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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Murder Charge Dropped; Body Just Identified; New Murder Charge. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 24, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will hunt this son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) down until we find him!
JEAN CASAREZ, HOST (voice-over): Tampa rallies together to track down a possible serial killer haunting one of its neighborhoods, three people
dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and we want justice.
CASAREZ: In less than two weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time that he`s out here, we`re reliving that over and over again. All shot and killed on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Killing in a rather high traffic zone would suggest to me he`s rather comfortable with this area.
CASAREZ: Police trying to track down a person caught on camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And watching a first child--
CASAREZ: For killing the child in her care.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The baby just doesn`t seem to be, like, moving.
CASAREZ: Giving a toddler Xanax, is behind bars--
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --deep sleep.
CASAREZ: So she could go shopping and see a movie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How could somebody hurt a baby, an innocent baby!
CASAREZ: She is sorry now. Is her apology enough?
CASAREZ: A father fesses up once his little girl is found dead in a drain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This arrest right now is the beginning of an end for this Mr. Matthews.
CASAREZ: Dad said he put her outside as punishment before she disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She just wanted people to love her, and she couldn`t get that.
CASAREZ: But now he`s changed his story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should have come clean a long time ago, and he should have ended our turmoil a long time ago.
CASAREZ: He says he moved her body, and what really killed Sherin Matthews was milk.
Police say she was nearly three times the legal limit when she got behind the wheel and slammed into a mother of six.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That night was hell. And when she wasn`t home when I thought she should be home, I got worried.
CASAREZ: Now this college student is charged with murder, but is that justice for the family left behind?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in tonight for Ashleigh Banfield. Thank you so much for joining us This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
As we speak, the police in Tampa, Florida, are patrolling a quiet neighborhood called Seminole Heights where three people have been shot and
killed on the street in only a matter of days. It`s prompting some to say there could be a serial killer on the loose. Concerned citizens are asking
police about surveillance video of a man near the scnene of the first shooting, but they know nothing about him, not even who he or even possibly
she is.
And before another neighbor gets gunned down, the city is asking the community to help catch the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BOB BUCKHORN, TAMPA: We need you to call us and let us know what`s going on. That`s how we`re going to catch this guy, good neighbors telling
police officers, good police work, and we will hunt this son of a bitch down until we find him!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: But the strategy is more somber from Tampa`s chief of police, who is warning people to watch their back until they have an answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF BRIAN DUGAN, TAMPA POLICE: Pay attention to what`s going on in your neighborhood. Everybody at this point is a suspect, OK? Everyone is a
suspect. If you`re out there walking alone-- and let me tell you something. This pains me to stand up here and say this as a cop. This
pains me to tell you that if you`re out there walking alone, that you`re either a suspect or a potential victim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Roger Shulman is a reporter for WGUL 860 radio. He joins us tonight from Tampa, Florida. You know, Roger, it was last Thursday night
just about this very time, right now, 8:00 o`clock at night Eastern time that Anthony Aboa (ph) was shot and killed. What`s the latest on this
investigation?
ROGER SCHULMAN, WGUL 860 (via telephone): Well, the investigation continues and there`s a tremendous cooperation between the neighborhood and
the police department. Seminole Heights people have really come together. They`re wearing white ribbons. They`ve got white ribbons around their
trees. They`ve come together to assist the police with this in any way possible. They`ve got their porch lights on. It is really community
effort with the police department.
CASAREZ: And lot of people are believing that this is a serial killer. And isn`t it true, Roger, that they have said, law enforcement, that they
believe that the three victims and how they died and by whom they died that they`re linked?
SHULMAN: Well, it`s all the same situation. They were all alone at time of the killing. They weren`t with anybody. They were just single people
walking near a bus stop. That`s the commonality.
[00:05:00]CASAREZ: You know, let`s, Roger, ask the mayor of Tampa, who is joining us tonight, Tampa mayor Tampa Bob Buckhorn. He joins also from
Tampa.
