allegedly made up a story about a hopeless man who tried to steal their phone on the way to school and bit them during a scuffle. now the investigators believe the students started the fight. >> a lot of parents don't teach the kids respect toward z these people. >>reporter: they're not in trouble with the school district because the fight happened off campus. their lies scared people and made the school send out a robo call. >> remind your student about stranger danger. >>reporter: it's not clear who he is or if he's okay. the investigation out here is still open, but if these kids are charged as a adults or with felonies, we should finally be able to get their names and ages. we'll keep you posted and let you know if we do. reported in orange county, tim barber, channel 9, eyewitness news. and we are following breaking news out of orange

grand jury indicted a security guard accused of murdering a tenant at the apartment complex where he worked. stephen has been indicted on first-degree murder charges for the rape and murder of sasha. this video shows him right there walking with her through the uptown place complex in october. orlando police say he followed her into her apartment, killed her, and then 30 minutes, we're going to tell you what this means for the case. marion county deputies are searching for a killer tonight who broke into a woman's home and murdered her. northwest u.s. highway 225a in ocala. channel 9 talked to the deputies today and they're still looking for leads. >>reporter: yeah, they're still searching, they say they've been out in their patrol cars looking for leads, they used k. 9's in and around the home and used social media, but so far, they say that killer is still on the loose. >> our detectives are doing thefrg r everything that they can -- everything that they can to try to find anything that

>>reporter: the marion county sheriff's office is looking for the man who broke soo this home and took her life. investigators believe she was killed during a home invasion that happened in the early morning hours of january 25th. >> her husband came home and found her desoosed. >>reporter: officials say she and her husband are separated, while investigating deputies say was missing. they believe whoever killed her also stole her jewelry. right now, they're searching it. the sheriff's office has also developed a time line of events, they say at 4:48 p.m. on sunday, the 24th, the victim stopped at a gas station near her home l and she bought a pop. >> the last time she was physically seen alive. >>reporter: afterward, she went home and she talked to family members via text until 10:48 p.m. deputies believe the home invasion happened sometime after that. and investigators say the road the victim lives on is very busy and they're urging anyone who may have seen anything to call them.

brothers and her husband, but they did not want to talk to us. right now, there is a $6,000 reward being offered for any information that leads to an arrest. we're live in marion county, channel 9, eyewitness news. right now, dozens of seminole county teachers and staff are gearing up to rally outside of tonight's school board member meetings. not coming up to an agreement on salary bumps. they'll begin protesting at 5:30. in volusia, the school teacher's union. we've been telling you about collective bargains. no agreement has been made, teachers want a pay raise, but district leaders say they don't have the money. after months of campaigning in iowa, the presidential candidates are moved on to new

last night, texas senator ted cruz defied the polls, and defeated donald trump. cruz got 28% of the votes in last night's caucuses, 4 points more than the billionaire, and marco rubio came in third, he's on trump's heels. on the democratic side, results were not as clear cut. hillary clinton won but by a razor thin margin. >> i am so thrilled that i'm coming to new hampshire after winning iowa. i've won and i've lost there, it's a lot better to win. >> from iowa, where we astounded the world. and now, in new hampshire, we'll astound the world again. >> democrat martin o'malley is calling it quits and so is the gop's mike huckabee. this first contest in the long road to the 2016 election is now in the books and while ted cruz claimed the republican

some of the spotlight, even though he came in third. jorge estevez has expert analysis on how last night's results will give marco rubio momented in new hampshire. >>reporter: bob, rubio needs more momentum, he needs to make this a two-person race, a challenge because at the top, cruz and trump, with new hampshire a less conservative state, cruz faces his own challenge and may not land in the top spot again. fresh off of a victory in the iowa caucuses, ted cruz has his sights set on the next battle. >> going on to south carolina, to cop pete and win this primary and win the general election and turn this country around. he's confident. >> we will go on to get the republican nomination. >>reporter: marco rubio came in a close third. >> for months, because we offered too much optimism we had no chance. celebrated.

last night, because he won the referendum among the so-called establishedment candidates, beating bush, and kasich and also christie the. >>reporter: the u.s. senator from florida has more work to do. >> marco rubio needs to excel again to separate himself. >>reporter: on the democratic side, hillary clinton won by a fraction of a percentage point. >> it was a great, great night. >>reporter: bernie sanders says regardless of the loss, he still has momentum. >> we are going to fight her in new hampshire. >> okay sochlt what does this mean for former florida governor, jeb bush? with marco rubio leading as the establishment candidate, he needs a second place finish in new hampshire or his run may be over. martha. >> jorge, late this afternoon, the florida supreme court had an indefinite stay of execution, the order to halt the execution of kerry michael -- came hours

that focused on the impact of last month's u.s. stream court's decision, striking down florida's death penalty sentencing system. the house subcommittee is discussing a proposal that would revamp the way the state sentences people to death. the bill cops after the u.s. supreme court found florida's death penalty system unconstitutional, it gives the judges, not the jury the power to ip pose the sentences. comply where the supreme court's ruling. at this hour, the state fire marshal still isn't saying what caused a mobile home to go up in flames. land in deland. the deputies have been called to that home quite a few times over the past few months. >>reporter: and neighbors describe a lot of people hanging out around here, particularly around that tent in the back of the property that still standing tonight. we uncovered 12 calls to a authorities in just the last

