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Texas jury returns verdict in 2022 stabbing death of high school classmate: report

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Texas jury returns verdict in 2022 stabbing death of high school classmate: report

A jury has decided the fate of a Texas teen who was charged with allegedly stabbing his high school classmate to death in a bathroom in 2022, finding him not guilty of murder and guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

After being unable to reach a verdict on Monday and tabling court till Tuesday, KWTX reported that a Bell County jury announced that they did not find Caysen Allison guilty of murder in the stabbing death of Joe Ramirez Jr. at Belton High School in May 2022. 

The jury found Allison guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

Allison was released under the conditions of his bond, the outlet reported, which will remain in place until his sentencing hearing on June 16, where he faces anywhere from six months to two years in a state prison, in addition to a possible fine of up to $10,000.

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLER CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER STABBING CLASSMATE TO DEATH IN BATHROOM: POLICE

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Bell County jury finds Caysen Allison not guilty of murder in death of Joe Ramirez. (Belton Police Department/GoFundMe/Joe Ramirez’s Funeral & Burial Expenses)

Allison had been out on bond, under house arrest, since July 2022 after a judge dropped his $1-million bond down to $175,000 in the stabbing death of Ramirez Jr., according to KWTX. 

The Belton Police Department said that Allison ran away from the school after the stabbing in 2022, but was arrested 20 minutes later.

The fatal altercation happened during a fight in the school’s restroom, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KWTX. 

The report stated that Allison waived his rights against self-incrimination and admitted to detectives he fatally stabbed Ramirez Jr.

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TEEN SUSPECT FREE ON BOND AFTER ALLEGEDLY STABBING TEXAS TRACK STAR AUSTIN METCALF TO DEATH

Jose Luis Ramirez Jr. was fatally stabbed to death inside a bathroom at his Texas high school in May 2022, according to police. (Viktoria Ramirez Facebook)

Officers found Ramirez Jr. suffering from “large puncture wounds to his chest” and he was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.

At the hospital, KTWX reported that officers noticed Ramirez sustained “multiple stab and slashes injuries along his chest, back, legs and arm.” He was later pronounced dead. 

During previous testimony, one of Allison’s friends, Chris Bittle, described the events leading up to the fatal altercation and being in the school’s bathroom during the fight.

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There was a heated argument between Allison and Ramirez at a prom night after party, according Bittle’s previous account. Text messages revealed that Allison sent a text to Bittle after that party asking, “bro, bring me a gun.”

Bittle also recalled what happened the day of the stabbing, explaining that while there was a plan for Allison and Ramirez to fight, they did not plan to fight in school and were surprised to bump into Ramirez and his friends in the school restroom, KTWX reported. Bittle testified he and Allison tried to leave after using the restroom, but Ramirez and his four friends wouldn’t let them.

SUSPECT IN AUSTIN METCALF KILLING MOVED TO ‘UNDISCLOSED LOCATION’ FOR PROTECTION: FAMILY SPOKESMAN

Caysen Allison found not guilty of murder, but guilty of a lesser charge, in the 2022 death of classmate Joe Ramirez (Belton Police Department)

Bittle also claimed he tried to step in once Ramirez punched Allison, but was hit by one of the other teens in the group, which cell phone video of the fight showed. 

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Allison’s defense argued he acted in self-defense in a “fight for his life” after he was attacked by Ramirez in the school’s bathroom.

Officers went to Allison’s home following the fight after he fled the scene, where officers overheard him speaking to someone on the phone saying “I did something at school,” and asking them to come and take him to Waco.

Detectives also snapped photos of Allison’s white shoes being covered in blood as he told investigators what kind of knife he used to kill Ramirez and where he had dumped the weapon.

Madison Barnes, Ramirez’s ex-girlfriend and a close friend of Allison’s, testified that Allison made threats against Ramirez to her before the stabbing, according to KWTX. She also told the jury that Allison warned her that he “wanted Joe on life support, wanted to stomp his head in, wanted his jaw dangling from his face, and wanted him in the hospital.”

Ramirez Jr., a senior at the school, was described on a GoFundMe page raising money for his family as a “very kind, loving and gentle young man.”

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Allison’s defense attorney, Zachary Boyd, told KWTX that he was happy with the jury’s decision in a very challenging case.

“The Allison family is so sorry for their loss, cause there is no good outcome to this. There is no happy ending in terms of everyone’s going to leave here feeling happy,” Boyd said.

“The world is not black and white. The world is shades of gray and, ultimately, we were left with the question of what do you do when the issue is one of bullying or one of a child who is so scared that he brings a knife to school to defend himself with?”

Nearly three years later, another Texas teen was violently killed while attending a high school track meet.

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Karmelo Anthony, the 17-year-old accused of stabbing Frisco, Texas track star Austin Metcalf to death, was released from jail after his bond was dropped from $1 million to $250,000.

Like Allison, Anthony’s bond conditions include house arrest and an ankle monitor, and he will only be able to leave his home with the judge’s permission.

If convicted, Anthony cannot face the death penalty because he is a juvenile, thanks to a 2005 Supreme Court ruling in a case called Roper v. Simmons.

Fox News Digital reached out to Allison’s attorney for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. 

Fox News Digital’s Lorraine Taylor and Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report. 

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Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com

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Savannah Guthrie spotted in NYC as search for missing mother enters sixth week with few answers

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Savannah Guthrie spotted in NYC as search for missing mother enters sixth week with few answers

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TUCSON, Ariz. — “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie is back in New York City as the search for her missing mother enters its sixth week with little publicly known progress in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona.

Guthrie was photographed in public for the first time since her mother’s suspected abduction, alongside husband Mike Feldman and their young son in the Big Apple Sunday, days after an emotional reunion with her NBC colleagues and more than a month after her 84-year-old mother Nancy was last seen. 

