Dad arrested for son’s death after allegedly leaving him in hot car to go drinking
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(ORMOND BEACH, Fla.) — Police in Florida have arrested a father who they say is responsible for the death of his 18-month-old son after he left him “helpless in a hot truck” for more than three hours while he got a haircut and went drinking at a local bar, police say.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office along with the Ormond Beach Police Department arrested 33-year-old Scott Allen Gardner on Thursday and charged him with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect causing great bodily harm, according to a statement from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
“Gardner is responsible for the death of his 18-month-old son Sebastian, who was left helpless in a hot truck for more than 3 hours on the afternoon of Friday, June 6, while Gardner got a haircut and then went drinking inside Hanky Panky’s Lounge,” authorities said.
Additionally, Gardner gave multiple false accounts of what occurred that day when he was being investigated by police, officials said.
“It was estimated by medical personnel that Sebastian’s body temperature reached 111 degrees during this tragedy,” police said. “The same OBPD officer who tried to revive Sebastian placed Gardner in handcuffs today as he was taken into custody at his mother’s home in Ormond Beach.”
Officials said they will provide more details of the investigation on Friday and that their investigation is currently ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — The federal judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation case in Maryland has denied the Trump administration’s request to dismiss the case.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, at a hearing Monday in Maryland, pressed DOJ attorneys on why they claimed in May court filings that they could not return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after securing an indictment against him in Tennessee on charges of human smuggling.
“Your client secured an indictment against Mr. Abrego Garcia on May 21 … how could you six days later say you had no power to produce him?” Judge Xinis asked. “Why else would you file a criminal indictment against someone who you can’t produce? It’s illogical.”
Abrego Garcia, who was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution, was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Xinis, pointing to a filing submitted by the DOJ in May that said the U.S. government did not have the power to bring Abrego Garcia back from detention in El Salvador, repeatedly asked DOJ layers about the timeline of the criminal probe and whether the Tennessee indictment played a role in his release.
“Those are powerful arguments to say ‘I don’t have the power’… yet, at the same time, you’re putting in place the power of the prosecutorial arm to charge an individual, who you say will never come back to the United States, with a crime,” Judge Xinis said.
“You began a criminal investigation … on April 28, which was a month after this case began, and common sense would dictate that the only possible defensible use of investigative criminal resources would be if you eventually secured an indictment to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back,” Judge Xinis said.
When DOJ attorney Bridget O’Hickey said the investigation into Abrego Garcia in Tennessee did not begin on April 28, Judge Xinis said the attorney was contradicting the government’s sworn testimony in the criminal case.
“That’s noteworthy to me, because I do believe that your client has taken a different position in front of the Tennessee court,” Judge Xinis said.
O’Hickey said Abrego Garcia was not indicted “with the purpose of bringing him back.”
“He was indicted because he was under investigation for those criminal charges,” O’Hickey said.
When Judge Xinis asked the plaintiffs how they found out Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S., Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said, “We found out on ABC News.”
Judge Xinis was also scheduled to hear arguments Monday over whether Abrego Garcia should be transferred to Maryland as he awaits trial in Tennessee.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed an emergency motion last week seeking to have him returned to Maryland as he awaits trial, but government attorneys say they will seek to deport him to a country other than his native El Salvador, where he is prohibited from being sent due to a 2019 court order.
The magistrate judge overseeing the Tennessee case is expected to release him on bond as he awaits trial, setting up a battle over his potential removal.
In a court filing last week, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said he had been subjected to severe mistreatment including “beatings, severe deprivation, inadequate nutrition and psychological torture” while he was held in CECOT, arguing that he “could face persecution or torture if removed directly to various other countries, including but not limited to countries with notorious human rights abuses like Libya, South Sudan, and Eritrea.”
The next hearing in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case is set for July 16 in Tennessee.
Robert McGuire, acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, filed a motion last week to set a jury trial date “within 70 days of his initial appearance.”
