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Nancy Grace
Vermont 2-Year-Old Murdered by Stepdad
Aired February 26, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Vermont. Citizens take child protective offices by storm after they send a 2-year-old little girl back to Mommy after Mommy`s already broken little Dezirae`s leg at least once -- at least once. Tonight, 2-year-old Dezirae dead. Relatives begged CPS, Don`t send the baby back home. We`ll never see her alive again.
Bombshell tonight. We call for criminal charges on child so-called protective services. According to police, Dezirae dead at the hands of Mommy`s live-in lover, Mommy lunging for her lover in court, but in my book, Mommy, you`re just as guilty. You both got a one-way trip to hell with a little pit stop behind bars!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`d you do to my baby? (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-year-old Dezirae Sheldon was allegedly murdered by her stepfather, 31-year-old Dennis Duby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, She`s going to kill her. She`s going to die. We`re never going to see her again, I know it! But nobody listened!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to San Diego suburbs, a 10-year-old little boy, straight-A student, Mommy finally lets him get a friend for his pet. But just hours after, he comes down with the flu, spending the day at the doctor, then put to bed at home by Grandma. Tonight, the boy dead. At this hour, the family distraught. Their 10-year-old boy dies of rat bite fever from the pet they buy him at Petco!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A San Diego boy with flu-like symptoms dies, but it wasn`t the flu that killed 10-year-old Aiden Panke (ph), it was rat bite fever. Now Aiden`s family is suing Petco, the store where his grandmother purchased the rodent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Orlando. After 17-year-old Trayvon Martin gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman walks free. Then alleged altercations with his wife and claims he pulls a shotgun on his girlfriend. I hope you`re sitting down. In the last hours, reports George Zimmerman`s sex video and photos of bruises on his girlfriend emerge. Will it never end with this guy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an anger control problem?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, FOUND NOT GUILTY OF MURDER: No. I think that was evident through the trial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) breaking stuff in my house!
911 OPERATOR: Ma`am? Ma`am, what`s going on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s in my house, breaking all my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because I asked him to leave. He has his frickin` gun, breaking all of my stuff right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Michigan suburbs, a 10-year-old autistic boy`s head stuck in the crack of his school seat. But tonight, teacher and principal busted, taunting the little boy, threatening him he`d be tasered, making fun of him, leaving him stuck there, unable to get free. Tonight, that principal and that teacher -- they all should be fired, and that boy`s mother should own their house, their car, their bank account. It`s all caught on tape, and we have the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you shimmy your way out? How did you get your way -- how did you get in that situation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loves the children. She is a very good teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to get tasered?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s definitely (ph) an emergency in their book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. To Vermont, citizens take child protective services office by storm after CPS sends a 2-year-old little girl back to Mommy after Mommy`s already broken her leg at least once. I`ve got evidence of another broken leg. Tonight, 2-year-old Dezirae is dead. Relatives begged CPS, Don`t send her back home. Don`t send her to her mother. We`ll never see her alive again.
Bombshell tonight. We call for criminal charges on the child so- called protective services. According to police, the baby dead at the hands of Mommy`s live-in lover, Mommy even lunging at him in court. But you know what, Mommy? Just drop it. You`re just as guilty, and both of you just bought a one-way trip to hell with a little pit stop behind bars!
We are taking your calls. I want to go straight out to Brent Curtis. Brent is a police reporter with "The Rutland Herald." Brent, when I found this story, I kept digging and digging and digging. I got ahold of relatives that broke down crying, saying to me, We begged child protective services not to put the child back in the home.
I mean, come on! She`s had two broken legs that we know of, and the mother would allegedly -- they make me say that -- allegedly put makeup all over the child so nobody would see all of her bruises, Brent?
BRENT CURTIS, "RUTLAND HERALD" (via telephone): Well, you sort of hit on the crux of this case. A lot of people -- it`s a horrible case in every way, shape and form. But the fact that the child was in a safe environment, out of that household, up until just a couple of months before this took place has really touched a nerve with people throughout the state.
