(WASHINGTON) — A 29-year-old woman who was killed while hiking on a Phoenix trail last week was stabbed 15 times, according to court documents.
Lauren Heike was found dead in a desert area around 10:30 a.m. local time Saturday — about 24 hours after the attack is believed to have occurred, according to Phoenix police.
A 22-year-old suspect, Zion William Teasley, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. His bond was set at $1 million during a court appearance Friday.
Teasley had recently been terminated from his job for “being aggressive toward female employees,” according to the probable cause document. Management at that job told investigators that he often carried a pocketknife, which would have been consistent with the murder weapon, according to the document.
Phoenix police were on their way to a person-down call on the hiking trail on Saturday when they also got a call from Heike’s friend saying she did not show up for work that day and that it was unusual, according to the probable cause document.
Investigators determined there was blood and personal items at the scene of the crime showing her path of travel, and they believed she was chased through or over a barbed wire fence, according to the document. A medical examiner determined she had 15 stab wounds on her upper body, and there were defensive wounds on her hands and forearms, the document stated.
A photograph and tattoo description given by her family were used to identify the body as Heike, court documents said.
Police had released surveillance footage depicting a suspect running near the crime scene prior to Teasley’s arrest Thursday evening. He is the same person who was seen in a video clip running away from the scene, Sgt. Maria Soliz said during a press conference.
Teasley is already on probation; he has been convicted of robbery, armed robbery and disorderly conduct and was released from prison in November, prosecutors said.
DNA from Heike’s shoe at the crime scene was preliminarily matched to Teasley, according to the probable cause document. A search warrant for cell carrier data showed him in the area at the time of the murder, and the suspect captured in the surveillance footage was wearing clothing Teasley had stolen from his previous employer, according to the document.
In a police interview, Zion said he was in the area walking to a movie theater and that he knew Heike was attacked from the news but could not recall if he ever met her in person, the probable cause document stated. He reportedly told police, “I am definitely not the person who plans to kill another person,” and, “If I was going to do something like that it wouldn’t be premeditated,” according to the document.
During a court appearance on Friday, the judge advised Teasley that this could be a capital murder case and that he has the right to remain silent. When asked if he understood that right, Teasley responded, “Yes, ma’am, I choose to use that right.”
Prosecutors argued they were concerned Teasley was a flight risk because he had scheduled a flight to Detroit scheduled the previous day.
The judge set the bond at $1 million because she said she was concerned that Teasley could pose a flight risk and it was unclear if this was a targeted or random attack. The judge also ordered to hold Teasley without bail in his probation case.
Teasley is next scheduled to appear in court on May 11 for a status conference. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 15.
(WASHINGTON) – The Supreme Court has granted a rare stay of execution in the case of Richard Glossip, the Oklahoma death row inmate who the state’s attorney general now says may be innocent.
Glossip’s execution was scheduled for May 18.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday it is changing the way it does surveillance of COVID-19 in the United States as the emergencies related to the virus come to an end.
In January, the Biden administration told Congress that it would let the COVID-19 national emergency and the public health emergency expire on May 11.
Accordingly, the CDC said it plans to either transition certain categories of COVID-19 national reporting to other sources or discontinue them entirely.
“Although next week marks the end of the public health emergency, it is not the end of COVID-19,” Dr. Nirav Shah, the CDC’s principal deputy director, said during a call with reporters Thursday. “COVID-19 remains a risk and CDC remains committed to preventing severe illness and death associated with COVID-19, particularly for those who are at higher risk.”
He continued, “We will continue to keep our eye on the COVID-19 ball, and we will do so through a multitude of metrics.”
In one of the biggest moves, the federal health agency will stop sharing data about COVID-19 transmission levels and community levels and use COVID-related hospital admissions as the primary metric to measure virus spread.
Shah said this is because community levels rely on aggregate case rates, which are ending when the public health emergency expires, and those case rates may not be reported to CDC by jurisdictions after May 11.”
The CDC has noted that as the pandemic has progressed, case data has become less reliable because of increases in home testing, with results often not reported to public health officials.
“Since February of 2022, there has been a 99% accordance with the CCL, the community levels — which are being retired — and the new hospital admission-driven metrics,” Shah said. “In short, we will still be able to tell that it’s snowing, even though we’re no longer counting every snowflake.”
