Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Mom Superimposes Dead Toddler on Family Portrait; Cop Covered in Blood When Wife Found Dead; Cops: Perp Watched Family Go to Sleep, Kidnaps 1-Year-Old Indiana Girl; News Anchor`s Desperate Plea to Keep Predator in Prison. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired March 31, 2016 - 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. A heartbroken mom poses for Photoshopped images with her dead tot girl superimposed, appearing as an
angel beside the dead tot girl`s grave. But tonight, suspicion turns on the grieving 23-year-old mom, suspicion of murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ICU at the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two-year-old child was found covered in bruises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are very serious injuries. Cause of death was listed as homicide. Whoever is responsible, we`re going to hold them
accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charged in the death of her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Accused of murder in the beating death of 2-year-old daughter Macy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Verdict tonight, young mom Ashley (INAUDIBLE) death the early morning hours of New Year`s Eve immediately ruled a suicide, open and shut,
even though her cop husband covered, drenched in his wife`s blood there at the scene. Official cause of death remains suicide until now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ashley Falis (ph), mother of three, shot dead. Her husband calls 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife (INAUDIBLE) (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He proceeded to say, I shot my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard him screaming, I can`t believe I shot her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live, Spencer (ph) suburbs, a 15-month-old little girl kidnapped. Breaking now. Did an alleged perp watch the family go to sleep, then
secretly kidnap 1-year-old Shaylyn (ph) from her crib and murder her?
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. A heartbroken mother poses for Photoshopped images superimposing her dead tot girl, appearing as an angel at the dead tot`s
grave with the mommy, reading to her out in the cemetery with the child on a blanket as if she`s looking up at Mommy lovingly. But tonight, suspicion
turns on that grieving 23-year-old mother, suspicion of murder.
First, I want to go into these Photoshopped images, superimposing at a time of grief. Right after your child has died of an accident in your own home,
Mommy goes and has portraits made of herself all dolled up, her hair done, dramatic makeup, beautiful outfits, changes in wardrobe, OK, during photo
session.
This is after her little girl dies of an accident in the home, and Mommy`s basically taking beautiful portraits of herself and then superimposing her
little girl onto the portraits.
Unleash the lawyers, Richard Herman and Parag Shah. First to Richard Herman, defense attorney in Las Vegas. Richard, the baby has just been
buried, and instead of mourning her death, Mommy is having glamour shots taken of herself and then superimposing the baby on them. That doesn`t
bother you?
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It doesn`t bother me because there`s no criminal rule...
GRACE: OK.
HERMAN: ... against grieving. You can grieve any way you want, Nancy. Come on. This is not the case. This won`t be admissible.
GRACE: Why do you always say that?
HERMAN: It has nothing to do with the case.
GRACE: OK. All right. Parag Shah, I know you`re chomping (sic) at the bit, but hold on. We are just now being joined by Sunny Jo, who actually
created these keepsake photos of Macy Grace Ditty, the owner of Sunny Jo`s Photography.
You know what, Sunny Jo? I`m fine with dealing with grief however you want to. I`m fine with going through photos. I`m fine with superimposements
like this, Photoshopping.
Put him up, please. Put up Sunny Jo.
What I`m not fine with is Mommy changing her story to her glamour shot photographer. That would be you. So Sunny Jo, I`m going go into what a
great photographer you are in just a moment. But what I really want to hone into -- onto are her different stories. What happened to the baby?
And you`ve got one of those stories. What did Mommy tell you happened to Macy?
SUNNY JO, CREATED KEEPSAKE PHOTOS OF MACY DITTY: Well, Jeanie came to me, and she told me...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You`re on a first-name basis? Are you friends?
JO: No. No. We`re not friends whatsoever. She came to me through my business Facebook page.
[20:05:00]GRACE: OK.
JO: She found that I do this service with the photos, and she messaged me, asking me if I could do these photos for her. I agreed to...
GRACE: Now, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Did she come up with the idea of Photoshopping the dead baby onto her glamour shots?
