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Hell and Gone Murder Line: Cass County Three (Archive Episode) · Hell and Gone: Murder Line

0:46
Speaker 1: School of Humans. Helen Got Murder Line actively investigates cold
0:52
Speaker 1: case murders in an effort to raise public awareness invite
0:55
Speaker 1: witnesses to come forward and present evidence that could potentially
0:58
Speaker 1: be further investigated by law enforcement. While we value insights
1:03
Speaker 1: from family and community members, their statements should not be
1:06
Speaker 1: considered evidence and point to the challenges of verifying facts
1:10
Speaker 1: inherent in cold cases. We remind listeners that everyone has
1:14
Speaker 1: presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
1:17
Speaker 1: Nothing in the podcast is intended to state or imply
1:21
Speaker 1: that anyone who has not been convicted of a crime
1:24
Speaker 1: is guilty of any wrongdoing. Thanks for listening.
1:28
Speaker 2: I had info on the Cass County three triple Black
1:31
Speaker 2: child murder case out of Atlanta, Texas, which is Cass County.
1:36
Speaker 2: Three little black girls were murdered about a year ago
1:39
Speaker 2: to cold case right now has some documentation from the
1:42
Speaker 2: police and a judgment. Texas also appoints at him and
1:46
Speaker 2: I have some information with the family, the mother and
1:49
Speaker 2: some other witnesses to the murders of these three girls.
1:53
Speaker 3: It was July twenty ninth, twenty twenty two, just another
1:57
Speaker 3: quiet summer night in Atlanta, Texas. A tiny town in
2:00
Speaker 3: East Texas. Atlanta is about a twenty five minute drive
2:05
Speaker 3: from Texarkana, which is right on the border with Arkansas.
2:09
Speaker 3: The sun had just gone down when twenty eight year
2:11
Speaker 3: old Shamanique Oliver got a panicked phone call. Shamanique is
2:16
Speaker 3: a single mom and a certified nurses aid. She works
2:19
Speaker 3: at a nursing home in Texarkana. She later told Nancy
2:23
Speaker 3: Grace that it had been a totally normal day. She
2:27
Speaker 3: was hanging out with her six children between the ages
2:30
Speaker 3: of one and ten years old at home. They watched TV,
2:33
Speaker 3: played and ate a meal together while Shamanique got ready
2:36
Speaker 3: for a shift. When Shamanique went to work that afternoon,
2:41
Speaker 3: she left her children in the care of their babysitter,
2:44
Speaker 3: a thirty one year old cousin of hers named Paris Props.
2:48
Speaker 3: She and the kids lived in a very rural area.
2:53
Speaker 3: The one story home is pretty secluded. There are neighbors around,
2:57
Speaker 3: but it's the kind of home where you can't really
3:00
Speaker 3: see the neighbors, and it's pretty wild out there. There
3:04
Speaker 3: are woods and fields behind the house, and the fields
3:07
Speaker 3: are blocked by barbour fences. Shamanique was helping change a
3:11
Speaker 3: patient later that evening. She was called to the nurses
3:15
Speaker 3: station a little after nine pm, and that's when her
3:19
Speaker 3: nightmare began, because that's when she found out that three
3:23
Speaker 3: of her children, her three middle daughters, nine year old
3:28
Speaker 3: Zayariel Robinson Oliver, eight year old a Maya Hughes, and
3:32
Speaker 3: little five year old to mari Robinson Oliver, were all missing.
3:36
Speaker 3: Law enforcement found the little girls a few hours later. Unfortunately,
3:41
Speaker 3: though this was not a half in. Divers dragged their
3:46
Speaker 3: lifeless little bodies out of a neighboring pond. Initially, this
3:52
Speaker 3: was described as a drowning in the local media, but
3:55
Speaker 3: months later law enforcement in Texas said these three little
3:59
Speaker 3: girls had been murdered. The cause of death was exphyxiation.
4:04
Speaker 3: All three of these little girls had been strangled. There
4:08
Speaker 3: seemed to be a lot of misconceptions about this case.
4:11
Speaker 3: Some of them involved local rumors. Some of them involved politics,
4:15
Speaker 3: charges of racism, and of police not doing their jobs.
4:19
Speaker 3: If you listen to this podcast, you'll know that these
4:22
Speaker 3: are a lot of the things that often come with
4:24
Speaker 3: investigations in small towns. But once you look past all that,
4:29
Speaker 3: at the heart of this case, you have three dead
4:32
Speaker 3: little girls whose lives were over before they even started,
4:36
Speaker 3: and you have a family and an entire town crying
4:39
Speaker 3: out for justice and answers. I said back at the
4:43
Speaker 3: beginning that Shaumnik's nightmare began on July twenty ninth, twenty
4:48
Speaker 3: twenty two, but she never woke up. It's still going on,
4:53
Speaker 3: and in East Texas there's a child killer still out
4:57
Speaker 3: there and this person could strike again at any time.
5:02
Speaker 3: I'm Catherine Townsend. This is Helen Gone Murder Line. Over
5:08
Speaker 3: the past five years of making my true crime podcast,
5:10
Speaker 3: Helling Gone, I've learned that there's no such thing as
5:14
Speaker 3: a small town where murder never happens. I have received
5:18
Speaker 3: hundreds of messages from people from all around the country
5:21
Speaker 3: asking for help with an unsolved murder that's affected them,
5:24
Speaker 3: their families, and their communities. If you have a case
5:28
Speaker 3: you'd like me and my team to look into, you
5:30
Speaker 3: can reach out to us at our Helen Gone Murder
5:33
Speaker 3: Line at six seven eight seven four four six' one four.
