in hickory steve ohnesorge wbtv on your side. >> that is the greatest story. do you walk with a helmet until june? another place but there is not much anyone can do but be careful and protect themselves. >> state university spent $500,000 promoting the bond and experts say that may be illegal. at 6:00 we are asking tough questions of state leaders. on wbtv news is sponsored by... >> announcer: wbtv on your side. wbtv news starts right now. >> now, at 6:00 a 14-year-old is we ask how children are getting her their hands on weapons? >> first an investigation is shining a spotlight on state money used to promote the bond. >> i'm wondering if you can tell me why it was appropriate for you to use public money advocating for the bond. >> we are asking whether state community colleges violated state law. i'm maureen o'boyle. >> i'm jamie boll in for paul cameron. we started asking questions after learning state colleges contributes more than half a million dollars to the political committee supporting the bond. investigative reporter nick ochsner found state leaders

in catawba county, steve ohnesorge wbtv on your side. >> thank you. as deputies try to pinpoint what happened one lesson is clear they say never have your wallet or purse in a spot where a stranger can grab it or take what is inside. >> new information in a deadly crash in west charlotte one of the drivers involved is now charged. the crash happened this month at billy graham and boyar street. jessica costa ran a red light and hit a pickup truck killing the driver. costa is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and turned herself into the mecklenberg county sheriffs office over the weekend. >>> let's see if we have trouble spots on the roadways. and i can see there is a backup. tonya rivens has the details. >> independence boulevard that is where we continue to see congestion and problems. your first alert traffic is this is kind of different by the wal-mart there on independence boulevard and a lot of volume building. we had the problem at actually by pierson and eastway and independence. albemarle road where this exit is off of independence but

wbtv steve ohnesorge talked to one of the heros and the story is new at 5:00. been around the world taking care of business. >> wherever they are needed that is where they will be. >> sunday afternoon they did not have to go far. >> i know everyone has everybody's back. >> this time a young girl in trouble walking up gold avenue in kings mountain when a man grabbed her and groped her across the street the local guard unit was in weekend drill and they heard the girl shouting. >> and help me, help me. >> a passerby called police and soldiers yelled at the suspect and spotted two guardsmen going to help. >> they was coming across the road. >> the suspect let go. girl and they grabbed him and the man apologized. >> he admitted he was guilty of what happened. >> 19-year-old kyle moore was charged with sexual assault and battery. mary says it is a good thing the soldiers were there. >> think if they had not seen him? >> they were being good citizens. what happened until i told them. officials in raleigh are not sure if this is a recruiting tool but they want everyon

steve ohnesorge was in court and spoke with the sister of one of hewitt's alleged victims that story is new at 5:00. accused of three counts of first degree murder. five years ago when he was arrested he told me he was innocent. >> did you kill those people? >> no, i did not, sir. >> the murders happened four people shot and three died u i want justice for all three. >> beverly's sister was among the victims and beverly was in court today as the defense argued that the state failed to turnover all evidence in a timely fashion and the judge agreed and says it was not enough to throw out the case and we learned a plea deal was offered to hewitt second degree murder. >> i wish he would take the plea deal so we do not have to relive this nightmare. >> he said no. still maintaining his innocence. just as he has since that day he was charged. >> you did not do any of this? >> no, sir. >> his rejection of the deal means the death penalty is on the table if he is convicted. no matter what happens here, justice will be served. judgment some day. and it's god. >> his judgment in here gets unde

wbtv's steve ohnesorge has the story now from catawba county. >> sam noticed what is happen togas prices. >> yes, i have. >> john says it's jolted a dime. >> they have gone up a lot the last week. >> along the stretch of 321 in catawba county, the prices in the upper 50s are in the 160s' and higher elsewhere. >> disappointed. it was fun. to have cheap gas for a while. >> many are wondering why it's happening with the crude oil prices so low and a glut of it on the market. but there is not a glut of gasoline. refinery space is limited. and this time of year they the systems and switch to summer blends and during that period at the beginning of spring gas prices will go up. 10 to 15 cents agallon in this area is possible. >> not good news for roy wallace. >> i drive 200-300 miles a day. >> everyone who puts miles in will feel the effects. a few cents can make a difference. >> oh, yeah. >> it's still $2 cheaper than three years ago. and danny browning has other plans for the money. >> stay at home. got a daughter getting married. >> always the chance prices will come back down. but no guara

steve ohnesorge on camera. we showed you part of that at 5:00 and here is the full story new at 6:00. >> tony herns says the man he killed, yes he admitted that to stranger. >> that the is my uncle. >> how particular co-came to be killed and why tony and this woman wound up here with the body that is the question that it began when a passerby noticed a strange car turning into this property. >> and called one of my officers. >> a deputy found this car stuck. a man and woman around it and spotted something else says the sheriff. >> found what appeared to be a drag in the leaves that led to a body. >> the two were cuffed and investigators moved in. lyndsay said nothing to me button any? yes he was here to bury his uncle. >> i brought him here to hide him because he attacked me and i >> he claims his uncle was drunk or drugged up. >> and unconscious and when i seen him expired i brought him to put him away. >> the woman had nothing to do with it all but was it bad luck that he got caught because his car was stuck?

