Ray Villeda joined the Boston 25 Morning News team in July of 2023. He grew up in Connecticut, so this is a homecoming! Before making the move to Boston, he worked as the 5pm and 8pm anchor at WOFL-TV in Orlando, Fla. While in Orlando, he launched his own series of reports highlighting cold cases in Central Florida. Ray also worked for WNBC-TV in New York City where he covered several high-profile stories. His reporting during a deadly December 2019 Jersey City shootout was recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), which awarded NBC 4 New York the 2020 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Top Television Newscast. Villeda’s reporting was also 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. Ray’s career has taken him near and far. Before NYC, he worked at KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX where he was recognized with two EMMYs for his reporting. Villeda also worked in Hartford, CT. He started his career in Syracuse, NY. Ray is a proud graduate of Ithaca College, and excited to call Boston home!