5:36
Speaker 3: Five that's six seven eight seven four four six one
5:41
Speaker 3: four or. Five so to find out what happened To shamanique's,
6:31
Speaker 3: daughters we have to make sense of the. Timeline we
6:35
Speaker 3: need to go back and find out exactly what was
6:37
Speaker 3: going on and who was around that. Day in her
6:41
Speaker 3: interview With Nancy Grace, Shaw manique said that while she
6:44
Speaker 3: was getting dressed and preparing for her, shift the kids
6:47
Speaker 3: were behaving totally. Normally she made sure they had something
6:51
Speaker 3: to eat and they were playing and WATCHING, tv just
6:54
Speaker 3: generally messing. Around shamanique said that all of her children were,
6:59
Speaker 3: close but that her three middle, Daughters, Syaril, amaya And
7:03
Speaker 3: tamari were the best of. Friends they liked to do
7:07
Speaker 3: things that all little girls like to. Do they like
7:09
Speaker 3: to play outside and ride bikes. Together they also loved
7:13
Speaker 3: to hang out in the house and make TikTok. Videos
7:16
Speaker 3: in the interview With Nancy, Grace shamanique clarified that the
7:19
Speaker 3: last time that she spoke to her children was when
7:22
Speaker 3: she called, them and that was sometime between five and six.
7:25
Speaker 3: Pm she asked them what they were going to. Do
7:29
Speaker 3: they said they were going to stay in the house
7:31
Speaker 3: and finish eating and take a. Bath Sha monique was
7:35
Speaker 3: adamant about the fact that they would not go. Outside she, said,
7:38
Speaker 3: quote they know not to go outside when it gets
7:41
Speaker 3: dark because there's no lights outside end. Quote this is
7:45
Speaker 3: an important point because at least in the beginning of the,
7:48
Speaker 3: investigation everything that came out about these little girl's disappearance
7:53
Speaker 3: made it sound like just a horrific, accident like the
7:56
Speaker 3: three little girls had gone, outside maybe for a summertime
8:00
Speaker 3: swim or, something and then somehow gotten into. Trouble But
8:03
Speaker 3: shamanique insists it would have been totally out of character
8:06
Speaker 3: for any of her children to go outside in the
8:09
Speaker 3: dark to a dark. Field she's been saying that to
8:12
Speaker 3: anyone who would listen from the very. Beginning shamanique said
8:16
Speaker 3: her shift normally ended at around TEN, pm and her
8:20
Speaker 3: normal routine was that after she got off, work she
8:23
Speaker 3: would drive from the nursing home from work back To.
8:26
Speaker 3: Atlanta and, again just to clarify, here we're talking about
8:30
Speaker 3: a small town In, Texas, Atlanta, texas Not, Atlanta. Georgia
8:35
Speaker 3: it was only about twenty five minutes, away so normally
8:38
Speaker 3: she would have gotten home at around ten thirty. Pm
8:42
Speaker 3: but that night she got that, call and when the
8:45
Speaker 3: call came, in it was from her neighbour's home. Phone
8:50
Speaker 3: When shamanique picked up her Cousin, paris who had been
8:53
Speaker 3: staying with her at her house and helping her out with,
8:55
Speaker 3: babysitting while she, worked told her that her kids were.
8:59
Speaker 3: Missing shamanique didn't get many details at that. Point she
9:04
Speaker 3: Said paris didn't specify which kids were missing or exactly
9:07
Speaker 3: what had. Happened once she heard that her kids were,
9:10
Speaker 3: missing she jumped in the car and said she started driving.
9:13
Speaker 3: Fast shamnique was. Panicking she called nine to one one
9:17
Speaker 3: and at the same time she was trying to call her,
9:20
Speaker 3: aunt who she said live. Nearby she was trying to
9:22
Speaker 3: see if her aunt could meet her at her. House
9:25
Speaker 3: shamanique said at that point she was. Terrified she was
9:28
Speaker 3: trying to hold it, together trying to get home as
9:30
Speaker 3: quickly as she, could and through it, all she really
9:33
Speaker 3: had no idea what was going. On she made it
9:36
Speaker 3: sound like the next events were kind of a. Blur,
9:40
Speaker 3: now as we know from listening to this, podcast sometimes
9:43
Speaker 3: when people go, missing police don't come right. Away sometimes
9:47
Speaker 3: even when small children go, missing there's a. Delay but
9:50
Speaker 3: fortunately that was not the case. Here by the Time
9:53
Speaker 3: shamanique made it, home law enforcement was already there on the.
9:57
Speaker 3: Scene there were rangers from The Texas Wildlife, Department Emergency services,
10:02
Speaker 3: personnel and detectives from The Cass County sheriff's. Department all
10:06
Speaker 3: of these people in law enforcement were scouring those dark.
10:09
Speaker 3: Woods they were looking everywhere for those little. Girls When
10:14
Speaker 3: shamanique got, home the first thing she did was check
10:17
Speaker 3: on her three other, children who were fine and. Safe
10:21
Speaker 3: The Texas Game wardens got the call at around ten.
