An aerial view of houses surrounded by mud, rocks and debris following flash floods on Sept. 3, 2026, in Betravati village, Rasuwa, Nepal. (Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The death toll following an unprecedented flash flood at the Nepal-Tibet border has climbed to 1,252, with an additional 4,216 people believed to still be missing, officials said.
These figures have increased from 1,114 and 3,916, respectively, a day earlier, according to the Nepali Government’s National Disaster Management Authority’s latest update, as of Thursday at noon.
Chinese state media have reported an additional death toll of 16, and 546 missing persons in Tibet, bringing the total death toll to 1,268, with 4,762 missing on both sides of the border.
Relief and rescue efforts are continuing, with almost all communication towers restored and nearly 12,000 people rescued thanks to international and domestic aid.
Additionally, almost 21,500 security personnel have been mobilized in attempts to speed up the search and rescue operations, with over 5,000 people receiving treatment for injuries, officials said.
Nepali Prime Minister Shah said earlier this week his government would begin focusing on “rehabilitation” as the length of time since the initial disaster grows.
The flooding, caused by part of a glacier failing, has revived conversations about anthropogenic climate change. The World Meteorological Organisationforecast on Thursday a “very strong” El Nino, which raises the risk of extreme weather.
People wait on line to enter Plymouth Superior Court during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial on Aug. 26, 2026, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Mel Musto/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — After 30 hours of deliberations spanning five days, the jury in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has still not reached a verdict.
The extensive deliberations followed weeks of testimony concerning whether or not Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she strangled her children and attempted to take her own life in January 2023 and whether she should be held criminally liable for the killings.
On Wednesday afternoon, after the jury reported they were at an impasse for a second time in as many days, Judge William Sullivan read the jury a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, encouraging them to continue working together toward a verdict.
The Tuey-Rodriguez instruction urges jurors to remember it is their “duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously,” reminding them “there is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to six persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it than you are, or that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other.”
Boston-based criminal defense attorney Peter Elikann said sending the jury back to deliberate again may force a hung jury if the deadlock continues.
“At that point, the judge has to declare a mistrial, unless he has the consent of the jury who would want to go out again, and that’s rather doubtful,” Elikann said in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
“This is really it. This is kind of the final push,” Elikann added.
If a mistrial is declared, one of several next steps may transpire, according to ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmire.
“First and foremost, the defense is probably going to ask for bail, some amount of money or release, that she does not have to be incarcerated pending the prosecution decision as to whether or not they’re going to retry her,” Buckmire said in an interview Wednesday.
Buckmire said the prosecution could make the decision to retry her “right then and there” or in the near future following a mistrial declaration.
Elikann said the prosecution could also choose to drop the case, though he added, “That’s not all that likely.”
Buckmire said a second trial is a likely scenario, in his opinion.
The second option, according to the attorneys, could be plea negotiations.
“In many cases, the prosecution, after having a deadlocked jury, will kind of say to the defense, ‘Let’s compromise. We’ll break down the charges to something much lesser, and can we agree on that, that you’ll plead to something, a much more minor charge,'” Elikann said.
Buckmire said it is possible, however, that prosecutors would not want to lessen any of the charges moving forward.
Speaking to the deliberations and the jury’s inability thus far to reach a verdict in this case, Elikann said this sort of result was both rare and, in some ways, predictable.
“Most of the time, probably all the lawyers will tell you the conventional wisdom is that [an] insanity defense almost never works,” he said, adding it usually ends in a conviction.
Elikann explained that Clancy’s case was different.
“Everybody had a sense that they would never get 12 people to convict her of first-degree murder. And it was anticipated, by many people, that this would be either not guilty by reason of insanity or a hung jury,” he said.
Photo of Minneapolis Police Department exterior. (Facebook / Minneapolis Police Department)
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — Two people are dead and multiple others injured after gunfire broke out in a high-rise apartment building in downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday, authorities said.
Two Minneapolis police officers are among those injured by gunfire, according to police.
The suspected shooter is dead, according to interim Police Chief Bill Peterson, who told reporters at a press briefing he was “truly sickened by this level of violence.”
