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Nancy Grace
Home Owner Guilty of Teens` Murder; Home Ordered Sold Over $6 Tax Bill
Aired April 29, 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, Little Falls. We have a verdict in the case of Byron Smith. A 65-year-old sitting in his easy chair hiding between bookshelves with water, snacks and guns, hears a break-in, grabs his guns and starts blasting, gunning down two teens who break into his home.
Then a bizarre turn when Smith says he kills both teens with, quote, "a good clean shot to the head," saying, Bitch, you`re dead, before shooting the teen six times, even comparing the teens to vermin, vomit and diarrhea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jury will get the case of a man charged with killing two teenagers who broke into his home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The jury will get the trial without Smith ever taking the stand. But Steve Meshbesher, his attorney, says, in a way, he already did.
STEVE MESHBESHER, ATTORNEY FOR BYRON SMITH: He, in fact, did testify -- the transcripts, the interviews. It was unnecessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And to suburban Pennsylvania, a widow devastated when a judge rules she`ll be thrown out on the streets and her $300,000 home sold on the auction block all because she`s late on a $6 tax bill?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Eileen Battisti lose her home? All because she failed to pay a late tax fee of $6.30. She was late in paying her property taxes in 2009. Because the payment was late, the $6 late fee was added, a fee she claims she was never told about. And according to the judge, the house is no longer hers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, the beloved TV and movie star best known as Rhoda, Valerie Harper, battling deadly brain cancer. Now she`s battling in court, as well. Fresh off her heroic turn on "Dancing With the Stars," Valerie Harper faces a multi-million-dollar lawsuit after Broadway producers attack her for having the nerve to get cancer and then letting it spread to her brain. Are they out of their minds? Hey, I want to sit on that jury!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all remember her as Rhoda from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
VALERIE HARPER, ACTRESS: I don`t know. Why don`t you ask him?
I have lung cancer. (INAUDIBLE) dance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harper has defied those odds. Still going strong and taking on a new challenge.
HARPER: I`m rather inquisitive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Valerie Harper is being sued for allegedly not telling show producers she had cancer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That video from MTM Productions and ABC`s "Dancing With the Stars."
And heartbreak in Des Moines. A loving couple go to great lengths to support a young teen girl pregnant when she decides she doesn`t want the baby. They spend thousands on the teen`s upkeep, nutrition, boarding and care during the pregnancy, standing at her bedside, coaching the teen through delivery, even cutting the umbilical cord themselves.
But just weeks after baby Gabriel (ph) goes home with adoptive parents, home to the happiest home on earth, where he`s the center of their lives -- they spend hours a day reading to baby Gabriel, even dancing to music on TV with him -- the birth mother changes her mind and gets the baby back.
Just days later, baby Gabriel dead, alone in the teen`s apartment, frothy white residue coming from the baby`s mouth and nose. Tonight, why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody left my friend`s baby that they were baby- sitting by themselves (ph), and the baby`s blue and --
911 OPERATOR: Is the baby breathing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he breathing, Markeya? No!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been scrutinized to make sure that we were adequate as parents. They never had to have anything when they took him back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live to Dallas, a young special needs girl taken to school by her parents. But when it`s time to pick the girl up, she`s gone. Tonight, where is Allie (ph)? And how -- how -- does an autistic girl just disappear from school?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Allejandra Gonzales (ph) Walked out of Sunset High school and hasn`t been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I`m frustrated because I thought my daughter with special needs was being taken care of at school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dallas police say it wasn`t until last night they learned more about Allejandra and decided to issue a critical missing report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Live to Little Falls. We have a verdict in the case of Byron Smith, a 65-year-old sitting in his easy chair, hiding between bookshelves with water, snacks, energy bars and guns when he hears a break- in, grabs his guns and starts a-blasting, gunning down the two teens who break into his home.
Then a bizarre turn when Smith says he kills both teens with, quote, "a good, clean shot to the head," saying, Bitch, you`re dead, before shooting the teen girl six times execution-style, and comparing the two teens to vermin, vomit and diarrhea.
Tonight, we have a verdict. What went into the jury`s minds? Take a look and a listen to what he said, caught by his own words.
"I don`t see them as human. I see them as vermin, social mistakes, social problems. This bitch was going to go through her life stealing things from other people, robbing, drug use."
