that paralyzed two people learning his fate. >> then aragedy on the tracks. a teenager hit and killed by a commute rail train. >> tracking rain and warm temperatures tonight and the threat of snow by friday morning. >> and the father having toddler trouble in court but one officer stepping up in a big way. the adorable act of kindness caught on camera. first at 5:30, a tearful trial, the man responsible for a tragic accident in 2013 called to court, two people were paralyzed when his car smashed >> kelli o'hara was in court and joins now in brighton wi the kelly. >> very sad situation inside this courtroom. not only were both of those men left paralyzed, one was left with severe brain injuries and family members say their lives >> and can only begin to express how sorry i am.

from nicholas on his day of sentencing after the jury found the 22-year-old negligent in the 2013 crash, that left two men paralyzed, including 17-year-old mark delamar who was in the car during the accident. his mother says their lives have changed forever. >> there are no winners here today, and the outcome won't change what happened and all of us on september 6th. >> reporter: the other man injured in this accident kevin saluchi was not only paralyzed but the father of the three little boys was left with severe brain damage as well. >> kevin is awake with his eyes open, but it's not the kind of awake would you imagine. >> reporter: saluchi possibly overcome by emotion was rushed out of the courtroom listening to loved ones' impact statements. his best friend was also in the car. he wayed away from the accident and says the people truly affected by the crash are the children who will never get to know their father. >> to not be able to experience that for themselves firsthand,

>> reporter: a judge sentenced the 20-year-old to a year in prison as handcuffs were placed tears. families of the victim say nicholas has shown little remorse and they hope that he will do good with his life. >> some day when you have a son or daughter you will get the full impact of what you did, what you've done. >> popadopolis will also have to spend 2000 house of community service in a spinal and brain injury rehab facility. his family believes that he wasn't responsible for the crash. another driver who cut him off was. in brighton tonight, kelli o'hara, 7news. officials are trying to unravel a tragedy on the tracks that left a teenager dead last night. a 13-year-old boy is hit and killed by a commuter train. it happened near the endicott commuter rail station during yesterday's evening commute. passengers were delayed more than an hour as emergency crews

>> i just watched it was a better out -- wish it was a better outcome. >> reporter: the ntsb says they are investigating but do not the suspect foul play. police arrested suspects monday after noticing one of the men act suspiciously near an atm. >> police in boston making a large drug bust today. officers found more than 100 bags of heroin on the suspect along with a large amount of cash and a brass knuckle style knife. police say the suspect tried to run away from officers claiming they were assaulting him. police say he's a well-known criminal and facing multiple charges. we turn now to the campaign push in new hampshire. independents proving to be vital voters in the race for the white house. in the granite state, 44% of voters are registered as independents. so this time around, which candidates will benefit from

7's andy hiller checks it out. these are crucial, crucial voters. >> absolutely, ryan. we are back in our new hampshire bureau and i am joined by dr. joshua dick from u-mass lowell who is conducting our poll. we're looking at the independent voters because you can't overlook them he this out-number republicans and democrats in the granite state. their official name is undeclared. and dr. josh, who are they? >> well, there are a lot of people, moderates and also people who are disaffected and disengaged with the political process, and so need a little >> what's pushing them this year? pushing them this year, but right now what we see is that two-thirds of them op don't partisanship, so those issues that get to them are really the things that are causing them to distrust government. it's the economy. >> it's anger, it's the economy, >> at the end, though, aren't they just democrats or republicans? normally we think that a majority of them are democrats

it's a little bit different. >> and what is different this year? >> what's different this year is that on the democratic side, the race is pretty much very one-sided, and so we're seeing increasing numbers in the last three days gi to choose the republican ballot when we polled them about which primary they're going to vote in. >> let's talk about which candidates it's good for and bad for. who is it the best for? >> problem the best for donald trump. he does best when he's winning independent disaffected voters. >> do you know what they like about trump? >> they like the fact that he says what's on his mind. he tells it like it is and they see him as an outsider, not part of the political process. >> now, on the democratic side, i would assume independents like bernie sanders. >> they do like bernie sanders. bernie sanders actually hasn't been a democrat. but legislated as independent. >> so the independents should really help him. >> they should, but if they're going away from the democratic primary and choosing the republican ballot, that actually

