Return to Transcripts main page
Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Man Allegedly Kills Neighbor Over Dog; Teen Dies in Dental Surgery; Police Body Cam Video Shows Fatal Shooting of NC Teen; Mysterious Disappearance; Truck Smashes into Passenger Bus; Teen Tortured; Shocking Video Reveals Alleged Elder Abuse; Woman Celebrates After Alleged Murder. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired January 30, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A neighborhood at war. A killer is held at gunpoint as neighbors try to save a woman`s life.
Was she shot over her barking dog?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not just a single incident.
BANFIELD: Or did the feud run much deeper than that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you bothered by her dog?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Thousands of out teenagers do it every year, get their wisdom teeth out. But this smiling girl was dead within minutes. How could
dentistry go so wrong? And what should you know to be safe?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
BANFIELD: How many times do police have to scream for a teenager to drop the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
BANFIELD: This isn`t even the half of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see your hands!
BANFIELD: So why does his family say their son didn`t have a chance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Shots fired!
BANFIELD: How do 8-year-old twins just vanish into thin air?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they moved, I don`t have no information about the move.
BANFIELD: And how does no one seem to notice for more than 10 years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not tell them.
BANFIELD: Cops say their mom has told lie after lie...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: ... all the while raking in thousands in welfare.
She was running scared...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you?
BANFIELD: ... after repeatedly attacking an elderly patient.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) shut up (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: So where did police catch the caregiver from hell?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: And this grandma really admits to shooting her son-in-law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: But no one expected this reaction when she was told he was dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good, good, good. Oh, thank you! Thank you!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Friendly neighborhood -- it`s an expression that`s American as apple pie and old glory. But on occasion, it is true. Fences can make better
neighbors. And as you`re about to see, a fence just might have saved a Houston woman from a deadly bullet.
This is cell phone video shot by one of Ana Weed`s neighbors across the street. And that is her lifeless body -- we`ve blurred it -- on her
driveway. And that`s her husband in the dark T-shirt crouching over her, trying to save her life.
And that man who was holding the gun, that was a friend telling Ana`s next- door neighborhood just off the screen, and there you see being cuffed, not to move a muscle. Hector Campos is that neighbor held at gunpoint, and
this is his mugshot after he was arrested for killing Ana Weed.
He says he shot her in self-defense because she shoved him. But the reports have neighbors saying that is just not true. They say Ana`s dog
had wandered onto his law, and that when she went to retrieve the dog, all hell broke loose. After bailing out of the local jail, Campos did not seem
to want to discuss this matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was your neighbor sticking up for your ex-wife in the divorce? Was that a part of your feud with her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, you`re telling me things I don`t know about, so I really can`t...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s what police told us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you tell us what happened yesterday?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, frankly, I think the police already told you, so I -- with all due respect (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, your attorney said you wanted to tell your side of the story. That`s why we`re here. We wanted to see if you at least
will tell your side of the story. Was this a mistake? Was this something that you didn`t mean to do? Did you do it? Did you not do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`d rather not. With all due respect, I`d rather not - - not say anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So was this shooting really about a dog, or was there something seething beneath the surface, like divorce and revenge? Scott Weed is Ana
Weed`s husband. He and his attorney, Charles Johnson, Jr., join me live from Houston. Thank you to the both of you for being with me tonight.
Scott, can I ask you, what was this shooting really about, in your opinion?
SCOTT WEED, HUSBAND OF VICTIM: Well, it had to do with Hector Campos beating his wife. He was -- he abused her physically, mentally. I was
told that he deadlocked the inside of the house so the house couldn`t -- you know, the wife couldn`t escape. I mean, she couldn`t go outside. He
told her that, If you go outside, somebody`s waiting to rape you and kill you.
[20:05:00]So she felt so scared under his control the whole time. And it was quite strange because we knew that she lived there, but we never saw
her. Just -- it was...
BANFIELD: So Scott, these are -- these are allegations that we have also seen in reports, but so far, we haven`t got documentation on that. And his
former wife is, as I understand it, living in Mexico.
