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Police in Allen, Texas found two parents and their two children dead after an apparent murder suicide just weeks after a third child — the daughter of the family — drowned, according to police. On Tuesday, police found Farman Sherwani, his wife Layla Sherwani, and their sons Mateen Sherwani, two, and Shaheen Sherwani, 12, dead after conducting a welfare check at the house, according to NBC News. Police then learned from the Islamic Association of Allen — the group that identified the bodies — that the family had lost a four-year-old girl to drowning just three weeks before the apparent murder-suicide. Jonathan Maness of the Allen Police Department told NBC News in an email that the child's drowning "is believed to be a factor" that lead to the tragedy. Police were called out to the house after another resident found themselves locked out for two hours and could not contact the others inside. "After other family members arrived at the house, police gained access and found four people dead," the police department said in a statement. The Islamic Association of Allen held a prayer vigil for the family on Tuesday, which was highly attended by mourning community members. "We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of four family members," the association said in a statement. The centre's leader, Abdul Rahman Bashir, said it had been a "very heavy day" for his community. "Waking up to the news of losing a four member family all of a sudden is not something that anyone can be prepared for, family members or let alone anyone in the community, so it's been a very heavy day for everyone in the community," he told NBC Dallas Fort Worth. He said he was aware that the family had recently lost a daughter to drowning. "As the father of three children myself, it's something very hard to digest and grapple with the gravity of the situation, what the family may have been going through," he said. "We just continue to encourage the community to be there for each other during this time of sorrow and grief and we also encourage the community to cherish their family members and the moments that they have and be cognizant of the uncertainty of life." Neighbours expressed their condolences for the family to the broadcaster. "It was just really sad and hard and all of us felt for the family as we were watching them mourn in the front yard," Jacqueline Soto, a neighbour who lives across the street from the residence, said. Allen Independent School District sent a letter to parents announcing that a fifth grader at the school had died. The school confirmed to the broadcaster that the letter was related to the ongoing investigation, and said it was making counseling available for students. Read More A fourth person has died in a problem-plagued jail in Atlanta over the span of a month Two teenagers found guilty of murdering man over his drunken antics on bus Teen arrested in fatal shooting of 16-year-old during Oklahoma high school football game

Buster Murdaugh has broken his silence to deny any involvement in the mysterious killing of gay teenager Stephen Smith – and insist that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother. Alex Murdaugh’s only surviving son spoke out in his first TV interview since his family was propelled to national attention, for the new three-part FOX Nation documentary “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”. In the interview, Buster slammed rumours that he too could have been involved in a heinous murder – that of 19-year-old Smith in July 2015 – and offered an alibi for his whereabouts on the night the teenager was killed. “I never had anything to do with his murder, and I never had anything to do with him on a physical level in any regard,” he said in a clip from the documentary, due for release on 31 August. Smith, a nursing student, was found dead on a road in Hampton County, South Carolina, in the early hours of 8 July 2015 – not far from the prominent Murdaugh family’s estate where Alex Murdaugh murdered Maggie and Paul six years later. Despite Smith suffering blunt force trauma to the head and there being no skid marks or vehicular debris on the road, officials ruled his death a hit-and-run at the time. Smith’s mother long questioned this official account and, for years, the Murdaugh name continued to crop up in connection to the case. Buster and Smith were classmates and there were unsubstantiated rumours that the two had been in some sort of relationship around the time of his death. Smith’s mother Sandy Smith named Buster as the prime suspect in her son’s murder in a letter begging the FBI to get involved in the case back in 2016. In June 2021 – mere days after Maggie and Paul’s murders – SLED announced that it was opening a new investigation into Smith’s death. This April, the agency then finally announced that Smith’s death was being investigated as a homicide and his body was exhumed for a private autopsy. No one has ever been charged over Smith’s death and law enforcement have never announced anything linking Buster to the killing. In the FOX Nation documentary, Buster for the first time offered an alibi for the night of Smith’s death saying that he was at his family’s Edisto Beach house with his late mother and brother. Hitting out at the rumours that continue to swirl, he said it was “a terrible thing” to be accused of. “I don’t want to be rude here, but have you ever been accused of murdering somebody?” he asked. “Well, let me tell you, this is very, very, very, very, very, it’s a terrible thing to place on somebody with absolutely no fact. I mean, it has harmed my reputation. I mean, people perceive me as a murderer.” In the interview, Buster also doubled down on his father’s innocence in the murders of Maggie and Paul – even after a jury of 12 peers convicted him back in March and he was sentenced to life in prison on the charges. Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies. When asked if he ever thought it possible that his father might have killed their loved ones, Buster insisted no. “No, because I think that I hold a very unique perspective that nobody else in that courtroom ever held. And I know the love that I have witnessed,” he said. The 29-year-old went on to say that he thinks there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered about the murders. “My biggest thing that I want people to realise, that there are always two sides of the story. Now, they can pick which one they want to believe,” he said. “But I think there’s a heck of a lot that still needs to be answered about what happened on June the 7th.” He said that prosecutors presented a “crappy motive” and that the case was not “fair”. “I do not believe it was fair,” he said. “I was there for six weeks studying it, and I think it was a tilted table from the beginning. “And I think, unfortunately, a lot of the jurors felt that way prior to when they had to deliberate. It was predetermined in their minds prior to when they ever heard any shred of evidence that was given in that room.” Buster said that he believed the police were under “an awful lot of pressure” to come up with a suspect in the killings and so “the route that they decided to go with” was to charge his father. He also blamed the media coverage of the case which he said left jurors going into the process with their minds already made up. “Because of everything they had the ability to read prior to the trial,” he said. “I think that people get overwhelmed, and I think that they believe everything that they read. And I think it took advantage of a jury pool in a very small town in a very small county.” Now, with his father behind bars, he said he fears that the real killer is still walking free. “I think I set myself up to be safe but yes, when I go to bed at night, I have a fear that there is somebody that is still out there,” Buster added. Throughout the high-profile murder trial, Buster stood by his father, attending each day of the court’s proceedings with his family members. Buster also testified in his father’s defence saying that Murdaugh had been “destroyed” and “heartbroken” in the aftermath of the deaths of his mother and brother. But despite continuing to insist his father’s innocence even now, Buster did not deny that his father may be a psychopath. “I’m not prepared to sit here and say that it encompasses him as a whole, but I certainly think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying out of that such, and I think that’s a fair assessment,” he said. When asked if he worries he might be like his father, Buster also had some harsh words for his father’s character. “No, I do not worry, because I am not a thief. I am not a liar. I’m not a manipulator,” he said. “In those regards, I am nothing like him, but, in other regards, I believe that I do hold some of his more admirable traits, which I am quite proud of.” Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced to life in prison for the murders and is serving his time in the maximum security facility McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina. He is also facing a slew of financial fraud charges for stealing millions of dollars from his law firm clients and his dead housekeeeper’s family and over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead. As well as Smith’s death, Murdaugh’s high-profile conviction also shone a spotlight on some other mystery deaths tied to the South Carolina legal dynasty. An investigation was also reopened into another mystery death connected to the Murdaugh family – that of their longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield. She died in 2018 in a mystery trip and fall accident at the family home. Murdaugh then allegedly stole around $4m in a wrongful death settlement from her sons. At the time of his murder, Paul was also awaiting trial for the 2018 boat crash death of Mallory Beach. Read More Alex Murdaugh set to plead guilty to federal financial charges Alex Murdaugh’s friend gets jail sentence for scheming to steal millions from dead housekeeper’s family New Alex Murdaugh jail call audio reveals awkward interaction with surviving son Buster

The family of four found dead in an apparently murder-suicide inside an apartment on New York’s Upper West Side have been identified. The bodies of Edison Lopez, Aleksandra Witek and their children Calvin, one, and Lucian, three, were found at the home on West 86th Street on Monday afternoon. The grim discovery was made by Edison Lopez’s father, Mario Lopez, who is the building’s former superintendent. He told the New York Times that he went to check the apartment after his son, the current super, failed to drop the children off for babysitting that morning. Upon drilling the door lock out of the cylinder, he said he could see his daughter-in-law Witek on the floor with “blood already all over her”. Police then arrived to find Witek, 40, and her children in the hallway with fatal stab wounds, including to the throat. Edison Lopez was found on a bed in another room with a fatal slash to the throat. Authorities believe the 41-year-old father killed his family before himself. Speaking to the Times on Tuesday, Mario Lopez said he was still reeling from the shock and did not believe his son could be responsible. “How would you feel if you found your two grandchildren and your son and your daughter-in-law laying there?” he asked. Police said there were no warning signs of domestic violence. The investigation is still ongoing. A GoFundMe in memory of Witek and her sons has raised over $51,000 as of Wednesday morning.

