A D.C. man was indicted Wednesday on 36 charges related to an October incident in which a vehicle plowed into a child’s birthday party, killing a woman and injuring more than a dozen people.
A D.C. man was indicted Wednesday on 36 charges related to an October incident in which a vehicle plowed into a child’s birthday party, killing a woman and injuring more than a dozen people.
Sunday Joseph, 66, is accused of reversing his vehicle into the front yard of a home in Bladensburg, Maryland, where a child’s birthday party was being held inside a tent.
Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez, 31, was killed and 13 others were injured, eight of them children.
Joseph ran from the scene of the crash and was arrested the next day, according to prosecutors.
“A celebration meant for joy and family turned into a scene of devastation, leaving one woman dead and many others injured, including children,” State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said in October.
He’s charged with grossly negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle, three counts of hit-and-run involving serious bodily injury, 11 counts of failure to return and remain at the scene of a crash, and 11 counts of reckless driving.
The most serious charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Joseph is being held without bond and is expected back in court for a trial on Jan. 30.
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Angelita Minor, photo provided by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating a 29-year-old woman who is wanted on a felony warrant.
Authorities say Angelina Latisha Minor is wanted on a charge of first-degree manslaughter stemming from a March 2024 traffic crash. Prosecutors allege Minor was driving under the influence of intoxicants at the time of the crash, which resulted in the death of her 4-year-old son.
According to the district attorney’s office, Minor violated the conditions of her supervised release, prompting a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. Her last known address was in North Portland.
Officials warn the public not to approach Minor. Anyone who sees her or knows her whereabouts is urged to call 9-1-1 immediately.
The case remains under investigation, and Minor is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
A D.C. father is facing charges after investigators say his 20-month-old daughter drowned in a hot tub at a Florida vacation rental.
A D.C. father is facing charges after his 20-month-old daughter drowned in a hot tub at a Florida vacation rental, according to investigators.
Deputies with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and Osceola County Fire Rescue were called just after 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 13 to a home on Nice Court in Kissimmee for a report of an unresponsive child.
Authorities said the family was staying at an Airbnb.
The toddler was taken to AdventHealth Celebration, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 4:30 a.m., according to investigators.
Detectives said the child’s father, Reynard Tyrone Hough, 33, of D.C., told deputies he brought his daughter into the hot tub and fell asleep while holding her.
He reported waking up to find the child unresponsive in his arms while still in the water.
Following an investigation, detectives said Hough was negligent in the child’s death. He was initially arrested on a charge of child neglect causing great bodily harm.
On Sunday, Dec. 14, detectives added an additional charge of aggravated manslaughter.
Hough remains in custody at the Osceola County Jail.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said the death investigation is ongoing. No additional details have been released about how long the child was in the hot tub or whether other adults were present at the time of the incident.
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WOBURN — A case that stretched more than eight years reached its conclusion this week, as retired Dracut physician, Dr. Richard Miron, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges tied to the illegal prescribing of opioids that led to a Lowell patient’s death.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said Miron, 83, became the first doctor in Massachusetts to be convicted on involuntary manslaughter for prescribing opioids — a conviction that stemmed from the 2016 death of 50-year-old Michelle Craib. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth and illegally prescribing medication to patients for no legitimate medical purpose.
Miron was ultimately sentenced in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Monday to what amounts to five years of probation, allowing him to avoid prison time.
Miron’s attorney, Stephen Weymouth, said on Wednesday that he was prepared and confident to go to trial in a case that has faced a series of delays over the years, but after a conversation with his client earlier this month, the main concern became the possibility of serving time behind bars.
“From the very beginning he said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, and I want to go to trial,’” Weymouth said about Miron. “But then he said he did not want to go to jail.”
Weymouth pointed out that Miron was facing 47 charges, and any one of them could have resulted in a jail sentence. He said that prosecutors had previously sought four to five years in a plea deal, and the involuntary manslaughter charge carried a maximum of 20 years.
“Going to trial would have been a mistake because all it would have taken was one guilty hook and he would have gotten a pretty lengthy sentence, and I just couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t take any chances,” Weymouth said. “If he had gone to trial and lost, who knows what would have happened.”
Miron was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury in December 2018 following an investigation that began in September 2017 by the AG’s Office, then headed by now-Gov. Maura Healey. Aside from involuntary manslaughter, he was charged with 23 counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances and 23 counts of filing false Medicaid claims.
From September 2015 to February 2016, the AG’s Office said Miron, a solo practitioner of internal medicine, was the largest provider of high-dose, short-acting oxycodone prescriptions among all MassHealth care providers statewide.
The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined Craib’s death was caused by acute intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl, morphine, codeine, and butalbital — all prescribed by Miron. The AG’s Office said Miron was aware that Craib had previously overdosed on opioids he had prescribed, yet he continued to issue large doses to her on multiple occasions leading up to her death.
Prosecutors also said Miron illegally prescribed opioids to several other at-risk patients for no legitimate medical purpose. The illegal prescriptions Miron issued led pharmacies to unknowingly submit false bills to MassHealth for medication.
MassHealth terminated Miron from its program in September 2017, and he stopped practicing medicine in November 2018, following an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.
In 2023, Miron’s daughter, Linda Miron, penned a 17-page letter to the AG’s Office urging that the case be dropped. She argued that prosecuting her father — who had already relinquished his medical license and lived under pretrial probation since 2018 — was not in the interest of justice.
“To bring this flawed case to trial does not seem to me to be the best use of the Commonwealth’s resources, and I urge you to drop your prosecution of this case in the interest of justice,” Linda Miron said in the letter. “More broadly, I fear that prosecuting someone who was willing to take on disenfranchised, medically and psychologically complicated patients here in the Commonwealth, when some other physicians refused to take on MassHealth patients, will further discourage other physicians from treating these patients who deserve compassionate care.”
The case marched on until Monday, when Miron appeared in Middlesex Superior Court before Judge Cathleen Campbell, where it was finally resolved.
According to the AG’s Office, Miron was sentenced to two and a half years in a house of correction on illegal prescribing, suspended for five years — meaning he will serve the term as probation rather than prison time, unless he violates probation, in which case the sentence could be imposed. He was sentenced to five years of probation on the involuntary manslaughter charge. For Medicaid fraud, Miron was sentenced to six months in a house of correction, suspended for five years.
As part of his probation, Miron was ordered to pay full restitution to MassHealth and barred from practicing medicine or seeking reinstatement of his license.
According to Weymouth, Miron was glad to put the case behind him and most of all to avoid prison time. He noted that Miron had already given up his medical career and had no intention of practicing again.
In a press release announcing the case’s conclusion on Tuesday, the AG’s Office said the case reflects their “commitment to addressing the root causes of the opioid crisis and holding companies and individuals accountable for their role in contributing to the nationwide epidemic.”
Earlier this year, the release states, Campbell helped negotiate a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, which is expected to bring up to $105 million to Massachusetts. To date, the office said they have secured more than $1 billion in opioid-related recoveries, with more than $390 million already received. Those funds are being directed to the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund and distributed to cities and towns to support prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts.
The AG’s Office added in the release that valuable assistance with the investigation into Miron’s case was provided by the Lowell Police Department, the State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and MassHealth.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
An 89-year-old man who shot his wife multiple times while she was sleeping in a recliner chair at their Chantilly home, killing her, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
An 89-year-old man who shot his wife multiple times from close range while she was sleeping in a recliner chair at their Fairfax County, Virginia, home, killing her, pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter and weapons charges.
Douglas Sommer faces a total of 15 years in prison in the killing of Marilyn Sommer, who was 87 at the time of her death in February. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful discharge of a firearm and is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 9.
According to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, Douglas took his .32 caliber Herstal 1922 pistol and went into the den of his home on Pennypacker Lane, where Marilyn was sleeping in the recliner. He pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger five times, striking her several times in her head and chest, Descano’s office said in a news release.
When first responders arrived, prosecutors said, Douglas calmly stated he killed his wife. Their daughter, who was at the family home to help her parents move into an assisted living facility, later told police her father did not want to move.
