Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Bobbi Kristina Brought Out of Coma; Teacher Sends Sexy Selfie Pictures to Male Students; Two Kids Died on Fire While Mom is Out Partying
Aired February 26, 2015 - 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. American songbird superstar Whitney Houston`s daughter in a coma, found unconscious face down in the
tub, doctors telling family prepare for the worst. After her mother Whitney Houston also found submerged in a tub, history repeats itself.
Bombshell tonight. We confirm in the last hours, Bobbi Kristina taken out of her medically induced coma, but then suffers violent seizures. Is Bobbi
Kristina now off a ventilator and breathing through a trach? Is a tracheotomy a sign she`s improving or no?
This as another bombshell emerges. Now officially, we confirm police issue a search warrant for drugs in Bobbi Kristina`s home. And we learn fiance
Nick Gordon files a TRO to stop police viewing footage on his home surveillance camera. Why?
And tonight, is fiance Nick Gordon actually hawking Bobbi Kristina T- shirts, as feuding erupts between fiance Gordon and Bobbi Kristina`s own father, Bobby Brown?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bobbi Kristina Brown is still in a medically induced coma. She was found unresponsive in her bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s fighting and she`s strong. That`s the one thing, she`s a fighter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of noise is going on upstairs?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) -- fighting, banging, screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Connecticut suburbs, a 37-year-old married English teacher, mother of two, tonight denies sending sexy thong selfies to two
boy students, having sex with one of them in the classroom and allegedly threatening one of the boys if that boy student did not go along with her
sexy plans, he`ll, quote, "never play football again"? Hey teacher, I think it`s time for a hail Mary!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After a more than month-long investigation, Madison English and language arts teacher Allison Markaszi (ph) is now charged with
sexually assaulting a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was charged with one count of sexual assault in the second degree and one count of impairing (ph) the morals of a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sorry for everybody involved because -- well, you know, they`re terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, West Alexandria, a blazing fire burns a family home to the ground. But it`s only in the early morning hours when Mommy rolls up
from a night of partying that the mom of two, Chastity Hall (ph), tells firefighters her two little children are in that home, Malachi (ph) and
Malia (ph) both dead while Mommy out partying and getting totally drunk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have two children that we believe died in the fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When crews got to the 3400 block of 35 East, the floor of the home had already collapsed. Firefighters had no idea there
might be people inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think there should be more? Yes. Hopefully, she ends up getting more because that`s what she deserves. She left her kids
home alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. We confirm in the last hours, Bobbi Kristina taken out of her medically induced coma, but then suffers violent seizures. Is Bobbi
Kristina now off a ventilator and breathing through a trach? Is a tracheotomy a sign she`s improving?
This as another bombshell, police officially issuing a search warrant for drugs in Bobbi Kristina`s home. We learn fiance Nick Gordon files a TRO to
stop police viewing footage on his home surveillance camera. Why? And is fiance Nick Gordon actually hawking Bobbi Kristina T-shirts, feuding
erupting between Gordon and Bobbi Kristina`s father, Bobby Brown?
To Alan Duke, national correspondent, Radaronline.com. All right, let me understand medically what`s happening. Bobbi Kristina has been taken off
the ventilator, or has the ventilator simply been removed from her face and they have surgically performed a tracheotomy and the ventilator -- the
breathing apparatus is in the ventilator?
ALAN DUKE, RADARONLINE.COM: We confirm that what they did, they did a tracheotomy. So she now breathes through that. That`s something that is
done, I think...
GRACE: Hi, Alan, hold on one moment.
DUKE: Yes.
GRACE: Alan, I`m just tracking down the attorney for Nick Gordon, the fiance, at the airport. We`ve got him at the airport right now.
Randy Kessler is joining me. Kessler, thank you so much for joining us. I know you`re about to step on a plane. Let me rapid-fire some questions at
you very quickly. What is this about your client, Nick Gordon, hawking T- shirts of Bobbi Kristina?
RANDY KESSLER, ATTORNEY FOR NICK GORDON (via telephone): I don`t know anything about that. I know nothing about that and...
GRACE: OK. Well, Randy -- Randy, you know what? We practiced in the same jurisdiction. So let me advise you, find out about it because that`s not a
good look for your guy to be hawking Bobbi Kristina T-shirts on line. OK, next, what can you tell me about Bobbi Kristina`s father, Bobby Brown,
disturbed that Nick Gordon won`t give him, Bobby Brown, a statement about what happened to Bobbi Kristina?
