First daughter Malia Obama has been spotted checking out colleges in New York City. 

NYU student blog NYU Local reported Malia, 16, and mom Michelle Obama were seen touring the campus Friday morning. 

A witness accidentally got onto the elevator with the Obamas, along with their Secret Service detail and an admissions ambassador, at Goddard Hall, the blog reported.

"Apparently everyone was told that the elevators were 'shut down' for the 10 minutes they were in the building, but I knew the truth," the witness told the blog.

Malia was later seen on the Columbia University campus, the campus news site Bwog reported. 

Student Geetika Rudra posted an Instagram photo of the First Lady at nearby Community Food and Juice cafe in the afternoon. 

"FLOTUS! Michelle and Malia Obama at Columbia!" wrote Rudra. 

Malia Obama is currently a high school junior at Sidewells Friends School in Washington, D.C. 

Neighbors of a Manhattan Beach family whose home was firebombed are planning a vigil for Friday night to show their solidarity with the victims, who fear they were targeted in a possible hate crime.

NBC4 reporter Gordon Tokumatsu is gathering the latest details of this investigation for the NBC4 News at 5 and 6. Tune in for the newest updates.

A group of neighbors will gather at the Metlox outdoor shopping complex at 451 Manhattan Beach Blvd. at 6 p.m. for a candlelight vigil.

Ronald Clinton believes his "gut feeling" that whoever threw a burning tire through the front door of his home in the 700 block of 11th Street around 2:15 a.m. Thursday morning targeted his family in a hate crime.

"The fact that we are the only African-American family in this area, the fact that our house specifically, it came to our front door," Clinton said Thursday night. "I'm very angry and I'm a little afraid for my family."

At a Friday press conference, Clinton reiterated his belief that the firebomb was aimed at his family.

"Just our home. No other home on the block. Just our home," he said.

The fire is not the first time the home has been targeted, he said.

Drug paraphernalia was placed at the home's front door a few months ago and at other times trash and other large items have been dumped at the house, Clinton said.

Clinton's wife, Malissia, agreed with his assessment during a press conference Friday.

"Until I have proof to the contrary, we were targeted because of the color of our skin," she said. "They brought it to our front door, destroyed our house. We have to move out. That's not OK."

Both said they could not think of anyone in their personal or professional lives who would target them. She is a prominent attorney. He is a pharmacist.

"There is nothing that we can come up with to suggest anybody we know in our personal lives," Ronald Clinton said.

Investigators have not yet classified the firebombing as a hate crime, which is defined as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation."

The cause of the fire was determined to be suspicious, authorities said. Investigators have found no witnesses nor security video, said Manhattan Beach Fire Chief Robert Espinosa. Most neighbors said they awoke when they heard the commotion.

"The community has galvanized to show support for the residents of this disturbing incident," read a statement from the Manhattan Beach Police Department. 

Neighbors are determined to find who is behind the crime. A crowd-funding effort has been launched on the website Fundly, asking for donations to a reward fund for information leading to an arrest in connection with the case.

The police statement also said investigators have not yet determined the motivation of the fire, but that "all possible motives, including this being a hate crime are being investigated."

Ronald Clinton was able to get his three children and the family pets to safety after they were alerted to the fire by a loud boom and discovering the front entryway was engulfed in flames.

Malissia Clinton was out of town at the time of the fire.

The family is now staying at a nearby motel.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fire Investigator Mike Murrey at (310) 345-0467. Anonymous tips can be provided by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.

Hetty Chang contributed to this report.

Los Angeles has a dangerous pothole and surface crack problem that's costing drivers thousands of dollars every year.

"The bicycling community refers to these (cracks) as valleys of death," Los Feliz bicyclist Patrick Pascal told NBC4, describing the 2-inch crack that brought him down.

"Next thing I knew, I was over there, and my bike was over there," he continued. "I broke my wrist, I broke my pelvis."

Between medical care and lost time on the job, Pascal expects the ordeal will cost him in the six figures.

But he's not the only one paying for street damage.

According to research by "TRIP," a national transportation research group, Los Angeles drivers are each paying nearly $2,500 a year for potholes and other surface problems. The money goes to auto repairs, car depreciation, insurance and fuel costs, and lost wages.

