Syracuse DA gives high school students 48 hours to surrender for hazing incident
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(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — The district attorney in Syracuse, New York, is giving a group of high school students 48 hours to turn themselves in for an alleged hazing incident that he describes as a “criminal matter.”
“I cannot really adequately express to this community the level of stupidity and lack of judgement involved in this case,” Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Fitzpatrick said he decided to prosecute charges against 11 students at Westhill High School who allegedly hazed a younger student on April 24.
In the evening hours of April 24, the students, who are members of the boys varsity lacrosse team, allegedly decided they would “haze or play some sort of prank on some of the younger members of the lacrosse team,” Fitzpatrick said.
One victim told officials he thought he was going to have an “enjoyable evening with the upperclassman, go to a lacrosse game and finish the evening with something to eat at McDonald’s,” Fitzpatrick said.
But, on their way home from eating food, the driver of the car claimed he was lost, stopped in a remote part of the county, which is when “accomplices jumped out of the woods pretending to be kidnappers,” Fitzpatrick said.
These accomplices, who were other students, were dressed in black and armed with “at least one handgun and at least one knife,” Fitzpatrick said.
The victim had a pillowcase placed over his head, was tied up and placed in the trunk of the car, according to the DA.
“I’ve seen the video tape of what happened to this young man, it is not a rite of passage, it is not a trivial matter,” Fitzpatrick said. “I find it incomprehensible that in this day and age that somebody thought they could have gotten away with something like this.”
Investigators say there were four other potential victims, but they were able to flee the area.
The incident, which Fitzpatrick describes as “hazing on steroids,” said the 11 suspects that were involved have 48 hours to turn themselves into the sheriff’s department.
If the suspects decide to surrender to police before Friday, their case will either be handled through the family court system or will not fall under their criminal records, Fitzpatrick said.
But, if they refuse to cooperate, the suspects will be arrested, prosecuted as adults and charged with kidnapping in the second degree, the DA said.
He said that this incident “goes way beyond hazing,” likening it more to “criminal activity.”
“If you want to welcome someone onto your team and toughen them up, maybe an extra hour of practice might be appropriate as opposed to taking someone at gunpoint, stuffing them in the back of a car and traumatizing them for the rest of their life,” Fitzpatrick said.
Westhill Schools Superintendent Steven Dunham sent an email to families regarding the incident, saying the school made the “difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the Westhill High School varsity boys lacrosse season,” even though the majority of those on the team were not involved in the alleged hazing.
“Some may argue that all student-athletes shouldn’t be punished for the actions of a few. While I understand the perspective, we must address the culture of the program, and the most appropriate way to do that is with a reset,” Dunham said.
Dunham said the school will address the behavior that “negatively impacts members of our school community promptly and appropriately according to our Code of Conduct.”
(DALLAS, TEXAS) — Weddings symbolize a future filled with tomorrows. However, for Dallas woman Laura Grillo, there would be no wedding, no honeymoon and no future.
Urged by her best friend, Heather Nabor, and maid of honor, Grillo followed the ritual in the bridal salon, ringing a handbell when she selected her dress.
“I remember we finally picked out her dress and that perfect outfit for the perfect day,” Nabor told “20/20” “Making the wish, ringing the bell, I kinda talked her into it. I’m glad I did that.”
She never got to wear it — just a week before her big day, around noon on Nov. 13, 2015, she was found lying in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor.
When officers and emergency service workers arrived, they discovered Grillo dead. A shell casing was found on the floor — Grillo had been shot.
“Inside the master bedroom there was a safe on the dresser, the door was open, and there was two plastic totes that were turned over on the bed,” Detective Jeff Freeman, who worked on the case, told “20/20.” “It didn’t look as far as burglary that was interrupted or anything like that. It just didn’t look right to me.”
Since Grillo’s fiancé, John Makris, was captured on surveillance video at a Home Depot store across town at the time she was killed, after interviewing him police determined he couldn’t have killed her.
Nonetheless, his behavior following Grillo’s death raised questions.
Originally from Greece, Makris was a contractor.
Detectives recalled what Makris said at the scene when they asked him who lived in the house — before he was told that Grillo had died.
“He stated that it was him, the kids, his mother and the victim’s brother,” Freeman said. “But he never did say the victim’s name. That was a huge red flag. Because maybe he knew a lot more of what was going on.”
After finding out that the wedding flowers were non-refundable, Laura’s best friend says he repurposed them for the funeral, and asked a neighbor to help scrub Grillo’s blood off the kitchen floor using Grillo’s own toothbrush.
