National

(NEW YORK) — Five alleged members of a powerful Mexican cartel were charged with aggravated kidnapping and murder on Friday in connection to the kidnapping of four Americans, and the killing of two of them, in the border city of Matamoros.

The Attorney General’s Office of Tamaulipas announced the charges a day after the Gulf Cartel allegedly took responsibility for the kidnapping. The five men were found tied up near a pickup truck on Thursday morning and a handwritten note was found placed on the windshield of the truck, whose author or authors say they belong to the Gulf Cartel, the dominant organized crime group in this part of Mexico.

ABC News has geolocated that location as the same area where the U.S. citizens were kidnapped one week ago.

The note said some Gulf Cartel members were responsible for the kidnapping and killings and apologized for their actions.

“We have decided to deliver those involved and directly responsible,” the note said, presumably referring to the five men found tied up at the scene.

Multiple different law enforcement agencies, along with members of the Mexican army, responded to the scene.

Police allegedly found two weapons inside the truck when they detained the five men — an AK-47 and an AR-15 — as well as four AK-47 magazines, three AR-15 magazines and cartridges of different calibers, according to a copy of the police report from Mexican authorities obtained by ABC News from a source close to the investigation.

Police found the men inside the truck with their hands tied with belts, along with the note, according to the police report.

Multiple sources close to the investigation said they believe the note left on the windshield to be legitimate.

Neither ABC News nor U.S. officials have been able to independently verify the authenticity of the note.

ABC News has reached out to the FBI for comment.

The four kidnapped Americans — Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia “Tay” McGee and Shaeed Woodard — drove Friday morning into Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas. McGee had traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure.

Soon after crossing the border, “unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle,” and then put the four Americans in another car and fled, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said.

Mexican investigators believe the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

The two survivors — McGee and Williams — were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said. Williams was shot in both legs while McGee was largely unharmed, family members said.

One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside it, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

During the three days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a medical clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, according to the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.

The two survivors were being treated at a hospital in Brownsville following their rescue. The bodies of the two Americans killed were repatriated to the U.S. on Thursday.

A 24-year-old suspect arrested earlier this week in connection with the incident has now been formally indicted on an aggravated kidnapping charge, the Attorney General’s Office of Tamaulipas said on Friday. The man was allegedly acting as a lookout when authorities finally located the four missing Americans.

The office also announced a homicide charge in the killing of Arely Pablo, 33, a Mexican bystander who died after being hit by a stray bullet during the kidnapping.

The alleged cartel members have been indicted in connection with the kidnapping, the Tamaulipas attorney general announced Monday.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ATLANTA) — Attorneys for the family of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, who was fatally shot by police during a sit-in protest against the upcoming Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, say an independent autopsy report found that Terán’s hands were raised during the fatal shooting.

Terán, who went by “Tortuguita” and used they/them pronouns, was shot and killed by police on Jan. 18 as officers raided campgrounds occupied by environmental demonstrators who had allegedly been camping out for months to protest the development of the forest for the upcoming police training center dubbed “Cop City” by critics.

The training center is set to take up more than 85 acres, with the “remaining portion of the 265-acres property as green space,” according to the center’s website.

Officers claimed that when Terán refused to comply with verbal commands, the protester fired the first shot at a state trooper, who was injured. Other law enforcement officers returned fire, hitting Terán. There is no body footage of the incident, officials say.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said a handgun recovered from the scene had been purchased by Terán. The GBI is investigating the incident.

The autopsy, commissioned by Terán’s family, found that Terán was “facing the multiple individuals who were firing their weapons” at Terán “during the entire interval in which the shooting occurred.” It also states, “At some point during the course of being shot, the decedent was able to raise” their hands and arms up in front of their body, with palms facing toward their torso.

The independent autopsy added that it is “impossible to determine” if Terán had been holding a firearm, or not holding a firearm, before or after being shot the multiple times.

Both Terán’s left and right hands show exit wounds in the palms, according to the autopsy.

Terán, who was 23, “was most probably in a seated position, cross-legged, with the left leg partially over the right leg” when they were killed, according to the autopsy.

“Manuel loved the forest — gave them peace. They meditate there,” said Belkis Terán, Manuel Terán’s mother, in a Monday press conference. “The forest connect them with God. I never thought that Manuel could die in a meditation position. My heart is destroyed.”

