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Nancy Grace
Mom Poisons Child With Hand Sanitizer; Boyfriend Kills Ex- Girlfriend; Mom Caught on Tape Nodding Off Inside Bus while Holding Baby; Grim Sleeper Identified
Aired March 13, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: And we begin with breaking news tonight out of Louisiana. A baby boy with Down syndrome, just 17 months old, is poisoned to death with what police are saying was hand sanitizer. His feeding tube is injected with GermX (ph), and now police confirm it is not the first time someone tries to poisoned baby Lucas, as his mother allegedly confesses it is a mercy killing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now his mother. Deputies say she confessed to injecting hand sanitizer in his feeding tube.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve always just assumed she was good mom and everything.
ERIKA WIGSTROM, 17-MONTH-OLD`S MOTHER: I have no more tears to shed because my kid was so cool, God wanted him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: The mystery surrounding a missing mother of three, who was found bludgeoned to death in the yard, the front yard of her Florida home. The murder weapon, a cinderblock. Tonight, police and blood evidence leads police to an arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff`s investigators say 32-year-old Michael Fields (ph) killed Christina Mazumani (ph), smashing her head with a brick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found a cinderblock behind his house with -- covered in blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why someone would do something like that to a young woman like that, a mother with three kids...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: After this video goes viral, a 26-year-old mother is under investigation. Her little girl tries to keep the mother`s head up as she appears to go in and out of consciousness on a public bus. Tonight, the little girl reportedly removed from the home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Momma, let`s go!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, that`s not just napping. The 26-year-old mother was, quote, "doing the heroin nod" on a Philadelphia bus while her little daughter tries to...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) lift this nodding addicted woman or whatever`s happening here, just waken her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seemingly a role reversal!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And tonight, the alleged serial killer known as the "grim sleeper" terrorizing the Los Angeles area for years. At least 16 females are shot, strangled, sexually assaulted, then dumped on the streets like trash. Tonight, we go inside the "grim sleeper" murder investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A serial killer was terrorizing south Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice-looking black man. He said, I`d be happy to give you a ride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would spot them, victimize them, discard their body in alleys like they`re trash. He is a monster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is the killer they call the "grim sleeper," a name coined because of the long gaps between killings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who was he? Where was he hiding?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
We begin in Louisiana, where a baby boy with Down syndrome, just 17 months old, is poisoned to death with what authorities are saying was hand sanitizer. Out to Paul Purpura, reporter with Nola.com and "The Times- Picayune" right there in Louisiana. Paul, take us through from the very beginning.
PAUL PURPURA, NOLA.COM (via telephone): Hi. Yes, thank you. On January 24th, paramedics and deputies were called to her home in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, which is a suburb of New Orleans. It was an emergency medical roll. The child was not responsive and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The coroner`s office through the autopsy determined that the child died from -- essentially, from alcohol poisoning. The child`s mother, Erika Wigstrom, was brought in for questioning on Tuesday, and detectives say that she confessed that she caused her son`s death by injecting hand sanitizer into her son`s feeding tube.
CASAREZ: But out to Michael Board, reporter WOAI newstalk radio. There`s a lot more to this, but she is saying that this was done for a very specific reason, that she`s not a killer with that killer intent to kill instinct. What is she saying, Michael Board?
MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI: She`s saying that her child had a variety of health problems. The child -- I mean, he`s barely a year old, and it`s a very tough life. There was holes in the heart. There was some sort of developmental disorders for this child. It`s not been an easy run for this 1-year-old child.
And what will break your heart in this and what`s absolutely tragic is the medical examiner -- get this. They found that the blood alcohol level in this 17-month-old child was .28. Now, you know, the legal limit for driving is .08. So this child, this 17-month-old child, because of what happened, had four times the legal limit for alcohol in the bloodstream.
CASAREZ: And everybody, what you`re looking at right now is this little boy, who had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. He also had a heart defect. He had already been in the hospital for open heart surgery.
This little boy right here, Michael Christian, it`s not the first time that he allegedly had been poisoned. Talk about the first instance that police say happened in 2012.
