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Nancy Grace
Teen Boy Stomps 2-Year-Old to Death. Aired 8-9:00p ET
Aired June 17, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Minnesota. Mommy has to work, leaving beautiful 2-year-old Sophia with the baby-sitter. When
she gets home, Sophia`s sick. After several doses of Motrin, Sophia doesn`t get better. Next day, 911 arrives. EMTs` best efforts fail to
save the life of 2-year-old Sophia.
Bombshell tonight. Baby Sophia not dead from meningitis or an odd strain of flu. Sophia dies from a severed spleen and pancreas and a
multitude of internal injuries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stomped to death!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doctors found 10 injuries on the child`s body, ranging from a bruised scalp to a split pancreas and kidney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Still crying and whining. I told her to stop, and I stepped on her back."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Indiana, a shocking brawl in the aisle of a Beech Grove Walmart, where Mommy screams, Johnny, punch her in the face. The
stunning moment Mommy starts a brawl in Walmart, reportedly making her 6- year-old little boy help out by kicking the woman, who leaps out of her a motorized scooter, in the face, and it`s all caught in a YouTube video.
Formal charges handed down as one of Walmart`s brawling moms breaks her silence. Breaking now. In the last hours, the Walmart brawling mom in
a court of law as her charges are now upgraded. Defense? It`s all Walmart`s fault, and that she was cornered by the other woman on a
motorized scooter and had no choice but to fight for her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her (EXPLETIVE DELETED) face!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mom in black straddling another shopper, fighting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amber was constrained to remain in a particular position, and she also had to protect her own child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her (EXPLETIVE DELETED) face!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would think that Walmart would get the message and have some adequate security around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Oklahoma. Love hurts. Truer words were never spoken. Tonight, an Oklahoma woman stands accused of going to the funeral home,
finding the body of her boyfriend`s dead ex as she lies there in repose, only to slash the dead woman`s face, cutting off her toe, her breasts, her
hair, and stealing the dead woman`s shoes!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-six-year-old Shayna Smith (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first time I`ve heard of anyone doing something of this nature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Near the woman`s casket at the funeral home. What they discovered was horrifying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hair that was removed from the decedent, a laceration to the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And later found her inside the deceased woman`s apartment. Smith had a knife with her, hair still on it, and a box cutter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live, Minnesota. Mommy heads to work, leaving beautiful 2-year-old Sophia with the baby-sitter. But when she gets home,
Sophia`s sick. After several doses of Motrin, Sophia doesn`t get better. The next day, 911 arrives. EMTs` best efforts fail to save the life of the
2-year-old baby Sophia.
But Sophia not dead from meningitis or some odd strain of flu. Sophia dies from a severed pancreas and kidney and a multitude of internal
injuries. What happened to baby Sophia?
I want to go straight out to Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney. Mike, thank you for being -- join -- for joining us. The first
thing I want to nail down -- the direct injuries that caused baby Sophia`s death because giving her a lukewarm bath, like Mommy tried to do, and
giving her several doses of Motrin -- that`s not going to fix a ruptured kidney or a ruptured pancreas.
So what exactly are baby Sophia`s injuries, Mike?
MIKE FREEMAN, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: Well, the injuries are tragic and brutal. She had a split kidney. She had a pancreas that was split in
two. She had numerous broken ribs. She had a collapsed lung. This was a tragic and brutal beating.
GRACE: With me is Candace Trunzo, in addition from (sic) Mike Freeman -- in addition to Mike Freeman -- senior news editor, Dailymail.com.
So Mommy gets home, we think, from work. And what does she notice about baby Sophia? What is she, asleep? Is she lethargic? What?
[20:05:07]CANDACE TRUNZO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): You know, she notices that Sophia is just not right. Her fever is high. She`s
vomiting. And then she notices that when she touches her 2-year-old, she`s in pain. Every time she touches her, she`s in pain. She knows that
something is not right. She can`t figure out what it is.
GRACE: You know, that`s interesting. Back to Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney on this case. Mike, a lot of moms, you know, like
myself, if I realize one of my twins is running a fever, I would give them alternately Motrin and Tylenol, put them in a bath, a lukewarm bath, see if
I -- you know, feed them chopped-up ice during the night, see if that would make them better.
