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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
More Insight From People Who Used to Know Tad Cummins. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired March 23, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): Breaking news, a vehicle sighting in Texas. But is it the fugitive teacher and the missing teenage girl? Plus,
new details about the first time the two met, you know, "People" magazine reporting a back rub between teacher and student.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thought, you know, This is an OK guy to trust.
BANFIELD: But there was something strange about Mr. Cummins.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one his age would act like this. It was weird.
BANFIELD: Still, not everyone thought so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody loved Tad.
BANFIELD: A former student weighs in with the highs, the lows, and the red flags.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What went through his head to make him think that any of this was OK?
BANFIELD: You`ve seen the amazing video, a woman locked in the trunk of her own car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s, like, Now get in the trunk.
BANFIELD: The dramatic escape from her alleged kidnapper all caught on tape. Now she`s telling her story on NBC`s "Today."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If this don`t work, I`m going to kill you.
BANFIELD: Was Snapchat a motive for murder?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The facts show they intended to murder her.
BANFIELD: Cops say two boys annoyed by a girl`s Snapchat planned to kill her for weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she is in the fight of her life right now.
BANFIELD: But miraculously, she survived a bullet to the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven`t seen anything like this case in the 18 years that I`ve worked at for Cash (ph) County.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got heavy smoke.
BANFIELD: Dozens of homes go up in flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Third one down, fourth one, fifth one. The one behind just caught on fire..
BANFIELD: But when one man`s home caught a spark, it wasn`t firefighters but his the doorbell camera that sounded the alarm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your house is on fire!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I know. I`m on my way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
And we`re following breaking news tonight in that manhunt for the suspected man who allegedly kidnapped the 15-year-old girl in Tennessee. We are
learning just a few hours ago, police in Corpus Christi, Texas, say that somebody has spotted what they believe was the silver Rogue that Tad
Cummins was driving.
But when officers investigated, they found no sign of him or Elizabeth Thomas, the 15-year-old girl he`s suspected of taking with him. They also
did not find that car. And this is one of nearly 900 tips that investigators have been looking at in the search for Elizabeth, and of
course, that fugitive teacher, Tad Cummins.
And still so many confounding questions. Like, why would Elizabeth disappear with a married father and grandfather more than three times her
age? Was she unhappy at her home? Or was this 15-year-old girl conned by her forensics teacher and groomed to run away with him, groomed since the
beginning of school?
Thomas disappeared more than 10 days ago now, last seen at a restaurant near her home in Columbia, Tennessee. Not far away, Tad Cummins was
spotted gassing up that silver Nissan Rogue.
And new tonight, the Tennessee Department of Education is confirming that Tad Cummins chaperoned a field trip for 31 students. And that was just
five days after he was allegedly seen kissing Elizabeth Thomas. The now fired Tad Cummins was the only adult apparently overseeing that school
group. It was a competition for a future health care professional organization, and Elizabeth Thomas was supposed to attend that competition.
We are told, however, she did not compete.
But even after all of the allegations against Tad Cummins, some of his former students are coming forward and they`re describing him in a whole
different way, saying that they never saw anything inappropriate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was my favorite teacher. I loved being around him. He was always nice, sweet. Seemed like a really caring person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody loved Tad. Everybody -- you know, he put inspirational quotes on his board. He was always just really friendly. I
mean, it wasn`t -- I never for a second took it as anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But Elizabeth`s best friend says it may have been how attentive Tad Cummins was to her that drew her close to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEE RIGGINS, BEST FRIEND: If she`s with someone, she clings to them. She wants to be around them. She wants to be touching them in some sort of
way, whether it be casually touching arms, holding hands, holing their wrists, something like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: HLN`s Mike Galanos joins me live now from Columbia, Tennessee. He`s been working the story all day there. Mike, a couple of things. We
are learning from sources that there has been an inordinate number of warrants that have been sought in that county, in Murray County, where
Elizabeth disappeared, which is an unusual occurrence. Apparently, it out of the ordinary there. So that`s a fascinating development today.
[20:05:00]And then we`re learning this tidbit of information about Elizabeth`s backpack. Workers at that Shoney`s, that restaurant where she
was dropped off, actually spotted her backpack. What is the story behind this?
MIKE GALANOS, HLN ANCHOR: You know, we decided let`s go back there. Let`s see if somebody -- jog somebody`s memory, try and pick up a new detail.