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Jean. And this is maybe the weirdest part of this entire story. In 2012, as you said, when little Lucas was only 2 months old, he was in the hospital awaiting open heart surgery, and it was discovered that he was poisoned by alcohol at that point, too. He had a similar amount in his blood at the time of his death. It was over .28. And eventually, his father, a man named Cesar Ruiz, was arrested.
Now, Cesar Ruiz supposedly told cops at that point that he had put rum into little Lucas`s feeding tube. He said he didn`t do it to hurt him or kill him, he just wanted to make him more comfortable. He wanted to remove pain. But right now, Cesar Ruiz is in a different county. He`s awaiting trial for that.
However, now this mother, Erika Wigstrom, says not only did she poison little Lucas when he died in February, but also, she had done it back in 2012. So you`ve got two different people who are saying they are poisoned him, one with rum. She says she did it with perfume in his feeding tube.
CASAREZ: And you know, Michael Christian, we have covered so many cases together, and poisoning deaths are not that common. But with this little boy with Down syndrome and a heart defect, I want to go to Dr. Michele Dupre, medical examiner, forensic pathologist.
Two poisoning incidents at this point, right? That`s factual, right, based on the toxicology screening. The first one was in the hospital, 2012, when this little boy was about to undergo open heart surgery, the second at his home.
My first question is, does he live with a feeding tube? Because both times, it was done through a feeding tube.
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (via telephone): Yes, Jean. Apparently, he does. Some Down syndrome patients do need a feeding tube in order to be fed.
CASAREZ: Now, how wide would that feeding tube be? Because I`m amazed that they -- that someone gets these liquids into the feeding tube, where they ultimately cause the death.
DUPRE: Well, usually, they`re fed with a syringe or something of that nature. Their normal meals are fed that way. So most of their daily intake is some type of liquid or (INAUDIBLE) anyway.
CASAREZ: Susan Moss, who is joining us tonight, family law attorney, victims` rights advocate, at this point, this is a first degree murder case, Susan Moss, in Louisiana. This right outside of New Orleans. So Susan, picture this. As everybody is celebrating Mardi Gras, this little baby is going through a poisoning death.
And I want to know how he suffered. We`re going to find that out in a minute. But should this be a death penalty case, Susan Moss?
SUSAN MOSS, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Absolutely! Apparently, this mother didn`t understand the phrase cleanliness being next to godliness. This is absolutely clear intent for first degree murder! And let me tell you why. Because the father already tried to kill this kid and is already in jail for murder! The mother knew or should have known that if she had taken actions similar to the father -- although now she claims that she did that attempted murder, too -- that she would be claimed (ph) with first degree murder because, clearly, she had the intent to kill him now, and maybe she had the intent to kill him back a few years -- last year, as well.
CASAREZ: Back to Dr. Michele Dupre, who is a medical examiner, forensic pathologist, the expert on this. What did the little baby go through when hand sanitizer or rum or perfume was put into his feeding tube?
DUPRE: Well, Jean, it`s really probably very, very uncomfortable. There are many symptoms and many things that can happen. He can suffer very low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, seizures, even vomiting. He could suffocate on his own vomit because of this. Very, very dangerous.
CASAREZ: Areva Martin, defense attorney joining us tonight out of Los Angeles,the mother is saying that this was a mercy killing. She wanted to put her baby out of the pain that he was in, out of the struggle he was in. Mercy killings are not legal. Is there any type of defense for this woman, or will the jury absolutely condemn her for trying to give this type of excuse?
AREVA MARTIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Jean, this is such a difficult case because we`re dealing with, you know, a child that was entrusted to his parents, and he was killed in the hands of his parents.
I`m a mother. I`m a disability rights advocate. And I can`t think of anything more horrific than this. But what this case says to me is that these parents were so misinformed. They thought they were helping their child because of his disabilities, and they weren`t helping him. They were actually killing him.
I don`t think these parents should be put to death. These parents obviously have some kind of mental health issues, psychological issues. They could not have been, you know, in their right frame of mind to do what they did to this child. I think they do deserve to be punished for what they did because they killed this child. But this is not a death penalty case. These parents are not malicious. They`re misinformed, and I think probably some mental health issues are at play that will come out if a psychiatric evaluation is performed.
CASAREZ: Sue Moss...
(CROSSTALK)
CASAREZ: ... one operative word here, "misinformed."
MOSS: Oh!