10:23
Speaker 3: Pm they knew there were three children missing from a,
10:26
Speaker 3: residence so when they got, there they brought the canine
10:29
Speaker 3: unit with. Them the dog alerted and started walking through
10:34
Speaker 3: those backwoods toward a. Pond it was a pond that
10:38
Speaker 3: was back through the woods about two hundred yards away
10:41
Speaker 3: near a neighboring. Property, again this is where it's so
10:45
Speaker 3: important to try and clarify a, location and this is
10:48
Speaker 3: why it's so important to understand both the dynamics of
10:51
Speaker 3: the small town and of the crime, scene because just
10:54
Speaker 3: hearing the details on the, news you might think this
10:57
Speaker 3: was a local swimming hole or. Something BUT i took
11:00
Speaker 3: a look at the footage that was filmed from local news,
11:02
Speaker 3: stations and that footage tells a very different. Story Sha
11:07
Speaker 3: monique said she had lived in that spot pretty much
11:09
Speaker 3: her whole, life and she never knew there was a
11:11
Speaker 3: pond back. There to get to, it you had to
11:14
Speaker 3: go through a barbed wire fence and through a pretty
11:18
Speaker 3: dense wooded. Area looking at the pictures that looked more
11:22
Speaker 3: like a, Swamp shamanique said her kids would not have
11:25
Speaker 3: known about that. Pond as it got later and, later
11:30
Speaker 3: Sha minique became more and more. Frantic she was focused
11:33
Speaker 3: on one thing and that was finding her. Daughters she
11:35
Speaker 3: was out back in her yard while law enforcement continued their,
11:38
Speaker 3: search and then one of the canine dogs alerted and
11:42
Speaker 3: they saw something an overturned. Bike in pictures in the news,
11:47
Speaker 3: reports you can see that it's a purple kid's bike
11:50
Speaker 3: with pink. Petals next to the bike was what looked
11:53
Speaker 3: like a blue scooter kind of tipped, over leaning in
11:56
Speaker 3: on the. Bike after the dog alerted and the police
12:00
Speaker 3: found the, bike they saw something. Else the dogs were
12:05
Speaker 3: pulling toward that pond and police saw a pair of
12:08
Speaker 3: tennis shoes next to the. Waterline then they saw footprints
12:12
Speaker 3: in the mud leading down to the water and the
12:17
Speaker 3: family confirmed a law enforcement that that pair of little
12:20
Speaker 3: tennis shoes belonged To shamaniqu's five year old, daughter To,
12:23
Speaker 3: maury and there was something else that was very strange
12:27
Speaker 3: about those. Shoes On Nancy Grace shamanique said To mari's
12:32
Speaker 3: shoes quote were found out, there stacked on top of each,
12:36
Speaker 3: Other Chris, crossway like you would pack them in a.
12:39
Speaker 3: Suitcase end. Quote she said, Emphatically, mike kids never do.
12:45
Speaker 2: That.
12:45
Speaker 3: Never divers went into the, water and then in the
12:51
Speaker 3: early morning hours Of july, thirtieth at around two, am
12:55
Speaker 3: they Found shamanique's eight year old, Daughter. Amaya amaya was the,
13:01
Speaker 3: first but unfortunately not the. Last in the, end investigators
13:06
Speaker 3: found all three girls dead in that. Pond they pulled
13:11
Speaker 3: their little bodies out of the water one by one
13:14
Speaker 3: and sent them for. Autopsies after hearing That amaya's body
13:20
Speaker 3: had been, Found shamanique had to be taken to the.
13:23
Speaker 3: Hospital she later learned that she was having a heart.
13:27
Speaker 3: Attack she had already had one hard episode after her
13:30
Speaker 3: mother died FROM, covid and now she had lost three
13:34
Speaker 3: daughters in one. Night After shamanique's three daughters were found
13:40
Speaker 3: dead in that, pond the story made local. News at,
13:45
Speaker 3: first the media reports indicated that these deaths were being
13:48
Speaker 3: investigated as a, drowning, which while, horrific is something that
13:53
Speaker 3: made it sound like it might have been an unavoidable,
13:55
Speaker 3: accident but that's not what happened. Here looking back in,
14:00
Speaker 3: HINDSIGHT i think that these reports might have come out
14:03
Speaker 3: because of some comments made early on by The Cass
14:06
Speaker 3: County sheriff's. Office Cass County Sheriff Larry rowe told a local,
14:10
Speaker 3: Newspaper The, gazette quote we have no idea what the
14:14
Speaker 3: girls were doing there end. Quote and then a lieutenant
14:17
Speaker 3: game warden Named Jason jones told a local news STATION
14:21
Speaker 3: ktl that it was unknown whether the little girls were
14:24
Speaker 3: swimmers or. Not there was another comment made by someone
14:29
Speaker 3: in law enforcement about none of the little girls having
14:31
Speaker 3: life jackets. On so all of those comments taken, together,
14:36
Speaker 3: definitely in my, opinion led toward the story being reported
14:40
Speaker 3: as a, drowning at least. Initially very, quickly this case
14:44
Speaker 3: was turned over from the local police department to The Texas.
14:48
Speaker 3: Rangers the officer assigned to that case was Named Josh. Mason,
14:53
Speaker 3: now The Texas rangers are unique. Organization, officially they're The
14:58
Speaker 3: Texas state law enforcement. Units so Like arkansas has The
15:01
Speaker 3: Arkansas State, police In, texas they're a little bit unique
15:05
Speaker 3: because they have The. Rangers The Texas rangers originally actually
15:11
Speaker 3: defended the frontier back in the eighteen, hundreds and they
15:14
Speaker 3: do have a complicated and sometimes brutal. Legacy Author Doug
15:19
Speaker 3: swanson wrote about the alleged war crimes that The Texas
15:22
Speaker 3: rangers committed back in the day in his, book which
15:25
Speaker 3: is Called cult Of, glory and he TOLD npr that
15:30
Speaker 3: back in the day they did murder a lot Of
15:32
Speaker 3: mexicans And Mexican americans and had a strange idea of frontier.