JO: Yes. That`s exactly what she wanted.
GRACE: That was her idea?
JO: Yes.
GRACE: You did not put that in her head?
JO: No, I did not put that into her head whatsoever. This is a service that I offer, but she came to me asking for it.
GRACE: OK. So she calls you. You know what? Hold on. Hold on that photo just a moment. Sunny Jo photographer has provided this to us.
Look at the little girl looking up to Mommy. Now, if police are right, Mommy either beat this child dead or stood by and let it happen. And she`s
got the baby looking up at her lovingly, as she`s looking lovingly at her child. They`re out in a green field reading together. That`s a cemetery!
OK, Sunny Jo, what did she tell you happened to the baby? First of all, did you ask her, or did she volunteer it?
JO: I asked her. I said, My condolences. And if you don`t mind me asking, how did the child pass away? And she said that the child had a
stomachache and it could have been a stomach virus, so she gave the child a banana which made the child choke and...
GRACE: Wa-wa-wa-wait! Let me write this down, Sunny Jo. The child had a stomachache.
JO: Yes.
GRACE: She gave her a banana? Did (INAUDIBLE)
JO: Yes.
GRACE: Gave her a banana. OK, what happened then, according to Mommy?
JO: And then that caused the baby to choke.
GRACE: Choke on the banana.
JO: And she vomited, which made her choke on the vomit.
GRACE: Choke on a banana, which is extremely squishy. I`ve never heard anybody choke on a banana. But go ahead. The baby vomits.
JO: And then she eventually heard gargling noises.
GRACE: She heard gargling noises. The baby`s throwing up but she`s not with the baby?
JO: That`s -- and then her and her boyfriend walked into the room.
GRACE: Yes, goes in the room.
JO: And the baby lost oxygen to the brain and then she said the baby went on life support.
GRACE: OK. That`s kind of a fast forward from throwing up to being on life support.
Unleash the lawyers, Richard Herman joining me out of Vegas, Parag Shah out of Atlanta.
Did you notice a little bit missing in that scenario? The baby vomits. Suddenly, she`s dead, on life support and dies from choking on a banana.
Did you hear that?
PARAG SHAH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, I heard it. But you know, this is why we have trial and evidence and testimony.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You two were all happy when I`m talking about Mommy Photoshopping the baby into her own glamour shots, even having a change of wardrobe and
professional makeup for her portrait.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... and you`re all laughing. But now you`re hearing she says the baby dies because she chokes on a banana.
SHAH: No, no, no, no, no, no. He said...
GRACE: Yes, she...
(CROSSTALK)
SHAH: ... that she choked on the banana, vomiting. But then there`s a whole set of facts that we still don`t know about yet, and...
GRACE: That`s what her story is, Parag!
(CROSSTALK)
SHAH: ... that`s the cause of what happened.
GRACE: OK, let`s ask Sunny Jo. Sunny Jo, is that what she said happened to the baby?
JO: That is exactly what she told me word for word what happened to the baby.
GRACE: She chokes on a banana and dies.
JO: Yes, that`s what she told me what happened.
GRACE: And I guess at the time -- did that strike you as odd?
JO: It didn`t because I felt that it was a grieving mother. I can`t believe...
GRACE: OK.
JO: ... that a mother would do that to her child, so I didn`t see any red flags. But right now, it does, absolutely.
I want to go to two special guests joining us, in addition to Chris Spargo, Dailymail.com and Matt Zarrell. With me is Michelle Serfass Smith. This
is the aunt of little Macy Grace. Also with me, the grandmother joining me who helped raise Macy. This is Tina Goodwin joining me out of Enterprise
(ph).
To both of you ladies, thank you for being with us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for having us.
GRACE: You know, I want to go back and look at something. Now, I always say, when you don`t know a horse, look at the track record, OK? You ever
heard that? Isn`t it true -- and I`m going to throw this to you first, Ms. Smith...
SMITH: Sure.
