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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Affair Alleged in Daycare Murder; Why Did Baby Boy Die?

Aired March 14, 2011 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight explosive new evidence in the Atlanta daycare execution. It was already shocking to learn that the prime suspect was the boss of the murdered man`s wife. Now bombshell charges that the victim`s widow was having an affair with her husband`s alleged killer. The suspect wife is demanding authorities hand over all evidence of any affair. But the cops want to keep it secret. Why?

And a 4-month-old boy is found dead in his crib in Florida. In a horrifying twist, Child Services says it has a history with this mother, who was weeping uncontrollably soon after the baby`s death. Why in the world was this child left in conditions that were, quote, "unfavorable"? And what will happen to the other child they rescued?

Also a bloodbath in New Orleans. A gunman opens fire on a bar hosting a teen party, killing one and injuring four other children. Why was a bar throwing a party for underage kids who weren`t allowed to drink? Is our culture of violence declaring open season on kids?

Plus, children in peril. An American`s man chance encounter with trafficked children turns into a dramatic fight for survival. You`ll meet him tonight.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SNEIDERMAN, VICTIM`S BROTHER: My brother was murdered. No one should have to face that. Our family has been devastated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight bombshell accusations by the wife of an accused killer. Not only does she have to stomach the thought of her own husband allegedly executing another dad outside a Georgia daycare center. Now WSB-TV reports she says there`s proof her husband was having an affair with the murder victim`s wife. So why won`t prosecutors give her the evidence they`ve got?

Here`s the murder suspect: 48-year-old Hemy Neuman. There he is in the orange and the cuffs. He`s accused of gunning down a family friend, 36-year-old Rusty Sneiderman, last November in broad daylight outside of a daycare center. Sneiderman had just returned from walking his 2-year-old son to class when he was shot multiple times in the parking lot. Now that`s cold, to execute somebody when they are dropping off their kid at daycare center.

We`ve seen the court documents that say Hemy Neuman`s wife wants a divorce because she believes her husband was cheating on her. WSB-TV now reports that Neuman was allegedly cheating with the wife of the murder victim, Andrea Sneiderman. The district attorney`s office has reportedly acknowledged they have information that seems to point to a romantic relationship between these two, Hemy Neuman and the victim`s widow. But prosecutors refuse to hand over any proof. Why would they want to keep it secret?

These two families were incredibly intertwined even before Rusty Sneiderman`s death. They were friends. And the biggest connection: accused murderer Hemy Neuman was the boss of Andrea Sneiderman at G.E. Again, Andrea Sneiderman is the widow of the murder victim.

And guess who helped Andrea get that job? Reportedly, the murder suspect`s wife. Wow. That is enmeshment.

Even if Hemy and Andrea were having an affair -- and that`s not been proved -- it doesn`t mean she had anything to do with her husband`s death. But the big question tonight is: how much did she know and when did she know it?

Give me a call: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to WSB Radio reporter Jon Lewis.

Jon, talk about the six degrees of separation here and tell us what is the very latest.

JON LEWIS, REPORTER, WSB RADIO (via phone): Well, Jane, you know, as you said, it`s so intertwined that you couldn`t write a novel and have anyone believe it.

As you mentioned, Hemy Neuman was the boss of Andrea Sneiderman. They both worked as engineers for General Electric. Hemy Neuman`s wife was the one who got Andrea Sneiderman the job with General Electric. Rusty Sneiderman, who was an entrepreneur, his wife, Andrea, asked him to get Hemy Neuman a job. That maybe he knew somebody who can set him up with electronics.

So all four of these people were all intertwined. Now, whether they were friend or not, that`s a question we don`t know. We don`t know exactly how close a relationship Rusty Sneiderman, the murder victim, had with Hemy Neuman, the accused killer.

But we do know about Andrea Sneiderman, the widow of the murder victim, and Hemy Neuman. They took two trips together. Both were ostensibly business trips. One was to England, and one was to Colorado.

Now when they went to England, what we found is they not only went on a business trip, as they said, but they took a castle tour. They took in a show at the West End. They had gone out to dinner. So it was more than just the routine business meeting trip.

Then, when they returned to the United States two weeks later, Hemy Neuman moved out of his house. Now, whether he moved out on his own or his wife kicked him out, we don`t know. What we do know...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, go ahead.

