Police chief speaks out about mysterious murders of Ohio dentist, wife: ‘Disturbing’
Spencer and Monique Tepe are seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy Rob Misleh)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Columbus, Ohio, police chief is speaking out for the first time since the mysterious murders of dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife, Monique Tepe.
The couple was found shot to death in their home on Dec. 30, Columbus police said. Their two young children were found safe inside.
Authorities said they believe the couple was killed between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on their home’s second floor.
Earlier this week, police released video of a person of interest. Police said the video showed an individual walking in an alley near the victims’ house during that 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. timeframe.
A motive hasn’t been identified, the chief said.
“I know it’s frustrating for people, I know they want answers,” Bryant said. “As soon as we’re able to provide more information, we will absolutely be coming back to talk about that. … But right now it’s premature for us to be able to say what the motive is, or, we don’t have a suspect identified at this point.”
She added, “We want to bring some justice to the family.”
The Tepes’ brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, said they spent Christmas together days before the murders.
“We did Christmas night together, and then the following day we just did a, kind of, post-Christmas lounging and watching movies and had dinner. And the next morning they left,” he told ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” “How would I ever know that would be the last time I would’ve hung out with Spence like that?”
“We were totally blindsided by what happened,” he said.
The Tepes’ family and friends will come together on Sunday for a celebration of life service.
The booking photo for Tyler Matthew Johns. Henderson Police Department
(HENDERSON, Nev.) — The suspect who allegedly shot and killed an 11-year-old boy during a road rage incident in Nevada said he “did not know there was a kid” in the back seat of the vehicle when he opened fire, according to a declaration of arrest obtained by ABC News.
Tyler Matthew Johns, 22, was arrested on Friday and booked for open murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, according to the Henderson Police Department.
Johns remains held without bail after making his first court appearance on Saturday. The 22-year-old will appear in court again on Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time.
The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Friday, when two vehicles in traffic began “jockeying for positions trying to pass each other on the congested freeway,” police said during a press conference on Friday.
One of the vehicles tried to pass on the shoulder of the freeway, which is when both drivers rolled down their windows and began arguing, police said.
Johns, who was in a four-door sedan, allegedly fired a single shot from a handgun at a hybrid SUV driven by the victim’s stepfather, identified as Valente Ayala — hitting the 11-year-old sitting in the back seat, police said.
The boy, identified as Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, was on his way to school, officials said.
After the child was shot, Ayala then rammed the suspect’s vehicle to stop him from fleeing the scene, causing both of them to come to a stop in the middle of the freeway, officials said.
Both drivers got out of their vehicles and proceeded to get into a heated exchange as a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer happened to be driving by, officials said.
During this argument, two witnesses got in between the two men, with Ayala yelling that the suspect had killed his son, according to the declaration of arrest.
The witnesses then proceeded to open the rear driver’s side passenger door and “observed a juvenile male slumped over in the seat with copious amounts of blood coming from or about the head,” according to the declaration of arrest.
Johns had “spontaneously admitted to officers that he had discharged his firearm” and stated he “did not know there was a kid in the back,” according to the declaration of arrest document.
He then “turned around and placed his hands behind his back without prompting from the officers, in what appeared to allow them to place handcuffs on his wrists,” the declaration of arrest said.
Shortly after the suspect was taken into custody, the Henderson Fire Department arrived at the scene and transported the child to a local hospital, but “despite their best efforts,” the child succumbed to his injuries, police said. The boy’s cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the head, the Clark County Coroner said on Monday.
“We lost a life today that we didn’t have to lose,” Henderson Police Department Chief Reggie Rader said during a press conference last week.
Ayala told officials he believed the suspect “intended to shoot him, but based on their speeds,” the bullet struck the child, according to the declaration of arrest.
Ayala was not armed during the road rage incident nor does he own any firearms, the declaration of arrest said.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is maintaining a presence at COP30, despite the Trump administration declining to send an official delegation to the climate conference in Brazil.
