a pit bull goes on the attack. the victim talking to us looking for answers tonight. >> and a new way play on, america.

now, new york's number one news. channel 7 eyewitness news. >> a grieving family tonight looking for answers. an 82-year-old woman found dead. at first, natural causes was the cause. but now a case of murder and the family now talking to us about the search for a killer. >> tonight, cool temperatures, even some flurries moving into our area. finally, it's december. good evening everyone at 11:00, i'm bill ritter. >> bundle up, the coldest air of the season is moving in. temperatures are falling right now and after the mild weather we've been having, it feels extremely cold out there. all bundled up. >> i like the no coat weather we were having. last weekend, we were gearing up for temperatures in the 60s. it is cold out here tonight and the wind is gusting. only the second time in all december, we're in the upper 30s in new york city. check out the skies clearing. 39 degrees in new york city headed down close to freezing. it feels like freezing.

windchills in the teens and 20s overnight. standards. map. tomorrow will be the first day all month below average. we've been way below average and on pace for the warmest december by a mile. 29 degrees northwest new jersey right now. same thing in some of our northwest suburbs. it is 40 on the island headed for 30s during the next hour. peek wind gusts over 25 miles an hour. now those winds are helping break up the clouds, but they are carrying in some of the flurries coming off the great lakes and entering the catskills now. and through sunrise, our future cast showing a stray flurry and wakeup temperatures not far from freezing and windchills teen to 20s. levels we have not seen yet. it's winter, but for just a weekend. gusts to 35 miles an hour, we'll make it feel like freezing tomorrow and again, it's just for the weekend as a big warmup as winter arrives and that's late monday night. complete seven-day accuweather forecast through christmas coming up.

>> and when you're out, keep the accu app with you to track the cold weather. bill. >> for the 82-year-old woman murdered in her home. police thought died from natural causes. the killer is still on the loose. this as the victim's family mourns her. the family talking only to our tim. who would want to harm myrtle? >> it is a tragic event. but as we move further, we grieve and deal with the situation today. >> grieving the loss of his mother, mark lewis and the rest of his family paid their respects to her. at a private wake funeral. they are also left with a tragic question of why someone would want to take her life. >> we don't have anyone on saturdays and sundays. >> saw her last in early november. when she arrived on november 9, she got no response. >> i was knocking on the door, could not get an answer. and i was very worried because

>> police were called and when they entered the apartment, they found myrtle in the suspicious. >> i discovered her. she was under the table. i didn't like the way it was. >> at first, it was believed she died of natural causes. but eyewitness news learned that while her body was being prepared for burial earlier this week, here at the caribbean funeral service, a knife wound was found on the back of the neck, which police confirmed. >> there will be more details later. >> some friends were learning of the homicide investigation and find it most troubling. >> they shouldn't be afraid, you know, you shouldn't be afraid for such an unfortunate thing. >> myrtle had lived at her apartment for a number of years and very independent. >> she had the independent spirit. she wasn't weak. she was a strong woman. >> and as they paid their respects here tonight, they kept asking who would want to harm her. reporting live in brooklyn, channel 7 eyewitness news. tim, thank you.

also new at 11:00, an arrest and a pair of bomb threats that forced the evacuations of a movie theater. jesse carol is held on bail. he left a series of notes inside the men's room at the movie complex on monday evening and again did it today. both times they were evacuated. >> new at 11:00, a knockout game taken to a new level. instead of punching someone out on the street, these thugs knock on your door, then punch you. three men entering the woman's building in the morris heights section monday night, clearly not wanting to be identified. when the victim opened the door, the men punched her, shoved her to the ground, and robbed her of her cell phone before taking off. >> the prisoner who sparked a crisis at the nypd by becoming the sixth person to escape from police custody was in court pleading not guilty. 20-year-old, cruz held on $20,000 bail after slipping out of handcuffs and escaping from the back of a patrol car. it happened last night.

