Jessica Hill / AP file

Charla Nash, mauled in a 2009 chimpanzee attack, cannot sue the state of Connecticut for for $150 million in claimed damages.

A Connecticut woman disfigured in a chimpanzee attack was denied permission Friday to sue the state for $150 million.

The state is immune to lawsuits unless they're allowed by state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., who denied permission and announced his decision in a news release.

Nash was blinded, lost both hands and underwent a face transplant after being mauled in Stamford in 2009. She reached a $4 million settlement last year with the estate of chimp owner Sandra Herold, who died in 2010.

Her lawyer said the state should be held responsible for not seizing the animal before the attack, because it was warned the animal was dangerous. State Attorney General George Jepsen said the state shouldn't be held liable for the mauling. 

Nash, 59, had gone to Herold's home on the day of the attack to help lure her friend's 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, back inside. But the chimp went berserk and ripped off Nash's nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being shot to death by a police officer. Nash now lives in a nursing home outside Boston.

Travis had starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger and made an appearance on "The Maury Povich Show." The chimpanzee was the constant companion of the widowed Herold and was fed steak, lobster and ice cream. The chimp could eat at the table, drink wine from a stemmed glass, use the toilet, and bathe and dress itself.

Travis had previously bitten another woman's hand and tried to drag her into a car in 1996, bit a man's thumb two years later and roamed downtown Stamford for hours in 2003 before being captured after escaping from Herold's home, according to Nash's lawsuit against Herold.

The $4 million settlement covers a small fraction of Nash's medical costs, according to her lawyers, who have said she requires care and supervision around the clock. She is facing another surgery for hand transplants and will need to be on antibiotics for the rest of her life.

Nash holds the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responsible for not seizing the animal before the attack despite a state biologist's warning it was dangerous.

"I hope and pray that the commissioner will give me my day in court," Nash told reporters following a hearing last year before Vance.

"And I also pray that I hope this never happens to anyone else again. It is not nice."

Antonia Candelaria, 9-years-old

A  nine-year-old girl killed by the Oklahoma tornado was mourned at a memorial service Thursday, with her family taking comfort in the belief that she was with her best friend when she died.

Antonia Candelaria is one of seven children who perished at the Plaza Towers elementary school in Moore, Okla. Her closest friend, fellow third-grader Emily Conatzer, was with her — a source of solace for her parents.

'I know Tonia and Emily were together and holding hands and taking care of each other," Antonia's mother said after learning of her daughter's death, according to Moore Schools Superintendent Susan Pierce.

Antonia's funeral was the first of three to be held in the next two days for children who died in Monday's storm, which claimed a total of 24 lives and damaged or destroyed 13,000 homes in the Oklahoma City suburb.

“She was a beautiful young lady on the inside and out,” said an obituary for Antonia published in The Oklahoman newspaper. “She had her own most special and beautiful way of looking at the world. She could find the positive, good and joy in everything.”

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains

Tannen Maury / EPA

A monster tornado hit Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon, leaving at least 24 dead.

Launch slideshow

Nicknamed "Ladybug," she was “specially gifted in art as well as music” and “loved to draw, paint, color and make crafts,” the obituary said.

“We will miss our precious little Ladybug everyday but will rejoice for the day we will be reunited with her again someday," it added.

Authorities said Thursday they believe everyone who was missing after the twister has been tracked down and the death toll will stand at 24, including 10 children.

The victims include a mother who sought shelter in a 7-Eleven that collapsed, killing both her and her four-month-old son, and two sisters who were torn from their mother as she huddled with them in a bathtub.

Laurinda Vargyas, 30, told the Oklahoman that she was flopped around and when she landed, 4-year-old Karrina and 7-month-old Sydnee were gone.

She found the baby in a driveway, "just laying there helpless."

"All I could do was sit there and hold her. She was already gone. They say she didn't suffer. So I've got to find peace with that,” she told the newspaper.

Karrina's body was found later in the rubble of a neighbor's house. Varygas and her husband have two older children who were not harmed.

Beyond the human cost, the damage from Monday’s EF-5 tornado could top $2 billion, officials said late Wednesday as the focus shifted to huge task of clearing mile upon mile of of debris.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis said Wednesday he would propose an ordinance in the next couple of days to require all new homes to have storm shelters.

NBC News' Tracy Connor and Kate Snow contributed to this report.

Related content:

• 'She was always happy': Families grieve tornado victim
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• Tornado victim separated from spouse: 'The house totally disappeared'

This story was originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 4:43 AM EDT

A young college police officer beloved by his colleagues has been identified by authorities as the latest casualty of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

Sean Collier, 27, of Somerville, Mass., was an officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was found shot in his vehicle on the campus late Thursday night as authorities pursued two brothers named as suspects in Monday's deadly marathon attack.

In a statement his family said they were "heartbroken."

"Our only solace is that Sean died bravely doing what he committed his life to — serving and protecting others," the statement read. "We are thankful for the outpouring of support and condolences offered by so many people. We are grieving his loss and ask that the media respect our privacy at this time."

MIT Police Chief John DiFava described Collier as "a dedicated officer who was extremely well liked by his colleagues and the MIT community" in a press release on Friday.

“Sean was one of these guys who really looked at police work as a calling,” DiFava said. “He was born to be a police officer.”

Collier sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Middlesex District Attorney in Massachusetts. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Collier crossed paths with the two suspects, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, at approximately 10:20 p.m. Thursday night, authorities said — roughly five hours after the FBI released surveillance photos of the two men they say planted twin bombs near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 176.

