Woman killed by patio umbrella while dining at South Carolina restaurant: Coroner
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images
(LAKE MARION, S.C.) — A woman died after being struck by a patio umbrella during strong winds at a lakeside South Carolina restaurant over Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
The incident occurred Saturday evening at a restaurant along Lake Marion in Summerton, authorities said.
The woman and her husband were dining on the restaurant’s patio “when a sudden strong wind blew an umbrella from a table,” striking the woman in the head and neck area, the Clarendon County Coroner’s Office said in a statement.
First responders found the woman unresponsive with lacerations to her head and neck area, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the coroner’s office.
The victim is a woman from Huger, South Carolina, the coroner’s office said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
The restaurant, Driftwood Grill Home of the Lazy Gator, confirmed the incident occurred at its restaurant during a “sudden severe weather event at Lake Marion.”
“This has deeply affected many people in our community, including guests, staff, first responders, and everyone involved,” the restaurant said in a statement Sunday on social media. “Out of respect for the family and those impacted, we ask for continued prayers, compassion, and privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
The restaurant said it held a support session on Monday with authorities, chaplains and others for those impacted by the “tragic” incident.
“This has impacted many people — including staff members, guests, first responders, families, and community members — and we are grateful for the continued support, prayers, understanding, and encouragement being shown throughout the area,” the statement said.
ABC News’ Jason Volack contributed to this report.
Embers swirl as the wind-driven Bain fire burns up to the exterior fences at the Western Riverside Animal Shelter, May 19, 2026, in Jurupa Valley, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
(CALIFORNIA) — Fueled by gusting winds and warm temperatures, multiple large wildfires continued to menace Southern California on Wednesday, prompting thousands of residents to evacuate, authorities said.
As of Wednesday morning, the five largest wildfires had burned nearly 22,000 acres from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
The Sandy Fire
The most evacuations were being prompted by the Sandy Fire, which ignited on Monday in the foothills above Semi Valley. At one point on Tuesday evening, more than 43,700 people were under mandatory evacuation orders or evacuation warnings, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The wildfire had grown to 1,698 acres by Wednesday morning and was 15% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Firefighters quickly attacked the blaze from the ground and the air as flames raced downhill in the direction of populated neighborhoods, officials said. As of Wednesday morning, only one structure had been destroyed by the fire, but many evacuation orders remained in place, according to officials.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
While winds were moderate overnight, Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson, said that the winds were expected to pick up on Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re anticipating right now seeing northeasterly winds in the morning and then early afternoon, from what I have got so far, shifting to the west,” Dowd said during a news conference Wednesday morning. “But we’ll continue to monitor the weather and kind of use that as our guide for where we put our resources and our priorities.”
The Bain Fire
In Southern California’s Riverside County, the Bain Fire was threatening homes in the Santa Ana River bottom in Jurupa Valley, according to Cal Fire.
The Bain Fire was reported around 12:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday and, driven by gusting wind, rapidly spread in the direction of homes, prompting evacuations, Cal Fire said.
Overnight, the Bain Fire grew to 1,375 acres and was 25% contained, Cal Fire said in an update on Wednesday morning.
While no structures were reported lost, Los Angeles ABC station KABC reported that three people suffered smoke inhalation and a fourth was taken to a hospital with traumatic injuries.
The Verona Fire
As firefighters were responding to the Bain Fire, another wildfire ignited nearby in Riverside County, prompting more evacuation orders and warnings, according to Cal Fire.
The Verona Fire in the unincorporated communities of Green Acres and Homeland had grown to 500 acres on Wednesday morning and was 5% contained, Cal Fire reported.
Residents in the area told KABC that three to four homes had been destroyed by the blaze.
Cal Fire posted a video on social media on Wednesday of a towering “smokenado,” or a smoke tornado, that formed as firefighters battled the Verona Fire.
The Santa Rosa Island Fire
The largest fire burning in Southern California is the Santa Rosa Island Fire in the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara County.
While the fire remains under investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard said it was likely ignited by emergency flares fired by a 67-year-old shipwrecked mariner on the island.