"It's an epidemic here in Los Angeles," Pascal's attorney Jim Pocrass told NBC4. "In terms of my clients, (payouts have been) in the millions."

Pocrass thinks the city has a duty to fix the potholes and cracks immediately, but the task is daunting: The Department of Street Services regularly grades the roadways, and nearly 40 percent of them score Ds and Fs.

As for what causes the surface damage? It's not just heavy traffic and wet weather.

According to L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin, utility work underground on sewer and gas lines — including the recent efforts to upgrade the city's aging water pipes — is altering the viability of the streets forever.

"You're saying that when they have to cut into the ground, there's a residual effect?" NBC4 asked Galperin.

"Absolutely," Galperin replied. "There's no question that after the city fills that hole, the street gets degraded."

For now, city workers scramble to seal potholes and cracks as quickly as they can, as city leaders ponder ways to fix the streets permanently.

"It's going to cost us a fortune, probably billions of dollars, to fix it," Galperin said.

If you want to see what grade your street gets, you can access the Department of Street Services' interactive map here.

A driver crashed into a Los Angeles police cruiser in Chatsworth Friday evening, police said.

The crash happened just after 5 p.m. in the 10040 block of Jumilla Avenue, Los Angeles police said.

Police said two people were hurt, but fire officials reported no injuries.

It was not known if any officers were of the two possibly injured.

Refresh this page for updates on this developing story.

An arrest has been made in the death of a transgender woman in Orange County following a botched off-the-books silicone injection, and investigators believe other victims may have received similar illegal treatments, police said Friday.

Santa Ana police investigators said 40-year-old Katya De La Riva died three weeks after checking herself into an Irvine hospital Jan. 1 because she was having difficulty breathing. Her death is believed to have been triggered by an embolism caused by a silicone injection.

Liborio De La Luiz Ramos, 44, allegedly administered the injection, apparently at a “silicone party” in Santa Ana.

Ramos is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

A vigil for De La Riva is planned for Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at Funeraria Latino Americana on Cerritos Avenue in Anaheim.

Anyone who may have received silicone injections from Ramos is asked to call detectives at 714-245-8390.
 

Police released the name of an alleged armed bank robber shot to death by officers in Chino this week.

Paul Alfred Eugene Johnson, 59, allegedly forced the members of a Corona bank into a vault and robbed the bank and employees of cash on Wednesday, Feb. 4, according to a Corona Police Department statement.

Police tracked the Hemet resident down using a bank tracking device slipped in with the money he stole and pulled his car over, but while the car's driver exited, Johnson took off in the car again, according to police.

Johnson was shot multiple times after a short pursuit, police said. He was found with a gun, a large sum of cash, and other evidence that linked him to the bank robbery, police said.

The woman who had driven Johnson until police stopped their vehicle initially told officers Johnson stole it at gunpoint. But Patricia Cheree Smith, 26, was later arrested on suspicion of being involved in the robbery.

University of California students will have to be vaccinated against measles and other diseases under new rules that take effect in 2017.

Officials who announced the changes on Friday say the plan's been in the works but it took on new urgency after a measles outbreak at Disneyland last month that's spread to a half-dozen states and Mexico.

Currently UC only requires students to be inoculated against hepatitis B, although some individual campuses have stricter immunization rules.

The new rules will add vaccination requirements for measles, tuberculosis, chicken pox, whooping cough and meningitis.

University officials say there will be exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

Many people think heart disease mainly affects men, but the fact is that it’s the number one killer of women.

Yet many women don’t know that and don’t recognize the symptoms. As a result, many delay diagnosis and treatment.

“The mortality of women from heart disease is actually higher than that of men,” said Ravi Dave, president of the American Heart Association.

Part of the reason for that may be that women ignore or deny their symptoms and don’t know that he symptoms of heart problems may be very different for men and women.

The classic symptom, crushing chest pain “like an elephant is sitting on a chest” isn’t always present and is less likely to occur in women than in men.

Women are more likely to have subtle symptoms including:

• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Unexplained sweating
• Shoulder pain
• Neck pain
• Arm pain

Erika Perez was only 37 when she was awakened one night by moderate chest pain. When she walked around she thought it was gas and tried some tea. When paramedics came she didn’t want to go with them to the hospital. Later, when she felt worse, her husband drove her to the ER and doctors found out she was having a massive heart attack.