But interesting about the touch. When she would touch the baby, the baby would act like it hurt. I can see how those symptoms alone might make
the mother think the baby had the flu.
Again, the injuries were, you said, a severed spleen, a kidney, and what else?
FREEMAN: Liver, collapsed lung, eight fractured ribs. You know, I`m a father of five and a grandfather. This is not the kind of injuries that
you give the child a bath and a dose of Motrin. This child was quite ill at the time. I think the manifestations of the seriousness weren`t known
until the next day, when Mom left and left boyfriend taking care of little Sophia, and she stopped breathing.
GRACE: Let me ask you this, Mike Freeman, joining us out of Minneapolis. When you say the manifestations were not evident, you mean
the bruises were not showing yet?
FREEMAN: Well, you know, we don`t know.
GRACE: Don`t know.
FREEMAN: What we know is -- we pick up when 911 was called. We have -- after Mr. Feran-Baum, who is the defendant in this case, was given a
Miranda warning, he gave a statement of what he did to this young child.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us right now, in addition to Mr. Mike Freeman out of Minneapolis, Sue Moss, family law attorney, Heather
Hansen, New York defense attorney, Peter Odom, high-profile lawyer out of D.C.
First to you, Sue Moss. Here`s the problem. Leaving your child with a teen boy baby-sitter, all right? That`s the problem. And I can`t say
that I`m totally innocent because a girl in our neighborhood has watched the children for two hours several times.
But there`s just something about a teen boy, a teen boy. I don`t know -- leaving your children with a teen boy? Something just feels wrong about
that, Sue Moss.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Oh, it`s much worse than even that! The bio dad explains that this young girl has previously had bruises on her
cheek, and she explained in a video that it was actually this 17-year-old who punched her in the face!
I mean, first he punches this kid in the head, and the next thing you know, there`s this horrific attack and she`s dead! Can you imagine the
agony that this kid suffered, a full night of living with these bruises, these internal bruises, with a split spleen and the liver and the pancreas,
the broken ribs? How this mother didn`t realize that this kid needed emergency attention from an ER -- that has to be questioned!
GRACE: That`s according to the probable cause affidavit.
Well, I`ve got a problem, as well. Mike Freeman, Hennepin County attorney, I just don`t understand how Mommy can come home and the child has
sustained this massive beating, massive, and she gives the baby Motrin and she bathes the baby. How can you not see these injuries on the outside?
Now, I know -- I know where you`re headed, and I think you`re right. Not that you need my approval, Mike Freeman, but I think you`re dead on to
focus on the 17-year-old male baby-sitter. Of course you should. But for Mommy to come home and see these injuries and not take that baby to the ER,
especially when the father, the bio dad, has said the baby`s been bruised before?
At this time, the mom is not a suspect nor has she been charged. That`s important.
What about Mom? What responsibility does she have, Mike?
FREEMAN: Well, right now, in the facts that are before us and the confession that Mr. Cody Feran-Baum made, we have charged him with second-
degree unintentional murder. The investigation is ongoing as to what responsibility and criminal liability, if any, the mother has. That
investigation is presently ongoing.
[20:10:06]GRACE: Joining me right now is Ben Ness, a family friend of the baby-sitter. Ben Ness, thank you for being with us. What do you make
of this? Do you think Cody Feran-Baum is capable of this?
BEN NESS, FAMILY FRIEND OF SUSPECT (via telephone): Well, I mean, previously, I had never seen anything like this happen, or you know, any
signs, anything like that, never thought anything would happen. But I read the criminal complaint and all that, so, I mean, it looks to me like he did
it.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Sue Moss, Heather Hansen, Peter Odom. OK, Peter Odom, what about Mommy?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, you know, she had been reported before. This kid had been taken away from her before because she
kept the house filthy. The kid herself, the now dead kid, had reported that this same baby-sitter had assaulted her. And that kid never should
have been left with the baby-sitter. And you know -- and yes, Mom is one of the -- Mom is one of the steps, but only one.
