(SUMTER, S.C.) — A military veteran allegedly gunned down three children and an active-duty soldier in a domestic mass shooting in South Carolina, authorities said.
The suspect, 42-year-old Charles Slacks, Jr., allegedly carried out the shootings at his ex-wife’s home around 10 p.m. Tuesday in Sumter, which is about 45 miles east of Columbia, police said.
Slacks allegedly shot the soldier, who was sitting in the backyard, and then killed the three children, two of whom were his own, Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said at a news conference Wednesday.
Slacks then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Roark said.
Slacks’ ex-wife was the only survivor, the chief said.
The children were ages 5, 6 and 11, Roark said.
Police only identified the adult victim as a 38-year-old active-duty Army member, citing the military’s need to notify next of kin.
Kacen Bayless/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(BAMBERG, S.C.) — South Carolina authorities have confirmed they are investigating the death of Stephen Smith as a homicide, nearly eight years after the 19-year-old was found dead in the middle of a rural road from what was ruled to be a hit-and-run.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) opened an investigation into Stephen Smith’s death in June 2021 after discovering new evidence during the investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, a mother and son who were found fatally shot at the prominent legal family’s South Carolina hunting estate that month.
Stephen Smith’s death was determined to be highway vehicular manslaughter and no suspects were ever apprehended. His mother has long asked for the unsolved case to be re-examined.
Lawyers representing his mother announced that the death is now being considered a homicide Tuesday night, citing a phone call with SLED.
“SLED is publicly supporting us, Sandy Smith, and her efforts to find out what really happened to her son,” Ronnie Richter, with the Bland Richter Law Firm, said in a statement.
A SLED spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the case is being investigated as a homicide.
“It’s a day that I have been waiting for. The best news I’ve heard in eight years,” Sandy Smith told ABC News.
“Stephen was an amazing kid and he didn’t deserve to die this way,” she added. “And I know somebody did it, and whoever did it needs to come forward and bring peace to this family.”
SLED said in a statement Wednesday that it opened its investigation into the death in June 2021 after its agents reviewed the South Carolina Highway Patrol’s case notes on the incident and found it apparent that that agency “did not believe Mr. Smith’s death was a hit and run by a motor.”
Lawyers representing Stephen Smith’s mother have said they do not believe the evidence maintains that he was hit by a car, but rather may have been killed somewhere else and then placed on the road. His mother has raised more than $80,000 to exhume her son’s body to conduct an independent autopsy.
“A fresh set of eyes and a new autopsy may yield a different conclusion that Stephen was not killed on Sandy Run Road in Bamberg County, that maybe he was killed somewhere else,” her attorney, Eric Bland, told reporters this week.
The mother’s attorneys said they are petitioning a judge to allow them to exhume the body. SLED officials will “be present and participate in any exhumation of Stephen’s body to gather more evidence,” Bland and Richter said Tuesday.
“SLED officials have revealed that they did not need to exhume Stephen Smith’s body to convince them that his death was a homicide,” they added.
Stephen Smith was a former classmate of Buster Murdaugh, whose father, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted earlier this month in the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. The disgraced former attorney was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 killing of his wife and younger son.
SLED officials reportedly were waiting until the high-profile Murdaugh trial was over before announcing developments in the Stephen Smith case “out of concern that witnesses would not be as forthcoming under the Murdaugh sphere of influence,” Bland and Richter said.
“Since the conclusion of the Murdaugh trial, more resources have been devoted and will be devoted to Stephen Smith’s case,” the law firm added.
SLED said Wednesday that its investigation remains “active and ongoing” and that more agents have been assigned to work the case “in the hopes that those who may know what happened to Mr. Smith are more willing to speak freely now than they may have been in 2015 or 2021.”
Buster Murdaugh spoke out this week against what he called “baseless rumors” alleging his involvement in Stephen Smith’s death.
“Before, during and since my father’s trial, I have been targeted and harassed by the media and followers of this story. This has gone on far too long,” he said in a statement on Monday. “These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family.”
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday called the U.S. banking system “strong and resilient,” voicing confidence in the nation’s financial system and the safety of bank deposits less than two weeks after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, the second-biggest bank collapse in U.S. history.
