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Jane Velez-Mitchell
L.A. Police Shoot Hostage; Alleged Killer Giggles His Way into Court; Workers at Wiese Brothers Farm Charged with Abusing Cows
Aired April 11, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, breaking news: public outrage as Los Angeles cops respond to a hostage situation with deadly gunfire. But instead of killing the suspect, with a knife, they shoot and kill an innocent hostage, who was trying to escape. Did the cops shoot first and ask questions later? Or are critics playing armchair quarterback?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thanks for joining me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An aspiring TV producer was mistakenly shot by cops during a hostage situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killed by police. They mistook him for a mad slasher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Investigators say this handsome 30-year-old aspiring television producer, Josh Winkler, went over to help his neighbors who were having a fight, and he ended the night in a body bag, gunned down by police.
Cops say they responded to a call that a white male with a slim build, wearing a black T-shirt, was holding at least two men hostage with a knife inside an apartment. When they knocked on the apartment door nobody answered, but moments later two men came running out the door, covered in blood.
Cops say they thought Winkler was the mad slasher and shot to kill. Cops say Winkler matched the description of the suspect, 27-year-old Andrew McDonald.
McDonald is now charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder and torture. He`s being held on $4 million bond.
So let`s take a look at the suspect, McDonald, side by side with the victim, Winkler. They look alike. They look similar. Both were reportedly wearing a black T-shirt. Both young, slim white men. But is that enough to state a man`s life on?
Straight out to my fantastic Lion`s Den debate panel. But we begin first with senior producer Selin Darkalstanian in Los Angeles. What`s the buzz? What is the latest?
SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, HLN PRODUCER: We know that the cops get a call to an apartment building. There`s a call that there`s a guy with a knife.
So they get to the location. They`re at this apartment building. Out comes running a guy who`s gushing in blood, blood coming from his neck. He`s running out. And then here comes the victim, who they think is the guy they`re trying to catch, running after him, lunging at him. He`s wearing the same clothing as the guy they`re looking for, so they accidently shoot the guy.
And we know that this John Winkler, the victim in this case, was an aspiring -- you know, moved to Hollywood to work in television, to be a production assistant, to work in this field. He had just moved here from Seattle, 30 years old, gunned down by accident by the cops.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. According to investigators, the suspect was fighting with his roommate and another man when Winkler, this guy who just arrived from Seattle, wants to make it in Hollywood, he arrives to help. As they say no good deed goes unpunished.
We`ve done some digging, and we found out the suspect, this McDonald guy, had been listed as a lead designer at a reputable tech and app company. But neighbors say this guy McDonald was having a complete breakdown, and his roommate kicked him out. And this guy manages to get back into the apartment and he`s wielding a knife.
Postings on Facebook claim -- and we have no corroboration for this -- but claim that the apartment building has some drug issues. Could the suspect have been out of his mind?
Let`s go straight out to the Lion`s Den. Mike Brooks, HLN law- enforcement analyst, there`s a lot of people who are second-guessing...
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW-ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... the decision of the cops. I mean, three cops fire four rounds. This young man, who was totally innocent, is dead. The other victim got shot in the leg. He`s going to recover. People are saying why did they shoot first and ask questions later?
BROOKS: Well, again it`s a tough thing. But people need to ask questions why this happened, Jane. Because you have your first responding deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff`s Office. They`re there.
Here`s someone running at them when the door finally opens, gushing blood. The person behind them fitting the description of someone that they believe they`re looking for, who is possibly the perp, who could be armed with a butcher knife, comes running at them.
We don`t know if they told him to say, "Let me see your hands. Get down." We don`t know. You know, he`s trying to get out of there. They don`t know what`s going on inside. They thought their life was in danger. They shot and killed him accidently.
I mean, situations -- situations like this have happened where cops have killed plain-clothed cops. So this is something. It`s not the special response team that handles normal hostage situations that were involved in this. They were in a shoot, don`t shoot situation right away. And whatever was going through their mind, they thought that their lives were in danger. They used deadly force.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Eric Guster, attorney, look at these two. They do have a similar look, even in these photos. They are both wearing black T-shirts. They`re both young white males, slim, in black T-shirts.