“Marilyn Sommer’s long life ended in her own home, at the hands of her own husband,” Descano said in a news release. “This is a tragic outcome for the whole Sommer family.”
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A security guard at a St. Paul bar has been charged with manslaughter after punching a patron and knocking them unconscious.
Officers were flagged down by a woman near Blues Saloon at 1638 Rice St. around 2:20 a.m. Sunday. She showed officers a man slumped over inside a pickup truck. Charges say the woman told police the man had been unconscious for about 10 minutes after a security guard punched him.
The man was pulled out of the vehicle and an officer began CPR, noting he had a faint pulse and shallow breathing.
Charges say the victim was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a “devastating brain bleed,” and died Monday night. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as 33-year-old Melvin Martinez Altamirano, of Madison, Wisconsin.
The woman allegedly had been on a first date with Altamirano and said he got jealous after multiple men hit on her, so the two got kicked out of the bar. She said while they were leaving, the security guard told Altamirano to “hurry up and leave,” and hit him once, according to the complaint. Altamirano then fell and hit his head on the ground, losing consciousness. Two men carried him to his truck.
Officers reviewed surveillance video of the incident that allegedly shows Altamirano and the woman walking into the parking lot and Altamirano pointing at his date. The security guard stepped between the two and punched Altamirano in the head, shoved him and punched him again before he fell to the ground.
Another security guard told police the couple was “highly intoxicated” and fighting inside the bar, and that, when asked to leave, Altamirano became aggressive toward security, charges say. Once they got the two outside, the second security guard said the man tried to get back in. The guard deployed pepper spray, but it was defective. The security guards followed the pair to the parking lot, where the physical fight ensued.
According to the complaint, the security guard charged with manslaughter told officers Altamirano pointed his finger at his date and blamed her for them getting kicked out of the bar. The security guard said he was “frustrated with (the victim) for fighting inside the bar and being verbally aggressive” with the woman in front of him before he swung at Altamirano. He says one of his punches did not land and he could not recall what part of the victim’s body he punched.
Riley Moser is a digital producer who covers breaking news and feature stories for CBS Minnesota. Riley started her career at CBS Minnesota in June 2022 and earned an honorable mention for sports writing from the Iowa College Media Association the same year.
A Pine River, Minnesota, couple is accused of leaving their two daughters with autism alone and confined to safety beds for hours at a time until one was ultimately crushed by the bed and died.
The couple, ages 57 and 49, are each charged with second-degree manslaughter and contributing to need for child protection services. They were arrested last week and their 12-year-old surviving daughter was placed into protective custody.
The criminal complaint says that deputies responded to the home around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 to find the mother performing CPR on her 10-year-old daughter. Investigators believed that she had been dead for several hours already, and the mother admitted that she hadn’t checked in on her daughters in 10 to 12 hours. The husband said that when he found the girl, her head was pinned under the metal frame of the bed.
The complaint says the 10-year-old’s bedroom was bare except for the safety bed, which she had used since she was 2 to 3 years old. The bed had a frame continuing up 4 to 5 feet and a covering, which the girl was unable to unzip. She was completely confined, documents say.
An investigator spoke with a doctor, who told her that the safety beds are designed for sleep, not confinement during the day. On a subsequent visit, an sergeant noticed the 12-year-old girl was zipped into her bed.
The parents described the 10-year-old as nonverbal, an “escape artist” and a “fecal painter,” documents say. Investigators noted her bed and mattress were soiled with feces and urine.
A search warrant showed the husband had sent his wife photos of the broken bed days before. However, the wife reported to a deputy that she had never seen the frame of the bed broken or out of place, documents say.
Investigators met with a medical supply technician, who provided the family with the bed in 2020 and installed it. The couple had ordered some replacement parts, but they had refused the help of a technician to fix the bed, according to the complaint. The technician said the bed had been broken for some time.
Charges say the parents receive financial support through a waiver program which pays them to care for their two daughters, as they have high needs. However, records showed that between Jan. 1 and Aug. 20, the husband had been at a casino 116 days, and his wife had been there 68 days.
The former ballerina dubbed “The Black Swan” tells her story of why she shot and killed her estranged husband. “48 Hours” contributor Jim Axelrod reports in the second part of a two-part “48 Hours.”
For the first time, the former ballerina dubbed “The Black Swan” tells her story of why she shot and killed her estranged husband. Contributor Jim Axelrod reports in the second part of a two-part “48 Hours.”
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A former ballerina shoots her husband. Did she kill to save herself or was it out of spite? Contributor Jim Axelrod reports in part one of a two-part “48 Hours.”
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A trial began Monday for a Kenyan cult leader charged with manslaughter over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers. Paul Mackenzie, a self-proclaimed pastor, was arrested last April after about 440 bodies were found in the remote Shakahola Forest. Mackenzie allegedly told his followers to stop eating in order to “meet Jesus.”
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Ashley Benefield, the woman at the center of the “Black Swan” murder trial was convicted of manslaughter on Tuesday night.
The jury in the trial of the ballerina who had been accused of killing her husband, Doug Benefield, returned its verdict late Tuesday night in a Florida courtroom.
She faces up to 30 years in prison. Her sentencing date has yet to be determined.
Ashley Benefield’s attorney argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship, stating that Doug Benefield was a manipulative, controlling and abusive man. She had argued she killed her husband in self-defense. Prosecutors had accused Ashley of wanting sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson.
“This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother,” prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell said. “Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense.”
According to court documents filed by the defense, Ashley claims Doug struck her in an incident on Sept. 27, 2020, hitting her on the side of her head, and then tried to keep her from leaving the room.
Ashley claims she feared for her life, shot Doug multiple times in self-defense, and then ran to her neighbor’s house.
A Hyattsville, Maryland, woman has been indicted in the deaths of two young children who were walking to Riverdale Park Elementary School in November 2023.
A Hyattsville, Maryland, woman has been indicted in the deaths of two young children who were walking to an elementary school in November 2023.
Both children, along with man, were in a crosswalk near Riverdale Park Elementary School in Riverdale Park when all three were hit by a van being driven by Lugo Jiminez, according to a news release from the office of Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy.
The children were taken to the hospital, where they later died. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Braveboy said Lugo Jiminez drove neighborhood kids to and from school.
“She was someone who was driving a passenger van that took community kids to school, however she was not affiliated with the school system, either. This was an independent passenger delivery service,” Braveboy said. “This was a private, independent service that parents in that community decided to procure to get their kids to school.”
While Braveboy said she does not believe Lugo Jiminez intended to hurt the children, she should still be held accountable.
“When you take actions, like not paying attention or, in this case, making a turn that should not have been made unless it was clear that she could make the turn safely, when things like that happen, people have to take responsibility,” she said.
Both counts of criminally negligent manslaughter carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison, meaning Lugo Jiminez could face up to six years behind bars.
She also faces two counts of causing serious physical injury/death of a vulnerable individual while operating a motor vehicle.
“My heart goes out to the parents of these young souls, who were lost in this horrific event,” Braveboy said in a news release. “It is also unfortunate that fellow students witnessed this unthinkable incident since it happened as they were headed to school. We will hold Ms. Lugo Jiminez accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
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ST. PAUL, Minn. — A teen pleaded guilty on Wednesday to his role in the death of a Vietnam veteran who he had assaulted at a St. Paul park earlier this year.
The 18-year-old from Rosemount was charged with first-degree manslaughter in juvenile court, as the incident occurred when he was still 17.
Court documents say that on Jan. 23, 76-year-old Thomas Dunne took out his phone to take a picture of a male he observed urinating in a pond at Harriet Island Park. That’s when two boys got out of a car and the three approached him. They attempted to take Dunne’s phone and one of them punched him in the face.
Police say when officers arrived, they observed Dunne bleeding from his right eye socket.
Officers were able to locate the group and asked if they had been involved in a fight. One boy told police, “Yeah, that was me,” charges say. All three were detained.
One of the teens allegedly told police they believed Dunne was recording them and should have “minded his business.”
Dunne had to have emergency ocular surgery at Regions Hospital due to his injuries. He also sustained multiple facial fractures and traumatic damage to his right eye, according to hospital records.