“All depositors’ savings in the banking system are safe,” Powell added in remarks made at a press conference in Washington, D.C.
While characterizing recent financial problems as limited to a small part of the banking sector, Powell defended the swift and extraordinary actions undertaken by the Fed and other federal agencies to protect the financial system.
“In the past two weeks serious difficulties at a small number of banks have emerged,” Powell said. “History has shown that isolated banking problems, if left unaddressed, can undermine confidence in healthy banks and threaten the ability of the banking system as a whole to play its vital role in supporting the savings and credit needs of households and businesses.”
The remarks from Powell came minutes after the Fed announced a 0.25% increase of its benchmark interest rate, intensifying the central bank’s fight against inflation despite concern that previous rate increases helped trigger the nation’s banking crisis.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
“Inflation remains too high,” Powell said. “We remain strongly committed to bringing inflation back down to our 2% goal.”
The rapid rise in interest rates, however, tanked the value of bonds held by Silicon Valley Bank, precipitating its failure and cascading damage for the financial sector, including the collapse of New York-based Signature Bank.
Fearing wider spread of the crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury Department and the Fed took a major step, telling depositors in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that the FDIC would protect all of their funds, including those that exceed the $250,000 limit.
Some members of Congress have criticized Powell for allegedly lax bank oversight at the Federal Reserve, as well as an aggressive series of interest rate hikes, which they say led to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
On Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., proposed legislation that would establish an independent inspector general to oversee the Federal Reserve.
Speaking on Wednesday, Powell said the Federal Reserve is watching developments in the financial sector and remains open to taking further action.
“We will continue to closely monitor conditions in the banking system and are prepared to use all of our tools as needed to keep it safe and sound,” Powell said.
He went on, “We’re committed to learning the lessons from this episode and to work to prevent events like this from happening again.”
(NEW YORK) — An attorney for Dominion Voting Systems accused Fox News on Wednesday of improperly redacting internal materials that the network was forced to hand over as part of Dominion’s billion-dollar defamation suit against it.
“They’re essentially redacting embarrassing information,” attorney Davida Brook told the judge hearing the case.
The claim came during a pivotal summary judgment hearing in which each side has asked the judge to rule in their favor before the case is set to head to trial next month.
Dominion’s $1.6 billion suit accuses Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories about the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election, in order to combat concerns over ratings and viewer retention.
In February and March, Dominion filed bombshell findings from the discovery process containing a trove of emails, texts, testimony, and other private communications from some of Fox’s biggest stars and executives, privately bashing Trump and his election fraud claims while they continued to broadcast them on air.
“I did not believe it for one second,” said Sean Hannity in regard to one of Trump’s attorney’s claims, according to one of Dominion’s filings.
An attorney for Fox defended Fox’s redactions and pointed to the hundreds of communications that have already been entered into the public record.
“I don’t think there any lack of public access here,” the attorney, Katharine L. Mowery, said.
Earlier this month, Dominion filed a motion with the judge pushing back on some of Fox’s redactions, calling them “not warranted.”
“Dominion does not challenge Fox’s decision to redact contact information such as phone numbers and emails provided,” the filing states. “As for Fox’s substantive redactions … Dominion hereby brings this notice of challenge to the confidential treatment of these redacted briefs, certifications, affidavits, exhibits, declarations, and appendices.”
In its own filing, Fox said “almost all” relevant materials had been unsealed “after a careful redaction process consistent with Court rules and Delaware law.”
“Throughout three rounds of briefing, Dominion jammed the record with 700 exhibits, many of which were personal text messages between Fox employees with no connection to any of the challenged broadcast or statements,” Fox wrote in its filing. “On top of this, Dominion attached other internal Fox communications — often inflammatory and headline-grabbing, but irrelevant to any issue in dispute.”
After the hearing, a Fox spokesperson said in a statement, “Despite the noise and confusion that Dominion has generated by presenting cherry-picked quotes without context, this case is ultimately about the First Amendment protections of the media’s absolute need to cover the news. FOX will continue to fiercely advocate for the rights of free speech and a free press.”
