BOSTON – A judge approved a request Monday by Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's defense attorneys to receive records compiled on him in federal prison. Read the rest of this entry »

A teenage girl in Florida faces criminal charges for an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female student in a case the defendant’s family says stems from anti-gay prejudice. Read the rest of this entry »

Patrol officers confronted with a hostage situation are taught to keep their distance if possible, set up a perimeter and wait for negotiators and SWAT teams to arrive. That scenario has a high success rate: FBI data show that in the vast majority of these volatile cases, the victim is released or rescued unharmed. Read the rest of this entry »

KERRVILLE, Texas -- The judge ascended the bench. He looked down at cafeteria-style tables marked "Prosecuting Attorney" and "Defense Attorney." To his left, two men sat in a box marked "Jury." The witness stand was marked "Witness." Read the rest of this entry »

A Rhode Island University student texted his mother in Pennsylvania to say he was coming home for the summer -- but he never showed up. Police are searching for Matthew Royer, 21, who was last seen on Thursday, May 16. He told his mom that he overslept and was getting a late start on his trip at about 6 p.m., ABC News reports. Read the rest of this entry »

Jodi Arias, the woman convicted of the frenzied murder of an ex-lover in Arizona, was due back in court Monday as jurors consider whether she should be executed for the crime. Jury finds Jodi Arias guilty of murdering boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Convicted murderer faces possibility of death sentence. NBC News' Chris Clackum reports. Read the rest of this entry »

PHOENIX -- A Phoenix police officer and firefighter both died Sunday after suffering critical injuries in separate accidents on the job, officials said. Police said Officer Daryl Raetz, 29, was conducting a DUI stop on a vehicle in west Phoenix when another vehicle struck him at about 3:30 a.m. and then fled the scene. Raetz, an Iraq war veteran who became a Phoenix police officer six years ago, was taken to a hospital where he later died. Read the rest of this entry »

SAN FRANCISCO -- Authorities were searching for at least two gunmen who walked up to the door of a Northern California home and opened fire, killing a 10-year-old girl and injuring her parents. "Whoever these gunmen were, they were directly outside the front door," Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jason Ramos said Sunday. "This was not a drive-by. These gunmen approached the house and shot inside." Read the rest of this entry »

A 12-year-old boy playing basketball was shot and killed and his father was wounded on a Jersey City street Friday night. Police say Gywan Levine Jr. and his father, Gywan Levine Sr., were on Rutgers Avenue between Stevens Avenue and Wade Street around 9:50 p.m. when they were approached by two men and shots were fired. Read the rest of this entry »

A 33-year-old Manhattan man who allegedly made anti-gay remarks to a 32-year-old man he's accused of fatally shooting in Greenwich Village has been charged with murder as a hate crime, police said. Read the rest of this entry »