Ex-husband charged in double murder waives extradition to Ohio
Spencer and Monique Tepe are seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy Rob Misleh)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A Chicago man accused of gunning down his ex-wife and her husband in their home has waived extradition and will be transferred from Illinois to Ohio to face charges.
Michael McKee is charged with premeditated aggravated murder for allegedly shooting and killing his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, dentist Spencer Tepe, at their Columbus home on Dec. 30, according to police.
McKee, 39, wore a yellow jumpsuit as he made a brief first court appearance on Monday in Rockford, Illinois, where he was arrested on Saturday.
McKee did not enter a plea but assistant public defender Carie Poirier told the judge he intended to plead not guilty. A status hearing on his transfer to Ohio is scheduled for Jan. 19.
Police announced McKee’s arrest on Saturday after he was linked to a car seen on surveillance footage in the neighborhood, according to court documents.
McKee and Monique Tepe were married in 2015 and divorced in 2017, according to divorce records obtained by ABC Columbus affiliate WSYX. They did not have any children together, according to the records.
Spencer and Monique Tepe married in December 2020, according to their obituary.
They are survived by their two young children who were found safe inside the house after the Dec. 30 killings.
McKee’s arrest came one day before the scheduled celebration of life service for the couple.
“Today’s arrest represents an important step toward justice for Monique and Spencer,” the family said in a statement on Saturday. “Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon, but we are grateful to the City of Columbus Police Department, its investigators, and assisting law enforcement community. … As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.”
“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind,” the family said. “We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”
ABC News’ Matt Foster, Victoria Arancio and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem looks on during a meeting of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday said that in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, federal officials issued public statements about the incident based on “the best information” they had at the time and “what we knew to be true on the ground.”
Noem previously suggested on the day of the shooting that the agents’ actions were justified, claiming at a press briefing that Pretti had “attacked” officers and was “wishing to inflict harm” on them. But appearing Thursday on Fox News, Noem offered no evidence to support such claims, saying instead that the scene was “chaotic.”
After her initial statements, Minnesota officials were quick to push back on her public comments, pointing to the multiple videos from witnesses which appeared to tell a different story.
She said the FBI is now leading the investigation, though officials previously said DHS was investigating, with assistance from the FBI.
Noem’s shift in tone comes amid growing criticism of how quickly officials characterized the shooting. Some critics told ABC News that issuing definitive conclusions following immigration enforcement shootings is “incredibly irresponsible” and may undermine the long-term credibility of federal agencies.
The critics warned that rushing to label suspects as “domestic terrorists” — as White House adviser Stephen Miller and Noem did in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good — or declaring shootings justified before evidence is reviewed represents a departure from the norm.
“It’s just incredibly irresponsible to rush to conclusions,” said John Sandweg, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Obama administration. “When you have a senior adviser to the president and the cabinet secretary saying, ‘These are the facts, this is what happened’ … you’ve now undermined all the credibility and really made it impossible for the public to have confidence in that investigation.”
‘Public trust is everything’ An ABC News review of several recent incidents involving federal immigration agents found a consistent pattern: high-level officials publicized findings within hours of gunfire, only for those initial accounts to be challenged later by body camera footage, witness videos or court filings.
In at least five major cases, officials appeared to make public declarations about the incidents before formal investigations had reached final conclusions about those assertions.
“Public trust is everything to these agencies, and it just destroys them when you tell something that is so visibly and obviously contradicted by the video evidence,” Sandweg said.
Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff under the Biden administration, told ABC News that the rush to conclusions suggests the focus has shifted away from public safety toward a political narrative.
“It just shows that this is about the political debate. It’s not about actually arresting the most convicted criminals,” Houser said. “It should … create a lot of distrust that can tear at the core trust in law enforcement, especially federal law enforcement.”
In response to questions regarding the swiftness of the administration’s public comments and the information released following major incidents, a DHS spokesperson said, “DHS follows proper legal processes and protocols for all statements disseminated by the Department.”
What Pretti video shows In the shooting involving Pretti, DHS officials released a detailed statement just two and a half hours after the incident, claiming he “approached” officers with a handgun. Miller labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and a “would-be assassin” on social media less than four hours after the gunfire.
Noem, during her Thursday interview, responded to critics on Capitol Hill calling for her resignation by stating she is “following the law, and enforcing the laws like President Trump promised he would do.”
Video analyzed by ABC News showed agents pinning Pretti down and removing a weapon from his waist before the shooting occurred — contradicting the initial claims from officials. Three days later, Miller issued a statement acknowledging that the initial DHS account was based on “reports from CBP on the ground” and suggested protocol may not have been followed.
“Any experienced law enforcement professional will understand that initial information coming from the scene of a major incident is usually flawed, so you have to sort of take it with a grain of salt,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor who served as acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence and analysis under the Biden administration.
During Thursday’s appearance on Fox News, Noem said, “We will continue to follow the investigation that the FBI is leading and give them all the information that they need to bring that to conclusion and make sure the American people know the truth of the situation,” she said.
After announcing on Friday that the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting Pretti, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that “a single video should not determine an entire investigation.”
“We have said repeatedly over the past week that of course this is something that we are investigating and that is what we would always do in circumstances like this,” Blanche said.
Earlier shootings: Renee Good, Marimar Martinez Following the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, DHS issued a statement within two hours declaring that a “violent rioter” had “weaponized her vehicle” in an “act of domestic terrorism.” According to an ABC News analysis of verified video, Good can be seen turning her steering wheel to the right — away from the ICE agent — just over one second before the first of three gunshots was fired.