so it's reverse. they would go with bernie sanders, they see that they can have more influence on the republican side, they don't vote for bernie sanders. that helps. it could help hillary clinton, give her a little bump. >> do you believe that the independents here this year could determine who wins one of these primaries? if they dork it's probably more likely to occur on the republican side. either by helping trump or helping one of the more moderate candidates who might make a late surge. but you think the biggest gainer from this is trump. >> probably trump. >> i think mr. trump agrees with you because it turns out that he has tweeted out, dr. josh's poll, to all of his supporters, letting them know that he is ahead in new hampshire, and that's why he intends to stay, and i intend to tell you i hope that you are absolutely right. for your accuracy sake. reporting live from new hampshire, i'm andy hiller, 7news.

and online for political coverage. download our apps to stay up to date on all the cods and of course you can find the latest on our web site, whdh.com. >> we're following more news today, comedian bill cosby back in court where a judge is expected to decide if his sexual assault trial will move forward. cosby's attorney says the case should be thrown out because a former district attorney made the agreement that cosby's past testimony cannot be used against him in a cry case. in that testimony cosby admitted to giving the victim pills and wine to help her relax. if the case moves forward, he prison. an update now on the sad case of the 13-year-old who disappeared from her blacksburg virginia home a week ago and two virginia tech students are now charged ins with her murder. during the investigation police say this girl may have met one of her killers online. >> reporter: nicole survived a rare liver timer, overcame lymphoma and beat the odds

>> coaly had a passion for pandas, music, dancing, dreamed of being on american idol. >> reporter: at a news conference tuesday, nicole's mother fought back tears. >> a very preliminary determination of the can cause of death is stabbing. >> reporter: authorities also believe nicole climbed out of his bedroom window after reportedly showing her friend text messages from an 18-year-old man she planned to meet. those sent on a special app called kick, which police say is frequented by predators. he's now charged with nicole's abduction and murder. 19-year-old natalie keepers, also a virginia tech student, originally charged with helping eisenhower after nicole's death. authorities now say she was in on it. a new charge... >> an accessory before the fact to the first-degree murder of nicole level. >> reporter: eisenhower nor keepers have entered a plea but eisenhower did say i believe the truth can set me free.

throughout her short life. >> i can't do that part. >> just so sad there. nick co's mother said that her daughter was often bullied on social media and at school because of the scars from her medical procedures. new details now emerging in the wrongful death lawsuit of a woman found hanged in her gel cell last summer. >> did you smell like any marijuana? >> we heard some of the testimony there, sandra blend's death was ruled as a homicide but blend's attorney says the investigation was not at all thorough. but the sole focus being on whether blend smelled like marijuana before her death. >> the only thing that they asked about was marijuana. there were so many things that they could have and frankly should have asked about but that they didn't, and when you see this is what they consider to be a full investigation, it is scary. >> bland was arrested after a traffic stop, her death was

the convicted killer who escaped from a new york prison morning. david sweat was in court today wearing restraints. he and richard matt escaped from a maximum security center last summer. he is sentenced to 70 years on top of his life sentence. he left people in the area terrified. matt was shot and killed by officers looking for the pair. swathe was captured two days >> i'd like to apologize to the community and people who felt a fear and felt it necessary to, you know, leave their homes or their community because of the escape. that was never my intent, and i deeply apologize thorough, that your honor. >> so the judge called sweat's sentence antiklim mat, because sweat was already serving a life sentence. the water crisis in flint michigan spilling over into congress today, several people testifying how lead contaminated the city's water supply is.

made the horrifying discovery. a number of representatives made statements about who should be blamed for the crisis. one thing they did all agree on is that michigan failed to protect the people. >> the levels of lead in my water were higher than hazardous waste levels. >> this is the consequence of putting i haddology ahead of human beings. the fbi says it is investigating whether any environmental crimes were committed. still ahead here on 7news at 5:30, a dangerous encounter can caught on camera. road rage takes a frightening turn when a driver pulls out a gun. and ahead at 6:00, we're continuing to follow the mysterious death of a 3-year-old in roxbury. how the department of children and families may have played a role in the child's life. and the race to the rescue in chelsea.

