>> its heartbreaking, i can' t believe that baby lost its life. mark: a four year old dead in franklin after alleged punishment from his step mother. what we know so far about the investigation and the many questions still remaining. lisa: more than a day later and still no definitive answers the obstacles in the investigation after an suv went off a local bridge. mark: plus the republican race for the white house now down to three, the message ted cruz is sending to john kasich after kasich' s big win in ohio.

mark: good morning i' m mark hayes. lisa: and i' m lisa cooney. this morning' s headlines are straight ahead. but first a check of the weather with wlwt news 5 meteorologist randi rico. i' m an very loud green, it is the best i can do. randi: i would love free to head over to the weather wall. lisa: it is the exact color of the key wall. [laughter] lisa: do not move. randi: the receiver we can do on facebook alive a little bit later. even the weather map is green this morning. temperatures right now generally pretty close to 50 degrees. we have 53 right now in springboro, one of the cool of pockets 48 right now in hammerson. over the next couple of hours temperatures will slide off into the upper 40' s.

morning reveling, maybe not usually up with us at 4:30 in the morning. it will slowly got as we had to the day. this morning, mostly clear skies you can see a stray sprinkle rolling to portions of extreme southern of wayne county. over the next week or so i passing sprinkle is about all the we' ll see. we' re not talking about a ton of rain here. 46 degrees at 8:00 a.m.. so the afternoon, breezy and mildly high today of 62. mark: thank you. a 4 year old is dead after police say his stepmom punished him with scalding hot water. lisa: wednesday morning the boy was found in his bed not breathing. s dan griffin is live in the newroom with the latest on this case in franklin. dan: investigators and neighbors are heartbroken and stunned by what appears to have happened in this case.

austin derreck cooper was found not breathing after he was punished tuesday night by his stepmother. investigators say anna ritchie put cooper' s legs in scalding hot water in a bathtub before sending him to bed. yesterday morning, police found the child at the home he was pronounced dead at atrium hospital. officers say no child deserves a punishment like this. neighbors say the allegations are horrifying. >> it' s horrible, horrible, i just couldn' t imagine, me as a mother and a grandmother, i just couldn' t imagine. >> don' t ever hurt a child, definitely in that way it' s almost like something out of a movie. dan: franklin police say it appears the child' s father was in the home at the time but it' s unclear if he was involved. ritchie' s charged with child endangering and in warren county jail on $100,000 bond. lisa: 30 hours but no definitive answers. tuesday a vehicle plunged into the ohio river from the combs hehl bridge. police say few tips are coming in.

the recovery of that vehicle was called off wednesday. currently, the river is just too dangerous for the divers trying to recover the vehicle. newly released 911 calls are cars collided in 4 separate >> yeah, hi there' accident on 75 or i' m sorry 275, going around the loop, over the bridge, going over the river right now, there' s a car just went over the edge. >> ok, over? >> over the, over the edge into the river. the river. lisa: campbell county police are still waiting to hear from a family member of whoever was in that vehicle. new clues could come tomorrow during a scheduled media briefing. as for the river it could be until sunday or monday until the current settles down. mark: the fallout continues at uc after a professor is arrested for child pornography charges. holt parker is being held at the butler county jail. investigators say the professor admitted to sending and receiving thousands of images and videos of sex acts between juveniles. students we spoke with did not

were surprised by the charges. >> i feel very uncomfortable and it makes me question the reliability of our professors. >> it' s important to distinguish the professor from the private life person, who he was at home is not really our business. mark: parker has been suspended. the fbi says there' s no evidence linking the pornographic images to the university. lisa: in the race for the white house marco rubio knocked out in florida has made the republican race even more intense . republican john kasich is suddenly more of a factor after his endorsement from senator james inhofe of oklahoma. donald trump is warning that no factor and no party maneuver can deny him the nomination. governor kasich visited pennsylvania after his huge ohio win. ted cruz is urging kasich to quit saying that he mathematically cannot clinch the nomination. but kasich says he believes in his campaign more than ever. meanwhile trump is promising riots if he' s denied the

