after. one month later, his death has been ruled a homicide as a result of asphyxia. >> we have no indication there was any choke holds, anything like that. there was no taser used, no baton. >> it's now being investigated by the county's top prosecutor, but the jury is already out if you go strictly by the thousand plus comments on the sheriff's office facebook page. shame on all of you. apparently the same laws don't apply to the evil and soulless authority figures. but paul, an elder at ethan's church takes a more measured approach. >> i would really like to see the investigation play out. i hope they find places that they can do better. >> paul says he was at church every sunday, sat through two services in the same seat each week and this is what that seat looked like the sunday after ethan died. >> almost always a smile on his face and i'm going to miss him. >> in frederick, kristin

fisher, wusa9. ethan's family declined to comment, but the family's attorney believe the deputies involved should have been suspended. after ethan's death, not a month later. he said ethan's story highlights training for law enforcement regarding individuals who are developmentally disabled. well yes, virginia, you may finally have yourselves a new transportation plan. lawmakers negotiating a compromise deal have worked out a plan, which will raise some of your taxes and lower some other taxes. peggy fox is here to explain. and peggy, play ball. >> yes, it does. remember the governor proposed eliminating the gas tax. this new compromise does get rid of the tax for a smaller wholesale tax on gasoline. it makes a very confusing to figure out what that means to us. one website reader posted today that none of it made any sense and that three middle schoolers and a dog could have done

better. >> entirely ditching the gasoline tax wasn't going to happen. virginia's is 17.5 cents per gallon. small compared to other states, but still appropriate. says fairfax county chairman, sharon. >> it is sort of a user fee. people who use the roads pay for those roads, pay for the maintenance of the roads. and in my mind, it was foolish to just eliminate that source of revenue. >> here's what lawmakers have worked out. they want to replace that per gallon gas tax with a 3.5% wholesale tax paid by distributors. those taxes will be passed on to consumers. one expert said it will work out to 11 cents a gallon. if you drive an alternative fuel vehicle, you'd have to pay a $100 annual fee. everybody, even nondrivers, would pay more because the plan raises the sales tax to 5.3%. lawmakers are counting on congress to pass a law allowing states to collect internet

sales taxes. if that fails, an additional 1.6% would be added to the wholesale gas tax. got it? >> there's a lot of moving pieces going on right now. >> encouraged about on going talks for a regional funding component. >> taxes raised here would come here to be used for our transportation needs. >> ann is pleased it looks like there will be money to help finish construction of metro's silver line to dulles. >> the $300 million for the silver line is still alive. and hopefully will continue to be for fairfax county, that was huge. >> now the money for the silver line will be used to buy down the tolls that will go up on the dulles toll road, which is the primary funding mechanism for the silver line. the challenge to get this plan into law will be selling it to a majority of house and senate members before the general assembly adjourns this saturday. peggy fox, wusa9.

thank you. right now, five people are arrested in the murder of a suitland high school student. charles walker was killed, allegedly over a pair of shoes. and not even 24 hours after he died, another suitland high school student was killed. as scott broom explains, that makes six student murders in prince georges county just this school year alone. >> police chief, mark mcgo announced the arrest of five suspects who are apparently cruising around in a white van looking for a victim to rob. they chose 15-year-old suitland high school freshman, c.j. walker, who was killed monday for a pair of timberland shoes. here's chief mark mcgal. >> most of these detectives have been up for the last 48 hours. most of this department has been up for 48 hours. it's been a trying time for all of us. >> this announcement this afternoon has come as yet another suitland student, 18- year-old aaron kidd, was gunned down yesterday in forestville,

just over 24 hours after walker's murder. a cam uponon, 18-year-old andre, was also shot to death. >> the next generation, for no reason. >> at suitland high school, near disbelief that a second student has been murdered in a little more than 24 hours. >> everyone wants to be a gangster. it's not about that. you need to be focused on your school work. >> outraged by the teen murders, reached new heights in the wake of these student murders which police said are not related. so now, the total of prince georges county public school students to die by murder this year has reached six. and everyone is looking for answers as to how to stem this epidemic of youth violence. in prince georges county, maryland, scott broom, wusa9. >> we have a lot more coverage this evening on these teen tragedies in prince georges county. coming up at 6:15, i'll be speaking with school security expert about what schools should be doing to keep teens

safe. derek, you'll have more coming up at 7:00. >> you heard the strong statements to the press yesterday about all the senseless crime and the lives  lost. well, tonight your only local news at 7:00, angela brooks right here in the studio, she'll be talking about these crimes and how families will play more of a role in playing the cycle of violence. we'll talk to her at 7:00. >> he stole taxpayer's money to buy gold plated rolex's for high price celebrity memorabilia. today in u.s. district court, jesse jackson, jr., pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy. bruce johnson joins us live from district court. bruce, you were there when jesse, jr., and his family left the courthouse. >> you were there. $750,000 in campaign contributions that he and his wife converted to their personal use. bring you the very latest. after saying there wouldn't be any comment, except from his defense attorney, in leaving the courthouse, we did get the former illinois congressman,