KESSLER: Well, first of all, Joe Hibachi (ph) is the criminal defense lawyer, and he`s doing a good job making sure that nothing is said unless
it`s to the right people, right? And -- so I can`t comment on the criminal issues, but our client has offered to meet with Bobby Brown and he would
like to meet with him and discuss the situation. And hopefully, that will result in a visit. That`s what I`m involved for...
GRACE: What do you mean, a visit to Bobbi Kristina?
KESSLER: It`s been a month. He -- yes, that`s what he`d like to do.
GRACE: I don`t understand why he doesn`t just go to the hospital and go visit her.
KESSLER: You know, there are rules about who can go. And apparently, next of kin has the right to decide that. And for now...
GRACE: OK, I understand. So you`re saying Bobby Brown and the family won`t let Nick Gordon visit her. OK. Randy Kessler, once and for all, was
your client ever married to Bobbi Kristina?
KESSLER: That`s something we`re looking into, but I can`t comment at this time, and I wish I could.
GRACE: OK, Randy, that answer to me says volumes because it`s like being a little bit pregnant. Either you are or you`re not. And if you don`t know,
as you put foot on that plane tonight, that your client was ever married to Bobbi Kristina, then I`m going to put money on no, they were not married.
All right, what can you tell me -- I hate to fire the questions at you so rapidly, Randy...
KESSLER: That`s OK.
GRACE: ... but I want to get you before you take off. What can you tell me about a police search warrant for drugs, controlled substances, in the
home your client, Nick Gordon, shared with Bobbi Kristina, the home belonging to Whitney Houston?
KESSLER: Again, that`s Joe Hibachi`s area. He is the criminal defense lawyer handling that. I don`t know about it. My role is to facilitate an
opportunity for Nick Gordon to be able to see Bobbi Kristina and be with her.
GRACE: OK, with me is Randy Kessler, lawyer for Nick Gordon. And I can tell you something. He`s a veteran trial lawyer. I know he didn`t tell us
a lot tonight about what`s going on with his client, Nick Gordon. And I guarantee you there`s a reason for that.
Let me go out to Candace Trunzo, senior news editor, Dailymail.com. Candace, thank you for being with us. We also find out that Nick Gordon
had issued a TRO stopping police from looking at surveillance. Apparently, they had -- it`s like a nannycam, surveillance in the home, around the
home. Why did he not want police to see who was coming in and out of his home and what was happening around the time Bobbi Kristina went underwater
in that bathtub?
CANDACE TRUNZO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): Well, it`s a mystery right now as to what was on -- what exactly was on that footage, Nancy. However,
when the police issued the search warrant, the crime they alleged was possession of controlled substances. Nick put out a restraining order
against the company, Nest (ph), that he used to video and surveil the house. But later, he decided that he would pull that restraining order and
let them do whatever they were going to do, look over all that footage and see what comes of it. And the reason he did that is so the whole
investigation could continue.
GRACE: Right. Everyone, what we are understanding is that at some point, Nick Gordon, the so called fiance, tries to stop police pursuit of search
warrant for getting ahold of their surveillance footage of their condo. This is the condo that Bobbi Kristina shares with Nick Gordon, the home of
Whitney Houston. Why?
I`m being joined right now by a special guest, Dr. Wei Xiong, neurologist, joining me at the UH Case Medical Center. Dr. Xiong, thank you so much for
being us. I want to talk to you first and forecast tonight about what we`re learning about Bobbi Kristina`s medical condition.
We understand that she had been taken off of a breathing apparatus and a surgical -- not done in her room, this is surgery -- tracheotomy was
performed on her neck. And it`s also my understanding that a tracheotomy of this nature could prevent Bobbi Kristina, who is a singer like her
mother -- let`s see that footage, Liz, of Bobbi Kristina singing -- from ever speaking again normally.
DR. WEI XIONG, NEUROLOGIST: Well, a tracheostomy wouldn`t necessarily prevent you from speaking again normally. In fact, there`s even devices
that you can use while you`re -- while you have a tracheostomy in place to allow you to speak. And it doesn`t necessarily also mean that she is off
of the ventilator...
GRACE: Well, hold on...
