah.
An attorney for Alshamarri indicated to the judge that Alshamarri wanted to post bail to take care of his matters, but the judge ordered no bail, noting there’s an immigration hold in place.
Alshamarri was free on $100,000 bail when officials said he attempted to flee from Mexico.
Just days before his next scheduled court appearance, Alshammari was found hundreds of miles away.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees apprehended Alshammari last Friday as he tried to enter Mexico through Tijuana.
The Associated Press reports that police did not offer details about Alshammari's royal connection, but they did say he is related to royalty and has family connections within the Saudi Arabian government.
At the court appearance on Wednesday, Alshammari wasn't prepared to waive being extradited to Utah, so the issue of extradition will be taken up at a later date.
An art project at an Alpine elementary school has backfired after parents are questioning why fifth graders were commissioned to paint wine glasses and beer steins.
The students in one Alpine Elementary classroom were instructed to paint the glasses as part of an annual fundraiser on May 2.
The glasses are then sold at the Alpine Education Foundation gala, an event spearheaded by a volunteer group made up of mostly parents who support the district.
Kristen Gauss received an invitation to the gala and was miffed to find a mention of the wine glasses and steins.
“It’s a mixed message,” she said. “We spend so much time telling our kids … don’t do drugs and alcohol and here we have young impressionable children painting on wine glasses.
Colin Campbell, the volunteer group’s president, said he simply did not think through the art project. He said he didn't seek out permission from the principal or the school superintendent.
“I look at the medium of the art itself and see the beauty of it,” he said. “However, I understand why there could be concern and controversy involved and I’m sorry for that.”
School superintendent Bruce Cochrane also apologized on Wednesday, saying a lapse in oversight played a role. He agreed that having students paint anything associated with alcohol is against district policy.
“This was just a situation where if we’d sat down and talked about it together, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
Even so, the glasses will be sold at the gala next month and are expected to go quickly.
Visitors at one of New York’s most famous caves get a view not seen in more than 100 years.
The “Signature Rock Discovery Tour,” which opens in May, marks the deepest visitors can delve into Howe Caverns since 1900, according to the park's website.
The 2.5 hour tour will take explorers past a dam wall built in the early 1900s and past a waterfall that marked the end of the traditional tour. Then, spelunkers will be able to see an array of rock formations, tunnels, walkways and rooms that have been untouched for 115 years.
"It hasn't been toured or seen by the public in more than 115 years. We could go down there, but nobody else could, so we thought the people are missing out on so much," Howe Caverns manager Bill Gallop tells WBNG. "This is the original entrance to Howe Caverns."
The highlight of the tour will be the cavern’s limestone cave, which was carved by an underground river over millions of years and lies 156 feet below the earth’s surface.
The Times-Union reports the tour will take explorers through the same passages that founder Lester Howe traveled when he first opened the park in 1843. About 200,000 people visit the cavern at Howes Cave each year, making it the state’s second-most-popular natural attraction after Niagara Falls.
Four models of Shark vacuum cleaners are being recalled due to a shock hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Wednesday.
The CPSC said the aluminum wand can disconnect from the vacuum's handle, posing a risk of electric shock. More than 62 reports have been received about the wand disconnecting from the vacuum, but no injuries have been reported.
The recall involves four models of Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away upright vacuum cleaners, either maroon or purple, with a clear plastic middle section. "Shark" and "Rotator" are printed on the front of the vacuum cleaners. They are about 45 inches tall by 12 inches wide.
Recalled model numbers include NV650W, NV651, NV652 and NV660. The model number is printed on a silver sticker on the upper right corner on the back of the vacuum, the CPSC said. More descriptive information and photos are available at the CPSC's website.
About 142,000 vacuums in the United States and about 650 in Canada are included in the recall.
Customers should immediately stop using the recalled models and contact Euro-Pro for a free replacement wand.
You can call Euro-Pro at 877-593-5140 between 7 and 11 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, or between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Sundays, or go to www.sharkrecall.com, or click "Recall" at www.sharkclean.com or www.europro.com.
A former chief of staff for San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts claims the supervisor created a "hostile, politicized work environment" in his office.
Roberts is at the center of a political firestorm; at least seven of his 11 staffers have quit in just four months.