GRACE: You are taking -- you are seeing a shot of Dezirae, not even 2 years old. Look at her. She`s dead. She is dead at the hands of Mommy`s live-in lover. But the reality is, Brent Curtis, Mommy is just as guilty. Isn`t it true that Mommy lost her -- the reason she was taken out of the home to start with is because Mommy broke her leg?
CURTIS: That is true. And she pleaded guilty in July to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to a child. That charge was a result of just that. She -- she -- Dezirae was brought to the hospital on Valentine`s Day last year and was treated for two fractures.
GRACE: OK, wait. Wa-wait! Wa-wait! I`m showing a photo, Brent, of her as a baby. She`s only about 18 months old when this happened, just short of her 2-year birthday. Look at this. What in the hay is wrong with CPS? This baby is dead! Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, She`s going to kill her. She`s going to die! I said, We`re never going to see her again, I know it! I know it in my heart this is going to happen. But nobody listened!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`m just sick. Joining me right now is Lisa Eastman, the maternal aunt of Dezirae. Ms. Eastman, thank you for being with us.
LISA EASTMAN, AUNT (via telephone): Thank you for having me.
GRACE: I just -- I saw video of people just outside CPS`s office, angry, protesting that this child was sent back in the home. Lisa, what happened?
EASTMAN: (INAUDIBLE) well, last year, I started a petition after my niece`s legs were broken, and we got, like, 100-something signatures. And I wrote to every news station I could possibly get to and begged them, you know, to write a story, to -- you know, to get that out there so that she wouldn`t end up back there. Nobody listened. We called CPS and begged them. In my petition, I even said I feared for my niece`s life, and no one listened to me. And now a year later...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... we contacted them, too -- Lisa, we contacted them, too, and guess what they told us? That they couldn`t comment because of privacy reasons. Privacy? She`s dead! Whose privacy are we talking about?
With me is Dezirae`s aunt, Lisa Eastman. Lisa, how did the child get both of her legs broken?
EASTMAN: Sandy told numerous stories. Nobody ever found out the truth about that.
GRACE: And what about this guy, Dennis Duby, living in the home?
EASTMAN: She actually -- she married him, I guess and -- I really don`t know.
GRACE: Well, this is what I know. According to police, he killed the child after CPS puts her back in the home over yours and many others` requests to keep her away from the home. Aren`t two legs enough, two broken legs enough for a child to be kept safe?
We are taking your calls. To Stephanie in Vermont. Hi, Stephanie. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I was just wondering, why is the mother not arrested?
GRACE: You know, unleash the lawyers. With me, Sue Moss, family law attorney, victims` rights lawyer, Matthew Mazzariello, defense attorney, New York. Also with me, Rene Sandler, defense attorney out of D.C.
First of all, to you, Sue Moss.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: He squeezed her head until it cracked? My God, this is whacked! We judge a society by how we protect its most vulnerable citizens. And Nancy, we failed! She`s not in jail now, but she will be shortly. I am sure he`s going to try to cut some deal so that he doesn`t spend the rest of his life, as he should, in jail!
And the first thing he`s going to do is he`s going to speak about how the mom was just as vulnerable (ph) as him and that the mom was just as violent as him. So she is going to be in jail, I can just about guarantee it!
GRACE: I frankly think they should both be charged with murder. And I also think that this CPS office should have criminal charges on them. Come on, two broken legs?
All right, to you, Michael Mazzariello, what`s your defense?
MICHAEL MAZZARIELLO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, hello, first of all. CPS does a job. They investigate, they create a file, they go out and they do the best they can. How many more children (ph), Nancy, have I been on your show since 1996?
GRACE: This isn`t about you, Michael.
MAZZARIELLO: We need -- but we need...
GRACE: I`m talking about this child...
MAZZARIELLO: You know what, Nancy?
GRACE: ... and how she had two broken legs...
MAZZARIELLO: They need to spend more money...
GRACE: ... and they put her back in the home!
