Smoke and flames tearing through a home. A wake county family loses nearly everything. what weve learned about the cause. Plus calls for change. A tearful plea from the mother of a murder victim. What shes demanding from police and the community. And. A raleigh couple accused of abusing and killing a dog. The womans teary defense. Eyewitness news starts right now. Now a Fire Destroys a wake county home. Good evening everyone. Im tisha powell. And im steve daniels. chopper 11 hd. Brought you the story live as breaking news during our news at six oclock. As flames and thick black smoke poured from the roof. The fire started just before six oclock on cortona way. not far from buffalo road near the wake Johnston County line. Angelica alvarez is live near the scene with the the home though. Is a total loss. Its going to be a long night for firefighters. Theyre still here. Working to put out hot spots. As of right now they dont know yet what caused the fire. But say it does appear to be accidental. Endia brewer neighbor 19 14 18 i was watching tv and i heard, it was just like boom, it was a pow, i went outside and the smoke was dark. Endia brewer witnessing the worst of the flames taking over this home here in the 78hundred way. This view from chopper 11 hd. Showing fire shooting through the roof. The fire fight was intense. You can see firefighters breaking windows. And on ladders. Brian staples fire chief, wendell fire dept. 19 24 40 lot of flames shooting up the back corner. Wendell fire chief. Brian staples. Says they had as many as 12 units from five Fire Departments out here. And says at one point they had to pull out for their own safety. Brian staples fire chief, wendell fire dept. 19 27 15 once the roof started collapsing we hit it from the outside, used the ladder truck to knock down the brunt of the fire and then went back in with hand lines. He says the fire started here in the back. In the deck area. Then took over both floors of the home. And with the closest fire hydrant. Almost two miles away. They had to truck in the water. 19 25 35 we had five tankers, we set up a water point to the next closest hydrant which is on turnip seed road and we were trucking in water, filling a 2,000 gallon tank. The chief says they never ran out of water. Still the flames complete loss. The family was not home at the time. But their dog was. Im told a neighbor down the street actually ran into the home. Before firefighters arrived. And rescued the dog. The Highway Patrol identifying the driver who crash this morning on i40. Several people raced to pull others out of those burning cars. Troopers say 63 yearold Dempsey Smith of wilson. Died. Other drivers hurt in the crash were transported to duke and unc hospitals. Troopers say it all started when a car stopped in traffic was rear ended by another vehicle. A total of seven cars were involved. I40 westbound was closed for several hours causing massive backups. You can look for updates on this developing story on abc11dotcom or the abc11 mobi a raleigh woman accused of torturing and beating her rescue dog tells Eyewitness News she didnt do it. Raleigh police say last thursday night Khai Daugherty and annaliese petersen were at the Swimming Pool at Bexley Apartments when their dog. Named eclipse who they rescued from a shelter five months ago. Was beaten and then drowned. Petersen says she was swimming in another part of the pool and thought her boyfriend was playing with the dog. She says moments later he was taking the dog out of the water. Saying it out of jail. The judge raised Khai Daughertys bond from 3 thousand to 10 thousand dollars after reading the warrant. both are due back in court next month. A grieving mother ple answers and change in her community. Her tearful outburst comes less than a week after her son was found shot to Death Outside a Southeast Raleigh home. So far, no arrests have been made in the death of laquan anderson. Heather waliga joins us from the raleigh Eyewitness News center with more on the communitys frustration. Front of dozens of people. Begging for an end to the violence. Just days after her sons lifeless body was found on a Southeast Raleigh street. Mothers who have lost children gathered tonight to console her. And plea for peace. In an area plagued by crime. A mother overcome with grief. The pain of losing her son to murder. Too much to bear. 23yearold laquan week on fisher street. The first deadly shooting in the area since a gang truce in july. Friends say the former gang member. Was turning his life around. 18 46 47. Laying down his flag, no longer wanting to do the banging which they call it and just really trying to be there for his kids despite andersons violent death. Diana powell says raleighs streets are safer since the truce. And shes working to keep the peace. Calling a angela. Rolanda byrds son. Akiel denkins. Knew anderson. Denkins was shot and killed by a Raleigh Police officer in february. 19 18 13. Its just sad to keep seeing these things happen whether its Police Accountability or black on black crime. Its two issues that we need to get a grip on in our community a community trying to keep the momentum toward peace and healing. As another for answers. 