Federal prison sentencing hearings for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and prominent member Ethan Nordean have been canceled due to an emergency, the US Department of Justice has announced. It was not immediately clear why the hearing was postponed, though it does not appear to involve the parties. Tarrio, the former leader of the neo-fascist gang, was scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing in Washington DC at 10am ET on 30 August after Tarrio and three other members of the group were found guilty of seditious conspiracy earlier this year for their roles in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, among the most serious crimes facing the hundreds of people arrested in connection with the mob’s assault. Prosecutors are seeking 33 years for Tarrio. Tarrio, Nordean, Joe Biggs, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl were also found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding. Four of the men – all but Pezzola – were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, civil disorder and destruction of government property. The jury found Tarrio, Biggs, Nordean and Rehl guilty of seditious conspiracy after conspiring to forcefully oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power. This is a developing story Read More Proud Boys sentencing – live: Ex-leader Enrique Tarrio faces record Jan 6 prison time on conspiracy charges Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition

Police have released the 911 call made by the father of the Jacksonville gunman who murdered three Black people in a racist attack. Ryan Palmeter killed Anolt Laguerre Jr, 19, Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, and 52 year-old Angela Carr with a na AR-15 rifle and handgun that he had covered in Nazi swastikas. The 62-year-old father of Palmeter can be heard telling an emergency dispatcher that his son has stopped taking his psychiatric medicine. Earlier it was revealed tat the gunman may have originally planned to target a different store. Surveillance footage shows the gunman arriving at a Family Dollar store at around 12.23pm on Saturday. Dressed in a mask, he held the door open for Black customers entering and exiting and briefly entered but then left without carrying out an attack. Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters told reporters in a press conference that the shooter, identified as 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, then went to Edwards Waters University where he was turned away by a security guard. He then went to the Dollar General store – around a mile from the first store – where he shot and killed three people: Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr, 19, and Jarrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29. As details emerge about the shooting, governor Ron DeSantis has come under fire in the wake of the gun violence in the state where he has loosened gun laws. At a vigil on Sunday, the crowd booed Mr DeSantis, forcing him to step back from the microphone. Read More Ron DeSantis didn’t listen. No wonder Jacksonville booed him A white gunman killed three Black shoppers at Dollar General. Then police uncovered ‘the diary of a madman’ Harrowing video shows Jacksonville shooter launching rampage at Dollar General The Jacksonville shooting killed a devoted dad, a beloved mom and a teen helping support his family

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been charged with the murder of a faculty member following the deadly shooting on Monday. Tailei Qi, a PhD student majoring in applied physical sciences major, was arrested and booked into Orange County Sheriff’s Office jail on a first-degree murder charge. He was ordered held without bond on Tuesday and is expected to reappear in court on 18 September. The faculty member killed in the shooting was identified by UNC officials as Zijie Yan, the head of the Department of Applied Sciences and Mr Qi’s academic adviser. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Authorities said during Mr Qi’s court hearing that a 9mm was used in the shooting. “[Mr Yan] was a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many on our campus. My leadership team and I have met with his colleagues and family to express our condolences on behalf of our campus,” UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M Guskiewicz said in a statement. “Please join me in thinking and praying for his family and loved ones during this difficult time.” The chancellor said students were “traumatised” following the shooting on Monday that prompted a three-hour lockdown. Read More UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member UNC Chapel Hill shooting victim identified as associate professor Zijie Yan UNC shooting suspect’s social media complaints about murdered faculty member revealed A new college term, a faculty member killed and a student arrested: What we know about the UNC shooting

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio will be sentenced later today and faces the prospect of a record prison term among the legal cases brought after the insurrection at the US Capitol. Tarrio has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases stemming from the 6 January 2021 riots, when supporters of Donald Trump attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. Tarrio is now among four members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang facing decades in prison after they were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy and other charges. The Justice Department is seeking 33 years in prison for Tarrio. So far the longest sentence related to Jan 6 has been given to Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who was convicted in another case of seditious conspiracy and received a sentence of 18 years. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said the men “organised and directed a force of nearly 200 to attack the heart of our democracy” and “intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country.” Read More Who is Enrique Tarrio? Ex-Proud Boys leader faces longest prison sentence yet for January 6 ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition Manhunt underway to find Proud Boy who was gone on run days before Jan 6 sentencing

