(NEW ORLEANS) — A maintenance worker at a New Orleans jail where 10 inmates escaped has been arrested and accused of helping facilitate the breakout, officials said Tuesday.
Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the Orleans Parish Justice Center, was arrested and booked into jail Tuesday morning, sources familiar with the arrest told ABC News.
Williams allegedly shut off the water to a toilet to aid in the escape in an apparent attempt to help clear a way for the inmates to escape, sources said.
Williams is facing 10 counts of principle to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office.
Three other jail employees have been suspended in this investigation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Iranian Leader Press Office/ Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed doubt about his country’s nuclear negotiations with the United States, saying he does not think the talks will come to a result, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
However, Khamenei, who is supreme leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, acknowledged that the final outcome remains uncertain, he said during a Tuesday morning meeting with some Iranian authorities.
He clarified that Iran will not stop its enrichment.
Diplomats from the United States and Iran have held a series of high-level but “indirect” nuclear talks in Muscat. Tehran described the first four rounds of talks as “difficult but useful.” Washington said was “encouraged” by the outcomes so far.
Khamenei mentioned on Tuesday that “indirect” talks happened during the late President Ebrahim Raisi as well, but ended in no result, adding that “It is the same now.”
“We don’t think it will lead to any results. We don’t know what will happen,” he said.
The Iranian supreme leader used strong language warning American officials who have asked Iran to stop enrichment.
“Speaking of negotiations, I would like to give a reminder to the other party,” Khamenei said. “The American side that enters into these indirect negotiations and talk, they should try not to talk nonsense.”
“To say that we will not allow Iran to enrich, this is a big mistake. No one is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has a policy, it has a method, it pursues its own policy,” the Iranian leader added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi followed the leader’s speech by saying, “Today, the Supreme Leader set the task completely clear.”
“We are witnessing completely unreasonable and illogical positions of the Americans. Enrichment is not a topic for negotiable at all,” he added.
While Iranian authorities have consistently stated that the principle of uranium enrichment is non-negotiable, they have said they are open to negotiating measures to increase transparency in their enrichment activities and to come up with ways with other parties to demonstrate that these activities are for peaceful purposes.
(RACINE, WI) — An 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot to death by his sibling inside of their Wisconsin home, police said.
The incident occurred on Friday when the Racine Police Department in Wisconsin received a call at 10:33 p.m. reporting that a juvenile had been struck by gunfire and was being taken to the hospital by his family, according to a statement from the Racine Police Department.
“When officers arrived at the hospital, they located an 11-year-old male suffering from a single gunshot wound,” police said. “The 11-year-old male did not survive his injury.”
Preliminary information indicate that the incident took place inside a home in the 2600 block of Prospect Street in Racine and that the victim was “accidentally shot by a sibling,” authorities confirmed.
“A suspect has been identified and apprehended,” police said.
Authorities did not disclose what may have happened leading up to the incident or how the juveniles came into contact with a firearm inside the home.
The investigation is currently ongoing and more information about this case will be released in due course.
(LONDON) — Russia launched more than 100 drones into Ukraine following the conclusion of a phone call between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s air force said, and as the world waited for what Trump said would be an immediate resumption of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine’s air force wrote on Telegram that its forces shot down 35 of the 108 Russian drones launched into the country overnight, with a further 58 jammed or otherwise neutralized while in flight. The air force reported damage on the ground in four Ukrainian regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down eight Ukrainian drones overnight.
Cross-border drone exchanges occur near-nightly and have increased in size and sophistication throughout the 3-year-old war. Monday night’s barrage came despite Trump’s latest assurance that a peace deal between the two sides is possible, following a phone call with Putin that lasted two hours.
“I think something’s going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after the call. “It’s a very, very big egos involved, I tell you, big egos involved. But I think something’s going to happen. And if I thought that President Putin did not want to get this over with, I wouldn’t even be talking about it because I’d just pull out.”
Despite the failure of peace talks to date — including a chaotic meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey, last week — Trump still appeared confident of success.
In a post to his Truth Social website on Monday, Trump said Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” start negotiations toward a ceasefire. Kyiv has repeatedly requested a full 30-day pause to the fighting to facilitate peace talks. The Kremlin has so far dodged the proposal.
When questioned if he had asked Putin to meet with him during the call on Monday, Trump replied, “Of course.”
“I said, ‘When are we going to end this, Vladimir?'” Trump said. “I said, ‘When are we going to end this bloodshed, this, this bloodbath?’ It’s a bloodbath. And, I do believe he wants to end it.”
Putin’s own statement showed no sign of concessions. “Russia’s position is clear,” the president said in a statement to the media after the call. “Eliminating the root causes of this crisis is what matters most to us,” Putin said, per a Kremlin readout.
