About two hours north of Philadelphia is the small town of Macungie, with a population of less than 4,000. And two weeks ago — Macungie and specifically Emmaus High School — had something big to celebrate.
Indiana University starting Defensive Lineman Mario Landino, who played football at Emmaus High School, is now a College Football National Champion.
Indiana may have been known primarily for its basketball program, with legendary Coach Bobby Knight, and for the 1986 film Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman. Not anymore.
And while 65 NCAA Football Teams have been undefeated since the AP started polling in 1936, Indiana is only one of two teams to finish 16–0. The other — the 1894 Yale Football Team. Indiana ran through their 2025 D1 College Football season, including a 13–10 win over Ohio State.
A sixth person was arrested Wednesday in connection with the shooting of a judge and his wife in their home in Lafayette, Indiana, in January, local officials said.
The Lafayette Police Department reported Wednesday night that 23-year-old Nevaeh Bell was taken into custody in the Jan. 18 shooting that wounded Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kim.
Police said Bell faces 12 preliminary felony charges, including two counts of attempted murder and a count of conspiracy to commit murder.
Five others were arrested last month after what the Lafayette Police Department called “a coordinated, multi-state operation involving hundreds of investigative hours.”
They were identified as 38-year-old Raylen Ferguson and 61-year-old Zenada Greer of Kentucky, as well as Indiana residents Thomas Moss, 43, Blake Smith, 32, and 45-year-old Amanda Milsap.
Police have accused members of a motorcycle club and a street gang of targeting Meyer, alleging the shooting was part of a scheme to derail a domestic abuse case against Moss, a member of the Detroit-based Phantom MC motorcycle club with ties to the Vice Lords street gang.
Moss was charged with multiple violent felonies in June 2024 and was out on bond, according to court records, which also show that he was scheduled to go on trial in front of Meyer on Jan. 20 — two days after the shooting took place.
FILE — Steven Meyer, a state judge in Tippecanoe County in Indiana, who was hurt in a shooting at his home on Jan. 18, 2026. This photo is from Nov. 4, 2014.
The Purdue Exponent via AP
Meyer and his wife, Kim, were shot at their home. Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm, and Kimberly Meyer sustained an injury to her hip, according to police.
According to a recording of the emergency dispatch operator, the caller who reported the shooting said there was a knock on the door, someone told them we have your dog, and then a shot came through the door.
Kim Meyer said in a statement last month that she and her husband have “great confidence” in the Lafayette police investigation and thanked all the agencies involved.
“We are also incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the community; everyone has been so kind and compassionate,” she said. “We would especially like to thank the medical personnel who provided care and assistance to us following the incident.”
After sitting through jury selection and an extensive evidence hearing on Monday, Damian “Rico” Donaldson declined to leave his jail cell Tuesday.
Donaldson, 38, is charged with 15 felonies, including rape, burglary and strangulation. He also faces a half-dozen misdemeanors.
Among several allegations, court records state he sexually assaulted a woman, broke her windshield, and poured marinara sauce in her gas tank in October.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The case is further complicated since the victim indicated by November that she would stop cooperating with police and prosecutors. She ignored a subpoena served last month, ordering her to testify.
Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg — who leads the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office’s special victims unit — said in opening arguments that Donaldson launched a campaign to pressure her to do so, which included calling her from jail — or having others reach her — and threatened to call child protective services.
Both Westberg and now-former Gary Detective Olivia Vasquez told the woman they would do the trial without her.
Westberg told jurors they had a tumultuous “on-and-off” relationship with children, according to court documents.
There was a stack of evidence implicating Donaldson, including multiple 911 calls dating back to a different incident in April, bodycam footage, “limited” information from his cell phone, and the woman’s hospital exam.
Hours after the Oct. 28 assault, one preteen child recorded Donaldson on a cell phone threatening to kill the woman and damaging her windshield and headlights, Westberg said.
Defense lawyer Roseann Ivanovich told jurors to pay attention to “details” and “bias” witnesses may have, and what the “timeline” of events was.
Gary Police responded at 8:18 a.m. Oct. 28 after the reported rape. They found her damaged vehicle and a broken pasta sauce jar outside.
The woman said Donaldson showed up around 1 a.m. at her back door uninvited.
He claimed the Indiana Department of Child Services would take her children if police were called. She allowed him to wait for a ride, but soon doubted why he was there.
The kids woke up during their argument. After they went back to sleep, he grabbed the woman’s face, trying to get her to perform a sex act. When she resisted, he choked and raped her instead.
“(If) you don’t do it, I’ll kill you,” he said.
The woman had a previous protection order filed in Cook County.
Donaldson was later charged with a stalking case on Nov. 12 after pressuring the woman against testifying.
In the April 17-19 incident, the woman said he punched and choked her in front of the children, smashed her vehicle windows with a pick axe, smashed in the front door and various windows with it, knocked holes in her walls, then swung the pick axe at her.
There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
Mitski – ‘I’ll Change for You’
Mitski’s second single from Nothing’s About to Happen to Me is here, and boy, is it good. Devastating and ornate, it comes with a video directed by Lexie Alley and edited by Rena Johnson. “Yeah/ I’ve been drinking/ Why’s that gotta mean/ I can’t call you ‘bout you and me?” she sings, calling back to ‘Bug Like an Angel’, an early single from her previous album, and its line about how sometimes a drink feels like family. I hope you’re not in a bar when you listen to it.
Broken Social Scene – ‘Not Around Anymore’
Broken Social Scene’s first album in 9 years, Remember the Humans, is on the way. It’s led by the shimmery yet wistful ‘Not Around Anymore’. “There’s a different kind of honesty in this record,” the band’s Charles Spearin commented, which reverberates through the new song. “We’ve had success, we’ve lost friends, we’ve lost parents, we’re at this ‘what happens next?’ stage in life.”
Friko – ‘Seven Degrees’
Friko’s just-announced album is aptly titled Something Worth Waiting For, and its first single, ‘Seven Degrees’, is very much worth your time. “I have searched and I have crawled I have drank at every bars “For a long time I thought the saying was ‘seven degrees of separation’ and not ‘six,’” vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan explained in a statement. “There’s a lightness to that song but really it’s about connection, and trying to stay close to the people you care about.” At one point, he sings,: I have searched and I have crawled/ I have drank at every bar.” I’m guessing Mitski must have been at one of them.
Mandy, Indiana – ‘Sicko!’ [feat. billy woods]
Mandy, Indiana got billy woods to guest on the latest single from their new album URGH, which arrives on Friday. It rules. Instead of pairing it with a traditional music video, the band cobbled together clips from seven different filmmakers in the form of an interactive carousel. “Social media has changed the way we consume art and music, often meaning that we rarely see a full music video in the way it was intended to be experienced,” they explained. “For ‘Sicko!’, we wanted to try something different, leaning into the way people consume art on social platforms. We asked creators to make 30 second films based around “sickness” as a theme, drawing inspiration from the track. It was an experiment to see what a music video might be like if we present distinct, often conflicting, visual styles side-by-side. The videos were then matched with different sections of the track in a sequence that felt right. By moving through and watching each short, you will hear the full song.”
Ratboys – ‘Penny in the Lake’
Ahead of the release of their new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair, Ratboys have unleashed one more single. Ever since I got the advance of the record, ‘Penny in the Lake’ is a song I keep turning over in my head, especially the “Baby, you’re my Ringo Starr” lyric. Julia Steiner elaborates: “I wrote this song on a sunny summer day while sitting outside in my backyard, and then we recorded the album version up at the Driftless Cabin in Wisconsin, about as close to nature as we could get. We wanted everything to feel live and loose, and we chose to leave the final recording as unadorned as possible. Chris [Walla] dubbed this approach ‘photographic realism,’ and I love to think of the song that way, as a snapshot of our band in a room playing a song together, living in the moment and having a great time.”
Buck Meek – ‘Ring of Fire’
Later this month, Big Thief’ Buck Meek will release his new album The Mirror, and today he’s got a new single called ‘Ring of Fire’. It sounds nothing like the famous ‘Ring of Fire’, which honestly suits its lovingly tongue-in-cheek nature. Like every song on the record, it features Adrianne Lenker on backup.
Weird Nightmare – ‘Might See You There’
Alex Edkins, the Toronto frontman known for fronting METZ, is back with new music from his power-pop project Weird Nightmare. Its sophomore LP, Hoopla, was co-produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno and arrives May 1. Lead single ‘Might See You There’ is incredibly hooky, and Edkins had this to say about it:
‘Might See You There’ is about going back to visit my hometown and being flooded with teenage nostalgia. Small-town boredom and isolation almost feel like a gift in today’s highly connected world. I feel fortunate for that time spent idly, down in the basement, learning the entire Rancid Let’s Go album on guitar with my friends. I find it easy to romanticise that time in my life, even though I was, without question, a disgruntled kid who badly wanted to escape my surroundings and see the world.
I was listening to a lot of the Irish bands The Undertones and Protex while writing this one, and I think there is a fair bit of their influence. Just the simplicity and big bar chords mostly.
Seth Manchester and I were very into the idea of adding piano and bells to the outro, akin to the Phil Spector-produced End of the Century album by The Ramones. The great Julianna Riolino sings with me on the choruses, too!
Alexis Taylor – ‘For a Toy’
Hot Chip’s Alexis has previewed his upcoming solo LP Paris in the Spring with a twinkly, vulnerable new song called ‘For a Toy’, which features vocals from Elizabeth Wight. “‘For a Toy; is about self-destructive behavior – but it’s not clear what the toy or plaything or distraction is that keeps getting in the way of the path the protagonist wants to be on,” he explained. “It’s amusing to me that a song which shares a lyric with a powerful grunge track by Neil Young could sound this pretty. The chorus explodes in an unexpected way with a lot of sonic bombast – so the song really opens up with drama. It’s as much about bathos as it is about pathos. There is some humor here, in the grandeur of self-pity. But most importantly, this song is stuck repeatedly asking ‘why do I do this?’ Music itself can be a plaything or toy that you can get hooked on – as much as the songs can be about getting hooked on something, or someone, or some pattern of behavior.”