GRACE: ... that the mom, Jeanie Ditty, had the baby. She has the baby for about six months, and suddenly, apparently, gets bored. She tells
everybody she`s so tired, that she has thyroid problems, and she`s got to deal with that. She can`t take care of the baby. Now, her husband...
SMITH: Nancy, that...
GRACE: Her husband is overseas, and I guess in the Emirates, right? So he`s gone. But what really happens is she`s met a gym rat boyfriend at a
gym, works out constantly. She meets this guy, and they`re having fertility treatments.
SMITH: Yes. Jeanie started allowing Macy to leave home for long periods of time once Macy was about 6 months old. This was before the boyfriend.
She was still married. She would fight with her husband to come home so she could go to the gym and he could be a responsible father and watch
Macy.
[20:10:15]And from that -- from 6 months -- from Macy`s 6 months point on, Tina and I had that baby quite a bit, whether we were in North Carolina,
whether Macy was here in Pennsylvania or Macy was in Alabama. She always made it sound like it was for the benefit of us.
GRACE: You mean like, Oh, I know you want to spend time with the baby?
SMITH: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.
GRACE: OK. So It didn`t bother her to be in another state? You say you`d take the baby to North Carolina? Where was the mommy?
SMITH: The mom was in North Carolina (INAUDIBLE) Macy (INAUDIBLE) and when...
GRACE: OK. You had Macy where? Where was Macy?
SMITH: Pennsylvania.
GRACE: All right, let me go to the grandmother. With me also, in addition to Michelle, is Tina, Tina Goodwin. Thank you for being with us. I really
appreciate it because these facts don`t fit together for me.
You know, forget the glamour shots where you`ve got wardrobe changes and professional makeup a couple of days after your baby dies. That`s a whole
`nother can of worms.
Let`s talk about -- after 6 months of the baby, she`s out of there. She says she`s got a thyroid illness and she`s too exhausted to take care of
the baby. She shuttles the baby off on you and the aunt.
But that`s not true. She`s actually met a new lover and she`s having fertility treatments. That`s the deal.
TINA GOODWIN, MACY`S GRANDMOTHER: She (INAUDIBLE) but she was at weight- lifting competitions with Mr. Keefer, and I couldn`t see these on Facebook. And she was feeding me the line that she was sick and she was off of duty
with the Army because she was so sick to go to work. I find out she`s infertile and she`s going to a fertility doctor.
GRACE: You know, Joe Scott Morgan, all of this is what I call behavioral evidence. With me, Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator,
professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, thank you for being with me.
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Thanks for having me.
GRACE: All of this is what we call -- or I call behavioral evidence. It`s circumstantial evidence that a jury can either accept or reject. But I
want to talk to you about the injuries, the lacerated liver, the bruises from head to foot, and according to our guest tonight, we have learned four
bleeds to the brain.
What kind of accident would result in all of that?
MORGAN: Well, I can tell you this, choking on a banana does not create a lacerated liver, Nancy. I don`t know if the audience has any idea as to
what kind of force it takes to lacerate a liver. We`re talking about kicked, struck with a baseball bat or maybe even in a motor vehicle
accident. This requires a tremendous amount of force.
Child had bruises all over the body. And from what I`m understanding, they were different ages. This implies that these injuries have taken place not
just at one point in time, but over a long period of time. This is one of the things we look for at the forensic autopsy, to age these bruises.
And this goes to paint this big narrative. Child`s also got closed head injuries. How do you explain that? Choking on a banana? I don`t think
so. I`m not buying it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:17:36]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeanie (INAUDIBLE) arrested with her boyfriend, Zachary Keefer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These very injuries, they are not injuries from natural causes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two accused of murder in the beating death of Ditty`s 2-year-old daughter, Macy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knowing that she used me and she used this to possibly make herself seem innocent -- that`s the -- that`s the worst feeling in the
world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. Tonight, a mom superimposes photos, holograms of her dead baby into her own glamour shots, this just days after the baby is
pronounced dead. Her story is changing rapidly and vastly.