MAZZARIELLO: They need to give CPS the opportunity...
GRACE: No, I`m talking to you about...
(CROSSTALK)
MAZZARIELLO: Nancy, you asked me a question! I`m trying to answer the question!
GRACE: You`re totally evading the question!
MAZZARIELLO: I`m answering the question. CPS...
GRACE: No, you`re not!
MAZZARIELLO: ... did their job. They interviewed...
GRACE: No, they didn`t!
MAZZARIELLO: They determined that...
GRACE: No, they didn`t!
MAZZARIELLO: They determined...
GRACE: No they did not!
MAZZARIELLO: You put up...
GRACE: That child had two broken legs and they sent her back in the home! The maternal aunt even makes a petition, Please don`t send the child back in the home. Now the child is dead. You have two boys. You have two beautiful boys.
MAZZARIELLO: That`s right, I do.
GRACE: And what would you do to protect them? They did not protect this child!
MAZZARIELLO: Nancy, CPS -- they`re overworked. It`s not an excuse, they`re overworked. They don`t have a lot of money. State and federal...
GRACE: Put him up!
MAZZARIELLO: State and federal...
GRACE: Put him up!
MAZZARIELLO: Oh, boy, Nancy...
GRACE: Didn`t you use to work...
MAZZARIELLO: ... come on!
GRACE: ... for -- weren`t you in public service for a while?
MAZZARIELLO: Yes, Nancy, and here in New York...
GRACE: All right, let me...
MAZZARIELLO: ... we have a lot of these cases.
GRACE: ... ask you, did you ignore...
MAZZARIELLO: A lot of these cases!
GRACE: ... cases because you were overworked? I didn`t.
MAZZARIELLO: Nancy...
GRACE: I worked until midnight.
MAZZARIELLO: ... they don`t have enough...
GRACE: I didn`t ignore my cases!
MAZZARIELLO: They don`t have enough funding from the state and federal government...
GRACE: Answer...
MAZZARIELLO: ... to do an adequate job, Nancy!
GRACE: ... the question!
MAZZARIELLO: Say it the way it is!
GRACE: Did you -- did you ignore your cases because you had an overload? Did you?
MAZZARIELLO: No, but I had to prioritize and triage them.
GRACE: Nothing...
MAZZARIELLO: You triaged them...
GRACE: ... further!
MAZZARIELLO: ... like I did.
GRACE: Well, you know what?
MAZZARIELLO: Priorities.
GRACE: You may not call a little girl a priority...
MAZZARIELLO: Oh, Nancy, that`s a horror.
GRACE: ... but I do.
MAZZARIELLO: It`s terrible, what...
GRACE: OK, Rene Sandler, let`s see if you can do any better than Mazzariello.
RENE SANDLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look...
GRACE: What`s your defense?
SANDLER: ... CPS does a safety check. There obviously wasn`t another available family member to take this child. They do an investigation, and they made a determination...
GRACE: I couldn`t hear what you said. There`s not another available what?
SANDLER: CPS does an investigation, and they look to other family members if they don`t believe the child is safe in the home.
GRACE: Please put her up!
SANDLER: In this case, clearly...
GRACE: Have you ever heard of the foster care program?
SANDLER: And that wasn`t available here, apparently, for CPS.
GRACE: Apparently? Why are you even saying that? Let`s go to the aunt. Lisa Eastman, maternal aunt -- now, remember, maternal aunt -- this is the mother`s sister speaking out against the mother. Lisa Eastman, did anybody ask every family member there is to take the child?
EASTMAN: Dezirae was actually placed with her paternal aunt for seven months. So don`t sit there and say nobody was there to take my niece, OK? You don`t know nothing!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The signs were there. This little one could have been alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This man is just as guilty as the man accused of squeezing the toddler`s head until it cracked. She was convicted of breaking the baby`s leg and waiting at least a week to seek medical care. A full body scan revealed older injuries, too. She was placed on probation. Two-and-a-half months later, she got her daughter back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s just as guilty as he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Citizens take CPS, child protective service`s, office by storm after this little girl turns up dead. And why are they angry? Because she had both legs broken on separate occasions, at least once by Mommy. Mommy`s already lost custody of one child.
