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(FORT PEARCE, Fla.) — A jury has been selected in the criminal trial of Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on his golf course last year.

After three days of jury selection, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon finalized a group of twelve jurors and four alternates Wednesday.

Routh, who is representing himself at the trial in Fort Pierce, Florida, has pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges that risk sending him to prison for life, including attempting to kill a presidential candidate and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The selection of the jury came after Routh accused prosecutors of discriminatory practices, causing tensions to flare in the courtroom.

Prior to Judge Cannon finalizing the jury, Routh — who lacks any legal education or training — made what is known as a “Batson challenge” after he said prosecutors struck two Black potential jurors.

“We have a racist situation that is occurring,” Routh alleged. “It is blatantly obvious.”

Judge Cannon responded to the allegations by accusing Routh of improperly conferring with his standby lawyers, who remain in court to assist him with technical matters. She said she heard “whispers” from the defense table that suggested Routh was getting legal advice from his standby attorneys — something Judge Cannon has prohibited as a condition for Routh to represent himself.

She did not elaborate any further on the “whispers” and declined to inquire further into Routh’s alleged conversation with his lawyers, which is protected by attorney-client privilege.

“It seems to me you are using your attorneys for more than just technical things,” Cannon said.

Routh denied the claim, saying he is turning down their help and came up with the Batson challenge on his own.

“I am hearing whispers,” Cannon said. “I heard a whisper that sounded like more than technical advice.”

The situation deescalated after prosecutors explained their rationale for excluding one of the jurors, and Judge Cannon denied Routh’s challenge. Prosecutors claimed they only removed one Black juror after he provided inconsistent answers to some of the questions on the jury questionnaire.

“The U.S. has offered a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for their preemptory strike,” Judge Cannon said.

Prosecutors allege that after planning his attack for months, Routh hid in the bushes of Trump’s Palm Beach golf course with a rifle in the predawn hours of Sept. 15.

With Trump just one hole away from Routh’s position, a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle poking out of the tree line and fired at him, causing him to flee, according to prosecutors. Routh was subsequently arrested after being stopped on a nearby interstate.

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(NEW YORK) — A 350-billion-year-old rock discovered on the Red Planet is “the closest we’ve come to discovering ancient life on Mars,” according to NASA.

Potential signs of microbial life were found in a rock sample collected by the rover in 2024 from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars’ Jezero Crater — an area of rocky outcrops on the edges the Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing to the canyon billions of years ago, NASA officials announced in a press conference on Wednesday.

The sample, named “Sapphire Canyon,” contains potential biosignatures, which are substances or structures that might have a biological origin, NASA said.

“To be clear, it’s not life itself, but a signature, like seeing a fossil or leftovers from a microbial process,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said Wednesday. “It could have been formed billions of years ago. We’re sharing this first result with the world and inviting continued analysis.”

The finding is the closest astronomers have ever come to discovering life on Mars, Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, told reporters in Wednesday’s news conference.

“The identification of a potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars,” he said.

The sample was collected in 2024 from a rock named “Cheyava Falls.” The arrowhead-shaped rock measures about 3.2 feet by 2 feet and contains what appears to be colorful spots that could have been left behind by microbial life.

Fox said the leopard-spotted rock had never been seen before on the Martian surface. Using the rover’s organic chemical detector to analyze the spots, scientists at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) found iron, phosphorus and sulfur arranged in patterns consistent with minerals like vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide) that could have “potentially been made by ancient life.”

Higher-resolution images revealed a distinct pattern of minerals arranged into reaction fronts — or points of contact where chemical and physical reactions occur, according to NASA.

NASA said that vivianite is frequently found on Earth around decaying organic matter and in sediments and peat bogs. Greigite is produced by certain forms of microbial life on our planet.

“On Earth, these minerals are often byproducts of microbial metabolisms. Non-biological explanations exist, but this is the strongest evidence yet for a possible biosignature on Mars,” said Joel Hurowitz, a planetary scientist at Stony Brook University, who is one of the experts involved in the project. “To be certain, we must eventually return these samples to Earth.”

