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The Harebrained Plans of Hiccup Girl · Minor Mischief Podcast

• Kiki George: What happens when the need to get this money by tomorrow leads into a senseless act that leaves one dead and three scrambling for alibis? This is the Minor Mischief Podcast and this is the story of the hairbrain plans of Hiccup Girl. Hiccup girl, is that her full name? Girl. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back to another episode of the Minor Mischief Podcast. I am your host and home girl for the time being, Mrs. Kiana Amir. And thank you for hanging out with me for the time that I have your attention because I know how attention spans are in the digital age. Like who's? I brought refreshments. So as you guys can hear, this annoying little voice that keeps interrupting me, that is my daughter. She got in her feelings because the man of the house got a guest spot before her. Exactly. But nevertheless, we're gonna give a warm welcome to the princess, the legend. The one that we literally went on a rant about an episode before last. You went on a rant? I did go on a rant about you. Well, me and Rome went on a rant about you. Wow, I see how it is. You should listen to my I go out and rant about you anytime. I know. Because your friends are like your mom. I out and rant about you to my therapist, to my friends. What are you ranting to your therapist about me for? And I rant about me a lot. Girl. And just how much he calls me by. My daughter Carrie is here. and she's gonna record this episode with me, and we're gonna make it fast because I don't have a lot of laptop battery. I do wear those shoes, put them back. so listen, today's story was one that fascinated me simply because this week's mischief maker suffered from something that is one of my worst fears lifelong hiccups. I have always had this irrational fear of what if my hiccups never go away and I'm stuck with living with them forever? That's weird. Well, Miss Jennifer Mead knows exactly the feeling. So let's get into today's story, shall we? Yes. You're supposed to say we shall. We shall. my gosh. Do y'all listen to this show? No, I don't know. I just follow you. Today we are back in Florida and Florida is where I was I'm going to I'm gonna need you guys to get yourselves together. We've been in Florida quite often these last few weeks, but today we're gonna head over to Pinellas County, Florida, where we were introduced to Jennifer Mee, Lamont Newton, and Lauron Rayford, who are our mischief makers, and Shannon Griffin, who unfortunately is our victim. Also, I had a cousin pass away unfortunately last night. And so in the cousins group chat, well, she passed away unexpectedly and unfortunately. And so in the cousins group chat, everybody was like messaging, like, hey, let's all have a drink, you know, for our cousin. It just so happens that my one drink that I had for my cousin was really strong. Cause I am feeling it. So if I'm like out of character tonight, that's why. You're yapping a lot, it's not normal. You're yapping a lot. And you are anyway. So today we're headed over to Pinellas County, Florida, which is located on the west coast of Florida in the Tamper Tamper. my gosh. It's called what's it called? Tampa. that's I thought that I thought it was Tamper. It's not Tamper. In the Tampa, St. Petersburg area on the west coast of Florida, and it is best known for its white sand Gulf Coast beaches, including Clearwater Beach. Pinellas County is also hosts a thriving art district aquarium, and apparently it is Florida's most densely populated county. What does densely mean? It means it has the most amount of people in it. Like per area. Daytona only has like a little bit of people, you know. And you know everybody in there. I don't know everybody in Daytona, but I will let you go on your Daytona rant later if you'd like. No. Okay. My vote on Florida's most densely populated county would have been Duval County, but the more you know. Jennifer Ann Mee was born on July 28th, 1991, to her parents, Michael Mee, and her mother, Rachel. I'm not sure what Rachel's maiden name was, but Michael was reportedly not in Jennifer's life as he and Rachel split up before Jennifer was out of diapers. And Rachel went on to marry a man by the name of Chris Robodeau. Now, Chris Robado, he gotta be from Louisiana. He gotta be from maybe Texas, because that is a creole name if I ever heard one before. But Rachel married Mike and became Rachel Robado. Jennifer's childhood was said to be quite chaotic, and she's the oldest sister of five girls. Whew. Could you imagine five of you living in here? Or like five of you and Pooks living here? no, I would hate no. Kyle will be yapping too much. Kyle will be yapping too. How about you yapping too much? You're the one yapping here. I'm telling a story. You can summarize it. I am summarizing. I learned how to summarize it, I'm about to kick you out of my recording space. So anyway, Jennifer was the oldest of five girls. And listen, I feel for anybody with all sons or daughters because it is not a joke or a game. Boys are rambunctious as kids, but they typically mellow out over time. And girls are so sweet as kids, but those teenage years. Those teenage years. Those teenage years. What are you looking at me for? They are not for the faint. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. I feel like that was targeted. It was I feel like it was targeted. A generalized statement. At any rate, Jennifer was raised in a home with her mom, her bonus dad, and her younger sisters. The family was said to be a low income family living in a small two bedroom home supported by Rachel's paychecks because she worked the early shift at Denny's. Mike was allegedly unable to work and he collected disabilities checks. And Jen's uncle, who was habitually unemployed, Would come crash on their couch. And Rachel, I salute you, sister, because it's one thing to care for five children. It's another thing to care for five children while your husband can't help you financially or really at all because he's money though. Yeah, but disability checks aren't a lot of money. Like a disability check you might get but like like eighteen hundred pounds. But like think people on six hundred pound life, they be their fridge. But they probably get food stamps too. And they probably did get food stamps. They they be in those little willy thinkies. I mean they they may have food assistants. Yeah, the directors. Anyway. I salute Rachel because like I said, that's one thing to care for five children. It's another thing to care for five children while your husband can't help you in the way that you need him to. It's a completely other thing to raise five children, a husband and an unemployed brother. No. He would have had to go find a woman to live with. But Jennifer was said to be very helpful with her siblings. I feel like this is Target it somehow? Cause like I'm helping Jennifer was said to be very helpful with her siblings, even though she and her bonus dad did not see eye to eye on just about anything. Jennifer was made famous initially because of what happened to her one day while she was sitting in science class. So it was January twenty-third, two thousand seven, and Jennifer is sitting in science class working hard or hardly working. And it's crazy because 2007 seems like an eternity ago, but just yesterday in the same breath. Like I was in my senior year of high school and I did some of my best carrying on during my senior year. During your senior year, you will do zero carrying on. Do you understand? Do I make myself clear? That means do what you're supposed to do. I I stay out of trouble. I don't do what I'm supposed to do. Go to class. You don't do what you're supposed to do now. I d I never see You go to class because you don't have a choice. I never skip the day. I can skip if I want. I can skip on course, but I don't. I tried but I did it. 