Clark Goldband, what can you tell me? And let me just report Mommy is not charged in the murder. She says she was at the laundromat at the time her live-in murdered her 2-year-old child.
What do we know about Mommy, Clark?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, I can confirm she was, in fact, at the laundromat and food shopping, according to authorities. And how were they able to confirm that? They have surveillance video.
But here`s what we know about Mom, Nancy. It was about just a year ago when this child was allegedly taken away from the mom after authorities say her leg was broken. Now, what`s important to know here, Nancy, is authorities said at the hospital when they examined her, according to reports, that this was not just an injury that would occur in a common toddler fall, but there appeared to be some significant pressure that occurred.
GRACE: Take a look at Dezirae. Her life is over, and tonight we are calling for criminal charges on child protective services.
We are taking your calls. To Caryn Stark, psychologist. Caryn, when the family is begging CPS -- let`s show the video of the protest outside the CPS services there in Vermont.
When you`ve got hundreds of people outside your door demanding justice -- I mean, what will it take, Caryn Stark? The child was covered in bruises, the bruises so bad the mom would tell her family she put makeup so nobody would know the child was beaten, OK, according to reports. And one broken leg, another broken leg. We still don`t know how Mommy broke her leg. All I know is she`s not charged in this murder. That`s what I know.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Which I am so curious, Nancy, to see what happens with this mother because, I mean, just leaving her with this man who obviously had no sense of responsibility, squeezed her head -- I mean, what an image. I was sitting here and having the chills. This is so irresponsible, and someone needs to do something about the system. A child with someone who has no maternal instincts should be taken away.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Chris in Colorado. Hi, Chris. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, what is it going to take for us to protect our kids?
GRACE: You know, Chris in Colorado, I don`t know, because there`s a protest. The offices were stormed at child protective services. And you got a child with a broken leg, then another broken leg, Mommy covering bruises with makeup. I guess nothing. I guess nothing. You know, I pay half my taxes to the government, and we still can`t get child protective services to do their job?
I mean, back to Lisa Eastman, joining us tonight, the maternal aunt of little Dezirae. What does he claim set him off to kill this child? Or is he claiming the child did it herself?
EASTMAN: (INAUDIBLE) he`s making (INAUDIBLE) He`s changed his story multiple times (INAUDIBLE) we were in court. We`ve counted at least eight different stories he`s told.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sandra, the girl`s mother, has a rock past of child abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I looked at Dezirae, and her whole face was bruised.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This family, dealing with tragic loss, says it could have been prevented.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?
PROTESTERS: Justice!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want it?
PROTESTERS: Now!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Liz, I want you to pull up the rest of that sound where the aunt says she comes in and little Dezirae`s face is just, like, swollen and bruised, black and blue. And she says, What happened? Listen to this. See if it makes you as sick as it makes me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the door. And I looked at Dezirae, and her whole face was bruised. And I looked at Sandy, I said, What happened? And she said, Dennis dropped her into the pack and play. And I said, That`s not from a pack and play fall. Her whole face is bruised. She covered for him this whole time. She`s just as guilty as he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, to even hear that, it just has me so upset to think what this child went through at the hands of this mother and stepfather, her live-in.
Clark, what do we know about the autopsy? I almost can`t stand to hear it, but I have to hear it. I have to know so we can deal with what happened. What do we know, Clark?
GOLDBAND: Nancy, we`re talking about a contusion under the scalp, skull fractures on both sides of the head. And why that`s significant is take a look at what one of the findings was here at autopsy. Doctors suggest someone squeezed the head so tight that it was basically crushed on each side.
Of course, Nancy, the story is changing, according to authorities, from this stepdad. He first says she fell from the bedroom. He then later says she fell from the toilet. Authorities pressed him and pressed him, and according to police, as they pressed this stepdad, the story just kept on changing.
