The Mexican military killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, Mexico’s most wanted cartel boss, during an operation aided by U.S. intelligence information in Tapalpa, a town within the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Violence spread after Oseguera Cervantes’ Feb. 22 killing, with suspected gang members torching buses and businesses while clashing with the authorities in multiple Mexican cities, including Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco.
Images of Puerto Vallarta in flames have beenwidelyreported, but one photo shared online is not real.
A Feb. 22 TikTok post said it shows an image of Puerto Vallarta with scattered buildings on fire.
“This is not a scene from a movie, this is the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco in Mexico. Look at all these fires going around the city,” says the man in the TikTok video. “Well, what’s happening is they’re saying that they took down the leader of El Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, AKA El Mencho… and all his people are going around all the city and just burning cars, shooting random people, fighting against the police.”
InstagramandX users also shared the same image with English and Spanish captions claiming to show the unrest in Puerto Vallarta.
(Screenshot of the Instagram post.)
But that was generated with artificial intelligence.
The image shows the logo of Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot, at the bottom right corner.
PolitiFact uploaded the image to Gemini and it confirmed the image was generated using its generative AI program.
Visual inconsistencies signal the image is fake. Some of the cars on the streets are indistinguishable, while others look on top of each other. Some of the buildings look distorted and the smoke and the fire have unusual patterns. For example, the fire is bright orange and it sits on top of the buildings without consuming the structure, and the smoke seems to be going up in the same direction without being disrupted by the wind.
(Screenshot of AI-generated image highlighting with red circles visual inconsistencies. At the bottom right is the Google Gemini logo.)
This image doesn’t show Puerto Vallarta after the killing of Oseguera Cervantes. We rate this claim False.
MEXICO CITY — The imprisonment of a cartel member in the U.S. has dashed hopes in Mexico for justice in one of the country’s most notorious slayings — the death of acclaimed journalist Javier Valdez, who was gunned down in broad daylight two blocks from his newspaper office in the cartel-embattled city of Culiacán.
The brazen assassination in 2017 of Valdez — a tireless chronicler of cartel violence and politicians’ links to organized crime — sparked international condemnation. The slaying dramatized the perils faced by journalists in Mexico, where scores have been slain in recent years.
Valdez’s assassination remains the most notorious killing of a Mexican journalist in decades.
While two gunmen are serving prison terms in Mexico, authorities here have long sought the extradition from the United Stares of the alleged mastermind: Dámaso López Serrano, a former Sinaloa cartel capo and the son of a close associate of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the imprisoned co-founder of the Sinaloa syndicate.
Mexican authorities and fellow journalists say López Serrano likely ordered the hit because the journalist had mocked the young narco mercilessly in Ríodoce, the weekly co-founded by Valdez.
On May 8, 2017, Valdez wrote a scathing column dismissing López Serrano as a “junior” party-boy and fake “weekend” pistolero who moved around ostentatiously with 20 bodyguards, “excelled at chit-chat but not business,” and failed to fill the shoes of his father.
One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state. His body was left on the street amid shell casings; his signature Panama hat was streaked with blood.
López Serrano, a godson of El Chapo, fled inter-mob bloodletting a few months later and surrendered to U.S. authorities along the border in Calexico, California. He later pleaded guilty to trafficking tons of cocaine and other narcotics into the United States. He was never charged in U.S. courts with the murder of Valdez.
He is the son of Dámaso López Núñez, the El Chapo confidante known as El Licenciado, or The Lawyer. The son’s mob handle is Mini Lic. His father and El Chapo are both serving life terms in U.S. prisons.
López Serrano served only five years in U.S. custody on the trafficking conviction. According to media accounts and Mexican officials, he agreed to become a cooperating witness for U.S. prosecutors pursuing other traffickers.
López Serrano was released from federal custody after serving his term and allowed to remain in the United States. However, the FBI re-arrested him in 2024 in connection with a scheme to distribute fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Virginia sentenced López Serrano to five years in prison on the fentanyl rap, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
The new sentence dismayed those who hoped López Serrano would soon be brought back to Mexico to stand trial.
“It’s painful and outrageous to know that the person who ordered Javier’s murder will continue avoiding his deserved punishment in Mexico,” Griselda Tirana, the journalist’s widow, wrote on Facebook.
She has long been at the forefront of efforts to pressure Washington to hand over López Serrano.
But there is a serious hurdle: U.S. prosecutors have viewed López Serrano as too valuable a source on the Mexican underworld to ship him back south, according to Mexico’s former Atty. Gen. Alejandro Gertz Manero, who said he pressed the extradition demand with counterparts in Washington.
“They said he was a protected witness of the government of the United States and he was giving them a lot of information,” Gertz Manero told reporters in December 2024, after López Serrano was arrested in the fentanyl scheme. “And, because of that, they couldn’t help us.”
In May, journalists, human rights activists and others gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City on the anniversary of Valdez’s killing, demanding that López Serrano be sent to Mexico to face justice.
That same month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexican authorities would “insist” on the extradition of López Serrano.
The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the case.
Advocates say they plan to continue pressing the U.S. government, even though many lack optimism that Washington will ever relent.
“We are going to keep demanding — as we have since the assassination of Javier — that everyone, including the mastermind of this crime, be punished,” said Roxana Vivanco, news editor at Ríodoce, Valdez’s former publication. “We hope that, this time around, once he finishes his sentence in the United States he will be returned to Mexico to be judged for the killing of Javier.”
As casualties mount among Mexican media personnel — and their assailants go free — many in Mexico view the case as a litmus test. The central question: Will there ever come a time when justice will prevail — and impunity will recede — in cases of Mexican journalists targeted by organized crime, corrupt politicians and others?
To date, the Valdez investigation has followed a distressing pattern: Hired trigger-men are sent to prison, their arrests lauded by Mexican authorities, while the “intellectual authors,” or masterminds, remain free.
“If this, the most high-profile case isn’t solved, then we cannot hold our breaths for resolutions in less high-profile cases,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, Mexican representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press advocacy group.
“So this is a really, really important case,” Hootsen added. “We really need for this man to be extradited to Mexico eventually and stand trial.”
Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — The killing of a second U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis is deeply complicating efforts to avert another government shutdown in Washington as Democrats — and some Republicans — view the episode as a tipping point in the debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Senate Democrats pledged to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless changes are made to rein in the federal agency’s operations following the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse.
The Democratic defections threaten to derail passage of a broad spending package that also includes funding for the State Department and the Pentagon, as well as education, health, labor and transportation agencies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) released a statement Monday calling on Republican Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to avert another shutdown by separating funding for DHS from the full appropriations package.
“Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the January 30th deadline. The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans,” Schumer said.
The standoff also revealed fractures among GOP lawmakers, who called for a federal and state investigation into the shooting and congressional hearings for federal officials to explain their tactics — demands that have put unusual pressure on the Trump administration.
Senate Republicans must secure 60 votes to advance the spending measure in the chamber — a threshold they cannot reach on their own with their 53 seats. The job is further complicated by a time crunch: Lawmakers have until midnight Friday to reach a compromise or face a partial government shutdown.
Senate Democrats already expressed reservations about supporting the Homeland Security funding after Renee Good, a mother of three, was shot and killed this month by federal agents in Minneapolis. But Pretti’s killing led Democrats to be more forceful in their opposition.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday he would oppose funding for the agencies involved in the Minneapolis operations, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
“I’m not giving ICE or Border Patrol another dime given how these agencies are operating. Democrats are not going to fund that,” he said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think anyone who votes to give them more money to do this will share in the responsibility and see more Americans die in our cities as a result.”
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement last week that he would not “give more money to CBP and ICE to continue terrorizing our communities and breaking the law.” He reiterated his stance hours after Pretti’s killing.
“I will vote against any additional funding for Trump’s ICE and CBP while they act with such reckless disregard for life, safety and the Constitution,” Padilla wrote on social media.
While Senate Republicans largely intend to support the funding measure, some are publicly raising concerns about the Trump administration’s training requirements for ICE agents and calling for congressional oversight hearings.
