Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Reporter/MMJ
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Ahniaelyah joined the News Leader 9 team as a reporter in July 2021. She was born and raised in Farmville, VA - an hour and a half drive away from Richmond, VA where she went to college. Ahniaelyah studied broadcast journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University and earned her degree in May 2020. In college, she became a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the Ida B. Wells Society of Investigative Reporting and even became a published journalist. She also had the chance to intern at WTVR-TV, “The South’s First Television Station.” In her free time she enjoys watching crime shows and documentaries like 'How to Get Away with Murder' and 'Deadly Women' on the ID Channel. One of her favorite restaurants in Columbus is Vego Taco. While in Columbus, Ahniaelyah wants to learn more about the military and raise awareness about health disparities and crime solutions. Feel free to email her or send her a message on her Facebook page!
Updated: Mar. 8, 2023 at 11:49 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
During a conversation with the dog owner Tuesday, he received a citation for a second victim who was allegedly bit in between their legs.
Updated: Mar. 4, 2023 at 12:05 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs and Reagan Ranzer
Friday marked four years since a violent tornado ripped through East Alabama and devastated the community of Beauregard. 23 people died as a result of the storm.
Updated: Mar. 3, 2023 at 1:10 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Now, one of those businesses is pushing for stricter laws to prevent it from continuing.
Updated: Mar. 1, 2023 at 8:18 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Chief Blackmon’s leadership was scrutinized again in the face of increasing crime and a recent assessment highlighting problems in the police department.
Updated: Feb. 27, 2023 at 11:35 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The goal of the operation was to get as many guns, drugs and gang members off the streets. We talked to the Sheriff about why and how they did it.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 11:12 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Days following a shooting in Lakebottom, a group of people who live in the area are now taking matters into their own hands.
Updated: Feb. 22, 2023 at 10:55 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
After a recent rash of shootings and gun violence in the Chattahoochee Valley lately once again putting gun laws under the microscope. Last March, Alabama passed the permitless carry law, making background checks to carry weapons optional.
Updated: Feb. 20, 2023 at 4:15 PM EST
|By Jessie Gibson, Reagan Ranzer and Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Nearly 10 juveniles were injured in a late night shooting on Warm Springs Road in Columbus.
Updated: Feb. 18, 2023 at 9:49 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Starting at 11 a.m. Central, Opelika Police will meet with local leaders to discuss community concerns.
Updated: Feb. 18, 2023 at 1:32 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The victim's family says where he was killed was a 7 minute drive away from where he lived with his mom near Brown Avenue.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 11:49 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The biggest change to come -- more expenses.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 11:43 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Experts say the treatment should be more accessible because frequent overdoses have led to a nationwide public health crisis.
Updated: Feb. 16, 2023 at 11:42 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Concerns about Chief Blackmon’s leadership also draw into question if Columbus officers are able to effectively do their job.
Updated: Feb. 13, 2023 at 11:25 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Aside from the outcome of the Superbowl game and Rihanna’s performance at halftime, many are still talking about the commercials. One local ad featured a 7-year-old Harris County student with Autism.
Updated: Feb. 13, 2023 at 11:15 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Muscogee County Schools are partnering with Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital. For the first time, the hospital has launched a program that helps students interested in medical careers.
Updated: Feb. 11, 2023 at 11:19 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The bill would also ban police departments from altering that footage.
Updated: Feb. 9, 2023 at 10:30 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
A trip to the ER for some in Alabama is taking hours, sometimes lasting a full day. Part of the problem, according to one health official, is little to no bed space for patients.
Updated: Feb. 8, 2023 at 8:55 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Auburn PD, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Opelika PD and the Lee County DA's office will now be partnering.
Updated: Feb. 5, 2023 at 5:39 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Chattahoochee County Schools receive grant from Department of Defense, funding will benefit STEM program
Updated: Feb. 4, 2023 at 3:28 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
In an exclusive interview, Connor Mullins’ mom talks more about the night her son was killed in a backyard.
Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 at 11:33 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
News Leader 9 spoke with that 12-year-old’s brother and his mom off-camera. Both, of course, had a hard time talking tonight, without crying.
Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 11:31 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
News Leader 9 took a closer look at how police do their job, days after body camera footage of a brutal beating of a man in Memphis was released to the public.
Updated: Jan. 27, 2023 at 2:30 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Leaders in one east Alabama city are touting a big cash flow and adding more staff. The mayor of Phenix City gave his State of the City Address Thursday night.
Updated: Jan. 25, 2023 at 11:16 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
A woman in East Alabama has filed a lawsuit after she and others - including an 82 year old woman - were arrested for failing to pay their trash bills. Tonight we talked to the woman’s attorney and the Mayor of Valley, where those arrests were made, about the legality of it all.
