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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Family Sues Employer of Murderer; Loving Husband Shoots His Very Ill Wife Dead; Search for Suspect; "Wee Wee Booty" Case; Toxic Tush Case; Home Invasion Horror; Outrage Tonight; Caught on Video. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired March 29, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:01] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): Twenty-one, beautiful and seven months pregnant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had awakened her, got on top of her, and with his hands, he strangled her to death.
BANFIELD: Her co-worker fanaticized for years she was his girlfriend, then killed her and raped her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His hopes were shattered, but they were hopes that existed in his mind, not from anything that she had led on to believe.
BANFIELD: His sick and twisted murder leads to a lawsuit against their employer. But should they have to pay?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They would do everything together.
BANFIELD: Neighbors say they were a happy couple.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you saw one, the other one wasn`t far behind.
BANFIELD: But after decades together, dementia set in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And anything she asked of him, he would do.
BANFIELD: She says she asked him to end her life and that he himself pulled the trigger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s been telling us for a while that he`s been depressed.
BANFIELD: Now he`s charged with murder, but will a jury find him guilty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve just been broken into.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a short exchange of words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three men, two I`ve shot in my house.
BANFIELD: Three teenage burglars meet the barrel of an AR-15 when they break into a gun owner`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then gunfire happened.
911 OPERATOR: Are they bleeding?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I believe one -- one`s down, one`s still talking. You need to get here now.
BANFIELD: All three shot dead on the spot. The alleged getaway driver survives. Now she`s been slapped with the murders of the three partners in
crime.
A 16-year-old secretly gives birth in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was terrifying. I can`t imagine. It`s horrible.
BANFIELD: Then throws her healthy newborn from a second story window. So how is this not murder? And why was she spared any jail time?
This is not the tape you want your grandkids to see. Two couples go toe to toe in the middle of a busy road. What started this road rage?
Plus, creepy recording. A love song by the Tennessee teacher who ran off with his student.
TAD CUMMINS, ACCUSED KIDNAPPER: I can swim for 1,000 miles...
BANFIELD: But Tad Cummins didn`t write it for Elizabeth Thomas. He crooned it for another young student.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I walk in public places, I see the way people look at me, you know? It hurts.
BANFIELD: For the second time in two days, justice for victims of fake plastic surgeons, crackdown on a bizarre black market for deadly injections
including cement, Super Glue and fix-a-flat. Yet the customers just keep coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
When a violent crime knocks a family off its axis, there`s immediately a search for justice and for blame. Sometimes a killer getting caught,
convicted and sentenced is enough, but sometimes it isn`t, as is the case for Alisha Bromfield`s family.
She was a 21-year-old college student months away from graduation and nearly seven months pregnant, but Alisha`s supervisor from work, Brian
Cooper, strangled her in a hotel room. He also raped her, this after fanaticizing for years that she was his girlfriend. She was not.
So how did she end up in that hotel room in the first place? She had agreed to attend a wedding with him under threat. Her family maintains
that Cooper planned to cut back her hours if she didn`t go to that wedding. Again, she was under a supervisor. He was the supervisor. And this wasn`t
the first time that he had harassed her. It had gone on for years, six years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wished it to be more and wanted it to be more and hoped it would be more. And he invited her to a family wedding that was
going to be taking place in Dora (ph) County this weekend for the express purpose of, hopefully, having that relationship go to a more romantic level
that he wished but she clearly did not wish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: When they arrived at that wedding, there was only one hotel room, and that`s where the attack began. She refused his advances and went
to bed, and here is what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had awakened her about -- sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning, got on top of her, and with his hands, he strangled
her to death. After killing her, he then undressed her and undressed himself, and he had sexual intercourse with her body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: After killing Alisha -- Cooper, he says he became distraught and tried to kill himself, attempting to cut his own throat, attempted to drown
himself, but then says he just couldn`t do it. He then called the police and confessed that he had killed Alisha.
A jury found him guilty of two counts of murder, both Alisha and her unborn child. He was also found guilty of sexual assault for having had sex with
the young woman`s corpse.
[20:05:06]But still, her family says there is more blame to go around here, and they`re now suing her employers for not doing anything about her
supervisor after years of abuse both on and off the job ultimately ended up with her death.