Thank you so much, sir, from (sic) joining us. Do you believe that the three victims that died I believe in the same way-- I`ll let you tell us.
You believe this is linked?
BOB BUCKHORN, TAMPA MAYOR: You know, Jean, I think there are a lot of commonalities here. I think these folks, these victims, these young people
were in the wrong place at the wrong time and in close proximity to somebody who was willing to take their lives. The all occurred within
blocks of each other. They all occurred about the same time on different nights. So to the extent that there is linkages there, I would say
absolutely yes. We haven`t proven that. We don`t have enough to go on yet to determine whether or not it`s a serial killer by the definition that
most people would use. But I will tell you we are in pursuit of this killer, and we`re not leaving that neighborhood until we find them.
CASAREZ: Were they all shot to death?
BUCKHORN: Yes, they were. They were all shot to death. They were all within blocks of each other. What is challenging for us is that none of
them are connected. There are no rhyme or reason to these killings other than they happened to be in the same neighborhood around the same time on
separate days, but the commonality was within probably a 10-block radius of each other.
CASAREZ: Do you believe they were all shot with the same type of gun at this point?
BUCKHORN: We don`t know that yet. And with that-- obviously, the ballistics is yet to be determined. When we find that out, we will let you
know and we can confirm it. But it is-- there are a lot of similar traits on each of these killings that would lead one to the belief that somehow--
CASAREZ: And let`s talk about the bus system.
BUCKHORN: --the same person is involved.
CASAREZ: Let`s talk about the bus system because Benjamin Edward Mitchell was the first victim. He lived across the street from the bus pick-up
station. Do you believe he was getting on or waiting for the bus or getting off the bus?
BUCKHORN: Well, we think he was waiting for the bus. And what is an amazing coincidence is that the third victim was killed basically a few
hundred yards down the road in front of Benjamin Mitchell`s family`s house. The other young woman was found a few blocks away in a vacant lot. Yes,
the third victim, that young man who was autistic-- and this is a tragic story.
CASAREZ: Anthony Naiboa.
BUCKHORN: That young man who was autistc-- he was on the wrong bus and got dropped off in the wrong neighborhood. That to me really breaks the heart
of this community, to see this young man who was dropped off there because he took the wrong bus.
CASAREZ: Now, the one female victim, Monica Hoffa, you believe she was killed October 11th, but her body wasn`t found until October 13th. First
of all, why do you think she was shot and killed on October 11th?
BUCKHORN: Well, there were reports of gunshots that same night and the field in which she was found was rather overgrown. So her body was unable
to be seen from the street. And so once they found her, they determined that she had been shot a day or two before. But we did get reports of
gunshots that night in that vicinity.
CASAREZ: And do you believe she was getting off the bus?
BUCKHORN: No, she was nowhere near a bus stop. She was back in a residential neighborhood in a vacnt lot across from houses. She was not on
15th street, which is where the other two victims were shot and killed, which is where the bus route is.
CASAREZ: Now, you have released and law enforcement in the Tampa ahre as released video surveillance of a person of interest, they`re calling this,
his person, you`re not saying if male or female.
BUCKHORN: We don`t know We don`t know if it`s a black, a white, hispanic, male or female. All we have is that video. That`s why really pushing it
out so people in this community will look at it, watch the way that person walks--
CASAREZ: Exactly.
BUCKHORN: Watch what they`re wearing--
CASAREZ: Look at the way they`re walking. That walk is very distinctive. I call it smooth. It`s a smooth walk.
Mayor, somebody out there is going to recognize that walk.
BUCKHORN: We think so, as well, Jean, and we can`t discount the fact that that person may be a witness. It may not be the suspect. Potentially,
it`s a witness. Potentially it is someone who`s not involved at all. But we want to talk to that person because that film was taken in close
proximity and close to the time of the gunshots that were heard on that first murder. That is why we really--
CASAREZ: Very first night?
BUCKHORN: The first night. Yes.
