ATLANTA —

Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker acknowledged on Wednesday that he has a son whom he has not previously mentioned publicly, a disclosure that draws renewed attention to his previous outspoken calls for Black men to play an active role in the lives of their children.

Walker's campaign confirmed the existence of his 10-year-old son after The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that the boy's mother had taken Walker to court in 2014 to establish paternity and to get child support payments.

"Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn't married. He's supported the child and continues to do so," Walker campaign manager Scott Paradise said in a statement Wednesday. "He's proud of his children. To suggest that Herschel is 'hiding' the child because he hasn't used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd."

Walker sends Christmas and birthday presents to the boy but has not played an active role in raising him, the Daily Beast reported, citing an unnamed person close to the son's family with direct knowledge of the events.

The Walker campaign did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about his involvement in the boy's life.

Walker has repeatedly criticized absentee fathers over the years, holding up his relationship with his older son, Christian Walker, whose mother is Walker's former wife, Cindy Grossman. Walker has said he worked with his ex-wife and current wife to raise Christian.

"I want all African Americans to know, even though you may leave the mom, don't leave the child," Walker told WABE-TV's "Love and Respect with Killer Mike" on May 27. "Continue to be a dad, continue to be a strong figure in that child's life, because that happens, that happens. I said, 'I'm going to continue to raise him, and be right there with him.'"

Walker faces Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in November in a critical battleground state that could be key to determining party control of the chamber. Warnock helped flip the Senate to Democrats after he and fellow Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff won a pair of runoff elections in early 2021.

Walker, who has been endorsed by both former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has faced criticism throughout the campaign about whether he's been truthful about his past.

Walker drew attention for his past mental health struggles, as well as allegations that he threatened his ex-wife's life. He's dramatically inflated his record as a businessman and overstated his role in a for-profit program that is alleged to have preyed on veterans while defrauding the government. And his claim that he graduated at the top of his class from the University of Georgia, where he led the Bulldogs to a 1980 championship, was also untrue. He didn't graduate, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported.

In the statement that acknowledged paternity, Walker's campaign accused Warnock of engaging in "both a nasty mudslinging campaign and a nasty custody dispute with his ex-wife."

"This is a complete double standard," Paradise said.

Warnock's ex-wife, whom he divorced in 2020, said in court filings in February that Warnock wasn't upholding his end of the shared custody agreement of their two children and asked the court to order Warnock to pay more in child support, arguing that his income had risen.

Warnock's campaign said the senator is a "devoted father."

"Rev. Warnock is a devoted father who is proud to continue to co-parent his two children as he works for the people of Georgia," said campaign spokesperson Meredith Brasher.

Deputies in Florida stepped in to show some love to a boy in need of some TLC earlier this month.On Aug. 2, two deputies responded to Ernesto's home because he was depressed over the loss of his father and his bike had been stolen. The two Palm Beach County deputies then decided to work together and go in using their own money to buy Ernesto a brand new bike, called the "Monster Ripper."Watch the video above to see his priceless reaction.

READING, Ohio —

Tailgate prep is a family affair in the Courtney household. It's a tradition that started when the oldest sibling, David Courtney, was a kid, when it was just him and his dad.

"Down at Riverfront, we would tailgate in the parking garage, just the two of us. Mom would make us whatever. We would eat it and go in and watch the game," David Courtney said.

Over the years the family has grown, and Bengal pride has been passed down to the next generations.

"Everything about the Bengals makes me think of him," said Kelsey Courtney, David Courtney's daughter.

Kelsey Courtney is referring to her grandfather, Duane Courtney. This is the first year without the patriarch of the family.

Duane Courtney died unexpectedly in his sleep April 30. He was 68 years old.

"It was the night of the draft, and he passed sometime before the next morning," David Courtney said.

"He was watching the draft and was very excited when he saw we got (Ja'Marr) Chase. That was one of his last texts to my niece," said Christen Courtney, Duane Courtney's daughter.

Knowing his love for the Bengals and the optimism he had for this season, Duane's kids decided to keep his season tickets and save his seat for him.

"We salute him, and he's always in our thoughts," David Courtney said.

Tomorrow will be no different as they remember how Duane Courtney would love to sit and take it all in.

"And he'd like to drink his beer during the games. We couldn't keep up with him," Christen Courtney said

So, of course, there will be a toast in his honor as he's remembered as a funny family man, a die-hard Bengals fan whose presence will be felt tomorrow.

"We definitely feel him, and we know he'll be there tomorrow, and hopefully help us bring home a win," Christen Courtney said.