'Cause I knew it was wrong. Anyways. so yeah, don't repay me for my antics when I was a kid, but I did my best carrying on in high school. So Jennifer's in science class and all of a sudden she just starts hiccuping. And she's just hiccup, hiccup, hiccup, hiccup. And after 15 minutes, she asked her teacher for a pass to go see the nurse. Now in the nurse's office, Jennifer is just like Ma'am, please help. Like I have been hiccuping for the last fifteen minutes. I just need something. And so the nurse is just like, Okay, well, why don't you just lay down? Why don't you drink some water? Why don't you take this honey? Why don't you drink this tea? And nothing is working. Jennifer is hiccuping for another five hours. And finally finally she's like, Listen, can you please call my mom? I'm ready to go home. And like I said, Rachel does work the early shift at Denny's. So at that point she's off of work. She's able to come pick Jennifer up from school to see what she could do. It's the night of January twenty-third, two thousand seven, and the family is at home trying to wind down, and they realize that they cannot sleep because of Jennifer's persistent hiccups. Rachel described it as sounding like a chihuahua barking just all night, on and on and on. Over the next few weeks, Jennifer saw her pediatrician, she saw a neurologist, she had tons of labs drawn, a brain scan, and nobody could figure out what the heck was causing her hiccups. So they left that appointment with more questions than answers. Jennifer at this point, she's like Googling. She's like, Okay, what can I do? She's trying outlandish stuff. She's trying whatever she can just to get rid of these hiccups and nothing is working. She's trying peanut butter, spoonfuls of sugar, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine. She even went through a round of hypnosis treatments and Jennifer had a hiccup of a rate at a rate of fifty per minute. That's almost one hiccup per second. So you're just like I know that hurts. Yuck. I know that hurts her stomach and her throat. Yik hiccups hurt. Yuck. Okay, Bobby, we get it. And her hiccups affected everything from her sleep patterns to how she did her schoolwork. Her hiccups were constant and she was eventually prescribed Valium to help her at least relax enough to fall asleep. Jennifer reported having issues with basic activities such as eating due to her hiccups, and she was reduced to a soft food or soup diet. You would be I like soup. But could you imagine eating soup or like soft foods for all of your meal? Does does bobote count? Like if you take the boba I guess boba does count. But you probably won't be able to like chew the boba because it's just Well, I can give you bulba. Jennifer also complained of head pain, mouth pain, back pain, et cetera, as a result of her hiccups. Once her mother ran out of medical options, she did the next best thing she knew how to, and she called the news. Jennifer's case then captured national attention and earned her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, along with several guest spots in the news and daytime television. It got to the point where anywhere Jennifer went, people recognized her. People even jump out from behind of clothing racks and in between the aisles at Walmart, trying to scare the hiccups out of her. And if the hiccups weren't bad enough, Jennifer is just like, I'm not sleeping, I'm not eating, I'm going through a lot, like please help. But there was a silver lining. Jennifer was given tons of incentive, free travel, and meals in exchange for sharing her story with the media. Finally, after five weeks, Jennifer had an acupuncture device called an IS3 ear implant placed by Dr. Rick Spinagle behind her ear that relaxed her diaphragm enough for the hiccups to stop. So basically, there's this FDA approved device that they use for back pain that you implant behind your ear that touches the nerve that apparently signals you for back pain. And so he figured if he can just place it on the nerve that'll sick that signals her diaphragm, then she would no longer have hiccups. And that combined with all of the other things that she had tried finally gave her some relief to hiccup. Isn't like the mad missus theory about Nishdiff this just sounds like a hiccup problem? Can I finish? Okay. So you would think after all this attention, Jennifer would have her fifteen minutes of fame and she would just kind of go about her life in peace, right? No. Yeah, you're right. That's just not how life works. After the spotlight around her case dies down, Jennifer was left standing in the aftermath of her newfound and quick fame, and she had to adjust to life beyond the cameras. She returned to school and dealt with Pierce making fun of her condition and mocking her. Her mom also described that Jennifer became totally different after her ordeal and really felt like she was better than the rest of the family. Like, baby, you're sitting here eating your ramen and Oprah has called me. I know you would take ramen, you big bag, and Oprah has called me. To start on her show. Like you better watch your mouth when you're talking to me. And that was her attitude. Like, first of all, I got this family money. First of all, I got this family on TV. It's not reasonable. You're not supposed to treat your family Her family wasn't talking mean about her job. The people at school were Exactly so told. Say I'm more rich I'm more rich than you. But she wasn't rich though. Well she could. She anyways. so yeah, Jennifer is try like she's talking back. She is like, who do you think you're talking to? And in June two thousand seven, Jennifer just dealing with the pressure of life at school and dealing with the pressure of life at home, she's like, you know what? I'm outta here. And she drew national attention once again after she became the missing person in her own missing persons case when she ran away from home. In 2009, Jennifer was just like, you know what? It's been real. I don't need you. I don't want to be here anymore. And