Hospitalizations will move from being reported daily to weekly, while keeping track of demographic data, such as age and race/ethnicity, as well as data on the treatment being received by patients.
Dr. Brendan Jackson, lead of the CDC’s COVID-19 Response, said there are other metrics the CDC will continue to monitor that can give notice before a potential spike.
“Hospitalizations provide the best national level view of COVID trends,” Jackson said during the media call. “There are also metrics that provide earlier signals of change in COVID activity.”
For example, “CDC reports emergency department visits for COVID-19 on our COVID data tracker website down to the state level. This is a key early indicator of evolving trends,” he added.
Additionally, the CDC is switching its test positivity data to a surveillance system, which is based on voluntary reporting from over 450 laboratories nationwide.
Also seeing changes is V-safe, a smartphone tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide check-ins after people receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Starting May 19, people who participated in v-safe will not be able to add new COVID-19 vaccine doses to their account. People who received doses that were added before May 19 will have health check-ins until June 30.
“At this point in the program, very little new data are being reported to the v-safe system,” the CDC said in a press released. “V-safe was developed specifically for COVID-19 vaccines and has been an essential component of the pandemic vaccine safety monitoring systems that have successfully and comprehensively characterized the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States.”
The CDC said it is developing a new version of v-safe, expected to launch later in 2023, which will allow users to share post-vaccination experiences with new vaccines.
However, there are certain activities that will be unaffected by the CDC’s change in reporting and the end of the emergencies.
These include case data broken down by demographics as well as CDC’s work on long COVID, vaccine effectiveness and wastewater surveillance.
Shah said there is still a need within the agency to modernize the way they collect and monitor disease, so it does not take as long to do so as it did with COVID-19.
“In the next pandemic, we shouldn’t wait six months to have complete hospitalization data,” Shah said. “We shouldn’t need dozens of data use agreements to understand the demographics of who’s getting vaccinated.”
He continued, “We should have access to robust data before a pandemic. We should be ready, so we don’t have to get ready. That is the work ahead of us and the work we are committed to doing.”
(NEW YORK) — A better-than-expected jobs report on Friday defied interest rate hikes that aim to slash inflation by cooling the economy.
Instead, the U.S. added 253,000 jobs in April, marking a slight decline from an average of 290,000 over the previous six months. The unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low, government data showed.
The job gains, however, did not accrue evenly across sectors. Some industries posted blockbuster expansions while others lagged far behind.
“There are good signs and there’s broad growth,” William Spriggs, chief economist for the labor federation AFL-CIO, told ABC News. “But many of the sectors didn’t do very much.”
Here’s what to know about which industries are seeing jobs grow the fastest and why:
Business and professional services: 43,000 jobs added
The sector that featured the most job gains covers a wide-reaching set of positions referred to as business and professional services, which includes highly trained employees such as attorneys, accountants, managers and computer engineers, among others.
The sector added 43,000 jobs last month, nearly doubling an average of 25,000 jobs gained over the previous six months.
The major expansion arrives despite high-profile layoffs last month in the media and tech industries, with some cuts involving management at companies such as Disney, Vice Media and Lyft.
The layoffs elsewhere may have driven some of the job growth in this sector, since companies across the economy depend on tech professionals but often face difficulty attracting them, Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, told ABC News.
“Their contraction is a boon to the rest of the economy, which almost had no chance recruiting top software engineers before,” Pollak said. “Finally, it stands a chance.”
Health care: 40,000 jobs added
Health care, an industry that has shown strong job growth in recent months, continued at a blistering pace in April.
The performance in this industry owes in large part to the aging U.S. population, Pollak said.
Roughly 17% of Americans are 65 years of age or older, according to a report released in February by the Administration of Aging, a government agency. That share of the population, which counts 55.7 million people, has grown nearly 40% since 2010, the report said.
Employment at nursing and residential care facilities made up almost a quarter of the jobs added in the sector last month, government data showed.
“This is an industry with tremendous long-term prospects,” Pollak said. “Where labor can’t easily be replaced by ChatGPT.”
Despite a bright future, the sector faced major difficulties during the pandemic when an overwhelming need for care led to staffing shortages and burnout, Spriggs said.