CASAREZ: It happened two times, Sue Moss.
MOSS: No, no! Maybe misinformed the first time it happens. But when Dad gets arrested for trying to kill this child, Mom knew or should have known what the consequences of her actions were! This was intended to kill this child, not once, not twice but now with this new perfume allegation, possibly three times! The intent was clear! They were told -- when Dad went into jail, they knew the seriousness of what they were doing! And people told them, You`ve got to lay off. This child has to live.
There is no reason not to prosecute her to the fullest extent of the law! She knew what she was doing, and if she didn`t know, she was certainly told the first time when Cesar was put in jail! There is no excuse, and it must be prosecuted!
CASAREZ: To Bethany Marshall...
MARTIN: Jean, can I just say this?
CASAREZ: Yes. Go ahead.
MARTIN: I just want to say, I work with thousands of parents who have kids with special needs, and contrary to what the expert or the panelist is saying, parents don`t know. There`s a lot of misinformation, there`s a lot of bad information out there. And parents need a lot of support. They need advocacy and they need education. And clearly, kids need to be protected from parents who are out to harm them or who don`t know. But we can`t say this mother was maliciously trying to kill her baby.
MOSS: She was told after the dad went to jail for this very crime!
MICHAEL MAZZARIELLO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Stop, Susan.
MOSS: Come on!
MAZZARIELLO: Come on. What happened to postpartum depreciation here, ladies?
MOSS: It`s 17 months out!
MAZZARIELLO: So what?
MOSS: And then if she would have gotten the help if she had shown any signs when Dad was put in jail for trying to kill this kid!
CASAREZ: Michael Mazzariello, defense attorney, after the first time when the child was poisoned, the baby, with rum or perfume, the doctors had to explain what had happened to that child, what that child had gone through. The knowledge was there...
MAZZARIELLO: That`s correct, Jean.
CASAREZ: ... with this mother.
MAZZARIELLO: But Jean, postpartum depression -- we know that. I`m surprised, coming from all of you ladies out there, you haven`t mentioned this. She actually could have learned from the husband what to do, thinking it was the correct thing to do.
We know that postpartum depression could affect a woman up to five years after childbirth. The -- this is so abnormal, Jean, poisoning an infant, that you have to look at the postpartum depression. I would love to represent this woman.
I think that that`s an issue that needs to be looked at on a professional level. I agree with your guest from Los Angeles in that these mental issues are not being addressed by society, and it looks like a classic postpartum depression, Jean.
CASAREZ: Well, Michael, we are going to address these issues. We`ve got Bethany Marshall with us right now. Bethany, you are the psychoanalyst. You are the mental health expert for the show tonight. Tell us -- give us your take on this.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, I really disagree with my good friend, Areva Martin. These parents knew exactly what they were doing. First of all, they did come to the attention of law enforcement, so they knew the possible negative, destructive consequences of their actions. They had been in hospitals and treatment settings, so there probably had been a lot of patient information. They knew how to care for this child.
The sad fact is you have two parents acting in concert with malice towards this child. They resented the needs of the child. Likely fact is they did not want this child to live. What I`m wondering is how many acts of abuse did this child endure before the mother finally succeeded in killing him?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what I`ve gathered from our detectives, they basically said that she had no remorse on the death.
WIGSTROM: I mean, if anything -- if anybody gets lucky, it`s me for being his mom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Did you hear that right there? That is the mother standing by the coffin of her 17-month-old baby, saying that she loved her baby and that her baby is the better, for he is gone now and in heaven.
I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace. I want to go back out to Paul Purpura, reporter for Nola.com and also "The Times-Picayune." You know, we`ve got to keep this straight because this little baby was poisoned at least two times that we know of. But the first time in 2012, his birth father is now sitting in jail, waiting for trial because he said he poisoned the child with rum. But now the mother just days ago said, No, it wasn`t rum, it was something else.
PURPURA: That`s correct. He is awaiting trial on a charge of second degree cruelty to a juvenile, unable to make bond. He confessed, according to the detectives in that case. His confession obviously is contradicted by what the mother says, as she wants to take responsibility for it, or is she saying she did something in addition to what the father said? In a previous Facebook post, the mother had blamed the father for alcohol poisoning in the 2012 incident.