Do you think it was just an understandable mistake? Or should the authorities, given that they were responding to a knife attack, as opposed to, say, a gun attack, should have stopped and perhaps assessed the situation or done something differently?
ERIC GUSTER, ATTORNEY: One thing that we`ve seen across the United States are police officers shooting first without taking other precautionary measures in order -- in order to get a suspect under control.
Just like the case in Arizona where they shot -- shot a man who was unarmed and not -- not in danger to the police officers. In this particular case, the man had a knife, which seems like the officers could have contained him, tackled him, held him under their -- under their force without having to kill him, even if he was the suspect.
So it looks like they possibly should have done something differently in this case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Adam Thompson, criminal defense attorney?
ADAM THOMPSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Very hard case, Jane, because you know, these police officers have to make a split-second decision. And it`s not just their own safety.
They thought the first person leaving that apartment was an actual victim. He had blood all over him. And this was actually the suspect following him, and they thought, trying to further injure him. So in that split second, they`ve got to decide: protect that victim and protect themselves so they react.
But when a knife is involved, there are a lot of containment training classes police officers take. And they know to create distance, and could have did something a little differently.
BROOKS: Look, you can be killed -- you can be killed with an edged weapon as well as you can be killed with a firearm. Let me tell you something: shoot/don`t shoot situations, the training that cops go through all the time, knives are included in this. You talk about a continuum of force. If someone is coming at you with a knife, especially a large butcher knife, there`s almost like a 20-foot rule. They can get on you faster than you can think, sometimes faster than an officer can pull their weapon. I have no problem with them using deadly force.
MO IVORY, RADIO HOST: Jane...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way this is one of the innocent victims who`s being wheeled out, just FYI.
And by the way, this neighborhood, I know it well. I lived in L.A. for 18 years. It`s a fine neighborhood.
GUSTER: Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a really nice neighborhood. So any rumors that this is a bad neighborhood not true. Just not true.
Mo Ivory, go.
IVORY: Jane, I heard what Mike said, and I think that this is a very hard situation for the police. But what I keep hearing everybody on the panel saying is that, you know, there was the knife, and they could have been lunging at the police, and they could have feared for their lives.
But the fact is that they weren`t. The guys who -- the innocent victim who was shot did not have a knife in his hand. All they knew was that there had been a knife in the situation. They did not see it when they came out -- when he came out of the apartment.
So in this situation that split second decision was made without even knowing that he had a knife in his hand or that he was lunging toward that victim with a knife. They assumed that was the victim and that was the perpetrator, which obviously was a wrong assumption in this case.
GUSTER: A wrong deadly assumption.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s easy to sit back in our armchairs and say you should have done this, you should have done that.
Cops face deadly situations day to day. For example, check out this dash cam video. A cop tries to make a routine stop and gets fired on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean, he was behind somebody else. So the cops didn`t know, even though they reported it was a knife, whether he might also have a gun.
Vinnie Parco private investigator, you investigate so many of these cases. Do you think the cops could have done something differently? And if so what specifically?
VINNIE PARCO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR (via phone): Yes, yes. First of all, the guy didn`t have a knife. And they should have -- they should have contained the situation by telling him to stop, freeze. They didn`t do that. Or we don`t know if they did it, No. 1.
No. 2, these are sheriff`s deputies. They`re not cops. They`re not the LAPD who are better trained. Most sheriffs are jailers. They handle the jails in the county.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t know. I mean, I`ve gotten pulled over by so many sheriffs for speeding in Los Angeles.
PARCO: All right. My point is they screwed up. They shot the victim coming out. So right away you know they screwed up just on that alone. How did they shoot him? I don`t know.
They`re only human beings. Look, I`m the biggest supporter of police. I belong to the Police Defense Foundation. We support police. But you know, police make mistakes, just like we all do. And that`s a life and death situation. And I think they made a big mistake.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Mike Brooks...