“Elizabeth Wight adds glacial, ghostly vocal tones and interjections, which are closer to her opera singer upbringing than the deep goth house worlds she is known for with Mike Simonetti as Pale Blue,” Taylor added. “She brings the song to life.”
Koyo – ‘Irreversible’
Koyo have announced a new LP, Barely Here, which is set for release on May 8. Featuring appearances from Drain’s Sammy Ciaramitaro and Fleshwater’s Marisa Shirar, it’s led by the uproarious new single ‘Irreversible’.
Poison Ruïn – ‘Eidolon’
I love when heavy bands use Greek words, if only because I’m Greek and effortlessly know what they mean. ‘Eidolon’, the lead single from Poison Ruïn’s new album Hymns From the Hills, can mean both idol or phantom; it’s violent and exhilarating. “‘Eidolon’ is about being stuck in a broken reality, a cog in a fate-machine doomed to play out the same cursed loop until it fully breaks down,” Mac Kennedy expounded. “The ones who had the power to affect change have abandoned the scene. Their phantoms loom down in quiet disapproval of the disaster that slowly plays out beneath – Grim reminders of what could have, but will not be.”
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart – ‘dawn | pulse’
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart have announced their debut album as a trio, BODY SOUND, out March 20 via International Anthem. It’s preceded today by the pensive, serene composition ‘dawn | pulse’.
mildred – ‘Fish Sticks’
mildred, who are about to go on tour with Naima Bock, have announced their debut album, Fenceline, out April 24. “‘Fish Sticks’ is a song of scenes from two worlds,” the band said of the smooth lead single. “Conversations with your boss. Acute workplace mediocrity. Riding home and eating fish sticks with your friends. For UK audiences, a fish stick is a fish finger, ideally Alaskan-caught cod. The song comes packaged in Fenceline, an album about conversations with old friends, little cousins, ceaseless piles of dust in your crumbling duplex, loves and theologians and their books. Fencelines mark two places but belong to neither. Neither nor, either or.”
A Gary Police officer has been placed on unpaid leave following a Jan. 17 arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Corporal John H. Artibey Jr. was arrested following an encounter with Indiana State Police on Interstate 94 in Porter County, according to court documents. Artibey, a Chesterton resident and 20-year veteran of the department, was charged with operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony, and misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.
A press release from the Gary Police Department said it took immediate administrative action by placing Artibey on unpaid leave pending the outcome of criminal proceedings and an internal investigation.
“Public trust is the cornerstone of effective policing, and we are committed to preserving it,” said Police chief Derrick Cannon in a statement on Facebook. “This incident is not a reflection of the Gary Police Department as a whole, nor does it diminish the hard work our officers do every day to keep ur city safe. We will continue to serve with the highest standards and professionalism our community deserves.”
Court records show that Artibey pled guilty in 2023 to operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration between .08 and .15, a Class C misdemeanor. Judge Christopher Buckley sentenced him to 60 days in jail, but he already had credit for 1 day served and Buckley suspended the remainder of the term.
In 2021, Artibey received an Officer of the Year commendation at the District One Law Enforcement Awards, based on his actions when he and another officer rescued a woman who was abducted while walking home from work and dragged into an abandoned building in January 2018, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the Sunday shooting of a judge and his wife in Indiana, according to authorities.
The people taken into custody are 38-year-old Raylen Ferguson and 61-year-old Zenada Greer of Kentucky, as well as Thomas Moss, 43; Blake Smith, 32; and Amanda Milsap, 45 — all from Indiana, police said in a statement Thursday.
The Lafayette Police Department said the arrests were made “after a coordinated, multi-state operation involving hundreds of investigative hours.”
Ferguson, Moss and Smith face a slew of charges including attempted murder and aggravated battery. Milsap and Greer face two charges each, including obstruction of justice.
Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, were shot at their home on Sunday, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush said. Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm and Kimberly Meyer sustained an injury to her hip, according to police. They were in stable condition.
Rush urged her colleagues to be vigilant after the shooting.
“I worry about the safety of all our judges,” she wrote in a letter. “As you work to peacefully resolve more than 1 million cases a year, you must not only feel safe, you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable.”
Tippecanoe County Sheriff Robert Goldsmith told CBS News that extra security will be at the courthouse for the foreseeable future. He said they aren’t aware of any threats against the judge or others in the courthouse.
Steven Meyer said in a statement after the shooting he was “grateful for the outpouring of support from friends, the community, court colleagues, and law enforcement.”
“I want the community to know that I have strong faith in our judicial system,” he said. “This horrific violence will not shake my belief in the importance of peacefully resolving disputes. I remain confident we have the best judicial system in the world, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Kimberly Meyer said she and her husband had “great confidence” in the Lafayette Police investigation, and she thanked the agencies involved.
“We are also incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the community; everyone has been so kind and compassionate,” she said in a statement. “We would especially like to thank the medical personnel who provided care and assistance to us following the incident.”
Adam Harrington and Tim Jacobi contributed to this report.
Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone, and Indiana bullied its way into the history books Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season, and the national title.Related video above: Assembly Hall on Indiana University’s campus for the school’s watch partyThe Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left that defined this game — and the Hoosiers’ season.Indiana would not be denied.Mendoza’s TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti’s team a 10-point lead — barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who bloodied Mendoza’s lip early, then came to life late behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana — a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.Indiana finished 16-0 — using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.In a bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state’s favorite sport.Players like Mendoza — a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami’s campus, “The U” — certainly don’t come around often.Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher’s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes’ deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth-and-4 from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field, and the coach drew up a quarterback draw.Mendoza, not known as a run-first guy, slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out — a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. —
Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone, and Indiana bullied its way into the history books Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season, and the national title.
Related video above: Assembly Hall on Indiana University’s campus for the school’s watch party
The Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 9:18 left that defined this game — and the Hoosiers’ season.
Indiana would not be denied.
Mendoza’s TD gave turnaround artist Curt Cignetti’s team a 10-point lead — barely enough breathing room to hold off a frenzied charge by the hard-hitting Hurricanes, who bloodied Mendoza’s lip early, then came to life late behind 112 yards and two scores from Mark Fletcher but never took the lead.
The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to the most unlikely of places: Bloomington, Indiana — a campus that endured a nation-leading 713 losses over 130-plus years of football before Cignetti arrived two years ago to embark on a revival for the ages.
Indiana finished 16-0 — using the extra games afforded by the expanded 12-team playoff to match a perfect-season win total last compiled by Yale in 1894.
In a bit of symmetry, this undefeated title comes 50 years after Bob Knight’s basketball team went 32-0 to win it all in that state’s favorite sport.
Players like Mendoza — a transfer from Cal who grew up just a few miles away from Miami’s campus, “The U” — certainly don’t come around often.
Two fourth-down gambles by Cignetti in the fourth quarter, after Fletcher’s second touchdown carved the Hurricanes’ deficit to three, put Mendoza in position to shine.
The first was a 19-yard-completion to Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder fade those guys have been perfecting all season. Four plays later came a decision and play that wins championships.
Cignetti sent his kicker out on fourth-and-4 from the 12, but quickly called his second timeout. The team huddled on the field, and the coach drew up a quarterback draw.
Mendoza, not known as a run-first guy, slipped one tackle, then took a hit and spun around. He kept his feet, then left them, going horizontal and stretching the ball out — a ready-made poster pic for a title run straight from the movies.
A judge and his wife were shot and wounded in their home on Sunday in Lafayette, Indiana, officials said.
The Indiana Supreme Court said Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kim, were shot at their home, and the shooter was “purportedly still at large” as of Monday, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush said in a statement.
Lafayette Police said they responded to the home on Mill Pond Lane on Sunday afternoon and found the two victims, who are receiving medical treatment and in stable condition. Police said Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm and Kim Meyer had an injury to her hip.
“This remains an active and ongoing joint investigation” involving local and state police, the county sheriff’s office, county prosecutors and the FBI, Lafayette Police said Monday.
Tippecanoe County Sheriff Robert Goldsmith told CBS News there will be extra security at the courthouse for the foreseeable future. He said they aren’t aware of any threats against the judge or others in the courthouse.
“I worry about the safety of all our judges. As you work to peacefully resolve more than 1 million cases a year, you must not only feel safe, you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable,” Indiana Chief Justice Rush said. “I know you join me in praying for Steve and Kim and their speedy recovery. Meantime, please remain vigilant in your own security.”
Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said his thoughts and prayers are with the Meyer family.
“I want to ensure the community that every available resource is being used to apprehend the individual(s) responsible for this senseless and unacceptable act of violence,” the mayor staid in a statement. “I have tremendous confidence in the Lafayette Police Department and want to thank all of the local, state, and federal agencies who are assisting in this investigation.”
Court cases will go forward in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where the chief judge has readied the state Supreme Court Office of Judicial Administration to assist.
Excessive speeding was so common on parallel one-way streets passing a massive electronics plant that Indianapolis residents used to refer to the pair as a “racetrack” akin to the city’s famous Motor Speedway a few miles west.
Originally two-way thoroughfares, Michigan and New York streets switched to opposite one-way routes in the 1970s to help thousands of RCA workers swiftly travel to and from their shifts building televisions or pressing vinyl records. But after the RCA plant closed in 1995, the suddenly barren roads grew even more enticing for lead-footed drivers — until last year, when city officials finally converted them back to two-way streets.
“The opening and conversion of those streets has just been transformative for how people think about that corridor,” said James Taylor, who runs a nearby community center.
Embracing the oft-repeated slogan that “paint is cheap,” transportation planners across the U.S. — particularly in midsize cities — have been turning their unidirectional streets back to multidirectional ones. They view the step as one of the easiest ways to improve safety and make downtowns more alluring to shoppers, restaurant patrons and would-be residents.
Dave Amos, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at California Polytechnic State University, said almost no major streets in the U.S. originated as one-way routes. Two-way streets were the standard, before mass migration to the suburbs prioritized faster commutes over downtown walkability.