LEWIS: We do know that Ariela Neuman, Hemy Neuman`s wife, has filed for separation, claiming infidelity, and the only witness she has asked to be interviewed, the only one she wants to be deposed is Andrea Sneiderman.

Now, if Andrea Sneiderman knew about Hemy Neuman`s affair with someone else, the only thing we can speculate is the infidelity was with her. So obviously, that is the connection, is that Hemy Neuman and Andrea Sneiderman were having an affair.

We also know they had been in communication by cell phone before the murder and immediately after the murder. So, again, as you said, there`s no proof that she had anything to do with the murder, no proof they even had an affair. But all of the circumstantial evidence is building up and building up and building up, and we do not know what the district attorney has in evidence. Hopefully, we`ll find that out at the preliminary hearing Hemy Neuman. That`s coming up in a couple of weeks.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way, we want to point out Andrea Sneiderman has been named a suspect or a person of interest. And we have attempted to reach her attorney without success, but the attorney or Andrea or both are invited on this show any time to weigh in on this case. We want to be fair.

Now, OK, cops say the suspect, Hemy Neuman, wasn`t very good at covering his tracks. Cops say the only reason Hemy`s name came up in the investigation is because her rented a vehicle like this one used in the shooting. And he used his real name. Not very smart.

Just two weeks before Rusty Sneiderman was gunned down, the suspect, Hemy Neuman, was at a shooting range, getting some target practice in. Once again, he used his own name on the signup sheet. Now Pat Brown, criminal profiler, how damaging is that evidence?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Pretty good, because we`re seeing all kinds of things leading up to the crime, the planning and the practice for the crime. It`s right there. This is very common among some of these guys. I think they`re so part they`re going to pull off a really clever crime when they would have been better off pulling off some kind of a sloppy crime. They wouldn`t be able to tell who`s into it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, here`s why -- I want to go to my big issue tonight, and that is essentially what did Andrea Sneiderman know and when did she know it?

Now let`s, again, say that she`s not a suspect or a person of interest in this case and for all I know she knew absolutely nothing. But I think it`s fair to ask at this point what did she know about Hemy Neuman and his alleged plans to kill her husband? Again, maybe absolutely nothing. But Hemy Neuman`s own attorney seems to think somebody else should be in custody. Listen to this. This is the attorney of the man charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS PETERS, HEMY NEUMAN`S ATTORNEY: Mr. Neuman is not a risk to flee. We do believe there`s someone else the police should be looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. We want to stress: Andrea Sneiderman has not been named a suspect or a person of interest in her husband`s murder. But hypothetically speaking, there could be multiple scenarios.

I guess it boils down -- and I got to get back to Pat Brown on this one -- it boils down, I guess, to how proactive she was after her husband was murdered, because you would have to think that she would be -- feel absolutely betrayed. And she did issue a statement which we`ll read in a second.

But what did she do? Did she go to law enforcement and give them everything she knows, even if it was embarrassing, upon hearing that her husband had been executed?

BROWN: Right. It depends whether she was aiding and abetting this crime or whether she was helping to cover it up afterwards. So how much of a participation -- how full it was. That is the question.

So they`re going to see how much she cooperates and how much she really had her fingers into this rather than he just saying, "She made me do it." That`s not enough. If she really did help him do it, that`s another matter all together.

Kimberly, California, your question or thought, ma`am.

CALLER: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: My question is, I wanted to know how long did it take the police or the suspect`s wife to find out that the suspect was messing with the wife of the victim?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon Lewis, give us a quick one on that.

LEWIS: Well, they found out relatively quickly because they checked cell-phone records. They just have to figure out -- and they still have to figure out the nature of those calls because, again, these people did have a business relationship. He was her supervisor. Now, perhaps he called her because he was concerned, after finding out her husband was murdered, whatever the scenario is.

It just comes down to police did their normal routine and normal checking. And when they found out the two of them were connected, the two of them had gone off on trips, then they started saying, you know what? Maybe there`s more of a connection here. Let`s look into it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`re just getting started. More on this possible -- well, we`ll call the daycare execution. We`re also taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

And coming up later, one man`s chance encounter with -- well, he thought they were orphans, but it turns out they were trafficked. An unbelievable story. You`ll hear it first-hand.