A few days after being discharged, Dunne was readmitted to the hospital due to complications from his injuries. He had contracted an infection and ultimately had to be placed on a ventilator. He died on Feb. 23 — exactly a month after the assault.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined Dunne’s cause of death to be “probable complications of assault” and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
A disposition hearing for the teen convicted of Dunne’s death is scheduled for June 18.
WCCO does not typically name juvenile suspects unless they are certified as an adult.
Riley Moser is a digital producer who covers breaking news and feature stories for CBS Minnesota. Riley started her career at CBS Minnesota in June 2022 and earned an honorable mention for sports writing from the Iowa College Media Association the same year.
A New Mexico judge has rejected a request by Alec Baldwin to dismiss the sole criminal charge against him in a fatal shooting on the set of “Rust,” keeping the case on track for a trial this summer.Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Friday upheld an indictment charging Baldwin with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. The judge rejected defense arguments that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.Special prosecutors have denied the accusations and said Baldwin made “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators and in a televised interview.Friday’s decision removes one of the last hurdles for prosecutors to put Baldwin on trial in July.The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.Baldwin, a lead actor and co-producer on the Western, has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 1.5 years in prison. His attorneys argued during the virtual hearing on Friday that the grand jury received a one-sided presentation in bad faith from prosecutors who steered jurors away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.During rehearsal, Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring Joel Souza, the director. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the gun’s hammer, but not the trigger.Baldwin’s motion to dismiss the indictment argued that the grand jury received inaccurate and limited testimony about the revolver and safety protocols on movie sets.Over more than two hours of arguments Friday, defense attorneys for Baldwin accused the special prosecutor of neglecting her responsibilities to ensure impartiality and access to the defense’s witnesses and evidence.“The fix was in,” said defense attorney Alex Spiro. “There were no (defense) witnesses there to testify. There was no evidence binder of the defense exhibits.”“They never intended for the grand jury to ask for witnesses,” he continued. “They never wanted the grand jury to ask for exhibits.”Special prosecutors say they followed grand jury protocols and accuse Baldwin of “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators and in a televised interview. A jury trial is scheduled for July.Lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey on Friday defended her oversight of the grand jury, noting that she read to jurors a court-approved letter outlining procedures for accessing exculpatory evidence and witnesses and physically pointed at the defense’s boxes of evidence.“The grand jury never asked to hear from witnesses. There is nothing I can do about that,” Morrissey said. “We followed all of the judge’s orders.”Defense attorneys also highlighted that jurors were interrupted when they raised questions about safety procedures on film sets. Baldwin’s attorneys said jurors were guided away from listening to testimony from a sheriff’s detective and instead toward an expert witness paid by the prosecution to discuss film set safety.Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer seized on that point in a series of questions for Morrissey, asking why the detective wasn’t allowed to answer. Morrissey said the detective was well acquainted with the wrong ways to handle gun safety on a movie set from investigating the “Rust” set, but not well versed on proper industry protocols.“I did not prevent the grand jury from getting answers,” Morrissey said. “I made sure the grand jury got the answers to their questions from the witness with the most experience.”Baldwin did not appear at the hearing. Prosecutors have turned their full attention to Baldwin after a judge in April sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of 1.5 years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction for Hutchins’ death.Prosecutors last year dismissed an earlier involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin after being told the gun he was holding might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. A new analysis of the gun last year enabled prosecutors to reboot the case.The indictment against Baldwin offers two possible standards for prosecutors to pursue. One would be based on the negligent use of a firearm. An alternative is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin caused Hutchins’ death without “due caution” or “circumspection,” also defined as “an act committed with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.”Defense attorneys also say prosecutors steered the grand jury away from testimony by witnesses including the film’s director, as well as assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls and props master Sarah Zachry. Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation.The two-week trial of Gutierrez-Reed gave attorneys for Baldwin and the public an unusual window into how the actor’s own trial could unfold.Baldwin figured prominently in testimony and closing arguments that highlighted his authority as a co-producer and the lead actor on “Rust.” Both the prosecution and defense in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the fatal shooting for clues about breakdowns in firearms safety.Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.Gutierrez-Reed is appealing the conviction, decided by a jury in March, to a higher court but hasn’t yet filed detailed arguments. At sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed told the judge she tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing.”After the shooting in New Mexico, the filming of “Rust” resumed in Montana, under an agreement with Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, which made him an executive producer. Matthew Hutchins and the Hutchins’ son settled a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court under undisclosed terms.Defense attorneys said Baldwin was offered a deal last year to plead to a “minor offense” before a grand jury was convened, but the offer was “inexplicably retracted” before the deadline to respond.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SANTA FE, N.M. —
A New Mexico judge has rejected a request by Alec Baldwin to dismiss the sole criminal charge against him in a fatal shooting on the set of “Rust,” keeping the case on track for a trial this summer.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Friday upheld an indictment charging Baldwin with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. The judge rejected defense arguments that prosecutors flouted the rules of grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.
Special prosecutors have denied the accusations and said Baldwin made “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators and in a televised interview.
Friday’s decision removes one of the last hurdles for prosecutors to put Baldwin on trial in July.
The indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
Baldwin, a lead actor and co-producer on the Western, has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 1.5 years in prison. His attorneys argued during the virtual hearing on Friday that the grand jury received a one-sided presentation in bad faith from prosecutors who steered jurors away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses.
During rehearsal, Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and injuring Joel Souza, the director. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the gun’s hammer, but not the trigger.
Baldwin’s motion to dismiss the indictment argued that the grand jury received inaccurate and limited testimony about the revolver and safety protocols on movie sets.
Over more than two hours of arguments Friday, defense attorneys for Baldwin accused the special prosecutor of neglecting her responsibilities to ensure impartiality and access to the defense’s witnesses and evidence.
“The fix was in,” said defense attorney Alex Spiro. “There were no (defense) witnesses there to testify. There was no evidence binder of the defense exhibits.”
“They never intended for the grand jury to ask for witnesses,” he continued. “They never wanted the grand jury to ask for exhibits.”
Special prosecutors say they followed grand jury protocols and accuse Baldwin of “shameless” attempts to escape culpability, highlighting contradictions in his statements to law enforcement, to workplace safety regulators and in a televised interview. A jury trial is scheduled for July.
Lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey on Friday defended her oversight of the grand jury, noting that she read to jurors a court-approved letter outlining procedures for accessing exculpatory evidence and witnesses and physically pointed at the defense’s boxes of evidence.
“The grand jury never asked to hear from witnesses. There is nothing I can do about that,” Morrissey said. “We followed all of the judge’s orders.”
Defense attorneys also highlighted that jurors were interrupted when they raised questions about safety procedures on film sets. Baldwin’s attorneys said jurors were guided away from listening to testimony from a sheriff’s detective and instead toward an expert witness paid by the prosecution to discuss film set safety.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer seized on that point in a series of questions for Morrissey, asking why the detective wasn’t allowed to answer. Morrissey said the detective was well acquainted with the wrong ways to handle gun safety on a movie set from investigating the “Rust” set, but not well versed on proper industry protocols.
“I did not prevent the grand jury from getting answers,” Morrissey said. “I made sure the grand jury got the answers to their questions from the witness with the most experience.”
Baldwin did not appear at the hearing. Prosecutors have turned their full attention to Baldwin after a judge in April sentenced movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum of 1.5 years at a state penitentiary on an involuntary manslaughter conviction for Hutchins’ death.
Prosecutors last year dismissed an earlier involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin after being told the gun he was holding might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. A new analysis of the gun last year enabled prosecutors to reboot the case.
The indictment against Baldwin offers two possible standards for prosecutors to pursue. One would be based on the negligent use of a firearm. An alternative is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin caused Hutchins’ death without “due caution” or “circumspection,” also defined as “an act committed with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.”
Defense attorneys also say prosecutors steered the grand jury away from testimony by witnesses including the film’s director, as well as assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls and props master Sarah Zachry. Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation.