GRACE: OK, Heather Hansen, I hear what Peter Odom is saying and I understand -- I`m translating what he`s saying as to what he would do as a
defense, and that would be this -- put them all on trial together, and they`ll all point the finger at each other. I get it. She`s one step in a
failure.
yes, you know what? That baby is hers, Heather Hansen. It`s her responsibility.
At this time, the mom is not a suspect, nor has she been charged. That`s important.
Regardless of what the 17-year-old baby-sitter did, it`s Mommy`s responsibility. Why shouldn`t she be charged, Heather?
HEATHER HANSEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think you know, as the president that you spoke to said, he`s looking into that possibility.
Right now, he`s focusing on the case against the baby-sitter...
GRACE: I`m not asking you about him. I`m asking you about Mommy. Give me one good reason she should not be charged. You`re a defense
attorney, right? What`s the reason?
HANSEN: The evidence isn`t there yet, Nancy. The evidence isn`t there yet.
GRACE: Really?
HANSEN: There`s no...
GRACE: OK...
HANSEN: There`s no evidence that this was neglect. If this child is simply not exhibiting any bruises, if there`s nothing on the body to prove
that there`s any kind of internal injuries, if she simply has a fever and is acting a little bit cranky, what reasonable mother would assume that the
child has a displaced spleen?
GRACE: Well, to Dr. Tim Gallagher, forensic pathologist. Dr. Gallagher, your comments are crucial here. When would bruises or physical
manifestation of this horrific beating, a beating so severe it severed a pancreas, it severed a kidney -- there are multiple signs of trauma on the
child`s head, OK?
When would that manifest? If not that day, what about during the night?
DR. TIM GALLAGHER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, certainly, Nancy, these bruises should be noticed immediately. I mean, to
break ribs, to break the liver, the spleen -- this takes a major, major impact. So if they didn`t show up, you know, within a few minutes, it
would be immediately that these bruises would be observable.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Sue Moss, Heather Hansen and Peter Odom. Heather Hansen, back to you. Did you hear that? You`re a JD, all right?
He`s an MD. He says the bruises would manifest immediately. So you can`t fall back on your trampoline and relax that Mommy didn`t know, OK? The
bruises were immediate.
HANSEN: Well, Nancy, but that`s not what we`re hearing from the prosecutor. What we`re hearing from the prosecutor is they`re waiting for
the further results of the autopsy test. Until they know what this mother knew, you can`t assume that the bruises were immediate. Instead, the
prosecutor in this case and the defense are going to be faced with the actual evidence, not what some pathologist says might have happened.
GRACE: I tell you what, Sue Moss. After about two hours, if my children`s temperature is 100 or over, I go, OK, we`re going to the ER.
And we all pack up in the minivan and we get ourselves to the ER, boom, because it`s better safe than sorry.
So Moss, you would leave your child where you can`t even touch her without her crying all night long?
MOSS: Now, I fully admit I am not an MD. But there is no way that a 2-year-old has a broken spleen, a broken liver, some sort of horrific
bruise to the pancreas, broken ribs and all types of other bruises to the head and to the other parts of the body, and this kid is not screaming
bloody murder. There`s just no way!
They have got to -- they had to have known the extent of how sick this child was. She wasn`t just a little sick. This kid had to been so in pain
that there was absolutely no reason for anyone to think other than this kid needs immediate, immediate medical attention!
And I bet once this forensic comes back, once the forensic report of her body comes back, there`s going to be expert after expert explaining
that there is no way that this child wasn`t in agony, screaming, et cetera!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:05]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I tried to get her to stop. I tried putting her in time out. I tried giving her some food. I tried putting
her downstairs. I tried to lay her down, and she just was, like -- like, keep crying, keep screaming and screaming. And then I just -- I don`t
know, I kind of snapped on her. And I put her in a corner and I -- I -- I don`t know. I just kicked her in the back."