The family accused the Georgia Bureau of Investigation of withholding information about Terán’s death, including a first autopsy conucted by the Dekalb County Medical Examiner. Terán’s family is suing the city of Atlanta for the release of more documents concerning the case, saying that the GBI is selectively distributing investigative material “to justify Manuel’s death by law enforcement.”

“I want answers for my child homicide,” said Belkis Terán. “I’m asking for answers for my child homicide. I am suffering for my right to this answer and that I have not been given and I deserve. I deserve answers.”

A spokesperson for the city declined ABC News’ request for comment as “it would be inappropriate to comment on any potential pending litigation.”

The GBI told ABC News in a statement that the agency withholds evidence from the public “to preserve the integrity of the investigation.”

“All the facts, to include any information brought forward by the family’s attorney, will be assessed along with all other investigative information by the special prosecutor,” the agency’s statement read.

It continued, “The GBI cannot and will not attempt to sway public opinion in this case, but will continue to be led by the facts and truth.”

The center, which has been the center of unrest and protests for years, will be used for specialized training for both law enforcement and fire department service workers.

Supporters of the center say it will boost morale and improve officer training. Demonstrators argue that the center is further militarizing the police and may lead to more instances of police brutality and violence.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Jianna Cousins contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HERMANN, Mo.) — A suspect accused of fatally shooting a police officer has surrendered outside of a Hermann, Missouri home, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP).

The Missouri State Highway Patrol SWAT team took 35-year-old Kenneth Lee Simpson into custody Monday following the shooting in which a Hermann police officer was killed and another injured.

Authorities said that Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith died from his injuries and that the other officer was in serious but stable condition.

The shooting took place on Sunday evening at a convenience store in Hermann, according to police, which issued an alert that officers were shot and a suspect fled the scene.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons paid tribute to the slain officer on social media.

“Hermann Police Department Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith will never be forgotten, and Missouri will always be grateful,” Parsons tweeted. “Teresa and I are praying for Mason’s family, friends, and fellow law enforcement officers.”

According to the FBI, Griffith was a 13-year police veteran.

Police did not release additional information on what led to the shooting. Missouri State Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The city of Hermann is about 80 miles west of St. Louis.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LEXINGTON, N.C.) — Law enforcement rescued a missing 13-year-old girl from a locked shed in Lexington, North Carolina, after federal authorities provided a tip about the missing minor.

Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons said his office received a tip from an FBI Violent Crimes Task Force about a minor who had been abducted from Dallas. Officials were able to locate the missing girl in an externally-locked shed behind a home in Lexington, North Carolina.

Simmons said that Jorge Camacho, 34, used a social media messenger to lure her from her home to his car.

“The content of the chat was consistent with grooming and enticement, and he enticed her to actually leave the home where he picked her up in the area,” Simmons said.

The timeline of the abduction is still unclear, as the investigation is ongoing; however, authorities said that they were able to use “camera activity” to determine the vehicle associated with the abduction and the suspect’s identity within 10 minutes of getting the tip.

Authorities searched Camacho’s home, finding the abducted girl in a shed on the property’s exterior.

According to Davidson, North Carolina, records, Camacho was booked at Davidson County Jail on Saturday. He has been charged with multiple offenses, including rape, child abduction, and human trafficking. He is being held on a $1.2 million bond.

“I thank god that we were able to find this young girl; it may not be that case forever,” Simmons said, noting that his office had investigated a concerning number of similar cases.

More than 2,100 people were referred to federal authorities for human trafficking offenses in 2020, according to data from the Department of Justice, a 62% increase in referrals since 2011.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 365,348 children were missing in 2020, with estimates suggesting that 30% were actively trafficked.

Simmons said parents should be mindful of their children’s social media activity, given their potential susceptibility to bad actors.

“We’ve had to do this so many times, it’s crazy,” he said. “That’s why we’re pleading with these parents.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DALLAS) — A pair of suspects were arrested in Dallas in connection with a quadruple shooting that left four people dead inside an apartment that allegedly stemmed from a custody dispute, according to police.

