Inside the apartment building pictured below, officers found Deanne Fontes, 17, and her live-in boyfriend Brian Nutter, 28, performing CPR on Fontes' 2-year-old son Dean McCullough.

Dean was taken from the apartment to Lowell General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Fontes, and Nutter, pictured below, were taken in for questioning, but eventually allowed to return to the scene last night, though they were not allowed back into their apartment while police sought a search warrant.

They spoke to news crews as they waited, saying police had suggested that Dean was strangled.

Fontes and Nutter said they had just put Dean down for a nap yesterday afternoon, when less than five minutes later Nutter went to get a drink and heard the boy screaming, shaking, and unable to breath.
They tried to perform CPR and called 911.

"He had a seizure, and we tried to save his life," Nutter said.

"I didn't hurt my child and neither did my boyfriend," Fontes said through tears. "He was a lovely little boy."

Fontes and Nutter both said Fontes' three-year-old, Thomas McCullough, has long fought with his brother, and often hits him with toys. They said they always pull the children apart and try to stop Thomas, and even considered putting the boys into a "sibling rivalry" class.

"Thomas likes to bite Dean, punch him, throw toys at him, hit him with toys," she said.

Fontes also said Dean had been sick lately, throwing up, and that he fell out of his crib on Tuesday night and struck his face.

District Attorney Gerard Leone's Office has said only that they are investigating the death, and that the State Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy.

Fontes said authorities took custody of 3-year-old Thomas until they can figure out what happened, and she said he was taken to a Boston hospital to be checked for internal injuries, even though she said he wasn't hurt.

Below is a couple clips of Fontes speaking to us, along with some video of detectives arriving and searching the apartment.

I'll post a link of my story, which contains even more details, on Thursday as soon as it appears on our website.

At one point during our conversations, a reporter asked Deanne Fontes how difficult it is to be considered a possible suspect even as she mourns the death of her son.

"It sucks," she said. "It makes me want to die."

Also, I forgot to include a photo credit. The second picture in the entry is a screen capture the crew from Fox25 made for me since I didn't catch a good photo of Fontes and Nutter talking to police.

Officers were called to the CVS on Derry Road a little after 8 p.m., after a man tried to pass a phoney $50 bill.

Managers had been warned someone was passing counterfeit money around town, so they called police immediately. The suspect fled before officers could arrive, though.

The suspect, pictured above, is described as a black male, over 6'0, with a muscular build. He is believed to drive a newer model silver or gray 4-door sedan, possibly a Ford 500.

Anyone with information on his identity is asked to call Hudson Police at 603.886.6011.

The search for Nou had included three Coast Guard cutters, Coast Guard helicopters and jets, other agencies, but it was a Rhode Island State Police dive team that finally found Nou while using underwater sonar equipment and a robotic camera.

Police have confirmed Nou's identity because his driver's license was still in his back pocket. His body was turned over to the Rhode Island Medical Examiner's Office.

Nou reportedly jumped into the water after three of his family members were swept off the rocks of Hazard Rock in Narragansett on Sunday by a large wave. The other three were rescued, but Nou gave his live trying to save his own family.

I've stopped by the family's house a couple times this week and left my card, but I haven't heard back.

Officers were sent to the 7-Eleven at Princeton Boulevard and Wood Street right at 10 p.m., for a report that a man was robbing the store with a knife and that the store clerk had fled, leaving several customers inside with the suspect.

Officers arrived and learned from witnesses that a white male in a white shirt and jeans had dropped his knife, run from the store and then got into a green Buick.

Witnesses gave police a license plate number for that getaway car, and as officers assigned to the Highlands neighborhood investigated the robbery, Officer Billy Finn was still on routine patrol in Lower Belvedere.

It was about 10 minutes after the robbery that Finn spotted the car said to be involved in the robbery and stopped it on Lawrence Street at Charles Street.

Wayne Destefano, 25, of 21 Pine St., Pepperell, who is pictured above, and Rafael Nieves, 37, who his homeless, were both arrested and charged with armed robbery while masked.

Destafano is accused of going into the store, while Nieves, pictured with Officer Finn below, is accused of driving the getaway car. He faces the same charges as Destefano under the joint venture principal.

According to our archives, Destefano is one of three men who were convicted of armed robbery in February of last year in connection with a March 30, 2008 armed robbery at the Cumberland Farms on Main Street in Pepperell. Not sure why he was already out of jail.

I lived right down the street from that Cumberland Farms about seven years ago before I moved to Somerville and then Lowell, and always liked the clerks working there.