The suspects shot Collier on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass., following an altercation, according to authorities. They then allegedly carjacked a Mercedes SUV, holding the driver hostage for a half hour before freeing him at a gas station in Cambridge, according to sources.

On their way to the neighboring town of Watertown, they tossed explosive devices outside the SUV’s window, officials said. In a long exchange of gunfire between the suspects and authorities, a transit officer, Richard Donahue, was seriously injured.

The older brother, Tamerlan, died after the gun battle early Friday morning. The younger sibling, Dzhokhar, was captured at about 8:45 p.m. Friday following a large manhunt.

In a tragic coincidence, Collier and Donahue were "actually really good friends” who graduated from the same 26-member police academy class together three years ago, according to Milton, Mass., police officer Michael Delaney, who went to the academy with them.

"It's bizarre," Delaney said. "To take two of them out of there, it's a decent percentage." 

Delaney, 36, said both Collier and Donahue lived in Somerville. He remembered Collier as a "technology nerd."

"He was definitely the smartest kid in the class. He built us a website that the instructors didn't know about, but we used as a forum to communicate with each other outside of class." Delaney said. "Sometimes [the teachers] weren't so clear on the instructions. It helped ensure that no one screwed up."

Delaney said he heard on the news last night that an MIT officer had been shot, and he immediately texted Collier. When his friend didn't text back, he started to worry. Hours later, he found out from a Facebook group he and other police officers from the academy are in that Collier was shot. 

"I don't even think his family knew at that point," he said. "He was a really nice kid.” 

Collier, who wasn't married, had only been a patrol officer at MIT since Jan. 9, 2012, according to the university. He was part of the MIT Outing club, which went on ski and hiking trips.

Noel Morales, a senior at MIT, said Collier was a regular presence at student events, eager to get to know the students he was protecting, according to MIT's press release.

“He was always really fun to hang out with,” Morales said.

Mechanical engineering student Matthew Gilbertson, who knew Collier from the Outing Club, said he and Collier were in a car accident a few months ago while driving to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

“Sean was the first out of our car to go check and see if the [other driver] was OK,” said Andrew Ding, according to MIT's press release. “It would be exceedingly difficult to imagine him not stepping up and doing the right thing when he had the chance, which unfortunately he did last night.”

Somerville Alderman Bob Trane said he had been bombarded with phone calls from people wanted to express their condolences about Collier. 

Miranda Leitsinger / NBC News

From left: Gary Grandonico, Max Jaffe, and Tomas Isman, all 22 and students at Tufts University, lived a few doors down from Collier but didn't know him. Asked why they were had hung a flag, Jaffe said: "In solidarity. We didn't really know the police officer who got killed this morning, but we wanted to show our support."

"We are all feeling the loss," Trane said from a block away from where Collier lived. "He was wise beyond his years. I was just impressed by how he was so mature for his age." 

Before working for MIT, Collier was an IT civilian employee at the Somerville police department.

MIT's president said his death reverberated throughout the entire university community. 

“The loss of Officer Collier is deeply painful to the entire MIT community,” L. Rafael Reif said, adding that it was "senseless and tragic."

The school's executive vice president and treasure, Israel Ruiz, said, “The MIT Police serve all of us at the Institute with great dignity, honor and dedication. Everyone here — those who knew Officer Collier, and those who did not — are devastated by the events that transpired on our campus last night. We will never forget the seriousness with which he took his role protecting MIT and those of us who consider it home.” 

Authorities cordoned off Collier's home with yellow tape on Friday morning.

Collier's family asked for donations to be made in his name to The Jimmy Fund, which supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. 

Related content:  

• Boston on lockdown during marathon manhunt 
• Profile of suspects in Boston Marathon bombing
• Photos from Bostonians locked down amid terror hunt 
• Timeline of terror hunt: From photo release to rolling shootout
• Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon
• Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect

This story was originally published on Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:25 PM EDT

NBC 4 New York

Eady Rothstein hopes to meet Larry Brickman, who was a 21-year-old lifeguard when he saved then 5-year-old Rothstein's life.

A woman who was rescued by a lifeguard when she nearly drowned in a pool as a 5-year-old has found her hero, almost 50 years after her brush with death.

Eady Rothstein, from Ramsey, N.J., was sitting on the edge of a pool at a club near Lido Beach on New York’s Long Island in 1964 when she suddenly slipped in.

"I can picture being underwater, screaming," recalled Rothstein. 

A young lifeguard jumped in and gave the little girl mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for several minutes. He persisted until she regained consciousness, saving her life. 

"I've always said I wanted to thank him, and I should do it," said Rothstein.

Larry Brickman, who now lives in Florida, was a 21-year-old medical student living in Long Beach for the summer, working as a lifeguard to pay for school. He knew CPR -- training that most lifeguards did not get back in the 1960s. 

Read more stories at NBCNewYork.com

"If no one was there to do this, I'm afraid she would have succumbed," Brickman said from his Boca Raton office Wednesday. 

Rothstein and Brickman had only met in person that one fateful summer day. Recently, Rothstein came across an article detailing their encounter in a family scrapbook while moving to her new home in Ramsey. So she decided to track him down, and a simple Google search put them in touch.

"I got his phone number. I got his answering machine, and I left a message," said Rothstein. 

Brickman returned her call.

"My final words to her when I hung up that day, after I called her back, were, 'You know, I guess we just got very lucky, you and I both,'" said Brickman. 

Rothstein said after the trauma, her father made her get back in the water with swimming lessons. Now she regularly swims laps in the pool each summer.

An in-person reunion is in the works. For now, words on the phone will have to do. 

"I owe my life, and it's a very nice feeling to finally be able to say, 'Thank you,'" said Rothstein.