(NEW YORK) – Two teenage boys have been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of a 21-year-old man whose body was found in a remote desert area in Utah County, according to police.
The 15-year-old and a 17-year-old have been booked into the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center on multiple felony charges related to the murder, the Taylorsville Police Department said in a press release.
Police had been searching for 21-year-old Alex Franco, who was abducted Sunday, according to police.
Franco was last seen alive getting into a white Jeep Liberty on Sunday afternoon, according to police. Witnesses reported hearing a possible single gunshot and the vehicle then sped away.
Police found a vehicle suspected to be the one involved in the abduction on Monday and further investigation led to the arrest of two teenage suspects, according to police.
Franco’s body was found with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound, police said.
Police believe they arrested the person responsible for Franco’s shooting but they are “actively working on contacting others who may have been present during the homicide,” according to police.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Daniel Opdyke was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison during a hearing in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi on Wednesday for his role in torture of two Black men, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Opdyke is the third to be sentenced out of a group of six white former law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a total of 16 felonies related to the January 2023 racially motivated torture and sexual assault of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, as well as a subsequent plan to cover up their crimes.
He cried during the sentencing, according to WAPT, and said that his time in prison so far has helped him reflect on “how I transformed into the monster I became that night.”
“The weight of my actions and the harm I’ve caused will haunt me every day,” Opdyke told the victims. “I wish I could take away your suffering.”
Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputy Christian Dedmon is also set to be sentenced on Wednesday, are the third and fourth defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward was sentenced on Tuesday to 241 months, or about 20 years, while Jeffrey Middleton received a 17 1/2-year sentence for his role in the incident, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The remaining two officers who pleaded guilty in this case — former Rankin County sheriff’s deputy Brett McAlpin and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield — are set to be sentenced during hearings on Thursday.
“These defendants will spend 20 years and 17.5 years in prison for their heinous attack on citizens they had sworn an oath to protect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Tuesday following the first round of sentencing.
“The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who violate constitutional rights, and in so doing, betray the public trust,” his statement concluded.
In their guilty pleas, the six former law enforcement officers admitted to breaking into a home where Jenkins and Parker were residing without a warrant after a white neighbor reported that the men were staying with a white woman and alleged “suspicious” activity. They then proceeded to arrest the two men “without probable cause” that they committed any crimes, according to the DOJ.
Some of the defendants were part of a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to charging documents. The group was summoned by Dedmon to the home where Jenkins and Parker were residing, according to the DOJ, after McAlpin asked him to investigate.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, mocked them with racial slurs, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy, forced them to strip naked and shower together and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
Following the incident, the two victims faced false charges for months, according to the DOJ, stemming from the officers’ plan to cover up their actions by tampering with and planting evidence, including drugs and a gun.
ABC News has reached out to the officers but requests for comment were not returned.
Jenkins and Parker, along with their attorney Malik Shabazz, told reporters on Monday that they have been struggling with the enduring trauma of the brutal attack. Following Elward’s sentencing on Tuesday, the two men told Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT that justice has been done.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — stood up in the courtroom and apologized to the victims, according to WAPT, saying, “I hate myself for it. I accept my responsibility.”
Parker stood up and told Elward that he forgives him, and later that afternoon told WAPT that while he forgives “what is done,” Elward “still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught, he’d still be doing the same thing.”
The charges the officers pleaded guilty to include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They also pleaded guilty to similar state charges and are awaiting sentencing in the state case. State sentences will be served concurrently.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Daniel Penny, the man who choked a homeless man to death last May on a New York City subway car, will stand trial beginning Oct. 8, a judge determined Wednesday.
The trial will take between four and six weeks, according to Judge Max Wiley.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to the charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in connection with Jordan Neely’s death.
Penny, a former Marine, put Neely in a fatal chokehold “that lasted approximately six minutes and continued well past the point at which Mr. Neely had stopped purposeful movement,” prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office have said.
His attorneys have claimed Neely was “insanely threatening” aboard the F train.