she decides to drop out of high school and move out of her parents' home to couch surf with her friends. In between couch surfing, Jennifer was pretty much living on the streets, child. She was on people's couches at the homeless shelter. Asking for money on the street corner, like Jennifer was doing whatever she had to do to make sure that she did not So she became homeless. Yes. Some people like some people are like that though. Like they think that life is so bad at home that they would rather sleep outside. No. I'm like my bed. Even if you call me forever. Anyway. So Jennifer, it's now two thousand nine, it's the summer two thousand nine. Jennifer is just living on the streets, going nowhere fast. And then she befriends this group of homeless teenagers. And it was then that Jennifer realized, like, wait, hold on, I have found my people. And in this group, she meets Mr. Lamont Newton. Lamont was an exp aspiring rapper. Rappers, mm-mm. Have you heard of King Vaughn? Mm-mm. wow. What if he wasn't an aspiring K pop singer? Well then he's Okay, see you're being prejudiced. No, like rappers? No. Rappers are just no. So Lamont was an aspiring rapper and apparently he was very street savvy. Lamont's upbringing was tough though because his dad dusted them. Dusted him, his mom, and his brothers when he was very young, and left his mom to raise those boys by herself. And when Lamont was 16 years old, his mom passed unexpectedly, and it left him and his brothers to care for themselves. With no parental guidance, Lamont found himself homeless, but he still attended classes and he still did his best to keep his circumstances from his teachers. Yes. What about his brothers? I don't know. The article I read said Well you could chat GPT. I'm not chat GPTing my work. Keep in mind I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my stuff. Okay? That's why you said So was excuse me? What was that? Matchcast we're allowed to allowed to do what? Chat GPT. Like if Chat GPT is literally the downfall of your generation. No. It is. You guys don't have a a original thought. I don't use Chat GPT. I use Google. Well, as teachers go, they noticed and decided to band together and pay for a hotel room for Lamont and provide him with food so that he would have someplace safe to sleep and some food in his stomach. Lamont did what he was supposed to do, he defied the odds. Focused on his education with the help of his teachers and he did push through to graduate high school. His life did take a turn after graduation, though, because now Lamont had no one seeing him every day. He had no one watching out for him. He had no one there for him anymore. He graduated, he moved on with his lives. And I'm sure his teachers were just like, okay, he graduated, he can get a job, go to trade school, do what he has to do. But instead, Lamont found himself back on the streets of St. Pete. Lamont was uninterested in going to college, so he and his good friend Laurent apparently resorted to petty crimes and theft to make ends meet. Petty crimes means like breaking into cars, like stealing little things from stores, just tiny things like that. This girl had the audacity to steal candy from Target back when we were shopping at Target. It was Target because Kevin had a football game that day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she steals candy from Target. And then as we're walking out, you know, you walk past security and she's asking me as we're leaving the store, like no, we were walking out of the store. I don't know what happened because we went we went to the car. Did I ask Daddy open it? He couldn't open it. Did I ask you to open it? And then I was just like, Where did you find this candy from? Because I did not buy you any candy. I said from the store. Exactly. And I was like, How did you get candy from the store when you don't have any money? I stole it. Exactly. And I took her back to that. security guard and I made her confess. And she gave the candy back. She ate it. Anywho, so Lamont's back on the street. Him and his friend LaRon, they're committing petty crimes. They're doing whatever they have to do to make ends meet. And so eventually they do get a place together and that's when he meets Jennifer. And so him and Jennifer, they're like, okay, I kinda like you, you kinda like me. And Finally Lamont's just like, you know what, Jennifer? I do like you. And she's just like, Well, I've been waiting for you to say something, honey, because I have been eyeballing you since the moment I have seen you. And they become official. And Jennifer moves in with Lamont and LaRon. And you know what Jennifer said drew her to Lamont? The fact that he knew nothing about her hiccups. I mean, that's reasonable, like 'cause everybody else was making fun of her. Yeah, that's reasonable. I really wouldn't care. I'd be like, maybe there were hiccups. It's not like it's not like that's unnormal. There is someone also that had the same thing happen to them with sneezes. Yeah. So you ever listen to a story and you can pinpoint the exact moment where the story took a turn for the worst? Yeah. I feel like Jennifer moving in with Lamont and Lauren was the beginning of that. I think the name Lamont is like, you know. What's wrong with Lamont? Bring him to China. You know, it i it depends on the 'cause usually like if their names let's let's just say if you rather date somebody named Brandon or like let's say you're on Tinder and they don't have profile pictures, but you rather date Brandon or would you rather date let's see. I would have to see pictures. Because if I had to pick choose between Brandon and Lamont Labarto, I don't know about that. But if I had to choose between a Brandon and a Lamont, I would still need to see pictures. Because Lamont could be anywhere from you wouldn't know who that is. There's this actor. His name is Lance Gross. my gosh. He is a very handsome man. And he looks like he could totally be a Lamont. Like if he said his name was Lamont, it would not surprise me. So you can have like a Lamont that's very handsome and good looking and very well kept. Or you can have a Lamont that's like Like what if they like just like put their profile picture but you don't know who they are? You so to would you want to choose Vanda or l like I would read the profile. Just I'm just saying me personally. What if they just summarize the profile like my name is Brandon and I'm Smart and I have and I don't know. I hear what you're saying because yes, if I just saw Lamont on a piece of paper, I would think that he was like a sixty year old mechanic with like missing teeth and dirty fingernails. Not necessarily going to Harvard, but maybe we're getting off track. At any rate, this is the moment in their story that I felt like was the beginning of the end. Jennifer's parents, of course, were not pleased with her and her new crew, and Jennifer captured attention and headlines again in January 2010 when she found herself on another missing