XIONG: ... the fact that she has a tracheostomy.
GRACE: Let me ask you something right there -- Dr. Wei Xiong joining us. When you say you can speak with a device -- everybody, you are seeing Bobbi
Kristina singing, off her Twitter account.
When you say she can speak with a trach, with a device, a trach device, that`s not normally. Doesn`t that come out like -- I mean, Bobbi Kristina
is a singer like her mother, that we`re seeing right there. One of those devices is not -- you don`t get a normal voice. It`s kind of like an
electric -- a robotic voice.
XIONG: It`s not quite robotic voice, but it`s certainly not a normal voice. But you know, believe it or not, you can actually be fairly
intelligible even with a tracheotomy in place.
GRACE: That`s Whitney Houston`s "I Have Nothing" from Arista Records. Houston`s only child, Bobbi Kristina, fighting for her life at an Atlanta
hospital after found face down in the tub.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just heard one of the girls scream (INAUDIBLE) like (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A source close to the family of Bobbi Kristina Brown says doctors treating her started to take her off some medications, but
have put her back on them because she began having seizures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 21-year-old female in the bathtub face down. PD`s en route.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mystery injuries, unexplained injuries -- does it possibly suggest that there was foul play here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we learn that, again, Bobbi Kristina has -- they`ve tried to take her out of her medically induced coma. She has violent seizures.
A surgical tracheotomy was performed on Bobbi Kristina. Apparently, the breathing machine has been put in the trach. It`s an opening directly into
the airway that may prevent her forever from speaking, much less singing normally again.
We also learn tonight -- and Clark Goldband joining me. We learned this from a meticulous reading of the legal documents because when Nick Gordon,
the fiance, opposed police getting his surveillance camera from inside and outside the family home -- let`s see inside that home, Liz -- the nannycam,
essentially, inside and outside -- police wanted the video.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes, that`s right, Nancy. They wanted the video from inside that home. And we`ve just
obtained, Nancy -- the actual title of this is "Petition for a temporary restraining order or injunction." And why this document is important --
when you comb through it, the attorney representing Nick Gordon in this case is making a case why that surveillance camera should not be obtained
by law enforcement.
And when you scroll down the list, there`s 1, 2, 3, 4 -- you get to number 7, reason number 7, and that says there is an insufficient link between the
crime alleged in the search warrant specifically, quote, unquote, "possession of a controlled substance."
GRACE: Exactly.
GOLDBAND: So Nancy, for the first time from this document filed by Nick Gordon`s attorney, we`re learning there was a warrant for a possession of a
controlled substance.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight out of Miami Andell Brown, and out of LA, Areva Martin. All right, Areva Martin, why would Nick
Gordon try to stop police from looking at surveillance cameras in and around the home?
AREVA MARTIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the claim that Nick Gordon`s attorney is that that search warrant was overly broad and that there has
been no connection between any possession of drugs or drugs in that home to what happened to Bobbi Kristina.
Look, this is all about trying to figure out what happened to this young girl. And Nick`s attorney is saying nothing that Nick did or nothing in
that home is related to her, Bobbi Kristina, being in that bathtub.
GRACE: OK, Andell Brown, if, for instance, police were pursuing a theory of foul play, wouldn`t it be important to see who may have entered into
that home? We know that Nick Gordon has told other people he was at a gym all morning, away from the home. He comes back. The cable guy is there.
They call up to Bobbi Kristina. She doesn`t answer. The friend, Nick (sic) Lomas, goes and finds her face down in a tub.
Wouldn`t it be important to see who may or may not have gone into that home while he, Nick Gordon, is at the gym? Why would her fiance want to stop
police from getting that video? What does he not want police to see? Why did he file that TRO?
ANDELL BROWN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy let`s start with the 4th and 5th Amendment and the fact that he has an expectation of privacy in his
home. What goes on in someone`s home is private, and law enforcement does not have the right to see it unless they have a good legal basis. If
there`s no strong connection...
GRACE: Put him up, please.
BROWN: ... between what they`re looking for and what they`re asking for, he doesn`t have an obligation to turn that over. Now, if it was for the
limited purpose of seeing who`s going in and going out, then that`s one thing. But when they want all the footage of someone`s private home, then
they`re violating the 4th Amendment.
GRACE: OK, let me remind you of something, Andell Brown.
BROWN: Besides that fact...