jesse jackson, jr., to say a few things. we tried to get comment from his father, the reverend jesse jackson, the civil rights icon, the political guru, if you will, of the progressive democratic wing. this is what they had to say. the wife had more to say than the reverend, take a listen. >> what do you say? >> people in chicago. a quick message. >> not a proud day. i'm sorry i let everybody down. >> reverend, there has to be a message to people in chicago, given your family so much. >> a little later. >> well, do you have anything? >> we love the people of chicago. we love the people of chicago. >> how are you guys holding up? >> chicago family has got to be reeling tonight inside the courtroom. the former illinois congressman told the judge that he wasn't going to waste the taxpayer's money, accepted full responsibility for the

conspiracy felony charge. he took responsibility for stealing some $750,000 in campaign contributions. among the items that he bought, converted to personal use, a $43,000 gold plated rolex watch. also, thousands of dollars in furniture for his children's rooms. there was also thousands of dollars spent on entertainment, a trip to martha's vineyard and we could go on and on. his wife later appeared in the same courtroom before the same judge. she entered a guilty plea to a single felony count of making a false statement on their income taxes. now, they are both due back in late june for sentencing. she is convicted of that one felony and the expert say she will get probation. they say the judge probably won't be as kind to the former congressman. the guidelines are stiff, he could get up to five years. they do expect jesse jackson, jr., to do some prison time. back to you guys. >> all right, bruce, thank you. newly released video shows the explosion that rocked kansas city, missouri last

night. watch the upper right corner of your screen. see that right there? the mayor says there could be more victims in the rubble of the restaurant destroyed by an explosion and fire. search crews have recovered one body, 15 people were hurt in that blast. the cause is under investigation. but less than an hour before the explosion, firefighters got a call saying a construction worker had hit a gas line. right after the break, hold the phone. an unlimited wireless plan for under $20 a month? we're going to tell you about it up next. and just in time for dinner, we'll tell you which d.c. restaurants are on the list for the top eatlies in the country. hey topper. >> temperatures are going down, they never went that high today. here are the numbers for national. high was only 40. low 33. averages are up to 48 and 32. record high is 1930, 76. record low, 8 above. wintery precipitation headed our way and

unlimited wire lesser vis for $19. bet i have your attention now. republic wireless housed its plan as part of the plan. the carrier relies on wifi networks to keep the prices low. the phone that comes with the plan is the android based,

which cost $259. now yesterday, teen mobile launched a no contract, $35 a month plan that is all inclusive. still ahead, putting an end to student violence. we'll speak with a former law enforcement officer and school safety expert about turning

this evening we have been telling you about the tragedy in prince georges county. six students killed since the school year began. two young men from suitland high were shot to death just this week alone. here to talk more with us about keeping students safe is former law enforcement officer, ed clark. ed, thanks for joining us. we don't hope that we have to talk about this, but we are here and we can't ignore it. really the question to start with is what responsibility does the school have, sort of being on the front line to help stop violence after school hours. >> the schools play a big part in the community. a lot of activity at the school, during the school day, and after school hours as well. communities and schools. so the schools certainly need to know what is going on around the community in terms of crime activity. i think it's important to have good relationships with the school resource officer or

local police commander. so they can share critical information with students and parents as to what may be occurring within that community. >> we often say if you see something, say something. if you're a student and concerned about how to protect yourself, if a situation could become violent, what would you tell these students to do? >> i think we have to be proactive. know your surroundings. try not to put yourself in a bad situation. if you know there is a student or individual in the community who involve in criminal activity are gangs, try to avoid that the best you can. so don't put yourself in those challenging situations. >> we talk so much about young people who may be even more vulnerable because they don't have a firm family structure. really, trying to reach them to show them that a life of crime is not the only life that is available to them. do these kinds of instances, you think, drive that point home or does it make it harder? >> i think a lot of these kids don't think they have

opportunities. but there's always hope and opportunity. the key is to have a good relationship at home or to have another adult, role model in their lives. so there's a will the of opportunities. some are from school, clergy, faith-based communities. but that's the number one factor. they have some protective role model that will help them deal with education and try to do it better. >> which gets us back to the point that it takes the entire community, the family, the school community, really wrap our arms around these kids and help them avoid these kinds of tragedies. ed clark, it's good to see you. we'll be talking to you soon, anita. >> final court arguments are expected tomorrow in the bail hearing for oscar pistorius. he is charged with murdering his girlfriend last week inside his home in south africa. prosecutors say this was premeditated murder. he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder when he opened fire and today in court, his defense attorneys called into question earlier statements made by the