I want to go out to Michelle Surfass Smith, the aunt of little Macy, and also to Tina Goodwin, the grandmother. First to you. Another thing that`s
very disturbing, Michelle Smith, is that this is about "Frozen," the movie "Frozen." I have an 8-year-old girl, loves "Frozen." She`s still in love
with "Frozen." And here`s a Facebook post we`re showing by the mother, Jeanie Ditty.
What is in the Facebook posting, Michelle?
SMITH: Well, which post? There`s been several.
GRACE: About the "Frozen" memorabilia.
SMITH: Oh, she`s had it for sale on Ft. Bragg yard sale. She -- this was not long after Macy -- I think it was posted the 23rd of December, and that
would have been two days after Macy died. And she said that she was selling this stuff because she needed to pay for Macy`s funeral, and Macy`s
father paid for that.
GRACE: And isn`t it true there was a GoFundMe account created for the mom?
SMITH: Yes. Yes.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Richard Herman, Vegas, Parag Shah, Atlanta. Let me see Herman. Herman, the baby`s been dead 48 hours, and Mommy has
her "Frozen" stuff, her bedspread, the dolls, all that, for sale at a yard sale.
HERMAN: OK, Nancy. First of all...
GRACE: What?
HERMAN: ... this is a servicewoman stationed at Ft. Bragg. We should thank her for her service, for starters.
[20:20:00]Secondly, let`s look at the timeframe and the facts and the forensic autopsy here. There were bruises. She was alive in the hospital,
and there were new bruises admitted to her in the hospital.
GRACE: Yes, because she...
HERMAN: There was a serious question as to the cause of death here, very serious question.
GRACE: You know, what? Not according to the medical examiner. She died of a lacerated liver and four bleeds to the brain. And yes, maybe she did
get a bruise on her arm when they were trying to keep her alive and put in an intravenous feeding, maybe. But that certainly...
HERMAN: Spoken like a prosecutor.
GRACE: ... does not explain away all the bruises, literally from her head all the way down her legs and arms, stomach. No. You don`t get those from
being in the hospital, Richard Herman. You should know that.
And to you, Parag Shah, Richard Herman very adroitly danced away from my question. I`m talking about the mom, 48 hours after her baby is pronounced
dead, selling her stuff at a yard sale!
SHAH: She said she needed it for funeral expenses.
GRACE: But that`s not true. The husband -- her husband, not her boyfriend, the gym rat.
SHAH: Well, who knows...
GRACE: Her husband. She`s still -- they`re both still married.
SHAH: Look, she...
GRACE: OK? Not judging that. Don`t care about that, but...
SHAH: It doesn`t matter that she tried to sell it!
GRACE: Well, it may not to you.
SHAH: Who cares?
GRACE: You know what?
SHAH: It doesn`t matter...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Let`s go to the shrink. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober is with us, Dr. Bober joining me out of New York. Dr. Bober, now, the defense
attorneys would have us believe that means absolutely nothing. Yes, I don`t buy that. I think it`ll mean something to a jury that 48 hours after
her baby is pronounced dead, she`s selling the baby`s stuff at a yard sale?
DR. DANIEL BOBER, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: Nancy, you know, there`s no road map to grief.
GRACE: Oh, good gravy! You know what? You`ve got to come up with a different line...
(CROSSTALK)
BOBER: There`s two interpretations. Either this woman is a cold-blooded sociopath, like what you`re saying, or she is doing everything she can to
deal with the guilt or the grief or the loss of what happened.
One would speculate, why would she be doing -- why would she be selling things on Facebook 48 hours, because probably, she would think that that
would make her look guilty? So it`s difficult to know what`s going on in her mind. She`s either incredibly guilty and grief-stricken or she is an
ice-cold killer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:26:25] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mom and her boyfriend face a possible death sentence after the mom`s 2-year-old child was found covered in
bruises, causing her death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think you`re doing on my nightstand? You`re bad!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After an investigation, the medical examiner determined the manner of death to be homicide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Now a set of portraits, glamour shots of Mommy, have raised a red flag. Mommy gets professional makeup and hair, decks out in changes of
wardrobe. She has these portraits done, then asks the photographer to superimpose, Photoshop, pictures of her dead baby. Did Mommy kill the
baby, then have these portraits made?