"I left my house at 11:30. They were both dead by 1:00. I felt like I was cleaning up a mess, not like spilled food, not like vomit, not even like diarrhea, the worst possible mess. Now I`m stuck with it. You know, it`s all fun, cool, exciting and highly profitable until somebody kills you. Hey, I`m safe now. Cute. I`m sure she, Haile, thought she was a real pro."
"I`m a patsy, a sucker. They think I`m here to be taken advantage of. Is that the reward for being a good person? I was doing my civic duty. I had to do it. I had to shoot them dead. I refuse to live in fear. I feel safer, not totally safe. I`m still shaking a bit."
"I`m sorry. So much regret. I try to be a good person. I try to do what I should. I try to be a good person. She threw her problems in my face, and I`ve got to clean it up. I haven`t called the sheriff yet."
It goes on and on and on, all of this caught on tape. Why? Because Byron Smith had a home security system, a home security system that caught him on tape. After he shoots a teen, a teen boy, first in the back as the boy tries to run away, he shoots him two more times, once execution-style, puts the boy on a tarp to drag him away so he won`t bloody the carpet.
Dan O`Donnell covering the case from the beginning, WISN, is it true all of that was caught on tape, that he simply didn`t want the teens to bloody his carpet?
DAN O`DONNEL, WISN (via telephone): That is correct. In fact, wrapping one of the teenagers` bodies in a tarp and rolling it up and then making the comments that you referenced, that he was disgusted that they made a mess inside his basement.
GRACE: Everybody, those of you just joining us, the verdict is in. That verdict is guilty. The home owner has been found guilty for gunning down two intruders that come into his home.
Right now, a call from Minnesota. Joining us, a neighbor, Jared (ph). Hi, Jared. What do you think of the verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he got what he deserved.
GRACE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. Well, you can`t do that. I mean, he definitely took it too far. It`s one thing to -- you know, to take action in your home. But you know, the comments that you just read, clearly, the guy`s got something going on upstairs. And I lived next to him, and you know, he seemed like an OK guy, but definitely knew something was up with him.
You know, when we started talking to the neighbors, you know, we had -- a couple of us had dogs that would become -- became missing. You would hear gunshots. We finally figured out, obviously, who it was. But you never seen him with a gun, but you would hear gunshots in the middle of the night. I`d be at work. My fiancee would call me. She would hear gunshots. We`d call the cops. Nothing was ever heard of (ph).
GRACE: Was the -- were the home burglaries bad in the area?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really. I never had. I know that when I did move out of the home about eight months before this happened, the house that I was in was vandalized (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: I would say that`s a problem.
Let`s take a look, Liz -- let`s see the graphic about what all was stolen from Byron Smith`s home before he finally takes action, gunning down two teens -- thousands in cash, his father`s watch, his Air Force medals and ribbons, also medals and ribbons from Vietnam, firearms, jewelry.
As a matter of fact, Dan O`Donnell, question -- Dan joining me from WISN -- how many times had this guy been burglarized?
O`DONNELL: Well, his defense attorney brought up multiple times during this trial that he was the repeated victim not just over the course of the past several months, Nancy, but several years. The attorney estimated that almost a dozen times, Mr. Smith had been burglarized.
GRACE: Joining me on the line now, Mary in Virginia.
For those of you just joining us, we have a verdict in the home intruder case. Sixty-five-year-old Byron Smith, according to the state, was sitting in his basement, hiding between two bookcases. They said it was like a hunter in a deer stand. They say, the prosecution, that he had barricaded himself so no one could see him waiting, sitting in an easy chair with bottles of water, snacks, energy bars and two loaded guns.
They also tell the jury that he had unscrewed the lightbulbs so the teens couldn`t just turn the lights on, that he had booby-trapped the furniture for intruders and had even parked his truck three blocks away and turned out the lights to trick people into thinking nobody was at home.
Well, it worked, Dan O`Donnell because these two thought nobody was at home. They came in, and they were shot multiple times.
Mary in Virginia, the jury has returned a guilty verdict in the last moments. Why do you think they found this guy guilty? I mean, he shot people that were intruding in his home, Mary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Well, because -- I called it guilty also because he had the intent to kill. That was the state of mind from the very beginning. And also, the way he killed them. He could have just disabled them and called 911, but he killed them. He took pleasure in killing them. And that was -- that`s cruel.