he ran into the subway, that shut down for hours while cops looked for him. cops later did find him later at a group home. hundreds of shoppers evacuated after a small fire inside a store. everyone was ordered out of the mall in edison after smoke store. flames were put out and shoppers were let back in. >> a catholic church scandal, a well known priest facing allegations of sexual abuse that date back 30 years. the d.a. investigating john in pearl river. the archdiocese removing him from practicing after boys were deemed to be credible. the abuse allegedly happened in the 80s when he worked at cardinal hays high school in the bronx. >> police are searching for suspects tonight in a string of gas station robberies in newark. armed gunman held up attendance earlier today all within the

one of the robberies was caught on surveillance video. they weren't able to get a license plate from that video. at this point, there are no arrests. also new tonight, the spirit of the season not exactly what some folks on long island are feeling. the lights in the neighborhood are spectacularly gorgeous. they are so beautiful. the streets are jammed. totally jammed. traffic at a standstill. what if it were happening in your neighborhood? in bay port for us. >> from reign deer to polar bears, it's all part of the girl scouts annual drive through holiday light show. winding through a one mile woodland trail on a girl scouts campground. a few weeks a year, the massive production lights up the night sky and little faces. >> it's great, it really is a wonderful thing. >> this light show isn't putting smiles on everyone's faces, it takes place at the end of a residential street and neighbors there say this light show has got to go.

situation is going to be. you can invite people over, it's almost like a running joke that oh, i can't go down your block, because i don't know if i can get off it. >> this is video residents shot last year, showing traffic backed up their dead end street. in it, you can hear a first responder. i call 911, how long is it going to take them to get to my house? am i going to die in the process because there are 3,000 some odd cars? >> the concerns forced local lawmakers to step in. >> we tried to work with the girl scouts to find an alternative site. although i support the girl scouts and want to help them to be as successful as possible. i don't think that success should come to any single community. >> the girl scouts have taken steps to mitigate the traffic. including having the plan approved by local police and emergency services and hiring on site private security. christine with the girl scouts,

she says the light show is a fundraiser and without it -- >> it would adversely affect the way we conserve our girls. we wouldn't have the funds to bring in the programs we need to bring to them. >> now some residents here in town say the traffic was so much worse in the past. last year the girl scouts introduced time ticketing, which counts the number of cars that drive through here. residents say this year, they started using -- they say in past years, they have gotten into fistfights with motorists who thought they were trying to cut the line. not exactly the holiday spirit. reporting live here in bay port, channel 7 eyewitness news. thank you. president obama arriving in california just moments ago to visit the victims of the san bernardino terror attack. the president plans to meet with the families of the 14 people who were killed in the attack two weeks ago. from there, he and the first family will fly to honolulu for

their annual two-week christmas vacation. a political fire storm tonight in the democratic party, bernie sanders, presidential campaign, suing the democratic national committee to get back its access to a data base. sanders cut off from that data base today. exploiting a software error to read confidential information, that claims the data was stolen. why the front runner is on the offensive is puzzling many political experts tonight. >> the data base controversy sure to come up in tomorrow's debate. abc news and martha will moderate the debate, home of the first primary election on february 9. hillary clinton goes into the debate as a front runner for the party's no nomination against bernie sanders from vermont and martin o'malley. and you can watch the democratic debate tomorrow night at 8:00 right here on channel 7. we'll also be streamed live new at 11:00, if the name

operation were isis, what wold you do? isis pharmaceuticals will be known as ionis. the drug developer is saying its old name had become a distraction. after the egyptian goddess, isis. next week it will change isis to ions. yesterday, he was arrested for security's fraud. tonight, he resign second- degree as ceo of a pharmaceutical company. martin out on $5 million bond. 32-year-old was instantly revived after he hiked the price of a life saving hiv drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill. >> as we continue with eyewitness news at 11:00, a dog goes on the attack. another dog and its owner are hurt. tonight, the victim is speaking to us about what he is looking for tonight. plus, a light display now part of the police investigation. we'll tell you what the homeowner noticed when she woke

>> and meteorologist, lee goldberg returns with his cold weather accuweather forecast. what's the forecast lookin kids don't stay little forever. so help them get the opportunity they need.

