Mick's Morning News- Monday

Stephen Sterns Due In Court Today

(Kissimmee, FL) -- The man accused of killing Madeline Soto is due in court today in Osceola County. Stephen Sterns has a plea hearing this afternoon. He's charged with murder for killing the 13-year-old last year. Soto was the daughter of Sterns' girlfriend. Sterns is also charged with sexual battery, and jury selection in that trial is due to start tomorrow. A trial attorney not connected to the case says today's hearing could change those plans, though. Attorney Eben Self tells News 6 that Sterns' lawyers could have reached a plea deal that allows their client to avoid the death penalty.   

Undercover Detective Robbed At Gunpoint

(Tampa, FL) -- A Hillsborough County detective is lucky to be alive after an undercover operation took an unexpected turn. The sheriff's office announced yesterday a member of the Special Investigations Division Gang Unit was robbed at gunpoint. It happened Friday in Riverview. Deputies say the two teenagers, ages 18 and 17, pulled a gun on the detective during a drug buy. No one was hurt, and the teens were eventually arrested along with a third teen ID'd as the getaway driver.

Man Arrested For Trying To Kill Police Officer

(Pinecrest, FL) -- A man is facing charges after allegedly hitting a police officer with an off-road vehicle in Miami-Dade County. It happened Saturday night in Pinecrest. Police say officers were investigating a street takeover when Officer Andres Garcia was hit. He was pinned between his cruiser and the off-road vehicle when he fired a shot. The bullet didn't hit anyone, and the man on the off-road vehicle took off. The man identified as Adolfo Denis, Jr. was eventually caught and arrested. The charges against him include attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and aggravated battery on an officer. He's due in court today. As for Officer Garcia, he was taken to the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

World's Largest Cruise Ship Moving To Residence In Port Canaveral

(Port Canaveral, FL) --Royal Caribbean's "Star of the Seas" is making its way to its new residence in Port Canaveral. The world's largest cruise ship departed a Finland shipyard last Thursday where it was being built. The ship can accommodate over fifty-six hundred passengers, has twenty different restaurants, six water slides and other amenities. Tickets start at a little over nine-hundred dollars per person. 

Today in History

2024, President Joe Biden dropped out of his campaign for re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

2016, the NBA pulled the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina because of the state's bathroom law, which required transgender persons to use restrooms of the gender listed on their birth certificates.

2016, Donald Trump accepted his party's nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on this date marking the end of the final mission of NASA's 30-year space program. The shuttle had just completed a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.   

1961, Captain Gus Grissom became the second American to sub-orbit around the Earth flying aboard the "Liberty Bell Seven." 

1925, the John T. Scopes "Monkey Trial" ended in the Dayton, Tennessee. Scopes was convicted of violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. His conviction was later overturned.