Two days before a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol, the now-former leader of a neo-fascist gang was arrested in Washington DC shortly after stepping off a plane from Miami. Enrique Tarrio was wanted by police after he admitted to tearing down and burning a Black Lives Matter flag outside a historically Black church in the nation’s capital during December riots connected to a protest supporting then-President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. On 6 January, 2021, Tarrio watched the insurrection unfold from a hotel in Baltimore. Before his arrest two days earlier, Tarrio wrote to his lieutenant: “Whatever happens … make it a spectacle.” Tarrio is now among four members of the self-described “Western chauvinist” gang facing decades in prison after they were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy and other charges in connection with the mob’s assault. Tarrio’s verdict marked the first successful seditious conspiracy conviction against a January 6 defendant who was not physically at the Capitol that day. Federal prosecutors are now asking a judge to sentence convicted Proud Boys members to decades behind bars. Tarrio could face up to 33 years in prison, the longest sentence yet in connection with the attack. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors said the men “organized and directed a force of nearly 200 to attack the heart of our democracy” and “intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country.” “The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a ‘revolution.’ They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election,” prosecutors wrote. “They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.” During the trial, prosecutors presented hundreds of internal messages revealing the group’s toxic rhetoric and culture of violence depicting a gang “that came together to use force against its enemies” in the weeks leading up to January 6, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys were not merely obedient followers of the former president’s commands but were preparing for “all-out war” to undermine millions of Americans’ votes and upend a democratic election to preserve his presidency. Tarrio, as the leader of the gang, along with his four co-defendants, “directed, mobilized and led” a crowd of 200 supporters towards the Capitol on January 6, “leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement,” then bragged about their actions on social media and in group chat messages that were later shared with jurors, according to prosecutors. Defence attorneys have placed the blame on the words and actions of then-President Trump, who directed his supporters to “fight like hell” the morning of the attack and – in a message from a debate stage heard loud and clear by members of the Proud Boys and their allies – “stand by.” “It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation,” Tarrio’s attorney Nayib Hassan told jurors in closing arguments. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J Trump and those in power.” Proud Boys emerged in cities across the US as a violent response to antifascists organizing in the wake of the 2016 election, exploiting white, right-wing male rage and relying on semi-ironic posturing and barroom culture to launder far-right, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT+ views. Tarrio, who assumed the role of group “chairman” in 2018, previously was a “prolific” cooperator with local and federal law enforcement agencies, according to court records and testimony from a former attorney. His own lawyer and an FBI investigator said Tarrio helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling between 2012 and 2014. Tarrio has denied his involvement. During a televised presidential debate on 29 September, 2020, debate moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly asked then-President Trump whether he would denounce white supremacism. Mr Trump asked for a name to reference. Joe Biden, standing on the opposite side of the stage, suggested the Proud Boys. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Mr Trump said. “But I’ll tell you what somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.” Almost immediately, Proud Boys members and their allies celebrated what they heard as a call to action. “Trump basically said to go f*** them up!” Tarrio’s future co-defendant Joe Biggs wrote on Parler at the time. “This makes me so happy.” Accounts also circulated a meme illustrating the president wearing a Fred Perry shirt – a part of the group’s unofficial uniform – and a peaked cap bearing the Proud Boys logo with the text “standing by for your orders general, sir.” Another image included an incorrect version of the president’s remarks that more acutely resembled a call to arms: “Proud Boys can stand back and stand by, because someone has to take care of antifa and these people.” “Although I am excited about our mention on the debate stage … I am not taking this as a direct endorsement from the President,” Tarrio wrote on Telegram. “Him telling the Proud Boys to stand back and standby is what we have ALWAYS done,” he added. On Parler, Tarrio said: “Standing by, sir.” Following Mr Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Tarrio and hundreds of members of the Proud Boys and other far-right groups marched through Washington DC, where they set fire to a Black Lives Matter banner seized from historic Black