(NEW YORK) — The mother of Jashyah Moore, a 14-year-old from New Jersey who had been missing for about a month, has been charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The charges against 39-year-old Jamie Moore were announced in a press release Friday from acting Essex County prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens and East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi, who added that the charges include allegations of physical abuse and neglect.
Moore was arrested early Friday and is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility.
Jashyah — who was found safe in New York City on Thursday after a weekslong search by local officials since her disappearance on Oct. 14 — and her 3-year-old brother were removed from Moore’s custody by the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP).
At a press conference Friday, police said Jashyah had run away from home and did not want to return.
The teen “is currently safe and is being provided all appropriate services,” Stephens said in a statement. Authorities believe Jashyah was alone when she was found. She is said to have found shelter in Brooklyn, but the details of her time in New York are still being uncovered by investigators.
A reward for finding Jashyah had reached $20,000 this week.
“Jashyah is one of our own,” East Orange Mayor Ted Green said. “We’re asking this community, as we have been asking from Day 1, to help us in locating this young lady.”
Jashyah’s family had pleaded with the community to help bring her daughter home.
She had last been seen around 10 a.m. at Poppie’s Deli Store in East Orange after her mother, Jamie Moore, asked her to go to the store for groceries. According to police, surveillance footage shows Jashyah entering the store with an older male who paid for her items. The footage, however, does not appear to show them leaving the store together, police said. The man has cooperated with investigators and was helpful in the search, according to police.
Jashyah initially returned from the store and told her mom she had lost the card the family uses for groceries, police said. Moore said she told Jashyah to retrace her steps to find it.
Moore said that was the last time she saw her daughter.
“I cannot imagine what she might be going through just being away from us this long, being away from her family who loves her very much,” her mother said through tears at a press conference last Friday. “If anybody knows anything, please, please come forward.”
East Orange Police, the FBI and the New Jersey State Police worked in collaboration to help find Jashyah. Anyone who knows about her disappearance should call the East Orange Police at (973) 266-5041.
(NEW YORK) — A defense attorney in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial apologized a day after he said there shouldn’t be “any more Black pastors” in the Glynn County, Georgia, courtroom, as a representative for Arbery’s family called for his removal from the case.
Addressing Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley Thursday while the jury wasn’t present, defense attorney Kevin Gough said he took major offense to learning after the fact that Rev. Al Sharpton had been in the courtroom with the Arbery family Wednesday. Gough called Sharpton’s presence “improper,” “intimidating to the jury” and “an attempt to influence.”
“We have all kinds of pastors in this town, over 100. And the idea that we’re going to be serially bringing these people in to sit with the victim’s family, one after another, obviously there’s only so many pastors they can have,” Gough said. “If their pastor’s Al Sharpton right now, that’s fine. But then that’s it. We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here.”
Walmsley told Gough to “not overstate what’s going on here” because “this will become a distraction that we’re going to waste a bunch of time on.”
The trial resumed Friday with a brief apology from Gough, who said his statements had been “overly broad.”
“My apologies to anyone who might’ve been inadvertently offended,” he said.
Gough said he had been asked to address the issue, to which Walmsley responded that it wasn’t the court that had asked that.
Gough is representing William “Roddie” Bryan, who filmed Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, chasing down Arbery while the 25-year-old Black man was out for a jog last year. Arbery was fatally shot during the confrontation.
In response to Gough’s comments, Sharpton is calling on clergy to join him and Arbery’s family outside the courthouse on Nov. 18.
“The arrogant insensitivity of attorney Kevin Gough in asking a judge to bar me or any minister of the family’s choice underscores the disregard for the value of the human life lost and the grieving of a family in need [of] spiritual and community support,” Sharpton said in a statement Friday.
Ben Crump, an attorney for Arbery’s family, tweeted Friday morning that “we are going to bring 100 Black pastors to pray with the family next week.”
“It is not illegal for Black pastors to support the parents of Ahmaud Arbery or any other Black victims,” he said.