“One-way streets are designed for moving cars quickly and efficiently,” Amos said. “So when you have that as your goal, pedestrians and cyclists almost by design are secondary, which makes them more vulnerable.”
But the propensity to speed isn’t the only reason one-way streets are viewed as less safe.
Wade Walker, an engineer with Kittelson & Associates who has worked on street conversion projects in Lakeland, Florida; Lynchburg, Virginia; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, said there is a misperception that one-way streets are safer because people on foot only have to look one direction to see the incoming traffic. The confusion arises when one-way streets combine with two-way streets to form a city grid, he said.
Pedestrians crossing a signalized intersection of two-way streets can expect to encounter vehicles in a certain sequence: those turning left on green, traveling straight, and turning right on red. But when one-way streets are included, there are 16 potential sequences depending on the type and direction of the roads that intersect, Walker said.
“It’s not the number of conflicts, it’s the way those conflicts occur,” he said.
One way to divide a community
Louisville, Kentucky, about two hours south of Indianapolis, has been restoring one-way streets to their original two-way footprints. The state is leading an ongoing project to reconvert a stretch along Main Street that passes such landmarks as the Louisville Slugger Museum, the KFC Yum! Center arena, and a minor-league baseball stadium.
One of the city’s biggest redesigns is happening this year in the predominantly Black western part of the city, where many roads changed to one-way routes in the 1970s to feed a new interstate bridge over the Ohio River. However, it decimated neighborhoods and cut off the once-thriving community from downtown.
“All those mom-and-pop shops and local businesses over time kind of faded because that connectivity got taken away,” said Michael King, the city’s assistant director of transportation planning. “It just feels more like, ‘This is a road to get me through here pretty quickly.’”
Within three years after some of Chattanooga’s two-way streets were transformed into unidirectional ones, business vacancies skyrocketed and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga became “landlocked” to prevent students from having to cross a dangerous road, Walker said.
In 2022, almost two decades after the road was redesigned, he returned to find the college campus had expanded across it and business construction had surged.
Converting streets and skeptics
When Lynchburg, Virginia launched a long-discussed plan to change its downtown Main Street back to two ways, Rodney Taylor voiced concerns that it would doom his restaurant by blocking delivery vehicles. After the city completed the section in 2021, he acknowledged the fears were unfounded.
“An important thing to do is to admit when you’re wrong,” he said. “And I was just flat-out wrong.”
Many residents also changed their tune in Austin, Texas, when the city began reconverting some of the one-way streets in its urban core, said Adam Greenfield, executive director with Safe Streets Austin.
“It just worked,” said Greenfield, who is now lobbying the city to do away with all its one-way streets. “That’s what you’ll find with these conversions — they’ll be done and then instantly people will be like, ‘Why didn’t we do this 20 years ago?’”
After Chicago went the opposite direction last year and suddenly changed some of its two-way streets to one-way in the busy West Loop restaurant district, a politician representing an adjacent area got numerous calls from confused constituents.
“Even if this was the right move to make these streets one-way, it certainly doesn’t make sense to not ask the opinion of the neighbors,” Alderman Bill Conway said.
Opportunity in Indianapolis
Now that Indianapolis has finished the redesigns for Michigan and New York streets, there are 10 other conversions on tap next, said Mark St. John, chief engineer for the city’s Department of Public Works. The total cost for those projects is estimated at $60 million, with around $25 million of that from a 2023 federal grant.
James Taylor, who runs the community center near the old RCA plant, said it is too early to know the full impact. Some business owners, however, have signaled construction plans along the redesigned streets, which Taylor says still feel a little strange.
“I’ve been driving around that neighborhood for 30 years,” he said. “It’s all kind of familiar, but you’re coming at it from a whole different perspective.”
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U.S. Senator Todd Young, R-Indiana, was one of five Republican Senators who voted Thursday in favor of the war powers resolution that could limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela.
Indiana political science experts said the vote was initially surprising but ultimately tracked with Young’s military background.
In this courtroom sketch, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, second from right, appear in Manhattan federal court with their defense attorneys Mark Donnelly, second from left, and Andres Sanchez, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Aaron Dusso, professor of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis, said he was surprised that Young voted to advance the resolution because “it’s not the kind of resistance to the Trump administration that we’ve seen from Todd Young so far.”
Young’s vote shows that some Republicans are beginning to think about the life of the Republican Party after Trump leaves the White House, Dusso said.
“This would be my guess, is that Todd Young is looking at that and thinking you have to distinguish yourself and not just be a sycophant,” Dusso said.
Jennifer Hora, a professor of political science at Valparaiso University, said when she heard that a few Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution she figured Young would be a part of that group given his experience as a U.S. Marine.
“Senator Young has been a much more traditional Republican. While certainly he votes along with the Trump administration an overwhelming amount of time, he has taken some more traditional Republican stances in his career,” Hora said.
The Senate advanced a resolution that sounded a note of disapproval for Trump’s expanding ambitions in the Western Hemisphere, including his renewed call to acquire Greenland.
Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would likely veto it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House. Congress can override a presidential veto, but it requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Still, it was a significant gesture that showed unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid last weekend.
The Trump administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government, but a war powers resolution would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country.
Young issued a statement Thursday that he supports Trump’s decision “to bring Nicolás Maduro to justice for his many crimes” and that the “Venezuelan people now have a new hope.” Young also praised the U.S. military personnel who carried out the mission.
“Today’s Senate vote is about potential future military action, not completed successful operations. The President and members of his team have stated that the United States now ‘runs’ Venezuela. It is unclear if that means that an American military presence will be required to stabilize the country,” Young said. “I — along with what I believe to be the vast majority of Hoosiers — am not prepared to commit American troops to that mission. Although I remain open to persuasion, any future commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela must be subject to debate and authorization in Congress.”
Young said he supported Trump’s campaign message against forever wars.
“A drawn-out campaign in Venezuela involving the American military, even if unintended, would be the opposite of President Trump’s goal of ending foreign entanglements. The Constitution requires that Congress first authorize operations involving American boots on the ground, and my vote today reaffirms that longstanding congressional role,” Young said.
The other Republicans who backed the resolution were Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
Trump reacted to their votes by saying on social media that they “should never be elected to office again” and that the vote “greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security.” Trump criticized the Senate vote as “impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief” under the Constitution.
Trump likely felt he had to call out the Republicans who voted to advance the measure because “public condemnation” is how the President keeps his party “in line,” Dusso said.
Presidents of both parties have long argued the War Powers Act infringes on their authority. Passed in 1973 in the aftermath of the Vietnam War — and over the veto of Republican President Richard Nixon — it has never succeeded in directly forcing a president to halt military action.
Congress declares war while the president serves as commander in chief, according to the Constitution. But lawmakers have not formally declared war since World War II, granting presidents broad latitude to act unilaterally. The law requires presidents to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces and to end military action within 60 to 90 days absent authorization — limits that presidents of both parties have routinely stretched.
Many presidents have taken military action, with the key to success being not to label the action as a war, while Congress tends to “side-eye” such a move, Dusso said.
“This has been a gray area basically from day one,” Dusso said. “I think the Trump administration is really good at trying to find those gray areas and then exploit them.”
Hora said there hasn’t yet been any indication that there are enough votes in the U.S. House to advance the measure to the president’s desk. While Trump hasn’t said specifically said he would veto the bill, he has made negative comments about the bill.
“You can take that as an indicator that he would veto it,” Hora said. “Certainly, they do not have anywhere near veto-proof majorities in either the House or the Senate. But, it is a significant signal to the White House because they didn’t have to … bring this to the vote.”
The parking lot at Indiana Dunes National Park’s Mount Baldy will grow bigger this year as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shaves the back of the dune to nourish the front.
Saves the Dunes Executive Director Betsy Maher praised the plan Thursday during a Green Drinks conference call.
The Corps of Engineers plans to use trucks to remove sand from the part of the parking lot Mount Baldy has already gobbled up and dump it at Crescent Beach, so it can drift westward to the face of Mount Baldy.
“That dune has been moving at a rate of sometimes up to 10 feet a year for decades,” Maher said. “There is no longer a natural dynamic where sand naturally accumulates.”
Manmade structures like the pier and breakwater at Michigan City and the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage disrupt the natural flow of sand along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
“If you disrupt the littoral drift, then you create the erosion on the other side,” Maher said, so beach nourishment is needed. Sand dredged or removed from one place is needed to replace the sand that manmade structures block from sand-starved beaches.
“This is on hyperdrive in this area because of the creation of the harbor.”
“The park, I believe, was out of a lot of good choices. If they had waited any longer, the dune would swallow the comfort station,” Maher said. “This dune has already swallowed structures.”
The south side of Indiana Dunes National Park’s Mount Baldy is perilously close to the restroom facility on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
Removing sand from the parking lot and putting it back on beach is a good solution because it’s putting sand where it’s needed, she said.
Indiana Dunes National Park Superintendent Jason Taylor outlined the plan in December 2024 at a meet-the-public event at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center in Porter.
The process is expected to take 100 days, he said at the time.
“This is a good solution because it’s at least putting sand on the front of the dune where it’s needed,” Maher said. “It is a manmade solution, but it is mimicking a natural solution.”
“You want sandbars created during those low-water periods where you get more sand,” she said. The lake level is currently low; erosion typically happens when the lake level is high, with the difference measured in feet, not inches.
“If you have too much scouring and all the sand is gone already, then it’s not as resilient” and erosion gets worse, Maher said.
Save the Dunes’ mission includes protecting natural assets at the national park, but it also includes preserving public access to the shoreline. That’s why the nonprofit took legal action against Ogden Dunes, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and others over the town’s plan, now abandoned, to put a rock revetment along the shoreline.
“This is a hard-fought legal battle that we’re really excited about,” Maher said, but the case continues so the question of whether the DNR illegally issued the permit can be resolved. “That question still remains unanswered.”
DNR “is responsible for upholding the public’s rights along the shoreline,” Maher said.