and on the democratic side sanders is remaining positive after losing big to hillary clinton on tuesday and clinton is turning her focus to trump. popular former bengal ickey woods has spotted his stolen afc title ring. and now he' s trying to get it back. mark: the magical ring from the team' s 1988 super bowl run, was taken from his home a few decades ago. wlwt news 5' s emily wood spoke with ickey, about an ebay post clearing up a mystery. clocks everybody wants me to, 44 that' s me. that' s me, i' m gonna get me some cold cuts today. emma: back in the spotlight after his hilarious geico commercial ickey woods is asked about cold cuts as much as people want him to do the beloved ickey shuffle. riding high on the bengals 1988 afc championship ickey says his personalized ring was stolen from his home more than 20 years ago. >> it'

hard for, you know, you bled, you sweat, you know, you cry, and you did everything you could to make it to that ultimate game. emily: a quick online search for ickey memorabilia pulls up dozens of items. but the running back says he never thought his one of a kind ring would end up on ebay for nearly $25,000. >> to see it on ebay and to you know now that it did not get there honestly is what' s really got me ticked off. emily: ickey says he' s not sure how the online seller gained possession of the ring but woods says he deserves to have it back because it represents one of the most memorable times in cincinnati bengals history. >> well the person who took it from me, hopefully never find out who you are but the person who got it now, i would like to have my ring back and i' m not going to pay to get my ring back because i worked hard for that

mark: according to the ebay listing, 44 people are watching the offer on ickey' s ring but it has yet to sell. ickey says he is working with cincinnati police to track down the current seller and investigate where that person got it from. lisa: it' s st. patrick' s day which means many locals will be up early decked out in their green. kegs n eggs gets underway this morning at several irish pubs . doors open at 6 at titled kilt in florence or you can head over to molly malones where bag pipers will start the day at 7 :00. the holy grail opens at 8 30 this morning and it happens to be their 5th anniversary. lastly, you can check out fountain square for for music and more beginning at 11. we' ll have a live report on all of the day' s events coming up at 5:00. you can check out some irish heritage at the main library downtown. there will be a tribute to irish music, songs and dances starting at 11:45 but a warning that

of course, feel free to share with us your st. patty' s day fun by posting pictures to the u local section on wlwt.com. mark: happening today an annual saint patrick' s day tradition walnut hills high school will be hosting its saint baldrick' s fundraising event in the high school gym today. the brave the shave event will raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer. students and staff will be joining in on the fun. this year' s goal is to raise 13 ,000 dollars. the event kicks off at 10:45 this morning. lisa: a lot of the book at the first haircut at the season at these events. randi: it will be a great day for all the fun you will have on st. patrick' s day. this morning, it will likely be in the upper 40' s. right now, most places low 50' s. hamilton right now 53, also it is green beer today in oxford. take a look at the oxford temperature in just a second. yesterday, it was a very breezy

our winds were 20-25 miles power at times. as the kids had out to the bust up this morning, decked out in their green, temperatures in the upper 40' s. a wee bit chilly as they wait for the bus. it does look like a great afternoon, 61 degrees as they get off the bus. enjoy today, it is st. patrick' s day. there is a town of basketball to watch and temperatures will be warmer today then for the coming weeks. there is a big cooldown on the way. we will look at that as we head into the weekend. first, it is time to check those roads. kyla: live lots of green out there, our sensors on the map are green. that is what we are seeing outside on the roads. green conditions because our speeds are great.

northbound will catch up, but that hasn' t quite happened yet. you can see pretty light north and southbound wind there. a much different picture than we saw in kentucky. over at newman, things look pretty good in both directions. we are seeing any delays at this hour. we will continue to keep you updated. lisa: march madness continues across the country and local teams are setting out hoping to bring back a win. mark: how the communities are rallying around local teams at both the college and high school levels. lisa: and after his win in ohio governor kasich is beginning to look like competition for the republican nomination. the endorsement he has now received. mark: taking a live look