But first the daycare murder suspect`s wife demanding to see exactly what the D.A. has on her husband and his affairs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BILLY GROGAN, DUNWOODY, GEORGIA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: This case appears to be a cold and calculated murder. Does not appear to be a random in nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GROGAN: This case appears to be a cold and calculated murder. Does not appear to be a random in nature. The victim was shot multiple times at what appears to be point blank range.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The plot thickens in the murder of a man outside a Georgia daycare center. WSB-TV reporting the suspect`s wife believes her husband was having an affair with the murdered victim`s wife. They both worked together. The D.A.`s office reportedly has information that allegedly, according to WSB, confirms a romantic relationship between Neuman and the victim`s widow, but they are refusing to hand over this alleged proof. Why?

Carol, New York, your question or thought, ma`am.

CALLER: Hi, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.

CALLER: I was just wondering. It`s such a waste of life. If they`re going to have an affair, why not just walk away and do it? Like hell. It`s such a waste.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I want to go James Valbrun, and he is a very well-known attorney who represented the woman accused of stalking movie and TV producer Tyler Perry.

Affairs of the heart are very rarely rational. Isn`t that true, James?

JAMES VALBRUN, ATTORNEY: This is true. But what we don`t have here, I think he`s still in good shape. Thankfully, our criminal justice system says that everybody is innocent until proven guilty. We still haven`t found him at the murder scene. We still haven`t found a murder weapon in this case. We don`t have a motive, unless this thing is true about the love affair. It still hasn`t been established yet.

So I think this guy is still in good shape. And the most important thing, as I said, we have to reach the highest burden here, which is beyond a reasonable doubt. And I don`t think all these circumstantial evidence here reaches that just yet.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me just say this. His attorney, the guy in orange, his attorney is invited on the show any time, as well.

But here`s some -- here`s some -- I know Pat Brown is laughing. I`ll get to her in a second. Here`s some more evidence. The search warrant says Hemy, the suspect, rented a gray Kia Sedona minivan the day before the shooting. He allegedly drove it to work early the next morning, left his office before the murder, and returned a short time later.

Surveillance video shows the minivan speeding away from the scene. Investigators tracked down the van and found synthetic hair inside. They think it`s from the fake beard that Hemy was wearing when he allegedly killed Rusty.

OK. So very briefly, Pat, that`s pretty good evidence.

BROWN: It`s extremely good evidence. And unless the lawyer can find some shady stuff in the victim`s background, like he had massive gambling debts or he was involved in the mob or something, we`re talking about a targeted man. Why would this man be targeted? By whom? And here we have all this circumstantial evidence linking him to a guy who has good reason to target him, if he`s running around with his wife. So I say maybe there`s not yet enough yet to take that man down, but my guess is it`s not going to be very long.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now this is for Dr. Dale Archer, psychiatrist. Analyze this, sir. There`s a trail of evidence that shows Hemy and Andrea spent a whole lot of time together outside the office where they both worked at G.E. One of their itineraries in Europe reportedly included a castle tour, a dinner cruise and a musical.

A few weeks ago, Andrea made the first public statement, however, about her husband Rusty`s murder. "I was thankful and relieved when the police made an arrest. But I was shocked to learn that the man charged with the murder was my former boss, a person who we thought was a friend of our family. I have been assured by the D.A. that Mr. Neuman is Rusty`s killer."

So what do you make of it, Dr. Dale?

DR. DALE ARCHER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, I think first of all, you have to understand that this is a normal murder. I think most people think that murderers are serial criminals, or they`re psychological misfits, or maybe they`re hardened criminals. That`s not the case. The average killer is the guy next door, where family and friends go, "Oh, they would never do anything like that."

Not only that, if you look at it, men are ten times more likely to commit murder than women. The motives: money, love, revenge and power. This is probably about love.

And one other interesting stat is that a study showed that over 90 percent of men and over 80 percent of women had a fantasy about killing another human being. And when asked why they didn`t do it, it was all because, "Oh, I would get caught and have to go jail."

So I think that in this particular case, the line between fantasy and reality is very, very fine. And all the evidence, in my mind, really points to someone that knows both people well, and he`s the guy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I got to say this. Rusty`s brother got very emotional talking about Rusty and his widow after the shooting. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNEIDERMAN: My sister-in-law has had an entire lifetime of dreams ripped from her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, considering these new allegations of infidelity, has Rusty Sneiderman`s side of the family weighed in at all? Jon Lewis, WSB?