CASAREZ: To Michele Dupre, Dr. Michele Dupre, forensic pathologist. Take us through a toxicology screening. You do a toxicology screening on this 17-month-old baby that`s died. You realize that this was a death because of the toxicology findings. Are you going to be able to determine if it`s hand sanitizer, if it`s rum, or if it`s perfume? It`s all alcohol-based.
DUPRE: Yes, Jean, we probably can. There are different times of alcohol. There`s isopropyl alcohol, which is normally in the hand sanitizer. Ethanol, or ethanol alcohol, is in the rum. Perfume will have other ingredients. So yes, we`ll do probably a GCMS (ph) screening, and that will give us those individual ingredients, as well as the quantity.
CASAREZ: We`ve got a caller right now from Louisiana, where this all happened, Chrystal in Louisiana. Hi, Chrystal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jean.
CASAREZ: Thank you for calling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re welcome. I just want to say my heart melts for this child. I`m a mother of a disabled child myself, and I just can`t even imagine the pain and the -- the pain that this child was feeling. And for the mother to say that she was trying to help him ease the pain that he was suffering, yet she`s injecting this child with alcohol, perfume and who knows what else? I mean, that`s causing a tremendous amount of pain. I just can`t even imagine.
I really do think the mother needs to be held accountable for her actions. If she felt that she could not take care of him properly or if he was a burden, there`s other options out there. Adoption is one of them. And I think that that should have been the route she took. But since she did do what she did, her and the father, I really do think that they should serve justice. Justice should be served for this little boy.
CASAREZ: All right. We will be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lucas`s autopsy showed his blood alcohol level was .28 percent.
WIGSTROM: I have no more tears to shed because my kid was so cool, God wanted him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess it`s anger and animosity I have toward her, versus sorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: All right, straight out to the lawyers, Sue Moss, Areva Martin and Mark Mazzariello. This is a little baby. It is a death by poison. It is alcohol-induced, either hand sanitizer, rum or perfume, or all three.
Sue Moss, there`s something that just isn`t out there yet because the father is in jail saying, I gave my baby rum in 2012 to ease his pain. The mother is now saying, Well, I just gave him hand sanitizer in his feeding tube, but I was the one. I gave him perfume. It wasn`t rum.
MOSS: And of course...
CASAREZ: I can see a conspiracy.
MOSS: And of course, there`s no remorse, not from any of them! And if they had the opportunity, if this child had not died, they would have tried a third and a fourth and a fifth time!
MAZZARIELLO: Stop. Now, come on!
MOSS: There was a clear goal, and that clear goal was to make their life easier, to get rid of their child who had, unfortunately, special needs, and they can move on with their life!
Do you hear her at that funeral? There were no tears! There was no crying! There was not even any sadness! This woman knew what she was doing the first, second and third time she tried to do it, and she would do it again! And we need to send a clear society message that this will not be accepted!
CASAREZ: Susan, we have that funeral SOT for everyone to watch. Listen closely to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WIGSTROM: I have no more tears to shed because my kid was so cool, God wanted him. I mean, if anything -- if anybody gets to be lucky, it`s me for being his mom. I`m not going to cry.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now, that is the mother that is now being held on first-degree murder charges. You`re watching video that was posted on Erika`s Facebook page, where she`s speaking next to Lucas`s coffin. The video has since been deleted.
Michael Mazzariello, why couldn`t there be a conspiracy here? Even though the father is in jail, they both have the same state of mind.
MAZZARIELLO: Jean...
CASAREZ: Let`s put poison in the feeding tube, allegedly.
MAZZARIELLO: That is correct, Jean. But what you have here is the problem of prior inconsistent oral and written statements. So the father said he did it first, and now I still say that the mother suffers from postpartum depression, and is subjected to the influence of that man. And the conspiracy theory, I think it won`t fly when it comes down to the toxicology report, Jean, because as your expert said, we will be able to tell and differentiate between what was given to the child. So then the B.S. will be separated, Jean.
CASAREZ: Which leads me to Areva Martin. Should the father, who is in jail now, if the mother says, No, he didn`t do it, it wasn`t rum, it was me and it was perfume, should his charges ultimately, if found true, be totally dismissed?
