A Georgia police officer fatally shot a family’s cherished pet donkey during an overnight search of the animal’s pasture for a missing child, who was later located at a nearby church.

Hannah Israel, 30, said officers came onto her family’s property in Rockmart, Polk County, without notice around 12:45 a.m. Sunday as they searched for the child. While on the property, she said, they encountered the family’s baby donkey, HeeHaw.

“They claimed he ran up to them braying and they thought they were in danger and shot and killed him after trying to Taze him,” Israel wrote on Facebook. “HeeHaw was shot and killed in his OWN pasture for doing what donkeys do. Alerting to a stranger. There is no way this is legal!”

Israel said she plans to pursue legal action and is calling for justice for HeeHaw following the shooting.

“We are heart broken. He was my SON!!” she wrote.

“We miss him so much where is safe?? When my own baby was shot in his own home?” she added in another post.

A photo taken after the shooting showed Israel crying over her pet donkey, as the animal’s eyes remained wide open as it lay lifeless on the ground.

“He would normally be standing right over there talking while I’m talking because he thought he could talk like a person could talk,” Israel told 11Alive.

“Every time he saw somebody, he would run up and bray,” Israel said. “And then do a really goofy sound, and because he loved people, and he thought he was a person. He slept in my bed for the first three months of his life,” she added.

The Cedartown Police Department said the officer who shot the beloved baby donkey has been placed on paid administrative leave.

“The Cedartown Police Department has turned over the investigation of the animal shooting to the Georgia Department of Agriculture Law Enforcement Division for investigation and placed the officer involved on paid administrative leave while this investigation is ongoing,” the department said in a statement.

Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsom said body camera footage exists and he has viewed it, according to 11Alive.

“That search took them to the incident location where this very unfortunate and heartbreaking event occurred,” Newsom said, according to the outlet.

Newsom said he understands the heartbreak that the family and the community is facing after the donkey’s death.

“They’re members of the human family, and I am too, and heartbroken,” he said.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement Division was at Elsberry Farm on Monday investigating HeeHaw’s death.

Israel created a GoFundMe to help cover legal costs related to HeeHaw’s death. She said any donations left over would go toward the farm, care of the animals and a future HeeHaw foundation. She has raised more than $113,000 as of Tuesday morning.

“My bottle baby donkey ‘HeeHaw’ was killed in his own pasture on Saturday night by trespassing cops,” she wrote on the fundraiser. “He was a loved member of our family and did many petting zoos and made many people smile.”

She said she hired a lawyer but stressed that donations left over after legal costs would not be used for personal needs.

A Utah father known for putting others first died after he was struck by lightning while trying to help stranded boaters off Florida’s coast, his family said.

Steve Matheson, 47, was riding a jet ski with a friend near Fort De Soto shortly before 6:35 p.m. Saturday when they came across a boat that had broken down, according to ABC affiliate KTVX.

The father of four had been heading back toward shore as storm clouds gathered, but he stopped when he realized the people aboard the disabled vessel were in trouble and needed assistance.

As Matheson tried to help, the storm quickly moved in, closing the distance until it was nearly directly over him, his cousin, Marianne Matheson Shuman, told the station.

“The lightning took him pretty quickly,” she said.

“Even in his last moments he was helping and serving strangers,” she added, paying tribute to her late relative.

“He would have it no other way.”

Matheson died of his injuries after being rushed to a local hospital.

He leaves behind his wife, Abbie, and their four children. Tributes have been paid to the “devoted husband and loving father,” who was also a diehard Brigham Young University Cougars football fan.

“His family was his greatest joy, and he cherished every moment he was able to spend with them,” his friend, April Beck, said.

“He was the kind of husband and father who loved deeply, showed up fully, and made his family the center of his world.

“Steve also had a strong and unwavering faith in his Heavenly Father and his Savior, Jesus Christ.

“As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his faith was an important part of who he was and how he lived his life. His love for his family and his faith were evident in the way he treated others and the life he chose to live.”

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Matheson was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to help those in need. 

His friend, Mitch Faas, recalled how Matheson was the first person to respond when he needed help moving fireworks ahead of the Pioneer Day holiday – a celebration marking the arrival of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers that settled in the Salt Lake Valley region.

“He showed up with his oldest son and jumped right in, just like he had for our shows over the last several years,” Faas said.

Faas revealed the last text he sent to Matheson was, “Thanks for always being someone I can count on bud.”

“Always brotha,” Matheson replied. “We appreciate you and are always willing to help.”

