Checkey Beckford is an Emmy® Award-winning reporter for NBC 4 New York. She covers breaking news and general assignment stories, appearing weekdays at 5 PM, 6 PM and 11 PM.
Beckford’s reporting was a key component of NBC 4 New York’s award-winning COVID-19 coverage, honored in January, 2021 with the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for “creat(ing) a 360 view in real time of the coronavirus pandemic, with courageous and thorough reporting on the virus’s explosion in New York City.” The duPont has long been recognized as the broadcast, documentary and on-line equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, also awarded by Columbia University.
Her commitment to journalistic excellence has been recognized with two New York Emmys® for her coverage of the 2017 Tribeca terrorist attacks. She was also presented with ESSENCE Magazine’s “Essential Heroes Award,” recognizing her coverage of 2020’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Throughout her time at NBC 4, Beckford has covered many of the region’s most memorable news stories. In addition to the Tribeca attacks, Beckford provided breaking news coverage of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, New York City’s Ebola scare in 2014, the deadly Metro-North crash in Valhalla in 2015, the twin murders of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in 2015.
Checkey Beckford joined NBC 4 New York as a general assignment reporter in October 2012 from KOVR CBS13 in Sacramento, CA where she served as a live reporter for dayside newscasts. She began her career at WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she was hired as an associate producer. Here, Beckford was promoted twice in one year to weekend morning producer and then weekday morning producer.
Prior to joining KOVR CBS13, Beckford was a live reporter for WICD/WICS in Champaign/Springfield, IL where she shot, wrote and edited multiple stories for the 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts.
Beckford grew up in Westchester County after emigrating from Jamaica when she was five. She attended Florida Atlantic University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Communications with Minors in Political Science and Sociology.
In her spare time, Beckford enjoys mentoring teenagers who aspire to go to college and begin careers in journalism. She resides with her family in New Jersey.
The Latest
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Initially praised for trying to save neighbor, N.J. man now charged in her murder
A New Jersey man who was hailed a hero for seemingly trying to rescue his neighbor from her burning home is now accused in her murder, according to investigators.
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NY teacher and baseball coach benched after homophobic tirade caught on camera
The Flushing teacher and youth baseball coach is facing consequences after a video surfaced from a road rage incident earlier this month.
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Marine Who Put Man Into Fatal Chokehold on NYC Subway Acted in Self-Defense, Lawyer Says
Lawyers for the 24-year-old man at the center of the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a Manhattan subway train said their client “never intended to harm” the 30-year-old homeless man, and “could not have foreseen his untimely death.”
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NYC Subway Chokehold Death Ruled a Homicide, As Groups Demand Justice for Jordan Neely
The death of a homeless man who allegedly had threatened passengers aboard a New York City subway and was put into a chokehold by one of the riders has been deemed a homicide, according to the medical examiner.
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1 Dead, Multiple Injured in NYC Parking Garage Collapse
One person died and multiple people were injured after a parking garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, FDNY officials said. The collapse took place on Ann Street near Nassau Street around 4 p.m. when, according to senior FDNY officials, the second floor of a five-story parking garage collapsed into the first floor. Ultimately, the top floor would fall all…
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JFK Terminal Shutdown May Last Days Amid Power Woes, FAA Warns; International Flights Disrupted
A developing travel nightmare at JFK Airport stretched into a second day Friday, with all inbound and outbound flights at the New York City hub’s international terminal halted — at least through the rest of the day and possibly longer. The fracas started around mid-morning Thursday, when JFK Airport first tweeted about a “power disruption” causing some terminal changes for…
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NJ Restaurant Is Banning Children Younger Than 10 Years Old From Dining There
A popular restaurant in New Jersey has implemented a new rule: No kids are allowed. And the decision has gotten people fired up, on both sides of the debate.
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NJ Mother Seeks Answers in Daughter's ‘Accidental' Trash Chute Death Near Penn State
Francoise Gross wants answers. The New Jersey mother says there’s too many outstanding questions surrounding the death of her 19-year-old daughter and Penn State student, Justine Gross. The sophomore student had been reported missing Nov. 11 after she failed to return to her room the night before. State College Police said Justine Gross died after falling 11 stories down a…
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8 NYC Students Shocked in Apparent Freak School Fence Incident: NYPD
Eight New York City public school students, believed to be between the ages of eight to 10, were taken to a hospital Thursday after apparently being shocked when two individuals fired, what police are describing, as some sort of “taser device” that hit the fence. Two men in their 20s were in the schoolyard for P.S. 305 in Ridgewood when…
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Security Video Shows Attempted Child Abduction on Bronx Sidewalk
Like a scene straight out of a horror movie, a parent’s worst nightmare played out on a Bronx sidewalk as a man attempted to abduct a child, but fortunately did not get far.