LEWIS: Not at all. We`ve heard nothing from them. And we don`t exactly know what their position is. They pretty much said, "We`re going to let the law enforcement, let the justice system take its course."

And, you know, the district attorney had this case, and they have not said anything. The district attorney here in Dekalb county, Robert James, has been so tight-lipped he wouldn`t even acknowledge any of the information that we`ve talked about this evening without phone calls and the like. They are playing it very, very close to the vest. Holding off - - they even foretold having an indictment against him, taking it to the grand jury, and they`re just going for a preliminary hearing, which again is...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I see it as two separate issues. One is were they having an affair, as the suspect`s estranged wife claims; and the other is, did she know anything about this guy`s alleged murderous intentions?

Doctor Dale, I would think the key would be exactly how she behaved after her husband was shot.

ARCHER: It would be the key how she behaved. However, I will tell you that statistically here, the man typically acts alone. So if we`re basing it just on past history of other cases, then she probably did not know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and then if so, she`s a victim, as well...

ARCHER: Correct.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... of this horror.

I want to thank you, fantastic panel.

Up next, a wild story: a gunman opens fire on a teenage party at a bar in New Orleans. What were children -- and I mean children -- doing in a bar? Were they drinking? What sparked this wild bloodbath? We`re going to talk to a woman who was there and who is outraged.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JHANINE JORDAN, SAYS SHE FOUND HER SON DEAD: My little baby. Everybody loved him. He was so happy all the time. Now I don`t have him any more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, the Florida parents of a precious 4-month- old baby boy say heir son was dead in his crib when they found him Saturday morning. Listen to his 28-year-old mother describe her horrific discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN: I put him in the crib, and when I woke up the next morning, he was like -- his hands were like this. They stuck. And I put him on the bed and I tried giving him CPR, and I don`t even know how to do CPR. And I would hear his breath go like he was going -- and then we went to the hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We want to feel compassion for that mother`s loss of child, but there`s more to the story. Cops say they found the family`s home in, quote, "deplorable condition." And the Department of Children and Families took the baby`s 3-year-old sibling out of that house.

But certainly, among the most tragic aspects of this case, this family, the woman you saw crying there a second ago, has a history with the Department of Children and Families. So did they drop the ball again?

Pat Brown, criminal profiler, do you buy this mother`s anguish and her tears or not?

BROWN: It sounds pretty good. But the question is what is she having the anguish and tears over? Is it what she`s done wrong or is it because she really doesn`t know what happened? I think that`s what we`re going to find out in the pattern of behavior, if there`s been any kind of abuse of the children, anything going on that would have caused that child to die of any other circumstances other than natural.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, cops as you just heard, say the home was in deplorable condition. But these two that are here crying on the stoop have an explanation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY CORREA, BOY DIED AFTER ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL: We were throwing stuff around.

JORDAN: There was kids breaking up the Styrofoam.

CORREA: We couldn`t find the keys. And that`s how the crib got in the stuff. We emptied the baby bag inside the crib. We picked up the matches, everything that was on top of the sheet. Then we threw the sheet up in the air looking for the keys so we could get to the hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Turns out Mom and Dad both have -- you guessed it -- rap sheets. Dad has been arrested for resisting arrest, burglary and grand theft. Mom has been arrested for battery and was evicted from another place she used to live.

Pat Brown, no charges yet in this case. Could these charges be coming? How do authorities figure out what the heck was going on in that house that caused that little baby to die?

BROWN: Well, first they`ve got to come up with a cause of death. They can`t go any place like that. I mean, deplorable conditions, awful though they may be, may have nothing to do with how the child died. Now on the other hand, if they find out that the child was suffocated by junk being put on top of the child or what the parents did, some kind of abuse to it, or pushed a pillow over its face, then it becomes a whole different story. So they`ve got to find out what caused that child`s death.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And in a case like this, I`m not saying they were drinking or doing drugs, but I think in every case like this, there should be a drug and alcohol test done on the families to find out whether or not alcohol and drugs played a role, because usually, that`s a factor in it when a little baby dies. And I`m not saying that`s the case here. But I do have that as a call to action with all of these stories.

We`re going stay on top of this and find out what happened to that precious child. Thank you, Pat.