GRACE: Taking pleasure in the teens` deaths, saying, Bitch, you`re dying, and shooting her again execution-style behind the ear, shooting her up under the chin. Did that have anything to do with this 65-year-old home owner being found guilty in the last hours, guilty of gunning down two teen intruders?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s what Smith said after those shootings that was captured on that audio. Here`s a few of the things Smith had to say just hours after Haile Kifer and Nick Brady were shot. Quote, "I feel a little bit safer. Totally safe. I`m still shaking a bit, but a little bit safer," end quote. You also hear Smith say, "I was doing my civic duty. I had to do it."
He then says near the end of the recording, quote, "They think I`m a patsy, a sucker, that I`m there to be taken advantage of. Is that the reward for being a good person? And then they dump this mess on me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The verdict is in. Sixty-five-year-old Byron Smith has been found guilty on all counts. This qualifies for life without parole. He will be behind bars for the rest of his life.
Now, this is what`s so disturbing in this case. Unleash the lawyers, Hugo Rodriguez, Miami, Shireen Hormozdi, Atlanta. First to you, Hugo. You claim that there are a lot of grounds for appeals based on the Minnesota castle law. What do you mean?
HUGE RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think so. You`re allowed to stand and defend yourself. The castle law doesn`t make exceptions for teenagers, doesn`t make exception for laying in wait. It says you can defend yourself if you are apprehensive, if you`re threatened. They broke into his house. They were committing a burglary. He defended himself.
GRACE: But Shireen Hormozdi, here`s the problem with that. Yes, the castle law in Minnesota seems to be a blanket to protect him. But you are only allowed to use self-defense force to the extent to stop the attack. And in this case, Shireen -- and I was on the fence. And we all know if that you`re on the fence and your mind is unconvinced, it is your duty to acquit.
But in this case, Shireen, after the girl was lying there twitching and he says, You`re dying, bitch, he shot her again. He shot her a total of six times, including up under the chin, behind the left ear to go through the brain. Look at these injuries, Shireen -- a shot near the left eye, behind the left ear, on the neck, up under the chin execution-style, abdomen, right hand, left forearm. He shot in the right hand. It went through the side of his head.
That was at close range. We know that it was at close range because her, Haile Kifer`s, blood was on his revolver and clothes, which meant it had to be six inches for blowback to him.
It seemed as if, Shireen, he took joy in killing them even after they were down. He even shot the boy in the back.
SHIREEN HORMOZDI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If he would have just shot them and shut up about it, the jury might have stood by him. But instead, his callous comments took the jury away from him. They found that he was not reasonable in his actions in defending his castle.
GRACE: So he went too far, in your estimation. Susan Constantine, I thought the jury might hang on this? What do you think happened? Susan Constantine,jury consultant on some of the biggest trials in this country. What happened?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, JURY CONSULTANT (via telephone): I think, Nancy, what happened was, is that listening to those cruel and inhumane comments on top of the visual display of those photos of what really happened with the premeditation --
GRACE: Right.
CONSTANTINE: -- the jury came to one mind, one thought, one unanimous verdict. That was guilty.
GRACE: I`m very surprised they came back in just three hours. Everybody, the verdict in, Byron Smith guilty.
When we come back, a widow devastated when a judge rules she will be thrown out on the streets, orders her nearly $300,000 home sold on the auction block all because she`s late on a $6 tax bill?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Eileen Battisti lose her home? All because she failed to pay a late tax fee of $6.30.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Residential Pennsylvania, a widow devastated when a judge rules she`ll be thrown out on the streets, ordering her nearly $300,000 home -- she and her husband worked so hard to buy that home -- sold on the auction block, all because she, a widow, is late on a $6 tax bill?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eileen Battisti sent in a check for almost $900 to pay off her tax bill. Because she was late in paying her property taxes in 2009, she was charged a late fee of $6.30. She was notified several times about the money she owed. The county says Battisti never paid it. The house was auctioned off and sold for less than half of what it was worth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, you got to pardon my French, but if that is the law, then the law is an ass! I can`t believe this judge did this! Now, the judge is insisting he followed the letter of the law. But you know what? That`s why he`s sitting on the bench. He is sitting on the bench to do the right thing. And he did not do the right thing in this case, according to what our lawyers think. There he is. There`s the judge.