person's flyer because Baby Girl got gone, okay? She's out of here. The January 2010 case does strike me as kind of odd though, because she was only 18 when that happened and she wasn't living with her parents at the time. So I'm just like, she's legal, like she can really come and go as she please, but like she's grown. What the heck? But I'm wondering also if her mom just did not know where she was and her mom was like, I need a welfare check on my child because I have no idea where she is. I don't know. But didn't would but didn't the thing say that her mom wasn't pleased of her moving in, so how would she not know where she was? I don't think she knew where she lived. I just think she knew because remember Jennifer moved out a while ago. She ran away. She didn't move out. Well, she moved out slash ran away. But she was not living with her mother. Yeah. At any rate, Jennifer, LaRon, Lamont And Lauron's girlfriend, whose name is also Jenny from the block. So they shared an apartment downtown that was apparently in a really rough neighborhood, but they love their neighborhood. And Jennifer was very attracted to the street life. Okay. They said when Jennifer and Lamont started dating, Jennifer was like, live fast, die young. Like I do a little drugs, I I I drink a little bit. I I'll pop a cap at you if you talk to me crazy. Like they said she fully embraced the street life. What they think you would do? I would not. I'm not that girl. Don't just be like you would like fight somebody that they talk crazy to you. I would never. Not me. Why why why are we lying? Shannon Andre Griffin, who went by Shannon. I do wonder if his mom's name was Shannon and his dad's name was Andre. But his full name was Shannon Andre and he went by Shannon. And he was born January twenty third, nineteen eighty eight. And he was a football player from Mississippi who met Jennifer on this social media site called Mochul Space. Who's the main character? Jennifer is the main character. But Jenni You're about to be fired. You just 'cause like first Jennifer was the I'm introducing all the characters. She's dating Jennifer is dating Lamont. Yeah. And Shannon Andrew Shannon. Yes. He's our victim. So I have to introduce him. Who's our victim? Shannon Andre. Shannon. I thought Jennifer but Jennifer's Okay, focus. You put me through a lot. You're you're confusing me. So Shannon Andre was born on Jan January 23rd, 1988, and he was a football player from Mississippi who met Jennifer on social media. they were on a website called Moco Space, which I had not heard of before today. And the two hit it off and they were chatting for a couple days before our story takes place. Now, Shannon had moved to Florida from Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina to build a stable life for himself on the west coast of Florida. He did everything he was supposed to do at the age of 22. He got a job at a nearby Walmart. And he really only ever went to work and came home. He had been in Florida for about a year. He lived with his cousin and was really just trying to gain footing in Florida so that he can really just settle in and build a life there. I'm not too sure of what the conversation was between Jennifer and Shannon, but it was said that she was flirting with him a little bit. She probably said things like, Hey, you know, I find you cute, or, you know, I think you're cool. Whatever. She was said to be flirting, and Shannon was eating it right up. But remember At this time people are still gravitating towards Jennifer because of her reputation as the hiccup girl. You can read some. And so Shannon, of course, knowing about this and meeting Jennifer and she's flirting and they're having great conversation. And he's just like, Yeah, I think she's a cool girl. So it's October 23rd, 2010. It's a Saturday evening and Jennifer, Laurent, and Lamont, they're likely chilling at home like they do. It's 2010, so they probably had a blunt rotation going. They probably had some for local. They probably took some pills, whatever the case may be. And they're in the living room and they're just like, you know what, we are low on food and we are low on funds. And a lot of us know what it's like to be 19. It's a stressful time and stay home as long as you can, children, if it's safe for you to do so. But when you're 19, you think you have it all figured out when in reality you really just don't. And it's crazy because I actually remember what I was doing on October 23rd, 2010, because I was in New York celebrating my twenty first birthday and my flight was leaving to have Did you have Kevin at twenty? yes. Kevin was about six months old. so so so so But I I was celebrating my birthday without the boy. wow, you're abandoning him, okay. I was not abandoning him. I had a babysitter. Anyways, my flight back to Florida was very early the next morning and I really showed up to the airport with my pajamas, my sunglasses, and a snack because I was still rolling from the night before. So the trio is at their apartment and they're just like, okay, we we gotta figure out how to get this money by tomorrow. And Jennifer is just like, you know, I've been talking to this guy and he might have a little bit of money. Why don't we rob him? And so the guys are just like, Okay, well, that's all well and good, but how are we gonna know if he has money on him? Like, people don't carry cash all the time. And so yeah, they're just like, How do we know that he's gonna have cash or whatever? And Jennifer's just like, Listen, I have a little bit of weed with me, so I'm gonna tell him that I'm gonna sell it to him. And that way he brings the cash. So she hops into Sh Shannon's inbox and she's just like, Hey, you know what you got going on later? And Shannon's just like, Well, I'm free. And I he actually was the one that came up with the idea. He's just like, You want to meet up? And so Jennifer is just like, actually, yes, I do. but I do need a little bit of money. I have some weed on me. Can I sell it to you if you want to bring some cash? And he's just like, sure, I'll bring some cash. I'll take it and you know, we'll go from there. At this point, everybody who's everybody knows that Shannon doesn't smoke. He's not, he doesn't do drugs, he's not into weed, he's not into that fast life. But because he liked Jennifer so much, he's just like, Yes, I'll give you the money, but let's call it a weed purchase and I can just like get rid of it or give it to someone else or whatever. So Chanel's in a great mood 'cause him and Jennifer are meeting up and she gives him the address to an abandoned house and they set a time to meet. So your boy told his people that he was going out with a baddie, a fine apple, a hot girl, and a celebrity, Miss Jennifer Me. That's a weird name. And he's really excited to meet her. Shannon is getting dressed, you hear me? He got a new outfit, sprayed some real smelling cologne on, and head out the door. He hit his family with a don't wait up now you're here. And