Cops responded to the scene in northwest Dallas around 7 p.m. Sunday and found four people shot dead inside. Although police didn’t immediately identify the victims, court documents later revealed them to be Juan Diego Cruz, Lupe Cruz, Jasmine Borja-Santos and a fourth person who was only identified as “Fatima.”

An infant was also found inside the apartment but the child was unharmed, according to police.

A neighbor told police they heard gunshots around 1 a.m. but didn’t immediately call the police, court documents said. Family members of the victims alerted the authorities after the victims didn’t return phone calls during the day, court documents said.

Investigators tracked a vehicle linked to the shooting. About two hours later, police said they found it and arrested Artemio Maldonado, 18, and Azucena Sanchez, 20, according to police. Court documents said a gun was allegedly recovered between the door and the driver’s seat.

Court documents allege Sanchez was Juan Diego Cruz’s ex-girlfriend and the two were in a bitter dispute over the custody of their son.

Sanchez and Maldonado allegedly told investigators they broke into the apartment and had a confrontation with the victims, the court documents said. They allegedly told investigators that Maldonado opened fire on the four and left through the front door, according to court documents.

Attorney information for the suspects and details about their arraignment weren’t immediately available.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Millions of residents in the Northeast are bracing for a massive winter storm that will bring inclement weather to the region over multiple days.

A coastal storm is expected to develop in the Northeast Monday night and transform into a nor’easter on Tuesday, forecasts from the National Weather Service show.

On Monday afternoon, the coastal low was gaining off the mid-Atlantic as it moved up the coast and gained strength. As a result, most from Washington, D.C., to Boston will see only rain on Monday, while the snow is starting across inland areas of New England.

Much of upstate New York, western Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire will get heavy snow by Tuesday morning. Along the coast from Rhode Island to Boston, heavy rain and strong winds will be possible.

As the nor’easter continues to pound the region, most areas across the Northeast will have completely changed over to snow.

Utility companies in the Northeast are bracing for possible outages, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to issue a state of emergency at 8 p.m. Monday over the threat of widespread energy impacts.

“New Yorkers should prepare now for a multi-day event that will bring up to three feet of snow in certain parts of the Capital Region and Mid-Hudson region,” Hochul said in a statement Monday. “This storm will create hazardous road conditions through Wednesday morning, and I encourage New Yorkers in impacted regions to stay home and avoid any unnecessary travel to allow plow crews to do their job.”

Hartford, Connecticut, to Boston to Maine will likely see heavy snow Tuesday evening into early Wednesday.

Hartford and Boston are under inter storm watches for 4 to 8 inches of snow expected through early Wednesday morning. Albany, New York, is under a winter storm warning for 8 to 16 inches of snow.

Winter storm warnings have been issued from Pennsylvania to Maine, while a winter storm watch has been issued for the Boston area and a winter weather advisory issued for north New York City, where a couple of inches of snow are possible.

In the mountains, from Poconos to the Catskills to the Berkshires, some areas could see up to 2 feet of snow by Tuesday night.

Winds could gust up to 60 mph along the coast, especially in southeastern New England. With strong onshore winds, coastal flooding and erosion are possible from New Jersey to Maine.

A high wind warning is in effect for coastal Massachusetts and Cape Cod for gusts to 65 mph Tuesday into Wednesday.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A jury has spared Sayfullo Saipov the death penalty after it was unable to come to a unanimous decision Monday in the penalty phase deliberations for a Halloween 2017 terror attack in New York City that killed eight people.

The jury agreed “sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release is a harsh punishment,” according to the verdict form. It also agreed Saipov intentionally killed his victims after “substantial planning and premeditation” and did it for ISIS. However, the jury did not unanimously find that Saipov represented a future danger or would likely commit acts of violence while in prison.

A decision for death had to be unanimous. Instead, Saipov will spend life in prison without the possibility of release at ADX in Colorado.

Saipov was convicted in January of killing eight people and trying to kill 18 more in the ISIS-inspired truck attack on a bike path adjacent to the Hudson River. It was the deadliest terror attack in New York since Sept. 11, 2001.

Nine of the 28 counts he was convicted of carry the possibility of the death penalty.

After beginning deliberations on March 8, jurors had to begin anew the following day after a distraught juror was excused after informing the court that his brother had suffered a heart attack.