Save the Dunes previously fought a similar legal fight in Long Beach, setting a precedent and inspiring a state law that locks in where the high water mark is calculated to indicate the boundary between private and public land.
Save the Dunes is committed to defending this public trust doctrine so all Hoosiers can walk along the beach. “We’re seeing a lot of public trust work popping up along the Great Lakes,” Maher said.
“The most resilient beach is a natural beach,” she said. “We get huge storms off our shoreline, and then you get this natural fluctuation in lake levels.”
“It used to be a 30-year cycle,” but it’s now less reliable, she said.
Where visitors once ran down the south face of Mount Baldy, pictured on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, visitors are now urged to keep off the dunes. Visitors traipsing off established trails can harm the ecosystem. (Doug Ross/for Post-Tribune)
The Indiana Dunes are more than sand, though. Maher noted Indiana Dunes National Park is the fifth most biologically diverse national park in the United States.
The park has 15 miles of protected shoreline, 16,000 acres and 50 miles of hiking trails.
When it was created in 1966, it was designated as a national lakeshore. Since 2019, when it was designated a national park, the number of visits has grown from 2 million to nearly 3 million annually. It’s the No. 1 tourist destination in Indiana.
“Unfortunately, these environmental wonders have not historically been available to everyone,” Maher said, so Save the Dunes is supporting National Park Service accessibility efforts. “We hope to make the dunes a place that is accessible to all.”
That includes donating special wheelchairs that can be used at the beach. Visitors need to contact the park before arriving to make arrangements for their free use.
Habitat restoration and preservation are also important to Save the Dunes.
Save the Dunes administers grants for this work in Northwest Indiana, including working with the National Park Service, Northwest Indiana Paddling Association and Shirley Heinze Land Trust to clear logjams on the Little Calumet River to make it navigable.
Emerald ash borers, tiny lumberjacks that they are, felled trees and created many logjams.
So far, nine of 11 miles of the river have been cleared for canoeists and kayakers.
“We’ve sunk several million dollars into restoring this river collectively,” Maher said.
In the past 20 years, Save the Dunes has had a heavy emphasis on stewardship of the land.
“Restoration work is never done, but it’s certainly not something you can start and stop,” Maher said. Eradicating invasive species usually takes five to 10 years. “If you just treat it and walk away, they just come right back.”
“Currently, about 30% of the park is actively managed,” she said.
The park needs help with public access work, too, including updating exhibits, some of which haven’t been changed since the park was created, Maher said.
Resiliency, too, is important in order to address climate change and other threats to ecosystems. A “very complicated grant” of just under $1 million from the National Coastal Resiliency Fund is bringing together conservation partners across the region to address these threats with large-scale projects, she said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Hoosiers filled the stands at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday night. They will have to book their flights to Miami next. The College Football National Championship Game will take place on Monday, January 19, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Indiana University is a football school.
The Hoosiers, head football coach Curt Cignetti, and his staff are on their way to South Florida and a date with the Miami Hurricanes. The winner gets a national championship. The College Football National Championship Game will take place on Monday, January 19, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
The Hoosiers dominated their College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the Oregon Ducks in Atlanta on Friday night. Final score: 56-22.
The Indiana Hoosiers football program has qualified for its first National Championship game. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
“It’s a great win against a good football team,” Hoosiers head football coach Curt Cignetti said after the game.
The Oregon Ducks finished the season 13-2. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The two Big Ten programs had played before. In fact, they played a couple of months ago in a game that Indiana won 30-20 in Eugene, Oregon, on October 11. In Atlanta, just like they did in the Pacific Northwest, the Hoosiers got off to a strong start. Defensive back D’Angelo Ponds intercepted Oregon quarterback Dante Moore’s first passing attempt of the game and returned it for the game’s first touchdown of the game. The roar from the pro-Indiana crowd in the stadium could be heard all the way on Peachtree Street. This game felt like an Indiana Hoosiers home game well before kickoff.
Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning credited the Hoosiers for playing a complete game. “They have a great chance of keeping it going and having great success,” Lanning said.
Moore only had nine interceptions to 28 passing touchdowns coming into the game. Now three of his 10 interceptions have come against Indiana. Moore had two in the loss to the Hoosiers earlier this season.
The Ducks did not have their prayers answered on this night. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Oregon’s second offensive drive ended better than its first when a 14-play drive that included a fourth-down conversion deep in Indiana territory ended with a Moore to Jamari Johnson touchdown. The successful extra point tied the game with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter. Indiana’s defense had only allowed Oregon to score seven points during the first quarter of their first matchup, so the Ducks were already ahead of pace.
Indiana defensive back Louis Moore (7) and the Hoosier defense held their own on Friday night in Atlanta. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
The Hoosiers finally got a chance to touch the football midway through the first quarter and wasted no time going 75 yards on 11 plays to regain the lead, 14-7. Running back Roman Hemby had two long carries before Heisman trophy winner Fernando Mendoza found receiver Omar Cooper, Jr. in the left corner of the end zone for Indiana’s second touchdown of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw both defenses sure up a bit. The teams exchanged third-quarter sacks early on and forced each other to punt. Oregon outside linebacker Nasir Wyatt sacked Mendoza for a 19-yard loss. Following the sack and a punt, Indiana defensive lineman Mario Landino recovered a Moore self-inflicted fumble on his own three-yard line to shift the momentum back to Indiana. The Hoosiers would quickly lead by 14 points, 21-7, as Kaelon Black scored his first touchdown of the game.
Indiana sure-handed receiver Elijah Sarratt (13) was a go-to guy for Mendoza the entire game. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Mendoza to receiver Elijah Sarratt was a common theme during this game. Time after time, Mendoza, more than likely the first quarterback drafted in June, found Sarratt for first downs. With just under five minutes remaining in the first half, the two players hooked up again for another one. On the very next play, Mendoza found receiver Charlie Becker for a touchdown. The four-play, 61-yard drive made the score 28-7 with 3:13 remaining in the first half. Becker was the third Hoosier offensive player to score a touchdown.
Indiana is a complete football team. Hoosier defensive lineman Daniel Ndukwe or Landino could arguably be considered the MVP of the first half. Neither player scored a point, but both wreaked havoc in their own right. Ndukwe had two sacks, and Landino recovered two fumbles. Indiana’s defense held Oregon to nine rushing yards and 121 overall yards during the first half. Ndukwe would go on to block an Oregon punt in the fourth quarter as well.
The first half ended with Indiana scoring again. This time, Mendoza found Sarratt for a touchdown, his first of the game, and the Hoosiers’ fifth, 35-7.
Indiana quarterback and 2025 Heisman trophy winner Fernando Mendoza (15) fumbled at the end of this run. It was one of the rare mistakes he would make during a spectacular Peach Bowl performance. Photo by Tabious McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Mendoza finally made a mistake. It came in the opening drive of the second half, when he fumbled at the end of a long quarterback-keeper. The problem for Oregon was that Pat Coogan, the decorated offensive lineman for Indiana, recovered it. Mendoza made up for the fumble with a touchdown pass to E.J. Williams, Jr. that put the Hoosiers ahead 42-7 at the nine-minute mark.
Oregon found its way back to the end zone to make the score 42-15. That Duck touchdown was the only scoring drive of the third quarter. Indiana would add another touchdown from the Ducks’ three-yard line to go ahead 49-15 following that blocked punt by Ndukwe. Mendoza found Sarratt again for his second touchdown catch of the game.
Brady joined Sarrett, scoring his second touchdown of the game with five minutes to play. Indiana was up 56-15 with 4:51 to play in the game.
Oregon tight end Roger Saleapaga scored the Ducks’ final touchdown of the game. He caught a short pass from Moore.
South Bend, Indiana — Mo Riles’ pickup truck was impossible to miss.
As it moved through South Bend Indiana, it began drawing attention across town, prompting double takes and growing chatter online.
“I thought it was AI. I didn’t know if it was real,” one resident said.
“I did a double take because I couldn’t believe the sight of it,” another said.
From the front, the green Chevy Silverado appeared mostly intact. But from almost any other angle, it’s clear why people couldn’t stop staring. The bed of the truck was crushed and buckled, with damage so severe it was hard to believe it was still drivable. Then there were the various scrapes and dents, and some parts that looked like they were hanging on by a thread.
The truck’s condition was the result of years of mishaps that Riles says are too numerous to recount.
“Let’s go with what didn’t happen to it,” he said.
Because Indiana doesn’t require routine vehicle inspections, the truck remained street legal. For the past few months, thousands of people have been sharing their sightings online and mercilessly poking fun.
But a few weeks ago, one resident decided to look past the spectacle. Instead of making a mockery, he made a connection.
“I just thought, there’s got to be something more to why this truck looks like this,” said Colin Crowel, owner of a local detailing shop. “I just put two and two together that this is the person’s only means of transition.”
Crowel reached out to Riles and launched a crowdfunding campaign to help him get a safer, more reliable vehicle. The response exceeded expectations, raising about $22,000 from about 500 different donors.
Riles was overwhelmed by the kindness.
“That’s the part that knocked me over, man,” Riles said. “Here’s a human being seeing another human being struggle. And I’m like, wow, what did I do to deserve this?”
Riles had worked most of his life, most recently at a Dollar Tree, and has been dealing with health issues that make dependable transportation especially important for getting to doctor’s appointments.
Last week, he took the Silverado on its final drive — to a local Chevy dealership — where he was surprised with a shiny 2019 Silverado.
But he says the real gift was far less tangible.
“This whole thing is not about me. It’s about this community bonding together. God is good,” Riles said.
While on the road with his fiancée, Fenske’s also been keeping an eye on an old CU teammate, Alex Harkey. Oregon’s starting right tackle? Yeah, he used to be a Buff.
Harkey, a 6-foot-6, 327-pound redshirt senior, is prepping for a Friday night showdown with Indiana — and another former CU player, the Hoosiers’ Kahlil Benson — in one College Football Playoff semifinal. The Ducks’ bruiser helped Oregon put up 245 passing yards and convert four fourth-down conversions on The Best Defense Money Can Buy, blanking Texas Tech 23-0 in the Orange Bowl.