“We know that the sector was hurt deeply by the COVID crisis,” he said. “I think this is a very good sign that it’s on its way to recovery.”
Leisure and hospitality: 31,000 jobs added
Leisure and hospitality, an industry decimated by the pandemic, sustained strong growth in April as it continued to climb back toward pre-pandemic employment levels.
More than 80% of the job gains in the sector took place at food service and drinking establishments, which have benefited from the return of dining out and nightlife as coronavirus cases have waned.
But employment in the industry remains 2.4% below the employment level in February 2020, government data showed.
The shortfall of workers leaves room for growth in the sector, no matter how the wider economy fares, said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at Charlotte-based investment firm LPL Financial.
“We should expect continued job gains in these industries even if the broader economy shrinks,” Roach said.
(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is leaving the agency, President Joe Biden announced.
“She led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity,” Biden said in a statement. “Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans.”
“We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter,” Biden added.
Walensky will step down at the end of June.
While Walensky helmed the nation’s public health agency throughout the pandemic, her tenure was not without faults, including those she acknowledged in a review conducted last summer.
“For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Walensky said in August.
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces are readying a spring counteroffensive, but Putin appears to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 05, 12:03 PM EDT
Russian official warns it is ‘on the edge’ of a conflict with US
Russia is ready to use all means at its disposal to prevent anyone from encroaching on the security of the country in response to the recent drone attacks targeting the Kremlin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview on Russia’s Channel One Thursday.
Ryabkov said Washington is using its “puppets” in Kyiv to stage more and more dangerous provocations.
“I think that any reasonable person in any country will understand that the United States continues its escalatory policies and uses its subordinates in Kyiv, their puppets, to stage and carry out more and more audacious, more and more dangerous, acts of provocation,” he said.
He went on to say that U.S. officials may deny any responsibility and involvement in the attacks but nobody will believe them.
“We are working to prevent relations with the U.S. from plunging into the abyss of an open armed conflict. We are already standing on the edge, on the edge of this precipice,” he said.
May 05, 9:06 AM EDT
Wagner announces retreat from Bakhmut; blames Russian Defense Ministry
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said it will retreat from Bakhmut because of severe shortages in ammunition, according to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group’s leader. He said his forces would withdraw on May 10, blaming Russia’s defense ministry for the retreat.
Wagner has played a crucial role for months in the fighting for Bakhmut, sustaining huge casualties. The announcement and the suggestion of bitter infighting within Russia’s military forces signals division and disorganization just as Russia is bracing for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Prigozhin said he was taking the decision in retaliation against Russia’s military leadership, which he accused of deliberately starving his troops of ammunition because they are jealous of Wagner’s success.
Prigozhin and Russia’s defense ministry have been in a one-sided public feud for months. Prigozhin claims it’s now reached a breaking point, delivering a blistering attack on Russia’s senior military command in the video announcing the withdrawal. He accused them of being “cowards” and of denying Russians a victory in Bakhmut because of their “petty envy.”
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
May 04, 12:15 PM EDT
Zelenskyy makes unannounced visit to The Hague
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a war crimes tribunal in a surprise visit to The Hague on Thursday.
“There must be accountability for this crime. And this can only be achieved through the tribunal. … We must transform the experience of the Nuremberg trials into new operational rules. And that is why we advocate the creation of such a tribunal. We want to continue the tradition of mandatory punishment for such crimes as a guarantee of non-repetition of such aggression,” Zelenskyy said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
May 04, 8:21 AM EDT
US calls Kremlin drone accusation ‘ludicrous’
Responding to Russia’s accusation that the U.S. was behind Wednesday’s drone attack on the Kremlin, White House spokesperson John Kirby said it was a “ludicrous claim.”
“There’s a word that comes to mind that I’m obviously not — not appropriate to using on national TV,” Kirby said on CNN on Thursday.
“I will just tell you Mr. Peskov is lying, and I mean, that’s obviously, it’s a ludicrous claim,” he added. “The United States had nothing to do with this. We don’t even know exactly what happened here, Kaitlin. But I can assure you, the United States had no role in it whatsoever.”
Kirby said the U.S. does not have any information on who is behind the strike but are “trying to learn more about this as best we can.”