Baldwin figured prominently in testimony and closing arguments that highlighted his authority as a co-producer and the lead actor on “Rust.” Both the prosecution and defense in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the fatal shooting for clues about breakdowns in firearms safety.
Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Gutierrez-Reed is appealing the conviction, decided by a jury in March, to a higher court but hasn’t yet filed detailed arguments. At sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed told the judge she tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing.”
After the shooting in New Mexico, the filming of “Rust” resumed in Montana, under an agreement with Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, which made him an executive producer. Matthew Hutchins and the Hutchins’ son settled a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court under undisclosed terms.
Defense attorneys said Baldwin was offered a deal last year to plead to a “minor offense” before a grand jury was convened, but the offer was “inexplicably retracted” before the deadline to respond.
On April 15, 1989, more than 50,000 people gathered at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, for the FA Cup Semi-Final football (soccer) match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. In order to relieve a bottleneck of Liverpool fans trying to enter the venue before kickoff, police opened an exit gate and people rushed to get inside. More than 3,000 fans were funneled into a standing-room-only area with a safe capacity of just 1,600. The obvious crush in the stands prompted organizers to stop the game after six minutes.
Police initially concluded the crush was an attempt by rowdy fans to surge onto the field, according to the Taylor Interim Report, a 1989 government investigation led by Justice Peter Taylor. As officers approached the stands, it became apparent people were suffocating and trying to escape by climbing the fence.
The Taylor Interim Report describes the scene: “The dead, the dying and the desperate became interwoven in the sump at the front of the pens, especially by the gates. Those with strength left clambered over others submerged in the human heap and tried to climb out over the fence…The victims were blue…incontinent; their mouths open, vomiting; their eyes staring. A pile of dead bodies lay and grew outside gate 3.”
The emergency response was slow, according to the Hillsborough Independent Panel, a 2012 follow-up investigation. The problems were rooted in poor communication between police and ambulance dispatchers, according to the panel.
Fans tried to help each other by tearing up pieces of advertising hoardings, creating improvised stretchers and carrying injured spectators away from the throngs, according to the Taylor Interim Report. People who had no first aid training attempted to revive the fallen. From the report: “Mouth to mouth respiration and cardiac massage were applied by the skilled and the unskilled but usually in vain. Those capable of survival mostly came round of their own accord. The rest were mostly doomed before they could be brought out and treated.” It took nearly 30 minutes for organizers to call for doctors and nurses via the public address system.
August 1989 – The Taylor Interim Report is released, offering a detailed overview of how the tragedy unfolded. The report is named for Justice Peter Taylor, who is leading the investigation.
January 1990 – The Taylor Final Report is published, proposing a number of reforms for soccer venues. Among the recommendations: football stadiums should replace standing room terraces with seated areas to prevent overcrowding.
August 1990 – Although the Taylor Interim Report faulted police for poor planning and an inadequate response, the Director of Public Prosecutions announces that no officers will face criminal charges.
1991 – The deaths of the fans are ruled accidental by a jury during an inquest. The members of the jury could have returned a verdict of unlawful killing, faulting the police for acting recklessly and compromising the safety of fans. Their other option was an open verdict, an inconclusive ruling.
August 1998 – A group of victims’ families files civil manslaughter charges against South Yorkshire Police supervisors Duckenfield and Bernard Murray.
2000 – The case goes to trial. The jury deadlocks on Duckenfield and finds Murray not guilty of manslaughter. Murray dies of cancer in 2006.
April 2009 – As England observes the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, a new investigation is launched by a group called the Hillsborough Independent Panel.
September 2012 – The panel releases its findings, detailing the numerous failings of authorities on the day of the tragedy and a subsequent cover up that shifted the blame from police to fans. The panel also proclaims that 41 of 96 victims could have been saved if police responded to the crisis more rapidly. The findings prompt Prime Minister David Cameron to issue an apology to the victims’ families.
December 2012 – The High Court quashes the accidental death ruling for the victims, setting the stage for a new investigation and possible criminal charges.
March 31, 2014 – A new round of inquests begins in a courtroom in Warrington, England, built specifically for the case. There are nine members of the jury. They will consider a number of issues relating to the incident, including whether Duckenfield was responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence.
April 2016 – After hearing testimony from more than 800 witnesses, the jury retires to deliberate.
April 26, 2016 – The verdict is delivered, in what is called the longest case heard by a jury in British legal history. The jury finds, by a 7-2 vote, 96 fans were unlawfully killed due to crushing, following the admission of a large number of fans through an exit gate. It is decided Duckenfield’s actions amounted to “gross negligence,” and both the police and the ambulance service caused or contributed to the loss of life by error or omission after the crush began. Criminal charges will now be considered.
March 14, 2018 – The BBC and other British media report that police officers would not be charged who were alleged to have submitted a misleading or incomplete report on the disaster to prosecutors in 1990.
September 10, 2018 – Duckenfield pleads not guilty to the charges of manslaughter by gross negligence.
January 14, 2019 – Duckenfield’s trial begins. Graham Mackrell, a safety officer at the time of the disaster, also stands trial.
July 27, 2021 – Andrew Devine, a fan injured in the Hillsborough disaster, dies. A coroner confirms Devine as the 97th victim of the disaster and rules he was unlawfully killed.
January 31, 2023 – Britain’s National Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing apologize to families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. They also publish a response to a report published in 2017 that detailed the experiences of the Hillsborough families.
December 6, 2023 – UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden announces that the UK government has signed the Hillsborough Charter, acknowledging “multiple injustices” and vowing that no families will suffer the same fates as the relatives of the victims.
A Florida woman is facing manslaughter charges over the disturbing 2022 death of her newborn son.
Bianca DeSouza (pictured in her mugshot, above) was 19 years old at the time of the May 2022 incident when her hours-old infant died on a bed in her mother’s Boca Raton home. According to a probable cause affidavit in the case, Bianca was laying on a bed in another room when her mother came home to find the infant — who had been born only hours before — lying lifelessly on a bed alone.
The investigation into the infant’s death has been a long time in coming, and Bianca was only arrested on Friday of last week. Now, finally, details are coming to light about what transpired. Per the arrest affidavit uncovered on Wednesday by People, Bianca’s mother asked the teenager to call 911 to get medical help for the infant. However, the teen allegedly replied that her phone was going to die, and declined to make the call.
The mother rushed to call police, and first responders showed up to render aid. Sadly, it was too late, and the newborn baby was declared dead. The reason behind the baby’s death was later determined to be asphyxia, with homicide as the official cause listed in medical reports.
Cops questioned Bianca at the scene, and she confirmed to them that she went into labor at home while wearing shorts. Per the arrest affidavit, the teenager “pulled [the shorts] to the side during the birth,” and the child “came out of the right side of her shorts.” Officers noted in their write-up that they found the baby with shorts wrapped around its torso.
DeSouza’s mother claimed to officers that her daughter had previously been diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia and PTSD. She also indicated that Bianca had switched around her medications and dosages during pregnancy. To that end, Bianca told cops she considered terminating the pregnancy months before, but decided not to. In fact, Bianca had apparently been intending on giving up the baby for adoption as she was uncertain of her ability to care for the child.
Sadly, that didn’t happen, as the child died shortly after being born. Now, Bianca has been charged with manslaughter after she allegedly did nothing to help the struggling newborn or seek out first responders. In an interview with cops, the transcript of which is partially revealed in the arrest affidavit, Bianca reportedly admitted that she did exceedingly little:
“I didn’t know what was going on. I gave birth … and kind of just sat there. … I just didn’t do anything and I’m so mad. It was like my body stopped working.”
So sad…
Tragically, the teenager’s mom believes Bianca likely had “a psychotic break” during the birth, and was rendered helpless in the baby’s time of need. Indeed, the psychological effects of pregnancy and birth on a person can be larger than most think.
Regardless, cops have charged the teenager with counts of aggravated manslaughter of a child and child negligence. She is now being represented by a public defender, per People.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
The roommate of a Brooklyn man beaten to death in a boozy fight with a car service driver had long tried to get the victim to give up alcohol — and waited three days for him to come home before learning of his senseless slaying.