steve ohnesorge has that story from hickory. >> you got to feel for four-year-old bryson. >> nasty cough and run any ross noses are horrible. >> in hickory with trees in full bloom and all that other stuff coming out, well... >> sometimes i'm miserable. >> allergy specialist is seeing a lot of patients and weeks before the normal rush period. >> we have pollen counts as early as a month ago. >> the big three is hitting hard, the pollen and the grasses and the mold, the trifecta of trouble and because it's so early here is the bad news about >> we will have a longer season than normal. >> the doctor says try over-the-counter stuff first. pharmacist says there is all kinds but read the warnings. some will make you sleepy and give you dry eyes and more. >> it can affect people different ways. >> absolutely. >> and because you never suffered before does not mean you will escape this year. >> the doctor says our bodies are always changing and the longer we live the more we are exposed to all the allergens. do not we surprised if one year you're allergy-free and the next year you have trouble

in catawba county, steve ohnesorge wbtv on your side. died deed ra traveled to flea markets. if anyone has information about that or anything else to call the catawba county sheriff's office they are asking for your help. >> right now this couple is now charged with murder in albemarle. we were there when one of the suspects admitted to killing a man. the duo tony hearne and lindsey lentz were arrested after they were trying to dump a body in alexander county an hour-and-a-half drive away. hearne said that he killed his uncle robert hearne, jr. in self-defense. they are both in jail. >> right now let's get over to alex giles live in the alert center with an alert from the f.b.i. about a bank robber wanted. >> an interesting case. look at the images we have gotten of the man police are sending out asking us to watch out for him. he robbed banks in raleigh, greensboro and knoxville and traveled throughout the carolinas. he is 6'2" or 6'3" and has a mole on a cheek. he has used vehicles some of one of them a black chevy trail blazer. keep an eye out if you see him let officers k

they may have never known about steve ohnesorge spoke with the man who called investigators he is on your side with new information on the case. >> toney hern was not talking as he went to court. lyndsay was silent, too. the sheriff thinks it was luck they were caught or maybe the lord stepping in. >> like he was leading the officers. >> a passerby, a former deputy, spotted this car in the woods yesterday. >> i did not seem right. >> he call to do in. >> the old cop in me. >> when deputies found them and the body of robert hern covered in leaves, brds and tires. tony told me he was trying to hide the body that he killed the man his uncle in self-defense. >> i never wanted to fight my uncle but he came in and came at me with his knife. >> hern says there was a struggle he had no choice. >> he was choking me and i was choking him. >> he survived and his uncle didn't but something is not you think if there was a fight to the death there would be evidence besides the statements from the subject, scratching and bruising something? these photos i took yesterday and today show none of that

one of the suspects confessed to steve ohnesorge and explained what he says led to it all. steve joins us live now with more. so, steve, is this murder have they been charged? >> well, i'm hearing from the sheriff now that there have been charges of murder that have been filed. and also charges of burying a body. but at this point, the investigation is far from over. there is a lot that they are trying to learn. now, tony hern, the one of the suspects in the case told me that this was all a case of self-defense. that his uncle came into where he was living last night and said his uncle was drugged up or drunk and then came at him with a knife and that is when everything happened. and he had no choice but to defend himself. they choked each other until they were both unconscious and when his uncle was expired and he came up here to alexander county to hide the body. picking the wrong place and wrong time. a passerby spotted the vehicle and called deputies and they came out and found tony and a woman here and they found the body. now, the two are charged and this is what tony

wbtv's steve ohnesorge talked to sullivan's father. >> ever since justin sullivan was arrested on the federal charges involving isis local authorities suspected that he was involved in the murder of his neighbor whose body was that murder scene in december 2014 is three doors down. the victim john clark was shot and buried in his own front yard. ballistics showed that a weapon at sullivan's home matched the murder weapon. a grand jury indicted him for murder last month. >> he messed up. >> justin's dad is the one who turned him in on the federal terrorism charges. the murder charges were a surprise. and it was tough to watch his son go before a judge on that today. >> see that our son and flashbacks of how he was and what could have within.- >> at today's hearing the state announced it would seek the death penalty. attorneys were appointed to represent him. rich says his son as told him he wishes he could live his life over. it is a tough time for this family. >> he is still scared. still scared. the unknown and for us, too. >> sullivan will remain without bond. the federal charges ar