Midwest
High school senior nearing graduation killed in crash after college student allegedly drove drunk at 131 mph
The lives of two young men in Illinois are forever changed after a deadly Mother’s Day crash killed one, and left another facing criminal charges.
Police in Glenview say Taeyoung Kim, 21, was responsible for the crash that claimed the life of 17-year-old Marko Niketic. Kim made his first court appearance Saturday, when a judge said the “fast and furious deadly accident” was a “brazen disregard for human life,” according to FOX 32 Chicago.
The crash happened just after 11 p.m. May 12 on East Lake Avenue between and Meadow Lane, police said. Kim is accused of having alcohol and marijuana in his system when the dash cam on his 2021 Ford Mustang caught him running a red light and speeding from downtown Chicago to a suburban street that has a 35 mph speed limit.
Prosecutors said Kim’s speeds reached 131 mph before the crash, and that a witness saw Kim’s car shut its headlights off, according to the local station. Niketic was making a left turn onto Lake Avenue when Kim allegedly turned his headlights back on before crashing into the teen’s vehicle, court documents obtained by NBC Chicago state. The documents said Kim’s car was going 122 mph at the time of impact, destroying Niketic’s car.
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Niketic, a Glenbrook South High School senior days away from graduating, was pronounced dead at the scene. His girlfriend, who was his passenger, suffered injuries including a brain bleed and a broken pelvis, FOX32 reported.
Police say a passenger in Kim’s vehicle was also taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Glenview Police for additional information, but they did not immediately respond.
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“He’s one of those people, you meet him, and he’s glowing. The most genuine human ever,” Preston Shute told NBC Chicago of Niketic. “He had a lot of stuff ahead of him. I can’t really process it.”
Kim’s attorney spoke outside court Saturday alongside what appeared to be devastated parents.
“He’s blaming a lot on himself as a father, maybe a lack of supervision,” the lawyer said.
Kim faces charges including two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and reckless homicide, FOX32 reported, with his next court date set for May 24.
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Midwest
Minnesota man who joined Islamic State group is sentenced to 10 years in prison
A Minnesota man who once fought for the Islamic State group in Syria after becoming radicalized expressed remorse and wept in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Abelhamid Al-Madioum, 27, cooperated with federal authorities ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which prosecutors factored into their recommendation for a lower sentence than the statutory maximum of 20 years.
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U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said among the cases she has presided over in her 40 years on the bench, Al-Madioum’s was “extraordinary.” She cited his confounding path from a loving Minnesota home to one of the world’s most notorious terror organizations and his subsequent collaboration with the government he betrayed.
When Al-Madioum rose to speak before being sentenced, he thanked the U.S. government for giving him another chance. He then turned to address his parents and two young sons, who were rescued from a Syrian orphanage and brought to America with the help of federal authorities.
“I know I put you through so much, and I did with the belief that it was my religious duty,” Al-Madioum said while fighting back tears. “That’s no excuse. My first duty should have been to you.”
Al-Madioum, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was among several Minnesotans suspected of leaving the U.S. to join the Islamic State group, along with thousands of fighters from other countries worldwide. Roughly three dozen people are known to have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Somalia or Syria. In 2016, nine Minnesota men were sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to join IS.
But Al-Madioum is one of the relatively few Americans who have been brought back to the U.S. who actually fought for the group. According to a defense sentencing memo, he’s one of 11 adults as of 2023 to be formally repatriated to the U.S. from the conflict in Syria and Iraq to face charges for terrorist-related crimes and alleged affiliations with IS. Others received sentences ranging from four years to life plus 70 years.
Prosecutors had asked for a 12-year sentence, arguing that Al-Madioum’s suffering did not make his crimes any less serious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter said Al-Madioum self-radicalized online and helped IS, also known as ISIS, carry out its goals.
“Young men just like him all over the world … allowed ISIS to flourish,” Winter said.
Manvir Atwal, Al-Madioum’s attorney requested a seven-year sentence. She said Al-Madioum was taken in as an impressionable teenager by a well-oiled propaganda machine. He rejected extremist ideology years ago and had helped the government in other terrorism cases, which prosecutors confirmed.
Montgomery opted for a 10-year sentence, weighing sentencing guidelines with Al-Madioum’s cooperation and letters on his behalf, including one from an unnamed former U.S. ambassador. He has already served over five years and might get credit for that time, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park in a loving and nonreligious family, the defense memo said. He joined IS because he wanted to help Muslims he believed were being slaughtered by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in that country’s civil war. IS recruiters persuaded him “to test his faith and become a real Muslim.”
Al-Madioum was 18 in 2014 when IS recruited him. The college student slipped away from his family on a visit to their native Morocco in 2015. Making his way to Syria, he became a soldier for IS until he was maimed in an explosion in Iraq. His leg was shattered and his arm had to be amputated. Unable to fight, he used his computer skills to serve the group.
