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Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

News
ICE Seizes Nicaraguan Killer In Maryland Who Aided Drug Cartel ICE Seizes Nicaraguan Killer In Maryland Who Aided Drug Cartel
ICE Seizes Nicaraguan Killer In Maryland Who Aided Drug Cartel A Nicaraguan man with a violent past made a grisly admission during immigration proceedings in Maryland, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Federal officials took 56-year-old Javier Zeledon Reyes into custody in Hyattsville on March 6, after he revealed details of his past crimes that included slaughtering nearly two dozen people in the 1990s while he was serving in the Nicaraguan military and later aided a Mexican drug cartel. “This arrest highlights exactly why ICE is vital to the safety of our nation,” said Matthew Elliston, acting field office dir…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Missing Woman Found Dead In Bowie Pond After Massive Search: Police Missing Woman Found Dead In Bowie Pond After Massive Search: Police
Missing Woman Found Dead In Bowie Pond After Massive Search: Police A woman reported critically missing in Bowie was found dead in a pond hours later, despite an intensive search involving air support and bloodhounds, police said. The City of Bowie Police Department received a call around 8:47 a.m. on Tuesday, March 12, reporting a missing woman in the 1200 block of Durham Drive. Officers immediately launched a search, calling in bloodhound units and air support from the Maryland State Police to assist. Shortly after, police helicopters located a body in a pond in the 14900 block of Dunleigh Drive. Authorities later confirmed that the body belonged to the…

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by Zak Failla
Obituaries
Toddler Killed In Capitol Heights Crash Was 'Fireball' With Zest For Life, Family Says Toddler Killed In Capitol Heights Crash Was 'Fireball' With Zest For Life, Family Says
Toddler Killed In Capitol Heights Crash Was 'Fireball' With Zest For Life, Family Says Zoey Rose Marie Harrison was a bold, fearless, and loving little girl who had a way of lighting up any room she walked into before her unexpected death in Maryland, her family said.  Known affectionately as "ZoZo Ru" or "Moo Moo," the 3-year-old’s infectious energy and radiant smile brought joy to everyone who knew her until a fatal crash claimed her life. Now, her family is left grieving the unimaginable, after a police pursuit ended in a devastating crash in Capitol Heights that took Zoey’s life and injured her mother. Zoey's grandmother, Gina M. Pryor, remembers the little routines…

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by Zak Failla
News
Doctors Said It Was The Flu — Days Later, 10-Year-Old Girl Was Gone Doctors Said It Was The Flu — Days Later, 10-Year-Old Girl Was Gone
Doctors Said It Was The Flu — Days Later, 10-Year-Old Girl Was Gone A Maryland mother is grappling with unimaginable loss after her once-healthy 10-year-old daughter died from complications doctors initially brushed off as the flu. Minka Aisha Greene, of Capitol Heights, had never been seriously ill before, her mom, Kymesha Greene White told Daily Voice in a phone call Tuesday, March 11. So when Minka stopped eating and playing outside in late January, Greene White knew something was seriously wrong. “She was never one of those kids who had a cold or anything,” Greene White said. “So when I noticed she wasn’t eating or asking to go outside, I was like,…