"Responded stated that at times, it can be, quote, `so overwhelming to hear her cry and scream,` and he, quote, `cannot do nothing." He stated
that child A, quote, `was screaming and crying, talking about she wanted her mom.`"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:00:30]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doctors found 10 injuries on the child`s body, describing the force on a scale of 1 to 10. Feran-Baum told
investigators, quote...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "It was -- it was bad. It was, like, a 7. It was hard."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the little girl wouldn`t stop crying. He admitted...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I told her to stop, and I stepped on her back."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight back out to Mike Freeman, the Hennepin County attorney who is on this case. Mike, I want to talk to you about what I
just heard Dr. Tim Gallagher say. He said that these injuries would manifest immediately. Now, is the autopsy complete?
FREEMAN: The autopsy is not complete.
GRACE: Ah. OK.
FREEMAN: And I can`t charge a case unless I have admissible facts before me. We do for the young man, whom we allege killed Sophia. We do
not have sufficient facts yet to charge the mother, but that investigation is ongoing and we await for the autopsy to be completed.
GRACE: I hear you, Mr. Freeman. With me, Mike Freeman, on the case.
Mike, I`m going from what I`ve got in this probable cause affidavit right here -- left kidney split in half, right kidney hematoma, which means
bruise, pancreas split in two, had to have part of it removed, laceration to stomach, laceration small intestine, liver torn from the stabilizing
ligament, injury inside liver, eight acute posterior rib fractures, and most important, one healing rib fracture. It means previous injuries.
Hemorrhage bruising to leg is bruising, collapsed lung, deep bruising to scalp. Now, some of these bruises may not be manifesting by the time
Mommy gets home, but certainly, the next day, when she reportedly goes jogging?. If your child is sick, you at least take its fever or check on
it. So going jogging?
Unleash the lawyers. I`m not going to ask Mike Freeman on a case that he`s preparing to comment on the evidence because I know he`s too ethical
to do it. Sue Moss, Heather Hansen, Peter Odom -- Peter Odom, father of two, a boy and a girl...
ODOM: Yes.
GRACE: ... it is hard for me to imagine you while your child is running a fever and you can`t even touch her or she screams -- so what is
your defense?
ODOM: For her?
GRACE: Yes.
ODOM: We`ll have to wait and see what the autopsy says, but it`s possible that she wasn`t -- that these injuries were internal and that they
didn`t manifest themselves on the outside. We`re hearing about bruise fractures and we`re hearing about...
GRACE: Probable cause affidavit.
ODOM: Let me finish.
GRACE: Covered in bruises.
ODOM: Right, we don`t know that those bruises manifested themselves as quickly as when Mom got back. You know, bruises, as you know...
GRACE: OK, wait. I agree.
ODOM: Nancy -- Nancy, as you know...
GRACE: I agree with you!
ODOM: ... bruises take time to develop.
GRACE: What about the next day? I`m with you. I`m going to give you that, even though I don`t agree with you, because I just heard Dr.
Gallagher say they would manifest immediately. All right. But let`s just pretend Dr. Gallagher -- just erase everything he said just said.
Let`s just pretend in Peter Odom world that there were no bruises when Mommy got home from work, that the next day, though, when she goes jogging
and her child`s covered in bruises and she still can`t touch her...
At this time, the mom is not a suspect, nor has she been charged. That`s important.
ODOM: Well, the bruises, Nancy, if you look at the autopsy pictures that you`ve displayed, show that the bruises were on parts of the body that
would have been covered by pajamas. And by that time...
GRACE: She gave her a bath.
ODOM: Well, she gave her the bath the previous evening, and by that time, by the morning, this child might have been so lethargic that she just
seemed tired. That`s where Mom`s defense is going to be coming from, I guarantee you.
GRACE: OK, I`m not buying any of it. And I know Mike Freeman is on the case. So best strategy, Heather Hansen?
HANSEN: I mean, we don`t know what their relationship was and whether it was one where...
GRACE: Nothing good.
HANSEN: Well, we don`t know whether it was...
GRACE: Nothing good.
HANSEN: ... one where the baby-sitting actually had some control over her. You know, there`s all kinds of things that could come out...
(CROSSTALK)
HANSEN: ... turning on each other.
