5 people dead in massive car crash in Austin, driver charged
ABC News
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A man is facing charges after five people were killed and 11 were hospitalized in a collision involving 17 vehicles, including a semi-truck, in Austin, Texas, authorities said.
Solomun Weldekeal Araya, 37, has been charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault, according to Austin police.
The accident unfolded at approximately 11:23 p.m. on Interstate 35 southbound, according to Capt. Krista Stedman, public information officer for Austin-Travis County EMS. Crews arrived on scene to find multiple patients pinned in their cars, officials said.
Five people died at the scene: three adults, one child and one infant, authorities said. Eleven others were taken to hospitals.
“This incident was incredibly chaotic, and it was spread out over about a tenth of a mile,” Stedman said. “We were able to get all the critical patients off the scene within about 40 minutes and, considering how complex the scene was, that’s pretty impressive.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said it’s launched a safety investigation.
(LOS ANGELES) — Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear at independent parole board hearings on June 13 as a part of the brothers’ bid for clemency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced.
“On June 13, we will have the parole hearing board recommendation,” the governor explained Tuesday on his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” “That independent analysis will help guide the decision-making that my office is independently reviewing as it relates to the clemency application.”
The June hearings will follow the 90-day independent risk assessment that Newsom announced two weeks ago. He is ordering the parole board to conduct the assessment to determine whether the brothers pose “an unreasonable risk to the public” if released.
The governor wants an assessment of “the applicant’s current risk level, the impact of a commutation on victims and survivors, the applicant’s self-development and conduct since the offense, and if the applicant has made use of available rehabilitative programs, addressed treatment needs, and mitigated risk factors for reoffending,” his office said in a statement.
Newsom stressed on his podcast Tuesday that his clemency decision will only be “influenced by the facts.”
Celebrity does have “an impact, but in what direction does it weigh?” Newsom said. “Sometimes it’s used actually against people, because they’re so high profile, they’re actually held to a higher level of scrutiny and standards. At the same time, you don’t want that celebrity also to influence on the other side.”
“That’s why I move forward with the Board of Parole hearings to independently review with a group of experts — forensic psychologists and others — the facts of this case,” he said.
Newsom said he has not watched Ryan Murphy’s fictional series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” which premiered on Netflix in September 2024 and brought new attention to the infamous case.
“I’ve seen a few clips here and there on social media,” he said. “I don’t intend to watch these series because I don’t want to be influenced by them. I just want to be influenced by the facts.”
“I’m obviously familiar with the Menendez brothers, just through the news over the course of many decades,” Newsom added. “But not to the degree that many others are because of all of these documentaries and all of the attention they’ve received. So that won’t bias my independent and objective review.”
Lyle and Erik Menendez are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez. Over 20 of their relatives are pushing for their release after 35 years behind bars.
Besides clemency, the brothers are pursuing two other paths to freedom: resentencing and a petition to review new evidence.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Monday that he’s opposed to resentencing, arguing the brothers hadn’t taken responsibility for their actions and calling their claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.”
Because the “brothers persist in telling these lies for the last over 30 years about their self-defense defense and persist in insisting that they did not suborn any perjury or attempt to suborn perjury, then they do not meet the standards for resentencing,” Hochman said at a news conference.
Hochman’s decision is an about-face from his predecessor, George Gascón, who announced in October that he supported resentencing for the brothers. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menendez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.
Newsom said on his podcast that Hochman’s decision won’t impact the clemency process.
The final decision on resentencing is made by the judge; a hearing is set for March 20 and 21.
Hochman is also opposed to the brothers’ habeas corpus petition, which they filed in 2023 for a review of two new pieces of evidence not presented at trial: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse from his father, and allegations from a former boy band member who revealed in 2023 that he was raped by Jose Menendez.
Hochman announced last month that he’s asked the court to deny the habeas corpus petition, arguing the new evidence isn’t credible or admissible.
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
After a rash of wildfires broke out over the weekend, scorching thousands of acres in South and North Carolina, firefighters on Monday reported making significant progress in extinguishing the blazes that prompted mass evacuations and threatened numerous homes, officials said.
At one point on Saturday and into Sunday, 175 wildfires erupted in South and North Carolina, fueled by high winds and extremely dry conditions, officials said. The fires prompted South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to declare a state of emergency on Sunday and issue a statewide burning ban.
On Monday, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said firefighters had either extinguished or contained most of the fires.
The largest fire to break out over the weekend was in the Carolina Forest in Horry County. As of Monday, the fire had burned 1,600 acres and threatened the communities of Walkers Woods and Avalon, while spreading to the edge of Myrtle Beach, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
(CAROLINA) — The Carolina Forest fire, which erupted Saturday amid wind gusts of 40 mph, was 30% contained on Monday, the commission said.