Sherry Anicich is Alisha Bromfield`s mother. She is joined by her attorney, Kristin Barnette. Thank you to both of you for being here.
And may I say, Sherry, I am so sorry for your loss, for what your family has had to go through. How long did you know about Brian Cooper`s behavior
towards your daughter?
SHERRY ANICICH, MOTHER OF VICTIM: I was made aware of it about a month before her death. So one incident...
BANFIELD: Well, it had been going on for...
ANICICH: ... that had happened.
BANFIELD: ... six years, but you only knew about it for a month before she ultimately was killed?
ANICICH: Correct.
BANFIELD: What did she tell you a month before her death? What did she -- how did she explain what was going on?
ANICICH: I was only made aware of one incident of verbal abuse.
BANFIELD: And what was that?
ANICICH: That he had called her a slut and a whore one day.
BANFIELD: And there were other employees who worked with your daughter and with Cooper who said that they had overhead these things, is that correct?
ANICICH: That is correct, and I found that out after she was murdered. Several people had approached me after, and came and told me what had
happened there.
BANFIELD: So your lawsuit against -- if I`m not mistaken, it`s Home Depot, but also the company called Grand (ph) because Home Depot uses Grand as a
vendor to work in, you know, the -- the outside area, the garden center. And ultimately, it was Grand. Alisha worked for Grand, correct?
ANICICH: We`re not going to be able to answer some of the questions at this time due to the stature of the case as it`s pending, Ashleigh. I`m
sorry.
BANFIELD: I understand, Kristin. Can you at least tell me who the parties are? Who`s being sued?
BARNETTE: Home Depot is being sued, and there are two flower companies -- there`s a Grand flower company and Grand flower services. Grand Services,
rather.
BANFIELD: So those -- so they are all parties at this point to the suit.
So ultimately, I want to read some of the things in the lawsuit just so our viewers know what`s being alleged happened on the job to Alisha, that
Cooper was increasingly controlling of her time both on the job and off the job. If she was going to spend lunch with someone, particularly who wasn`t
female, sometimes he would deny her lunch break. Again, he`s her supervisor.
He called and texted her outside of work. He apparently was required to attend anger management therapy, which he failed to satisfactorily
complete. This is in the lawsuit -- that there was no follow-up to that. He required Alisha to come with him on business trips prior to this final
one where she ultimately was murdered. She was required to share a hotel room with him on these business trips, and that her becoming pregnant
angered Cooper.
Is there anything, Sherry, that you can point to as evidence, something that`s documented that these things all happened and yet Cooper was able to
stay on the job?
ANICICH: It was documented about him verbally abusing her. And he was told to leave the premises that day, but he came back the following day to
work.
BANFIELD: So ultimately, this final trip that she ended up taking, the wedding, where it`s alleged she was threatened with having her work hours
cut back if she did not take this trip with him -- and it`s not a business trip. It was a wedding. It was his trip that he wanted to take.
You say in your lawsuit that she told you about this, that she said, He`s threatened to cut back my hours if I don`t go. Sherry, I guess I have to
ask, why didn`t you stop her?
ANICICH: I was not made aware of that until after she was murdered, that he had said that he was going to fire her or that he was going to cut her
hours. And I believe that that is why she attended the wedding with him. She was pregnant. She had doctors to pay. She was going to be a single
mother, and I think she was afraid of losing her job and she wanted to have that job until she finished college.
BANFIELD: So that`s a critical detail. Kristin, I think when you were speaking with our producers, you mentioned that this was something that
Alisha had mentioned to her mom before she went. She told her mother that she was being threatened with having hours cut back if she didn`t go to
this wedding with her supervisor who`d been harassing her for six years.
[20:10:08]BARNETTE: Her mother was made aware of the threat after the fact. She mentioned it to some other individuals that came forward and
told her mother immediately thereafter.
BANFIELD: Would you -- Sherry, I mean, I think it goes without saying, but if you had known about this prior, would you have -- I mean, you can`t tell
a 21-year-old daughter what to do...
ANICICH: Right.
BANFIELD: ... but would you have done something, would you have gone to the company, either of the companies, and put a stop to this trip before
she went?
ANICICH: I would absolutely have done whatever I could do to prevent my daughter from being murdered. Anything. Any mother would do what do what
they could have done. Absolutely.
