(phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates, answer the call already. [real-time closed captioning provided by u.s. captioning company.] >> ginger: now at 5:00, new developments in what police are calling a tragic accident. a 6-year-old shot and killed. her uncle facing a judge for the first time. prosecutors say it was his gun the girl picked up just before her death.

this is news 6 at 5:00, getting results. i'm ginger gadsden in for matt tonight. >> lisa: i'm lisa bell. eric williams appeared in a seminole county courtroom this afternoon. the attorneys say the gun his niece used to shoot herself with is not his. troy campbell is live in the courtroom today. you talked with sanford police. how are they dealing with this? >> reporter: williams was being hold without bond. that changing this afternoon. after he appeared in court, now being held on $20,000 bond. with this little girl's death, we went to the police chief and asked him how does he intend to keep illegal guns out of the hands of convicts. >> i think that would frustrate any citizen who that someone who is a convicted felon and has a firearm. >> reporter: the police chief called the death preventable. >> if the weapon was secured properly, whether in a case or

important part, if it was not in the child's reach, this child would have still been with us today. >> reporter: the chief says the law limits their ability to conduct searches based on suspicion, adding the department heavily relies on people turning convicted felons in to police. >> it's tough for us to break into someone's house and say we know you're a convicted felon. we know you've got a gun in here. we don't want to get into any scenario of that nature. >> reporter: williams was arrested in 2006 for being in possession of a gun and gun trafficking. sanford police are now offering a buyback gun program in april, no questions asked. >> convicted felons are not allowed to have weapons. we've been in conversation with the state attorney's office, working to ensure when these events coming up, the proper

>> reporter: also in court this afternoon, the attorney for williams argued that sanford police do not have any evidence that the gun the little girl found was actually his. now we're also speaking with a business owner who says that 6-year-old child's family has been a frequent customer of his for several years. he's now helping to raise money for her burial and her funeral. we'll have more on his fundraising efforts later at 7:00. >> lisa: troy, thank you. developing right now, a big overhaul of florida's death penalty law is on its way to governor rick scott. state lawmakers passed the sweeping changes today. the new law would require at least 10 of 12 jurors to recommend execution in order for it to be imposed. the legislature was forced to rewrite the death penalty law after the u.s. supreme court ruled florida's law was unconstitutional because it gave judges too much power. the court's ruling back in january put death penalty cases statewide on hold. one case it affected was the

he's accused of killing his wife yessenia suarez and her three children in central florida in 2013. toledo was supposed to go to trial in january but a judge put that on hold. we'll let you know as soon as there are any new developments in that case. >> ginger: an attack on the republican presidential frontrunner by a former g.o.p. nominee. mitt romney talked about donald trump in utah today hours before tonight's debate. he didn't have much good to say at all. it's a big reversal from four years ago, trump endorsed romney's campaign after romney won the republican nomination in 2012. the two had nothing but good things to say about each other back then. >> there are some things you just can't imagine happening in your life. this is one of them. being in donald trump's magnificent hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. i'm so honored and pleased to have his endorsement. >> ginger: well, romney seemed to be happy to have trump's

the tables have now turned. today romney went after trump's character saying among other things, he's a phony and a fraud. he says those traits make a poor candidate for the white house. >> think of his personal qualities, the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny. the absurd third great theatrics. >> ginger: and trump did not take romney's criticism lying down. he fired back tweets aimed at the former massachusetts governor. one of them read, quote, "why did mitt romney beg me for my endorsement four years ago?" he says romney failed to drum up support during his campaign. we have you covered on the race for the white house on our website. you'll find the florida voter guide and other details on the state's upcoming primary on

