A Maryland man has been charged with the sexual abuse of two children at a day care center.

The mother of a 3-year-old girl noticed an inflammation while giving the girl a bath, NBCWashington.com's Pat Collins reported. The girl's 7-year-old sister said she believed it happened at the day care because the same thing had happened to her when she went to the day care, which is located in the basement of a residence in Montgomery Village, Md.

After an investigation, Montgomery County Police arrested 66-year-old Javier Zaraysi, the husband of the day care provider, on March 14. Zaraysi was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of committing a second-degree sex offense, and two counts of committing a third-degree sex offense. He is being held on $500,000 bond.

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Detectives say Zaraysi allegedly assulted the girls during naptime when his wife would go upstairs to let the children rest.

On the door of the daycare Thursday evening, a sign reading "He is innocent" was posted, Collins reported.

Authorities are still determining whether or not other children who attended the day care were also sexually abused.

More than four years after a Prince George's County teen died after getting hit on her walk to school, her family was awarded tens of millions of dollars in a wrongful death suit, but the legal battle could be far from over.

The morning of Sept. 1, 2009, a Lincoln Continental hit 13-year-old Ashley Davis as she crossed Brinkley Road to get to her school bus stop. Some of her classmates watched in horror.

The car then struck a minivan and a 17-year-old boy.

“She was on her way,” her mother, Nycole Davis, said. “She was doing the right thing. She was going to school. She was a good girl. She didn’t deserve this.”

Ashley, a Crossland High School freshman, suffered catastrophic injuries and died two weeks later. Her parents sued the Prince George’s County School Board.

“The school board was negligent,” said John Costello, the lawyer for the family. “They had adopted a policy to provide for safe transportation. The policy was they were going to pick up Ashley on her own side of the street. They never did. They forced her to cross the street. She got killed crossing the street.”

“If she didn’t have to cross the street …  she’d be graduating this year,” her mother said. “She’d be going to prom this year.”

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At the end of the civil trial, a Prince George’s County jury awarded Ashley’s family a verdict of $90 million in damages plus medical expenses and funeral costs.

“I didn’t ask anyone to give me any money or anything like that,” her mother said. “I just want someone held responsible for what happened to my daughter.”

Prince George's County Public Schools emailed a statement to News4 saying, “No judgment has been entered in this case. It is still under litigation.”

Some cap a verdict or limit it in the neighborhood of $100,000 when there is a lawsuit against a municipality or school system, so this case could be far from over.

The sale of military-style weapons in Maryland has skyrocketed because of the concern they'll will be banned once the strict gun control bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly on Thursday goes into effect.

At Engage Armament in Rockville, there are only a few assault weapons left because so many have been sold in anticipation of gun restrictions.

Ammunition has gone up in price -- that is, if you can even find bullets in stock.

"Everything's been bought up and we've had ammunition that came right off the trucks," said A.J. Wynne, an employee at Engage Armament. "They'd say, 'What is that?' I'd say, '9 mm.' [They'd say,] 'I'll take it.' Right before we're even done booking guns in, it's already sold."

Geogre Heffner was in the store Friday, purchasing a handgun that he had ordered months ago.

"When I came here two months ago, there was nothing to be had," he said. "The store was completely empty. I thought someone had come in and robbed it. Nothing on the shelves hardly at all.... Completely sold out."

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued a statement saying: "We fully support Governor O'Malley's comprehensive legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly. His leadership in the area of gun licensing, restricting access to military-style assault weapons and gun magazines will save lives."

In Prince George's County, youth violence is a growing concern. Seven teens have been shot and killed in the county during this school year.

"As... a person that has kids and [is] concerned about youth violence, I think [gun control is] something that would be a great asset to my kids that are growing up now, in today's society," said Prince George's County resident Darnell Johnson.

But opinion is divided whether gun control is the answer.

"Personally, I think the problem is a little deeper," said Prince George's County resident Dexter Taylor."We need to catch some of these younger people... and try to keep them from going in that direction in the first place."

Reuters

Aaron Thomas, 41, known as the "East Coast Rapist."

The man referred to as the "East Coast Rapist" -- tied to a string of attacks along the Eastern Seaboard -- was indicted Tuesday in the county where he has said his reign of terror began.

Aaron Thomas, 41, was indicted by prosecutors in Prince George's County, Md., on six counts of first-degree rape and related charges, reported NBCWashington.com. He is accused of raping and kidnapping six women in the county between 1997 and 2001 and faces a total of 54 charges there, including first-degree sex-offense, kidnapping, theft, and false imprisonment, NBCWashington.com said.

Thomas is already behind bars in Virginia, serving five life sentences plus 80 years for a 2001 rape and abduction in Leesburg, Va., and a Halloween 2009 attack on three teenagers in Prince William County, Va.