HAMILTON, Ohio —

A nurse from Hamilton said she and her family will be spending their first Christmas without her husband.

He died from COVID-19 at just 37 years old, earlier this year.

Christina Jewett said her late husband, Paul Jewett, 37, was unable to get a vaccine before he got sick.

It has been an incredibly hard year for the family.

Last month, they shared a Thanksgiving unlike any before and now, Christmas won't be the way they imagined.

"It's weird to picture from the beginning of the year to now. You picture you're going to have your family together for holidays, you know, dad's going to be there," Christina Jewett said.

But this Christmas, Jewett's life is very different.

We talked with her earlier this year after her husband died from COVID-19 in April.

She said the father of five had no underlying conditions.

"I didn't imagine I'd be wrapping the presents alone or any of that, you know, having to get the tree together was really hard because it was one of our traditions," she said.

Jewett is making sure she shows her sons pictures of their dad as she pulls together the strength to do it all.

She also welcomed their new baby boy to the world this year after Paul died.

"Benny's great. He's 8 months old now. He just started crawling and standing all at the same time, but he's been absolutely the light of everything," she said.

Jewett is also a nurse and sometimes shares her husband's story when patients have doubts about the vaccines.

"They weren't doing under 40 when he got sick and he was only 37, so, even if he wanted to, he couldn't have got it at the time," she said.

Now, with record-breaking case numbers, she knows others may be dealing with the same loss.

She hopes her husband's story can inspire someone to get vaccinated and keep a family intact.

"The biggest lesson I've had to learn this year is that life is very fragile and very short," she said.

Jewett said since her husband's death, she has made friends online in social media groups that help people with loss and grief.

Those friendships have transcended the internet.

She said at least one of those new friends will be spending Christmas with her family this year.

Jewett said it's important that people never stop praying in these situations.

She also said it's good to lean into your support system when dealing with loss.

NEW YORK —

A New York family who came together by chance 21 years ago has now shared their remarkable story in a children's book.

Pete Mercurio was walking out the door to meet his then-partner (now husband) Danny Stewart for dinner in August 2000 when his phone rang. It was Stewart, calling to tell him he'd be late. He'd found an abandoned baby in the subway and had called 911 from a payphone.

Stewart, a social worker, had spotted a tiny bundle wrapped in a sweatshirt while walking through an eerily empty station. At first, he thought it was a doll, perhaps left behind by a child, until he saw a tiny leg move. He quickly discovered it was a newborn baby, the umbilical cord still attached.

Mercurio, who authored a book about this chance encounter, spoke to CNN about that night, and about how he and Stewart ended up raising the baby as their own.

The baby boy was just hours old when Stewart found him

"He had actually tried to get on an express train and couldn't get on one," Mercurio recalls of Stewart's path that fateful day. "The fact that he even got on a local was kind of miraculous because who knows if he had gotten on an express if he'd even he even had found the baby."

Mercurio says something made Stewart glance back at the bundle and see the newborn's small motion. The baby, a boy, was alive and breathing. Authorities said he was just hours old when they arrived.

Mercurio ran to the station, a block away from his apartment, and found Stewart there with two police officers.

"One of them was carrying the baby in his arms," he says. "Just a chill raced up my spine. Like, it's an unbelievable thing."

The baby boy was transported to a nearby hospital, and the men were overcome with emotion at what had just occurred.

"At one point I just turned to Danny and I said, 'You're going to be -- we're going to be -- connected to this baby in some way or another for the rest of your life.' I said, 'Maybe not tomorrow or next week or a year or five years from now, but eventually he's gonna learn about this night and he might want to try to find you and maybe we can send a gift or be in touch with him on this day, every year.'"

The couple had no idea what was about to unfold.

A stroke of good luck smoothed the adoption process

The baby, who was named Daniel Ace Doe after Stewart and the A/C/E subway line, was in the state's care while a citywide search was underway for the boy's parents.

Three months later, Stewart was asked to testify at a hearing about the day the baby was found. The judge asked him an unexpected question.

"In December of 2000, at that hearing, the judge asked him, 'Would you be interested in adopting?' He said, 'Yes, but I know it's not that easy.' She said, 'Well, it can be.' We didn't know what she meant by that," Mercurio says.

The two became foster parents to the baby, who they named Kevin, and adopted him two years later in December of 2002.

"And then that was it. We never saw the judge again. And in 2012, when we were deciding to get married, Kevin on a walk to school said he knew that there was a judge involved in creating our family," Mercurio says.