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lisa: it is 50 degrees, and st. patrick' s day. let' s get a check on some of today' s headlines. mark: republican presidential candidate john kasich has received a key endorsement from oklahoma senator james inhofe. establishment figures within the gop are discussing ways to stop donald trump. inhofe who had been backing rubio now says he is endorsing kasich governor kasich thanked inhofe in a statement released

lisa: the nation' s second busiest commuter rail service will be back in operation today beginning at 5:00 a.m.. the d.c. subway service was shutdown at midnight at tuesday so crews could examine the third rail power cables. hundreds of thousands of metro riders were inconvenienced . thousands voted on a twitter feed and predicted additional problems. mark: and an arkansas hospital had to temporarily close it' s operating rooms yesterday after a deadly disease was discovered. washington regional medical center in fayetteville shut down its surgical center so the whole space could undergo sterilization procedures. an infectious disease specialist said the closure was a precautionary measure after they discovered evidence of a rare, degenerative brain disorder. local teams competing in the ncaa tournament looking to make it one step further in fans' brackets. lisa: george vogel has the send off events fans are hosting for their home teams. george:

is on the road, you see is on the road and the ncaa tournament it started in the march into the final four. the first four games wrapped up last night in dayton. a team with a losing record is advancing, holy cross beat southern in the nightcap. michigan, beating tulsa 67-62. at xavier, some fans wishing the musketeers good luck. james farr and the rest of the team loading up and heading to st. louis. xavier looking to bounce back from that loss to seton hall in the big east tournament. >> every loss, we try to learn from it and find out what we did. we have to be ready . it is win or go home. there is no turning back. george: our c r ews are hitting the road as well. the smiles have expense account written all over them.

spokane with the bearcats. indiana, and kentucky opens tournament play this evening. the hoosiers taking on chattanooga just after 7:00, and kentucky has stony brook. they could meet on saturday. it is championship week for boys basketball. ohio' s final four begin today in columbus while columbia' s sweet 16 is underway in lexington. first-round game, lock dan, 19 points. 13 boards, four blocks, and four assists. hall scoring 13, new cat roles 48-33 and will meet murray in the elite eight on friday. they had them all stirred up , roger bacon it was a big sendoff rally. bacon is

clay gets it going at 10:45 a.m. in division ii, aiken playing at 5:15. a couple of other notes, the bengals defensive tackle study remains here in cincinnati. this will be his ninth nfl year, the sevent h in cincinnati. not good news on bronson arroyo, a 20 late run in his right shoulder. -- a torn l abrum, so that could be it for his career. mark: all right, get your popcorn ready, get your brackets ready. is there anything better than this time of the year? st. patrick' s day and record

lisa: once you get through the wintertime, going to spring, it gets you through it. right, randi? randi: today doesn' t feel like a friday, it is an unofficial holiday rolling in. for the weekend, you going to basketball mode and temperatures will get colder. you might not notice it on saturday, and sunday but our highs will only be in the 40' s. my device is to enjoy this -- my s day. a bit of a breeze later in the low 60' s. clearing across greater southern communities where we have a couple passing sprinkles. there.

most of us, this is issue. even though stop to the south of dissent a huge thing. maybe a sprinkle passing by. clouds. so. once the sun comes up, we get that mixing going. these will be part of our forecast as we get into the second part of the day. southwest. at 8:00 a.m., noon 56, through the afternoon windy and mild temperatures into the low 60' s. our high for st. patrick' s day is 62 degrees. night, where dipping down into 37. another day full of watching basketball. a little on the coolest. temperature stuck in the 50'

the 40' s. the passing sprinkle hero there is a possibility. s all about the cool down into the weekend. mark: happening today merrick , garland will have introductory meetings with senate and s the president' s supreme court justice nominee just announced wednesday. if confirmed garland would take justice antonin scalia' s seat. the 63 year old is a longtime justice department lawyer and federal court of appeals judge. as a federal prosecutor he' s worked on high profile cases like the oklahoma city bombing and the unabomber. wednesday an emotional garland proudly accepted the nomination to the highest court in the land. >> if my mother were watching in tv if she were still alive, she would crying and my father would be very proud. mark: some say the president' s nomination is setting the stage