Aaron Boone, another one of Matheson’s pals left devastated by the tragedy, said the pair were supposed to play flag football together before recalling a heartwarming memory of the selfless dad.

“We shared a love for competition and football, but more importantly, a strong faith, a love for our families, and a soft spot for kids,” he wrote Monday.

“One thing I’ll always remember about Steve says a lot about the kind of guy he was.

“His dad used to come watch him play flag football all the time. After his dad passed away a couple of years ago, Steve kind of took my father under his wing at the games, almost as if he were his own dad. 

“He always made a point to sit with him, make sure he was comfortable, talk with him, and visit before, during, and after the games.”

Matheson’s death marks the 13th lightning strike fatality in the US this year, according to the Lightning Safety Council.

His death came six days after Kennedi Glasgow, 2, and her 31-year-old mom, Kenya Glasgow, were killed in a freak lightning strike in Margate, Fla, in front of their family.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been seen in public for the first time since details emerged about the legal-fee award linked to her dispute with Justin Baldoni.

The 39-year-old actress stepped out in New York on Friday with Reynolds, 49, and her older half-sister, Robyn Lively, 54, for a low-key family outing.

Lively opted for a head-to-toe brown look, pairing overalls with boots and a chunky gold necklace. Robyn followed close behind in double denim as Blake spoke with Reynolds, who appeared more reserved while his wife was seen smiling at points during the walk.

Their appearance came just days after the Daily Mail reported that the Gossip Girl alum was set to receive only a small portion of the legal fees she had sought from Baldoni following their contentious court battle.

On Wednesday a judge in New York ruled she will be awarded just five percent ($400,000) of the amount she sought to recoup ($8 million) for defending herself against Baldoni’s $400 million defamation lawsuit.

The judge said hours Lively had billed for her lawyers were ‘unreasonable’ and criticized the ‘discrepancies’ in the expenses she was trying to claim.

The court ruling comes months after the same judge threw out most of the claims in Lively’s sexual harassment case against her It Ends With Us co-star and they agreed to settle the case with no money changing hands.

Judge Lewis Liman had previously dismissed Baldoni’s defamation countersuit against Lively, but he did allow her to seek legal fees solely related to defending that action.

In an order obtained by the Daily Mail, Judge Liman ruled: ‘The clerk of court is respectfully directed to enter judgment for Lively in the amount of $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs’.

Lively sued Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios production company in December 2024 for alleged sexual harassment on the set of the movie, and defamation.

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Baldoni responded the following month with the $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and the New York Times, which was first to publish her claims.

In October last year, a judge dismissed Baldoni’s case and in May this year, after a judge dismissed most of Lively’s claims, she agreed to settle her claim. But the legal battle didn’t end there.

Weeks later, Lively filed court documents seeking to recoup her legal expenses from the drawn-out lawsuit.

Last month, Lively revealed in court filings just how much she was demanding: $4,544,094 from Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher and $2,951,432 from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, two high-profile law firms.

However, the final bill will be $300,000 higher because of costs related to a recent hearing on June 1, bringing it to $8.3 million.

The news she’d receive a measly $400,000 after demanding an eye-watering $8 million following their bombshell settlement, coincided with her birthday, when her husband shared a gushing post calling her a ‘courageous and deeply kind genius.’

Lively and Reynolds first met in 2010 on the set of Green Lantern. They started dating the following year, in October 2011.

They tied the knot on September 9, 2012 in South Carolina and share daughters James, 11, Inez, nine, Betty, six, and son Olin, three.

PROVO, Utah — Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, is due back in a Utah courtroom Tuesday for a pivotal hearing that could determine whether the high-profile case moves toward trial or takes a major turn. Judge Tony Graf Jr. is expected to consider whether prosecutors have presented sufficient probable cause to keep an aggravated murder charge in place — a count that makes Robinson eligible for the death penalty — and the defendant could be called on to enter a plea nearly a year after the killing.

Robinson, 23, of Washington, Utah, is charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Sept. 10, 2025. Authorities say a single gunshot killed Kirk as the event was underway.

Defense attorneys have maintained that the state has not met the threshold needed to proceed with aggravated murder, the most serious charge in the case and the one that keeps capital punishment in play. Still, legal observers told News Media they would be surprised if Graf removes the death penalty possibility at this stage.

“We’re at a preliminary hearing stage, so we’re at a very low burden,” said Skye Lazaro, a Salt Lake City defense attorney who is not involved in the case. “It’s probable cause, and everything is taken in a light most favorable to the state.”