"We shared everything with him, so he knew everything. He said, 'Don't judges marry people?' So, I said, 'Do you want to meet the judge that finalized your adoption?' And he nodded his head. And so that's how I got in touch with the judge again, ten years later."

When the couple spoke with the judge, they asked her how she was able to help facilitate Kevin's adoption so quickly.

In one of many small miracles that brought Kevin to them, the judge said that at the time Kevin was found there was a pilot program in New York that gave her the authority to expedite the adoption process in specific cases of abandonment to place a baby in a loving home.

"She was able to make quick decisions to place that baby in a pre-adoptive home as quickly as possible," Mercurio says. "So he didn't languish in the system."

That pilot program lasted only six months and was then discontinued, according to Mercurio.

"So many little things like that added up without our knowledge," Mercurio says.

Kevin is now a senior in college. He's not sure about trying to find his birth parents

At the time Kevin arrived, the couple didn't have a lot of money. They were in student-loan debt, but they made it work. Family and friends got them everything they needed for Kevin, and they figured it out along the way.

Kevin, now 21, is a student at Swarthmore College. Mercurio is sharing their family's story with Kevin and Stewart's encouragement, but they declined to be interviewed.

"We still can't believe it. I mean, we believe it because we have a 21-year-old kid that's graduating from college this spring," Mercurio says. "I love this kid more than anything in the world, I really didn't know this kind of love existed in this world until my son came into our life. And Danny feels the same way."

As Kevin grew up, the two discussed their family story with him.

"We talked about how our family became a family openly in front of him. When he went in social gatherings, [if] anybody would ask, we didn't shield him from hearing it from a very young age," Mercurio says.

They wanted Kevin to feel positive about their family origin story, so Mercurio wrote a book about it that they read to him every night. When he was five, Kevin realized it was about him.

"I pasted together a book of his story, which tells the whole thing about Danny being on the subway and the baby being found," Mercurio says.

Last year, that very personal story was published with the title "Our Subway Baby," which Mercurio calls a "love letter to our son."

While Kevin's biological parents are still unknown, Mercurio says they feel only compassion for them.

"One way or another, that's a desperate measure to take. And I can only imagine the anguish that was leaving your child," he says. "We've always told Kevin from a very young age that he was left out of love, so that he could be found and cared for. We never used the word abandonment or abandoned. We said she left you where you could be found by us."

MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii —

A Hawaii fisherman with years of experience on the water found himself in a very dangerous situation last weekend.

Claude Moreau has been fishing on Maui for over 40 years. He and his daughter, Charme, were on their way back home from Hana last Sunday morning when they dozed off.

"I sat down because I was tired," Claude, 70, said. "And the next thing I know I was sleeping. I didn't know I was sleeping. Next thing I noticed -- Boom. That's how I woke up."

Claude's boat, Maile, smashed into a group of giant rocks, in waters right off the island's north shore.

"I looked at him and said 'make a mayday call right now... Mayday mayday," Charme recalled. "He got in Mayday. 'Mayday This is Maile.' Then the boat went under and he went under with the boat."

Suddenly, Charme lost sight of him. Her dad was trapped under the boat as it sank.

"You see those movies where people are trying to save those people underwater and they can barely get to them," she said. "And I had that feeling because I went down and I couldn't see him."

Through strength, courage and the will to survive, Charme dove underwater, found her dad and pulled him back to the surface.

But now, they still were stuck in the middle of the ocean.

"I look at the shoreline and [I see] crashing huge rocks, and crashing huge lava rocks," Charme said.

They had no choice.

"I held him and I went on my back just like lifeguard style on my back, just pulling and swimming with my head up and taking deep breaths," she remembered. "And I kept telling him don't let the water go in your mouth because that's what was happening, it was going in and drowning both of us."

Charme said they swam over an hour to get to the rocky shoreline.

"The waves are crashing, we have to not bash our heads open," she said. "So that was the point when we were trying to get in, I had that moment, like, wow, we may not make it."

The pair took a chance and crashed onto the rocks. "We both tumble and I just see him tumbling, but we're on the rocks and I'm like, 'Oh, we made it!'"

They weren't in the clear yet, though, as they had to figure how to get to the top of the giant rock pile to get onto land.

Then, out of nowhere, they were given a helping hand. Or a helping rope.

"Mahalo ke Akua and all his angels for those wonderful fishermen who put ropes," Charme said. "Somebody put ropes. So I was like 'There are ropes! I can make it!'"

Charme did make it -- she climbed all the way up and was able to track down people who called 911.