“A comprehensive, independent investigation of the shooting must be conducted in order to rebuild trust and Congressional committees need to hold hearings and do their oversight work,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wrote on social media. “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.”
Similar demands are being made by House Republicans.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, formally sought testimony from leaders at ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying his “top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”
Homeland Security has not yet provided a public confirmation that it will attend the hearing, though Garbarino told reporters Saturday he has been “in touch with the department” and anticipates a full investigation.
Many Republican lawmakers expressed concern over federal officials saying Pretti’s killing was in part because of him having a loaded firearm. Pretti had a permit to carry, according to the Minneapolis police chief, and videos show him holding a cellphone, not brandishing a gun, before officers pushed him to the ground.
“Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement of government,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on social media.
Following pushback from the GOP, President Trump appears to be seeking ways to tone down the tensions. The president said Monday he had a “very good call” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat he clashed with in recent weeks, and that they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength” on next steps.
If Democrats are successful in striking down the Homeland Security spending package, some hinted at comprehensive immigration reforms to follow.
California Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) detailed the plan on social media over the weekend, calling on Congress to repeal the $75 billion in supplemental funding for ICE in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. The allocation roughly tripled the budget for immigration enforcement.
The shooting came as a slate of progressives renewed demands to “abolish ICE” and replace it with an agency that has congressional oversight.
Congress must “tear down and replace ICE with an agency that has oversight,” Khanna said. “We owe that to nurse Pretti and the hundreds of thousands on the streets risking their lives to stand up for our freedoms.”
Democrats also are focusing on removing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. This month Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) introduced a measure to impeach Noem, saying she brought a “reign of terror to Minneapolis.” At least 120 House Democrats supported the measure, according to Kelly’s office.
Party leaders recently called for an end to controversial “Kavanaugh stops,” which became central to ICE procedure following a September decision in Noem vs. Vasquez Perdomo by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It allows for agents to stop people based on perceived race or for engaging in activities “associated with undocumented people,” like speaking a foreign language.
Progressives also have endorsed the reversal of qualified immunity protections, which shield agents from misconduct lawsuits.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) backed the agenda and called for ICE and Border Patrol agents to “leave Minnesota immediately.”
“Voting NO on the DHS funding bill is the bare minimum. Backing Kristi Noem’s impeachment is the bare minimum. Holding law-breaking ICE agents legally accountable is the bare minimum. ICE is beyond reform. Abolish it,” she wrote Sunday on social media.
Gov. Josh Stein speaks while giving an update on N.C. Strong in Raleigh on Jan. 15.
Ethan Hyman
ehyman@newsobserver.com
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Saturday decried the killing by federal agents of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the VA in Minneapolis. Stein called his death “a travesty.”
“The videos coming out of Minnesota are awful, heartbreaking, and infuriating,” Stein said on social media site X.
Video showed agents “wrestling (Pretti) to the ground and shooting him multiple times” during a confrontation with protesters Saturday morning, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
The fatal shooting was the second by federal agents this month who arrived in large numbers in Minneapolis; Border Patrol agents descended on Charlotte in November in addition to large operations in Chicago and other cities as part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement plans.
Pretti “was exercising his first and second amendment constitutional rights,” Stein said. “ … He should still be alive right now. There must be a transparent investigation and accountability. This senseless violence must stop.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 7:26 PM.
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
Gov. Josh Stein speaks while giving an update on N.C. Strong in Raleigh on Jan. 15.
Ethan Hyman
ehyman@newsobserver.com
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Saturday decried the killing by federal agents of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the VA in Minneapolis. Stein called his death “a travesty.”
“The videos coming out of Minnesota are awful, heartbreaking, and infuriating,” Stein said on social media site X.
Video showed agents “wrestling (Pretti) to the ground and shooting him multiple times” during a confrontation with protesters Saturday morning, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
The fatal shooting was the second by federal agents this month who arrived in large numbers in Minneapolis; Border Patrol agents descended on Charlotte in November in addition to large operations in Chicago and other cities as part of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement plans.
Pretti “was exercising his first and second amendment constitutional rights,” Stein said. “ … He should still be alive right now. There must be a transparent investigation and accountability. This senseless violence must stop.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 7:26 PM.
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.Michael David McKee, 39, appeared remotely on camera from jail for his arraignment in Franklin County, where he faced four aggravated murder counts and one count of aggravated burglary while using a firearm suppressor in connection with the Dec. 30 double homicide of Monique Tepe, 39, and Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37. He was garbed in prison attire and did not speak during the brief hearing. Defense attorney Diane Menashe waived a request for bond, at least for now.The mystery that first surrounded the case — which featured no forced entry, no weapon and no obvious signs of theft, additional violence or a motive — drew national attention. McKee, of Chicago, was arrested 11 days later near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. He was returned to Ohio on Tuesday to face the charges against him.Who is Michael David McKee?McKee attended Catholic high school in Zanesville, a historic Ohio city about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of the capital, according to the Diocese of Columbus. He enrolled at Ohio State University in September 2005 — the same semester that his future wife, then Monique Sabaturski, enrolled, university records show. Both graduated with bachelor’s degrees in June 2009. Sabaturski earned a master of education degree from Ohio State in 2011, and McKee earned his medical degree there in 2014.Sabaturski and McKee married in Columbus in August 2015 but were living apart by the time Monique filed to end in the marriage in May 2017, court records show. Their divorce was granted that June. McKee was living in Virginia at the time, court and address records show. He completed a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in October 2022, according to the school.McKee also lived in and was licensed to practice medicine in both California and in Nevada, where he was among doctors named in a personal injury lawsuit in a Las Vegas court in 2023. OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, where McKee was working at the time of his arrest, declined to provide specific information on the dates of his employment. His Illinois medical license became active in October 2024.What is McKee accused of?An Ohio grand jury indicted McKee in the double homicide last week.McKee is accused of illegally entering the Tepes’ home with a firearm equipped with a silencer, shooting the Tepes — whose bodies were found in a second-floor bedroom — and leaving the property along a dark alley alongside the house.Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has said that McKee was the person seen walking down that alley in video footage captured the night of the killings. She also said a gun found in his Chicago apartment was a ballistic match to evidence at the scene and that his vehicle’s movements were tracked from Columbus back to Illinois.A message seeking comment was left with McKee’s attorney.McKee is charged with two aggravated murder counts for each homicide, one for prior calculation and design and one for committing the crime, as well as facing the aggravated burglary count. If convicted, he faces a minimum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years and a maximum term of life in prison without parole.How were the killings discovered?Columbus police conducted a wellness check on Spencer Tepe at around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, after his manager at a dental practice in Athens, Ohio, reported that he had not shown up to work on that day, saying tardiness was very worrying and “out of character” for Tepe, according to a 911 call.Someone else called to request a wellness check before a distraught man who described himself as a friend of Spencer Tepe called police and said, “Oh, there’s a body. There’s a body. Oh my God.” He said he could see Spencer Tepe’s body was off the side of a bed in a pool of blood.The Franklin County Coroner’s Office deemed the killings an “apparent homicide by gunshot wounds.”Who were the Tepes?Family members said the Tepes were “extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others.”They have described Monique as a “joyful mother,” avid baker and “thoughtful planner.” According to their obituaries, which were issued jointly, the pair were married in 2020.Spencer Tepe got his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in 2012 and earned his doctor of dental surgery degree in 2017, according to school records. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.They had two young children. Both were home at the time of the killings and left unharmed, as was the family dog.
COLUMBUS, Ohio —
An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom on Friday.
Michael David McKee, 39, appeared remotely on camera from jail for his arraignment in Franklin County, where he faced four aggravated murder counts and one count of aggravated burglary while using a firearm suppressor in connection with the Dec. 30 double homicide of Monique Tepe, 39, and Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37. He was garbed in prison attire and did not speak during the brief hearing. Defense attorney Diane Menashe waived a request for bond, at least for now.
The mystery that first surrounded the case — which featured no forced entry, no weapon and no obvious signs of theft, additional violence or a motive — drew national attention. McKee, of Chicago, was arrested 11 days later near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. He was returned to Ohio on Tuesday to face the charges against him.