While still a member of IS, he married and had children with two women.
He had thought his second wife and their daughter had died. But in court Thursday, Al-Madioum said he had heard there is a chance she and their daughter might still be alive. That possibility remains under investigation, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum’s first wife died in his arms after she was shot in front of him by either rebel forces or an IS fighter in 2019, the defense said. Al-Madioum said in court that he dug a trench and buried her.
The day after that shooting, he walked with his sons and surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which held him under conditions the defense described as “heinous” for 18 months until the FBI returned him to the U.S.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization. His sons were eventually found in a Syrian orphanage, the culmination of what he and Montgomery described as a unique effort from U.S. diplomats and other officials.
Al-Madioum’s parents were awarded custody of his sons after they arrived in America. Sitting in the court’s gallery Thursday, his sons, ages 7 and 9, sat on their grandparents’ laps and smiled at their father as he turned to face them.
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Detroit, MI
At least 9 injured, including two children, in shooting at splash pad in Michigan’s Detroit
Eight people were injured, including an 8-year-old boy who was struck in the head and was in critical condition, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Law enforcement tracked a suspect to a home, where the person died by suicide, authorities said.
At least two of the victims were children, officials said. Authorities initially said they believed as many as 10 people had gunshot wounds from the shooting in Rochester Hills, but that number was lowered later on after they checked with area hospitals.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said a suspect was contained in a home nearby, and law enforcement had it surrounded. Rochester said via Facebook that the person took their own life.
Bouchard provided the information about the 8-year-old who was in critical condition during a nighttime news conference, where he also said that two of the boy’s relatives, including a 4-year-old, had also been shot.
He added that the first deputies who arrived at the scene immediately began providing first aid including tourniquets.
Officers also were able to quickly come up with a likely address, and a car matching the suspect’s vehicle was at the residence.
The shooting happened just after 5 p.m. at a city park featuring a recreation area with a non-slip surface where people can turn on sprays and fountains of water to play in. Bouchard said it the shooting appeared to be random, with the shooter driving up to the park, walking to the splash pad and firing as many as 28 times, stopping multiple times to reload.
A handgun and three empty magazines were recovered, the sheriff said.
Police cordoned off the scene of the shooting with tape, and dozens of yellow evidence markers lay on on the ground among colorful folding chairs.
In a social media post, authorities said there was still an active crime scene and asked people to avoid the area. Bouchard said it was safe for those sheltering in the park to head home.
Police heard the 911 call reporting the shooting as it came in, Bouchard said, because the agency uses a service that simultaneously sends emergency calls to first responders. An officer was at the scene within two minutes, he said.
Rochester Hills is about 15 miles south of Oxford, where in 2021 a 15-year-old fatally shot four high school students.
Saturday’s shooting came at the end of the first full week of summer vacation for students attending Rochester Community schools.
Bouchard called it “a gut punch” for the county.
“We’ve gone through so many tragedies,” the sheriff said. “You know, we’re not even fully comprehending what happened at Oxford. And, you know, now we have another complete tragedy that we’re dealing with.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on the social platform X that she was heartbroken to learn of the shooting and was in touch with local officials.
Milwaukee, WI
See Snoop Dogg Throw First Pitch, Give Play-by-Play at Brewers Game
Rapper made a surprise stop at the Brewers’ game against the Reds before his concert on Saturday
Snoop Dogg calls it like he’s sees it. On Saturday, his candor provided extra entertainment during his surprise appearance at American Family Field during the Milwaukee Brewers’ game against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, which the Brewers won, 3-1.
The rapper treated fans to the first pitch of the game. He warmed up on the mound with his moves from the music video for “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and Brewers first base coach Quintin Berry joined him. The rapper then threw a strike to Berry.
While that earned a standing ovation, Snoop struck pure gold when he headed to the booth for the Bally Sports Wisconsin broadcast with Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder, where he commented on plays live at the game. “I came in where the players come in at,” he told them. “’Cause I’m a player.” He then joined them in detailing play-by-plays: “Get up in there!,” he exclaimed.
“Oh Lord, he’s got a rocket in his pocket,” he said as Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz threw out Brewers second baseman Brice Turang at first base. He also gave props to Brewers’ Christian Yelich. “Deuce-deuce, it’s deuce-deuce revolver was my problem solver, let’s go,” he rapped during one of Yelich’s at-bats.
His narration went beyond calling the game to admiration for players’ styles. At one point, he paid a compliment to Reds’ Jonathan India. “Who is that? I like his hair… Look at his hair, his hair bounce like mine… He’s got his hair game together.”
Snoop Dogg’s appearance at the game preceded his show on Saturday night at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Casino Hotel.
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