Fenske, who played in seven games with the Buffs in ’22, was Harkey’s roommate at CU. He got swept away, too. Under Armour was out, Louis Vuitton luggage was in.
“(Harkey has) done incredible, man,” Fenske gushed. “Because when he first came in (to CU), he wasn’t what he is now. And just seeing his transformation from being a (backup) guard on a 1-11 team to being a first-round or second-round (NFL) draft pick …”
Big Alex could play. So could wideout Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State). And cornerback Simeon Harris (Fresno State). And quarterback Owen McCown, once he’d had some more brisket. McCown, who played as a wafer-thin true freshman at CU in ’22, threw for 30 touchdowns at UTSA this past fall — including three in a 57-20 win over Florida International in the First Responder Bowl.
“We just stay connected, support each other’s success,” Harris, who still belongs to a group chat of former Buffs, told me over the weekend. “You’ve got to expect the unexpected. That (purge) hit us all in the mouth.”
All of it true. But what we won’t talk as much about is just how young that 2022 team actually was. Heading into the opener, 33 of the 81 dudes on that CU depth chart were freshmen. Twenty-three were sophomores. It showed.
“I get that it’s a multimillion-dollar business,” Fenske said. “But what’s missing in college football is the developmental piece to it. For Philip Rivers to come back (to the NFL) after five years (retired) and be better than half the QBs in the NFL, that’s not a talent issue. That’s a development issue …
“I want (the Buffs) to do well, but man, they missed out. They really missed out on (Harkey). Even when he wasn’t a starter, he always kind of carried himself with a chip on his shoulder. He wanted to get better. He knows ball. He was a great person to be around.”
Yet you also could field a pretty darned good college football lineup out of players who left CU’s program following the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. Check out tthese Post-Prime All-Stars, all ex-Buffs, and their 2025 stat lines:
LB — Nikhai Hill-Green, Alabama, two forced fumbles
LB — Jeremy Mack Jr., Old Dominion, six sacks
LB — Johnny Chaney Jr., FIU, three sacks
CB — Colton Hood, Tennessee, eight pass break-ups
CB — Simeon Harris, Fresno State, five interceptions
CB — Kyndrich Breedlove, Arizona State, five pass break-ups
S — Trevor Woods, Jacksonville State, three forced fumbles
S — Myles Slusher, Purdue, three pass break-ups
It’s a little light up front defensively, granted. But that’s not a bad offensive bunch. It’s probably a better starting 11, McCown included, than what Pencil Pat Shurmur trotted out this past fall.
“I’m not the only one that’s thought that,” Fenske chuckled.
“It’s funny how we all panned out,” Harris added. “But we all (had) wanted to be at CU.”
Meanwhile, the Buffs’ door keeps revolving. According to the 247Sports.com database, CU had seen 30 more players declare for the portal as of Saturday morning. That group included key cogs such as cornerback DJ McKinney, safety Tawfiq Byard, defensive end London Merriott, defensive end Brandon Davis-Swain, wideout Omarion Miller, wideout/all-purpose back Dre’Lon Miller — all of whom could make a future Post-Prime starting 11.
Meanwhile, the Buffs are going to need to import at least 30, and maybe 35-45 transfers, just to fill out a roster whose depth was frequently tested last autumn.
History says they’ll find some dawgs. And recent history says they’ll need twice as many as a year ago.
“I think (CU) is about to go through another rebuild situation,” Harris noted.
Still, the Bulldogs’ defensive back doesn’t harbor any grudges toward Sanders, nor CU. Neither does Fenske, really, despite his exit.
“If I didn’t have the portal, I’m not in the spot I am today,” Fenske said. “The grass isn’t always greener for some. And I would advise people who are going into that position to really think about what they’re doing and to really take a chance on themselves and see if they can develop …
“Maybe the best thing for me was to go down (a level) and be humbled, to re-learn the game of football in a way and re-learn what life is about.”
The Big Guy works in mysterious ways, sometimes. Fenske just wrapped up his eligibility at Southern Illinois, having been named to the Missouri Valley Conference’s second-team offense and to the first team of the league’s Scholar-Athlete squad, thanks to a 4.0 GPA.
“I want those guys (at CU) to do well,” the lineman said. “Boulder was really good to me, and I’m glad that Boulder is doing a little better than it was before I got there. It would be foolish for me to be super cynical about that. I want to see (CU) do well. I want to see that area flourish because it was very welcoming to me.”
On Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020, when 31-year-old Shea Briar didn’t show up for church, Pastor Angela Smiley knew something was wrong. She had just seen him the night before.
Pastor Angela Smiley: We served at a noodle dinner. … He’s there walking the old ladies out. … We were last ones in the church. He said, “I’ll beat you here in the morning.” … And when I came up over the hill and didn’t see his truck, I’m like, this isn’t good. … For weeks and weeks and months and months, he was always the first one at the church. Always. … Shea Briar was not late.
In Jay County, Indiana, word travels fast. It wasn’t long before Briar’s aunt, Tiffany McLaughlin, and his grandmother, Sharon Taylor, heard Shea was missing.
Sharon Taylor: I started calling the hospitals, the sheriff’s departments, everybody, and nobody would give me any information. Nobody.
But then Briar’s roommate called McLaughlin letting her know police were there. When McLaughlin arrived at Briar’s home, an officer told her the unthinkable.
Tiffany McLaughlin: He said that Shea had been shot. (crying) And I said, “well, is he OK?” And he said, “no, he died on the operating table.” (crying)
Briar’s mother, Tracy Hoevel, was living all the way in Hawaii at the time. Her sister and mother called her to deliver the news.
Tracy Hoevel: I’m like, no. I mean, I think I must have screamed so loud … I mean, we’re in shock.
Sydney Hoevel, Briar’s half-sister, was only 17.
Sydney Hoevel: I remember my mom just fell over on the couch, basically, like crying and screaming. … I still can’t believe it to this day. … It doesn’t even seem real.
Anne-Marie Green: At that point, did anyone have any idea what happened to Shea?
Det. Ben Schwartz: No. We had no idea what happened to Shea.
Ben Schwartz was one of the lead detectives assigned to the case.
Det. Ben Schwartz: Jay County is a very rural farming community. … It’s certainly not like working in a big city where it’s back-to-back calls. … And as soon as this happened, it was a — it was a pretty big deal. … It’s isolated where he was found. … We wondered how he got there. … We just had to start from ground zero.
Who was Shea Briar?
Ground zero meant digging into who Shea Briar was and what he had been up to. He was born in Indiana but was raised in Hawaii by his mom and stepdad.
On Jan. 11, 2020, Shea Briar was found on a rural bridge in Jay County, Indiana, clinging to life with a bullet through his heart.
Tracy Hoevel
Anne-Marie Green: What sort of kid was Shea?
Tracy Hoevel: A little rascal. (laughs) … He was very polite. He would open doors. … he was fun. … He loved his G.I. Joes. … He always wanted to be in the military from a really small age.
So, it was no surprise when, after high school, Briar joined the Navy. And it was also no surprise when, after he was discharged, he returned to live in Jay County.
Sydney Hoevel: Shea was always an Indiana boy. … He loved the tractors. He loved all the land.
And that’s where he wanted to put down roots.
Tiffany McLaughlin: He really wanted to have a girlfriend … get married and have a family.
But things didn’t quite happen in that order. In 2018, Tracy Hoevel got a phone call from her son.
Tracy Hoevel: He’s like… “Hey mom, guess what? … you’re gonna be a grandma.” I was like, “What? I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend.” (laughs)
The future mother of his child was Esther Jane Stephen, a local high school softball coach who also ran a day care, and went by the name E.J.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I don’t think they were boyfriend and girlfriend, you know. I think it was just one of those things.
In January 2019, Shea and E.J.’s daughter was born. It was only after her birth, that the two decided to start dating. They soon were engaged. But Briar’s family felt it was forced.
Tiffany McLaughlin: They weren’t all lovey-dovey for, you know, the lack of a better word.
Sharon Taylor: I tried to tell him, is this how you wanna live your life with someone that’s really not who you’re meant to be with?
Anne-Marie Green: You felt that?
Sharon Taylor: Oh, definitely, because they did not have a connection …
Shea Briar, left, and E.J. Stephen
They must have sensed something because in September 2019, just weeks before the wedding, E.J. called it off.
Anne-Marie Green: Was he disappointed?
Tiffany McLaughlin: Yes. Because … he wanted a family.
It was around that time that Smiley says Briar began coming to church.
Pastor Angela Smiley: He needed God. And he needed a friend … He started hanging out with … men in our church that were active fathers. … And he wanted that for his daughter.
But Smiley, and Briar’s family, say for reasons unbeknownst to them, E.J. made it difficult.
Anne-Marie Green: After the engagement is broken off, what sort of access does Shea have to his daughter?
Sharon Taylor: He doesn’t.
Tracy Hoevel: None.
Sharon Taylor: No. …
Tracy Hoevel: He went quite a long time without seeing her. …
Anne-Marie Green: And he was trying to see her and —
Tracy Hoevel: Yeah.
Tiffany McLaughlin: That’s why he finally got a lawyer.
Briar told his mother that when E.J. found out, she wasn’t happy.
Tracy Hoevel: He told me, she said to him, “if you go through with this, you’ll be sorry.”…
But that didn’t stop Shea. In November 2019, he filed a court document seeking to “establish paternity” … “and to provide custody, support, and parenting time.”
Tracy Hoevel: He wanted to provide for her … and he just really wanted to have some visitation …
He also wanted his daughter to have his last name — something E.J. had decided against.
Anne-Marie Green: Why was it important for Shea to be in his daughter’s life? …
Tracy Hoevel: Shea really did not know his dad. … He just did not wanna be his biological dad. … He wanted to have a good relationship with his kids and be a good role model.
But two months later, before the case made its way to court, Shea was murdered. And Tracy Hoevel and McLaughlin suspected E.J. may have had something to do with it.
Tiffany McLaughlin: ‘Cause there wasn’t anyone else.
But as it turns out, there would be other suspects.