The name Rafael Nieves only comes up once in our archives, and that's for a drug arrest in 2001 in which a man who's name and age match up was charged with distribution of heroin and marijuana.

Police Chief Timothy Sheehan says the man entered through an unlocked door in the back of the station and pulled a knife on a clerk. He demanded all the cash from the register and fled through the back door.

The clerk was unhurt.

The suspect is described as a white male, 5'4 to 5'6, with a medium build. He wore a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and black running pants.

Anyone with information on the robbery, or who believes they may know who this individual is, is asked to call Tewksbury Police at 978.851.7373. If you want to remain anonymous call the Tewksbury Police tip line at 978.851.0175.

If you follow this map link and zoom out a bit, you can see the area that is burning between Martins Pond Road and Chicopee Row.

I drove all the way around the fire this evening, but was unable to spot any smoke, although I could definitely smell the fire as I was crossing into Groton from Westford on Route 40.

Dunstable Fire Chief Charlie Rich told me the blaze was about a half mile into the woods from Chicopee Row, where firefighters setup the command post pictured below.

Crews were also setup and working from Floyd Hill Road, which is the first thing you see in that map link, but I was unable to get to that point because police closed Martins Pond Road.

Rich said crews were surrounding the fire last night and setup a perimeter around it to keep it contained overnight, and that firefighters will be back to work fighting it first thing at dawn.

The blaze was not believed to be near any homes, though Rich said he wasn't 100 percent sure what was happening on the other side of the fire, on the Floyd Hill Road side. I heard no radio broadcasts indicating anything over there, though.

In addition to local fire departments, the mobile command center from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services was also at the scene.

Officers were called to Willard Street about 2:45 p.m., and discovered the 12-year-old had been riding a mountain bike outbound on Willard Street when for some reason he ended up in the path of a red Nissan sedan that struck him.

The boy was not wearing a helmet and suffered a serious head injury, though police told me it did not appear to be life-threatening.

The boy was taken directly to Monahan Park, across Pleasant Street from the fire department headquarters in Dracut, where he was met by a MedFlight helicopter that flew him to Boston.

A pair of light green Crocs and the mountain bike remained along the side of the road, the bike's tire slightly bent.

There was no visible damage to the Nissan.

The young woman from Lowell who was driving the Nissan remained at the scene and looked to be very distraught.

She is not facing any charges, but the crash remains under investigation by the traffic bureau, which is still at the scene taking measurements for accident reconstruction.

Police have not identified either the boy or the driver at this early stage of the investigation.

Narragansett Police say they were called to the area at 12:05 p.m., for a report that a man and two women from Lowell had been swept off the rocks by a wave. Officers arrived to learn that a fourth man, also from Lowell, went into the water to try to help and then vanished.

The three who were swept into the water initially were saved, two by police and firefighters, and one by a person on a jet ski. The women were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.

Police did not identify those involved, but a woman who identified herself as the missing man's girlfriend told WPRI-TV in Providence that he is Samnang Nou, 25, of Lowell. Below is a picture the girlfriend gave to WPRI.

Telephone listings show a Samnang Nou lives on Chauncey Ave., in the Highlands, but the lights were all out and no one was home there when I stopped by this evening to see if family members remained.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter and a boat to assist the search, which was also aided by by over a half dozen local agencies around Naragansett. Two dive teams went to the scene, but were unable to go into the water due to rough weather conditions and strong waves.

Nou remained missing late last night. Petty Officer 3rd Class Connie Terrell, a Coast Guard spokesman, just emailed to tell me U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Chinook will stay in the area to search overnight. The rest of the search will resume at dawn.

It sounds like these rocks are very slick and pretty dangerous. Here's a link to a blog entry from Field and Stream magazine concerning the area.

A pair of 14-year-old boys didn't have the benefit of that advice when they walked out onto the rocks near the Textile Memorial Bridge on University Avenue this afternoon. It's an easy task when the waters are low.

But the boys apparently didn't realize the meaning behind a siren that sounds when the dam is about to release more water down river, and stayed on the rocks as the waters began to rise at a rate Mulligan estimates can reach three or four feet within one or two minutes.

Soon they found themselves in the situation documented by Tory Germann's photos.

Not good.

Someone quickly called 911, but firefighters and police were initially unable to get to the boys.

Dispatchers made an emergency call to Enel North America, the parent company of Boott Hydropower, which owns the dam.

An Enel employee was rushed to the city with a police escort to override the computers that release water from the dam, and within 30 minutes firefighters with Engine 11 and Ladder 3 had zodiacs in the water and were on their way to rescue the boys.

The kids were eventually pulled to safety, and were said to be unhurt.