15:37
Speaker 3: Justice but over the, years The Texas rangers have. Modernized
15:42
Speaker 3: they've actually become one the country's most elite detective. Units
15:46
Speaker 3: The Texas rangers have solved a lot of cold. Cases
15:50
Speaker 3: it was actually A Texas ranger who got the notorious
15:52
Speaker 3: serial Killer Samuel little to, Confess but there have also
15:56
Speaker 3: been allegations over the years that in some cases they
16:00
Speaker 3: have coerce. Confessions Samuel little did confess to a lot of,
16:04
Speaker 3: murders but some of those murders were based on very little,
16:07
Speaker 3: evidence and a lot of people believe that The rangers
16:11
Speaker 3: let him confess to crimes even when there was not
16:15
Speaker 3: necessarily evidence to back it, up because they wanted to
16:18
Speaker 3: close those. Cases i'm not going to go too far
16:21
Speaker 3: into the weeds on. This if you're interested In Texas ranger,
16:23
Speaker 3: history you can see they've had a lot of successes
16:26
Speaker 3: and some, controversies just like many law enforcement. Organizations i'm
16:30
Speaker 3: bringing this up to make the point, that unlike some
16:33
Speaker 3: of the CASES i, cover this was not a case
16:36
Speaker 3: of just some small town police department with no resources
16:39
Speaker 3: doing everything. Themselves they did do the right. Thing they
16:42
Speaker 3: called for outside. Help they brought in The. Rangers The
16:45
Speaker 3: Texas rangers were there from day one when those bodies
16:48
Speaker 3: were pulled out of the. Water On august, second The
16:52
Speaker 3: Texas rangers released a. Statement they, said quote at the
16:56
Speaker 3: request of The Cass County sheriff's, office The Texas rangers
17:00
Speaker 3: are investigating the drowning deaths of the three, juveniles ages, five,
17:04
Speaker 3: eight and. Nine the drowning Occurred july thirtieth around two
17:08
Speaker 3: am at a private pond Off State highway seventy. Seven
17:12
Speaker 3: the three siblings had been reported missing around ten pm
17:15
Speaker 3: the previous. Night this is an ongoing investigation and additional
17:19
Speaker 3: information will be released when it's. Available end. Quote police
17:24
Speaker 3: did not give out much, information which is totally normal
17:27
Speaker 3: in cases like. This and remember this was two days
17:31
Speaker 3: after the girl's bodies had been, found and that statement
17:35
Speaker 3: did two. Things Number, one it reinforced the public perception
17:39
Speaker 3: that these had been. Drownings and, Also i'm, noticing in my,
17:43
Speaker 3: opinion the word wordings seemed. Strange they said the drowning
17:47
Speaker 3: occurred rather than saying the bodies were recovered at two,
17:50
Speaker 3: am and whether it was on purpose or. Not this
17:54
Speaker 3: later caused a lot of. Confusion this statement seemed to
17:58
Speaker 3: assume a cause of death and also a time of,
18:00
Speaker 3: death which is not normally standard protocol in these. Investigations
18:07
Speaker 3: for the next few, months there was basically nothing on
18:11
Speaker 3: the news about these. Deaths it was not until eight
18:14
Speaker 3: months later that The Cass County District, Attorney Courtney, shelton
18:19
Speaker 3: announced that they were investigating the deaths as a. Homicide
18:23
Speaker 3: On march twenty, nine twenty twenty, Three Courtney shelton said
18:27
Speaker 3: in a, statement, quote autopsy reports concluded the manner of
18:31
Speaker 3: death for all three girls with, homicide indicating evidence of.
18:35
Speaker 3: Strangulation the girls also suffered lacerations to their. Faces multiple
18:40
Speaker 3: witness statements have been, OBTAINED dna testing is ongoing and
18:44
Speaker 3: the investigation will. Continue. Quote so now everyone knew the
18:50
Speaker 3: three young girls had been strangled and put into that.
18:53
Speaker 3: Pond the rangers were now investigating the case as a,
18:57
Speaker 3: homicide and there was a child killer on the loose In, Atlanta.
19:01
Speaker 3: Texas it had been eight months since the all of
19:08
Speaker 3: her sister's bodies were found in a. Pond the district
19:11
Speaker 3: attorney had announced that the girls had not drowned as
19:14
Speaker 3: everyone initially thought that their deaths were being investigated as,
19:18
Speaker 3: homicides and after months of, Silence shamanique started speaking. Out
19:24
Speaker 3: she Told The Daily beasts that strangers on social media
19:27
Speaker 3: had put horribly abusive. Things they were writing that she
19:30
Speaker 3: was a deadbeat, mom some of them writing that her
19:32
Speaker 3: kids were better off. DEAD i think at this point
19:36
Speaker 3: a lot of people were wondering why she had been
19:39
Speaker 3: silent all this, Time but it turned out according To.
19:43
Speaker 3: Shamnique she Told The Daily, beast she suspected foul play
19:47
Speaker 3: from the. Jump she also, said quote fuck everyone else's.
19:51
Speaker 3: FEELINGS i want answers end. Quote she, wondered just like
19:55
Speaker 3: everyone else, did why investigators had waited so long to
19:59
Speaker 3: tell the public about these. Homicides it's possible that they
20:03
Speaker 3: held information back in the beginning because they were focusing
20:06
Speaker 3: on a suspect trying to make a case against, someone
20:09
Speaker 3: and then after several, months maybe they hit a dead.
20:12
Speaker 3: End maybe they thought that they were going to get
20:15
Speaker 3: MORE dna or other types of physical evidence from the,
20:17
Speaker 3: pond and because the little girl's bodies had been there
20:21
Speaker 3: for several, hours they weren't able. To this is all just,
20:24
Speaker 3: speculation but the bottom line is that there had been
20:28
Speaker 3: months with no, arrest months where a child killer was
20:32
Speaker 3: on the loose and the public was totally. Unaware at
20:38
Speaker 3: the end of the press, release the District attorney asked
20:41
Speaker 3: anyone with new information that would help lead to an
20:44
Speaker 3: arrest to contact The Texas. Rangers so to, me the
20:48
Speaker 3: fact that THE da issued this press release and that
20:51
Speaker 3: the police made a point of asking the public for
20:53
Speaker 3: information means that somewhere there's a missing piece and they
20:58
Speaker 3: know someone knows. Something so now that we know that
21:02
Speaker 3: those little girls did not walk out of that house
21:04
Speaker 3: into that pond by, themselves we know that the crime
21:07
Speaker 3: could have begun somewhere, else possibly inside the. Home so
21:12
Speaker 3: what could have happened inside that one story. House let's
21:17
Speaker 3: go back again to the night that the kids went
21:19
Speaker 3: Missing july twenty. Ninth Shaw monique is at, work she's
21:23
Speaker 3: changing a. Patient she goes to the nursing, station she
21:26
Speaker 3: gets a call from her Cousin. Paris and Now i'm
21:29
Speaker 3: just going to point out something else that she Told Nancy,
21:32
Speaker 3: grace because it seemed like even at this, point she
21:35
Speaker 3: wonders why he's just now letting her know about. This
21:40
Speaker 3: she also wondered why he was calling her from the neighbor's,
21:44
Speaker 3: house why he hadn't first called nine to one. One
21:48
Speaker 3: On july twenty, Ninth according to the historical DATA i
21:50
Speaker 3: found on the, internet on that date In, texarcana sunset
21:55
Speaker 3: was at eight EIGHTEEN. Pm remember this is the middle
21:58
Speaker 3: of the, summer so it didn't get fully dark until
22:00
Speaker 3: about thirty minutes after. That, still it raises red flags
22:04
Speaker 3: for me that a babysitter in a small house didn't
22:07
Speaker 3: notice three kids were missing until after. Dark, later a
22:13
Speaker 3: local news station interviewed a, neighbor a woman Named Josephine.