Several top county officials told NBC 7 one of those former staffers, Chief of Staff Glynnis Vaughan, was expected to receive a $75,000 settlement. A public document, obtained by NBC 7 Investigates, confirms that payment would have helped the county avoid a possible lawsuit Vaughan could file against the county.
The county’s five supervisors have met twice in closed sessions to discuss the proposed payment to Vaughan, who has hired an attorney. But the supervisors did not approve the payment at their second meeting on April 14, and the negotiations are now on hold.
Vaughan had been on paid administrative leave during those negotiations but resigned from the county after that April 14 meeting.
NBC 7 Investigates obtained a copy of her two-page resignation letter, in which Vaughan claims she learned of “alleged misuse of government resources and other questionable behavior, including alleged staff intimidation, coercion, and the creation of a hostile work environment" in Roberts’ office.
She said a county employee brought the allegations to her and had supporting documentation, which included text messages and emails.
Her letter also refers to warnings she received via emails that “…the Supervisor intended to lie publically about the concerns raised, and who otherwise used language that appeared to be an attempt to intimidate me if I held my ground.”
Vaughn writes that she has “been told that the Supervisor has asked others to be untruthful about what was reported and about me.”
Vaughn has not returned our requests for an interview.
Roberts' current chief of staff, Mel Millstein, said in an email that the supervisor cannot comment on the resignation because it is a personnel matter.
Millstein continued with the following statement:
"However, as his Chief of Staff, I can tell you that it is the Chief of Staff who sets the tone in the office of an elected official. Supervisor Roberts is extremely hardworking and dedicated to all his constituents. He is a fair and thoughtful leader who provides strong support to allow me to be successful as he does for all his staff. He has given me the full authority to manage the day-to-day operations of our staff and he expects a collegial office environment that promotes strong teamwork in order for him to do the people’s business for which he was elected."
In a Tuesday interview, Roberts told NBC 7 Investigates there is not much he can say about the settlement and high turnover.
“There is nothing I can share on this,” Roberts said. “It's just one of those allegations that is floating out there."
In the last three weeks, Roberts has had three different people in his chief of staff position: Vaughan, Lindsey Masukawa and Millstein.
According to a memo obtained from the county, Millstein will receive an annual salary of $151,008 and began serving as Roberts' chief of staff on April 15.
“I think he (Millstein) will be a great chief of staff,” Roberts said. “All my staff is doing a phenomenal job, and I’m just really pleased they’re doing a phenomenal job.”
The supervisors’ meetings are closed to the public because they involve “exposure to significant liability” to the county and taxpayers. The county’s five supervisors, county attorney and CAO are allowed to be present at the closed-door meetings. The public learns about the results only if action is taken, which usually consists of an agreement to pay money to settle an existing or threatened lawsuit.
County spokesman Michael Workman said the county will not be commenting because it is a personnel matter. It has been responding to and answering our requests for documents, emails and other records through state open record requests.
Dr. Warren Weinstein, of Maryland, and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto, hostages held by al Qaeda, were killed inadvertently during a U.S. drone strike in January. President Barack Obama apologized to the aid workers' families and said that in the fog of war sometimes "deadly mistakes" are made.
Other Americans citizens have been killed in strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, most accused of plotting against the United States.
The most notorious was Anwar al Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric whom the American government targeted in a drone attack in September 2011 in Yemen. Born in New Mexico, he was considered a potential successor to Osama bin Laden.
Killed with al Awlaki was Samir Khan, accused of editing the magazine "Inspire," published by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The government said that the magazine inspired Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Khan was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Queens, New York. The United States was unaware that he was with al Awlaki.
Al Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who was born in Denver, was killed two weeks later while eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant in Yemen.
A fourth, Jude Kenan Mohammad, was killed in a strike in Pakistan in 2011. He had been indicted in North Carolina on charges of conspiracy to murder and provide support to terrorists.
Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged that United States had killed the four in a 2013 letter to the then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center of Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit in 2012 challenging the constitutionality of the killings. The lawsuit was dismissed in April.
The deaths of two other Americans accused of being terrorists were acknowledged by President Obama on Thursday.
Ahmed Farouq was killed with the two hostages on Jan. 14, in a strike in the Hindu Kush region along the Afghan/Pakistan border. Little is know about Farouq. Evan Kohlmann of Flash Intelligence told NBC News that he was a deputy commander of al Qaeda in Pakistan.