congress doesn't regulate wall street... wall street regulates congress. it's a rigged economy that sends most new wealth to the top 1%. and it's held in place by a corrupt political system where wall street banks and billionaires buy elections. my campaign is funded by over two and a half million small contributions. people who know you can't level the playing field by taking more money from wall street. i'm bernie sanders,

a man pulled a gun on a rider saturday. a blue truck and rider get into it after the the rider rode in the desert kicking up dust. but the red truck on the right wasn't happy about it either, the rider recording the video says the passengers were flipping him off and that's when he approached. [bleep] >> i didn't do nothing. >> i can honestly say i didn't think that i was gonna get a gun put in my face for going up to the guy's window. >> reporter: the rider, who wants to remain anonymous, somehow remained calm and just tried to reason with them. he says he was in a moment of shock and in hind sight he never would have approached, especially when he watched the video the later, he noticed a finger on the trigger of a gun. >> i didn't even realize the guy had his finger on the trigger until he went back and reviewed the video myself. my heart was just racing.

was feeling sick. >> it was scary. >> he says he turned all his video into police and instead of riding in the sand for a bit they were being obnoxious on the road and records his ride for his youtube page just in case something like this were to happen. >> i didn't think it would escalate to what it did and literally the first time that i've gone up to somebody's window in traffic like that and it will be the last. >> reporter: kim khazei, 7news. no charges have been filed. hender zonk nevada police are now investigating. coming up, an officer going above their call of dutiy when a father has trouble and it's all caught on camera. >> rain for tonight, and the risk of light snow friday morning. forecast up next. and then at 6:00, the push is on in new hampshire. we're live as candidates try to leave their mark on voters in

city of boston, a big ole' bag of rain. worcester hills, this is about to close in on the city of boston. if you're leaving work or have dinner plans in the city, add the rain gear because it will open up in about a half-hour or so. boston so far, .01 of an inch of rain but that will change. we have rain moving in right now and as we work into later on this evening, you notice the widespread rain will taper off but i think overnight tonight, we'll have a couple of lingering showers. and that still may be the case early tomorrow morning. but as we work through the morning commute tomorrow, again, an isolated shower or two possible and i think after 8:00, 9:00, we are done well rain tomorrow. dewpoint temperatures, they have been climbing, if you're stepping out here in the next few minutes and haven't been out for several hours, the dewpoints have really jumped. it feels more like a night in april than february with

the city at 51. it is windy with winds gusting between 25 and 30 miles per hour. rain and wind tonight, again, warm and humid. that widespread wind will taper later on this evening and a few isolated showers after midnight tonight. look at these temperatures. in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees. we start with clouds and an isolated shower and i think we'll get some sunshine in to new england by tomorrow afternoon. this portion of the weather system, this tail end of the cool front is moving slow, compared to this portion. and the reason that happens is that a storm forms, and that comes at us tomorrow night and into friday morning. but it will be a cooler storm. tomorrow, again, warm, 50s, starting in the upper 50s and sliding into the low 50s tomorrow afternoon. here comes that second storm on friday. it's a glancing blow, so the not like it's widespread but the challenge is, is there enough cold air to, you know, snarl up the roadways on friday morning. i think it will be through

the shading of blue, steady snow. lighter snow around metro boston. we've had warm weather all week. i don't know if it will snow hard enough to really have a major impact on your morning commute friday but an average of perhaps as much as 2 inches of snow around the city friday morning and looks like it winds down by 10:00, 11:00 friday and then the sun comes out on friday afternoon. and the numbers are headed for the upper 30s. snowfall totals between 2 and 4 inches of snow in southeast mass. that will chew up the snow on friday and continue that meting process saturday and sunday. lower 40s, and there is the potential of another storm, perhaps a bigger storm next monday night into tuesday. but still several days away from that one. all right, up next, toddler troubles in court. how one officer steps up to help a father out. >> and good evening, everybody. >> i'm kim can casey. >> terrific seeing you. i'm adam williams, here's what we're working on ahead at 6:00. some new details about a