The Maui Fire Department flew in a helicopter and plucked Claude from the rocks and took him to the hospital.

With just a few bumps and bruises, this fisherman and his daughter are happy to be alive, grateful to their community and want their story to be a lesson.

LOS ANGELES —

Britney Spears said in a court filing Wednesday that she agrees with her father that the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money since 2008 should be terminated.

The filing in Los Angeles Superior Court from Spears' attorney Mathew Rosen says she "fully consents" to "expeditiously" ending the conservatorship, which her father James Spears, who has controlled it for most of its 13 years, asked for in a Sept. 7 petition.

It's the first time Britney Spears has called for an end to the arrangement in court documents, though she has called for its termination in hearings.

Her filing emphasizes, however, that it is more important to her that her father be removed, calling it "a necessary first — and substantial — step towards Ms. Spears's freedom and ending the Kafkaesque nightmare imposed upon her by her father, so that her dignity and basic liberties can be restored."

It is urgent that James Spears be suspended from his role of conservator of Britney Spears' finances by Sept. 29, the next hearing date in the case, the filing says.

"Mr. Spears cannot be permitted to hold a position of control over his daughter for another day," the document says.

The documents also reveal that Britney Spears is in the process of putting together a pre-nuptial agreement after getting engaged to her longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari earlier this month. That process will mean the intensive involvement of the conservator of her money, a role her father can't be permitted to play, the filing says.

The flurry of major filings means that next week's hearing could be pivotal.

Judge Brenda Penny, who has remained largely neutral in her oversight of the case, will be pressed to decide whether to remove James Spears or to put the conservatorship on a path to termination.

James Spears stepped aside as conservator of his daughter's person in 2019, maintaining only his role as conservator of her money. He and his attorneys have said that renders many of his daughter's complaints about his control meaningless.

Jodi Montgomery, a court-appointed professional, now acts as conservator of Britney Spears' person. Wednesday's filing from Britney Spears says Montgomery also consents to ending the conservatorship,

Spears had said in a dramatic June 23 speech in court that gave a jolt to the case and galvanized support for her that she was being compelled under the conservatorship to take certain medications and to use an intrauterine device for birth control against her will.

James Spears has denied acting in anything but his daughter's best interest, and has declined demands that he resign immediately, though he said in court documents that he does have a plan to eventually step down.

But in a major reversal and possibly strategic move, he said in his Sept. 7 filing that if she "wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance."

Mathew Rosengart has sought to keep the focus on James Spears removal since his hiring in July and says he will pursue an investigation of his handling of the conservatorship even after any removal.

The conservatorship was established in 2008 when Britney Spears' began to have very public mental struggles as media outlets obsessed over each moment, hordes of paparazzi aggressively followed her everywhere, and she lost custody of her children.

CINCINNATI —

A Silverton dad said he spent hours on Wednesday in search of a COVID-19 test for a child, but he said it was no easy task.

He said many places were busy, with lines, and some had no appointments.

Derek Drifmeyer said he offered to help a friend whose 11-year-old daughter was feeling pretty lousy.

Little did he know, it would turn into an hours-long trip for a test.

"I felt bad for her. We're driving all over town trying to find a place to get a test and she's sick, just wants to be at home resting," Drifmeyer said.

He said finding a COVID-19 test for his friend's daughter took more than four hours, starting at about 10 a.m.

"Went to Walgreens to buy a test. Found out that they were sold out of the take-home tests. Tried to schedule a test with CVS. Every location I tried, it was booked up. Same with Walgreens," Drifmeyer said.

After trying an urgent care, where people were waiting in line for a test, Drifmeyer said they were eventually able to get a test at her primary care provider in a garage.

The Ohio Department of Health said it is expanding testing as demand soars.

"We also continue to see rising numbers of Ohioans tested for COVID-19 and increasing positivity rates now hovering at a seven-day average 13.3 percent. Testing is an important strategy to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. If you're concerned that you might have COVID there are many options for testing," Ohio Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said. "In addition to being able to get a test at many pharmacies and community providers, we've also partnered with many of our libraries and local health departments, where you can pick up a free, rapid BinaxNOW test, which can be administered from the comfort of your home with the help of a telehealth provider."

Vanderhoff said demand for testing is high, so he urged everyone to make sure a test is available by searching a map on the Ohio Coronavirus website to find a provider.

At the same time, officials warn that emergency rooms are not for routine testing.

"We need to be able to provide our community with the very best, efficient and quick care for acute conditions," Premier Health System Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marc Belcastro said.