Hurowitz said that other non-organic reasons could explain the findings, but added that “The combination of chemical compounds we found in the Bright Angel formation could have been a rich source of energy for microbial metabolisms.”

The findings were released on Wednesday in a peer-reviewed scientific journal article published in Nature.

The formation’s sedimentary rocks are composed of clay and silt — materials that are “excellent preservers” of past microbial life on Earth, NASA said.

The discovery was “particularly surprising” because the sample was taken from the youngest sedimentary rocks the mission has investigated, contrary to an earlier hypothesis that assumed signs of ancient life would be confined to older rock formations, according to NASA.

NASA said the only way to confirm the findings is to return the sample to Earth. However, the Trump administration has recommended eliminating the funding for a program that would have returned Mars samples to Earth.

“This is a potential biosignature. That means it could have a biological origin, but more study is required. These findings are the result of decades of strategic exploration, thousands of scientists, and missions building on each other,” said Lindsay Hays, senior scientist for Mars Exploration at NASA.

Perseverance landed on Mars in February 2021 and has been studying the red planet’s Jazero Crater region ever since. It’s collected and analyzed 30 samples so far and has room for six more.

“NASA’s commitment to conducting Gold Standard Science will continue as we pursue our goal of putting American boots on Mars’ rocky soil,” Duffy said in a statement.

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(NEW YORK) — Following the near deportation of 76 Guatemalan minors over Labor Day weekend, attorneys for the minors are scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday to seek a preliminary injunction blocking similar removals.

A judge over the weekend temporarily blocked the deportation of the unaccompanied minors without due process, just as they were sitting on the planes preparing to depart.

In a new court filing, the minors’ attorneys said that immigration officials are interviewing unaccompanied minors from other countries with an eye toward removing them in the same manner.

Justice Department officials have said the 76 minors were being removed in accordance with the law and at the request of the Guatemalan government and the minors’ legal guardians, but attorneys for the minors say some of children did not have parents who had requested their return, and that some minors expressed a fear of returning to Guatemala.

The new filings included declarations from immigrant advocates and minors from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

“I recently received a visit from HSI [Homeland Security Investigations], but they never asked me if I wanted to go back to Honduras,” said a 17-year-old from Honduras, whose name was redacted in the declaration.

The teenager, who said they are afraid to return to their home country, said that at an immigration hearing last month, a judge said he had a list of minors who had agreed to voluntary removal, and that the teen’s name was on it.

“I do not know why I was on the list,” the 17-year-old said.

According to a declaration filed by Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu, deputy director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, a number of Honduran children have been questioned by Department of Homeland Security officials.

“We have no details as to how these children were chosen, or who is in charge of the plan,” she said. “We have no information as to whom we need to reach out to share that children have expressed fear or have possible relief.”

In another declaration, a 16-year-old from El Salvador, who said they fled their home country because they fear they will be “harmed or killed by the police,” stated they have been asked to participate in interviews with government officials.

According to several declarations, many of the minors who immigration attorneys and advocates believe are being targeted for removal have pending immigration proceedings. The attorneys argue that the Trump administration is violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which outlines specific procedures for unaccompanied minors, including ensuring they are placed in immigration proceedings.

“Defendants’ argument that they can expel hundreds of children in the middle of the night with two hours’ warning relies on the fallacy that they were acting pursuant to authority to ‘reunify’ them with their parents,” attorneys representing the minors said. “That argument is illogical and illegal.”

In court filings, the attorneys also argued that the Trump administration does not have authority to transfer unaccompanied minors from the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to DHS.

They said the court should reject the Trump administration’s “invocation of nonexistent statutory authority'” arguing that the administration is putting hundreds of children “at risk of imminent, irreparable harm if they are expelled with no remedy.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is demanding the suspect who was charged for fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte light rail be “awarded THE DEATH PENALTY.”