May 04, 6:44 AM EDT
Kremlin blames US for drone attack in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman accused the United States of being involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin on Wednesday.
“We understand well that the decision about such terror attacks are taken not in Kyiv, but in Washington,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing. “Often targets are determined not in Kyiv but in Washington. They don’t Kyiv the right everytime in choosing the means. In Washington they also clearly understand that we know that.”
He added, “Without question. Such decisions — the determining of targets and means — are all dictated to Kyiv from Washington.”
Peskov said it was important that Washington understand the “danger” of such involvement in an attack.
May 04, 12:08 AM EDT
Russia attacks Kyiv with drones and missiles; no casualties or injuries reported
Russian forces launched a “complex air strike” with “drones and missiles” on Kyiv early Thursday morning, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.
The air raid siren went off in Kyiv for three and a half hours during the attack, the Kyiv City Military Administration said.
There were no casualties or injuries from the strikes.
“According to preliminary information, all the missiles and UAVs were destroyed,” the Kyiv City Military Administration added.
This was the third attack on the capitol in four days, the administration said.
May 03, 5:11 PM EDT
US Embassy in Ukraine warns of ‘ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks’
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine sent an alert to Americans on Wednesday warning of an “ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks,” including in Kyiv.
“In light of the recent uptick in strikes across Ukraine and inflammatory rhetoric from Moscow, the Department of State cautions U.S. citizens of an ongoing heightened threat of missile attacks, including in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast,” the alert stated.
The U.S. Embassy urged U.S. citizens to follow guidance from local authorities and to observe air alarms and shelter appropriately.
May 03, 2:43 PM EDT
At least 21 killed in Kherson region shelling: Ukrainian officials
At least 21 people were killed and 48 injured by shelling in the Kherson region on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, as the death toll continues to rise.
A railway station and market in the city of Kherson were hit in strikes, which occurred across the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, officials said.
“A railway station and a crossing, a house, a hardware store, a grocery supermarket, a gas station — do you know what unites these places? The bloody trail that [Russia] leaves with its shells, killing civilians in Kherson and Kherson region,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter.
All the victims were civilians, Zelenskyy said.
An ambulance was also damaged in the strikes, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
“No military objects here. Just civilians, including children,” Kostin said on Twitter.
At least one person was killed and three injured in the strike on the railway station, officials previously said.
May 03, 2:00 PM EDT
White House announces $300M military aid package for Ukraine
The Biden administration has announced a new $300 million military aid package for Ukraine.
The package includes additional ammunition for U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, as well as “additional howitzers, artillery and mortar rounds, and anti-armor capabilities that Ukraine is using to push back against Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” the Department of Defense said in a statement.
This marks the Biden administration’s 37th drawdown of equipment from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
May 03, 11:50 AM EDT
At least 12 killed in Kherson shelling: Ukrainian officials
At least 12 people were killed and 22 injured by shelling in Kherson on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said.
A market and railway station were hit in the strikes in the southern Ukrainian city, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin. An ambulance was also damaged, he said.
“No military objects here. Just civilians, including children,” Kostin said on Twitter.
At least one person was killed and three injured in the strike on the railway station, officials said.
Four additional fatalities were reported from shelling throughout the Kherson region Wednesday, officials said.
May 03, 9:48 AM EDT
Zelenskyy denies involvement in Kremlin attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Russia’s claim that his country was involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin early Wednesday.
Zelenskyy, who is currently in Finland, said the claim was the prelude to a “large-scale terrorist attack” from Russia.
“First of all, Ukraine wages an exclusively defensive war and does not attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “What for? This does not solve any military issue. But it gives RF grounds to justify its attacks on civilians.”
Zelenskyy went on to say that various attacks in Russia could be the result of “guerrilla activities of local resistance forces.”
May 03, 8:31 AM EDT
Russia says Ukraine tried to kill Putin in Kremlin with two drones
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has accused Ukraine of trying to strike Putin’s residence in the Kremlin with two drones overnight, but said they were brought down before they could reach their target.
No injuries were reported, Kremlin officials said. Putin was not at the residence at the time, they said.
Videos released on official social media channels appeared to show a drone strike the roof of the Senate Palace at the Kremlin.