excitedly walked out the doorway. And onto his vest bat. Well onto his bike. Well you put his bike and head to the direction of the address that Jen gives him. Shannon pulls up to the house and Jenna's waiting out front for him. Unbeknownst to him though, Lamont and LaRon are waiting behind the house. So Shannon pulls up and Jennifer is just like, hey boo, or hey friend, depending on whose version of the story you believe. And she tells him that they should go somewhere, you know, a little bit more private and they need to walk around back to get inside. So Shannon starts following behind her house and they encounter Lamont and La Ron, who tell Shannon to give them his money. Well, they did not plan for one thing. And what was that one thing? Did you get robbed? Shannon could fight. So they're sitting there trying to rob this man, and he is mopping the ground with them. They start swinging on Shannon, and Shannon, I'm telling you, is 1v2. Like he is like wah, wah, meet me, meet. They did not plan. Holy shit. They did not plan. So like for Shannon to know how to fight. Can they just like pull a metal ball on him or like Well we'll get to that part. See, and that's the problem. That's the problem. That's the problem right there. Because if you can't fight, you better just take that butt whooping like a man. Okay? But anyway, so 1v2, Shannon is like, wow, wow, wow. He is beating them down. And Detective Dave Warzinski, who was I think the lead detective on this case, He said that he fully believes that Shannon was willing to fight, which prompted what happened next. So they're all fighting. Lamont and LaRon are trying to gain some traction over Shannon and take his money. And so Lamont pulls out a thirty-eight caliber firearm and points it at Shannon. Who? Lamont allegedly. And then the men start squabbling over the gun and Shannon is shot four times. Three times in the chest. And I can't remember the fourth location. I did not write it down. Maybe it's four they then grab the money in his pocket and they take off. They make away with only fifty dollars. All of that for fifty dollars, like at least at least making a million. But that's the thing about robbing people, you never know how much money you're gonna get because nobody said Shannon worked at Walmart. Okay. And this is no shade to Walmart. Listen, this is no shade to Walmart. One of my really good friends worked at Walmart before her new job and it was enough to pay her mortgage. And everything. So I'm not gonna say, you know, Walmart don't pay for that. Yeah, you get discounts. Well, like what if you work out Walmart but you don't work at the Starbucks? You still get discounts at the Starbucks and then Walmart? no that's Ingles. Yes. To answer your question. Okay, I'm gonna work at Ingles. A few hours later, this random gentleman, we'll call him Adam. He's at home and his dog is scratching at the door and doing that. You know how dogs get. And he's just like, Really? You always gotta pee and poop at the most inconvenient moments. Like, you know, we live in a bad neighborhood. Cause the neighborhood that they were in was said to be nice during the day, but at night, honey, you better watch out because that neighborhood is turning bad. So they live in the hood the hood? They lived in the hood, yes. And so Adam is out walking his dog at this point, and he's just like, Bro, you better hurry up, okay? And so he sees. Shannon's body laying in the alleyway and he's like, gosh, it's a homeless person. And his dog is not his dog is not letting up. His dog is trying to basically see Shannon, smell Shannon, touch Shannon, like poke Shonan, whatever. And so the dog goes over and he's just like, That's weird because why isn't this guy moving? So Adam decides, like, okay, let me call 911 and have them check on him. I would have been a little pissed at my dog initially, not gonna lie, but Well You know, you gotta take the dog out. And apparently the dog did a really good thing. So Adam calls the police and officers arrive at the scene and they're looking at Shannon's body and they're immediately like, Okay, this is not a homeless person because remember, Shannon was nicely dressed. They said he had on a very expensive t shirt. How expensive? I don't know. They didn't say how much. They just said he had on a very expensive shirt. so yeah, they notice Shannon is nicely dressed and they're just like, this is a homicide. Because as they're approaching the body, they're seeing the gunshot wounds. Cameras like outside buildings. They didn't have the cameras in the hood don't really be working like that, I'll be honest with you. So officers now have a task ahead of them because they're trying to identify the body and figure out what happened. So Nia Shannon is this oddly parked moped. And at first they're just like, I don't know if this has to do with the other. I don't know if these are related. But finally they're just like, you know what, let's just run the tags on the moped to see, just in case. And so immediately they run the tags on the moped. It comes up registered to Shannon. His picture comes up. They can look and see, like, okay, this is who we're looking at. he doesn't live too far from here. So they head over to Shannon's house that he shared with his cousin to notify his next of kin. So they head on over to Shannon's house and they're talking with Doug, and they're just like, Hey, you know, I'm sorry to inform you, but we found Shannon's body. And Doug is just like, my. Gosh, because remember, Doug was the whole reason Shannon had even gone out because he'd been pressuring him to get out the house, get to know people, meet people. All you do is work and come home. Go have a little fun. Mom, I think I don't need to go outside to Girl, this is not about you. This is about Shannon. So that means like I don't know. You need to have a social life. He yeah, so Doug's like he's super upset and then he tells police, like, listen. When I left here, Shannon was going to meet up with a female and then they're just like, Well, the area that he's in is really bad. Like people don't go over there unless they're using drugs or like trying to, you know, buy something. So did he do drugs? Like, is he into that lifestyle? And his cousin's just like, No, like Shannon's not that type of person. Like all he does is work and come home. He's always in the house. He does not do drugs and he works at Walmart. He gets randomly drug tested all the time. He would never risk his job over drugs. And they were able to verify that information. So police at this point, they pull Shannon's phone records and they saw that the last number that he dialed was Mr. LaRon Rayford's. So they head over to LaRon's apartment and no one's home. And so they're looking, they're shining their flashlights in the windows, and they're just like, okay, that's weird. No one's here. And it's like the wee hours of the morning at this point. So by all means, you should be home, right? And so the neighbor