Barbara Arnwine, a representative for Arbery’s family, called the comments “absolutely inappropriate” and “horrible behavior” from a lawyer.
“He really should not be part of this case, it’s very, very disturbing,” she told reporters outside the courtroom Friday.
“We’re gonna bring a whole lot of Black pastors over the week. Get ready,” she added.
Defense attorney Jason Sheffield, who is representing Travis McMichael, also called Gough’s comments “asinine.”
“Everyone is welcome, come one, come all,” he told reporters during lunch recess.
The trial started last Friday under a cloud of controversy after a jury comprised of 11 white people and one Black person was selected, prompting an objection from prosecutors that the selection process, which took nearly three weeks, ended up racially biased.
The high-profile trial is expected to last into Thanksgiving week, Sheffield said.
The three defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Janice McDonald and Alex Presha contributed to this report.
(HOUSTON) — Several lawsuits have been filed so far against several parties connected to the deadly stage surge during Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston, Texas, which left at least nine concertgoers dead and many more injured. Now, more than 100 victims of the tragedy are being represented in cases against event organizers, managers and performers.
Astroworld is a music festival founded by rapper Travis Scott and held annually in Houston. This year was the third Astroworld event, which hosted popular rappers and singers including SZA, Bad Bunny, Chief Keef and Tame Impala.
According to Houston Police and witness accounts, a wave of tens of thousands of people surged toward the stage when Scott — and later, rapper Drake — appeared. Concert attendees say they were pushed into one another from all sides, and as the crowd pressed its way forward, some began to fall, pass out and get trampled by others in the audience.
“You’re not moving yourself — it’s more of the crowd moving you, so you don’t have control of your body at that point,” said concertgoer Fatima Muñoz, who shared her experience with ABC News’ daily news podcast “Start Here.” “So when people start falling and losing their balance, it kind of becomes like a domino effect.”
“Somebody next to me started falling, and he kind of took me down with him. And that’s when I had fell right on the floor, and that’s when everybody started tumbling down, and I tried so hard to get up,” Muñoz said. “There’s just too much people like on me, like, they legit dog-pile on me. I was on the floor. Nobody helped. I tried screaming for my life. I tried screaming for help. Nobody helped nobody.”
Muñoz said she bit someone’s leg to bring attention to her laying on the floor and then two attendees helped her up and out of the crowd.
“If those two guys didn’t help me, I mean, I really could have been one of those people for sure,” she said.
The lawsuits, along with some witness accounts, allege that Scott continued to perform despite the presence of emergency vehicles in the audience.
Houston police say the investigation is active and in its early stages.
Lawsuits stack up against concert producers, venue
Live Nation Entertainment and ScoreMore Holdings, two concert production and entertainment companies that organized and produced the event, are being sued, as well as performers Scott and Drake. NRG Park’s venue management and operation agency, the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, is also included as a defendant in the lawsuits.
The family of 21-year-old Axel Acosta, one of the people who died in the crowd surge, say they plan on joining a lawsuit as part of 35 total plaintiffs in a case to be filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee against the aforementioned organizers.
Buzbee cited a 2015 disorderly conduct charge against Scott, which he pleaded guilty to, stemming from that year’s Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago when he urged attendees to ignore security, ABC7 Chicago reported at the time.
“Certainly neither Travis Scott nor his handlers, entourage managers, agents, hangers on promoters, organizers or sponsors cared enough about Axel to make even minimal effort to keep him and the others at the concert safe,” Buzbee said in a press conference with the family Monday.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and attorney Alex Hilliard are representing more than 100 victims from the Astroworld tragedy, including a 21-year-old attendee who helped lift people up from the floor amid the chaos. They accuse the event’s organizers and Scott of negligence in providing medical equipment, crowd control, safety precautions, adequate hiring and training of staff.
“We are hearing horrific accounts of the terror and helplessness people experienced — the horror of a crushing crowd and the awful trauma of watching people die while trying unsuccessfully to save them,” Crump said in a statement to ABC News. “We will be pursuing justice for all our clients who were harmed in this tragic and preventable event.”
Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry also filed a lawsuit against Scott and Drake, as well as Live Nation and NRG Stadium, on behalf of one of the surviving victims following Friday night’s tragedy.
Henry said he believes a message needs to be sent to “performers, venues and event organizers that a lackadaisical approach to event preparation and attendees safety is no longer acceptable.”
“Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy,” Henry said in a statement sent to ABC News. “Many of these concertgoers were looking forward to this event for months, and they deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the evening. Instead, their night was one of fear, injury and death.”
Kherkher Garcia, LLP has also filed a lawsuit against event organizers and Scott on behalf of an attendee who the firm said “suffered serious bodily injuries when the uncontrolled crowd at the concert knocked him to the ground and trampled him.”
“He and those who promoted and supported this concert must take responsibility for their heinous actions,” Kherkher Garcia, LLP said in a statement to ABC News. “We intend to hold them fully accountable by showing that this behavior will not be tolerated in our great city.”
Houston attorney Ricardo Ramos told reporters Tuesday night he also plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of as many as 30 concertgoers over alleged injuries and emotional distress, though the defendants are still being determined.
“They went there to have a good time, and they went there to have some fun,” Ramos said. “In return, probably it was the biggest nightmare they have ever experienced.”
Scott and organizers react
Following the concert, Scott released a statement on the tragedy on Twitter, saying, “I’m absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld festival.”
Scott announced he will cover the funeral costs and further aid to individuals affected by the tragedy and will refund all of the Astroworld concertgoers and ticket holders. He has also said he is cooperating with investigators.
On Instagram, Scott’s girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, who attended the concert, defended Scott.
“I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show and in no world would have continued filming or performing,” Jenner wrote in her post.
Drake on Monday night posted a statement on Instagram. “I’ve spent the past few days trying to wrap my mind around this devastating tragedy. I hate resorting to this platform to express an emotion as delicate as grief but this is where I find myself. My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering,” he wrote. “I will continue to pray for all of them, and will be of service in any way I can. May God be with you all.”
In a statement to ABC News, Live Nation said it was working with law enforcement to get answers.
“We continue to support and assist local authorities in their ongoing investigation so that both the fans who attended and their families can get the answers they want and deserve, and we will address all legal matters at the appropriate time,” Live Nation said.
Legal analysts, including civil litigation attorney Danielle Cohen Higgins and ABC News’ Dan Abrams, say there are many questions that need to be answered about what exactly happened at the festival.
Higgins said event organizers are going to have to answer for the safety precautions, crowd control procedures and other policies that play a big role in event planning.
“If Live Nation created an environment where they reasonably should have anticipated that a surge was possible — that’s a problem for Live Nation. They are the experts in creating this environment,” Higgins said in an interview with ABC News.
NRG Park representatives declined ABC News’ request for comment.
Higgins and Abrams also pointed out that in 2019, three people were also hospitalized at Astroworld after being trampled when thousands of people rushed to get into the event.
Following that 2019 incident, Houston police tweeted: “We are successfully working together to support Houston’s biggest music festival @astroworldfest at @nrgpark and collaborating closely with the festival to ensure the public safety of everyone attending the event. We look forward to a memorable night.”
Abrams, when asked on Good Morning America about what stands out to him the most about this tragedy, said any of Scott’s actions and comments at the concert could affect these cases.
“There’s going to be social media videos of every moment of that show,” Abrams said. “Every single second will have been documented, so we’ll know exactly what he said and when he said it.”
(NEW YORK) — Tanner Vanvalkenburg is speaking out after he was shot on vacation in a popular resort area in Mexico late last week, caught in the crosshairs of gunfire by rival gangs.
“I was just like, man this is it, like I’m probably not going to make it,” he recalled to ABC News.
The tourist from America was with his partner and two friends when the incident began.
“We were kind of just eating tacos and that’s when I started hearing gunfire,” he said.
