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Estranged husband-wife dead after homicide followed by car crash during police pursuit

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Estranged husband-wife dead after homicide followed by car crash during police pursuit



Stephanie Francis, 44, was found dead in her Hopkinton home

RICHMOND − Two people are dead after a man shot his estranged wife on Friday, police say. He then died after crashing his car while being chased by the police the following day.

Stephanie Francis, 44, was found dead from a gunshot wound in her Hopkinton house on Friday, State Police Lt. Col. Robert Creamer wrote in a news release.

Detectives identified her estranged husband, Joseph Francis, 45, as her alleged killer and obtained an arrest warrant charging him with domestic violence murder and violating a domestic violence no-contact order. Police put out a be-on-the-lookout order for Joseph Francis and his black Chevrolet Suburban, noting he should be considered armed and dangerous, Creamer wrote.

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On Saturday, at 10:50 a.m., Westerly Police Department officers spotted Joseph Francis in his Suburban on Route 1 North, near the intersection with Route 78.

Husband flees from police

“Despite multiple attempts to stop Mr. Francis, he evaded law enforcement,” Creamer wrote.

Just 46 minutes after he was first spotted in Westerly, the SUV was spotted on Route 2 North in Charlestown. Police officers from Charlestown and Richmond began to pursue him, trying to stop the vehicle. Francis then sped down Dawley Park Road and lost control at the intersection with Nooseneck Hill Road. His car went across both northbound lanes of Nooseneck Hill Road and began rolling, coming to rest on its roof at the tree line, Creamer wrote.

Charlestown and Richmond police officers did not approach the crashed SUV, instead waiting until the State Police tactical team “affirmed the safety of the scene.” When officers finally approached his car, they found him inside and medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. His cause of death is pending an autopsy, Creamer wrote.

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Photos taken by the TV station WJAR, Channel 10, show the front of the vehicle to be totally destroyed.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription. Here’s our latest offer.

Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter



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Rhode Island

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

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2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick


WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

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The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information


A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

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McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe


As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.



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