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by Zak Failla & Cecilia Levine
News
International Search Intensifies For Missing UPitt Student In Dominican Republic International Search Intensifies For Missing UPitt Student In Dominican Republic
International Search Intensifies For Missing UPitt Student In Dominican Republic The search for a missing Virginia college student who vanished while on vacation in the Dominican Republic is intensifying as officials establish a high-level commission to oversee the case, authorities announced. The Dominican Republic National Police, in coordination with the Attorney General’s Office, FBI, and the US Embassy Liaison, has expanded their investigation into the disappearance of 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student from Chantilly who went missing on Thursday, March 6 while on a trip with friends in Punta Cana. Officials confirmed that Konanki, a c…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Deputy Attacked Inside Fredericksburg Hospital Assisting Patient, Suspect Arrested: Sheriff Deputy Attacked Inside Fredericksburg Hospital Assisting Patient, Suspect Arrested: Sheriff
Deputy Attacked Inside Fredericksburg Hospital Assisting Patient, Suspect Arrested: Sheriff A sheriff's deputy was injured after being attacked inside Mary Washington Hospital by a man police say he recognized from prior encounters. The attack happened around 12:15 p.m. on Monday, March 10, while the deputy was assisting someone who voluntarily sought mental health resources at the hospital on Sam Perry Boulevard, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. While handling that case, the deputy noticed 39-year-old Darrell Jackson, of Fredericksburg, in the lobby. Moments later, Jackson allegedly rushed toward the deputy and attacked him, officials said. The situation e…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
$130K+ Stolen From Virginia Grandmother During Elaborate Hoax, Police Say $130K+ Stolen From Virginia Grandmother During Elaborate Hoax, Police Say
$130K+ Stolen From Virginia Grandmother During Elaborate Hoax, Police Say A pair of out-of-state scammers are facing charges after allegedly swindling a 77-year-old Virginia woman out of more than $130,000 in a months-long scheme, according to Prince William County police. The elaborate hoax started in March 2024, when the Woodbridge woman received a call from a man who claimed she had won a massive cash prize and a brand-new car—but first, she had to pay some fees to claim her winnings. Over the next several months, detectives say the scammers manipulated the woman into sending money in various forms, opening multiple bank accounts, and even handing over debit c…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Killer Serving Life Admits To Cold Case Howard County Murder: 'We Have Closure,' Family Says Killer Serving Life Admits To Cold Case Howard County Murder: 'We Have Closure,' Family Says
Killer Serving Life Admits To Cold Case Howard County Murder: 'We Have Closure,' Family Says Nearly five decades after 20-year-old Roseann “Ann” Sturtz vanished and was later found murdered, Howard County Police have officially closed the case—thanks to newly uncovered evidence and a confession from a man already serving a life sentence behind bars. Charles William Davis Jr., who has been housed at the Jessup Correctional Institution since 1978 for other crimes, admitted to killing Sturtz after detectives showed him a different photo of her that more closely resembled how she looked at the time of her death. The case remained unsolved for decades after Davis initially failed to ide…

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by Zak Failla
Obituaries
Fatal Hyattsville Crash Leaves Family Struggling To Bring Loved One Home To California Fatal Hyattsville Crash Leaves Family Struggling To Bring Loved One Home To California
Fatal Hyattsville Crash Leaves Family Struggling To Bring Loved One Home To California The family of a Maryland man killed in a tragic head-on crash is asking for help to bring him home to California, where his mother longs to lay him to rest. Sehirbie Rouse, 36, of Brentwood, was behind the wheel on Friday, Feb. 28, when his car veered into oncoming traffic on Tuxedo Road in Hyattsville, leading to a fatal collision, Prince George’s County Police said. Rouse was rushed to the hospital, but he did not survive. The other driver suffered minor injuries. Now, in the aftermath of the tragedy, his grieving family is struggling to bring his body home to Long Beach, California, whe…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Woman Tries To Bite Deputy, Assaults Firefighters At Spotsy Fire Scene, Sheriff Says Woman Tries To Bite Deputy, Assaults Firefighters At Spotsy Fire Scene, Sheriff Says
Woman Tries To Bite Deputy, Assaults Firefighters At Spotsy Fire Scene, Sheriff Says A Spotsylvania woman is facing multiple charges after authorities say she attacked firefighters and tried to bite a deputy during a chaotic scene at an early morning house fire. Spotsylvania Sheriff’s deputies responded to a structure fire in the 3300 block of Danbury Circle in the early hours of Friday, March 7, the sheriff’s office said. As Sergeant Christopher Staats and Deputy Josiah Titus worked to secure the area, they were alerted to a disturbance involving a woman allegedly assaulting firefighters on the scene. Deputies attempted to de-escalate the situation, but the woman became i…

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by Zak Failla
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