The gunmen headed ashore in front of a Hyatt Resort just south of Cancun and opened fire.
The shooting left two dead and four Americans injured. The armed suspects initially escaped, but local authorities confirmed to ABC News on Friday that they have five people in custody.
“We thought that they were fireworks and then more started going off and everyone started to panic and run,” Vanvalkenburg said. “That’s when I took off and all of us jumped into the pool.”
The mele sent tourists scrambling for cover as some hid under pool chairs.
“Right when I jumped into the water, I went to dive and that’s when the bullet hit. And as soon as the bullet hit me, I came up … and I was holding the gunshot wounds as I was bleeding, kind of putting as much pressure as I could because I knew that I had just been hit,” Vanvalkenburg explained.
“I honestly thought that I was gonna die because I thought the gunmen were going to basically come and just kill everyone [who] was there at the resort,” he said.
Vanvalkenburg was taken to a local hospital and later released.
Hyatt told ABC News “the safety and wellbeing of guests and colleagues is always a top priority.”
Now as he recovers back home in Utah, Vanvalkenburg said this incident has left him reconsidering how he travels.
“I never in a million years thought that I would have to worry about my life sitting in a resort,” he said. “So it’s going to be very different now if I travel again.”
(NEW YORK) — Jashyah Moore, a 14-year-old from New Jersey, was found safe in New York City on Thursday, according to officials.
The teen “is currently safe and is being provided all appropriate services,” acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens said in a statement. Jashyah had been missing since Oct. 14.
Stephens said she would be returned to New Jersey shortly.
Investigators had increased the reward for locating Jashyah to $15,000 this week after an anonymous local business owner’s donation.
“Jashyah is one of our own,” East Orange, New Jersey, Mayor Ted Green said. “We’re asking this community, as we have been asking from day one, to help us in locating this young lady.”
Jashyah’s family had pleaded with the community to help bring her daughter home.
She was last seen around 10 a.m. at Poppie’s Deli Store in East Orange after her mother, Jamie Moore, asked her to go to the store for groceries. According to police, surveillance footage shows Jashyah entering the store with an older male who paid for her items. However, the footage does not appear to show them leaving the store together, police say. The man has cooperated with investigators and been helpful in the search, police said.
Jashyah initially returned from the store and told her mom she had lost the card the family uses for groceries. Moore told her daughter to retrace her steps to find it.
Moore said that was the last time she saw her daughter.
“I cannot imagine what she might be going through just being away from us this long, being away from her family who loves her very much,” her mother said through tears at a press conference last Friday. “If anybody knows anything, please, please come forward.”
East Orange Police, the FBI and the New Jersey State Police worked in collaboration to help find Jashyah. They say if anyone knows about her disappearance, they should call the East Orange Police at 973-266-5041.
(HOUSTON) — Nine victims have been identified in the deadly stage surge at the Astroworld Festival concert.
23-year-old Arturo Sanchez, an attendee, said his heart literally stopped as he was trampled by the crowd, and he believed he was going to die himself.
Bruised and battered, Sanchez told ABC News from his hospital bed on Sunday about the panic and chaos that erupted during the opening song of rapper Travis Scott’s performance.
He said that as soon as Scott began to sing, the crowd surged forward, knocking him off balance and causing him to fall to the ground near the front of the stage.
“I was on the floor screaming for help and trying to reach for people’s hands so they could see me and no one could see me,” Sanchez said. “I just kind of accepted the fact that I was going to die, and I did for a little bit. My heart stopped, apparently.”
Sanchez said doctors told him he suffered a heart attack and had briefly flatlined.
He said he remembered a large man falling on him and sitting on his chest as he struggled to breathe and then passed out.
Sanchez said a registered nurse attending the concert performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him and helped get him to an ambulance.
“She saved my life, honestly,” Sanchez said.
Latest victims identified
Bharti Shahani, 22, died Wednesday night after being hospitalized from injuries caused by the crowd surge, bringing the concert’s death toll to nine. Shahani, a student at Texas A&M University, was taken to Houston Methodist Hospital, where her family said she had been on a ventilator and had heart failure.
