Two suspects have been arrested in a mass shooting that left one person dead and nine injured near a Tennessee State University homecoming football game event over the weekend, including one alleged shooter who was carrying a high-powered assault-type rifle when he was caught, authorities said.
Both men were arrested on charges of murder, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
The suspects in the shooting near the Nashville, Tennessee, college were identified as Marquez Davis and DeAnthony Brown, both 24 years old, according to police, which released photos of the pair following their arrests.
Davis and Brown were taken into custody Monday night at a short-term rental property close to where Saturday’s shooting erupted, according to police. Davis was allegedly carrying an assault-style rifle with a loaded extended magazine at the time of his arrest, authorities said.
In April, Davis was convicted of robbery, felony gun possession and felony drug possession charges, according to police. He received a 10-year probated sentence to the Community Corrections Program, according to the Nashville police.
“The shooters had no regard for human life and put a crowd of innocent persons, including children, in extreme danger. The entire criminal justice system must treat violent gun crime with the seriousness it demands with resulting incarceration for those convicted,” Police Chief John Drake said in a statement following the arrests.
The shooting unfolded around 5 p.m. local time at an off-campus homecoming celebration event, several blocks east of the Tennessee State campus.
The shooting left a 24-year-old man dead, police said. Of the nine people injured, three were juveniles ranging in age from 12-14 years old, police said.
An exchange of gunfire erupted between two groups of people, according to police.
Five victims were taken to local hospitals via ambulance. Five others were transported by private vehicle, according to police.
Officials believe that some of those injured and hospitalized are suspected of being involved in the gunfire, but most were innocent bystanders, police said.
Injuries range from minor to critical, with some victims sustaining graze wounds, according to police.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, officials said.
The investigation is ongoing and police said more arrests are expected.
The shooting broke out about an hour before the kickoff of the homecoming game between Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois University at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, several miles from the university.
Ninety-two people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit North Carolina in the wake of the “catastrophic disaster” left behind by Hurricane Helene, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.
The number will continue to fluctuate as new reports come in and other reports are resolved, Cooper said.
This comes as North Carolina continues to face “a persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation” about recovery efforts, the governor said.
“If you’re participating in spreading this stuff, stop it,” Cooper said. “Whatever your aim is, the people you are really hurting are those in western North Carolina who need help. The safety of our government and volunteer response workers, including FEMA, remains a top priority. “
The governor said he’s directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to “coordinate law enforcement assistance for FEMA and other responders who need it to help assure their safety and security, so people can keep getting the help that they desperately need.”
This weekend, a Bostic, North Carolina, man armed with a handgun and rifle was arrested for allegedly threatening to harm workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the state, authorities said.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell did not address the arrest at Tuesday’s news conference, but she said, “Over the weekend, out of an abundance of caution, we made operational changes to keep FEMA personnel safe, but none of the changes we made impacted ongoing search and rescue or other life safety operations.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see words or acts of hatred toward anyone, let alone federal responders who are here to help people in this critical time,” Criswell said.
“We are not going anywhere,” she said. “Misinformation will not deter us from our mission.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has again asked an appeals court to transfer his New York criminal hush money case to federal court, reigniting an effort to stall his sentencing or throw out his conviction on 34 felony courts.
In a filing on late Monday, Trump’s lawyers asked the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reconsider a lower court’s September decision denying the former president’s attempt to remove the state case to federal court.
Defense lawyers argued in the filing that the jury in the case improperly saw evidence of Trump’s official acts as president which would have been protected by the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.
“This case presents complex first-impression issues relating to the Supremacy Clause, federal-officer removal, appearances of impropriety and conflicts in connection with an unprecedented and baseless prosecution of the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election, and the ability of future Presidents to serve the American people without fear of reprisal from hostile local officials,” lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the 99-page filing.
Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled in a blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
Criminal or civil cases against federal officials can be removed to federal court if the officials can prove the case centers on official conduct. When Trump sought to remove his hush money case to federal court in 2023 by arguing that the allegations related to his official acts as president, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the move, writing that “hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President’s official acts.”
