(NEW YORK) — Excessive heat warnings are in effect across much of the southern U.S. heading into a weekend with potentially record-breaking temperatures.
As of Friday morning, 13 states are on heat alert and temperatures will reach triple digits in parts of the south, with feel-like temperatures as high as 115 degrees, ABC News weather team reports.
Here are the high temperature records to watch on Saturday:
Salt Lake City, UT: 102º (1994)
Denver, CO: 98º (2021)
Scottsbluff, NE: 104º (2017)
Corpus Christi, TX: 100º (2005)
Austin, TX: 104º (2009)
Houston, TX: 102º (1980)
Waco, TX: 104º (1978)
Dallas, TX: 106º (1980)
Shreveport, LA: 104º (1884)
Tupelo, MS: 100º (1936)
Severe weather is also expected to continue across parts of the North, including Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota where large hail and damaging winds are possible, and a tornado cannot be ruled out. Golf ball size hail was reported in Montana and record flooding was reported in North Carolina and Missouri on Thursday.
Flash flooding due to heavy rain is possible through the weekend in parts of the Southeast, especially coastal regions from Georgia through the Carolinas where more than 3” is possible.
(CONCORD, N.H.) — New Hampshire officials are offering $50,000 in reward money to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible for the killing of a married couple.
Stephen and Djeswende Reid were last seen leaving their home in Concord’s Alton Woods apartment complex on April 18. The couple went on a walk that led them to the area of the Broken Ground Trails off of Portsmouth Street in Concord, New Hampshire.
Their friends and family did not see or hear from them after that, according to the attorney general’s office. Their bodies were found in a wooded area near the Marsh Loop Trail on April 21, according to the attorney general’s office.
Autopsies revealed they both died due to multiple gunshot wounds and the medical examiner ruled their deaths as homicides, according to the attorney general’s office.
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office said two anonymous donors pledged $20,000 and $15,000 for information that comes in the next 60 days. Other anonymous donors pledged $6,000, according to the attorney general’s office.
The Concord Police Patrolmen’s Association, Supervisors Association and Retired New Hampshire State Police Troopers Association all contributed to the amount as well, according to the attorney general’s office.
Investigators are looking for a person of interest seen in the vicinity of the shooting in April. The individual is described as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, approximately 5’10” tall, medium build, with short brown hair and clean-shaven, according to the attorney general’s office.
He was seen wearing a dark blue jacked, khaki-colored pants and was carrying a black backpack, according to the attorney general’s office. Investigators are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts or his identity to come forward.
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — An 8-year-old boy is paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot in the chest during a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
The shooting left seven people dead and at least 38 people injured.
Cooper Roberts, who suffered a severed spinal cord, remains in serious condition after undergoing multiple surgeries at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago, attorney Anthony Loizzi, who is acting as the family’s spokesperson, told ABC News Friday.
“He has regained consciousness, although he’s very confused about what’s going on,” said Loizzi, adding that doctors at this time do not believe Cooper suffered any brain damage from the shooting. “He’s crying uncontrollably because he just doesn’t understand why can’t move his legs.”
Cooper was attending his town’s July 4th parade with his twin brother Luke and their parents, Jason and Keely Roberts, when the shooting happened, according to Loizzi, who is not representing the family in a legal capacity.
Loizzi said the brothers had loved attending the parade in the past, adding that the Roberts family, which also includes four daughters, ages 18 to 26, moved to Highland Park last year from a nearby town.
This year’s parade in the Chicago suburb ended in tragedy when the shooting suspect, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, allegedly climbed onto the roof of a business and used a high-powered rifle to unleash more than 70 rounds on marchers and revelers, according to police.
Crimo, 21, was charged Tuesday with seven counts of first-degree murder, and more charges are expected, according to Lake County State Attorney Eric Rinehart.
Loizzi said that Cooper’s brother Luke was treated for injuries from shrapnel and is now recovering at home, where he is being cared for by his oldest sister.
The boys’ father did not suffer any physical injuries in the shooting, but their mother, Keely Roberts, a local school superintendent, was shot twice in the leg, according to Loizzi. She underwent two surgeries and was discharged at her own request Wednesday so that she could be with Cooper.