senate republicans have said they won' t hold a hearing for any nomination that president obama makes. judge garland will meet with senator patrick leahy and senator harry reid later today. senator mitch mcconnell has said that he will not meet with the nominee. lisa: happening today the final pre trial for the butler county couple accused in the death of two year old kinsley kinner. kinsley' s mother rebekah kinner is charged with involuntary manslaughter. she was 32 weeks pregnant when she was arrested for kinsley' s death and gave birth in february. her boyfriend bradley young who was not kinsley' s father is charged with murder. the two will be tried separately rebekah kinner' s trial beginning on april fourth and young' s beginning on april 25th. mark: a springboro high school freshman is now facing charges in connection to a bomb threat at a school yesterday. the 14 year old is accused of writing the threat on a bathroom stall. another student reported it and

bomb was found. warren county prosecutor david fornshell says these threats are taken seriously and are not funny. he warned that those who make the threats will be expelled charged with a felony and will go to jail. lisa: wyoming neighbors coming together in an effort to fight the opioid epidemic while also understanding more about the issue. dozens met last night at wyoming' s middle school to talk about steps they could take to reduce the impact drugs is having on their city. organizers say everyone has a role in this battle. mark: young students in highland county are coming together to support an 11 year old girl recently diagnosed with leukemia. abigail lykins has been hospitalized for a month now and her classmates at hillsboro middle school recently came together wearing orange to show her support. other schools are also sharing pics online all for ' team abi.' abigail is currently being treated at children' s hospital. >> we didn' t know and then we see some people racing around in carts and tranquilizers we knew

lisa: not much to see today at the polar bear exhibit at the cincinnati zoo. the zoo is keeping two bears in holding areas after they wandered out of the exhibit on wednesday. 26 year old little one and 17 year old berit took advantage of an open den door and wandered into a service hallway zoo keepers secured the building and notified vet staff visitors at the zoo were also alerted and moved out of the zoo or into other buildings. the zoo says the two bears could be moved back into the exhibit tomorrow. >> cincinnati' s certified most accurate forecast. randi: good morning, whether you are irish or like basketball, it is a big day across the country. our weather not too bad fort. low 60' s as we head into the afternoon. generally, i pretty mild day. here is how your st. patrick' s

revelers, no -- i know there are on, 48 degrees early on. lunch, expected to on the windy side. by dinnertime, 61 degrees. patrick' s day. one of the warmer days the will see over the next few. we start off tomorrow in the 30' s. that is the general trend as we head into the weekend. unseasonably cool for the weekend come we welcome spring early on sunday morning. but it won' t really feel like it. hopefully that warm weather has and got you planting flowers. still a little while with us. it does look like to the middle of next week to have a nice warm up coming. let' s check the roads now. kyla: they' re clear out there right now. there is that green we are talking about. is he great speeds at this hour

18 minutes on 74, heading from the indiana side to i-75, still holding of the 19 minute mark. up to 61 miles per hour, 17 minutes out of warren county overseeing clear conditions. once you get inside the loop, things are good on the i-70 corridor as well. north of stewart things are moving right along. lisa: we will see then, thank you. in the race for the white house donald trump promising trouble if he doesn' t get the nomination he expects. mark: we' ll have his latest statements and where the other candidates are fighting for votes as the campaign trail heats up. lisa: outside life, hope it is a great start. we have your top stories coming

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>> there' s nothing a 4 year old could do to deserve a punishment like this. lisa: neighbors and law enforcement in shock after a child is found not breathing in warrend county wednesday. how officials say the stepmom is now facing charges in the case. mark: the latest republican presidential debate canceled both donald trump and governor john kasich refusing to participate. the tug of war currently underway in the gop. lisa: and we' ve got a wee bit of

the queen city. how you can get your green on this saint patrick' s day. good morning i' m lisa cooney. mark: and i' m mark hayes randi rico and kyla woods are in this morning with your weather and traffic. everybody is dressed up in their green. randi: i even have a little bit of green on the radar. not a whole lot, so don' t panic. a couple of sprinkles as we take a look. you' re setting up a pretty nice day, folks in monterey may be getting a little bit of a drizzle. really not much more than a