Judge Hellerstein then denied Trump’s request to reconsider his decision in September, as Trump was seeking to delay his sentencing, because the former president failed to show “good cause” for why the issue should be examined again.
“Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” Judge Hellerstein wrote.
Trump is now appealing Hellerstein’s September decision, which defense lawyers argue relied on a “profoundly flawed analysis.”
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, after the New York judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, granted Trump’s request to delay sentencing until after the November election.
In their filing Monday, Trump’s lawyers also aired grievances about an alleged conflict of interest by Judge Merchan and political motivations of the prosecutors, writing that witnesses “concocted the type of false and implausible story President Trump’s political opponents wanted to hear.”
If the effort to remove the case to federal court is successful, it could give Trump the authority to kill the prosecution if he is elected to the presidency in November. Unlike his federal criminal cases, Trump is unable to direct the prosecution or pardon himself if the case remains in state court.
The removal attempt could also impact the timing of Trump’s Nov. 26 sentencing if the motion remains unresolved by then.
Separately, Judge Merchan is expected to issue a ruling on Trump’s effort to throw out the conviction based on presidential immunity by Nov. 12.
(ASHE COUNTY, N.C.) — The sheriff’s office in Rutherford County, NC, announced Monday that they’d arrested a man and charged him with allegedly threatening to harm Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers in the area.
William Parsons, 44, of Bostic, NC, was charged with “going armed to the terror of the public,” according to a statement from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office provided to ABC News.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office statement said deputies on Saturday investigated reports in the vicinity of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock that a “white male had an assault rifle and made the comment about possibly harming FEMA employees” working in the area. Witnesses were able to provide enough information for law enforcement to ultimately locate and identify Parsons, who was armed with a handgun and a rifle, according to the statement.
Parsons was released Saturday after posting $10,000 bond, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
“The initial report stated there was a truckload of militia that was involved. However, after further investigation, it was determined Parsons acted alone and there were no truckloads of militia going to Lake Lure,” the statement said.
According to SITE Intelligence, which tracks the online activity of extremist organizations, Parsons has promoted the militia group the Three Percenters online.
News of the arrest came one day after the sheriff in Ashe County, NC, about two hours to the north of Rutherford County, said that there had been threats against FEMA employees responding to Hurricane Helene.
“Recently in the mountain region, there have been threats made against them,” Ashe County Sheriff Phil Howell posted on Facebook regarding the alleged threats against FEMA employees.
“This has not happened in Ashe County or the surrounding counties,” Howell added. “Out of an abundance of caution, they have paused their process as they are assessing the threats.”
Sheriff Howell did not specify in his post who allegedly made the threats, nor is it known if Parsons’ alleged threat is the one to which Sheriff Howell was referring. An ABC News request for comment sent to the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office did not receive an immediate response.
Threats to FEMA employees have been consistent during the Hurricane response, along with misinformation, federal authorities told ABC News.
Search and rescue efforts in the affected areas continue, a federal source told ABC News. However, while FEMA assesses potential threat information, disaster survivor assistance teams are currently working at fixed locations and secure areas instead of going door to door, out of an abundance of caution, the source said, adding that FEMA will monitor threat information and make adjustments to this posture on a regular basis in coordination with local officials.
A FEMA spokesperson told ABC News that the agency continues to support communities impacted by Helene and to help survivors apply for assistance.
“For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments,” the spokesperson said. “Disaster Recovery Centers will continue to be open as scheduled, survivors continue to register for assistance, and we continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery.”
At the direction of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, the state’s Department of Public Safety will assist FEMA conduct their operations.
“We know that significant misinformation online contributes to threats against response workers on the ground, and the safety of responders must be a priority,” the governor said. “At my direction, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety is helping partners like FEMA to coordinate with law enforcement to ensure their safety and security as they continue their important work.”
Sheriff Howell said that FEMA locations in Ashe County are open this week.
“Stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot,” he said.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC News Friday during a press briefing that threats to FEMA employees are a “shame” and a “distraction.”
“We continuously monitor the social media, channels, other outlets where we’re seeing this information, because we want to make sure we’re providing for the safest environment for our employees, and making sure that they know that their safety is first and foremost for us as they go out into these communities,” Criswell said in response to a question from ABC News.
FEMA hires people from local communities when disaster hits, Criswell said, noting that “many” leave their families behind to go and help communities who are impacted by disaster.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Inflation has fallen over the final months of the presidential campaign, carrying potential implications for a tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
More than half of adults list inflation as a top issue for the country, making it the highest-ranking concern by a wide margin over issues like immigration, crime and abortion, according to an Ipsos poll conducted late last month.
Price increases nationwide have largely returned to normal. However, the presidential race is widely expected to hinge on the results in seven closely contested battleground states, placing importance on where inflation stands in those key locations.
An analysis by ABC News found that inflation rates vary significantly across four major cities situated in battleground states: Detroit, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In each of those states, the average polling margin between the two candidates is no more than two percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Here’s what to know about what inflation looks like in swing-state cities and what that means for the election:
Detroit, Michigan
Consumer prices rose 3.5% in Detroit over the year ending in August, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That figure stands a percentage point above the national average and marks the highest inflation rate of the four cities examined by ABC News.
The surge in prices has stemmed in large part from rapidly rising housing costs, Gabriel Ehrlich, an economist at the University of Michigan, told ABC News. The trend marks a recent turnabout from sluggish housing prices that had taken hold in the city in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession.
Back then, a crisis in the auto industry caused rising unemployment, an exodus from Detroit and diminishing demand for homes. As Detroit has since improved its economic performance, however, the population has begun to grow and housing prices have started to soar. Housing costs climbed 6.2% in Detroit over the year ending in August, which stands more than a percentage point higher than the national average.
Even if the improved economic performance has contributed to the rise in housing prices, that silver lining offers little solace for city residents paying high costs, Ehrlich said.
“That’s a hard sell,” he added.
Phoenix, Arizona
In Phoenix, the inflation rate clocks in at 2.3%, according to BLS data for August, the most recent month on record. That pace of price increases is slightly lower than the national average.
Like Detroit, housing prices play a significant role in the dynamic behind costs in Phoenix – but it’s for the opposite reason. Housing prices there are rising at a pace of 3.5%, well below the national average of more than 6%.
The moderate pace of current housing price increases in Phoenix marks welcome relief after a bruising stretch of skyrocketing costs, Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at Arizona State University, told ABC News. Since 2017, housing prices in the Phoenix area have doubled, he added.
The price increases have slowed, however, as Phoenix has made a concerted effort to ramp up home construction and address its dearth of supply.
Phoenix is expected to build roughly 20,000 apartments in 2024, granting it the fourth-highest apartment construction rate of any U.S. city, a RentCafe study in August found. That total would amount to a 88% increase from the apartment construction rate achieved two years prior, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments.
“There’s of course been the same housing shortage issues in Phoenix that you see across the country,” McPheters said. “The difference here is that Arizona responded.”
Atlanta, Georgia
As of August, the inflation rate in Atlanta stands at 1.7%, which clocks in nearly a percentage point lower than the national average and is the lowest pace for any of the swing-state cities examined by ABC News.
Prices in Atlanta have risen at a slower pace than the national average for a range of essential products, including housing, meat, poultry, fish and eggs.
Gasoline prices have dropped nationwide over the past year but they’ve fallen even more in Atlanta. The same trend applies to the price of new and used cars, the latter of which has fallen a staggering 11% over the past year.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Consumer prices in the Philadelphia area climbed 3.4% over the year ending in August, BLS data showed. The city’s inflation rate registers nearly a percentage point higher than the national average.