Who is Michael David McKee?
McKee attended Catholic high school in Zanesville, a historic Ohio city about 55 miles (89 kilometers) east of the capital, according to the Diocese of Columbus. He enrolled at Ohio State University in September 2005 — the same semester that his future wife, then Monique Sabaturski, enrolled, university records show. Both graduated with bachelor’s degrees in June 2009. Sabaturski earned a master of education degree from Ohio State in 2011, and McKee earned his medical degree there in 2014.
Sabaturski and McKee married in Columbus in August 2015 but were living apart by the time Monique filed to end in the marriage in May 2017, court records show. Their divorce was granted that June. McKee was living in Virginia at the time, court and address records show. He completed a two-year fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in October 2022, according to the school.
McKee also lived in and was licensed to practice medicine in both California and in Nevada, where he was among doctors named in a personal injury lawsuit in a Las Vegas court in 2023. OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, where McKee was working at the time of his arrest, declined to provide specific information on the dates of his employment. His Illinois medical license became active in October 2024.
What is McKee accused of?
An Ohio grand jury indicted McKee in the double homicide last week.
McKee is accused of illegally entering the Tepes’ home with a firearm equipped with a silencer, shooting the Tepes — whose bodies were found in a second-floor bedroom — and leaving the property along a dark alley alongside the house.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has said that McKee was the person seen walking down that alley in video footage captured the night of the killings. She also said a gun found in his Chicago apartment was a ballistic match to evidence at the scene and that his vehicle’s movements were tracked from Columbus back to Illinois.
A message seeking comment was left with McKee’s attorney.
McKee is charged with two aggravated murder counts for each homicide, one for prior calculation and design and one for committing the crime, as well as facing the aggravated burglary count. If convicted, he faces a minimum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years and a maximum term of life in prison without parole.
How were the killings discovered?
Columbus police conducted a wellness check on Spencer Tepe at around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, after his manager at a dental practice in Athens, Ohio, reported that he had not shown up to work on that day, saying tardiness was very worrying and “out of character” for Tepe, according to a 911 call.
Someone else called to request a wellness check before a distraught man who described himself as a friend of Spencer Tepe called police and said, “Oh, there’s a body. There’s a body. Oh my God.” He said he could see Spencer Tepe’s body was off the side of a bed in a pool of blood.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office deemed the killings an “apparent homicide by gunshot wounds.”
Who were the Tepes?
Family members said the Tepes were “extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others.”
They have described Monique as a “joyful mother,” avid baker and “thoughtful planner.” According to their obituaries, which were issued jointly, the pair were married in 2020.
Spencer Tepe got his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in 2012 and earned his doctor of dental surgery degree in 2017, according to school records. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.
They had two young children. Both were home at the time of the killings and left unharmed, as was the family dog.
A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.Video above: Minneapolis officials give update late Wednesday nightSmoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave.Video below: Aerial footage of the sceneMinneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.Shooting followed chaseIn a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.Clashes in court as wellEarlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.Video below: Legal and political turmoil after the deadly ICE shooting in MinneapolisJustice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.During a televised speech before Wednesday’s shooting, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.”“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”Military lawyers may join the surgeCNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the military branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there’s concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.An official says the agent who killed Good was injuredJonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.The firm said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.___Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, California; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; Ed White in Detroit; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma contributed.
A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Video above: Minneapolis officials give update late Wednesday night
Smoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”
Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.
Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave.
Video below: Aerial footage of the scene
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.
Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.
Shooting followed chase
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
Clashes in court as well
Earlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.
“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.
Video below: Legal and political turmoil after the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis
Justice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.
The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.
During a televised speech before Wednesday’s shooting, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Military lawyers may join the surge
CNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the military branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.
Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.
It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.
Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there’s concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.
“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.
An official says the agent who killed Good was injured
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.
She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.
Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.
Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.
The firm said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.
___
Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, California; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; Ed White in Detroit; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma contributed.
A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.Video above: Minneapolis officials give update late Wednesday nightSmoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave.Video below: Aerial footage of the sceneMinneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.Shooting followed chaseIn a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.Clashes in court as wellEarlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.Video below: Legal and political turmoil after the deadly ICE shooting in MinneapolisJustice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.During a televised speech before Wednesday’s shooting, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.”“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”Military lawyers may join the surgeCNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the military branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there’s concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.An official says the agent who killed Good was injuredJonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.The firm said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.___Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, California; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; Ed White in Detroit; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma contributed.
A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Video above: Minneapolis officials give update late Wednesday night
Smoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”
Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.
Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave.
Video below: Aerial footage of the scene
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.
Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.
Shooting followed chase
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
Clashes in court as well
Earlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.
“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.
Video below: Legal and political turmoil after the deadly ICE shooting in Minneapolis
Justice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.
The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.
During a televised speech before Wednesday’s shooting, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Military lawyers may join the surge
CNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the military branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.
Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.
It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.
Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there’s concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.
“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.
An official says the agent who killed Good was injured
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.
She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.
Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.
Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.
The firm said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.
___
Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, California; Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C.; Ed White in Detroit; Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma contributed.
A Chicago man was arrested Saturday in connection with the killing of a couple in their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, according to authorities.
Michael D. McKee, 39, was taken into custody “without incident” in Rockford, Columbus police said Saturday. He has been charged with the murder of his ex-wife, 39-year-old Monique Tepe, and her husband, 37-year-old dentist Spencer Tepe.
A criminal complaint lists McKee’s home address as 2100 N. Lincoln Park West in Chicago. McKee was booked Saturday into the Winnebago County Jail and has an extradition hearing Monday afternoon, according to the Winnebago County sheriff’s office. A search of public records shows he is a surgeon and has worked at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford.
The couple’s killing made national headlines. Earlier this week, Columbus police released security footage of a person of interest in the case. In a criminal complaint filed in Ohio, police detailed using the footage to track the suspect to a vehicle near the scene of the crime — a car that was then connected to McKee and found in Rockford on Saturday.
The morning of Dec. 30, Columbus police patrol officers were dispatched to the city’s Weinland Park neighborhood for a well-being check. There, police found the couple, who had suffered from gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Their two children were also found in their home but were unharmed.
According to The Associated Press, dispatchers first received calls of concern, including from Spencer Tepe’s boss, when he didn’t show up for work, which the boss said was “out of character.”
The AP reported that McKee and Monique Tepe had married in 2015 and filed for divorce two years later, per records from the Franklin County clerk of courts in Ohio.
According to their obituary, Monique and Spencer Tepe married in December 2020, after meeting online. They “quickly grew their relationship into a solid foundation of love and respect with a side of goofiness.”
Spencer Tepe was passionate about dentistry, friends and family say, had a competitive spirit in soccer and golf, and enjoyed learning Spanish. Monique Tepe loved soccer, running, horses and books. She was a stay-at-home mother “known for her bright smile, infectious laugh, caring heart, and bubbly personality.”
Monique Tepe was born in Chicago but moved with her parents to Worthington, Ohio, when she was 1 year old, according to the obituary.
“They had two precious children together who were loved dearly,” the obituary reads. “Spencer and Monique were the life of the party, holding many family and friend gatherings. They were generous with kind hearts.”
In the years before Rob and Michele Reiner were killed, Los Angeles police made at least two visits to their home in Brentwood.
On Feb. 25, 2019, officers conducted a welfare check after someone called 911 at 9:51 p.m. According to LAPD records reviewed by The Times, officers arrived at the address at 10:12 p.m., completed the call and reported the incident to an unidentified supervisor.
Then on Sept. 27, 2019, police responded at 4:24 p.m. to a mental health–related call for service involving an unidentified man. Officers later informed a supervisor that they found “no indication of mental illness,” according to department records.
The calls were fairly innocuous and typically would not raise eyebrows.
But authorities now allege the couple’s son, who lived in the guesthouse on their property, fatally stabbed them in their master bedroom last month.
The mental state of Nick Reiner, who struggled for years with substance abuse and had been prescribed a schizophrenia drug, has now taken center stage in his legal battle.