BANFIELD: I also want to ask you, Sherry -- and this is a tough one again. When you have a daughter who`s 21, I mean, she`s living her own life, but
she was a seasonal employee with Home Depot through Grand Services, who, you know, ultimately employed her. But this assailant, this molester, this
murderer molested her and abused her for six years. Why did she keep going back to that job?
ANICICH: You know, I can`t answer that for her. I know that there were several people that he had done this to prior to this, and I think that
hers started when she was about 19.
BANFIELD: So I want to read, if I can, you know, the comment from Home Depot, understanding -- and it is a little complicated -- that ultimately,
Alisha worked for Grand Services and Grand Services supplied the employees for that garden center at Home Depot. And Home Depot`s statement to us is,
"Although these are not employees of the Home Depot, we are saddened by this horrific tragedy. Our sympathies remain with Alisha`s family."
Ultimately, Home Depot also told our producers, you know, on the telephone that they did not have the power to fire Brian Cooper.
So I guess, Kristin, the question I have for you, is do you think that you`ve an uphill battle, you know, bringing Home Depot into the suit, or do
you feel as though Home Depot had every ability over the years to have their vendor get rid of Brian Cooper?
BARNETTE: You know, Ashleigh, this is -- this case has been an uphill battle, and -- but we`ve been pursuing it. And Alisha ever day that she
went to work, she would ware a Home Depot apron and she had a Home Depot hat. She would assist Home Depot customers. She took care of Home Depot
products.
And ultimately, Home Depot is in charge of the safety of people on their premises. Home Depot removed Brian Cooper before and allowed him to come
back on their premises, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We`re just really getting...
BANFIELD: I just want to ask...
BARNETTE: ... getting into the meat of this case.
BANFIELD: I just want to ask Joey Jackson, our attorney here at CNN and HLN, if a jury is going to see it that way. Ultimately, there is an
abusive man, an abusive supervisor, but then there`s an incident that happens away from work in a hotel room where she went willingly, despite
the threats that are alleged.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Stepping back before we go forward, I don`t think it gets to the jury. I think this settles. It`s a bad
business proposition for Home Depot to have this out there. I think their statement makes clear that they`re very sympathetic here.
I think where this was won was in the court. Remember what happened. They filed in the district court. The district court threw it out. Home Depot
said this is a crime. We`re not responsible for other people`s criminal misconduct. More than that, it happened off premises. And more than that,
we couldn`t foresee this. And the court said, No, that`s a jury question.
The fact is, is that it`s responding (ph) superior. You should have supervised and overseen what he was doing. Whether you did that properly
is something that`s going to be left to the jury, and a judge shouldn`t take that out of a jury`s hands. I don`t think it sees the light of day.
I think it settles, and it should because this should not...
BANFIELD: Notwithstanding...
JACKSON: ... have happened.
BANFIELD: It is absolutely just tragic on all counts, Joey. Thank you.
JACKSON: Yes. Of course.
BANFIELD: Kristin, thank you, as well.
I`ve got some breaking news I want to bring you out of Texas right now. Twelve people have been killed, three people have been injured all because
of a church bus crash. It was an accident that happened on highway 83. That`s west of San Antonio. It happened this afternoon, that bus colliding
with a Dodge truck. Here are the aerial pictures, and it is absolutely disastrous.
What you`re seeing right now is video of the large white pickup truck that hit the left side of the mini-bus. Authorities there are saying the truck
driver did survive this crash, and all 12 fatalities were on the bus. That bus was bringing church goers home from a retreat, and there is no word yet
on what caused this. Obviously, this accident will remain under investigation.
They promised to love each other in sickness and health, but after 42 years of marriage, sickness took over. He admits he killed her, saying it was
out of mercy. Police say it was murder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:17:22]BANFIELD: In Oklahoma, a deputy responds to a call about a car engulfed in 10-foot-high flames after a crash. The deputy is Kerry Donovan
(ph) (INAUDIBLE) his bodycam pictures, just stunning footage of the rescue. The driver is bleeding. His leg and his jaw were broken. The deputy had
to make his way down the side of an embankment, a ditch, to get to the driver. The driver`s on his hands and knees. He can`t talk and he
certainly can`t get to safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you walk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t walk. We got to get you away from -- get on your back. Get on your back. Get on your back. Get on your back. I know
it`s going to hurt. Damn it! (INAUDIBLE) You all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wow. You know, after that dramatic rescue, that victim was able to be air-flighted to Tulsa for treatment. And I guess the headline here
is he is alive.