Victim Carlos Guman and his cousin shared drinks with the driver before getting into the fatal punch-up with him, prosecutors said.
“He got drunk once in a while but didn’t bother anybody,” Raffaele Iervasi, 87, who lived with Guaman, 66, in Dyker Heights for the last two years, said of the victim.
“He’d come home and go to bed, go to work every day. I always tell him, I say ‘Carlos don’t drink! Somebody gonna catch you and he’s gonna hurt you.’ He was a big strong man. He says, ‘Nobody’s gonna touch me.’ He was built like a bulldog.”
Obtained by Daily News
Victim Carlos Guaman, 66. (Obtained by Daily News)
Early Thursday, Iervasi’s worries became reality when police say Guaman and his cousin, Gilberto Guiracocha, 52, were pummeled by car service driver Sergio Zamora Mendoza, 33, on W. 9th St. near Avenue T in Gravesend. They were being dropped off at Guiracocha’s home when the clash with the driver erupted.
Mendoza, who’s charged with manslaughter, was ordered held on $750,000 bond during his arraignment proceeding in Brooklyn Criminal Court Saturday.
Mendoza’s lawyer called the killing an act of self-defense. Guaman and his cousin were leaving a party, where both had been drinking, and asked Mendoza to drive them from “bar to bar,” defense lawyer Timothy McCubbin said.
“The defendant picked up the two of them around four in the morning and they drove to a gas station and drank alcohol together — the three of them — for around 45 minutes before continuing on their journey,” Assistant District Attorney Jordan Rossman said at Mendoza’s arraignment.
Obtained by Daily News
Carlos Guaman, 66. (Obtained by Daily News)
While at the gas station the cousins noticed how much cash the driver was carrying, according to the defense lawyer.,
The duo told Mendoza “maybe he should give them the money he has” and the younger cousin pushed and shoulder checked the driver before Guaman swung at him, McCubbin claimed.
Guaman was a devoted family man who sent money back to his wife and three adult children in Ecuador, his roommate said.
“Three days I don’t see him. I tried to call him on the phone and I didn’t receive an answer,” the roommate recounted. “And then all of a sudden I heard it on the news … He was a wonderful guy.”
Cops called to W. Ninth St. near Avenue T in Brooklyn around 4:30 a.m. Thursday found a 66-year-old man and his 52-year-old cousin sprawled on the street, cops said. (Obtained by Daily News)
Guiracocha told a friend that he and Guaman went from a party to a bar and flagged down Mendoza’s car.
“He said it was over the overcharge. He said he and his cousin, they were arguing with the driver over the overcharge,” said Guiracocha’s friend, who declined to give his name. “They were telling (Mendoza), ‘We’re gonna call the cops.’”
The friend knew Gauman well too.
“They don’t do drugs. They work,” the friend said of the cousins. “They always used to play volleyball.”
But the friend, who works as a taxi driver, understands how Mendoza could have felt threatened.
Cops called to W. Ninth St. near Avenue T in Brooklyn around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday found a 66-year-old man and his 52-year-old cousin sprawled on the street. (Obtained by Daily News)
“We feel like we’re protecting ourselves. These guys are trying to call the cops, trying to scare him. It’s two guys not one. And they’re drunk,” he said. “We (taxi drivers) go outside to work, sometimes we don’t know if we’ll come back.”
“I’m not saying what (the driver) did was right, no,” he added.
Guaman did tile work in Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey, his roommate said.
“He was very busy. He was a good professional tile man,” Iervasi said.
Obtained by Daily News
Carlos Guaman, 66. (Obtained by Daily News)
He also took on an apprentice, Cristy Rizo, 36.
“He was an excellent teacher in the art of ceramic construction,” Rizo said. “He was one of my best friends.”
Iervasi said he was still processing the loss of his roommate.
” I’m gonna miss him. He was good to me. He was a good person. I don’t know what happened,” he said. “Maybe they were drunk? Maybe they don’t want to pay the taxi driver? I don’t know what happened. How could this happen? I don’t understand.”
Regarding Mendoza, the roommate said, “He should be hung … He beat them up and left. Terrible. It’s terrible to kill someone like that.”
They were the picture of the American dream. Andreen McDonald, described as a “rising star,” and Andre McDonald, a major in the U.S. Air Force, were a San Antonio power couple who ran a successful business that funded a lavish lifestyle. Their seemingly perfect world came crashing down in the winter of 2019 when Andreen suddenly disappeared.
“I remember … like a panic set in,” says friend Mandy Hall. “Andreen is not the person to go take off somewhere and no one knows where she is.”
Andreen McDonald
Instagram
Investigator Frank Stubbs tells “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant, “Her purse was still there, her keys were on the counter and her vehicles were still there.” Stubbs saw something startling while searching the home. “I found there was blood on the wall in an area that was kind of odd, there was blood and hair on a light switch,” he says.
AN AMERICAN DREAM TURNED NIGHTMARE
In the afternoon of March 1, 2019, after 29-year-old Andreen McDonald was reported missing by her mother Maureen, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy arrived at the McDonald home in an upscale gated community in San Antonio.
Within minutes, the deputy saw that blood and hair on the light switch. And in the backyard, normally beautifully landscaped, another troubling clue: a random burn pile.
A zipper from Andreen McDonald’s blouse was discovered in a burn pile in the backyard of her home.
Bexar County District Courts
Maureen Smith: We found a … zipper from uh, Andreen’s blouse.
Peter Van Sant: It was Andreen’s blouse?
Maureen Smith: Mm hmm (affirms).
Andreen’s husband, Andre “Andy” McDonald, told the deputy that when he woke up, he got their daughter Alayna to school before reporting to Lackland Air Force Base, where he served as a cyber warfare analyst.
Once he learned Andreen was missing, Andre rushed back home. But he quickly headed out the door again to act on a hunch that Andreen, who suffered from migraines, might have gone to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Andre’s arrival to the hospital was captured by surveillance cameras, says lead investigator Frank Stubbs.
Frank Stubbs: On that tape … he comes in, you can see him … asking for McDonald … and they tell him … there’s somebody in Room 3 named McDonald.
Peter Van Sant: He arrives back to the house. What does he tell them?
Frank Stubbs: He tells them that she’s in the hospital.
But when the deputy called the hospital, he discovered that the McDonald who had checked in was not Andreen McDonald.
Andre told deputies that he rushed back home before seeing his wife because he had left his cellphone at home and wanted to let Maureen know he had found Andreen.
Sheriff Javier Salazar of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office:
Sheriff Javier Salazar: There was some indication to him that she was there and injured to some extent.
Unfortunately, the major’s hunch turned out to be wrong.
Maureen Smith: When I heard, I was — oh, God, I was so upset … I was just thinking that she’s someplace that we can find her.
And for Andreen’s mother-in-law, Jackie Horne, who lived in Florida, there was uncertainty.
Jackie Horne: I had called Andreen’s phone about a thousand times already, saying, “Andreen, whatever it is, please, please, just call me back.”
What concerned everyone was the fact Andreen would never just disappear. She was known for her sense of responsibility and dedication to her family and business.
Peter Van Sant: How would you describe Andreen?
Maureen Smith: She knows what she wants. And she would never stop until she get it.
ANDREEN (video): I did come in before he did. Way —
ANDRE: Right, Andreen did defeat me, and she is so excited.
Andreen created an assisted living business in San Antonio called Starlight Homes when she was just 22. And, according to Andre’s close friend Andrew Russell, Andre bankrolled her dreams.
Andrew Russell: In order to start the business, Andre, he liquidated his 401K. … And .. he sold the BMW that he owned.
Jackie Horne: They were doing so well. They were doing everything that would make any mother proud.
Starlight Homes thrived, and under Andreen’s watch the tiny home-based business transformed into a multimillion-dollar enterprise in just seven years.
ANDREEN MCDONALD SPEECH: When I started my assisted living, I only started with three residents … Today, Starlight Homes Assisted Living, we have two locations in the San Antonio area.
Childhood friend, Mandy Hall, says Andreen’s success was born out of humble beginnings.