PARCO: They should have contained the situation, but they didn`t. They were probably nervous. They see two guys coming out. They didn`t fit a description, but they should have -- if they didn`t see a knife they shouldn`t have fired, first of all.
BROOKS: This is going to all be part of the investigation: what was told to them as they were coming out.
But Vinnie, I`m going to have to disagree with you, pal. The L.A. Sheriff`s Office are extremely well-trained. Their SWAT team is, I would put them, their team, the SRT, up against LAPD or my team, the ERT, any day of the week. They are extremely professional and well-trained organization, pal. I`ve been out there. I`ve been involved with training with them. They are good.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we want to say that our heart goes out to the family of Mr. Winkler, who was gunned down. Come to Hollywood, try to make it, and it`s just a horrific tragedy.
And again, the man who is charged with his murder is the guy who started it all, allegedly, this McDonald -- this McDonald character, who cops say had the knife. He is going to end up charged with the murder of the guy, the man killed by the cops. Interesting.
Next, a shocking development in the disappearance of a beautiful 15- year-old girl. Police say she was murdered, and her killer was right under the family`s nose during the entire month-long search for her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The confessed killer is her ex-boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went with us to all the searches. He went with us to the balloon release.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of those things is unbelievable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wasn`t going to a friend`s house in the neighborhood, as first thought, but went to meet her ex-boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a tragic event. Everybody involved is young.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The confessed killer is her ex-boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Strangling Danielle and stuffing a sock in her mouth. Then he tied cinder blocks to her body and tossed her into the South River.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s so devastating to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight a family and entire community reeling after a teenage boy is charged with murdering his girlfriend, Danielle Locklear. We`ve been all over this case. We`ve taken part in the search for her, as thousands hunted for clues in what happened to this popular, beautiful 15- year-old student who went missing March 11 after she left her grandfather`s home in North Carolina.
Now, I want to show you some video. This joyful young woman in some clips from her Facebook page.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Popular, a dancer, good in school. Now a new mystery has people asking why Danielle`s clean-cut, on-again-off-again boyfriend allegedly killed this young lady.
Cops say 17-year-old Je`Michael Malloy admitted to choking her to death, that he stuffed a sock in her mouth and then tied a cinder block to her body and, with the help of his friend, tossed her body over a bridge into the river and kept it all a secret until now.
You have to understand, hundreds of people went searching for Danielle, including the young man cops now say is the killer. He was right there beside the family, consoling them through the entire search.
Well, now the family feels utterly betrayed and disgusted, because he played the role of the strong supporter and loving partner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went with us to all of the searches. He went with us to the balloon release. That`s another thing that`s so devastating to us, that he could just stand there with us and asking, "Is everything OK? Do you all feel OK?" and to find out that he is the one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we are joined tonight by Danielle`s grandmother.
First of all, my condolences. My heart goes out to you and your family. You have been through hell.
PHYLLIS FOWLER, GRANDMOTHER: Thank you, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I`m so sorry. I`m so sorry. And I look at this beautiful woman and your granddaughter, a young lady, and to think that she is gone in this fashion, it`s heartbreaking.
FOWLER: It is unbelievable.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, it`s unbelievable. Absolutely. You told us a few weeks ago that you met Danielle`s boyfriend, this young man who`s now suspected of killing her, that he even stayed over at your house.
FOWLER: That is correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that you spoke to him for a long time to try to see if he was good material to date your granddaughter. What was your reaction when you found out that he was charged?
FOWLER: I was sick to my stomach. And I just could not believe it.
But now, you know, her family has to be Danielle`s voice. And we demand justice for Danielle. What happened to her no -- nothing could explain this away. And you know, I`m not 100 percent sure that it wasn`t premeditated. I just feel in my heart that there`s something else we don`t know.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, absolutely. And let me explain to our viewers for a second. Prosecutors have charged this young man, 17-year-old Je`Michael Malloy, with second-degree murder, which would imply a crime of passion instead of first-degree murder, which would be premeditated. The family says they don`t agree with that charge; they think it should be more, murder one. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been a month-long nightmare. And I feel like they`ve been around us, they`ve been in our home. He`s walked with us in searches. We`re disgusted.