An attorney for Neely’s family said the family is holding out hope for justice.
“Andre Zachary and Jordan Neely’s family are still suffering,” their attorney, Lennon Edwards, said. “Justice has not been served yet but we’re holding onto hope justice will be done.”
Edwards called Penny a “judge, jury and executioner” aboard the subway car.
“Jordan was unarmed. He was hungry. He asked for food. And in his desperation he was emotional but distressed does not mean dangerous,” Edwards said.
Penny and his attorneys left without comment.
“We are confident that a jury, aware of Danny’s actions in putting aside his own safety to protect the lives of his fellow riders, will deliver a just verdict,” Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff, Penny’s lawyers, said in a previous statement. “Danny is grateful for the continued prayers and support through this difficult process.”
Penny’s attorneys have said that he was defending himself and others when he put Neely into the chokehold that caused his death.
Some witnesses told police that Neely was yelling and harassing passengers on the train, authorities said.
Police sources previously told ABC News that Penny was not specifically being threatened by Neely when he intervened and that Neely had not become violent and had not been threatening anyone in particular.
A court date has been scheduled for Sept. 17 for a hearing to suppress statements Penny made to investigators prior to his arrest.
A judge denied Penny’s bid to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter case in January.
(NEW YORK) — More than 1,200 of the nation’s public safety personnel died by suicide over a seven-year period, according to a report released by a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement suicides.
From 2016 to 2022, there were 1,287 public safety personnel — identified in the report as law enforcement and corrections officers — who died by suicide, according to the First HELP and CNA Corporation report obtained by ABC News.
First HELP is an organization that tracks law enforcement and first responder suicides. It partnered with data scientists from CNA Corporation, another law enforcement nonprofit. Center for Naval Analyses — also known as CNA — informs the decisions of Navy, Marine Corps and Department of Defense leaders and is the only federally funded research and development center for the Navy.
The nonprofits collected the data from several sources including suicides reported on the First HELP website, news articles, First HELP social media accounts and direct contact with families and friends of those who have died by suicide.
“Future analyses of these data can deepen our understanding of the factors associated with suicide among public safety personnel and facilitate comparisons of suicide rates across various geographies, states, races, sexes, and age groups, as well as with other industries,” the report said.
While the FBI gathers data on both suicides and attempted suicides, the agency’s data gathering has “encountered challenges” with showing the breadth of the problem, the report said. The FBI’s 2022 report identified 32 suicides from 22 law enforcement agencies nationwide — significantly less than the First HELP report.
“These preliminary findings underscore the critical necessity of expanding and refining data collection endeavors to garner a more comprehensive understanding of public safety personnel suicides and addressing the issue at a national scale,” the report said.
The average number of suicides per year during the period studied was just shy of 184. In 2022, the most recent year data was collected, there were 183 suicides. Also, 2019 saw the highest number with 234, according to the report.
“Despite reviewing the comments in the data, analysts found no specific reason for this increase,” the report said of the spike in 2019.
A dip in 2020 — to 184 suicides — may be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year “may have provided public safety personnel with a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in their roles, potentially acting as a protective factor against suicidal ideation and reducing the incidence of suicide that has been observed in past research,” the report said.
Agencies, location and department size
More than half — 51% — of the officer deaths by suicide involved officers from local police departments, the report found. Twenty percent were from sheriff’s offices, and another 13% were corrections officers.
The majority of suicides are from departments with 100 or more full-time sworn officers, according to the report.
“These large agencies represent merely 10.8 percent of all law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities nationwide, but account for 61 percent of suicides among publish safety personnel,” the report said.
The findings regarding agency size and suicide are contrary to previous research that suggested that officers at smaller agencies may have an elevated suicide risk, the report said. The smallest agencies — which account for about 4% of the suicides included in the study — reported nine or fewer officer deaths by suicide.
“The correlation between agency size and the proportion of deaths by suicide appears to be linear, with fewer occurrences observed in smaller agencies,” the report said.
