Murder suspect accidentally released from California jail: Officials
Isaiah Jamon Andrews in a police photo. (Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff)
(CONSTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif.) — Police are looking for a murder suspect who they say was accidentally released from a California jail.
Isaiah Jamon Andrews, 20, was mistakenly released from the Martinez Detention Facility, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office in a press release Monday.
A native of Kent, Washington, Andrews was held in California on local charges, a juvenile warrant out of Sacramento and an arrest warrant for homicide in Seattle, per the sheriff’s office. He was intended to be extradited to a jail in Washington.
“After Sheriff’s Office staff realized Andrews had been released, we launched a search of the immediate area and confirmed that Andrews was no longer in the area. The search for Andrews is ongoing by the U.S. Marshals Service. Local law enforcement agencies have also been notified,” officials said in the press release.
“I think sometimes people forget that it is a criminal justice system. Cops, courts and corrections is kind of how I always remember it. And although we did our due diligence, the courts and that part of the system however did not,” Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes told ABC News’ San Francisco affiliate ABC 7.
Anyone with information about Andrews’ whereabouts can call (866) 846-3592 or email tips@so.cccounty.us.
(NEW YORK) — A California woman is facing six years in prison for allegedly registering her dog to vote and casting mail-in ballots in two elections, one of which was counted, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, was charged with five felonies, including perjury, procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, casting a ballot when not entitled to vote and registering a non-existent person to vote.
The dog’s vote was successfully counted in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election but was rejected in the 2022 primary, according to officials.
In 2024, Yourex told the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ Office that she had registered her dog, Maya Jean Yourex, to vote, and the registrar of voters then contacted the District Attorney’s Office.
On her social media, according to the district attorney, Yourex posted a picture of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker and posing with her ballot in January 2022.
Another post from October 2024 showed a photograph of Maya’s dog tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption, “maya is still getting her ballot” even though the dog had previously passed away, the district attorney’s office said.
Her arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 9 but postponed until Dec. 10, according to ABC Los Angeles station, KABC.
(NEW YORK) — Two New Jersey teenagers have been arrested in connection with an alleged ISIS-inspired Halloween attack in Michigan that the FBI announced it had thwarted last week, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The NYPD and FBI-Newark arrested Tomas Kaan Guzel, 19, before he could board a flight to Istanbul, the sources said.
A second 19-year-old, Milo Sedanet, was also arrested, according to sources.
Two other men, Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud, were arrested on Friday for their alleged roles in the plot, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
They allegedly “used online encrypted communications and social media applications to share extremist and ISIS-related materials,” and allegedly used the term “pumpkin day” for their plans, according to the complaint.
According to sources, an NYPD undercover had been monitoring Guzel, who was allegedly in communication with those arrested in Michigan and others overseas. The group allegedly talked about an attack on the LGBTQ community in Detroit and about traveling to Syria to train with ISIS, sources said.
Guzel allegedly had planned to travel in two weeks to Turkey and onward to Syria from there, but it’s believed he got spooked after last week’s arrests and moved his flight up, sources said.
There were searches at his home in Montclair and also in Seattle as part of the investigation, the sources said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin speaks during a press conference, May 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Craig Hudson For The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Ed Martin, a top DOJ official and director of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, on Wednesday withdrew his request to an attorney for a retired FBI agent who was among the first to respond to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that suggested the agent could be under criminal investigation for testifying at the defamation trial of conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones.
Martin’s decision to retract his letter came after an admonishment from the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a person familiar with the matter told ABC News. Blanche ordered Martin to rescind his letter to Mattei on Wednesday following growing backlash after Jones made it public on his X account Tuesday.
“Dear Sir,” Martin said in the letter Wednesday to Christopher Mattei, the attorney for retired FBI agent William Aldenberg. “At this time, I write to inform you that there is no investigation of you or your client. Because of this, I hereby withdraw my request for information from you or your former client.”
The reversal came a day after Jones posted a copy of the letter Martin had sent to Mattei requesting a series of responses about Aldenberg’s involvement in the lawsuit that resulted in a $1.4 billion judgment against Jones.
“I am writing to request information from you regarding your client FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg and his role in certain litigation that may benefit him personally and that may impact our citizens and our legal system,” Martin wrote in the initial letter. “As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit. I encourage you to review those.”
Jones had previously posted a picture on Sep. 12 of him standing next to Martin, three days before Martin’s letter was sent to Mattei.
In a statement to ABC News Tuesday, Mattei blasted Martin over the letter describing it as the latest step in Jones’ campaign of harassment targeting Aldenberg and the Sandy Hook families.
“Thanks to the courage of the Sandy Hook families, Infowars will soon be finished,” Mattei said. “In his last gasps, Jones is once again harassing them, only now with the corrupt complicity of at least one DOJ official. It’s as disgusting as it is pathetic, and we will not stand for it.”
Jones was previously ordered to pay Aldenberg $90 million stemming from the defamation suit he and families of the Sandy Hook victims brought against Jones for harassment and threats they suffered in the wake of the tragedy as a result of conspiracy theories stoked by Jones.
At trial, Aldenberg broke into tears as he described being one of the first to arrive at the scene and entering the classrooms where 20 children had been killed.
Aldenberg later testified about years of threats and harassment he was forced to endure from people who bought into Jones’ theories about the shooting being a staged event to strip people of their 2nd Amendment rights.
Among the questions posed by Martin to Aldenberg’s attorneys was whether Aldenberg revealed “any financial benefit that might accrue to him as he led litigation and recruited other plaintiffs?” He further asked whether Aldenberg made clear that his testimony at Jones’ trial was “in his personal capacity” if he recused himself from any “matters in his work to protect himself and others from conflict.”
Martin had requested Mattei issue a formal response by Sept. 29.
During his previous tenure as the Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., before his nomination had to be pulled due to lack of Republican support, Martin sent a series of similar letters to high-profile Democrats and other opponents of the president suggesting he had launched similar investigations into them.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to questions regarding whether Attorney General Pam Bondi or other department leadership were aware of Martin’s inquiry to Mattei and if they had ordered him to rescind his letter.