I don`t agree with the second-degree murder charge. You know, we`re hurt by that. He -- I feel like he planned -- planned al of this. He had threatened her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So out to the Lion`s Den. Did prosecutors make the right decision by only charging with murder two? And I want to go to Kimberly Priest Johnson, criminal defense attorney.
He allegedly stuck a sock in his girlfriend`s mouth. That means -- and that was done, I would think, undoubtedly, before she died. That`s the point. So in the process of sticking a fun -- a sock in somebody`s mouth, you have an opportunity to reflect, and then if you proceed to choke them, as authorities say he choked Danielle, wouldn`t that be premeditated?
KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree with you, Jane. I will say I`m very surprised by the charge. I would expect it to be a first-degree murder charge.
We talk about this often on your -- on your show. You know, you don`t have to have a long period of time to plan the murder of someone. It can be a split-second decision, "I`m going to murder this person." And it sounds like that`s what we have in this case. And so I completely agree with the family. I would like to see a first-degree murder charge in this case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, why do you think that they just did murder 2? Is it because that he reportedly confessed and just basically spilled the beans?
BROOKS: You know, it could be that, and maybe also through the interview of his accomplice that helped dump the body that said, "Well, you know, he called me after it happened, and this wasn`t planned."
But pre-meditation, as we know, Jane, can be made in the blink of an eye. So I think first-degree should be here, also. You know, and how they develop him as a suspect he was around helping with the searches. Did they -- did the cops look at him right off the bat? Probably not, because he seemed to see such a clean-cut, helping with the searches, close to the family. I think first-degree is applicable here, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Jane...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to know why they charge him with second- degree? Because all these cases you cover and other shows cover, Jane, they charge first-degree prematurely, and then they lose big cases. Casey Anthony Zimmerman, go down the list. So I think these prosecutors are a little gun-shy now. Don`t think -- don`t think that doesn`t play a part, and getting embarrassed in the press.
GUSTER: But there is a confession.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes. Yes.
GUSTER: There is a confession. So I believe if they charge first- degree, I don`t think they will have any problem with this.
And premeditation only takes a split second to achieve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.
GUSTER: And this young man choked her. According to what we`ve seen in the evidence, he choked her. Which it takes a while for you to murder someone by choking them. This wasn`t a split-second gunshot wound; this was choking, which is horrible.
And then he stuck a sock in her mouth. Who does that? That is some sociopath type of behavior.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break, we`re going to continue to talk to the victim`s grandmother, who also, and her entire family, want murder one.
And ask, what about the other young man arrested? He, according to cops, simply helped dispose of the body. But he is also charged with murder two. Is that fair? He could go to prison for the rest of his life for doing his friend a favor. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Danielle`s family not just grieving but feeling betrayed by the boyfriend they trusted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been a month-long nightmare. And I feel like they`ve been around us, they`ve been in our home. He`s walked with us on searches. We`re disgusted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Police say Malloy confessed to choking Danielle to death during an argument March 11. Cops say he enlisted his friend, 18- year-old Dominic Lock, to help him dump the girl`s body off of a bridge into the South River.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now there are two teens charged with Danielle Locklear`s murder, her boyfriend and his friend.
Now, this is the friend, 18-year-old Dominic Lock. We`re going to show you him in a second. There he is.
According to reports, he was originally supposed to be charged just with conspiracy. Cops believe he helped dispose of this young woman`s body. But now he is facing the same second-degree murder charge as the young man cops say killed the young woman.
Dr. Judy Ho, clinical psychologist, now this other kid could go to prison for life for helping his friend. Frankly, I don`t think that`s fair.
DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I don`t think that`s fair either, Jane. And I think that, because this is such an aggravated way of murdering a young woman, maybe they`re going a little bit hard on this second person, as well. But he was probably just thinking that he was trying to be a good friend here. And that`s really, really sad, that the first person that is actually the suspect is the person that really committed everything and then got his friend involved, and now he`s ruining his friend`s life, too.
But I wanted just to make a comment earlier about what we`re talking about, the second-degree versus the first-degree murder. You know, I really believe the suspect should get first-degree. Because look at how much he planned all of the stuff happening after the murder. How he like actually consoled the family, how he actually participated in the search. There`s so much evidence that he really did have a planning motive here. And I just think that is really unfair.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mo -- Mo Ivory, it just seems like something is out of whack. He`s not getting a high enough charge, and this other young man who admittedly did something wrong, but helping to dispose of a body and spending the rest of your life behind bars?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? I read reports where the other suspect stuck the sock in the mouth, not the boyfriend. The boyfriend strangled her, and the other gentleman put the sock in the mouth, and then together they disposed of the body. Does that make him a better picture?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I` m wondering about that. Because why would you stick a sock in somebody`s mouth after they`re deceased?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
IVORY: That`s if the sock in the mouth was done after she was deceased. If that sock was put to prevent her from the yelling and the screaming that would have come with it, then he was definitely a part of the murder.
So I mean, I think that that is what has to be cleared up. I think it is unfair if the only thing that he participated in was the disposal of the body. Then I think that is overcharge as to the second guy.
But Jane, this case makes me absolutely crazy, as the mother of a 15 year old who has a 17-year-old boyfriend, and they look at just all the kids are like that. Clean cut. And you don`t know what somebody is capable of. And that is so, so scary as a parent.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I blame our culture, too, our culture of violence.
IVORY: yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And we`re going to talk about this in our next story, too. The video games that reward immoral, illegal behavior and glamorize it.
IVORY: There`s no sympathy behind it. How could you then be in front of this girl`s parents and her family? I mean, where is the sympathy and the compassion in your soul to be able to do that?
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This was a beautiful young woman who was so full of life. And I want to show you some videos of her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A culture of violence.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s another one -- and I agree with you -- from YouTube, where she`s singing Adele`s famous love ballad "Someone Like You."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: ADELE`S "SOMEONE LIKE YOU")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She may have been singing to this man, who cops say later killed her, not even a man, a boy, 17 year old.
Now, the attorney now for this Je`Michael Malloy says he`s completely remorseful and has accepted wrongdoing. Apparently, he can make his $100,000 bail but is staying behind bars. He believes it`s better for the victim`s family. He has absolutely no criminal history and now he is facing life in prison.
Phyllis Fowler, Danielle, the victim`s grandmother, again, my heart goes out to you.
FOWLER: Thank you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Can you put this in context?
FOWLER: Pardon?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Could -- I mean, you spent time with this young man. He has a baby face. He wanted to join the military. Go ahead.
FOWLER: How dare they belittle Danielle`s death with a second-degree murder charge? That is like she wasn`t important. And it just -- it makes me furious that they can be so nonchalant to not make him face up to what he has done.
He has snuffed out a life. And whenever he was at my house, I never saw anything like this.
And let me say this: My daughter is a psychiatric nurse, and she`s trained to spot things that are not normal in people. And she come to me and said, "Mother, how did I miss it? How did I not see he was capable of doing this?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you see him during the time that the search was on going? Did you see him pretend to console the family?
FOWLER: Did I? He came and wrapped his arms around me. "I`m so sorry," he said.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you didn`t detect anything?
FOWLER: No. I suppose maybe because I was crying too hard. I was just -- I`m still heartbroken. And to think that he could so easily be around people. How could anyone -- that shows you what type of person did this. Someone that could show their face around the family? Need I say more?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Mike Brooks, it`s an old story, whether you`re talking about the guy who says he went to make s`mores in the freezing cold.
BROOKS: Right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Remember that guy, went on camera. I mean, Laci Peterson husband, he was at a vigil and pretended he was in Paris with his mistress. I mean, this is an old story to get close to the people who are grieving when you`re the suspect.