In Philadelphia, prices for many food and beverage products are rising faster than the national average. Over the past year, prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs have climbed at more than twice the national average pace. Cereal and bakery products have surged 2.5% over the past year in Philadelphia, even though prices for such goods have fallen by 1% nationwide.
The prices for nonalcoholic beverages in Philadelphia have climbed more than six times faster than the national average over the past year.
Erasmus Kersting, a professor of economics at Villanova University, said the sharp increase in prices for some food items may owed to a lack of competition among grocery stores in Philadelphia. In the absence of fierce competition, grocery stores retain the latitude to raise prices without fear of a rival offering a better deal on comparable products, Kersting explained.
Two supermarket chains, Giant and ShopRite, accounted for 56% of the local grocery market in 2022, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
“Grocery store prices have gone up a lot,” Kersting told ABC News. “Some of this has to do with market structure. How many competitors do grocery stores have?”
(NEW JERSEY) — Bear hunting season has begun in New Jersey – a controversial decision that state officials say is intended to curb the population of black bears interacting with humans.
Segment A of bear hunting season began on Monday and will last through Oct. 19, with the first three days open for bowhunters only. The final three days, from Oct. 17-19, will be open for bowhunters and muzzleloader rifles, according to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife (NJFW).
For Segment B of black bear season, lasting Dec. 9-14, bear hunting will be permitted in New Jersey for shotgun and muzzleloader rifles only, according to the NJFW. Hunting hours during both segments begin 30 minutes before sunrise and end 30 minutes after sunset.
Hunters are limited to one bear over 75 pounds – or 50 pounds dressed – per segment, regardless of the number of permits the hunter holds, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife. Hunters are not permitted to harvest black bears weighing less than 75 pounds live or 50 pounds dressed, nor can they hunt any adult bears in the presence of cubs.
The NJFW also said they may close the season early or extend it, depending on the number of bears harvested.
If the cumulative harvest rate reaches 30% of bears tagged in 2024, the season will be closed, according to the division. If the harvest rate doesn’t reach 20% for the period, the hunt will be extended to Dec. 18-Dec. 21.
This year marks the third opening of bear hunting season in New Jersey since 2022, when the NJFW’s Fish and Game Council voted unanimously to reinstate the state’s annual bear hunt, citing a significant increase in bear sightings around the state.
Animal conservationists criticized the decision at the time, telling ABC News that the measure wouldn’t lead to a decrease in human and bear interactions.
“New Jersey’s reactive bear management approach is ineffective, as it focuses on managing the bears, not managing the source of the problem,” Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement in December 2023, after the bear hunting season was extended.
The black bear population in New Jersey has been increasing and expanding its range since the 1980s, with sightings in all 21 counties in the state, according to the NJFW.
In 2020, there were more than 3,150 black bears in the region north of Interstate 78 and west of Interstate 287 alone, a roughly 30% increase from the 2019 estimated population of 2,208 for the same region, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which further notes that the population is expected to grow to 4,000 bears by 2027.
Dense populations of black bears can also lead to inadequate natural sources of food for the animals and territory for young males, causing wider dispersion of bears into areas where they are even more likely to come into conflict with people as they seek to feed from human trash, pet food left outside, seed from bird feeders, and agricultural crops, poultry and livestock, according to the NJFW.
Bear-involved incidents reported to the NJDEP from January 2022 through October 2022 increased by 237% compared to the same period in 2021, according to state data. The incidents included 62 aggressive encounters with humans, one attack on a human, 12 attacks on dogs, 12 home entries, 15 attempted home entries, 84 instances of property damage exceeding $1,000, and 52 attacks on protected livestock, according to the data.
The number of incidents decreased by more than 37% between 2022 and 2023, after bear hunting was reinstated, according to state data.
“Analysis of data from New Jersey reveals no correlation between the number of bears killed and human safety,” Wendy Keefover, senior strategist for native carnivore protection for the Humane Society of the United States, told ABC News via email. “Instead, researchers know that the most effective way for reducing conflicts with bears is to reduce access to human-food attractants.”