On the other side of the break, a bar hosting a teenage party is shut down with gunfire, lots of it. What were underage kids doing in a bar. Were they drinking? We`re going to talk to a furious neighbor next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A bloodbath in New Orleans: a gunman opens fire on a bar hosting a teen part killing one and injuring four children. Why was a bar throwing a party for underage kids who weren`t allowed to drink? Is our culture of violence declaring open season on kids?

Plus children in peril: an American man`s chance encounter with trafficked children turns into a dramatic fight for survival. You`ll meet him tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just waking up and I hear three shots. That`s when I went to my window and I seen kids running this way, that way, every way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight breaking news a New Orleans neighborhood in turmoil as cops hunt for the gunman who shot five teenagers. Five teenagers shot while they were hanging out in a local bar. The cold- blooded shooter killed an 18-year-old when he hit the teen in the head, neck and chest. He also put four, much younger teenagers in the hospital. We`re not naming them because they are minors. But a 16-year-old girl is in critical condition as we speak.

What were these underage kids, one of whom is only 14 years old doing in a bar on a Saturday night in the first place? Cops say the victims were at a teen party here at the B&L Restaurant and Lounge when the shooter burst in around midnight and opened fire. ISSUES reached out to the owners of that bar; did not hear back before deadline.

We also reached out to cops to find out whether the bar owners would be charged with any kind of violation. In Louisiana you`re allowed into bars at age 18 but you still have to be 21 to purchase or drink booze. So was booze being served that night? Were these kids carded? Were any of the teens tested for alcohol or drugs after the shooting?

Cops gave us nothing, zero other than the fact that they are investigating and that an 18-year-old is dead and that 18-year-old happens to have a criminal record.

Well, guess what? That`s not good enough for me and one very outspoken community activist agrees with me. Joining me now, Tamara Jackson from the organization Silence is Violence -- and I love that, Silence I Violence.

Tamara, are you as outraged over this as I, and why -- why are you so upset?

TAMARA JACKSON, SILENCE IS VIOLENCE: We`re extremely outraged because this has been ongoing in the city of New Orleans. The increase in crime with our young adults is astounding. It`s really horrible that we constantly meet with families that lost their loved ones and they are underage.

Unfortunately, we`re finding it hard to believe that a restaurant and bar would be hosting a party for teenagers at that time of the night and why were the teenagers there. We were not able to contact the owner; the owner has not responded us.

And as you know we contacted NOPD and an investigation is ongoing. But we did reach out and the church in that community, Abundant Life Tabernacle, reached out to us.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you this.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s the most upsetting fact to you? To me, it`s that a 14-year-old is in a bar on a Saturday night. Why is a 14-year-old in a bar on a Saturday night? Why does the bar let them in? I don`t care if it`s a private party. Ok. And where are the parents? Were these kids supervised? I mean --

JACKSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I would under it if it like a birthday party and there`s a bunch of parents there watching the teenagers and they are making sure that there`s no alcohol involved. I don`t have any of this information, though that any of that happened. All I know is that somebody burst in and gunned down a bunch of teenagers and an 18-year-old is dead and a 14-year-old was shot and a 16-year-old girl is in critical condition. That`s outrageous.

Now let me say this. Cops say they are still hunting for the shooter as they investigate motive. But we don`t know how they`re going to find this guy. I mean we`re talking about New Orleans. It`s a city -- I was just down there recently drinking and partying occurs outdoors. I saw it myself. I love it.

New Orleans is a great place. Don`t get me wrong. It`s one of the most colorful, fascinating places in America. But there clearly is drinking out on the streets. You can get a to-go cup and you could be out with alcohol outside.

Now, we asked cops to give us a sketch or a description of the suspect. We did not get anything. Leslie Snadowsky, investigative journalist, you`ve been on top of this; what do you know?

LESLIE SNADOWSKY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Jane, I`ll tell you it`s a shooting spree that has all of New Orleans talking. Five teenagers as you said were shot last Saturday night at about 11:15 at this bar located in the Ninth Ward. And for those of you who know the French Quarter it`s about a 15-minute drive away from the French Quarter.

According to police, there`s teenage party going on at the B & K Restaurant. Multiple teenagers were in attendance. And it wasn`t a fancy party. Police say they were in jeans. At this point they hadn`t even confirmed if any parents or adult chaperones were there except for the owner of the bar. But the CIO on the case Shereese Harper said that no alcohol was being served. I know that was a big concern to a lot of people in New Orleans and obviously --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait, wait, I`m trying to -- what did you say there? Did you say no alcohol was being served to the teenagers?

