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Tuesday, may 13

Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

News

Waldorf Teen Dad-To-Be Killed Walking Home From School: Killer Learns Prison Fate He was moved to Maryland for a better life—just weeks after learning he was going to be a dad. But 17-year-old Rajon Lateef Jackson III was gunned down steps from his front door in Waldorf, and now his killer has learned his fate, prosecutors announced. Elijah Bernard Barnes, 20, of Waldorf, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the 2023 murder of Jackson, a high school student and soon-to-be father, according to Charles County State’s Attorney Tony Covington. “Rajon’s father moved Rajon here to Waldorf for a safer environment and that is just heartbreaking,” Assistant State’s Atto…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

Police & Fire

Virginia Teen Killed, Two Hurt After Honda Slams Into Tractor-Trailer On I-68 In Maryland: MSP A 19-year-old Virginia man was killed and two others were hospitalized after their Honda slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer on I-68 in Maryland, state police said. Nihaal Babu Grandhi, 19, of Ashburn, was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on eastbound I-68 near mile marker 13 in Grantsville, according to Maryland State Police. The crash happened around 7:10 p.m. on Saturday, May 10. Grandhi was a front-seat passenger in a 2005 Honda Accord that rear-ended a tractor-trailer while both vehicles were traveling east on I-68, police said. The driver of the Honda, Geor…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

News

Maryland Man Learns Fate In Deadly Maryland Drive-By Shooting That Killed Teen A Maryland man will spend at least the next three decades behind bars for his role in a deadly drive-by shooting that killed a teenager in Montgomery County, prosecutors announced. Kyler Mcroy, 22, of Gaithersburg, was sentenced to life in prison, with all but 30 years suspended, in connection to the 2022 shooting death of 19-year-old Keon Jones in Gaithersburg, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office. The sentence, handed down on Friday, May 9, also includes five years of supervised probation after Mcroy’s release. The judge recommended placement in the Patuxent Youth…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

Police & Fire

Vacant Cecil County Bar Goes Up In Flames After Owner Turns On Power: Fire Marshal A former Maryland bar went up in flames Monday night, causing an estimated $250,000 in damage, fire officials said. Dozens of firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze that ripped through the vacant Beachcomber bar and restaurant on Bladen Street in Charlestown, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. The fire broke out just after 6 p.m. on Monday, May 12, fire officials said. The owner and another person were reportedly checking on the property when they tried to turn on the electricity, heard a noise, and later spotted smoke, according to the fire marshal’s office. They called 911 an…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

Police & Fire

Deputy Who Shot Knife-Wielding Man Outside Frederick Bar Identified: Sheriff (Updated) A man is recovering after being shot by a Frederick County Sheriff’s deputy outside a downtown bar when he refused to drop a knife during a mental health crisis, authorities said. The officer-involved shooting happened around 6:44 p.m. on Monday, May 12, in the 300 block of North Market Street in Frederick, according to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO). Deputies said the situation began when a deputy was flagged down near Old Towne Tavern about a man having a mental health crisis in the parking lot. Police said the man approached the deputy with a knife. The deputy gave multipl…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

Business

Getting Inked? FDA Warns These Tattoo Inks Could Cause Rashes, Scarring, Infections Planning your next tattoo? You may want to check the ink first. The FDA says two popular tattoo ink products could leave customers with infections — or worse. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning tattoo artists, retailers, and customers to stop using and selling two popular Sacred Tattoo Ink products after testing revealed they were contaminated with harmful bacteria that could cause serious skin infections, federal officials announced. According to the FDA, tests confirmed that Raven Black and Sunny Daze tattoo inks, both sold under the Sacred Tattoo Ink brand, are contamin…

by Zak Failla

05/13/2025

Police & Fire

Harley-Davidson Riders Hospitalized After Van Crash In Elkton, State Police Say Two people riding a motorcycle were hospitalized after a van struck them at a Cecil County intersection Monday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. Troopers from the North East Barrack were called to the intersection of Blue Ball Road and Dogwood Road in Elkton around 2:40 p.m. on May 12, for a reported crash involving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and a Chrysler van, police said. According to a preliminary investigation, the van, driven by Ethel Smith, 73, was traveling west on Dogwood Road when it struck the motorcycle, which was heading north on Blue Ball Road, police said. The…

by Zak Failla

05/12/2025

Police & Fire

Group Beat Maryland Man, Hurled Slurs In Walkersville Hate Crime: State Police A Maryland man was assaulted and targeted with slurs in a late-night hate crime outside a Walkersville convenience store, authorities say. Troopers from the Maryland State Police Frederick Barrack are asking for the public’s help identifying four suspects wanted in connection with a reported hate crime assault that happened just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, in Walkersville, police said. According to investigators, the 25-year-old victim told troopers he was in the parking lot of a convenience store on the 8400 block of Woodsboro Pike when four unknown men attacked him and made derogat…

by Zak Failla

05/12/2025

News

Missing Man, 23, Found Dead In Gainesville Woods Near Abandoned Mercedes, Police Say A 23-year-old man who vanished after leaving his Virginia home has been found dead in the woods near his parked Mercedes, police said. The discovery was made around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, in the area of Morgan Island Way and Links Pond Close in Gainesville, according to the Prince William County Police Department. Police said the man had been reported missing by family members earlier that day after leaving home the night before in his Mercedes ERS. Officers searching the area found the unoccupied Mercedes parked nearby. During a canvass of the wooded area, police located th…

by Zak Failla

05/12/2025

Police & Fire

Hit-Run Driver With Handgun Slams Trooper’s Car On Route 50 In Annapolis: MSP A loaded gun was found in the truck of a man who rammed a state trooper’s vehicle on Route 50 in Annapolis and took off, police said. Ryan Daniel Heim, 27, of Annapolis, is facing multiple charges after allegedly hitting a Maryland State Police patrol car and fleeing the scene early Monday morning, May 12, authorities said. The crash happened around 1:30 a.m., when a state trooper was sitting inside his unmarked patrol car on Route 50 at Route 450. The trooper was working a detail for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, according to police. “While…

by Zak Failla

05/12/2025

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