“For me, having a heart attack, it was just… I was going to die and I called my family and I said goodbye to my husband,” Perez recalled.

Luckily doctors acted quickly. They did an angiogram, discovered a major blockage in a blood vessel and opened it with a stent.

That saved Perez’s life and she said it gave her a new outlook on the danger.

“I want to be here for my kids, I want to be here for my family and the best thing I could do is take care of myself and do everything the way it’s supposed to be,” she said.

What you can do:

• Get regular checkups
• Control your risk factors with diet, exercise and medicine if necessary
• Check and control cholesterol levels
• Don’t ever ignore any unexplained symptom

If you do have a heart attack, the sooner you get to a doctor the more likely the attack can be reversed and damage can be minimized or prevented.

Knowing it’s not just a man’s disease can save your life.

New surveillance video was released Friday showing the frightening moments during a Corona take-over style bank robbery.

The robber eventually led police on a high-speed pursuit that ended in Chino with a deadly officer-involved shooting.

In the surveillance video, you can see one of two suspects entering the Pacific Premier Bank branch, wearing a white hoodie while armed with a handgun.

Corona police say he ordered everyone into the vault, then took tens of thousands of dollars before quickly leaving.

After analyzing the video, investigators also believe the suspect was carrying something else.

"It appeared that he had some kind of two way communication device in one of his hands," Sgt. Paul Mercado said.

Thanks to a bank tracking device placed inside the money, Corona police were able to catch up to the suspect’s dodge minivan as he headed north on State Route 71.

They eventually pulled the minivan over and the driver, Patricia Smith, 26, got out before the minivan took off again.

"Miss Smith actually told the officers that she was a victim of a carjacking and that the male subject inside the car was armed with a gun," Mercado said.

But police say Smith was lying about being carjacked, and she was actually the getaway driver for the robber, who was identified as 59-year-old Paul Alfred Johnson.

Investigators say Smith is Johnson’s adopted daughter.

The chase eventually came to a violent end in Chino after Johnson was surrounded by police from several different agencies.

The situation turned into an officer-involved shooting that left Johnson dead.

Police can’t yet talk about the circumstances leading to that officer-involved shooting because it is still under investigation, but investigators say the suspect was carrying bank money, as well as the handgun.

A viewer called NBC4 and said Johnson was a pastor from Hemet, who went by the name "Pastor Paul." Corona police couldn't confirm that information, but said they have also heard the same thing.

"We'll pass that info on to investigators as they move forward with their investigation," Mercado said.

The Illinois State Medical Society on Thursday posted to YouTube a public service announcement that was created 50 years ago to urge parents to vaccinate their children for measles.

The video "Measles Message from the ISMS Vault is Spot On Today" was uploaded the same day that several children were confirmed to have contracted the virus at a suburban day care facility.

Just 10 cases of measles have been reported in Illinois over the last five years, IDPH Director Nirav Shah said recently. As of Thursday, diagnoses for two children were confirmed and three other cases were likely, based on symptoms. Another 10 children at the facility were at risk of contracting measles.

Those cases come on top of an adult case that was confirmed last week.

There so far is no link between the child and adult cases, and there is no link to the multi-state outbreak associated with Disneyland, which as of Thursday had grown to 87 patients. 

Mayor Eric Garcetti along with Councilman Felipe Fuentes turned the knob Friday on the first watering system at Hansen Dam that's 100 percent recycled waste water.

The mayor touted his October directive for the city to lower its water usage by 20 percent by 2017 as an ambitious but attainable goal, the Hansen Dam project one example.

The golf course will use about 170 million gallons of the recycled water every year, an amount that's roughly the same amount of water 1000 households in LA use in a year.

The city had to fund the project to pipe in the water direct from the city's water treatment plant and the mayor said more projects are on the table.

"Roosevelt Golf Course, you're next," Garcetti said.

The water comes from all the used water from the city, it's cleaned and treated at the plant and is not drinkable, but it usable as a watering aid.

But during the news conference Friday morning on the 9th Hole of the Golf Course, an LA resident and general contractor, Scott Sterling, asked the mayor a pointed question.

"I want to keep the water on the property as much as possible," he told the mayor. "So I want to know what you're doing to help with that."

Garcetti explained his Low-Impact Development Ordinance (LID) which requires new builds to recycle their own water for their own use, but said the city was still looking at ways to do the same on a smaller-scale, for residential homeowners.

