john dereggi jr. died yesterday on the tracks in boyds, maryland. his parents can't imagine life without him. >> reporter: this is chris gordon in boyds, maryland, standing along the tracks where 16-year-old john martin dereggi jr. yesterday was hit and killed by an amtrak train heading north en route to chicago. >> when i heard the news yesterday i couldn't sleep all night last night. i had to come down and just look at the scene and show my respects. >> reporter: all new at 5:00, why john dereggi jr. and his two female companions were walking along these tracks yesterday afternoon. i'll have that far of the story coming up. back to you. >> all right, thanks, chris. >>> we're now 12 hours into a homicide investigation and it is all centering around a metro bus stop in prince georges county. this is where the body was found in the grass early this morning on 85th avenue in new carrollton near an apartment complex. parents who live nearby say they're worried and nervous as they sent their kids to school. investigators tell us they don't think this was

it's john dereggi jr. he was well liked here at clarksburg high school. a lot of people respected him. and he passed away. an amtrak train hit the 16-year-old on the tracks around 4:45 this evening. tonight montgomery county police tell us dereggi jr. was walking along the tracks with two other teenagers. now here is what is interesting. for some unknown reason, detectives tell me he was in the path of the train. the train hit him around the 15000 block of barnesville road near the boyds marc train station. back out here live. tonight clarksburg high school sent out a tweet asking students to wear blue tomorrow to pay tribute to john dereggi jr. some other students at montgomery county public schools also plan on wearing blue. meanwhile, detectives continue to investigate this incident. live in clarksburg, i'm shomari stone, news4. >>> we're following another twist in the murder of a college professor. the associated press reports that officers have been in touch with the main suspect, and he promised them, quote, he is not going to jail. investigators ar

john dereggi jr.'s family tells us he and his girlfriend were taking pictures seconds before amtrak's capital limited approached them in boyds, maryla maryland, yesterday, killing him. news 4's chris gordon is in boyds and was there as the same train went by today. chris? >> reporter: well, this is the spot on the track where the fatal accident occurred at 4:45 yesterday afternoon, and we were here with our camera rolling an hour and a quarter ago when the same amtrak came through 24 hours after john dereggi jr. was killed here. we heard a horn and then at 4:45 this evening, the amtrak train to chicago rolled by. that's the same train on the same track where john dereggi jr. was killed yesterday. >> i just want him to be remembered as, like, the great kid that he was, and how he had such a laugh, and don't want people to think about the sad stuff that happened. >> reporter: through their pain, his family shared pictures of him. they called him john john. >> i just want everybody to remember what a happ

headed to chicago hit and immediately killed 16-year-old john dereggi jr. known as john john. he was named after his father. >> can't always be there to catch them when they fall, but you got to look out for them. some things you'll probably never heal from. >> reporter: the family shared photos of john john with us. this one with his girlfriend, natalie, was taken at homecoming last year. yesterday, they were being photographed along the tracks by natalie's sister. >> we have some beautiful pictures of him with his girlfriend and on the tracks, and they just -- you don't apparently hear a train when it's coming toward you. the sound vibrates out, but not in front. and it was too late before they realized the train was coming. >> reporter: at clarksburg high school today students wore blue. the school color. in his memory. >> it's very sad. it's always hard to lose a student. when you lose a student to a tragedy, it's doubly as hard because kids aren't supposed to leave us at 16 years old. >> he was a great person, and it's really sad that he had to die the way he did. >> repo

sometime after 4:00 p.m. 16-year-old john martin dereggi jr.alking along the train tracks in the 1500 block of barnsville road near the boyd's maryland marc station. walking with with other teens. police say they are still investigating why he walked on to the tracks in front of northbound amtrak train. student body reacted immediately, on social media. there are tweets noting that this tragic loss happened and calling for condolences to be sent to the family. and asking everyone to wear blue to honor their fellow student. this disrupted traffic along the line of the marc trains were delayed for hours. investigation is still continuing and police want anyone who has information to come forward and let them know what they can -- derrick ward, news 4. >>> developing overnight, north korea says its atomic bomb program is back on, announcing it is revamping and restarting all of its nuclear fuel production plans. yesterday, we heard about their plan to launch satellites aboard long range rockets. and all of this just cranks up the tension with the

the teen, 16-year-old john martin dereggi jr. was walking along the train tracks near the boyds marc station. police say they don't know why and still investigating why and how this happened, but at some point he walked on to the tracks and into the path of an oncoming amtrak train. there was a quick social media reaction to this. we had some tweets that have come from this community with noting the tragic loss and extending condolences to the teen's family. and another asking evan at the school to wear blue in honor of their fellow students. the accident suspended marc rail traffic for several hours while the investigation ensued. and they're still trying to investigate exactly how this happened. we're live at clarksburg high school. >>> 5:32. potential scramble for power this morning in have have. a nonprofit group filed a new lawsuit challenging the commonwealth 2011 re districting line. the group says the poundries protect incumbents and in doing so violates the constitution. the districts in question include parts of prince

to cross the tracks to get to work at target, and just this weekend in maryland, 16-year-old john dereggi, jr hit and killed by an amtrak train while taking pictures with his girlfriend and her sister along the tracks. ahead tonight you will hear from a well known fairfax county spees spokesperson who for the first time publicly shares the loss that her family endures because a close family friend died along the tracks here in fairfax county. this story is coming up op news 4 at 6:00. pat, back to you. >> chris gordon, thanks, chris. >> general motors agrees to a massive settlement over that faulty ignition switch problem. >> the automaker will pay a $900 million penalty for not disclosing detective parts and in addition, gm will also have an independent federal monitor for the next three years. joining us with more on this huge settlement is nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, this is a safety lapse that resulted in more than a hundred deaths and even more injuries. is anyone facing criminal charges in this? >> no, they're not. of course, that has not gone down well with many

the clarksburg high school student struck and killed by a train earlier this week. 16-year-old john dereggi jrand his girl friend were posing for pictures in the moments before deaf reg i was hit monday -- dereggi was hit monday night near a marc train station in boyds. tonight at the football game dereggi's parents will be presented with a banner, balloons will be released and someone will perform a song. >>> yesterday officers cited more than a dozen people, mostly high school students, with warning notices about trespassing on areas near train tracks. they say those trains can approach quietly and people wearing head phones are particularly at risk. >>> straight ahead could you go a year without shopping? >> i could. you couldn't. >> i know. e'>> wre going to introduce you to 1 family that took that challenge. couldn't go a week probably. >> i could go a week. a year? >> plus new twist in the story of that teen arrested at school after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb. >> another great evening for baseball. we'll talk about the nats game, pretty much a must win again, first pitch