Prosecutors have not detailed their case, and Reiner’s legal team has not provided his own story. It is still possible his defense could present compelling evidence that Nick Reiner did not commit the killings. But if the case is strong, the trial could revolve around Reiner’s mental state and the length of sentence.
Prosecutors charged Nick Reiner, 32, with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for the killings in the early hours of Dec. 14. Authorities have not offered a possible motive in the case.
Reiner is back in court Wednesday and is no longer considered to be a suicide risk. He has not yet entered a plea.
Legal experts say Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, is likely now working to evaluate his client’s history of mental health and state of mind at the time of the crime. Those findings could be the basis for discussions of a plea deal or the beginning of an insanity defense, attorneys say.
There are also other defenses that Jackson could pursue based on his mental history and possible changes in his medication and other factors that might not have been made public yet, including what might have triggered the killings, said Laurie Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor.
“There’s a lot still to be done to work this case up,” Levenson said. “He can either try to go for a not guilty by reason of insanity, or he might have testimony that he wasn’t able to form the mental state for the crime because of his medication and his prior mental background.”
If his defense can prove that Reiner couldn’t form the “intent to kill because of what’s happening with his medication or with his disease” then it could be a way to get a lesser charge such as second-degree murder, Levenson said. With first-degree murder charges, prosecutors must show that the accused acted with premeditation or malice.
“It is just way too early to say that this is an all or nothing case — that he’s going to be found guilty of murder one or found not guilty. There are likely to be other options,” Levenson said.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Reiner is facing possible life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not made a decision about whether they will seek capital punishment in the case.
If Reiner is found not guilty by reason of insanity then he would likely be committed to a mental health facility. And he might at some point be able to show that his condition has improved and have outpatient status or be released, Levenson said.
Saul Faerstein, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at UCLA, said doctors will likely try to piece together the days leading up to the killings to determine what kind of mental state Reiner was in at the time.
“We’d want to know what was happening on Friday or Saturday. Was he beginning to decompensate? Was he acting out of character? Was he doing and saying things that surprised people or frightened people? Was he saying things that made no sense?” Faerstein said.
Reiner’s ability to check into a hotel and travel across Los Angeles where he was seen at a gas station and ultimately arrested isn’t necessarily a sign that he was of sound mind, Faerstein said.
“Those things don’t require a lot of cognitive function, and they can be done even in a delusional state,” he said.
There have been a few examples of cases in California in which charges have been reduced because of mental health factors.
In 2023, Bryn Spejcher was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing Chad O’Melia, a man she’d been dating, with kitchen knives inside his home in Thousand Oaks. They had been smoking marijuana out of O’Melia’s bong, which caused Spejcher to suffer from cannabis-induced psychosis.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office had originally filed a murder charge against her, but reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter after the prosecution’s experts agreed that she was in a psychotic state brought on by the marijuana intoxication. Prosecutors could not prove malice in the case.
Spejcher was sentenced to probation and community service. She’s in the process of appealing her conviction, court records show.
Michael Goldstein, a Los Angeles defense attorney who represented Spejcher, said that if Reiner attorneys can document a history of mental health issues, it could help his chances.
“Based on facts that have been revealed publicly, [not guilty by reason of insanity] appears to be a viable defense,” Goldstein said. “If successful, that would result in long-term hospitalization. It is still early in the process and Mr. Jackson made it clear there are significant issues being explored. Time will tell.”
In a case in 2010, Jennifer Lynn Bigham was found not guilty of murder and child abuse by reason of insanity after authorities said she drowned her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub at a relative’s home in the Central Valley.
Doctors had determined Bigham was suffering from severe mental illness at the time of her daughter’s death. After roughly three years of treatment in 2013, a judge ordered her to be released from custody because doctors said she was no longer insane.
It’s possible, Levenson said, that the defense will be able to present compelling evidence of mental disorder to prosecutors to resolve the case before trial. It’s also possible the case will go to trial and he could be found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed as opposed to serving jail time.
Even if he’s committed, one day any disorders he’s diagnosed with could be treated and he could be released, Levenson said.
Though insanity defenses in many cases are not successful, based on the facts known at the time, this case could be an exception, experts say.
“It’s a pretty classic of a situation where you have what looks like a really horrific, maybe premeditated murder, and then you start learning more about his background, that it doesn’t look like he’s making this up, that there seems to be some medical history of this, the change in medication, and all of a sudden you say, ‘Wow, this might be that rare case where mental defense, or an insanity defense, will succeed,” Levenson said.
MEXICO CITY — A breakthrough in the decades-long investigation of a political assassination that convulsed the nation?
Or a political stunt meant to distract from more pressing issues?
Those are the questions that emerged in Mexico after the arrest last weekend of an alleged “second shooter” in the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was gunned down at a rally in the border city of Tijuana.
His slaying is widely regarded as one of the most consequential — and contentious— events of recent Mexican history.
Doubts and conspiracy theories have long swirled over Colosio’s killing, long blamed on a “lone gunman” who was captured at the scene. Many have compared the lingering uncertainty about Colosio’s demise to the never-ending debate in the United States surrounding the 1963 killing of President John F. Kennedy, an assassination also blamed on a lone gunman with ill-defined motives.
Many in Mexico have disputed the prevalent theory: That an apparently nonpolitical factory worker, Mario Aburto, shot the candidate twice at point-blank range as Colosio mingled with citizens during the campaign event.
“I looked up and saw the gun right in front of me,” Maria Vidal, who was walking with Colosio at the scene, told the Times in 1994. “Then I saw him fall to the ground. Blood was coming out of his head.”
Colosio was shot once in the head and once in the abdomen, feeding speculation that a second gunman was involved.
People place flowers on March 23, 2004, in tribute to Luis Donaldo Colosio during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of his assasination in Tijuana.
(David Maung / Associated Press)
Aburto, who says he was tortured into confessing, continues to serve a 45-year prison sentence.
The Colosio case generated tens of thousands of pages of testimony from hundreds of witnesses, along with books, documentaries, and a TV miniseries on Netflix, all examining the question: What actually happened in Tijuana on March 23, 1994?
Speculation has fingered everyone from political insiders to drug traffickers as the ones behind Colosio’s assassination, which contributed to a sense of upheaval in Mexico. The year 1994 opened with a Zapatista rebellion in the south, soon followed by Colosio’s stunning murder, and culminated with a December collapse of the peso, triggering an economic crisis.
More than a quarter-century after the killing, Mexican writer Cuauhtémoc Ruiz captured the ubiquitous sense of ambiguity in his 2020 book, “Colosio: Sospechosos y Encubridores” — roughly, “Colosio: Suspects and Cover-ups,”
The Colosio case even spawned its own version of the Zapruder film, the storied home-movie sequence of JFK’s assassination in Dallas. Video clips from the fateful 1994 rally show Colosio, his curly black hair flecked with confetti, shaking hands and signing autographs as he winds his way through a gleeful political crowd.
Suddenly, the image of a hand grasping a pistol emerges from the scrum. The gun fires directly into the right side of the candidate’s head. Chaos ensues.
On Saturday ,according to reports here, federal prosecutors in Tijuana arrested a former intelligence agent, Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega, who had been wanted since last year in connection with Colosio’s killing.
Sánchez Ortega, authorities say, was part of federal protection team assigned to Colosio’s rally in Tijuana’s Lomas Taurinas neighborhood, near the city airport. The agent was arrested shortly after the killing, but prosecutors now say he was freed and whisked away as part of a cover-up. The agent’s clothing was stained with the victim’s blood, and ballistic evidence indicated he had fired a weapon, authorities say.
His new arrest stems from a bombshell about-face last year by the office of Mexico’s attorney general, which abruptly retreated from the lone-gunman allegation. Instead, prosecutors endorsed the hypothesis of a second shooter and named as a suspect “Jorge Antonio S.,” now identified as Sánchez Ortega.
But the former agent’s arrest has left more questions than answers. Prosecutors have provided no overarching theory on why Colosio was targeted, and who was behind his slaying.