comes outside and they're just like, police. This is how I think the neighbor's voice sounds. They're just like, You looking for LeRon. Well, yes, ma'am, we're looking for LeRon. And she's like, Mm-hmm. Let me tell you, because I heard that LaRon was involved in a homicide tonight and him. And the other boy that lived there and the little girl, they all on the run. They are not gonna come back here. Like you gonna have to look elsewhere for them. And police are looking at the neighbor like, how would you know this information? Number one, the news of this murder has not even been released. And number two like usually when like usually usually like when they were nosy like you. Yeah, like nosy like me. Exactly. You see police like you're gonna be nosy. Mm-hmm. So yeah, they're just like, Leron lives there with his friend. They're they're not coming back, but you know, good luck. And so police are canvassing the neighborhood and they get a hit that a man matching Leron's description was seen in a small apartment nearby. So police head on over to the apartment and they knock on the door and they get no answer, but they can hear a little motion inside the apartment. Nothing crazy, maybe just a little shuffling. And so they call out and they're just like, Listen, you can either come out or we're coming in. And at that point, Lamont La Ron and Jennifer exit the apartment. Police arrest Lauren and Lamont and they leave Jennifer standing on the sidewalk because at this point they're not thinking she has anything to do with it. And so as they're putting Lamont and Lauron in the squad card, they're reading them their rights, and Jennifer is just like, Well, can I give Lamont a kiss? And they're just like, Okay, weird ask, but sure, you can give him a kiss. So she gives him a kiss and then she's like, Well, hey, can I come down to the station? And shockingly, police agree. At the station, police question LaRon and he tells them that he and Lamotte were walking down the street and Shannon bumped into them when the gun went off. Police hit they hit LaRon with the buddy. We've been to the crime scene. This was not an accident. He was not left just laying on the street. He was behind in an alley. This looked purposeful. He looked like he had been in a fight. You need to start talking. And so LaRon starts talking. And he's just like, you know what? Okay, fine. We were supposed to rob him. This was all Jennifer's idea. And they're like the same Jennifer that's down the hall. And he's like, Yep, that one. And so LaRon is spilling tea. At this point, he's just like, Listen, me and Lama, we're small time. Like we do a little robbery. We we we might jack a car here and there. We might steal some money out of somebody's pocket. Like, but we don't do murder. We don't do master plans. Like this is not us. Like Jennifer is the one that's just like, we need to go bigger. We need to do more. We need to hit bigger licks and he's just like, that's just not me. LaRon did admit to the police that as soon as Jennifer came in the picture, she wanted to do bigger crimes and that all of what had happened that night was all Jennifer's idea. So police head down the hall and they're talking to Jennifer and she's what? Deny, deny, deny. She's just like, nope, this was their idea. And then LaRon is telling police that Lamont fired the fatal shot and Lamont is just like Not at all. That's not what happened. So who fired it? Police at this point, they are questioning LaRon. They're questioning Lamont. They're questioning Jennifer. And everybody is pointing the finger at each other. But Lamont and Lauron agree on one thing. Do you want to know what that thing was? It's Jennifer. It was Jennifer. And so Jennifer at this time is like, who said that? And she turned back around and was like, Nope, this was all Leron's idea. Leron's girlfriend, Jenny, had an entanglement with Shannon. LaRon got mad, tried to set him up. There were two Jennies. You gotta remember there's a Jennifer and there's a Jenny. And so then Lamont did this shooting because, you know he was mad. And then he decided to have me take the fall for the crime because I'm the youngest and I've already been in the media attention, so I'm gonna get less time. And you know what police did at this point? They arrested all of them. See like if okay, let's see. Like if let's just say wrong shoot somebody for you. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I think he would. Like he I feel like he should get less time because you told him to do it. Like what if you like you still But he still did it. I could tell you go punch somebody between the eyes right now, does that mean you're gonna go punch somebody between the eyes right now? If you give me money. Okay, girl. So after being arrested while in jail, Jennifer used her free call to call her mom Rachel, and here's a clip from that phone call. I have a free call from Jennifer Me. An inmate at Anellis County Jail. Hi mama. Hello, Jennifer. What's going on? I'm in jail. Why are you in jail? For murder in the first degree. Who'd you kill? I ain't killed no. Well then how are they charging you with murder? Because I set everything up. Were you trying to kill Jennifer? Nobody, it wasn't even supposed to happen like that, Mom. Mom, I'll call you when I can because I gotta go. Make vis visitation, please. All right, Jennifer, I love you. I love you too, Mom. Now what strikes me as odd in Rachel's phone call with Jennifer is the fact that Rachel did not seem frantic. Like your daughter just called you and told you like, hey mom, I'm about to be in jail for first degree murder. And you're just like, Okay, well what happened? Why the hell are they charging you with murder? I would have been panicked, you hear me? Shannon's funeral was held on Saturday, october thirtieth, two thousand ten at Martin Luther King Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I'm not sure if he was buried or cremated, 'cause I just didn't see that information in his obituary, but that is where Google his service was held. In August two thousand thirteen, Leron Rayford was the first up. He was offered a plea deal to plead guilty in exchange for a forty year prison sentence, but his defense attorney said that he wanted to continue negotiations. According to CBS News, Judge Judge Nancy Lay urged Laurent. To take the deal, stating, quote, when you're 22, 60 seems like you should be in the old folks' home. But when you get there, you think, Well, that isn't so old. Judge Lay added that LaRon could be convicted of first-degree murder even if he was not the one who pulled the gun and fatally shot Shannon. Florida's felony murder law. Participating in an act or a crime that results in the death of another person. Even if you are not the reason. So let's say you and your friends are joy riding in a car, you guys get into an accident, the person in the other car dies. You can be charged. Well, maybe not with a car, but you know what I'm saying? If you're doing