In a deeply tragic incident that unfolded more than two years ago in California, a mother’s life was cut short while her 4-year-old son was a witness. The father, who prosecutors identified as the murderer, is now facing a lengthy prison sentence.

Jeffery Kendall, aged 39, received a sentence on Monday of 50 years to life for the murder of Brittany Elizabeth Ligdis, who was 30 years old at the time. This crime took place just 10 days after she ended their relationship, as stated by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

Kendall was found guilty of first-degree murder and child endangerment by a jury in May. The charges stemmed from endangering their young son, placing him in a dangerous and traumatic situation.

According to prosecutors, on the morning of February 16, 2024, Ligdis made a frantic 911 call. In the call, she reported that Kendall had forcibly entered her home in Pinole while she and her young son were hiding in the laundry room.

About 90 seconds into the call, Kendall entered the room.

“Let go of me,” Ligdis pleaded, according to the district attorney’s office. “You’re scaring him.”

Moments later, she screamed, “Stop it,” before Kendall shot her in the head, prosecutors said.

The couple’s son cried out, “Momma,” and fled the room while Kendall ran from the home. Responding officers found Ligdis dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Deputy District Attorney Tylyn Wells described the killing as “an execution in front of a 4-year-old child” and argued it was not the result of “a mental break,” according to the district attorney’s office.

Instead, Wells said the murder reflected a pattern often seen in domestic violence cases, where the danger escalates after a victim decides to leave.

Wells asked the court to impose a sentencing enhancement that increased Kendall’s punishment to 50 years to life.

Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Glenn Kim called the case “one of the most difficult” he had experienced before imposing two consecutive terms of 25 years to life.

Kim also barred Kendall from contacting his son, with limited exceptions subject to court approval, until November 2035, when the boy turns 16.

Separately, Judge Kim convicted Kendall of illegally possessing a 3D-printed semi-automatic pistol and determined that multiple factors supported a harsher sentence.

One year after Brittany Ligdis’ death, her mother shared an emotional video urging family and friends to remember her daughter’s life rather than the violence that ended it.

“I want this to be a day to remember Brittany, to memorialize her, the amazing person she was,” she said. “Think of her — all the things we miss about her, her kiss, her hug. I’ll miss everything myself. I will love her forever.”

Kendall remains in county jail awaiting transfer to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The Pinole Police Department told News Media it had no comment on Kendall’s sentencing.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to News Media’s request for additional comment.

The New York Islanders made significant moves within their front office Monday, elevating their leadership team and cementing their affiliate’s future. Evan Gold has been appointed as the new assistant general manager and will assume responsibilities as the general manager of their AHL affiliate in Hamilton, according to the team’s announcement.

Gold, who brings a wealth of experience from a 12-year tenure with the Boston Bruins, described his new role with the Islanders as “an honor.” He steps into the shoes of Chris Lamoriello, the former GM of the AHL Hamilton. While Lamoriello’s legacy lives on, he remains in a key role as one of the assistant general managers under Mathieu Darche, alongside Ryan Bowness, Steve Pellegrini, and now, Gold.

One of Gold’s immediate challenges is to spearhead the transition of the AHL team, which is relocating from Bridgeport to Hamilton. Under the guidance of newly appointed head coach Jay McKee, Gold’s aim will be to build upon the team’s recent success, as they secured their spot in the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season.

In a release, Mathieu Darche praised Gold’s impressive credentials: “Evan brings a rare combination of experience, intelligence, and results to our Hockey Operations department. Over the past several years, he has excelled in nearly every facet of building a successful franchise at the NHL and AHL levels—from contract negotiations and cap management to leading the Providence Bruins to the best record in the AHL this past season.”

Gold’s robust background included significant roles in hockey operations with the Washington Capitals before assuming the assistant GM position with the Bruins during the 2019-20 season. Most recently, he served as the GM of the AHL Providence, a role he held for three seasons, further rounding out his extensive experience in building winning teams.

The Bruins’ affiliate made the playoffs in each of those three campaigns and collected 110 points in 2025-26. He’d also served as the Bruins’ director of legal affairs since 2015.

Bryan Kohberger, who was convicted for the chilling murder of four Idaho college students, has secured a public defender to help revoke his guilty plea.

At 31, Kohberger has made headlines by seeking to change his plea just a year after making a deal with prosecutors that landed him with four life terms plus an additional decade behind bars.

Back in July of last year, Kohberger confessed to the November 2022 slayings of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both aged 21, along with Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20.

Despite his earlier admission, Kohberger recently told the New York Times that he maintains an ‘absolute claim of innocence.’

Kohberger expressed to the publication, ‘The truth of my innocence shines bright, and the plea I entered was cloaked in misleading assurances and blatant falsehoods. It must be undone.’

