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Texas zoo welcomes third gorilla in 115 years after doctors perform emergency delivery: 'An honor'
Life-threatening complications suffered by a pregnant gorilla recently forced a Texas zoo to deliver the female gorilla’s baby weeks early — with medical doctors helping to get the job done.
The Fort Worth Zoo announced the arrival of a baby female gorilla, who arrived earlier this year on Jan. 5. (SEE the video at the top of this article.)
The baby’s mother, a 33-year-old gorilla named Sekani, was pregnant with her fourth baby and was expected to deliver in mid-February, according to the zoo.
Those plans changed on Jan. 3, however, when veterinarians realized Sekani was moving slower than normal and holding her head as if she had a headache.
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Veterinarians figured out that Sekani was showing signs of preeclampsia — a blood-pressure condition that occurs in pregnant females, both humans and primates, according to the Fort Worth Zoo.
After consulting with a local obstetrician and neonatologist, the zoo staff agreed that Sekani needed to give birth via emergency C-section as soon as possible.
The baby gorilla — named Jameela, which means “beautiful” in Swahili — was born in January and has since been cared for by zookeepers. (Fort Worth Zoo)
On Jan. 5, a team of doctors, including a volunteer medical team, performed a C-section on Sekani, welcoming a new baby gorilla to Fort Worth, Texas for the third time in the zoo’s 115-year history.
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Dr. Jamie Walker Erwin, a board-certified obstetrics and gynecology physician, said in a press release that the experience was a highlight of her career.
“It is an honor and privilege to assist with care for this endangered species and to share my expertise with the veterinary staff at the Fort Worth Zoo,” she said.
Dr. Robert Ursprung (pictured here) said the experience of helping to deliver the baby gorilla was very similar to human childbirth. (Fort Worth Zoo)
Neonatologist Dr. Robert Ursprung helped with the resuscitation and stabilization of the premature baby gorilla — and said the experience opened his eyes to how similar the birth in primates was to that of humans.
“It was incredible how similar this mother-infant pair was compared to what I see in the hospital for babies born under similar circumstances,” he said in a press release.
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After the emergency procedure, the Fort Worth Zoo said it was interested to see that Sekani had little to no interest in caring for her newborn baby.
Zoo experts said in a press release that they believe this might be because Sekani didn’t “experience the necessary hormonal cues that come during natural and full-term birth.”
Sekani, pictured here, was showing signs of preeclampsia, which prompted doctors to deliver her baby via emergency C-section. (Fort Worth Zoo)
Due to this, zoo employees have been raising the baby gorilla for the last month, including bottle feeding her every two to three hours, giving her weight checks, monitoring her other health needs and more.
Now, however, staff have made the decision to train a 24-year-old female gorilla named Gracie to become a surrogate mother to the new baby.
“It was incredible how similar this mother-infant pair was compared to what I see in the hospital for babies born under similar circumstances.”
Gracie, whom the zoo said has two offspring of her own, is already trained in different ways to be a surrogate mother.
The baby gorilla was born a month early via emergency C-section. (Fort Worth Zoo)
“Zookeepers are hopeful Gracie will be an ideal surrogate mother, exhibiting maternal behaviors that will be necessary for the baby to thrive: holding and carrying of the infant, protection, cooperation with zookeepers during feeding time and teaching the little one necessary social skills she needs to be a gorilla,” the zoo said in a media statement.
Staff at the Fort Worth Zoo have decided to name the baby Jameela — which means “beautiful” in Swahili.
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Crockett says there’s ‘more than enough to impeach Donald Trump’ in Texas Senate debate
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, called for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump as she aims to win a U.S. Senate seat.
Crockett, an outspoken critic of Trump and his administration, made her stance clear during Saturday’s debate with Texas State Rep. James Talarici, also a Democrat.
The pair engaged in an hourlong discussion before hundreds of labor union members at the Texas AFL-CIO political convention.
Crockett said she would support impeachment proceedings against Trump, starting with his use of tariffs.
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett said she would support impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; John McDonnell/Getty Images)
“I think that there is more than enough to impeach Donald Trump,” she said. “Ultimately, do I think we should go through the formal process? Absolutely.”
Talarico stopped short of suggesting whether he would support impeachment proceedings, except to say, “I think the administration has certainly committed impeachable offenses.”
Crockett has frequently criticized Trump over a range of matters, including his crackdown on illegal immigration.
She recently likened Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign to Nazi Germany and accused the Supreme Court of sanctioning “modern day slave patrols.”
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Primary candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, participates in a debate with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention on Jan. 24 in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)
“Because when we look at other places, say, places that did things like — oh, you know — go door to door, looking for people as they had to hide out, say — in an attic. Does that sound familiar to anybody?” Crockett asked during a hearing earlier this month titled: “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota.”
Amid her criticism of Trump, Crockett joined more than 70 House Democrats in co-sponsoring articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for “systemic abuses of power, violations of civil and constitutional rights, and deliberate obstruction of congressional oversight.”
“Secretary Noem has violated her oath and weaponized ICE against American communities,” said Crockett. “What we are witnessing is not public safety — it is state-sanctioned violence. It is unconstitutional, it is dangerous, and it demands accountability.”
