Michael Negussie News Today

Greater Houston is by one measure the most diverse metro area in the country, putting it on the firing line as conservative Texas lawmakers try to impose criminal 'sanctuary' penalties

After half of a Houston family was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News revealed that a fire crew had failed to enter the house to check on them. A firefighter has now been disciplined.

After half of a Houston family was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News revealed that a fire crew had failed to enter the house to check on them. A firefighter has now been disciplined.

After half of a family was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, reporting by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News revealed that a fire crew had failed to enter the house to check on them. A firefighter has now been disciplined.

Investigative reporting can mean bearing witness to the worst moments of people’s lives. Here’s how some of our journalists approach the gut-wrenching task of writing about suffering.

It was 9:08 p.m. when Michael Negussie’s phone rang. Twenty minutes had passed since he called 911 asking for emergency crews to check on his cousins and their two children, fearing that they had fainted from carbon monoxide poisoning in their Houston home during a massive winter storm.

Following a 911 call about a family that had fainted, first responders arrived at the house and knocked on the door. No one answered, so they left. Inside, an entire family was being poisoned by carbon monoxide.