something reckless, like if you and your friend are shooting in the air and one of the bullets comes back down and hits someone in that property next door, you and your friend can both go to jail for murder because you were both participating in the act that caused the person's. Death. So he tells the judge, like, you know, I understand, but I'd still very much like to go to trial. And he went to trial and the jurors came back after deliberations, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In September 2013, Jennifer's trial went underway. The prosecution painted a picture of a good girl gone bad and a criminal mastermind, while the defense led by attorney John Trevina, of course, led with a mental health diagnosis. They said that Jennifer the reason for her hiccups was Tourette's. And when you have Tourette's, you're obviously, well, I'm not going to say obviously, because I don't know a lot about Tourette's. But apparently when you have Tourette's, you know, there are some other mental health challenges that come with having Tourette's. And so that was their defense. She has Tourette's, her brain is not working the way that A normal person's brain would, hence why she thought this was a good idea. So Jennifer was evaluated by a court-appointed psychiatrist who stated that her intelligence was low normal, but she is competent to stand trial. And do you know how in my feelings I would be if somebody called my intelligence low normal? Like, you might as well just call me a dummy. Like, hello? I would be so sad. Like Did you just call me stupid? Did you just call me simple? Did you just call me dumb? I need answers. Regardless, Jennifer was declared fit to stand trial. And to trial they went. Jennifer's attorney took on Jennifer's case pro bono because he thought she was a sweet girl. He was just like, you know, this is America's sweetheart. She's not a cold calculated killer that you guys are trying to make her out to be. Like, she is America's sweetheart. The prosecution only had to prove. That Jennifer knew about the robbery, not that she knew a murder would take place. And you know what did Jennifer in? That phone call that she made to her mom from jail when she admitted to her mom that she set everything up. That is what did Jennifer in. In addition, her DNA was very present on Lamont's shirt. After the prosecution and defense rested their case in Jennifer's trial. The jury went out to deliberate, and after about five hours, they came back and found Jennifer guilty of first degree murder. She, too, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lamont was last up. His trial began in December 2013. And get this during Lamont's trial, evidence came out that LaRon fingerprints was on the gun and on the bullets. not Lamont. His DNA, his fingerprints, nothing pertaining to him was found on the gun. And so he's feeling pretty good. He's just like, my DNA is not even on the gun. Like, yes, I was there. I admitted that I was there. But at this point, like you guys know that Jennifer set it up and you guys know that LaRon was the one that fired the gun. I was just an innocent bystander. However, once again, because Florida has that felony murder law, He was able to be tried with murder. So his trial is underway. He's feeling pretty good about it. He is, you know, as cool as can be. They have nothing on him. And so he's just waiting for deliberations at this point. And so the jury goes out to deliberate. They come back and they also find Lamont guilty of first degree murder. And he was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. There was a book published about Jennifer's life and trial called One Call Away by Arthur William Phelps. I did not read it as a part of my research, but I did see it mentioned a few times. Just because for me, if I'm gonna read a book as part of trial research, I want it to be written by the like the actual person. Like I want it to be c written by the murderer. Cause I I need it to be as close to the truth as humanly possible. That's just me personally. But that book is out there for anybody who may be interested. Which brings me to where are they now? Well, remember a couple episodes back when I said do not under any circumstances commit crimes in Florida? And above committing crimes in Florida, do not commit murder in Florida. Don't be a part of a murder in Florida. Don't be anywhere near somewhere a murder was committed in Florida because it is almost impossible to get off. And so don't do that. Jennifer has at least filed one appeal for a retrial, but it was denied. I did watch an interview where she was interviewed by Piers Morgan. She had been in jail about six years at that time. And she is still denying any involvement. She's just like, this had nothing to do with me. Like the only thing I'm guilty of is loving a man that apparently was living that life. And I'm just like. I think at some point, Jennifer, you have to take some accountability. And that's the only thing that really bothers me about her. Like, I've looked at a couple like interviews, a couple sit-downs, a couple things with her, and she just does not look remorseful. She is still just like, I had nothing to do with this. This is not my fault, not my problem, not my circus, not my monkeys. And I'm just like, Well, it very much is because and I get it. I get it. Because I don't think. That anyone except for the person that fired the fatal shot should have been arrested, should have been charged, should be sitting in jail. I really don't believe so. But just be a little bit more accountable, baby girl. That's all I ask. That is all I ask. At any rate, Jennifer is currently serving her sentence at the Lowell the Lowell. Lowell, Lowell, Lowell, Lowell. I live in North Carolina, so in North Carolina it's Lowell. But Lowell, anyways, at the Lowell Correctional Facility in Ocala, Florida. Oof, she right down the street from my kids' dad. His case and trial is still pending, but as soon as it's over, we're talking about it. Like we're gonna have a tea time about it. Lamont and Lauron, well, they're still in prison as well. I do wonder though, about Jenny, LaRon's girlfriend. Like she was nowhere in any of the stories. Like They mentioned her and as quickly as they mentioned her, she got up out that story. Like she and I am not a hundred percent convinced that Jenny did not know what was going on. I'm not, I believe she knew what was going on. I believe she knew they were going over there to rob Shannon. I believe she knew everything, but Baby Girl kept her mouth shut and she c stayed out of the way. And so I'm curious to know where she's at and how she's doing. Cause she was like My name is Bennett and I ain't in it. Like I'm out of here. Jennifer's family did move to Tennessee after her sentencing, but they do come to Florida to visit her on occasion. And that brings me to our final thoughts. My final thoughts are don't go chasing waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and lakes