The majority of the officers were actively serving at the time of their suicides, but a “significant portion” — 17% — were retired law enforcement, according to the report.
“Only 5 percent had recently been terminated from their position prior to the death event,” it added.
Southern states account for 33% of the studied suicides, followed by Northeastern states with 25%, the West with 21% and the Midwest with 20%.
“Considering that the South has more than double the population of the Northeast, these figures may shift when adjusted for population or the number of public safety personnel in each region,” the report found.
Demographics
The majority of officers who died by suicide were white men in their 40s, according to the report.
“Males make up approximately 87 percent of public safety personnel nationwide … and their reported suicide rate closely aligns with that percentage, with males accounting for 92 percent of deaths,” the report said.
Most of the officers who died by suicide were in a relationship (59%) and had one or more children (66%).
Nearly 70% of all cases were at the officer rank, followed by 21% at the mid-management level and 7% at investigator level.
Mental health and life challenges
Life and mental health challenges led to many officers’ deaths, the reports found — the most prevalent of which were depression (34%) and PTSD (27%).
“Roughly 23 percent reported some level of help-seeking behaviors before the officer’s death by suicide,” the report said. “The highest proportion of help-seeking behaviors among public safety personnel was related to seeking treatment for PTSD, a mental health issue known to have a significant correlation with suicidal tendencies. Approximately 17 percent of officers sought assistance for PTSD, and 7 percent sought help for any form of mental health treatment.”
In nearly all of the cases the officer was off duty, and the officers used a firearm.
The report also urges federal agencies, such as the FBI, to create a more robust law enforcement officer suicide database.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(NEW YORK) — Five separate alleged human smuggling attempts at a single port of entry into the U.S. have been intercepted in less than 48 hours, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office.
The five separate attempts occurred over the weekend starting Friday morning and carrying through until Sunday when officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations (CBP) officers at Del Rio Port of Entry in Texas caught five separate alleged human smuggling attempts in a span of less than two days, said CBP.
The first attempted breach happened on Friday morning at approximately 8 a.m. when CBP officers assigned to the Del Rio International Bridge encountered a passenger vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico and a CBP officer referred all of the passengers in the car for a secondary examination.
It was during this examination and interview process when it was discovered the driver had presented two U.S. passports for an adult female, and a minor male. Upon further examination, both passengers were discovered to be citizens and nationals of Mexico and had no valid entry documents, according to CBP.
Just 19 hours later on Saturday at approximately 3 a.m., CBP officers encountered a passenger vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico and the driver presented a U.S. birth certificate for an adult female, said CBP.
A CBP officer decided it was necessary to conduct a secondary examination which subsequently revealed that the passenger was a Mexican citizen with no valid documents to enter or travel to the U.S., CBP said in a statement detailing the five separate instances.
The third attempted breach happened about an hour later at 4 a.m. on Saturday when CBP officers encountered a passenger vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico and the driver presented two U.S. birth certificates for two adult male passengers that were posing as minors, said CBP.
Upon a secondary examination and interviews, CBP officers discovered that both passengers were Mexican citizens and the entry documents did not belong to them.
The penultimate human smuggling attempt happened just over 12 hours later on Saturday evening at approximately 9 p.m. when CBP officers encountered a passenger vehicle driven by a male Mexican citizen arriving from Mexico and, following a further investigation, it was discovered that the driver and his wife, also a citizen of Mexico, were attempting to hide an adult male in the cargo area of the vehicle, said CBP.
“The male was later identified as their adult son, a citizen and national of Mexico, with no valid entry documents,” CBP said.
The final occurrence at Del Rio Port of Entry in Texas occurred on Sunday at approximately 7 a.m. when CBP officers encountered a passenger vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico and the driver presented a U.S. birth certificate for a minor female, said CBP.
“A CBP officer referred all vehicle passengers for a secondary examination,” CBP said detailing the final attempted breach that they were able to stop. “Through interview and examination, CBP officers discovered the minor was a Mexican citizen with no valid documents to enter or travel to the U.S.”