BROOKS: It is, Jane. But you know, you talk about the culture of violence. Here you have a 17-year-old kid -- you know, just the other day in Indianapolis we saw a 16-year-old who`d been locked up over 29 times, since he was 9 years old. What is wrong with the country? What is wrong with these children -- these young adults? I don`t get it -- Jane. I just don`t get it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the story you mentioned is the story that we are covering next. A newly-wed gunned down on the street just weeks before welcoming his first child. The murder suspect -- another 16-year-old boy. His first court appearance left us completely stunned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Instead of the usual perp walk most are used to with inmates either looking away or hiding their faces from our cameras, Adams laughed and made no attempt to evade the attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Simeon Adams surprised everyone this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This surveillance video in it you can see Simeon Adams and another suspect confronting Nathan Trapuzzano before he was murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adams laughed.
SIMEON ADAMS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: Cowards, yes. They are cowards.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even flashed a smile at reporters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is just senseless and shocking and just not right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully he goes to jail for a very long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight coast to coast shock and outrage after a young newlywed`s morning walk turns deadly. Cops say this 24-year-old father -- father-to-be was gunned down and killed in cold blood after a robbery gone wrong. And the heinous crime is all caught on tape.
But the shocking imagery that has sparked total outrage coast to coast is the 16-year-old suspect, Simeon Adams not only showing no remorse, he`s laughing and flashing smiles as he is hauled into court to face the prospect of life behind bars. Look at his smirk.
Here is the surveillance video that shows the victim, Nathan Trapuzzano, walking to get his morning coffee while he`s being stalked by this suspect and an alleged accomplice. Watch as the expectant young father/victims walks back the other way, then here comes the now accused murderer right behind. Cops say the 16-year-old who goes by the name Red lured his victim behind a tire store and then shot him in the stomach after demanding he strip during a robbery. The victim`s devastated family and friends are stunned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is just senseless and shocking and just not right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just can`t believe it is true. Just can`t believe like an innocent kid like that, your life can be taken that simple. (inaudible) Words cannot describe how bad I feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say the smiling 16-year-old is being charged as an adult. He`s facing a slew of charges including murder, attempted murder and carrying a gun without a license.
We have a fantastic "Lion`s Den" debate panel. But first out to my exclusive guest, the aunt of the victim`s wife, Dawne Mann. Dawne, thank you so much for joining us -- I`m very sorry for your loss, for your family`s loss. My condolences. My heart goes out to you.
I have to ask you about what everybody in America is talking about tonight -- the laughter. There is your niece and the man who was killed, the father to be. But let`s take a look for a second and deviate from this beautiful young couple and look at the suspect. He is laughing. Your response to this laughter?
DAWNE MANN, AUNT OF VICTIM`S WIFE: Well, the family chooses not to talk about the laughter of the suspect. We have banded together to not post anything on Facebook, any personal attention to the thug. We do not - - we don`t want to talk about it. We are not going to think about him.
Nathan was a very special person to all of us. Yes, we just -- you know, this is a hard time for us. And we just can`t think about this lad - - this guy doing something so terrible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I absolutely respect what you have to say. And I want to go back to the photos of your niece and her husband before he was gunned down -- and what a beautiful couple. She is expecting. Now, she is going to go through life and her child is going to go through life missing a husband and a father -- absolutely devastating. How is she holding up?
MANN: She`s doing pretty good. Each day gets a little bit easier, I guess you could say, you know. She does have the birth of the baby to look forward to. And it is hard for her every day. Every day is hard. I just can`t imagine it. They were the storybook couple, the fairytale that you dream about, they were them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And they sure look like it. They look so happy. I am so sorry for your loss. I think that we have to have a deeper understanding of the why here because this is beyond tragic. It`s -- I think it`s an American tragedy is what I think. I want to thank you Dawne Mann -- the widow`s aunt.