Neither the ex-agent or his lawyer have commented since his arrest.
Jesús González Schmal, attorney for Aburto, the convicted assassin, hailed the arrest as a step toward clarifying what really happened to Colosio.
“This will open a horizon of knowledge about what occurred 31 years ago,” the lawyer said in a television interview.
But some labeled the arrest a thinly disguised attempt to distract people from more pressing current issues of crime and corruption.
The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum is using the memory of Colosio “to cover up its ineptitude,” Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas, president of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, declared on X. The president, he said, “has no shame and no idea of how to govern.”
At the time of his slaying, Colosio was the presidential candidate of the PRI, which governed Mexico in authoritarian fashion for most of the 20th century. He was on track to be elected Mexico’s next president a few months later.
Colosio, 44, was seen widely viewed as a charismatic and progressive voice inside the rigid hierarchy of the PRI. He vowed to institute reforms and clean up deeply entrenched corruption and cronyism. Some have speculated that hard-liners within the ruling party were behind his killing — a theory long rejected by the PRI leadership.
After Colosio’s slaying, the PRI named Ernesto Zedillo, who had been Colosio’s campaign manager, as its candidate. Zedillo, a party loyalist and lackluster technocrat, won in a landslide and served a six-year term.
But, these days, the PRI is a weakened minority player in opposition to the government of Sheinbaum, elected under the banner of the now-dominant Morena party.
The arrest of an alleged accomplice in the Colosio killing comes days after another high-profile political assassination, this time of Mayor Carlos Manzo of the western city of Uruapan. He was gunned down at a Day of the Dead festival this month in what some call Mexico’s most sensational political assassination since Colosio’s slaying.
The killing of Manzo — who assailed Sheinbaum’s government for not doing more to combat cartels — sparked massive protests in his home state of Michoacán, a cartel battleground. Many criticized Sheinbaum’s government for what they called its lax attitude toward organized crime, an allegation denied by the president.
A generation after his assassination, Colosio’s slaying remains an epochal event that continues to cast a shadow over Mexican politics.
Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.
MEXICO CITY — Carlos Manzo blazed a maverick path as he battled both cartels and what he called skimpy federal support for his crusade against organized crime in his hometown of Uruapan, in western Mexico.
The “man with a hat,” after his signature white sombrero, was an annoyance to the power structure in Mexico City, but beloved among many constituents for his uncompromising stance against the ruthless mobs that hold sway in much of the country.
“They can kill me, they can abduct me, they can intimidate or threaten me,” the outspoken Manzo declared on social media in June. “But the people who are sick of extortion, of homicides, of car thefts — they will demand justice.”
He added, “There is an enraged tiger out there — the people of Uruapan.”
That rage was on dramatic display last week, as tens of thousands marched through the streets of Uruapan and elsewhere in violence-plagued Michoacán state to denounce the slaying of Manzo, 40. He was gunned down Nov. 1 amid a crowd of revelers, including his family, at a Day of the Dead celebration, in a killing that reverberated nationwide and beyond.
The assassinations of other public figures in recent years have also triggered outrage and dismay in the country, but Manzo’s death has unleashed something else: A divisive aftermath that has seen many questioning Mexico’s very ability to confront the rampaging cartels in places like Michoacán, where organized crime has a forceful grip on government, the economy and people’s daily lives.
“This structural control of organized crime is deeply worrying for the entire country,” said Erubiel Tirado, a security expert at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. “It speaks of a crisis of legitimacy in terms of the government’s ability to function.”
Legislators from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) placed hats painted like blood on their seats in condemnation of the murder of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo during a session in the Chamber of Deputies on Nov. 4, 2025, in Mexico City.
(Luis Barron / Sipa USA via Associated Press )
Mexico, wrote columnist Mariana Campos in El Universal newspaper, “is fractured into zones where criminals set the rules, administer justice, charge taxes and decide who can be the mayor, who can be a businessman.”
Less than two weeks before Manzo’s killing, police in Michoacán found the battered body of Bernardo Bravo, a renowned leader of regional lime growers who had pushed back against cartel extortion demands. Bravo was shot in the head and his corpse showed signs of torture, authorities said.
For months, the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum has rolled out statistics showing nationwide reductions in homicides and other offenses, along with the arrests of hundreds of organized crime figures — among them dozens expelled to face justice in the United States.
Yet polls consistently show many Mexicans remain unconvinced. The death of Manzo — who cut a national reputation by insisting that officials coddled criminals — only heightened a pervasive sense of vulnerability, especially in places like Michoacán.
The picturesque region of verdant hillsides, pine-studded mountains and wild Pacific coastline has long been a hub of cartel violence. In 2006, then-President Felipe Calderón chose Michoacán as the place to declare Mexico’s ill-fated “War on Drugs.”
That came a few months after an especially macabre incident in Uruapan: Cartel gunmen tossed five severed heads onto a nightclub dance floor.
During the War on Drugs, the military was deployed to combat cartels, but the strategy backfired, significantly escalating violence nationwide and raising concerns about the militarization of the country and the trampling of human rights.
Relatives pull the coffin of Mexican journalist Mauricio Cruz Solis during his wake in Uruapan, Michoacan state, on Oct. 30, 2024. Cruz was shot dead Oct. 29 in western Mexico, a local prosecutor’s office said, in a part of the country hit hard by organized crime.
(Enrique Castro / AFP via Getty Images)
According to many in Uruapan and across the country, things have only gotten worse since then.
“Broadcast it to the entire world: In Mexico the narco-traffickers govern,” said Arturo Martínez, 61, who runs a handicraft shop in Uruapan, a city of more than 300,000 at the heart of Mexico’s multibillion-dollar avocado industry. “What can any average person expect if they kill the mayor in front of his family, in front of thousands of people? We are completely at the mercy of the criminals.”
It is a frequently voiced viewpoint that meshes with President Trump’s comments that cartels exercise “total control” in Mexico — a charge denied by Sheinbaum, though others say the breakdown in Michoacán exemplifies a broader lack of control.
Uruapan “has become a mirror of the country, a microcosm where the ability to govern goes off the tracks, [and] fear substitutes for the state,” Denise Dresser, a political analyst, told Aristegui Noticias news outlet.
Manzo, an independent, broke with Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party more than a year ago and charged that the central government had ignored his pleas for additional police firepower and security funding to confront organized crime.
Following the mayor’s slaying, Sheinbaum ruled out a return to the militaristic War on Drugs, which cost tens of thousands of lives and, according to Sheinbaum and other critics, did little to halt drug trafficking.
Police officers stand guard as protesters demonstrate against the assassination of Uruapan’s mayor at the Government Palace in Morelia, Mexico, on Nov. 3. The Mexican government reported Nov. 2 that the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, who was killed the previous night during a public event in the western state of Michoacan, had been under official protection since December.
(Jordi Lebrija / AFP via Getty Images)
Manzo was the latest of scores of Mexican mayors and local officials assassinated in recent years, as cartels seek to control turf, trafficking routes, police departments and municipal budgets, while also bolstering extortion schemes and other rackets. Manzo’s death stood out because of his provocative media presence, as he demanded that authorities beat criminals into submission — or kill them.
“In many places criminal groups control the police chiefs, the local treasuries, the mayors,” noted Víctor Manuel Sánchez, a professor at the Autonomous University of Coahuila. “Then there are mayors like Carlos Manzo who seek to break this circle — and they end up dead.”
Sheinbaum assailed opposition critics who have blamed what they call her lax policies for the killing. She condemned the “vile” and “cowardly” attack on Manzo, and vowed to bring the killers to justice.
The 17-year-old gunman who fatally shot Manzo was killed at the scene, according to police, who say two other suspects were arrested. Authorities call the operation a well-planned cartel hit, though there has been no official confirmation of which of the many mobs operating in the area was responsible. Also still unclear is the motive.
In the wake of the mayor’s killing, the president is unveiling a “Plan Michoacán” in a bid to improve security. Many are skeptical.
“It’s the latest of many such plans,” noted Tirado of the Iberoamerican University. “None have worked.”