In total CBP officers arrested three U.S. citizen drivers and one Mexican citizen for alleged violations of U.S. immigration law, and seized four vehicles in connection with these alleged human smuggling attempts.
“These five significant events serve as a resounding reminder that violating U.S. immigration law can carry significant legal and criminal consequences. The skillset applied in uncovering these would-be smuggling attempts serves as a testament to our unwavering commitment to our border security mission,” said Port Director Liliana Flores, Del Rio Port of Entry.
(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot is expected to climb to $977 Million for Friday’s drawing, after no single ticket won the jackpot on Tuesday, the lottery said.
Winning numbers were drawn Tuesday evening for the Mega Millions $893 million jackpot. The winning numbers were 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and gold Mega Ball 7.
The jackpot prize has a cash value of $421.4 million, which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment, or an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.
The total of $893 million is the sixth-largest in Mega Millions history.
The numbers Saturday night were 13, 25, 50, 51, 66 and gold Mega Ball 6. While there was no big winner, one person in New York won $1 million for matching the five white balls.
There have been 28 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The last jackpot was won on Dec. 8.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot prize ever won was $1.6 billion prize won on Aug. 8, 2023. There have only been five jackpots that have exceeded $1 billion in Mega Millions history, according to the lottery game.
And if you don’t win Mega Millions, there’s always Powerball. The latest Powerball jackpot has surged to $687 million ($327.3 million cash value) ahead of Wednesday night’s drawing.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are pushing back against a recent restriction on filings in his New York hush money case and asked the court to unseal some of the filings in the case, according to two motions released on Tuesday.
Trump’s lawyers also asked Judge Juan Merchan to vacate a March 8 order where he required the parties to obtain leave of court by sending the court one-page letters before filing new motions in the case ahead of the trial.
“Nowhere in the CPL has the New York legislature authorized a trial court to prevent a criminal defendant from filing a motion, or to confine relevant points and authorities in support of a criminal defendant’s motion to a single page,” defense lawyer Todd Blanche said in the filing.
Merchan’s order requiring Trump’s lawyers to get permission before filing motions was issued as Trump’s lawyers filed a motion for discovery sanctions based on newly released documents in the case. To allow for defense attorneys to review over 100,000 pages of records produced by federal prosecutors recently, Merchan granted a 30-day adjournment of proceedings and is set to hear arguments on the motion on Monday.
“Mr. Blanche, it appears you misunderstood this Court’s earlier Order,” Merchan told Blanche over email on March 8 when he filed the motion for discovery sanctions, according to an exhibit attached to the filing.
“To be crystal clear, so there is no confusion, your motion is not accepted at this time and you may not file a motion unless and until this Court expressly authorizes you to do so,” Merchan said.
Trump’s lawyers also requested to unseal all “pleadings, orders, and written communications that have involved the Court and the parties” and permit public access to the filings going forward. Due to the sensitivity of the case, Trump’s lawyers have previously been required to go through a redaction process before publicly filing documents.
“These rights of public access to criminal proceedings serve critical interests in advancing the fair administration of justice, promoting public confidence in the judiciary, permitting public scrutiny of matters of great public interest, and defending the fundamental rights of the accused,” the filing from his attorneys said.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.
His criminal trial in New York has been delayed until at least mid-April.
(SALT LAKE CITY) — Six people were injured, including one critically, after a fight broke out outside a funeral home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, authorities said.
Police received multiple reports around 1:30 p.m. MT of a fight and stabbing at a funeral home in downtown Salt Lake City, authorities said.
“There was some sort of fight that broke out,” Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Brent Weisberg said at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, describing it as a “very chaotic scene.”
Officers found four people outside the funeral home who were transported to local hospitals with minor to life-threatening injuries, police said.
One person in critical condition was initially believed to have been shot, though doctors have been unable to determine the cause of injury, police said in an update. The person was still in surgery Tuesday evening, police said.
The three others have injuries consistent with a stabbing, though their cause of injury also remains under investigation, Weisberg said.
