"I just hope it changes people's thoughts on the death of children and helps families like ours," Tremica says.

Since the story was published, many have asked how they can help the family. They have opened a memorial fund called “The Gift of Charles” through Wells Fargo.

The family plans to use the fund to help troubled teens in their hometown of Stockton, California, find a stable environment with positive role models.

"Charles always spoke about us as a family and asked us to continue to help other children that are in the system," Tremica says.

Donations also would go toward the George Mark Children's House, the palliative care center where Charles died. CNN readers have already donated more than $17,000 to the center as a result of Charles’ story.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so at any Wells Fargo branch by providing the account name – “Tremica Thompson: The Gift of Charles Fund” - and the state it was opened in: California.

Or they can write a check made out to “The Gift of Charles” and send it to the George Mark Children’s House:

Forest and Tremica Thompson
c/o George Mark Children’s House
2121 George Mark Lane
San Leandro, CA   94578

Anyone wishing to contact the family directly with words of encouragement can email them at thegiftofcharles@gmail.com.

Student Malcolm Murray, a friend of slain teenager Jaxs Johnson, said the killings were announced over the loudspeaker Tuesday at Space Coast Junior-Senior High School in Cocoa, Florida, where Johnson and two of his siblings attended.

"It's unfair she had to take his life," Murray told CNN affiliate WKMG. "I cried so much I can’t cry anymore."

Authorities said Tonya Thomas, 33, killed her four children - Joel Johnson, 12; Jazlin Johnson, 13; Jaxs Johnson, 15; and Pebbles Johnson, 17 – before fatally shooting herself early Tuesday at their home in Port St. John.

Some of the children went to a neighbor’s home to say that their mother was shooting them, but they returned to their house when Thomas called them back and Thomas shot them again, killing them, Brevard County Sheriff’s Lt. Tod Goodyear said, according to WKMG.

“After we found out who died at our school, no one really wanted to talk,” student Jacob Nelson, who sat next to Jaxs Johnson in history class, told CNN affiliate WESH. “It was just really hard to digest what really happened and how it happened.”

Goodyear said police don’t know of a motive in the shooting. Friends and court documents, however, revealed that Jaxs and his mother were having difficulties.

Jaxs was arrested in April on a domestic violence charge, accused of fighting with his mother when she tried to wake him up for school, WKMG and WESH reported. He was supposed to appear in juvenile court on Tuesday in connection with the case, according to WKMG.

Friends said Jaxs didn’t appear in school on Monday, WKMG reported. Officials said they believe Jaxs was the first child shot on Tuesday morning, according to WESH.

Murray said Jaxs, when they last spoke, said things were getting better at home.

“(Jaxs) said everything was good in the family and they were getting back to the way they used to be, so for this to happen, I broke down, because I didn’t see it coming at all,” Murray told WKMG.

The children's father did not live with the family and was distraught after hearing of the killings, the affiliates reported.

Friends and relatives left a teddy bear, notes, candles and flowers outside the home on Tuesday, CNN affiliate CFN13 reported.

“We want people to know that they weren’t forgotten, no matter what happened today,” neighbor Tony Amador told WKMG.

High school student Corbin Wratchford said Pebbles Johnson was in his physics class.

"She just brought the classroom to life," Wratchford told CFN13. "The teacher loved her. She made everything else better.

“I had a class with Jaxs Johnson, too. He was in my team sports class, and he was also really fun.”

The victims’ schools said they made grief counselors available to students Wednesday.

Watch the live stream of the ceremony here.

The Medal of Honor was created in 1861, based on separate bills to promote the efficiency of the Army and Navy, and bestowed on those who "distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action."

The bills were signed by President Lincoln, and the medals were designed to celebrate heroes of the Civil War, but the award survived and gained prominence after the conflict, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Since 1863, it has been awarded the bravest soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, according to the U.S. Army's website. In the name of Congress, the president awards each medal.