Sure enough, a staff member tells us on the day Elizabeth goes missing, she leaves a backpack in the waiting area.
This is the story as they tell us. Again, this is the day she goes missing. Elizabeth goes inside. Remember, as we look -- let`s take a look
at that last picture of her with the black pants and the flannel shirt. Ashleigh, you can see the backpack in this picture, so keep that in mind as
I relay this story, that she goes inside the Shoney`s. We weren`t told she went inside, that she was just dropped off there -- goes inside, uses the
restroom, comes out, leaves the backpack in a waiting area and then leaves without it.
So staff at Shoney`s tell us that they saw this backpack, and it sat there for at least a couple of hours. Then they went to investigate, looked
inside, her name, Elizabeth Thomas, written in it with a change of clothes.
So then it sat longer. Finally at 2:00 -- so as long as -- as late as 1:00 o`clock that day, it`s seen in this waiting area. 2:30, more staff comes
in and it is gone.
They do not know what happened to the backpack. Who came and got it? Did somebody just take it? Those are some of the questions. Sheriff`s
department -- they know about this, as well. So that is a mystery in the midst of all this.
We even walked a few hundred feet away to the gas station where Tad Cummins filled up with gas to see if anything was missed there. And they --
employees there say they looked at surveillance both front and back, nothing missing. He used a credit card to get gas, so there was limited
contact with him. So as we went back to the last place Elizabeth was seen, that`s what we have for you at this hour, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: And it`s real unclear at this point, right, Mike, that the clothing that we see her in in that photograph, which is the last known
photograph of her the day before she was dropped off, this checkered shirt and the black leggings and the sneakers -- we don`t know yet whether this
was the change of clothes in the backpack or whether this is what she changed into. We don`t know exactly what the status is of the clothing in
the backpack, do we?
GALANOS: No, we do not. We do not know specifics. I`ll say this. I don`t believe so because the photo with the black pants and the flannel
shirt was taken prior to the leaving of the backpack.
BANFIELD: So at this point, we still...
GALANOS: But exactly specifically what was that change of clothes, we don`t know.
BANFIELD: Exactly. We just can`t be certain whether she`s wearing what you`re seeing in that picture. You know, there`s a lot of people right now
watching, and they`ve been watching every night. And that is what`s going to lead to a tip that will, hopefully, work out. Someone will have watched
the news and will have seen something and they will report that, and it will be the tip that leads to her being found. God help us. That will be
the story.
I want to get to that field trip. Tad Cummins, we`re learning, was the chaperone, the only adult chaperone on a field trip of 31 kids. And this
was after a report came in that he was seen kissing Elizabeth. And Elizabeth was scheduled to be on that trip. How on earth did that happen?
GALANOS: Let`s you and I work through the timeline. Check me on this, Ashleigh. So this alleged kiss witnessed by middle schoolers January 23rd.
On the 24th, middle schooler confronts Tad Cummins and files a complaint with the school.
Investigation ensues. Both Elizabeth and Tad Cummins are questioned about this. They both deny any wrongdoing. On the 27th, from what we gather --
keep the date in mind -- Elizabeth removed from his class and Tad Cummins - - really, both are told have no contact with each other. 27th, same date as this field trip to the local community college, Elizabeth, as you
mentioned, did not compete, cannot confirm whether or not she went on that field trip. But he was the lone chaperone. That we can tell you.
BANFIELD: So I can say this, that of 31 kids, we can`t confirm whether she actually attended. She was scheduled to but didn`t compete. But we know
that 30 others did, and he was the lone chaperone.
Let me move on. There is this whole notion about Elizabeth having never been to public school before this particular year. She`d been home
schooled all up until 9th grade. So this was her first year in school, let alone public school and middle school. So this is was a very, very
traumatic time, I`m guessing, for her. But the big question remains, why would she be so incredibly trusting of this particular man? Do you have
more insight?
GALANOS: Well, say this, and as we spoke to Elizabeth`s dad, Anthony Thomas, just to reiterate that. Yes, she was a little unsure about going
to public school. Then she goes to public school. She`s doing well. Tad Cummins allegedly is the favorite teacher.
So now you`ve got a positive influence, we think. But yet these stories of the FBI, CIA, secret agent, and her sister Sarah is going, What`s with
this? And even questioned Elizabeth on that.
