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(MINNEAPOLIS) — An immigration judge has denied Liam Conejo Ramos and his family’s asylum claim, their attorney confirmed.

The 5-year-old boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained on Jan. 20 by immigration agents in Minneapolis and held in a Texas detention facility. A judge ordered them to be released and they flew back to Minnesota on Feb. 1.

Attorney Danielle Molliver told ABC News on Thursday the family was unable to present any evidence in the case before the government filed a motion to terminate the case which a judge granted. Molliver said she has filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. 

“We understand that this decision will be appealed and remain hopeful for a positive outcome,” a spokesperson for Columbia Heights Public School District said earlier in confirming the asylum claim denial. “The detention in January of Liam and his father shed light on the harm caused by Operation Metro Surge, during which many children and families have been detained.”

The boy and his father were detained in January shortly after arriving home from the child’s preschool, school officials had said.

Both were taken to a federal detention facility in Dilley, Texas. They had a pending asylum case but no order of deportation.

The five-year-old’s father told ABC News last month that he wants to remain in the United States with his family, saying they fled Ecuador out of fear.

“I asked for asylum to be here for my family, for my children,” Conejo Arias said. “I’m here because I’m scared of returning to my country.”

In a statement after a judge ordered them to be released, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, “The facts in this case have NOT changed: ICE did NOT target or arrest a child.”

“On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration,” McLaughlin said. “As agents approached, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias fled on foot — abandoning his child.”

McLaughlin said ICE officers remained with Liam while other officers apprehended his father. Officers, according to McLaughlin, attempted to place Liam with his “alleged mother” who was inside the house, but she allegedly refused to accept custody of the child.

McLaughlin said Conejo Arias told officers he wanted his son to remain with him.

The DHS account differs from what the Conejo Arias, his family’s attorney and schools officials said occurred.

Conejo Arias said when he was detained, he was walking a few feet ahead of his son, trying to alert people who “would come out who could help” them.

“I love my son too much. I would never abandon him,” Conejo Arias said.

Officials from Liam’s school said another adult living in the home was outside begging the agents to allow them to take care of the child, but the request was denied.

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(HONOLULU) — Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in the trial of a doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a Hawaii hiking trail last year.

Gerhardt Konig has been charged with second-degree attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial is set to get underway at 9 a.m. local time in Honolulu.

The anesthesiologist is accused of beating his wife, Arielle Konig, with a rock on the Pali Puka Trail on Oahu on March 24, 2025.

He allegedly pushed her and hit her in the head with a rock approximately 10 times while grabbing the back of her head and smashing her face into the ground, according to the probable cause statement for his arrest. He also allegedly attempted to use two syringes on her, according to the document.

Arielle Konig suffered injuries, including large lacerations to her face and head and was hospitalized in serious condition following the alleged attack, according to the probable cause document. 

Gerhardt Konig has been in jail since his arrest. A judge denied his motion to dismiss the indictment last month.

Arielle Konig’s attorney has previously told reporters that she intends to testify during the trial. She filed for divorce in May 2025, online court records show.

In a petition for a restraining order filed shortly after the arrest, she said Gerhardt Konig had previously accused her of having an affair, “which led to extreme jealousy on his part” and led him to try to “control and monitor all of my communications.”

Konig worked as an anesthesiologist on Maui. Following his arrest, Maui Health said his medical staff privileges at Maui Memorial Medical Center have been suspended pending investigation.

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(NEW YORK) — A dangerous and unprecedented heat wave is hitting the West, with temperatures reaching 25-to-40 degrees above normal across the region.

A dozen cities recorded all-time record March temperatures on Wednesday, including 105 degrees in Palm Springs, California; 102 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona; and 94 degrees in Las Vegas.

Heat alerts are in place for 40 million Americans in the West through the weekend.

With temperatures expected to reach between 96 and 109 degrees for a widespread area over multiple days — and during a time of high tourism to the Desert Southwest — the heat may turn deadly.

The heat will spread east through the week. By Friday, the record highs may reach Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, and by Sunday, daily record highs could stretch from Los Angeles to Memphis, Tennessee.