We are hearing for the first time the voice of the accused kidnapper, Tad Cummins -- his singing voice.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CUMMINS: I can swim for 1,000 miles in the oceans inside your eyes and never reach the side...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Safe to say that`s a pretty creepy recording, especially since we now know it wasn`t made for the 15-year-old that he`s allegedly on the
run with. Instead, it was made for a different teenage girl, a student he had five years ago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:16]BANFIELD: When married couples pledge to grow old together in sickness and in health, few know the pain and suffering that dementia can
bring to that union. And when Stephen Kruspe and his wife, Pamela, were faced with that crisis, death did them part much sooner than, say, God
might have intended.
They were married 42 years, and by all accounts from neighbors and friends and loved ones, they were very, very happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They would do everything together, walk the dog together, go get the mail together. You saw one, the other one wasn`t far
behind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They loved each other so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But Pamela fell ill, and eventually, her dementia took over. She was moved into assisted living. Stephen`s life fell apart, and the
people who knew him said that he was never the same again, until one day, Stephen went to see her at that care home and shot her in the chest. She
died almost instantly.
Stephen told the police that his wife had asked him to kill her several times to end all of the suffering. The police said otherwise. They called
it premeditated murder, and Stephen could face the death penalty for it.
Police also say the former Marine and community volunteer did not even try to hide the shooting, that he called 911 within moments, and then waited
for them to arrive. So was this premeditated murder? Was This a mercy killing? Does that even matter?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s been telling us for awhile that he`s been depressed, and anything she asked of him, he would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Stephen told the officers after the shooting Pamela smiled and that he hugged her and that he kissed her in hopes that she is now at
peace. He, however, is being held without bail.
Karen Curtis is a news anchor for WFTL. She joins me live now from Boynton Beach, Florida. Karen, thanks for being here. This is not a mystery.
None of this is a mystery. This is really something else, isn`t it.
KAREN CURTIS, WFTL: It truly is. It`s a very, very sad story. And tonight, Stephen Kruspe is in the Palm Beach County jail. He`s charged
with premeditated murder, no bond. Here he is a veteran, a Marine, as you said. You know, he was teacher of the year years ago. He was the
lighthouse keeper at the Jupiter lighthouse. And he has no criminal record.
But on Monday night, he went to the car and got his gun that he purchased a year ago and came back and shot his wife in the chest behind the assisted
living facility. And as you said, she had a smile on her face, and he hugged her and kissed her. He then called police, dialed 911, stayed on
the phone until they arrived. They found the gun with the magazine next to it when they arrived, and they took him into custody.
BANFIELD: So Karen, you know, obviously, we`ve heard from neighbors who say there was nothing wrong with this couple. They were, you know, yin and
yang. They were and peas and carrots. They were and all of those kinds of descriptions. But they have three children. Are we hearing at all what
the children have to say about this?
CURTIS: No. They want their privacy. They are not giving any comment on this case. Their father is in prison and charged with premeditated murder
because mercy killing is not a defense. The family is very quiet.
The neighbors have been talking a lot about how devoted this couple was. They ran a lot together. This is before she got sick. But about six
months ago, she really started to go downhill, and he became unraveled. He was going to therapy. He was depressed. And he had that gun that he
bought a year ago, and he said that she asked him multiple times to kill her, and that he thought about it for several days, and finally, he did it.
BANFIELD: So I -- look, I understand that the children want their privacy, but I can only imagine that they`re not -- you know, they don`t have that
luxury when it comes to what the police need to know from them, so that may come out later in this.
[20:25:00]But there`s other -- you know, there are other things that I think would be investigated. And I don`t know they are doing this or not.
I can only assume.
What do you know about the possibility of insurance? What do you know about the possibility of, say, you know, other girls, potentially a
girlfriend. Those are sort of the likely culprits when marriages fall apart and a death, you know, results. Have they said anything about
anything along those lines?