The defense moved for a mistrial, invoking a strict interpretation of the federal death penalty statute that says the sentence must be put “before the jury that determined the defendant’s guilt,” which the judge denied. An alternate was added to the jury for final deliberations.

“There are three or four circuit courts who have considered this issue and found that courts can use an alternate even if they haven’t sat in the trial phase,” Judge Vernon Broderick said.

Minutes after starting their deliberations on March 8, jurors sent a note to the judge asking if they could discuss that the current method of execution for federal inmates is lethal injection. They also asked if they could mention the current moratorium on execution by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

In response, Broderick instructed jurors to disregard both lethal injection and the Biden administration’s death penalty moratorium, saying they were “not proper considerations for your deliberations.”

All federal executions since at least 1963 have been carried out by lethal injection.

Garland announced a moratorium on executions in September 2021 so officials could review policies and procedures though has upheld decisions of the prior administration to pursue the death penalty for Saipov, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

During closing arguments last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Houle told the jury that Saipov deserved the death penalty for his “unremorseful slaughter of innocent civilians.”

“Murder is always terrible but when the defendant made the choice to murder multiple people he exposed himself to a harsher punishment,” Houle said. “He stole eight lives.”

Meanwhile, defense attorney David Patton told jurors they face “an awesome responsibility and power” and should spare Saipov the death penalty and let him “die in obscurity, not as a hero, not as a martyr.”

“It is not necessary to kill Sayfullo Saipov, not for our safety or anyone else’s and not to do justice,” Patton said. “In this case, we are asking you to decide that meeting death with more death is not the answer.”

A death sentence for Saipov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, would have been the first by a federal jury in New York in decades. Federal juries in Brooklyn approved a death sentence for a man who murdered two New York police detectives in 2007 and 2013, but both sentences were tossed out on appeal.

The last time the death penalty was carried out in a New York federal case was in 1953 when husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LOS ANGELES) — After more than 48 hours, law enforcement in Valinda, California, concluded a deadly standoff with a man who used a “high-power rifle” to fire 100 rounds at bystanders and officers.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in Valinda around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, following reports of a man shooting at pedestrians with a deadly weapon, according to officials from the sheriff’s department.

The operation concluded late Sunday afternoon when deputies found the suspect deceased inside the home, according to an advisory from the sheriff’s department at 5:50 p.m. Sunday. The shooter died by suicide according to a statement from Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

“When they arrived, they were met with gunfire by the suspect and deputies returned fire at that time,” Deputy Miguel Meza told reporters. “The suspect barricaded himself inside that residence.”

Officials from the sheriff’s department later determined that the man was a guest in the home, which belonged to his girlfriend.

Crisis negotiators at the scene attempted to “contact the suspect to resolve this situation peacefully,” the sheriff’s department said.

Commander Tom Giandomenico, who led the SWAT team’s response to the incident, said that despite the shooter firing potentially over 100 rounds at officers and bystanders, law enforcement did not return fire.

“We did not return fire for our goal was to protect him from himself and the community,” Giandomenico said.

Some of the male suspect’s family members were assisting police by providing information on “what state of mind he was in,” Meza said. Giandomenico said they learned he intended to harm responding officers throughout the operation.

Giandomenico said that the SWAT team eventually broke “portals” into the roof of the house so they could use cameras to locate evidence and the shooter.

Law enforcement at one point attempted to fill the residence with “chemical agents” to disorient the shooter and force him out of the residence.

Responding deputies learned at 4 p.m. local time Sunday that the shooter, alone in the residence, had died.

Apart from the shooter, no one was hit by gunfire, the department said. A female victim was transported to a local hospital for an undisclosed injury that was not a gunshot wound, deputies said.

Deputies evacuated the nearby homes and residents were advised to avoid the area. Ten families were impacted by the standoff, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

“It’s still ongoing, all night … That is just crazy. It’s crazy and sad,” local resident Janet Torres told ABC’s Los Angeles affiliate.

Armored equipment, including BearCats and battering ram vehicles, could be seen on the scene, and paramedics were also on standby throughout the incident.

As of Sunday evening, efforts were underway to return the displaced families to their homes.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has “no plans” to participate in a Manhattan grand jury investigation into a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told George Stephanopoulos Monday on ABC’s Good Morning America.