Is it true that Hector Campos, that next-door neighbor of yours who`s accused of shooting your wife dead -- is it true that he held a grudge
against her because she helped his wife get away and actually get down to Mexico and divorce him?
WEED: That`s exactly right. My wife -- she did help him (sic). In fact, it was agreed upon Hector`s wife and himself that she would go to Mexico to
visit with family. They both agreed on a two-month, you know, stay in Mexico. And apparently, you know, she didn`t come back. She had no plans
of coming back.
In fact, while she was trying to flee the country, he booked her a standby flight for, you know, her mother-in-law, her child and herself. And then
he canceled the flight. So they were unable to get on this flight. We ended up paying to help her. You know, I was helping her at home, you
know...
BANFIELD: So...
WEED: ... trying to find flights.
BANFIELD: It seems then that...
CHARLES JOHNSON, JR., WEED FAMILY ATTORNEY: Ashley...
BANFIELD: ... this incident with the dog that precipitated this shooting - - explain for me that your dog outside with Ana -- and we`re seeing a picture. Seems like a fairly unthreatening small Schnauzer apparently with
one eye and cancer. This was somehow threatening to Mr. Campos? Mr. Campos was unhappy that Ana was coming onto his property to retrieve the
dog and that she had a roll of tape in her hand?
And maybe, Charles Johnson, as his attorney, you can explain to me what we`re hearing about his defense having something to do with the roll of
tape that she`s holding.
JOHNSON: Right. I`ve done defense work for almost 18 years. Now, let me explain to you where I think he`s trying to go with that. Ana was outside
wrapping a package. Her second grandchild was going to be born next month. She was outside wrapping a package to take to the local Fedex, to the post
office. And that`s where the tape came from. And this was not some large roll of duct tape on industrial tape. It was just a small thing of packing
tape. And that packing tape was at her trunk, where she was wrapping the package.
During this time, her puppy, her dog, her Schnauzer, came out and did trot over on his yard. She went and she retrieved the dog. She picked the dog
up and she stepped back onto her property.
During the time that she -- after she -- while she was stepping back to her property with dog in hand, Mr. Campos went in his home, retrieved a weapon,
walked back outside, came to my client`s property, to his wife`s property, and threatened her. She in fear cowered like this, and he stood and shot
her in a downward angle with the intent to kill, as Scott said and in media reports a couple days ago, kneeling, begging for life, shot her dead.
BANFIELD: And we`re looking at the video that happened immediately afterward, with the police responding, since our affiliate KPRC is sending
us these pictures, the police cuffing him. He was immobile down on the ground. But this particular video we`re seeing -- Scott, it`s you in the
dark shirt trying to revive your wife and this man in the white shirt holding the gun and effectively telling Mr. Campos, Don`t you move. I`ve
got you. Don`t you move until police get here.
While he was doing that and keeping Mr. Campos from running, tell me what you were doing at this moment as you were trying to revive your wife.
WEED: Well, I`ll be honest. I had mixed emotions. You know, I had peered down from the window from upstairs and I saw -- you know, first I heard the
shot. And then I appeared downstairs and I see my wife laying there and my neighbor was hovered over her. He had, basically, a stinger (ph) and you
know, a gunshot wound.
So I grabbed my gun. And I don`t know what this guy was going to do, so I brought the gun out. I had it pointed on his head. Something inside of me
said, No, don`t do that. So I dropped the gun and I tended to my wife. And I just -- I just wanted my wife to live. She`s not here now!
BANFIELD: I`m so sorry for you, Mr. Weed, and I`m so sorry that you`re in this predicament. And obviously, as this goes to trial, there will be
witnesses. There will be testimony. There will be so much more that you`re going to have to endure in order for justice to take its course.
I want to bring in, if I can, David Bruno, Heather Hansen and Joey Jackson are here, as well. Joey, I think a critical element of what Mr. Weed was
just talking about, and his attorney, Charles Johnson -- Ana died on her driveway, not his driveway. Not Mr. Campos`s driveway, her driveway.