CASAREZ: And there wasn`t anybody else walking around? I mean, why are you honing in on this person of interest? Were other people in the area,
too? Is this just happens to be the person that the video surveillance caught? Or do you believe the timing and proximity is so close, there may
be some information?
[00:10:17]BUCKHORN: Jean, that video is all we have. That`s why we`re honing in on it. That`s why we`re circulating it as far and as wide as we
possibly can. That`s why we`re asking people to study that video, see what is in that video that triggers something in your memory. That really is
the only evidence that we have. We have really nothing else to go on. That`s why this case is so frustrating for our officers, and frustrating
for the community.
CASAREZ: You know, one thing, Mayor, that your community is exhibiting, and it`s really led by you and the law enforcement, is defiance. They are
not allowing this person to stop them from living. In fact, you`re advocating for people to get outside, walk together, don`t walk alone, but
to really stand up to anyone that`s trying to victimize the people of Seminole Heights.
Jean, good will win over evil. We are not going to let this person petrify us, put us in captivity, scare us into not going out and doing our normal
routines. That street and that neighborhood belongs to us. It belongs to the people of southeast Seminole Heights. They are not going to cower.
They`re not going to tremble in fear.
They are going to take their streets back. You`ve seen them out there marching. We are going to hunt this person down until we find them. And I
can promise you this. The Tampa Police Department is not leaving that neighborhood until we find this person. And that relationship with the
community and the police department is absolutely seamless. We are in this fight together.
CASAREZ: And you are out tonight as we speak. Definitely. Joining us also tonight is CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director
of the U.S. Marshalls office, Art Roderick. He joins us now from Washington.
Art, I do want to ask you, the decision that was made for the community to just come out and to not hide behind their doors and in their homes-- is
that solid when you`re looking for someone that could be a serial killer on the loose, waiting for their next victim?
ART RODERIC, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We have experience with these types of shootings in the past, I understand what the mayor is saying,
think it`s good idea. That whole area is infiltrated with law enforcement.
Today is 15th anniversary of the capture of the D.C. sniper case. And also, we remember about a year ago, year-and-a-half ago, we had shootings
in Phoenix, Arizona. All those cases, both those incidences and several others ones that aren`t publicly well known, are all solved by three
things. They`re solved by video surveillance. They`re solved by ballistics, and they`re solved by tips from the public. So I think the
mayor has hit on every single one of those.
I think the video surveillance is going to be the key to this, not only that video bit that we see, but also if we`re able to track that individual
prior too him entering that area and after he leaves that area. Video will be key.
CASAREZ: But here`s my question, if there`s a serial killer on the loose with premeditation, that intent to kill, law enforcement officer walking
with me down the street, not going to save my life. Shot could kill me.
RODERICK: No, but what we did see in Arizona, the minute we publicly put all this information out about the shooter, this shooting stopped. This
indivdual killed nine people. And I`m talkng Arizona. This individual killed nine people between August of 2015 and July of 2016, and he stopped
when the area was infiltrated and the press came out. They talked about his description. They talked about his vehcle. He quit driving his
vehicle. He changed his appearance. And it took nine or ten months for him to be captured, but he stopped shooting people.
CASAREZ: So you saved lives.
RODERICK: And I thik could be an impact here.
BANFIELD: Right. I understand that. You saved lives.
All right well, Mayor, thank you for joining us. We will keep following, the nation is following your case because this person has to be stopped.
These were innocent, innocent victims, and justice must be served. Thank you, both of you.
BUCKHORN: Absolutely (INAUDIBLE)
RODERICK: Thank you.
CASAREZ: Police in Galveston are asking for help tonight identifying the remains of boy who washed ashore last week. Investigators say the child is
a 3 to 5-year-old white male. He was disvovered just offshore late Friday afternoon. A search of the beach yielded no clues as to the boy`s
identity. Anybody with any information at all, please call Galveston police. You`re looking at the forensic drawing right there, 409-765-3776.
