PHOENIX — We made it to Friday! It's a holiday weekend! Hope you have a great weekend celebrating 250 years of America and the freedom we have because of our founding fathers!
We're staying on top of the latest happenings from across the Valley, state, and our nation for Friday, July 3; here’s what you need to know as you start your day:
From Meteorologist Jorge Torres - Poor air quality and toasty for the Fourth of July
Poor air quality remains a concern as we head into the holiday weekend.
An ozone high pollution advisory is in effect today.
Otherwise... Partly cloudy and hot with a high of 107°.
Man ‘falsely arrested’ with facial recognition for cold case murder sues Phoenix PD, MCAO
Javier Lorenzano Nunez, who spent nearly a year in jail after being arrested for a 1998 Phoenix murder, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
The lawsuit alleges he was "arrested without probable cause" and that police and prosecutors "committed gross negligence, false arrest, false imprisonment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and defamation."
Phoenix police and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Lorenzano Nunez was arrested in 2024 after investigators used facial recognition technology to connect him to the decades-old killing of 28-year-old Sarah Carr. All charges were quietly dismissed less than a year later after forensic evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, excluded him, records show.
Carr was shot and killed on July 9, 1998, just before midnight at a house near 14th Street and McDowell Road following an argument. Witnesses identified a suspect named Gilbert Noel Sanchez Rosado, who fled and was never found.
Two decades later, investigators ran Rosado's old Arizona MVD photo through facial recognition databases operated by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the FBI.
Clients of 'imposter' injector left shocked and concerned after recent arrest
Clients of an "imposter" injector are now left concerned after her recent arrest and indictment.
This week, Brandi Dees, 30, appeared in court, pleading not guilty at her arraignment.
Court paperwork says Dees, who operated under the name Baddie Bratzz, started providing cosmetic injections in 2024.
The 30-year-old is accused of offering services like dermal fillers, Botox, fat dissolve, and liquid BBL's without a license.
"I mean, I was literally in shock and scared because, you know, I was like, wow, did she really inject me with what she said she was injecting me with?" said one woman who wanted to remain anonymous.
Both women ABC15 spoke with sent in messages between themselves and Dees, as they discussed various services.
911 calls released after Maryvale High School student was stabbed and killed in classroom
Newly released 911 calls reveal the chaotic moments after a 16-year-old was fatally stabbed inside a classroom at Maryvale High School in Phoenix last August.
Michael Montoya, a junior, was stabbed multiple times just four days after he turned 16. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. A classmate has been charged with his murder and is facing trial.
One of the 911 calls came from a student inside the classroom.
"If you can come to Maryvale High School, we have a student that got stabbed. He got stabbed by a knife," the student said.
Phoenix Fire personnel walked students and staff in the classroom through first aid techniques while school staff waited for an ambulance to arrive.
Retired Phoenix police officer catches rare albino rattlesnake in Gold Canyon
A retired Phoenix police officer turned rattlesnake wrangler has captured what experts believe is an exceedingly rare albino rattlesnake in the Gold Canyon area — and she's pregnant.
Phil Roberts, of Gold Canyon, has relocated more than 85 rattlesnakes over the past year, all free of charge, after spending more than 30 years with the Phoenix Police Department's violent crimes bureau.
"After 33 years in the department, I wanted to do something a little safer, so I became a rattlesnake wrangler," Roberts said, smiling.
Roberts takes calls from friends and neighbors in the Gold Canyon area and removes rattlesnakes at no cost.
"I appreciate neighbors looking after neighbors," Roberts said.
One of those neighbors spotted a white snake and initially mistook it for a walking stick. Instead of reaching for it, they reached out to Roberts.