Adam Gadahn, a 36-year-old born in California and an alleged al Qaeda translator and key propagandist, was killed in a strike five days later in the same area. He had been indicted in California on charges of treason and providing material support for terrorism.
In a statement Thursday, the ACLU said the killings raised troubling questions about the reliability the United States was relying on to justify the drone attacks.
"In each of the operations acknowledged today, the U.S. quite literally didn't know who it was killing," the statement said.
The most severe category of drought expanded during the past week in California's northern Sierra Nevada Mountain range after a winter of little snowfall and record warm temperatures in the region.
Nearly 47 percent of California is under the exceptional drought category, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor report. That's a nearly 3-percentage point increase over last week.
The Monitor depicts drought conditions in four categories -- moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional. Nearly 94 percent of California falls under the severe category.
Conditions in the northern Sierras reflect California's significantly lower precipitation and the warmest winter in the state's recorded history. In normal precipitation years, the Sierra snowpack melts and runs off into the state's major reservoirs to provide about 30 percent of the state's water needs.
This week's report also shows water levels at Mono Lake near Yosemite National Park reached their lowest levels since 1996. California's lakes and reservoirs have reached historic lows during a fourth consecutive dry year.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for California in January 2014 and called on residents to reduce water use by 20 percent. On March 17, the state's water control board announced new restrictions that include limits on outdoor watering and prohibiting restaurants from offering water unless requested by customers.
Faced with worsening conditions, Brown has called for a mandatory 25 percent cut in urban water use compared with 2013 levels.
A Hillcrest man was robbed Thursday in a home invasion and the man suspected in the crime was spotted using the victim’s powered wheelchair for his getaway, police said.
San Diego Police arrested Stanley McQuery, 54, for breaking into the victim’s unit in the senior apartment complex on 6th Avenue near Pennsylvania Avenue.
The 79-year-old victim told police it was after 3 a.m. when a man broke into his home through the bedroom window saying, “I’m trying to get out of here.”
The victim, who has one leg, used his wheelchair to move into the living room. There, he used his mobile phone to call police.
Then, the robber pulled the victim from the wheelchair and rode the device out of the apartment. It wasn’t until he saw a police officer with a K-9 unit that the suspect got off the wheelchair and ran.
The police dog bit McQuery in the arm as the suspect was arrested near Pennsylvania and 7th avenues. He was treated at the hospital and then booked on charges of robbery, burglary and elder abuse.
The victim suffered cuts and bruises to his leg, police said.
The location of the senior apartment complex is south of Robinson Avenue and west of State Route 163.
An anonymous person walked into a bar in San Francisco and dropped off a stolen cello, directing an employee there to return the instrument to police before taking off, police said Thursday.
The bar employee, who works at an establishment in the 900 block of Grant Street, knew about the stolen $8,500 cello and called the police tip line on Tuesday. Officers were then able to return the 2014 Emilio Stradella cello to its rightful owner: A 16-year-old girl who had it taken by two men on April 11 at the parking garage on O'Farrell Street.
Police don't know who the anonymous person is and didn't describe that person.
And the two suspects have not been found. They were described as a man and a woman who got into the teen's gar and stole her belongings, police said. The woman took the items, and her partner waited in a getaway car.
Some of the theft was captured on surveillance video.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact Sgt. Alicia Castillo at 415-345-7300. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may call the department's anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444. Tips may also be sent by text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" at the beginning of the message.
The wife of a Southern California mayor who was shot and killed in his home was charged Thursday with voluntary manslaughter.
Lyvette Crespo, 43, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment after the grand jury indictment was unsealed Thursday morning in Los Angeles Superior Court. Bond was set at $150,000 and Crespo was immediately taken into custody.
She is scheduled to return to court May 29 for a pretrial hearing. If convicted, she faces up to 21 years in state prison.
Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo, 45, was shot by his wife Sept. 30 in their home in the community southeast of downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies said Crespo and his wife were arguing, and their 19-year-old son intervened, leading to a struggle between the mayor and his son that ended when Lyvette Crespo opened fire.
The couple's son called 911 to report the shooting. He can be heard telling the dispatcher that his mother was "defending herself."