CURTIS: Well, you know, these two were going to travel the world together, and he had to take their nest egg and -- so he could put her into the
assisted living facility. He used the money for that. So maybe the money was running out. Who knows?
There has been really no evidence that there was a girlfriend anywhere. They were completely devoted and in love, and so that has to be -- that
remains to be seen.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)
CURTIS: But in terms of insurance, that probably be negated by the murder.
BANFIELD: Well, if, in fact, you know, it is. No bond. Why no bond for a man like this, who has no record and doesn`t seem to be, you know, a --
other than this incident, doesn`t seem to be dangerous to anyone else. Is -- I mean, is he really that much a flight risk that they`re saying -- I
mean, Phil Spector -- Phil Spector got out on bond after shooting a woman in the face. But this man...
CURTIS: It`s shocking.
BANFIELD: ... is being held.
CURTIS: His defense attorney said, Look, no criminal record. He`s a Marine or a retired Marine, and the fact that he has been -- he`s charged
with premeditated murder and no bond because the judge felt that it was still a heinous crime, that he -- he took a human`s life. He shot her in
the chest. He killed her. And we still don`t know if there was more of a motive that he wanted her to be at peace. He wanted to -- he said he`ll do
anything to sacrifice for her, is what he told police. But the neighbors feel that he actually did grant her her wish.
BANFIELD: So I want to bring Joey Jackson back into this conversation -- so many questions. OK, first and foremost -- I`m going to just load them
all onto you. Is it the right charge, given the circumstances? And also, would a jury see this as a premeditated death penalty-eligible murder, or
would they do that thing they sometimes do, which is not right, but it happens...
JACKSON: Jury nullification.
BANFIELD: ... called nullification?
JACKSON: Wonderful questions, as always. Listen, the first thing is, is it the right charge? Legally, it`s the right charge. Why? Because mercy
killing is not acceptable. It`s against the law. From a practical perspective, it`s very sympathetic. The fact is, is that unless you can
find he killed her because the money was running out or he had this other girlfriend -- he loved his wife. He didn`t want her to suffer. What else
is he to do, Your Honor? That`s the defense.
And as a result of that, perhaps -- perhaps there`s some settlement and resolution around a lesser charge...
BANFIELD: Like what?
JACKSON: ... not murder but manslaughter because what you`re looking at someone that did it predicated upon love, predicated upon respect,
predicated upon, I don`t want you to suffer, dear. I love you and it`s been 42 years. And I don`t want you to.
BANFIELD: OK, and with that lesser -- even with that lesser?
JACKSON: I think so.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) do time.
JACKSON: And then he`ll do. He may do time. But then it gets to your other question, Ashleigh, which is the jury nullification issue. What does
that mean in English? The jurors are sympathetic. We don`t like it. We think that he really loved her. You (ph) didn`t need to do it. And so
could he walk free in light of that? A jury always has that option.
BANFIELD: And it happens.
JACKSON: Very sympathetic case. It does happen. You hate to see people take this into their own hands, but you know what? He loved his wife, and
he thought that he was doing...
BANFIELD: I think the children...
JACKSON: ... the right thing even if the law said it was wrong.
BANFIELD: I think the children will be critical here. Thank you, Joey. Thank you, Karen Curtis, as well.
I`ve got an update tonight for you on the search for Elizabeth Thomas. We`ve been covering this all week, last week, as well. 15-year-old girl
was last seen more than two weeks ago outside a Columbia, Tennessee, Shoney`s restaurant. She`s believed to be with her 50-year-old teacher,
Tad Cummins.
Last week, another former student of Tad Cummins`s talked to us about her self-described close relationship with that alleged kidnapper. Have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: 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?
DESTANY PARRISH, FORMER STUDENT OF TAD CUMMINS: 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 really close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That`s Destany Parrish, and now we`ve got our hands on a song that Destany says Tad Cummins wrote and performed for her back in 2012.
Listen closely to the lyrics.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CUMMINS: I can swim for 1,000 miles in the oceans inside your eyes and never reach the side...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Police say they have received more than 1,000 tips in their search for Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas, and they`re asking anyone that
might know anything or may have heard that voice to contact the authorities.
