NYC man charged with murder after intentionally hitting 16-year-old girl with his car: DA
WABC
(NEW YORK) — A New York City man has been charged with murder after he intentionally hit three people with his car, including a 16-year-old girl, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Edwin Cruz Gomez, 38, was arraigned on Sunday on charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, vehicular manslaughter and “other crimes” for “intentionally driving his vehicle at four people, including a teenager and his mother whom he sexually propositioned just minutes earlier,” the district attorney’s office said in a press release on Monday.
The incident occurred at approximately 4:10 a.m. on Saturday when the suspect — who was with several other men outside the Prima Donna Restaurant in Queens, New York — encountered the teen and her mother, “offering them both money for sexual acts,” officials said.
After the suspect “subjected 16-year-old Jhoanny Alvarez and her mother to crude sexual solicitations and harassment,” a verbal altercation, which then grew to a physical altercation, ensued between the teen’s stepfather and the suspect, officials said. Bystanders were able to intervene and separate the men, officials said.
The victim, her mother, stepfather and boyfriend proceeded to walk away from the restaurant, which is when the suspect got into his car, “barreled his 3-ton vehicle into them” and “pinned the teen against a pole” with his Chevrolet Suburban, the district attorney’s office said.
After striking the teen, her mother and stepfather, he then proceeded to put the SUV in reverse, struck an unoccupied van, abandoned his vehicle and “fled the scene on foot,” officials said.
Once emergency responders arrived on the scene, the 16-year-old was determined to be deceased, officials said. The teen’s mother was transported to a local hospital “for treatment of injuries to her leg sustained during the collision,” officials said.
The suspect, who approached “uninformed NYPD officers” a few blocks away from the scene, reported he was assaulted and then “led officers back to the location of the collision,” officials said.
Cruz’s blood alcohol content was then measured to be 0.137%, well above the legal limit of 0.08%, officials said. He was taken into custody the same day, according to court records.
The suspect’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the district attorney’s office.
If convicted, he could face 25 years to life in prison, the district attorney’s office said.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement that officials will “seek justice” for the teen and her family.
Cruz’s attorney did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — The risk of the catastrophic flooding that struck Texas Hill Country as people slept on July 4 and left at least 120 dead was potentially underestimated by federal authorities, according to an ABC News analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data, satellite imagery and risk modeling.
Some of the youth camps and recreational areas most devastated by the extreme weather were established on land designated by the FEMA as “special flood hazard areas” or in the river’s floodway, making them especially vulnerable to the July 4 flash floods that exceeded some federal estimates for a worst-case scenario.
At some points, water extended for hundreds of feet outside the Guadalupe River’s banks and beyond FEMA estimates, according to satellite data. First Street, a risk modeling company, told ABC News that the company believes that more than double the 8 million homes nationwide that are designated by FEMA to be in flood zones are actually at risk, finding that government models are outdated and fail to consider extreme weather events. Devastated camp ‘predominantly in a flood zone’
Along the river banks in Kerr County, the all-girls Camp Mystic was overrun by flood waters, which claimed the lives of 27 campers and counselors and swept multiple buildings from their foundations. According to FEMA maps, more than a dozen of the 36 cabins were located within areas designated as high risk for potential flooding on the river and nearby Cypress Creek.
“We knew this camp was predominantly in a flood zone, and even the areas that we showed that were outside were right on the edge of a flood zone,” said Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications research at First Street, which provides climate data for companies like Zillow and Redfin.
Multiple buildings at Camp Mystic, including four cabins, were built within the Guadalupe River’s “regulatory floodway,” where most new construction is severely limited due to flood risk and to “protect human life and health,” according to Kerr County’s Flood Damage Prevention Order from 2020. The document noted that the stretch of land where Camp Mystic is situated is “an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of flood waters which carry debris, potential projectiles and erosion potential.”