church Asbury United Methodist. The group also attacked Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, another historic Black church. During his arrest after his arrival in Washington on 4 January, 2021, police found Tarrio was carrying two high-capacity magazines compatible with high-powered rifles. Both were empty. He faced a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property for burning the church’s sign and two subsequent felony charges for possessing a high-capacity feeding device. Tarrio had previously admitted in comments on Parler and on a Proud Boys-affiliated podcast that he was responsible for burning a church’s sign. “In the burning of the BLM sign, I was the one that lit it on fire,” he said. “I was the person that went ahead and put the lighter to it and engulfed it in flames, and I am damn proud that I did.” Later that year, he announced he was stepping down from his leadership role with the Proud Boys, as other members “start getting more involved in local politics, running our guys for office from local seats, whether it’s a simple GOP seat or a city council seat.” But in the wake of January 6, as the group decentralized, members have harassed drag queen story-telling events at libraries and amplified “groomer” smears aimed at LGBT+ people. The group has been central to a wave of attacks and threats against drag performers and the people and venues that host them, according to a recent report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Proud Boys chapters targeted 60 such events, with more than half resulting in physical and verbal clashes, the report found. In July 2021, as part of a plea agreement dropping the felony charges against him, Tarrio pleaded guilty to destruction of property and to a misdemeanor count of attempted possession of a high-capacity magazine. He was released in January 2022 after serving four months in jail. Five months later, a federal grand jury indicted Tarrio and four other men – Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola and Zachary Rehl – for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack. US District Judge Timothy Kelly barred prosecutors from discussing Tarrio’s prior arrest during the Proud Boys trial, but jurors were exposed to dozens of messages revealing members’ hateful rhetoric and calls for violence in private messages and across social media platforms and in public statements – and in a video showing them burning the Black Lives Matter banner. In the weeks leading up to January 6, Tarrio had assembled a “Ministry of Self-Defense” with his co-defendants and Jeremy Bertino, a former Proud Boy who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and served as a key government witness at trial. Bertino’s testimony implicated Tarrio and the other men in a conspiracy to what he said was “anything that was necessary to save the country” – including breaking into the Capitol to block the certification of an American election. Days before the attack, Tarrio exchanged messages with another person who shared a plan called “1776 Returns” that included plans to occupy “crucial buildings” with “as many people as possible,” including the House and Senate. That person wrote that “revolution is [sic] important than anything,” to which Tarrio replied: “That’s what every waking moment consists of … I’m not playing games.” On January 6, Tarrio told followers on social media that day to “do what must be done” and, in a group chat with other Proud Boys members, “do it again.” “Make no mistake,” he wrote in another message. “We did this.” Enrique "Henry" Tarrio, 39, was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents. He was initially reluctant to join the Proud Boys until he was courted by members at a party for far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017; Tarrio was there working security. Tarrio rose through the ranks of the burgeoning neo-fascist gang, attending events for Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, rallying alongside members at 2017's so-called Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, Virginia that exploded into lethal violence, and broadening his Florida chapter into a national operation. "Before me – and they hate it when I say this – they were the Gavin McInnes fan club," he told the Miami New Times. "We weren't really political." In 2013, he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a healthcare fraud case involving diabetic test strips, then assisted federal prosecutors to identify a dozen other suspects, according to court records. He served one year and four months in prison. Read More ‘Donald Trump’s army’: Proud Boys members face decades in prison for January 6 sedition Trump news – live: Trump makes sinister threat to Democrats over indictments Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained When is Donald Trump going on trial? Here are all the court dates

Police are investigating whether a Quebec father killed his two children, just two days after he was arrested for harassing the boys’ mother, his estranged wife. Ian Lamontagne, 46, and Antoine and Tristan, both 3, were found dead on Saturday in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, a town in the Lanaudière region, according to CBC, and the coroner confirmed their identities on Monday. Police are reportedly investigating the case as a double murder-suicide, according to the outlet. Patrick Boucher, friend of the family, said Lamontagne called him to vent last Wednesday, fuming that he had been arrested in front of his children for harassing their mother, his wife. The pair had reportedly been separated for about a year. Mr Boucher says Lamontagne was released the same day of his arrest, which is just two days before he and his sons were found dead. “I wanted to see him because of the arrest and I wanted to make sure he was OK,” said Mr Boucher. Mr