GRACE: To Lisa Eastman, joining us tonight, the maternal aunt of little Dezirae. Lisa, was the mother ever prosecuted? Did she ever do jail time for breaking the baby`s leg the first time?
EASTMAN: No, she got two years` probation, and she was already on lifetime probation.
GRACE: Lifetime probation for what?
EASTMAN: She had sex with a 15-year-old when she was 24.
GRACE: Oh, yes, that`s right. I forgot about that. She`s under lifetime probation on that. So she got no jail time whatsoever for breaking this baby`s legs.
Everyone, I want you to just try to get your head around this. For those of you out there who have children, like me -- I remember when they were this age, 18 months, 2 years. Can you imagine breaking their leg not once, but twice, thinking to put makeup on their little arms and legs and face so the bruises don`t show? And then the child is dead.
For all of you that hear us tonight, please join us in demanding action on CPS in Vermont. Join the governor there. Governor Shumlin has asked human services to order an investigation to see if CPS is doing its job. Well, I can tell you right now, Governor, they`re not!
When we come back, a 10-year-old little boy gets a friend for his pet, but then comes down with the flu, the boy dead just hours later of rat bite fever from the pet the family buys him at Petco.
Then later, caught on tape, a little autistic boy`s head stuck in the crack of his wooden school seat, teacher and principal busted, taunting the child, threatening the child he would be tasered?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to get tasered? If you wouldn`t put your head in there to begin with, you wouldn`t be in this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And now to San Diego suburbs, a 10-year-old little boy, straight A student, mommy finally lets him get a friend for his little pet. Just hours later, he comes down with the flu, spends the day at the doctor, and then put to bed at home by grandma. Tonight, the boy dead. At this hour, the family distraught. Their 10-year-old little boy dead of rat bite fever contracted from the pet they buy him at Petco.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-year-old Aiden Panky (ph) dies from an infectious disease, but it wasn`t the flu, as originally thought. Instead, according to the child`s family, the boy was killed by rat bite fever, an infection Aiden caught from a rat the boy`s grandma bought him as a gift. Now they`re suing Petco, where the rodent was purchased. But is the store liable for the boy`s death?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: He buys a pet at Petco, comes down with a fever, then dies of streptobacculosis? Rat bite fever. I don`t understand it. I had to take John David because his tooth was hurting the other day to the dentist. I had to fill out forms for him, I filled it out for him, forms and forms and forms and forms. I even had to say whether John David, my son, who is six years old, has had a hysterectomy. Why don`t they ask, do you have pets in the home? To Cliff Albert, investigative reporter, joining me out of San Diego. Cliff, I`m sick. I can`t tell you how many times we go to Petco, we look at the fish, we buy fish food, we look at the birds, we pet the animals. They buy a little pet as a mate to the boy`s pet rat he`s got that he loves, and he`s dead? I don`t understand it, Cliff.
CLIFF ALBERT: Yes, and a lot of people don`t here in the San Diego area, and your word sick, a lot of people, when they have been hearing about this initially, sick, saddened. It`s just a tragic thing that most people say should not have happened. So the family has filed suit against the Petco company, claiming negligence and liability, asking for an unspecified amount of money for punitive and compensatory damages because they claim the grandmother should have -- the store should have known that where they got the rat, a rat farm, basically, they should have --
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. A rat farm. I don`t like the sound of that, Cliff Albert. A rat farm? A rat farm? Of course there is going to be illnesses. A rat farm? Jessica Sizemore is the lawyer for little Aiden`s family. I`m just trying to take this in. I can`t tell you how many times I`ve taken my children to Petco and we look at the animals, we talk about what kind of pet we`re going to get, and on and on and on. The boy goes to the doctor, Jessica. They take him rightly to the doctor with a flu, thinking he`s got the flu. I don`t understand why the doctors didn`t find it.