An additional 12 cabins at Camp Mystic were built on land designated as “special flood hazard areas,” where residents face a 1% chance of flooding annually and are normally required to have flood insurance.
“These should guide where you should or should not construct, whether you should have mitigation processes in place, like putting homes on elevated beds,” said Jonathan Sury, a senior staff associate at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University in Manhattan.
But some of those structures at the nearly 100-year-old camp were built decades before FEMA began issuing its flood maps in the 1960s and were likely permitted to remain despite modern construction regulations, Porter noted.
A row of cabins at Camp Mystic sat directly behind the “special flood hazard area” and was deemed a lower risk for typical flooding. However, the extreme flash-flooding over Independence Day weekend inundated even the area thought to be at lower risk for flooding, satellite and radar analysis show.
‘Outdated’ maps
At its maximum point, the floodwaters were recorded to be more than 500 feet from the Guadalupe River banks, and more than 200 feet from the edge of the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, according to the satellite data. The satellite data was collected and provided to ABC News by ICEYE, a company operating synthetic aperture radar satellites, which can obtain real-time data worldwide by using radar pulses to generate data. The data collected measures the depth of the water in a given location.
Other areas along the Guadalupe River were not only vulnerable to flooding but also saw a higher-than-expected water level, exceeding the area marked for a 0.2% annual chance of inundation. Experts told ABC News that Texas practices “very little oversight” over youth camps, and state officials last week approved Camp Mystic’s emergency plans.
At the Heart O’ the Hills Camp for Girls – where 1 person was killed – at least seven structures were built in the Special Flood Hazard Area. The data shows that the floodwater reached up to 220 feet from the riverbed.
Floodwaters devastated RV parks north of the other camps on the Guadalupe River. More than 60 RV spots had been situated in the FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area. Satellite data shows the area was covered in floodwater spanning the entire RV park.
Lorena Guillen, the owner of the Blue Oak RV Park, told ABC News that she was familiar with where her business fell on the FEMA flood map and never considered that the floodwaters could reach as far as they did last week.
“It’s always come up…but there was nothing that would give us an indication that the flood was going to get all the way up 35, 40 feet high in 40 minutes,” she said. “Everything is gone. And there is so much debris, so much cleanup to do that it is going to take, it’s going to take months and months.”
Requests for comment to the camps and FEMA were not immediately answered.
“Our City of Kerrville and Kerr County leadership are committed to a transparent and full review of processes and protocols,” the Kerr County Joint Information Center said in an email. “The special session [of the state legislature] will be a starting point in which we will begin this work, but our entire focus since day one has been rescue and reunification.”
According to Porter, the extent of the flooding at Camp Mystic and other areas is representative of a broader problem with FEMA’s modeling, which places 8 million properties across the country at risk of a 100-year flood.
FEMA’s flood maps are generally used by the government to determine what insurance requirements are needed for homeowners, according to Lidia Cano Pecharroman, a researcher at MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning.”When planning for flooding we cannot be over-reliant on these maps,” she said. “They are a useful tool but they are based on limited modeling and data.”
FEMA’s model considers factors like coastal storm surge and risks of flooding along river channels, but does not take into account heavy precipitation, such as the extreme rains that swept across Texas last week, Porter said.
“They’re outdated in the sense that they’re not climate corrected,” Porter said. “As those intensities increase of those rainfall events, we’re getting more rainfall happening all at once. It’s filling the waterways, and we’re seeing rapid increases in the river levels.”
First Street estimates that there are more than 2.2 times the number of properties at risk of hundred-year floods than FEMA’s model suggests.
“It’s a devastating event that occurred, but people should look at it and say, you know, if we know our risk, we should retrofit our buildings,” said Porter. “We should make sure that they’re designed to a standard that can withstand the risk that exists in an area right outside of that flood zone.”
(PHOENIX) — Lori Daybell is set to be sentenced in Arizona on Friday for conspiring with her late brother to kill her fourth husband in 2019.