I have to imagine they won't be heading out onto the rocks anytime soon, though.

Police and firefighters didn't identify the boys, but Deputy Mulligan said they were both 14.

I tried to reach a spokesman for Enel North American tonight but he didn't reply to my telephone call or email, so I'm still not exactly sure why the automated systems at the dam release the water like that.

Mulligan said there is a siren that sounds before the dam releases water, though. I hope anyone in the area knows what it means from now on.

Police say a kid on a bike first noticed the man parked under a tree at the Congregational Church on Main Street.

The kid noticed the man appeared to be watching a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl who were wearing shorts and T-shirts while taking part in a fundraising car wash about 50-yards away near the fire station.

Police found 58-year-old Richard Mello, of Pelham, sitting in his car in the otherwise empty parking lot, and found his binoculars on the floor of his car, according to Sgt. Michael Pickles.

Sgt. Pickles tells me the girls were plenty close enough to be seen by Mello without binoculars, but that Mello apparently wanted a close up view.

Pickles said Mello admitted he was watching the girls.

To be clear, Mello is not a registered sex offender and he is not charged with any sex offenses, but Pickles said "obviously there was a concern that this activity was taking place."

Mello was charged with loitering and causing public alarm, and then released on $2,000 personal recognizance after being ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, unless they are a family member.

I tried calling Mello to see what he has to say for himself but I keep getting a busy signal. Police didn't release his address but telephone listings say he lives at 3 Sandy Circle.

Police said the 28-year-old woman driving the red Nissan Sentra pictured below was pulling out of Hildreth Street when she got struck by the white Honda CRV in the foreground that was driven by a 44-year-old woman.

The Sentra then spun around and struck a white Honda sedan driven by a 51-year-old woman who was on 11th Street waiting for traffic to pass.

No one appeared to be seriously injured, but two conscious women in the Sentra got neck braces and back boarded before they were taken out of the vehicle.

Police said it appeared the driver of the Sentra would be cited, but they were still investigating.

Bridge Street was closed for about a half hour while firefighters and EMT's tended to those involved and tow truck drivers cleaned up the scene.

There wasn't much firefighters could do except evacuate about a dozen residents and get hoses ready in case anything ignited.

A National Grid crew made it to the scene within 15 minutes, and only need about 15 minutes after that to clamp off the the line and seal the gas.

Firefighters were on their way back to stations and residents were back inside within about half an hour.

A National Grid spokesman tells me the work crew at the scene had a DigSafe ticket for the work they were doing.

Aylward is the convicted killer I wrote about a bit ago when he was picked up with a long-time con for having about 250 pills and no prescriptions.

There were 79 Oxy 80's among those pills, so Aylward is facing a drug trafficking charge.

I'm not sure why he was out of jail. Last I heard about him was after his arraignment in Lowell District Court where he was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail.

Lowell Police only arrested him on the warrant, though, they didn't obtain it, and I'm told that Billerica Police obtained the warrant.

I have an email sent out to a commander there to try to get details on what led to the warrant, but I didn't have a chance to send it until about 10:45 p.m., so it's too late to call him at home.

Watch for more on this tomorrow.

There have been a lot of car breaks around here so police patrol that lot a couple times a night, and these three guys said they were from out of town, yet didn't have much of an explanation for why they were in Lowell.

One of the guys had a couple thousand dollars in cash on him, so police ran them for warrants and checked them out pretty good.

Eventually officers found several ounces of weed, as pictured above, in a Cadillac with Connecticut plates that one of the guys was driving.

Jose Ramos, 26, of Manhattan, was charged with controlling the weed. He's charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in a school zone, trespassing and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Police said they also found a small amount of cocaine in the possession of Darwin Benitez, 26, of the Bronx. He was charged with possession of cocaine, trespassing, and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Rey Balado, 24, of Waterbury, Conn., was charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws and trespassing.

You can see some of the cash that police put in a plastic bag in the above picture. Police are also checking the Cadillac for a drug hide, but that effort was still ongoing when I thought I should head back to the office.

The owner, Jenny Chen, was behind the counter taking orders when she said she heard a "BOOM" and didn't know what happened.

It didn't take her long to figure it out, though, since the truck took out a large plate glass window at the side of her dining room.

She said there were customers inside, as were her 7 and 8-year-old daughters, who were very fortunate to not be by the window pictured below when this happened.

I asked the girls if they were scared and they both smiled and shook their heads no.

Car 8 was not far away on Central Street, and was close enough to hear the boom and to see the top of the tree shake. Officers said a Lowell man was driving the truck, but they couldn't tell me his age or name yet.

It sounds like he's not facing charges.