[00:15:08]And a baby sitter gives a toddler Xanax and then leaves to go shopping. Does that sound familiar? The baby dies. And now will the
baby-sitter pay the price? She might have a sweetheart of a deal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Every parent is afraid of ending up with an unqualified baby- sitter who puts their child in danger. But one woman in Ohio takes unqualified to the next level. She killed the child she was sitting and
now she`s avoiding a murder charge, getting just years in prison for killing her friend`s baby, a darling little girl named Nadia (ph) not even
a year-and-a-half old.
[00:20:18]Summer Shaladi (ph) gave Nadia Xanax so she could leave to do some shopping, pick up some wine, go see a movie with friend. But she
didn`t mention that to police when she came back at 2:00 AM and found the toddler unresponsive.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know (INAUDIBLE) I think maybe an ambulance. I am watching a friend`s child. She`s out of town and the baby just
doesn`t seem to be, like, moving. I don`t know if she`s in, like, a really deep sleep.
911 OPERATOR: How old is the child?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 18 months.
911 OPERATOR: Is she breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s what I`m trying to discern.
911 OPERATOR: Put your face next to hers and tell me if you feel or hear any breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. You`re going to freak me out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Wow. Did you hear that demeanor? Calm, cool, collected. Well, it turns out Summer waited hours to make that 911 call. She originally
tried walking Nadia up by shaking her and giving her a scalding hot bath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Sunday morning before day, she gets this phone call, The worst (INAUDIBLE) I can imagine she ever got in her life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter was a great mom and only she did was trust somebody. How can somebody hurt a baby? An innocent baby!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: An innocent baby. Summer says she`s sorry, but she`s not looking at a murder charge, pleading guilty instead to involuntary manslaughter.
Joining us now by phone, Detective Brian Denman of the Lorain Police Department.
Thank you so much for joining us. First of all, I want too you that several years ago in legal circles, I heard that Xanax was the new baby-
sitter. Is that what happened here? The baby-sitter needed a baby-sitter so she could do what she wanted to do?
DET. BRIAN DENMAN, LORAIN POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well, that`s what it appears. I mean, with the baby testing positive for the same drug
that was found in Summer Shaladi`s property, it appears that`s what happened.
CASAREZ: Do we know where she got the Xanax?
DENMAN: We do not. We did not find her to have a current prescription of that drug.
CASAREZ: Really? Wow. That`s very, very interesting. So when she first spoke to police, she had one version of the story. What was the initial
statement or interview that she gave to police?
DENMAN: The initial statement that she put the baby down, the baby was kind of restless throughout the night, and then she noticed something was
not right about 3:00 o`clock. She never indicated that she left intially. After an extended interview, she then mentioned that she did leave at some
point to run to Walmart.
CASAREZ: Right. Now, how did you piece together-- because she apparently left the house about 8:45 at night, not returning until about 2:30 in the
morning, did quite a few things. I think first went to the movies with a guy. How did you piece it all together?
DENMAN: Well, what we did, we were able to track her via her cell phone and we were also able to track her spending through her bank account. So
with that information, we went to each location, were able to obtain surveillance video. And as you had mentioned, she was found-- we observed
her at place purchasing some wine, later at the movies, entering Walmart, shopping for about an hour and 20 minutes, approximately, exiting Walmart
at 2:15 in the morning. And we`re assuming she went home after that.
CASAREZ: And at one point, she said she was buying Christmas gifts at Walmart?
DENMAN: Yeah. She had mentioned she was picking up some items at Walmart, yes, even some clothing for the child.
CASAREZ: Well, apparently, there were computer searches done on her iPhone that included signs of baby death, baby death from shopping cart, can
babies sleep so soundly you think they`re dead, 4-month-old infant from Tennessee passed away after given seven vaccines.
What do you think her state of mind was? And when were these searches done?
DENMAN: The searches were done prior to calling 911, some hours, you know, before 6:34. Some of the searches were at 6:00. I don`t have all the
exact times in front of me, but it was about a half hour prior to calling 911.