22:16
Speaker 3: Webster she told this local news STATION ktla that the,
22:21
Speaker 3: guy presumably Meaning, paris who was staying In shamanique's, house
22:25
Speaker 3: came over and asked her for her. Housephone So i'm
22:29
Speaker 3: wondering the same thing that it sounds Like shamanique was
22:33
Speaker 3: why did he get the neighbor to call nine one?
22:35
Speaker 3: One did he not have a cell? Phone because the
22:38
Speaker 3: first thing THAT i would have done IF i was
22:40
Speaker 3: babysitting and someone's children were missing was called their mind
22:43
Speaker 3: right that. Second by the, Way josephine said she was
22:47
Speaker 3: driving home at around nine point thirty when she Saw. Paris, now,
22:50
Speaker 3: Remember shamanique said she got the call a little after
22:54
Speaker 3: nine p. M just a few minutes time. Difference but
22:56
Speaker 3: as we, know in cases like, this those few, minutes
23:00
Speaker 3: those tiny details can be. Crucial there are some indications
23:04
Speaker 3: that very early on in the investigation police were asking
23:08
Speaker 3: some of the same questions That shamanique, was and that
23:11
Speaker 3: rather than focusing on sex offenders who were passing through the,
23:15
Speaker 3: area they might be focusing on someone much closer to.
23:18
Speaker 3: Home shamanique Gave Nancy grace some more details THAT i
23:23
Speaker 3: believe could be crucial to this. Case she said that
23:26
Speaker 3: right after the authorities told her they found her little
23:29
Speaker 3: eight year Old amaya's, body she saw something. Else she
23:34
Speaker 3: said that the divers pulled some tangled clothes out of the. Pond,
23:39
Speaker 3: later investigators showed her photos of what they. Found she
23:43
Speaker 3: recogniz that clothing as jackets that belonged to her. Children
23:47
Speaker 3: but the strange thing, was according To, shamanique these jackets
23:51
Speaker 3: were ones that her kids had. Outgrown she said they
23:54
Speaker 3: had thrown them into the trash at. Home this again
23:57
Speaker 3: raises a huge red flag because that suggests that someone,
24:01
Speaker 3: else probably the, killer had been inside the house because
24:05
Speaker 3: someone had to fish those jackets out of the. TRASH
24:07
Speaker 3: i don't think that's something the little girls would have
24:09
Speaker 3: done on their. Own shamanique said something else that was
24:12
Speaker 3: chilling to. Me she said the jackets were quote tied
24:16
Speaker 3: together like a rope end. Quote this is getting really,
24:22
Speaker 3: dark but this, is unfortunately where my mind has to
24:24
Speaker 3: go to try and figure out what happened those little.
24:26
Speaker 3: Girls what were those jackets. For were they put there
24:31
Speaker 3: to tie the girls, up or to tie them together
24:34
Speaker 3: so their bodies would? Sink or did whatever bad thing
24:38
Speaker 3: happen to them happen first in the house and then
24:40
Speaker 3: somehow the killer dragged the bodies out to the using those.
24:44
Speaker 3: Jackets the Cass county DA's press release referred to the
24:50
Speaker 3: fact that the little girl's injuries were much more extensive
24:54
Speaker 3: than had been initially. Reported local news stations had reported
24:59
Speaker 3: that the little girl's faces were bruised and that they
25:02
Speaker 3: had lacerations on their, faces deep cuts and. Bruises shamanique
25:08
Speaker 3: Gave Nancy grace more disturbing. Details she said that investigators
25:13
Speaker 3: had showed her photos of her daughter's. Bodies shamanique said
25:18
Speaker 3: That tamari had what she described as a busted, lip
25:22
Speaker 3: but that her nine year old had extensive injuries and
25:26
Speaker 3: were not just talking about a few. Cuts she said that,
25:29
Speaker 3: they presumably meaning the people who prepared her daughter for,
25:33
Speaker 3: burial had to quote reconstruct one side of her. Face
25:38
Speaker 3: it looked like she took a beating on one side
25:40
Speaker 3: of her face and it pulled her skin. Off. Quote
25:47
Speaker 3: when the investigators talked To, shamanique they also broke the
25:51
Speaker 3: devastating news to her that they believed that all three
25:55
Speaker 3: of her girls had been. Molested, now at this, point
25:59
Speaker 3: a lot of people wondered why it took so long
26:02
Speaker 3: to release autopsy. Results there was some confusion, here AND
26:06
Speaker 3: i think it's really important to differentiate between what was
26:09
Speaker 3: being told to the family and what was being made.