[20:10:16]JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, let`s talk about why that`s significant. There`s something called a castle doctrine. That
doctrine allows you to defend your home. But even in defending your home, it doesn`t give you a license to kill. There still has to be some
reasonable standard that you act, some fear of threat, et cetera. And in the event that she`s not even on his home, that goes to the lack of
reasonableness in the conduct.
He`s entitled to due process, the person who killed her. He`s entitled to a trial, but you cannot just engage in behavior and decide to kill someone
and then use the law, the castle doctrine -- It`s my home -- as a defense. It doesn`t work.
BANFIELD: Well, we`re going to watch and see how this plays out, but clearly, that video will be significant, although the initial shooting was
not caught on video.
A teenager with her entire life ahead of her dead. And it was just a routine dental surgery. Why her parents say that dentist was not punished
enough.
And who can forget this harrowing video of a caregiver slapping, hitting, swearing at a 95-year-old woman that she was supposed to be protecting.
Well, she went on the run, but it didn`t last long. The police got her, and you`ll never guess where.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:15:12]BANFIELD: Most of us don`t give it a second thought, getting some sort of anesthesia for a medical procedure. But it is always risk
because you never know how a patient is going to respond. Sydney Galleger was just 17 when she went into a dentist`s office in Minnesota to get her
wisdom teeth out. That was in June of `15. She was a high school senior and a competitive diver who was getting ready for college.
Galleger was given general anesthesia, according to court documents. But 15 to 20 minutes into the procedure, her heart rate fell. And she went
with no pulse and into cardiac arrest. But 911 was not called until 11 to 15 minutes later. The dentist, Doctor Paul Tompach (ph), had his license
suspended by the board of dentistry. They found Tompach did not provide appropriate dental care of properly handle the medical emergency.
And apparently, he allowed his workers to be more hands-on than is really legally allowed, according to the documents. But in May of last year,
Tompach`s suspension was lifted after only a few months, and the family of that girl, they`re now suing. They say the doctor`s consequences were
temporary but that their daughter is gone forever.
Dr. Jay Grossman is a dentist with Concierge Dentistry and he joins me live from Los Angeles. Doctor, thanks so much for being with me. First of all,
help me understand this. I had a wisdom tooth removed. I did not go under general anesthetic for it. Is it normal to be under general to have your
wisdom teeth removed and to not be in the care of a hospital to do that?
DR. JAY GROSSMAN, CONCIERGE DENTISTRY: That`s a great question, Ashleigh. General anesthesia is used many, many times when we are extracting wisdom
teeth or doing very complicated procedures. And ultimately, that`s a decision that needs to be made between the dentist and the patient.
And the question really comes down to what the severity of that procedure is. For example, wisdom teeth sometimes are hidden underneath the gum and
the bone. So to effectively get to it, it does require quite a bit of surgery and cutting and drilling. That can be uncomfortable. Sometimes
patients don`t want to hear that. So general anesthesia certainly could be appropriate in circumstances such as that.
BANFIELD: But I do recall, Doctor, hearing of many cases where that sort of a complicated dental procedure or wisdom tooth extraction, because it`s
so difficult and requires general, would be done in a hospital and not in a dentist`s office.
GROSSMAN: I would say that the vast majority of wisdom teeth extractions are actually done in a private office. Very rarely do we use an actual
emergency room or surgery outpatient facility. Most oral surgeons are set up to actually have full-on treatment to not only do the procedure, but
also to revive the patient in the case that the anesthesia goes poorly.
BANFIELD: OK. Good point because this is where I`m confused. I sort of looked at the staff list of who was present for Sydney Galleger`s surgery.
It was the dentist himself, a licensed dental assistant, an unlicensed dental assistant and an intern. Does that sound like the right setup for
putting someone under general and going through this procedure?
GROSSMAN: That`s a great question. And certainly, that would warrant concern. I`m not thrilled to hear that there was somebody that was
unlicensed there. Obviously, there`s something that seems awry with that.
