Quintuple homicide suspect gunned down his girlfriend and her family, friends: Officials
A close-up view of a police vehicle. (Getty Images stock photo/Aire Images)
(NEW YORK) — The suspect in a quintuple homicide in Oregon allegedly targeted his girlfriend and her family and friends, shooting all five multiple times, authorities said.
Benjamin Parker allegedly carried out the killings on Saturday morning at a rural property he lived on near Forest Grove, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
The victims were Parker’s girlfriend, 26-year-old Stella Kimsey; Stella Kimsey’s grandmother, 85-year-old Mary Kimsey, Stella Kimsey’s mother, 60-year-old Rowan Kimsey; Stella Kimsey’s best friend, 26-year-old Linsey Haraldsen; and Linsey Haraldsen’s partner, 27-year-old Alvin Chu, authorities said.
Two dogs and two cats were also found shot to death, Det. Mark Povolny said at a news conference on Tuesday. A third cat was shot and wounded and later humanely euthanized, he said.
Parker allegedly tried to set fires at each of the bodies and at the home, Povolny said.
Parker, 36, allegedly fled the scene and he was later found dead in his car in Enumclaw, Washington, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff’s office said.
Parker’s mother told investigators that Parker called her Saturday night and confessed to the crime, Povolny said.
“He said he had been planning this for awhile,” Povolny said. “He said he planned to kill three people, but two more people were also killed.”
Parker did not give his mother a motive, but Povolny said Mary Kimsey texted a friend on Friday night that Parker and her granddaughter Stella Kimsey got into a “horrible fight” and “Stella told him he had to leave.”
Linsey Haraldsen told Mary Kimsey that “she was on the phone with Stella around that time when the call suddenly dropped,” Povolny said. Linsey Haraldsen then called Stella Kimsey’s mother Rowan Kimsey, who said she’d go check on her daughter and call back, Povolny said. But Rowan Kimsey never called back, so Linsey Haraldsen also went to the property, Povolny said.
When Mary Kimsey couldn’t reach any of the three women, she planned to pick up Alvin Chu and go to the property, Povolny said.
“Although the suspect is deceased, this does not mark the end of our work,” Sheriff Caprice Massey said at the news conference. “Our commitment now is to provide the families of Mary, Rowan, Stella, Linsey and Alvin with answers as we learn them. They deserve nothing less.”
ABC News’ Tristan Maglunog and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, weakened overnight but its energy is still powerful enough to cause serious flooding and other issues in the southeast Thursday.
A rare High Risk, level 4 of 4, for life-threatening flood potential was in place over southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and western Florida panhandle along the central Gulf Coast Thursday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Historically, a third of all flood-related fatalities and 80% of all flood-related damages occur in such high-risk areas, according to NWS data.
Areas under the High Risk advisory include Pensacola, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and the Mississippi cities of Gulfport, McComb and Hattiesburg.
Rainfall rates of multiple inches per hour are possible, and some areas could see up to 20 inches of rainfall accumulation.
Extremely heavy rain already hit the Gulf states Thursday morning. Kenner, Louisiana, near the New Orleans airport, saw a radar estimated rainfall rate of 6.5 inches per hour.
Some Gulf areas are under a level 3 of 4 risk for flooding, including Montgomery, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia.
Tornadoes are also possible in the central Gulf Coast Thursday.
The life-threatening flood threat will continue into the overnight hours and people need to remain aware of their flood risk overnight into early Friday morning, forecasters warn.
More heavy rain will continue in the South on Friday and more sporadically on Saturday.
President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro speaks during a march on November 21, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for the U.S. Army special forces soldier who was charged with using classified information about the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to make more than $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket are returning to a Manhattan courtroom Monday.
Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke pleaded not guilty in April after prosecutors alleged he used inside information to place 13 bets on the outcome of the Maduro raid then attempted to destroy evidence of the trades after he pocketed more than $400,000.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett scheduled the status conference to follow up on pre-trial issues, including the turning over of evidence that began last month.
During Van Dyke’s arraignment in April, his defense attorney said he expected few factual disputes over the allegations in the case and believed that the prosecution would “largely rise and fall” on pre-trial motions.
Van Dyke, an experienced special forces soldier, was released on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond. According to his attorney Zach Intrater, he is currently on leave from the Army.