>> lisa: an update now on a super bowl murder in brevard county. melbourne police arrested a man accused of beating another man to death outside a bar. we're told the 21-year-old man got into a fight with a 53-year-old man in a parking lot. the man was found unconscious. he died a short time later. police say the man was from italy and here on a work visa, charged with second-degree murder. >> ginger: a car fire shuts down part of i-95 in volusia county. this is what it looked like about an hour ago. this was near the state road 40 exit in ormand beach. all southbound lanes were blocked for a while. we understand that traffic is now moving again. we're working to learn more about what happened here and, of course, we'll bring you updates as soon as we get them. that was a mess out there. >> lisa: another warm and dry day, part of a long line of them here in central florida. here's a live look outside at our daytona beach cam.

this perfect 10 weather last. >> ginger: chief meteorologist tom sorrells is pinpointing it all for us. we hope it's the new normal. >> tom: it kind of is. the long range forecast, i don't have a day below 75 or 76. >> ginger: sweet. >> tom: i think it's going to be too hot too fast is the next thing that happens. look at the radar tonight. we're tracking a cold front, a reinforcing shot of cool air ready to roll into the panhandle. we've got light showers from louisiana, mississippi, close to mobile now, maybe panama city right now. here at home, we have none of those showers happening. what we have is a great evening. temperature reading hit 80 for the daytime high today in sanford. you're still there. 79 in orlando and 78 in leesburg and 74 out at the cape. on-the-town forecast for tonight, we'll be down to 68 by 10 p.m. the 11:00 hour, 66. it's a good evening, really, it really is. i'll be back to pinpoint your rain chances overnight.

start of bike week and show you how long this stretch of good stuff is going to stick around. >> ginger: thank you, tom. >> don't forget, you can get breaking weather alerts and live radar anytime on our free news 6 pinpoint weather app. just search wkmg in your app store. big trouble tonight for a brevard county man. melbourne police say he ate several doughnuts he didn't pay for and then spit in a clerk's face and threatened to stab her. we're told eugene holmes attacked the clerk at 7-eleven on babcock street after she demanded payment for the food he ate. police say he spit at her and then pulled out an ice pick and said he would stab her if she did not give him her phone. officers found him a short time later. he's currently in jail on more than $100,000 bond. a big crackdown on people who don't wear seat belts. >> lisa: the orange county sheriff's office says it wants to reduce injuries caused by crashes. news 6 reporter mark lehman shows us how the click it or ticket campaign is getting results.

part to get people to buckle up is enforcement. that's why they're out in force today teaching drivers a costly but important lesson. catching one driver after another, deputies pulled over a line of cars near avalon park. and targeting drivers who don't buckle up. patrols are being stepped up in several spots, all part of click it or ticket, a national campaign emphasizing the importance of keeping that seat belt on. >> i got pulled over because i didn't have my seat belt on. >> reporter: he learned his lesson today and learned his license was suspended. he's joining two others arrested after deputies discovered outstanding warrants. >> with traffic stops, a lot of times you uncover other things behind the seat belt violation. >> reporter: the main thing behind the effort is reducing

>> reporter: he took his $114 ticket in stride. others weren't so happy. deputies offering this word of advice. >> they may be upset with us today, but that one day when bad things happen and they have their seat belt on because we gave them the ticket today, maybe they'll remember that we're the ones who reminded them. >> lisa: mark, thank you. deputies are continuing seat belt enforcement in several locations over the next couple of weeks. the campaign runs through march 14th. well, will attempt no. 5 finally be the one for spacex? >> ginger: coming up next at 5:00, the new details set for the cape tomorrow. and an astronaut has made his way back to america. we'll take you to scott kelly's emotional homecoming a year in the making. >> you're watching news 6 at 5:00, getting results for central florida. this is a live look at i-4 and o.b.t.

eastbound lane there, on the right-hand side of your screen. you can see fire crews out there. some lanes are blocked.

