(WILLINGBORO TOWNSHIP, NJ) — A 32-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly bludgeoning her mother to death inside her own home, officials said.
Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Willingboro Township Police Chief Ian S. Bucs announced that Breanna Beacham — who was temporarily staying at her mother’s residence on Hopewell Lane in Willingboro Township — was charged on Tuesday with killing her mother in the victim’s home in the Hawthorne Park neighborhood.
“Police were called to the residence just before 4 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress,” according to a statement from the Burlington County prosecutor’s office on Tuesday. “Upon arrival, investigators discovered the body of Kim Beacham-Hanson, 57.”
The preliminary investigation determined that she had been bludgeoned to death, officials said.
“An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood concluded her death was a homicide that was caused by multiple blunt injuries,” according to the Burlington County prosecutor’s office.
Beacham was taken into custody at the home early Tuesday evening and lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court. The case will now be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.
Breanna Beacham has now been charged with first degree murder, third degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth degree unlawful possession of a weapon .
The motive for the attack remains under investigation.
(MADISON, WI) — Police are investigating the online footprint of 15-year-old Abundant Life Christian School shooting suspect Natalie Rupnow — who went by Samantha — as they piece together the course of events that left three people dead, Rupnow among them.
Meanwhile, numerous schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District “were targeted by false threats often known as swatting” Tuesday, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters at a news conference.
Police are investigating, Barnes said, and he noted authorities do not believe there are any current threats. “Making false threats is a crime, and we are working with the district attorney,” he said.
Barnes said police are still working to establish a motive for Monday’s deadly shooting, suggesting there were multiple factors.
Police are talking to students to determine if bullying was one, he said. “Everyone was targeted in this incident and everyone was put in equal danger,” Barnes added.
Barnes said police are also investigating Rupnow’s online activity. The police chief urged anyone who knew her or had insights into her feelings to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
One teacher and one student were killed in the Monday morning shooting, which took place inside a classroom during a study hall “full of students from multiple grade levels.”
Two other students remain in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. Three students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Rupnow died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before law enforcement arrived, police said. Officers did not fire their weapons.
Rupnow’s parents are cooperating with the investigation, Barnes told ABC News on Tuesday.
“They were cooperative. Despite this tragedy, they still lost a child. They still lost a member of their family,” Barnes said.
“It is certain that they have probably more questions than anyone because they knew her,” he said. “They lived with her and so we wanted to get an account from them of what kind of child she was.”
Her father is being questioned by investigators, Barnes said. He said he didn’t know whether the mother had been questioned, noting that she’s been out of town.
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night at the state capitol for the victims of the shooting.
“Yesterday, the Madison community experienced a terrible and traumatic event,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at the vigil. “We will never be the same, but we will get through this. And we will get through this together by relying on each other and taking care of each other.”
The victims have not been publicly identified. Rhodes-Conway told reporters during the news conference that they are respecting the privacy of the victims’ families and will “share what we can when we can and not before that.”
“Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal,” she said.
Students in kindergarten through 12th grade attend the Christian school.
“I was in the hallway, and I was changing from my shoes to my boots to go to lunch because I have recess after, but then I heard the shooting and screams,” a girl in second-grade told Chicago ABC station WLS.
James Smith told ABC News his 17-year-old daughter was in physics class at the time gunshots rang out two classrooms away. She wasn’t hurt.
Smith said Abundant Life Christian School welcomes students who may have been bullied or had a tough time at other schools.
“We, as a school, desire to help those who are having troubles, to be able to provide a safe space for them to grow, at the same time balance across a safe space for the rest of our student body,” he said.
Smith also said the school’s population grew dramatically post-pandemic as many parents sought an alternative to public schools.
In the wake of Monday’s shooting, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are urging elected officials to combat gun violence.
Biden in a statement called the shooting “shocking and unconscionable,” and he mentioned his administration’s efforts to combat the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., including the implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Biden asked Congress to pass “commonsense” gun safety laws, including universal background checks, a national red flag law and a ban on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“It is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence,” Biden said, adding, “We cannot continue to accept it as normal.”
“It’s another school shooting, another community being torn about and torn apart by gun violence,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in remarks Tuesday. “And of course, our nation mourns for those who were killed, and we pray for the recovery of those who are injured and for the entire community.”