"While we know that Mr. Thomas will spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes, it is important that we prosecute him for the attacks he committed in our county, so these six victims can receive justice and closure from this terrible incident in their lives," said Prince George's County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks in a statement on Tuesday.

Thomas is linked by DNA evidence to more than a dozen sexual assaults dating back to 1997 from the Washington area to Connecticut.

Thomas told The Washington Post that his first rape was in Prince George’s County, and described several assaults that predate the ones known to authorities by several years.

The earliest attack for which he has been charged is a February 1997 assault in Prince George's County, in which a woman was confronted by an assailant on a 10-speed bike, according to The Post. 

He wasn't captured until March 2011 after a massive manhunt following the 2009 Halloween attack.

In a tell-all interview with the Post on Nov. 10, 2012, from his Virginia jail cell, Thomas admitted he was the man known as the "East Coast Rapist," something he has also admitted to law enforcement. 

“I need help with this problem. It’s serious,” Thomas told The Post in 2012. “I don’t think I’m crazy, but something is wrong with me.”

A county in Maryland is putting limits on some of the trappings of elementary school: Hugs from grown-ups are restricted, birthday-party invitations are banned, and no more bringing cupcakes for the whole class.

Parents who visit the 17 elementary schools in St. Mary’s County are still allowed to hug their own children, just not other kids. Only parents registered as volunteers are allowed on the playground, and even then they can’t push other people’s kids on the swings.

“What’s OK with some families is not OK with others,” Kelly Hall, the district’s executive director of elementary schools, told NBC News on Tuesday.

The guidelines come from a committee of parents and school administrators that started meeting last fall. They were put in place after the massacre last December in Newtown, Conn. District officials stress that they are not final, and say they want feedback from parents.

Among the new rules: It’s fine to send a homemade cupcake to school for your own child, but not for the rest of the class. District officials are concerned about food allergies and want parents to send only store-bought treats that have the ingredients listed.

As for party invitations, the district suggests that PTA groups develop phone and email lists for parents.

“If there are 20 individuals in the class and someone brings in seven birthday invitations, it was creating an academic disruption,” Hall said. “People were getting their feelings hurt.”

Not everyone is happy with the restrictions. One member of the school board, Cathy Allen, told NBC Washington that they’re horrible.

“The idea that you can’t go into a school and be hugged by a child, or go in (to) have lunch or be out on the playground and that you can only push the swing for your child and no one else” is unacceptable, she said.

The school district, which has “Work Hard and Be Nice” as a motto, has about 8,000 elementary school students, Hall said. Sherry Whittles, the mother of one of them, told Southern Maryland Newspapers that the rules don’t go too far.

Enforcing the hugging restriction could be tough, she acknowledged, because the child often approaches the grown-up for a hug, not the other way around.

“It is sad that this needs to be done for the safety of our children,” she told the newspapers.

Related: Girls can't wear tuxedos to prom, students told

A massive water main break has forced the closure of Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C., and imposed mandatory water restrictions on Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission customers in two counties.

The break is expected to affect the morning commute, as a hoped-for 6 a.m. reopening of Connecticut Avenue was called off around 5:20 a.m.

Drivers are not able to get between D.C. and the Beltway using Connecticut Avenue, which is closed in both directions between Manor Road and Dunlap Street. That closure will continue indefinitely, WSSC said.

The main broke around 8 p.m. Monday at Chevy Chase Lake Drive, where water gushed several stories high from the 54-inch water main.

The break caused a power line to fall, but no customers have lost power. Natural gas and electric lines run along the water main, so crews from Washington Gas and PEPCO had to secure those lines before work on the water main could begin, said WSSC.

Crews had a scare shortly before 5:20 a.m. when a tree came down at the scene due to the saturated ground.

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The tree brought down some additional power lines, which dashed hopes for a 6 a.m. road opening. Pepco is headed to the scene.

Another tree is also threatening to topple, said WSSC.

Water restrictions in Maryland
While there are no water reported water outages, all WSSC customers in Prince George's and Montgomery counties are required to restrict usage until repairs are complete.

WSSC says all residential and commercial customers must:

Use water only as necessary -- i.e., take shorter showers and turn off faucets after washing hands and while brushing teeth.

Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use).

Put off washing clothes if possible.

Limit the use of dishwashers and wash only full loads.

The restrictions could last up to a week, WSSC said. A violation carries a fine of up to $500 fine.

WSSC said in a release it has been working with fire departments from both counties to ensure adequate fire protection.

"Please don't hoard water. We're not running out," said General Manager Jerry N. Johnson. "But if everyone can cut their water use by 10 percent, we should be OK. We appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation."

Officials said the pipes are old -- circa 1980 -- but did not give a cause for the break.

There is no timeline for repairs, WSSC said.

