Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

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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

Bel Air, MD
Breaking News
Driver Killed, Officer Injured After Bel Air Traffic Stop Turns Physical: Police Driver Killed, Officer Injured After Bel Air Traffic Stop Turns Physical: Police Driver Killed, Officer Injured After Bel Air Traffic Stop Turns Physical: Police
Driver Killed, Officer Injured After Bel Air Traffic Stop Turns Physical: Police A Saturday night traffic stop in Maryland ended with a driver dead and a police officer hospitalized. A Bel Air Police officer shot the man during a traffic stop on Franklin Street at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, setting off an investigation into what happened in the moments before the officer opened fire. The man was rushed to a hospital, where he later died. The officer was also injured during the encounter and treated at a hospital before being released. Exactly what happened between the two remains less clear. Bel Air Police said preliminary information indicates a physical al…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
BMW Driver Charged With DWI After Fiery I-495 Crash Leaves Motorist Dead In Fairfax: VSP BMW Driver Charged With DWI After Fiery I-495 Crash Leaves Motorist Dead In Fairfax: VSP BMW Driver Charged With DWI After Fiery I-495 Crash Leaves Motorist Dead In Fairfax: VSP
BMW Driver Charged With DWI After Fiery I-495 Crash Leaves Motorist Dead In Fairfax: VSP A motorist was killed in a fiery crash on I-495 in Fairfax County early on Sunday, Aug. 16, and Virginia State Police say the driver of the other vehicle has now been charged with driving while intoxicated. The crash happened at approximately 2:20 a.m. on the northbound side of the Capital Beltway, south of Braddock Road. When the responding trooper reached the scene, a Toyota Camry was on fire. Nearby was a white BMW with heavy front-end damage, police said. The driver of the Camry died at the scene. Police had not identified the victim as of Sunday morning as investigators worked to no…

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by Zak Failla
Kingstowne-Franconia, VA
Breaking News
Back For Another Peek: Maryland Man Caught Peeping At Franconia Woman Twice, Police Say Back For Another Peek: Maryland Man Caught Peeping At Franconia Woman Twice, Police Say Back For Another Peek: Maryland Man Caught Peeping At Franconia Woman Twice, Police Say
Back For Another Peek: Maryland Man Caught Peeping At Franconia Woman Twice, Police Say A Maryland man accused of making a habit of creeping where he shouldn't be has landed himself behind bars. Landon Anthony Taylor, 42, was arrested in Rockville on Friday, Aug. 14, following a pair of alleged late-night peeping incidents outside a woman's home in the Franconia area of Fairfax County, police announced on Saturday. According to investigators, Taylor's alleged window-watching first came to their attention at around 10:25 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7, when officers were called to the 5900 block of Coverdale Way, where a woman reported spotting a man peeping through her window. But ap…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Obituaries
Teen Chased Armed Robber For Stolen Backpack Before Deadly DC Shooting, Feds Say Teen Chased Armed Robber For Stolen Backpack Before Deadly DC Shooting, Feds Say Teen Chased Armed Robber For Stolen Backpack Before Deadly DC Shooting, Feds Say
Teen Chased Armed Robber For Stolen Backpack Before Deadly DC Shooting, Feds Say A stolen backpack turned into a death sentence for a 17-year-old Maryland-area teen. Jermaine Durbin was near the entrance to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station in Northeast DC at approximately 7:20 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, when Javier Montgomery robbed him at gunpoint, according to federal prosecutors. Durbin wanted his backpack back. The 17-year-old followed Montgomery, who ultimately shot and killed him, prosecutors said. Now, more than 10 months after Durbin was found dying on Rhode Island Avenue, Montgomery has admitted to the killing and a string of armed sexual assaults tar…

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by Zak Failla
Montgomery Village, MD
Breaking News
Montgomery Village Man Who Started DC Bar Fight, Pulled Gun On Rival Learns Prison Fate: Feds Montgomery Village Man Who Started DC Bar Fight, Pulled Gun On Rival Learns Prison Fate: Feds Montgomery Village Man Who Started DC Bar Fight, Pulled Gun On Rival Learns Prison Fate: Feds
Montgomery Village Man Who Started DC Bar Fight, Pulled Gun On Rival Learns Prison Fate: Feds A Maryland man who pulled out a gun and killed his rival during a bar fight he was losing in DC is set to spend decades in prison, federal authorities announced. Montgomery Village native Robert Lowe, 42, was convicted by a Superior Court jury in DC in connection with the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Kenneth Goins in April 2024. This week, the convicted felon was sentenced to 21 years in prison for second-degree murder while armed and other offenses. According to the government’s evidence presented at trial, shortly after 1 a.m. on April 27, 2024, Lowe and Goins were inside Desperados Bur…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Obituaries
Mom Tried Shielding Daughter, 5, As Bullets Tore Through Maryland Home: Family Mom Tried Shielding Daughter, 5, As Bullets Tore Through Maryland Home: Family Mom Tried Shielding Daughter, 5, As Bullets Tore Through Maryland Home: Family
Mom Tried Shielding Daughter, 5, As Bullets Tore Through Maryland Home: Family Na’Ryah Adams should have been picking out school clothes and getting ready for kindergarten. Instead, a Maryland family is planning a funeral for the 5-year-old after gunfire tore through their home before dawn on Tuesday, Aug. 11, killing a little girl remembered for her contagious smile, karaoke sessions, and excitement about making new friends. Adams was sleeping beside her mother, Mia, and Mia’s fiancé when their home in the 3900 block of Ocean Gateway in Linkwood was targeted in what a GoFundMe campaign organized for the family described as a drive-by shooting. Mia tried to protect h…