Boucher also told the Montreal Gazette that the deaths were a “horrible, unacceptable, unforgivable act.” He added and said he would like the discussion of the three deaths to “focus on how a human being who loves his children can go from ’I love my children’ to ’destroying my children’s lives.’” “How can we transform this event into something more?” Mr Boucher asked. “To learn how — how should I react to my other friends who tell me they’re having difficulties?” Notre-Dame-des-Prairies Mayor Suzanne Dauphin in a statement called the incident “ tragic and heartbreaking.” She also underscored the importance of seeking mental health help: “It is crucial that we break the taboo surrounding psychological distress and provide resources and support to those in need. If you or someone you know is struggling with dark thoughts, I encourage you to seek help.” She added, “As a society, we must also commit ourselves to preventing such occurrences in the future.” Read More UNC Chapel Hill graduate student Tailei Qi charged with murder in shooting of faculty member Teenage girl, 16, stabbed to death in fight over sweet and sour sauce at Washington DC McDonald’s Two best friends were murdered at 14. Nearly 50 years on, DNA finally caught their killer

Denver will pay $4.7 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged that protesters were unjustly targeted for violating the city's curfew during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020. City councilors unanimously agreed to the deal Monday without any debate. The lawsuit alleged that the city directed police to only enforce the emergency 8 p.m. curfew against protesters, violating their free speech rights, even though the curfew applied to all people in any public place. It also said that over 300 protesters were taken to jail in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic rather than just being issued tickets for violating the curfew. “The First Amendment does not allow police to clear the streets of protestors simply because they do not agree with their message,” the lead attorney for the protesters, Elizabeth Wang, said in a statement. The city denied having an official policy of using the curfew against protesters but decided that continuing the lawsuit and going to a trial would be “burdensome and expensive," according to the settlement. Last year, a federal jury ordered Denver to pay a total of $14 million in damages to a group of 12 protesters who claimed police used excessive force against them, violating their constitutional rights, during the demonstrations. The curfew deal is the latest in a series of settlements related to the 2020 protests over police killings of Floyd and other Black people. In March, the city council approved a total of $1.6 million in settlements to settle lawsuits brought by seven protesters who were injured, The Denver Post reported.

Six inmates at the downtown St. Louis jail are facing charges related to the abduction last week of a 73-year-old jail guard. Charging documents released Monday by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office offered insight into how the guard was taken hostage around 6 a.m. on Aug. 22. He was freed by a police SWAT team more than two hours later and treated at a hospital for minor injuries. Two inmates jailed on first-degree murder charges, Eric Williams and Anthony Newberry, were outside their cells helping the guard deliver breakfast trays to other inmates, charging documents stated. Williams allegedly began punching the guard, knocking him to the ground. The document said Newberry joined in the attack and the men pulled the guard to a shower area. Newberry allegedly took the guard's cell keys and began unlocking “all the cells in the pod,” charging documents stated. Dozens of inmates left their cells. Inmates Paul Mondaine and Earnest Lyons moved the guard to a table inside the pod, where he was handcuffed and had his legs shackled, documents stated. Newberry and Richard Bolden III smashed televisions, and inmates used pieces taken from the TVs, along with broom and mop handles, to make weapons, according to the documents. Mondaine allegedly used one of the handmade weapons, held it near the guard, and told him, “I’ll cut your throat if they come in here.” SWAT officers were able to free the guard shortly after 8 a.m., more than two hours after the abduction began. The motive behind the abduction remains under investigation but Corrections Director Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah said at a news conference Aug. 22 that one inmate demanded pizza. Interim Public Safety Director Chris Coyle said “less-than-lethal ammunition” was used on the inmates, but he did not elaborate. Coyle said two inmates suffered minor injuries inflicted by other inmates during the hostage situation. Five of the inmates are charged with first-degree kidnapping: Williams, 20; Newberry, 29; Mondaine, 29; Lyons, 21; and Cleveland Washington Jr. 21. Bolden, Newberry and Washington are charged with damaging the jail. Williams and Newberry also face assault charges. Mondaine also is charged with unlawful use of a weapon. The inmates do not yet have listed attorneys, according to Missouri's online court records. All are being held without bond. The abduction was the latest of several acts of violence inside the jail, known as the City Justice Center, which holds nearly 700 inmates. Advocates for inmates have long complained about conditions at the jail. It was the site of three uprisings among inmates between late 2020 and early 2021. In February 2021, inmates set fires, caused flooding, broke out fourth-floor windows and tossed chairs and other items through the broken glass. A guard also was attacked. Inmates again broke windows and set a fire during another riot in April 2021. A month later, Dale Glass, the embattled director of the jail, resigned.