The Coast Guard posted a photo on social media showing the stranded sailor standing near a patch of blackened brush in which he had scratched “SOS” in the dirt.
The wildfire at last word was 26% contained after growing to nearly 17,000 acres, according to Cal Fire.
The Tusil Fire
The Tusil Fire, burning in San Diego County, had spread to 1,000 acres and had also forced evacuations on the Campo Reservation, according to Cal Fire.
“Fire activity moderated overnight, allowing firefighters to strengthen containment lines and continue making progress toward full containment,” Cal Fire said in an update on Wednesday.
At least one structure was damaged by the fire, which also shut down the Interstate 8 freeway in both directions in the fire zone on Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The California Highway Patrol said on Wednesday morning that one lane in each direction of the freeway had been reopened.
One structure was damaged by the fire and some evacuation orders remain in effect, according to Cal Fire.
ABC News’ Amanda Morris, Jenna Harrison and Vanessa Navarete contributed to this report.
Alleged serial killer Rex A. Heuermann appears inside Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead for a frye hearing on July 17, 2025 in Riverhead, New York. (Photo by James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Accused Gilgo Beach, New York, serial killer Rex Heuermann might change his plea to guilty and admit to the murders at his scheduled court appearance on Wednesday, sources familiar with the case told ABC News.
Heuermann, a New York City architect, was arrested in 2023 and has pleaded not guilty to killing seven women whose remains were found on New York’s Long Island.
His trial is set for September.
The first victim was Sandra Costilla, killed in 1993. Valerie Mack was killed in 2000 and Jessica Taylor was killed in 2003. Partial remains of Taylor and Mack were found near Gilgo Beach and in Manorville on Long Island, while Costilla was found in North Sea on Long Island.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was killed in 2007 and found near Gilgo Beach. Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello were killed between 2009 and 2010 and also recovered near Gilgo Beach.
Fire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 04, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Stephen Cohen/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A slew of new civil lawsuits allege UPS and its partners failed their responsibility to make sure a plane they put in the air was safe to fly — and that negligence led to the fiery, fatal plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, last year that claimed the lives of 15 people.
The complaints allege the plane was faulty, the risks were known and yet it left the ground on a nonstop trip to Honolulu on Nov. 4, 2025 anyway.
The lawsuits — 15 in total — were filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on behalf of more than 100 survivors and victims of the crash as well as impacted businesses.
The lawsuits, which include several wrongful death claims, name a lengthy list of defendants, including UPS, Boeing, GE, Allianz insurance and the company that performed maintenance and repair on the plane.
Also named as a defendant: the estate of one of the plane’s pilots — Capt. Richard Wartenburg, who perished in the crash — who the lawsuits claim was “directly responsible for determining whether” the plane “was in a condition for safe flight.”
The lawsuits claim the defendants let a “catastrophic failure” occur.
In a statement, UPS said in a statement, “We remain deeply saddened by Flight 2976. Our focus continues to be on supporting those affected and working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board as the investigation continues.”
In a statement, Boeing said: “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this accident.”
‘Huge ball of fire coming straight for us’ The new allegations come just on the heels of the crash’s six-month anniversary.
The UPS jet — a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 — lost its left engine and pylon shortly after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport last November, crashing just seconds into the flight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Exploding in a fireball, it slammed into an area scrapyard, Grade A Recycling.
“I wake up every day and have to kind of relive it and bring myself back to reality,” said Ashley Muse, who was there that day, and is a plaintiff in one of the suits.
“All you could see was a huge ball of fire coming straight for us, and everyone started screaming and running, and within seconds, it hit us, the whole building shook like we were in an earthquake,” Muse told ABC News in an exclusive interview.
Muse said she was saved by a colleague who later died. Her colleague Adam Bowman, who is a plaintiff in one of the suits, also jumped into action — saying he pulled one victim out of the inferno, who later passed away from his injuries.
“I turned my head, all I saw was a massive fireball,” Bowman said. “It started getting really hot, and thinking, I love my job, but I don’t want to die here.”