GRACE: The reason they wanted the video, according to the search warrant, is because of a search for drugs, controlled substances, in the home. And
if they are claiming that they didn`t have anything to do with any drugs police were looking for, then maybe this video could have shown who maybe
put the drugs in the home, if they existed.
You`re seeing video of Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina singing on ABC`s "GMA." Here`s mother and daughter singing together. That`s Whitney
Houston`s "I Want to Dance With Somebody," Arista Regards, Houston`s only child, Bobbi Kristina, fighting for her life, Emory Hospital, Bobbi
Kristina found face down in a bathtub.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did Bobbi Kristina end up in that tub upside down?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Nick`s tweet as a very guilt-ridden tweet trying to point the finger at Bobby Brown...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) everything you can think of, and they`ve been fighting, banging, screaming. We just heard one of the girls scream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we learn updates on Bobbi Kristina`s condition in the hospital, this is as apparent feuding breaks out between Nick Gordon, the
fiance, and the father, Bobby Brown.
Alan Duke, Radaronline.com national correspondent, what do we know about that?
DUKE: Oh, it`s pretty brutal. I mean, Nick Gordon is on Twitter, and everybody`s reading him calling Bobby a bad dad who wasn`t involved in his
daughter`s life and calling himself the hero, someone who saved Bobbi Kristina from dying by doing CPR while he waited 15 minutes for paramedics
there.
So Nick Gordon is burning bridges, creating bad blood with all the members of the Brown family, those very ones who could allow him access to her
bedside.
GRACE: Now, what we have learned is that in the end, Gordon withdraws the TRO.
I want to go back to Dr. Wei Xiong, neurologist joining me from Case Medical. Dr. Xiong, regarding her medical condition -- now, you are
telling me -- and I`m sure singing or speaking normally is way down on the list for Bobbi Kristina`s family right now. They want her to just come out
of the coma, stop seizures, be awake again, have normal brain function, all right? That`s their main concern, I`m sure.
But you say that after a tracheotomy, you can speak, but I don`t understand that it`s normally. You speak through one of the gadgets that are for
trach patients. Also, why would they take the breathing apparatus off her mouth and nose and open up a hole in her throat for her to breathe through?
XIONG: Yes, so in somebody who`s been on a ventilator for a long period of time, more than a couple weeks, we generally convert that tube that goes
through the throat into one that goes into the neck. It lessens the complications that are associated with having a tube, such as infections
and things like that. So it`s a pretty routine thing do in somebody who needs to be on a ventilator for a long period of time.
GRACE: What does it mean to you -- there you hear Bobbi Kristina singing, off her Twitter account -- this trach will likely mean likely she`ll never
be able to speak or sing normally again. But still, the choice of being off the ventilator and being -- and seizures is the alternative.
Let me ask you this, Doctor. Why does she go into seizures when she was taken off, out of the medically induced coma?
XIONG: Right. So the same medications that are used to induce coma also would suppress seizures, if there was a propensity for underlying seizures.
And given the injury to her brain from the cardiac arrest, that is something that we common see, that is the symptom of seizures. And so it`s
the -- you know, the reason that she went into seizures is because these medications were taken off.
GRACE: That`s Whitney`s "I Will Always Love You," Arista Records, Whitney`s only child, Bobbi Kristina, fighting for her life after being
found face down in a tub.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Nancy, congratulations on your 10-year anniversary. You are amazing, amazing TV personality. Thank you for
having me and being a great friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Nancy. Happy 10-year anniversary for being on air. I just love your energy and I love how many funny you are. I love
how serious you are. I love your passion and I hope you keep doing this for many years to come. Peace out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for what you do, everything you do for your viewers and for us as colleagues. Congratulations. Here`s to many more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live Connecticut suburbs. A 37-year-old married English teacher, the mother of two, tonight denies sending sexy thong selfies to two boy
students, having sex with one of the boys in the classroom and allegedly threatening one of the boys if that boy student does not go along with her
sexy plans, he`ll, quote, "never play football again."
I think it`s time for a "Hail Mary."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Madison English and language arts teacher, Allison Marchese, is now charged with sexually assaulting a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was charged with one count of sexual assault in the second degree and one count of impairing the morals of the minor.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say the male student who`s described as at least 16 attended Daniel Hand High School, the very same school where the
37-year-old worked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sorry for everybody involved because these are - - well, you know. They`re terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A 37-year-old mother. OK. I had not seen the selfie yet. I`m glad that you blurred the bottom part, Liz. Thank you. OK. I don`t want
to redistribute that.