To David Singer with KDKA, what happened?
DAVID SINGER, KDKA (via telephone): Nancy, this is a case that defies logic and common sense. When 53-year-old Eileen Battisti was paying off remaining income -- or remaining property taxes on her home, that she paid off from life insurance payments when her husband died in 2004 -- and it was this late fee on her final payment of just over $900 that sat around and had her house be sold at a tax liquidation auction.
GRACE: Now, her -- this is a mother of three that she has raised. She is working two jobs at hospitals to try to pay her lawyers. I don`t understand how it all went sideways.
Stacey Newman, a $6 tax bill? They sell her house at auction? I mean, can you imagine, everybody out there whose mom is a widow, having her home, your home that you grew up in, sold at auction over a $6 tax bill? I don`t get it, Stacey.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It`s unbelievable. I mean, this amounts to the price of a Wendy`s happy meal, and now she may lose her home, the home her husband, who has now passed away, served 22 years in the Marines, scraped together the cash for this home. And now she is in jeopardy, Nancy, of losing this home over, what, two cups of coffee at Starbucks?
GRACE: I`m sick. I`m sick. And you know, another thing, Judy Ho, psychologist out of LA, this makes you lose faith in the system when you hear a story like this. You know what? I swear, I think if I were that judge, God help the bench, I would have said, You know, I can read. Thank you all for telling me how to read this law book, but I`m going to do the right thing and I`m going to let an appellate court reverse me. I`m not going to be part of doing the wrong thing. This can make you lose faith in the system.
JUDY HO, PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely, Nancy. I`ve lost faith in the system just by this story alone. And as you mentioned earlier, the judge just wanted to read what was in the letter of the law, and anybody can do that. The judge is supposed to be able to problem solve and make discretionary comments when necessary.
And this poor widow, she was never in charge of the bills and taking care of the house. So not only did she have to lose her husband, she also had to learn all of these things in a very, very short period of time. So she lost a $6 tax bill at some point. It`s $6! Let`s get over it and give this woman a chance. She`s had so much to deal with already.
GRACE: I`m just sick, Judy. I am sick. Well, I can tell you this much from all the years I prosecuted. There`s more than one way to skin a cat. And this ain`t over yet. It`s my understanding that this lady, Eileen Battisti, is going to appeal. God help her.
When we come back, the beloved TV and movie star known best as Rhoda, Valerie Harper, battling deadly brain cancer, and now battling in court, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARPER: I ask them to accept that death is inevitable, and then leave it alone. Live the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: The beloved TV star and movie star known best as Rhoda, Valerie Harper, battling deadly brain cancer. Now battling in court as well. Fresh off her heroic turn on "Dancing with the Stars," Valerie Harper faces a multimillion dollar lawsuit after Broadway producers attack her for having the nerve to get cancer. And then letting it spread to her brain. Are they out of their minds? I want to sit on this jury.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actress Valerie Harper is being sued for allegedly not telling show producers she had cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all remember her as Rhoda.
VALERIE HARPER, ACTRESS: A lot can happen if the cancer starts getting really aggressive, pressing on parts of the brain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After leaving the show, Harper sued the playwright and producers for money she claims they owe her. Then came the countersuit. Claiming Harper should pay up $500,000 for money the show allegedly lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Okay. The bottom line, they`re suing her for nearly $2 million. The Rhoda star. Beloved star on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Remember that? There`s Rhoda, Valerie Harper, TV icon, movie icon. After her heroic turn on "Dancing with the Stars," she gave it all she got. Now she`s being sued and having another battle in court?
Straight out to the president and editor-in-chief of Hollywoodlife.com, Bonnie Fuller. Bonnie, I don`t get it.
BONNIE FULLER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM: I don`t get it either. This seems completely outrageous. How is Valerie Harper supposed to know that the cancer she thought was cured had then spread and that it would spread to her brain? I mean, what -- are we all supposed to know what`s going to happen in our health future when we sign on to any job? What if a man dropped dead from a heart attack? Would he be sued for not showing up and finishing his tour on Broadway?