The judge overseeing the case, Eric Davis, said his ruling on the summary judgment motions would come later in writing.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — A proposed Florida Board of Education rule could expand restrictions on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
“For grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards … or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend,” according to the proposed rule.
This rule would build up on the Parental Rights in Education law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2022. The law bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. It states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the legislation.
The law was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, who said it aimed to shun LGBTQ identities from classroom content and discussion.
This rule, voted on by the seven-member board, coincides with other legislation being considered in the state legislature. HB 1223 would ban classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in pre-kindergarten through grade 8, and would not require any employee or student to refer to a another person using their “preferred personal title or pronouns” if it does not correspond to that person’s sex. The proposed legislation would also make it a statewide public school policy that “it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
A hearing on the proposed board policy will be held on April 19 at the Florida State Capitol Complex.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — A proposed Florida Board of Education rule could expand restrictions on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
“For grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards … or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend,” according to the proposed rule.
This rule would build up on the Parental Rights in Education law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2022. The law bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. It states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the legislation.
The law was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, who said it aimed to shun LGBTQ identities from classroom content and discussion.
This rule, voted on by the seven-member board, coincides with other legislation being considered in the state legislature. HB 1223 would ban classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in pre-kindergarten through grade 8, and would not require any employee or student to refer to a another person using their “preferred personal title or pronouns” if it does not correspond to that person’s sex. The proposed legislation would also make it a statewide public school policy that “it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
A hearing on the proposed board policy will be held on April 19 at the Florida State Capitol Complex.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — New video obtained by ABC News shows Irvo Otieno before his March 6 in-custody death being pulled from his Henrico County jail cell and pushed into the back of a police SUV for transport to Virginia’s Central State Hospital, where he died.
One view from the hallway shows seven deputies gathered outside Otieno’s cell, preparing to enter.
As the door is opened, all seven deputies can be seen rushing into the cell, one carrying a pair of pants over his shoulder, the only clothing Otieno appeared to be wearing when he later died.
A second camera view shows deputies appearing to struggle with Otieno inside the cell. One deputy appears to make downward striking motions with his arm in the direction of Otieno, according to the footage. The view, however, is partially obstructed.
Approximately 14 minutes later, Otieno is seen in the footage being dragged from his cell by deputies through the hallway and toward the police van he’ll be transported in as his pants begin to come off while he’s being pulled.
Deputies attempt to cover his mostly naked body with a blanket before his pants are pulled up, footage shows.
Otieno is eventually forced into the back of a police van, with deputies pulling him and others pushing him in.
The police car carrying Otieno exits the jail at 3:10 p.m.
Previously obtained footage later captures Otieno and the moment surrounding his death at the Virginia hospital.
That footage shows sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at the hospital carrying a handcuffed Otieno into a room and placing him on the floor.
The video shows Otieno being held down for nearly 11 minutes until he stops moving.
At some point, an injection was given to Otieno by hospital staff, according to Ann Cabell Baskervill, Dinwiddie County’s Commonwealth attorney, who asserted the injection was likely given after he had died of asphyxia.
Seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital employees have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Additional charges and arrests are pending, according to the Commonwealth’s attorney.
The deputies and hospital employees have been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the Commonwealth’s cases.
The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an independent review of Otieno’s death alongside an investigation by Virginia State Police.
“Public safety is what we stand for as a Sheriff’s Office,” Henrico County Sheriff Alisa A. Gregory said in a statement on the charges. “We will continue to maintain the highest professional standards in how we serve and protect those in our custody, the community at-large and our staff.”
In a court appearance, Cary Bowen, a lawyer representing Deputy Jermaine Lavar Branch, alleged the officer “did not administer any blows to the deceased, or violence towards him, other than simply trying to restrain him.”
Bowen told ABC News by phone that Commonwealth Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill is trying to fashion the case as something that is “malicious.”
“There was no weapon used. There was no pummeling or anything like that. I think everybody agrees,” Bowen said. “And the way she was casting it was that they ended up suffocating. He couldn’t breathe. And she’s acting like the guy didn’t resist and he wasn’t manic or bipolar or whatever. Just a nice guy who they’re picking on.”
Those charged are still awaiting a grand jury decision on whether they will be indicted.