Everybody, you are seeing what a 37 -- there`s a lot more. What a 37-year- old English teacher, a mother of two, sends to two boy students, that we know of, accused of performing oral sex and other sex acts in the classroom
during school hours.
And apparently threatening that if one boy student didn`t go along with her plans he would, quote, "never play football again," intimating her father
had ties to the mob.
OK. Straight out to Esteban Hernandez with the "New Haven Register."
Liz, can you pull me up some of those tears we found in the police affidavit. OK.
"Miss Marchese sent an Instagram message telling him to come to her room. Once in the room they got into each other`s personal space and started to,
quote, `hooked up.` Kissing each, other and she started touching him downtown. Reportedly says it was not safe. Locked the classroom door.
Closed the blinds. Then the teacher returns to juvenile victim one. Kissing. Performed oral sex on him. Reportedly tells the boys her father
was an abusive man. Spent time in jail. Contacts with the mafia.`
Really? In New Haven? OK.
"Would tell his boys in New York and juvenile one would never play football again. Victim two states as the year went on she`d call him on his free
periods and lunch to come to her room and talk." Right. "At the end of the year she started telling him that she had feelings for him. He stated
she became very forward and wrote things that would make him -- that she could not concentrate in class because he was so good looking and couldn`t
sleep at night because she`s thinking about him."
Wonder what her husband thought about that. "He thought the messages were weird. They were sexual hints, flirty." OK. You know what, this can go
on forever. Let me go back to the reporter, Esteban Hernandez, "New Haven Register."
OK. What can you tell me? She`s denying all this but wouldn`t it be fairly easy to prove through technology that she did send the selfies?
ESTEBAN HERNANDEZ, REPORTER, NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Well, I really can`t comment on that all, I know is that according to the arrest affidavit of
the profile on Instagram where the photos were sent had the same name as her profile. And she confirmed to police that the woman in those photos
that were obtained by one of the victims, the 17-year-old victim. She confirmed that that was her in the photos. But she told police that she
had no idea how that student had gotten a hold of those two photos.
GRACE: Well, you know what? I understand what you`re saying, Esteban Hernandez.
Let`s go to telecommunications expert, Ben Levitan, and also joining me, special guest lawyer for one of the boys, Steven Errante.
Ben, look, I`m just a lawyer. You`re the telecommunications expert. But from what I know wouldn`t it be pretty easy to show that the married
teacher and mother of two sent these little selfies to little boys, to boy students?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Nancy, this is very easy. There`s two sets of records that`s going to be this teacher`s records of her phone
sending those messages. The cell phone companies, they keep records of who you contacted for -- period of about a year. But the content is only kept
about five days.
It appears that the police got to the phone company in time to actually get the content of these messages.
GRACE: Well, hold on. Let me ask you another question, Ben.
LEVITAN: This is hard to lie about. This is very hard to lie about.
GRACE: Could they trace the photos through the boy`s phones? If they were erased off her phone?
LEVITAN: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely, because remember when you call someone, two records are created. One for the sender, one for the
receiver. The boys` phone will have a record that he got an incoming message and it will identify clearly whose phone that came from. There`s
no doubt here and especially the police acted so quickly.
GRACE: OK. OK. Ben Levitan, don`t move because we`re all just lawyers and psychiatrists. We need you on this.
Let`s go to Steven Errante, the lawyer for one of the boy students. Steven joining me out of New Haven.
Steven, thank you for being with us. Forget about the selfies just for a moment because the selfies are really the tip of the iceberg. Highly
inappropriate. Open a possibility of charges on a slew of related charges to minors. But let me ask you about the actual sex conduct.
What`s that? What is the allegation on that?
STEVEN ERRANTE, LAWYER OF THE VICTIM: The alleged sex conduct is the oral sex that you spoke about and there is allegedly a tape recording made by
the teacher`s husband where she confesses and admits to the act. So he`s recorded that and apparently the prosecutor has that. So that --
GRACE: Now wait a minute, Steven. Steven.
ERRANTE: Yes.