Daniel Crespo Jr. and Lyvette Crespo were questioned for several hours after the shooting, then released that night. She admitted she shot her husband but that it was in self-defense during a fight. Her attorney has contended that she was a longtime victim of domestic violence and shot Daniel Crespo in defense of herself and her son.
A 9 mm handgun and three expended cartridges were recovered at the crime scene.
Eber Bayona, Lyvette Crespo's attorney, maintains she was a battered spouse who was defending herself and her son.
"I am confident that when all the evidence is presented ... she will be acquitted," he said.
Daniel Crespo's brother denied the abuse claims and has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. The lawsuit seeking punitive damages portrayed Lyvette Crespo as a "coldblooded killer" who threatened many times to kill her husband.
Patrick Healy contributed to this report.
The family of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev arrived Thursday afternoon at Boston's Logan Airport, law enforcement confirms.
A law enforcement source confirms Tsarnaev's relatives are staying at the Hampton Inn in Revere just a few miles from Logan, but would not say which relatives are here.
The family members arrived at Logan Airport's Terminal E, an international flight that landed in Boston in the afternoon. They arrived in two white vans from the airport. Revere Police arrived at the hotel a short time later.
It appears his family members have not left the hotel throughout the evening, and federal agents remain at the hotel, keeping guard inside.
Law enforcement officials confirm his mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, or Tsarni, did not make the trip. Tsarnaeva has an outstanding warrant on a shoplifting case and could have been detained at Customs. She has defended her son in the past and railed against the United States.
Tsarnaev's sister, Alina Tsarnaeva, was previously charged in Boston related to a counterfeiting case and in New York with threatening "to put a bomb" on another woman.
The arrival of his family coincides with the defense giving its opening statement in the penalty phase of Tsarnaev's trial on Monday.
Tsarnaev was convicted this month of all 30 charges against him. Three people were killed and more than 260 others were wounded when twin bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon April 15, 2013. An MIT police officer was also killed in a shootout three days after the bombings.
The government earlier in the day rested their case in the penalty phase of the trial. The prosecution will get a chance for rebuttal after the defense presents its case.
A jury must decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or to death.
A San Diego man was charged Thursday with lying about his links to Islamic militants fighting in Syria after Facebook photos, posts and other evidence contradicted statements he made to federal agents, the Justice Department said.
Mohamad Saeed Kodaimati, 24, was arrested Wednesday and faces two charges of making false statements to federal officials in a terrorism investigation.
Saeed, who was born in Syria and is a naturalized U.S. Citizen, traveled to Turkey from San Diego in late 2012. He was in Turkey and Syria until he returned to the U.S. in March, according to prosecutors. He is accused of making false statements during interviews with the FBI and other U.S. authorities at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, in March, the Justice Department said.
Images and conversations on Facebook contradict information Saeed gave to federal officials, according to court documents.
Saeed allegedly told his associates he fought with Al-Nusrah in a four-month battle against the Assad regime. Al-Nusrah is affiliated with al-Qaida and was designated last year to be a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
Officials allege that Saeed originally told FBI agents and U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers that he didn’t know anyone who was a member of ISIL-- also known as ISIS-- never fired his weapon at anyone nor had been involved in any fighting while living out of the country for three years.
A photo of Saeed posted on Facebook shows him with a man who federal officials say has sworn allegiance to ISIL.
In a December 2013 Facebook chat, Saeed allegedly wrote, “I work with the brothers.”
Another photo of Saeed and his brother show them in the spring of 2014 when Saeed later admitted he had opened fire on a Syrian prison.
In initial interviews, Saeed also claimed he had never worked or volunteered at a Sharia court, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors claim a photo posted to Saeed’s Facebook page shows him wearing headphones provided to him in a Sharia court.
Saeed first came to the U.S. when he was approximately 10 years old. At 17, he became a U.S. citizen when his father naturalized, officials said.
In December 2012, Saeed left San Diego to travel to Istanbul, Turkey.
In early March 2015, when Saeed tried to fly back to the U.S., he was denied entry and told to go to the U.S. Embassy in Turkey. Prosecutors claim that Saeed provided false information to federal officials when interviewed at the embassy and later on March 23 at the airport in Charlotte.
He had arrived in San Diego by March 31 when he was interviewed by an FBI agent once again.
He was arrested by FBI agents in San Diego on Tuesday.