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023 at 10:54 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
After the case went cold for nearly 11 years, Thursday, we finally learned her name -- Amore Wiggins and the name of the man accused of her murder, her father Lamar Vickerstaff Jr.
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023 at 11:33 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Opelika police have been working to learn the child’s identity for more than a decade with no success but thanks to new technology they were able to learn not just her identity but also that of her parents.
Updated: Jan. 18, 2023 at 11:00 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has submitted his budget proposal for this year and 2024 to the General Assembly.
Updated: Jan. 12, 2023 at 12:25 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Regular gas at most gas stations in Columbus is going for $3.09.
Updated: Jan. 11, 2023 at 12:43 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
According to the U.S. State Department, more than 17,000 people become victims of human trafficking every year in the United States.
Updated: Jan. 6, 2023 at 11:23 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The family of a 16-year-old boy in Columbus who accidentally shot himself says they’re struggling to not just cope with his death but also to pay for his funeral.
Updated: Dec. 28, 2022 at 6:07 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Thousands across the country are stranded after the major Winter storm causes numerous flights to be delayed or canceled.
Updated: Dec. 21, 2022 at 10:58 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
It was a room full of Jonathan Begley’s loved ones gathered this evening at the Double Tree by Hilton hotel. Though he had not worked as a trucker for long, several other truckers and first responders still showed up to support their fellow first responders.
Updated: Dec. 19, 2022 at 11:08 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Many locals are not risking it, shopping online and hoping those gifts arrive in time. Some are also flocking to giant retail stores, causing some small business owners to do more to increase sales.
Updated: Dec. 17, 2022 at 11:50 AM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Next Wednesday, winter break will begin for Muscogee County Students. But, before they head home, one teacher in East Columbus gave his scholars early Christmas presents.
Updated: Dec. 15, 2022 at 10:49 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
With Christmas more than a week away, one local pastor is pushing for people across the city to put the guns down as families celebrate the holidays.
Updated: Dec. 15, 2022 at 2:06 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The Columbus dance community is mourning the loss of a nationally known performer who died in an apparent suicide.
Updated: Dec. 13, 2022 at 4:41 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Even over the holidays, some people may be thinking about summer, wondering what’s being done about several popular public pools that closed this year in Columbus. We now know funding has been approved to revamp area pools.
Updated: Nov. 29, 2022 at 10:59 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Jim Steel is 69 years old. According to his LinkedIn, a social media platform for professionals, he’s taught at Harris County High since 2018.
Updated: Nov. 23, 2022 at 9:59 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
The mayor of LaGrange has officially resigned after accepting a new state position.
Updated: Nov. 22, 2022 at 2:59 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Voters in Georgia will be able to go to the polls beginning this Saturday for early voting in the runoff election between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate.
Updated: Nov. 17, 2022 at 10:26 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Now to East Alabama, where two public schools in Chambers County are one step closer to merging into one facility.
Updated: Nov. 16, 2022 at 10:52 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Almost three years, to the day, since the first COVID-19 case in the US, holidays are feeling different now. And tomorrow, we’ll be just one week from Thanksgiving.
Updated: Nov. 11, 2022 at 10:42 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
For other students and their parents, college comes with a hefty price tag.
Updated: Nov. 9, 2022 at 11:27 PM EST
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
A day after the election, there’s a lot of attention on several U.S. Senate races with no winners yet. That includes Georgia, with a pivotal battle that could boost the state’s economy.
Updated: Nov. 4, 2022 at 10:41 PM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Early voting is now over ahead of next week’s general election, with voters in Georgia coming out in record numbers.
Updated: Nov. 4, 2022 at 10:53 AM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman took to Facebook to announce his latest efforts to prevent crime in the Fountain City, specifically in Uptown Columbus. That effort includes more cops on two wheels.
Updated: Nov. 2, 2022 at 11:19 PM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Muscogee County voters account for more than 30,000 of the ballots that have already been submitted. One Georgia voting advocacy group says while turnout has been great in the Peach State, they’re a little worried about the number of young voters going to the polls.
Updated: Nov. 2, 2022 at 1:18 PM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
A group of high school students in Auburn are raising money to go on a mission trip to the Central American country of Panama.
Updated: Oct. 31, 2022 at 10:39 PM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Countdown to election day. Early voting is almost over -- ending in Georgia this Friday, November 4th.
Updated: Oct. 28, 2022 at 11:37 PM EDT
|By Ahniaelyah Spraggs
Spooky season is here, with Halloween just a few days away. Trick or treating starts as early as tomorrow for some and there are real dangers lurking.
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