GRACE: Don`t. I want to tell everybody one more time the mommy is not a suspect. The mommy has not been charged. You just heard the
prosecutor say that. Let`s wait and see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:28:53]GRACE: Live, Indiana, a shocking brawl in the aisle of a Beech Grove Walmart, Mommy screaming, Johnny, punch her in the face, the
stunning moment Mommy starts a brawl in Walmart, reportedly making her 6- year-old little boy help her out by kicking the woman, who leaps out of a motorized scooter, in the face.
In the last hours, breaking now. The Walmart brawling mom in court as her charges are now upgraded. Defense? It`s all Walmart`s fault, and that
she was cornered by the woman in the motorized scooter and had no choice but to fight for her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... aisle brawl that allegedly also involved her 6-year-old son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her (EXPLETIVE DELETED) face!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her attorney says the store`s security is lacking.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have some adequate security around so that people like Amber, you know, housewives who go out shopping with their children in
the evening won`t feel intrepidated (sic) by going to the store.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her (EXPLETIVE DELETED) face!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, on the story. Matt, is it true that her -- Mommy`s defense attorney -- there you`re seeing her other end -- her
defense attorney is actually defending her with the claim it`s all Walmart`s fault?
ZARRELL: It`s not just that, Nancy. It`s all Walmart`s fault and this poor mother is the victim in all of this, that she was only trying to
protect her child, the child that she ordered to punch the other woman in the effing face.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aisle brawl that allegedly also involved her 6- year-old son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her [ bleep ] face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defense attorney says the store`s security is severely lacking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have some adequate security around so that people like Amber, you know, housewives who go out shopping with their children in
the evening, won`t feel intrepidated by going to the store.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the last hours, this story is breaking. The brawling mom in court. Her charges have been upgraded. She`s now facing over four
years behind bars, and also we learned that the woman in the motorized scooter has been charged with DC, disorderly conduct, and amazingly, we see
a defense beginning to form. The Walmart brawling mom`s lawyer speaks out claiming self-defense. That the mom in the solid black was actually in
fear for her life, that she was attacked by a woman in a rascal, a motorized scooter, that she was defending her son, that her son was going
to be attacked, and that it`s all Walmart`s fault, that they should have intervened.
As a matter of fact, Liz, show me the screens of what the lawyer said in court. The store employees walked right by the situation as Amber`s
hair is literally being held and pulled out by its roots." They were on the health and beauty aisle.
And you would think that Walmart would get the message and get adequate security around so people like Amber, and housewives who go
shopping with their children, won`t feel trepidation by going to Walmart. I`m concerned about sending my own wife to Walmart in the evening because I
can`t feel comfortable someone is going to be there to protect her."
From whom? People like your client, Amber?
For those of you just joining us, this is what happened at a local Walmart store. And what caught everyone`s attention is mommy insisting her
6-year-old little boy help her out by kicking the underdog in the face around the eye as the woman is down. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want it? You want it? Are you [ bleep ] serious? You want it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What you going to do? Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? There`s kids all around here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, buddy, don`t do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Y`all knock it off. The kids are upset. Get the hell off of her right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johnny, punch her in her [ bleep ] face. Come on. You want it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is white trash at its finest. And he`s punching her.
Wow.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re coming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get security here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got it on a phone. I don`t have a phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do something about it. What are you going to do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where does he get it? I know.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Uh-oh. Here he`s going to beat her with a shampoo right in the face, right in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s awful, isn`t it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, dummy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, hey. Stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t tell me to stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, you`re going to go to little boy jail. Hey, don`t kick. He just kicked her in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t tell me what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re right, baby. Protect your mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s not right. He`s kicking her. Who`s he kicking? He`s kicking the one on the floor. That`s not his momma.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:40:00]
GRACE: You are seeing video from Youtube. Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, Heather Hansen and Peter Odom. Also joining me from New York
psychologist Caryn Stark. To Michael Anthony Adams, Indianapolis Star. Now, this mom right here, Amber Stevenson, also went on a local radio
station and started yakking, that she was trying to protect her son. Matt Zarrell, isn`t it true that the mom Amber, who claims she was so worried
about her son that she stood up and said, where`s my son, that she`s motivated by defense of a third party, defending her son, but in actuality,
in reality, when the whole brawl was over, she said where`s my pocketbook? Where`s my cart?