Taking over as mayor of Uruapan was Grecia Quiroz, the widow of Manzo, who vowed to continue her husband’s fight against cartels. As Quiroz lifted her right hand last week to take the oath of office, she cradled her husband’s trademark white hat in her left arm.
“This hat,” declared the new mayor, “has an unstoppable force.”
White hats have been a common sight at demonstrations denouncing his death, and a white hat graced Manzo’s coffin at his funeral.
His widow’s well-choreographed swearing-in amid extra-tight security did little to alter the predominant mood of anguish and gloom in Uruapan. Hope is a commodity in short supply for the town’s despondent and fearful residents.
“It’s the narcos who run things here, not the mayor, not the president,” said Martínez, the shop owner. “Carlos Manzo only wanted to protect his people. And look what happened to him.”
Times staff writer Kate Linthicum and special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is directing the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria, as he accused the country’s government of failing to stop the killing of Christians. “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump wrote on social media. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom the Trump administration is now referring to as the Secretary of War, responded soon after with his own post, saying, “Yes sir.” “The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately,” Hegseth wrote.On Friday, Trump also said he would designate Nigeria “a country of particular concern” for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu responded on social media Saturday, saying his administration is open to deepening cooperation with the United States and the international community to protect people of all faiths. He also acknowledged the country’s security challenges but rejected Trump’s framing of his government’s response. “The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Tinubu said. More from the Washington Bureau:
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is directing the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria, as he accused the country’s government of failing to stop the killing of Christians.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump wrote on social media.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom the Trump administration is now referring to as the Secretary of War, responded soon after with his own post, saying, “Yes sir.”
“The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately,” Hegseth wrote.
On Friday, Trump also said he would designate Nigeria “a country of particular concern” for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu responded on social media Saturday, saying his administration is open to deepening cooperation with the United States and the international community to protect people of all faiths. He also acknowledged the country’s security challenges but rejected Trump’s framing of his government’s response.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Tinubu said.
Coyote Joe’s on Wilkinson Boulevard brings live music to Charlotte.
DREW GREY
A man shot and killed another man over the weekend at the popular Coyote Joe’s nightclub in west Charlotte.
The shooting took place about 1:25 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the bar, located at 4621 Wilkinson Blvd., according to a CMPD news release. Off-duty officers working for the nightclub heard the gunfire.
Jason Lamar Neal, 41, was killed, according to police.
Andre Tyrell Walker, 44, of the Lake Norman area, was charged with murder. No bond was allowed, according to court records. He was also charged Sunday with trafficking in cocaine.
According to witnesses, including Neal’s girlfriend, the shooting stemmed from a dispute. Before three shots were fired, a witness overheard a man say, “Youngblood you started some problems you didn’t want to deal with but now you have to,” according to a police affidavit filed in court.
The club could not be reached for comment; a phone number listed on its Facebook page did not allow voicemail.
The shooting followed three homicides in Charlotte on Saturday, all of which were unrelated.
A San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy’s patch. (File photo courtesy of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office)
A 55-year-old Vista man suspected of killing his mother has been arrested, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Tad Christopher Johnson, 55, was arrested at a home in the 2100 block of Riviera Drive in Vista on Tuesday afternoon after deputies found 80-year-old Linda Johnson of Arizona gravely injured there while investigating a reported assault, according to Lt. Juan Marquez.
Paramedics took the woman to a hospital, where she died the following day, Marquez said. The exact cause of her death is under investigation, as are “the motivation and circumstances of the crime,” Marquez said.
Also remaining unclear on Thursday was who lives in the home where the alleged homicide occurred, though detectives believe the residence might belong to a member of the mother and son’s family, according to Marquez.
The suspect was being held without bail at Vista Detention Facility pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The two bodies discovered on a brush-covered slope in the Montecito Hills were not easily identified.
The victims were “faceless” after being shot and bludgeoned beyond recognition, according to Los Angeles County prosecutor Stephen Lonseth.
But there were clues: A tattoo with a family name. Fingernails painted aqua blue, a teenage girl’s beauty routine.
One had the word “hoe” written on her stomach in blood. The autopsy showed she was around seven weeks pregnant.
Flowers that were left for Gabriella Calzada and Brianna Gallegos at an entrance to Ernest E. Debs Regional Park in November 2015 near where they were found dead.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
Investigators found the remains in a ditch in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park on Oct. 28, 2015. Using tattoos and dental records, police identified the victims as Gabriella Calzada, 19, and Brianna Gallegos, 17, who was carrying the baby.
Police interviewed a prime suspect within the first week: Jose Echeverria, 18, whose name Gallegos had tattooed on her chest. Four months later, detectives seemingly caught him confessing on a jailhouse recording that he and Dallas Pineda, 17, had brought the young women to the park and killed them.
But what seemed like an open-and-shut case dragged on for nearly a decade. Until Monday, when a jury convicted Echeverria and Pineda of first-degree murder.
Even by the glacial standards of L.A. County — where proceedings are known to crawl along due to frequent delays and a pandemic-fueled backlog — the path to justice was painfully slow.
Jose Echeverria listens to closing arguments in his murder trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The recent trial dredged up old memories, with some evidence suggesting gang loyalties pushed Echeverria and Pineda to commit the grisly crime — while prosecutor David Ayvazian alleged a more sinister motive.
“They didn’t kill these girls because they were rivals, they used that as an excuse. They liked it,” Ayvazian said. “They set up this murder. They beat these girls to a bloody pulp.”
When prosecutors displayed gruesome crime scene photos that showed how Calzada and Gallegos looked when they were found, some members of the jury recoiled. One woman covered her mouth in shock. Someone in the courtroom whispered: “Jesus.”
Adam Garcia, who discovered the bodies while walking his dogs, testified that so much time had passed he could recall only “flashes” of what he saw. Judging by the amount of blood, he assumed a coyote had killed something.
“I can’t hold the image too well,” he said. “It was shocking, I guess, for me to see that.”
Police questioned Echeverria in his home a week after the killings. He said he had been in a relationship with Gallegos, but it was winding down because she got out of hand when she drank. They socialized with Pineda and Calzada, who were a couple.
In a photo displayed in court, the four smile and pose holding beer cans, arms slung over each other’s shoulders.
Prosecutor David Ayvazian makes his closing arguments at the murder trial of Jose Echeverria and Dallas Pineda, with photos of victims Gabriella Calzada, left, and Brianna Gallegos displayed.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“I remember making bad choices as a kid,” prosecutor Ayvazian said during closing arguments, referencing the girls’ decision to hang out with Echeverria and Pineda. He called them “wannabe gangsters.”
Detectives noted that Echeverria had scratch marks on his arms, as if he’d been in a struggle. He went by the nicknames “Klepto” and “Diablo,” and had recently been jumped into 18th Street, a large street gang.
But investigators had no weapon or links that connected him to the crime scene.
Trial evidence showed Echeverria used the Facebook messaging app to plan a meet-up with Gallegos and Calzada in Debs Park.
Valeria Maldonado, now 29, was living with Calzada and her parents when she went missing. Maldonado said the last time they spoke was by phone, when Calzada and Gallegos were headed by bus to Echeverria’s neighborhood.
The next day, after Calzada didn’t come home, Maldonado reached out to Echeverria, who said the girls never showed up for their planned meeting.
“Man she was the girl” Echeverria wrote.
Prosecutors noted that his use of past tense was suspicious. Although the bodies had been discovered in the park that morning, they had not yet been identified. All anyone knew was that Calzada and Gallegos were missing.
Maldonado answered with a question mark.
“She the home girl thas what I meant , have mas love for her” Echeverria wrote.
Four months after the young women turned up dead, Echeverria was arrested as a suspect in a drive-by gang shooting. Detectives put him in a cell with an undercover informant, who posed as a fellow 18th Street member. Still new to the gang, Echeverria fell for the ruse.
The informant asked Echeverria how the women he called his friends ended up in the park, according to a translation of the conversation in Spanish played in court.
“Well, we took them up there,” Echeverria said, recounting how they first shot at the women with a .22 rifle.