“Bharti is love. You know what is love? Bharti is love,” her mother Karishma Shahani said tearfully at a press conference. “What happened to my blessing? I want my baby back. I won’t be able to live without her.”
The eighth victim to be identified, Axel Acosta, died at Memorial Hermann Hospital, father Oscar Acosta confirmed to ABC station KTRK-TV in Houston. He said his son traveled from Washington to see Scott perform.
Acosta, 21, was among the concertgoers killed when throngs in the estimated crowd of 50,000 packed into NRG Park — which is next to NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans NFL football team — suddenly surged toward the stage, authorities said. Another 25 people were injured, one just 10 years old, officials said.
Acosta identified his son after the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences released a post-mortem photo and asked the public for help in identifying him.
Five other people killed were identified by either their families or the schools they attended.
‘An innocent young soul’
Danish Baig, 27, of Dallas was killed while trying to save his fiancee, Olivia Swingle, who had fallen and was reportedly about to be trampled by concert-goers pushing forward, his brother Basil Baig told ABC News.
“He was an innocent young soul who would always put others before him,” Basil Baig said in a statement. “He was a hardworking man who loved his family and took care of us. He was there in a heartbeat for anything. He always had a solution to everything.”
Basil Baig said in a Facebook post that he also was at the concert, promoted and organized by Live Nation, and described it as being “poorly” managed and supervised. He alleged that Scott provoked the crowd to move toward the stage.
“Travis Scott and his team and everyone associated in the event should and will be held responsible,” Basil Baig said in his statement to ABC News.
In videos Scott posted on Instagram Saturday, he said he tried to spot people in the crowd having physical problems and paused during the show to try to get help to fans that appeared in need.
“I could just never imagine the severity of the situation,” Scott said in one of the videos.
In a separate statement, Live Nation said, “We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation.”
The youngest victim
The youngest victim who died was 14-year-old John Hilgert, a freshman at Memorial High School in Houston, according to a letter the school’s principal sent to parents.
“Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial,” principal Lisa Weir wrote in the letter. “This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.”
One victim had passion for dance
Also killed was 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, a junior at Heights High School in Houston, her aunt, Iris Rodriguez, told ABC News.
Iris Rodriguez said her niece had a passion for dance.
“Now she’s dancing her way to heaven’s pearly gates,” the Rodriguez family wrote on a GoFundMe page that included a series of photos of Brianna.
College senior dies
Franco Patiño, 21, a senior at the University of Dayton in Ohio, was identified by the school as one of the concertgoers killed.
In a letter addressed to members of the university’s campus community, the school’s president, Eric Spina, said Patiño was from Naperville, Illinois, and was majoring in mechanical engineering technology with a minor in human movement biomechanics.
Patiño was also a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic-interest fraternity, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Spina wrote. Patiño had been working in an engineering coop program in Mason, Ohio, according to Spina.
‘Huge hole in our lives’
The family of Jacob “Jake” E. Jurinek said in a statement Sunday that he was among those killed. Jurinek was a junior at Southern Illinois University and was majoring in art and media, his family said.
“We are all devastated and are left with a huge hole in our lives,” said Jurinek’s father, Ron Jurinek.
Rodolfo Pena, 23, from Laredo, Texas, and Madison Dubiski, 23, from Cypress, Texas were also killed.
Bedlam ensues
The concert bedlam unfolded around 9:30 p.m. local time Friday when the “the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage,” Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña told reporters during a news conference Friday night.
“That caused some panic, and it started causing some injuries,” Peña said.
At least 13 people injured remain hospitalized, including five under the age of 18, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters during a briefing.
As of Sunday night, at least one lawsuit has been filed against Scott.
What triggered the surge is under investigation by the Houston Police Department. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to make state resources available to support the investigation.