Several witnesses also called 911 to report a vehicle potentially involved in the incident that left the funeral home at a “high rate of speed,” according to Weisberg.
Officers stopped a vehicle matching the description several blocks away from the funeral home, police said. Two occupants were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries and have since been released, police said. They were not believed to have been stabbed or shot, police said.
A third occupant was detained for questioning, Weisberg said.
A firearm was located inside the vehicle, according to Weisberg. Police are working to obtain a search warrant for the vehicle to collect the weapon, he said.
There was an event at the funeral home involving a “large” number of attendees when the incident occurred outside, Weisberg said. Police believe all six injured people were attending the event, he said.
Detectives are working to determine who was involved in the fight, Weisberg said, describing it as a “very complex investigation.”
“At this point, we have not been able to determine the motive for this nor have we been able to determine … how many people were considered suspects or victims,” Weisberg said.
No arrests have been made as of Tuesday evening, police said. Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident, Weisberg said.
Detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Violent Crime and Robbery Squad and Gang Unit are assisting with the investigation.
No additional details on those injured were immediately available.
There is not believed to be a threat to the community at this time, police said.
“This type of incident is extraordinarily rare for our city,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said in a statement. “I know our detectives are working quickly to determine the motive for this incident, but I am relieved to know that based on the preliminary investigation this was not a random attack.”
(NEW YORK) — A Georgia board declined Tuesday to stay the execution of a man sentenced to death in the killing of his former girlfriend.
Willie James Pye, 59, is set to be executed Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson via lethal injection, in what is the state’s first execution in more than four years.
Pye was convicted in 1996 of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, burglary and rape in the death of his former girlfriend, Alicia Lynn Yarbrough, in 1993. The jury recommended a death sentence for the malice murder count, which was ordered by a trial court.
Last month, the Superior Court of Spalding County set the seven-day window for Pye’s execution, beginning at 12 p.m. ET and expiring on March 27 at 12 p.m. ET.
Pye’s previous appeals have been denied as have his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings.
Last week, Pye’s attorneys filed for clemency with the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, arguing that he has an intellectual disability with an IQ of 68 and is therefore ineligible for execution per state law, according to the clemency application.
His attorneys also argue that Pye had a “difficult early life,” growing up in extreme poverty in a home that had no kitchen or bathroom. Because his mother allegedly had no prenatal care, ate inadequately while pregnant as well as drank alcohol, Pye’s attorneys say that he was “already at risk for myriad cognitive and developmental problems.”
Additionally, Pye’s attorneys say he has had a positive impact in prison on his fellow inmates, has never been a threat to the lives of correction staff and that he feels remorse for his crimes.
Pye’s attorneys did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
Prior to the hearing, Pye requested his final meal, asking for two chicken sandwiches, two cheeseburgers, french fries, two bags of plain potato chips and two lemon-lime sodas, according to local ABC News affiliate WSB-TV.
Lethal injection has been the method used for most executions in the modern era, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit that provides data and analysis on capital punishment.
States and jurisdictions can use a one-, two- or three-drug combination. The three-drug combination involves, firstly, an anesthetic or sedative, then a drug to paralyze the prisoner and, lastly, a drug to stop the heart, the DPIC said.
Georgia’s last execution of a prisoner was in 2020, according to the DPIC. The state currently has 41 prisoners on death row.
However, problems have arisen with lethal injections in the form of botched executions. Officials have struggled to find veins, intravenous lines have clogged with the deadly chemicals and prisoners have had violent reactions to the dispensed drugs. Additionally, there have been shortages of the drugs used for lethal injection.
This led to Alabama becoming the first state to execute someone via nitrogen gas, which medical and legal experts said is an untested method and there’s no evidence it will be any more humane or painless than lethal injection.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton were sentenced in federal court on Tuesday after pleading guilty, along with five additional former law enforcement officers, to a total of 16 charges related to the January 2023 torture of two Black men.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — was sentenced to 241 months, or about 20 years, according to the Department of Justice.