26:12
Speaker 3: Public Revolt Black News weekly has been doing a lot
26:16
Speaker 3: of reporting on this. CASE urbn said they contacted the
26:21
Speaker 3: Cass county DA's. Office they said that they were told
26:24
Speaker 3: the autopsy had been, delayed but then when the press
26:28
Speaker 3: release came, out it made it clear that authorities had
26:31
Speaker 3: known from the beginning that homicide was the cause of,
26:34
Speaker 3: death that they never thought this was some kind of accidental.
26:37
Speaker 3: Drowning Rolling stone reached out to The District attorney's office
26:41
Speaker 3: and THE. Da Courtney shelton clarified a few things for
26:45
Speaker 3: A Rolling, stone including the. Timeline Courtney shelton said that
26:50
Speaker 3: at least since Early august of twenty twenty, two just
26:53
Speaker 3: a few days after the little girl's bodies were pulled
26:56
Speaker 3: out of that, pond the DA's office had the autopsy
26:59
Speaker 3: results and they knew this had been a. Homicide she
27:03
Speaker 3: said that investigators had Told shamanique that it was a
27:06
Speaker 3: homicide from the beginning. Too Courtney shelton said that On august,
27:11
Speaker 3: Fourth Josh, mason The texas ranger in charge of the,
27:14
Speaker 3: investigation quote met With Shamanique, oliver the mother of the,
27:18
Speaker 3: children and her father and notified them that the deaths
27:21
Speaker 3: of all three children were not. Accidents anne provided both
27:26
Speaker 3: of them with details from the preliminary autopsy. Report stating
27:30
Speaker 3: that the cause of death was homicide end. Quote police
27:34
Speaker 3: got a lot of criticism after that press release because
27:38
Speaker 3: a lot of people wondered why it took them so
27:40
Speaker 3: long to make their manner of death public and failed
27:43
Speaker 3: to war in the community that there was a dangerous
27:45
Speaker 3: sexual predator and a child killer at, large and a
27:49
Speaker 3: lot of, people Including shamanique and the Local Black panther,
27:52
Speaker 3: chapter wondered if the investigation would have unfolded differently if
27:56
Speaker 3: police were investigating the death of three little white. Girls
28:03
Speaker 3: let's go back, Again let's look at the victim's pattern
28:06
Speaker 3: of life and start with the last people to see
28:09
Speaker 3: these little. Girls we cannot overlook the fact that these
28:13
Speaker 3: children were being looked after By Paris. Props paris Was shamanique's.
28:17
Speaker 3: Cousin her mother And paris's mother are. Sisters paris is
28:22
Speaker 3: a male cousin in his early. Thirties shamanique said he
28:26
Speaker 3: had been staying with her at her house and regularly
28:28
Speaker 3: babysite the. Children. Now shamanique Told urbin she had never
28:33
Speaker 3: had a problem With paris before when he was babysitting,
28:36
Speaker 3: kids but she also shared something else THAT i found.
28:40
Speaker 3: Shocking something she later repeated To Nancy. Grace she said
28:44
Speaker 3: that her four year old daughter told her and told
28:47
Speaker 3: police that her three sisters walked into the woods With Paris.
28:52
Speaker 3: Props Yet shamanique said police talked To paris the day
28:56
Speaker 3: after the girls went missing and never questioned him. Again
29:00
Speaker 3: Now i'm just being logical. Here i'm not trying to imply.
29:03
Speaker 3: Anything i'm literally just following the investigation's logical. Threat we
29:07
Speaker 3: know that investigators Told shamanique that they believed her daughters
29:12
Speaker 3: had been, molested and we know that children are much
29:15
Speaker 3: more likely to be molested by someone they know or
29:17
Speaker 3: by relative than a. Stranger so any, male whether they
29:22
Speaker 3: were relative or, not any male who was staying in
29:25
Speaker 3: that home with those children would need to be closely
29:28
Speaker 3: looked at by law. Enforcement so let's take a closer
29:32
Speaker 3: look At Paris props because there's been very little said about.
29:35
Speaker 3: Him most news reports don't mention his. Name there weren't
29:39
Speaker 3: any other males there that. Night we don't know a
29:42
Speaker 3: lot about the children's, fathers But shamanique has said that
29:46
Speaker 3: she was a single mom and that the children's fathers
29:49
Speaker 3: had no contact with her or with their. CHILDREN i
29:52
Speaker 3: don't know If chamanique was ever suspicious of her Cousin,
29:57
Speaker 3: paris but it definitely seems like by what she said.
30:01
Speaker 3: Publicly once The Texas rangers talked to her and her,
30:05
Speaker 3: father once they laid out the case for her in Early,
30:07
Speaker 3: august it seems clear that something changed her. Mind we
30:13
Speaker 3: don't know exactly what the rangers told, her but we
30:16
Speaker 3: do know that after they Told chamanique what they believed
30:20
Speaker 3: was going, on she tried to run out the. Door
30:23
Speaker 3: she said she remembers thinking she was going to go
30:26
Speaker 3: out and hurt her, cousin Meaning. Paris shamanique also had
30:30
Speaker 3: said something else that's. Crucial she Said paris has not
30:34
Speaker 3: been cooperative with the. Investigation she Said paris has not
30:37
Speaker 3: talked to her about, it and that he moved out
30:40
Speaker 3: of her house and went to live with his, Mom.
30:42
Speaker 3: Lemisha she said he won't talk to her and he
30:46
Speaker 3: won't talk to the. Police Neither paris nor his mother
30:50
Speaker 3: have spoken publicly about, this but if you look through
30:53
Speaker 3: his mother's social, media it's obvious that she and her
30:56
Speaker 3: son have had issues before with law. Enforcement back in
31:00
Speaker 3: twenty twenty, One Lemisha paris's mom was posting comments On
31:04
Speaker 3: facebook that are public, comments and she was talking about
31:07
Speaker 3: an incident in which she referred To paris having an
31:11
Speaker 3: altercation with the police and getting his teeth knocked. Out
31:14
Speaker 3: his mom said they meaning the police Hid paris in another,
31:18
Speaker 3: county and she talks about wanting to file a lawsuit against.