Awarding the actual medal can take years. In Sabo's case, his paperwork got lost after he was nominated after his death.

He absorbed two grenade blasts and a spray of enemy fire, the last grenade ending his life, to save the lives of his comrades during the Vietnam War. Today, Sabo's wife, Rose Mary Sabo Brown, will accept the Medal on his behalf. He is one of 623 to receive the honor posthumously.

What is the process of being granted the Medal of Honor?

Fewer than 100 living recipients are among us today.

When Spc. Sal Giunta thwarted an ambush in Afghanistan in October 2007 and prevented the capture of a fellow soldier by Taliban fighters, he earned the distinction. But he didn't receive it until November 2010.

The process begins right away. Often, service members involved with the act of heroism give sworn statements or include it in a written report so the individual will be recognized for his or her efforts.

Then, the formal recommendation paperwork begins. It moves up the chain of hierarchy. In Giunta's case, this involved a 3-inch-thick file of sworn statements, maps and drawings by his fellow service members, which eventually reached the secretary of the Army.

Then, it has to be decided whether the actions of the individual merit the military's highest honor or something lesser like the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest medal for valor.

Because the standards for the Medal of Honor are so high, deciding whether someone deserves it can take the longest. Some have argued that the standards have changed and become too high, requiring too much to be rewarded, but top defense leaders say that the way wars are fought now is different.

During and after the Vietnam War, 247 individuals received the Medal of Honor for their actions. Giunta's Medal of Honor was only the 10th to be awarded since that time. None was awarded for Operation Desert Storm or missions in the Balkans, Panama, Grenada or Beirut.

Over the past two years, five Medals of Honor were awarded. Here's a look at some of the recent recipients:

Medal of Honor recipient's valor hidden for decades

Green Beret who died saving comrades awarded Medal of Honor

Army Ranger receives Medal of Honor for Afghanistan heroics

Marine receives Medal of Honor at White House

Medal of Honor recipient gets new title: Dad 

Are you a veteran? Who was a hero in your unit, or what kind of heroic action have you witnessed? Please share in the comments below.

"All I can say is that we have opened a preliminary investigation," Robert Mueller said in response to questions at an FBI oversight hearing on Capitol Hill.

The company had made a surprise announce that it has suffered trading losses of $2 billion since the start of April.

The loss, while massive on the face of it, is expected to be easily absorbed by JPMorgan, which is the nation's largest bank by assets. Even this quarter, the bank is expected to turn a multi-billion dollar profit.

The group that suffered the losses is part of the bank's so-called corporate unit, and had been making trades designed to hedge against risk, which is a fancy way of saying it operates as a kind of insurance agency, CNNMoney.com reported. When a big bet is made, the office tries to find ways to mitigate the risk to the bank should the bet go south.

Over the past few months, the unit has staked out a very large position in insurance-like bets called credit default swaps, the same type of instrument that caused so much havoc in 2008.

CEO Jamie Dimon, who on Monday a $23 million compensation package approved, told analysts and reporters the losses were caused by "errors," "sloppiness" and "bad judgment."

In the wake of the financial crisis, critics have made the case that the biggest banks are still so large, so complex, and their desire for profits so great that they remain a systemic risk to the global financial system.

Dimon, in full damage control mode, was forced to hold a hastily-arranged conference call to announce the loss, and followed that with an appearance on Meet the Press, where he admitted the company had made a mistake.

"This is a terrible mistake," Dimon said. "In this job, you hope they're small and few and far between. This one is far too big."

Read more on JPMorgan:

CNNMoney.com: How JPMorgan made its $2B blunder

CNNMoney.com: Betting against JPMorgan

Fortune: The hedge funds that are profiting off JPMorgan's bad trade

No more witnesses will be called and closing arguments are scheduled to begin tomorrow. Jury deliberations will likely begin on Friday.