JESSICA SIZEMORE, ATTORNEY: You know, I think that the issue is that the symptoms that Aidan came down with were very similar to flu-like symptoms. So the doctor dismissed it as being flu during flu season. He`s got fever, nausea and vomiting. They sent him home thinking it`s the flu, and it was just such a sudden onset. He goes to bed that night. In the middle of the night begins to experience stomach pains. Sharon, his grandmother, wakes up and hears him experiencing these stomach pains and attempts to get him out of bed. He collapses and becomes unresponsive, and unfortunately, never responds again.
GRACE: I can hardly take even hearing about it, because I know every parent out there hearing about it imagines that happening to their own child. To Dr. Michelle Dupre, medical examiner, forensic pathologist joining me out of Columbia. The correct scientific term is streptobacculosis. I don`t understand this, Doctor. We have to fill out so many ridiculous forms, for the twins, they are 6, do you smoke? Why don`t they ask, as pro forma, SOP, standard operating procedure, is there a pet or pets in the home and what type? Doctor?
DUPRE: That`s a very good question. Oftentimes, they only ask those questions if the children have allergies. But certainly there are many other diseases, typhoid fever, and such, that pets or being out in area that is (inaudible) to that, would certainly be worth knowing.
GRACE: But who would think, Dr. Dupre, that you bring home a little pet mouse -- I would call that a mouse, not a rat. I wouldn`t say rat. That you`re going to die. I don`t understand that. I never heard of this, Dr. Dupre.
DUPRE: Normally, Nancy, you would think especially a pet from a pet store would have been screened or been treated. But in some cases they do slip through the cracks if the disease is in a non-contagious state initially and then develops later. It may not show signs or symptoms of it.
GRACE: Back to Michael Christian. Michael, what can you tell me?
CHRISTIAN: Nancy, we just saw a full screen interview (ph) that there is a test. You can test rats. I know you don`t want to say rat, but you can test these rodents for this particular disease.
GRACE: Rodent is not that much better. When you think about a pet running around your home, the word rat and rodent really don`t come to mind. You`re saying the test is $40 and the rat is $11?
CHRISTIAN: -- sells for $6 to $11.
GRACE: Okay. Back to Dr. Michelle Dupre, and also with me Jessica Sizemore, the lawyer for little Aidan`s family. Dr. Dupre, how does a rat go about getting the fever? How does that happen? And then I didn`t know they could transmit that to humans.
DUPRE: Yes, absolutely. If a rat is infected, they transmit it through a bite, as happened in this case. But it`s not that uncommon, actually, to transmit through bites. But it is a very rare disease in and of itself.
GRACE: You know what, it may be rare, Jessica Sizemore, but what this family is going through, I mean, we go around and around and around about what kind of a pet to get for the twins -- they`ve already got a fish. I was actually thinking of a gerbil or a hamster. You know what? Forget it. God bless the family. I just hate what they`ve been through. They did everything right.
When we come back, reports George Zimmerman`s sex video and photos of bruises on his girlfriend emerge.
And later, caught on tape, a 10-year-old autistic boy`s head stuck in the crack of his wooden school seat. Teacher and principal, you`re busted! Taunting the child, threatening the little boy, autistic, that he would be tasered?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to get tasered? How did you get in that situation?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: In the last hours, reports that George Zimmerman`s sex video and photos of bruises on his girlfriend emerge. Will it never end with this guy?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m doing this again? You just broke my glass table. You just broke my sunglasses and you put your gun in my frigging face and told me to get (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out. This is not your house. No, get out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your name? Where is this weapon at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just put it down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The officers are (inaudible)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they`re banging on the door and the window.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, word of George Zimmerman`s sex video -- you know, just I`ll let you hold that mental image, and bruises on his girlfriend emerge? Dylan Howard, editor in chief, RadarOnline.com. Dylan, thanks for being with us. There`s the bruise. What do we know about the bruise on the girlfriend, Dylan?