“She’s been there 24/7 since being discharged,” Loizzi said of Keely Roberts. “She’s supposed to have another surgery because I believe she’s continued to have bleeding, but she demanded to be discharged and, understandably, they let her go.”
Loizzi said the Roberts family is an extremely close-knit family of eight, and described Cooper and Luke specifically as the “best of friends.”
“Their sister described them as partners in crime,” said Loizzi. “Cooper is just a very outgoing kid, the type of kid that walks into a room and will just walk up and talk to you and get to know you right away.”
Cooper is an athletic child who loves baseball and the Milwaukee Brewers as well as his family’s dog, according to Loizzi.
“His favorite pastime is being with his dog George,” he said, adding that Cooper asked to see his dog and his twin brother upon regaining consciousness. “They’re just inseparable.”
A GoFundMe account started by friends of the Roberts family has so far raised over $620,000 to help the family pay for medical bills, treatments and therapy.
Loizzi said Keely Roberts is focused on her family’s recovery and has asked people to keep them in their “thoughts and prayers.”
“She’s not watching the news. She’s not following social media, so they’re kind of just in a bubble and just want to focus,” said Loizzi. “Every time I’ve asked her, what do you want people to know, what do you need, she just says, ‘Please just keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and at the same time, we’d just like people to respect our privacy while we’re going through this tough time.'”
The school district in Zion, Illinois, where Keely Roberts has worked for the past seven years said active and retired superintendents have stepped up to volunteer their services while she and her family continue to heal.
“For seven years in Zion District 6 and other area school districts for many years prior, Dr. Roberts has done everything she can to support the needs of students and families in our community,” Zion District 6 Board President Ruth Davis said in a statement Thursday. “Now, she and her family need our help and support.”
Loizzi, who is the attorney for the school district’s board, described Keely Roberts as an “unbelievable advocate” for her students.
“I’ve worked with Keely pretty much on a daily basis for seven years,” he said. “The woman works nonstop, 24/7 and does anything she can to support the students and family and community that she serves.”
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Memorial services and funerals have begun for the victims of this week’s mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
Seven people were killed and dozens injured after a gunman opened fire from a rooftop on the crowd attending the celebration in the Chicago suburb.
As the community continues to grapple with the shock and horror of that day, a former synagogue preschool teacher and two beloved grandfathers are among the first victims of the tragedy to be honored.
Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63, was a beloved worker at her synagogue, North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Illinois. She was known by her colleagues for her infectious smile and great hugs, they said.
The congregation gathered at the synagogue Friday afternoon to celebrate the life of Sundheim, who is survived by her husband and daughter.
Rabbi Wendi Geffen opened with pointed remarks.
“We should not have to be here today,” she told the congregation during the service, which was livestreamed. “There is nothing, not one single thing, that makes us being brought together to mourn for Jacki acceptable. We are horrified. We are enraged, sickened, aggrieved, inconsolable for the terror that has befallen us and robbed us of Jacki.”
But Geffen warned against remembering Sundheim “not by how she lived, but by how she died.”
“We cannot allow that to happen, she said. “While Jacki was alive, her life was beautiful and full, and full of love and joy, meaning, significance. Her legacy is one of kindness and devotion. That’s who Jacki was. And who she will remain to us forever.”
Sundheim’s daughter, Leah Sundheim, called on those gathered to channel their grief, pain and anger into “a drive to help heal our world.”
“Do not let this sadness, this fear, rage, turn you indifferent or bitter towards our world,” she said. “Because the world is darker without my mom in it. And it’s up to us now to fill it with a little extra laughter and help replace her life and love.”
A funeral service was held Friday for Stephen Straus, 88, who was the oldest victim to die in the shooting rampage, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. The Chicago native had lived in Highland Park for decades and is survived by his wife, two sons and four grandchildren.
Family and friends gathered Friday afternoon at Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois, following his burial.
“We connect in a national moment with the mourning of those in Highland Park. And now, it has happened to us — these stories that we saw on the news, these stories that seemed so far away and so disconnected is now our story too,” Rabbi Rachel Weiss said at the start of the service, which was livestreamed. “But most of all, we are mourning the life of Stephen Straus.”