MAZZARIELLO: Absolutely, Jean. If there`s evidence that, you know, is exculpatory as it relates to this dad, then perhaps he should be -- you know, the charges should be dismissed against him. But ultimately, any parent involved in the murder of this child should be held accountable. And no one here would disagree with that. What we`re talking about, though, is the issue of mental health and disability as it relates to this case. And I think that has to be (INAUDIBLE)
MAZZARIELLO: Absolutely. Absolutely.
CASAREZ: Sue Moss, last word.
MOSS: The only tears this woman shed was when she was in front of the judge, and the judge was reading first degree murder charges! That`s the only time any emotion was ever expressed! And you know what that is? Because she had -- the only emotion she cares about is protecting her own self, not her child and not anybody else!
CASAREZ: All right, and when we come back, the mystery surrounding a missing mother of three who was found bludgeoned to death in the yard of a Florida home. The murder weapon, a cinderblock.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: A Florida mother of three is found bludgeoned to death with a cinder block. Tonight blood evidence leads police to an arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff`s investigators say 32-year-old Michael Fields killed Christina Mahzamani, smashing her head with a brick and then dragging the body from a wooded area into his yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He somehow wasn`t able to develop a plan to get rid of the body.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Fields called 911 saying he just happened to discover his murdered girlfriend but detectives say he left a trail of clues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found a cinder block behind his house covered in blood.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The victim`s abandoned car was discovered a half mile from her home, suggesting Fields may have left it there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Out to Michael Board, WOAI Radio.
Let`s start it from the beginning. Take us from the moments when the ex- girlfriend, I guess, arrived at his home.
BOARD: Yes, it`s an ex-girlfriend. She left her home, the pair were dating. She had kicked him out of the new year because he was a loser and she left her home with her three kids on Sunday saying she was only going to be gone for an hour. She was going to be right back. When she didn`t come back, she was reported missing on Monday. Then Tuesday her dead body was found right outside of her ex-boyfriend`s home.
And really, if you go through all the clues in this case and all the clues that turned out to be true, this has got to rank up there with one of the stupidest criminals we`ve ever heard of.
CASAREZ: Well, you know, she leaves her children -- and she had three young children at home -- saying, I`ll be right back. And then she didn`t come back. And the children alerted a family member and so the children spent the night with the family member and they don`t know where she is.
Clark Goldband, tell us exactly when police were notified that there was a body and who made the 911 call saying I found a body in my yard?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Jean, according to authorities, the suspect himself made the 911 call and he told the cops that he found this body and called 911. But here`s the thing. You heard Michael Board allude to just a moment ago, there is quite a bit of evidence in this case and if it is true, it is shocking.
Authorities say that the body was found back here behind the house. But take a look at this. Some of the alleged evidence, this cinder block with blood on it. It doesn`t stop there. Take a look, we`ve got here, some bloody pajamas authorities say they found in the home. And also authorities say they matched a partial footprint from a shoe to the boyfriend`s shoe he was wearing.
Not only that, drag marks also noticed, Jean, and they were leading in the direction of the body. So authorities quickly say they did not believe the boyfriend`s story. He went from a 911 caller to suspect, and Jean, right now, he`s facing charges of murder 2.
CASAREZ: All right. And this is in Florida, it`s right outside of Tampa. You see it is sunny, sunny Florida.
Areva Martin, here`s the thing. Somebody said this is one of the stupidest criminals. Well, he is innocent until proven guilty. But here is the problem, the forensics of this case, the blood that is around the front yard. The dragging of something to equate to a body is shown and then the body, he put it between, allegedly, the two houses right there.
How do you defend that, Areva?
MARTIN: You know, we`ve seen too many of these cases, Jean, where the evidence looks like it`s pointing at one particular suspect but when the investigation is broaden we learn new information.
I think it`s too early to, you know, convict this man. Obviously it doesn`t look good on his part but I`m curious about the motive here. We heard something about the woman maybe, you know, breaking up with him but it`s not clear to me at all what his motive would be for killing this woman, putting her body outside of his own home and then calling the police.
If we are to believe this, he was asking for the police to come and arrest him and that is not the normal pattern of someone who`s committed such a heinous crime.
CASAREZ: You know --
MARTIN: So I don`t think we shouldn`t rush to judgment and there needs to be a further investigation of this crime.