Jesus Treviño, one of two employees seen with Makris on the morning Grillo was attacked, was questioned by investigators — and disappeared.
Treviño was ultimately located in the Clearwater, Florida, area and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. Treviño refused to talk, so investigators turned to Makris’ other employee seen with Makris the morning of the murder, James Vileda.
During a four-hour interview, he gave a troubling account of a plot, a crime and a cover-up.
He told police he received a call from Treviño — an old friend — about a new job. Vileda said that the conversation quickly shifted from working on a construction job to becoming an accomplice in a murder.
Vileda claimed that Grillo’s death was not a robbery gone wrong. He said it was a murder for hire, orchestrated by the man Laura Grillo was just days away from marrying –her fiancé, Makris.
In September 2018, Makris was convicted on a murder-for-hire charge and sentenced to life in prison. Treviño was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence, while Villeda pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for his testimony and got a 25-year sentence.
From prison, Makris tried to have custody of their daughter awarded to his mother, so she could raise her in Greece. He did not succeed, and she was adopted by Grillo’s best friend Nabor — the woman who would have been her maid of honor.
ABC News reached out to Makris at the Texas prison where he is serving his life sentence, but he declined our request for an interview.
(SECURITY-WIDEFIELD, Colo.) — Three children and two dogs were rescued from a storm drainage system in Colorado, according to fire officials.
Officials responded to a neighborhood in Security-Widefield, Colorado, searching for “three children and two dogs lost in the maze of the underground storm drainage system” over the weekend, the Security Fire Department said in a statement on Monday.
After an “extensive search,” the children and the dogs were located and were extracted through a manhole in the street “more than a half-mile from where they had entered,” officials said.
“Kids may think it would be fun to explore storm drains looking for those ninja turtles, but it can be very dangerous and even deadly,” the fire department said.
Even though the children and canines were safely removed, officials emphasized the dangers of being in a storm drainage system.
“Getting lost underground, hypothermia, rapid weather change flooding in drainage system (drowning risk), oxygen deficiency, toxic gases (such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide) and of course critters like rattlesnakes,” the fire department said.
The fire department encouraged parents to talk to their children about “the dangers of playing in and around” storm drains.
Officials were not clear why the children and the dogs were exploring the storm drains or how long they were lost.
(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — Ashley Keith used to always dream about joining the world of professional sled dog racing.
She got her first sled dog when she was 13 years old and fantasized about one day participating in the renowned 1,000-mile race in Alaska, the Iditarod.
In 2003, she thought her dream was coming true when she was asked to work as a handler for a prominent family that has competed in the Iditarod for decades.
But in reality, “that was what really killed my dream,” Keith told ABC News.
During her time as a handler, she said she was appalled by the conditions the dogs were living in — inspiring her to start Humane Mushing, a movement that fights to raise the standards for sled dog welfare.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, also known as the “Last Great Race,” is a 1,000-mile race held annually in Alaska since its start in 1973. The competition always occurs during the peak of Alaska’s winter, requiring dogs and mushers — the drivers of the sled — to travel through frozen rivers, mountains and blizzards, according to the race’s website.
The 53rd annual Iditarod will begin with a ceremonial start on Saturday, with the official start taking place Monday. The race will not conclude until the last musher crosses the finish line, which is projected to occur on March 11.
Due to a lack of snow, this year’s race has a different starting point in Fairbanks, Alaska, which extends the competition by an additional 150 miles, according to the race organizers.
The race is a core part of Alaska’s history, stemming back to the Iditarod Trail, a path that was used as a mail route in the 20th century and was critical for transportation in the winter months when roads were obstructed, according to the race’s website.
Despite its tight connection to the culture of Alaska, some argue the race is a form of animal abuse, with dogs working under high levels of stress in extreme weather conditions.
Iditarod officials did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. ABC News also reached out to the World Sleddog Association, Humane World for Animals and the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association for comment.
Race alerts concerns of animal abuse
More than 150 dogs have reportedly died from the race since its start, including three that occurred in the 2024 race, according to PETA. Those deaths do not include dogs that died during training or the off-season, PETA noted. While these recent deaths prompted calls for the race to end, organizations have been protesting the Iditarod for decades, according to Melanie Johnson, a senior manager at PETA.
“This cruelty needs to end now,” Johnson told ABC News. “The number of dogs who die is just going to keep going up as long as the race continues.”