GRACE: Is there any way -- I don`t know specifically in New Haven, Connecticut, if they`ve got this caveat in the law with a husband-wife
privilege, anything that you say or reveal in any way or communicate in any way to your spouse can be suppressed at trial.
Now in a lot of jurisdictions if any child abuse or molestation is involved that caveat is out the window. So because the husband actually gets her
admitting on tape, can it be used in the court of law in Connecticut?
ERRANTE: Yes, it can be. So, and it will be I`m sure. You know, whether or not she`s going to come up with some explanation as to, it didn`t mean -
- she didn`t mean what she said. But according to the -- what`s been in the prosecutor`s file allegedly she`s admitted to the sex act. And I think
that means she`s going to end up serving at least a mandatory minimum.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Debra Lafave pleaded guilty after being charged with having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old student. Mary Kay
Letourneau was convicted of second degree child rape after beginning an affair with a 12-year-old. Pamela Rogers Turner pleaded no contest to
sexual battery of a 13-year-old. Brittni Colleps was convicted of having sex with five students. Carrie McCandless pleaded guilty to fondling a 17-
year-old student during a camping trip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, you`d think that they would learn not to send naked selfies to underage students, to their boy students. Apparently no.
With me Esteban Hernandez with the "New Haven Register." Also with me Steven Errante, attorney for one of the boy student victims.
Steven, how did the whole thing unfold with your client?
ERRANTE: She clearly groomed him from earlier in the semester. He had had a personal family tragedy and had an injury, which prevented him from
playing high school football. So he`s having some problems and she actually runs a conditioning course for the athletes at Hand High School in
some scanty of outfits from what I heard. And so she targeted him early in the semester and talked to that -- talked him about his problems, what had
happened to his family.
And befriended him and eventually accelerated the messages and changed the content of the relationship from teacher-student to a friend-student to
then something else where she became a predator and really lured him into a sexual liaison, I won`t call it relationship that last that long. And
there of course rumors that they were other students before him which we`re looking into.
GRACE: How is it, do you think, Steven Errante, that the husband -- her husband was persuaded to secretly tape her confessing?
ERRANTE: Well, he is also a teacher at the same school.
GRACE: OK. That`s sound to be embarrassing.
ERRANTE: And I`m sure -- very embarrassing I`m sure. And I`m surely he had heard the rumors and I think at the point he started tape recording
her, I think he was pretty sure as to what had happened. And he`s already filed for divorce. And so I think he was -- ever made it.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, another thing I want to ask you about, Steven Errante, is that -- yes, I guess so, I guess that would be putting it mildly that the
husband is aggravated. Not only is she, according to police, having sex with boy students in her class and sending these sexy selfies to them. He
works at the school. And hears all the scuttlebutt.
Question -- and this is very disturbing to me, Steven Errante. Is it alleged that she tells people her father has ties with the mafia and that
if he, your client, doesn`t go along with the plan that he`ll never play football again, suggesting that mobster, thugs, are going to come beat him
in the knees or something?
ERRANTE: That -- she clearly suggested that. Whether or not any of that is true or she just did that in hopes of keeping him in check and having
him not report this incident to the school authorities, I don`t know yet. I`m sure we`ll find out.
GRACE: I`m sure we will.
Dr. Ish Major, psychiatrist, author of "Little White Flies," when is it and how does that happen that while you`re a teacher, and you`re around
students for so long you start to -- you quit viewing them as students and begin thinking of them as potential sex partners?
DR. ISH MAJOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Yes. You know, Nancy, with this situation I don`t even know if that`s the case. What we`re talking about here is a
sexual predator. She is a child predator. And what we know about that is that there is a cycle of abuse. So my guess is if we look back into her
history and kind peel some of these layers back, I`m almost willing to bet that she`s had some previous exposure to this.
GRACE: Right now CNN Heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LILY BORN, CNN HERO: My grandfather has Parkinson`s Disease that causes him to shake. He spilled all the time. So I decided to make the Kangaroo
Cup.
I came up with the idea when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I wanted to put legs on the cup because I figured that it wouldn`t be as likely to
spill.
The original cup was made out of porcelain. We decided to make a plastic version so it can be used by anybody like little kids, people with mobility
issues.
I have a design team and they really do help me so much.
Color-wise?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BORN: Blue?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lily has sold about 11,000 cups total. Many of her classmates and teachers don`t even know what she`s doing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it`ll be like the next big thing.