The former U.S. senator's trial is under way in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is charged with six counts of illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy and falsifying documents. If found guilty on all charges, Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

The government alleges Edwards "knowingly and willingly" accepted large amounts of money from wealthy campaign donors to hide Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy in an effort to remain a viable candidate in his 2008 presidential campaign.

A friend and adviser to Edwards testified Tuesday that the candidate appeared surprised to learn that an elderly heiress sent money that ended up going to Hunter and Young.

The defense, which began its case Monday, has argued that Young largely used the money for his own personal gain, while also paying for Hunter's medical expenses during her pregnancy in an effort to hide the affair from Edwards' wife. Donations for that purpose, the Edwards team has argued, cannot be considered in violation of campaign finance laws.

Setting the date for a new vote comes 10 days after a national election in which voters punished the major parties for harsh budget cuts, leaving no party able to form a government.

A caretaker administration led by a senior judge will run the country until the new vote.

Interim Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos and his Cabinet will take their oaths of office on Thursday morning, Greek state television reported.

FULL STORY

Andrew Sweat suffered three concussions while he played as a Buckeye in the Big Ten, including a serious one in the middle of his final year on the field for The Ohio State University.

But he began to feel better earlier this year, and, as an undrafted free agent, had a chance to try to nab a spot on the Cleveland Browns' roster.  As he prepared to head to the team's camp last week, he slipped and fell in the shower, causing the concussion symptoms to return.

It appears that was the final straw for Sweat, who said on Twitter he decided he had to choose his health over a possible shot in the NFL.

Concussion symptoms didn't want to risk it.. Thanks to the browns for the opportunity. Health trumps football any day

—
Andrew Sweat (@asweat42) May 14, 2012

"When I fell, it scared me," Sweat told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Football is not worth my health. It's really important to me that I'm able to have a family and a life after football. Football is a great game, but when you have a concussion like that, it's not worth it."

Sweat's decision might not normally garner too much attention. He was listed as 31st on the ranking of other linebackers who were entering the NFL draft. But it comes as the NFL weathers bounty scandals and concerns regarding rough hits, as well as allegations and lawsuits by more than 1,700 NFL players claiming that the National Football League hid the dangers of concussions from them. The attention to the  concussion issue has continued to grow and was again back at the forefront of discussion after NFL star Junior Seau committed suicide.

Sweat said that Seau's death and all of the controversy swirling around the NFL right now didn't play a huge part in his decision. It was more about how he personally felt and his own concern about whether it was worth it to risk another concussion.

"Sometimes people get lost in the game of football. They don't think about injuries, and they ignore things," he told the Cleveland newspaper. "I enjoy too many things. I'm too well-rounded to have critical damage to my brain and body."

Now, instead of hitting quarterbacks, Sweat will be hitting the books and preparing to enter his first year of law school. Sweat graduated from Ohio State with a degree in finance, was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection, a four-time OSU Scholar-Athlete, and interned at Merrill Lynch, according to his Ohio State player bio.

It's clear that Sweat's got the brains to do fine with a career outside of the NFL. And while he's excited about the new chapter in his life, he is none too happy with how a few blogs, both legal and sports-related, took him to task over his decision.

Elie Mystal, a former lawyer, wrote on the blog Above the Law that he was posting about Sweat to try to help him "avoid making what could be the biggest mistake of his life."

Mystal suggested that Sweat should try out for the Browns instead of going to law school.

"I can’t know if Sweat’s decision is being partially motivated by all the media attention focused on the long-term health consequences of playing in the NFL. But I’d bet all the money in my pocket that Sweat has not been paying attention to the media coverage of the long-term professional and financial damage that can be done by going to law school…" Mystal wrote.

The former attorney also  mocked the schools to which Sweat had been accepted, saying they were "more like the Cleveland Browns of law schools" and begging him to reconsider his decision.  According to the Columbus Dispatch, Sweat was accepted at Pittsburgh, Duquesne, West Virginia, Florida and the University of Miami.