According to a 2001 study by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, more than 80% of dogs that finish the Iditarod sustain persistent lung damage. A 2003 study by the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine found that dogs forced to participate in endurance racing had a 61% higher rate of stomach erosions or ulcers.
Johnson said the leading cause of death for dogs who race in the Iditarod is aspiration pneumonia, which is when the dog inhales its own vomit.
“Whenever a dog is forced to run 100 miles a day, their bodies are going to be pushed past their limits,” Johnson said.
Campaigns and protests by PETA have led several Iditarod sponsors to drop out, including Alaska Airlines, ExxonMobil and the Anchorage Chrysler dealership. With very few sponsors left, Johnson said the race is “really in dire straits.”
Veterinarian treatment at the race
Others argue the race is safe for dogs to compete in, including Dr. Lee Morgan, a veterinarian who previously provided care to canines competing in the Iditarod. In his 14 years working at the race, Morgan told ABC News only seven of the 14,000 dogs he saw have died.
“I’m not diminishing their deaths, but I see that sort of thing with any event that involves people,” Morgan said. “I’ve seen dogs that have died running on the beach with their owner. I’ve seen dogs overheat. Almost any event that involves dogs and humans, there’s a chance for unforeseen circumstances.”
Morgan, who wrote the book “4,000 Paws: Caring for the Dogs of the Iditarod,” said all dogs are required to provide blood work, a urinalysis, an EKG and must undergo a physical exam prior to competing in the race. He also said the race places multiple medical personnel on site at different checkpoints, where each dog is examined and treated for any issues.
Legality of the Iditarod
Despite the accusations of abuse, the Iditarod is a legal competition in the state of Alaska, according to Matthew Liebman, associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Similar to other parts of the U.S., Alaska’s anti-cruelty law states a person commits cruelty to animals if the person knowingly inflicts severe or prolonged physical pain on the animal or has a legal duty to care for an animal but fails to do so, causing prolonged suffering to the animal or its death.
Liebman pointed out that Alaska includes an exemption to this law, allowing “generally accepted dog mushing or pulling contests or practices or rodeos or stock contests” to continue to operate.
“This just represents Alaska’s legislature making the determination that even if mushing does cause animals to suffer, it’s something they’re willing to tolerate for the sake of sport or tradition,” Liebman told ABC News.
Liebman said many states prohibit the “overworking” or “overdriving” of animals, meaning the Iditarod might violate anti-cruelty laws in other states.
‘No way do I want any dog on my team to die’
Typically, around 50 mushers compete in the Iditarod each year, with the record being 96 mushers in 2008, according to the race’s website. But those numbers continue to decline, with only 33 mushers registered to compete in this year’s race, which “ties for the record of the smallest field of competitors in the race’s history,” according to Johnson.
Musher Erin Altemus, who competed in the race last year, said it’s impossible to force these racing dogs to run if they don’t want to, which is exactly why she wasn’t able to complete the race in 2024.
“Ultimately what happened to me in the Iditarod is that my dogs didn’t want to run anymore,” Altemus told ABC News. “I had to respect that. There’s nothing I can do to change their minds.”
Keith said the way the dogs are strapped in, with one strap around their neck and another around their back, causes the dogs to be dragged if they ever wish to stop running. Some dogs even have to go to the bathroom without stopping, also known as “pooping on the fly,” according to Keith.
Vets and mushers claim the dogs are able to stop when they need to and are allowed time to rest at different checkpoints throughout the race, where they are also examined by a veterinary team.
At last year’s race, Altemus said she witnessed nothing but kindness and love toward the dogs, both from mushers and staff. The four-legged athletes received treats, massages, copious amounts of hay to sleep on and Prilosec to prevent stomach ulcers, Altemus said.
“If you were at a checkpoint and seeing the dogs coming and going and seeing how much they love to run and how much the mushers do care for their dogs, I think that speaks for itself,” Altemus said.
Altemus said she and other mushers “live in fear” of making a wrong decision for her dogs.
“Going into that race, you think, ‘No way do I want any dog on my team to die,'” Altemus said.
PETA will hold demonstrations at the race throughout the weekend, with one protest at the Mushers Banquet on Saturday and another at the Official Restart on Monday.
As for the future of the Iditarod, Ketih thinks the race’s “days are numbered.”
“No one who cares about their dogs is going to drive them 1,000-plus miles in one week,” Keith said. “Nobody that loves their dogs is pushing them that hard.”