DYLAN HOWARD, RADARONLINE.COM: Well, Nancy, as we know, we saw during the trial of Trayvon Martin`s death what the world believes that George Zimmerman was capable of doing. Now, these disturbing pictures have emerged, and they show a depiction of red marks on his girlfriend, Samantha Shavey`s (ph) neck. This is police evidence. This was submitted as part of a police probe into the domestic violence altercation involving Zimmerman last November.
GRACE: It`s interesting, Dylan, that she doesn`t want to go forward with that photographic evidence. Also, a sex video? Larry Elder with me, KABC talk show host. Mo Ivory, attorney, radio personality, Atlanta. Also with us, Michael Mazzariello, Rainey Sandler. All right, Larry Elder, you`ve gone on and on about how he is a private citizen, and he shouldn`t be heckled. And he`s got a right to bear arms, although there is a full arsenal and 100 rounds of ammo. Should George Zimmerman and sex video really be in the same sentence, Larry? I want to hear your defense of this and the bruises on the girlfriend.
ELDER: You know, Nancy, if I could throw people behind bars just because I don`t like them, the jails would be overflowing. A lot of people don`t like George Zimmerman.
GRACE: Did you see that bruise?
ELDER: That does not have grounds to arrest him. You`ve got to have grounds. The reason he`s a free man right now is because the jury did not believe the prosecution could sustain (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Right now I`m talking about the bruises on the girl, the girlfriend, and I`m talking about, very quickly, Justice Freiman -- Justin Freiman, isn`t it true that this whole sex video allegation came up when the girlfriend`s daughter gets a text on her cell phone, and it`s not pornographic, but it says, ask mommy about this picture. And it is an image, a benign image taken from a sex tape Zimmerman allegedly makes with the girlfriend he then pulls a shotgun on. In other words, here, let your mommy see that I`ve got that video. Isn`t that where this allegation came from, Justin?
FREIMAN: You`re correct, Nancy. You`re 100 percent right. It was a picture of her lying on her bed that he forwarded to her daughter`s cell phone with the caption, ask mommy what this is?
GRACE: You proud of your man, Larry Elder, the guy you keep defending? Where is Elder? I have got to see the look on his face. Zimmerman allegedly sending this -- it`s not funny. What if somebody sent an image like that to my child? Are you kidding me? Elder!
ELDER: The photograph, as I understand it, the video was taken by the girlfriend. George Zimmerman saw it and had the video forwarded to himself. He then sent the still photograph to the little girl, and you`re right, it is gross. However, the authorities investigated. They said the photograph was not pornographic. They filed no charges.
GRACE: You know what it sounds like to me, Mo Ivory? After this text -- where is Mo? After this text is sent, suddenly the girlfriend doesn`t press charges. Why? Do you think maybe because he would show her little girl the sex video of mommy? Is that just a possibility? I`m not saying it happened that way. She --
(CROSSTALK)
ELDER: The girlfriend took the video, Nancy.
GRACE: Is your name Mo Ivory? No it is not. Her name is Mo Ivory.
IVORY: Listen, if a regular person walking down the street is scared out of their mind of George Zimmerman, what do you think his girlfriend and the girlfriend`s daughter would be? First of all, he should be locked up--
ELDER: She dated him! She was seeing him!
IVORY: There`s a lot of reasons to lock him up. Second of all, the only reason he`s not locked up is because she was so afraid, she dropped the charges for her own safety. And thirdly, he`s a pervert. Who crops a picture and sends it to a young girl and says, look at your mommy. He is always stirring up trouble everywhere he goes, and he`s disgusting.
GRACE: He stirs up trouble but he never gets in trouble. Dylan Howard, where is this picture surfacing? We heard about it way back when, but I couldn`t double confirm it then. Now we have. Tell us where the picture of the sex video came from.
HOWARD: This, indeed, was taken inside the Zimmerman and Shavey (ph) home in Florida. This is part of the police evidence file against George Zimmerman, ultimately a file that made them decide they were going to charge him with felony aggravated assault in connection with the original domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend, which she later backed out on and police never proceeded with these charges.