Officers responded to reports of a shooting at the building at 15 E. Grand St. shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Inside, officers encountered victims in the lobby and heard additional gunfire, Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson Garrett Parten told reporters at an earlier press briefing. “Officers followed the sound of gunfire to the upper floor of the building, and on that floor, officers encountered a haze that significantly limited their visibility,” Parten said.
At a follow-up press conference, the interim police said police said they weren’t sure yet what caused the haze.
A total of seven people were shot, authorities said.
One of the shooting victims was found dead at the scene, while a second died at a hospital, police said. Three other shooting victims were transported from the scene, according to police.
Of the wounded officers, one was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen, the mayor said.
That officer was undergoing surgery, authorities said. A third officer was being evaluated for an apparent non-life-threatening injury, according to police.
In addition, four officers experienced adverse effects after “being exposed to an unknown airborne substance,” police said in a news release. Two other officers were hurt when their squad car was involved in a crash while responding to the scene.
Peterson said it was his understanding that the officers were expected to make a full recovery.
It is unclear how the suspect died, police said. The interim chief said police were familiar with the suspect but said they do not yet have a motive.
Some of the victims lived in the building, Peterson said, but said police are still sorting that out.
In his remarks, the mayor praised the heroism of officers who he said rescued victims and brought people to safety “all while getting shot at themselves,” Frey said.
“The one thing that is clear is that our Minneapolis police officers acted with incredible bravery and courage,” he said.
In a statement on social media, Minnesota Gov. Tom Walz said he was relieved to hear the officers involved in the shooting were expected to make a full recovery. “We’re keeping all of the victims in our prayers as more information about this tragic shooting unfolds,” he said.
Gloria Steinem speaks onstage during Ms. Foundation For Women’s 24th Comedy Night at Carolines on Broadway on January 13, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Ms. Foundation for Women)
(NEW YORK) — Women’s liberation icon Gloria Steinem has died at 92.
“Yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her,” a post on an official social media channel said. “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.”
The outspoken activist and journalist was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio. She studied government at Smith College in Massachusetts, and graduated magna cum laude in 1956.
Afterward, she spent two years studying and researching in India thanks to the Chester Bowles Fellowship, which inspired her grassroots activism later in life.
She would become known as one of the most prominent figures in the modern feminist movement, tackling politics, abortion, marriage and more through her writings and speeches.
“When humans are ranked instead of linked, everyone loses,” she said in her book, “My Life on the Road.”
In an interview with NPR, Steinem spoke about getting pregnant when she was 22 and seeking out an illegal abortion in 1957.
“I just knew that if I went home and married, which I would’ve had to do, it would be to the wrong person; it would be to a life that wasn’t mine, that wasn’t mine at all,” she said in the interview.
“My Life on the Road” is dedicated to the doctor who recommended her for the abortion, Dr. John Sharpe.
The dedication read: “Knowing that she had broken an engagement at home to seek an unknown fate, he said, ‘You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.’ Dear Dr. Sharpe, I believe you, who knew the law was unjust, would not mind if I say this so long after your death: I’ve done the best I could with my life.”
At first, Steinem struggled to gain footing in the male-dominated journalism industry as a reporter on politics and social justice issues.
“I was angry because young men in politics were treated like rising stars and young women were treated like – well – young women,” she wrote.
She continued, “I was angry about the human talent that was lost just because it was born into a female body, and the mediocrity that was rewarded because it was born into a male one.”
She gained national attention in 1963 for her reporting on the working conditions at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club.
In the exposé, she revealed the “not-so-glamorous, sexist, and underpaid life of the bunny/waitresses,” according to the National Women’s History Museum.
In 1968, she helped found New York magazine, and worked as an editor and political writer, largely focusing on the women’s liberation movement, the National Women’s History Museum reported. She also helped found the feminist magazine, “Ms.”
In 1971, she was one of the founders of the National Women’s Political Caucus, alongside other icons such as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.
The caucus remains the only “national organization dedicated exclusively to increasing women’s participation in all areas of political and public life,” according to the organization’s website.
It was founded after Congress failed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and was spurred by the belief that “legal, economic and social equity would come about only when women were equally represented among the nation’s political decision-makers.”
She continued her advocacy work throughout her life, through her books and lectures, uplifting the civil rights and anti-racism movements along the way.