CASAREZ: Do you think she really was questioning whether the baby was dead?
[00:25:02]DENMAN: I think at this point, panic was setting in and she was looking for some way out.
CASAREZ: So you think that she was just frantic at that point. She didn`t sound too frantic on the 911 call, though, I have to say. Her demeanor was
pretty calm, cool and collected.
DENMAN: Oh, I agree with you there. I can only assume-- I agree with you her demeanor was calm in the 911. Even initially, when we made contact
with her, she sounded like she did in the 911 call.
CASAREZ: And Detective, we`ve got a little bit of that 911 call, a little bit more, talking about whether she had performed CPR. Let`s roll that,
and once again listen to her demeanor and whether she`s being honest or not.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
911 OPERATOR: --whether she`s breathing now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I`m sorry. I`m sorry. What now?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. I`m sorry. Oh, my gosh. That`s what I`ve been trying to do. Oh, my gosh. Like, I did, like, CPR and I would hear, like-
-
911 OPERATOR: You did CPR on her already?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, I heard gurgling, you know what I mean?
911 OPERATOR: OK, ma`am. I`m going to get the ambulance going. I need you to get to the child immediately. One moment please.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Justin Withrow is the attorney for Summer Shalodi. He joins us tonight from Cleveland Justin, you`re a very good attorney, you`re an
excellent attorney because you were able to negotiate this plea deal. Many people would believe there should be a murder charge here that goes to a
jury. How many years did she get? And will she serve that day for day?
JUSTIN WITHROW, ATTORNEY FOR SUMMER SHALODI: Thank you very much for having me. Ultimately, the plea resolution in Summers`s matter resulted in
a sentence of 22 years. She will be given credit for the approximately eight months that she has served during the pendency of her case, and she
will have the opportunity to earn some credit through the participation in various programs during her service of her prison sentence.
CASAREZ: So it`ll be possibly less than 22 years. Had she ever been a baby-sitter before? Is that what she did in life?
WITHROW: Summer is a very educated woman. She ultimately earned a master`s degree in education from the University of Akron--
CASAREZ: In education? Wow. Wow. I`m sorry. Go ahead.
WITHROW: She had a long history of working in various child development roles. And that is where she met Nadia Gibbons, Jr., the deceased child,
and her mother, through the course of her employment at a local child care center. And then that relationship continued following her departure from
that center.
CASAREZ: Justin, that`s amazing what you were able to work out because if she was in child development, that gave her a knowledge. That gave her the
understanding of the duty toward a child. Where did she get the Xanax?
WITHROW: Well, Summer is facing a substantial sentence in 22 years. There`s nothing that Summer could have done that will ever bring this child
back. She acknowledges that. This is a sentence that will carry on from her 30s into her early 50s.
CASAREZ: She`ll be out in her early 50s probably. Why did she do it?
WITHROW: Summer will be the first one to tell you that that evening, she made a lot of wrong decisions. And at one point, I believe in her comments
to the family after she pleaded guilty, she said if she could trade places with Nadia, Junior, she would.
CASAREZ: But she had to say that, right? Wasn`t that part of the plea agreement that she had to apologize and accept that responsibility publicly
in the courtroom?
WITHROW: It was a requirement that she accept responsibility for her wrongful conduct. There was no requirement that she apologize to the
family, nor were there any words she was required to say in giving that apology. The words that Summer spoke last Thursday were words of her own
and from her heart.
CASAREZ: Now, what did she do with the boiling water or the very hot water, I should say, in regard to the baby?
WITHROW: Again, there were a lot of decisions that Summer made that evening that if she could do over, she would. There were several actions
that she took in an effort to determine what the state of the child were. Ultimately, what she should have done and what she acknowledges she should
have done was to call for help right away.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN AND HLN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: All right. Dr. William Morrone is a medical examiner, forensic pathologist and toxicologist. He
joins us tonight from Madison Heights, Michigan. Thank you, doctor, for joining us.