[20:30:00] If you have ever wondered what shoplifting $40,000 worth of stuff would actually look like in a cart, I got video of what that would
actually look like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Here it is coming out of the doors in Fairfax, Virginia. Not much, right? Crazy. A woman dressed like a target employee and she`s
pushing $40,000 worth of iPhones out of the building in that basket. Right now she`s unidentified. But somehow she was able to get back into a stock
room where she just loaded up all that loot, knew exactly where it was. After she left the building, she didn`t seem in a hurry, either. Check this
out. Just like any one of us on the weekend, right? Not rushing.
There is a car waiting for her. She just walks normally to a Volvo station wagon SUV parked there. Good ways away from the front of the store too.
Loads up the back, gets in the backseat, and they don`t even peel out of there either. They just kind of back up and go out slowly. Police is now
searching for that woman and whoever is driving that car, and they`re asking anybody who might know the car, the woman, the M.O. (ph), someone
who has $40,000 in iPhones, give them a call. It`s a real mystery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: For the second time this week, a person who allegedly was performing plastic surgery without a medical license is headed off to jail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: According to HLN affiliate (inaudible), Denise Ross illegally injected a woman with industrial-grade silicone to enhance her buttocks in
what was called and I quote, a wee wee booty. That victim, Wykesha Reid, died and Ross could now be sentenced to life in prison for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: These (inaudible) enhancements to women`s backsides happen a lot more than you think as well. Last night, we told you about
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A woman named Oneal Ron Morris. Here she is going up to the stand with her own injected backside accepting a plea deal after a so-called
patient of hers because she`s a fake doc, a patient died after one of the so-called injection surgeries.
For years, Morris allegedly injected a sickening concoction of super glue and Fix-A-Flat and cement as a way to boost and plump whatever her patients
wanted. Often the results were disastrous like what you are seeing. Morris was sentenced to 10 years in prison because of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Three alleged teenage burglars in Oklahoma killed during a home invasion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: They were the invaders. And now, their suspected get-away driver who never even entered the house ends up being charged with their murders.
How does that happen? There`s a good explanation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A brazen home invasion in broad daylight has shocked a small Oklahoma community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Police say three men dressed in black, wearing masks and gloves, and sporting a knife and brass knuckles broke in through the backdoor of
this home and once inside, words were exchanged, shots were fired, the homeowner`s son called 911 just moments after the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve just been broken into. Three men, two I`ve shot in my house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was anyone shot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, two of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they bleeding?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I believe one, one`s down, one`s still talking. You need to get here now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they broke into your home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BANFIELD: Investigators say it was the homeowner`s son who used his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to shoot and kill not just the two that he thought he
killed but all three. All three of those burglars, all three whom were teenagers.
LES YOUNG, CHIEF DEPUTY, WAGONER COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Mr. Peters stated that he had been involved in a shooting. People had come into his house and
then we left and he had discharged his weapon.
BANFIELD: Right now investigators are approaching the shooting as self- defense. But the D.A. still has to decide whether or not to file charges against the shooter. That homeowner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That homeowner`s son who was basically being broken into by three masked teenagers carrying weapons. But there is one one person whose been
charged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Sheriff deputies have arrested the alleged get-away driver. Meet Elizabeth Rodriguez or at least her mug shot. She is not just facing
burglary charges or conspiracy or accessory or anything like that. She`s actually accused of committing a felony because she allegedly dropped those
teenagers off where a felony was committed, and she`s facing three counts of first-degree murder.
YOUNG: Rodriguez invoked her right to silence and did not give any further information other than who the -- she believed the three individuals were
that were at the house. We also received information about Ms. Rodriguez` involvement in that burglary/shooting, and she was arrested and booked into
the Wagoner County jail on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary, and one count of second-degree burglary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:40:00] BANFIELD: Deputy Nick Mahoney of the Wagoner County Sheriff Office. He`s here with me live. Deputy, this is interesting because, you
know, by all accounts, it doesn`t appear that a murder happened. You know, this was a break in and look, this is a stand your ground state in
Oklahoma.
You have the right to shoot somebody in your house and yet, there are three charges of murder. And it`s the alleged get-away driver. It`s complicated
but is it as simple as just hey, felony murder, felony murder, if a death results, doesn`t matter who did it?
NICK MAHONEY, DEPUTY, WAGONER COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE: Well, it`s not quite that simple. So, she had dropped these three individuals off at the house.
