PHOENIX — We made it to Friday, which means it's almost time to enjoy the Memorial Day holiday weekend!
We're staying on top of the latest happenings from across the Valley, state, and our nation for Friday, May 22; here’s what you need to know as you start your day:
From Meteorologist Jorge Torres - Slowly warming up as we head toward Memorial Day
Our stretch of seasonable may weather continues today in the Valley. Look for sunny skies this afternoon with highs in the upper 90s and overnight lows in the 70s. Saturday looks much the same. Then, we warm back to 100º on Sunday.
Arizona sex offender accused of exploiting minor in Indiana, MCSO seeking possible additional victims
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says an investigation is underway involving a registered sex offender in Arizona who is accused of sexually exploiting a minor in another state.
On April 28, officials received a tip that was made by Cash App to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators learned that a man living in Arizona was reportedly sending money to a juvenile girl in Indiana. The transactions appeared to be suspicious and were later found to involve a 14-year-old girl who was sending explicit photos via Snapchat.
Cybercrimes investigators found the man in question was believed to be Stefan Santos, 34, who is a registered sex offender. He previously served six years in the Arizona Department of Corrections after being arrested in 2011 for sexual exploitation of a minor involving “peer to peer file sharing,” officials said.
MCSO also says Santos traveled to Indiana on at least two occasions when he met up with the minor involved in this case and had sexual interactions dating back to 2024, when the victim was 13.
On May 4, MCSO detained Santos at his home in connection with the investigation. Officials gathered evidence from his phones, which included images of the victim in question.
Vigil held for lives lost in Buckeye triple shooting
A triple shooting in Buckeye killed one teenager, her unborn baby, and the child of another pregnant teen injured in the same attack.
On Thursday night, dozens of family, community members, and neighbors returned to the scene to honor the lives irrevocably changed.
Among them was 17-year-old Abigail Krebs, who was shot and taken to the hospital. After an emergency delivery, she named her baby Timothy Rylee, after her father and best friend who died in the shooting.
“It was hard to see him like that and then holding him," Krebs said. “He was my little mini me, but he was taken from me too soon.”
Baby Timothy died six days later.
"I loved my baby while I had him, and I really wanted him,” Krebs said.
'Will you run for president?': Why Arizona veterans are pushing Sen. Mark Kelly to run
For veterans like Ricardo Reyes, Arizona’s senior senator is a Hollywood-worthy presidential candidate.
“What I remind people is ... how amazing it was in the movie ‘Independence Day,’” he said, referring to the 1996 blockbuster in which Bill Pullman played a fighter-pilot-turned-president. “That president would be Mark Kelly if, on top of all his achievements, he was also an astronaut.”
Reyes isn’t alone. At a recent U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly town hall for veterans in Chandler, four different people pushed the Democratic senator to run for president in 2028.
One person asked about the war in Iran, ending with, “Will you run for president, and what the hell are we doing over there?”
The crowd laughed and clapped.
"Well, on the first question, I have not made a decision,” Kelly told him.
Peoria’s Pioneer Elementary students say goodbye as school shuts down
It was a bittersweet day at Pioneer Elementary School in the Peoria Unified School District. Students, staff and parents celebrated the last day of school, saying goodbye to their 50-year-old school before it closes.
In March, the Peoria Unified Governing Board voted to close two schools, Pioneer Elementary and Kachina Elementary, and reconfigure others as they faced a budget deficit. Pioneer Elementary will be converted into an alternative pathways campus, and the board plans to go to the voters in the fall to either sell or lease Kachina Elementary’s campus.
The district is only one of six school districts in the Valley to choose to close campuses at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Since 2024, there have been a total of 11 districts that made the decision to close some campuses due to lower enrollment and budget gaps.