It is especially important during this time of year for residents to remove unsecured garbage cans and bird feeders, as bears preparing to go into hibernation typically eat about 20,000 calories per day, Keefover said.
“Hunting bears will never stop negative interactions with bears, but taking commonsense precautions like using bear-resistant trash cans and taking down bird feeders will,” Keefover said.
A total of 11,000 black bear hunting permits are available to properly licensed hunters and farmer hunters every year, according to the state. Firearm black bear hunters are required to wear a hat of solid fluorescent hunter orange or an outer garment containing at least 200 square inches of fluorescent orange material visible from all sides at all times while bear hunting, regulations state.
The 2022 reinstatement of bear hunting in New Jersey came four years Gov. Phil Murphy enforced a ban on the sport months after taking office in 2018. Murphy had run on a campaign promise that the bear hunts would not exist while he was in office.
“While I committed to ending the bear hunt, the data demands that we act now to prevent tragic bear and human interactions,” Murphy told reporters in a news conference in November 2022.
(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for two former Memphis police officers convicted of obstruction in the beating death of Tyre Nichols filed motions for acquittal on Friday, both arguing that the government failed to prove the charge during the federal trial.
Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and a third former Memphis police officer, Demetrius Haley, were initially charged with four counts in the beating death of Nichols, who ran from officers during a routine January 2023 traffic stop.
Bean, Smith and Haley were found guilty of the charge of obstruction through witness tampering on Oct. 3 when a jury returned mixed results in the federal case.
“There is absolutely no record evidence that supports an individual finding of Mr. Bean guilty of obstruction of justice,” Bean’s attorney John Perry argued in Friday’s motion. Meanwhile, Smith’s attorney Martin Zummach argued in his motion that “the government’s own proof established that Justin Smith had no intentional knowing desire to obstruct justice or withhold information in the reporting process or persuaded, or attempted to persuade, a witness in order to hinder or delay any investigation.”
Asked for further comment, Perry referred ABC News to the motion on Monday, saying that “it speaks for itself.”
“With God’s help, I will do my best to speak through and within the judicial process on behalf of Justin,” Zummach told ABC News via email on Monday.
ABC News reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
All three former officers were also initially charged with three additional counts — violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. Bean and Smith were found not guilty on those charges.
Meanwhile, Haley was acquitted of depriving Nichols of his civil rights causing death but found guilty on the lesser charge of depriving him of his civil rights resulting in bodily injury. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit obstruction.
The former officers did not take the stand in their own defense during the federal trial and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to the DOJ, Bean and Smith each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while Haley faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for both the violations of depriving an individual of their civil rights “and for being deliberately indifferent to the known serious medical needs of a person in his custody.” Haley faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for witness tampering charges, the department noted.
A federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on Oct. 7 ordered Haley to be held without bond until sentencing on Jan. 22, 2025, according court documents, but ruled that Bean and Smith were allowed to be on supervised release until the sentencing date.
According to court documents, Haley’s attorney filed a motion on Oct. 10 for Haley’s bond to be reinstated, arguing that the judge “erred in concluding that Mr. Haley was convicted of a crime of violence and subject to mandatory detention,” citing the fact that Haley was “acquitted of violating civil rights resulting in death and convicted of the lesser included offenses of violating civil rights resulting in bodily injury.”
ABC News reached out to the court but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
Body camera footage shows Nichols, 29, fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. Nichols died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023.
Two additional officers – Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. – were also charged in the federal case and testified during the trial for Bean, Smith and Haley after pleading guilty to some of the federal charges.
The five former officers charged in the case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
All five former officers are also facing state felony charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with Nichols’ death. Bean, Smith and Haley pleaded not guilty to these charges. They pleaded not guilty to these charges.
(ASHE COUNTY, N.C.) — There have been threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees responding to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, according to a local sheriff.
“Recently in the mountain region, there have been threats made against them,” Ashe County Sheriff Phil Howell posted on Facebook regarding the alleged threats against FEMA employees. “This has not happened in Ashe County or the surrounding counties,” Howell added. “Out of an abundance of caution, they have paused their process as they are assessing the threats.”