The decision follows a weeklong hearing held in early July, after which the judge allowed prosecutors and defense lawyers several weeks to submit written arguments. Graf is now expected to rule Tuesday on whether the case against Robinson can proceed as charged.

She said she expects the entire case to be bound over for trial, including the sole aggravating factor that makes the aggravated murder charge eligible for the potential death penalty — that Robinson allegedly put other people at great risk of death by shooting Kirk in a crowded place.

Greg Rogers, a former FBI agent and SWAT sniper who now teaches at Utah Valley University, said the alleged risk to the crowd should be enough to preserve the aggravating factor at this stage.

“Shooting into a crowd is always dangerous because you don’t know if someone moves, someone walks behind him,” Rogers told News Media. “There are all sorts of things that could happen in the very instant you pull that trigger.”

Rogers said even highly trained law-enforcement snipers would consider such a shot dangerous.

“When you have a rank amateur that is shooting, it’s clearly, clearly very dangerous,” he said.

Potential plea:

Separately, a court spokeswoman said last week that Graf may or may not hold an arraignment after deciding whether there’s enough probable cause to bind the case over for trial.

If he does, it would be the first time that Robinson is asked to enter a plea.

“I would expect that they would enter not guilty pleas and move forward,” Lazaro said.

Lazaro said a different plea would likely require an agreement taking the death penalty off the table.

“I think the state has been so assertive on their position about the death penalty in this case that I don’t see them doing that right now,” Lazaro said.

To attack the aggravator, Robinson’s defense argued that only a single shot was fired, from an elevated position. It traveled over the crowd, rather than through it, and it only struck Kirk.

Prosecutors countered that Robinson was a bad shot, one who “seldom hit the bullseye and sometimes misses the target completely” when practicing shooting with the suspected murder weapon.

Other evidence against Robinson includes the suspected murder weapon, a .30-06 Mauser rifle that prosecutors have said belonged to his grandfather and had his DNA on it. Robinson allegedly confessed to multiple people, including his roommate and lover, Lance Twiggs, according to court documents.

“This is likely as straightforward a bindover decision as this Court will ever see,” prosecutors wrote. “After admitting to several friends, including his roommate and romantic partner, that he assassinated Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025, in front of approximately 3,000 eyewitnesses, Defendant surrendered to law enforcement for that crime.”

Prosecutors also presented surveillance video, ballistic evidence, an alleged handwritten confession and witness statements.

In one message to Twiggs, Robinson allegedly wrote that, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and I took it.”

A source close to the Kirk family said last week that Kirk’s widow Erika, and his parents, Rob and Kathy, all plan to attend the Sept. 1 hearing together as they did during the July hearing.

But even if the case moves forward, Lazaro said the pretrial sparring won’t end any time soon.

“I do think we’re going to see a lot more litigation come down the road in terms of 1102 and expert-witness designations, forensic testimony on the ballistics and things like that,” Lazaro said.

A 5-year-old nonverbal girl was found dead in South Carolina after wandering away from her family’s vacation rental while wearing a bathing suit, authorities said.

The body of Saylor Hayes was discovered around 9:45 a.m. Monday following “an intensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencies,” according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.

Agents from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources located Saylor’s body in the water near the area where she had last been seen, police said.

Saylor, a Virginia resident, went missing Sunday after leaving her rental home in Hagley Estates on Pawleys Island, a coastal community roughly 30 miles from Myrtle Beach.

At the time she disappeared, Saylor was wearing a light blue one-piece bathing suit and had a pink-and-white lanyard around her ankle with a tracking device attached.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office deployed Project Lifesaver equipment on land and by helicopter for hours — trying to pick up a signal from the tracking device Saylor was wearing, police said.

Project Lifesaver is an emergency search-and-rescue program designed to rapidly locate individuals with cognitive conditions, including Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism or Down syndrome, who are prone to wandering or elopement.

Other agencies deployed drones, K-9 units and divers, while crews scanned the waterways near where Saylor went missing.

The search also drew volunteers from across the region.

Crystal Cooper said she traveled about 80 miles from her home in Peedee, SC, to help with the search, WMBF News reported.

“I just got so emotionally invested in it yesterday [Sunday] because this little girl needed us and my momma heart was in it,” Cooper said.

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A neighbor who joined the search said volunteers tried everything to lure Saylor out — including walking pets through the area and bringing in an ice cream truck to play music throughout the neighborhood, WMBF News reported.