“I hate myself for it,” Elward said during the sentencing hearing, according to Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT. “I accept my responsibility.”
Middleton was sentenced to 17.5 years or 210 months in prison for his role in the incident, according to the Department of Justice. The remaining four officers who pleaded guilty in this case will be sentenced during hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Michael Jenkins, who was shot in the mouth by Elward during the incident, spoke to WAPT on Tuesday afternoon after Elward stood up and apologized to him in court.
“I’m glad he looked at me. I’m glad he see me,” Jenkins said, adding that while he “feels sorry” for Elward’s family, the former officer got “what he deserved.”
Eddie Parker, the second victim in the case, told Elward in court on Tuesday that he forgave him for his actions, according to WAPT, and said that he is “satisfied” with the sentence.
Asked about his decision to forgive Elward, Parker said, “For what is given and what is done, I forgive that part, but other than that, he still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
“I always stand up for justice and for what’s right,” he added.
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught he’d still be doing the same thing.”
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Elward, Middleton, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin and Daniel Opdyke, along with Joshua Hartfield, a former Richland police officer, pleaded guilty to 16 federal charges related to the torture and physical abuse of three Rankin County men in two unrelated incidents, according to a statement released by U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 3, 2023.
The charges include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. The former officers agreed to sentences ranging from five to 30 years as recommended by prosecutors, but the judge is not bound by the agreement, according to The Associated Press.
According to the charging documents, the incident on Jan. 24, 2023, took place when a white neighbor claimed in a complaint to McAlpin, the chief RCSO investigator, that she observed “suspicious activity” from Black men staying at a nearby property.
McAlpin asked Dedmon, who was an RCSO investigator at the time, to look into the incident, and Dedmon proceeded to reach out to a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to the documents.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
And while Jenkins was bleeding on the floor, instead of providing medical aid, the officers “devised a false cover story to cover up their misconduct” and proceeded to “plant” and “tamper with evidence” to corroborate their story, the DOJ said.
“The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims, egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect, and shamefully betrayed the oath they swore as law enforcement officers,” DOJ Sec. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement on Aug. 3, 2023. “The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who abuse the public trust that is essential to public safety.”
The officers admitted that on Jan. 24, 2023, they entered a home where Jenkins and Parker were staying in Braxton, Rankin County, Mississippi, where they handcuffed and arrested the two men “without probable cause to believe they had committed any crime, called them racial slurs, and warned them to stay out of Rankin County,” the DOJ said in a statement on Aug. 3, 2023, announcing the guilty pleas.
According to the federal charging documents obtained by ABC News, sentencing maximums range from three years in prison for lesser offenses to life in prison for the most serious offense of discharging of a firearm during a crime of violence.
The two victims — Jenkins and Parker — spoke out during a press conference Monday morning about the enduring trauma of the experience as their attorneys called on the judge to give the former officers the “maximum sentence.”
“I’d like to thank everybody for supporting us and believing in us,” said Jenkins, who was shot in the mouth during the incident. “It’s been very hard for me this past year. I’m just looking forward to justice tomorrow. I hope they do right. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
Parker, who is set to testify during the sentencing hearings this week, per his attorney, said that it’s been a “hard year,” and he’s glad that the day of sentencing, which was delayed twice before, has finally come.
“Everything needs to be done right because everything was done wrong,” Parker said. “What’s done already, man, can’t be erased; it can’t be taken back. I relive this every day.”
Malik Shabazz, the lead attorney for Jenkins and Parker, said that his clients have “been through a lot of trauma” and called on U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to give each of the former officers the “maximum sentence.”
“The day of justice has finally come,” he said. “That’s an important day, not only in Mississippi, but this is an important day for accountability for police brutality, all throughout America. Police officers are watching this sentencing … they’re watching to see whether law enforcement in Mississippi and law enforcement in America will be held sufficiently accountable for their acts of torture and brutality,” he added.
The officers have not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation also investigated the case that led to state charges against the officers.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