“We are here and around the world for a deep democracy that says we will not be quiet,” she said at the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. “We will not be controlled. We will work for a world in which all countries are connected. God may be in the details but the goddess is in connections.”
Steinem was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986. She overcame the disease after undergoing surgery and radiation treatment.
Her husband, entrepreneur and animal rights activist David Charles Howard Bale, died in 2003. Steinem, who famously denounced marriage as an institution, married Bale in 2000 and said her mind was changed because “marriage changed,” according to The New Yorker.
She continued, “We spent 30 years in the United States changing the marriage laws. If I had married when I was supposed to get married, I would have lost my name, my legal residence, my credit rating, many of my civil rights. That’s not true anymore. It’s possible to make an equal marriage.”
The post announcing her death said Steinem spent her recent years “being in community with others and writing.” It also included a quote, which is said was from the writer’s forthcoming book, “An Unexpected Life.”
“I have now lived for more than fifty years in this brownstone,” she wrote, “in rooms that have witnessed lives before mine, and will know others after I am gone.”
Jimmie Steverson, 23, is wanted for the death of Chris Fisher, a Warm Springs Police Department officer, who was killed late Tuesday night. (Georgia Bureau of investigation)
(NEW YORK) — A 23-year-old man wanted in the fatal shooting of a Georgia police officer has been found after a manhunt ensued.
Jimmie Steverson, 23, is believed to have shot Chris Fisher, a Warm Springs Police Department officer, who was killed just before midnight, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
On Tuesday night, Fisher concluded an unrelated traffic stop while on duty and in his patrol car in the parking lot of Meriwether Country Inn, according to GBI.
While he was stopped a black 2026 Chevrolet Silverado stopped beside Fisher’s patrol car, according to GBI.
“The driver, later identified as Jimmy Lee Steverson, age 23, of Warm Springs, GA, then fired multiple shots into Officer Fisher’s patrol vehicle, hitting Officer Fisher. Steverson then fled the parking lot,” according to GBI.
Fisher was pronounced dead at the scene and his body will be taken for an autopsy, according to GBI.
On Wednesday at around 11:30 a.m., the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on a car in Anderson, South Carolina and found Steverson, who was a passenger in the car, according to GBI.
“When law enforcement made contact with the car, they discovered Steverson injured from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Steverson was transported to a local hospital,” GBI said in a statement.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he is “deeply saddened” by the news of Fisher’s killing.
“This is a tragic reminder of the dangers law enforcement face on a daily basis in service to their communities, and I ask that all Georgians lift up Fisher’s family and his fellow officers in prayer,” Kemp said in a post on X.
This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI Midland Regional Investigative Office at 706-565-7888.
(NEW YORK) — The parents of a 5-year-old girl who was found dead after being reported missing in South Carolina have been arrested in connection with her death, with arrest warrants alleging they misled authorities during the search for their autistic child.
Saylor Hayes of Virginia went missing on Sunday after wandering away from a rental home in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, according to local authorities.
During an extensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencies, her body was found the following day in waters near where she was last seen, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.
Her parents — John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, of Bristol, Virginia — were arrested on Tuesday. They have been charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child “for their actions in the disappearance and subsequent death of their child,” the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said.
The couple were arrested in Carter County, Tennessee, and are awaiting extradition proceedings to be brought back to Georgetown County to face their charges, authorities said.
Arrest warrants for the parents allege that they placed Saylor “at an unreasonable risk of harm affecting her life and safety by failing to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a severely nonverbal, autistic five-year-old child with known affinity to water and history of elopement.”
The girl had been equipped with a monitoring device since 2024, though the device was removed prior to the family leaving Virginia, according to the warrants.
“After the child was discovered missing, the defendant encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing that the child was not wearing the monitoring device,” the warrant for each parent stated.
The parents are also accused of directing search efforts away from a body of water near where they had allegedly left Saylor unsupervised, according to the warrants.
“The death of Saylor Hayes is a heartbreaking tragedy that has deeply affected our community and everyone who worked so hard to find her,” Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said in a statement. “From the beginning, our responsibility has been to follow the evidence wherever it led. Following an extensive investigation, Saylor’s parents have been arrested and charged under South Carolina law relating to unlawfully placing a child at risk of or causing harm, or willfully abandoning a child.”