Here`s Sarah once again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:10:00]SARAH THOMAS, SISTER: She was, like, convinced that, you know, he was this, you know, good person, that he was, you know, FBI and he used
to be in the CIA, and all this that he has told her that he used to be. And so she believed him because, you know, he made it seem like he was
trusted in the INAUDIBLE), And with, you know, police. And so she thought, you know, this was an OK guy to trust.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: So Ashleigh, she was duped, and from what we gather, others were, as well. They didn`t want to hear a bad thing about this guy.
BANFIELD: Yes, it`s not the first time we heard CIA, FBI, Secret Service and whatever else he was telling these kids.
So real quickly, "People" magazine had this really sort of freaky report about the first time that Elizabeth and her sister Sarah met Mr. Cummins.
He did something unusual and uncomfortable. Can you characterize for me how that meeting went?
GALANOS: And again, this is from Sarah, the sister who I had a chance to interview, that he rubbed their shoulders and ran his hands down their back
to the point -- I want to get the quote right -- and this is from Sarah, that Elizabeth gave her a look, like, get -- this guy is scary. Get this
guy off. That again, the first meeting between Elizabeth and Tad Cummins.
BANFIELD: Very uncomfortable, very unusual, maybe very characteristic now that we know -- in hindsight, now that we know what`s happened. Mike
Galanos, thank you so much. Stand by. I know you`re still working through a lot details and sources.
Chandler Anderson worked with Tad Cummins at Maury (ph) Regional Medical Center. That`s one of the places where they worked together. Chandler
became director of cardiology, while Tad was a respiratory therapist. And Chandler joins me live now from Columbia, Tennessee.
Chandler, thank you so much for being with me tonight. We are trying to get insight, obviously, into Tad Cummins. And perhaps you might have more
than anyone who has spoken to us thus far, having, worked with him for years. Your impression of this man -- what is it?
CHANDLER ANDERSON, WORKED WITH TAD CUMMINS: Tad Cummins is not this great, charitable person that we`ve been led to believe. Having worked with Tad,
Tad is very egotistical. He`s very narcissistic, and he has a problem with authority.
Tad in many examples, especially in the emergency department when time was critical, Tad would question providers. He would question physicians. He
would try to overstep many, many times, which led to Tad changing jobs multiple times. Tad was a bully. He was difficult to deal with. He
almost hazed our new staff members and would try to exert his authority over us as nurses even though we were really lateral positions.
BANFIELD: Chandler, it`s intriguing that you have this impression of him. We`re hearing kids tell a different story about him, which leads me to my
next question. And I want you to think about this answer, if you would. Why do you think he did the job change from the health care profession to
going into being a teacher? I want you to answer that question for me right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:15:18]BANFIELD: Tad Cummins was reportedly the kind of teacher whom students would call Tad, not Mr. Cummins. Some say he was a guy that could
be counted on, a guy who would listen to their problems, and someone they felt -- they felt -- they could trust. We`re going to meet one of those
students in just a moment. Her name is Destany Parrish. She has a lot to say about what he was like then and what she thinks about it now.
And there`s this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Is the car still running?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I don`t know how to turn it off!
911 OPERATOR: Did you park -- did you park before they passed out or not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was on drive, but I put it to park.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That`s a 9-year-old girl desperately begging 911 for help after her parents pass out in the front seat of the car, and she has no idea
where she is. Wonder what it was that had them passing out? You`ll find out in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We`re learning more tonight about the former teacher accused of kidnapping a Tennessee teenager. Tad Cummins was a forensics teacher at
the same high school where Elizabeth Thomas attended.a
But being a teacher was not his first profession. It also was not the first time his behavior was questioned on the job. Back with me now,
Chandler Anderson. He was a nurse practitioner who worked with Tad Cummins when he was employed as a respiratory therapist. Several years ago, that
changed, though, because Chandler`s now the director of cardiology at a different hospital.
Chandler before the I asked you if you knew the reason why Tad Cummins switched professions and left the medical profession to become a teacher
with kids.
ANDERSON: You know, my thought Tad has always had a problem with authority. He`s always had trouble not being the boss. So if you think
about what a teacher does, they are the authoritarian figure in the classroom, and kids are not allowed in the school system to question the
teacher. So Tad found an opportunity to be an authoritarian with very little oversight, and he chose to became a teacher because that fit his
role to meet his needs as far as his ego and his narcissistic tendencies.