This is the first time since the inaugural Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995 that the U.S. will not be officially represented at the annual climate summit.
However, a large number of state and local representatives — as well as environmental nonprofits based in the U.S. — are in attendance.
A coalition of 100 local U.S. leaders — including governors, mayors and other top city and state officials — made the trip to Belem, Brazil, as part of the U.S. Climate Alliance.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, among the notable Americans at COP30, bashed President Donald Trump for disregarding the event, which kicked off Monday.
“While Donald Trump skips the world stage, California is showing up — leading, partnering, and proving what American climate leadership looks like,” Newsom said on Tuesday.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, said in a press conference on Friday that the “Trump administration simply does not represent the American public on climate issues.”
Whitehouse, a ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, accused the current administration of representing the fossil fuel industry, “most particularly the big fossil fuel donors who contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump’s political campaign.”
Why the U.S. did not send any delegates to COP30 The Trump administration declined to send an official delegation to COP30, according to the White House.
“The U.S. is not sending any high level representatives to COP30,” a White House official told ABC News ahead of the start of the conference. “The president is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships.”
Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told The Associated Press that COP30 is “essentially a hoax.”
“It’s not an honest organization looking to better human lives,” Wright told the AP, follow a two-day business conference in Athens.
Wright added that he may attend next year’s climate conference “just to try to deliver some common sense.”
The record-breaking U.S. federal government shutdown, which ended late Wednesday, also prevented federal lawmakers from attending the conference.
Who is at COP30? Most of the nearly 200 countries that participate in the UNFCCC attend COP.
A total of 193 countries, plus the European Union, registered a delegation for the summit. Even North Korea sent a delegation to the climate summit, according to a Carbon Brief analysis.
The only other countries not in attendance are Afghanistan, Myanmar and San Marino, with each having displayed “sporadic” attendance at past conferences, according to Carbon Brief.
Other notable U.S. politicians who made the event include Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former Vice President Al Gore.
Several mayors of American cities are also in attendance, including Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
American cities have always been at the forefront of innovation and climate action, said Gallego, chair of Climate Mayors and C40 Cities vice chair, in a statement.
“Mayors across the country are doubling down to fill the current void of leadership at the federal level,” Gallego said.
Other notable attendees from the U.S. at COP30 this year include Taryn Finnessey, managing director of the U.S. Climate Alliance.
Why experts say it’s important that the US participates in COP30 It is integral that the U.S., as one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, to be present at every COP, environmental advocates told ABC News.
The U.S. shapes markets, capital flows and technology pathways, and therefore engagement by Americans signals to investors that the world’s largest economy understands the competitiveness, innovation, security and supply-chain stakes of the energy transition, Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, told ABC News.
“The U.S. has a decisive role in global climate, energy and industrial policy, so sub-national leaders, non-state actors and businesses showing up at COP30 matters,” Mendiluce said.
Being on the ground at COP is “essential” so delegations can engage with “full strength,” Max Frankel, director of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute, told ABC News.
In addition, the scope and urgency of the climate crisis demands an international response, Max Holmes, president and CEO of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told ABC News.
It is important to let other countries know that many Americans are still working to combat climate change, Lynda Hopkins, supervisor of California’s 5th district, County of Sonoma, told ABC News.
Although the White House isn’t in Belem to represent U.S. interest, Americans at COP30 are still working for solutions that are in the best interest of the country, Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, told ABC News.
“While the Trump administration retreats, the people and companies here are seizing the opportunity to innovate, create jobs, and build safer, healthier futures,” Krupp said.
Although Hopkins said she and other American subnational delegates were “warmly received” by other countries, some prominent figures at COP30 indicated that the U.S. was not needed at the conference to accomplish goals.
Christiana Figueres, a diplomat from Costa Rica who played a key role in the inception of the 2015 Paris Agreement, said the U.S. would not be able to “do their direct bullying” due to the Trump administration’s boycott of the summit.
“I actually think it is a good thing,” Figueres said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Figueres then said, “Ciao, bambino,” which translates to “Bye, little boy,” in Italian, in response to Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement for the second time.