“Saylor was a vulnerable five-year-old child who depended upon the adults responsible for her care and protection,” he added. “She deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected.”
The parents remain in custody in the Carter County Detention Center, online jail records show. It is unclear if they have an attorney at this time.
The sheriff’s office in Washington County, Virginia, where Saylor lived, said the child had been enrolled in its monitoring program, Project Lifesaver, since June 2024. In the program, individuals who are at risk of wandering wear a transmitter that emits an individualized radio frequency, “allowing specially trained personnel to track and locate them if they become missing,” the office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said it provided authorities in Georgetown County with Saylor’s assigned frequency after they requested it on Sunday, though search personnel were unable to detect it.
Washington County authorities subsequently tracked her transmitter to a vehicle at her residence in Bristol, the sheriff’s office said. The transmitter can only be removed by physically cutting the band it’s attached to, the office noted.
“Project Lifesaver works, and we believe strongly in this program,” Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis said in a statement. “When our personnel searched for Saylor’s assigned frequency, the equipment did exactly what it was designed to do. It detected her transmitter and led our personnel to its location.”
“What makes this situation especially heartbreaking is that Saylor did not have her transmitter with her when she went missing,” he continued. “Had Saylor been wearing her Project Lifesaver transmitter, we believe the technology could have assisted search teams in locating her much sooner.”
Southwest Airlines airplanes sit on the tarmac at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Nov. 26, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — For the first time ever, Southwest Airlines is joining the airport lounge race with plans to open lounges in four cities next year.
The airline announced Wednesday it will open lounges in Austin (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport), Baltimore (Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport), Honolulu (Daniel K. Inouye International Airport) and Nashville (Nashville International Airport) in 2027.
At least seven more lounges are expected to open over the next several years, according to Southwest.
The Dallas, Texas-based carrier is partnering with Chase on the lounges, and travelers will need to have a Southwest credit card to access them.
The card, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card issued by Chase, will also launch in 2027, according to Southwest.
In opening lounges, Southwest is keeping up with competitors like American and Delta Airlines that already offer lounge access for travelers who hold certain credit cards.
With airline-specific credit cards, the airlines get a cut of the profit from purchases on the credit card, and the cards help build brand loyalty to the airline.
Earlier this year, Southwest made another change that also put it in line with competitors when it switched to assigned seats on its planes instead of using boarding zones.
In 2025, the airline also ended its longstanding policy of free checked bags, charging customers $35 for their first checked bag and $45 for their second checked bag.
In an aerial view, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage at the Bryan Mound site is seen on Oct. 19, 2022, in Freeport, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has dropped to its lowest level since 1982, Department of Energy data this week showed, revealing the continued drawdown of emergency oil as the nation weathers a global energy shortage.
The reserve shrank by more than 3 million barrels of oil over the week ending on Aug. 28, the DOE said, leaving the stockpile at 286.6 million barrels or about 40% of overall capacity.
The largest global oil supply disruption on record has catapulted U.S. gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, rekindled inflation and helped set the stage for November’s midterm elections.
At one point, global oil prices climbed above $92 a barrel on Tuesday, after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said late Monday it had received reports of an oil tanker having been struck by three projectiles off the coast of Oman.
Established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve provides an emergency source of oil that is intended to protect the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.
The reserve, which can reach as many as 714 million barrels, is stored in large, high-security underground salt caverns along the gulf coastlines of Louisiana and Texas.
The president retains wide discretion to release oil from the reserve when the statutory conditions under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act are met. In such cases, the U.S. sells the oil on the open market, which in theory should bring oil prices down by increasing supply.
Days after the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said its 32 member nations, including the U.S., would release a combined 400 million barrels of reserve oil. When completed, the move would amount to the largest oil release in the IEA’s history, the group said at the time.
The U.S. said at the time it would release 172 million barrels from its reserve over as part of the EIA commitment. So far, the U.S. has released about 128 million barrels of reserve oil since the war began, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a government agency.
Before the Iran war, the U.S. had put petroleum on the market under emergency conditions four times since it was founded in 1975, according to the DOE.