GRACE: I want to see Elder again, the KABC talk show host. Elder, we`re not talking about the gun, we`re not talking about Trayvon Martin. We`re not talking about his ridiculous charity, fighting duels with Drake or whoever. I`m talking about someone that would send a little girl, 10 years old, a picture of her mom in what is purported to be a sex video they took together. I mean, think about it, Larry.
ELDER: The reason people hate domestic violence calls is precisely because of what happened right here. You have a girlfriend who later recanted. It`s very difficult, a he said/she said. You have to have physical evidence. You have no foundation for that photograph. You don`t know who took it, when it was taken, you don`t know whether it was doctored.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You`re actually scaring me.
(CROSSTALK)
IVORY: Larry, I hope George Zimmerman never shows up in your front yard. That`s what I hope.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Why don`t you do a sex video with him, Larry?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: He`ll probably send it to your children. Did you get that, Larry, don`t do a sex video with George Zimmerman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of girl would date this guy?
ELDER: One more time, Nancy. The girlfriend is the one who took this sex video. You asked me why she took it. The girlfriend is the one who took the video. You just mentioned that.
GRACE: I would go into this, but I`m not sure of all the facts. But where did he get that video? Was it on her e-mail?
When we come back, a 10-year-old autistic boy`s head stuck in his school seat. But tonight, teacher and principal busted, making fun of the child, taunting the autistic boy, threatening him he would be tasered. You know what? They leave the boy`s head stuck there. You are so busted, it is all caught on tape, and we have the video.
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GRACE: I am stunned. This autistic boy has his head stuck. Instead of helping him, principal and teachers make fun of him, even threatening to taser him. First of all, joining me right now is the mother of the 10- year-old little boy. She`s going by Ann. Ann, your child is autistic, how did he respond to this? I would be scared silly if someone threatened to taser me and I was stuck like that.
ANN: He was terrified. Kids with Asperger`s feel very intense feelings that are extremely true to him. And on the full video, you can hear him say that he doesn`t want to die. He thought he was going to die.
GRACE: Ann, when you confronted the principal and the teacher that mocked him and made fun of him instead of helping him, what did they say?
ANN: I haven`t even talked to them at all since this happened. The superintendent actually contacted me and brought me in and showed me the video and apologized and told me that he stood behind my son 100 percent. And it`s just -- it`s all so incredibly confusing, the whole situation. It doesn`t make sense.
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GRACE: Incredible. The principal has resigned, the teacher fighting for her job. With me is Patrick Greenfelder, who is the lawyer for the family, and Ann, the mom of the 10-year-old boy. I`m just so distraught, Patrick. You guys, frankly -- and I`m a criminal lawyer, not civil, -- you should own this teacher`s and this principal`s house, their car, their bank account. You name it. This is awful, Patrick.
PATRICK GREENFELDER, ATTORNEY: Yes, well, no decision has been made about this, frankly. And the parents didn`t want this to come out, period. The only reason that the video came out now or they authorized me to release it is because of the blowback from the community to the school board about the firing of this teacher. And I thought frankly the video spoke for itself.
GRACE: Noam Laden, of ABC, people are angry because the principal resigned and the teacher`s in trouble? Are you kidding me? They should be angry because they teacher threatens to taser the little boy.
LADEN: This is what the parents are saying. They are saying that this teacher, that she called this tickling thing she would do to kids called tasering, when she wanted to get their attention, she would poke them. So when she used that phrase in the video, I`m going to taser you, she was just trying to lighten up--
GRACE: Really? Because I`ve never heard of that before. That`s a unique interpretation. All I can say to Patrick Greenfelder, and Ann, a lot of moms and dads are watching this case right now. It makes me afraid for so many people that leave their children at school every day trusting the teachers and the principals.
Let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Sergeant Jeremiah Wittman. 26, Darby, Montana. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, loved riding dirt bikes. Parents Robert and Cynthia, sisters Charity and Janelle, widow Karen. Two daughters. Jeremiah Wittman, American hero.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
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