But ultimately, the -- one of the main issues that is interesting with oral surgery is that many oral surgeons also wear two hats. They`re not only
doing the procedure, they`re also providing the IV sedation. I actually don`t do that in my office. I actually have a board-certified
anesthesiologist to put patients under. And one of the reasons for that is I want the person who`s doing the anesthesia to be looking at one thing and
one thing only, and that`s the vitals on the patient to make sure that everything is going well.
If you`re doing the procedure and monitoring the vitals, you have to have an eye in two different places, and that tends not to be the best outcome.
BANFIELD: I mean, that`s what I`ve always heard! The anesthesiologist is the most important person on the team. They`re keeping you alive moment by
moment so that the surgeons can do their jobs.
Can I ask you this? As a dentist, he -- this man got his license back. And so there would have to be something that I`m not seeing in the court
document so far the ADA, American, you know, Dental Association, would not be so quick to put him back into business if they thought something really
terrible had gone on, or am I misreading this?
GROSSMAN: You`re asking a great question. Why did he get his license back. So obviously, you know, we might be limited in what information we
have.
But if, for example, based on the timeline that you discussed in the preamble, if the heart did, in fact, stop sometime between 9:15 and 9:20
and 911 wasn`t called for 10 or 15 minutes later and they told the 911 operator that they`re just about to start CPR, that tells me that there
might be 10 or 15 minutes where she is without oxygen, which of course, is the ultimate cause of her death according to the autopsy, and CPR should
have started immediately.
[20:20:26]BANFIELD: Yes.
GROSSMAN: So there`s certainly a question about what happened and how do you fill in those 10 to 15 minutes?
BANFIELD: Real quickly, Dr. Grossman, if I`m watching right now and I`m having my children set up for dental surgery, or even myself, what do I
need to ask my dentist so I know I`m going to be OK?
GROSSMAN: That`s a really great question. So obviously, the first thing you`d want to ask is how many of these procedures have you done. And the
second thing is -- again, my personal belief is I believe there should be a separate board-certified anesthesiologist that`s doing one thing and one
thing only, and that`s delivering the right medications and, obviously, being able to revive the patient if, God forbid, the procedure goes south.
BANFIELD: All right. Dr. Grossman, Dr. Jay Grossman, great to talk to you. Thanks for the answers. You certainly know your stuff, and it does
clear up a lot of confusion on that. Appreciate it. Nice to see you.
GROSSMAN: My pleasure.
BANFIELD: Police released a dramatic set of videos of the shooting of a teenager. And what really stands out on this one is what you hear, how
many times they warn the armed teenager to drop the gun before they take action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
BANFIELD: Also caught on tape, a pickup losing control, smashing through a city bus. But what is so remarkable is what the video looked like, and yet
nobody was terribly hurt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:25:23]BANFIELD: Through bodycams and dashcams, we sure have been seeing a lot about the police officers` perspective, and all too often, we
see them as shootings. Many times, they are prompting outrage and unrest, too. But departments across the country are now releasing those images so
that they can show their side of what happened in these confrontations.
And in the case I`m about to show you, officers were called after someone had opened fire on a gang-related target on a bus filled with people. They
came across 18-year-old Rodney Rodriguez Smith (ph). He was standing on the side of the road. His gun was drawn, arm outstretched, approaching a
cruiser.
So I want you to pay very close attention to the video I`m going to show you first from the officer`s dashcam. And you can get the perspective of
the lengths that they went to to try to get this young man, Mr. Smith, to drop his gun.
The first thing you see is the officer pulling up. And you can see Smith on the side of the road. He`ll be highlighted in red, arm outstretched.
There`s a gun in his hand. You can hear the officer start to yell several times to drop the gun before they finally end up firing and killing Mr.
Smith.
Now, I`m not sure that you could catch how many times those officers asked him to drop the gun. It was way off in the distance. But it wasn`t five
times. And it wasn`t 10 times, either. It was not even 15 times. It was a lot more than that.