Weiss recited words his brother told her: “If there were more people like Steve in this world, the world would be a much better place.”
Straus’ brother remembered his sibling as being fiercely loyal since they were children.
“He was dedicated, honest — goes without saying. Honest beyond words,” Larry Straus said.
Straus’ son, Jonathan Straus, spoke of his father’s kindness, impeccable joke-telling and “irresistible” charm.” He was an “avid lover of the arts” who continued to work five days a week, he said.
“You know what a special person he was,” he said, calling his father his “best friend.” “He still had a lot of zest for life, and I know he had a few more good years in him.”
Straus’ younger son, Peter Straus, remembered his father as a voracious reader, particularly of poetry, biographies, science, nature and history.
“He schooled my brother and I on James Bond, Captain Kirk and ‘2001,’” he said.
A service is also scheduled for Nicolas Toledo, 78, Friday evening at Iglesia Emanuel in Waukegan. The native of Morelos, Mexico, was remembered by family for his humor. “He’d always joke around and be playful with his grandkids,” his grandson, David Toledo, told ABC News in a statement.
A service for the seventh victim to die from injuries suffered in the mass shooting, 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo, is scheduled for Saturday. Uvaldo was a grandfather of 13 and a great-grandfather of six. Several of his family members were also at the parade; his 13-year-old grandson, Brian, was shot in the arm and his wife, Maria, was hit in the head by shrapnel, his daughters told ABC News. Both are expected to fully recover, officials say.
Those killed in the shooting also included Katherine Goldstein, 64, a mother of two adult daughters; and husband-and-wife Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, who leave behind a 2-year-old son. Details for their services have not been made public.
Robert E. Crimo III, the accused 21-year-old gunman, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors have said they expect to bring attempted murder charges for each of the more than 30 people wounded in the attack.
Prosecutors said that Crimo III confessed to Monday morning’s parade massacre. He did not enter a plea during a bond hearing on Wednesday.
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, FILE
(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) — The 13 Turpin siblings, rescued in 2018 from captivity in their parents’ California home, were “failed” by the social services system that was supposed to care for them and help transition them into society, according to a report issued Friday by outside investigators hired by Riverside County.
“Some of the younger Turpin children were placed with caregivers who were later charged with child abuse,” the 630-page report found. “Some of the older siblings experienced periods of housing instability and food insecurity as they transitioned to independence.”
The seven-month probe was the result of an investigation by ABC News as part of the Diane Sawyer 20/20 special, “Escape From A House of Horror,” that aired last November, in which two of the Turpin siblings spoke out for the first time about the challenges and hardships they have faced in the years since sheriff’s deputies rescued them from a life of home imprisonment.
“With respect to the Turpin siblings, we conclude there were many times over the last four years that they received the care they needed from the County,” the report found. “This was not always the case, however, and all too often the social services system failed them.”
The Turpin siblings were rescued in January 2018 from their home in Perris, California, after then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin executed a daring escape in the middle of the night and called 911. Authorities subsequently discovered that their parents had subjected them to brutal violence and deprived them of food, sleep, hygiene, education, and health care.
“In short, while there are many examples of dedicated Riverside County personnel succeeding despite the systemic obstacles in their way, there are too many other examples of falling short or even failing outright,” the report found.
In the response to the report, County Supervisor Karen Spiegel said in a statement, “This is the time to act and I will support all efforts to meet the challenge.”
While many of the specifics in the report were redacted due to privacy concerns, the investigation outlined a number of specific instances where services failed, as well as when they succeeded. It also included a number of recommendations for reform moving forward.
In a statement, County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen, who commissioned the investigation, said the recommendations would “guide our continuing efforts to improve outcomes in the days, weeks and months to come.”
Referring to its investigation of the Riverside social welfare system more broadly, the report found that there were “many examples of dedicated Riverside County personnel succeeding despite the systemic obstacles in their way” — but ultimately that “there are too many other examples of falling short or even failing outright.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(MIAMI) — A Georgia mom is speaking out after she said her 12-year-old daughter, who was traveling solo as an unaccompanied minor, exited an American Airlines flight at a Miami airport by herself after landing — without an adult guide.