Friend of E.J. Stephen Shares Concerns With Detectives
Less than 24 hours after Shea Briar died, Detective Ben Schwartz and his partner called E.J. Stephen, Shea’s ex-fiancée and the mother of his child, into the sheriff’s office.
Det. Ben Schwartz: We talked to her and told her about what happened to Shea.
DET. MITCH SUTTON: Unfortunately, this morning we were called out … because Shea had sustained some injuries. … They were life-threatening injuries, and he did not make it.
E.J. STEPHEN: OK.
Det. Ben Schwartz: She really didn’t have a whole lot to say.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you find her reaction curious?
Det. Ben Schwartz: Yeah. …I would’ve expected … a little bit of emotion out of her. Uh, but that didn’t happen. And I would’ve expected a lot more questions, but she really didn’t ask too many questions at all.
And Detective Schwartz says that wasn’t the only thing that stuck out.
Det. Ben Schwartz: She said that the last time she talked to Shea would’ve been the week prior.
But he knew she was lying. Shea’s phone records revealed she was the last person to call him at around midnight, within hours of him being found on that bridge.
Det. Ben Schwartz: That was a huge red flag. …
A red flag, but not proof she committed murder. Detectives chose not to confront her about the phone records that day.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ (to E.J. Stephen): I’ll give you my card. And uh … If there’s something you hear that you might think will spark our interest, give us a call.
There was still a lot of work to be done, a lot of questions to be answered. And the next day, a call from a woman would help investigators out.
Det. Ben Schwartz: She unloaded and told us a lot of interesting stuff.
Kristi Sibray has known E.J. Stephen for years. She used to umpire softball games that E.J. played in and took her kids to the day care that E.J. ran out of Fairview United Methodist Church in Portland, Indiana.
Anne-Marie Green: How would you describe her?
Kristi Sibray: Very quiet … great with kids … she’s very involved in the community activities …
Over the years, Sibray says she became a mentor of sorts to E.J.
Kristi Sibray: She always would just stop by here and there. … say hi, or just stop in if something was bothering her …
Sibray had never met Shea Briar, but she knew he was the father of E.J.’s daughter. And when she learned he was murdered, she started to panic.
Kristi Sibray: I just dropped everything, and I just started screaming. I was like, oh my God. Oh my God.… And then I contacted a friend that was still in the city police department. And I said, “I need to talk, pick me up now at work.”
Sibray, a former police officer, soon found herself inside a Jay County Sheriff’s Office interview room.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ (to Kristi Sibray):Start at the beginning and share with us uh what you want to get off your chest.
She began by telling Schwartz and his partner that she received a call from E.J. a few days prior to Shea’s death. She said E.J. asked her to babysit that weekend — something she had never asked her to do before.
Kristi Sibray: And I’m like, yeah. Not a problem. …So, all day Saturday I’m like, OK, what time am I getting her? I had not heard anything. … We were, like, getting down for the night. (laugh) About 10, 10:30, here she comes with the child. …
It was Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, just hours before Shea was found shot.
Kristi Sibray: She goes, OK, I’ll be back in a little bit. And I’m like, OK, what are you doing? And she goes, oh, we’re just — just going out. … She came in by herself.
Sibray says E.J. didn’t return until around 1 a.m.
Kristi Sibray: I had heard her open the back door. So, I got up and I met her there … And I said, “E.J., what were you doing?” She goes “nothing.” And she was real standoffish. … I said, come on E.J., what were you doing? … And she goes, I can’t tell you. But I’m sure you’ll hear about it in the paper in the next couple days. And she left. …
Anne-Marie Green: You must have been thinking about that all night.
Kristi Sibray: Yes.
But that was just the beginning of what Sibray told police. She said that in the months leading up to Shea’s murder, E.J. came over a lot and she wasn’t alone.
Kristi Sibray: Shelby was always in the car with E.J. …
E.J. Stephen, left and Shelby Hiestand
Jay County High School yearbook
Shelby is Shelby Hiestand. She was 18 years old. E.J. was 29 and used to be her high school softball coach. After Shelby graduated, she became E.J.’s assistant coach — at another nearby high school just over the border in Fort Recovery, Ohio. Shelby also worked at the day care with E.J.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you think it was odd … that here’s E.J. hanging out with Shelby?
Kristi Sibray: Mm-hmm.
Anne-Marie Green: There’s a good 10 years between the two.
Kristi Sibray: Mm-hmm. I think everybody thought it was odd.
Det. Ben Schwartz: From what I have been told, they were pretty well inseparable.
Detectives had heard Shelby’s name before. Shea’s family had mentioned her.
Tracy Hoevel: Shelby was always around in the picture. I think there was some major jealousy between Shelby and Shea. … You know, he never came out and said it, but he kind of insinuated things.
Anne-Marie Green: What did he insinuate?
Tracy Hoevel: He thought maybe there was something more going on.
Anne-Marie Green: More than a friendship?
Tracy Hoevel: Possibly. …
And Shea wasn’t the only one who suspected something.
Kristi Sibray: I just assumed that maybe they were a couple. …
E.J. and Shelby would later deny being anything more than friends. Sibray told investigators that the two began stopping by shortly after Shea filed that court document to establish paternity.
Kristi Sibray: Shelby pretty much stayed with the child and E.J. would sit with me at the kitchen table …
And she said E.J. wanted advice.
Kristi Sibray: She just asked me what do I do? ‘Cause I have been divorced … She didn’t want to share the baby. That was her baby. That was her child. … Some of the conversations at the table would be … how can we get rid of him so we don’t have to go to court? And I’m like, how do you get rid of him? You’re not going to get rid of him.
Sibray insists she didn’t think anything at the time.
Kristi Sibray: Anybody who goes through a breakup, don’t think they didn’t say, oh, I wish he was gone, or I wish he was dead. But do we act on it? And that’s why I’m thinking I’ve been divorced twice. I’ll tell you. I — I probably said it.
And Kristi says she had that same mindset when, over time, the conversations grew more detailed and various methods were discussed.
Kristi Sibray: I just really thought she was venting. I did not think this was for real.
But when Kristi heard Shea was murdered, she says she immediately viewed all those conversations in a different light.
Anne-Marie Green: At that point, do you think E.J. is involved in this somehow?
Kristi Sibray: Yes.
And she knew she had to go to police.
Kristi Sibray: I didn’t even think about it. … But as a police officer standpoint, I felt like I failed because how did I miss this? How did I miss these signs? … I could have prevented this. … And I didn’t, ’cause I didn’t think she could.
Anne-Marie Green: And this was your opportunity to do something.
Kristi Sibray: Yeah. Sorry. (crying)
Det. Ben Schwartz: It was just kind of unbelievable …
After Sibray was done talking, Schwartz says there was one thing on his mind.
Det. Ben Schwartz: We’ve gotta get E.J. back in here …
Anne-Marie Green: So, you say, come on in, E.J.
Det. Ben Schwartz: Yup. … We just want to know the truth and what happened to Shea.
A Turning Point in the Investigation
On Jan. 14, 2020, just two days after Shea Briar was murdered, E.J. Stephen was back inside the Jay County Sheriff’s Office. Detective Ben Schwartz and his partner first confronted her about those phone records, which revealed she called Shea shortly before he died — something she had previously been dishonest about.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Midnight, you called his phone. We’re just kind of wondering how that conversation went.
E.J. STEPHEN: I did not talk to him. I didn’t make that call. I butt-dialed him.
Det. Ben Schwartz: She said that she butt-dialed Shea …
Anne-Marie Green: Did you believe her?
Det. Ben Schwartz: No. … We kind of pressed her on that a little bit. And then finally, she said, OK, yeah, we talked, but it wasn’t for very long.
E.J. insisted she didn’t see Shea that night, but detectives didn’t believe her.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: You know a hell of a lot more than you’re telling us. And we will find out. …
And soon, they told her her friend, Shelby Hiestand, was also being questioned.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: This is not a game.
Det. Ben Schwartz: Her demeanor kind of changed a little bit. … It was a turning point.
In a cool and calm tone, E.J. cracked and began to tell detectives what happened that night. Starting with how she dropped her daughter off at Kristi Sibray’s. She told them Shelby was in the car waiting. From there, “48 Hours” retraced their steps based on E.J.’s account.
At her second interview with detectives, E.J. Stephen reveals what she says happened on the night of Jan. 11, 2020.
Jay County Sheriff’s Office
Anne-Marie Green (in car with Schwartz): How does she tell you the night unfolds? …
Det. Ben Schwartz: From there, they came to the church. … At the time, it was a day care also …
It was the day care where E.J. and Shelby worked. E.J. said they had to move furniture before church the next day and that another friend, 18-year-old Hannah Knapke, met them there. Hannah also sometimes worked at the day care, and E.J. used to coach her in softball, too.
Det. Ben Schwartz (outside of the day care): So, this is the day care …
Anne-Marie Green: What do they do here after they move that furniture?
Det. Ben Schwartz: After they move the furniture … they were planning on how to get rid of Shea, basically.
E.J. STEPHEN: … We were all kind of joking about it.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: OK.
E.J. STEPHEN: Like it wasn’t a full-blown serious conversation, you know?
She said earlier that day, she had picked Shelby’s rifle up from Shelby’s house. And that while in the day care parking lot, Shelby got the gun out and fired a round.
E.J. STEPHEN: We just wanted to see how loud it was.
According to E.J., after Shelby fired that shot, all three of them got into Hannah’s parents’ van with the rifle in the back.
From left, Shelby Hiestand, E.J. Stephen and Hannah Knapke.
Jay County High School yearbook/Instagram
Anne-Marie Green (in car with Schwartz): So where did they go from the day care?
Det. Ben Schwartz: From the day care, they … drove around … still discussing whether or not they should follow through with killing Shea. … And somewhere along the line … E.J. called Shea. …
E.J. STEPHEN: We asked him, “Do you want to come for a ride with us?” And he came.
After they picked Shea up, with Shelby driving, E.J. said they headed to that bridge.