BANFIELD: Chandler, one of the things that we have heard from Elizabeth`s sister, Sarah, was that oftentimes, when she went into his classroom, he
would behave like one of kids. He wanted to be one of the kids. He would play their music. He -- she found it odd. She thought he didn`t act like
an adult. He didn`t act like someone who should be his age. Does that sort of comport with the man you knew?
[20:20:16]ANDERSON: You know, I think it correlates with the manipulative Tad Cummins that we all know that worked with him. I feel like what he was
doing there was trying to open the door to make himself feel safe to those children. And that is the Tad Cummins that is the manipulative person that
we all knew who worked with him.
BANFIELD: And what about the notion that he would question -- as a respiratory therapist, he would question physicians` decisions? He would
question the doctors who were sort of light years ahead of him in training and knowledge. How often would that happen?
ANDERSON: It was not uncommon for Tad to do that. Tad very clearly felt like he was the smartest person in any room that he entered. And I feel
like that probably led into this. Tad probably feels like that he knows more than any of us about what`s best for this young lady. And
regretfully, that`s led to this situation.
BANFIELD: So Chandler, I guess the question, if he has that kind of hubris, oftentimes, that can be your Achilles. Do you think that that is
what will lead to him tripping himself up, that he`s smarter than everyone else?
ANDERSON: I absolutely do. You know, Tad -- when you have someone like Tad who thinks they know more than everyone else, they start to take for
granted that there are people out there who actually are more intelligent than they are. And that certainly will be his Achilles heel, and
hopefully, will be what leads to this young lady being returned home safely.
BANFIELD: Well, Chandler, I really appreciate you giving us this perspective tonight. It is very informative to hear this side certainly
from a different profession and a different time. Thank you so much.
And I also want to bring in Destany Parrish because Destany was a former student of Tad Cummins. So we`re going to get a little bit of history. He
was her teacher back in 2011 and 2012. So it`s not that long ago, but it is the difference between being a kid and then being a grownup looking at
your teacher`s behavior back then through a whole new lens. And does what`s happened now change that lens and that perspective?
Destany, one of the things that I found intriguing was that when you were in his class, he was the guy no one ever called Mr. Cummins. No one ever
called him by the proper appellate. They would only call him Tad. Did that feel strange?
DESTANY PARRISH, FORMER STUDENT OF TAD CUMMINS: It didn`t at the time. I didn`t notice anything weird with it. I definitely didn`t have too many
other teachers that let us do that, but I never got any red flags from it at the time.
BANFIELD: So perhaps also, Destany, when you were 15, it may not have seemed strange that all of you, all of your friends would hang out in his
classroom. If you were waiting for the bus, or you had some extra time, or if you were eating lunch, oftentimes, his classroom was the place to just
hang out.
But there was this one time when everybody was called back from the office, and he held you back. Can you tell me a little bit about that moment and
what happened?
PARRISH: What actually happened was he told everybody -- we were all in there for lunch, about 10, 15 students, maybe. We were sitting in there,
everybody doing their own thing, playing on computers, doing whatever.
And Tad had told us that the office had gotten onto him for it previously because we did it every day, that we needed to all go back to lunch. The
office had said we needed to go back to lunch. Everybody grabbed their stuff and left, and I was the last one going to leave, and he told me that
the office hadn`t said anything to him and that I was more than welcome to stay and hang out during lunch. And I did, and it ended up just being me
and him.
BANFIELD: You know, sometimes as a kid, something seems a little bit weird, but we always question ourselves and we assume we must be mistaken.
We`re just kids. These are grownups. They`re always in the right. Did you have that strange sense at any time with him? Did you wonder, Well,
this is a bit odd, but I guess it must be OK?
PARRISH: Maybe during the lunch situation. That was, like I said, not so much of a red flag. It was a little odd, but I thought maybe, you know,
I`m just, you know, one of his favorite students or a pet or something and that it wouldn`t be an issue, that, you know, like I said, maybe he didn`t
want all the people in there at the time.
BANFIELD: Did you ever hear about any other kids getting that same treatment, maybe feeling like they were special or they were a pet or they
were singled out or they were asked to stay behind? Or even since then, have you all communicated on Facebook and said, Dear God, I had the same
thing happen to me?
PARRISH: I haven`t really had anybody else that was as close to him. Like I said, some of my friends, you know, would go back and go hang out with
him and stuff, too. He was just a really friendly person, is how we all took it. None of us really ever thought too much else of it at the time.