"It’s not like law school is going anywhere! Andrew Sweat can have his cake and eat it too," Mystal wrote. " He can take the short-term potential upside of trying to have an NFL career, and then go to law school when he’s done. Hell, he might even do better on the LSAT, since he evidently took the test while trying to play Big Ten football and suffering from concussions."

The well-known sports blog Deadspin agreed.

"It is, I suppose, a little easy to forget that NFL players make a lot of money. Yes, they subject their bodies and brains to untold ravages; yes, they're exploited by money-hungry owners; yes, they're largely deprived (unfairly) of the education and training needed to succeed after football—but they make a lot of money," the article on Deadspin said. "So, Sweat, listen up and learn that NFL players, as far as exploitation goes, have a nicer deal than graduates of second- and third-tier law schools, who leave with lots of debt and similarly scrambled brains."

Sweat responded to their concerns, tweeting that he was going to be just fine with a likely job in his father's law firm.

@Deadspin might need to get facts right. "good setup" my dad has a very successful law firm think I'm okay here..

—
Andrew Sweat (@asweat42) May 14, 2012

With a count of three balls and one strike in the bottom of the ninth, Lawrie took back-to-back pitches from Tampa Bay Rays closer Fernando Rodney. Miller called both strikes, sending Lawrie back to the dugout.

Trouble was, when the third strike was called, Lawrie had already taken two steps toward first base, thinking he had drawn a walk. He spun around, took two steps back in the direction of the umpire and threw his batting helmet to the ground. It bounced up and struck Miller.

Lawrie was promptly ejected from the game for the outburst, but is likely to face a further suspension and/or fine because the helmet struck Miller.

I've never, ever, done anything to go at an umpire before in my life, and I didn't mean to tonight. I apologize for that," Lawrie said after the game, according to MLB.com.  "It just kind of took an unlucky bounce and I think it got him, so my apologies for that."

The Blue Jays lost to the Rays 4-3. Major League Baseball has made no announcement yet as to how long they'll lose Lawrie's services.

The former general drew his hand across his neck as if cutting a throat while staring at victims of the war that introduced the phrase "ethnic cleansing."

At other times, the man accused of being "the Butcher of Bosnia" stared at them, fire in his eyes, and he once growled at the survivors.

The 70-year-old former Bosnian Serb general has been indicted on 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1992-95 war.

FULL STORY

Five days after Seau killed himself, and in the while a growing memorial was happening outside his home, someone crawled through the doggy door that led to the garage and stole a bike from Seau's home, CNN affiliate KGTV reported.

Officers in Oceanside, California are struggling to figure out how nobody noticed the burglar, especially considering the flooding of people to the area to pay tribute to the star linebacker, who played most of his career with the San Diego Chargers.

Police said that the burglar only stole a bicycle, which didn't even belong to Seau, and rummaged through some of the belongings in the garage. Neighbors are disgusted not just at the break-in, but also at the disrespect.

"I just think it's horrible someone would even break into someone's house after a tragedy like that," neighbor Terra Ramirez told KGTV.

News of the break-in came as police also released the official police report from the day Seau was found dead.

When police arrived at Seau's home on May 2 after his girlfriend called police and said he had shot himself in bed, she led two officers upstairs to a spare bedroom, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Seau was found with a wound in the upper left chest and didn't have a pulse, the newspaper reported. Nearby lifeguards tried to revive Seau, but when paramedics arrived they pronounced Seau dead, the newspaper reported, citing the police report.

Police found a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, model 19-5, in the bed with five live rounds inside and one spent round in the cylinder, according to the newspaper.

Seau was drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1990 out of the University of Southern California. He debuted with the Chargers, establishing his Hall of Fame potential as a Pro Bowl staple.

He left San Diego before the 2003 season to join the Miami Dolphins and spent parts of the last four seasons with the New England Patriots before retiring in January. Seau amassed 1,526 tackles, 56.5 sacks and 18 interceptions in his 20-season career.