Anne-Marie Green (at bridge): So about what time do they get out here?
Det. Ben Schwartz: I think it was right around one o’clock in the morning … They stopped the van right over here. … E.J. and Shea get out of the van.
E.J. STEPHEN (interview with detectives): And then the next thing I know —
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: What happened? E.J., we’re right there. We are right here.
E.J. STEPHEN: I know, oh my God.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Finish it.
E.J. STEPHEN: I’m trying to remember. …
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Who shot him? Did Shelby shoot him?
E.J. STEPHEN: Yes. …
Det. Ben Schwartz: There was no tears or any remorse that I saw.
Anne-Marie Green: She’s talking about the father of her child being shot in the back next to her.
Det. Ben Schwartz: Right. Yeah. It was shocking.
E.J. told detectives she didn’t know Shelby was going to shoot Shea despite conversations they had had earlier.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: … You or her?
E.J. STEPHEN: Like we talked about a hammer. Like we talked about beating him. …
E.J. STEPHEN: I mean, we talked about it, and then it was just like, “OK, let’s just do it.”
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Yeah.
E.J. STEPHEN: Jokingly, obviously. And then, the joke became way too real.
But detectives believe E.J. knew exactly what was going to happen that night. They believe she cold heartedly planned it, and that the cruelty continued after Shea was shot. Because when police located Shea, his cell phone was nowhere to be found.
DET. MITCH SUTTON: Where’s his cell phone at?
E.J. STEPHEN: I really have no idea.
DET. MITCH SUTTON: OK. …
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Is Shelby going to tell us the same thing, that she doesn’t know where the phone is? Because the phone is somewhere. Did she throw it in the river? Who threw it- who threw it in the river?
E.J. STEPHEN: I did.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: You did?
E.J. STEPHEN: Yeah.
E.J. said that after they began driving away from the bridge that night, they turned around.
Det. Ben Schwartz (at foot of bridge): They drive right past him … and they stop right there where my car’s sitting. And E.J. and — and Shelby get out …
E.J. STEPHEN: I was going to call 911, and I got scared, and then I threw his phone in the river. …
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: You were scared that he could call 911?
E.J. STEPHEN: Yeah.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: OK.
E.J. said she knew Shea was still alive.He would lay on that bridge — helpless — for about an hour before he was found, clinging to life.
E.J. Stephen was arrested and charged with murder. Down the hall, only after being confronted with what E.J. told police, Shelby Hiestand admitted pulling the trigger.
SHELBY HIESTAND: I wasn’t going to do anything. I really wasn’t. … Honestly, I feel like I just blacked out and it just happened …
Shelby was arrested and charged with murder. Later that day, detectives flew to Iowa, where Hannah Knapke had returned to college. She too eventually admitted involvement.
HANNAH KNAPKE: I didn’t want to be there at all. I don’t even know him. I know I couldn’t even tell you his first name …
Hannah told detectives she didn’t know what she was getting into when she met up with E.J. and Shelby that night, but that the conversation took a turn.
HANNAH KNAPKE (interrogation): They talked about shooting him. …
DET. MITCH SUTTON: At what point was the decision made to — to take your van?
HANNAH KNAPKE: Um, basically they didn’t want to take E.J.’s because it was too suspicious … I was scared to tell them no. I — I was just nervous.
Hannah was also later booked on a murder charge. The case soon hit the news.
NEWS REPORT: A third person has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old Jay County man.
And even though Shea’s family had suspected E.J.’s involvement, they were horrified to learn the details.
Shelby Hiestand, left, E.J. Stephen, center, and Hannah Knapke were all charged with murder.
Jay County Sheriff’s Office
Tiffany McLaughlin: To find out that there were two other people that were involved, it was like, what? …
Tracy Hoevel: It was shocking. I think it really did shock the community.
But despite those three taped interrogations, the case was far from over because E.J., Shelby, and Hannah would all plead not guilty. And it would be up to prosecutors to secure convictions — starting with E.J.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I felt like going into it, that it was OK. She — you know, she’s guilty. She’s gonna be found guilty. And then I’m like, wait a second. What’s happening here? … I was scared.
The Blame Game
In March 2021, E.J. Stephen was first to go on trial for Shea Briar’s murder. Wes Schemenaur and Zec Landers prosecuted the case.
Wes Schemenaur: It was intense. … It was standing room only most days. … We had lots of interested folks just wanting to come and … see what was going on.
Shea’s mom, Tracy Hoevel, traveled from Hawaii to attend.
Tracy Hoevel: That was my first time really ever being in a courthouse.
It was also her first time hearing and seeing much of the evidence, including that dashcam video.
Tracy Hoevel: It was horrible. It was just this long car ride. … I think I had bruises on my legs ’cause I just was squeezing my legs so bad. And then when he pulls up there to the bridge … I could hear him. …
Dashcam video shows officers responding to a 911 call about a man in the roadway. “We were able to remove his wallet out of his pocket. And then I see … the name on the ID, which was Shea Briar,” said Officer Aaron Stronczek. “The only thing I’m really … getting out of him as far as a response is just moans and groans.”
Jay County Sheriff’s Office
OFFICER AARON STRONCZEK (dashcam video at crime scene): Briar, what happened to you?
SHEA BRIAR: (Moans)
Sharon Taylor: I would love to have been there and hold his hand, you know, I wish. (crying)
Even though E.J. didn’t pull the trigger, prosecutors sought to convince a jury that she orchestrated Shea’s murder.
Wes Schemenaur: This was all for her benefit … I think she saw this as a way to eliminate a problem in her life.
In November 2019, Shea Briar filed a court document seeking to “establish paternity” … “and to provide custody, support, and parenting time” with the daughter he shared with E.J. Stephen.
Tiffany McLaughlin
They told the jury about that court petition Shea filed. And they argued it infuriated E.J. — so much so that she and her friend, Shelby Hiestand devised a plan to kill him. They pointed to E.J.’s own words. The jury heard her interrogation in full.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ: Why did Shelby shoot him?
E.J. STEPHEN: We talked about it, and it drove me mad. I was like, like things would just be easier if he was gone …
Wes Schemenaur: She didn’t want Shea involved in her life or in her daughter’s life
The prosecution’s star witness was Kristi Sibray. She testified about those visits she said E.J. and Shelby made to her house. One discussion, she said, was particularly alarming in hindsight.
Kristi Sibray: I go … you couldn’t shoot somebody. I think that’s what I said to E.J. And Shelby goes, oh, I could.
And Sibray testified about another conversation that she had also shared with police.
Kristi Sibray: They did talk about how they one time did put pills in his tea and tried to OD him … They crushed up ibuprofen, I believe … And he did drink the whole glass, but nothing happened to him.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you say to her, “what are you doing?”
Kristi Sibray: Yeah. I’m like, “are you serious?” … I didn’t even … believe her. … because I just could not see her doing that. …
Wes Schemenaur: They’ve discussed it … they’ve even maybe tried to kill him before … This wasn’t just a … thing that happened on a whim, without, you know, E.J.’s knowledge.
But the defense countered that prosecutors had it all wrong and put E.J. on the stand. She declined “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview, and her trial attorney has since died.
Anne-Marie Green: What did she tell the jury?
Wes Schemenaur: That she was essentially shocked and surprised that Shelby did this, that all of this talking and planning had been done as a joke …
As for those pills in Shea’s drink? E.J. testified that it was Shelby’s idea — and that she only went along with it because she thought it was an innocent chemistry experiment.
The defense placed all the blame on Shelby and alleged that unbeknownst to E.J., Shelby wanted the baby and E.J. all to herself, and that Shea was in the way. Shelby had told detectives how much she disliked him.
After initially denying involvement in Shea Briar’s murder, E.J. Stephen and Shelby Hiestand, pictured, both admitted they took Briar to that rural road and that Hiestand shot him in the back. Hiestand told detectives she blacked out then fired the gun at Briar.
Jay County Sheriff’s Office
SHELBY HIESTAND (to detectives): … I do not want her to be with him at all. … I was like that little girl would be just fine without him …
The defense claimed E.J. had no reason to want Shea dead and said that E.J. and Shea were talking about getting back together that night on the bridge. Prosecutors rejected that.
The defense claimed E.J. had no reason to want Shea dead and said that E.J. and Shea were talking about getting back together that night on the bridge. Prosecutors rejected that.
Wes Schemenaur: She’s the one who went and got the gun from Shelby’s house. … They took the gun with them to the church.They test fired the gun at the church. … To me, you can say … you thought it was a joke all you want … In my view of it, the minute you take that gun out and you fire it to see how loud it’s gonna be … that’s like, OK, now this is real, right?
But E.J. offered an explanation. She said Shelby would often go hunting, so she didn’t think anything of it when Shelby fired that round in the church parking lot. But what about what E.J. did after the murder?
Wes Schemenaur: E.J. retrieved this guy’s cell phone and threw it in the creek for the sole purpose of him not being able to call for help …
Remember, she admitted that to police.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ (interrogation): You were scared that he could call 911?
E.J. STEPHEN: Yeah. …
Wes Schemenaur: His only lifeline was that cell phone, possibly. Who knows whether he could have had the wherewithal to call for help at that point? And you left him there to die in the cold.
But on the stand, E.J. said she only threw Shea’s phone in a moment of frustration after being unable to unlock it to call 911. She told the jury her own phone was dead.
Zec Landers: It’s just nonsense. There were two other girls with her. …You’re not gonna convince me that their phones were dead. You’re not really gonna be able to convince me that Esther’s phone was dead either. And on top of that … they passed so many different places that were open, that they could have stopped in and called for help. …
As the defense wound down, E.J.’s attorney maintained E.J. had no idea Shelby planned to shoot Shea —and drew the jury’s attention to where E.J. told police she was standing at the time.
DET. BEN SCHWARTZ (interrogation): You were standing there face to face with him?
E.J. STEPHEN: (Nods yes)
The defense argued if E.J. knew Shelby was going to shoot Shea, why would she put herself in the line of fire? Shea’s family worried jurors would be swayed by E.J.’s testimony.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I thought we were going into this and it’s a no-brainer, I mean, she did it. She’s gonna be found guilty. And yeah, I mean, it was scary.