Joining me, Tina Goodwin and Michelle Smith. First, though, to you, Chris Spargo, reporter, Dailymail.com. Chris, the portraits could be argued many
different ways. It`s going to be argued they mean absolutely nothing. But what about her changing stories? The story she told to the photographer,
Sunny Jo, is just one of several stories, right?
CHRIS SPARGO, DAILYMAIL.COM (via telephone): That is correct. As we just heard, yet another new story from Sunny that she had told him that the baby
choked on a banana and that`s why it was sick. She told another family member, an aunt, that the baby had had some pop tart and juice and started
choking and throwing up, and that`s what happened. She had told the grandmother of her former husband that she had been throwing up and had
diarrhea, and they went to a walk-in and had a GI. Baby was going to be fine. And that`s after being semi-vulgar to the grandmother.
And then she told the cops a completely other story, that the baby wasn`t feeling well, she called over her boyfriend, who`s a paramedic. He said
the baby was fine. Thirty minutes later, the baby starts making these weird noises. They take the baby to the hospital and then the baby passes
away.
GRACE: OK, there`s three stories right there. And forget about the banana story. I mean, don`t you know -- I guess that`s why we have the 5th
Amendment, Richard Herman, because all of that yakking is going to come back to haunt her.
And don`t you know investigators are going to go to every doc-in-a-box and Med First (ph) and whatever they`re all called to see, did she go to any of
them? Did she have this GI series test done? That`s going to be another lie, if she didn`t.
HERMAN: Absolutely, Nancy. And some of these stories could be taken out of context and they could be bits and pieces of a total conversation.
GRACE: Right, taken out of context.
HERMAN: And maybe people misunderstood her.
GRACE: Really?
HERMAN: There`s a host of great cross-examination...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: When your child dies, Richard...
HERMAN: That`s not going to do it.
GRACE: ... you remember if you fed him a pop tart or a banana.
HERMAN: She may have done all that.
GRACE: You remember if the baby...
HERMAN: She may have done all of that.
GRACE: ... had diarrhea or if you went to the doc-in-a-box.
HERMAN: It may have -- all of that...
GRACE: You know what?
HERMAN: Nancy, all of that...
GRACE: Hold on.
HERMAN: ... may have happened within a week period of time before! All of it may have happened!
GRACE: Well, that`s certainly one theory she might utilize. Joining me, as you know, the grandmother and the aunt of this little girl.
To Tina Goodwin, the grandmother. What can you tell us about the mom, how the little girl, Macy Grace, did not want to go for that visit, wouldn`t
call her Mommy. What happened?
GOODWIN: Yes, ma`am. The three months that I had Macy Grace with me in Alabama, Macy did not want to face-time (ph) her mother. She called her
Jeanie. She didn`t call her Mom. She would cry if I even mentioned, Mommy`s going to face-time you. And the two times that she did face-time
that child, she yelled at her and told her to sit in the corner.
[20:30:00] So I started lying to her, telling her that my grandbaby was asleep because I wasn`t going to put my grandbaby through that anymore.
GRACE: What was the baby`s reaction when she had to tear away from people that loved her and go to Mommy that day?
GOODWIN: What was her reaction? That wasn`t my grandbaby. She sat there with her hands folded and not a word out of her mouth, and I couldn`t do
anything about it. I was told I had to take this baby home to that woman that beat my baby.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Verdict tonight. Young mom Ashley Fallis` death, the early morning hours of New Year`s Eve, immediately ruled a suicide, even though her cop
husband is covered, drenched in his wife`s blood at the scene. The official cause death remains a suicide, until now.