Ashe County is located about three hours northeast of Asheville, NC, which was hard-hit by Helene. Sheriff Howell did not specify in his post who allegedly made the threats.
Threats to FEMA employees have been consistent during the Hurricane response, along with misinformation, federal authorities told ABC News.
Search and rescue efforts in the affected areas continue, a federal source told ABC News. However, while FEMA assesses potential threat information, disaster survivor assistance teams are currently working at fixed locations and secure areas instead of going door to door, out of an abundance of caution, the source said, adding that FEMA will monitor threat information and make adjustments to this posture on a regular basis in coordination with local officials.
A FEMA spokesperson told ABC News that the agency continues to support communities impacted by Helene and to help survivors apply for assistance.
“For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments,” the spokesperson said. “Disaster Recovery Centers will continue to be open as scheduled, survivors continue to register for assistance, and we continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery.”
Sheriff Howell said that FEMA locations in Ashe County are open this week.
“Stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot,” he said.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC News Friday during a press briefing that threats to FEMA employees are a “shame” and a “distraction.”
“We continuously monitor the social media, channels, other outlets where we’re seeing this information, because we want to make sure we’re providing for the safest environment for our employees, and making sure that they know that their safety is first and foremost for us as they go out into these communities,” Criswell said in response to a question from ABC News.
FEMA hires people from local communities when disaster hits, Criswell said, noting that “many” leave their families behind to go and help communities who are impacted by disaster.
(DELPHI, IN.) — Jury selection begins Monday in the long-awaited trial of a Delphi, Indiana, man accused of killing two teenage girls while they hiked on a local trail in broad daylight in 2017.
The case garnered national intrigue, and remained a mystery for over five years until suspect Richard Allen was arrested in October 2022. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Here’s everything you need to know about the case.
The murders
On Feb. 13, 2017, best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were enjoying a day off from school in their hometown of Delphi, a quiet, small town of nearly 3,000 residents in central Indiana.
They were on a hiking trail, walking, chatting and snapping photos, when they disappeared.
Their bodies were found the next day.
Abby, who was raised by her single mother, hoped to pursue a career in forensic science.
Libby, a gifted athlete raised by her grandparents, wanted to work with the FBI and solve crimes.
Police have never released how the eighth graders were killed.
According to video recovered from one of the victim’s phones, Abby or Libby mentioned “gun” as a man approached them, and a .40-caliber unspent round was found less than 2 feet away from one of the bodies, according to a probable cause affidavit. But court documents also mention the involvement of a knife in the killings.
‘Down the hill’
In the aftermath of the shocking double slayings, authorities released a clip of the suspect’s voice — a recording of him saying “down the hill” — which was recovered from Libby’s phone.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a man was seen and heard telling the girls, “Guys, down the hill,” and Abby and Libby then went down the hill.
Authorities also released a grainy image of the suspect, who they say was on the trail the day the girls went missing. State police later circulated a brief video clip recovered from Libby’s phone that showed the suspect walking on the bridge near where the girls were last seen.
The arrest
For more than five years, the case remained unsolved, haunting Delphi residents.
Police released disparate sketches of possible suspects, and authorities announced that, while investigating the case, they “uncovered” a fake Snapchat and Instagram profile called “anthony_shots,” where the user used photos of a male model and communicated with underage girls in an attempt to meet them. The man suspected to be behind the “anthony_shots” account was later identified and not linked to Abby and Libby’s murders.
No suspect was named in the murders until Allen was arrested in October 2022.
Community members were shocked to learn that the suspect was a 50-year-old husband, father and Delphi resident who worked at the local CVS.
“How can somebody do that and then just go on living life like nothing happened?” Libby’s grandfather, Mike Patty, told ABC News hours after the arrest was announced.
Allen admitted to police that he was on the trail that day, but he denied any involvement in the murders, according to court documents.