31:22
Speaker 3: Police my, source the person who called into this podcast
31:27
Speaker 3: to tell me about the, case said that he believed
31:30
Speaker 3: That paris had filed a lawsuit against. Police But i've
31:33
Speaker 3: been looking through court records AND i haven't found any
31:36
Speaker 3: record of, that SO i don't know if the suit
31:38
Speaker 3: was ever filed or if it's something they thought about.
31:40
Speaker 3: Doing his mom's comments just seemed to indicate they were
31:43
Speaker 3: looking for a, lawyer but they hadn't found one. Yet
31:47
Speaker 3: shamanique said that Since paris me back with his, mother
31:52
Speaker 3: that his mother and he are both actively trying to
31:56
Speaker 3: keep a police away and they are not. Talking paris
32:00
Speaker 3: does have a criminal. RECORD i found some gun charges
32:03
Speaker 3: and drug. Charges they were mainly for small amounts of,
32:06
Speaker 3: marijuana meaning less than two, Ounces and of COURSE i
32:10
Speaker 3: must point out none of these things indicate that he's a. Murderer,
32:14
Speaker 3: obviously everyone is innocent until proven. Guilty i'm just trying
32:18
Speaker 3: to Understand paris and the family dynamics since there's been
32:22
Speaker 3: so little reporting out there about. It paris did have
32:25
Speaker 3: a brother Named Kevin, shepherd And Kevin shepherd is a convicted. Killer,
32:31
Speaker 3: Again i'm not going to go too far into the
32:33
Speaker 3: details On kevin's, case, because of, course anyone's family members
32:36
Speaker 3: crimes are not a reflection of. Them it's a completely separate.
32:40
Speaker 3: Issue BUT i think it's important because it might explain
32:46
Speaker 3: a Why paris might not want to talk to the
32:48
Speaker 3: police and beat some of his Mother lasha's comments on
32:51
Speaker 3: social media and her general attitude towards law. Enforcement in
32:56
Speaker 3: twenty twenty, Two parris's, Brother Kevin, shepherd got life in
33:01
Speaker 3: prison for Killing Donny coombs And Cynthia, arnold a couple
33:05
Speaker 3: who went missing In september of twenty. Eighteen cynthia was
33:09
Speaker 3: a mother, who at the age of, forty had a
33:12
Speaker 3: run of bad. Luck she lost her, job she got a,
33:14
Speaker 3: divorce and she started getting into. Methamphetamines that's when she
33:18
Speaker 3: met her Boyfriend Donnie, coombs he was also into. Drugs
33:22
Speaker 3: In september of twenty, eighteen A sheriff's office investigator in
33:26
Speaker 3: a neighboring. County Marion county said that she responded to
33:29
Speaker 3: a call and found a burning red truck on a
33:32
Speaker 3: remote county. Road by the time the flames had been,
33:35
Speaker 3: extinguished that fire had burned so hot the truck rims
33:39
Speaker 3: had melted to the. Road that truck belonged To Kevin.
33:42
Speaker 3: Shepherd inside the, truck police found the bodies Of donnie And.
33:46
Speaker 3: Cynthia when this first, happened it seemed like the police
33:52
Speaker 3: had suspicions That kevin might have been, involved but they
33:56
Speaker 3: didn't have enough evidence until an eyewitness came forward in twenty.
33:59
Speaker 3: Nineteen this witness said she was hanging out With kevin
34:02
Speaker 3: in Late september of twenty. Eighteen she Said kevin took
34:06
Speaker 3: her to an area with no running water or. Electricity
34:09
Speaker 3: donnie And cynthia were there, too and this person said
34:14
Speaker 3: that all of them were doing. Drugs, then she said
34:17
Speaker 3: she was horrified When kevin basically said watch. This, then
34:22
Speaker 3: according to this, Witness kevin shot both victims in the
34:26
Speaker 3: head and then dragged their bodies to a fire pit
34:30
Speaker 3: and burned. Them THE fbi and local law enforcement went
34:34
Speaker 3: to that. Location they checked the fire pit and they
34:36
Speaker 3: found traces of human. Bone kevin got life without the
34:40
Speaker 3: possibility of. Parole he's currently behind ball serving out a,
34:44
Speaker 3: sentence and prosecutors said the motive in that case was
34:48
Speaker 3: the fact That, donnie one of the, victims was supposedly
34:52
Speaker 3: going to testify Against kevin's, uncle a man Named Gary,
34:55
Speaker 3: shepherd in a felony theft. Case gary is also facing,
34:59
Speaker 3: charges but his trial has not started. Yet according TO,
35:03
Speaker 3: ksla When, Lemisha paris's mother was asked about the jury's,
35:08
Speaker 3: decision she, said, QUOTE i kind of figured it was
35:12
Speaker 3: going to go this way because we live In Cass
35:14
Speaker 3: county and that's how they. Operate end. Quote lemisha said
35:19
Speaker 3: that the family planned to appeal the jury's. Verdict i've
35:23
Speaker 3: not spoken To lemisha or To, paris and obviously anyone
35:28
Speaker 3: has the right to not speak to police without an.
35:31
Speaker 3: Attorney in, fact that's WHAT i would advise most people to.
35:34
Speaker 3: Do BUT i can say that it's a red flag
35:37
Speaker 3: to me That lemisha seems to put all the blame
35:41
Speaker 3: on law. ENFORCEMENT i WAS i was looking through criminal
35:45
Speaker 3: records AND i found something else THAT i thought was
35:47
Speaker 3: interesting In paris's criminal. Record in another, case he pleaded
35:51
Speaker 3: guilty to possession of a dangerous drug Called gaba. Pinton
35:55
Speaker 3: it's an anti epilepsy, drug but it's a drug that
35:59
Speaker 3: has been used in some cases as a date rape.