Community members lead a vigil in memory of Gabriella Calzada and Brianna Gallegos in November 2015 at Ernst E. Debs Regional Park.
(Los Angeles Times)
“Okay, so after you guys shot them, they didn’t completely die?” the informant asked.
“No,” Echeverria said.
“So what did you do?”
“Ah … con una piedra.” Echeverria said. “Uh … with a rock.”
They didn’t plan the killing ahead of time, Echeverria told the informant, but were provoked when one of them said, “F— 18th Street.”
Echeverria faked an alibi by taking Calzada’s phone and using her Facebook account to call himself after the killings, he told the informant.
Afterward, Echeverria said he took the phone, smashed it with a hammer until it leaked battery acid, put it in a sock and tossed it on top of Huntington Elementary School.
LAPD Det. Frank Carrillo testified that when he and his partner climbed on top of the school, they found a smashed phone inside a black sock.
Echeverria’s younger friend Pineda was also in police custody, and authorities decided to pull the same move on him. Locked up in juvenile hall, Pineda unburdened himself to an informant whom investigators arranged to be his cellmate.
According to a recording of the conversation played in court, Pineda said he feared older members of 18th Street would “greenlight” him because they had killed two young women without permission.
The gun they used had been given to someone else to get rid of, he said, and Echeverria went back to the scene with his brother to pick up the shell casings before the bodies were found. Pineda took the “big ass rock” they used to beat the girls and threw it in a nearby dumpster.
The gun, rock and casings were never found by police.
“We picked up afterwards,” Pineda told the informant.
Although both men admitted to aspects of the murder, defense attorney for Pineda, Mia Yamamoto, argued that the evidence did not show that he participated in the violence at all; instead, she painted him as an innocent bystander paralyzed by fear and implicated by a burst of violence from Echeverria.
Pineda allegedly missed three or four times with the rifle before Echeverria pulled the gun from him and shot Gallegos.
“How can you miss unless you’ve intended to miss?” Yamamoto asked.
Despite the recordings that made it seem like an open-and-shut case, the prosecutions of Echeverria and Pineda stretched on for years, winding through the L.A. County courts.
“This case took nearly 10 years to resolve due to a series of legal and procedural requirements beyond the control of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” the office said in a statement to The Times.
Initially filed as a death penalty case and subjected to a lengthy review, the process of seeking to try Pineda as an adult further prolonged the proceedings.
Both defendants had other cases pending that needed to be resolved before the trial began, furthering the delays, according to the D.A.’s office.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the state — and by extension, the court system. It aged the case by at least three years, said Ayvazian, the prosecutor.
Even as Echeverria and Pineda’s fate went to the jury last week, delays continued. Jurors told the court one person was holding out because they believed the jailhouse tapes should not have been permitted as evidence.
On Monday afternoon, the foreperson finally read out the verdict, finding Echeverria and Pineda guilty on two counts of murder in the first degree. The convictions, combined with charging enhancements added for the crime of “lying in wait” and committing multiple killings, will ensure life terms when when they are sentenced in December.
Families of the two victims did not respond to interview requests.
After the verdict Monday, Calzada’s mother was seen tearfully thanking the jury in Spanish. The long wait for justice was finally over.
Oregon State Police arrest two in Sprague River homicide case involving a victim from Washington state. MGN Image.
SPRAGUE RIVER, OR – As part of a homicide investigation, Oregon State Police say officers with their SWAT team arrested two men on Thursday near the community of Sprague River in Klamath County.
30-year-old Russell Dwayne Carroway and 31-year-old Devin Tyler Pellerin, both of Sprague River, are suspected in the killing of 47-year old Robert T. Hein of Bellingham, Washington.
Tuesday, Hein’s body was found by a hunter near the Sprague River. The exact cause of death was not made public.
The investigation is ongoing, and OSP is asking anyone with information about this case to contact the OSP Southern Command Center dispatch at 800-442-2068 or by calling *OSP (*677) from a mobile phone. You are asked to reference case number SP25-414701.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Monday accused Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr of unlawfully intimidating television broadcasters into toeing a conservative line in favor of President Trump, and urged him to reverse course.
In a letter to Carr, Bonta specifically cited ABC’s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air after Kimmel made comments about the killing of close Trump ally Charlie Kirk, and Carr demanded ABC’s parent company Disney “take action” against the late-night host.
Bonta wrote that California “is home to a great many artists, entertainers, and other individuals who every day exercise their right to free speech and free expression,” and that Carr’s demands of Disney threatened their 1st Amendment rights.
“As the Supreme Court held over sixty years ago and unanimously reaffirmed just last year, ‘the First Amendment prohibits government officials from relying on the threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion to achieve the suppression of disfavored speech,’” Bonta wrote.
Carr and Trump have both denied playing a role in Kimmel’s suspension, alleging instead that it was due to his show having poor ratings.
After Disney announced Monday that Kimmel’s show would be returning to ABC, Bonta said he was “pleased to hear ABC is reversing course on its capitulation to the FCC’s unlawful threats,” but that his “concerns stand.”
He rejected Trump and Carr’s denials of involvement, and accused the administration of “waging a dangerous attack on those who dare to speak out against it.”
“Censoring and silencing critics because you don’t like what they say — be it a comedian, a lawyer, or a peaceful protester — is fundamentally un-American,” while such censorship by the U.S. government is “absolutely chilling,” Bonta said.
Bonta called on Carr to “stop his campaign of censorship” and commit to defending the right to free speech in the U.S., which he said would require “an express disavowal” of his previous threats and “an unambiguous pledge” that he will not use the FCC “to retaliate against private parties” for speech he disagrees with moving forward.
“News outlets have reported today that ABC will be returning Mr. Kimmel’s show to its broadcast tomorrow night. While it is heartening to see the exercise of free speech ultimately prevail, this does not erase your threats and the resultant suppression of free speech from this past week or the prospect that your threats will chill free speech in the future,” Bonta wrote.
After Kirk’s killing, Kimmel said during a monologue that the U.S. had “hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Carr responded on a conservative podcast, saying, “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Two major owners of ABC affiliates dropped the show, after which ABC said it would be “preempted indefinitely.”
Both Kirk’s killing and Kimmel’s suspension — which followed the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” by CBS — kicked off a tense debate about freedom of speech in the U.S. Both Kimmel and Colbert are critics of Trump, while Kirk was an ardent supporter.
Constitutional scholars and other 1st amendment advocates said the administration and Carr have clearly been exerting inappropriate pressure on media companies.
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley Law School, said Carr’s actions were part of a broad assault on free speech by the administration, which “is showing a stunning ignorance and disregard of the 1st amendment.”
Summer Lopez, the interim co-chief executive of PEN America, said this is “a dangerous moment for free speech” in the U.S. because of a host of Trump administration actions that are “pretty clear violations of the 1st Amendment” — including Carr’s threats but also statements about “hate speech” by Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and new Pentagon restrictions on journalists reporting on the U.S. military.
She said Kimmel’s return to ABC showed that “public outrage does make a difference,” but that “it’s important that we generate that level of public outrage when the targeting is of people who don’t have that same prominence.”
Carr has also drawn criticism from conservative corners, including from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC. He recently said on his podcast that he found it “unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying.”
Cruz said he works closely with Carr, whom he likes, but that what Carr said was “dangerous as hell” and could be used down the line “to silence every conservative in America.”
In the frantic hours after political activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a sniper at a Utah university, those closest to the alleged shooter began making wrenching discoveries, authorities said.
In charging Tyler Robinson, 22, authorities revealed new details about the hours after the shooting and how they led to the arrest. Robinson was charged with seven counts, including one count of aggravated murder and two counts of obstruction of justice, for allegedly hiding the rifle used in the killing and disposing of his clothes, said Utah County Atty. Jeffrey Gray. He is also facing two counts of witness tampering after he allegedly instructed his roommate to delete incriminating texts, and asking them not to talk to investigators if they were questioned by authorities.