I have read the autopsy report and I`m sure you have too, and I see contusions and abrasions and lacerations on the lips, on the chest, on the
back. This baby was shaken according to the court transcript to try to see if it was alive. But there seems to be much more. How do you get contusions
and abrasions and lacerations on your lip from shaking?
WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Some of this comes also because of poorly trained CPR attempts on the face, on the
chest, and on any hard surface. If you`re trying to determine whether a child is alive or dead, you may not be using the correct fine motor skills.
But the number one thing went wrong here is that somebody gave Xanax, a sedative hypnotic, to an 18-month-old. This is a class of medication that
we reserve for outpatient procedures and inpatient surgery in adults, young adults, and teenagers. Eighteen-month-old babies are never intended to be
given sedative hypnotics. And there`s no community antidote.
Like, right now we have narcan in communities in case somebody is exposed to heroin. We do not have a community antidote. So there are two grievous
errors here. Number one, the Xanax is given. And amount the of time and effort put into trying to revive this child is indescribably inept.
CASAREZ: Do you think the child could have survived if she had immediately called 911?
MORRONE: You have minutes to get oxygen back to the brain. And what Xanax does is it allows the brain to slowly shut down. Putting a baby in hot
water may have made it worse. But you needed to get EMS, you needed to get an ambulance on that baby in six to 10 minutes after the life signs
dwindled.
And we don`t know when that happened. There may be a time of death, but the number one thing is we don`t give adult medications to children. This may
be happening all over the America.
I saw this happen with sleeping pills. I saw this happen with Benadryl. We see this happen often in young parents who can`t deal with inconsolable
child. They shouldn`t have the children. They shouldn`t babysit. And there`s no community antidote.
CASAREZ: Right. Detective, I want to ask you one final question. This is Detective Brian Denman who is joining from the Lorain Police Department. In
this autopsy report, I really studied it. Two things concerned me greatly. There were several healing wounds on this little girl.
So, the defendant here could not have done that. Healing wounds at autopsy and there was a vaginal laceration inside of her. Did your department
believe that she could have been the victim of abuse before the babysitter took over that night?
BRIAN DENMAN, DETECTIVE, LORAIN POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): No, we didn`t have any indication of that.
CASAREZ: Justin Withrow, I got to ask you very quickly. There were some healing wounds. Were you concerned? Do you believe that helped you to get a
plea deal?
WITHROW (via telephone): I don`t believe that had any impact on the resolution in Summer`s case.
CASAREZ: All right. Thank you all for joining us very much.
In the mysterious death of little Sherin Matthews as her father changes his story about what he said happened the night she disappeared.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: For weeks, he`s been saying he doesn`t know what happened to his daughter. Little Sherin Matthews, only three years old and missing since
early this month. Her father told police she disappeared in the middle of the night after he put her outside as punishment for refusing to drink her
milk.
But now he`s changing his story. Coming to police with an alternative statement of events once his daughter`s tiny body was found in a drainage
ditch nearby. Now Wesley Matthews is telling police that Sherin choked on her own milk at home and that he moved her body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN PERLICH, SERGEANT, RICHARDSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, we know that there`s no threat or anything like there out there to the community from
any type of predator or anything like that. And so in that regard, that`s good. Unfortunately, it`s a very terrible outcome that we have on this
case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now he his facing life in prison, charged with injury to a child, but he could be looking at even more charges when Sherin`s autopsy comes
back, namely homicide.
[20:40:00] Kate Delaney is an investigative reporter and a syndicated radio host. She joins us tonight from Richardson, Texas which is just really a
suburb of the Dallas area. Thank you for joining us. And it was the Dallas medical examiner that gave the news, what did he or she say?
KATE DELANEY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SYNDICATED RADIO HOST (via telephone): Yes, boy, Jean, what a sad outcome to this. He set it up right
where they discovered that it was in fact milk that she had choked on and then didn`t have pulse.