The heat and dry weather could also increase the risk of wildfires. Red flag warnings are in place for parts of Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, where wind gusts could reach 30 to 45 mph.

Extreme heat is considered the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment. About 2,000 Americans die each year on average from extreme heat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Click here for what to know about staying safe in the heat.

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(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione asked a judge on Wednesday to postpone his federal trial from September 2026 to January 2027.

Mangione argued he could not properly prepare for his federal trial — which is set to begin with jury selection on Sept. 8 and opening statements on Oct. 13 — while he is on trial in the state case, which begins June 8.

The state trial would be ongoing while hundreds of potential jurors for the federal case begin filling out questionnaires on June 29.

“Mr. Mangione is now in the impossible position of having to review 800 jury questionnaires during the week of June 29, 2026, while on trial for second-degree murder in state court,” defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo wrote in a letter to the judge. “As a practical matter, this would not be possible.”

She also argued potential jurors would be “bombarded” by news accounts of the state trial.

“As a result, forcing Mr. Mangione to start the state trial on June 8, 2026 — three weeks before potential federal jurors start filling out juror questionnaires a few blocks away in Mr. Mangione’s federal case — guarantees that the fairness and impartiality of Mr. Mangione’s federal jurors will be negatively impacted by weeks of media reporting,” the defense said.

Federal prosecutors are expected to oppose moving the trial date.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges after he was arrested for allegedly gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024.

In January, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett took the death penalty off the table in the federal case.

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(NEW YORK) — A moderate geomagnetic storm could bring northern lights displays to U.S. states further south than usual, forecasts show.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a storm watch for a G2 geomagnetic storm due to a coronal mass ejection expected to begin Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET and continue until Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

A coronal mass ejection is a massive eruption of solar material and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere.

Auroras can occur when the charged particles from the sun clash with the atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere — causing those atoms and molecules to emit a glow that appears as a spectrum of light in the night sky.

In the U.S., northern lights could be visible in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, according to the NOAA aurora viewline map.

A G2 storm can also impact high-latitude power systems, spacecraft operation and high frequency radio propagation, according to NOAA. Fluctuations to weak power grids and minor impacts on satellite operations can occur as well.

Migratory animals could possibly be affected by geomagnetic storms, according to NOAA. A 2023 study found that inclement space weather may cause fewer birds to migrate during the disturbances — likely due to more difficulty in navigating — and NASA has researched whether solar storms cause an increase in marine mammal strandings, possibly due to similar navigation issues.

The month of March is often an active month for northern lights displays.

The weeks before and after the spring equinox on March 20 are considered “aurora season,” as geomagnetic storms are more likely due to the way solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere, according to EarthSky.org.

The spring equinox comes as the solar maximum comes to a close. The sun’s 11-year cycle peaked around late 2024 and has continued to emit strong solar activity and geomagnetic storms, leading to an increase in aurora displays.

The best time to see the northern lights in the U.S. is generally between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. local time, and traveling to the darkest location possible is recommended for the best viewing, according to NOAA.

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(SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah) — When Laura, the foreperson in Kouri Richins’ murder trial, first saw the mother accused of murdering her husband, she didn’t think much of her.

“She was kind of nondescript,” she told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in an exclusive interview. “She didn’t really show that much emotion. I was trying to get some vibe from her and it was very hard to pick up any kind of vibe.”

The foreperson was one of eight jurors in Summit County, Utah, who convicted Richins this week of murdering her husband, Eric, with a fatal dose of fentanyl in March 2022. 

Richins, 35, who after her husband’s death self-published a children’s book on grieving, was found guilty on all five counts, including aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder.

“There was never a not guilty check with anything, with any element, nothing,” the foreperson, Laura, who was juror No. 2, told ABC News of the 3-hour jury deliberations on Monday. 

“Even though it was just three hours, I felt like we came into that deliberation fully loaded,” she said, adding, “To evaluate the case and to look at the evidence we had to zoom in on these little bits of evidence and kind of ignore all the fluff and ignore the drama.”

Richins in 2023 self-published her children’s book, which she said was intended to help her sons with their loss. 