ZARRELL: It`s not just that, Nancy. It`s that the son is on the other end of the aisle. And he runs towards his mother at the end of the
fight. And she pays no attention to him like he`s not even there.
GRACE: Let`s take a listen to what mom says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, the first thing you hear me get up and I say where`s my son. That`s the first thing I say. I`m not worried about
anything else. My purse was sitting in a cart with everything I own in it.
(CROSSTALK)
Where`s my purse? Where`s my cart?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re going to be involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Michael Anthony Adams, that`s not defense of my child. She says where`s my purse, where`s my cart. She doesn`t give a fig about the
child at that moment. I don`t know why this lady is in a rascal, but she has got a serious, serious mean jab with that right foot.
Matt Zarrell, in the last hours just before we go to air, we learn that the brawling Walmart mom was in court. She made a court appearance.
Wow, she looks a lot different when she`s appearing before a judge. Of course mostly I can just see her rear end in this shot, but Matt Zarrell,
isn`t it true that charges were upgraded, an added charge?
ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy. This mother is now facing more time behind bars. She`s facing up to at least four years in prison. A disorderly
conduct charge was added. I should note, Nancy, when she appeared in court, you could see a bandage on her finger. She claims she suffered a
fractured finger during the fight.
GRACE: Michael Anthony Adams, I understand the rascal mom, as I call all scooters generically, she`s been charged as well?
ADAMS: Yes. She`s facing charges also of disorderly conduct as well. and that`s the only charge that has been brought against her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:46:50]
GRACE: Live, Oklahoma, love hurts. Truer words were never spoken. Tonight an Oklahoma woman stands accused of going to the funeral home,
finding the body of her boyfriend`s dead ex-girlfriend. As the girlfriend lay there in repose, only to slash the dead woman`s face, cutting off her
toe, her breasts, her hair, and stealing the dead woman`s shoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A deceased woman`s family says they saw Smith near the woman`s casket at a funeral home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hair that was removed from the decedent on the floor near the casket and there was a laceration to the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They later found her inside the deceased woman`s apartment. Investigators say Smith had a knife, hair still on it, and a
box cutter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big question is why would someone want to do this to an individual and to the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Okay. My head is spinning. First of all, let`s clarify. The dead ex-girlfriend is victim in red shirt. Victim in red shirt, Tabitha,
died of natural causes from a long-term illness. She has four children as young as 4 years old. That`s the victim. Allegedly Shayna Sims on the
left, the left, goes into the funeral home, cuts off the woman`s toe, cuts off her breasts, her hair, and steals her shoes. Okay. Out to Tami
Marler, anchor and news director at KAFQ. Tammy, what happened?
TAMI MARLER, KFAQ: Well, Shayna Sims is accused of a number of crimes, several felonies, and some misdemeanors for allegedly cutting up
the corpse of a woman. We know from family members as Tabitha. At a funeral home viewing, she`s accused of reaching into the casket during the
viewing and using a folding knife to slash Tabitha`s remains. While the mom of four waited for her final arrangement. She`s also accused of
stealing the shoes out of the casket from Tabitha`s body.
GRACE: Joining me right now is PIO of Tulsa police department, Sergeant Shane Tuell. Sergeant, I prosecuted literally thousands of cases
over 10 years. I`ve never seen a case like this. How did she manage to cut off the woman`s toe, her breasts, if our reports are right, her hair,
slash her face, and steal her shoes in the funeral home?
SGT SHANE TUELL, PIO, TULSA PD: That`s a great question, Nancy. It appears that Shayna at some point had enough time with the deceased that
she was able to take care of all these acts, and it wasn`t until two coworkers of the deceased walked in for a viewing that they observed Shayna
bending over the casket --
GRACE: Oh, dear lord in heaven.
So the family comes in, the victim`s family.