Apparently what they found is that with all of the evidence that mounted against Wesley Matthews, he`s going to be charged with more crimes, and
that`s because of some of what they found in the house.
The dirt, the soil, all the materials they found. And some of that is what the medical examiner found on the body as well. So, clearly, you know, she
had died on the seventh of October and they just found her body on Sunday.
CASAREZ: Now Kate, let me ask you, the autopsy report obviously is not in. Do we know that she actually drank milk that night?
DELANEY (via telephone): Yes, well, what I was told by a source is that that`s what they believe did definitely happen. And that`s why he changed
his story too, because he knew that they had that on him and that was clearly going to come out obviously because they found her body weeks
later.
And I`m not a lawyer but I know they`ll pull these pieces together. And again we have to be careful what we say but from my understanding, that`s
exactly what happened. Apparently, he was forcing the milk down her throat.
CASAREZ: Right. Now we do understand, he has two stories, because the original story involved milk. Right, Kate?
DELANEY (through translator): Yes.
CASAREZ: It was that she wouldn`t drink her milk. And so he said that he put her outside. She was drinking milk in the garage first of all, the
garage at 3:00 in the morning. She wouldn`t drink and he puts her outside in the backyard next to a tree and then she`s gone.
And he admits there were coyotes in the alley area which was very close to the tree, which is close to the backyard. And then that story changed or
alternative facts, Kate, very quickly, what were the alternative facts that came out late yesterday?
DELANEY (via telephone): The alternative facts are that she was -- he said she was in the garage and he was trying to give her the milk and she
wouldn`t take the milk and that she began to choke and after coughing for a while her breathing slowed and he could no longer feel her pulse. He
believed she had died and removed her body from the house.
CASAREZ: All right. Dr. William Morrone, first of all, milk, can you choke to death on milk? It`s a liquid.
MORRONE: You cannot choke to death on milk unless somebody pours so much milk in you that it bypasses your stomach and goes to your lungs and fills
up your lungs. This is a jar of pickles. It`s approximately the same volume of the left and right lung.
And if you`re forcing a glass of milk into lungs that are approximately the same volume as this, what you`re going to end up with is drowning, not
choking. Suffocation. If he forced milk into her lungs and if she wasn`t restrained, the normal response is she would cough, lurch forward, vomit,
and all that milk could come out.
She might end up with lung infection or pneumonia, but not dead. Lungs being full of milk is drowning, not choking. She drowned in milk. He poured
so much milk in her.
CASAREZ: OK. So the question is, what is his state of mind? Defense Attorney Margie Mow joins us now from Los Angeles. Charges were just
upgraded, as you know, injury to a child, felony, injury to a child.
Autopsy report not done at this point. Facts still as part of the investigative state. This is Texas. This could potentially be not only
first-degree murder. This potentially could be a death penalty case.
MARGIE MOW, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s true. But we don`t know what actually happened. I mean, there`s two different versions of the story. This is
very, very bizarre behavior. We don`t know what the truth is. And then where was his wife? I understand his wife was a registered nurse. Why was
she --
CASAREZ: And that`s a really good point. Margie, that`s a really good point because the fact is we are now hearing that she is not cooperating with law
enforcement.
[20:45:00] MOW: Where was she? What role did she play? Why didn`t he run to her if there was an incident with his little girl? Why was she being forced
to drink milk at 3:00 in the morning in the garage. There`s a lot of unanswered questions in the --
CASAREZ: Right. And we`re also understanding, Margie, that CPS had been called to the home previously. Why? And the mother wants custody of the
other daughter. How? That`s yet to be determined.
A college coed allegedly kills a mother of six in a DUI accident, and she now is facing a murder charge.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: A California family mourning a wife and mother,
[20:50:00] might be one step closer to justice tonight. Four boys without a mother, a husband without a wife, and two newborn babies who will never get
to know her. Katie`s husband says she had been waiting for years to have girls and she ended up with two. But they have been born premature, so
Katie was driving to the hospital every day to visit them.