Kirk, 31, was an influential figure in conservative and right-wing circles, winning praise for his views on heated topics, including abortion, immigration and gender identity. His death by a single gunshot during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University last week shocked the nation and has led to vigorous debate over the motivations of his accused killer.
Text exchanges
Gray also provided details of a text exchange between Robinson and his roommate, a person transitioning to female with whom he was romantically involved, in which Robinson apparently confessed to the killing.
According to the exchange detailed in charging documents, Robinson’s partner appeared to have no knowledge that Robinson had taken a rifle and had planned the shooting for about a week.
After the shooting, authorities say, Robinson allegedly texted the partner to say: “Drop what you’re doing, look under my keyboard.” The roommate found a message that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
“What??????????????” the roommate responded to Robinson in a text message. “You’re joking, right????”
Robinson appears to confess to the killing in the text messages, and describes details of the shooting as he allegedly tried to evade authorities.
“You weren’t the one who did it, right?” the roommate texted Robinson after the shooting, according to Gray.
“I am, I’m sorry,” Robinson responded, according to court filings.
While local and federal officials searched for the gunman, Gray said, Robinson allegedly texted his partner, explaining his decision to kill Kirk.
“Why?” his partner, who was not identified by Gray, texted Robinson.
“Why did I do it?” Robinson responded.
“Yeah,” the roommate replied, according to Gray.
“I had enough of his hatred,” Robinson allegedly replied. “Some hate can’t be negotiated.”
Parents’ suspicions
It took nearly a day before officials released grainy photos of the suspect.
Gray said authorities were led to Robinson by his parents, including his mother who first recognized him from pictures that were released to the public of the suspected shooter. She then showed the images to her husband, who agreed the person looked like their son, according to Gray.
Robinson’s mother told investigators that in the last year, her son had “become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” Gray said.
Robinson had also spoken to his parents about Kirk visiting the Utah campus, and had accused Kirk of “spreading hate,” Gray said.
When his parents confronted him, Robinson admitted to the killing and said he was thinking of killing himself, Gray said.
“Robinson implied he was the shooter and didn’t want to go to jail,” Gray said. “When asked why he did it, Robinson explained, ‘There’s too much evil, and the guy,’ referring to Kirk, ‘spreads too much hate.’”
Discord chat
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Robinson appear to confess to members of a Discord chat group two hours before he was arrested.
Citing a source, the Post quoted the message this way: “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”
The Post said he was arrested soon after.
Agents are also interviewing people who interacted with the suspect online, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
That includes a Discord chat that seems to have involved more than 20 people after the shooting.
“We’re running them all down,” Patel said.
The weapon
The rifle, Gray said, had apparently been given to Robinson by his father as a gift. According to text exchanges with his roommate, the rifle had belonged to his grandfather at one point, and Robinson seemed concerned he would be unable to retrieve it.
“I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas rifle,” Robinson texted. “How the f— will I explain losing it to my old man…”
Suspicious that his son was involved in the shooting, his father asked Robinson to send a picture of the rifle, but his son didn’t reply, according to Gray.
People mourning the killing of Charlie Kirk carried candles and American flags in a solemn memorial last week at the Huntington Beach Pier, long a destination for conservative gatherings ranging from protests over pandemic-era lockdowns to rallies in support of President Trump.
But on this night, things took a dark turn when dozens of men joined the crowd, chanting, “White men fight back.”
Then on Saturday, a white nationalist organization, identified by experts as Patriot Front, showed up at another beachside memorial for Kirk. The men, wearing khakis, navy blue shirts and white gaiters concealing their faces, marched down Main Street toward the beach holding a picture of Kirk. “Say his name!” they yelled. “Take back our world! Take back our land!”
By Sunday, key political leaders in the conservative Orange County city known as a hotbed for the MAGA movement were fighting to contain the situation, issuing a statement denouncing violence. Kirk’s assassination, City Hall said, “serves as a stark reminder of the devastating outcomes that can result from vitriol and violent rhetoric.”
“I despise them,” Councilman Butch Twining said of the white nationalists who disrupted the vigil. “There is no place for them here, and they disgust me.”
Huntington Beach is one of many communities grappling with the aftermath of the shooting of Kirk, a beloved activist in the conservative movement and close ally of President Trump.
In the 1980s and 1990s, skinheads converged on Main Street throwing Nazi salutes and intimidating people of color. In 1995, a pair of white supremacists fatally shot a Black man after confronting him outside a McDonald’s restaurant on Beach Boulevard.
Huntington Beach leaders have fought to rid the city of that image and tried to make clear that hate is not welcome in Surf City. But events of the last week have made these efforts more difficult.
“Typically, when there’s an opportunity like this, white supremacists and far-right folks more generally are very good about inserting themselves and seeing it as an opportunity to pull things in their direction and shift the narrative,” said Pete Simi, a professor of sociology at Chapman University in Orange County who studies extremist groups.
This is happening as Huntington Beach has emerged as a West Coast beacon for Trump and MAGA. The city has made headlines in recent years for removing the Pride flag from city properties, rewriting a decades-old human dignity resolution — deleting any mention of intolerance of hate crimes — and wading into fights with state officials over issues like transgender student privacy.
Brian Levin, the founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, said the U.S. is witnessing not just polarization between left and right, but a splintering within both the left and right. And that polarization, he said, is being exploited by extremist groups seeking to advance a certain message.
“The notion that these camps are unified teams just simply isn’t true,” Levin said. “I think what’s happening is we’re seeing the exploitation of civic discourse by people who are trying to outdo each other as being more authentic and how they do that is by being more eliminationist and more aggressive. Aggression and being an edgelord is considered currency.”
Barbara Richardson, who has lived in the city since the early 1970s, criticized city leaders for extending the mourning period for Kirk, flying flags half-staff through sundown on Sept. 21 — the day of his memorial service — saying that it will only contribute to rising tensions in the city.
Over the weekend, Richardson watched the videos of the white supremacists chanting downtown in horror. The moment was an unwelcome reminder of what residents grappled with decades ago.
“It’s disheartening,” Richardson said. “I think what happened at the Charlie Kirk rallies was a real black eye for Huntington Beach and it hurts tourism. It made me not want to go downtown. I remember the city in the 1980s and it was scary. I didn’t want to be around skinheads then and I still don’t.”
Last week’s memorials were for Kirk as well as Iryna Zarustka, the woman killed while riding a train in Charlotte, N.C., in a brutal attack captured on video.
Twining attended the event on Wednesday and was disturbed at what he heard from the white supremacists. He said he left quickly after they arrived and started chanting.
“They ruined a perfectly nice vigil where we recognized two people — Iryna [Zarustka] and Charlie—and prayed for them and sang Amazing Grace and had our own conversations about how much they meant to us,” he said.
He and others have stressed the vast majority of those who attended the vigils were there simply to mourn.
Twining said he and his wife have been accosted in a restaurant and at the grocery store over his presence at the vigil and the incorrect assumption that he’s supportive of white nationalists. There have been calls for him to resign and he’s even received death threats that have warranted police protection, he said.
“I reject the presence of hate groups loudly and unequivocally,” Twining said. “Their attempts to corrupt our democratic spaces will not succeed. As a leader in this community, I will not allow my voice to be twisted for extremism. I remain committed to preserving inclusive, respectful, and peaceful spaces where dialogue and remembrance can flourish untainted by hate.”
Videos of Saturday’s gathering show some attendees waving flags associated with Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization founded in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
“They were intentionally generated to try and distance themselves from that violence and present themselves as pro-American,” Simi said. However, Simi noted, the group has also been accused of racial violence. In 2022, the Patriot Front was sued for a racist attack on a black musician in Boston and ordered to pay $2.75 million in damages.
On Saturday in Huntington Beach, resident Jerry Geyer was riding his bicycle in downtown watching as the group marched toward the pier chanting and decided to push back. He positioned his bicycle on the sidewalk in front of them in an effort to block their path. He rode next to them, shouting expletives.
“I cannot allow that to run through the streets of Huntington Beach,” he said in an interview with KCAL News. “That’s not what we are. That’s not who Huntington Beach is.”