The trial spanned three days, and then the case went to the jury.
Wes Schemenaur: Nerve-wracking is an understatement … We were in the office … Monday morning quarterbacking ourselves, you know, like you always do …
One hour of deliberations passed; then two.
Wes Schemenaur: The longer the jury is out … the more of that second guessing comes into play.
Then, they received a call: a verdict was in.
Wes Schemenaur: The heart rate goes up … to about a million … The palms start sweating … you’re just on pins and needles …
Tiffany McLaughlin: We were all three holding hands and just holding our breath … to see what was gonna happen.
Seeking Justice for Shea Briar
Wes Schemenaur: As a prosecutor, you grow close to these people … You see just the unbelievable amount of suffering that they’re going through as a family, and you want to do your best for them … You want to get them justice for Shea …
After nearly two and a half hours of deliberations, Shea’s family finally heard the word they were waiting for: guilty.
Anne-Marie Green: What is that feeling like?
Tracy Hoevel: Like a big relief.
Sharon Taylor: That it — that much is over. …
E.J. Stephen was later sentenced to 55 years in prison, the recommended sentence for murder in Indiana. Shea’s pastor, Angela Smiley, was there when the sentence was handed down.
Pastor Angela Smiley: You would think that … you would see some kind of repentance. I didn’t see it — at all. Nothing. …
Three months after that, in August 2021, Shelby Hiestand went on trial. Shea’s mom, Tracy Hoevel, was in court again — sitting through all the evidence for a second time, including the dashcam video.
Tiffany McLaughlin: Tracy sat right there and watched it again.
Sharon Taylor: And didn’t cry. She said she didn’t want them to have the satisfaction that they had hurt her so badly.
Anne-Marie Green: You were really thinking that?
Tracy Hoevel: Yeah. … I was — no, they’re not gonna — I’m not gonna let my head hang. I’m … holding it up as high as I can — this is for Shea. … It was hard … but — (crying)
Anne-Marie Green: This is the boy you gave birth to.
Tracy Hoevel: Yeah. (crying) … It just makes me so mad. He didn’t do anything wrong. (crying)
At Shelby’s trial, the defense called no witnesses but argued Shea’s death was unintentional. Shelby, her parents, and her attorney chose not to speak with “48 Hours.”
Wes Schemenaur: Her defense was more of a — it was a mistake. It was an accident … that … her intent to kill wasn’t there. …
Anne-Marie Green: How did they go about trying to prove that?
Wes Schemenaur: Well, if — if you look at what she said in her interview … they tried to keep pointing to this … I blacked out … type of language.
SHELBY HIESTAND (interview with detectives): Honestly, I feel like I just blacked out and it just happened …
Wes Schemenaur: They tried to just essentially characterize what she said as … not — not technically admitting to murder, not technically admitting to shooting at Shea, but simply just pulling the trigger.
Anne-Marie Green: Is there any way that this could have been an accident? .
Zec Landers: No. … You don’t take out your gun and point it at anybody if you’re not intending to kill them.
And to prove this was no accident, prosecutors pointed to this text message that Shelby sent E.J. about a month before Shea’s murder. It reads, “… I’m killing that bastard with my own two hands.”
Wes Schemenaur: They’ve talked about this together for a long time. …
Zec Landers: And one of the things that was odd to me, if you look at that text message is E.J.’s name in Shelby’s phone is “Bay.”
Anne-Marie Green: “Bay” as in a term of endearment.
Zec Landers: Right. …
Anne-Marie Green: Why do you think Shelby was willing to do this? …
Wes Schemenaur: You know, it’s speculation. … She had a lot of animosity towards Shea as evidenced by what she said in her interview about him. …
SHELBY HIESTAND (interview with detectives): … I do not want her to be with him at all.
Wes Schemenaur: And she was very angry at Shea over his attempts to interfere with — or — or insert himself into the daughter’s life. And so, um, you know, I think that that sort of fed into that maybe power dynamic with E.J. …
Anne-Marie Green: What do you mean by that?
Wes Schemenaur: Well, there’s a huge age difference, you know, between E.J. and Shelby … I think it’s clear that Shelby looked up to E.J. and … wanted her approval … I think she had her own feelings. I think she had maybe some manipulation there as well.
At the end of her three-day trial, Shelby Hiestand was also convicted of murder. At her sentencing hearing, unlike E.J., she apologized to Shea’s family.
Sharon Taylor: Shelby was looking right at me, and she said she was sorry, and I believed her. I mean, didn’t change anything (laugh), but I believed her. … You know, she had the chance. She had the chance. …
Shelby Hiestand received the same sentence as E.J. Stephen: 55 years in prison. For Shea’s family, the thought of a third trial was too much to bear.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I didn’t wanna go to another trial.
Tracy Hoevel: — she didn’t — well, we I — don’t think my mom could have handled another one.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I don’t think any of us could have. I mean, it was awful.
They approached prosecutors and, ultimately, a plea deal was reached. Hannah Knapke and her attorneys also declined “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. In September 2021, she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a sentence that could see her released as early as July 2026. At her sentencing, she also apologized to Shea’s family.
Tiffany McLaughlin: I remember telling her in my impact statement that, you know, you weren’t the mastermind, you weren’t the shooter, but you were still involved in it. You were still involved in Shea’s murder.
Sharon Taylor: And I said, you could have made a difference. You could have said, no. You could have said, let’s get out of here.
Tiffany McLaughlin: But for not one person … but three people made the decision to murder him.
Anne-Marie Green: Right. Three opportunities for someone to do the right thing.
Tracy Hoevel: Say no. Yes.
Tiffany McLaughlin: Yeah.
Anne-Marie Green: And none of them took that opportunity.
Sharon Taylor: Very well put.
Tracy Hoevel: Yeah.
Sharon Taylor: Very well put.
“He was one of a kind. He was the best brother I could ever have,” Sydney Hoevel said of her brother.
Tiffany McLaughlin
Shea Briar’s grave sits next to the little white church that he loved. His gravestone says “daddy,” a role his sister says he was so looking forward to fulfill.
Sydney Hoevel: My brother wanted to be there for his baby … He loves her so, so much. (crying) … And he has the best view right now of her. … Even though he’s in Heaven, he is laughing. He’s probably giving her wind tickles and he’s keeping an eye out on her.
Shea Briar and E.J. Stephen’s daughter is in the custody of E.J.’s family.
Shea’s family gets to see her once a month.
Produced by Stephanie Slifer. Sara Ely Hulse is the development producer. Michael Loftus is the field producer. Elena DiFiore is the development producer. Marlon Disla, Phil Tangel and George Baluzy are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
It was in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2020, when 31-year-old Shea Briar was found clinging to life on a rural road in Jay County, Indiana.
Briar was unable to communicate, and first responders were initially unsure of what had happened to him, but when he arrived at the hospital, medical staff discovered a bullet wound in his back.
“There was no exit wound … It was actually in his heart,” Jay County Sheriff’s Detective Ben Schwartz told “48 Hours” correspondent Anne-Marie Green. “He … passed away.”
Green reports on the case in “Coached to Kill,” an all-new “48 Hours” airing Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
An investigation was launched, and police soon received a call from a woman named Kristi Sibray.
Shea Briar, left, and E.J. Stephen
Sibray was an acquaintance of Briar’s former fiancée, 29-year-old Esther Jane Stephen. Stephen, who went by the name E.J., was a local high school softball coach. She and Briar shared a young daughter together.
Sibray, a former police officer, told detectives that in the months leading up to Briar’s murder, Stephen came over often and that she was accompanied by her assistant coach, 19-year-old Shelby Hiestand.
Shelby Hiestand
Jay County High School yearbook
During those visits, Sibray said Stephen would confide in her about problems she was having with Briar. Stephen and Briar had recently broken off their engagement, and Briar had filed a court petition to establish parenting time for the daughter they shared.
“He wanted to provide for her … and he just really wanted to have some visitation,” Tracy Hoevel, Briar’s mother, told “48 Hours.”
But according to Sibray, Stephen wasn’t happy about it.
“She didn’t want to share the baby. That was her baby. That was her child,” Sibray told “48 Hours.”
Sibray told investigators that Stephen would discuss ways to get rid of Briar, but that she didn’t think anything of it at the time.
“I just really thought she was venting. I did not think that was for real,” Sibray told “48 Hours.”
And Sibray said she had that same mindset when, over time, the conversations grew more detailed — and various methods were discussed. At one point, Sibray said Stephen and Hiestand told her they put pills in Briar’s tea.
“They crushed up ibuprofen, I believe … And he did drink the whole glass, but nothing happened to him,” Sibray told “48 Hours.” “I’m like, ‘are you serious?’ … I didn’t even … believe her. … Because I just could not see her doing that.”
But when Sibray learned of Briar’s murder, she said she immediately viewed all those conversations in a different light.
“I felt like I failed because how did I miss this? How did I miss these signs?” Sibray said.
A day after speaking to Sibray, detectives brought Stephen and Hiestand in for questioning.
After initially denying involvement in Briar’s murder, they both admitted they took him to that rural road and that Hiestand shot him in the back.
Hiestand told detectives she blacked out then fired the gun at Briar.
E.J. Stephen, left, and Shelby Hiestand after their arrests for the murder of Shea Briar. Both women pleaded not guilty.
Jay County Sheriff’s Office
E.J. Stephen and Shelby Hiestand were arrested and charged with murder, but they would both later plead not guilty and when Stephen went on trial, she placed all the blame on Hiestand.
Stephen took the stand and insisted she had no reason to want Briar dead. And as for those pills in Briar’s drink, Stephen said that it was Hiestand’s idea and that she only went along with it because she thought it was an innocent chemistry experiment.
High school softball coach recruited ex-player in murder plot, prosecutors say – CBS News
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Prosecutors allege an Indiana high school softball coach enlisted a former player in a plot to murder her ex-fiancé in January 2020. Anne-Marie Green reports for “48 Hours.”
