Father kills 2 daughters, their mother in Miami stabbing murder-suicide
Miami police car (tzahiV/Getty Images)
(MIAMI) — A man, woman and two girls were found stabbed to death in what investigators believe is a murder-suicide in Miami.
Investigators said they believe 42-year-old Ryan Charles Whiten killed 46-year-old Melanie Lauren Hyer, 11-year-old Savannah Whiten and 8-year-old Sienna Whiten before taking his own life, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Ryan Charles Whiten was the biological father of Savannah Whiten and Sienna Whiten, and Hyer was the girls’ mother, according to the sheriff’s office.
Doral Police Officers responded to a residence in Miami-Dade for a welfare check on Tuesday at around 7:30 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Officers entered the residence when they arrived on the scene to find a woman, man and two girls all unresponsive, according to the sheriff’s office. All four individuals suffered stab wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.
“The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau investigation is currently leading detectives to believe this incident was a murder-suicide. Investigators are continuing to work closely with the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office as the investigation remains active,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Undated photo of the VSU campus. (Facebook/Virginia State University)
(PETERSBURG, Va.) — A lockdown has been lifted at Virginia State University after a shooting outside residence halls left five people injured, one of them critically. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
Officers responded near the VSU Quad Annexes at around 1:30 a.m. local time Saturday to find five individuals suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the university.
All five individuals were transferred to area hospitals. One is in critical condition while the four others have non-life threatening injuries.
“Although the lockdown has been lifted, members of the VSU community are asked to remain mindful of the ongoing law enforcement activity and avoid the immediate area where investigators are processing the scene,” the university said Saturday morning.
A significant law enforcement presence remains on campus while the investigation continues, the university said.
Chesterfield County Police are leading the investigation, with assistance from Virginia State University Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information related to the shooting is urged to contact Chesterfield County Police at 804-748-1251, Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660, or VSU Police at 804-524-5411.
Office buildings tower over midtown Manhattan on October 16, 2025 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Several Midtown Manhattan blocks were evacuated Tuesday morning after construction workers discovered the structure of an office building being converted into residential housing was compromised on the 21st floor, officials said.
New York City Fire Department and Department of Buildings crews went to 235 East 42nd Street, which is one block west of the United Nations headquarters, around 8:11 a.m. after workers “observed structural support beams beginning to buckle,” the NYPD said.
That caused the 21st through 26th floors of the building to start caving under the stress, officials said.
The 37-story commercial building is currently undergoing renovations to convert it into a residential building, according to the DOB. It is one of the largest office-to-apartment conversion projects in city history, officials said.
There were no reported injuries and all construction workers were safely evacuated, according to police.
Other buildings near 235 East 42nd Street were also evacuated, including a nearby Hampton Inn, according to officials.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning that among the evacuated locations was a school with 400 students.
“Our top priority right now is the safety of those who live in this area and those who work in this area. And DOB inspectors and engineers are on site working quickly to secure the site as well as that surrounding area,” he said.
Several nearby streets were closed off as a precaution while building inspectors and FDNY personnel inspected the building.
In this undated file photo, the State Department building is shown in Washington, D.C. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund filed a motion Wednesday asking for a stay and a preliminary injunction barring the U.S. government from “sharing the confidential information of Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian Government” while the issue is adjudicated in court.
The filing came a week after the organization sued the Trump administration over those allegations.
According to that complaint, many Iranian asylum seekers are pro-democracy protesters, members of religious minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community who have sought refuge in the U.S. — and that disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian government puts them “at risk of persecution, torture, and death” should they be deported back to Iran.
Wednesday’s motion also asks the government “to take the necessary steps to prevent the removal of any detained individuals whose confidential information has already been shared with the Iranian Government,” according to the filing.
In the filing, the IALDF alleges that the sharing of information was started in March of 2025, and that since late September 2025, at least three deportation flights have taken place, returning more than 100 Iranian nationals to Iran.
The filing includes 11 declarations by Iranian detainees in the U.S., more than half of which describe interactions, while in detention, with Iranian officials who knew details about their asylum claims.
“It’s shocking to think that at the same time the United States is engaged in hostilities with Iran, that the United States is handing over immigration files from ICE to the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, DC,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Public Citizen who filed the case on behalf of IALDF. “These files are full of extremely confidential and sensitive information.”
“It basically spells out all the reasons somebody in the United States fears being returned to Iran and that could be because they participated in pro-democracy demonstrations; it could be because they have converted to a minority religion like Christianity; it could be that they’re part of the LGBTQ community,” Kirkpatrick said. “That kind of information is exactly the kind of information that they — that would result in their persecution if they went back to Iran.”
“They are terrified,” said Ali Rahnama, the interim executive director of IALDF, saying they’re scared not only for themselves but for family and friends back in Iran. “I want everyone to know these are not statistics; these are human beings who trusted the U.S. government and our laws,” he said.
The documents in the filing also relate details about an alleged phone call and meeting between IALDF board member Cyril Mehri and a senior Iranian official with the Iranian Interest Section in the United States. “According to the Senior Official, ICE has provided the Iranian Government with immigration documents related to each detainee, including asylum applications and related case files,” the filing said.
The IALDF argues that the government’s actions in sharing information without the consent of the detained individuals are unlawful.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing information with the Iranian government, writing in a social media post, “These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE. ICE meets and works to get travel documents for detainees with every country. ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives.”
“Consistent with established protocols, ICE provides illegal aliens the opportunity to contact their consular post and facilitates consular access to detained individuals, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policy,” the DHS post said. “We will continue to use all lawful options to deport illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities.”
A State Department spokesperson, following the filing of the lawsuit last week, said that the department, as a general matter, does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation, or on private diplomatic discussions.