A month prior to her arrest in May 2023, the mom of three young sons appeared on a “Good Things Utah” segment on Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX to promote the book. In the segment, Kouri Richins said her husband of nine years died “unexpectedly” and that his death “completely took us all by shock.

The jurors were shocked when they were told about the book in the final days of testimony at the trial, Laura told ABC News. 

“Everyone just felt like they’re hit with a truck,” she said. “We’re like, what? What the hell is this? It was so odd and so strange.”

Richins did not testify during the three-week trial and the defense called no witnesses. 

The prosecution alleged she was having an affair, was deep in debt and was desperate to inherit her husband’s estate and life insurance.

The jury found her guilty of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, along with three other counts. Two were for insurance fraud connected to life-insurance policies and a third was for forgery, for forging her husband’s signature on documents. 

Sentencing is scheduled for May 13 and Richins could receive 25 years to life. 

“People were really sad, because they did not want to find her guilty,” Laura told ABC News of her fellow jurors. “They were really hoping that she was innocent. And we couldn’t come to that conclusion, and it was really heartbreaking.”

She added, “This devastating reality that this family was torn apart and these poor kids will really basically never have a dad or mom.”

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(WEST DES MOINES, Iowa) — A woman has been arrested in the 2011 cold case murder of an Iowa real estate agent, authorities said.

Kristin Ramsey, 53, was arrested on Tuesday for first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Okland, the West Des Moines Police said.

Police and prosecutors did not elaborate on what led to Ramsey’s arrest, but Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz said at a Wednesday news conference, “After hearing the evidence, a Dallas County grand jury issued a true bill indicting Kristin Ramsey with the murder of Ashley Okland.”

Okland was shot and killed while working at a model townhouse on April 8, 2011, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit.

Okland’s death sent “shockwaves” throughout the state and “haunted” the real estate community, West Des Moines Police Assistant Chief Jody Hayes said at the news conference.

“That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago. We had lost our hope in finding answers and having any justice,” Okland’s sister, Brittany Bruce, told reporters.

She thanked the detectives and prosecutors for their relentless work on the case.

“We have full confidence in their abilities to see this through,” she said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve will unveil on Wednesday its latest decision on interest rates, marking the first such move since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran drove up gasoline prices and risked a wider bout of inflation.

The elevated price increases coincide with a slowdown of economic growth, threatening to intensify an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation,” which poses difficulty for the Fed.

If the Fed opts to lower borrowing costs, it could spur growth but risk higher inflation. On the other hand, the choice to raise interest rates may slow price increases but raises the likelihood of a cooldown in economic performance.

Markets are expecting the Fed to hold interest rates steady. Investors peg the chances of interest rates being left unchanged at about 99%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.

The central bank maintained the current level of interest rates at its most recent meeting in January, ending a string of three consecutive quarter-point rate cuts.

The benchmark rate stands at a level between 3.5% and 3.75%. That figure marks a significant drop from a recent peak attained in 2023, but borrowing costs remain well above a 0% rate established at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A lackluster jobs report last week showed the U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, which marked a reversal of fortunes for the labor market and erased most of the job gains recorded in 2026.

The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.3% in January to 4.4% in February, the BLS said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.

A revised government report last week on gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew at a sluggish annualized pace of 0.7% over the final three months of 2025.

Those economic headwinds helped set the conditions before the outbreak of war with Iran, which spiked oil prices and risked price increases for a host of diesel-fuel transported goods.

U.S. crude oil prices hovered at about $96 per barrel on Tuesday, soaring more than 50% since a month earlier.

Since the military conflict began, U.S. gas prices had gone up 81 cents to an average of $3.79 per gallon as of Tuesday, according to AAA.

The rate decision on Wednesday will also mark the first such move since a federal judge blocked Justice Department subpoenas to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after determining the government “produced essentially zero evidence” to support a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, according to an unsealed court opinion.

“A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in his opinion on Friday.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro blasted Boasberg as an “activist” judge and pledged to appeal his ruling.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon’s decision to send the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a 2,200-troop force, to the Middle East is fueling new speculation about whether the conflict with Iran could involve U.S. ground troops, a step that would mark a dramatic escalation and potentially push the already unpopular war into a far more dangerous phase.

