wrapping up, the bizarre murder trial involving three cult members is mering the end -- nearing the end. hello, i'm don scott. and i'm jessica kartalija. clash closing arguments begin this morning in the high profile case of the toddler starved to death. derek valcourt has more. >> reporter: it's a packed courtroom right now as the prosecutors spell out all of the evidence against the flee -- three accused cult members. they'll get to speak to the jury themselves. the 44-year-old, queen antoinette gets to persuade the jurors that they're not responsible for the death of the 16 month old.

the boy's mother testified that her son who could barely speak was starved to death for a week because he didn't say amen during a meal. his body does found in philadelphia. >> and i do believe that the jury is going to do right by my grandson. >> reporter: she says her granddaughter was brainwashed and she believes that the boy may rise from the dead despite his body has been laid to rest. antoinette claims she never ordered the child to be starved. they believe that the closing arguments will be pointless. >> and they'll make a monkey of themselves. you know, because, like i said, there's too much out there to justify it, to confirm it. i don't see them getting out of

this, unless they couldn't come up with something. >> reporter: closing arguments are under way now and the jury will begin deliberating later on this afternoon. we're live at the courthouse. thank you, derek, as part of the plea deal, the mother will get a suspended sentence and five years probation. a jury reached a verdict in the street racing crash that killed eight people. good afternoon, ron. [no audio] >> we're having trouble hearing ron. a man's car slammed into a group of spectators, and the jury found him guilty and they

couldn't agree on the felony charges. the defense maintains taylor's innocence. >> i don't care about the time, how much time he gets or what. i just want justice done. if he come up and tell the truth. >> my heart goes out to all of the victims, including taylor. he's been falsely accused of the charges. >> he's a freeman and facing a traffic fine. and the state's attorney won't drop the felony counts. the jurors broke down 9-3 in flavor following 15 hers of deliberation. >> there was a human trafficking ring busted. a 34-year-old of new york recruited a 15-year-old girl on the internet enticing her to come for a photo shoot.

once she arrived, he tried to sell her on craigslist and he's accused of human trafficking and sexual abuse of a minor. the second day of march has been cloudy. taking a live look outside, it's still overcast and we'll expect precipitation tonight and we're live with the first weather coverage for you. marty bass is in the out back as we look at the key bridge. >> well, we'll go to the first warning weather doppler radar, we have a few signs of the storm making its way north ward and most isn't making its way to the ground yet. what we'll do now, we'll switch it over and open the view up, this is a bigger storm to the south, it's really already pounding the carolinas and northern georgia and all the way up. there have been cancellations in heartsfield, atlanta and this is what's moving to the

north east. how's that going to effect us? we'll send it to marty out back. you know, i always talk about weather being location, location, location and sometimes, we see it jokingly, what's weather and real estate say in common, but this is the perfect example. and we have a few graphics to show you. this is a big, deep area of low pressure, again, the right location would have been storm number five and then, it's going to dog leg up the coast and the worst of the energy stays off the shore. do understand, we'll have strong breezes and heavier winds and title action along the jersey shore and the dell mar. and what's going to be, well, the biggest problem is going to be snow showers and mixing with

some rain. it's going to be a sloppy mess through tomorrow afternoon. the biggest issue is going to be on the roofs and the car roofs. and paveed surfaces, too warm now. the sun's getting high in the sky and we had generous temperatures, if you will. are we in for a huge event? not necessarily. are we going to a see a wintry mix in the area. yes, we'll discuss that in more detail coming up shortly. protestors are expressing anger in annapolis. dozens of buses brought the protests to the mall last night, they're worried about bills taking money away from the maryland schools. and one proposal talk about the pensions to the counties and all of the bills are being

discussed in the committees and until now, the fund has been off limits and they're in a bind as they close the deficit. and aid from the united states arrived in chile today along with the secretary of state. there's still no food, water and electricity. here's the very latest. >> reporter: smoke poured from a large city. and firefighters had their hands full and they scrambled to stop the flames and they're trying to reach secure livers in this apartment building. the troops are guarding the streets and luters have ransacked most of the stores president of chile says that hundreds of tons of food, water and other aid is on the way to the region. this morning, she welcomed secretary of state hillary

clinton. she brought phones to coordinate the recovery effort. they're also reaching out to others. with so many heavily damaged roads, they're having a hard time reaching the hit areas. help can't come soon enough in the coastal towns. a tsunami washed away homes. this man hasn't seen any help. in this fishing town, dozens are missing and 800 homes are destroyed. some started makeshift refugee camps and they're desperate for supplies. this woman says that the authorities haven't checked on them. they don't have anything to eat. hospitals are doing what they can to help the injured and many of them were also damaged in one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded.