CASAREZ: Clark Goldband, Areva states a very good question. This is being charged as a second-degree murder here which in Florida is intent to kill.
GOLDBAND: Yes.
CASAREZ: First-degree murder, obviously, having that premeditated type of design. Do we have any idea what the motive was at this point?
GOLDBAND: No. And law enforcement, Jean, does not either. Here`s what we`re hearing in local media. A friend of the woman is saying she doesn`t know why this victim would be over at the house. Apparently he had moved out of the home, into this other home, and things had gotten quite tense, according to this report, in their relationship.
So friends of the victim also wondering why she may have gone to the home. That is a question we may find out at trial.
CASAREZ: You know, Susan Moss, here`s the problem, OK, if you`re representing him. He`s got blood all over the -- the prints that are found in the yard in blood match his shoes and the pajamas in his bedroom have blood on them.
MOSS: This drag mark ain`t no lark. I mean how much evidence do you need? You`ve got his pajamas full of blood? You`ve got a cinder block in his -- in his backyard full of blood, you`ve got drag marks up to where the body ended up. I mean, this could not be better if it was wrapped up in a bow on Christmas morning.
This guy is so guilty. What I think you`re going to learn is that this is an issue of domestic violence.
How many people need to die before we take a stance and really put the resources into fighting domestic violence. Because I bet there is a history of domestic violence. This isn`t the first time that this guy acted out and I think that is what the motive is going to be.
CASAREZ: And Sue Moss, we were able to find the protective orders in the past have been filed against the man you`re looking at in the screen right there. An ex-wife and also two other women have filed protective orders.
Michael Board, what about her car? Because she drove her car to his home that night. Where did they find the car?
BOARD: Yes, it was found a few blocks away. Her items were inside of the car. The keys, her personal items, it was just left there in the car. And yes, as we had mentioned, this guy has got a history of abuse. Three different women have filed protective orders against this guy, if that gives you any history -- any clue about his history.
CASAREZ: To tonight`s case alert. Surveillance video shows a man punching an 8-year-old boy, then taking off with his iPad. The attack happens outside of a Minneapolis restaurant. The manager then chases the suspect identified as 32-year-old Aaron Stillday, eventually arrested by police. Stillday is charged with aggravated robbery.
Well, there`s good news, though, to the story. The 8-year-old little boy, he`s been given a brand new iPad. But what he must have gone through.
When -- after we come back from this break, video, it goes viral. A 26- year-old mother riding the bus with her little girl. You`ve got to watch this video. She`s now under investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: After this video goes viral, a 26-year-old mother is under investigation. Her little girl tries to keep the mother`s head up as she appears to go in and out of consciousness. Tonight the little girl has reportedly been removed from her home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Shocking video sweeping the Web by storm. What appears to be a mom nodding off on a public bus.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: While her little daughter tries to wake up her mommy and even holds her head up so the woman doesn`t fall over.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What happened? While many on the bus appear to be unfazed, some Internet users aren`t and contact authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: All right. To Victor Fiorillo, senior reporter from "Philadelphia" magazine. First I just want you to tell us just the facts. Who shot this video and where did they shoot it?
VICTOR FIORILLO, PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: So the video was shot by a man sitting on a bus in Philadelphia in the northeast Philly section of the city. He was sitting next to the young girl in the video and then the mom was seated across the aisle. So the man who shot it, he`s an adult, he`s in his late 30s, and he -- you know, he shot the video on his phone.
CASAREZ: And Victor, nobody came to this woman`s aid or this little girl`s aid because the little girl is trying to take care of her mother. No one on the bus intervened?
FIORILLO: That is right. You know, for the duration of the video, at least, which is about four and a half minutes there is no significant attempt made to help the little girl or help the mother.
CASAREZ: You know, I really have been studying this video and as you look at this mother, and I have looked at her face very closely, she looks incoherent, there is a dead stare. Her eyes are disoriented, her hands are just clenched outward. See the clenching right there? They don`t look like they`re clenched but they are. They just won`t move as she keeps bobbing up and down and I`m surprised frankly that she doesn`t fall off of her seat because she goes down that far. She goes down beyond her knees at one point.
