Mine owner Blackjewel LLC filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 1 was a big hit to the region straddling northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, where coal has quietly supported the economies of both states for decades and fuels a shrinking number of power plants in 28 states. Negotiations that could reopen the two Wyoming mines under new ownership — potentially previous owner Bristol, Tennessee-based Contura Energy — are stalled more than two months later. Some 600 employees remain off the job. They lost health insurance coverage in late August. And doubts are growing about the long-term viability of the region’s coal mines — particularly Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr, the fourth- and sixth-biggest in the U.S. by production, respectively.
Police were called to a Maryland home just hours before two young children, who had ties to the Philadelphia-area, were found dead after an apparent attempted exorcism.
A 911 caller alerted police to a situation at a Germantown, Md. home late Thursday evening. He said he spotted a baby inside of a blue Honda left alone for approximately 45 minutes.
"The mother came out and said she had something going on that she didn't want her baby to be in danger in the house," the caller said.
During the call, the man says he was approached by two women from the home who chased him down, while one of the women talked to herself.
Police have not released what happened during their response to the home that night.
Another neighbor contacted 911 just after 9 a.m. Friday when she saw a bloody knife next to a blue Honda, with its passenger side door open.
"The windows of the house are open and I heard a lot of noises in the night, I heard a lot of jumping," the caller said.
When police arrived, they found the bodies of 1-year-old Norell N. Harris and 2-year-old Zyana Z. Harris. Two other children, Taniya Harris, 5, and Martello Harris, 8, were found injured and have been hospitalized.
Within hours, their mother, 28-year-old Zakieya Latrice Avery, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. The following day, 21-year-old Monifa Denise Sanford was arrested on the same charges.
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Police tell our sister station, News4 Washington, the two women believed they were performing an exorcism and described the scene as "very bloody."
Avery and Sanford were due in court Tuesday.
The family has ties to Philadelphia. NBC10 spoke with an uncle of the victims who did not want to comment on the attack. The children's grandmother is also from the city.