She was driving back from the hospital one Friday night and only a mile from home when police say a drunk driver crossed the center median and
slammed into Katie head-on. They say the driver behind the wheel is a college student, just turned 21, and was almost three times the legal limit
that night. Last week, she was facing vehicular manslaughter charges but tonight she is facing a murder charge.
Sergeant Scott Shoemaker is with the traffic division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff`s Department Santa Clarita Station. He joins us tonight from
Santa Clarita. Thank you so much for joining us, sergeant. This is exactly where this happened. First of all, I just want people to get an idea. This
was Golden Valley road, across the center median, was this a two-lane highway? Is that how this --
SCOTT SHOEMAKER, SERGEANT, LASD, SANTA CLARITA STATION (via telephone): No. It`s actually a four-lane -- I believe a four-lane road there with raised
center median.
CASAREZ: OK. So, when they say don`t drink and drive, this is case in point. The facts as you know them right now, what are they?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): The driver, 21-year-old female, was arrested last Wednesday on vehicular manslaughter charge. And we presented the case
to the district attorney`s office on Thursday. And then Friday after their review of it, they raised the charge from vehicular manslaughter to a
murder charge.
CASAREZ: This is very unusual. Sergeant, have you ever seen a case like this, which is normally a manslaughter, being elevated? Charging document
says that it is with malice aforethought. Have you ever seen a case like this charged as murder?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): I haven`t personally seen it. In California, there`s a case -- it`s based on Watson murder and it basically shows that
the person had aforementioned forethought or knowledge beforehand of the consequences of drinking and driving.
CASAREZ: Well, that`s interesting. This happened about midnight, blood alcohol .21, three times the legal limit. But let`s focus on Katie Evans
for a minute. This is the victim. This is the mother of six beautiful children.
Those two babies right there that she has in her arms, she had just come from the hospital because they were still in the hospital. She had just
given birth to these two babies, sergeant, and the family originally was from Utah?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): Yes. That`s correct.
CASAREZ: And she was just buried this last weekend. I want to go to our defense attorney Margie Mow. What must they have, Margie, to charge this as
murder? When someone is drinking and driving and crosses median and kills. And it`s a malice aforethought murder which has conscious intent.
MOW: Well, usually the way they`re able to charge a person who is driving under the influence and then is involved in an accident where the victim
dies is through what the deputy said, Watson rule. And that involves somebody who has prior DUIs.
When they enter a plea, part of the advisement is that if they are involved in an accident and they do choose to drink and drive and involved in
accident and as result somebody dies, they will be charged with murder.
They`re placed on notice so that if they ever are involved in DUI with an accident then they will be charged with murder. In this case, I don`t know
if she did have a DUI. I don`t think that she did, but if she did, then it would definitely be grounds for them to charge her with murder in this
particular case.
CASAREZ: Sergeant, the owner of the bar says that she had purchased two drinks, one for her and one for her friend, and that was all they served
her. So, if that`s true, where did she get all the alcohol?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): It`s under investigation. The bar has been cooperative with us and has provided us some information. Obviously there
is going to be more to it. If had other people buying drinks or something, if she came to the bar already intoxicated. We don`t know yet. That`s under
investigation.
[20:55:00] CASAREZ: So she is a college coed. Is it there in Santa Clarita? Where does she go to school?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): I`ve been told she goes to California State University in Northridge. I don`t know if that`s fact.
CASAREZ: College coed. And she consented to the blood draw. Is that correct, sergeant?
SHOEMAKER (via telephone): Yes.
CASAREZ: And our victim once again has just been buried. She and her family are members of the LDS Church Congregation. They were and are passionate
about their children. And Katie Evans loved the adventure of traveling and just being a mom to all those kids. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Thank you so much for watching.
[21:00:00] I`m Jean Casarez. Ashleigh Banfield is back tomorrow night. "The Hunt with John Walsh" begins right now. Good night, everybody.
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