detectives regarding everything from the bullet wounds to whether pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs. the d.y. area isn't often mentioned in chicago, san francisco, when it comes to topnotch cuisine. we do get some decent recommendation. top 101 restaurants in the country. if you're willing to take a drive, the inn in washington virginia comes in at number 37. dupont circle ranked 65th. minibar comes in at number 96. northwest makes the cut at number 100. the best restaurant in the country, according to this list, the french laundry in california. didn't know about that one. i am a fan, topper. >> washington is always on that list and it's been top ten. okay, live look outside michael and son weather cam. it is clear, it is some kind of cold. temperature down to 34. look at the dew point.

low teens. so when the winds subside a little bit after midnight, temperatures are going to fall. it will be colder than it was last night. winds are north, northwest at 20. come out of the central plain states. to just north of st. louis. talking maybe a foot. but a piece of the energy goes north. another piece splits and goes to the south of us. we are lift with little on friday to hang our hats on. minimal terms of cold air and maybe a mix is possible by friday, but in the meantime, we are clear tonight, high clouds will come in tomorrow. all right, temperature wise. 30 in rockville. 33 in springfield. 33 in college park. what does it really feel like? it feels like it's 14 in frederick. 22 in gaithersburg. 22 in manassas and 26 down toward andrews. if you are headed out tonight, teens and 20s. even colder tonight and still breezy. breezy on thursday and cold. light mix is possible. kicking to a light rain on

friday. but again, not a lot to hang our hand on. the second storm, bigger storm rolls in on saturday. that could give us a raw kind of rain. almost like a march rain. for tonight, clear skies, breezy, colder. windchills in the teens. lows 20 to 25 and winds northwest. by morning, plenty of sunshine. mostly sunny, 20s and 30s for temperatures. windchills in the teens and twenties. keep that in mind. by afternoon, mostly sunny, breezy, still seasonally cold. highs around 40. average high is 47 now. so that's a cold day for us and windchills in the 30s all day. next three days, breezy and cold tomorrow. going to go 9 weather alert yellow on friday and saturday. light mix to light rain possible on friday. a cold rain on saturday. low 40s. next seven days, we will salvage a pretty good sunday. sunshine near 50. low 50s on monday and then kind of a cold rain again on tuesday and maybe a flurry on wednesday. anita. >> thanks, topper. we have breaking news to talk

about in prince william county where a vre train struck a trailer that was stopped on the track. you still see the police activity. this happened at route 29 in gainesville. nobody was injured. but route 29 will be closed for the next couple of hours. we'll be back after

now, here's kristen berset at the wusa9 cat 9 cadillac sports desk. >> georgetown in the mist of it all. they won seven straight conference games. the longest streak in the big east. they have just a handful of games left. tonight, they host paul university at the verison center. the hoyas are coming off a win. a game in which they saw a 12 point lead disappear. they say grinding out a big win like that gives them momentum, but they are fairful not to get over confident. >> sometimes when you come up with tough wins, they can give you false identity. you start thinking you are too good or anything like that. i think this group, you know, we have a lot of mentally tough guys that are really focused on the task at hand. >> the washington capitols are being urged to better protect themselves on the ice. after eric carlson had an tendon sliced by a skate.

caps gm bought all his players socks and hopes that they'll wear them. a few guys already do. the last time we saw local boxer, peterson in the ring, was over a year ago. peterson won the ibf superlightweight titles in a split decision at the convention center. the spitement didn't last long after peterson failed a prefight drug test. now he is back for redemption. peterson was able to keep his title and will defend it this friday when he takes on kendall. the fight is once again in peterson's hometown and hopes to feed off that energy. >> it means a lot to me. i always like fighting in my hometown. the last fight was in my hometown and to get back to back fights in my hometown is a great feeling right now. >> to the pitch now, barcelona

visiting mulan and champion league play. this is a big upset. already up 1-0. montari makes it 2-0. stunned barcelona 2-0 the final. and check this out, when was the last time a golf tournament was delayed because of snow? that's the snow topper wants. this is the the match play in arizona. look at it coming down. that was the first round. they'll try tomorrow to play. of course, weather permitting. >> now time to vote for this week's high school game of the week poll. four games to choose from. you can vote at high schoolsports.com/d.c. now you can also text in your vote. text the keyword for the game you want, 24453. all right, i understand they may need reenforcements in arizona. >> no on the golf course. >> that's it for us. derek is back at 7:00. good night, everybody.