"So often I have to take the water out to the street and then it has to go through expensive processes to get recycled," Sterling said. "I want to keep the water on our property."

LA Department of Water and Power's Assistant General Manager of the Water System said it's a tough topic.

"You have to be careful," Marty Adams said. "Because you're dealing with waste streams and so it has to be done correctly."

At issue is the sanitation around using waste water without treating it. The city does offer rebates for those who change their lawns into drought-tolerant landscapes and for those who collect rainwater for later usage.

And yet while the city works to reuse water and touts lower overall usage by residents, water waste continues in some neighborhoods. The LADWP Water Conservation Response Unit said it relies on neighbors and drive-bys to catch people who water their laws between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and on their "off" days.

"We try to look into every single one," said Rick Silva, the Unit's supervisor. "But some don't have enough information to act on."

Silva said of the 1,000 complaints over the last year, only 50 were cited — and of those, only 4 faced a financial penalty.

Silva admits, though, even the financial fines have not been paid, saying, "As long as we get the change we want or get them to comply, that's the main purpose of our program and we're OK with that."

Residents who may be concerned about water waste can call 1-800-DIAL-DWP or use the My311LA app to report it.

A West Covina man was arrested Monday in connection with five arson fires in Los Angeles County after a week-long investigation, authorities said Friday.

The investigation began last week after two fires were set in the restrooms of a Office Depot and an L & L Hawaiian BBQ restaurant in the Walnut and Rowland Heights areas, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

On Monday, three similar arson fires were reported at a Del Taco, McDonald's and Tea House, deputies said. The cases were linked through witness accounts and video surveillance.

David Lin, 42, was arrested in a Rowland Heights parking lot and later admitted to being present at all fires, but denied starting the fires, officials said.

Lin is facing a felony arson charge, officials said. He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail and is due in court Feb. 19. 

Authorities ask for anyone with information about the case to call 323-881-7500.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Lin was arrested Friday, but he was arrested Monday, according to the LA Sheriff's Department.

Liz Bustamantez says she was driving her kids to school Friday morning when a large redwood was knocked down by strong winds and one of its limbs impaled her Dodge Caliber.

The Ben Lomond resident snapped a photo after the tree limb rammed itself through the passenger-side windshield, piercing all the way through the back seat.

The toppled tree not only caused an area-wide power outage, but came within inches of crushing the family and impaling Bustamantez’s daughter Vanessa, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Vanessa said she felt something go through her hair,” Bustamantez said, “and now that I'm looking at it, How lucky was that? This could easily have gone right through her head.”

Two armed robbery suspects were chased down by cops after a botched gas station heist in Glendora early Saturday.

They were apprehended after a short pursuit which ended when the getaway car smashed into a vacant home that is under construction at the corner of South Grand Avenue at around 12:30 a.m, Glendora Police Department said.

Moments earlier one of the suspects had allegedly attempted to rob the nearby Mobil Gas Station on 540 West Route 66 at gunpoint, but fled the scene when the clerk fought back.

A Glendora Police cruiser was driving past and the worker managed to flag it down, and informed the officers the getaway vehicle was parked across the street.

They attempted to stop the vehicle, however it sped away before crashing into the house during the pursuit. The property sustained no major damage.

One of the suspects was taken to the hospital for treatment to minor cuts and bruises, and is now in custody.

Both suspects will be booked for armed robbery, and felony evading with possible further charges added    

Police said a loaded handgun was recovered inside the crashed vehicle after the pursuit ended.

The clerk was not injured and there was no financial loss. 

Los Angeles has a dangerous pothole and surface crack problem that's costing drivers thousands of dollars every year.

"The bicycling community refers to these (cracks) as valleys of death," Los Feliz bicyclist Patrick Pascal told NBC4, describing the 2-inch crack that brought him down.

"Next thing I knew, I was over there, and my bike was over there," he continued. "I broke my wrist, I broke my pelvis."

Between medical care and lost time on the job, Pascal expects the ordeal will cost him in the six figures.

But he's not the only one paying for street damage.

According to research by "TRIP," a national transportation research group, Los Angeles drivers are each paying nearly $2,500 a year for potholes and other surface problems. The money goes to auto repairs, car depreciation, insurance and fuel costs, and lost wages.