A University of North Carolina PhD student shared several posts on social media complaining about his academic adviser before allegedly shooting him dead in the science lab and plunging the Chapel Hill campus into lockdown. Tailei Qi, a 34-year-old graduate student majoring in applied physical sciences, was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the killing of faculty member Dr Zijie Yan. The motive for the shooting remains unclear but his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, reveals he had complained grumbled about his head of lab in the lead-up to the shooting. In other posts, he also railed against hard work, aired his grievances with some “girls and tattletales” and complained about bullies in the US. “Bully in america seems to be a problem. It often comes with people not stopping them at the first time,” he wrote in one bizarre post in August 2022, reviewed by The Independent. “Explanation is not a solution but makes them feel others will plead them every time they raise a problem, making them voyeur to find an excuse day and night.” Two weeks later on 18 August 2022, he tweeted about his “PI” – an abbreviation for his head of lab – handling “these girls and tattletales”. “Just have a talk with my PI and get his promise. He should have more experience to handle with these girls and tattletales,” he wrote. “Then, we can just get ourselves out of these stupid topic. Let’s just focus our attention on nature.I won’t change anything if not necessary.” Two months later in October 2022, he referred to his PI again and an unidentified “group of people”. “Both the group of people to say I am lazy and that to prove me working hard instead of telling me that are trying to consume my privacy. I judge their motivation is only to tell my PI then control me by taletelling,” he tweeted. “But it’s weird when I talked about it with my PI, he said no people spoke to him about that. so it’s nothing but some voyeurism for these people?” Yan headed up the Department of Applied Physical Sciences and physical chemistry group the Yan Research Group, which Mr Qi joined when he began his graduate program at UNC in 2022. In other online posts, Mr Qi addressed a mystery woman who he vowed to “just let her go” and his exhaustion with his workload. “I used to walk [sic] 80+ hours per week and I feel relaxing and energetic. Now I only work 60+ hours per week and I feel tired,” he wrote in one. In a post in July 2022 – before he is believed to have started at UNC that fall – he posted a cryptic message calling his treatment by an unnamed boss “disgusting”. “Just feel my privacy was insulted. When I work, I will think I was showing the boss I am working instead of interests, devaluing the meaning of my work,” he wrote. “That’s so disgusting. Self-respect block me from working. Then it takes pains to convince myself what I do is just because I like.” In another post that same month, he wrote that “only work with no play makes Jim a dull boy”. In one of his most recent posts in early August 2023 – just weeks before the shooting – Mr Qi issued an appeal to meet people at the college. “I would like to make some new friends. I am a second-year PhD student, interested in nanoparticle synthesis, optical trapping, self-assembly, spectra analysis, and ML,” he said. “a bit stupid in daily trifles, very enthusiastic talking about research. Reach me if inerest.” The Twitter account has the same name and the same image as both Mr Qi’s bio and the person of interest sent out by police during the brief manhunt. It describes him as “Graduate student @UNC, engaged in light-matter interaction and related materials”. Mr Qi previously studied at Wuhan University before moving to the US from China and studying at Louisiana State University. He joined the Yan Research Group at UNC in 2022. At around 1pm on Monday afternoon – just days into the new term of the second year of his PhD studies – Mr Qi allegedly entered the science lab at the UNC’s Chapel Hill campus and shot and killed Yan. Law enforcement arrived on the scene around two minutes later and the campus was plunged into lockdown, with officials warning that “an armed and dangerous person” was at large. The wrong person was briefly arrested after the unsuspecting individual missed the shelter-in-place alerts. Soon after, the UNC Police released an image of Mr Qi, calling him a person of interest and warning the public that “if you see this person, keep your distance, put your safety first and call 911”. Around three hours on from the shooting, police confirmed that a suspect had been arrested near a residential area 10 minutes away from campus and the lockdown was lifted. The gun is yet to be recovered, police said. The motive for the attack remains unknown at this time. “To actually have the suspect in custody gives us an opportunity to figure out the why and even the how, and also helps us to uncover a motive and really just why this happened today. Why today, why at all?” UNC Police Chief Brian James said in a press conference on Monday. “And we want to learn from this incident and we will certainly work to do our best to ensure that this never happens again on the UNC campus.” Read More UNC shooting – latest: Motive remains unknown after shooter kills faculty member in Chapel Hill He moaned about work, ‘bullies’ and his head of lab online. 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