Idaho
Mom whose daughter lived with Idaho murder victims interviewed by ‘Dateline’
Angela Navejas’ daughter, Ashlin Couch, was planning to hang out with friends and former roomates at the University of Idaho on the night of Nov. 12, 2022.
But then her mom asked her to stay home to watch the family dogs — a request that most likely saved Couch’s life.
Couch formerly lived at the large, off-campus house where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered at 1122 King Road in the small community of Moscow, Idaho.
Four students were stabbed to death in the early hours of Nov. 13: Madison “Maddie” Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.
“They were so fun, and just beautiful and kind,” Navejas said in the May 9 episode of “Dateline,” in an episode entitled, “The Terrible Night on King Road.”
Najevas said her daughter and one of the victims, Mogen, had been best friends. They grew up together in Coeur D’Alene, a town north of Moscow.
“They had coffee together, they did yoga together. They walked to class together,” Navejas said. “When the girls would get bored in Moscow, they would come and stay with us, and my husband, he’s like, ‘Oh no, those sorority girls are coming this weekend, better watch out.’”
Couch had recently graduated and moved back home to her parents’ house to save money, her mom said.
She had planned to head to Moscow to hang out with her former roommates on Nov. 12, but when her parents were delayed returning home from a trip, they asked Couch to stay in Coeur D’Alene one extra day to watch their dogs.
“She was bummed because it was a big game day,” Navejas recalled.
Not long after, Couch and her mom heard the unthinkable news: Mogen and three others had been killed in a quadruple homicide.
“It was a pain inside … you can’t really explain how your body’s feeling,” Najevas said. “It was just like my house stopped, just stopped for months.”
Najevas said she didn’t process “right away” that her daughter could have been in the King Road house that night.
“All I could think about was the kids,” she said.
She added that her daughter “just cried in her bed” when she heard the news.
“She didn’t want to talk about it,” Navejas said. “We just cried together for a long time.”
Couch was so rattled by the incident that she moved away from the area, her mom said.
“She just needed to get away and regroup. She wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew who she was, didn’t ask questions, she could make new friends, start a new life,” Navejas said.
Couch was not interviewed for the “Dateline” episode.
Navejas added that her daughter is “not the same” since the murders, and she is “not sure” when she will feel comfortable enough to come back home.
“Once the trial is over, I think that that’s really when you’re going to be able to start grieving the right way,” she said.
Bryan Kohberger, a former doctoral student in criminal justice at Washington State University, has been charged in the killings and faces four counts of first-degree murder. Kohberger has pleaded not guilty.
His trial is set to begin in August in Boise, Idaho. If Kohberger is convicted, prosecutors can pursue the death penalty, a judge ruled last month.
Navejas says “there’s nothing that will ever take” the pain away from the murders, but hopes that her daughter and other grieving students will find a way to move forward in time.
“Maybe after the trial they’ll have more better days than bad days,” she said.
In 2024, Navejas and Couch launched The Made With Kindness Foundation, a non-profit organization created in the memory of Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle.
The foundation’s mission is to create college scholarship opportunities and to offer workshops and training related to on-campus safety and security.
“We just decided that we wanted to start something to be able to remember and honor the girls and how they were — their optimism, empowerment, confidence,” Navejas said during a visit to TODAY in December.
Karen Laramie, the mother of slain student Maddie Mogen, appeared alongside Navejas on TODAY and spoke of her late daughter’s kind spirit.
She also showed a sentimental piece of jewelry her daughter once gave her.
“So it’s a two-piece ring, and my half, I think, says, ‘You are my sunshine,’ and hers said, ‘My only sunshine,’” Laramie said.
The parents of Ethan Chapin also created a foundation, Ethan’s Smile, in their son’s honor, which provides scholarships.
The new “Dateline” episode exploring the Idaho student murders will air at 9 p.m. ET/ 8p.m. CT on NBC.
PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
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