“We have no plans on participating in that proceeding,” Tacopina said. “Decision needs to be made still. There’s been no deadline set, so we’ll wait and see.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating whether Trump falsified business records in connection with a $130,000 payment Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election, which prosecutors allege was to keep her from talking about a long-denied affair, sources familiar with the matter have told ABC News.

The DA’s office informed Trump last week of his right to testify before a grand jury in the probe, a possible signal that the DA is moving toward a charging decision.

Tacopina said another Trump attorney, Susan Necheles, who is leading the case, has met with prosecutors.

Asked if he expects an indictment for Trump, Tacopina said, “I expect justice to prevail. If that’s the case, George, there shouldn’t be an indictment.”

“Clearly this prosecutor and his prosecutors’ office has … an agenda,” he said. “They’ve scoured his personal life and business life for seven years to try to find something.”

Tacopina framed the funds as an extortion payment, and repeatedly said the payment was not directly related to Trump’s campaign.

“I don’t know since when we’ve decided to start prosecuting extortion victims,” Tacopina said. “He’s vehemently denied this affair, but he had to pay money because there was going to be an allegation that was going to be publicly embarrassing, regardless of the campaign.”

Asked if the payment was properly noted in the Trump Organization records, or if a false record was made saying it was for legal representation, Tacopina said, “There was absolutely no false records made, to my knowledge.”

“It’s not a contribution to his campaign,” Tacopina said. “He made this with personal funds to prevent something coming out false but embarrassing to himself and his family’s young son. That’s not a campaign finance violation, not by any stretch.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LEXINGTON, S.C.) — The family of a 15-year-old Black honor student is suing her South Carolina school district, alleging she was assaulted by a school staffer who she said was upset she hadn’t stopped to acknowledge the Pledge of Allegiance.

Lawyers for the family of Marissa Barnwell, a student at River Bluff High School in Lexington, said in a federal lawsuit that on Nov. 29, 2022, Barnwell “decided to exercise her First Amendment Right to refrain from acknowledging the Pledging Allegiance in a non-disruptive manner” when an instructional assistant “physically assaulted” Marissa before taking her to the principal’s office for punishment.

The staffer, along with the school’s principal, the superintendent and the South Carolina Department of Education are also listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

Marissa and her parents Fynale and Shavell Barnwell, held a press conference on Thursday to discuss the lawsuit.

Fynale Barnwell, Marissa’s mother, said at Thursday’s press conference that her daughter called her in tears claiming that the staffer attacked her.

According to the federal lawsuit, Marissa silently walked to her class while the Pledge of Allegiance was playing on the school’s intercom when she said the staffer pushed her to the wall and “forcefully” touched her to make her comply with saying the pledge.

ABC News obtained school surveillance video that appears to show an interaction between Marissa and the staffer in a school hallway. According to the lawsuit, Marissa alleges that the principal sent Marissa back to class telling her that he would review the surveillance video footage of the alleged incident.

The lawsuit alleges that the staffer deprived Marissa of her constitutional rights and caused physical pain and emotional distress, resulting in medical bills and an inability to enjoy her life.

According to South Carolina law, the Pledge of Allegiance must be said every day at school, but those who choose not to recite it cannot be punished for not participating.

“A person who does not wish to participate may leave the classroom, may remain in his seat, or may express his non-participation in any form which does not materially infringe upon the rights of other persons or disrupt school activities,” the law states.

At Thursday’s press conference, Marissa said that she hadn’t recited the Pledge of Allegiance since the third grade after she questioned if the U.S. was living up to its promise of ensuring “liberty and justice” for all its citizens.

“The fact that this [person] attacked me and disrespected me completely just because of that. No one should ever go through that,” Marissa said. “No one should have to be in school every day and have to face this [person] and have to face the same administration that let this happen.”

“What Marissa wants is for the powers that be to do everything in their power to try to make this right and really get some accountability and justice that she deserves, not just for herself, but for others as well,” Tyler Bailey, the family’s attorney, told ABC News.

In a statement to ABC News, Lexington School District One’s chief communication officer Elizabeth “Libby” D. Roof said that the attorney representing the district is in the process of responding to the Barnwells’ lawsuit and that it will be filed in the coming weeks.

According to the family’s attorney, Lexington Police Department said they reviewed the surveillance video and decided not to pursue a case. The department did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.