“The ANIMAL who so violently killed the beautiful young lady from Ukraine, who came to America searching for peace and safety, should be given a ‘Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial, and only awarded THE DEATH PENALTY. There can be no other option!!!” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who was arrested on Aug. 22 after he fatally stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, which could make him eligible for the death penalty, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

“This brutal attack on an innocent woman simply trying to get to her destination is an attack on the American way of life. Of course, crimes like this affect the victim the most — Iryna deserves justice, and we will bring justice to her and her family,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in a statement on Tuesday.

There was no apparent interaction between Brown and Zarutska before the unprovoked stabbing, officials said.

Ferguson described the incident Tuesday as a “terroristic act” and said he and North Carolina FBI Special Agent James Barnacle Jr. spoke to Zarutska’s mother and uncle to alert them of the federal charges. Ferguson said the family is “suffering like any of us would be.”

Zarutska’s family said in a statement on Tuesday they are “heartbroken beyond words” and are “calling attention to a broader crisis in public safety and systemic failure.”

“Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way. No family should have to go through this,” the family said.

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(NEW YORK) — The sun was getting ready to rise over a rural lake in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, when a sheriff’s deputy shined his flashlight inside Ryan Borgwardt’s minivan parked just yards away from the water’s edge.

There was no one inside the car.

As the deputy took out his binoculars and gazed over the pier to see if he could spot anyone in the distance that morning in August 2024, he almost certainly could not have imagined that not only would Borgwardt not be found stuck in the lake, but would end up being traced across the world to the country of Georgia.

“I guess everything kind of hinged on me dying in the lake,” Borgwardt told investigators in a December 2024 interview obtained by ABC News this week.

A husband and father of three, Borgwardt gained national attention last year after disappearing following an apparent trip to the lake to kayak and resurfacing months later in a video recorded in an undisclosed location where he maintained he was safe.

Borgwardt, who could not be reached for comment for this report, pleaded no contest last month to obstructing an officer and was sentenced to 89 days in jail. He also agreed to pay $30,000 in restitution to law enforcement to cover what was spent searching for him and apologized for his actions at his sentencing.

According to law enforcement, Borgwardt texted his wife of 22 years on the day he went kayaking that he was getting ready to head back to shore.

He never made it home that night. A team of first responders eventually found Borgwardt’s kayak, but he was nowhere to be found.

Now, hundreds of records released by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office are shedding light on how Borgwardt made it from that Wisconsin lake all the way to Georgia, where he sought to build a life with a woman he met on the internet, according to prosecutors.

Officials previously declined to release these records to ABC News while the case against Borgwardt was pending.

The newly released documents range from receipts for Borgwardt’s bus tickets –from Madison, Wisconsin, to Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport — to footage of Borgwardt crossing the border into Canada, and communications between American law enforcement and the woman he was in contact with while he was overseas.

“It is extremely important to explain why we want to speak with you,” Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Matthew Vande Kolk wrote to the woman, who had written in Russian that Ryan had become a good friend of hers over the previous year when she had been going through problems in her life.

“When is the last time that you spoke with Ryan,” Vande Kolk asked in one email. “We need to know he is ok.”

The communications show that Vande Kolk was ultimately able to get in touch with Borgwardt over email and Telegram, a messaging app.

“I realize I created this mess and now everyone is trying to put the pieces together,” Borgwardt wrote in one email to Vande Kolk. “I am really sorry about that. It would have just been much easier if no one looked for me.”

In another email, Borgwardt explained how, back in Wisconsin, he made it from the edge of the lake all the way to the bus station in Madison.

“I kayaked out there with my small fishing net,” he wrote. “I tossed the phone. I inflated a small child inflatable raft good for about 250 lbs. After flipping the kayak, I spent the next 1 – 2 hours trying to paddle back to shore. (seemed like forever) But the winds, waves and the short “toy” paddles didn’t work well that night, but worked enough. I got to shore somewhere across from the area that I parked.”

Borgwardt wrote that he then rode an electric bike he had left in the brush for 66 miles.

“No one will truly ever forgot [sic] what I did, even if they somehow forgive me,” Borgwardt wrote to Vande Kolk. “I can possibly come back to try and clean up as much as possible.”