So I want you to check out the video from another officer`s bodycam, and particularly -- this isn`t so much a look at it, this is a listen to it and
see if you can count and count quickly how many times they told Smith drop it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, man, let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands! Put it down! Put
it down! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop it! Drop it! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired! Shots fired! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not move! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Did you catch it? We did, We counted, It was 18 different times they told a man with a gun outstretched to drop his weapon, 18
different times,
Want to bring in my lawyers again to talk about this, Rodney Smith is no stranger to the police, At 18 years old, we were able to find just six
mugshots, six different mugshots at 18 years old, I think we have them, We can show them to you, In I think two of the mugshots, he`s got a very
prominent tattoo. They did say that he was a known gang member -- again, 18 years old.
But Heather, I want you to sort of comment for me on the significance of the number of times you heard those two police officers calling out, Drop
it.
HEATHER HANSEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I mean, it goes towards, if this was ever one of those cases that had turned around and they were trying to
claim that he should not have been shot, it`s not once, it`s not twice. How many times do they have to give fair warning before they have the right
to shoot to kill?
And look at what police officers go through today. I mean, to watch this tape, it`s actually heartwrenching to understand that police officers every
day go out and risk their lives, and to say 18 times before you actually shoot I think takes a lot of discretion.
BANFIELD: But with 18 times, many of them before, some of them during. There`s still movement and the threat is not neutralized all throughout
that process.
And I do want to ask you, if I can, David, while we watch another part of the video -- you can see one of the officers, his demeanor. Through his
bodycam, you`re watching his hands shooting. Then you`re watching his hands as he actually has to reload. And you can hear him because I think a
lot of the criticism is the officer was wild. He was reckless. He was crazed. He was amped.
But I want you to watch specifically for this particular officer, Michael Bell (ph), and maybe you can get a sense of what he was going through. So
let`s roll that and take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
[20:30:00]
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.
BANFIELD: You can hear the other officer. Yelling drop the gun in the distance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
(GUNSHOTS)
BANFIELD: Now he`s having to reload the cartridges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! Drop the gun!
BANFIELD: David, are you seeing something here that would be very specific to the department
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: As they would look at this video and listen to his demeanor. I don`t hear him breathless. I don`t hear him shaking or throwing things. I
see him very sort of calm and collected. But I`m not a police officer.
BRUNO: Yeah, that`s what they`re trained to do. I mean -- and -- and thank God they are because they are tough situations that our police officers
have to face. You know, even coming up to a car on a very regular motor vehicle stop, they don`t mow who is in the car. And on this particular
occasion, not only are they yelling to drop the gun, but they`re also getting fired at.
BANFIELD: That`s a cruiser by the way.
BRUNO: This individual is shooting.
BANFIELD: Mr. Smith is walking towards a police cruiser with the arm outstretched. Joey, at the same time, you have a family that lost an 18-
year-old. They say their child didn`t have a chance.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, here is the issue. The problem is certainly officers encounter a lot of danger on the
street. Was he firing back? That`s a critical issue. Was he firing back or was it just the officer who are firing because the proportionality of the
force matters.
Officers tactically are trained. Double tap, reassess. Double tap, reassess. Meaning, shoot, shoot. And then assess the situation. And you see
repeated shots. And that goes to the family`s issue, was the force disproportionate to whatever directly posed (ph).
BANFIELD: If you don`t thrust the gun.
JACKSON: Then you have a problem. But it`s also not clear to me.
BANFIELD: He`s firing, I get it. If he`s not firing, he doesn`t drop the gun.
JACKSON: When they`re saying drop the gun, it`s not clear to me whether he actually is shot at that point and in any position to drop the gun. Where`s
the body when they`re yelling drop the gun? I see something on the ground. Is that his body or is it something else? You can yell drop the gun 20
times after someone is shot and killed. It`s not going to have them drop the gun because they`re too dead to drop it. And that`s gonna be the issue.
Civil litigation at whose fault.
BRUNO: Yes, civil. There`s many different legal issues going on. Is the police officer criminally responsible? And they found no. Are they civilly
responsible? And there are different levels. When we talk about proportionality, that`s civil.