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And where did you get that from. Speak up. You`re on Skype, you got to speak up. No alcohol being served?

SNADOWSKY: That`s what police are saying.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Cops are saying there was no alcohol being served to the underage kids who were at the party.

SNADOWSKY: That is correct. That`s what they are saying now. As you know from the ages of the victims, I mean there were some young kids there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Ok.

Now, here`s more of criticism about what happened at this bar. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: Alcoholic beverage outlet with teenagers assembled there at that time of night; that`s a problem. Even if they were not drinking they shouldn`t have been there at that age, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. It an interesting point. But I think it`s important to verify for sure whether these underage teens were drinking or not. And that`s my call to action, ok.

Any time you have a case like this cops should do a blood test. If nothing else it will get them some more information. Now these kids were hospitalized so presumably they are not just taking the word of the kids that they weren`t drinking or the word of the bar owners but they are actually doing a blood test on these kids to determine whether they were drinking or not.

Because I`ll tell you what, James Valbrun, I`m a recovering alcoholic with 16 years of sobriety in April. Knock on wood I`ll get to April.

I was a teenager and I drank as a teenager and I lied about it all the time. It`s not something I`m proud to admit. But, yes, teenagers drink and they lie about it and they say, "Oh, no I wasn`t drinking."

So, how are cops so very sure that the kids weren`t drinking, James?

JAMES VALBRUN, ATTORNEY: Well, I don`t think there`s a true way for them to prove it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, there is -- a blood test.

VALBRUN: Well, I think it`s a breach of their privacy rights to go in there and take the blood and do a blood test especially if they`re not driving. I know Georgia and other states have laws that if you are driving you imply consent to taking a blood test if you`re in the hospital or something like.

But in a case like this where they just happen to be in the hospital after getting hurt you can`t just use that information, just extract that information from them. I wish there was some more --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s a good point.

VALBRUN: I wish there was some more criminal liability that could be placed on the bar own for this recklessly leading to these homicides but it`s more a case for civil case wrongful death in the civil arena, unfortunately.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. They didn`t shoot anybody. The bar owner had a party. And we still don`t know for sure whether this was party was ok, legally and morally or not.

VALBRUN: That`s true.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean if there were a bunch of parents there -- yes, sometimes parents do have parties in a public gathering, but it`s highly monitored. We still don`t have all the answers.

Peter, Wisconsin, your questions or thought sir.

PETER, WISCONSIN (via telephone): Well, considering the fact that, yes, this was taking place in the restaurant portion at the bar, it doesn`t seem relevant, but let me get to the question. I have a feeling that this is a teenager, probably an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend and if that`s the -- well if that`s the case how would he or she have gotten a gun unless by their parents.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a second. Let`s go back to -- and I`m asking you to speak up Leslie Snadowsky, because you`re on Skype. And be clear because seriously it`s hard to understand. Ok.

SNADOWSKY: Sorry.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The guy who was shot, one of the older teenagers, he has a record. What is his criminal record and could, obviously, be the motive that he was involved in something nefarious and he was the one who was shot dead. So this was some kind of execution. Tell us about that.

SNADOWSKY: Well, according to police reports he was arrested for simple burglary and possession of stolen merchandise but that was back in 2008, Jane. I`m not sure if it`s related to anything.

Also police said don`t know if the shooter was actually attending the party. They don`t know anything about the shooter or shooters. They were ruling out whether one or multiple people were responsible. But they did say whoever did it fled the scene at the same time when like all these kids were running out of the bar and restaurant into the neighborhood.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tamara Jackson, 10 seconds, what do you want cops to do?

JACKSON: We want the New Orleans Police Department to be accountable for our city. We`re tired of people dying senselessly in the streets of New Orleans. We want them to beef up security. Perhaps a curfew needs to be reinstated for our young adults who need to be inside with their parents that time of the night.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, maybe a curfew is need.

Thank you so much for joining us Tamara. Thank you fantastic panel.

Coming up next an American man`s chance encounter with some kids he thought were orphans. Well, guess what; turns out he discovered an incredibly sick and twisted lie. The kids weren`t really orphans at all. They had been trafficked. Check this out.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war on women starts when we`re children, when we`re little kids like my daughter who is 4 1/2. They are being exposed to sex trafficking, commercial sex because there is a demand.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That young American man you see right there went to an orphanage and uncovered a sick toxic secret. He was 29 years old. Conor Grennan traded his day job, decided to take a year-long adventure around the world. A trip that began he said I`m going to volunteer at an orphanage in one of the poorest countries in the world, war torn Nepal.