Scott has history of issues at concerts
Problems have previously occurred at other Travis Scott concerts. In 2015, the rapper was arrested on charges of inciting a crowd to jump barriers at a Lollapalooza concert in Chicago. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine, according to officials.
In 2017, Scott was arrested again after he invited more people to come closer to the stage, prompting fans at the Walmart Music Pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas, to breach barricades and overrun security. In that case, he also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and paid a fine.
Prior to the fatal surge at Scott’s concert on Friday night, some 300 people had been treated throughout the day at the music festival by on-site medical personnel, authorities said. There were “many instances” where they had to administer Narcan, which is used to treat a narcotic overdose, said Peña, who did not have an exact number.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said that during the pandemonium, a private security guard working at the festival was possibly injected in the neck with drugs as he was attempting to grab or restrain someone.
“When he was examined, he went unconscious,” Finner said during a Saturday afternoon briefing. “(Medical staff) administered Narcan. He was revived, and the medical staff did notice a prick that was similar to a prick that you would get if someone was trying to inject.”
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Jenna Harrison, Kendall Coughlin, Darren Reynolds and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Under the glare of dueling national spotlights, judges presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial in Wisconsin and the case against three white Georgia men in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have both displayed their ire as they’ve struggled to maintain fairness in the courtroom.
A display of frustration boiled over from the bench in the Rittenhouse case Wednesday when a visibly angered Judge Bruce Schroeder lambasted the lead prosecutor, accusing him of low-blow antics he said bordered on a “grave constitutional violation.”
Brian Buckmire, a New York public defender and ABC News contributor, said both judges have taken actions to maintain fairness in the proceedings and shield the juries from hearing anything unrelated to the evidence they’ve allowed in the two high-profile cases, despite some of the attorneys seeming to posture for the cameras in the courtroom.
“Judges are very protective of the jury, sometimes even considering it their jury,” said Buckmire, who is also an anchor for the Law & Crime Network. “You always want the jury to be pristine, to only make decisions based on the evidence and not because a judge scolded a lawyer or vice versa.”
The latest exhibit of exasperation coming from the bench occurred during the testimony of 18-year-old Rittenhouse, who claimed he shot three men, two fatally, in self-defense during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Shortly after prosecutor Thomas Binger began his cross-examination of Rittenhouse, Schroeder had the jury marched out of the courtroom before he ripped the state’s attorney for asking the teenager about his silence about the shootings prior to taking the witness stand.
Schroeder warned Binger that he was edging toward a “grave constitutional violation” by ignoring Rittenhouse’s right to remain silent in front of the jury.
“You’re right on the borderline, and you may be over it,” Schroeder said, at times shouting at Binger. “But it better stop. This is not permitted.”
After Binger resumed the questioning, he prompted another verbal lashing from Schroeder by beginning to broach evidence the judge had ruled inadmissible. Schroeder had the jury exit the courtroom again before he lit into Binger, and defense attorney Mark Richards accused the prosecutor of trying to provoke a mistrial.
Binger claimed he thought Schroeder had left the “door open” for him to question Rittenhouse about the inadmissible evidence and during a subsequent hearing told the judge he was “acting in good faith.”
“Good faith! I don’t believe you,” Schroeder told Binger.
In the Arbery case, Judge Timothy Walmsley had the jury exit the Brunswick, Georgia, courtroom on Tuesday so the panel wouldn’t hear his choice words for one of the defense attorneys.
Jason Sheffield, a lawyer for defendant Travis McMichael, garnered Walmsley’s wrath by provoking multiple objections from prosecutor Linda Dunikoski and by apparently trying to argue with the judge.
Walmsley stopped Sheffield’s questioning after he asked Glynn County Detective Parker Marcy several times about why he went to a house under construction in the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, a site where security video footage had recorded Arbery entering several times and where he was reportedly seen by a neighbor leaving on the day he was killed.
“By going there, you were looking to determine or trying to understand that somebody may have entered that dwelling with the intent to take something?” Sheffield asked, soliciting an objection from Dunikoski that the defense was trying to testify for the witness during the cross-examination.