[20:25:08]BANFIELD: Well, I can only imagine, Destany, since you also had that added benefit of having been invited to church with him, that perhaps
this would have seemed normal for a 15-year-old girl. But we`re now learning that Elizabeth also regularly went along with him to church, and
also that his wife was present, Jill, the woman who made the public appeal for Elizabeth to come home.
When you heard that, that Elizabeth also went to church with Tad and Tad`s wife and that you had that same experience oftentimes, did that give you
pause? Did that make you feel a little nervous inside?
PARRISH: It did. I definitely -- you know, like I said, didn`t think anything about it then. But hearing, like you said, that she had gone to
church with him, too, and that a lot of the -- you know, the similarities that we had together with Tad, it is kind of scary to think about kind of
and weird to think about because I never would have thought anything of it.
BANFIELD: Did any other girls go to church with him and alongside his wife, Jill? Did you hear that story from anyone else?
PARRISH: We had a lot of kids that went from our school that went to that church. He more or less invited me, and I would kind of go along, and you
know, hang out with him for a few minutes and go hang out with some of my friends, as well. So I mean...
BANFIELD: But did other kids get...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: ... get that same invitation? Do you know that other kids -- did they ride along with him and get a ride from him and get that same kind
of invitation?
PARRISH: No, not at the time. I definitely didn`t hear about it.
BANFIELD: So I mean, gosh, Destany, when you hear about what`s happened and the situation that he`s now currently in, are you surprised? I mean,
how do you sort of characterize what`s going on right now vis-a-vis the man that you knew?
PARRISH: It`s definitely a terrifying thing to think, you know, someone as well as you do and you don`t know a thing about him. It`s definitely
really hard, and I was, you know, really shocked at first. And I`m coming to terms with it a lot better now, but it definitely took a few days of
this investigation and a lot of the news reports and all that to really kind of get it into my system that, wow, this is really happening. It`s
really, you know, Tad, the guy that I knew in school and trusted so much.
BANFIELD: And had, you know, close moments with, as well. Do you think now, looking back, that this could have been you, that he might have been
able to convince you at some point, given the path that you were on with him or that he was on with you, singling you out, inviting you to church,
having you in his classroom, that he might have been trying to do the same thing to you?
PARRISH: Yes, that`s definitely crossed our minds. The only reason that we think it didn`t happen was because I had happened to move to Wichita in
the middle of all of it, whenever we were close. So we kind of -- you know, we kept in contact but definitely not enough to do anything like
that.
BANFIELD: On the last that day you were leaving him and saying good-bye, what happened?
PARRISH: I had walked into his room, and it had been you know, the full class day of school for me before the Christmas break. I told everybody
that I was leaving, you know, and had gone into his room on my way out of the school. I had told him, you know, obviously, previously that I had
intended to leave, but now, you know, OK, I`m going.
And we -- we shared, you know, a moment, I guess. We -- you know, he was hugging me and we were both kind of almost in tears because, you know, I
was leaving. And it was a really, really new situation, kind of terrifying for both of us.
But he told me, Don`t ever let anybody tell you you`re not beautiful, and I think that`s why a lot of why I got so choked up just because it did kind
of mean a lot coming from him at the time because, you know, as a kid, you`re 15 and you don`t really, I don`t know, hear that as much as you
think you need to.
BANFIELD: And did he then suggest that now that he`s no longer your teacher, you can be friends on Facebook? Did that seem odd, or did that
seem natural?
PARRISH: It was a little weird because we had other teachers at the time, you know, that didn`t have a problem with, you know, the being friends on
Facebook. He said, you know, previously, that I could follow him on Twitter but that we couldn`t be friends on Facebook because I was a
student. But since I was moving, I was no longer one of his students, and I could then add him on Facebook.
BANFIELD: Destany, I can`t thank you enough for taking the time to give us a little bit more insight into the man that now the whole nation is looking
for. And I`m happy that you`re able to talk to us. I`m happy that nothing like this happened to you. And I think we all can pray together that
Elizabeth comes home safely and has the chance to talk to someone give years from now, as well. Thank you so much.
PARRISH: Yes, ma`am. Thank you.
BANFIELD: I want to take you to Decatur, Texas because we are now learning police are confirming that they have gone to 10 separate motels in the
Decatur area looking for Elizabeth Thomas and Tad Cummins. We`re getting confirmation that the managers of those hotels have said indeed the police
have been looking for those two at hotels.