"It's an epidemic here in Los Angeles," Pascal's attorney Jim Pocrass told NBC4. "In terms of my clients, (payouts have been) in the millions."

Pocrass thinks the city has a duty to fix the potholes and cracks immediately, but the task is daunting: The Department of Street Services regularly grades the roadways, and nearly 40 percent of them score Ds and Fs.

As for what causes the surface damage? It's not just heavy traffic and wet weather.

According to L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin, utility work underground on sewer and gas lines — including the recent efforts to upgrade the city's aging water pipes — is altering the viability of the streets forever.

"You're saying that when they have to cut into the ground, there's a residual effect?" NBC4 asked Galperin.

"Absolutely," Galperin replied. "There's no question that after the city fills that hole, the street gets degraded."

For now, city workers scramble to seal potholes and cracks as quickly as they can, as city leaders ponder ways to fix the streets permanently.

"It's going to cost us a fortune, probably billions of dollars, to fix it," Galperin said.

If you want to see what grade your street gets, you can access the Department of Street Services' interactive map here.

A community is in shock after the bodies of a mother and daughter were found hanging Friday in the basement of their Brockton, Massachusetts, home.

Overcome with emotion, family and friends of 32-year-old Ariana Rosa-Soares and her 9-year-old daughter, Marley Soares, tried to comfort one another as police worked to determine what happened.

"Monday was the last time that I talked to her, and she seemed fine," said Ariana's close friend Claudia Gomes.

Gomes says Ariana had been having trouble recently with her ex-husband, Marley’s father, whom she divorced last year.

"They would get into arguments, and she would call me while she’s crying," said Gomes. "She has mentioned that she was going to kill herself, but this was a while ago, and I told her that that's not something to do because she has two kids."

The mother and daughter were found hanging in the basement of their Morgan Street home, police say. Rosa-Soares' other child, an 11-year-old daughter, had been dropped off at a friend's home.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz would only say this is a homicide investigation and he doesn’t believe the public is in any danger, but he did say there was a note left behind.

"There's some information that was written, and we're going to figure out who wrote it and see where we go from there," said Cruz.

"I guess she had mental problems," said Ariana's father, Jose Rosa, who added that his daughter was a certified nursing assistant with the elderly.

He said he saw her abusing her children in the past and said he begged for someone to help.

"At my house, like two years ago, she did, she grabbed my granddaughter and pushed her downstairs like a crazy," Rosa said. "I tried to help, and I called for help, they don't help me."

It was not immediately clear if the family had any history with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

The number one argument people make for hosting a major event like a Super Bowl is: Economic Impact.

The overwhelming belief among the masses is the exposure and tourism dollars that flood in to a community far outweigh the costs of putting on the event. However, research from San Diego-based Competitive Edge Research & Communication suggests that is not always the case.

“Host cities tend to count on the massive amount of Super Bowl media coverage to generate interest in their city as a destination,” said Competitive Edge Research & Communication President John Nienstedt. Some communities even hope the exposure will prompt businesses to move to the area to help offset the costs.

Competitive Edge has been studying the image effect a Super Bowl has on the host city since 2003 (the last time the game was in San Diego). So, how did Glendale, AZ do with generating interest in its cozy little desert town after hosting Super Bowl XLIX, which had the largest TV audience in American history, with an estimated 184 million people watching?

Not so good.

“In this case,” said Nienstedt, “there were so many references to the state of Arizona as well as the neighboring city of Phoenix that viewers didn’t make a positive connection with Glendale.”

In fact, if anything, fewer people across the country had an impression of any kind about Glendale after the big game than they did before it, and the state of Arizona overall saw little to no change in its national reputation.

(Chart courtesy: Competitive Edge Research & Communication)

In its research, Competitive Edge suggests multiple references to the state in general, including the Grand Canyon and Sedona, stole some of Glendale’s thunder.

Glendale did report its hotel rooms were completely sold out, and on game day its restaurants and bars were packed from sunup to long after sundown, so there is some kind of economic impact that will be sorted out in the coming weeks.

Now, any Super Bowl hosting debate must eventually lead us back to San Diego. It’s been 12 years since the NFL’s biggest spectacle was held in our town. Again, one of the main arguments for building a new stadium is to host major events like the Super Bowl. Will that payoff be worth it?