>> reporter: i'm news 6 meteorologist candace campos. we're pinpointing your friday forecast around town. right now, we're at merritt island at the brevard veterans memorial center. it's a beautiful day. if you didn't get out to enjoy it today, not to worry, nice days are in store for you. it's nice and mild tonight, temperatures are cooling down into the upper 60's, quickly warming up. only in the mid 70's. the next spot is at the kennedy

>> ginger: we're following breaking news in brevard county right now. sky 6 is live over what appears to be a car crash right into a ditch. you can see the car on its roof. this is happening in cocoa. you can see it looks like a really bad crash and the way they're looking into it, it

in there that they're trying to get out of that vehicle. we'll stay on top of this and bring you more as we get it into the newsroom. an emotional reunion. astronaut scott kelly is back in the u.s., a couple of days after returning from space. >> lisa: his family was there to greet him for the first time in nearly a year. brandon walker from our sister station kprc shows us the happy homecoming. >> reporter: now that astronaut scott kelly is home, the obvious first question, did it feel like a year? his response, yeah, you bet it did. >> the man himself, the man of the hour, scott kelly coming off the plane. some moments were not to be described for astronaut scott kelly. hugs from his daughters, samantha and charlotte say, and show, just enough. kelly returned home to houston in the wee hours of the morning. >> it's an unbelievable feeling

>> reporter: the nation's second lady, dr. jill biden was there to say hello, too. kelly spent 340 days in space. even sharing his musings from the international space station. life at zero gravity. life orbiting 250 miles above earth. along the way, tweeting the view, sunrises, massive ice caps and, of course, a selfie no doubt. >> scott kelly back on mother earth. >> reporter: kelly returned to earth on tuesday, arriving in kazakhstan. the point is to determine long long-term effects on the human body in space. scientists will compare the two to determine how different life

>> one of the things i thought a lot about during this year is there's no greater privilege than serving your country, however or wherever you might do it. >> reporter: most of his time away spent in a space the size of a telephone booth. he has set the time for the most time an american has spent in space. back to you. >> lisa: thank you. how cool is that? >> ginger: unbelievable. it would have been a month before anyone heard from me. he's been through so much. >> lisa: and there he is just walking off the plane, no big deal. speaking of space, we're just a day away from another attempt of the launch at the cape. it's spacex's fifth try since last week. >> ginger: the company says the launch window is set for 6:35 tomorrow. spacex has tried four times since last week to send a satellite into space. the fourth try back on tuesday was scrubbed due to high upper-level winds. previous attempts have been

liquid oxygen fuel and weather. if the launch happens, we'll bring it to you live on news 6 and clickorlando.com. news 6 meteorologist candace campos is pinpointing the conditions on the space coast, ahead of the launch. we'll check in with her coming up at 5:30. well, we're just a couple of weeks away from central florida's largest country music festival. the 6th annual runaway country musicfest will bring many of country's biggest names to kissimmee. >> lisa: we're partnering with collis roofing to give you the ultimate fan experience next week. we're giving away tickets for the entire three-day event next week. all you have to do is watch news 6 at 11:00, beginning next monday for the country star of the day. then head to clickorlando.com/runaway country to enter. it runs march 18th through the 20th at osceola heritage park and some of the top names in the industry will be there. plus the three of us will be there.

>> tom: the three of us, kenney chesney. >> ginger: you guys were there last year and it was a blast, right? >> tom: it was a blast. we met a lot of people. >> lisa: if we could have weather like we're having right now in 2.5 weeks. >> tom: my fear is it will be too warm. there's not going to be a super huge warm-up, but it's not calling for a cool-down. we're past the cooler air. let's check out the storm pins tonight. i want to start out with good stuff. how pretty is that? >> ginger: that's gorgeous. >> tom: good work. way to raise a nice flower. >> lisa: i kill those things. >> ginger: they're hard to keep alive. >> tom: i can't show mine off yet because mine is not in bloom yet. cocoa man, this is what we're dealing with. this cloud cover, you saw how hazy it looked on the beach cam

the haze is back. and this is the sun setting with the cloud cover taking over. that's what you can expect. we're going to increase the cloud cover. it's fair weather cloud cover for now. but there's a reinforcing shot of cooler air on the way. so clouds are on the rise, on the up-tick, on the increase, however you want to say it. there's more cloud cover than you might like heading into the night. the good news is the night is dry. you can go do your run or whatever, have fun, giddy up, go enjoy. light scattered showers are rolling along interstate 10 from louisiana on through alabama, mississippi into the panhandle. eventually, some of those showers might hold together long enough to be here pre-dawn tomorrow morning. right now, things are good, across the u.s.a. it's 63 in denver. 52 in kansas city. it's still cold in the great lakes. 28 in detroit. 35 in new york city and across the southland, atlanta is at 40. 54 in myrtle beach. 71 in jacksonville.