have rented this property. >> 15-20 people ran when the fire. >>reporter: a neighbor afraid to reveal her identity reported to the authoritiess what she saw. her account matching what others reports. neighbors all say several people stayed here, some in the backyard. >> there's a big tent in the back. >>reporter: fire crews say when they got here, everyone was out, but they could not say how many. this wok tauj talked to me saying -- talked to me only saying she rents the property with her husband and children and the people inside when the fire sparked were friends. she was away at work. neighbors had a hard time identifying exactly who lives here. cars here. >> we asked the deputies for a log of calls to the home since this tenant moved in. they reported 12 calls since september. some to serve warrants, others to investigate. trying to figure out what sparked this fire. >> we don't have any idea, they're going to investigate it.

investigation will include a canine that the far marshal plans to bring out here to determine the cause and source of today's fire. reporting live in volusia county tonight, channel 9, eyewitness news. and we posted more pictures of the fire and the damage left behind, you can see them for yourself at wftv.com/slide shows. valencia college students should soon be better prepared, because today, valencia college officially opened the doors to if new advanced manufacturing training center. the new facilities in the building that was supposed to be the home to a new gun manufacturing plant, in osceola county. late last year, the county voteded to end the lease with colt after the gun maker never delivered on promised jobs. we are getting a new look at the arrest of a man accused of shooting at a sanford police officer in the middle of the busy road last friday. the seminole county sheriff's helicopter captured the scene there from above after the

an officer and took off running. deputies tracked smith to the 417 and airport boulevard where he was arrested. he's now facing attempted murder and other charges. thousands of you have commented and shared this video of a day care director dropping a 4-year-old. all new at 5:00, why her former boss told us he was shocked to hear the suspect was working with children again. and we watched as daytona international speedway was overhauled during the nearly half billion dollars renovation, we're asking track officials if it passed the first major test. >> a fight over a million dollar lot to ticket is playing out in the courtroom right now. i'll have why the winner's exboyfriend says he deserves half. >> right now, we have all of the warmth of spring, across central florida, and another strong winter storm system, on the way,

we're following breaking news right now, in orange county, and sky witness 9 is live over this crash involving a deputy. this is right along orange blossom trail at west oak ridge road. fire rescue is telling us there are only minor injuries in the crash. and we don't know yet if that deputy was responding to a call, but we're finding out and we'll bring you more information as we get it. a nearly 10-year fight over a 1 million dollars lottery ticket, might finally be decided in a seminole county courtroom, it all comes down to a man's claim, he should get a half of his ex-girlfriend's jackpot. ray ramos was in the courtroom today. they agreed to split the winnings. >>reporter: he claps that the two did -- claiming that the two did make an agreement that they would split it if they were together. the defense argues that not only were they not together at the time, but the woman who

>> i don't remember the raffle number. >>reporter: lynn porier took the stand. after ten years after winning a million dollar lottery ticket. the exboyfriend howard browning says he gave her the money to purchase the ticket and the two made a verbal agreement that as long as they were together, they would split the winnings. >> howard browning has testified that their agreement that he says they had was on effective as long as they were together. >>reporter: the defense called witness after witness of friends and workers of porier, she was engaged at the time she won the jackpot. porier also claims she purchased the ticket herself. >> her position is they had no agreement to buy the lottery ticket together. >>reporter: browning first filed a lawsuit against porier in 2008, a judge threw out the case mid trial, but after browning appealed to the florida supreme court, it is now back in the courtroom and left to jurors to decide.

that would split the million dollar winnings in to. i have learned from porier's attorney that she has already collected her winnings, coming up on eyewitness news at 6, we did get a chance to speak to the legal analyst, i'll have what he says browning will have to prove in court to get half of the mown. in seminole county, roy ramos, channel 9, yns news. you can follow this lottery lottery lawsuit trial. >> air bag maker takata is getting blames for deaths and injuries in a new report. takata hired an outside group which claims the company doesn't have steps in place to improve quality or find or fix problems once its products are stin r installed. 11 deaths and 139 injuries have tors. one death here in orange county. 24 million vehicles have been those inflateers.

give you a break on your power bill, but it might not last long. filing a proposal today to lower residential customer bills by $1.65. it says a new power plant that goes online in april, will lower prices, but last month, it told the state it will seek a 4-year funding package, that would raise rates on monthly bills, by more than $8 in 2017. state investigators are trying to find out how an anaconda got loose in a brevard county neighborhood f we showed you this photo of the 9 foot snake yesterday on eyewitness news at 5:00. brevard county animal services captured it yesterday morning, on wood berry circle in melbourne. we requested records now of all of the snake permit holder in melbourne to see if anyone owns an anaconda governor rick scott has requested a federal declaration of disaster following last month's deadly tornados.