In an interview with ABC News, Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouka, wondered why no one stopped the deputies from piling on her son.
“Even in my grief, I look at the whole thing and I wonder, you know, why couldn’t somebody come in and stop what was going on,” Ouka said. “I just cannot wrap my mind around it.”
Leon Ochieng, Otieno’s brother, told ABC News that his brother was going through a mental health crisis and “he cared about his health and he wanted to go to the hospital to get help.”
“He didn’t want to get in the squad car because he could tell the difference between a squad car and an ambulance,” Ochieng said. “All systems failed Irvo Otieno.”
He continued, “They need to change the way they approach … Not 12 of 12 officers showing up with tasers ready to put you down.”
Ouka remembers him as “a loving person,” who was “smart” and “bright.”
“I miss his hugs. … I miss touching him,” she said. “I miss seeing him. I miss talking to him. I miss just being there for all of us. … Our life was perfect. They didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to take him away from us.”
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Nakylah Carter, Jack Date and Abby Cruz contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its short-term borrowing rate another 0.25%, intensifying the central bank’s fight against inflation despite concern that previous rate increases helped trigger the nation’s banking crisis.
The Fed’s benchmark interest rate has contributed to the financial emergency facing U.S. banks.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than triple the Fed’s target of 2%.
The rapid rise in interest rates, however, tanked the value of bonds held by Silicon Valley Bank, precipitating its failure and cascading damage for the financial sector.
In a statement, the Fed rejected concerns about the financial system. “The U.S. banking system is sound and resilient,” the central bank said.
The Fed left the door open for further rate increases, noting that “additional policy firming may be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% over time.”
Nearly 190 banks are at risk of collapse amid high interest rates and declining asset values, according to a study released by a team of university researchers earlier this month.
A continuation of rate hikes risks further intensifying the banking crisis, nudging additional financial institutions toward the brink of collapse.
A pause on rate increases, however, could have undermined the Fed’s fight against inflation, allowing high prices to persist and eat away at household budgets, economists previously told ABC News.
A survey by Bloomberg last week found that most economists expected the Fed to raise interest rates by 0.25% on Wednesday, matching the increase that the central bank imposed at its most recent meeting last month.
Over the last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate by 4.5%, the fastest pace since the 1980s.
The Fed has put forward a string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession and putting millions out of work.
Persistent rate hikes also threaten the stability of the banking system.
Still, the Fed could avoid facing a choice between slowing price increases and preserving financial stability, since tighter lending practices taken up by private sector banks in response to the financial distress may cool the economy on its own accord, allowing the Fed to forego raising rates while still bringing down inflation.
“No matter what the Fed does later this month, financial conditions are tightening,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at Zip Recruiter, said last week.
(TOPEKA, Kan.) — Months after Kansas voters decided to uphold protections for abortion rights, the state’s House of Representatives approved a bill based on the disputed idea that providers leave newborns to die after unsuccessful abortions. The bill passed with a 88-34 vote.
If approved, the bill would provide legal protections for infants born alive after a failed abortion, requiring healthcare providers to provide them with care. The bill would create criminal penalties and civil liability for violations of the act.
The bill now heads to the Republican-majority state Senate for approval. Kansas voters decided to protect abortion rights in a high-turnout primary vote, striking down a proposal to remove abortion protections from the state’s constitution.
The vast majority of abortions are performed before the point in pregnancy when a fetus would theoretically survive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2020, only 0.9% of abortion procedures occurred after 21 weeks gestation, the CDC reports. Failed abortions where infants are born alive are extremely rare.
Providers who fail to provide care to infants born alive will face felony charges. The father of the fetus, the mother of the fetus and family including parents or guardians are allowed to bring civil lawsuits against providers who fail to follow the law.
If the pregnancy results from any criminal conduct, the person guilty is barred from bringing such lawsuits.
The bill defines an infant as “born alive” if it “breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles,” according to the bill.
Under the bill, health care centers will be required to report to the secretary of health and environment how many abortions result in infants being born alive. Facilities who fail to submit the report could face a fine of up to $500.