This is all within the last couple of days. We`re gonna continue to watch this as well. But I also want to tell you -- and I say that because we did
have this sighting, the Texas sighting near Corpus Christi in Texas. So clearly when I say across the country, I mean across the country.
In this many days, they could be anywhere. Let me -- let me correct that. It`s not Decatur, Texas. This is Decatur, Alabama. I apologize. We`re
talking about yet one more state where not only was she spotted or at least there was sighting of the vehicle in Texas but Decatur, Alabama, motel
owners, at least 10 of saying that now police have come looking for these two. And, of course, it all started in Tennessee, but authorities have said
they could be anywhere in the union by now.
A daring escape from a moving vehicle. Straight ahead. A kidnapped survivor`s harrowing tale of how she was able to get away. And when you see
the pictures, you`ll be astounded that she is alive to tell the story. And a Utah teenager allegedly shot in the head because of her snap chatting
habits. And now two boys whom she considered to be her friends, are being charged with attempted murder.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Brittany Diggs has quite a story to tell, and what makes it so compelling is that she`s alive to tell it because for so many people who
have ended up in her situation, they`ve ended up missing or worst, decomposing. So permit me, if you will, to let me start in the middle of
her story.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: This is Brittany`s black Nissan Altima, very nice. But she`s locked in the trunk of it. She`s in a parking lot outside a convenience
store where this guy walks out and gets in the door, jams the car into gear, and watch what happens when he starts taking off out of the parking
lot. Brittany found the trunk latch. She`s pulling it right now. And she is about to jump out of that trunk. Watch. It is unbelievable that she did it,
and she survived. She crashes to the ground, gets up, and runs for her life back into that store.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So how did she end up in the trunk of her own car in the first place? She`d been grabbed at gunpoint by a complete stranger right outside
her home. The man wanted money. Brittany told the rest of her story to the "Today" show.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTANY DIGGS, TRUNK KIDNAP VICTIM: I kept telling him I`m a broke college student, I don`t have anything. And he`s like go and pop your trunk. There
was nothing in the trunk. So I looked in the trunk. He`s like now get in the trunk. I`m just sitting there thinking, and I`m like, I might have a
trunk latch. I remember seeing a video on Facebook, so I just got to buy the idea to use my insulin pump light.
So I found the latch. He is in the store. I`m holding the latch like this, waiting for him to get back in the car. He gets in. He`s yelling. He`s
pulling out pretty fast. So I`m like oh shoot, I better get out of here. He pulled out fast and I popped the trunk, popped the latched, and I stepped
out instead of rolling out.
BANFIELD: Brittany ran back into the store. Workers who had just seen her jump out of the trunk, opened the door, and then hid her behind the counter
for safety. They then called police. And we`re happy to say today police think they got their man. This is Manuel Towns. He`s now being held on
$500,000 bail and he is facing charges of robbery, of kidnapping, and also of credit card fraud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Yosef Al Sabah is the gas station owner who called the police and he joins me live from Birmingham, Alabama. Yosef, thank you so much for
being with us. And thank you so much for looking after her and calling the police and giving her shelter and making her feel safe. What was your first
impression when you saw this woman blazing into your store in the condition she was in?
YOSEF AL SABAH, GAS STATION OWNER WHO HELPED THE VICTIM: It was expected because the man -- he was trying to use an ATM several times but he was not
lucky to withdraw any cash from the ATM. So as he was walking, he was saying words like he was talking to somebody in the car, but there was
nobody in the car. So I kept an eye on him in the car. I expected something wrong going on with him in the car there. So as the car was driving off out
of the parking lot, she was ejected from the back trunk, and she ran to me, to my store.
BANFIELD: And that moment, that moment, Yosef, when she came barreling into the store. We have some of the surveillance tape that actually has audio on
it, and I want to play it for our audience, what this moment was like and what it sounded like in the fear that was in her voice. Here, have a look
at this.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
AL SABAH: What`s wrong?
DIGGS: He`s been making me run around and try to get money out. He had my phone, like all my (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who`s the guy?
[20:40:00] AL SABAH: Where did he go? Hey, hey.
DIGGS: No, I thought you said.