(BOCA GRANDE, Fla.) — A 9-year-old girl was attacked by a shark while snorkeling off the Florida Gulf Coast, with the animal nearly biting her entire hand off, her family said.
At approximately 12 p.m. on Wednesday, 9-year-old Leah Lendel was swimming in Boca Grande, Florida, near the shore, with her mother and two younger siblings about 4 feet away from her, Leah’s family said in a statement provided to ABC News.
Leah then went underwater to snorkel, but as she came up, “she screamed,” the family said.
Her mother, Nadia Lendel, looked over and saw her daughter’s right hand “up to the wrist all in blood and mostly torn off,” the family said.
As the mother screamed for help, she attempted to get Leah and her other children out to shore, with her husband — who was snorkeling “some distance away” — swimming “as fast as possible to shore,” the family said.
Once Leah made it to the shore, nearby construction workers who were on their lunch break assisted the family by calling for paramedics and putting a towel “to make a tourniquet and stop the blood loss,” the family said.
One of the construction workers, Alfonso Tello, told ABC Southwest Florida affiliate WZVN the shark that attacked Leah was about 8 feet long.
“Everybody was in shock,” Tello told WZVN.
After paramedics arrived on scene, they decided to airlift Leah to Tampa General Hospital for treatment, the Boca Grande Fire Department told ABC News in a statement.
Leah underwent a “long surgery” once at the hospital, the family said.
“We ask for mostly prayers and privacy at this time so we can process the situation,” the family said in a statement.
The status of Leah’s condition as of Thursday remains unclear.
(NEW YORK) — After a week of testimony from star witness Cassie Ventura, federal prosecutors in the ongoing trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Monday started calling witnesses they believe could corroborate his ex-girlfriend’s allegations of threats, abuse and violence.
Dawn Richard, a former member of the pop group Danity Kane, told jurors that she personally witnessed Combs assaulting Ventura. Ventura’s former best friend Kerry Morgan recounted pleading with Ventura to leave what Morgan viewed as an abusive relationship. And Combs’ former assistant, David James, offered a glimpse of what it was like working for the rap mogul.
“This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it,” James recounted one of Combs’ employees telling him when he interviewed for the job.
Across six hours of testimony that played out like a legal tug-of-war, lawyers for Combs tried to cast doubt on prosecution witnesses and highlighted inconsistencies in the testimony, clawing back some of the credibility they might have built up with the jury during direct examination.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denies allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering, arguing that while he might have committed other crimes – like domestic abuse and illegal drug use – he has not sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone.
Testimony is set to resume Tuesday, when James retakes the stand to explain how he would prepare hotel rooms for Combs – a piece of testimony that prosecutors plan to use to establish what, they allege, is a criminal enterprise with Combs at its center. Such a criminal enterprise is a key to proving the racketeering charges prosecutors have filed against Combs.
Prosecutors are expected to call an escort known as “The Punisher” and to call Ventura’s mother on Tuesday.
Dawn Richard testified about star-studded dinner where Combs allegedly punched Ventura
Dawn Richard began her testimony after Ventura left the witness stand Friday. She resumed her appearance in court Monday morning by testifying about how she witnessed Combs beat Ventura multiple times.
Richard testified that she witnessed Combs punch his then-girlfriend Ventura in the face with a “closed fist” in 2009 before a music festival in Central Park. After Ventura put on sunglasses and makeup to hide the injury, Richard said she put on sunglasses “in solidarity” with Ventura. The jury then saw a photo of Richard, Ventura and another member of Danity Kane wearing sunglasses at the festival.
Richard also testified that the violence extended to other public settings, alleging that Combs punched Ventura in the stomach during a group dinner attended by Usher, Ne-Yo and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine. Richard mentioned that allegation in her civil lawsuit against Combs, but defense lawyers highlighted that Richard’s prior discussion of the dinner did not mention the high-profile guests.