Borgwardt ultimately made the choice to fly from Batumi, Georgia, back to the United States, where he was ultimately brought in for questioning by the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

“I think the only thing I was keeping secret was where I was at,” Borgwardt told investigators, according to a video of the interview. “I was adamant not to lie … so I really don’t think there’s anything that was a lie. I think I just didn’t say too much.”

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(NEW YORK) — Don’t be fooled by the lack of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin.

The peak of hurricane season is here, and activity could soon ramp up, despite the relative quiet currently occurring in the tropics, according to meteorologists.

The climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is Sept. 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October, on average, according to the National Hurricane Center. Historically speaking, about two-thirds of all Atlantic hurricane season activity occurs between Aug. 20 and Oct. 10.

But the Atlantic Basin remains quiet with no tropical development expected over the next week.

“For the next seven days, things look pretty quiet,” David Zierden, the Florida state climatologist and head of the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, told ABC News.

However, forecasters anticipate an increase in activity during the second half of the month as conditions become more favorable for tropical cyclone development.

The remainder of September and October will likely be active, Zierden said.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center long-range Global Tropical Hazards Outlook shows a rising probability of tropical development over the central Atlantic Ocean in the latter part of September, as large-scale environmental conditions gradually become more favorable for tropical cyclone activity.

Tropical weather experts at Colorado State University echo these predictions, saying overall atmospheric conditions, including wind patterns, will shift in a manner that supports a notable increase in activity.

In mid-September, the upper atmosphere and wind shear should become more favorable for the formation and strengthening of storms, Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told ABC News.

Last month, NOAA predicted above-normal activity for the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The agency forecasted 13 to 18 total named storms with winds of 39 mph or greater, including five to nine storms predicted to become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or greater and two to five storms expected to become major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or higher.

The average number of named storms in the Atlantic Basin during one season is 14, with seven of them becoming hurricanes.

So far this season, there have been six named storms. Only one storm has formed into a major hurricane.

Hurricane Erin formed on Aug. 11 and intensified into a Category 5 storm less than a week later. While the hurricane brought a prolonged period of rough surf and dangerous rip currents to the northeastern Caribbean and the East Coast of the U.S., it remained offshore.

Separately, Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall in South Carolina in early July.

The next named storm will be called Gabrielle.

The Atlantic hurricane season has been relatively quiet so far due to hostile atmospheric conditions that discourage the formation of tropical cyclones as well as the dust blowing from the Sahara Desert, Francis said.

September and October often see some of the busiest activity for hurricanes because sea surface temperatures can be at their highest, Zierden said. Higher temperatures provide “ample fuel” for the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones, he added.

Currently, waters in the Gulf and Caribbean are “very warm,” Francis said.

“So when a disturbance does come along, it’ll have plenty of fuel,” Francis said.

During the two busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record — 2020 and 2005 — both years saw about half of the total number of named storms for the season occur after Sept. 3.

Hurricane activity in 2024 demonstrated how active late September and early October can be for tropical development.

Hurricane Helene, which caused devastating flooding in North Carolina, formed on Sept. 24, 2024, while Hurricane Milton, which caused widespread destruction in Florida, formed on Oct. 5, 2024.

During this time of year, tropical activity tends to develop in the Caribbean or Gulf, rather than near Africa, which also complicates response efforts, Francis said.

“That gives people less time to prepare,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — A decomposing female body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer D4vd, two days after it had been towed from a Los Angeles street, police sources said.

Police responded to an impound lot in Hollywood midday Monday “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.

Authorities located a body in the front trunk of the Tesla that was in a state of decomposition, LAPD sources said.

A death investigation is underway, police said.

The Tesla is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, according to a senior LAPD source. It is one of several vehicles owned by the musician, with many different people using any of the vehicles at any given time, the source added.

ABC News has reached out to his representative for comment but has not yet received a response.

Investigators will be relying heavily on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner to identify the victim and to figure out the cause of death, police sources said.

The medical examiner confirmed it was a female’s body but was unable to determine her age, race or ethnicity due to the body being “severely decomposed.”