More than 400 firefighters — aided by firefighting aircraft, including two South Carolina National Guard helicopter crews making water drops — prevented the fire from spreading to homes in the area, officials said. While some homes were damaged, none have been destroyed, officials said.
No injuries were reported from any of the blazes.
Barbara and Vince Giunta of Myrtle Beach, whose home abuts the Carolina Forest, said the fire spread to near their property line on Saturday.
“Everything was on fire. It was bad. Very, very bad,” Barbara Giunta told ABC News.
Vince Giunta said at one point on Saturday he looked out his kitchen window “and you could see the flames as high as the trees.”
The cause of the Carolina Forest fire remained under investigation.
The second biggest South Carolina wildfire ignited Saturday in Georgetown County, about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach, burned roughly 800 acres and caused evacuations in the town of Prince George. The South Carolina Forestry Commission said Monday that the fire had been contained.
In North Carolina, fire crews continued to battle a blaze near the town of Tryon, close to the South Carolina border, according to the Saluda Fire and Rescue Department. On Monday, the fire was 30% contained after burning 481 acres, officials said.
Gusty winds are expected to the Carolinas on Tuesday with gusts ranging from 15 to 25 mph. A storm system is heading to the East Coast and is expected to bring much-needed rain to the Carolinas on Wednesday, but could also produce damaging winds and tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said Monday that elevated fire danger conditions persist in the Carolinas and much of the South with extremely dry conditions and with minimum relative humidity of 15% to 25% on Monday afternoon.
“While winds are expected to be light and temperatures still on the cool side of normal, dry vegetation due to lack of recent rainfall combined with the dry air will once again result in increased wildfire danger in northeast Georgia, Upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina,” the NWS said.
Most of South Carolina is abnormally dry or under moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 1.2 million residents of the state live in areas experiencing drought, according to the Drought Monitor.
South Carolina only received about 1.87 inches of rain in January, which is below normal, officials said.
According to the Drought Monitor, about 46% of North Carolina is experiencing abnormally dry conditions and 39% of the state is under moderate drought conditions. North Carolina received about 1.62 inches of rain in January, the seventh-driest January on record, according to the Drought Monitor.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement Monday that U.S. Forest Service firefighters helped battle the Carolina fires over the weekend.
“The brave men and women of the U.S. Forest Service began responding immediately to the fires in the Carolinas,” said Rollins, whose agency includes the U.S. Forest Service. “We will ensure they have the resources, personnel and support they need to swiftly put out the fires.”
U.S. Forest Service officials said in a statement that the dry conditions and downed timber from past storms have “elevated wildfire risk” in the Carolinas.
(NEW YORK) — Executives at CoreCivic, one of the nation’s largest private prison companies, said they anticipate the Trump administration’s new immigration policies will lead to “the most significant growth” in the company’s history over the next several years.
“I’ve worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods of my career,” CEO Damon Hininger said Tuesday on the company’s earnings call. “We anticipate significant growth opportunities, perhaps the most significant growth in our company’s history over the next several years.”
“The change in presidential administration on Jan. 20 has ushered in significant policy and legislative changes that directly impact our business,” Hininger said on the public call, which comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased its apprehensions of people alleged to be in the country illegally.
Hininger told shareholders that the company is taking proactive steps to prepare facilities and beds in anticipation of potential new contracts with ICE.
CoreCivic executives on the call said they currently speak almost “hourly” with ICE officials and with members of the administration, and have “active tours going on” at their facilities.
“We’ve got a proposal in front of ICE for 28,000 beds,” one executive said, adding that the offer could result in more than a billion dollars in revenue for the company.
The 28,000 beds offered to ICE comes from vacant facilities that are not currently activated, as well as from availability in existing facilities and from the South Texas Family Residential Center, the nation’s largest migrant detention center that was closed in 2024, executives said.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In response to questions about the administration’s decision to use Guantanamo Bay and a prison in El Salvador to hold migrant detainees, executives for CoreCivic said they believe their facilities are “superior” to the alternatives when it comes to cost and logistics.
“We’ve got a real advantage on the cost side, especially in this environment. We’ve got DOGE out there looking at the best value for the government,” Hininger said, referencing Elon Musk’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
The CoreCivic CEO also said he believes the company’s facilities are less likely to face litigation, and said they are “more humane than the other alternatives.”
“We’re feeling very encouraged by the conversations with ICE to date,” Hininger said. “We’ve got a lot of activity going on in the organization, a lot of opportunities, so it’s a very exciting time within the company.”
