2025.2.12 2 Fayette County teens posed as girl to depict man as “pedophile” and assault him, police say
CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) — Two 18-year-olds from Fayette County are facing charges after police said they pretended to be a girl on social media so they could depict a man “as a pedophile” and assault him.
Cooper Sepkovic and David Whipkey of Connellsville are facing charges after police said they “planned, and later executed, the bullying of the victim” back in October.
According to court paperwork filed on Feb. 7, Sepkovic, Whipkey and a small group of friends created a fake profile, posing as a girl “with the intent to sexually seduce, meet with, and physically assault” the victim while trying to “depict him as a pedophile.” Police didn’t say how old the victim was.
Investigators said there was a Snapchat video of the group confronting the victim and trying to coerce him into fighting. Police said the victim refused to engage and tried to run back home on his bike.
The victim told police that the group got into their vehicles and followed him, swerving close to him several times, and he had to cut through the woods to get home.
Police said Sepkovic admitted to coming up with the idea, along with a juvenile, to harass the victim. Court paperwork says Whipkey “didn’t attend the incident directly,” but he had planned on being there and admitted to being part of the group messages leading up to it.
Charges against Sepkovic and Whipkey include recklessly endangering another person, harassment and disorderly conduct. Sepkovic is also charged with stalking.
Both have preliminary hearings scheduled for March 27, according to court documents.
2025.2.12 Woman nearly raped in Brooklyn Heights lobby by fake ICE agent in broad daylight
Cops say the suspect stole her chain, cellphone and purse before running off
Authorities are asking for the public’s help finding a man they say impersonated an Immigrations, Customs and Enforcement officer and robbed and tried to rape a woman in the lobby of a Brooklyn Heights building in the middle of the morning this week.
According to the NYPD, the 51-year-old woman was in a lobby near Montague and Henry streets shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday when a strange man walked up and forced her into a basement stairwell. Investigators say after the man falsely identified himself as a US immigration official, he asked for her identification and, as she looked for it, he punched her, then pulled her down a basement stairwell and tried to sexually assault her.
He stole her chain, cellphone and purse. The man then ran off toward Henry Street.
The woman suffered cuts to her face, along with scratches and bruising; she was taken to a hospital and is expected to be physically OK.
2025.2.12 Man in US illegally wanted for allegedly groping 7-year-old Texas girl on her way home from school
Houston police said Carlos Jose Ayala Morales has a lengthy criminal history and is being sought for his latest alleged offense
A man with a lengthy criminal history who was previously on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold is on the run after being accused of groping a 7-year-old Texas girl as she walked home from school.
Carlos Jose Ayala Morales, 43, has been charged with felony attempted indecency with a child, the Houston Police Department said. He is accused of grabbing the girl Jan. 27 while she was on her way home from her elementary school, Fox Houston reported.
The girl and her mother told the news outlet she was walking behind her older sister and a friend. They said the man ran up, groped her and ran away. The girl didn’t scream because she was in shock and told her older sister when they got home.
“A man came behind me, and he touched my private parts,” the girl told the station.
“I hope he’s caught and put away much longer, so he can’t hurt other children,” her mother said.
Morales has a lengthy criminal history. In 2017, he was charged with four counts of indecency with a child and evading arrest.
At the time, police believed Morales, who they called Ayala, was linked to “at least 10 sexual assault incidents in the northeast Houston and Harris County areas.”
Authorities were investigating a string of “sexual assaults of school-aged juvenile females, 7-15 years of age, as they traveled to and from school,” according to the news outlet.
“Ayala would come up behind the victims and inappropriately touch them through their clothing,” a police news release states.
In one incident, Ayala attempted to abduct one of the victims, a 7 year-old female, as she walked home from school with her 9-year-old brother,” police said.
“Reading that made me so scared, because that could have been [my child],” the victim’s mother said.
When he was arrested in 2017, ICE filed a detainer request for Morales, a Honduran citizen, which was lifted when he was convicted.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice told FOX 26 Ayala was transferred to prison to serve concurrent seven-year sentences for indecency with a child by exposure, three counts of indecency with a child, evading arrest, detention with a vehicle and burglary.
In February 2024, he was released into ICE custody.
Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE.
2025.2.12 CalArts student ID’ed as Newhall murder victim
(L.A.) Menghan Zhuang, 23, Died at a Residence
Case Number: 2025-02385
Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 23-year-old Asian female that occurred at her residence.
The coroner’s office has identified the young woman as Menghan Zhuang.
Manner of Death: Homicide
Cause of Death: Multiple Injuries
RIP MENGHAN ZHUANG (August 15, 2001 – February 4, 2025)
Formal pronouncement of death was made on Tuesday at 7:03 p.m.
The decedent’s name appears to be Chinese, possibly Taiwanese.
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2025.2.12 CalArts student ID’ed as Newhall murder victim
The L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified a California Institute of the Arts student as the woman found dead Feb. 4 in her Nandina Lane apartment in Newhall.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies found Menghan Zhuang deceased around 6:45 p.m. during a welfare check at her residence, according to an alert from the Sheriff’s Department that was sent out shortly after midnight on Feb. 5.
Homicide investigators also announced Wednesday a news conference would be held 11 a.m. Thursday at the SCV Sheriff’s Station, where they plan to release information about their person of interest in the woman’s death. There is one person sought in connection with the murder.
“Homicide Bureau is seeking the public’s help in identifying a person of interest described as a male seen entering the victim’s apartment the night before and then seen exiting from her second-story bedroom window on the afternoon of the day she was discovered deceased,” said an LASD Nixle alert released Wednesday afternoon.
Zhuang, whose preferred name was Emily King, was an undergraduate student in her fourth year at CalArts, Ann Wiens, vice president for marketing and communication for the Valencia university, confirmed via email Wednesday.
She said the campus’ community has been devastated by the news, and that dedicated grief counselors were available for students who might be struggling with what happened, in addition to CalArts’ regular mental health support.
“A memorial gathering for the campus community is being planned,” she wrote, adding that L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials also notified college officials that there was no evidence of a threat to the campus.
King’s cause of death was listed as “multiple injuries,” although there were no specifics given in the medical examiner’s initial online posting. There was no other contributing cause listed.
Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau officials confirmed she rented the apartment with a male roommate.
The roommate is not believed to be connected to the murder, according to Homicide Lt. Mike Modica.
Modica said no arrests had been made as of Friday, but the investigation was very active, and that no information was being released yet regarding any possible motive or means in the murder.
Neither Modica nor the Sheriff’s Information Bureau were immediately available for comment Wednesday.
Detectives could be seen at the residence throughout the night on Feb. 4 and most of the following day.
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