BANFIELD: Okay.
BRUNO: It`s not whether or not they fear for their life.
JACKSON: Civil is money, criminal is.
BANFIELD: I`m going to leave it there. I do have this twin mystery. Twin eight-year-olds just gone
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Vanished, missing for an entire decade. No one seems to know anything about it. And the police say their mom continues to lie about
where they are. Stories keep changing. So now, she`s behind bars, but is it going to change anything and will they ever find these little kids, now
teenagers?
And four teenagers accused of this terrible video that went viral. Kidnapping and torturing a special needs student in Chicago. You saw it,
you cringed, your heart went out to that special needs child, an 18-year- old himself, and then you couldn`t believe the kid smiling as they were having fun doing it. Now, guess what, the kids are saying, they`re worried
about their safety. Well, you`re about to hear what a court had to say to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: If you are a parent and for an instant you don`t know where your child is, for a few minutes, the fear is completely overwhelming that
something could have happened to them. If those seconds or minutes turned into months or God forbid a year, I don`t know what you go through. What if
it went on for 10 years? Because that is how long a set of twins named Ivon and Inisha Fowler have been missing. They disappeared when they were eight
years old, but the fact that they disappeared only came to light recently. Ten years later.
Because child welfare workers removed four other children from their mom`s home. A Pittsburgh home. Patricia Fowler is their mom. And strangely, the
little twins seen as babies here, might be somewhere around 18 years old now. No one seems to know where they`ve been for a decade. Patricia
Fowler`s story has changed over and over about who the twins have been with, and where the twins have been living.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patricia, can you understand the concern that investigators have wondering if your children are alive or dead? Do you
understand where their concern comes in?
PATRICIA FOWLER, MOTHER OF MISSING TWINS: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you children alive?
P. FOWLER: Yes. I did not sell them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bottom line, what is your ultimate truth about Ivon and Inisha?
P. FOWLER: They`re with a friend of mine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where?
P. FOWLER: In Georgia. I have contacted them throughout the years, over the years I had contact to them, but they moved, it`s like I don`t have no
information about the move. I gave the cops the number. They got to call and get all the information from this friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Did you hear her say that? It was really weird, went by quickly. Like she said, I didn`t feel them. Obviously, I think the police had the
same reaction I just had. And they`re really starting to put the screws on this case, trying to get this mother to talk, because they now charged her
with concealing the twin`s whereabouts and illegally collecting more than $50,000, food stamps and all sorts of other welfare assistance based on
those twins.
The National Center for missing exploited children has put out an age progression picture of again what they think are now 18-year-olds. Maybe
you have seen them. Maybe somebody out there watching tonight has recognized these two kids, Ivon and Inisha. Maybe you can call the police
and help solve this. Right now, mom doesn`t seem to want to tell us much.
Detective Michael Kuma is at Allegheny County Police Department. He joins me live now from Pittsburgh. Detective, thanks so much for being with me
tonight.
[20:40:00] How and when did we figure out that these two kids had been missing for 10 years?
MICHAEL KUMA, DETECTIVE, ALLEGHENY COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Hi, Ashleigh, thank you for having me on tonight. We were called in last July by a local
police department to assist them with an investigation because they rapidly discovered the nature of what was going on. Caseworker had gone to
residents for neglect, a report of neglect involving some of the other children.
When they got there, they inquired about the whereabouts of Ivon and Inisha. And Ms. Fowler could not provide any verified information on their
whereabouts.
BANFIELD: Boy, I`ll say detective, it`s like she`s had an unbelievable basket of stories to tell about these two kids. Let me just throw some of
these examples up on the screen if I can. She has at one time said that the kids were living with a friend in South Carolina. Then that changed to
living with an aunt in South Carolina. Then it changed to living with friends in Georgia. Another state.