They were there with the intent to burglarize the house. So by her dropping them off, they conspired to break into this house. They were committing a
felony at the time they conspired to do that. They were committing a felony at the time of the burglary. So because they died in the commission of this
felony, she`s ultimately responsible.
BANFIELD: Sounds like it doesn`t matter who actually pulls the trigger if a death results during the commission of a felony if you`re part of the
commission of the felony, you get tagged with it. Seems simple as that. My question is the issue of Rodriguez turning herself in, does that factor in
here at all?
She wasn`t caught on location, she actually came to you later and turned herself in. Was this a -- did she know about felony murder in Oklahoma or
does this help to mitigate her circumstance at all?
MAHONEY: You know, I don`t think at the time she was really thinking about any type of consequences. She knew that they had been shot. She knew that
they were injured. I don`t know that she knew the extent of it at that point until she started hearing news reports and breaking things.
So she went to the police department after she decided that those three individuals, their families needed to know. So she went to the police
department under that pretense. She told the police department that she had information regarding the case. We dispatched deputies there who made
contact with her and ultimately she was arrested.
BANFIELD: So there is a couple of tapes that I`d love our audience to hear while I`m having this conversation with you. One of them is about the
neighbors who said that they just sort of been sick of all the casing that had been going on in the neighborhood and it wasn`t the first time that
they had seen people driving around the neighborhood and having a good long look. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON SIMMONS, NEIGHBOR: Shocking that somebody finally got caught. We noticed more people driving by slow in the neighborhood, and it`s just, you
know, they are casing out the place. If you notice somebody two or three times in a truck or something like that drive by slow, most of the lots are
sold, they are not looking for a place to buy. They are looking for stuff to steal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And to that end, I don`t know if the homeowner had the same experiences, saw people casing the neighborhood, homeowner`s son had an AR-
15 and wasn`t afraid to use it. When all of a sudden three masked people, he didn`t know they were teens, broke into the house. Ultimately, it`s such
a chilling thing to hear his voice on the 911 call because this man is calm. At 23 years old, he is calm. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One is in the kitchen, one is in the northeast corner bedroom, and you`re the southeast corner bedroom, is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. And the third one, I did not shoot. He ran outside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The third one, he did not shoot, ran outside. Okay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Just incredible. Joey Jackson back on set with me again. Look, the D.A. is still looking at the case, but stand your ground, this looks
like a classic case. They`re in the castle to find out.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN AND HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. You know what interesting? I think people at home are saying wait a second,
she didn`t shoot anybody. She was the get-away driver. This 23-year-old, you just played the tape, he shot them, so why is she being accused of
murder?
BANFIELD: Especially if he has the right in that state. On stand your ground.
JACKSON: Exactly right.
BANFIELD: As I said to deputy. Doesn`t look like he`s going to get murder, but she gets the murder.
JACKSON: She does. And it`s a rule. And it`s not only limited to Oklahoma. It`s pretty common throughout many jurisdictions throughout the country and
the issue and idea is, if you aid, abet, and assist the felony and that includes being the get-away driver and someone dies and you`re aiding and
abetting of commission of a felony, what is it? Breaking into someone else`s home, you`re responsible for the death that has caused even if it`s
not by your own hands.
BANFIELD: Even if it`s your pal.
JACKSON: That`s exactly right. Even if your friend gets shot, you`re responsible. That`s what happening here. She`s in a world of hurt.
BANFIELD: She is In a world of hurt at that age, 21 years old, she probably had no idea about the felony murder statutes in Oklahoma and by the way,
that`s death penalty state.
JACKSON: She does now.
BANFIELD: She`s first-degree murder, man. That`s -- you`re right, world of hurt. Joey Jackson, thank you. Deputy Mahoney, thank you as well. A teen
mother who gives birth at home and then throws that newborn
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Out a second story window somehow beats this wrap. She`s only sentenced to probation. So why? Why on earth did a judge effectively let
her get away with such a light sentence?