77 the villages. 75 in ocala. 79 in melbourne and 79 in orlando. here's that front, extending back to jackson, mississippi, bringing the light rain to new orleans. light rain is what i'm looking for for for us, too. during the overnight, it gets together long enough it shows up in central florida. there's 5:00 in the morning. that's the time in the morning when a lot of you wake up. meteorologist troy bridges will be here to track what is there. this is passes through downtown orlando, about 7:00, into southern brevard county by 8:30 or 9:00. then we're done. the rest of the day tomorrow is fantastic. sunshine takes over. then things are going to be really good for the entire weekend. the lows tonight, we're going 60 in daytona beach. 61 in sanford. up here in ocala, 57. titusville tonight, 60.

>> tom: by noon tomorrow, 74. the daytime high goes to 79 degrees. saturday, 78. sunday's daytime high is 77. all next week, we're looking good with temperatures in the 80's as far as we can see. >> lisa: i love to see that. thank you, tom. >> ginger: for the second time this year, the sunshine state has a big powerball winner. >> lisa: it's not us. next at 5:00, where the near $300 million ticket was sold this time. but first, a big burglary. nearly a dozen people storm into a store. what these guys got away with in the span of just two minutes. >> ginger: ahead at 5:30, the takata airbag recall has

>> lisa: tonight our youngest getting results award winner yet. can light up a room with his smile and that's just what he does. this is adorable. coming up at 6:00, matt austin shows us how this little guy and

rounds at a local senior facility and it's enough to make everyone's day. that little guy is gorgeous. >> ginger: yeah, he's so cute. >> lisa: it looks like something out of a movie. a daring robbery at a gun store. >> ginger: the crooks got in and out in just about two minutes. this was at a store in houston early tuesday morning. they say the thieves used a black pickup truck to rip out the front doors and smash their way inside. they quickly got as many guns as they could carry and took off with about 50 of them. three of the guys have already been caught. the others are still on the run tonight. man, they came ready. >> lisa: a big win for a powerball player here in florida. >> ginger: unfortunately, it was not us. we have learned the winning $292 million ticket was sold in the keys. >> lisa: they already have a great life. >> ginger: aren't you already a

the lucky winner purchased a quick-pick ticket at a convenience store in marathon. it's the second big win in the state this year. >> ginger: the next drawing is set for saturday, worth a measly $40 million. >> lisa: those people should build a duplex. they each have about the same amount of money. >> ginger: that would be awesome. coming up on the news at 5:30, ping sits down with golfing legend arnold palmer just days before his annual golf tournament. >> lisa: also coming up, two toddlers drown in a backyard pool. today we find out whether charges will be filed. >> ginger: and the florida presidential primary is just weeks away. find out where candidate donald trump will be rallying this weekend. and we're staying on top of breaking news in volusia county. sky 6 is live over a bad crash in cocoa. you can see a car has flipped over in a ditch. we'll have a live update, next.

avo: when account lead craig wilson books at laquinta.com. avo: he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. avo: so he knows exactly when he can settle in and practice his big pitch. avo: and when craig gets his pitch down pat, do you know what he becomes? client: great proposal! let's talk more over golf! craig: great. client: better yet, how about over tennis craig: even better. avo: a game changer! secretary: your 2 o'clock is here. client: oops, hold your horses. craig: no problem. avo: la quinta inns & suites is ready for you, so you'll be ready for business. avo: the ready for you alert, only at laquinta.com.