Teen critical after Fort Lauderdale shooting was biding Army friend goodbye, mom says
Three people were shot after two masked robbers approached them, and one teen remains hospitalized, his mother told the Miami Herald Monday evening.
Richard Murray II, a 19-year-old business and finance student at Florida Atlantic University, was injured after three people were shot on the top floor of a parking garage on the 200 block of Las Olas Circle, his mother, Celeste Thompson, said. He remains in critical condition at Broward Health Medical Center.
Murray, who was shot twice, was struck by gunfire in the leg, but the bullet traveled upward and caused damage to his stomach, Thompson said. He is having his third surgery on Tuesday morning.
Thompson, who is a middle school teacher, said that her son is a student-athlete who racked up numerous academic accolades in high school. He played football, graduated with a 5.0 GPA and aspires to one day open a finance company that makes it on the Fortune 500 rankings.
'He was full of life,' she said. 'I need him to come back.'
Murray and his friends were listening to music and looking over Las Olas from the parking garage, Thompson said, when multiple people approached them. Thompson said the assailants were masked and were attempting to rob the group.
Thompson also told the Herald that she was contacted by a police detective for the first time on Monday. The shooting occurred hours before the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup parade on the beach.
'It's disheartening,' she said. 'It felt like [it wasn't] not important to anyone but me.... A parade shouldn't supersede what's happening in our backyard.'
Authorities haven't released the identities or conditions of those injured. Thompson said the two other injured people were her son's friends and have since been released from the hospital.
Investigators haven't made any arrests, and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department told the Herald it didn't have any new information about the shooting as of Monday evening. Thompson pleaded with anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.
'Someone had to see something,' Thompson said. 'They have to find these people. We need to know why.'
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Fort Lauderdale Police Department at 954-828-5700 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
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Los Angeles Times
7 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
A Q-tip and spotless car were key evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to murders of 4 Idaho students
BOISE, Idaho — The lead prosecutor tasked with finding justice for four University of Idaho students killed in a grisly quadruple stabbing more than two years ago laid out his key evidence Wednesday at a court hearing for Bryan Kohberger, who agreed to plead guilty earlier this week to avoid the death penalty. The evidentiary summary — recited by lead prosecutor Bill Thompson before Kohberger entered his pleas — spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the middle of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was 'essentially disassembled inside' and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger's path. These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded on Nov. 13, 2022, and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance video, cellphone tracking and DNA matching. But the synopsis leaves hanging key questions that could have been answered at trial — including a motive for the stabbings and why Kohberger picked that house, and those victims, all apparent strangers to him. The small farming community of Moscow, in the northern Idaho panhandle, had not had a homicide in about five years when Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead at a rental home near campus. Kohberger, now 30, had begun a doctoral degree in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University — across the state line from Moscow, Idaho — months before the crimes. 'The defendant has studied crime,' Thompson said, as the victims' family members dabbed at their tears. 'In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his Ph.D., and he had that knowledge skill set.' Kohberger's cellphone began connecting with cell towers in the area of the crime more than four months before the stabbings, Thompson said, and pinged on those towers 23 times between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in that time period. A compilation of surveillance videos from neighbors and businesses also placed Kohberger's vehicle — known to investigators because of a routine traffic stop by police in August — in the area. On the night of the killings, Kohberger parked behind the house and entered through a sliding door to the kitchen at the back of the house shortly after 4 a.m., Thompson said. He moved to the third floor, where Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were sleeping. After killing both of them with a knife, Kohberger left a knife sheath next to Mogen's body. Both victims' blood was later found on the sheath, along with DNA from a single male that ultimately helped investigators pinpoint Kohberger as the only suspect. On the floor below, another student was still awake. Xana Kernodle had ordered Door Dash not long before, and as Kohberger was leaving, he crossed paths with her and killed her with a large knife, Thompson said. He then killed her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was sleeping in Kernodle's bedroom. Kohberger left two others in the house alive, including one roommate who was expected to testify at trial that sometime before 4:19 a.m. she saw an intruder there with 'bushy eyebrows,' wearing black clothing and a ski mask. Roughly five minutes later, the car could be seen on the next-door neighbor's surveillance camera. speeding away so fast 'the car almost loses control as it makes the corner,' Thompson said. After Kohberger fled the scene, Thompson said, his cover-up was elaborate. Prosecutors believe he drove back roads to his apartment in Pullman, Wash., to avoid surveillance cameras on the major roads and didn't turn his cellphone back on until 4:48 a.m. By 5:26 a.m., he was back in Pullman, Thompson said. 