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The Democratic nominee for the Senate race will be chosen in a March 3 primary. The winner will face the winner of the Republican contest between Sen. John Cornyn, Rep. Wesley Hunt and state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Career criminal accused of killing elderly woman in violent home invasion after skipping court days earlier
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A Texas man with three prior convictions is back behind bars after allegedly gunning down an elderly woman during a home invasion earlier this week, just days after authorities signed a warrant for his arrest after reportedly failing to appear in court.
Richard Mouton, 34, and Tajuana Thomas, 38, are charged with capital murder after allegedly shooting a 72-year-old woman to death at her home in Houston’s Kashmere Gardens neighborhood on Monday, the Houston Police Department said in a statement.
The identity of the victim has not yet been released by authorities.
Witnesses told authorities that Thomas had been angry with the victim after she previously refused to bail Thomas out of jail, while adding the two “argued about it all the time,” Click2Houston reported.
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Richard Mouton, 34, is charged with capital murder after allegedly shooting a 72-year-old woman to death in a home invasion in Houston, Texas on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, according to authorities. (Houston Police Department)
The incident unfolded around 1:50 a.m. on Monday, when both masked suspects allegedly entered through an unlocked backdoor of the victim’s residence – where Thomas previously lived – and found the victim asleep on a couch, according to the outlet.
The pair reportedly demanded jewelry from the victim and pointed an AR-style rifle at her, leading to a shootout between both suspects and the 72-year-old woman.
The victim shot Thomas in the hip and Mouton in the face with a revolver, before being killed by gunfire, the outlet reported.
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Tajuana Thomas, 38, is charged with capital murder after allegedly shooting a 72-year-old woman to death in a home invasion in Houston, Texas on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, according to authorities. (Houston Police Department)
Both suspects were subsequently transported to a local hospital, while the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.
The alleged deadly home invasion is reportedly not the first time either suspect has had a run-in with the law.
At the time of the shooting, Thomas was out on bond stemming from a misdemeanor terroristic threat charge, Click2Houston reported.
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Richard Mouton and Tajuana Thomas are accused of gunning down a 72-year-old woman in an alleged home invasion following a reported dispute in Houston, Texas on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (iStock)
Court records reportedly show in 2022, a victim told authorities that Thomas had been fired from her job before returning to her former place of employment and telling the victim she was going to “beat his a–.”
Meanwhile, Mouton was handed down a 60-day jail sentence in 2023 after being convicted of felony evading arrest while he was out on parole, according to FOX 26.
Mouton’s parole later ended in 2024, Click2Houston reported.
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In July 2025, Mouton was reportedly arrested and charged with felon in possession of a weapon, evading arrest and drug possession.
Court records reportedly indicate he allegedly ran 1,500 feet from a traffic stop while carrying more than 100 grams of marijuana, nearly 12 grams of Xanax, 5 grams of ecstasy, 3.4 grams of cocaine, over 24 grams of methamphetamine and a firearm.
While Mouton had been out on bond since about a week after his arrest, records show he failed to appear in court on Jan. 22, the outlet reported.
His failure to appear reportedly resulted in authorities issuing a warrant for his arrest just two days before the alleged deadly home invasion.
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“It’s always disturbing that you could be on parole, get a felony conviction, and still be on parole and not have your parole revoked,” Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers told FOX 26.
The Harris County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s comment regarding both Mouton and Thomas’ previous parole decisions prior to the alleged murder.
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Texas killer asks victims’ families for forgiveness before becoming first execution of 2026
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A Texas man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend died by lethal injection Wednesday evening, marking the first U.S. execution of the year.
Charles Victor Thompson, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. local time after receiving the injection at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Huntsville Unit. He was found guilty in the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at the woman’s Houston-area apartment.
Before the lethal dose was administered, Thompson asked the families of his victims for forgiveness, adding that he hoped “you can begin to heal and move past this.”
“There are no winners in this situation,” he said after a spiritual adviser prayed over him, adding that his execution “creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later.”
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Texas executed Charles Victor Thompson, the first person put to death in the U.S. this year. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
“I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for what happened, and I want to tell all of y’all, I love you and that … keep Jesus in your life, keep Jesus first,” he said in his final words.
Thompson gasped loudly as the injection began taking effect, according to The Associated Press, before taking about a dozen breaths that turned into snoring sounds. He then stopped moving and was pronounced dead about 22 minutes later.
After witnessing the execution, Dennis Cain, whose son was killed by Thompson, said, “He’s in hell.”
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Charles Victor Thompson was executed in Texas for the 1998 killings of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
Harris County District Attorney Sean Tear, whose office prosecuted the case, said, “This chapter is closed.”
“It was justice a long time coming,” he added.
On the night of the murders, Thompson visited Hayslip’s apartment at 3 a.m. and got into an argument with Cain, according to court records. Thompson was told to leave the complex after police were called, but returned three hours later and shot the couple.
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An execution chamber in a Texas prison. (AP)
Cain died at the scene, while Hayslip died one week later.
Thompson’s original death sentence was later overturned, but a jury again sentenced him to die by lethal injection following a new punishment trial in November 2005.
Not long after being resentenced, Thompson escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston and spent three days on the run before being caught.
He was arrested in Louisiana while trying to set up overseas wire transfers in an apparent attempt to flee to Canada.
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About an hour before the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief order rejecting a final appeal from Thompson. Earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Thompson’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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