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Patrick Semansky / AP

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, center, speaks at a rally in support of repealing the state's death penalty in Annapolis, Md., on Jan. 15. O'Malley argued that the death penalty is a waste of resources that could be better used to fight crime in more productive ways.

Maryland will become the 18th state to ban the death penalty.

A bill to outlaw capital punishment cleared the state House of Delegates on Friday and has already been approved by the Senate. Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, has said that he will sign it.

O’Malley told reporters after the vote that the ban validates a “core belief that we share in the dignity of every human being.”

“Overwhelming evidence tells us that the death penalty does not work,” he said earlier in the day on Twitter. He added: “Especially in tough times, if a public policy is expensive and does not work, then we should stop doing it.”

The vote in the House was 82-56.

Maryland has five men on death row; the new legislation would allow the governor to commute their sentences. The state last executed someone in 2005. It has put five people to death since reinstating the death penalty in 1978.

The House of Delegates rejected more than 20 proposed amendments to the ban, most proposed by Republicans, including some that would have allowed the death penalty in certain cases, such as child murders and the killing of police officers.

The other 17 states that have outlawed the death penalty are mostly in the Midwest and Northeast. The District of Columbia has also banned it. Maryland is the sixth state in six years to enact such a ban, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

O’Malley has been mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Maryland’s Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the death penalty, moving the state one step closer to joining 17 others that ban capital punishment.

The Senate voted 27-20 to pass legislation that would replace execution with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The bill must be approved by the House of Delegates before becoming law.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said he was pleased with the vote.

"We remain hopeful that we will see a similar outcome in the House," he said in a statement. "It's time to end this ineffective and expensive practice and put our efforts behind crime fighting strategies that work."

Maryland has five inmates on death row, although no executions have been conducted since 2005. The state has carried out five executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

“The vote in the Maryland Senate to end the death penalty is in line with an emerging trend away from capital punishment around the country,” Richard Dieter, the center’s executive director, said in a statement. “Death sentences and executions have sharply declined, and now states are taking the final step toward eliminating the death penalty.”

Last year, Connecticut lawmakers abolished the death penalty, replacing it with life without parole, but voters in California rejected a law that would have ended capital punishment.

Some states are considering similar legislation, such as Montana, Colorado, Kentucky, Oregon and Delaware. The number of people sentenced to death in 2012 – 78 – marked a 75 percent decline from the 315 sentences imposed in 1996, the center said.

Supporters believe it will pass the House, but opponents think the issue will ultimately be decided by popular vote, The Associated Press reported.

Prince George's County Police Police have identified the suspected shooter in an apparent murder-suicide as Dayvon Maurice Green, a graduate student at the University of Maryland.

Authorities say Green opened fire on his two housemates in an off-campus residence in College Park, killing one and wounding the other before turning the gun on himself.

Police said Green had been suffering from an unspecified mental illness before the shooting. He had purchased the gun legally about one year ago.

Green was studying computer science. He had completed an undergraduate degree at Morgan State University.

Police said that shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, he set a fire in the basement of his rented house in the 8700 block of 36th Avenue near University Boulevard. As his two housemates ran outside and confronted him, he opened fire, according to authorities.

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Green then went to the rear of the house and killed himself, police said.

One housemate, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, ran to a neighbor's house for help. The other victim later died at a local hospital.

"All I heard was about six to seven shots going, 'pop pop pop,' and then about 15 minutes later, we saw the cops," neighbor Jithin George told News4's Megan McGrath.

The identities of the victims -- both male University of Maryland students -- have not yet been released. It is unknown whether they were graduate or undergraduate students.

The university sent an alert to students around 1:15 a.m., warning them that a shooting had been reported off-campus.

This story was originally published on Tue Feb 12, 2013 3:09 PM EST

Published at 4:50 a.m.: Police have charged a 14-year-old boy as an adult with first-degree murder in the death of his 7-month-old sister.

Johnathan Aguiluc, 14, of White Oak, Md., is being held without bond in the death of Larissa Yanes.

Investigators in Montgomery County say that the girl's mother, 39-year-old Gloria Yanes, left her apartment in the 11600 block of Lockwood Drive at 10:30 p.m. Thursday to go to work, leaving Aguiluc to watch Larissa.

During the evening, detectives say that Aguiluc beat Larissa, which caused her to cry. The teen then said he covered Larissa's nose and mouth with his hands until she stopped crying and placed the baby in her car seat.

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Gloria Yanes returned to the apartment at around 5:30 a.m. Friday. Around half an hour later, she attempted to wake Larissa up to feed her.

When Larissa did not respond, her mother called the police and fire/rescue. Larissa Yanes was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead of her injuries shortly before 7 a.m.

Aguiluc is scheduled to appear in court for a bond review on Monday.

By NBCWashington.com