The victim was about 5-foot-1 with wavy black hair and was wearing a tube top, black leggings, a yellow metal bracelet and metal stud earrings. She also had a tattoo on her right index finger that said “Shhh…”, according to the medical examiner.

The victim appears to have been dead for some time, adding to the complexity of the investigation, which is in its very early stages, the sources said.

Investigators are treating this as a homicide for now, as it will take several days for the coroner to make a determination on the manner of death, according to the senior LAPD source. 

The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said.

Investigators intend to talk to the registered owner of the vehicle, as well as anyone else who may be connected to the case, sources said.

D4vd, who first went viral on TikTok, released his debut album in April. The singer, known for his indie, R&B and alt-pop sound, is currently on tour. He is set to perform next on Tuesday in Minneapolis, with a stop in Los Angeles on Sept. 20.

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(NEW YORK) — A California woman is facing six years in prison for allegedly registering her dog to vote and casting mail-in ballots in two elections, one of which was counted, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Laura Lee Yourex, 62, of Costa Mesa, was charged with five felonies, including perjury, procuring or offering a false or forged document to be filed, casting a ballot when not entitled to vote and registering a non-existent person to vote.

The dog’s vote was successfully counted in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election but was rejected in the 2022 primary, according to officials.

In 2024, Yourex told the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ Office that she had registered her dog, Maya Jean Yourex, to vote, and the registrar of voters then contacted the District Attorney’s Office.

On her social media, according to the district attorney, Yourex posted a picture of her dog wearing an “I voted” sticker and posing with her ballot in January 2022.

Another post from October 2024 showed a photograph of Maya’s dog tag and a vote-by-mail ballot with the caption, “maya is still getting her ballot” even though the dog had previously passed away, the district attorney’s office said.

Her arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 9 but postponed until Dec. 10, according to ABC Los Angeles station, KABC.

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(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — A decomposing body was found in the trunk of a Tesla two days after it had been towed from a Los Angeles street, police sources said.

Police responded to an impound lot in Hollywood midday Monday “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.

Authorities located a body in the front trunk of the Tesla that was in a state of decomposition, LAPD sources said. 

A death investigation is underway, police said. 

Investigators will be relying heavily on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner to identify the victim and to figure out the cause of death, sources said. 

The victim appears to have been dead for some time, adding to the complexity of the investigation, which is in its very early stages, sources said.

Investigators are treating this as a homicide for now, as it will take several days for the coroner to make a determination on the manner of death, according to a senior LAPD source. 

Investigators intend to talk to the registered owner of the vehicle, as well as anyone else who may be connected to the case, sources said. 

Police have not released the name of the Tesla’s owner.

The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said.

ABC News’ Matt Gutman contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City police are searching for a man on parole who allegedly broke into a Queens home, killed a couple and set their house on fire, authorities said.

Frank Olton, 76, was found on Monday tied to a pole in his basement suffering from multiple stab wounds, and his wife Maureen Olton, 77, was found on the house’s first floor, severely burned, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The Oltons’ son, a New York City Fire Department paramedic, was alerted to the fire by an alarm system and he responded to the house, police said.

There’s no known connection between the victims and the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, Tisch said.

Detectives believe the suspect spent five hours in the victims’ house, according to sources, likely searching for property to steal before setting it ablaze. Surveillance video showed the suspect leaving the home around 3 p.m., police said.

Witnesses reported a man knocking on a neighbor’s door on Monday morning, asking to charge his phone, Tisch said, and that neighbor turned the suspect away. Surveillance video showed the suspect going to the victims’ house and Frank Olton letting him in, according to the commissioner.

Tisch called the crime a “horrific double homicide, robbery and arson.”

She said police are asking for the public’s help to find McGriff, warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

McGriff, who is out on parole for first-degree robbery, “has a lengthy violent criminal history stretching back 30 years,” Tisch said. He failed to register as a sex offender in November 2024 “which should have violated his parole,” she said, and he is also wanted for two robberies in Manhattan this summer.

“This suspect’s MO is to go door-to-door asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entry — so do not allow anyone you don’t know or who you are not expecting into your home,” she stressed.

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