As allegations of insider trading prompt public scrutiny of sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, the Van Dyke prosecution is believed to be the first case of insider trading on a prediction market.
Prosecutors in New York last month also charged a Google employee with using confidential company information to make more than $1.2 million on Polymarket.
Portia Duncan becomes emotional as she speaks about her late daughter, 7-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan, during a news conference on July 7, 2026, in Melville, New York. (Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The birth mother of a 7-year-old girl from Long Island, New York, is planning to sue the county and school district following the death of her daughter in December 2025.
Portia Duncan filed a notice of claim against Suffolk County for allegedly neglecting her daughter, Jor’Dynn Duncan, by placing her in the care of her legal guardian, Emily Kelly, who Portia Duncan alleges physically abused, neglected and tortured Jor’Dynn.
Kelly was charged with second-degree murder and pleaded not guilty in court on June 23.
In addition to Kelly, her mother, Barbara Renner, and her daughter, Elyssa Seymore, were also arrested on charges regarding their alleged involvement in Jor’Dynn’s death. Renner was charged with second-degree manslaughter and Seymore with unlawful imprisonment, among other charges. They both pleaded not guilty.
Portia Duncan also filed a notice of claim against Bayport-Blue Point School District for allegedly failing to act on indicators of abuse she said Jor’Dynn presented.
“I miss her dearly, dearly,” Portia Duncan said amid tears in a press conference on Tuesday. “She was such a sweet, beautiful, smart, fun, girly girl. If I could turn back the time, I would’ve done things so much different.”
An autopsy determined that Jor’Dynn’s death on Dec. 29, 2025, was due to a massive untreated infection from more than 90 injuries that were found on her body at the time of her death, according to a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office press release.
“These claims arise from the placement of seven-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan, while she was in the custody of the County of Suffolk, into a home in which she was subjected to a prolonged, systematic, and ultimately fatal course of physical abuse, torture, and neglect; from the failure of the County of Suffolk, the Suffolk County Department of Social Services and Suffolk County Child Protective Services to adequately investigate and vet the caregiver with whom they placed her, to monitor her health, safety and general well-being during the approximately one year she remained in that place, and to act upon the indicators of abuse she and other presented; and from the failure of the Bayport-Blue Point School District and its personnel, in their capacity as mandated reporters, to report the outwardly observable indicia of abuse and Jor’Dynn’s chronic school absenteeism,” the notice said.
Jor’Dynn allegedly missed 40 days of school between January and June 2025, according to the notice of claim. The child allegedly wore makeup to conceal injuries she incurred from the abuse on the days she did attend school, the notice said.
Kelly allegedly called the school with several excuses for Jor’Dynn’s absences to cover up the alleged abuse, including fake illnesses, deaths in the family and trips to Disney World, the District Attorney’s press release said.
Kelly gained full custody of Jor’Dynn in April 2025 upon her request, an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department found. Kelly is the fiancée of Jor’Dynn’s father, who was in prison, according to the notice of claim.
Jor’Dynn was removed from Portia Duncan’s custody on account of a failed drug test, her attorney said.
The police investigation allegedly found extensive photo and video evidence of abuse captured on Kelly’s cell phone and other cloud-based accounts, the press release stated.
“The placement of Jor’Dynn Duncan with Emily Kelly was what led to her death,” Derek Sells, an attorney representing Portia Duncan, said in a press conference. “The failure to properly screen that placement, the failure to properly supervise that placement, and the failure to report clear abuse in the form of neglect, not going to school, all led to this death. And we’re gonna hold those people accountable.”
Sells said the filing of claims is the “first step” in the process of holding parties accountable for Jor’Dynn’s death. Filing a Notice of Claim typically comes before filing a lawsuit against the state, local government or a government agency in New York.
Both the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Bayport-Blue Point School District declined to comment on the claims.
Attempts to reach Suffolk County for a comment were unsuccessful.
The three women are set to return to court at the beginning of August, ABC News New York affiliate WABC reported.
“She pled not guilty at the arraignment, my client asserts her innocence, and we are vigorously going to defend her throughout these proceedings,” said John LoTurco, Kelly’s defense attorney, according to WABC.
“I’m so thankful to the Lord for giving me the chance to be in my daughter’s life the way that I was,” Portia Duncan said. “I’m very upset that she’s been taken from me.”