The measure is similar to a proposed Montana law that voters rejected in November.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill in January, but it is unlikely the bill will become law.
(NEW YORK) — It was a pivotal day in world history as the United States, and several allies, invaded Iraq under the suspicion that then-President Saddam Hussein was amassing weapons of mass destruction.
The March 20, 2003, invasion led to an eight-year conflict with over 4,400 American troops killed, and nearly 32,000 wounded during the conflict, according to the Department of Defense. Reports by groups, such as the nonprofit online database the Iraq Body Count, said that nearly 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during those years.
No weapons of mass destruction were ever found and Hussein was apprehended, tried and executed.
“Nightline” took a look back at the 20th anniversary of the conflict with some Iraq War veterans who were profiled on the show just before they were deployed.
Even though it’s been two decades since they were among one of the first troops sent overseas, Retired Marine Corporal Michael Elliot and Retired Marine Corporal Josh Hisle told “Nightline” have only recently healed from the mental and emotional traumas of war.
“The war took a big toll on my life,” Elliot, 41, told “Nightline.” “The military and war threw me into the deep end.”
Elliot and Hisle were among the 206 Marines of Fox 2/5 company out of Camp Pendleton, California.
“Nightline” embedded with the Marines before the invasion, filming as they waited for official orders. Hisle, now 41, played guitar for his troops when they were getting ready in Kuwait.
“I still just remember it being this one evening for a minute where it was such a good time that you almost forgot,” he told “Nightline” co-anchor Byron Pitts.
The troop would see combat not too long after it deployed and suffer a major loss. On April 4, 1st Sgt. Ed Smith, who postponed retirement to serve in Iraq, was killed when a piece of shrapnel struck his head while their convoy was trapped next to an ammunition dump fire.
“We’re all standing up exposed, and he made the call to have everybody get back in the vehicles,” Elliot said.
Smith’s daughter, Shelby Robinson, who was 8 when her father was killed, told “Nightline” that Smith was always proud of his military experience. She’s now a police officer and said her father inspired her.
“That makes me feel very close to him. And I definitely think that he’s watching over me out there,” Robinson told “Nightline.”
Marine Col. Terry Johnson was Fox 2/5’s commander when the war began. He told “Nightline” that war had its consequences and many of his brave comrades paid the ultimate price for their service.
Johnson, now 52, who is set to retire this year, said he believed the U.S. involvement in Iraq was worth the price that was paid.
“Clearly Saddam was a bad individual, was a dictator of classic proportions, was extremely brutal to his people,” he told Pitts.
Not all of his colleagues believed the war was completely warranted.
Elliot and Hisle both said they had trouble adjusting to civilian life after they were honorably discharged and left the Marines feeling remorse for some of the actions and directives they were given in Iraq.
“Every mission, everything we did, kicking doors and disrupting people’s lives, bagging people’s heads, bagging the dude’s head and dragging him out of the house, while his kids are standing there screaming, for what? What are we doing?” Hisle said.
Hisle said he feels that America didn’t learn anything from the war because civilians’ lives weren’t affected.
Elliot said he felt heartbroken because the post-military life for newer veterans is getting more difficult and nothing is being done to help.
While they were diagnosed with PTSD and sought help, they said the road to recovery was challenging in ways they couldn’t have predicted.
“Everything I did in combat is not going to work in civilian life. Now I have to re-learn again. And how do I take care of myself? I’m going to drink, I’m going to numb myself. I’m going to drink until I pass out,” Elliot said.
After the war, at least three Fox 2/5 Marines died by suicide, and one of them is in prison for murder after allegedly suffering from PTSD.
These Marines are a snapshot of an alarming reality for America’s vets.
In 2019, 17 veterans died by suicide every single day and 29.3% of veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with lifetime PTSD, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 13% of homeless adults are veterans, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
Both Elliot and Hisle said they are doing better. They both graduated college after their service. Elliot is now working as a physical therapist and Hisle is working in a local government job.
“Even with support and all the encouragement from my friends, it’s only been a couple of years…where I’ve experienced this inner peace,” Elliot said.
“It’s a hard journey and you have to decide if it’s worth it,” he said.
Free support to those facing a suicidal crisis is available by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