AL SABAH: Yeah, a customer came in here running from somebody, and he tried to attack her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Doug Burns and Joey Jackson, couple of guys who know a thing or two about crimes. Former federal prosecutor, defense
attorney. You`re on tape and your witness survived. And that is one very articulate lovely young woman who juries would love to hear from. This guy
is sunk.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN AND HLN LEGAL ANALYST: First of all, isn`t it so nice to talk about an abduction or kidnapping story
where it ends well, right? So that`s first thing`s first. Now, as to the fate of this person who was involved in her abduction, make no mistake
about it. This law provides for 10 to 99 years. So he`s gone.
So back to your original question, in terms of the compelling evidence, you have a surveillance tape, you have something as chilling as that, you have
Yosef who is going to testify to her state of mind, what occurred etc, etc. And therefore as a result of that, I don`t believe he has (inaudible) even
if he has the esteemed Doug Burns.
DOUG BURNS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It is a very strong case obviously as you pointed out. You have the victim who survived. The victim who can
clearly identify him. You have the store owner who can clearly lay out exactly what happened. So it`s an extremely strong case.
BANFIELD: He drove around with her, stealing the $100. She has not only just a quick look at him, she got a lot to look at.
BURNS: She had a very lengthy look and you also, excellent point though, Ashleigh, because you got the credit card fraud. That`s sort of an
insurance policy in the background.
JACKSON: And as far as aggravating factors, I`m going to kill you, I`m going to kill you. I don`t have any money, I`m a student. I`m going to kill
you. I`m going to kill you. And what about the bright thinking? You know, you`re under pressure, and you expect to crumble, but she gets that light,
she focuses it, pops the trunk, she`s gone.
BANFIELD: For his defense attorney, sorry, fella, you`re not going to be able to shred her cred. She`s a phenomenal witness.
BURNS: I think she was lucky too because I`m not a car trunk expert, but not every trunk can be exited from the inside.
BANFIELD: All the new ones, it`s now locked.
BURNS: (inaudible) from the inside. Interesting.
BANFIELD: Can I just tell you that -- I love the "Today" show and they`ve got lots and lots of viewers and good Samaritan folks.
JACKSON: So do you.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Good Samaritan folks have come to her aid. You know she was robbed $100. She told the guy, I`m a poor college kid. $37,000. $37,000.
JACKSON: And after going through that, Ashleigh, she deserves more, right?
BANFIELD: Every penny. She deserves every penny plus more. We`re glad for Brittany Diggs and Yosef Al Sabah, thank you for helping her like I said
before. You`re right. It`s nice when a story ends well. Thank you, Yosef.
There is this other story we`re following, a teenage girl shot and left for dead in the muddy ditch. The police arrested two of her classmates for the
shooting. But what`s really weird about this story is the alleged motive. It`s sort of one of those 21st century stories that will leave you shaking
your head. And then imagine getting an alert on your cell phone and then seeing this scene from your doorbell camera.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: When you`re 14 years old, there is enough to worry about, let alone somebody trying to kill you. But that is what happened to Deserae
Turner. The Utah girl was shot in the back of her head. She was dumped in a muddy stream. And as each hour passed, she came closer and closer to dying.
And then, something incredible happened. A search party looking for her found her, rushed her to the hospital, and she was clinging to life.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
JILL PARKER, TURNER FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: Deserae is currently in critical condition. She`s in a medical-induced coma. And she is in the fight of her
life right now.
BANFIELD: When this beautiful girl awoke from that coma and was told what had happened to her, she was astounded. She couldn`t believe it. Neither
could we.
TRAVIS ALLEN, CHIEF OF SMITHFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Two 16-year-old males were identified as significant people of interest. Investigators have
served multiple search warrants and uncovered key evidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So why would they do it? Police say one of Deserae`s classmates was upset with her because allegedly she was bogging him with too many
Snapchat messages. You heard right. Police alleged that the other teenager helped plot the killing. Not only was she shot, but the teenagers allegedly
robbed her too, taking her phone and her iPod and $55 from her backpack.
Now nearly a month after the shooting, Deserae remains in the hospital, and that bullet is still in her skull. Mckenzie Romero is a reporter for
Deseret News, and she was in court for both of the hearings this week for the two teenage suspects. She joins me live from Salt Lake. Mckenzie, what
were those kids like in court? Did they have family members in court? What do they seem like?
MCKENZIE ROMERO, REPORTER, DESERET NEWS: Both teenagers had their parents attending the hearings. They were both quiet. This is a preliminary
hearing, that`s merely a hearing to prevent probable cause to support the charges. One of the boy, the alleged gunman, he did show some visible
emotion during the trial. He wept, he kept his eyes down, he couldn`t keep his eyes on the screen when Deserae was shown. The other boy was more stoic
[20:50:00] the friend who was accused of helping to plot this. And it`s been interesting to see, but really we still don`t know very much at all
about these boys.