It could take up to two weeks, or the end of March, before the unit is in place and its presence unlikely to significantly shift the dynamics of the war on its own, experts say. A Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) can deliver an initial surge of troops quickly, but seizing and holding key terrain, or sustaining a prolonged fight, would almost certainly require a far larger ground force.

Experts say the MEU would likely be used to conduct raids across the Iranian shoreline to gain a foothold in areas across the crucial oil shipping waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, which has emerged as a contested point of the conflict.

A Quinnipiac University poll from earlier this month showed 74% of registered voters opposed sending U.S. ground troops into Iran while 20% supported it.

Asked Tuesday if he was afraid of the Iranian regime’s assertion that U.S. boots on the ground “will be another Vietnam,” President Donald Trump replied, “No, I’m not afraid. I’m really not afraid of anything.”

Sailing from the Pacific, it will likely take up to two weeks for Marines to be in place in the Middle East, and it is not yet clear what those troops would be used for. The unit operates as a self-contained, sea-based force — essentially a floating hub capable of launching troops, aircraft and equipment without relying on nearby bases or infrastructure. 

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz would unlock a waterway through which 20% of the globe’s oil supply transits each day. Its closure has seen gas prices soar and markets roiled. Trump has referenced shorelines from which the Iranians can attack vessels transiting the waterway.

“Now we are pounding that area, that coast, as you know, left side,” Trump said Monday. “We’re pounding it like really pounding it hard.”

According to Michael Eisenstadt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, the MEU could take part in land-based “raids” on targets along that coast.

“There’s a number of missions where you can conceivably see a MEU playing a role, either unilaterally or kind of in conjunction with maybe the deployment of larger Army units,” said Eisenstadt, who believes the deployment of the MEU was likely related to the strait.

Iranian fortifications along the coast that could “interfere with convoy operations,” Eisenstadt said, could be U.S. targets. Top military leaders have said they’ve explored the potential uses of convoys, or warship escorts, to facilitate the safe passage of commercial shipping through the strait.  

Raiding parties could target missile storage bunkers that are hardened and difficult for U.S. warplanes to destroy from the air.

The idea would be to “clear out the shore and then use air power to prevent them from returning once you’ve cleared out those areas,” Eisenstadt said.

Such an operation would not by itself create conditions for smooth sailing in the strait, experts told ABC News. 

“My concern is that it takes so little to disrupt the shipping industry, Eisenstadt said. “If there’s a small, you know, kind of a small residual [Iranian] capability, it could still potentially be very disruptive.”

The 2,200 Marines in the MEU would limit any operation longer than a raid, which have pre-planned withdrawals. To get on land, these types of Marine units primarily seize footholds by riding small watercraft onto beaches or by helicopter insertion.

“Normally in an amphibious assault, you have all sorts of Navy landing craft behind you to sustain the force ashore. There’s none of that. There’s none of that logistical tail that would allow them to remain ashore,” said retired Marine Col. Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor.

Leaving strategic waters in the Pacific

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is primarily based in Japan, where it routinely trains with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces on skills in high demand across the Pacific, including rapidly seizing small islands. Earlier this month, it took part in a major annual exercise that featured amphibious assault drills, marksmanship training and operations focused on capturing hostile terrain, according to the Defense Department. 

Their removal from the region removes one of the primary ground combat elements in the Pacific, which could respond to a crisis with China or North Korea. Other significant combat elements in the region include the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, stationed to bolster South Korea’s frontline against Pyongyang, as well as the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska.

“That leaves a ground combat and amphibious capability gap in the region,” Carlton Haelig, an expert in military operations and fellow at the Center for New American Security, said. 

The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Camp Pendleton, California, is preparing to deploy to the Pacific, according to Pentagon imagery.

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(CLEVELAND) — A “boom” heard in Ohio on Tuesday morning appears to have been from a meteor, the National Weather Service in Cleveland said.

The NWS said imagery “does suggest that the boom was a result of a meteor.”

The NWS in Pittsburgh said residents in western Pennsylvania also reported the loud “boom” and fireball in the sky.

The NWS said one of its employees filmed the apparent meteor shooting across the sky in the Pittsburgh area.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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