Mandy Hall: Growing up in Portland, Jamaica … we didn’t have a lot. … And, so, we figured if we wanted to get somewhere in life … it would be in America. … That’s where the dream was.
Andreen’s dream of coming to America came true at 19, when she met Andre. He was also a native of Jamaica, who at the time was a captain in the U.S. Air Force. Andre had returned home to Port Antonio, Jamaica, in May 2009 to attend a funeral where he met Andreen, who was 10 years younger.
Andreen and Andre McDonald
Jacqueline Horne
Peter Van Sant: Was there an attraction right from the beginning?
Maureen Smith: She was excited when she met him. … excited about the captain in the Air Force. … they both decide for her to come to America.
They married that July.
Jackie Horne: I was happy to know he had met somebody that he could have a life with.
That life would soon include a baby girl, Alayna. Alayna was at the center of Andreen’s world, which made her disappearance so perplexing, says Horne.
Jackie Horne: I don’t think Andreen would just get up and walk away and leave Alayna, and nobody would hear from her.
That evening, a forensic crime unit examined those stains in the bathroom and confirmed the initial belief that they were blood.
Peter Van Sant: While you were going through the house, was Andre there?
Frank Stubbs: Yes, he was.
Peter Van Sant: Did you see any signs of bruising on his body, any signs of — of any injuries that perhaps he’d been in a struggle?
Frank Stubbs: Nothing that we could — that we could determine.
Investigators were hoping Andre had some answers. But he said the last time he had seen his wife was the night before, and they said what Andre described raised more questions than answers.
Frank Stubbs: He had told them they had come home from the tax preparers office, and that they had argued over the business and … he went up the road … got some gas and just cooled off.
After a heated argument that evening, Andre McDonald says he left the house to cool off at that gas station.
Bexar County District Courts
Frank Stubbs: We were able to obtain video evidence of him going to the Shell station.
Andre said when he returned home, he and Andreen went to separate bedrooms.
But according to investigators, what Andre didn’t mention was the text exchange that happened at the gas station.
TATTOOS, TEXTS, AND A MARRAGE IN TURMOIL
For investigators, the text messages found on Andre’s phone revealed a marriage in turmoil, including allegations of betrayal.
Peter Van Sant: Accusations of unfaithfulness in these text messages, correct?
Frank Stubbs: That’s correct.
Peter Van Sant: We have a printed copy. Would you mind reading these from his phone?
Frank Stubbs (reading the text): Andreen responds … “If you bring up Aubyn again, I will divorce you myself.”
Aubyn Hall, a businessman living in Port Antonio, Jamaica, who according to investigators, was Andreen’s ex-boyfriend and, potentially, her current lover.
In response to Andreen’s threat of divorce, Andre texts: “I don’t care if you get a divorce. You brought Aubyn into our life.”
Aubyn dated Andreen when she was a teenager, say investigators. Andreen’s close friend Mandy Hall says the two rekindled their romance in 2017 during one of her philanthropic trips to the island.
Mandy Hall: Aubyn has always been that first love … It wasn’t something Andreen got over, emotionally.
Hall says they carried on their affair in secret until the summer of 2018 when Andreen got two new tattoos: an initial “A” tattooed on her hand and a date tattooed on her wrist.
Mandy Hall: Andy was definitely suspicious of what it meant.
With a suspicious mind, Hall says Andre went to work to solve this tattoo mystery.
Mandy Hall: He went, and he did his own digging.
It was on social media where Andre discovered an interesting photograph of Aubyn branded with the same exact tattoo that was also on Andreen’s hand.
And those numbers 14-3-76? They’re Aubyn’s birthday — day, month and year.
Mandy Hall: She told me that she impulsively got the tattoo … she knew it was something stupid to do.
Enraged, Hall says Andre threatened divorce unless Andreen cut off contact with Aubyn, covered up her tattoos, and promised to never travel to Jamaica without him.
Mandy Hall: She did cover up the tattoos. … She didn’t want to lose half of everything she worked hard for.
At Andre’s 40th birthday party, Hall says by all outward appearances, the McDonalds seemed to be getting along. But just 13 days later, on March 1, 2019, that’s when Andreen disappeared.
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office
The once festive home had transformed into a crime scene as investigators worked the McDonald residence until 2 a.m. the next morning. When they couldn’t locate Andreen’s cellphone, investigators checked to see if her credit cards or passport had been used — all dead ends.
Frank Stubbs: We came up dry on — on all of these inquiries. … At this point, all we had was a missing person.
Within hours of his wife’s disappearance, Andre McDonald was a person of interest. He stopped answering questions and lawyered up.
At 2 p.m. the next day, an undercover investigator assigned to watch the McDonalds’ house noticed that the garage had been damaged and Andre was backing out of the driveway.
Surveillance of Andre McDonald purchasing a 9mm handgun and ammunition.
Bexar County District Courts
The investigator followed him to a nearby gun shop where additional investigators, who were called to the scene, observed Andre purchasing a 9mm handgun and ammunition.
Frank Stubbs: We were under the assumption that he was purchasing a gun to probably harm himself.
When Andre walked back to his car, investigators confronted him in a violent takedown.
Investigators moved to detain the Air Force major and turned him over to military authorities for a mental evaluation.
Meanwhile, investigators returned to the house with a search warrant and checked Andreen’s car. While there, some objects caught their eye.
Peter Van Sant: There was a shovel. There was an ax.
Frank Stubbs: An ax. There was a — like a hatchet kind of maul. There was … trash bags, there were gloves … And a couple of gas cans.
And there was more.
Frank Stubbs: Inside … the garbage can in the house was … a receipt from Lowe’s that had been torn up.
Detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage from the hardware store —items that were purchased the day after Andreen went missing.
Andre McDonald is seen at the checkout of a Lowes store. Two red gas cans can be seen on the counter.
Bexar County District Courts
Frank Stubbs (watching surveillance video): This is Andre McDonald coming into the Lowe’s …he’s going to purchase several items. … You can see him with a basket here. You can see there’s a shovel in the basket … And now, he comes up here … there’s two gas cans. … There’s a maul —
Peter Van Sant: There’s the hatchet.
Frank Stubbs: — or a hatchet … Here’s that ax.
Peter Van Sant: What’s at play here?
Frank Stubbs: It appeared to us that … now that his wife was missing. It pointed to the disposal of her body.
Peter Van Sant: Look at that cart full of ill will, right?
Frank Stubbs: Yes.
And in the corner of the garage, investigators would uncover what they say was the most damning evidence of all.
Frank Stubbs: We found a hammer and clothing … in the garbage. … The clothing that we found … appeared to be Andre’s clothing.
Investigators say they found traces of blood on the pocket of a pair of jeans.
Bexar County District Courts
Peter Van Sant: What’s on the claw hammer that’s of interest?
Frank Stubbs: The lab determined that there was the presence of … blood on … the hammer. … And the DNA that they … obtained from that — that blood sample was from Andreen.
Frank Stubbs: We concluded that that hammer was probably used as the murder weapon.
Peter Van Sant: This is significant.
Frank Stubbs: Very significant.
ALL EYES ON MAJOR ANDRE MCDONALD
On March 2, 2019, 48 hours into the investigation, Stubbs believed he had discovered key evidence that implicated Major Andre McDonald in his wife’s disappearance. Investigators located those items stained with Andreen’s blood inside the family’s trash can. This missing person’s case had become much more sinister.
Peter Van Sant: And it’s pointing toward what?
Frank Stubbs: The evidence … was pointing towards a murder.
But there was a problem. None of the evidence collected proved that a murder had actually occurred.
Frank Stubbs: Turning a missing person’s case into a homicide case is very difficult.
On March 3, 2019, the Air Force concluded its evaluation of Andre and released him. Civil authorities quickly moved in and placed him under arrest.
But it wasn’t for murder. Major Andre McDonald was arrested for tampering with evidence based upon that torn receipt found at the house listing the items he had purchased from the hardware store.
Andre’s arrest left his mother in a state of shock and disbelief.
Jackie Horne: I saw that Andre was taken into custody. … And I just collapsed. … I know he loved Andreen. Why would he harm her?