BANFIELD: They are still -- both of them in the same boat, whether one of them pulled the trigger or not, that`s what you called encouraging, aiding,
assisting, and you`re just culpable under the law of that land. So you just mentioned something really interesting, Mckenzie. You said that one of
those boys had a tough time when Deserae appeared in the courtroom. And she actually taped some testimony from her bed, from her hospital bed. What was
that like? What did she say?
ROMERO: That`s right. Police went and interviewed Deserae in the hospital when some comments she made to a family member indicated that she may be
remembering things from that day. She was quiet. She was small. It was hard to hear her.
But things that she said did put a few pieces into place that police say back up the story that they started to hear from the alleged gunman`s
confession that he gave to police, specifically that both boys were with her at the canal that day. And there was a specific piece of evidence about
a ring that the second boy, the friend, is accused of dropping as a kind of a stalling tactic to keep Deserae there until the coast was clear.
BANFIELD: So, gosh, you said small and young. She`s 14. It`s just so -- I cannot imagine her parents and her dad, Matt Turner, actually made some
comments just in the last 24 hours about Deserae. I want to play for our audience what he said.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MATT TURNER, FATHER OF DESERAE TURNER: We continue to be hopeful for improvements in our daughter`s condition. She has undergone a tough surgery
and continues to fight for the ability to complete daily tasks many of us take for granted. As of today, she has been admitted to inpatient rehab
services and will continue to undergo intensive therapies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That`s Deserae`s dad, understandably reading a statement. Mckenzie, these two 16-year-old boys are in juvie right now, they`re in the
juvenile system. But that is also up for question, isn`t it? They could be raised to adult court, couldn`t they?
ROMERO: That`s right. Both these boys were ordered to stand trial (inaudible) two separate preliminary hearings. And the next step in the
case is for evidence to be prevented as prosecutors say that the case warrants being moved to district court where the boys would face the
charges as adults.
BANFIELD: We will watch this. I hope you come back and join us again. Mckenzie, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
ROMERO: Thank you.
BANFIELD: We have a story of a 9-year-old girl in Cincinnati who called 911 from the back of her SUV because her parents in the front allegedly OD`d on
heroin. She barely likely saved their lives.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m going to stay on the phone with you until they get there. Okay?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. I`m scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you`re scared but you`ll be okay. It will be alright. Is the car still running?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I don`t know how to turn it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it parked? Did your (inaudible) park before they passed out or not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was in drive, but I put it in park. There are houses around. You know where there is a house with a boat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A house with a boat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, good for her with that description because emergency crews did arrive. Fire Department administered Narcan on both parents.
Surveillance video showed that the parents were arrested and charged with endangering a child. But look, surveillance shows they were rescued.
They`re alive. They have a lot of thanking to do to their little girl who they put in that position.
A fire sparks spreading from house to house, but one homeowner who wasn`t home didn`t find out about the smoke and the flames from the firefighters,
he learned about it from his doorbell camera.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A Kansas man`s doorbell surveillance camera alerted him to a massive fire. It was spreading through his overland park neighborhood and
it fast approaching his own home. Unfortunately the guy was at work but his security system triggered an alert on his phone, and that is what he was
treated to see.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: House on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I know I`m on my way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I watched it the next two minutes and I saw flames hit my bushes and trees out front and light on fire. I`m assuming that my house
could be going as well and the only thing I could tell was my camera was still broadcasting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The fire destroyed or damaged 25 different homes. Officials say it was a welder working on a new apartment complex that accidentally
started that fire. It, by the way, injured three firefighters as well. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: All right, guys. I`m going to take you to Oregon for a minute, more appropriately a mug shot of January Netherland (ph) who -- lovely
suntan. She operates a babysitting business from her home, and she has now been charged with 100 counts of effectively abandoning kids at her home to
go suntanning and to the gym.
JACKSON: You got to have better judgment. The results could be catastrophic in these instances and there is just no excuses.
[21:00:00] BANFIELD: Ages six months to four years. Unbelievable.
BURNS: What else can you say? She left the kids unsupervised.
BANFIELD: What else can you say, except for thank you for being here. Doug, Joey, thank you for being here.
END