Now, volunteering wasn`t really Conor`s passion. He was actually just looking for a good pick up line with the ladies until he discovered and exposed a jaw dropping secret and lie. The shocking truth is that the boys and girls at this orphanage, The Little Princes` Home, were not really orphans at all. They had parents.

Traffickers had conned the kids` parents into paying them, the traffickers, huge sums of money to supposedly whisk their children to safety because there was a vicious war going on and some of these little boys would get recruited into the war to be runners and fighters. But instead the traffickers took the money and they dumped these precious children in the middle of nowhere.

Joining me now is the author of this remarkable book "Little Princes" Conor Grennan. This is, wow, what a wild ride. Tell us about the moment you made the shocking discovery that these kids weren`t actually orphans. I mean how the heck did you figure that out, Conor?

CONOR GRENNAN, AUTHOR, "LITTLE PRINCES": Oh, I wouldn`t have been smart enough to figure that out. I mean somebody had to come to me. We were just there, you know, in this children`s home with what we thought were orphans. We`ve been there for months.

One day this mother just shows up at the gate and says, you know, I think that you have two of my kids here. She was the spitting image of two of the kids. And, you know, she sort of uncovered this entire trafficking ring for us that, you k now, right there in the middle of the civil war.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, you suddenly discovered that these kids, they didn`t know they had parents because they had been taken when they were so young by these traffickers and then dumped? They had no idea?

GRENNAN: Some of them didn`t remember but for the most part they knew and yet they never told us even after we had been living with them for months because the trafficker threatened to beat them to death if they ever told anybody that they weren`t orphans. He just had to much at stake at this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now you then risked your life, you -- this was something you did on the fly. You were just sort of one of these Americans that likes to go around the world and people were saying wow you`re going to spend all your life savings. And you`re like, wait a second I`m volunteering at an orphanage kind of to give yourself some props so that nobody could really object what you`re doing.

Then you find out this toxic secret that these kids had parents.

GRENNAN: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you decided to risk your life to reunite these kids with their parents. What was that like? How did you -- did you do it?

GRENNAN: Yes. Well, that`s the thing. We did end up doing it. Just one day like the revolution broke out in Nepal. We`ve been trying to take care of these kids. We just found out that these kids are not orphans, they are actually trafficked kids.

I head back to New York; I`m on one of the last flights out of Nepal when this revolution breaks out like what we saw in Egypt. I get out there. I get back to New York and I learned that seven of our kids had been snatched away by the trafficker and sold.

And so I just raised enough money through this organization I started, Next Generation Nepal, fly back to Nepal and next thing you know I`m on the back of this motorcycle zooming around in the middle of the monsoon searching all these illegal traffic -- children`s homes, everything like that, and actually searching for the kids.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you find -- did you reunite any kids?

GRENNAN: We sure did. It took -- it`s close to a year to find all seven kids. They were in really bad shape. Some of them were being held hostage. Some of them were being slaves. I found one of them in a coma. He was almost dead, a 6-year-old boy.

But more than that, you know, I realized that I actually had to get out into the mountains for the first time and try to find those families. So there I am, you know, hiking through the mountains for weeks at a time with photos of the kids through (INAUDIBLE) stronghold being, you know, chased by child traffickers. But I knew I had to find those families.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you`re such a hero. God bless you for what you`re doing for these children.

Here`s the scary part. This is happening in Nepal but it`s not just happening in Nepal. Stuff like this is going on right here in America.

Listen to this from Ashley Judd. This is a PSA from the nestfoundation.org. Check this out. Ashley Judd.

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ASHLEY JUDD, ACTIVIST: Children are not commodities. But they are being sold every day; one every 30 minutes to be exact. And not just in Thailand or Cambodia. In fact the number one destination for American men to have sex with a child is right here in the United States.

An estimated 300,000 American children are a risk every year, our children, yours, mine. We have a war on drugs. Why not on human trafficking?