And for Andreen’s mother, Andre’s arrest left her head spinning.
Maureen Smith: Oh, God. Andre could not hurt Andreen. That’s what I was saying. But who else?
Adding to everyone’s sense of shock, confusion and suspicion was Andre’s decision to stop cooperating with detectives.
Sheriff Javier Salazar: Andre’s face told us … there was no way in hell we were going to break him and make him tell us what had happened.
Sheriff Salazar went on local TV asking for help.
SHERIFF SALAZAR (news conference): We are asking anybody with any information on her whereabouts to give us a call …”
Soon after, the community of San Antonio, along with family and friends came out in droves to look for Andreen, including a volunteer search party formed by former Air Force Airman Bobby Green.
Green took “48 Hours” out to one of the areas where he searched for Andreen.
Bobby Green (walking with Peter Van Sant): Right now, we’re behind a … hospital we thought … he might have taken her here to a wooded area.
Peter Van Sant: As you walk through here … what are you looking for?
Bobby Green: You would look at … tree branches that have been pushed away, something that was cut … fresh, uh, tire tracks.
Peter Van Sant: How many miles did you cover?
Bobby Green: It was hundreds of miles.
As search efforts continued, Andre McDonald was released from jail on bond.
With his wife absent, Andre took over the management of Starlight Homes. Search efforts continued, although investigators say Andre didn’t take part. Days would eventually turn into months of dead ends.
As the search for Andreen went on, investigators dug further into the couple’s relationship, learning that they had business problems as well as romantic ones.
In WhatsApp messages shared with friends, there are arguments over who really was the brains behind their successful business. In one, Andreen tells Andre: “Starlight Homes is my idea, my dream, and would not have happened without my drive.”
Andrew Russell: And I have text messages from Andreen that’s saying … “someone is going to snap.”
Russell told investigators that the couple’s war of words turned physical the night before a Christmas party at their home in 2018, where the McDonalds got into a physical altercation.
Andrew Russell: So, when I went into the kitchen, Andy and Andreen were grappling on the floor. … The next morning they were laughing about it. … I did feel uncomfortable after that. I thought the situation had become toxic.
Just over two months later, Andreen’s blood was spilled in her home, and she vanished. Finally, on the evening of July 11, 2019, 133 days after Andreen had gone missing, there was a break in the case.
SHERIFF SALAZAR (news conference): About 7:30 this evening, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies were dispatched to this location for a report of some human — human remains that were found …
Skeletal remains were located in a farmer’s field just six miles from the McDonald home. Clifton Klabunde made the discovery. Klabunde had taken out his tractor to retrieve a cow skull that had been spotted right along the tree line of the property.
Clifton Klabunde: I saw the — what appeared to be a human skull in front of the cow skull.
Peter Van Sant: That must have been a shock.
Clifton Klabunde: A shock. Yes.
Andreen McDonald
Instagram
Officials determined that the human skeletal remains belong to Andreen McDonald.
Cindy Johnson | Andreen’s sister: I was at a church praying for Andreen. … I couldn’t do anything. I broke down.
Maureen Smith: It hit us like a storm because we still wasn’t thinking like that.
Jackie Horne (crying, shaking her head) Never. … I never saw this coming.
Andre McDonald
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office
Less than 48 hours later, Andre McDonald would be arrested and charged with his wife’s murder.
MAJOR ANDRE MCDONALD TAKES THE STAND
Andreen’s family had waited for justice for four years.
Cindy Johnson: It hurts … every night before I go to my bed, I think about her.
Bexar County Assistant District Attorneys Steve Speir, Lauren Scott and Ryan Groomer would prosecute Andre McDonald for the murder of his wife, Andreen.
But the prosecution would face an uphill battle. Despite the evidence found at the McDonald home — the hammer and the blood — the prosecution could not say for sure how Andreen died.
Lauren Scott: Because … Andreen’s body … was out in the elements in that field for all of those days … medical examiner’s office was unable to specify what exactly caused Andreen’s death.
Peter Van Sant: And does that, Steven, complicate your preparation?
Steven Speir: No, it absolutely does. … we say he caused her death; however, we don’t know how.
Peter Van Sant: If Andre murdered his wife, what do you believe was his motive?
Steven Speir: I believe it was largely because he felt emasculated … she was such a rising star, had control of these businesses … And I think he was jealous of that.
Andre McDonald, who pleaded not guilty, was represented by some of the top defense lawyers in San Antonio: John Convery, Zoe Russell and John Hunter.
Peter Van Sant: How would you respond to the notion that … what caused all this was his … envy of his wife’s success?
JohnHunter: I — I don’t see any evidence of that.
Zoe Russell: Andre is a major in the Air Force. I mean, he’s incredibly successful on his own right.
Major Andre McDonald had been under house arrest since April 2021. But days before his trial was set to begin on Jan. 17, 2023, Andre, who hadremained silentabout his wife’s death began telling an extraordinary story, beginning with his own mother.
Jackie Horne says her son told her Andreen’s death was an accident.
JackieHorne: He looked at me and … he said, “Mom, I’m going to tell you the truth” … and he started to cry.
McDonald then called Andreen’s mother and sister, Cindy, who put the call on speaker phone.
Peter Van Sant: [He] … gave the family, for the first time, details of what happened according to him.
Cindy Johnson: Yes, according to him. Yes.
It was a phone call that stunned his defense team.
Peter Van Sant: Was it shocking to you that he had done this?
John Hunter: Shocking’s a good word for it, yeah. … The entire context of the case changed.
Zoe Russell: His best thought would be to tell his story in court.
Andre would get to tell his story, but not before the prosecution laid out its case in opening statements.
STEVEN SPEIR (in court): Inside the trash bin in the garage … a hammer. That hammer has blood on it. It is the victim’s blood.
The defense contended that Andreen’s death was an accident.
JOHN CONVERY (in court): This is not a murder case. … it is a case about the degree and level of responsibility … With evidence of accident. A mutual fight. All of which happens in the blink of an eye.
The prosecution also called forensic pathologist Dr. James Feig who testified that Andreen’s skeletal remains had severe injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object. She had a fractured spinal cord, a broken rib and a split jaw.
Dr. James Feig who testified that Andreen’s skeletal remains had severe injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object. She had a fractured spinal cord, a broken rib and a split jaw.
But the pathologist could not determine what exactly had caused Andreen’s death.
DR, JAMES FEIG (in court): So, the way that I have phrased her cause of death is homicidal violence, including blunt force trauma.
After six days of testimony and 33 witnesses, the prosecution rested. The defense had only one witness.
JOHN CONVERY (in court): Defense calls Major Andre McDonald.
Andre McDonald described the evening of Feb. 28, 2019. While at the tax preparer’s office with his wife, he discovered that Andreen had started a new business a year earlier without his knowledge.
JOHN CONVERY (in court): What did that signify to you?
ANDRE MCDONALD: Basically that meant to me pretty much that she was robbing me.
After a heated argument that evening, McDonald says he left the house to cool off at that gas station. McDonald says they continued their argument over text. And when he returned home, he raised the possibility of divorce and splitting their business in half.
ANDRE MCDONALD (in court): She became extremely irate at the thought of … splitting the business. … and charges into the room to confront me.
ANDRE MCDONALD: So, when she comes into the room, you know, I turned around and she comes like right up in my face. … So at that moment … she spits in my face … So at that point … I grabbed her, because she’s like right in front of me, so I like grabbed her head … I think we had like a clash of heads, and I think it opened up like a cut somewhere on her face.
Andre said Andreen ran into the bathroom and turned on the lights. When Andreen saw her bloody face in the mirror, Andre claims she attacked him.
ANDRE MCDONALD (in court): When she comes, she’s like throwing like some punches, so I’m trying to like duck down to and like keep my head, my face … from getting hit with the blows. I remember like grabbing her and like tripping her … And then she like falls … and that’s when I kicked her like twice … The — the second kick, I think I heard like some type of wheezing … and then also like in the background I could hear like some footsteps.
The footsteps of their young daughter, Alayna. Andre said he left to put Alayna back to bed, and when he returned about 30 minutes later, his wife was dead.