Alas, the Glendale situation does not help much. It’s a solid 20-minute drive away from Downtown Phoenix, so unless Chula Vista jumps back in to the fray to be a stadium site, this is an apples – oranges comparison.

However, I was in Arizona for eight days. I can tell you, with zero hesitation, Downtown San Diego is already in much better shape to handle the influx of people that comes with a Super Bowl.

Most tourists, and even many locals, descended on Phoenix, where the NFL set up its main entertainment for game week. The NFL Experience, Radio Row, Super Bowl Central, Media Day, all of it was in Phoenix, a city with next to no night life. In a development that will forever befuddle me, only a handful of the restaurants and bars stayed open past their regularly scheduled 11:00 p.m. or midnight, even as thousands of people with the munchies wandered the streets at 1:00 in the morning like some sort of Walking Dead, only instead of human flesh they craved nachos.

The Gaslamp is used to Comic-Con and can easily welcome (eventually, hopefully, possibly) crowds from Padres playoff games at Petco Park. With a Downtown stadium, people coming to the game can park their cars at the hotel and forget about them for a week because everything is within walking distance. The game announcers would be raving about the setup as TV cameras showed the pristine skies and perfect weather while the Northeast is covered with three feet of snow.

If that doesn’t drive tourism, I don’t know what will.

Heck, all we have to do it look back at that last game in San Diego, at rusted old Qualcomm Stadium in 2003. That was the first year Competitive Edge conducted its image study. It found that 8-percent of people watching had a better view of our town after watching the game than they did before watching it.

Most people have a pretty good opinion of San Diego already, so the benefit comes from simply increasing its visibility. As Nienstedt said in the inaugural report, “… the Super Bowl can take a city with a lot of positives – like San Diego – and lift it up.”

If that same 8-percent figure were to be in place for this year’s TV audience (184 million in the United States alone), that means 14,720,000 people would have their eyes opened to the awesomeness of San Diego.

Now, that seems like a pretty good reason to take a look at a stadium, don’t you think?

It was a horrific crime that shook the Bay Area 13 years ago -- someone shot and killed a college student while she was celebrating her birthday at a Palo Alto night club.

Police, who admit they have reached a dead end in trying to solve the killing of Maria Hsiao, on Friday released a new video to the public in hopes of finding new leads.

On June 10, 2001, Hsiao was celebrating her 21st birthday at the Q Cafe in Palo Alto. She was outside the club with her sister and friends when she was shot in the head. Police said more than 200 people were in the area and no one admitted to seeing anything.

"When a shot went off, a lot of people ran," Palo Alto Police Lt. Zach Perron said.

Perron responded to the scene 13 years ago and performed CPR on Hsiao until she arrived at the hospital. Hsiao later died at the hospital during surgery.

"We didn't expect for this to happen," Hsiao's sister, Andrea, said in an interview done by the Palo Alto Police Department.

Andrea told police that she is looking for peace, and for her that means justice for the killer.

"The peace that would bring to me would be priceless -- worth all the money in the world to me," Andrea Hsiao said. "Would help me to heal so I could move forward."

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

Police do not believe Maria, who was a student at the University of San Francisco, was targeted.

"We haven't forgotten this case," Perron said. "We haven't forgotten Maria."

Expressing disgust at the attention focused on rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight, the family of the businessman and foster parent that Knight is accused of killing, Terry Carter, is welcoming the public to remember him at a memorial service.

It is scheduled to begin at noon Saturday in the First AME Church in the West Adams District of Los Angeles.

Carter family members who gathered Friday in one of the church's chapels described Carter as a tireless worker, creative businessman, and doting husband and parent committed to giving back to the community.

"That's just who he was. He never asked for anything in return," said Mia Bolton, 22, who grew up in the Carter household, as did some 20 foster children over the years.

Niece Aryca Sawyer, 21, said Carter raised her as one of his own children. Even after she was grown and living away, she recalled, Carter was always ready to help.

"If I ever needed anything, they said, 'Call Big Terry,'" she said.

Carter, 55, was killed in a Compton parking lot when he and another man, actor Cle Sloan, 51, were struck by Knight's pickup truck.

Authorities allege it was deliberate, and Knight has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of felony hit and run. Tuesday, Knight, 49, pleaded not guilty.