Walmsley sustained the objection, and when Sheffield appeared to try to argue with him, he sent the jury out of the courtroom.
“I don’t care whether you like my rulings or not, or like me or not, but in this court, it’s axiomatic that counsel show at least respect for what the court is doing,” Walmsley said. “And what you just did shows a lack of respect for what the court is trying to do here, which is to create an environment which is fair to all parties.”
Walmsley went on, saying, “I would suggest that you take a moment to think about that. I’m going to step off the bench because I found that … I’ll just call it rude.”
By then, Walmsley seemed frustrated by other behavior by Sheffield, noting the attorney’s use of a large flipchart in which he pointed to the word “break-in” during his cross-examination of Marcy. Walmsley told Sheffield his “jumping up and moving the board” was distracting to the jury.
“I would suggest that you taper some of that very quickly, because it will not be tolerated in this court,” Walmsley said.
A more subdued Sheffield returned from the recess and finished his questioning of Marcy.
The courtroom fireworks in the Rittenhouse case came about a week after a juror unwittingly tested Schroeder’s patience.
Schroeder booted a juror on the third day of the trial after the panelist acknowledged that he told a tasteless joke to a deputy about Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot and paralyzed by a Kenosha police officer. The shooting prompted protests in Kenosha that devolved into looting, rioting and eventually the shootings that Rittenhouse committed.
Schroeder then launched into a lengthy explanation to the attorneys in the case that the trial is being televised nationwide, and he noted that he heard one TV news commentator saying that “‘this is the most divisive case in the country today.'”
“So, anything that undermines public confidence in what happens here is very important,” Schroeder said sternly. “It’s important for this town, it’s important for this country to have people have confidence in the result of this trial.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 758,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-Cases on the rise in 20 states
-Over 900,000 kids 5-11 will have 1st shot by end of day, White House estimates
-Pfizer asks FDA to amend booster authorization to include all adults
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 11, 2:26 pm
US COVID hospitalizations increase for 3rd consecutive day
Thursday marked the third consecutive day where COVID hospitalizations rose nationwide.
Fourteen states reported a 10% increase in hospital admissions over the last week. The states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Total hospitalizations are down nearly 55% since mid-August.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 10, 9:21 pm
COVID-19 deaths expected to continue to fall in weeks to come
COVID-19 forecast models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently predicting that weekly death totals will likely continue to fall in the weeks to come, though thousands of Americans are still expected to lose their lives.
The ensemble model expects just under 15,000 more virus-related deaths to occur in the U.S. over the next two weeks, with a total of around 781,500 deaths by Dec. 4.
The model estimates that 13 states and territories of the U.S. have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths in the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 10, 9:15 pm
Federal judge strikes down Texas ban on school mask mandates
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local mask mandates, including in schools, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Since the order was issued in late July, state Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed lawsuits against more than a dozen school districts for issuing mask mandates, according to the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel. In August, advocacy group Disability Rights Texas filed the lawsuit against the state on behalf of several students with disabilities who faced an increased risk from COVID-19, alleging it denied them equal access to in-person learning.
“The evidence presented by Plaintiffs establishes that Plaintiffs are being denied the benefits of in-person learning on an equal basis as their peers without disabilities,” Yeakel wrote in his ruling.
Yeakel also said the executive order “interferes with local school districts’ ability to satisfy their obligations under the ADA” by placing all authority with the governor.
Yeakel enjoined the state from enforcing the mask mandate ban and ordered that the plaintiffs recover their court costs from the state.
Paxton has said the state is “protecting the rights and freedoms” of residents by banning mask mandates.
Nov 10, 6:43 pm
States sue over vaccine mandate for health care workers
Ten states are suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate targeting health care workers.
About 17 million health care workers who are employed at places that get funding through CMS are required to get vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. They do not have the option to test.
“The mandate is a blatant attempt to federalize public health issues involving vaccination that belong within the States’ police power,” stated the suit, which was filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is running for Senate.