[20:45:00] (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: For most 16-year-old girls, pregnancies are not planned, but for one girl in Nebraska, keeping that fact a secret made things a whole lot
more complicated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: In September, investigators say Antonia Lopez gave birth to a premature baby at her family`s apartment
[20:50:00] and during that birth, young Ms. Lopez was texting with the baby`s father. 12:56 a.m., babe, I`m having contractions in my lower abs
every couple seconds, it hurts so much. 1:01 a.m., I`m in so much pain. 1:02, I want it to stop. 2:23, it was a girl, by the way. 2:50, I`ll tell
you what`s happening when you get up. And at 3:06 a.m., babe, we can try again if you still want to be with me.
Sometime during that conversation Lopez also sent a Snapchat picture of that baby to the father and the caption read, babe, I had a miscarriage. A
short time later, police say that Ms. Lopez threw that baby girl alive outside of the second story window before telling her mother what she did.
That mother tried to give the baby CPR until the paramedics arrived about 4:20, but it was too late for the child who weighed only 2 pounds.
Initially, young Ms. Lopez was charged as an adult on child abuse charges, and she could have gone to prison for life if convicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But the D.A. moved her case to juvenile court and after considering her mental state and her lack of a criminal record, Lopez made
a plea of admission and she`s going to avoid prison all together.
Anibal Prestan is an investigative reporter for Telemundo in Nebraska. He joins me live now from Omaha. Anibal, not withstanding the move from adult
court to juvenile court, why child abuse? Why not murder?
ANIBAL PRESTAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FOR TELEMUNDO: Well, I guess because of, as you said, when she admitted that she did what she did, the court
give her -- the court was flexible. They went ahead and let the case go to juvenile court so she could be -- get some sort of -- some sort of help.
That`s what they are doing. That`s what it is.
BANFIELD: What is so incredible, Anibal, is that she had kept this pregnancy a secret from everybody including the family with whom she lived,
her own grandfather, who had just seen her days before all of this happened, said he, I mean, really he had no idea. Have a listen to John
Barcelona.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BARCELONA, ANTONIA LOPEZ`S GRANDFATHER: This caught me by surprise. I just can`t believe it. You know, I`m stunned. She was like -- she was well
under weight more than anything else. You know, never would have dreamed that she was pregnant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So, it`s a pretty remarkable story. This child, Anibal, was 14 inches long and two pounds, about seven months into the pregnancy this
child was actually delivered. Does anyone think at any time, Anibal, that Antonia Lopez thought that child was not alive because she did say it was a
girl and I had a miscarriage. And with a baby that size born at two pounds, it is possible that she did not think that baby was alive when she threw
the baby out the window?
PRESTAN: You know, I don`t believe so because from what she described, she saw the legs, know what`s going on, when she felt a contraction. I mean,
you have to have known that you have to cut the cord, and plus she told to her boyfriend by texting that, you know, it was a baby girl and she had a
miscarriage. So you could see different stories over her. So she is covering something there.
BANFIELD: She was covering a lot. And since she was so good at covering, it makes you wonder what she was covering up to the court, as well. I should
tell you as well that the district attorney, the county attorney said there was very little remorse. Actually said there was very little affect. Seemed
she didn`t realize just how serious what had happened actually was. But boy, did Antonia Lopez get lucky with this judge?
Road rage is normally something you see inside a car, right? You know, with the hands gesturing and birds and all the rest
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: But when it spills out on the road, it`s not often that someone is recording every single slap, punch, and kick. What sparked this fight
between two couples and who stopped it from escalating even further?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We all had those moments, face it, admit it, a little bit of road rage behind the wheel. But in San Diego, one of the so-called moments
spilled out into the street and it was ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Two couples, check it out. After one car cuts another one off, it was a middle of the road brawl. They just went at it. The guys after the
guys and then the girls after the girls. Yeah, it`s not what you want to see your grand kids watch one day on the You Tube. Somebody acted fast and
stepped in ultimately after one woman got such a thrashing she was left bloody.
Other people on the scene just filmed it. A few people called 911 because it really got ugly. Finally, a man identifying himself here as an off-duty
officer rushed to the scene to help break things up. As bad as it looks and as bloody as that woman was when she got lifted up, only minor injuries in
all of this and no arrests. Nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:00:00] BANFIELD: My thanks to Professor Jackson. Thanks for being here. See you again tomorrow night at 8:00 right here for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Stay
tuned. "FORENSIC FILES" starts right now.
END