GRACE: You know, Bonnie, everybody knows, everybody -- you`re seeing video from ABC`s "Dancing with the Stars." That`s Tristan MacManus, my old partner, dancing with Valerie. They did, he did, she did a phenomenal job. What I don`t get, Bonnie, is that they would have the nerve, the gall to file this lawsuit. Who would ever work with them again?
FULLER: Well, Broadway apparently is appalled. That`s what we`ve heard at hollywoodlife.com. Today was the day that the Tony nominations were announced. And they`re very upset that a pall is being cast over the nominations and over a great season on Broadway by this lawsuit. It is heartless.
GRACE: Bottom line, she signs on for a Broadway play. A play that she is reprising, I might add. But then she starts to slur her words. And the producers, the Broadway producers, actually sue her for nearly $2 million because she had the nerve to get cancer without telling them first. And then to let it spread to her brain.
You know, I am in shock. I would be stunned in anyone ever works with these guys again.
To Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner, forensic pathologist. Explain to me, Dr. Gallagher, in cancer that was deemed deadly, that it was fatal. She`s now amazingly making a comeback. How did that happen?
DR. TIM GALLAGHER, MEDICAL EXAMINER & FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST (on the phone): Well, there are a lot of new treatment modalities in cancer that are very effective. Chemotherapy, radiation and cancer surgery has advanced leap years from ten years ago. I`m not surprised that her cancer at one point was cured.
GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing Valerie Harper, TV and movie icon, dancing with Tristan MacManus, "Dancing with the Stars." She had to bow out of this early on. Bonnie, I think she was about five weeks maybe into it when the cancer effects -- it was so hard on her body. But she made it through several weeks with Tristan only to have to battle this.
You know, tell me this, Bonnie. When she began to slur her words, isn`t it true that it was only then they told her to go to the doctor, she went to the doctor, and found out the cancer had spread?
FULLER: That`s correct. That`s what we have heard that she had no idea of what was wrong. In fact, she thought she had beaten her lung cancer from a couple of years ago. And the kind of cancer that she has is a very rare form. And it`s very unusual. It`s not known to actually be a secondary cancer to lung cancer. So there`s no reason for her to have suspected and have somehow tricked the Broadway producers into allowing her into this show. She could not have foreseen it.
GRACE: To Judy Ho, psychologist. You know, Judy, I love Valerie Harper. I love Rhoda. I have watched her on "Dancing with the Stars" and cheered her. I would write Tristan, text him every night talking about how great they were doing. And you know what? I think a jury is going to side with Rhoda for sentimental reasons.
JUDY HO, PYCHOLOGIST: I absolutely believe that the jury will side with Valerie as well. I really enjoy her. She is such a talented woman. There is no malicious intent here at all. She was absolutely trying to do her best and trying to work as she got this devastating illness and managing that at the same time. And I believe this theater company and these producers are just heartless to try to bring this on top of all of her stresses already during this time.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Hugo Rodriguez, Chereen Hermazi. Hugo Rodriguez joining me out of Miami. This is why -- this is one of the reasons why lawyers have such a bad name. Lawsuits like this.
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, ATTORNEY: I will tell you as a cancer survivor, that producer can wipe their nose with this action. They`re bringing it as a counter because she brought the initial action. And all they`re trying to do is negate their exposure. But there`s no reason for it. Unacceptable.
GRACE: You know, a lot of people on our panel tonight, on our show tonight, have had brushes with cancer. And no matter how minor it may seem to others, it`s scary when you imagine cancer spreading across your body. Especially when you have children to raise, young children to raise.
Shireen Hormozdi, what`s the best legal alternative right now for them?
SHIREEN HORMOZDI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They`re defending themselves, like Rodriguez mentioned, against the countersuit. They had to come up with some kind of defense --
GRACE: The best thing to do now is my question.
HORMOZDI: I would try to resolve it with her.
GRACE: I can tell you what my clue is, Bonnie Fuller. That video you`re seeing, Rhoda, is from MTM, Mary Tyler Moore Productions. Has anybody heard of arbitration, Bonnie?
FULLER: Sounds like that would be a good idea. Get this out of the courts and get it resolved because she needs to focus on her health. I think that cancer patients and survivors know stress is not good for them.
GRACE: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, Bonnie -- isn`t this true, Dr. Gallagher, malignancy, the derivative means worry.
GALLAGER: That it does.
