Cheerleaders killed in fiery crash

A rural East Tennessee community was grieving Saturday for four high school cheerleaders who died in a fiery car crash hours after they had been cheering on their football team.

A sport utility vehicle carrying the cheerleaders collided with an oncoming car late Friday night on a wet, foggy highway in Scott County, northwest of Knoxville, authorities said. A passenger in the car also was killed.

“It’s more than a shock, and we are just horrified,” said Cynthia Reynolds, the cheerleading coach at Scott High School. She said the girls went out after the game to celebrate another cheerleader’s birthday.

Investigators believe the crash was caused in part by the slick and foggy conditions, and a preliminary report indicated none of the girls in the SUV was wearing a seat belt.

Little Rock, Ark.

Newswoman dies of beating injuries

An Arkansas television anchorwoman died Saturday, several days after she didn’t answer her wake-up call and was found beaten in her home, hospital officials said.

Anne Pressly, 26, died at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center.

In a statement released by the hospital, Pressly’s parents, Guy and Patti Cannady, asked for privacy as they grieved.

“It was our hope, as was yours, that Anne would overcome the injuries inflicted upon her in the brutal attack at her home,” the statement read. “We were with her in her last moments, and although our hearts are broken, we are at the same time comforted by our faith knowing that Anne is now with our heavenly father.”

Pressly was beaten around the head, face and neck. She had been unable to communicate with her family or police while being kept sedated in the intensive care unit.

Police have yet to identify a suspect. Detectives have combed the area around Pressly’s home. News reports have said detectives found evidence that Pressly’s credit card was used Monday at a gas station a few miles from her home.