The Kremlin said “the Russian side reserves the right to retaliate whenever and wherever it deems necessary.”
May 03, 1:30 AM EDT
Ukrainian drone hits Russian port, causing fire
A Ukrainian drone hit a Tamanneftegaz fuel tank in the Port of Taman, Russia, at about 2:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, Kirill Fedorov, a pro-Russian blogger, said on his Telegram channel. The Port of Taman is in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait.
The fire could be seen in a video circulating online.
Local authorities confirmed the fire, which “has been assigned the highest rank,” the governor of the region said. A tank with petroleum products was hit by the drone and is burning, the governor said. No injuries were reported and there was no threat to residents, he added on his Telegram channel.
May 02, 11:45 PM EDT
All drones targeting Kyiv shot down; third attack on capital in six days
All drones that were used by Russians to attack Kyiv early Wednesday morning local time were shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems, the Kyiv City Military Administration said on Telegram.
There were no reported injuries or casualties, the military administration said.
This was the third attack on Kyiv in six days, the administration added.
May 02, 6:58 PM EDT
Explosions reported in Kyiv
Explosions were reported in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster.
The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces were activated in response, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported.
S-300 missiles belonging to Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit in Zaporizhzhia, the spokesman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, said on Telegram.
Reports of damage, and number of people injured or killed were not immediately available.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Max Uzol
May 02, 6:12 PM EDT
Explosions reported in Kyiv
Explosions were reported in Kyiv around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday local time, according to Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster.
The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces were activated in response, the Kyiv City Military Administration reported.
Reports of damage, and number of people injured or killed were not immediately available.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Max Uzol
May 02, 12:38 PM EDT
Marine veteran killed while evacuating civilians in Ukraine
A 26-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran was killed in a mortar strike last month in Ukraine while working to evacuate civilians, his family confirmed to ABC News this week.
Cooper Andrews died on April 19 in the Bakhmut area, his cousin Willow Pastard, who is speaking on his family’s behalf, told ABC News.
The State Department announced Monday that an American citizen died in Ukraine, though did not provide more details or an identity “out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”
“We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.
At least nine deaths of U.S. citizens who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine have been officially reported since the war began last year, according to the State Department.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
May 01, 3:54 PM EDT
2 dead, 40 wounded in latest Russian strikes
Two men were killed and at least 40 people, including children, were injured after Russian missiles struck Pavlograd, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials said.
Serhii Lysak, the head of the military administration of the Dnipropetrovsk, said 19 high-rise buildings, 25 private houses, six schools and preschool education institutions and five shops were hit by the missiles.
Five children were among the wounded officials said. The youngest victim is 8 years old, according to officials.
-ABC News’ Wil Gretsky
May 01, 3:07 PM EDT
Russia suffered 100K casualties in Bakhmut since December: White House
The U.S. estimates that Russia has suffered over 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action, from the battles in Bakhmut since December, White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday
Half of the 20,000 killed in action were members of the Russian-backed private military Wagner Group, according to Kirby. The majority of Wagner fighters killed were allegedly ex-convicts, according to Kirby.
Kirby said that the data came from “some downgraded intelligence,” that the U.S. has been able to collect. He was unable to provide data on deaths of Ukrainian fighters.
Kirby emphasized that the U.S. thinks Bakhmut holds “very little strategic value for Russia” and if captured by Russia it “would absolutely not alter the course of the war in Russia’s favor.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
May 01, 1:41 PM EDT
State Department confirms US citizen dies in Ukraine
The State Department announced Monday that an American citizen died in Ukraine.
“We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.
The State Department declined to provide more details or an identity “out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time.” It is not immediately clear when the death took place.
At least 10 U.S. citizen deaths in Ukraine have been officially confirmed by the State Department since the war began last year. The majority of those deaths were of Americans who volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainians, according to officials.
(NEW YORK) — The case involving the death of a homeless man on a New York City subway is likely headed to a grand jury next week, law enforcement sources said.
The investigation into John Neely’s death is ongoing. A grand jury would determine whether criminal charges are warranted, according to the sources.
Detectives have interviewed more than six witnesses and are still looking to talk to several more.