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by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Maryland Child Sex Abuser Could Lose US Citizenship Over What He Hid From Feds: ICE Maryland Child Sex Abuser Could Lose US Citizenship Over What He Hid From Feds: ICE Maryland Child Sex Abuser Could Lose US Citizenship Over What He Hid From Feds: ICE
Maryland Child Sex Abuser Could Lose US Citizenship Over What He Hid From Feds: ICE Jimmy Aguero's past may cost him his future as a US citizen. Federal officials are seeking to strip the 51-year-old Peruvian native of his citizenship after a Maryland jury convicted him of sexually abusing his minor stepdaughter, conduct the government says he concealed while going through the naturalization process. And the timeline is damning. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Aguero repeatedly sexually abused his stepdaughter between 2013 and 2015. In 2014, while the abuse was occurring, Aguero applied to become a naturalized US citizen, ICE said. On that applicati…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Man Admits To Beating 2-Year-Old Boy To Death In Attacks Caught On Video In DC: Feds Man Admits To Beating 2-Year-Old Boy To Death In Attacks Caught On Video In DC: Feds Man Admits To Beating 2-Year-Old Boy To Death In Attacks Caught On Video In DC: Feds
Man Admits To Beating 2-Year-Old Boy To Death In Attacks Caught On Video In DC: Feds A 27-year-old man is facing a lengthy prison stay after admitting to his role in the violent death of his toddler in 2022, federal authorities announced on Friday. District resident Dasean Matthews, 27, pleaded guilty to beating 2-year-old Mars Jones, causing his death in October 2022. On Oct. 13, 2022, prosecutors say the boy's mother and Matthews, who was her romantic partner, drove to a Dunkin Donuts location shortly before noon. While inside the business, video evidence shows Matthews striking the young child with a closed fist in the upper body, causing Mars to fall and slam against a…

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by Zak Failla
Capitol Heights-District Heights, MD
Breaking News
Seven Broken Vertebrae Leave Young Maryland Father Facing Long Road To Walking Again Seven Broken Vertebrae Leave Young Maryland Father Facing Long Road To Walking Again Seven Broken Vertebrae Leave Young Maryland Father Facing Long Road To Walking Again
Seven Broken Vertebrae Leave Young Maryland Father Facing Long Road To Walking Again One moment, Donovan Raymond was always on the move. Now, the young Maryland father is fighting to learn how to walk again. Raymond, a 27-year-old electrician and father of two, suffered devastating injuries in a serious car crash on Aug. 3, according to his loved ones in District Heights. The crash left Raymond with seven broken vertebrae and the loss of most function in his right leg, his family said Donovan Raymond GoFundMe He has since undergone surgery to fuse the seven damaged vertebrae. Now comes the next fight. Learning to walk again. Donovan Raymond G…

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by Zak Failla
Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
'Marion Murders' Mystery Turns 20 As Fairfax County Detectives Hunt For One Killer 'Marion Murders' Mystery Turns 20 As Fairfax County Detectives Hunt For One Killer 'Marion Murders' Mystery Turns 20 As Fairfax County Detectives Hunt For One Killer
'Marion Murders' Mystery Turns 20 As Fairfax County Detectives Hunt For One Killer Two women. Two miles apart. One killer. And 20 years later, still no murderer. Fairfax County detectives marked a grim anniversary on Friday, Aug. 14, as they renewed their hunt for the person who strangled and beat Marion Marshall and Marion Newman to death in Springfield months apart in 2006. The "Marion Murders" have gone cold. The detectives working them haven't. Marshall was last seen on Aug. 14, 2006, after shopping at the Bradlick Shopping Center. Police believe she encountered her killer after returning to her home in the 6600 block of Bostwick Drive. She was found dead later…

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by Zak Failla
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