Drifmeyer said the entire COVID-19 situation is frustrating.

He said people should wear masks, get vaccinated if they can and keep trying for a test.

"We were doing well with COVID the numbers were down and people got pretty lax and now they're shooting back up," Drifmeyer said.

He also said he recovered from a breakthrough case himself about a month or so ago.

Walgreens did not respond to our request for comment.

CVS Health told us testing has been in high demand, but stores have been able to keep up with it in most locations.

A spokesman told us people can purchase at-home COVID-19 tests over the counter, limited to six per person, or they can be purchased online and delivered to their door in 24 to 48 hours.

CVS Health provided this statement to WLWT:

"Daily COVID-19 testing volume is currently running ahead of average daily volume year-to-date, and significantly ahead of average daily volume in the second quarter. COVID-19 home test kits are the top-selling item in our stores.

We continue to be able to meet the demand for COVID-19 testing in most locations, even with increasing numbers of patients seeking out tests at one of our nearly 5,000 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country offering testing with same day and future day appointments in most geographies. Patients are encouraged to schedule an appointment on CVS.com or the CVS Pharmacy app, where they have the option to seek either a rapid COVID-19 test, with results available within hours, or a COVID-19 test at the pharmacy drive-thru windows. The self-swab collected at the CVS Pharmacy drive-thru window is processed by an independent, third-party lab and those results are generally available within 1-2 days."

CVS Health said it has also established a new partnership to expand the availability of at-home COVID-19 testing kits in 7,000 of its stores as of last week.

According to CVS Health, it is partnering with Quidel Corporation to make its "non-prescription QuickVue® At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test" available at thousands of locations across the United States and online.

CVS said the packages contain two self-administered rapid antigen tests.

An Oklahoma military father surprised his teenage daughter with a homecoming and the heartwarming moment was caught on camera.The city of Broken Arrow shared a video of the family reunion on Facebook. Karelis Olivares thought she was just receiving an award for the utilities department’s Drinking Water Week Art Contest. Little did she know, her father, Carlos, was going to surprise her during the award presentation.Carlos is in the Navy and has served for 20 years, most recently in San Diego, Tulsa’s FOX 23 reported. Karelis and her sister hadn’t seen him since May. Watch the heartwarming surprise in the video player above.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Preparation and dedication. That’s what led Richard Torrez Jr. to become an Olympic silver medalist.

“I mean, I’ve imagined myself saying it ever since I was a little kid, but to be able to actually say it is amazing," Torrez Jr. said.

By competing in the Tokyo Olympics, he fulfilled a three-generation dream. And on Sunday, the super heavyweight boxer earned a silver medal.

“Ever since I was little, I wanted to be just like my dad. The first time I ever saw him spar, I saw him drop a guy with a body shot and it was the coolest thing I ever saw," Torrez Jr. said.

His dad, Richard Torrez Sr., will be the first to tell you boxing is in the Torrez family blood.

“He didn’t get to finish that Olympic journey and I know that’s been a dream not just of mine but of his and my grandpa's. And to be able to be the one that does it, I’m just happy that I could bear that weight," Torrez Sr. said. “I fought for many years until I was 30. I went to the Olympic trials. I was ranked in two weight classes in the world. Every generation has had successful things and each generation has done a little better and he’s doing the ultimate for us which is the Olympics that we all wanted to go to and he gets to go for us all.”

The history for this central California family traces back to 1945 when Torrez Jr.’s grandfather paved the way with the Tulare Athletic Boxing Club.

“When he passed away, I took over the gym, and my son was very young and he uh, same thing I did, started coming to the gym, and I told my wife if he’s gonna box, he’s gotta box until he’s 16," Torrez Sr. said.

But it didn’t end there.

“I’ve been to 13 different countries. I’ve traveled the world. I got to meet new people," Torrez Jr. said. “It’s taught me about dedication, it’s taught me about post one gratification, it’s taught me about how you have to sacrifice things now for the benefit of the future, and my dad stood on the shoulders of my grandpa and I’m standing on the shoulders of my dad, so I got a pretty good view right now.”

And that view got even closer because, in 2020, the Olympic qualifiers were canceled.

“And man I was really nervous, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what was going to happen next so I called my dad," Torrez Jr. said.

Richard Torrez Sr. put on one of his many hats and pushed his son to where he is now.

“My dad wears three hats, you know, he’s the coach hat, the dad hat, and the boss hat," Torrez Jr. said.