The attorneys general of Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire have joined the lawsuit, which is one of many filed against different parts of the Biden administration’s vaccine requirements but the first to target the health care worker mandate.
Twenty-six states are suing over the mandate that applies to businesses, while another handful are suing over the federal worker mandate. Last week, a federal court temporarily blocked the business vaccine rule.
(NEW YORK) — A political newcomer who beat New Jersey’s veteran state senate president in a surprise election upset met with a local Islamic group Wednesday after apologizing for a previous anti-Muslim tweet.
Edward Durr, a commercial truck driver, beat Stephen Sweeney in the state senate race for New Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District.
Soon after his victory, Durr came under fire for past social media posts, including a 2019 tweet where he called the prophet Mohammed a “pedophile” and Islam a “cult of hate.”
ABC News station WPVI-TV also uncovered statements from Durr comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Durr has since deleted some of his social media pages.
“I’m a passionate guy and I sometimes say things in the heat of the moment. If I said things in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings, I sincerely apologize,” Durr said last Friday, according to WPVI. “I support everybody’s right to worship in any manner they choose and to worship the God of their choice. I support all people and I support everybody’s rights.”
After his election victory, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization, condemned his tweet but invited Durr to meet with the organization’s local chapter.
Durr accepted the group’s offer and met with CAIR-NJ members. WPVI-TV reported that Durr’s meeting with local Islamic leaders at Al-Minhaal Academy in Sewell lasted nearly two hours.
“I think we had a very productive conversation and I think it’s going to be one of hopefully many,” CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said in a joint appearance with Durr on Wednesday.
“I stand against Islamophobia and all forms of hate and I do commit to that,” Durr said at the media appearance.
“Our New Jersey chapter had a productive meeting with State Senator #EdDurr. He expressed commitment to opposing #Islamophobia. We welcome this outcome and hope to have more productive dialogues in the future,” the national CAIR tweeted later.
Jacci Vigilante, Gloucester County GOP chair, defended Durr last Friday, saying, “Ed is a passionate guy. He was a little bit of a keyboard warrior at the time. Certainly he’s made an apology. He didn’t intend to offend anyone’s religion and certainly believes that everyone has the right to practice their religion of their choice.”
Sweeney, Durr’s opponent, was the longest-serving state senate president in New Jersey history. He did not concede the race until Wednesday.
“I of course accept the results. I want to congratulate Mr. Durr and wish him the best of luck,” Sweeney said during a speech at the statehouse complex, according to local news reports. “It was a red wave,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — The adoptive parents of missing Isabella “Ariel” Kalua have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder after more than two months of investigations, according to the Honolulu Police Department.
Isabella would have turned 7 years old last week.
“It’s clear that [Isabella] was loved and missed by many people,” said Rade Vanic, HPD’s interim police chief. “Unfortunately, what began as a search for a missing girl turned into a murder investigation focused on the Kaluas. We believe that the evidence leads to the Kaluas and no one else.”
She was first reported missing on Sept. 13 in Waimanalo, Hawaii. HPD, the FBI and community members searched for Isabella for more than a week.
“Her photo and story touched the hearts of many in the community,” Vanic said. “We thank all of you for your efforts and concerns.”
Isaac and Lehua Kalua were arrested Wednesday. Investigators allege the couple murdered Kalua in mid-August, a month before she was reported missing. Police claim the Kaluas lied in their initial report, saying they last saw Isabella on Sept. 12 — a day before she was reported missing.
The Kaluas are being held without bail and will make their first court appearance on Friday.
Isabella’s four siblings have been taken into the custody of Child Welfare Services, according to police.
Isabella’s remains have not yet been recovered.
Lawyers for the Kaluas couldn’t immediately be reached by ABC News.
Investigators are urging anyone with information, including witnesses or people who had contact with Isabella and the Kalua family between August and September, to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at (808) 955-8300.
Anyone who may have witnessed neglect or abuse against the Kalua children is urged to call Child Welfare Services at 1-888-380-3088.