Trump’s threats of new sanctions on Russia do not appear to have pushed the Kremlin away from its maximalist war goals, which essentially equate to Ukrainian capitulation.
Those demands include the annexation of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions — plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — Kyiv’s demilitarization, a permanent block on Ukrainian accession to NATO and the “denazification” of the country — a nebulous demand based on Russia’s false representation of the Ukrainian government as a far-right dictatorship.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — with whom Trump also spoke on Monday — has sought to present Kyiv as ready and willing to make peace, instead framing Putin as the key obstacle to Trump’s desired deal.
“This is a defining time,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to Telegram on Monday. “Now the world can see whether its leaders have the capacity to ensure an end to the war and the establishment of a real, lasting peace.”
“I confirmed to President Trump that we in Ukraine are ready for a complete and unconditional ceasefire, as the United States, in particular, has been talking about,” he continued.
“It is important not to dilute this offer. If the Russians are not ready to stop the killings, there must be stronger sanctions for that. Pressure on Russia will encourage it to make real peace — this is obvious to everyone in the world,” he said.
“We must ensure that Russia is prepared to hold such productive negotiations,” Zelensyy wrote.” It is very important for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the negotiations and achieving peace, because the only one interested in this is Putin.”
If Putin drags out or blocks real negotiations, Zelenskyy said, “America and the whole world behave accordingly, including responding with additional sanctions. Russia must end the war that it started, and it can do so any day. Ukraine is always ready for peace.”
(FORT MEYERS, FL) — A man in Florida has been arrested for shooting his neighbor’s cow five times after it wandered onto his property, police said.
The incident happened in North Fort Myers in Florida on May 13 when members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Agriculture Unit responded to a call from a ranch of Sharon Drive regarding reports of animal cruelty, according to a statement from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
“Deputies were informed that a victim located his 2-year-old calf on the neighbor’s property with five gunshot wounds to the guts, chest, and rear leg,” police said. “Due to the calf’s injuries, a veterinarian determined the calf needed to be euthanized.”
The cow’s owner stated the neighbor, 54-year-old Hung Trinh, had been “angry in the past about livestock jumping the fence and threatened to shoot the animals,” according to authorities.
Detectives from the First Precinct ended up obtaining a search warrant and were able to locate the .22 caliber gun allegedly used in the shooting in a shed on Trinh’s property.
“There will be accountability for taking your frustrations out on innocent animals, in this case multiple felonies and jail time,” said Sheriff Carmine Marceno. “We know how much these animals mean to our farming community, and we will not tolerate these actions. I am proud of my Agriculture Unit for their immediate response and ability to make an arrest in this case.”
Trinh was charged with animal cruelty and grand theft of a commercial farm animal.
The investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — After a week of testimony from star witness Cassie Ventura, federal prosecutors in the ongoing trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Monday started calling witnesses they believe could corroborate his ex-girlfriend’s allegations of threats, abuse and violence.
Dawn Richard, a former member of the pop group Danity Kane, told jurors that she personally witnessed Combs assaulting Ventura. Ventura’s former best friend Kerry Morgan recounted pleading with Ventura to leave what Morgan viewed as an abusive relationship. And Combs’ former assistant, David James, offered a glimpse of what it was like working for the rap mogul.
“This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it,” James recounted one of Combs’ employees telling him when he interviewed for the job.
Across six hours of testimony that played out like a legal tug-of-war, lawyers for Combs tried to cast doubt on prosecution witnesses and highlighted inconsistencies in the testimony, clawing back some of the credibility they might have built up with the jury during direct examination.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denies allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering, arguing that while he might have committed other crimes – like domestic abuse and illegal drug use – he has not sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone.
Testimony is set to resume Tuesday, when James retakes the stand to explain how he would prepare hotel rooms for Combs – a piece of testimony that prosecutors plan to use to establish what, they allege, is a criminal enterprise with Combs at its center. Such a criminal enterprise is a key to proving the racketeering charges prosecutors have filed against Combs.
Prosecutors are expected to call an escort known as “The Punisher” and to call Ventura’s mother on Tuesday.
Dawn Richard testified about star-studded dinner where Combs allegedly punched Ventura
Dawn Richard began her testimony after Ventura left the witness stand Friday. She resumed her appearance in court Monday morning by testifying about how she witnessed Combs beat Ventura multiple times.
Richard testified that she witnessed Combs punch his then-girlfriend Ventura in the face with a “closed fist” in 2009 before a music festival in Central Park. After Ventura put on sunglasses and makeup to hide the injury, Richard said she put on sunglasses “in solidarity” with Ventura. The jury then saw a photo of Richard, Ventura and another member of Danity Kane wearing sunglasses at the festival.