Police analysis of Allen’s gun determined that the unspent round discovered within 2 feet of one of the victims “had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the probable cause affidavit said.
“When asked about the unspent bullet, [Allen] did not have an explanation of why the bullet was found between” the girls’ bodies, the probable cause affidavit said.
When Allen voluntarily spoke to police on Oct. 26, 2022, he said he never allowed anyone to borrow that gun, which he said he owned since 2001, the document added.
Video from Libby’s phone showed a man wearing a dark jacket and jeans on the trail. In an October 2022 interview, Allen told investigators that he wore jeans and a blue or black Carhartt jacket that day on the trail, and Allen’s wife confirmed to police that he owns a blue Carhartt jacket, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Investigators believe Allen is the grainy suspect seen on Libby’s cellphone video. Investigators also claim he forced Abby and Libby down the hill to the spot where they were killed, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Investigators believe Allen was seen walking back to his car with “clothes that were muddy and bloody,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
Allen allegedly confessed to the killings several times in a jail phone call with his wife in April 2023, according to unsealed court documents.
“Soon after” that call with his wife, Allen’s attorneys filed an emergency motion saying his mental state had declined and he should be moved, alleging Westville Correctional Facility was unfit, the document said. He was evaluated by two psychiatrists and a psychologist who determined he didn’t need involuntary medication and didn’t need to be moved, according to the document.
The trial
The trial will be held at Delphi’s Carroll County courthouse. But jurors will be selected from residents of Allen County, which is over 100 miles away and encompasses Fort Wayne, Allen County Judge Frances Gull ruled last year.
Jury selection begins Monday in Fort Wayne, and once the jury is selected, the case will move to Delphi.
Gull said it makes sense to keep the trial in Carroll County, where witnesses and families live, saying the expense to move the proceedings would be “extraordinary.”
But she added, “It’s painfully clear that it would be impossible to find a jury in Carroll County not involved in this case.”
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — A suspect has been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a Michigan home invasion in which two men are believed to have gained entry by posing as utility workers.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, and said they are seeking his extradition from Louisiana.
The second suspect remains at large, and the sheriff’s office is urging anyone with information that could lead to an arrest to get in touch.
On Friday, a 72-year-old man was found dead in the basement of his Rochester Hills home, according to the sheriff’s office. His wife, who called 911, had been tied up with her hands duct-taped.
It is not yet clear how the man, identified as Hussein Murray, was killed.
“Because of the gruesome nature of the injuries, it was not immediately clear if he had been shot or bludgeoned to death,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release.
The woman told law enforcement officials that the night before the attack, the two suspects had also shown up to the home claiming to be responding to a gas leak, but they were not allowed inside.
When they showed up again on Friday, they were let into the home, and her husband went with them into the basement, “ostensibly to look for the leak,” according to the sheriff’s department.
When they came back upstairs without her husband, they tied her up and taped her hands, the woman said. She did not see him come out afterward and “assumed he had been kidnapped.”
In home security camera footage released by the sheriff’s department, the since-arrested suspect can be seen wearing a utility worker’s uniform and a mask while holding a clipboard.
“We’re DTE. We’re checking for gas leaks,” the man can be heard saying in the video, naming the Michigan-based energy company.
In a statement after the incident, DTE urged customers to “be alert for DTE Energy impersonators.”
“If anyone arrives at your home or business claiming they are from DTE, please ask to see a badge with a photo ID. If the person refuses to show their badge, do not allow them entry into your home. If the person becomes agitated or acts in a strange manner, call 911 immediately,” the company said.
In an interview with a Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard described Murray as “a loving guy, owned a business, cared about his neighborhood and his community.”
“[He] shouldn’t have been a target of this — no one should ever be a target of this,” Bouchard said.
Murray owned a jewelry and pawn shop, according to WXYZ.
Bouchard said they believe Murray’s killing was “very targeted.”
“It wasn’t random,” Bouchard said. “They’re not just knocking on doors and doing this.”