She will also be sentenced for conspiring with her brother to kill her niece’s ex-husband in a failed drive-by shooting that same year.
Daybell was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in two separate trials in Maricopa County this spring. She faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years for each conviction, prosecutors said.
Her sentencing hearing is underway in Phoenix before Judge Justin Beresky, who presided over both trials.
The so-called “doomsday mom” is already serving life in prison after being convicted in 2023 of murdering two of her children. Prosecutors in the Idaho trial argued that she and her current husband, Chad Daybell, thought the children were possessed zombies and murdered them in 2019 so that they could be together. She was also found guilty of stealing Social Security survivor benefits allocated for the care of her children after they went missing.
Similarly, prosecutors in Maricopa County argued that she conspired with her brother to kill her estranged husband of 13 years, Charles Vallow, so she could get his $1 million life insurance policy and be with Chad Daybell, an author of religious fiction books whom she married four months after the deadly shooting.
Prosecutors further said she invoked their “twisted” religious beliefs as justification for the murder and gave her brother “religious authority” to kill Vallow because they believed he was possessed by an evil spirit they referred to as “Ned.”
In the first of her Arizona trials, Lori Daybell argued that her brother, Alex Cox, shot Vallow in self-defense in her home in Chandler, Arizona, in July 2019.
She was then found guilty in a second trial of scheming with Cox to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece. Three months after Vallow’s killing, Boudreaux called 911 to report that someone driving by in a Jeep shot at his vehicle outside his home in Gilbert, Arizona.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Boudreaux continued to live in fear following the failed attempt on his life, wondering if Cox would “return to finish the job.”
Cox died from natural causes later in December 2019.
Lori Daybell, 51, did not take the stand or call any witnesses in either trial, in which she represented herself. In her closing statement, she argued that her family has been struck by tragedy and that she did not conspire to commit any crime.
Her sentencing hearing comes after failed attempts at getting new trials on both counts. After being convicted of conspiring to kill Vallow, she also unsuccessfully tried to remove Judge Beresky from the case, claiming he was biased against her.
She frequently clashed with the judge while representing herself during the trials. During the second trial, Beresky at one point removed her from the courtroom after she became combative during discussions about her character. The judge had warned that if she referred to herself as having “great character,” that could open the door for the state to introduce evidence to rebut that character, including regarding her previous convictions in Idaho.
Both Lori and Chad Daybell were found guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children in separate trials in Fremont County, Idaho. Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, went missing months after Charles Vallow was killed. Their remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Chad Daybell in June 2020 following a monthslong search.
They were also found guilty of conspiring to kill Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died in October 2019 — two weeks before Lori and Chad Daybell married in Hawaii. Chad Daybell was found guilty of murdering her.
Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole, while Chad Daybell was sentenced to death for the three murders and now awaits execution on Idaho’s death row.
Victim impact statements
Several of Lori Daybell’s relatives have addressed the court ahead of the sentencing, touching on the loss of Vallow as well as JJ and Tylee.
Her eldest son, Colby Ryan, from her second marriage, remembered Vallow as a generous man.
“My father, Charles Vallow, cared for his family. He took care of our family, and he made sure we had a good life,” Ryan said.
He said his mother told him Charles Vallow had died from a heart attack, before he learned the truth, and spoke about the pain of losing his father and then his siblings.
“I’m here to tell you the effect that this has had on me. In simple terms, each one of my family members was taken from us all in one swoop,” Ryan said.
Regarding his mother, he said it “must be a very sad life to smile your way through all the pain you’ve caused.”
“Rather than being able to acknowledge the pain that she has caused, she would rather say that Charles, Tylee and JJ’s deaths were a family tragedy and not her evil doing,” he said. “Quite frankly, I believe that Lori Vallow herself is the family tragedy.”
One of Vallow’s sisters, Susan Vallow, said the day her brother died “changed my life forever.”