Richard in 2024 sued Combs for assault, copyright infringement and false imprisonment, alleging — among other things — that he groped her on numerous occasions and forced her to endure inhumane work conditions. Combs denied all of the allegations and his attorneys last week filed a motion to dismiss the case.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said Richard’s account of an alleged assault has changed several times, prompting some members of the jury to visibly shake their heads and scribble notes. Westmoreland also suggested Richard agreed to testify against Combs because he ruined her music career by dismantling the music groups she had once been a part of.
“You felt like Mr. Combs ruined your career not once but twice,” Westmoreland said. “Yes,” Richard answered.
Ventura’s former best friend takes the stand
Ventura’s former best friend Kerry Morgan testified on Monday about two instances when, she said, she personally saw Combs assault Ventura.
She testified she saw Combs hit Ventura in a home Combs rented in Hollywood Hills, and she testified about a second instance when Combs — allegedly in her presence — assaulted Ventura during a trip to Jamaica.
“I heard her screaming and I went to the hallway. The hallway was extremely long. They were coming out of the master bedroom, and he was dragging her on the floor by her hair,” Morgan testified about the Jamaica trip.
Prosecutors also asked Morgan about the aftermath of a 2016 incident when Combs is accused of assaulting Ventura. Ventura has testified this occurred when she tried to leave a “freak-off” at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Part of that incident was captured on hotel closed-circuit security cameras.
Morgan’s account matched what Ventura told jurors last week, saying the police arrived after the incident but Ventura refused to cooperate.
Morgan said her relationship with Ventura ended in 2018 after she says Combs tried to choke Morgan and hit her with a wooden coat hanger. Morgan testified that Combs demanded she tell him “who Cassie was cheating on him with” while Ventura locked herself in a bathroom.
Morgan said she later accepted a $30,000 payment from Combs after she threatened to sue. She agreed to a confidentiality deal in return for the money, she testified.
On cross examination, defense lawyers questioned why Morgan has not rekindled her relationship with Ventura. They tried to reinforce the idea that Combs was violent simply out of jealousy and because of the drugs he was taking – not that he was using violence to coerce Ventura and keep her under his control.
“I draw the line at physical abuse,” Morgan said. “The reason I stopped speaking to her was she was not supportive of me after that incident.”
Combs’ former assistant testifies about ‘Mr. Combs’ kingdom’
David James, Combs’ former personal assistant, began his testimony on Monday by telling jurors about interviewing for the job he had with Combs.
As he entered the headquarters of Bad Boy Entertainment in New York, James said an employee remarked about a photo of Combs hanging on the wall. “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it,” James said the woman told him.
James testified about the demanding hours, the weapons Combs’ security staff carried and the time Ventura warned him about Combs.
“She said to me, ‘Man this lifestyle is crazy,'” James testified Ventura saying. “She said, ‘I can’t get out. You know Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life. He controls my music career, he gives me an allowance.'”
James’ testimony is set to resume on Tuesday morning, when he is expected to continue describing the alleged process of preparing hotel rooms for Combs.
That line of testimony could establish the broader enterprise of people who supported and enabled his activities.
Prosecutors release evidence from Ventura’s testimony
After four days of Ventura’s brutal and deeply intimate testimony last week, federal prosecutors Monday released many of the photos they have shown the jury in their effort to convict Combs in their sex trafficking and racketeering case.
Through the evidence, jurors were able to see some of the bruises, gashes and welts that Ventura said she suffered after Combs beat her. They also saw a knife that Ventura said she used to block a door and protect herself from Combs.
“I was getting a lot of unannounced visits from Sean where he was angry, and trying to kill two birds with one stone, to lock it and have a weapon,” she testified.
Prosecutors also released photos from the night Combs was arrested last year, including $9,000 in cash, substances that they said tested positive for ketamine and MDMA, and bottles of baby oil that were allegedly stocked by Combs for use during the sex parties that witnesses have described in court testimony.