households and businesses that qualify, the tornado hit on january 16th, killing 2 and injuries 4. the damage was estimated at nearly 5 million dollars. >> powerful. >> ground hog's day 2007. >> 21 people died and they were all in mobile homes, the 2 fatale is in southwest florida, in mobile homes, there's no good answer for r that. know in advance where you can go. if you are under a tornado watch, you might have friends or relatives in a more sturdy structure nearby, downtown orlando, we are quiet on this ground hog's day, 78 degrees with the high today, 84. yes, indeed. we're going be there again tomorrow, with temperatures in the upper 70s and lower 80s. didn't hit 90 but still a sign that it is warm. february usually one of the kind of more progressively cooler months.

here in february, in el nino, we watch for the heavier thunderstorm prospects. for thursday, potentially if the afternoon, and evening. another night day tomorrow, then we get some rain, thunderstorms, starting in the late morning, all l the way through the afternoon, perhaps, even into the evening. before finally quiets down, a little bit cooler on friday. and yet another fast-moving storm system over the weekend. which we'll talk more about. baldwin park tonight, partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures, low clouds dominateded the early morning commute. i do think that the highest threat for dense fog will be in the northwestern zones, winds will be lighter here. leesburg, clermont, low clouds and ground fog. another very warm day for your wednesday. 84, maybe as warm as 85 in a few spots. upper 70s along the beaches, 84 the village, fruit land park. all the way up across the deep south, the southern great lakes, this front will make a lot of

when our next tans r chance for heavy -- next chance for heavy rainfall will be. tomorrow, late day, that's a sea breeze in february. don't see that very often; but 84 degrees. 9:00 o'clock in the morning, i will tell you our forecast model here is earlier with the on set of rain, than some of the other models. in the afternoon, you can see a threat for heavy thunderstorms and severe weather as the front slides by. it starts to move out thursday night, through early friday. so that's going to be our trend here to give us another good chance for heavy rainfall. our forecast model shows anywhere between 1-2 inches or more of rain. other models are going less. if there's lightning, there's going to be heavy rain. five-day forecast with your weekend always in view, a quiet day tomorrow. then we track heavy rain and storms on thursday.

another storm system, saturday through early super bowl sunday. just ahead, i'm going through the late afternoon, models with more on that second storm system impacting the weekend. martha. breaking right now, dozens of seminole county teachers and staff gearing up to rally outside of tonight's school board meeting. they're between 30 and 40 teachers so far and and the number continues to grow. the protest accepts from teachers and the school board noting being able to agree on bumps. they'll begin protesting when the meeting starts in just a few minute, but you can see they are lining the streets right now. we do have a crew at this meeting, we're going to have the 11:00. the seminole tribe is promising billions of dollar asks thousands of jobs if the state agrees to extend gambling. what it could force local dog tracks to do if they want a piece of the pie. threats on social media, and fights on campus, led to an

we're asking the police what they're doing to ease parents' concerns and next, what track officials told us they want to change just days after the public got the first look at a

daytona rising has risen; if mass the massive project is cleat. that's a fun way to watch it. the reviews are coming back positive right now, and channel 9 anchor greg warmoth got a personal tour for this weekend's central florida spotlight. the only thing that will be familiar to fans out there is the track. >> they wanted to keep that exactly as it is. this is the 30th year of going to the daytona international speedway, i've seen every basic modification over the years this one, folks, is mind blowing, daytona rising, the reimagining of an american icon. after 28 months, it finally crossed the finish line this past weekend. this past weekend, again, we saw racing out there and fans got a track. and the new modifications. and while social media responses were positive, the speedway president admits there are some issues and it needs some tweaks. >> that tells you something when

people stay until 2:00 a.m. to watch what's racing on the track. >>reporter: this was the morning after a 24 hour test drive. . >> i was worried that people would stay. it was amazing. 2:00 in the modern xg this place is crowded. >>reporter: like any new construction, there were a few quirks. >> we hit it out of the park on the rolex 24, we as staff see small things that the fans don't, we're working on the small things right now. >>reporter: stopping and starting is nothing new to the construction team. 6300 employees have had to hit the brakes and throttle several times. >> 2.5 years, 30 months, and in and around that 30 months, we've had to stop for each of the racing segments that come. >>reporter: every single seat, new. add in 60 luxury suites, three different concourses and much more. and while there were small issues, they realized this is a work in progress.

days to get things figured out. limited, a great opportunity be ready for the daytona 500. >> the race is on. again. >> wae tonight make -- we want to make sure we do a good job. even though it's new, we have to make sure we nail, here's something to keep in mind, the project was call z daytona rising, but that's not the name of the job. it's still daytona international speedway, but this one has more fanfare, a full report with the central florida spotlight sunday at 12:30 sfl looking forward to that. greg. tonight, we're finding out how crime ridden daytona's homeless problem was. the reason the police chief said his officers couldn't move in faster to stop it. >> plus, why charter schools say they deserve as much of your tax dollars as traditional public schools. >> and thousands of you have been outraged over this video of a day care director hit asking throwing a child.

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