Richard also testified that the violence extended to other public settings, alleging that Combs punched Ventura in the stomach during a group dinner attended by Usher, Ne-Yo and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine. Richard mentioned that allegation in her civil lawsuit against Combs, but defense lawyers highlighted that Richard’s prior discussion of the dinner did not mention the high-profile guests.
Richard in 2024 sued Combs for assault, copyright infringement and false imprisonment, alleging — among other things — that he groped her on numerous occasions and forced her to endure inhumane work conditions. Combs denied all of the allegations and his attorneys last week filed a motion to dismiss the case.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said Richard’s account of an alleged assault has changed several times, prompting some members of the jury to visibly shake their heads and scribble notes. Westmoreland also suggested Richard agreed to testify against Combs because he ruined her music career by dismantling the music groups she had once been a part of.
“You felt like Mr. Combs ruined your career not once but twice,” Westmoreland said. “Yes,” Richard answered.
Ventura’s former best friend takes the stand
Ventura’s former best friend Kerry Morgan testified on Monday about two instances when, she said, she personally saw Combs assault Ventura.
She testified she saw Combs hit Ventura in a home Combs rented in Hollywood Hills, and she testified about a second instance when Combs — allegedly in her presence — assaulted Ventura during a trip to Jamaica.
“I heard her screaming and I went to the hallway. The hallway was extremely long. They were coming out of the master bedroom, and he was dragging her on the floor by her hair,” Morgan testified about the Jamaica trip.
Prosecutors also asked Morgan about the aftermath of a 2016 incident when Combs is accused of assaulting Ventura. Ventura has testified this occurred when she tried to leave a “freak-off” at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Part of that incident was captured on hotel closed-circuit security cameras.
Morgan’s account matched what Ventura told jurors last week, saying the police arrived after the incident but Ventura refused to cooperate.
Morgan said her relationship with Ventura ended in 2018 after she says Combs tried to choke Morgan and hit her with a wooden coat hanger. Morgan testified that Combs demanded she tell him “who Cassie was cheating on him with” while Ventura locked herself in a bathroom.
Morgan said she later accepted a $30,000 payment from Combs after she threatened to sue. She agreed to a confidentiality deal in return for the money, she testified.
On cross examination, defense lawyers questioned why Morgan has not rekindled her relationship with Ventura. They tried to reinforce the idea that Combs was violent simply out of jealousy and because of the drugs he was taking – not that he was using violence to coerce Ventura and keep her under his control.
“I draw the line at physical abuse,” Morgan said. “The reason I stopped speaking to her was she was not supportive of me after that incident.”
Combs’ former assistant testifies about ‘Mr. Combs’ kingdom’
David James, Combs’ former personal assistant, began his testimony on Monday by telling jurors about interviewing for the job he had with Combs.
As he entered the headquarters of Bad Boy Entertainment in New York, James said an employee remarked about a photo of Combs hanging on the wall. “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it,” James said the woman told him.
James testified about the demanding hours, the weapons Combs’ security staff carried and the time Ventura warned him about Combs.
“She said to me, ‘Man this lifestyle is crazy,'” James testified Ventura saying. “She said, ‘I can’t get out. You know Mr. Combs oversees so much of my life. He controls my music career, he gives me an allowance.'”
James’ testimony is set to resume on Tuesday morning, when he is expected to continue describing the alleged process of preparing hotel rooms for Combs.
That line of testimony could establish the broader enterprise of people who supported and enabled his activities.
Prosecutors release evidence from Ventura’s testimony
After four days of Ventura’s brutal and deeply intimate testimony last week, federal prosecutors Monday released many of the photos they have shown the jury in their effort to convict Combs in their sex trafficking and racketeering case.
Through the evidence, jurors were able to see some of the bruises, gashes and welts that Ventura said she suffered after Combs beat her. They also saw a knife that Ventura said she used to block a door and protect herself from Combs.
“I was getting a lot of unannounced visits from Sean where he was angry, and trying to kill two birds with one stone, to lock it and have a weapon,” she testified.
Prosecutors also released photos from the night Combs was arrested last year, including $9,000 in cash, substances that they said tested positive for ketamine and MDMA, and bottles of baby oil that were allegedly stocked by Combs for use during the sex parties that witnesses have described in court testimony.
(LOS ANGELES) — Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced last week to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them eligible for parole — a topic that would likely have been broached at their next hearing, originally scheduled for June 13.