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a suspected male thief leading police on a wild chase. police say the man driving at first was spotted stealing packages after patrol cars picked up his trail. he drove them through stoplights, driving dangerously near disney land. the chase ended when the suspect tried to flee on foot, investigators later say he was wanted for grand theft. sade. well, new tonight, a pit bull goes on the attack. first mauling a small puppy and when the pup's owner tried to intervene, that's when the pit bull charged him, viciously a.j. ross spoke to the victim.

five month old puppy is so much more than a pet. >> he means everything to us. >> the newest member of our family. >> when he was viciously attacked by a pit bull, tim didn't hesitate to jump inbetween. >> absolutely, just pull and i just dive over him to get him out. my hands were inside the pit bull. >> during the commotion, the pit bull's owner stood by helpless. chased the terrified pup down the street. >> he just bolted all the way back home and i just ran after him and caught up with him. by that time, the owners had gone away. >> thankfully, the dog didn't break any of tim's fingers, but we have had to go get rabies shots because we don't know who the owner is. >> has three fractures in his front paw and isn't capable of walking for a month. meanwhile, tim suffered 23 puncture wounds to his hands. and the medical and vet bills between the two are mounting.

>> this dog is still out there and so it's scary. >> tim and christine are hoping the pill bull's owner will do the right thing and come forward. at the very least, take better precautions so something like this doesn't happen again. >> every time i take him out, there are a lot of small dogs and children in this area and it's a safety concern. >> several surveillance cameras did capture that attack and tim and christine are hoping these images will help track i'm a.j. ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> from the lower east side, where cops right now are trying thief. joe holmes in the section with $800 worth of lights and decorations. when she woke up wednesday morning, she discovered they were gone. the extension cords. >> i don't lights. having stole them.

they don't belong to them. they belong to us. >> turns out, two other homes also had their decorations stolen this week. brooklyn playing host tonight to new york city's finest creators of a popular holiday tradition. the local finals of the international master's competition was held tonight in downtown brooklyn. the handmade beverage is typically made with cinnamon, coconut, nutmeg, rum. tonight's winner of the bronx. congratulations to her. >> rum. the secret ingredient. >> why don't we have any here? >> talk to lee. 11:35. >> we need some rum to warm us up a bit. >> oh boy, it's not as much foot traffic, although i did see some folks coming from a showing of star wars across the street. john showed up at the theater, which is unbelievable. that was exciting. outside, maybe that warmed everybody up. meanwhile, it is take the bus to the subway rather than walk aboveground.

we haven't seen this, 39 degrees northwest wind at 15. a high goes in the books at 57. that was just after midnight. still, 15 degrees above the average of 42. finally be below that tomorrow. the record high 6 degrees away from that. upper 20s north and west. dropping into the mid and upper 30s. the windchills are dropping below freezing. actually same thing on the island down the shore as well. feeling like 31. 34 at 8:00 a.m. lots of sun, but look at the wind. gusts to 25 early, and gusts over 35 during the afternoon. sun, clouds, stray flurry north and west and struggling to reach 40 degrees. feeling like freezing. the clouds are starting to break up and seeing flurries reach into sullivan and a few could continue to go into the hudson valley at times through the day tomorrow. the lake snow machine is operational. it's like fire hoses coming off of lake ontario and lake're row. 8 to 14 inches of snow. look at this area of flurries. that's reaching toward our

area, a stray flake, no accumulation. look at the future cast here, we'll start out tomorrow in the mid 20s to lower 30s. barely get to 40. clouds, and is the stray flurry and cold tomorrow night. now sunday is not as harsh after a cold start, the afternoon gets into the low and middle 40s. panthers and giants at kickoff, 42. not a bad day there. after that, the pattern is going to flip again. we'll be back in the 50s early next week. by christmas eve with the jet going back to the north, you're talking about the possibility of record warmth and not just 60 or so. it could be 65 to 70 by the time we get to christmas eve likely to be in the upper 50s to around 60. so, it's cold for a change at 7:15. sunrise, windchill in the 20s. then for tomorrow, high of 40. feels like we're in the 30s all day long. sunset at 4:30. the wind backs off after a gusty evening. we may drop below freezing in new york city. that would be the first time this season.