“My brother’s death was a deliberate act of evil and self-seeking financial gain. Your greed has caused so much pain to this day,” she said virtually.
Kay Woodcock, another one of Charles Vallow’s sisters and JJ’s biological grandmother, read a letter she wrote from the perspective of JJ in court.
“I can’t be here to read this letter, because I am dead. I was murdered by the defendant Lori Daybell, or as I used to call her, mom,” she read. “See, there are a whole lot of tragedies that have happened to my family, and all of them are the result of my mom’s actions.”
Vallow “never would have let her hurt me, and I know he died protecting me,” the letter said.
“I should be 13 years old now, but I’m forever seven,” she read.
At the end of the letter, she screamed at Lori Daybell, “I trusted you!” before breaking down in tears.
Her husband, Larry Woodcock, his anger visceral, called Lori Daybell a “narcissist, psychopath, delusional murderer.”
“You’re nothing, murderess,” he said. “I can’t stand you.”
Following remarks by several members of his family, including his siblings and current wife, Boudreaux addressed how the attempted murder has impacted him.
“The betrayal by someone connected to my family has left me battling overwhelming emotions over the years,” he said, his voice shaky. “I felt fear, paranoia. I lived with constant vigilance, loneliness, regret, sadness, depression, anger, heartache and embarrassment.”
He said he has chosen to forgive Lori Daybell so he can be a better father, husband, son, neighbor and friend. “But I had never seen any remorse or acknowledgement from Lori,” he said.
Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — Several Fourth of July celebrations have been canceled in Los Angeles over fears of raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to local officials and event organizers.
In early June, ICE agents carried out a series of immigration sweeps across Southern California, sparking protests in Los Angeles that spread nationwide as the raids impacted other parts of the country.
The threat of continued ICE raids has continued, prompting some officials and organizers to express concern over the welfare of revelers congregating in large celebratory gatherings.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation said it postponed the East Los Angeles Rockin’ 4th of July celebration — as well as the Summer Movies and Concert in the Parks series that takes place at Schabarum Park — due to potential ICE raids.
“Out of caution, and in response to recent ICE enforcement activity impacting our communities, we are prioritizing safety and well-being of our residents, visitors, and staff,” the parks department wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.
Organizers for the Gloria Molina Grand Park Summer Block Party in Los Angeles County wrote on an Instagram post that the event is being postponed out of “an abundance of caution.”
“We know this is disappointing news,” organizers said. “We were so looking forward to celebrating with all of you at #TheParkforEveryone. Please know that your safety is our absolute first priority.”
The party was scheduled to take place Friday afternoon through the nighttime fireworks show.
Postponements and cancellations also occurred in the Bell Gardens and Cudahy, which are predominately Hispanic communities, ABC Los Angeles station KABC reported.
In addition, the El Sereno Bicentennial Committee canceled its 66th Annual Independence Day Parade after several entries were withdrawn leading up to the holiday, organizers announced on June 20. The is typically filled with local groups, schools, organizations and performers as well as classic cars and motorcycle stunt shows on Route 66.
“The people who participate in the parade are some of the most patriotic people you would meet,” parade organizers said in a statement. “Our community has always been a melting pot of many cultures and beliefs. It is what has given our town its strength and resiliency.”
Independence Day celebrations at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, however, are expected to continue — but this year with a drone show, rather than fireworks.
But events in public spaces feel “dangerous” for many residents, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who oversees District 14, told KABC.
“This is not the time to host large public gatherings because people are afraid,” Jurado said. “For Fourth of July and Independence, it rings hollow for a lot of our constituents here.”
Elsewhere throughout the country, security protocols were ramping up ahead of the holiday. The New York City Police Department is expected to deploy hundreds of officers and impose closures on roads, bridges and train routes due to a heightened threat environment, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Wednesday.
Lone wolf actors are anticipated to be the biggest threat to 4th of July festivities in major cities like New York and San Francisco, multiple federal law enforcement agencies warned.