GRACE: Everybody, when we come back, a loving couple goes to great lengths to support a teen girl pregnant, when she decides she doesn`t want to have her baby. Then the birth mom convinces a judge, she could get the baby back. Well, just days later, Baby Gabriel found dead.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Somebody left my friend`s baby that they were babysitting by themselves. And the baby`s blue!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Heartbreak in Des Moines. A loving couple goes to great lengths to support a teen girl, pregnant, when she decides she doesn`t want her baby. Spending thousands of dollars on her upkeep, nutrition, boarding and care during the pregnancy. Standing at her bedside, coaching her through the delivery, even cutting the umbilical cord themselves.
But then just weeks after baby Gabriel goes home with his adoptive parents to the happiest home on earth, he becomes the center of their lives, spending hours a day being read to, even dancing to music on TV with the baby, the birth mother, the teen, decides she wants the baby back.
Just days later, baby Gabriel, dead. Left alone in the teen girl`s apartment. Cause of death, trauma to the head. He was beaten to death. Frothy, white residue coming from the baby`s nose and mouth. Tonight, why?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is the baby?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost 4 months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just felt natural. We were always meant to be moms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he still unconscious?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he`s still unconscious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It isn`t working.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you to listen and see if he`s breathing yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Okay. It doesn`t sound like breaths.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Keep going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Everyone, tonight, we want justice for baby Gabriel. This baby, taken in by a loving, adoptive couple. They spent thousands of dollars on the teen girl who becomes pregnant and decides she doesn`t want the baby. They support her. Her boarding, her food, her medical care. They`re coaching her through the delivery, even cutting the umbilical cord themselves.
But then after just a short while with the adoptive parents in the happiest home on earth, the girl decides she wants the baby herself. Just days after taking the baby back, wrenching it out of its adoptive home, baby Gabriel found dead. In the last hours, we learned the cause of death is trauma to the head. The baby found frothing at the nose and mouth. A white, frothy liquid. Dead.
To Suzanne Lee, news anchor with WHO, joining us. Suzanne, why, why did the birth mother, a teen girl, suddenly decide she wants the baby back? And why did the loving, adoptive parents have to hand the baby over?
SUZANNE LEE, NEWS ANCHOR WHO RADIO-AM (on the phone): I can tell you, I did actually talk to a private adoption agency in West Des Moines, Iowa. And they told me that this is an adoption run amok, hat this should never have happened in Iowa.
GRACE: Everybody, you`re seeing shots of baby Gabriel. And there he is, back with the teen mom. Suzanne Lee joining me from WHO, you said run amok. What do you mean by that?
LEE; Well, the person that I spoke to from a private adoption agency in West Des Moines says that the birth mother in Iowa has 96 hours to change her mind. That is when adoptions are handled properly. And in this woman`s opinion, she does not think this adoption was handled properly. We did that interview about -- I think it was two or three days ago.
GRACE: Joining me right now, Sergeant Jason Halifax, PIO with the Des Moines police department. Sergeant, thank you so much for being with us. I know this had to be a heartbreaking scene. What did police find when they got to the apartment where baby Gabriel was dead?
SGT. JASON HALIFAX, PIO, DES MOINES POLICE DEPT.: Well, the first response to the -- to the apartment actually was the medics crew. And based on the call, our dispatchers were taken, we sent officers to assist them, which is pretty common for this kind of situation.
So officers arrived. The first thing they see is a medic actually carrying the baby outside of the apartment away from the apartment into the medic squad. Immediately into the ambulance, they began their treatment. And then they whisked the baby down to the hospital.
GRACE: When they arrived there, Sergeant, who was in the home? Who was with the baby?
HALIFAX: When medics got there, it was the mother and a friend of hers. But the reason they had called us was because they found the baby left alone.
GRACE: Suzanne Lee, it`s my understanding that the mother says she had to leave to run errands and she left the baby with the bio dad, who had never once taken care of a baby in his life. The little baby was soaked wet and dead when the mom gets back. I mean, when she pulls back in from her errands, she sees the father scratching off in his car. Comes in, the baby`s dead. Is that your understanding, Suzanne?