You know, this kid was on an extremely violent crime spree that started days before he allegedly gunned down and killed this father-to-be. Ten days before cops say he killed this dad-to-be Adams allegedly robbed a gun store. Then just two nights before the killing he shot another man; yes, he shot another man he claims bumped into him outside a restaurant. There was a verbal altercation and he allegedly fired three bullets into that guy. He didn`t die -- he`s recovering.
Then on April 1 cops say Adams ordered Trapuzzano behind a tire store and shot him in cold blood while mugging him. But it doesn`t stop there. 17 hours after that shooting he got shot himself. The cops actually found the suspect in the hospital and were able to match his clothes with those he was wearing in the surveillance video.
Out to the "Lion`s Den". You know, the back story here Mo Ivory is - - and I`m not making excuses. But I think our society has to do something to understand and intervene and prevent. He committed this first offense when he was nine. His mother died when he was one. He was raised by a relative -- a male relative. He was expelled in eighth grade. And then you hear about the crime spree that resulted in 29 serious crimes between age 10 and age 16.
Now why on earth in our culture do we not have a way to intervene so that we could have prevented this terrible tragedy? Because this was a tragedy waiting to happen -- this young boy going through life unsupervised.
MO IVORY, ATTORNEY: Jane -- I mean this is a tale that started a long time ago, as you said. It is just so sad how many times he has been failed throughout his whole life that just led him to a life of failing and being a disgrace in society. That is what happens when you become a forgotten kid you end up doing things that are unforgivable.
And that`s exactly happened here. He had no male supervision in his life, no role model and obviously not a lot of value did he put on his own life or other people`s lives. And it`s just very sad.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break we`re going to talk more about this now infamous smile and laugh. Is our culture teaching the wrong thing to young men? Is it teaching that violence is an accomplishment? And that that is something to be proud of? I mean there is something very, very wrong going on here. We are going to dive into it on the other side.
Stay right there.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We spoke with Trapuzzano`s father-in-law. His daughter, Jennifer, is trying to recover. She is staying with family and focusing on her studies as a physician`s assistant and ignoring Simeon Adams` latest controversy.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you`ve seen, to tally up the investigation, we have charges against this young man and hopefully we will get more information to make sure that he goes to jail for a very long time.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Take another look at the 16-year-old suspect laughing and smiling as he`s hauled into court to face the prospect of spending his life behind bars. Is our culture so twisted that essentially we glorify violence so much that a 16-year-old has confused fame with a terrible act of violence and confused that with an accomplishment, Dr. Judy Ho?
DR. JUDY HO, PSYCHOLOGIST: Jane, absolutely I think that there is something going on with our culture that is moving more towards going for the quick fix. And when you try to solve a problem you can either talk about it, take your time to do the problem solving skills or you can maybe just, you know, put a gun to somebody`s head and tell them to do what you want.
So it does reward a culture of violence in that we are also using video games now that are so realistic. They are first person shooter games. And people get really involved and then that blurs the reality with the fantasy. And so when they feel empowered in their video games they feel like how to get that empowerment in real lives to do something similar.
IVORY: Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Kimberly Priest Johnson, I know you are a criminal defense attorney. I believe you were a former prosecutor. We have more people behind bars than any other country in the world -- the size of some small country. We are not solving this problem. I mean, there is one thing about finding justice and locking people up. But when a 16-year-old has 29 crimes that began at age 10 we have a missing link in our criminal justice system or a prevention of crimes system. That is what we need. We need early intervention. This child -- if you could have predicted that something like this, something bad was going to happen -- he committed his first crime at age nine.
KIMBERLY PRIEST JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Clearly the juvenile justice system I think needs to change to keep up with the times. Our society has changed. We are desensitized to violence because of the TV shows we watch, the movies we watch and the video games we play. Violence is so much a part of our culture that all of us have become desensitized to it. But it affects the young people more than it does us. So the young people see who already feels six feet tall and bullet proof they`re in these video games playing them that they take it to the streets.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen -- look, we don`t know if any of the suspects grew up playing violent video games but Grand Theft Auto specifically has been very controversial because of its glorified violence. Look.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Eric Duster -- I mean some of those images are right out of the surveillance footage. You can`t even tell the difference between the surveillance footage and these video games.