BORN: I really do keep the Kangaroo Cup talk to a minimum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember reading about it online.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the word is getting around school. Like, wait, Lily? She did what? She invented this cup? Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is so cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is so cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Lily. How you doing?
BORN: Good.
My cup has changed my grandfather`s life because that`s the only cup he uses now. Like, once the Kangaroo cup came, the other cups that he used,
they were just out of the picture.
One day I want to give money from the Kangaroo Cup to Parkinson`s research and hopefully they`ll find a cure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here`s to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: And live, West Alexandria, a blazing fire burns a family home to the ground. But it`s only in the early morning hours when mommy rolls up
from a night of partying that mom of two, Chastity Hall, tells firefighters, her two little children are in that home. Malachi and Malea,
both dead while mommy out partying and getting totally drunk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have two children that we believe died in the fire.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When crews got to the 3400 Block of 35 East, the floor of the home had already collapsed. Firefighters had no idea there
might be people inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Hall was charged with two counts of felony child endangering.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think there`s should be more? Yes. Hopefully, she ends up being more because so she deserve. She left her kids home
alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me 1st Two Fire Chief Jeff Shaper with the West Alexandria Fire Department.
Chief, thank you for being with us.
JEFF SHAFER, WEST ALEXANDRIA FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: Thank you.
GRACE: Chief, I`ve handled a lot of arson cases, which are difficult because first you got to prove there was actually a crime. That it wasn`t
an accident. You were there at the scene of the fire. What did you observe, Chief Shafer?
SHAFER: Well, upon arrival, we encountered a single story residential fully involved. The fire had reached the roof and the entire roof and
floor had already collapsed.
GRACE: How long do you think it took for that to happen?
SHAFER: I`m thinking that the fire had to have a start of a good hours or so before arrival.
GRACE: Were you there, Chief Shafer, when the mom rolls in?
SHAFER: Yes. Actually, we were approved, we`re just mopping up and a car pulled in the driveway and she got out screaming that my kids were in
there. At that time, I grabbed her and looked at her and I asked her if her children were still in there. And she said, yes. So yes.
GRACE: Well, the place was already being -- did you say mopped up when the mom shows up?
SHAFER: Yes. Well, we were actually rolling hose and actually, my mutual aid crews and our crews were getting ready to return to station.
GRACE: With me is Melissa Neeley, anchor with "WLW."
Melissa, what more can you tell us?
MELISSA NEELEY, WLW ANCHOR: Well, we know that earlier that evening, Chastity Hall went to her parents` home. And it was at that time she first
left the two children a home alone. And their home was like five miles away from where she lived. And she didn`t return until 2:00 o`clock in the
morning. Then when she saw they were sleeping, she decided that she would put on her makeup and go out and party.
And then, we know that she was at two bars and she did not return home until almost 7:00 o`clock in the morning. And that is when she came home
to the devastation.
GRACE: With me, Dr. Vincent DiMaio, forensic pathologist renounced medical examiner out of San Antonio.
Dr. DiMaio, will we be able to tell if these two children died of smoke inhalation or were they burned to death?
DR. VINCENT DIMAIO, M.D., FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BEXAR COUNTY, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Most likely, they died of smoke inhalation. Because
the smoke gets to you before the fire. They`ll do an analysis of the blood for carbon monoxide and examine the lungs for soot.
GRACE: And Robert Rowe, how would be able to tell if it was arson or if it was -- the fire started innocently?
ROBERT ROWE, FIRE EXPERT: Well, you know, I conduct interviews with the occupants -- not the occupants but family and neighbors will be key -- a
key factor in the determination as to the cause of the fire, whether it`s accidental or arson.
GRACE: Chief Shafer, could you tell that the mom smell like alcohol?
SHAFER: I actually, at that point, Nancy, I was -- my focus was entirely on the children. I -- my medic crews did observe or smell alcohol on her
breath.
GRACE: Chief Shafer, I feel just so, so bad for the children and for your firefighters.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Captain Jason Hamill, 31, Salem, Connecticut. Studied engineering, UConn, loved renovating his
home. Was one of a set of triplets. Parents Richard and Sharon, three siblings, widow Karen.
Jason Hamill, American Hero.
A special good night from friends Ruth, Wendy and Sharon. Aren`t they beautiful?
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern.
Until then, good night, friend.
END
