The US stories everyone was talking about in 2024

On March 26, a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, collapsing the bridge and killing six construction workers who were filling potholes on the span. Two workers survived.

NEW YORK — An NTSB preliminary report found that, before the flight, four bolts designed to prevent the door plug from falling off the plane were missing.

In October, the operators of the vessel that destroyed the bridge agreed to pay nearly $102 million for costs stemming from the federal response.

A judge dismissed Alec Baldwin's "Rust" case in July, on day three of his involuntary manslaughter trial for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Meanwhile, "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March. She was found not guilty of tampering with evidence.

Five people were charged in August 2024 in connection with last year's ketamine death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry.

Chavez has pleaded guilty and faces up to 10 years in prison.

A 14-year-old student, Colt Gray, is accused of opening fire at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Sept. 4, killing two students and two teachers and injuring several others.

The suspect's father, Colin Gray, is also facing charges for allegedly knowingly allowing his son to possess the weapon used in the shooting, according to the GBI.

Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested in New York City in September and charged with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.

The notorious Menendez brothers case came back into the spotlight this year when Netflix released a scripted series and a documentary, both of which added momentum to Erik and Lyle Menendez's push to be released from prison.

The brothers -- who were convicted in the 1990s for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez -- have three possible paths to freedom.

One path is through resentencing. The Los Angeles County district attorney announced in October that he was recommending the brothers' sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, with the new sentence, they would be eligible for parole immediately.

The third path is the brothers' request for clemency, which they've submitted to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In November, Delphi, Indiana, resident Richard Allen was found guilty in the murders of two teenage girls, Abby Williams and Libby German, who were killed on a local hiking trail in 2017.

A major focus of Allen's trial was his multiple confessions in jail to corrections officers, a psychologist and his wife. The defense argued Allen was in a psychotic state when he made the numerous confessions.

Allen was sentenced on Dec. 20 to 130 years in prison.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 while he was on his way to an investors conference.

The slaying also sparked a massive manhunt for the masked gunman, with the NYPD releasing images of the suspect found via surveillance cameras.

On Dec. 9, suspect Luigi Mangione was apprehended after he was spotted at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, allegedly had a spiral notebook detailing plans about how to eventually kill the CEO, according to law enforcement officials.

Mangione is in custody in New York City where he's facing state and federal charges. The federal charges make him eligible for the death penalty.

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Clara McMichael and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.