Harris, who played a role in the Biden administration’s efforts to combat gun violence, stressed, “We as a nation must renew our commitment to end the horror of gun violence, both mass shootings and everyday gun violence that touches so many communities in our nation.”
“We must end it, and we must be committed to have the courage to know that solutions are in hand, but we need elected leaders to have the courage to step up and do the right thing,” she said.
ABC News’ Alex Perez, Briana Stewart and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
Twelve people are dead at after their bodies were found inside a restaurant at a ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, authorities said. (Facebook / Gudauri Ski Resort)
(LONDON) — Twelve people are dead at after their bodies were found inside a restaurant at a popular ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, authorities said.
The Mtskheta-Mtianeti Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Georgia said that the bodies were discovered in Gudauri — a popular and well-known ski resort near the Russian border located approximately 75 miles north of the country’s capital city of Tbilisi.
“In the resting area on the second floor of the Indian restaurant located in Gudauri, the bodies of 12 people employed in the same facility were found,” Georgian officials said in a statement. “At the initial inspection, no signs of body injuries or signs of violence were detected.”
However, according to a preliminary, authorities discovered that a power generator had been placed in a closed space within an indoor area of the resort near some bedrooms. An investigation under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of Georgia has been launched, suggesting that the deaths were due to negligent manslaughter.
Out of the 12 deceased individuals, 11 are citizens of foreign countries, while one is a Georgian citizen.
“Investigative actions are actively being carried out, forensic – criminalistics are working on the spot, interviews of persons related to the case are being conducted,” authorities said. “Forensic medical examination has also been appointed to determine the exact cause of death.”
“Gudauri ski resort is the largest and most modern ski resort in Georgia, with a well-developed infrastructure that includes the highest level of access in Georgia, with limitless opportunities for freestyle and skiing in an open environment,” the resort’s website says. “The resort is the highest alpine settlement along the Georgian Military Road, also known as the ancient name “Sky Ravine Road”. Gudauri is a permanent settlement in one of the five highest points in Europe and attracts mountain lovers all over the world.”
The investigation into the deaths is currently ongoing.
A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years. (New York State Museum)
(NEW YORK) — A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years.
The jaw, along with a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment, was uncovered near Scotchtown by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange.
The discovery began when a homeowner spotted two teeth sticking out of the dirt under a plant. After digging a little deeper, they found two more teeth just below the surface. Realizing the find might be something special, the homeowner called in experts, and soon a full excavation was underway.
“When I found the teeth and held them in my hands, I knew they were something special,” said the homeowner. “I’m so excited that our yard had something so important for science.”
The team of researchers uncovered a well-preserved jaw belonging to an adult mastodon, an ancient relative of today’s elephants. The jaw will now be studied to figure out how old it is, what the mastodon ate and what its life was like during the Ice Age.
“This jaw is an amazing discovery,” said Dr. Robert Feranec, an expert from the New York State Museum. “Fossils like this help us learn about ancient ecosystems and give us clues about how the world has changed over time.”
Orange County has been a great place to find mastodon fossils. In fact, about one-third of the 150 mastodon fossils found in New York have come from this area.
Dr. Cory Harris from SUNY Orange said they hope to keep digging in the area to see if there are more bones waiting to be found.
“The jaw is the most exciting part, but the toe and rib fragments might also help us learn more about this animal,” Dr. Harris explained.
The jaw will eventually be displayed at the New York State Museum in 2025, after scientists finish their research, according to Michael Mastroianni, a leader at the museum.
Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The Washington Commanders may be one step closer to returning to their old stadium in Washington, D.C. after congressional leaders included a provision in the short-term government funding bill released Tuesday to transfer the jurisdiction of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site from the federal government to local District of Columbia authorities.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser celebrated the provision, calling it a “giant step forward” and that she is “looking to the future of a field of possibilities.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Tenn.) said in a statement Tuesday the legislation “will unlock the district’s full potential, generate meaningful new jobs, and add millions in additional city revenue for the nation’s capital.”
He added, “Now is the time to get the federal government out of the way and empower local officials to clean up the RFK site, invest and create new economic opportunities.”
This provision would allow the Commanders to negotiate the construction of a new stadium where the RFK site is located.
The measure comes after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris met with leaders on Capitol Hill regarding the stadium proposal earlier this month.