>> they're also going to send water purification. and the ntsb will investigation last night's small plane crash in montgomery county. the pilot survived and refused treatment at the scene and the police haven't released his name. the findings will help define if he'll face charges. there's new developments in exxon and baltimore county. a gas leak contaminated ground water and wells. last month, the department allowed exxon to stop monitoring well party. they're appealing the ruling. still to come at noon, narrowing the investigation, california police are now focusing the search for a missing 17-year-old girl.

>> and there's pressure to cut back mail service. we'll be back with the first warning weather forecast. , imagine if it were this easy to spot the good guys.

you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just go to superpages.com®. and look for a business with the superguarantee® shield. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help to make it right. so, protect yourself with a business backed by the superguarantee®. only at superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue. if you're on medicare part d, you can get... your 90-day prescription supply from a place... you already trust to keep you staying well.

walgreens. you'll have the confidence of knowing your walgreens... pharmacist has personally checked your medications. and you'll be in control of how and when you pick them up. so you can relax and enjoy all your benefits. cheese! walgreens. there's a way to stay well.

police and volunteers in southern california are on day six of the serge -- search for 17-year-old chelsea king. king disappeared while jogging near her home in san diego and an fbi dive team is focusing on a lake in the park. and investigaters won't confirm much. i would say they're literally moving hiv and earth to find this little girl -- they're moving heaven and earth to find this little girl. you can see the dive teams and the terrain being moved. they're looking everywhere for any piece of evidence. the police will now make a decision tomorrow agent filing charges against gardner. gm is recalling a million

cars because of power steering. the models affected are chevy cobalts and pontiacs. they could be harder to steer under 15 miles per hour. the postal service is making drastic cuts to close a budget deficit. they're asking congress to end mail delivery on saturdays. express mail wouldn't be affected. if congress gives the green light, the changes could go into affect next year. take a live look outside and stick around, your complete first warning weather ,,,,,,,,,,

welcome back, everybody. well, the clouds have taken other and there's signs of the next storm making its way from the south. down south, maybe a few sprinkles, but for maryland, in the coming down and not much to it yet though. we'll show you what we have going on. the clouds thickened up and we're seeing rain and snow showers making their way further north and we're seeing green mixed in. it's 41 degrees outside and we've really turned a corner. there's no major source of cold air. we'll teeter back and forth with wet snow and rain at times, we don't have an area

really bringing the temperatures down. at this point, a lot of 30s and 40s and 29 in oakland. the winds are out of the north and they're in the process of turning around to the north east and they'll turn around. they'll be gusty and we have a coastal flood advisory until early thursday morning. the tides will run about 2 feet above normal and it's because of this storm here. and when we put it in motion, it tracks across the south and it's spreading up our way. we're on the outer fringes and the main part of the storm will stay to the south of us and head out to see. -- tosea. there's the potential of moisture from this one, 1 to 2- inchs of snow, and since the areas so warm, a lot of it will be wet on the roadways. we may have accumulation on the

snow piles and grassy surfaces and for the most part, we won't see much. the winds continue out of the north and we'll have a sprinkle or flurry, but we'll have a nice trend for the weekend >> and here's how the storm looks. the main part heading offshore and wet snow and rain at times. today, for the forecast, for the most part, it's dry today. the rain and snow showers possible later and tonight, wet snow and rain at time and going back and forth and we'll just go down to 32 degrees and tomorrow wet snow and rain and we'll just go up to 39 degrees. that's above freezing and we won't accumulate on the ground as much. we'll have the five day coming up. we have good news. we'll take it, thank you. still to come, now, a warning about napping. it could lead to a health complication. and wjz-13 is always on,

here are the top stories on wjz.com at this hour. for all of the updates on the news and the forecast, go to wjz.com. and here's a look at today's midday stocks. laxatives? i've tried all these. this one's gritty. this one can make you bloated. clearly, miralax is the one for me. it relieves my constipation with no harsh side effects. miralax.

in today's health watch a warning for people who love taking naps. yeah, this is a surprising

story, jessica. last week we said they make you smarter and this weeks, be ware of diabetes. there's an association between diabetes and napping. people who nap four to six days out of the week were more likely to develop the disease and more research is necessary to determine if napping plays a role in causing diabetes. if you're tired, it's okay to go to sleep. >> okay, kelly, thank you. and lots of reasons to check back in tonight. a chilling moment is one of them. we're learning more about the killer whale death at seaworld. and drug and alcohol use among teens is back on the rise, could yours be partying too hard. go and see these stories today at 4:00 after dr. phil. . ,,,,,,

welcome back, looking at the run of sun thursday through sunday. look at the temperatures, friday, saturday and sunday. looks like we're going above normal. how you'll hold us down. and let's throw it back inside. it will feel incredible. >> i was going to say, it will

be great. >> don't miss tonight's prime time lineup. and thank you for watching eyewitness news on wjz-13, i'm jessica kartalija. >> i'm bernadette woods. >> and i'm don scott, have a great day and we'll see you back here at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00. see you tomorrow.