The family paid extra for the unaccompanied minors service. According to the airline’s unaccompanied minors travel policy, the service assigns airport escorts to help children deplane, make flight connections, and meet the authorized adult picking them up.
Monica Gilliam told “Good Morning America” that on July 2, her daughter Kimber flew on an American Airlines flight from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Miami, Florida, to visit her father. After Kimber’s flight landed, Gilliam said she received a distressing phone call from American Airlines.
“The manager from American Airlines called and said, ‘Your child is missing.’ I was like, ‘How did you lose my child? How do you lose an unaccompanied minor?'” Gilliam recalled.
Gilliam said her daughter — who had flown unaccompanied before when she was 5 and 6, with different airlines — told her she felt she had to get up and leave the aircraft once it landed, following other passengers who were disembarking, and claimed a flight attendant even waved goodbye to her.
“She was seated in between two people on row eight. And when the person at the window got up, she felt like she was supposed to get up, too, and move into the aisle,” she said. “And then they just waved her on and she said, I didn’t know what to do, so I kept walking.'”
The family had not gone over specifics with Kimber about what to expect in the unaccompanied travel process, or detailed safety instructions on flying alone, but said she was familiar with air travel in general — according to Gilliam, the family flies together frequently, “and so [Kimber] knows that our typical protocol is that we get off the plane and we go to baggage claim together” — and had been told she would be looked after on this flight.
“I told her when she got on at Chattanooga that they would be there with her and they would make sure she stayed safe until she reached her dad,” she said.
“You know, she’s flown unaccompanied before. I have other children that have, too. And it never crossed our minds that this could be a possibility,” she added.
Gilliam said Kimber’s father ultimately used FaceTime to help his daughter navigate the Miami airport by herself after she had disembarked the plane, and eventually was able to guide her to a baggage claim area where he could reunite with her.
“She was nervous and she was scared. But she did exactly what her dad told her to do to get her to safety,” she said.
Gilliam said that airline officials had since refunded the full ticket price and additional unaccompanied minor fees for the trip, and had offered her several free flights with American Airlines, along with a number of other VIP services, which she said she turned down.
“They were very apologetic,” she said. Still, she added, “[Kimber] doesn’t want to fly now. … So I’ll be driving down to get her after her visit is over with her dad.”
American Airlines says children between the ages of 5 and 14 are required to use the company’s unaccompanied minor service when they fly alone. The service includes early boarding and an airport escort is supposed to meet the child and take them to their gate, flight connection, or to an “authorized adult” or guardian who has to pick up the child after a flight lands, according to the airline’s website.
Additionally, the website states that there is a “$150 unaccompanied service fee (plus tax, where applicable) each way” added to the ticket price for those using the service.
In response to the incident, American Airlines told ABC News in a statement that the company “cares deeply” about its young passengers and is “committed to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience for them.” The airline added that it is “looking into what occurred” and is taking the incident “very seriously.”
Emily Kaufman, a travel expert and the CEO and founder of “The Travel Mom,” told “GMA” that parents with children flying solo need to make sure their kids are adequately prepared.
“Inform them about the plan on the plane, getting off the plane and when they’re in need of something that they can ask a flight attendant,” Kaufman said.
Kaufman also recommends parents give their child a list of important contacts and phone numbers and to put the list in their pocket as well as their carry-on luggage. Parents may also want to consider using a tracking tool like the “Find My Friends” feature on an iPhone and they should always monitor a child’s flight in case it arrives early or late.
(NEW YORK) — As American basketball star Brittney Griner remains detained in Russia, Trevor Reed said he knows her grim reality all too well.
“They do not like Americans and they don’t try to hide that,” Reed, 30, told ABC News in an interview airing Friday on Good Morning America.
The U.S. Marine veteran was imprisoned in Russia for nearly three years. Reed, a Texas native, was arrested in Moscow in the summer of 2019 while visiting his Russian girlfriend. Russian authorities accused him of assaulting officers while being driven to a police station after a night of heavy drinking. He was convicted by a Russian court in mid-2020 and sentenced to nine years in a prison camp.
“There’s pretty horrible conditions there,” Reed said. “Some of those places don’t have a toilet — there’s just a hole in the floor for where the toilet should be.”