The killer was appointed taxpayer-funded attorney Greg Rauch, of Moscow, Idaho, on Monday morning, after claiming in a July 27 handwritten petition to the court that he had been ‘convinced to falsely confess’ by his former defense team.

He claimed that the team, composed of attorneys Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth and Bicka Barlow, did not tell him about an ‘exculpatory discovery’ of a hair found at the crime scene that was ruled not to be Kohberger’s through physical analysis.

Kohberger’s new lawyer, Rauch, told Fox News Digital on Monday afternoon that he had not yet spoken to his client, read the petition or reviewed the case file. 

Rauch added that he expects to speak to Kohberger over the phone in the near future and that he will then visit the convicted killer in person at the J-Block unit of the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador called Kohberger’s U-turn ‘deeply painful’ for the victims’ families and said he was standing by them.

In 2022, Kohberger acknowledged he committed the ‘willful, unlawful, deliberate’ murder of the victims ‘with premeditation and with malice aforethought,’ but his plea did not require him to provide a narrative or say why he did it.

In exchange for Kohberger’s initial guilty plea and waiving his right to appeal, prosecutors agreed not to seek his execution. Both sides recommended that he serve four consecutive life sentences without parole.

Although he waived his right to appeal the case, Kohberger was still able to file a petition for post-conviction relief, which if successful would revoke the guilty plea and allow his case to go to trial. 

If that happens, the death penalty would once again be on the table for Kohberger. 

A spokesperson for the Goncalves family called Kohberger ‘the mosquito you just can’t seem to swat,’ and suggested he now wants more attention.

The spokesperson added: ‘(Kohberger) appeared in court for a hearing before a judge, accompanied by his four lawyers. He chose not to leave his fate – or the facts of the case – to a jury.

‘He never cried foul, never claimed he was uninformed or pressured… He admitted his guilt.’

Mogen, Kernodle, Goncalves and Chapin were found stabbed to death on November 13, 2022, in a rented off-campus house in the small, rural town of Moscow.

Prosecutors say that Kohberger, a graduate student in criminology at nearby Washington State University, snuck into the home wearing a mask and brutally murdered the students.

He was arrested in Pennsylvania, where his parents lived, roughly six weeks later.  

A Q-tip from the garbage at his parents’ house and genetic genealogy were used to match Kohberger’s DNA to material recovered from a knife sheath found at the home, investigators said.

They also used surveillance camera footage to help locate a white sedan that was seen repeatedly driving past the home on the night of the killings.

It’s unclear why Kohberger killed the four students and spared two roommates who were home at the time.

Investigators also never found a connection between Kohberger, the four victims or the two surviving roommates.

Judge Steven Hippler suggested in court that he too wanted to know why Kohberger did it, but he cautioned against continuing to wonder.

‘By continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr Kohberger relevance, we give him agency and we give him power,’ the judge said at the defendant’s sentencing.

‘The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent upon the defendant to provide us with a reason, and that gives him the spotlight, the attention and the power he appears to crave.’ 

On Monday, the Justice Department took steps to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed by individuals involved in the January 6 incident. The lawsuit, submitted under the Federal Tort Claims Act, claims to have been hampered due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, according to the department.

The Justice Department argued that the lawsuit couldn’t proceed because the defendants failed to submit the administrative claim within the legally required timeframe. “All the claims in the Complaint are ‘forever barred’ due to the failure to timely file the administrative claim with the agency,” the filing stated.

The plaintiffs, who referred to injuries sustained on January 6, 2021, attributed these injuries to “excessive police force.” However, the Justice Department highlighted deficiencies in the plaintiffs’ submissions, noting that they were “only partially completed” and missing signatures and necessary documentation.

Under the guidelines of the FTCA, claimants have a maximum of two years to initiate a lawsuit, alongside other specific deadlines necessary to bring a case against the federal government. The department underlined that the alleged incidents occurred on January 6, 2021, which entitled the plaintiffs to file a claim only by January 6, 2023.

Further complicating the plaintiffs’ case, the Justice Department noted that the “earliest claim of the Named Plaintiffs was dated July 29, 2025,” which exceeds the two-year limitation period established under the FTCA.

The department argued that the plaintiffs “knew that they were injured and knew who injured them, but they instead chose to wait until well past the deadline to file the claims.” 

On Sunday evening, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order rescinding a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that was meant to compensate allies of President Trump. The order, however, does not include language that would bar government restitution or payouts to convicted Jan. 6 rioters. 

A former Justice Department lawyer said Blanche’s unilateral rescission of the “anti-weaponization” fund has no legal effect and doesn’t prevent the fund from being revived in the future.