However, the parole hearing dates were pushed back to Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced on Monday.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Prior to the announcement from CDCR, it seemed that next month’s parole board hearing was just for the governor’s clemency path — to give the governor insight for a decision whether to grant clemency or not.
Following the resentencing decision on May 13, future parole considerations would have taken place at separate hearings, likely months after the hearing that was already scheduled for June.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has already requested information, such as a risk assessment, while considering the brothers’ clemency bid. The brothers are pursuing multiple avenues to freedom, and the clemency path was separate from the resentencing path.
Newsom can grant clemency at any time.
But it could still be months or years before the brothers would get parole — if ever. That will be up to the parole board.
(WASHINGTON) — A 20-year-old Venezuelan man seeking a return to the United States after being sent to El Salvador won a legal victory over President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday.
A divided panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to leave in place an order directing the Trump administration to facilitate the man’s return after a federal judge in Maryland determined that his deportation breached an existing legal settlement.
The man, identified in court records by the pseudonym “Cristian,” challenged his removal after he was sent in mid-March on a flight to El Salvador following President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, found in April that Cristian’s removal violated a class action settlement on behalf of individuals who entered the U.S. as unaccompanied minors and later sought asylum.
The administration then asked the appellate court to reverse Gallagher’s order, arguing that the directive to return Cristian to the U.S. “would impose serious foreign-policy harms on the Government and threaten the public interest, while doing nothing for Cristian,” according to the government’s court filings.
Circuit Judges DeAndrea Gist Benjamin and Roger Gregory, writing for the panel’s majority, rejected the administration’s reasoning.
“The argument that the Government would be ‘irreparably harmed’ by facilitating Cristian’s return rings hollow,” Benjamin wrote. “Cristian’s injury arises from the fact that instead of having his asylum application adjudicated on the merits—as the Settlement Agreement guaranteed—he was summarily removed,” added Benjamin, a Biden appointee to the circuit court.
The government argued in its motion to stay that removing Cristian under the Alien Enemies Act was not a breach of the settlement agreement, which was finalized in 2024.
The government also challenged Gallagher’s order on the grounds that an “Indicative Asylum Decision,” issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) weeks after Cristian’s deportation, determined he would be denied asylum because he is an admitted Tren de Aragua gang member, which he denies.
The government also notes Cristian has a felony drug possession conviction in Harris County, Texas.
ABC News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Cristian’s lawyers for a comment.
The appellate panel majority, however, determined that the “indicative” asylum decision, reached without an opportunity for Cristian to contest its findings, “was not an authentic change in factual circumstances.”
In a concurring opinion, Gregory, a Clinton appointee, criticized the Trump administration for its attempt to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to excuse its alleged breach of the settlement agreement in this case.
“The government’s argument in this case is that this plainly invalid invocation of the Act can be used to void any and all contractual obligations of the federal government. That cannot be — and is not — the rule of law,” Gregory wrote.
In his dissent, Circuit Judge Julius Richardson — a Trump appointee — argued that the district court’s order exceeded its authority; and that returning Cristian to the United States would be futile, given the near-certainty that his application for asylum would be denied.
“Still, it is in this case that the district court has directed the Executive to engage in specific diplomatic negotiations with a foreign power. Despite serious merits problems and little reason to think its order would help Cristian, the district court entered a more potent injunction than any other court has in the numerous Alien Enemies cases pending across the country.” Richardson wrote.
The Trump administration could now ask the full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case or petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
(PALM SPRINGS, CA) — Guy Bartkus — the lone suspect in a fatal car bombing that took place outside of a fertility center in Palm Springs, California, on May 17 — appears to have operated multiple social media accounts where he posted videos of homemade explosive devices and messages pointing to his plans.
Law enforcement officers are reviewing the accounts, which are believed to have been operated by Bartkus, a source familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
A snapshot of a YouTube channel, titled “Indict Evolution,” was saved to an online archive before the channel was taken off the platform.
The archive contains videos dating back at least six years and pointing to an interest in experimenting with homemade explosives and chemicals.
Several videos show what appear to be tests of homemade explosive devices.
Other videos suggested an interest in radioactive materials, with titles like “Uranium ore next to Geiger counter” and “Thorite from thorium mine.”
A spokesperson for YouTube, when asked about the account “Indict Evolution,” said, “We terminated channels associated with the suspect.”
The channel was no longer available as of Sunday.
The spokesperson added that the accounts had been removed for violating the platform’s policy on violent extremism.
One of the videos from the YouTube account was shared on May 12 to a controversial message board dedicated to suicide. The account that shared the YouTube video there went by the same username that law enforcement believes belonged to Bartkus, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
On May 5, a post on that account mentioned a failed suicide attempt involving drugs and a homemade explosive device.