[20:50:00]
This is a mother of four -- not her. That`s the alleged perpetrator. This mother of four is just gorgeous. She died of a long-term illness, died of
natural causes, leaves behind four children, the youngest is 4, and had the bad misfortune of being the ex-girlfriend of this woman`s boyfriend.
Shayna Sims, 26 years old, is the one charged. Okay, can you even imagine, Sergeant, the victim`s family coming in to see her body, in the last
moments they will ever have with her --
TUELL: You know --
GRACE: Seeing this?
TUELL: You know, I did about seven years as a crime scene homicide supervisor. And we deal with families all the time going through different
states of grief, with what happens to their family members. I have never experienced anything in my time on the police department, something this
heinous. And I can`t imagine how the family must feel, and it`s just absolutely awful for them that they have to suffer twice over the same
incident.
GRACE: And I`ve got to tell you, Sergeant, Sergeant Shane Tuell with me from Tulsa PD. You know, I prosecuted for many, many years, and I
thought I saw it all until I heard about this case. I`m also a crime victim. And I cannot even imagine seeing the body of my murdered fiance
mutilated. With me, Sue Moss, Heather Hanson, Peter Odom. With me, we may need you more than any lawyers, Caryn Stark, shrink, psychologist out of
New York. I mean, Caryn, when they finally got the alleged perp -- why am I saying alleged? She had a knife with the dead woman`s hair on the knife.
So, help me, Caryn, she`s in the woman`s apartment, the woman has children! And she`s in the apartment with a knife and a box cutter.
STARK: The only thing I can think of, Nancy, is this is pathological revenge and anger. That it`s primitive thinking that somehow she`s going
to take a piece of this woman and then she`ll get revenge on her. And there is nothing that is normal about this kind of reaction. This is a
person who is clearly delusional and doesn`t -- her grasp on reality is not there.
GRACE: You know, I can tell you this. Peter Odom, you just gave him an in and he`s going to claim insanity. I hear it coming. But she was
perfectly sane and normal, a working mom, to my understanding, before she goes into a funeral home, and defaces, slashes the body of her boyfriend`s
ex-girlfriend.
Now, this is the victim that died of natural causes. Nicole Barton joining us, funeral director, now in Marco Island, Florida. Nicole,
explain to me. I`m sure there`s going to be a civil suit against this funeral home, unless they can show that there`s nothing they could do about
this. And actually, they may be okay, Nicole, because an intervening criminal act, it`s like somebody going into McDonald`s with an Uzi. It`s
not McDonald`s fault that somebody else committed a crime. But if they were negligent, that`s another matter.
Nicole, how could she have done this? Did she ask, I want to be alone with the body? Did she come in and pretend she was distraught and crying?
How could she have pulled it off, Nicole?
NICOLE PARTIN, FUNERAL DIRECTOR: This is a very horrifying case, Nancy. And obviously, abuse and dismemberment of a corpse is a serious
charge. My heart goes out to the family of this victim. It was announced as a private family service. To me, that means the chapel doors are
closed. That means that only family and only those who are verified family members are allowed to go in with the casket.
GRACE: So, I`m trying to figure out, Nicole, how she managed to get in, especially in light of what you`ve just told me. Sergeant Shane Tuell
is with us, along with Tami Marler, KFAK. Sergeant Tuell, how do police believe she managed to get in there and stay in there for so long? I mean,
she cut the woman`s breasts off, for Pete`s sake!
TUELL: It was during the time of the viewing of the body. And I don`t believe that there was anyone present at the location that was to say
this individual is not welcome or this individual is welcome. So at the time, I don`t believe that the family had any idea that something like this
could happen, or that their loved one had anyone out there in the community that had ill will towards them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:59:00]
GRACE: Let`s remember American hero, Georgia Sheriff Ladson O`Connor, 42, killed in the line of duty. Lost his life in his first term as
Montgomery County sheriff. Only serving two years. Dedicated to eradicating drugs and helping people with addiction. Parents, Charles and
Jewel, three sisters, five brothers, widow, Danielle, four children. Ladson O`Connor, American hero.
Tonight, Wesley Glen Home for the Handicapped, raising donations for their Father`s Day campaign. Please help. Go to wesleyglenministries.com.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp, Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
