Photo: Missing Persons Awareness Network A man has been charged in connection with the beating death of a 14-year-old boy in Illinois. The Champaign County State’s Attorney says the suspect was an acquaintance of the boy’s father, theNews-Gazettereports. At about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Steven Butler III was reported missing after he told his father he was going to mow a neighbor’s lawn and never returned home, the paper reports....

Tornado damage in Mississippi.Photo: Rogelio Solis/AP/Shutterstock Linda Newell had only minutes to find a safe place to shelter from thedeadly tornadoesthat struck Mississippi Friday evening. She and her fiancé got into their truck and took shelter under a car wash. “Everything was flying,” she told PEOPLE, recalling her harrowing tale of survival. “That six minutes felt like hours.” As of Sunday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) reports25 fatalities and dozens of injuriesin the wave of deadly tornadoes that tore through the state, as search and rescue efforts continue....

Photo: Facebook Victim LaToya Thompson, 34, was a receptionist at the Williams Medical Clinic in Potts Camp, Mississippi, where the violence occurred at about 10 a.m. Tuesday, said Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson, reportsThe Clarion Ledgernewspaper. Carl Robinson.Facebook “Witnesses reported seeing Robinson stomping outside the clinic before going inside the clinic,” Dickerson told theNortheast Mississippi Daily Journal. “A .38-caliber hammerless Smith & Wesson pistol was found at the scene of the shooting....

Nicholas Smoot.Photo: Jefferson County Sheriff’s OfficeThis week, a jury in Missouri found a 29-year-old man guilty of second-degree murder in the 2019 beating death of his father.Online records confirm Wednesday’s verdict against Nicholas Smoot, who was also convicted of armed criminal action and domestic assault.Nicholas will be sentenced next month, and faces up to life in prison.The murder occurred in Hillsboro on Dec. 19, 2019.Investigators learned that Nicholas was physically assaulting his fiancée when his 53-year-old father, Eric Smoot, tried intervening....

Photo: GoFundMe Investigators have yet to discuss a possible motive behind the shooting deaths of a Missouri woman, her two small children, and her 61-year-old mother — but they have arrested a suspect on numerous criminal charges. On Saturday evening, Richard Darren Emery, 46, allegedly killed Kate Katsen, the 39-year-old woman he had been dating for a little over a year, along with her two kids, Zoe Kasten, 8, and Jonathan Kasten, 10, according to police....

Misty Copeland and Taylor Swift in Los Angeles in November 2019.Photo:Misty Coopeland/instagram Misty Coopeland/instagram Working withTaylor Swiftis an experienceMisty Copelandwill never forget. Joining Swift onstage duringher career-spanning performance at the 2019 American Music Awardsis something that Copeland recalled as being “incredible” during an appearance on this week’sWho’s Talking to Chris Wallace? “You know, I have to say that Taylor Swift was one of the most humble, down to earth [individuals],” Copeland told host Chris Wallace....

Sen. Mitch McConnell.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty In the latest sign of Republicans distancing themselves fromDonald Trump, one of the president’s most prominent allies in the Senate blamed him, in part, for inciting the deadlyU.S. Capitol riot. McConnell, 78, has long been a powerful political ally for Trump, 74, during his time in office. However, in Trump’s final days, he’s secluded himself in the White House while support from once-loyal GOP lawmakers has dwindled....

Mitchell Tenpenny was feeling uninspired. The world was in the midst of the pandemic, and touring was off the table for the country singer andhis fiancée, fellow musician Meghan Patrick. While Patrick was upstairs watching movies, Tenpenny went down to his studio and started tinkering with a new guitar riff. He jokes he has “a million” guitars, but something about holding a new one can spark an idea. He went down to Carter Vintage Guitars and bought a pre-war gut string classical guitar that he says “sounds so good....

Trevor Bauer.Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Former MLB pitcherTrevor Bauerwill play in Japan following a lengthy suspension amid sexual assault allegations. The 32-year-old will play for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, a move that the team announced in avideoposted to social media. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing for the BayStars this year,” Bauer said at the end of the video. “Playing in the NPB has always been a dream of mine, and I can’t think of a better organization to do it with,” he continued....

Elly Mayday.Photo: Elly Mayday/InstagramModel and body positive activistElly Maydayhas died at age 30, after a long struggle with ovarian cancer.Her family announced that she had passed away on March 1 on her social media accounts.“Ashley was a country girl at heart who had a passion for life that was undeniable,”her family wrote. “She dreamed of making an impact on people’s lives. She achieved this through the creation of Elly Mayday which allowed her to connect with all of you....

Moderna coronavirus vaccine.Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The first doses ofa COVID-19 vaccinewent into arms in the U.S. in mid-December, sparking hope that the vaccine, which is around 95% effective against the virus, will finally bringan end to the pandemic. But one of the remaining questions is how long the protection will last. On Monday, Moderna, one of the two pharmaceutical companies that produced an approved COVID-19 vaccine, shared the positive news that their formulation should provide at least a year’s protection against the virus....

Content warning: This story contains disturbing descriptions of alleged sexual abuse. The alleged victims of the woman known as “party mom” whoallegedly hosted alcohol-fueled parties and watched her teenage guests have seximplored a judge to give her the maximum sentence if she pleads guilty. They spoke emotionally about how starting in June 2020 through the spring of 2021, O’Connor allegedly hosted parties for her teenage son and his friends, “facilitating and watching” their sex acts, some of which were non-consensual....

Torrey Scow is used to getting looks as she goes about her daily life with four kids — triplets Lexi, Zoey and Lincoln, 18 months, and daughter Emory, 5 — but when she shared her experience at jury duty, others really took notice. In June, the mom of four was called to jury duty and thought a lack of child care would allow her to reschedule. Torrey Scow Instagram “It’d be easier if they were older toddlers, but they’re still babies who need bottles and changing at different times....