Another resident, Ronald Gagliardi, said he and others stayed out past 2 a.m. searching for the missing 5-year-old.

Gagliardi told the outlet he was heartbroken to hear the news Monday morning that Saylor’s body had been found.

“Decided to come in this morning to continue the search, although they found her now, which is, you know, it’s devastating, but it’s at least a positive thing for the family that, you know, she was recovered,” he said.

“It was really sad. I mean, I’m emotional now,” Cooper also told the outlet of the news.

“It’s just — it’s just heartbreaking, like really heartbreaking.”

Authorities have not yet released a cause of death.

Following the devastating discovery, officials praised the hundreds of volunteers and multiple agencies who gave everything they had to find Saylor.

“Hundreds of residents from the area searched their own properties and surrounding areas and guarded local docks,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office thanks everyone who assisted in the search and sends its deepest condolences to the young girl’s family.”

As the community grieves, flowers have been left near the boat landing where search crews had been stationed, WMBF News reported.

Two Montana siblings whose lives were filled with promise are being remembered after they were fatally shot by their step-uncle during a family dinner.

Landon Ghekiere, 15, and his 12-year-old sister, Charlotte Ghekiere, were among eight relatives killed on August 23, when 44-year-old Alan Smith opened fire inside his parents’ home in Billings, Montana.

As their devastated parents prepare to say a final goodbye, they are focusing on the spirit that defined both children: curiosity, courage and a readiness to embrace new experiences.

Landon was remembered in an obituary as “thoughtful, affectionate, sarcastic, witty and intelligent.”

He had a passion for Marvel movies, video games and live music, and those closest to him said he was especially known for his endless jokes with his mother.

Landon had also engaged in numerous activities, playing soccer and baseball, and joining the Billings Senior wrestling team without any prior experience. He even played trumpet in the Senior High Symphonic band and was a chess player.

At the time of his death, Landon had been excited to begin his sophomore year of high school and was preparing to get his driver’s license. He was also looking forward to traveling to Germany and Switzerland on a Sustainability Living Tour.

When he grew up, he had hoped to work in a trade, his mother, Erica Jarussi Schneider, told KTVQ. 

‘All these dreams, all these things he wanted to do and worked so hard to do, they’re just… they’re gone,’ she lamented.

Instead, Landon’s obituary says he spent his last moments on earth trying to save his younger sister.

The two had been ‘polar opposites,’ but shared a loving nature and a sharp sense of humor, Schneider said at a candlelight vigil for the victims of the family massacre.

‘In their last moments, they showed unbelievable amounts of bravery,’ she said, according to the US Sun.

Charlotte had even called 911 when Smith began shooting at the family dinner.

Gunshots could still be heard in the background of the call. Within just three minutes, the house was set on fire, Interim Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O’Donnell has said. 

For her bravery that night, Charlotte will posthumously receive the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation’s National Heroism Award. 

The organization also hopes to plant a living memorial tree in a national forest in Charlotte’s honor, as the foundation’s founder, Daniel Chapin, lauded the pre-teen for demonstrating ‘courage that deserves to be remembered.’

Those who knew Charlotte have also described her as a ‘bright, quirky, intuitive soul who became fiercely independent and curious as she grew older.’

‘Charlotte’s genuine curiosity about the world was unlimited and she was unapologetically herself,’ her obituary reads. 

‘She asked questions thoughtfully and fearlessly, and stood firm in her beliefs while also remaining selfless and incredibly sensitive to the needs of those around her.’ 

It goes on to describe how she had a special love for animals and insects – particularly cows and bugs – as well as her dogs, Macy and Ingrid.

Charlotte also threw herself into everything she did – from crocheting, painting and diamond art to paddle boarding and playing the violin. She also dabbled in soccer, gymnastics, dance, Ninja Warrior and jiu jitsu and had been planning to start wrestling like her brother. 

But she had spent much of the summer bonding with her dad, Adam Ghekiere, over video games and golf – driving him around the course. 

The two served as role models for their younger step-siblings, Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, seven, who were also killed in the family massacre.

Owen had looked up to Landon, with Adam previously saying his stepson started playing trumpet after watching Landon do the same.

Owen was also remembered as a child who loved books, LEGOs and gaming with his friends.

‘He loved to try new things at least once,’ Adam had said of his stepson. ‘He loved reading. That kid would sit down and just read to the point where I’d be like “Dude, it’s 10.30 on a school night.”

