Southeast
Suspect in LSU student attack claims victim's romantic history 'crucial' to defense
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A lawyer representing one of Louisiana State University student Madison Brooks’ alleged rapists claimed it’s crucial to speak to a man Brooks supposedly had consensual sex with 24 hours before the attack.
Joe Long, who’s representing Casen Carver in the ongoing rape case, filed the motion Monday to subpoena and interview the unnamed LSU male student and one of Brooks’ female friends.
He said in the court filings that the information could help exonerate his client, according to a report by WAFB 9.
But the latest filing didn’t sit well with Brooks’ family’s lawyer, Kerry Miller, and East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore, who told the local news outlet that Long’s motion “is totally improper” and vowed to fight it.
‘LAUGHING’ SUSPECT IN LSU STUDENT ATTACK INDICTED ON VIDEO RECORDING
Madison Brooks, 19, was a LSU sophomore when she was allegedly raped in January 2023 before she was fatally struck by a car. (Ashley Baustert)
Miller told Fox News Digital that Long’s motion doesn’t comply with Louisiana’s rape shield law and continues the defense’s trend of “circumventing the law.”
“We’re completely disgusted by this tactic,” he said. “You can’t just file a public document like this. There’s a policy to follow not to violate the rape shield law, which I think he did (violate), but that’ll be decided by the court.”
Carver, 19, is one of four suspects charged in connection with Brooks’ rape in January 2023. He was indicted on two separate occasions on charges of video voyeurism as well as first- and third-degree rape. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Carver was allegedly seen laughing in a self-recorded cellphone video and allegedly said, “They finna (sic) rape her.”
He was referring to the three other suspects in his car, who met Brooks in Reggie’s Bar in crime-ridden Tigerland, a social hot spot near the Baton Rouge university’s main campus.
Brooks, who was 19, was in the back seat of the suspects’ car when she was allegedly raped and let out on the side of a busy, four-lane highway, where she was fatally struck by an oncoming car.
Pictured, from left to right: Kaivon Washington, Everett Lee, Casen Carver and Madison Brooks. (East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office/Instagram)
Desmond Carter, 17, is being tried as an adult in the alleged rape of LSU sophomore Madison Brooks. (East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office)
Because Carver was indicted, he doesn’t have a constitutional right to a preliminary examination, except for when there’s a need to preserve evidence, WAFB reported.
Long argued that it should be allowed in this particular case because it’s vital to get under-oath statements from the unnamed male student and Brooks’ female friend.
He reportedly hasn’t been able to reach the man, and the woman said she wouldn’t testify, according to the local news outlet.
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Carver’s video, which hasn’t been released to the public, is at the center of the court case against him and three other suspects: Everett Lee, 28; Kaivon Washington, 18, and Desmond Carter, a 17-year-old who is being charged as an adult.
Each suspect pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Madison Brooks, a 19-year-old LSU sophomore, was allegedly raped in January before being fatally struck by a car. (Ashley Baustert)
Madison Brooks’ mother and brothers pose with a photo of her. (Ashley Baustert)
Miller was in the courtroom when the video was played. He told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that Carver’s 10- to 15-second selfie videos provided law enforcement with eyes inside the car.
“You can see what’s going on in the back seat from the right side of the camera,” Miller said. “That’s where you see Kaivon pushing Maddie down.
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“Then you see Carter with his pants down on top of Maddie. You kind of see her legs sticking up, and she doesn’t have anything on. You know it’s Desmond Carter because he wore a plaid shirt.”
As this alleged activity unfolded, Miller said, the music continued to play and at least one of the suspects was heard cheering.
A billboard for the Madison Brooks Foundation is seen on display in Times Square on Monday, May 8, 2023. Brooks was fatally struck by a car after an alleged rape earlier this year. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital )
An updated photo of LSU student Madison Brooks, who was fatally hit by a car after an alleged rape in January 2023. (The Brooks family)
Good Samaritans try to save Brooks
Prosecutors continued to play short clips of videos after Brooks, who was intoxicated, was forced out of the suspects’ car in the middle of Burbank Drive in the early morning hours of Jan. 15.
She stumbled into the middle of the busy, four-lane highway, where she was hit by an oncoming car.
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The driver stayed at the scene and called 911, while good Samaritans – Beau Adams, 21, and Kathryn Devillier, 21 – pulled over to try to save her.
Emergency personnel responded and rushed her to a hospital, where she ultimately died.
Kathryn Devillier, and Beau Adams in Baton Rouge, LA, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The 21-year-old roommates are credited with prolonging the last moments of Madison Brooks’ life after she was hit by a car by performing CPR. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
Close-ups of tattoos on the arms of Kathryn Devillier and Beau Adams in Baton Rouge, LA, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. The matching tattoos are in honor of Madison Brooks, who these 21-year-old roommates are credited with prolonging the last moments of her life after she was hit by a car by performing CPR. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
The suspects did not seem to know that Brooks died until the next day, prosecutors alleged, according to Miller.
Brooks’ mom, Ashley Baustert, told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that she spoke about Adams’ and Devillier’s bravery.
“It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasn’t going to be her [alleged] attackers,” Baustert said.
The LSU seniors marked the area of the accident with a cross as a memorial for Brooks on the side of Burbank Highway, which grew with stuffed animals and other trinkets. They also attended Brooks’ funeral and memorial services.
They keep in touch with Brooks’ mom and check in on her.
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Southeast
GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced a bill to authorize the death penalty as a potential punishment for the sexual abuse of children.
“We have zero mercy for child rapists. Those who prey on our most vulnerable deserve the harshest consequence we can deliver,” Mace said in a statement.
The proposal is aptly called the “Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announces she will run for South Carolina governor during a press conference at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, 2025. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“No predator should be allowed to walk away from the most unthinkable crimes against children,” Mace noted.
“This bill is simple. Rape a child and you don’t get a second chance, you get the death penalty. We will never apologize for protecting America’s children,” Mace added.
The bill would put capital punishment on the table as an option to punish those who sexually abuse children.
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“INTRODUCING: The Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act to amend Title 18 to authorize the death penalty for aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact offenses against children. It will also amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize the death penalty for the rape of a child,” she said in a post on X.
“We’ve spent months fighting to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s network of powerful predators. We’ve demanded accountability and pushed for transparency. Now we’re making sure anyone who rapes a child faces the ultimate consequence,” she noted.
Mace has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2021.
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She is one of the candidates currently running in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.
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Southeast
Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay
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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.
Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.
Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.
Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original.
“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.
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“It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.
Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.
In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”
“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.
“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”
“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.
The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.
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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.
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Southeast
Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges
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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)
Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day.
He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing.
A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding.
In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported.
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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”
“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said.
“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”
Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia. (Provided)
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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person.
“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states.
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