that you're used to. The fast life, don't love nobody. And I honestly feel like had Jennifer, and I can't speak too much on her home life. I know that the articles I read said it was chaotic. I didn't see anything that mentioned any abuse. It just said that her and her stepdad did not have the best relationship. Like they butt heads frequently. and she after the hiccup girl debacle thought she was better than her family. And I'm very curious as to what made her think that. Why would you think that you're better than the family that raised you? Especially when you ain't got nothing. It's not like she had her 15 minutes of fame and won mil and and earned millions and millions of dollars. Honey, you guys were still living in a small house. Like you did not move. Thus meaning that there was not enough. You probably got some free things, a couple free trips. Like, let's just let's be humble. That's all I'm saying. I knew from the moment I read The Coldest Winter Ever as a Kid that I was not built or equipped for the fast life. If you have not read that book, highly suggest that you read it. It's an amazing book. If you have read the book and you know what I'm talking about, then you know what I'm talking about. Cause at the end I was just like, yeah, this ain't for me. but I really feel like that is where they went wrong. I feel like they went wrong because why are we living this fast life? And I really feel the worst for Lamont because yes, he did like little petty theft and little things like that. But honestly, he genuinely was just trying to figure his life out. He had no guidance. He didn't have parental supervision. He was really trying to figure everything out on his own. I can't speak too much on Leron story because I there just wasn't as much information available. But this entire thing was so, so, so, so So senseless. It was so senseless. He should not have died. A gun should not have been in the equation that day. Honestly. If y'all wanted to rob him, just rob him. And if he started beating you behind while you were robbing him, sweetheart, just take it. You just you earned it. Cause why are you trying to rob him? You just sometimes you just gotta take your butt whooping and go about your business. And that's what they should have done. But the real problem in this story is everybody talked too damn much. Because it makes no sense that the neighbor knew what they had done and they were not even home. That is not the I don't understand. I don't get it. But yeah. That's our story. I did watch Snapped Killer Couples as a like part of my case research. Something I did not like when I watched Snap. And this is something that I have heard in other podcasts that watch Snap. as part of like their case research, is that Snapped made Jenny, Jennifer, me. They made her seem like this sweet, polite, like girl that just got sucked up in this fast life and it was all Lamont's fault. But when you read the articles, they all said that Lamont, like yes, he was a street kid, but that was only because he genuinely had no other guidance. Like His mom passed, his father was not in his life. I don't know where his brothers were. He had to figure it out on his own. Like he really had to get it out the mud. And so I understand when you don't have a choice, but Jennifer had a choice. So they made her seem like the all-American sweetheart and they made him seem like this hood dude that just would amount to nothing. And I'm just like, all the articles that I read told quite the opposite story. He graduated high school. Jennifer did not. She dropped out for no apparent reason other than I don't want to do it. He was homeless and still was showing up to school every day, still showing up to class every day. She had a house and was still cutting class. So I'm just like when we think about the person that was the problematic teen, in my opinion, it would be more her, but it kind of bugged me because I'm just like because they came from two different upbringings, or is it because they're two different colors? I'm never the girl that's just like everything is racist. I'm not that girl. Some stuff is. But some stuff is just very well not. Like I'm just like, okay, we're dragging it. Like, that's just not an issue. But this, like, that really that really got under my skin because and it was only snapped. It was only the snapped episode. All of the news articles was like, yeah, he was, you know, he did a little petty theft. He did some crime. And that stuff is wrong. I'm not saying he was right in any way, shape, or form, but I am saying that I kind of understood because he his back was against the wall and he had no idea. Listen, My back has been against the wall before, and I'm just like, okay, I gotta get this money by tomorrow. I'm not gonna say what I've done. But what I will say is I understand. And so I just did not think it fair that by all means she was the problem. Like they were just like, as soon as she left her parents' house, she was addicted to the fast life. She wanted to be in the street, she wanted to do drugs, she wanted to to steal and rob. Like LaRon and Lamont both say the same things. They were just like, they we were fine with our little petty crimes. Like we were good. And here she comes and she's like, We need to up the auntie. Like, we need to we need to go big or go home. And so it just sucks all across the board. But I really did not like that. And I thought that I just really wish they would have took their boat weapons like men. And I really wish that they would have really just left that boy out of this. Cause he was he was just living his life. He was just existing. And I think that is the I have there have been a couple of these episodes that I have done now where these people are just existing. And it's like, okay, well, let's go mess some stuff up. That's not right. We like really, if we don't learn nothing else, please leave people alone. Let people exist in peace. If they're not bothering you, don't bother them. At any rate, that is the end of this episode. Follow me on TikTok, Minor Mischief Pod, on Instagram, Minor Mischief Podcast. Case suggestions, wanna chat, wanna suggest another cutwater flavor minor mission podcast at gmail dot com. we're a day late this week, but please charge it to my head, not my heart. This week has been extremely busy, but we're a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short. Next week we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming, hopefully, because next week's gonna be busy too. But I'm gonna try to get everything done early. So that we're not Dealing with the and that's really what happened this week. It was just that last minute, like I have to do this now, and I just things were not working the way I needed them to do it now. But that's our show. So we will see you next week. Same time, same pla well, not same time. We will see you next week on Thursday. We'll see you next week, Thursday. And until then, stay mischievous, friends.