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‘He loved everyone,’ Adam continued. ‘He loved his friends, he loved gaming with his friends.’ 

Young Chloe also loved to have an older sister, an online fundraiser to support the family has said. 

She was remembered as a little girl who loved playing dress up, with Adam describing how she would wear winter clothes in the summer or a summer outfit during the colder months simply because it was what she wanted to wear.

The young girl was the apple of her mother, Megan’s, eye, Adam noted. 

Meanwhile, Megan was remembered in her own obituary as ‘the kind of person who left a lasting impression on everyone she met.

‘Being a mother was Megan’s calling in life,’ it said. ‘She was a wonderful mom who found the perfect balance between being fun, loving and a guiding presence for her children.

‘Owen and Chloe were the center of her world and she loved them with everything she had.’ 

‘Megan was one of the most kindhearted, genuine and loving people you could ever meet,’ the obituary continued. ‘She had a way of making people feel loved and accepted simply by being herself.’

‘She also had a special appreciation for the little things that made her smile – baseball hats, beautiful butterflies, coffee mugs and enjoying a good beer.’

Megan had divorced her ex, Brad Ireland, six years ago, after which she moved to Montana with their children.

That is where she met Adam, and the couple tied the knot last year. 

Megan’s parents, Barbara ‘Barb’ Smith, 72, and father, Dana Smith, 73, soon decided to follow their daughter, buying the house in Billings near her home while her grandmother, Evelyn, lived in a nearby retirement community.

Alan then followed his parents to Billings after they moved to Montana from Seattle. Public records show the family has been in the state since 2020. 

There, ‘he was like a hermit,’ Adam previously told the US Sun. ‘It got to the point where his mom didn’t enjoy living in her own house with how he was acting towards them.’

The parents finally kicked Alan out of the house a few weeks ago, Ghekiere said, and they had thought he was staying with another family member out of town.

‘So up until last week, we thought he was out of state because he said, “You know, I’m gonna go somewhere warmer.’ 

But when the family had their weekly dinner at his parents’ house on Sunday, police say he barged in at around 5.49pm.

About 11 minutes later, neighbors said they heard what they thought were fireworks, and at 6.02pm dispatchers received a call from what they described as a ‘female’ voice inside the house. 

When officers arrived on scene just 10 minutes later, they found the residence already ‘fully engulfed’ in flames, Billings police said. They also heard gunfire coming from inside the home.

Officers quickly spotted Alan outside in the back of the burning house and at around 6.13pm, a deputy ‘heard a final shot, which was broken away from the rest of the shots,’ Sheriff O’Donnell said.

His children were not even supposed to be at the Smith’s house that night, Ghekiere said, noting that the family normally had their get-togethers on Friday nights – but decided to postpone it to Sunday due to his work schedule and one of the children’s scheduled sleepovers.

‘I don’t think he expected my kids to be there,’ the grieving father said of his brother-in-law, whom he branded as a ‘monster.’

Brad Ireland, who is grieving the heartbreaking loss of his 13-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter, has also claimed that there were warning signs of Alan’s troubles.

‘There were many red flags and many people spoke out,’ Brad told the New York Post. ‘No one listened.’

Alan lived at home with his parents but spent his days holed up alone in his room on the computer, Brad said. 

‘No one knew what he did in there 24/7,’ he said, adding that Alan had been unable to hold down a job despite getting a degree from Eastern Washington University.

He had also been verbally abusive, Brad claimed, though he said to his knowledge Alan had never been violent, and records show Alan had no previous arrests and was never previously charged with any other crime.

CHICAGO (WLS) — A town hall on Chicago’s Near West Side brought fresh urgency to demands that two closed hospitals be brought back online, even as their fate remains entangled in a continuing court battle.

The gathering at Malcolm X College drew advocates, former hospital workers, patients and neighborhood residents, all calling for the reopening of West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown.

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Speakers said the hospital closures have left patients with fewer options and placed added strain on nearby health care providers already working to meet demand.

“Nobody is saying anything about the patients. Nobody cares where the patients are going. They think, oh we haven’t heard anything, that the patients have all been reallocated,” said Sylvia Williams, who worked at West Suburban Medical Center for 20 years.

Willie Williams, also a longtime former West Suburban employee, said hospitals in surrounding communities are now struggling to take in patients who once relied on the closed facilities.

“A lot of the surrounding hospitals, they don’t have the nurses,” Williams said. “They don’t have enough people in the emergency rooms to take care of the overflow of the people that are coming in.”

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