The Washington football team played at the RFK site in D.C. for decades before moving to nearby Landover, Maryland, in a newly built stadium in the late 1990s. Since then, RFK Stadium has fallen into disrepair.
While a potential move for the Commanders would be a big loss for Maryland, the government funding bill included major wins for the state including the transfer of fighter jets — the D.C. Air National Guard squadron — and full federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the funding bill this week to avert a government shutdown.
Stephanie Hsu stars in the new Peacock comedy Laid.
The original series, which premieres Thursday, follows Hsu’s Ruby, a professional party planner whose former lovers are dying in the order she was with them. The unconventional rom-com series was also executive produced by the Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar nominee, who told ABC Audio it’s rare to read a script you actually think is funny.
Laid was “making me laugh out loud out on my couch,” Hsu said. “It really felt that the infrastructure of this roller coaster was really there for us to get to kind of throw our weight into.”
Zosia Mamet co-stars as Ruby’s best friend and roommate, AJ. She said one of the best parts of making the series was getting to know Hsu.
“We both approach our work in a very, very similar way, and we kind of come to the table ready to play,” Mamet said. “I think it just really felt every day like such a joy because it was pretty effortless working together and getting to explore that dynamic of female friendship … it just felt so incredibly rich and fulfilling.”
Ruby is a complex character, and Hsu said she enjoyed the challenge of creating her.
“People would be like, ‘Ruby’s such a narcissist, Ruby’s so crazy, da-da-da-da-da.’ And I’m like, OK, but I have to be in her shoes for however many weeks, so I have to figure out a way to love her,” Hsu said.
In the end, the answer was to keep returning to the question at the heart of the show.
“I really did want to co-create a story … that kind of asked this question that I feel a lot of my friends ask, which is like, ‘How do you know when you know?'” Hsu said. “What is love, and how do you find it in this day and age?”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the short lists in 10 award categories on Tuesday: best documentary feature film, best documentary short film, best international feature film, best original score, best original song, best makeup and hairstyling, best visual effects, best animated short film, best live action short film and best sound.
Some of the films on the short lists that may receive nominations at the 97th Academy Awards include Emilia Pérez, Dune: Part Two, Mufasa: The Lion King, Gladiator II and Wicked.
Ahead of the official Oscar nominations announcement on Jan. 17, each short list was determined by members of each corresponding branch, except for international feature film and live action short film lists. For those two categories, Academy members from all branches who have “met a minimum viewing requirement” were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting.
The 2025 Oscars will take place Sunday, March 2. The ceremony will air live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on ABC and, for the first time ever, stream live on Hulu.
See the short lists for best documentary feature, best international feature and best visual effects below:
Best documentary feature film The Bibi Files Black Box Diaries Dahomey Daughters Eno Frida Hollywoodgate No Other Land Porcelain War Queendom The Remarkable Life of Ibelin Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat Sugarcane Union Will & Harper
Best international feature film Brazil, I’m Still Here Canada, Universal Language Czech Republic, Waves Denmark, The Girl with the Needle France, Emilia Pérez Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig Iceland, Touch Ireland, Kneecap Italy, Vermiglio Latvia, Flow Norway, Armand Palestine, From Ground Zero Senegal, Dahomey Thailand, How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies United Kingdom, Santosh
Best visual effects Alien: Romulus Better Man Civil War Deadpool & Wolverine Dune: Part Two Gladiator II Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Mufasa: The Lion King Twisters Wicked
According to the data, which was reported to the American Bar Association, Harvard Law’s J.D. Class of 2027 includes 19 Black students, as opposed to 43 students the previous year – with enrollment dropping by more than half. Enrollment of Hispanic students also steeply declined, with 32 students admitted into the class of 2027, compared with 63 the previous year.
Meanwhile, enrollment of Asian students increased from 103 to 132 students in the class of 2027.
ABC News reached out to representatives at Harvard University and Harvard Law for comment and to learn the total student enrollment for the class of 2027, but requests were not immediately returned.
Jeff Neal, a spokesperson for Harvard Law, told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year, it was “understood that the decision would impact, in ways that could not be fully anticipated, the ability of educational institutions across the nation, including law schools, to attract and admit a diverse cohort of students.” But Neal added that conclusions that can be drawn from a single year of data are “necessarily limited.”