“There’s rats, [the] food there could be, you know, really bad,” he added. “In the summer, it’s very hot there. There’s no air conditioning obviously, or even fans inside of those cells.”
Reed was ultimately freed on April 27 as part of a prisoner swap agreed between the United States and Russia.
“The real fear that you have that just kind of sits on you like this weight the whole time, is that, you know, you could be there forever,” he said.
Griner, who plays professional basketball for the Phoenix Mercury, was returning to Russia to play in the off-season when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow on Feb. 17, after being accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country. On Thursday, the two-time Olympic gold medalist pleaded guilty to drug possession charges on the second day of her trial in a Russian court.
Griner, 31, also told the court that she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law, adding that she was in a rush when packing and did not mean to leave the cartridges in her bag. The trial was then adjourned until July 14.
Her detention has been extended repeatedly, most recently through Dec. 20, which was the expected length of her trial. If convicted, Griner faces up to 10 years in Russian prison and also has a right to an appeal.
The U.S. government has classified Griner’s case as “wrongfully detained,” meaning Washington will more aggressively work to negotiate her release even as the legal case against her plays out, according to the U.S. Department of State.
The White House said in a statement Wednesday that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have called Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, to discuss efforts to release her.
Griner had personally reached out to Biden in a handwritten letter that the White House received on Monday, when Americans were celebrating Independence Day. In the letter, she urged Biden to help her and other American detainees get out of Russia.
“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote to the president. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate [the Fourth of July] because freedom means something completely different to me this year.”
Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and Michigan-based corporate security executive, has been detained in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage charges, which both he and the U.S. government claim are false. Whelan, 52, was left out of the April prisoner exchange that led to Reed’s release.
Reed said the Biden administration is “not doing enough” to free Griner and Whelan.
“I hope that President Biden and his administration will do everything possible to get both, you know, Brittney and Paul out of Russia, and that they will do that immediately,” he told ABC News. “Because every day that, you know, they sit here and wait to make a decision is one more day that, you know, Paul and Brittney are suffering.”
Reed noted that freeing Whelan “needs to be the no. 1 priority there, just simply based off of the fact that he’s been there the longest.” He also criticized the Biden administration for contacting Griner’s family but not Whelan’s.
“They called Brittney’s family, and I’m extremely excited that they did that. I think that’s a step in the right direction,” Reed said. “But, at the same time, they did not contact Paul Whelan’s family and he’s been there for longer than I was even in Russia.”
During a news briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to say whether Biden has plans to call Whelan’s family, telling reporters that she didn’t have a telephone call to “announce or preview.” But she described regular contact between the Biden administration and the Whelans.
“The president is getting regularly updated,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “This is top of mind.”
She added: “We’re going to do everything that we can to bring home Brittney Griner safely, and to also make sure that we bring Paul Whelan back home as well.”
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Highland Park Police Department three years ago determined that the alleged Fourth of July massacre suspect posed “clear and present danger” after a family member claimed he was threatening to “kill everyone,” a newly released police record shows.
The record is part of a series of police documents released Thursday that detail Highland Park shooting suspect Robert “Bobby” Crimo III’s troubled past and family turmoil, including an incident in which he threatened to “kill everyone” in the house in September 2019, just months before he went through background checks in his application for a firearm owner identification card.
The police reports confirm Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli’s revelation during a Tuesday press conference that Crimo was approved for a gun license despite the two troubling run-ins with police that apparently did not surface in his background checks.
Highland Park police, which responded to the call in September 2019, removed a 24-inch Samurai blade, a box containing a 12-inch dagger and 16 hand knives from Crimo’s house that day, according to an incident report. Crimo told the police that he was depressed and had a history of drug use, the incident report shows. He also told the police that he had no intention of harming himself or others, according to the report.
No charges were filed in the incident when his family declined to press charges, Covelli said.
But the incident, labeled “well-being check,” prompted Highland Park police to file a report titled “Person Determined to Pose a Clear and Present Danger” on Crimo, which states Crimo is identified as a person “who, if granted access to a firearm or firearm ammunition, pose an actual, imminent threat of substantial bodily harm to themselves or another person(s) that is articulable and significant or who will likely act in a manner dangerous to public interest.”
