Amanda Pitts is a reporter for NBC Connecticut and can be seen on the weekday early evening newscasts. She joined the team in the fall of 2023.
A native of southern New England, Amanda was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, but grew up in the East Bay of Rhode Island. She has a passion for breaking news and sharing people’s stories.
She started her career in news in 2016 as an assignment desk editor for ABC6 in Providence and began on-air reporting in 2017 at Fox 40 in Binghamton, New York. In 2018, Amanda moved back to Rhode Island and worked as a reporter at ABC6 for three years and at WPRI 12 for the last two years.
During her five years in Providence, Amanda covered some of the biggest stories in the state, including the riot in downtown Providence, the Nathan Carman insurance trial, blizzards, hurricanes and tornadoes, and every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic – from the initial lockdown to vaccine rollouts. Amanda also shed light on the issue of sexual assault in the military with an investigation into an alleged sexual assault within the Rhode Island National Guard which was a part of a station-wide Edward R. Murrow award for overall excellence.
In her spare time, Amanda likes to travel and try new restaurants, spend time with friends, family, and her cat Opie, and sing in her a cappella chorus.
The Latest
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Man charged in connection to cousin's murder in Hartford faces judge
One of the two people charged in the murder of a teenager in Hartford last week was arraigned in court on Tuesday. Edgar Martinez, 18, was found shot to death, rolled up inside a comforter on the side of the road in Hartford on Saturday morning. Police believe he’d been there for about a day and through their investigation determined…
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Men charged in murder of Hartford teen found in comforter are his cousins: family
The two people charged in the murder of an 18-year-old in Hartford last week are the victim’s cousins, the family tells NBC Connecticut. Edgar Josué Chiche Martínez was just days away from his 19th birthday when his body was found wrapped in a comforter on Pope Park Highway in Hartford. Police said they believed he’d been there for about...
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Tabulator and ballot issues cause troubles in Torrington on Election Day
Election officials in Torrington had to hand count votes late into the night after issues with tabulators and ballots. “We were able to cobble enough together to run the election, but not smoothly or very pretty,” said Torrington Registrar of Voters clerk, Melissa Randall. Randall said things started to go south late morning Tuesday. “The first tabulator in our largest…
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Man sentenced to 15 years for assaulting police officer in Farmington
A New Britain man charged with seriously injuring a Farmington police officer back in 2021 while fleeing a scene was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court on Thursday. Pedro Acevedo was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in June to charges of assault in the first degree, assault on a public safety officer, and evading responsibility resulting in…
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Ellington man's conviction over wife's murder appealed to CT Supreme Court
A high-profile murder case from 2015 was appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court on Wednesday. The appeal was heard by six justices and a room full of UConn law students as part of the court’s traveling “On Circuit” program. Richard Dabate’s defense team argued that his client didn’t get a fair trial in 2022 when he was found guilty...
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Sharkevich family remembers fallen firefighter as a ‘true hero'
The family of Robert “Sharky” Sharkevich Sr. said they’ll remember the 66-year-old as a hero who touched countless lives and was meant to be a firefighter. “He truly was a hero,” Karen Letizio, Sharkevich’s sister, said. “I hear from so many of the firefighters about what a mentor he was to them. Just a true hero. Someone that the...
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Torrington creates task force to combat rat problem
The City of Torrington is dealing with an influx of unwanted guests – rats – that have terrorized some neighborhoods in recent months. “They’re like the size of a baked potato — a big baked potato,” said Samantha Wilson. Wilson lives on Jardon Street in Torrington, an area with multiple complaints about rats. She said she’s caught 26 rats already,…
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Four decades before Salem, there were witch trials in Connecticut
It’s one of the oldest documented parts of our state’s history, and also one of the darkest. The Connecticut Witch Trials occurred from 1647 to 1663, more than four decades before the trials in Salem, Massachusetts. “The witch trials in Connecticut were extremely deadly. The first seven people who were accused and then indicted were convicted and subsequently hanged. Seven…
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Bloomfield woman killed in I-91 crash in Rocky Hill was pregnant with second child: family
The mother of a Bloomfield woman killed in a crash on I-91 last week by an alleged impaired driver is calling on police to charge the accused with a more serious punishment. Jada Upshaw, 26, a soon-to-be mother of two was killed in a three-car crash on Friday, October 4, just before 9 p.m. Her mother, Kimberly Upshaw, tells NBC…
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CT natives in Florida made it through Milton with minor damage to homes
The cleanup is just beginning for those impacted by Hurricane Milton, and we checked in Thursday with Connecticut natives who now live in Florida. Some chose to ride out the storm inside their homes, others evacuated earlier in the week. “This one was definitely no joke,” said Kristin Guillemette, of Winter Garden. “There were some wind gusts up over 100…