Most recently, President Joe Biden authorized the release of 180 million barrels over six months in March 2022 after a spike in oil prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Tarrant County Election Center is shown in Fort Worth, Texas. (Google Maps Street View)
(WASHINGTON) —Officials in Texas’ third most populous county voted on Tuesday to reduce polling locations by 92.
The move will see Tarrant County’s voting sites reduced from 316 in the 2022 midterm elections to 224 for this year’s elections.
Tuesday’s vote took place during a meeting of the five-member Commissioner’s Court, which is the governing body of the county.
It came amid public outcry from dozens of residents opposing the measure during public meetings over the past month.
“People have fought and died for the right to vote,” Tarrant County resident Catherine Godby said.
She said it’s “wrong to suppress” the right to vote.
“You’re on the wrong side of history,” she said. “You’re dishonoring what it means to be an American, and more than that, you’re losing your humanity.”
Democratic commissioners Alisa Simmons and Rodrick Miles Jr. voted against the cuts, while the Republicans on the court — County Judge Tim O’Hare and commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez — voted for the proposal.
The vote on Tuesday came a year after the board approved a proposal that cut nearly half of all early voting locations in the county ahead of 2025 election, according to Dallas ABC station WFAA.
Republicans in favor of the measure argued that the number of polling locations after the cuts would still meet the mandatory minimum. They also cited efforts to cut costs, citing low voter turnout at various polling locations.
O’Hare, who vote for the measure, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that under the new proposal, there will still be 54 polling places that exceed the statutory minimum for Election Day.
“The updated plan averages 2.85 miles between early voting locations and 1.56 miles between Election Day polling locations. All of this is accomplished without the wasteful practice of placing polling sites directly across the street from one another,” O’Hare said.
The county judge said “some locations changed for practical reasons,” including some buildings no longer operating and some not meeting Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
“State law also requires early voting equipment to be stored in a locked room,” he added. “Those are legislative requirements, and this county follows them. Every voter deserves a safe, accessible location with secure equipment, and this plan does that.”
Miles, one of Democratic commissioners, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that he intends to oppose the proposal because it reduces polling locations overall.
“Our population hasn’t shrunk. Our electorate hasn’t shrunk. I need a clear, convincing explanation for why a growing county is providing meaningfully fewer places to vote and I haven’t gotten one yet,” he said.
“Our job isn’t to calculate the fewest locations we can legally operate. It’s to make sure every eligible resident has a fair and meaningful opportunity to vote. The legal minimum cannot become the moral standard,” he added.
Tarrant County, which is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has more than 2.2 million residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and 1.3 million registered voters, county data shows.
The county, which has a growing Hispanic population, is about 40% white, 31% Hispanic and Latino, 19% Black and 7% Asian, the 2025 U.S. Census numbers show.
“The minimum is never my standard, and it should not be a standard of a county this size,” Simmons, who voted against the proposal, said during a press conference on Sunday.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, also expressed opposition to the proposal during the press conference on Sunday.
“It’s nearly a third of the polling locations in Tarrant County, and that means on election day there will be longer commutes, longer lines and lower voter turnout, especially in our Black and brown communities,” he said.
Krause, who voted for the proposal, pushed back on the argument that reducing voting locations would suppress the vote, telling ABC News in a statement on Monday that the new proposal “unequivocally” gives all of the county’s registered voters the opportunity to exercise their Democratic right.
“There are voting locations within close proximity to most everyone in Tarrant County,” he added.
Tyler Robinson, charged in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, speaks with defense attorney Staci Visser as he sits during a preliminary hearing in 4th District Court on Sept. 1, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (Francisco Kjolseth, Pool via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Utah judge ruled that Tyler Robinson can stand trial on a capital murder charge stemming from the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Judge Tony Graf’s decision follows final oral arguments from both sides in the high-profile case in a Provo courtroom on Tuesday, during which attorneys primarily debated an aggravating factor that would make Robinson eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
“Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, this evidence is sufficient at this stage to support a reasonable belief the defendant is the individual who shot and killed Charlie Kirk,” Graf said.
