Friday’s news in 5 minutes.

Video via Channel 7

1. An 11-year-old boy took his own life after his girlfriend’s horrific “social media prank”.

A mother is in mourning after her 11-year-old son took his own life when his 13-year-old girlfriend “faked her own death” for a prank, The New York Post reports.

Tysen Benz died in a Michigan hospital on Tuesday, with his mother telling reporters his death was related to a sick online joke pulled on him by his girlfriend and her friends.

“She did a prank that made it look like she killed herself and used other friends and their [social media] accounts to make it look like she killed herself,” Tysen’s mother Katrina Goss told The New York Post.

“So, he believed her and said, ‘I’m going to kill myself.'”

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Katrina now wants the girl – who cannot be named since she is underage – to face legal consequences for the prank that led to her son’s death.

“When you’re 13, you’re completely knowledgeable of your choices and you know right from wrong. You can make your own choices,” she said.

“I do feel like she took advantage of a younger boy to control and manipulate him. I don’t feel like it should be taken lightly. She should be held legally responsible for this horrific prank.”

Katrina said her son was “the most amazing kid you would ever know”.

“He was in every sport, he was super social, he had tons of friends and every single person who knew him loved him.

“[He] was the last person who would choose this choice, which I think was an impulsive choice based on a controlling, harassing and manipulative prank from this girl.”

Marquette Police Department Capt. Mike Kohler said Tysen’s death is still being investigated.

If you or someone you know needs help you can call Lifeline on 131 114, the Black Dog Institute on 9382 2991, or Beyondblue 1300 224 636.

2. Police searching for suspects after ‘suspicious’ death of woman in her Cairns home.

Police have not yet identified any suspects in the death of a 32-year-old Cairns woman who died in suspicious circumstances on Wednesday.

China Crawford’s body was found by her worried co-workers, who visited her home when she failed to show up for work, The Cairns Post reports.

Det Insp Marsh said the condition of the woman’s body led police to treat her death as suspicious.

“It didn’t look like a natural incident,” he said, adding that a post-mortem was yet to determine the cause of death.

Homicide investigators from Brisbane are expected to visit the crime scene over the next few days.

Det Insp March said police had started taking statements from friends and work colleagues of the victim, but no suspects had been identified.

He confirmed the woman lived alone at the Herald Street property.

The Cairns Post reported several neighbours had often heard arguing and fighting at the home.

“I called the police twice at the end of last year,” a neighbour who wished to remain anonymous said.

“They’re not my kind of people”.

Anyone who saw anything unusual at the home between Monday and Tuesday afternoon is urged to contact police.

3. Seven West media CEO Tim Worner steps down from Sydney Swans board.

Seven West media chief executive Tim Worner says he hopes his decision to step down from the Sydney Swans board relieves pressure on the club, AAP reports.

Warner, who is locked in a very public legal battle with former Seven employee Amber Harrison, announced his resignation from the club on Thursday evening.

“My hope is that by standing down, I can relieve pressure on the Board and the Club and let them concentrate on the business of football, and a successful home and away season in 2017,” he said.

Sydney confirmed Worner’s resignation as a director of the club and acknowledged he was going through a difficult period.

Worner, who had voluntarily stood aside from his Director duties since the beginning of the year, had been a member of the Board since February 2016.

4. A Melbourne great-grandma is celebrating 50 years working at a supermarket checkout.

Brenda Palmer has been working behind the counter of Malvern Coles since the day it first opened, and she has no intentions of slowing down any time soon.

Speaking to 7 News, the 85-year-old said she had spent 50 years behind the supermarket’s checkouts and still works four mornings every week.

“Every time we have an anniversary I pat [the checkout] on the side and say, ‘Happy birthday old girl, we are both still standing,'” she said.

A co-worker said Brenda is so popular with customers, they “actually queue up for her register”.

She hopes the store will still have a place for her when she decides to “step away from the counter”.

“I’d just do customer relations…you know, meet them in the door,” Brenda said.

5. Heartbroken mother of dead toddler Kyhesha-Lee speaks after her former partner’s sentencing.

Yesterday, Matthew Lee Williamson was sentenced to nine years in jail for his role in the death of his daughter, three-year-old Kyhesha-Lee Joughin.

During sentencing, Justice Roslyn Atkinson said the toddler had suffered a “slow, painful death” and had lived in a “depraved and disgusting environment”.

Williamson was also deemed a serious violent offender, and must serve 80 per cent of his sentence.

Outside court, 29-year-old Danielle Joughin, Kyhesha-Lee’s mother, told The Courier Mail she was “pleased” at her former partners sentence, but did not feel justice had been served.

“To think he took her from me out of spite and this is the way he was going to treat her afterwards. It’s disgusting,” she said.

“She was bubbly, she was energetic, she was funny, she had a little Miss Diva attitude and I miss that about her, just like her little brother Joey, full of energy, full of love.”

Danielle said she was “heartbroken” and that “every day was a task” since her daughter’s death.

“Her memory will never be forgotten, there are pictures on the wall, we’re always talking about her,” she said.

6. Children escape harm as ‘runaway’ truck crashes into childcare centre.

A truck carrying cars has crashed through the fence of a Melbourne childcare centre with dozens of children inside, 9 News reports.

Emergency services were called when the truck veered off the Burwood Highway and crashed into Ferntree Gully Children’s Centre.

It’s believed the truck driver, Gary Singh, had just delivered a car to a dealership and had left the handbrake off while he left the truck unattended. The truck rolled 300 metres before hitting a power pole and stopping in the childcare centre’s front yard.

Dozens of children were inside the centre but no one was injured in the accident.

Gary Singh could still face charges and police are investigation the accident.

7. Police hunt for two teenagers after NSW service station worker fatally stabbed.

Police are searching for two teenagers after a 29-year-old service station worker was fatally stabbed near the ACT border on Thursday night, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The man suffered stab wounds and was found badly injured by a fellow employee when they arrived at work. The man called police around 11:55pm.

The victim died at the scene.

Police believe the two teenagers – aged around 15 or 16 years old – are together and on the run.

Members of the public are urged not to approach the men, and instead to call triple-0 if they are seen.

A crime scene has been established at the service station and forensic examinations continue.

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