36:02
Speaker 3: Drug so obviously my mind goes back to that dark,
36:06
Speaker 3: place back to that, house and to the dark things
36:08
Speaker 3: that could have happened. There if the house was the
36:11
Speaker 3: real crime scene and the bike was put by the
36:14
Speaker 3: pond to stage, something then we have to ask. Ourselves
36:18
Speaker 3: could the killer have tried to put the girls to?
36:20
Speaker 3: Sleep was one of them more badly injured than the
36:24
Speaker 3: others because she tried to wake up and. Intervene Remember,
36:30
Speaker 3: josephine the neighbor who the local news station talked to
36:34
Speaker 3: the reporter who interviewed. Her Rating edwards really seemed to
36:37
Speaker 3: care deeply about this. Case rating, said, QUOTE i would
36:41
Speaker 3: like to see it come to an. End needs to
36:44
Speaker 3: go to jail for this. End. Quote we see this
36:47
Speaker 3: story over and. Over the news organization contacts law, enforcement
36:51
Speaker 3: they ask for a. Comment law enforcement, says we're not
36:54
Speaker 3: giving out any, details and often the news reports stopped.
36:57
Speaker 3: There but in this, case the reporters did a good.
37:00
Speaker 3: Thing they went that extra. Step they drove out to
37:03
Speaker 3: that area and they obviously started canvassing and knocking on.
37:07
Speaker 3: Doors that's When raydin Interviewed, josephine the. Neighbor josephine confirmed
37:12
Speaker 3: what had already been reported on the. News she talked
37:16
Speaker 3: About paris coming to her house using her phone and Calling.
37:20
Speaker 3: Shamanie but then she added another crucial, detail one that
37:25
Speaker 3: threw a lot more shade On paris. Props josephine told
37:29
Speaker 3: the news channel, quote he was, wet AND i noticed
37:33
Speaker 3: that it looked like all the way, down not, sweat
37:36
Speaker 3: it looked like. Water end. Quote so, THIS i have to,
37:42
Speaker 3: say blows. Me the sours who have been talking to
37:46
Speaker 3: about the, case the one who called the podcast says
37:49
Speaker 3: That shamanique is wondering the same thing that a lot
37:51
Speaker 3: of people. Are why Hasn't paris been questioned more thoroughly
37:55
Speaker 3: and why hasn't there been an. Arrest paris's mother has
38:01
Speaker 3: posted something else that's interesting on social. Media she put
38:04
Speaker 3: a photo of a warrant the police had Compelling paris
38:08
Speaker 3: to give HIS dna to law enforcement and allowing them
38:11
Speaker 3: to use force to get THE dna if. NECESSARY i
38:16
Speaker 3: would love to know what happened with that, warrant because
38:18
Speaker 3: my source says they believe that the search warrant was never,
38:21
Speaker 3: executed But paris's mother claimed in her post That paris
38:25
Speaker 3: has voluntarily given HIS. Dna so if the authorities were
38:30
Speaker 3: able to do, testing and if they Have PARIS'S, dna
38:33
Speaker 3: why haven't they ruled anyone in or. Out OBVIOUSLY i
38:37
Speaker 3: don't have access to the case, file but there could
38:39
Speaker 3: be a few reasons. Why one thought again is that
38:43
Speaker 3: because the girl's bodies were in the water for several,
38:45
Speaker 3: hours THE dna may have. Degraded maybe police didn't have
38:49
Speaker 3: quite enough for an arrest and they needed to push
38:51
Speaker 3: for a. Confession But paris and the people around him
38:56
Speaker 3: are not. Talking The Daily beast Asked Da shelton About.
39:00
Speaker 3: Paris she said that he had been questioned and that,
39:03
Speaker 3: quote he was the last person known to be with
39:06
Speaker 3: the children prior to their. Deaths, however all possible leads
39:09
Speaker 3: are being followed end. Quote The New Black panthers Leader
39:15
Speaker 3: Kwan lex Told Rolling, stone, quote we do believe that
39:20
Speaker 3: the route is. Racism if these were three, beautiful, little blonde,
39:24
Speaker 3: haired blue, eyed white children from a suburban community In Cass,
39:27
Speaker 3: county they would have handled this entire investigation completely different end.
39:32
Speaker 3: Quote whatever has happened up to. Now in my, opinion
39:37
Speaker 3: the focus should be on what happens next Because shamanique's
39:41
Speaker 3: neighbors and everyone else In Cass county is right. Terrified
39:45
Speaker 3: there could be a sexual predator and child serial killer
39:48
Speaker 3: hiding and playing. Sight someone out there knows. Something The Texas,
39:54
Speaker 3: rangers The Cass County Sheriff's, office and The Cass County
39:57
Speaker 3: District Attorney's office are asking for any new information that
40:00
Speaker 3: would lead to an interest in this. Case if you know,
40:04
Speaker 3: something if you have any, detail no matter how, small
40:07
Speaker 3: that could help this mother learn what happened to her three,
40:10
Speaker 3: children please Call Texas Ranger Josh. Mason at NINE o
40:15
Speaker 3: three two five five five seven two, Seven shamanique told
40:19
Speaker 3: The Daily beast, quote ALL i want is justice for my.
40:23
Speaker 3: Babies end. Quote Helen Gone Murder line is a production
40:34
Speaker 3: Of School humans And iHeart. Podcasts it's written and narrated
40:38
Speaker 3: by Me Catherine townsend and produced By Gabby. Watts music
40:42
Speaker 3: contributed By Ben sale and this episode was scored and
40:45
Speaker 3: mixed By Miranda. Hawkins executive producers Are Virginia, Prescott Brandon,
40:50
Speaker 3: barr AND Lc. Crowley if you have a case you'd
40:53
Speaker 3: like me and my team to look. Into you can
40:55
Speaker 3: reach out to us at Our hell And Gone murder
40:57
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