According to the record, the “Clear and Present Danger form” was faxed to the Illinois State Police.
The revelations from the newly released records raise further questions about whether the incident should have prevented the alleged shooter from obtaining firearms.
Crimo had already had a police encounter earlier that year in late April, when an unnamed caller reported an alleged suicide attempt with a machete by Crimo a week before, another Highland Park police incident report shows.
The police noted in the incident report that the alleged suicide attempt had already been “handled by mental health professionals” the previous week and that no threats of harm were made by Crimo against himself or others that day.
In an interview with ABC News, the suspect’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., alleges he was not aware of his son’s alleged suicide attempt, but the incident report indicates that both parents were at the location when police were called a week after the alleged attempt. A source close to the matter told ABC News the report is incorrect and Crimo Jr. was not present for the police call.
“I’m not aware — I’m not aware of that one,” Crimo Jr. said. “You know, we live — we live in separate households.”
Despite the two alarming prior encounters, in December 2019, Crimo III passed four background checks to purchase weapons, the Illinois State Police said.
Because he was under the age of 21, his father sponsored his application, and at the time it was reviewed, “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application,” the state police said.
The state police said that before they approved Crimo III’s FOID application, they reviewed his criminal history and only found a January 2016 ordinance violation for being a minor in possession of tobacco.
Several other police reports between 2009 and 2014 revealed numerous incidents of domestic violence among Crimo III’s father, Crimo III’s mother and her boyfriend, who is not named.
Among the police reports was a 911 call from Crimo III’s mother Denise Pesina-Crimo’s boyfriend who alleged she tried to kill herself, which Pesina-Crimo disputed. In another incident, Pesina-Crimo was accused of biting the caller in 2012. In another incident, Pesina-Crimo allegedly struck Crimo III’s father with a screwdriver.
Several of these incident reports indicate that the suspect’s mother was allegedly intoxicated.
Another police record released on Thursday is a 2002 arrest card for Crimo III’s mother for endangering the life of a child, now identified as Crimo III.
Crimo III is accused of opening fire at an Independence Day parade, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others. The suspect plotted another attack in Madison, Wisconsin, authorities said Wednesday, but did not follow through.
He was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder on Tuesday. Prosecutors said that Crimo III confessed to Monday morning’s parade massacre. He did not enter a plea during a bond hearing on Wednesday.
(DETROIT) — Sonja Bonnett and her family built their lives in a home a few blocks south of Eight Mile in northeastern Detroit. The family spent years dreaming of owning the property, but then a letter arrived that quickly tore that life apart.
“One day, I get a letter in the mail that says there’s a $5,000 tax debt,” said Bonnett.
In 2011, Bonnett and her family entered a contract to become full owners and made monthly payments that they thought were covering property tax. The Bonnett family soon discovered multiple years of unpaid property taxes.
Bonnett and her husband could not afford to pay those back taxes and, in 2017, the couple, along with their seven children, were forced out of their home.
“The trauma of losing the house, and the way I lost it, killed a lot of how I felt about the neighborhood and the house,” said Bonnett. “But I still care about the people.”
City records showed that the unpaid taxes owed on Bonnett’s home from 2012 and 2013 added up to less than $5,000. A 2020 investigation by the Detroit News estimated Detroit residents, like the Bonnetts, were overtaxed by $600 million from 2010 to 2016.
Based on estimates by the Detroit News investigation, Bonnett’s former home was overtaxed by more than $1,500 in 2012 and 2013.
For years the city of Detroit greatly over-assessed the value of Bonnett’s home and many others like it. From 2011 to 2015, one in four Detroit homes went into foreclosure because of failure to pay property tax, according to a 2018 study.
Alvin Horhn is the deputy CFO and assessor for the city of Detroit. According to city records, the assessed value of the Bonnetts’ home in 2011 was $22,838, but when the property was reassessed in 2017 – it fell to $10,4000 – less than half of what it was valued before.
“There is no question the city lost control of its assessment roll,” said Horhn.
At the time, Horhn said that the city didn’t have the resources for a citywide reappraisal. In 2013, the city filed for bankruptcy and reportedly $18 billion in debt.