Clark Goldband, once this video went viral, and remember tried to help the little girl, nobody tried to help the mother, they just post the video and it goes viral.
GOLDBAND: Right.
CASAREZ: What happened after that?
GOLDBAND: Well, Jean, the Internet exploded with fury. And local law enforcement says they began to get messages virtually nonstop complaining about the actions that they believe this mom put the child in. Authorities, through their investigative unit, were then able to confirm the I.D. of the mom and then they referred the case over to the Department of Human Services.
Now let me just point out here, I want to be clear with the viewers. No criminal charges at all have been filed against this woman or suggested. However, DHS is involved.
CASAREZ: All right. Let`s go to Lieutenant John Stanford. He is with the Philadelphia Police Department, joining us out of Philadelphia.
Where does the investigation stand at this point?
LT. JOHN STANFORD, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: At this point the investigation stands with DHS. They ultimately have the lead in the investigation and based on their investigation, if it reveals any criminal activity, then our Special Victims Unit will work very closely with DHS in proceeding forward.
CASAREZ: And Lieutenant, is it true that once this video just went viral and everyone knows about it, that is when Pennsylvania`s equivalent of Child Protective Services stepped in and removed the child from the home?
STANFORD: Well, it was actually prior to it going completely viral and blowing up. We actually received the video on Thursday night, March 6th. Late at night through our social media Facebook. Concerned citizen sent that information over to our social media manager. I have a sergeant who monitors that and that sergeant notified me immediately and at that point we transferred the information over to our Special Victims Unit. We notified Septa and we notified DHS.
(CROSSTALK)
CASAREZ: The amazing powers of the Internet and social media.
Clark Goldband, once her child was removed from her care, didn`t she post something on the Internet?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Jean. She posted something. And at least we believe it is, of course this can`t be 100 percent verified but on the account believed to be used by the mom, take a look behind me, folks. Here`s the message we believe she posted.
"I expletive deleted. Hope all of you scumbags out there are expletive happy. I just lost the best thing in the world to me all because people think before they opened their mouths." It goes on and on. There are more expletives in there. She said she is getting sick and tired of people talking about this. That her child is treated well. Her child has never wanted for anything and it goes on and on. So clearly --
CASAREZ: And you know --
GOLDBAND: Yes, Jean.
CASAREZ: Clark, let`s talk to Brad Lamm for a second because he is an addiction specialist.
And Brad, I want -- as you look at this video, what do you see in this woman?
BRAD LAMM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: You know, as a person on the front lines of addiction, I see what I would guess to be a combination of benzodiazepines that is Xanax or Valium with an opiate. So it causes a person really to almost nod out. And it doesn`t surprise me, this is the kind of neglect that goes on in folks that struggle with addiction all the time.
I just wish somebody would have taken the child and made sure that she was safe right then and there.
CASAREZ: I know it. I know it just gives you chills that no one stepped in.
Victor Fiorillo, what is the latest right there in Philadelphia? Where is this woman right now?
FIORILLO: I just got a report this afternoon from a family friend that she has now checked into rehab in Philadelphia. And we`re working on getting more information about that right now.
CASAREZ: All right. Thank you to all of our guests.
When we come back, we take you inside the grim sleeper serial killer murder investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: The alleged serial killer known as the grim sleeper terrorizing southern Los Angeles for years. At least 16 female victims are shot, strangled, sexually assaulted, then dumped on the streets like trash. Tonight we go inside the grim sleeper murder investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He preyed at night, trolling the streets of south central L.A. for victims.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Eight murders and an attack on a potential ninth victim who got away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His bullet went right through me. Came to and he`s helping himself to my body like he had a right.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Over the next two decades, he would take many more lives.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Then a major break. They picked up a piece of uneaten pizza crust along with some eating utensils. They had a match between Franklin and the DNA found on victims.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They can finally put a name to the grim sleeper. Lonnie David Franklin Jr.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And with us tonight is the Southern California, Los Angeles reporter that broke this case open. She is the subject of a Lifetime movie "Grim Sleeper" that is premiering this weekend on Lifetime.
Christine Pelisek, thank you so much for joining us. I have heard of you. And I just want to know, take us from the beginning. How did you learn about all these women that were being murdered? And really it seemed like on the outside nothing was being done.