And then it came to a different circumstance. Kids are living with a school friend. And then bizarre. She said she sold them for $2,000 each to a woman
in a deal that would you say brokered by some guy she met in a bar. You heard her tell the reporter that wasn`t true. And also she has said I don`t
know. That`s ultimately another one of her stories. I just don`t know.
And apparently that the town in Georgia she has provided to you, detective, doesn`t exist. The addresses that she has provided to you ended up being
storefront windows. The people she has named have said they didn`t know anything about this and didn`t even know about the kids at all or that they
were even missing. Where do you go from here detective?
KUMA: Well, I can tell you that we have reached out to multiple family members and friends associated with the family and no one can tell us that
they have seen Ivon or Inisha since the year 2000. It`s actually longer than 10 years that have been missing.
BANFIELD: Wow.
KUMA: Where do you go from here, that`s a good question. We -- obviously, the investigation is active. We are continuing diligently to locate the
whereabouts of the this twin siblings. We get leads. We`re following up on. Ultimately, the answer lies with Ms. Fowler and.
BANFIELD: Detective, I understand she`s got this son named Datwon who you have hauled in because allegedly he was sending phony text to cover his
mom`s trail. Pretending to be one of these twins saying we`re all good. My words.
Ultimately there is some evidence of him faking things on social media. I think at one point, a reporter asked him about those kids and he said --
well, let`s play that. Let`s see what he answered the reporter to her question where are they.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
DATWON FOWLER, PATRICIA FOWLER`S SON: He is aware. He`s in Pittsburgh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s in Pittsburgh today?
D. FOWLER: Yeah, but he`s going back to Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you tell him?
D. FOWLER: I called him to call the Penn Hills Police Station. He said he will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Detective, that`s Datwon talking about his twin brother in Georgia. Sure, he`ll call the police. You pulled him in for lying about
this, haven`t you?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
KUMA: Yes, in fact we did. We had gotten information that a cell phone number was being used to communicate with police. Someone purporting
himself to be Ivon. We were able to trace the cell phone back to Ms. Fowler`s residence. We found Datwon in possession of that cell phone and
eventually told us he was pretending to be his missing brother just so police would leave him alone.
BANFIELD: Well, maybe Datwon is going to feel the squeeze and start talking if he knows something, and maybe
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mom is not going to like the fact that her son Datwon is now in trouble for whatever has happened with Ivon and Inisha. Detective, thank
you so much. If anyone has seen those kids, that age progression is helpful from the National Center for missing the exploited children. If you`ve seen
them, if you know anything about this, call your police, call the police and let them know. Let`s solve this and find out what happened to these
kids. Or if they`re even alive.
The video we showed you was so appalling. Elderly abuse. Upsetting and shocking.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Disgusting a lot of people said. Imagine doing this to someone in her mid 90s. Well guess what? That woman took off as soon as her picture
went all over TV. They found her. We`re going to show her to you in a moment.
[20:45:00] And then this pickup truck about to smash right through a bus full of passengers and rarely get more than one angle. This time we had
about five. Wait until you see what it looked like on the bus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: I want to take you to Syracuse, New York for a minute. Tape of this car that comes flying off an exit ramp, totally out of control,
narrowly missing that big pole and bam right in the side of the bus. So you can imagine what it looked like for people on the bus.
I want you to watch the woman in the white that you`re about to see on the bus right there. Because she sees it coming. And she has an expression --
whoa! Wow! But, boy, did she get spared. All right. The man who was sitting across from her on this next video does not see it coming until too late.
Watch what happens to him. Thrown clear to the other side of the bus.
Here`s what`s remarkable about these videos. Everybody on this bus is okay. Nobody seriously hurt. You think this woman is climbing over to help the
man who got thrown. Yeah? You think she`s about to step down and give him a hand? Because he`s still down on the ground. No, no, no, no. She wants off
the bus. Pretty much everybody is just getting off that bus.
The bus driver is just yelling, okay. Poor guy. Unbelievable. This is the view from the back of the bus looking forward. Watch what happens as it`s
coming through. It almost cuts this bus in half. It`s remarkable. This guy sitting in the back, he`s up, screaming, "open the door." The bus driver
doesn`t open it. He takes matters into his own hands and just kicks the thing open and everybody gets out.