Knight's attorneys have said he is saddened by the death of Carter, whom he considered a friend.
Members of the Carter family bristled at the suggestion, and denounced media attention focusing on Knight, the one-time rap music kingpin.

"It's eating at me," said niece Jasmine Reynolds, 31. "Before we talk about the incident, we have to put "Suge" Knight — his name should not even be in the sentence, in comparison with Terry Carter."

The parallels in their two lives are perhaps as striking as the differences.

Both grew up in Compton, with a fierce determination to succeed that led both into the rap music world, where both co-founded record companies with former member of the trailblazing rap crew NWA.

After the group split apart, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young teamed with Knight to create Death Row Records. O'Shea Jackson, better known as "Ice Cube," partnered with Carter to launch Heayweight Records.

Knight cultivated a tough guy persona and twice has been convicted of felonies in assault cases.

Carter's entry into the entertainment and music worlds came as an outgrowth of his custom auto work, according to cousin Rickey Fegan. Rappers wanted Carter lowrider vehicles for music videos, he said.

Carter also was involved in real estate. Despite his varied interests and family commitments, Carter found time to mentor youth and help their careers, family members said.

First AME Pastor J. Edgar Boyd will preside at Saturday's memorial.

The 26-year-old Arizona woman ISIS has been holding hostage in Syria devotes her life to making others' better — a passion she's sustained since childhood, a longtime friend told NBC 7 on Friday, as a portrait of the humanitarian aid worker began to emerge.

ISIS militants claimed Friday that Kayla Jean Mueller had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike — a claim that the U.S. has not confirmed, and that many experts cast doubt upon. Mueller is believed to be the last American hostage held by the terrorist group, after three others were executed.

Mueller has always focused her energy on things outside herself, Katlyn Sulltrop, a friend since elementary school, told NBC 7 on Friday, describing her friend's compassion and also her zany side.

She remembered taking a songwriting workshop with Mueller in high school. While others wrote about classic teen angst, Mueller's songs centered on her work at an elder care facility. "It was kind of like a very powerful song, about just the way she felt about the people she was caring for at this home, and the connection she had with some of the other people," Sulltrop said. "It was really, really awesome."

The two participated in a performance arts group together, and the last time they saw each other was at a friend's wedding. "I have all these pictures of like, Kayla with her tongue out, like kind of just crazy," said Sulltrop. "And I just remember it was a really good time, and she definitely is a very caring, a very generous, a very wonderful person."

Mueller grew up in Prescott, Arizona, where she attended Tri City College Prep and devoted her time to writing letters and calling her Congress members to support the Save Darfur Coalition, according to her local paper. She continued to join in protests and support humanitarian causes while studying international affairs at Northern Arizona University.

Mueller's drive to serve led her to work with humanitarian aid organizations in India, Israel and Palestine after her 2009 graduation, according to a statement from her family's representative. In 2011, she returned to Arizona to work at an HIV/AIDS clinic and a women's shelter before moving to France to be an au pair.

While there, Mueller expressed solidarity with the Syrian people in a YouTube video, NBC News reported. Though her goal was to work in Africa, the family representative says, she soon decided to help Syrian refugees at the Turkey-Syria border in December 2012.

Mueller signed on with the "Support to Life" humanitarian aid group and the Danish Refugee Council, but on Aug. 4, 2013, she was taken captive in Aleppo, Syria, as she was leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital.

In May of last year, ISIS contacted Mueller's family, confirmed she was being held hostage and demanded $6.6 million in ransom for her freedom, according to NBC News. In July, Army Delta Force commandos unsuccessfully tried to rescue her and other hostages in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, U.S. officials told NBC News.

Until Friday, when ISIS claimed Mueller was dead, her family had wanted her identity kept private, for fear that it would put her at risk. Friday night, her parents broke their silence and said in a statement addressed to her captors that they hoped for her safe release.

"This news leaves us concerned, yet, we are still hopeful that Kayla is alive," they said. "You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest, as your guest her safety and well-being remains your responsibility."

Sulltrop told NBC 7 she had been shocked at the news of her friend's capture in Syria, because Mueller is "not the kind of person something like this should happen to."

"She really just wanted to help people, and that's kind of what her whole life is about," Sulltrop said. "She's like a really compassionate, amazing human being, and I really hope that wherever she is, she's OK."