Patrick Drupp, director of climate policy for the Sierra Club, described the Trump administration’s absence as “shortsighted decision” and a “slap in the face” to Americans who want clean air and water and lower energy costs.
“The reality is that this work will continue with or without America,” Frankel said.
Federal law enforcement agents detain a demonstrator during a raid in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. Minnesota officials are suing over the unprecedented surge of US immigration authorities in the state, taking the Trump administration to court days after a federal agent shot and killed a Minneapolis woman. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo issued in May authorizes agents to enter the homes of those suspected of being in the U.S. illegally with an administrative warrant — not a warrant signed by a judge — in order to make immigration arrests, according to a whistleblower group, which says it has shared the “secretive” memo with Congress.
Traditionally, ICE agents have needed a warrant signed by a judge in order to enter the home of someone suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. However, the guidance allegedly given by ICE in May suggests they can rely on administrative warrants, which are authored by officials within the Department of Homeland Security — and in most cases by ICE agents.
“Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose,” the May 12, 2025, memo signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated, according to the anonymous whistleblower complaint, which included a copy of the memo.
The group Whistleblower Aid says it represents two anonymous U.S. government officials. The whistleblower group argues the ICE memo violates the Fourth Amendment and DHS’ own policy manual.
Typically, ICE arrests have been limited to public places because the administrative warrants, known as Form I-205, have not been considered a warrant issued by a “neutral and detached magistrate,” the whistleblower group said in its complaint to Congress.
“Only a warrant issued by a ‘neutral and detached magistrate’ would authorize ICE Agents to enter or search nonpublic areas such as an alien’s residence,” the group said.
“Upon information and belief, and consistent with the May 12 Memo, instructors for new ICE recruits are directed to teach that Form I-205 allows ICE agents to arrest aliens in their home – without consent to enter the residence and without judicial warrant,” the whistleblower complaint stated.
In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said: “Every illegal alien who DHS serves administrative warrants/I-205s have had full due process and a final order of removal from an immigration judge. The officers issuing these administrative warrants also have found probable cause. For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.”
At least one Democratic senator is already calling for an investigation.
“Every American should be terrified by this secret ICE policy authorizing its agents to kick down your door and storm into your home,” Sen. Richard Blumental, D-Conn., said in a statement. “It is a legally and morally abhorrent policy that exemplifies the kinds of dangerous, disgraceful abuses America is seeing in real time. In our democracy, with vanishingly rare exceptions, the government is barred from breaking into your home without a judge giving a green light.”
According to the whistleblower complaint, the May ICE memo provides this guidance to agents for using administrative warrants to enter homes: “Prior to entering a residence to conduct an administrative immigration arrest pursuant to form I-205, officers and agents must ensure the Form I-205 is properly completed and is supported by a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge, the BIA, a U.S. district court or a magistrate judge. This is essential because it establishes probable cause. Officers and agents must also have reason to believe that the subject alien resides at and is currently located at the address where the Form I-205 is to be served.”
The memo says agents must “knock and announce” and state their purpose and if they are refused admittance, they are authorized to use “only a necessary and reasonable amount of force to enter the alien’s residence.”
The memo, according to the disclosure, was tightly held at DHS.
“The May 12 Memo has been provided to select DHS officials who are then directed to verbally brief the new policy for action,” the complaint states. “Those supervisors then show the Memo to some employees, like our clients, and direct them to read the Memo and return it to the supervisor.”
The agents are verbally given this training, but not in writing, the complaint said.
Rosanna Berardi, an immigration attorney, said the ICE memo “represents a fundamental Fourth Amendment challenge and another chapter of the Trump Administration ignoring long-established legal precedence and acting like the legislative branch.”
She said the way the policy is being implemented is also concerning.
“Reports indicate it’s being rolled out through verbal instructions that contradict written training materials, creating a dangerous accountability vacuum,” Berardi told ABC News in an email.