“It’s going to happen, don’t worry. It’s going to take a little time. It gives us another year to train, to hone our skills, it’s going to happen don’t worry," Torrez Sr. said.

Now, one year later, the 22-year-old can confidently say the wait was worth it.

“That’s a dream we’ve all had and that’s a dream that’s coming true," Torrez Jr. said.

He’s fulfilling the legacies of the boxers before him.

“Him being able to carry on tradition, it validates all the years of hard work," Torrez Sr. said. “Oh my gosh, if he was here, I’d have to push him out of the way to get to him. My dad would be right there with him. My dad had a habit, he’d wipe his mouth, yeah, we made it we did it.”

To many, this may look like a father and son journey, but it is so much more than that.

"I see how he acts inside and outside athletics, see what he does as a person, and I just really want to replicate myself to be just like him," Torrez Jr. said. “It’s the Torrez team it’s not just the two. Having a foundation like my family behind me is the best foundation I could ever have.”

It’s a chance to remind the world that he’s carrying on the Torrez name.

Police in Mesa, Arizona, are investigating after a father had to lunge to stop a gun from being pulled on his wife and himself during a business meeting.

The chaotic scene was caught on camera at Chef's Shared Kitchen in Mesa.

Watch the scene unfold in the video above.

Tom Toot, who is the life partner of the owner, but not an employee, was having an exit interview with Solomon Odubhao and his wife Brittney Myers. Toot told them he handled scheduling and operations for the kitchen.

They were being forced from the prep kitchen after being given 30 days notice, they told ABC15. The couple operates a food truck called 'WhachaCookin.'

During the meeting with Toot the conversation became tense. It is not currently known what was being said during the conversation.

"He told us we were contaminating their whole kitchen," Myers said.

"I was like, cool, I’m not going to tolerate no disrespect towards me or my wife," Odubhao said.

"Then he just reached for his gun," said Myers. "I immediately braced myself like, 'Oh my God, we are going to get shot.'"

"I went with my instincts," Odubhao said.

Odubhao leapt at Toot and grabbed hold of the gun before it could be removed. For about 11 minutes, Odubhao held onto the weapon while Myers called the police.

"I kept pleading on the 911 call, 'My husband is not the suspect. He’s African-American. He’s fighting the guy with a gun. His hand is on the weapon, but please whatever you do, do not shoot him,'" Myers said.

Police arrived and instructed both men to put their hands on their head. Toot was tasered.

Toot has been charged with aggravated assault, and is no longer allowed back at the scene.

In a statement sent to ABC15, Michelle Skura, the lawyer representing Toot, said:

"Mr. Toot enjoys the presumption of innocence under the 5th and 14th amendments of the US Constitution. As such the State has the burden of proof and not Mr. Toot to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime he is being accused of. Mr. Toot deserves the opportunity to defend himself and to be judged by a court of law and not the court of public opinion.

Candice is a business woman and Tom is disabled veteran, both of them have worked and served alongside people from all walks of life and have never discriminated against anyone regardless of race, sexual orientation or religious preference. Prior to this incident they had never been accused of being racist and are sickened by the allegation."

SCOTTSBURG, Ind. —

Kayden Bibb and his father Brent were doing the one thing they love to do Wednesday evening: fishing.

They were fishing out in Scottsburg, Indiana. A few fish and a couple of laughs later, it was time to go home, but as Kayden attempted to cross the street to go to his father, the unthinkable happened.

"I was just in shock," said Brent Bibb. "I couldn't believe my little boy was just laying there, bleeding out. Multiple times we've been fishing here, and nothing like that ever happened. I never thought it would happen."

Kayden was struck by a vehicle, making him airborne before landing in the water. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The person behind the wheel was a 17-year-old.

Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin calls it the worst-case scenario for a parent.

"Who would've thought a little fishing day out with dad would cause this tragedy?" said Tina Gladden, Kayden's grandmother.

Although the incident is still under investigation, Goodin said no charges are expected.

"We have no reason to believe whatsoever she did it on purpose," said Goodin. "We've got to figure out what happened. There is a reason why it happened, and that's why they call them crashes. They don't call them accidents anymore."

For now, the family is hoping this incident serves a lesson for parents everywhere, that even on the best of days, tomorrow is never promised.

"He was a fun, caring, laughing, loving little boy and he was a very good fisherman," said Gladden. "We got to keep our faith in God, and we have to remember that he had better plans for Kayden than we did. That's why he took him home."

The family has set up a GoFundMe for anyone interested in helping them pay for the funeral. Sheriff Goodin said the investigation is still ongoing.