South Carolina
Man gets life without parole for killing 5 while high on meth
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man who authorities said was high on methamphetamine and hadn’t slept for days when he killed five people inside a home frequented by drug users was sentenced to life without parole Friday after pleading guilty to their murders.
James Douglas Drayton, 28, admitted to the October 2022 killings in Spartanburg County in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty, Solicitor Barry Barnette said in a statement.
Drayton said he would not appeal, and the life sentences for five counts of murder don’t allow him to be released on parole, Barnette said.
Prosecutors didn’t give a motive for the killings. Drayton told investigators he was high and hadn’t slept for four days when he killed everyone in the home where he was staying, authorities said. All five men were shot at close range and some were still asleep as Drayton pulled the trigger, Barnette said.
“Wouldn’t have mattered to me if they were church members and never did any of that stuff, or they were heroin addicts. They were still somebody’s son, brother, friend, dad,” former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said at the time. “They are all a child of God — they didn’t deserve what they got.”
Drayton was arrested the next day after leading police on a chase in Burke County, Georgia, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) away from the Spartanburg County home. He was driving one of the victim’s cars and had the gun used in the deaths, authorities said.
Family members of the victims supported the plea deal and life sentence, and told Drayton in court how he ruined many lives, prosecutors said.
The five men killed were Thomas Wayne Ellis Anderson, 37; James Derrick Baldwin, 49; Mark Allan Hewitt, 59; Adam Daniel Morley, 32; and Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19, prosecutors said.
Utah
2 indicted on firearm charges in connection with shooting outside church
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted two men on firearms charges in connection with a shooting last month in a church parking lot in Salt Lake City that left two people dead and six more injured.
The indictment unsealed Friday charges 32-year-old Ryan Toutai with unlawful disposition of a firearm and 26-year-old Fineeva Maka with felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said.
Investigators used cellphone videos and photos and GPS ankle monitor evidence to tie the two men to a pistol recovered from the Jan. 7 shooting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Prosecutors allege the two men are gang members.
The violence took place in the back parking lot of a place of worship for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Investigators have said the shooting broke out from a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. All the victims were adults. No one has yet been charged in the actual killings.
The church mostly serves Tongan congregants, its website says. In the 1890s, LDS missionaries brought their faith to Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific. More than 25% of the U.S. Tongan population resides in Utah, the headquarters of the church.
Toutai and Maka are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. It wasn’t clear if they had attorneys and The Associated Press could not immediately reach them for comment. The federal public defender’s office also could not be reached.
Police previously arrested Toutai for a charge of felony obstruction of justice in the case. He was in jail on Saturday. A third man also was arrested on the same charge.
New York
Man who rammed car into Chabad headquarters charged with damaging religious property
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who drove his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City has been charged by federal prosecutors with intentionally damaging religious property.
Dan Sohail, 36, was set to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court for the Jan. 28 incident, which damaged the entrance of the revered Jewish site, but did not cause any injuries.
An attorney for Sohail did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
He was previously arrested by New York City police at the scene and charged with multiple hate crimes by state prosecutors.
He later told officials that he had recently learned he had Jewish heritage and had been invited to the headquarters that night to learn more about the religion’s traditions, according to the federal complaint unsealed Monday.
Several people close to him — including family members and Chabad rabbis — have said Sohail did not seem to harbor any hatred toward Jews, and confirmed that he had expressed interest in converting to the religion.
Weeks before the incident, he had attended a social gathering at the Chabad headquarters, where he was seen on video dancing with Orthodox men, according to police.
Sohail’s father told The Daily News that his son suffered from “mental problems,” but had “a very good friendship, relationship with the Jews.”
Sohail initially claimed that his “clunky boots” had slipped, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, according to police.
Federal prosecutors said he was seen removing several blockades and cleared snow away from a sidewalk before driving into the building at least five times.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison if the damage is found to have exceeded $5,000.
Jailed since his arrest, Sohail was temporary released Monday to the custody of the U.S. Marshals for his federal court appearance, online records show. His next hearing in the state case is March 31.
A spokesperson for Chabad did not respond to inquiries about the federal charges.
The crash occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming the leader of the Lubavitch movement and prompted immediate concern in the city. Schneerson died in 1994 but remains a revered figure globally.
There has been a near constant police presence around the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters for years.
The site was at the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, when Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade. In 2014, a disturbed man entered the synagogue and stabbed a rabbinical student, wounding him, before being shot dead by police.
