Northeast
Massachusetts man accused of beating parents and setting home on fire, leaving them to die
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A man was arrested after allegedly beating his elderly parents, lighting their Massachusetts home on fire and leaving them in the residence despite their pleas for help, according to authorities.
Darius Hazard, 44, was charged with murder and arson after his parents — 76-year-old Venture and 83-year-old Donald — were found dead in the living room of their burned North Adams home on Monday, according to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
Hazard confessed to physically assaulting his parents inside their home, pouring gasoline on the floor and setting the house on fire before driving away and abandoning them in the burning structure, investigators said.
Both of the suspect’s parents were found dead in the home by firefighters who responded to the blaze at about 7 a.m. on Monday. The medical examiner ruled their cause of death as smoke inhalation.
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Darius Hazard, 44, was charged with murder and arson. (North Adams Police Department)
Police later took Hazard into custody at a Walmart parking lot. Officers frisked him, and he said he had a knife in his car. He said he had attempted to stab himself, and he had injuries to his thigh and chest.
Prosecutors said Hazard told the officers he became “really, really angry” while he and his father were helping his mother, who had difficulty walking and suffered from advanced arthritis and scoliosis, after she fell around 3 a.m., court documents show, according to WNYT.
“I guess I snapped,” he said.
Darius Hazard confessed to physically assaulting his parents inside their home, pouring gasoline on the floor and setting the house on fire, investigators said. (North Adams Police Department)
Hazard was yelling at them and hitting them repeatedly, the outlet reported. His father told him to stop, which he eventually did. He then shoved both parents to the floor and struck them with various objects, as well as his fist. He even threw a fan at his father.
He poured gasoline on the floor upstairs and in the living room, set a match and drove away.
His parents were injured, but alive when he left. He told police they were yelling “come back” and “help me, help us, we are in trouble” as he left the home.
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Darius Hazard told officers he became “really, really angry” while he and his father were helping his mother after she fell around 3 a.m. (North Adams Police Department)
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Hazard said he knew he should not have lost his cool like this. He said he had lost his temper in the past and yelled or broken things, but this was the first time he assaulted his parents.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains held without bail at Berkshire County House of Correction, News 10 reported.
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Northeast
Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials
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Officials in Piscataway, New Jersey, noted Tuesday that an individual with a machete was shot and killed by police, who then found the subject’s mother and grandparents dead inside a home, WABC reported.
Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler noted that the suspect’s father dialed 911, the outlet noted.
When authorities arrived at the home, the man had a machete, authorities said, according to the outlet. Authorities attempted to utilize tasers against the man but indicated it did not stop the suspect, WABC noted.
He allegedly charged at law enforcement officers with the weapon, and they opened fire and killed him, the outlet reported.
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Authorities with the Piscataway Police Department responded to a 911 call about someone with a knife. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
After the shooting, police found three people dead in the home, a press release from the New Jersey attorney general’s office notes.
“The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Monday, January 5, 2026, in Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey,” the release states.
Preliminary information indicated that authorities with the Piscataway Police Department had responded to a 911 call from someone who reported a person with a knife, the release indicates.
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Police shot a man armed with a knife Jan. 5, 2026, in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
“Officers subsequently shot and killed a man armed with a knife who they encountered at the residence,” the press release noted.
“A 2019 law … requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved,” the release explains.
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Law enforcement shot a person armed with a knife in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)
According to a post on X, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev noted, “We are aware of the horrific crime in Middlesex County tonight. All our members that were involved are being evaluated. Thank you to all who have reached to offer support.”
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Boston, MA
Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape
In the middle of Michelle Wu’s orchestrated inaugural celebration, prosecutors described a senseless hospital horror that unfolded at Boston Medical Center – a rape of a partially paralyzed patient allegedly by a mentally ill man allowed to freely roam the hospital’s hallways.
It happened in September in what is supposed to be a safe haven but too often is a dangerous campus. Drug addicts with needles frequently openly camp in front of the hospital, and in early December a security guard suffered serious injuries in a stabbing on the BMC campus. The alleged assailant was finally subdued by other security guards after a struggle.
In the September incident, prosecutors described in court this week how the 55-year-old alleged rapist Barry Howze worked his way under the terrified victim’s bed in the BMC emergency room and sexually assaulted her.
“This assault was brutal and brazen, and occurred in a place where people go for help,” Suffolk County prosecutor Kate Fraiman said. “Due to her partial paralysis, she could not reach her phone, which was under her body at the time.”
Howze, who reportedly has a history of violent offenses and mental illness, was able to flee the scene but was arrested two days later at the hospital when he tried to obtain a visitor’s pass and was recognized by security. Howze’s attorney blamed hospital staff for allowing him the opportunity to commit the crime and some city councilors are demanding answers.
“This was a horrific and violent sexual assault on a defenseless patient,” Councilor Ed Flynn said. “The safety and security of patients and staff at the hospital can’t be ignored any longer. The hospital leadership must make immediate and major changes and upgrades to their security department.”
Flynn also sent a letter to BMC CEO Alastair Bell questioning how the assailant was allowed to commit the rape.
Where is Wu? She was too busy celebrating herself with a weeklong inaugural of her second term to deal with the rape at the medical center, which is near the center of drug-ravaged Mass and Cass.
If the rape had happened at a suburban hospital, people would be demanding investigations and accountability.
But in Boston, Wu takes credit for running the “safest major city in the country” while often ignoring crimes.
Wu should intervene and demand better security and safety for the staff and patients at BMC.
Although the hospital is no longer run by the city, it has a historic connection with City Hall. It is used by Boston residents, many of them poor and disabled or from marginalized communities. She should be out front like Flynn demanding accountability from the hospital.
Boston Medical Center, located in the city’s South End, is the largest “safety-net” hospital in New England. It is partially overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor.
BMC was formed in 1996 by the Thomas Menino administration as a merger between the city-owned Boston City Hospital, which first opened in 1864, and Boston University Medical Center.
Menino called the merger “the most important thing I will do as mayor.”
When he was appointed CEO by the hospital board of trustees in 2023, Bell offered recycled Wu-speak to talk about how BMC was trying to “reshape” how the hospital delivers health care.
“The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive,” Bell said.
But the hospital has been plagued by security issues in the last few years, and a contract dispute with the nurses’ union. The nurses at BMC’s Brighton campus authorized a three-day strike late last year over management demands to cut staffing and retirement benefits.
Kirsten Ransom, BMC Brighton RN and Massachusetts Nurses Association co-chair, said, “This vote sends a clear message that our members are united in our commitment to make a stand for our patients, our community and our professional integrity in the wake of this blatant effort to balance BMC’s budget on the backs of those who have the greatest impact on the safety of the patients and the future success of this facility.”
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