The judge also found that there was a reasonable known risk of death to others at the time of the shooting, allowing prosecutors to pursue the death penalty.
A statement on behalf of the Kirk family said the judge’s decision marked an important step in their pursuit of justice.
“Every step in this process carries the weight of all that Charlie’s murder has taken from his family, especially his children who will grow up without their father,” the statement said. “We are grateful to all who have continued to pray for us, support us, and stand with us through a year of unimaginable grief.”
The statement continued: “As the next phase of the judicial process begins, our family remains united in our love for Charlie, our commitment to the pursuit of justice, and our prayer for a transparent and timely process.”
Robinson is accused of killing Kirk with a rifle shot fired from a building’s rooftop approximately 415 feet from where the co‑founder of the conservative student organization Turning Point USA was speaking at an outdoor rally at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2025.
The 23-year-old suspect was charged with aggravated murder, a capital felony, which alleges that others were knowingly endangered in the shooting. He was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Judge Graf found probable cause for Robinson to stand trial on all charges. Not guilty pleas were entered on the defendant’s behalf following the judge’s ruling.
Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty in the case.
“The defendant, this man, Tyler James Robinson, shot and killed Charlie Kirk because he disagreed with him, and he did it by firing a high-powered rifle into a crowd of over 3,000 people, which created a great risk of death that anyone would know about,” Utah County prosecutor Ryan McBride told the judge during Tuesday’s hearing.
McBride said there is a “mountain of evidence” proving Robinson is the gunman who killed Kirk — citing video footage, DNA evidence on the suspected murder weapon and an alleged admission by Robinson in a note to his boyfriend — and argued that the alleged politically motivated shooting posed a great risk of death to others, including children, who were at the rally.
“It’s not that the defendant didn’t see all these people. He obviously did. He had to. It’s that he didn’t care,” McBride said. “He came on a mission to kill Charlie Kirk, and if he missed, so be it. He was prepared to take other shots. Let the casualties be what they may.”
Defense attorney Staci Visser asked the judge to strike the “great risk of death” aggravating factor that makes the offense eligible for the death penalty, arguing during Tuesday’s hearing that it’s not supported by the facts of the case.
“There’s nothing in this evidence showing that there was a great risk that someone else was going to be killed,” she said.
Defense attorneys also challenged charges and enhancements alleging that Robinson knew children were present during the shooting, tampered with a witness by telling his boyfriend to “ask for a lawyer and stay silent” if questioned by the police, and targeted Kirk because of the conservative activist’s political expression.
“There’s no evidence as to really what was in Mr. Robinson’s mind, if in fact he was the shooter, about Charlie Kirk, because we have no testimony that Mr. Robinson had ever spoken about Charlie Kirk, that he had ever heard anything he’d said, that he’d ever discussed anything,” defense attorney Richard Novak said during Tuesday’s hearing.
During a week-long preliminary hearing in July, prosecutors called several law enforcement witnesses and presented a series of security videos allegedly placing Robinson at the scene of the shooting. One of the videos showed Robinson on the roof of the building where the fatal shot that killed Kirk was fired from, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors also presented a video statement from Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, who claimed in a redacted videotaped interview with prosecutors and detectives that Robinson confessed to killing Kirk in a letter, text messages, and in person.
In a written argument filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors said they showed there is enough probable cause to warrant a trial.
“This is likely as straightforward a bind-over decision as this Court will ever see,” prosecutors stated.
In its written argument, the defense countered that the state failed to establish probable cause due to its “extensive use” of hearsay evidence that it said was not assessed for reliability.
“For this reason alone, the Court must decline bindover,” the defense stated.
The defense cited alleged communications between Robinson and Twiggs, who did not testify in the preliminary hearing, that were admitted through Twigg’s videotaped interview.
Defense attorneys also argued in the filing that prosecutors failed to meet the burden of proof for the aggravated murder charge.
Prosecutors alleged in their filing that Robinson “fired a high-powered rifle towards a crowd of thousands,” endangering the lives of “everyone who was in his line of fire” or near Kirk. In response, the defense said only a single shot was fired above the crowd and argued that the evidence does not support that “the shooter was aware that there was a high probability that someone else may die from his single gunshot that hit the intended victim.”
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