Man gets life without parole for killing 5 while high on meth
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A man who authorities said was high on methamphetamine and hadn’t slept for days when he killed five people inside a home frequented by drug users was sentenced to life without parole Friday after pleading guilty to their murders.
James Douglas Drayton, 28, admitted to the October 2022 killings in Spartanburg County in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty, Solicitor Barry Barnette said in a statement.
Drayton said he would not appeal, and the life sentences for five counts of murder don’t allow him to be released on parole, Barnette said.
Prosecutors didn’t give a motive for the killings. Drayton told investigators he was high and hadn’t slept for four days when he killed everyone in the home where he was staying, authorities said. All five men were shot at close range and some were still asleep as Drayton pulled the trigger, Barnette said.
“Wouldn’t have mattered to me if they were church members and never did any of that stuff, or they were heroin addicts. They were still somebody’s son, brother, friend, dad,” former Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said at the time. “They are all a child of God — they didn’t deserve what they got.”
Drayton was arrested the next day after leading police on a chase in Burke County, Georgia, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) away from the Spartanburg County home. He was driving one of the victim’s cars and had the gun used in the deaths, authorities said.
Family members of the victims supported the plea deal and life sentence, and told Drayton in court how he ruined many lives, prosecutors said.
The five men killed were Thomas Wayne Ellis Anderson, 37; James Derrick Baldwin, 49; Mark Allan Hewitt, 59; Adam Daniel Morley, 32; and Roman Christean Megael Rocha, 19, prosecutors said.
Utah
2 indicted on firearm charges in connection with shooting outside church
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted two men on firearms charges in connection with a shooting last month in a church parking lot in Salt Lake City that left two people dead and six more injured.
The indictment unsealed Friday charges 32-year-old Ryan Toutai with unlawful disposition of a firearm and 26-year-old Fineeva Maka with felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said.
Investigators used cellphone videos and photos and GPS ankle monitor evidence to tie the two men to a pistol recovered from the Jan. 7 shooting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Prosecutors allege the two men are gang members.
The violence took place in the back parking lot of a place of worship for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Investigators have said the shooting broke out from a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. All the victims were adults. No one has yet been charged in the actual killings.
The church mostly serves Tongan congregants, its website says. In the 1890s, LDS missionaries brought their faith to Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific. More than 25% of the U.S. Tongan population resides in Utah, the headquarters of the church.
Toutai and Maka are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday. It wasn’t clear if they had attorneys and The Associated Press could not immediately reach them for comment. The federal public defender’s office also could not be reached.
Police previously arrested Toutai for a charge of felony obstruction of justice in the case. He was in jail on Saturday. A third man also was arrested on the same charge.
New York
Man who rammed car into Chabad headquarters charged with damaging religious property
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who drove his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City has been charged by federal prosecutors with intentionally damaging religious property.
Dan Sohail, 36, was set to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court for the Jan. 28 incident, which damaged the entrance of the revered Jewish site, but did not cause any injuries.
An attorney for Sohail did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
He was previously arrested by New York City police at the scene and charged with multiple hate crimes by state prosecutors.
He later told officials that he had recently learned he had Jewish heritage and had been invited to the headquarters that night to learn more about the religion’s traditions, according to the federal complaint unsealed Monday.
Several people close to him — including family members and Chabad rabbis — have said Sohail did not seem to harbor any hatred toward Jews, and confirmed that he had expressed interest in converting to the religion.
Weeks before the incident, he had attended a social gathering at the Chabad headquarters, where he was seen on video dancing with Orthodox men, according to police.
Sohail’s father told The Daily News that his son suffered from “mental problems,” but had “a very good friendship, relationship with the Jews.”
Sohail initially claimed that his “clunky boots” had slipped, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, according to police.
Federal prosecutors said he was seen removing several blockades and cleared snow away from a sidewalk before driving into the building at least five times.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison if the damage is found to have exceeded $5,000.
Jailed since his arrest, Sohail was temporary released Monday to the custody of the U.S. Marshals for his federal court appearance, online records show. His next hearing in the state case is March 31.
A spokesperson for Chabad did not respond to inquiries about the federal charges.
The crash occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming the leader of the Lubavitch movement and prompted immediate concern in the city. Schneerson died in 1994 but remains a revered figure globally.
There has been a near constant police presence around the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters for years.
The site was at the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, when Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade. In 2014, a disturbed man entered the synagogue and stabbed a rabbinical student, wounding him, before being shot dead by police.