The lawsuit alleges the defendants, including UPS, the pilot, Boeing and others “negligently allowed” the aircraft “to be dispatched in an unsafe and an unairworthy condition resulting in the departure of the left pylon and engine from the wing causing the crash.”
They “accepted the risk of an MD-11 crash by continuing to utilize the aircraft type without more frequent and rigorous inspections of the pylon assemblies,” the filings said.
“People made decisions, corporations made decisions, to continue to operate these planes,” said attorney Masten Childers III, who is representing the plaintiffs.
Childers said in this case, UPS and the other defendants “took those risks, and those risks came to a head on Nov. 4 … when this plane fell out of the air on top of our clients.”
“More could have and should have been done to ensure that those problems were remedied so things like what happened on the 4th didnt happen,” Childers said.
‘It happened out of the blue’ One of those deaths was 3-year-old Kimberly Asa, who was with her grandfather Louisnes Fedon at Grade A Recycling on the day of the crash.
Left behind — Kimberly’s mother, and Louisnes’ daughter.
“My dad was a really good person. My daughter, she was also a very bubbly person. I expected to watch her grow. I expected to always be able to run to my dad. So, the biggest thing is how it happened out of the blue,” Sherline Fedon said. “It’s not something that you hear about — when I finally saw a plane had hit, I don’t think anybody would have ever thought that it was their family. That’s something that you see on the news, and never think that you would be a part of it, or someone that you love to be a part of that. So I think what sticks with me the most is how random, and unheard of, it feels to me.”
Kimberly “survived the initial impact” and “attempted to flee to safety from the explosion of nearly 220,000 pounds of jet fuel, seeking shelter from the smothering smoke and intense flames under a partially collapsed structure,” the documents alleging their wrongful deaths stated.
Their autopsies indicated that their deaths were not quick, according to the lawsuits.
Kimberly “suffered from excessive smoke inhalation resulting in soot in her airway, charring of all of her body surfaces and heat related fractures to her skull, left ribs and both arms,” according to the filings. Her cause of death was determined to be “smoke inhalation and thermal injuries resulting from the crash, explosion and subsequent fire” of the plane.
Her grandfather Louisnes also “survived the initial impact” and tried to flee with Kimberly, according to the filing. His “autopsy indicates that he suffered baking of his brain and right lung from the exposure to extreme temperature.” His cause of death was determined as “carbon monoxide intoxication, smoke inhalation and thermal injuries” from the crash and fire.
‘Known structural defects’ After the crash, federal investigators focused on metal fatigue cracks around the engine of the UPS plane that crashed on Nov. 4.
The lawsuits now home in on those cracks — alleging that overstress fracture and failure of the pylon assembly “significantly contributed to the crash.”
The lawsuits allege there were “known structural defects” with the MD-11F fleet of aircraft, citing a 2011 “service letter” issued by Boeing.
That letter informed operators of the MD-11 aircraft, including UPS, of the risk of bearing race failures, according to the lawsuits, which allege that despite that Boeing “did not alter the inspection interval for MD-11 spherical bearings and bearing races.”
The lawsuits also allege Boeing “failed to provide adequate warning of the defective condition of the MD-11 and failed to provide a reasonably safer alternative.”
Given what it called the “known risk” of the some of the plane’s alleged defects, UPS and the other defendants “knew or shoud have known that the assembly required more frequent inspection(s),” the lawsuit stated, alleging that the cost of such inspections would have made that plane model “inefficient for operation from a cost perspective.”
Regarding the actions of the pilot, the lawsuits argue Captain Wartenburg also had a duty to make sure his plane was safe to fly. Upon takeoff roll and rotation on the flight, a “repeated bell was sounding in the cockpit” but he “failed to act appropriately when presented with this alarm bell and failed to prevent the crash,” the lawsuits allege.
UPS pilots, including Wartenberg, knew this plane and type “as a problem aircraft with multiple defects but Defendant Wartenberg and the UPS Defendants, jointly and severally, elected to operate N259UP anyway,” the lawsuits claim.
In addition to those killed in the crash, others suffered “physical and psychological injuries,” and businesses suffered financial loss and damage from the crash, according to the lawsuits.