[20:35:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS FALLIS, COP HUSBAND OF ASHLEY FALLIS: I did not shoot my wife. I did not pull the trigger. And then I heard the freaking gun thing, and I`m
like, "What are you doing?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go straight into the courtroom for the verdict.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispensing with the caption, we the jury find the defendant, Thomas Fallis, not guilty of murder in the second and all lesser
included offenses signed by the jury foreperson. Is this your verdict so say you and so say each and every one of you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE/MALE: Yes your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may be seated.
GRACE: Outraged, the jury has returned a not guilty on Tom Fallis even though neighbors overhear him saying, "What have I done? I shot my wife. I
can`t believe she`s dead." Listen to this 911 call. Is he faking it?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911 what`s the address of your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zinfandel Street. My wife just shot herself in the head. Please help me. Please help me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, sir listen to me. I`ve got somebody else getting help on the way, okay. Where is she at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zinfandel Street. Evans Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, where is she at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help me now! Ashley, no! Ashley. Ashley. No! Ashley, no! Hey, listen to me. Hey!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is she, sir? Sir? Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No! No! Just stay here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re staying here! You`re staying here! You`re staying here! Come here. You`re staying here. You are not leaving me! You are not
leaving me! You stay the right here! Why now? You stay right here
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Okay, that is the 911 call he made. When police arrive, they find, at the crime scene, blood on the floor, but just a very small amount. He is
drenched in blood even though he says he was across the room when she shot herself. The medical examiner says her heart had to continue beating at
least one to two seconds.
So, where was all the blood? It was on him. Wouldn`t that suggest he was in contact with her at the time she was shot? Well, the interrogation tape
secretly recorded didn`t seem to help him. What was the jury thinking?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your wife did not make it. Your wife did not make it.
FALLIS: She was breathing when I was holding her. She was breathing. She was breathing when she left the house. I didn`t shoot my wife. I wasn`t
even by her. I didn`t shoot my wife!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what happened then. Tell me what happened.
FALLIS: I just told you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you have those scratches on your body.
FALLIS: I just told you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that is not from you doing that.
FALLIS: Yes, it is. When you shave your chest, you sit there and I do this all freaking day.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: As a matter of fact, his man grooming became an issue at trial. Let`s see the picture of his chest because his story to the jury is that
for the very first time in his life, that night, he shaves his chest to explain away scratches all over his chest. Well, what`s all the hair doing
there? Number one, scratches all over him all the way up on to his neck while (ph) he was shaving under his ears. With me, Troy Coverdale, reporter
with KFKA. Troy, thank you for being with us. Are you surprised at the verdict?
TROY COVERDALE, KFKA REPORTER: I`m not given the length of time that it took for them to return it this morning. The fact that closing arguments
ended at approximately 10:35 Mountain Time and the jury was set in panel at that point and sent for deliberations and the fact that they came back
literally within three hours with a verdict, it did not surprise me because I felt that there was going to be plenty of reasonable doubt still in their
head when they went into that room.
GRACE: And Troy Coverdale -- KFKA, you think there`s reasonable doubt even though neighbors say they heard him state on the scene, "My wife is dead, I
can`t believe I shot her?
[20:40:00] COVERDALE: The flaw with the thinking that there was enough evidence, probably to go forward with this comes down to throughout the
course of this trial, we heard testimony from so many varied people and there was so much varied viewpoint on what was heard, what wasn`t heard and
just exactly what the evidence did show or didn`t show. It was a very odd case in trial because of the fact that there was so much that just didn`t
jive from what witnesses said throughout the course of the case.
GRACE: Well, I tell you something Troy Coverdale, I`m going to get you Stacey Newman on this, Justin, do you have the re-enactment? Stacey, didn`t
they do a re-enactment in court, the defense did? It was extremely persuasive.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, I think this is a thing that ...
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. Is there sound to that, Justin?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This particular gun has an extractor on the top. Just a little bit more like that. Bring the arm back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry, I cannot hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry. That would make temple points this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry, I can`t hear. (Inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With your right knee --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Stacy, what was the purpose of this? What are they trying to show, explain?