Then you can see what it looks like from his perspective, sitting there on the left. Shocking. And then he`s up and out. "Open the door." Does it
himself. Let me out. Or I`ll do it myself. Again, what`s incredible about this crash is that everyone was okay. Just a few minor injuries. Eight
people did get checked out. But the fact that that happened and no one died is just remarkable.
All right. Let me take you to Chicago, Illinois. You three attorneys will have to get me off the ledge on this one. We`ve shown this video of these
four teenagers live streaming on Facebook as they tortured and abused for a day
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A special needs young man. The video went viral. We were all so disgusted of what they were saying to him. They were cutting him. They were
choking him, beating him. He was pleading with them. Why are you doing this? These are his friends, he thought.
And the video shows the kids enjoying this. What is so frustrating, we were so angry with these four, they were denied bail. I want to show the four
mug shots if I can of Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington, and Tanisha Covington. Because there was a court appearance on Friday. And
their lawyers have said that they`re getting death threats.
Postings have suggested that they should be executed and that there should be a deadly mob attack on these four. And the judge in the case, Heather,
said no cameras will be allowed in their court proceedings and no sketch artists will be allowed. Why are they getting that kind of protection?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Ashleigh, I think that everyone is pretty darn sure that these kids are going to be convicted. And so the judge is
probably thinking about appeals and worried that he has to do everything he can to protect their rights to ensure there isn`t grounds for.
BANFIELD: And they`re surprised they`re getting death threats after this unbearable treatment of these kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: We have another video that we showed you, this terrible video of the caregiver who was paid to look after this 94-year-old woman in her
care.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The repeated abuse, the slapping, the hitting, the assaulting, the verbal swearing at this woman, and then she took off the minute she
knew they were after her. They caught her. You`ll see what happened next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Remember Brenda Floyd in Houston?
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The caregiver caught on tape wailing repeatedly on a 94-year-old woman she was supposed to be looking after? Screaming at her, swearing at
her, calling her a bitch? The video went everywhere. And Ms. Floyd took off, on the run. They caught her and we have the mug shot to prove it.
There she is.
Apparently, Ms. Floyd, even though tips came in from surrounding states that she had fled the state, was actually in Houston. Not far from where
this happened. Nearby resident recognized her from all the news reports and called it in. So, she has been now charged with injury to elderly
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And there you go. Thank you, viewers. You came through. Now I want to show you another grandmother. This one maybe not quite the same. In
San Diego, California, a woman named Cynthia Cdebaca was arrested because police say she shot her son-in-law. Everything is an allegation until, you
know, it`s proven. So you get someone into an interview room and you ask them, did you do it? And here is how she answered the question, especially
when they told her that he died from the shooting.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you shot him twice?
CYNTHIA CDEBACA, A GRANDMA WHO SHOT SON-IN-LAW: Yeah, but he wouldn`t -- did he die?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, he did.
CDEBACA: Oh, good. Good, good, good, good, good. Thank you. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you do it again?
CDEBACA: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Oh, David, that can`t be good if you just admit that. Oh, good, good, good, good. Is he dead? Is he dead? Oh, good, good, good, good, good.
That`s not good for a murder case, is it?
BRUNO: For prosecutors, it is. Prosecutors are lucky to have that video because that`s the most persuasive evidence you can have, a defendant
saying I did it and I`m glad I did it.
JACKSON: That just goes to have great defense. She had a basis to do it. That`s what she`ll talk about.
BANFIELD: Last word, Heather?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. She might have an insanity defense with that type of activity.
BANFIELD: It`s a crazy tape, I tell you that. Thanks for watching, everybody. Great to have you here.
[21:00:00] Thank you for being here. We`ll be back tomorrow night at 8 o`clock for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Don`t go anywhere. "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED
WITH HILL HARPER" is going to take a closer look at the Menendez murders in Beverly Hills. Stay tuned for "FORENSIC FILES."
END