Join the fight. Nest foundation.org.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a great question from Ashley Judd. Bradley Miles human trafficking expert, executive director and CEO of Polaris Project; how bad is it in the United States because a lot of people before I got educated I thought this was happening on the other side of the world. It`s happening right here in the United States. Tell us about it.

BRADLEY MILES, CEO, POLARIS PROJECT: Yes, Jane. I think it is a much bigger issue than people realize. The FBI has 39 task forces nationwide just dedicated to combating child trafficking in the United States. Some estimate -- the latest estimate I`ve heard is 100,000 kids in the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says 100,000 kids.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The war on women starts when we are children. When we`re little kids like my daughter who is four and a half. They are being exposed to sex trafficking, commercial sex because there is a demand.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: As long as there`s a demand, child trafficking will be alive and well. We have to open our eyes and do something about it.

Now, Bradley Miles, you are a human trafficking expert. We both attended the Southwest Sex Trafficking Conference in Portland. And you and I went in a van with some undercover cops down some of the seedier streets in that area. And we saw girls that looked like they were 14 in very high heels and short dresses out in a rainy night. Draw your own conclusions, but Bradley, it certainly seemed to me like it was cluster of girls who were working as prostitutes.

Was it my imagination? Probably not, right?

MILES: No, I had the same feeling, Jane. It was pimps controlling these girls and Johns going around trying to buy these girls. That is what is happening all across America.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So we have -- we`re looking at these photos from Nepal and we`re thinking -- most Americans think it is happening over there I don`t need to worry about it. But it`s really happening here.

And one of the things that struck me as so frightening is that so many kids run away every year. And these are kids who maybe they had a fight with mom and dad. Maybe they are leaving abuse. But as soon as they hit that bus depot or that train station and they arrive and they look so green and they don`t have luggage and they don`t have money, a pimp will come up to them and say hey I`ll give you a place to stay. I`ll give you some food. It always comes disguised as a benefactor. Ok.

And in the case of Nepal, same thing. The traffickers came in saying I`m going to help you. Give me money. I`m going to take your kid away to safety and educate the child. And in all of the cases, the people who come out of nowhere pretending to be friends are actually the predators, Bradley.

MILES: Yes, I mean. That is what the pimps do. They target the vulnerable and they approach them as if they are a trusted adult. The kids are vulnerable don`t realize what they are seeing. It is the pimps that are so specialized at focusing on the kids that they realize are the most vulnerable, and those are the runaway and homeless youth in America and in other countries.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: June, Washington, your question or thought, ma`am.

JUNE, WASHINGTON (via telephone): I think it was Friday I heard on, I believe it was National Public Radio Channel that in Spain there was a lot of problems with babies and young children being taken and not for trafficking necessarily, but for finding other parents. A lot of money in it, I guess. I thought I would chime in.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you raised an absolutely important point. Conor Grennan, the fact is that these so-called orphans -- and you told me that they even faked death certificates for the parents so they can prove supposedly that the kids are orphans when they are really not. Sometimes they end up being adopted to the United States. Are there cases where kids were adopted as orphans to American families and it turns out they`re not really orphans at all, they have a parent somewhere?

GRENNAN: Absolutely, I have met those people. It is really, really sad. I literally would trek through the mountains and finally find a father that I never expected to find alive because his child was about to be adopted out of the country. I would literally take a photo of a father holding his own death certificate and I have walk two weeks out to get out of the mountains to make sure that child wasn`t adopted.

I mean we are all for adoption, but for the orphans. Not for these kid that are getting stolen from their families and then these traffickers can make $5,000, you know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have to live it right there. The book, "Little Prince", it`s an education. I love you both. Let`s stop trafficking.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Check out my new book "Addict Nation" available online now at addictnation.org or amazon.com. Read it and find out who might be manipulating you into self-destructive behavior.

It`s a bittersweet night for us here at ISSUES. Our fabulous executive producer, Stephanie Todd has been promoted to director of editorial coverage for this entire network, HLN. Stephanie certainly deserves the step up. She is a wizard at finding stories that connect with viewers. She`s also brilliant at finding ways to use this medium, television to help those in need: be they elderly, women, children, the disabled, helpless animals; any human or creature without a voice. That`s our mandate, here at ISSUES to give voice to the voiceless.

And with that we give a shout-out to the woman we will miss forever, but admire forever as well. The best EP anybody could ever ask for. Stephanie Todd, way to go. Our friend boss, good luck to you.

Nancy Grace is up next.

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