“We continue to believe that a student body composed of persons with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences is a vital component of legal education,” Neal said. “Harvard Law School remains committed both to following the law and to fostering an on-campus community and a legal profession that reflect numerous dimensions of human experience.”
ABC News reached out to representatives of Harvard University for additional comment.
The ruling stemmed from two cases regarding the admissions programs at both Harvard and the University of North Carolina, where the court ruled in an opinion with a conservative majority that both programs violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented in the two cases, but Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in only the UNC case – having served on the Board of overseers at Harvard, her alma mater – she recused herself in the final Harvard case vote.
Prior to the blockbuster ruling, affirmative action had been used by U.S. colleges and universities for decades to diversify campuses and address issues of inequality. Its constitutionality was repeatedly upheld by the Supreme Court prior to the June 2023 ruling, as long as a student’s race is only one of the factors that was considered during the admissions process.
According to the Harvard Crimson, the Supreme Court’s decision led to a change in Harvard Law School’s admissions process, where applicants were required to submit a “Statement of Purpose” and “Statement of Perspective” – as opposed to a personal statement – where they were asked to “share how your experiences, background, and/or interests have shaped you.”
Sean Wynn, President of the Harvard Black Law Students Association, shared a statement with ABC News on Tuesday on behalf of the HBLSA that emphasizes the historical contributions of Black J.D.’s in shaping Harvard Law, as well as the community’s notable contributions to the U.S. legal system.
“The African-American experience has always been intimately tied to the development of American law, often playing a role in both its most maligned and most revered moments. Making sense of this jarring corpus with a smaller community is a tall order in and of itself, made even more difficult with the added expectation that these students provide a ‘Black perspective’ in class discussions,” the statement added. “The demographic shift places significant pressure on those few Black students present to represent the Black community, in all its variety and complexity, during conversations about the law.”
The statement also called on Harvard law and law schools around the country to “take immediate action to ensure the democratization of legal education,” stating that the decline in Black student enrollment at the law school “has broken something fundamental about the experience of attending this law school.”
(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump slammed the judge in his criminal hush money case Tuesday, a day after the judge refused to dismiss Trump’s conviction on the grounds of presidential immunity.
New York Judge Juan Merchan on Monday rejected Trump’s request to vacate the verdict in the case based on the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.
Trump had sought to dismiss his criminal indictment and vacate the jury verdict on the grounds that prosecutors, during the trial earlier this year, introduced evidence relating to Trump’s official acts as president that was inadmissible based on the Supreme Court’s subsequent ruling that Trump is entitled to presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
“Acting Justice Juan Merchan has completely disrespected the United States Supreme Court, and its Historic Decision on Immunity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday, calling Merchan’s ruling, without evidence, “completely illegal.”
Merchan, in his ruling, determined that the evidence in the case related “entirely to unofficial conduct” and “poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”
The judge “wrote an opinion that is knowingly unlawful, goes against our Constitution, and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it,” Trump wrote in his post.
Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione has been indicted in New York for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the grand jury has upgraded charges to first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Mangione, 26, is also charged with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
The slaying in the heart of Midtown Manhattan was “intended to evoke terror,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference.
Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a hotel on Dec. 4 as the CEO headed to an investors conference.
“This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated,” Bragg said in a statement Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, where Mangione remains in custody, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
He is expected to waive extradition from Pennsylvania during his next court appearance on Thursday, sources said.
Mangione has hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo as his lawyer in New York. She was a 25-year veteran of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and its second in command for eight years.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run.
When Mangione was apprehended, he had a 9 mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges, prosecutors said.
Thompson’s murder ignited online anger at the health insurance industry. Many people online have celebrated the suspect and some have donated to a defense fund for Mangione.
“There is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at Tuesday’s news conference.
“Any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice,” she said.
“Just a cold-blooded, horrible killing,” President-elect Donald Trump said at a news conference Monday.
“It’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him,” Trump said.
“It seems that there’s a certain appetite for him. I don’t get it,” Trump added.
Sources said writings police seized from Mangione suggest he was fixated on UnitedHealthcare for months and gradually developed a plan to kill the CEO.
Among the writings recovered from Mangione was a passage that allegedly said, “What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” according to law enforcement officials.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