18 50 05. We have to stay united. If we ever fall apart we might as well just give up. But we cant give up. Weve got to keep pressing forward Raleigh Police still arent saying whether andersons death was gangrelated and they have yet to make any arrests. Theyre asking anyone with information to give them a call. Live in the rewnc, hw, abc11, ewn. New details about a weekend old boys and a 16 yearold. The boys were shot saturday night on reservoir street. A caller to 911 says it was a driveby. One of boys was shot in the stomach another in the leg. The 11 year old hit in the stomach underwent surgery and remains in serious condition tonight. No arrests have been made. A grand jury in wake county indicts a raleigh homeowner who claimed to be locked and loaded on a call to 911 in the shooting death of Kouren Thomas. Investigators say chad copeley. fired a shotgun garage. Hitting thomas. Copeley claimed he was defending his neighborhood. Thomas family and some people in the neighborhood call the shooting a hate crime. In a statement the family of Kouren Thomas says they hope that todays indictment sends a clear message that this kind of Malicious Behavior cannot and will not be tolerated. Also in wake county an act of forgiveness by the families who lost loves ones to a hitandrun driver during the february 2014 snowstorm. Marshall doran. Admitting in court today he was not only drunk but a coward when he he also thanked the families for their forgiveness. Dorans already serving a life sentence for setting a fire in kure beach that killed 2 women. His sentence for the hit and run was for a minimum of 2 years. family members. Leaving the courtroom in tears. They were there supporting 22 yearold jacielespino montes who is facing a list of charges linked to a crash that killed three of his friends. That crash. In raleigh near highwoods boulevard and Poplarwood Court over the weekend. Authorities say the wayneo when he ran off the road. Hit a pole and a tree. Then flipped. Espinomontes had a previous dwi in 2011. New tonight governor mccrory applauding a federal Court Decision blocking the Obama Administrations directive on transgender bathrooms in public schools. In a statement the Governors Office says were also pleased that a federal court has sided with governor mccrorys position that the Obama Administration has overstepped its authority by bypassing congress and the courts. The schools to let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice. But a judge in texas granted a temporary. nationwide injunction against the policy. That means, for now, federal agencies are not allowed to take action against schools that dont follow the bathroom policy. Classes start tomorrow at un c. But some students are already getting a lesson on how to be a Good Neighbor. This is the 13th year for the Good Neighbor initiative. It encourages students to work with residents to build community and keep neighborhoods clean, safe and quiet. Many students have never lived important for them to know town rules and neighborhood expectations. This year the group had 3 times more student volunteers than in years past. Donald trump putting a major speech on hold. On immigration. Who he met with over the weekend. Plus. growing concern over the zika outbreak right here in the us. where Health Officials are afraid the illness could hit next. Plus. Blown off course. Hundreds of americans create an international incident. The unintentional invasion. But first. A live look outside of the raleigh Eyewitness News center chris . These are grillers. And we make them at johnsonville. Theyve got way more flavor than ordinary burgers. Flavors like bacon and cheddar and steakhouse onion. People who try em, love em. Because theyre burgers. Made the johnsonville way. Plans for donald trump. Supposed to deliver a major speech on immigration thursday. But now thats not the case. Questions are looming as to whether or not trump is softening his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He met with his Hispanic Advisory Council over the weekend. Trump says he wants to come up with quote a fair but Firm Immigration policy. No word yet on when he plans to deliver his speech. Meawwhile Trumps Campaign announcing that his running mate indiana governor mike pence will be in wilmington on wednesday afternoon. Pushing back on reports suggesting he may have given Hillary Clinton the idea to use a private email account as secretary of state. People magazine reporting powell said quote her people are trying to pin it on me at an event in east hampton, new york. Powell who was secretary of state under president George W Bush suggested clinton was using private email long before he talked to her about the subject. A new warning about the spread of zika here in the us. As concern right now. The fight is spreading to south beach miamis second identified hot zone. The cdc is now warning pregnant women and their partners to avoid travel not just to those two places but anywhere in miamidade county. Doctors are now worried cases will spread along the gulf coast especially in the aftermath of recent flooding in louisiana and texas where standing water is a problem. Chilling news details released in that deadly alligator attack at walt disney world. A new report says a guest at the grand floridian warned staf about 45 minutes prior to the attack and was on his way down to warn families when he heard a woman scream. The report also says the gator acted in a predatory manner and that 2year old lane graves. Did nothing to provoke the reptile. The gator grabbed the boy when he bent down and that the boys father tried to pry open the gators mouth that was clamped on his son. But the animal broke away. In Virginia Police are investigating a college trip. They say a mom, dad and daughter were hit by a car as they were crossing the street. The mother, 57 yearold bonnie baha died from her injuries. The dad and daughter are recovering in the hospital. The family was in charlottesville droppingoff their son at the university of virginia. No charges have been filed. Now to the big board and the mustsee video of the night. We begin with a dramatic rescue off the coast of australia. Rescuers worked to free a yo trapped in shark nets. They spent about an hour coaxing the distressed mammal from the net. The whale was several feet long and most of the netting was around its tail. They say the whale was getting pretty annoyed but it was eventually freed. A fish wasnt going down without a fight. This egret was recently recorded swallowing a fish but the tilapia still putup quite a fight inside the birds fish flail around and fight for its life. But after a sip of water and a couple of head shakes the egret finally swallows the fish and carries on. And the royal norwegian guard bestowed the honor of brigadier sir. On king penguin sir nils olav. sir nils is the mascot of his majesty the king of norways guard. He wore a gold military pin as he proudly waddled his way up the zoos penguin walk. Past 50 nearly two months of heat and humidity, a cold front has brought some welcome relief. A cold front dropped through the region last night, and High Pressure over the midwest is funneling in cooler and drier air. Tonight, some spots near the may fall into the 50s, with low and mid 60s from the rdu area to fayetteville. Enjoy tuesday will be a sunny and warm day, but the humidity will stay low. Highs will be pressure will keep us dry and warm through the end of the week. But by the weekend it will get hotter and more humid. Enjoy the great the Saint Clair River turns into an international rescue. 