NEWMAN: Well, this was very persuasive as you said. They`re trying to show all the possible ways she could have been shot. And if the husband was the
one who pulled the trigger, they are showing the jury this did not make sense. If he crouched down next to her, the bullet casing wouldn`t have
landed in a certain position. If he had stood up and shot her, the bullet casing would have landed in a certain position. And according to the
evidence, it didn`t match up with either of those. So that convinced this jury to find him not guilty.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Breaking news to a Spencer suburbs, a 15-month-old little girl, kidnapped. Breaking now, did an alleged perpetrator watch the family go to
sleep then secretly kidnap 1-year-old Shaylyn from her crib and murder her?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 22-year-old Kyle Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After abducting Shaylyn, Parker smothered her nose and mouth to keep her from screaming and then strangled the 1-year-old. The
victim also had numerous injuries consistent with sexual assault.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know he did it. He is so straight and calm and cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don`t understand why somebody that we trusted with our lives and our family would do something like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? Why would you do this to my daughter? Why would you do this to me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This is how the story started. Listen to the police presser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A body of a female infant has been discovered near Gosport. That body did match the description of Shaylyn Ammerman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me right now in addition to Melissa Neeley with WLW is the baby`s grandmother, Tamara Sue Morgan. Miss Morgan, thank you for being
with us.
TAMARA SUE MORGAN, VICTIMS GRANDMOTHER: Thank you.
GRACE: It`s just very, very difficult for me to believe that a trusted family friend would watch and spy on the family, knowing the family was
going to sleep. And as soon as everybody was asleep, take the baby, assault the baby and kill the baby. What happened that night?
MORGAN: Just like what we said, he was over to visit with Adam and we all, you know, most of the time when he came over, he spent the night and we
assumed that he was asleep in the chair the he generally slept in when he was there and everybody went to sleep. And then when we woke up, he was
gone
GRACE: Can you tell me, was anybody -- was anybody drinking or doing drugs that night in the home?
MORGAN: There was some alcohol consumption in Adam`s bedroom with Kyle and Adam and my husband, but not enough --
GRACE: Well, that`s not a crime. Having a cocktail isn`t a crime. What concerns me, Miss Morgan, is isn`t it true, on one prior occasion, you guys
came in and he is sitting there drunk in the chair, in your home, holding the baby in his lap?
MORGAN: No, he was not drunk. And it was a night that he had stayed over and Shaylyn had woken up and he picked her up out of her bed and sat in the
rocking chair and rocked her back to sleep.
GRACE: Okay, that`s a very different story. I`m glad to hear that. With me also, Melissa Neeley from WLW. Melissa, how did it go down that night and
why did this guy come under suspicion? Is it true he watched the family go to sleep, then takes little Shaylyn?
[20:50:00] MELISSA NEELEY, WLW REPORTER: Well Nancy, at first he claimed that he was at the house around midnight, and then went to a friend`s house
in a nearby town. But that was definitely after the family had gone. But he claimed that he waved goodbye to Adam, the friend that he was visiting at
the house at the time he left. And apparently, Adam did see him leave and suspiciously saw maybe a leg dangling from something he was holding.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Melissa Neeley, somebody sees him leaving with a foot hanging out?
NEELEY: Well, allegedly, Adam recalls that he told police that when Kyle left the house that he thought he saw something dangling, which might have
been a foot but didn`t seem to be ...
GRACE: Well, hold on, to Tamara Sue Morgan, the grandmother. How can you see a foot hanging out? The guy is leaving and a foot comes out of his
bundle. Didn`t that raise an alarm?
MORGAN: Well, Adam -- I don`t know because Adam woke up. He was groggy. You know, in like half sleep, half awake mode even (ph) ways. And he had been
drinking so, Adam never told me that he saw anything when Kyle left. He said he heard Kyle go out the door, looked out the window, said something
to Kyle. Kyle didn`t turn around and just left. So, Adam just laid back down. I have never heard that Adam saw anything other than the back of
Kyle.