In October, less than four hours after Marimar Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago, a DHS assistant secretary posted that law enforcement was “forced” to fire defensive shots. A DHS statement that day labeled Martinez and another individual “domestic terrorists,” while Noem later characterized the incident as a “ten-car caravan” that “ambushed” and “stalked” agents.
During court hearings, an attorney representing Martinez told the court that body-worn camera footage did not align with the government’s allegations. A federal judge later dismissed the indictment against Martinez after the Department of Justice abruptly filed a motion to withdraw the case.
That same month, in an incident in California, DHS issued a statement claiming that during a vehicle stop, an “unknown individual” attempted to “run officers over by reversing directly at them without stopping.” The statement asserted that an ICE officer, “fearing for his life, fired defensive shots.”
However, a lawyer for Carlos Jimenez told ABC News that after an agent pulled out pepper spray, Jimenez began to maneuver his vehicle “to get around” and was shot in his back shoulder through the back passenger window.
Chicago shooting In another incident in September, an ICE officer shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez outside Chicago. According to a lawsuit filed by the state of Illinois, Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old father, was driving home from dropping his three-year-old son at day care. A DHS statement issued hours after the shooting claimed an officer “fearing for his life” was “seriously injured.”
But the Illinois complaint and body camera video obtained by ABC owned station WLS-TV revealed the agent who fired the weapon described his own injuries as “nothing major.”
“Videos of the incident did not corroborate DHS’s assertion that the shooting officer was ‘seriously injured’ by a ‘criminal illegal alien,'” the lawsuit states.
Cohen, the former DHS official, noted that describing incidents as domestic terrorism before an investigation is complete could later be viewed in court as prejudicial.
“When you make commentary on these types of incidents to advance an ideological or political narrative or objective, you run the risk of putting out inaccurate information and as a result, losing the public’s confidence,” Cohen said.
Sandweg, the former ICE official, told ABC News the only responsible approach for officials is to remain restrained in their public statements until there is reliable information.
“The only approach is … ‘We’re aware, we are conducting a full investigation,'” Sandweg said. “Public trust … is everything to these agencies. Once you destroy that, it bleeds over into everything else they do.”
Officials say an ice block crashed through the roof of a home in Whittier, California, on April 10, 2026. (Los Angeles County Supervisor)
(LOS ANGELES) — Federal authorities are investigating after a California resident reported that a large chunk of ice fell from the sky and crashed through the roof of a house and landed on a couch.
The incident occurred around 11:15 a.m. on Friday at a home in Whittier in Los Angeles County, according to local officials.
The resident reported hearing “what sounded like an explosion” and found a large block of dirty-looking ice on the living room couch, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office said in a press release on Tuesday.
The ice had crashed through the roof and ceiling, according to Hahn’s office, which released photos of the damage to the home.
No one was injured in the incident, Hahn’s office said.
Local law enforcement and fire personnel responded and classified the situation as a “suspicious circumstance,” and the resident submitted a report to the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Hahn.
The home is under the Los Angeles International Airport landing approach. Data from Flightradar24 shows there were planes flying over the house around the time of the incident, and there is a plane over the house approximately every 3 minutes.
Hahn has called for a “thorough and timely” investigation into the incident in a letter to the FAA. The letter, dated Tuesday, noted that a “large mass of ice penetrated the roof of a residential home, causing significant structural damage and posing substantial risk of injury or loss of life.”
“While such incidents are rare, the potential consequences are extremely serious,” Hahn wrote. “Whether the material originated from aircraft systems, waste leakage, or another source, this event raises important concerns about aviation safety over densely populated communities in Los Angeles County.”
The FAA said it is investigating, and that the agency investigates every report it receives alleging ice fell from an airplane and damaged property.
The homeowner, Thania Magana, had reached out to Hahn on Saturday, “requesting assistance ensuring this incident is properly investigated,” Hahn’s office said.
“We definitely want to know what it consists of and if it’s going to affect our health,” she told the station.
If the ice was due to a plane, Magana told KABC that she wants to “understand why it happens, because even right now as we’re speaking, there’s a plane flying over us and it’s scary.”
The Winn Correctional Center, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, in Winnfield, Louisiana, US, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Wayan Barre/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WINN PARISH, La.) — A Mexican migrant died last week in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, according to an agency notification sent to lawmakers, becoming the 47th person to die in ICE detention during the second Trump administration.
Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, 49, died on April 11 at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana.
In the notification, ICE said that Cabrera was found unresponsive and was transported to a local medical center.
“Despite life-saving efforts, at approximately 8:51 a.m., an onsite physician at WPMC pronounced Cabrera deceased,” the agency said.
Clemente is the 15th Mexican national to die in ICE custody since the administration began its immigration crackdown in 2025.
Last month, Mexican diplomat Vanessa Calva Ruiz called the recent deaths part of “an alarming, unacceptable trend” since the administration took office.
“These deaths reveal systemic failures, operational deficiencies, and possible negligence,” she said in Los Angeles.
ICE said that Clemente had prior convictions for disorderly conduct, drug possession, and probation violation, as well as an arrest for domestic violence. ABC News could not independently confirm these claims.
The increase in ICE deaths has coincided with an unprecedented rise in federal immigration detention. The number of people being held recently climbed to a record 70,000, the highest level in the agency’s 23-year history.
According to an ABC News analysis of ICE data, the first 14 months of the current term have been the deadliest period at federal detention centers since the COVID-19 pandemic. ABC News’ analysis found the current death rate is 11 per 100,000 admissions, compared to 7 per 100,000 last year and just 1 per 100,000 in 2022.
In a previous statement, an ICE spokesperson said, “Consistent with data over the last decade, death rates in custody are 0.009% of the detained population. As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens — including providing access to proper medical care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”
“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care,” the statement said.