“There’s 400,000 properties in the city of Detroit, over 200,000 houses. I would never tell anyone that every single one of them is valued correctly, but that’s why we have a review,” said Horhn.
According to Michigan’s state constitution, property cannot be assessed at more than 50% of its marketable value.
Bernadette Atuahene is a property law scholar who works with the Coalition for Property Tax Justice and is fighting to end over-assessments in Detroit and to get compensation for affected residents. She said her research found that 53% to 84% of Detroit homes were assessed in violation of that rule from 2009 to 2015.
“We find that the burden of these illegally inflated property taxes is being borne on the most vulnerable homeowners, the ones in the lowest valued homes,” said Atuahene.
While Detroit acknowledges the over-assessment problems in past years, the city told ABC News that the problem is no longer happening.
“There are no systemic over-assessments in this city. If I were to tell you that 95% of the assessment roll is correct, that’s still 5% [or] 20,000 houses that could possibly be overvalued,” said Horhn.
But Atuahene and other housing advocates would argue otherwise. A 2020 study from the University of Chicago found that while fewer Detroit homes were being assessed in violation of the constitution, the city’s lower-valued homes were still being over-assessed.
The problem is not unique to Detroit. A 2021 study found that property rates are 10%-13% higher for Black and Hispanic residents nationwide. In recent years, investigative reports have uncovered disproportionate assessments in Cook County, Illinois, and Philadelphia.
“Detroit is just ground zero for a national problem. We see these inflated property taxes. It’s a national racial justice issue that our country has yet to come to tackle with,” Atuahene said.
In 2020, Detroit proposed a plan offering benefits for homeowners affected between 2010 and 2013, including discounts for properties owned by the Detroit Land Bank, authority and priority access to affordable housing and city jobs. The plan was voted down by Detroit’s city council, with critics saying it didn’t go far enough.
“The city does not have the money to hand people cash. It’s against state law and the city is not going to do anything that could bring the FRC back in control of their finances,” said Horhn.
Residents like the Bonnetts said if the city can admit it was wrong, they have the obligation to make it right.
“I want the world to take a look at what’s going on here… When you talk to Detroiters who went through this, we want our money back,” she said. “Why am I just accepting whatever they can give me?”
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Before Nancy Rotering was mayor of Highland Park, she served her suburban community in another way: as a Cub Scout leader. One of the members of her troop was Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, the alleged gunman accused of opening fire on a Fourth of July parade, killing seven residents and injuring at least 30 others.
“I hadn’t seen him in probably 15 years. But, you know, at the time I knew him he was a little boy,” the mayor said Thursday in an interview with ABC News Live. “I’m not sure what has happened in his life that brought him to this point.”
The mayor noted that despite Highland Park’s relatively strict gun laws, the suspect was able to travel outside his hometown to legally purchase firearms.
“He didn’t buy this gun in Highland Park,” she said. “We need better laws throughout, not just the state of Illinois, but throughout our nation.”
Rotering said she attended her first vigil on Wednesday evening, hours after Crimo appeared in court for the first time. Authorities say he confessed to the massacre and that he had contemplated another attack the same day in Madison, Wisconsin.
Authorities said he “had not done enough planning,” and decided not to go through with the Wisconsin attack.
Crimo is charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, and Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said more charges are expected.
The mayor said that while she believes the suspect deserves a life behind bars, she’s “not sure there will ever be justice in this case.”
As the funerals will soon begin for the victims, and as many remain in the hospital being treated for serious gunshot wounds, she described her suburban neighborhood outside of Chicago as completely shattered.
Rotering said this massacre has severely affected the mental health of the entire city, especially those who witnessed the attack and are mourning loved ones.
“It’s any time I’m walking down the street, we are hugging, we’re crying. People are gathering around what is still an active investigation, saying it’s brought such an unbelievably deep wound into the heart of our community,” she said. “No city should have to go through this.”
The mayor, who led the parade, said the holiday will now always be remembered as a day of tragedy. She said that until there is change on a national level many more celebrations will be turned into violence.
“We are a small ship in an ocean of a lot of guns,” she said. “This country needs to have a true reckoning of: Is this how we really want to remember our Independence Day? As a day of massacre and gun violence? Because this will be brought up every Fourth of July from now on.”