Nancy’s disappearance shocked the country — especially when the FBI released disturbing surveillance video of a masked man on her doorstep.

Savannah Guthrie spent weeks in Tucson with her siblings as the investigation played out — before she and her older sister, Annie, added bouquets of yellow flowers to a growing display at the foot of their mother’s driveway. She quietly flew home to New York last week.

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Savannah Guthrie is seen out in New York with her husband Michael Feldman as the “Today” show anchor makes her first public appearance more than five weeks after the suspected abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. (ASPN / BACKGRID)

Sunday marked five weeks since the suspected kidnapping.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation, which is now being overseen by a task force consisting of local detectives and FBI agents.

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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

No suspects have been publicly identified.

A masked man who appeared on Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera around the time authorities said she was taken is described as being of average height and build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.

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Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

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He appeared to be armed with a handgun as well. Law enforcement sources said he visited Nancy Guthrie’s home at least once in advance of her disappearance, wearing a similar disguise.

Other identifying details are scarce.

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The use of cadaver dogs is also on hold, according to authorities, who re-canvassed Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood as recently as last week.

When asked if that meant they believed she is still alive, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to discuss evidence in the case.

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“Anything is possible,” he told Fox News Digital.

Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.

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There’s a reward of more than $1.2 million in play for information that leads to Nancy’s recovery.

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Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.



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FBI subpoenas 2020 Arizona voting docs as federal push into election administration widens

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FBI subpoenas 2020 Arizona voting docs as federal push into election administration widens

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An Arizona state lawmaker revealed Monday that federal authorities subpoenaed him for records related to the 2020 election, marking the second publicly confirmed jurisdiction the Department of Justice is investigating over the matter.

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, said in a social media post he received the subpoena for material related to the state Senate’s 2020 audit last week and complied with it.

“Late last week I received and complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County,” Petersen wrote. “The FBI has the records. Any other report is fake news.”

The request represents an expansion of a federal probe tied to 2020 after the DOJ initially targeted Fulton County, Georgia. The development also comes as President Donald Trump has grown increasingly outspoken about election security in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms, renewing his attention on disputes stemming from the last presidential race.

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An election worker removes a ballot from an envelope to count and inspect the pages inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Petersen made the revelation after President Donald Trump shared a Just the News report about the subpoena on Truth Social, writing, “Great!!! FBI secretly seizes election records from Arizona’s largest county as voting probe expands.”

Multiple U.S. officials confirmed the election probe to Fox News, saying the DOJ is looking at a large tranche of Arizona data from 2020 and 2024.

President Donald Trump listens during an event about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

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The White House directed Fox News Digital to the FBI on Monday when asked for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, an elected Democrat, said the new investigation was based on claims that courts and state investigators have proven wrong.

“What the Trump administration appears to be pursuing now is not a legitimate law enforcement inquiry,” Mayes said in a statement. “It is the weaponization of federal law enforcement in service of crackpots and lies.”

JUDGE DISMISSES 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE AGAINST TRUMP

Attendees listen as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks at an “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally advocating passage of the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Sept. 10, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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The subpoena comes as the president increasingly focuses on election security ahead of the 2026 midterms, telling Congress in a social media post on Sunday that he will not sign any legislation into law until it passes the SAVE America Act.

The bill’s primary purpose is to require voters nationwide to show physical identification to prove citizenship to vote in federal elections. The version of the bill Trump is pushing would also ban mail-in ballots except for the military and in other extenuating circumstances.

Maricopa, Arizona’s most populous county, was a hotbed for accusations of voter fraud in 2020. Fulton County, Georgia, faced similar accusations, with the DOJ launching a separate investigation into the 2020 election earlier this year. 

Trump lost Arizona in 2020 by about 0.3 percentage points. The president refused to concede, and his legal team brought a series of lawsuits alleging vote-counting irregularities, but none were successful.

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Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

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Wisconsin man who fled Border Patrol checkpoint in stolen car killed after shootout in Texas, police say

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Wisconsin man who fled Border Patrol checkpoint in stolen car killed after shootout in Texas, police say

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FIRST ON FOX: A Wisconsin man driving a stolen vehicle was killed Wednesday after he fled through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint and led authorities on a vehicle chase and shootout in Texas.

The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint in the Big Bend Sector between El Paso and Van Horn, a remote area. 

James Douglas McMillan, 33, of Greenfield, Wis., took off from the checkpoint after a Border Patrol drug K-9 alerted to the vehicle and agents directed McMillan to pull over for a secondary search, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. 

A migrant walks through the Rio Grande as he crosses the U.S.-Mexico border, March 13, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. On Wednesday, a man was shot and killed by authorities near El Paso after fleeing through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.  (John Moore/Getty Images)

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During the car chase, McMillan opened fire out of his vehicle window at DPS troopers and other authorities from several law enforcement agencies and civilian vehicles, DPS said.  

“As law enforcement returned fire, DPS Troopers performed a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver and successfully stopped the suspect vehicle,” a DPS statement said. 

McMillan barricaded himself in his vehicle and eventually pointed his weapon towards officers, prompting officers to open fire, authorities said. 

He was shot and killed. No law enforcement officers or civilians were hurt.  

Investigators determined McMillan was driving a vehicle reported stolen in Arizona. The shooting is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, with assistance from the FBI and USBP.

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The shooting involved Border Patrol agents and DPS troopers.  (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

In January, a man suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants was shot by federal officers during a gunfire exchange in Arizona. 

Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, fled from authorities on foot and allegedly shot at a CBP helicopter and at agents, Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, said at the time. 

A U.S. Border Patrol officer watches a USBP helicopter.  (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)

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Schlegal, a U.S. citizen from Arizona, underwent surgery and survived. No one else was harmed, authorities said. 

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