ERIC DUSTER, ATTORNEY: And you can`t. And that is one of the problems that we see. These children are playing these games, they`re first-shooter games, which means you are actually getting the view of the person who is doing the shooting or doing the robbery and it`s very, very consistent with what we are seeing with our society.
And my question in reference to this case is what did the juvenile system do with those other 28 arrests?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.
DUSTER: The juvenile system is designed to rehabilitate.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.
DUSTER: And obviously they did not do it. Why is he even out?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There were opportunities to intervene a long time ago.
And we have to leave it right there. But we have to keep looking at this. We are not going away on this subject.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, little Rico, we have some big news to share with everyone at home, don`t we? I am thrilled to announce a victory for animals tonight. Warn you, this is graphic, but it`s important for all of us to bear witness, so we can change things.
Prosecutors have now charged four people with 11 counts of intentionally mistreating animals. Mercy for Animals exposed the horrific abuse happening allegedly, at a Wisconsin farm that supplied dairy products that were used in DiGiorno Pizza on one of their undercover investigations.
We brought you this story here, first.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Horrifying abuse on one dairy farm exposed. Punched and kicked and stabbed and allegedly dragged and it was all caught on tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things need to change. We need stronger laws and corporations need to take accountability.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: You can see the horrific abuse of cows at this facility -- claims of beating, kicking, punching cows, hanging innocent, helpless animals upside down on farm equipment and allegedly leaving them there for extended periods. We`ve reached out to the four farm workers charged, but we haven`t heard back. You can see some of the unimaginable alleged abuse outlined in the criminal charges. Look at that. Look at that.
Ok? If convicted, these workers face up to two to three years behind bars and hefty fines. Bravo, finally someone held accountable for these deplorable, sadistic activities. DiGiorno Pizza has since cut ties with this supplier, following the release of this footage. And Nestle, the company that owns DiGiorno says they`ve added strenuous in the wake of this horrific video being released to the world. Yes, we`re seeing what happens behind those doors.
Straight out to Nathan Runkle, executive director for Mercy for Animals -- Nathan, I`m holding the criminal complaint in my hand. Are these charges a sign of progress?
NATHAN RUNKLE, MERCY FOR ANIMALS: Absolutely. And we praise law enforcement for taking swift and decisive action in bringing these animal abusers to justice. But this case just once again illustrates that we need stronger laws to protect these animals from abuse. Currently, there`s no federal protection for animals during their lives on factory farms, which is why this type of cruelty runs rampant in factory farms nationwide. These charges should be a wake-up call that we as a country need to do more to protect farmed animals from cruelty.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean this is outrageous. Look at this. Now, the undercover footage you`re seeing was taken at Wiese Brothers Farm in Wisconsin. After the video was released, the farm had this to say. "We are shocked and saddened to see a few of our employees not following our policies for proper animal care."
But Nathan, critics wonder, how could anyone miss a cow being dragged and hoisted up with heavy farm equipment and dangling upside down in broad daylight?
RUNKLE: Absolutely, there was a culture of cruelty that was allowed to flourish at this factory farm. Management was well aware of the abuse taking place. So the question really is why is this abuse allowed to continue unchecked? Really, the only meaningful watchdogs in this facility was our Mercy for Animals undercover investigator, who immediately went to law enforcement and has now had these animal abusers criminally charged with animal cruelty. The dairy industry must do more to protect these innocent animals.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. And anybody from this farm wants to come on, we`d be happy to interview them. We have a lot of questions to ask them.
You know, this is a consumer issue. If you, Americans, don`t like what you`re seeing, then you can do something about it. This is the law of supply and demand. How you react to video like this will ultimately determine whether the industry, instead of passing, for example, Ag Gag laws in states look Idaho in reaction to another investigation in that state, change these procedures.
Critics say what`s needed is an absolute overhaul of the entire factory farm system, where 9 billion farm animals are raised and die every year in America.
Nancy next.
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