Neely, a homeless man, was killed by another New York City subway passenger who held him in a chokehold for several minutes, according to witnesses and police. Neely had allegedly been yelling before being subdued by the other passenger, police said. The man seen restraining Neely told police he was not trying to kill Neely.
Police confirmed Neely lost consciousness after the physical struggle. Neely was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Neely’s death has been ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office. The 24-year-old involved in the incident has not been charged.
According to police sources, Neely had a documented mental health history. He had been arrested more than 40 times prior for assault, disorderly conduct and fare evasion.
The NYPD has issued a call for public help as investigators review video footage and other material, urging anyone who saw or has any information about this matter to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The Manhattan DA’s office encourages anyone who witnessed the incident or might have information to also call 212-335-9040.
(PHOENIX) — A man has been taken into custody after a woman was killed while hiking on a Phoenix trail last week, police said.
“Phoenix police have taken a man into custody in connection with the murder of 29-year-old Lauren Heike,” the Phoenix Police Department tweeted Thursday night.
He was identified Friday as 22-year-old Zion William Teasley. He has been booked into Maricopa County Jail for first-degree murder. He is being held without bond.
Teasley was arrested at his residence around 6:30 p.m. local time Thursday, Sgt. Maria Soliz said during a press conference.
He is the same person who was seen in a video clip running away from the scene, Soliz said.
There was an outpouring of support and tips after Heike’s family spoke, police said. Soliz would not say whether one of these tips led to the man’s arrest.
Heike’s parents had pleaded with the public for information in the case, as police hunted for a suspect in the “vicious attack.”
Heike was found dead in a desert area with “trauma to her body” around 10:30 a.m. local time Saturday — about 24 hours after the attack is believed to have occurred, Phoenix police said.
She lived in the area and was on a popular trail that she routinely hiked, police and her family said.
“She loved to exercise. She was walking and we know she was happy. She went out that morning on a beautiful day, she did what she does every day,” her mother, Lana Heike, told reporters during a press briefing Wednesday while surrounded by her daughter’s friends and family.
Phoenix police Lt. James Hester said Lauren Heike was attacked from behind and died as a result of her injuries.
“The vicious attack on Ms. Lauren Heike is unconscionable,” he said during the briefing.
Hester declined to share many details in the case to not compromise the investigation. But he said police have surveillance footage from Friday of a person believed to be a suspect in the homicide.
The suspect was described by police as being upward of 6 feet tall and having a thin build with a dark complexion. The individual was wearing a dark backpack, gray or lighter-colored shirt, dark pants and shoes and was seen running near the area of the crime, police said.
Hester asked people who noticed anything “that didn’t look right” on the trail the day of the incident, as well as the days leading up to and after it, to come forward.
“The behavior, in my opinion, was so heinous that I would imagine that the subject would be displaying behavior symptoms that just would look out of place,” he said.
In a sign posted on the trail, police are also now warning people not to walk alone and to report suspicious activity.
Lauren Heike’s mother described her daughter as “beautiful inside and out” and someone who had a “kind heart.”
“Everybody who met her loved her,” Lana Heike said. “She was super funny. She was just a sweet child.”
Lana Heike said she spoke to her daughter every day, and every call or text ended with, “I love you, mom.”
“We just want the world to know what a sweet person she was, and what she meant to us and to our family. And what a void it is for us,” Lana Heike said.
“I’m begging people to come forward,” she said.
Lauren Heike’s family came in from Washington state to attend Wednesday’s press briefing.
“I just hope they can find whoever did this to her,” her father, Jeff Heike, said.
(NEW YORK) — Former first lady Michelle Obama has announced her latest venture, PLEZi Nutrition, aimed at creating healthy food and beverage options for parents to give “healthier, great-tasting products” to their kids.
Obama first shared the news of the public benefit company, whose purpose is to “help raise a healthier generation of kids,” during closing remarks on Wednesday at the Wall Street Journal’s Future Of Everything Festival.
“I’ve learned that on this issue, if you want to change the game, you can’t just work from the outside. You’ve got to get inside — you’ve got to find ways to change the food and beverage industry itself,” she said in her speech, addressing thousands of industry leaders in attendance. “I’m proud to announce the national launch of a company designed not just to provide better products, but to jumpstart a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry.”