ANDRE MCDONALD (in court): I became like pretty frantic at that point because … you know, she’s dead on the floor.
STEVEN SPEIR: You never thought I need to call …
In cross-examination, Prosecutor Speir asked if Andre had thought about calling 911.
ANDRE MCDONALD: I never thought about calling anybody to revive a dead person. … My purpose at that point was simply to get her out of the house so that my 7-year-old daughter wouldn’t see her mother laying on the floor dead.
After putting Alayna back to bed, Andre said he dumped Andreen’s body in the field, stripped her naked and returned home to burn her clothing which left that burn patch in the backyard.
But what about Andreen’s blood on the yellow hammer? On the face of it, the evidence doesn’t square with Andre’s account of an accident.
Andre had an explanation for that. He testified that when investigators finished searching his home, he went back to the field before dawn, angry and armed with the yellow hammer, a can of gasoline and a plan.
ANDRE MCDONALD (in court): My plan was to hit the person that … caused this whole circumstance.
STEVEN SPEIR: You felt it was her fault, right?
ANDRE MCDONALD: It’s absolutely her fault.
STEVEN SPEIR: What did you do with gasoline?
ANDRE MCDONALD: I poured it on her and then I used the — the lighter and set it on fire.
Andre said when the flames subsided, that’s when he attacked his wife’s corpse with the yellow hammer.
ANDRE MCDONALD (in court): I hit her in the face, the neck. … and I just like hit her again as I was walking away.
STEVEN SPEIR: Why that last blow?
ANDRE MCDONALD: As I was walking away?
STEVEN SPEIR: Yes.
ANDRE MCDONALD: I guess I was still angry when I was walking away.
After that gruesome testimony, the defense shifted gears and tried to refocus the jury on their theory of the crime. And for the first time, the defense brought up whyAndre acted the way he did that night.
JOHN CONVERY (in court): Have you always believed you acted in self-defense?
ANDRE MCDONALD: Yes, I have always believed that from the very beginning.
The defense played videos showing Andreen giving her husband a piggyback ride and working out.
JOHN CONVERY (in court): Would you describe Andreen as a very strong, powerful woman?
ANDRE MCDONALD: Yes. I would.
According to Andre, his wife could lift up to 300 pounds.
JOHN CONVERY: When she attacked you, were you in fear?
ANDRE MCDONALD: Yes, I was in fear of, you know, being harmed during that whole situation.
STEVEN SPEIR: They want you to forget and disregard about all his actions.
Then came closing arguments.
STEVEN SPEIR (in court): Defense counsel said that this is self-defense, Folks, this is not self-defense. … It’s time to hold this man responsible for what he did. And it’s time to find him guilty of murder.
JOHN CONVERY: Andre McDonald did not intentionally or knowingly murder Andreen McDonald. … He acted in self-defense. … and your duty and your obligation is to say not guilty. Thank you.
After six days of testimony, the jury got the case. Approximately 11 hours into their deliberation, the jury sent a note to the judge.
John Convery: That says, “we’re hopelessly deadlocked.”
A SHOCKING VERDICT
After almost 11 hours of deliberating, the jury was deadlocked— unable to decide if Andre McDonald was guilty of murder, manslaughter or not guilty by self-defense. Andreen’s sister, Cindy Johnson, was perplexed.
Cindy Johnson: Everything was said in the courtroom. All the evidence were — were there. … He confessed on the stand what he did … They saw his demeanor. … I don’t know what was the problem.
Brandon Medellin: I voted for murder. And I saw that we were six and six.
Rudy Ruiz: At no point did any juror think that he was innocent or that it was self-defense.
For jurors Brandon Medellin and Rudy Ruiz, the problem was wording.
Brandon Medellin:Cause people really picked apart the definitions of murder and recklessness.
The jury of six women and six men spent hours discussing whether Andre had intentionally murdered Andreen or if he had recklessly killed her— making it manslaughter. Murder carries a life sentence; manslaughter up to 20 years.
Brandon Medellin: I think most of us could agree that whatever happened it was reckless. He left her on the ground, and he did not render aid. … Now, the trick was to try and convince the other jurors that it was murder.
But as the deliberations continued, some of the jurors had been swayed, with nine now for manslaughter. Medellin says the biggest factor in swaying the vote was Andre McDonald’s testimony.
Brandon Medellin: There was so little evidence … And so, a lot of people believe, because we don’t know anything else other than what he has told us, that we have to take what he told us.
And he was actually able to convince a lot of the jurors.
Randy Ruiz: And we had that one juror that he said, “Well, I’ve kicked someone, and I never intended to kill them.”
Medellin, Ruiz, and a third juror were the staunch holdouts for murder.
Rudy Ruiz: No one was going to change anyone’s mind.
The judge then invoked what’s called an Allen Charge— urging the holdout jurors to reconsider the evidence and reach a unanimous decision. After another hour of deliberations: a verdict.
JUDGE FRANK CASTRO: Mr. McDonald, please stand with your counsel. … To the count of murder, charged in the indictment, the jury finds the defendant, not guilty of the offense of murder. As charged in the indictment: guilty — guilty of the offense of manslaughter.
Andre McDonald was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of the lesser charge: Manslaughter. Andreen’s sister was in disbelief.
Cindy Johnson: Manslaughter. After he spoke with no remorse, no love, nothing at all, and used hammer, stripped her clothes, throw gasoline on her, burned her, and they gave him manslaughter … That’s crazy. I am going to struggle with this thought until the day I die.
The prosecution had a mixed reaction to the verdict.
Steven Speir: I was disappointed. … However … the jury … rejected his self-defense argument and held him accountable for at least something.
For the defense, Andre McDonald may not have walked out a free man, but —
John Hunter: This is a win. … Despite how I believe that this is a self-defense case. I do respect the outcome.
Andreen’s best friend, Mandy Hall.
Mandy Hall (crying): He’s there to tell his story. He’s there to make up whatever he wants to make up. … She — she doesn’t — she can’t do that because he took that away from her.
Cindy Johnson now sees that phone call from Andre before the trial in a whole new light: as a calculated ploy to deflect blame.
Cindy Johnson: It’s four years. It took him four years for him to recognize that he did what he did. … And then all of a sudden … he’s reaching out to us. … To let us think that he’s being responsible. … He didn’t mean anything, he is lying. … All a lie. It’s all a lie.
After the verdict, Sheriff Salazar reached out to Andreen’s father, a retired member of the Jamaican Army, with an unusual offering.
SHERIFF SALAZAR (post-verdict news conference): I did present Mr. Anderson with a gift. I asked my deputy to remove the handcuffs from— from Andre as they put him back into the cell. And I gave— I presented those cuffs to— to Mr. Anderson.
PAUL ANDERSON: I want to tell you that we really appreciate it. … Thank you very much. God bless you (shakes the sheriff’s hand).
Sheriff Salazar: I wanted them to feel some sort of connection to at least sending him away to — to prison.
For Andreen’s mother, nothing about this tragedy makes sense — her daughter and the beautiful life she had created are gone. Andreen McDonald, who came to America, became a successful entrepreneur and found her purpose in serving others. Sadly, the business she created is now closed.
Maureen Smith: I miss her very much. Most times when I think about her, I just, it’s like I feel like giving up.
And in those times, Maureen and Cindy lean on one another.
Cindy Johnson: We’re blessed to have each other to take us through this sad journey. Um, when I’m weak, my mom is strong. When my mom is weak, I am strong.
Maureen Smith: We have to be strong for Alayna.
Alayna— now 12-years-old— is the glue that binds this fractured family. A family that still includes Andre’s mother, Jackie— though she is mainly left with the memories and the pain of what once was.
Jackie Horne (crying as she looks at a photo of Andre, Andreen and Alayna):I think I hurt for Alayna more than I hurt for everyone. No child should ever have to go through what she went through.
Andreen’s mother and sister are now raising Alayna.
Cindy Johnson: It’s bittersweet because we have Alayna.
Maureen Smith: Alayna reminds us so much of Andreen.
Andre McDonald was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