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With the DNA of a single mystery male on the knife sheath, they worked with the FBI and the local sanitation department to secretly retrieve garbage from the Pennsylvania home of Kohberger's parents, seeking a DNA match to their suspect. 'They conducted what's called a trash pull during the nighttime hours,' Thompson said, and 'took trash that had been set out on the street for collection' and sent it to Idaho's forensics lab. The pile of garbage yielded investigative gold: A Q-tip that contained DNA identified 'as coming from the father of the person whose DNA was found on the knife sheath that was found by Madison Mogen's body on the bed,' he said. With that, Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, where he had gone for the holidays, and ultimately was extradited to Idaho for prosecution. Even while prosecutors detailed that night, a key question remains: Why did Kohberger target that house and those victims? Did he know them? And what was his motive? 'We do not have evidence that the defendant had direct contact with 1122 or with residents in 1122, but we can put his phone in the area on those times,' Thompson said, referring to the house number where the murders took place. Some of that evidence may have come out at trial, and may yet be contained in documents related to the case that have been sealed by the court until after a July 23 sentencing hearing. A gag order in place for all attorneys in the case is still in effect as well. Those documents include witness lists, a list of exhibits, an analysis of the evidence, requests for additional discovery, filings about mitigating factors and various unsuccessful defense motions that sought to introduce alternative suspects, among other things. With the case solved, families remain divided over its resolution. The deal stipulates that Kohberger will be spared execution in exchange for four consecutive life sentences. He also waived his right to appeal and to challenge the sentence. Chapin's and Mogen's families support the deal. 'We now embark on a new path. We embark on a path of hope and healing,' Mogen's family said in a statement. The family of Kaylee Goncalves publicly denounced the plea deal ahead of Wednesday's hearing and her father refused to attend the proceedings. Goncalves' 18-year-old sister, Aubrie Goncalves, said in a Facebook post that 'Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world.' 'Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever,' she wrote. Bedayn writes for the Associated Press.
Miami Herald
a day ago
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Miami Herald
a day ago
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Could feds seize Diddy's Star Island enclaves after the jury's stunning verdict?
Could Sean 'Diddy' Combs' posh mansions on Miami Beach's Star Island be seized by federal prosecutors? It's possible, attorney Mark Eiglarsh told the Herald. However, Eiglarsh, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney with three decades of experience, said he believes that's unlikely to happen. Diddy was found not guilty of federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges with links to Miami on Wednesday morning. The 55-year-old entertainment mogul could still spend up to two decades in prison because the 12 jurors found Diddy guilty of two counts of a prostitution-related crime, a less severe charge. READ MORE: Diddy do it? Jury says music exec not guilty of sex trafficking – but of prostitution Diddy's enclaves in Miami Beach and Los Angeles were blitzed by federal agents last year. The raids ended in his arrest six months after in September 2024. The indictment included forfeiture counts for each allegation against the embattled Grammy Award-winner, court records show. In a forfeiture action, prosecutors can seize items used to commit crimes, Eiglarsh said. Seized items don't just include money but other property, like a home, vehicle or cellphone. Eiglarsh added he wouldn't be surprised if prosecutors argue that the Miami Beach homes were used in crimes related to prostitution. The Bad Boy records label founder owns 1 Star Island Drive, which he purchased from Gloria and Emilio Estefan in 2021 for $35 million, and 2 Star Island Drive, which he has owned for more than two decades. 'Whether the judge will embrace that argument and not find it overbroad and overreaching is another issue,' he told the Herald. For Eiglarsh, less is on the table because of Diddy's acquittal. Prosecutors' chances of seizing the luxurious homes would be higher if the star had been convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. Much of the alleged activity occurred at Diddy's Star Island mansions. He was accused of running a 'racketeering conspiracy' by having 'engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.' READ MORE: Prostitutes, opioids and guns? Cops called to Diddy's Miami Beach mansions over 30 times The Herald's review of police records show officers were called to Diddy's mansions more than three dozen times — with callers complaining about prostitution, drugs and illicit weapons inside the sprawling homes since 2021.