The first product to launch under the brand is a new kids’ drink, PLEZi, that will come in four flavors and contains 75% less sugar than the average leading fruit juices, with no added sugar, plus fiber and other nutrients. The drinks are currently available nationwide at Target and Sprouts, as well as online at Walmart, with a goal to “ultimately be available anywhere you can buy a soda or sports drink.”
Obama has long been invested in public health, particularly in children’s nutrition. During her time as first lady, she launched the Let’s Move! campaign, the Chef’s Move to Schools program, which paired chefs with interested schools to create healthy meals that meet schools’ dietary guidelines and budgets, and championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that her husband, former President Barack Obama, signed into law in December 2010.
Now, as a co-founder and strategic partner with PLEZi Nutrition, Michelle Obama will work behind-the-scenes to guide the company’s mission as “a driver of change and model for how food and beverage brands can support the health of our next generation,” the company stated.
PLEZi Nutrition is “focused on lowering sugar content and lowering sweetness to help adjust kids’ palates to crave less sweetness overall,” the company said in a press release shared with ABC News. “In addition to reducing the sugar and sweetness, they are adding in nutrients kids need, all with the aim to replace sugary drinks and snacks.”
On average, kids in the U.S. don’t consume the recommended levels of nutrients and instead consume far too much added sugar — 53 pounds of added sugar per year on average, according to the press release.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages, also referred to as sugary drinks, are the leading source of added sugar, and nearly two-thirds of youth consume sugary drinks on a given day,” the statement continued.
In the years ahead, PLEZi has plans to expand beyond beverages and into the healthy snacks space.
The company will also work to provide beyond its product lines with an educational platform for parents and kids. It also plans to dedicate a chunk of its marketing budget to promotional content around what’s best for kids’ health, including the importance of water as a primary beverage for kids.
Obama also announced the PLEZi “Kitchen Cabinet” advisory group, led by food policy expert Debra Eschmeyer, who will guide and advise those educational efforts, marketing approaches and product development. The group includes doctors, professors, bestselling authors and CEOs with combined accolades and experience in public health, school nutrition, parenting, medicine and advocacy.
Eschmeyer previously served as executive director of the Let’s Move! initiative and is a former senior White House policy adviser for nutrition.
PLEZi Nutrition states on its website that it has already made an initial $1 million donation to FoodCorps’ Nourishing Futures initiative, which aims to “ensure all 50 million students across the country have access to nutrition education and free school meals by 2030.”
(GENEVA) — The World Health Organization on Friday said it was downgrading COVID-19 and no longer characterizing it as a global health emergency.
The U.N. health agency first declared the coronavirus to be an international crisis on Jan. 30, 2020.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the change during a media briefing held with reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
But he clarified that this does not mean the pandemic is over.
“It is with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” he said. “However, that does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat. Last week, COVID-19 claimed a life every three minutes — and that’s just the deaths we know about.”
The downgrade comes with the pandemic on a “downward trend” for more than a year due to growing immunity among the global population — both from vaccination and infection — as well as a decreasing number of deaths, according to Tedros. This has also led to health systems no longer feeling as a much of a burden as they once did.
“This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before,” he said.
Tedros recounted the early days of the pandemic, noting that when it first declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency, China reported fewer than 100 cases and no deaths.
He said that seven million COVID-19 deaths have been reported to WHO, but officials believe the true toll to be at least 20 million. In the U.S., more than 1.1 million deaths have been recorded, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“But COVID-19 has been so much more than a health crisis,” Tedros said. “It has caused severe economic upheaval, erasing trillions from GDP, disrupting travel and trade, shuttering businesses and plunging millions into poverty.”
He continued, “It has caused severe social upheaval, with borders closed, movement restricted, schools shut and millions of people experiencing loneliness, isolation, anxiety and depression.”
And despite the downgrade, there are still thousands of people dying every day as well as being hospitalized due to complications from the virus.
Tedros warned against countries letting their guard down and said they must remain vigilant in case a new highly infectious variant emerges.
“I emphasize that this is not a snap decision. It is a decision that has been considered carefully for some time, planned for, and made on the basis of a careful analysis of the data,” he said. “If need be, I will not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee should COVID-19 once again put our world in peril.”