LEE: Well, according to police reports, it was two witnesses, 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl. One of those girls is 16. She was the one who notified the mother that said, are you comfortable leaving the baby with the baby`s father? And the mother told her to turn around and go back to the apartment and go back and check on the baby. And that`s when that young girl, 16-year-old female, drove back to the apartment. And that is when she saw the baby`s father driving away without the baby.
GRACE: So it sounds to me -- it sounds to me, Matt Zarrell, that they knew the baby shouldn`t be alone with the bio dad. Who was, you know, apparently a violent teen himself. She should never have left that baby. But she did. Now the baby`s dead. I mean, don`t understand how it all went down, Matt.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, what happened, Nancy, is that the mom leaves the baby with the child -- with the teen to go out and go to the library. The friend comes to get her phone charger. But what happens is, is that the friend sees Weehler-Smith, the bio dad, holding the baby. She calls the mother and she says are you sure you want to leave this baby by itself with the bio dad? And she says, no, go back and check on him. And when the friend went back to check on the baby, that`s when bio dad was driving away from the apartment without the baby. Mom comes home. They both go inside and find the baby blue and unconscious.
GRACE: Now, what I understand, Shireen Hormozdi, is that the paperwork was a problem, right?
HORMOZDI: Right. At 72 hours, the parents could have signed a release of custody giving the child to the adoptive parents. And then the mother would have 96 hours to take the child back for any reason. The release of custody was not done in this case.
GRACE: The fact that this child is dead because of a legal loophole is wrong. And we oppose the law.
When we come back, a young autistic girl taken to school by her parents. When it`s time to pick her up, she`s gone. Now, tell me, how does a special needs child just disappear from school?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): I`m frustrated because I thought my daughter with special needs was being taken care of at school. And she just walked off.
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GRACE: A young special needs girl taken to school by her parents. But when it`s time to pick her up, she`s gone. Tonight, where`s Ali? And how does a special needs girl just disappear from school?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alejandra`s mother says her daughter has the mental capacity of a six- or seven- year old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has diminished capability.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (AUDIO GAPE) says she`s been trying to convince DPD to do more to help find her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel abandoned. I have no words to describe how I`m feeling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dallas police say the key here is to find Alejandra and bring her home to her family.
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GRACE: Tonight, where is Allie? The tip line: take a look at her, 214-671- 4268. To Joe Gomez, KRLD, how did she go missing?
JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, NEWSRADIO KRLD: Nancy, this is truly a tragic case. This young, mentally impaired girl was apparently at school and then she wandered away during lunchtime. She was unsupervised, Nancy. We understand she has the mental capacity of a six- or seven-year old. She has a fascination with trains and airplanes. And police fear she may be on some sort of train, a DART train, a public service train, something, Nancy. This little girl all alone by herself, impressionable youngster, may be out there all alone on a train? With the mental capacity of a six- or seven- year old, it truly is tragic, Nancy. We`re trying desperately to find out where Ali is.
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MIKE DUFFY, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, cops are now looking in the west end of Dallas, specifically like you said, on the DART train service. This is the light rail in Dallas. And this little girl apparently is quite fond of trains. And her mom says that`s where the first place they would look, and that`s what cops are doing.
GRACE: You know, Joe Gomez, he`s right. Joe Gomez joining me, KRLD. She has once been found just riding on the trains back and forth. She`ll go one way and she doesn`t get off the train, so that`s why they are focusing on the train.
Everyone that can hear my voice or see these photos, the tip line is 214- 671-4268. We don`t know she`s on the commuter train; we don`t know that. We`re just grasping at straws to try to find this girl. If she falls into the hands of the wrong people, she is going to be mistreated and killed, Joe Gomez.
GOMEZ: That`s right, Nancy. And it`s a tragic -- that`s extremely tragic, the fact that she could be out there all alone on a train, this young girl. She loves attention. She loves to talk to people. Anybody that showers her with attention. Keep in mind that she has the mental capacity of a six-year-old girl --
GRACE: I`m just sick about it. And what`s so deceiving, Joe, she looks older, but she has the mind of, we`re now being told, between a five- and six-year-old child. Please, help us bring Ali home to her mother.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember American hero Army sergeant Tyler Juden, 23, Arkansas City, Kansas. Bronze star, Purple Heart. Loved competitive shooting. Dreamed of being a teacher. Parents bob and Rita, sister Jacey. Tyler Juden, American hero.
"DREW" up next, everyone. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
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