CHRISTINE PELISEK, FORMER L.A. REPORTER: Well, I actually found out about it in 2006 when I got a list of -- from the coroner`s office. He actually had a list of women body dumps from 2002 and 2006. And I ended up looking at the list and going through the list and finding out that two of the cases, a 2002 case and a 2003 case were linked to a series of shooting murders back in the `80s. And that`s how I originally found out about it.
CASAREZ: And, you know, Christine. I`m from Southern California. I was in law school during that time. We didn`t hear about it on the news. We didn`t hear anything about it. But now you broke it open and there`s a Lifetime movie that you are the subject of in that. We want to show everybody a little bit of you being portrayed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love the juicy color. I`m coming back in, the same color. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. Margaret Lincoln? Your son told me I could find you here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son? You`ve been to my house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Well, I couldn`t find a phone number. So I work for the "L.A. Weekly." I`m doing research for crimes that happened in the `80s. And I came across a story of how you were attacked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know who you think you are but you need to get up out of my business. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Margaret, I`m sorry. I didn`t mean to offend you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will kick your ass into next Tuesday, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think it`s me you want to take down. I think it`s the man who assaulted you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Assault, you make it sound so polite. He tried to kill me cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, can you tell me anything about him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t give the man two thunks, but if the lord god is good, and I know he is, then the bastard is burning in hell right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think he is in hell. I think that he`s still out there and he`s still attacking and killing other women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And that is from Lifetime`s original movie "The Grim Sleeper."
I want to ask you, how did the case get broken open to then arrest the man we`re looking at right there, Lonnie Franklin, who is now charged -- charged now for 10 murders but it`s believed that he has committed many, many more.
PELISEK: Well, his DNA was not in any CODIS database, so one of the problems with trying to find him was that he left his semen and saliva behind on his victims but he wasn`t in any CODIS data base. So what they tried to do in 2008, they tried to do a familial DNA search looking for a relative, a male relative of the killer.
And so they attempted to do it in 2008 and it didn`t work. And they tried it again in 2010 and it hit on a 28-year-old who was living in south Los Angeles, but they knew he was related to the killer but he wasn`t the killer because he would have been too young. And so they actually looked at -- there was two people they followed. They followed his uncle who lived out in Rancho Cucamonga about 90 miles away and his father, Lonnie Franklin, Jr. who lived smack dab in the epicenter of where all the murders happened.
CASAREZ: And the grim sleeper has not yet gone to trial. But is set at this point for July of this year.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Everybody, watch that Lifetime movie and you can watch the original movie, "The Grim Sleeper", this Saturday, March 15th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. That`s on Lifetime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: Tonight death row stories. The twists and turns of capital murder cases. We choose to remember tonight victims and tonight a California couple, Edward and Grace Davies, gunned down in a brutal robbery and murder in their own home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ed and Grace Davies lived a quiet life in their quaint Rosemont neighborhood in Sacramento. Ed Davies was an avid coin collector. On a rainy cold December day in 1981 what starts as a robbery for gold and silver coins ends with murder.
The couple, 71 and 76 years old, are watching TV and eating lunch when they`re forced at gunpoint to lie on the kitchen floor. They`re hog tied and handcuffed. A blanket thrown over their heads while their house is ransacked.
After $29,000 in coins and precious metals are stolen, the Davies are shot in cold blood. Mr. Davies shot twice in the head, his wife Grace shot once. Hours later, with the bullet still lodged in her head, Mrs. Davies manages to crawl to the sidewalk for help and survives the brutal shooting. She`s left to a life of hearing loss, paralysis to her face, eye damage and a life without her husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: This Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN catch a new series from Academy Award winner Alex Gibney and Robert Redford, "DEATH ROW STORIES." Meet the men and women sentenced to die. The prosecutors pushing for their execution and the people who relentlessly fight for their freedom.
Let us stop now and remember American hero Marine Staff Sergeant Charles Cartwright, 26 years old, from Union Bridge, Maryland. He was awarded three Purple Hearts, two Combat Action Ribbons. He loved triathlons and surfing. He leaves behind his parents, Michael and Carol, sister Rebecca and his widow Marissa.
Charles Cartwright, a true American hero.
Dr. Drew is coming up next.
END