check out sunday, again, 44, not as harsh. look at the morning temperatures, mid 20s to lower 30s. it's chilly there. by the time we get to monday, the clouds are thickening and might be a late night shower, just before midnight and as it does, temperatures take off again. 58 on tuesday. it's morning rain, not much in the afternoon. light rain on wednesday, christmas eve forecasting 67 degrees and just slightly cooler as we head into christmas day. upper 50s to around 60. go with the barbecue on christmas this year. something else, amy frieze will pick it up. >> thanks, lee. >> coming up next, we'll show you what happens when star wars storm troopers show up at the white house. plus, the new way for diabetics

talk about star wars being everywhere. storm troopers today taking over the white house briefing room. air force -- the force awakens setting a box office record, $57 million, on track to be the biggest opening ever. the movie produced by disney, wabc tv. >> in tonight's health alert, a quick new treatment to help diabetics with low blood sugar. quickly increase blood sugar levels. the showing promise in clinical trials. researchers say the nasal treatment is nearly as effective in treating hyperglycemia as the only other current option. the spray must be approved by the fda. >> good news for a lot of people. rob powers up next with sports. >> already a fun night tonight, the knicks won a total of 17

games last season, that's at 17. tonight, a chance to win their 13th this season and four months to go. straight ahead, on the road in philadelphia, could the sixers put up any kind of fight at all? plus, the nets kind of headed the other way. when they hit the road, the road hits back. we'll see what happened in indiana coming up in sports.

christmas to my parents of new i only buy solid gold staples. because, um, sometimes regular staples, they just don't capture the richness of what you're stapling. like, um, like this illuminated page from medieval monks and this original sketch by leonardo da vincis. eh, separate they're fine... (vo) a new york man buys $80 gold staples to staple expensive things. see the gold staple, it just looks right. probably worth more now. (vo) you'd make a way better rich person.

you tease us with a lot of slam dunking. i can only get excited.

>> good for you, they meet the 76ers, but this time, overall, they have beaten philly, 18 meetings, the sixers with one win so far this season. so the knicks look to make it three in a row. aaron scored 29 last time. 22 tonight. derek williams, back to williams. the knicks were on their way. scored 20, kp has to get stronger. then again, he can do this on the other end. carmelo anthony hit four shots. scored 20. the knicks scored 65. empty the bench in the second half and it's a win. 107-97 knicks. they host the bulls tomorrow, one game under the 500 mark. the nets in indiana trying to put the brakes on a three-game losing skid. jared up to the challenge. nice first quarter move, had 26 points. he could also get the ball to the big fella at 18. everybody impressed.

2 point game at the half, and a 15 two pacer run. paul george ended up with 23. jordan hill added insurance. 104-97. the nets lose to the pacers. they are 1-12 on the road. the goal in the nfl this weekend, stay in contention for the post season and we get a big on saturday and again on sunday. let's stay at home. giants get the 13-0 panthers at the meadow lands. no one has beaten them yet. this is the kind of game the giants love. the record is 6-7, but keep in mind, they won six games all of last season. it will be fun to see what they have for carolina. the jets play tomorrow night in dallas. cowboys 4-9. the jets need to guard against the trap game, but people said the same thing last week against the titans and the jets won that by three touchdowns. a win tomorrow gets the jets to 9-5 and keeps them in the wild card hunt. let's get to hockey. the rangers 6-2-1. 0-4-2 after that. maybe that all changes tonight. the rangers got to get

something going and they have to get it quick. first period, j.t. miller made it a one-goal game. second period, ranger power play. the rangers make it a power play. 3-2. problem was, they didn't score again. the bigger problem was, winnepeg did. they look tired after back to back games. the mets made the signing official today. one year, 7.25 million. the big man on campus. the red storm trying to stay perfect at home and win a fourth straight overall. the cardinals are in from san antonio. had a nice night, 11 points, had four blocks. deron johnson had 15 points, but derail green was 8 of 11 from the floor. hit 5 three pointers, and st. johns loses 73-51.

join the conversation on facebook and twitter. the conversation tonight -- >> the deep freeze. >> cuddle weather. it's a cuddle alert. finish your cuddle pictures. >> you know, be nice with it. that's it for us, thanks for