GRACE: So, Michael Christian, according to a specialist, a pediatric medical examiner, this was the worst sex assault on a child she had ever
seen.
MICHAEL CHRISTAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right. Her name is Dr. Donna Stewart. She`s a medical examiner in Louisville, Kentucky, Nancy. She
described horrible injuries, sexual injuries, bruises. She said that the child`s mouth was consistent with having been smothered and that bruises on
her neck were consistent with having been strangled.
GRACE: Everyone shifting gears, March Madness comes to an end, but if you need an extra basketball fix before (inaudible) go to this week`s CNN
Heroes. Marquis Taylor using his sport to help children and their potential on and off the court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUIS TAYLOR, BASKETBALL COACH: This program is not about creating the next basketball star. It`s about helping young people develop skills that
are going to prepare them for the next step. It allows you to navigate challenges that you will face because that what`s going to happen when they
hit life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This is what`s different about this program. Older players become mentors for younger ones and how that to become a pathway to college. Watch
the story right now. CNN Heroes.com and nominate a 2016 CNN Hero.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Well, it seems like a big drunk (ph) to me. Unleash the lawyers, Richard Herman Vegas, Parag Shah, defense attorney Atlanta. Okay, Parag
Shah, even if they were all drunk, voluntary intoxication is not a defense for this guy. According to police, he watches the family go to sleep, takes
the baby, assaults the baby in the worst way, you know.
I mean think about it, Parag Shah, assaults a baby, all right. And the baby is found - and the baby has been washed down with some kind of cleaner like
peroxide -- her whole body including internally, do you hear me? And leave the baby like that beside a tree. All right, why shouldn`t it be death
penalty? One reason.
PARAG SHAH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the first reason is that we don`t know is he should get any kind of penalty because we don`t know he
did anything as you stated out as the information that came out. There were other people in the home and especially this...
GRACE: You lie about that?
SHAH: ... especially this Adam guy who supposedly has now given two separate pieces of information.
GRACE: Well, but Adam, Richard Herman, is the uncle - the uncle of the baby and he was there in the home even when the baby was gone and the alleged
perp was gone. He was the one that left, but my question to you Richard Herman, assuming his DNA is found in or on the baby, what`s one reason that
they should not go for the death penalty?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They should go after the death penalty either way right now. If his DNA is found inside the baby, that`s
game over, but Nancy, you began the segment by stating it`s hard to believe. It is hard to believe and there`s a lot of people on that house
and there`s a lot of potential suspects for this and nobody saw him leave with that baby.
GRACE: Every one tonight, the man who brutally rapes and attacks a TV news anchor, a mother, could be set free as early as next month. Maureen O`Boyle
begging for your help in keeping her attacker behind bars where he belongs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAUREEN O`BOYLE, RAPE AND TORTURE VICTIM: It is the truth about rape. It`s the truth about violent crimes against women. It`s what happened to me.
Please, if you can take a second and you do want to read about it, please sign this petition. I will be going before a member of the board and I will
be pleading with him not to release him back into society. He should serve everyday of his 50-year sentence. My daughter and I would really appreciate
your help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I agree. Go to change.org to sign this petition. Write the Georgia Board of Pardon and Parole here. James Starling still has 20 years left on
his sentence. Do not let him walk free.
Let`s remember American hero Iowa police officer Carlos Puente-Morales, 34, killed in the line of duty, served Des Moines Police, Army National Guard,
Iraq and Afghanistan combat infantry badge, army achievement medal, Knight of Columbus, dedicated to service the Latino community, youth soccer,
parents Maria and Sergio, brothers Alex and Sergio, two sons, one daughter. Carlos Puente-Morales, American Hero.
Forensic Files is next. Thank you to our guest and especially as always to you for being with us. Nancy Grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night
8:00 sharp Eastern and until then, good night friends.
[21:00:00]
END