what state officials found during a wellness check just days before a 3-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital. >> plus, firefighters battling flames and making a risky rescue when a young child gets stuck on a balcony. and we're less than a week away from the new hampshire primary. tensions running high and the war of words has begun. those stories and much more. >> coming up on 7news at 6:00. hope to see you then. energy supply rates keep going up and down. at eversource, we don't like it any more than you do. it doesn't mean more money for us. it means that the market price of the energy we buy for you has changed. so we're working with partners across the region to increase our natural gas supply and bring in affordable, clean hydropower from canada. we're leading the way toward the solution... because more energy means lower energy supply rates for you. ever new england.

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are. a police officer in utah showing i had softer side while on the job. the officer says he noticed the father having some trouble with his 2-year-old daughter in traffic court. >> when he decided to step in, he did some things that really helped out that dad. the video is now going viral. >> reporter: this little girl on the move. >> quite active. we'll say that. >> reporter: a familiar sight for an officer sitting nearby. >> i got kids myself and i know what it is to have rambunctious kids and it's hard to take them anywhere. >> reporter: in this case anywhere was traffic court. the officer was waiting to feoff and 2-year-old abby was with her father. when it was time for her father to go into the courtroom, the little girl couldn't go in. >> i could see the dad corralling that girl a little bit and trying to keep her quiet and she's just obviously a wild one. >> reporter: when it was time for the father to go into the courtroom, the little girl couldn't go in. >> i felt bad for him.

volunteered to babysit. >> he didn't know what to do so i just took the girl by the hand and walked around and we went and got a drink and took giant steps, baby steps, kind of the same things i do with my own kids. >> reporter: then the 6'6" police officer pulled out magic. >> kids love some videos and movies and so i pulled up some cartoons on my phone and she was out in a minute. >> sleeping soundly until dad came to pick her up. >> yeah, it's cute. he knows what he's doing. he's good job, yeah. >> we're not just officers who are out there to arrest people we're out there to make our community a better place. >> the department posted the video on officer norris' and abby's facebook page. it's gotten like 18,000 likes so far. >> fun to see that softer side of a police officer, isn't it? sure. and sometimes we all human, right? just need a little bit of help sometimes. >> so true. another 30 minutes of 7news ahead. >> 7news at 6:00 starts right

>> disturbing details in the death of a 3-year-old roxbury child. the state stepping in, just days before he was rushed to the hospital. >> tracking rain for the evening commute and the possibility of some snow for the friday morning commute. >> reporter: then it's turning into a bitter battle in new hampshire. candidates going on the attack with less than a week to go until the new hampshire primary. and a race to the rescue in chelsea. a 3-year-old trapped in a balcony while its apartment building goes up in flames. >> a weather alert first at 6:00. because winter weather is moving in to wrap up our workweek. could impact your friday morning commute. >> start planning now. a much different story tonight. in fact, right now we're dealing with some wet weather pouring into new england. 7 meteorologist jeremy reiner begins our coverage. so some areas saw quite a bit of rain, jeremy. >> yeah, half an inch or more out through metro west, worcester hills.

it's not even a cold rain we have building humidity from this weather system, bringing rain into southern new england at this time. it moves offshore tonight. down south, portions of georgia, a second storm forms tomorrow, and then scoots up the eastern seaboard friday morning. at that time, the air is turning colder. and it is a challenging forecast because will there be enough cold air where we're talking about an accumulating snow? i do think across southeast mass plymouth, bristol counties, as well as portions of the cape, yes, for a few hours friday morning likely to have accumulating snow. metro boston, northshore metro west, there will be patchy light snow and flurries friday morning commute. but the steadiest snow looks like it's focused south county, southshore, buzzard's bay and out on the cape and island. so that's where i think you'll find the most snow for this weather system, friday. rain tonight. portions of the southshore, around metro boston, a coating to a couple of inches of snow in the city of boston during friday morning's commute. and that's why we do have the