15hundred down when heavy wind blew them into canada. The wind pushed the group in floats, rafts and inner tubes along the canadian shore. Several Canadian Police agencies worked to pull the floaters safely from the water. They were all sent back to michigan on buses. Every year one florida couple celebrates their wedding anniversary with a special tradition. Ann and Ken Fredericks nibble on a piece of the original cake from their wedding day. The couple got married in 1955 and theyve been same fruitcake for over six decades. Anns grandmother made the cake for their wedding day. The couple says they keep the cake wrapped up in a tightly sealed coffee tin that stays in a cupboard above their refrigerator. Ken and ann say each year they have a little piece with some champagne. From tailpipes to tailbacks. A nascar clearing the way for college football. Plus a golden trip. Coach mike krzyzewski. returns to the triangle. what hes calling team usas best underway in rio de janeiro. The streets around the olympic venues were empty today. After 16 days of high activity. They started working overnight to collect the trash around the olympic stadium. And they were still at work in the early hours. The rainy and cold weather drove away residents. And the remaining visitors. The transformation Bristol Motor Speedway infield into a football field. About 450 trucks are bringing in 11 thousand tons of stone into the speedway. The speedway is turning into a football field for the Worlds Largest football game. The battle at bristol will see the tennessee vols face the Virginia Tech hokies. That stone will be leveled and turned into a football field for the september tenth game. Planners expect 150 thousand attendees. Coming up next in sports. Mike krzyzewski basketball. Plus a starting quarterback decision arrives for one acc team but first the bulls were blasting tonight Casey Gillaspie especially. Not one but two home runs tonight for gillaspie as durham beat . Honey. Our turn . Yeah, we go left right here. woman vo Great Adventures are still out there. Well find them in our subaru outback. avo love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Get zero percent on select subaru models during the subaru a lot to love event, Basketball Program a decade or so ago. The best players either didnt want to bother, or if they did, certainly didnt look engaged. What followed was the most dominant string of International Mens basketball in history. 88 wins in 89 tries. Three olympic and two world titles. Needless to say k did the job. And now, for good, hes back to his day job 05 1319 57102 family and friends rolled out the re welcome back coach k and his family. With wife mickey by his side another golden trip to the olympics is now complete. You know we played our best game in the gold medal game. Just excited to be back feeling the weight of a long trip krzyzewski made sure it was a happy return. His team crushing serbia by 30 behind Kevin Durants identical point total. This title wasnt a given by any stretch it was a long journey and i best in the medal round. Our defense adjusted to the type of play we had to play against and then we were giving up instead of 90 points 75. Not one to wax poetically about the emotions of winning or in this case the end of his run coaching the national team. Krzyzewski didnt reveal that side of the story with the afternoon. He did say hes happy to be in the triangle. You know all are unbelievable but this journey each one is different. We knew we were learning but we have would have liked to learn not by winning by three points. Olympic coaches dont get gold medals and k doesnt need anymore hardware. Just a recharge and a new journey with duke. At rdu joe mazur abc 11 who his starting qb will be at state. Dave clawson on the other hand spilled the beans at wake forest today, anointing john wolford the man for the deacs opener vs tulane. Clawson said former southern durham star Kendall Hinton will also play in the game, so it seems far from a one guy situation. Both wolford and hinton played last year too join us tomorrow morning on abc11 for the latest Eyewitness News. Well see you again tomorrow night for i know you [laughs] welcome hi were your neighbors. We live across the street. Thanks for this. I see youve got Time Warner Cable like the rest of the hood. Genius. Yeah, they offer tons of free hd channels. And you can record six shows at the same time. Looks like youre all hooked up. Games about to start. Lets do it. Were watching here . Oh yeah. Ohh. How about you and i go watch my favorite show . Make your move to Time Warner Cable. For 89. 99 per month youll get tv, 100 meg internet and phone. Today on tmz harvey drake went to me mills hometown ek and called m a putty cat. [bleep] harvey did meek move to l. A. . Ice cube, dr. Dre moved out of compton. But if you Harvey Compton is different. Compton is the center of the universe when it comes to rap. No, its not. But harvey saw a movie once. [laughter] ryan lochte just lost his t major sponsofirsr. Harvey who . Speedo is out. Speedo was great to me. They were like a second family. I guess its a new chapter now. How does the guy make money for the rest his life . Own a car dealership. Ryalochte chevrolet. Come make a splash at