On Thursday, that account posted again, detailing disturbing plans for a death by carbon monoxide poisoning. In a follow-up post, the user referred to “some extra drama that I probably shouldn’t say haha.”
The suspect was identified on Sunday afternoon as 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms, which is located about 50 miles from Palm Springs, according to Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
Bartkus is believed to be the person found dead next to the detonated vehicle, Davis said.
The fertility clinic near the blast, the American Reproductive Centers of Palm Springs, said in a statement that its staff members, as well as eggs, embryos and reproductive materials, were unharmed in the blast.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Joe Biden’s office announced on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.
Biden’s office also said the cancer had metastasized, spreading to his bones.
Although some people were left wondering why the cancer was caught only after reaching a Gleason score of 9, oncology experts told ABC News that it’s not uncommon for older prostate cancer patients to receive a diagnosis after the disease has advanced or spread.
“Prostate cancer is something that we always hope screening will identify early, when the cancer is all still inside the prostate,” Dr. Alicia Morgans, a genitourinary medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a member of the board of directors of the no-profit Zero Prostate Cancer, told ABC News.
“Even if we screen everybody perfectly, there will never be 100% detection of prostate cancer because, in truth, cancer does not follow a rule book,” Morgans continued. “And just because we are trying to catch it early doesn’t mean it necessarily is present when we screen.”
PSA levels may not have been checked
One screening test for prostate cancer involves a blood test that measures the level of prostate-specific antigens, which are proteins made by cells in the prostate gland.
Although there is no cutoff level that clearly indicates the presence of cancer, many doctors use a cutoff of 4 nanograms per milliliter to recommend further tests with a urologist, according to the American Cancer Society.
For an advanced form of cancer like Biden’s, a recent PSA test would have likely shown elevated levels.
However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against PSA-based screening for men age 70 and older due to harms such as false positives leading to more tests or a diagnosis of problems that would not have caused symptoms or death.
Morgans said it’s unclear what the former president and his doctor discussed regarding screening, but it’s plausible that he did not undergo PSA screening.
“It is absolutely possible that President Biden, like so many men over that age, have decided to stop doing PSA screening because they’ve decided that it is not consistent with their overall health goals and wishes, and that is completely reasonable,” Morgans said.
Cancer could have grown rapidly
Morgans said some men in their 70s and 80s do still undergo PSA screening for prostate cancer based on conversations with their primary care physicians and what’s right for them.
Even so, it’s possible that the results were normal — either due to a false negative or because their cancer was not present at the time, she said.
“Prostate cancer can develop between screening tests,” Morgans said. “It doesn’t necessarily grow super slowly. It can develop between screenings, and it can be aggressive when it does develop; that doesn’t mean it’s not treatable.”
Screening results could have been borderline
Dr. Alan Bryce, chief clinical officer for City of Hope Cancer Center Phoenix, said there may be some patients who receive PSA screening results showing borderline-high results who decide not to pursue further testing.
“There are absolutely scenarios where that conversation happens with a patient or their family member,” Bryce told ABC News. “All of them might say, ‘You know what? Given where we’re at in life, we’re not that worried about this. Let’s go ahead and wait another year.'”
Bryce, a medical oncologist specializing in prostate and testicular cancers, added that shared decision-making is important when it comes to deciding if a patient wants to pursue prostate cancer screening — and if they want to test further following test results that are abnormal.
“As physicians, we present patients with options and recommendations but, at the end of the day, it’s still the patient’s decision,” he said. “So, it’s entirely possible that a conversation happens and the patient decides they don’t want to proceed with further workup. Maybe they don’t want to do a scan, maybe they don’t want to do a biopsy.”
No symptoms present
Advanced prostate cancer can present symptoms such as a weak urination stream; needing to urinate more often; erectile dysfunction; fatigue; weight loss; loss of bladder or bowel control; and pain in the ribs, hips and spine when the cancer had spread to the bones, according to the ACS.
Morgans said just because a patient has advanced prostate cancer, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will exhibit symptoms.
“I would say that it’s more common than not that people sit in my office and tell me, ‘You know, I don’t have any symptoms. I don’t understand how I have this cancer. I certainly don’t understand how it could have spread outside of my prostate,'” Morgans said. “It is very common for people to be completely asymptomatic.”
Bryce added that some symptoms, such as difficulty urinating or a weak urination stream, may be due to an enlarged prostate, which is common in older men.
“It is entirely normal that in older men, there is a degree of urinary obstruction that just happens with age,” he said. “It’s entirely possible that a man just has normal symptoms associated with aging and nothing about it stands out as being related to a cancerous process.”
