Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / HEAR PARENTS' ANGUISH, tot shot DEAD after trike veers into neighbor's yard

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HEAR PARENTS' ANGUISH, tot shot DEAD after trike veers into neighbor's yard · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A five year old little
0:12
Speaker 1: boy is riding his bike on a Sunday afternoon around
0:19
Speaker 1: I guess it was about five thirty in the afternoon.
0:22
Speaker 1: Everybody's gone to church, they've had lunch. You know that
0:26
Speaker 1: feeling on a Sunday afternoon when everything is still and
0:29
Speaker 1: quiet until the sound of gunshots ring out. Little Cannon
0:36
Speaker 1: is dead. Why, according to reports, because he veered his
0:41
Speaker 1: bike into the neighbor's yard. I want justice. I'm Nancy Grace.
0:57
Speaker 1: This is Crime Stories with Me and All Star panel
1:01
Speaker 1: joining me. Brian m'sw r A LTV. Doctor Katherine Maloney,
1:05
Speaker 1: Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Erie County Medical Examiner's Office in Buffalo,
1:11
Speaker 1: founder of the Cold Case Research Institute, Ballistics forensics expert
1:14
Speaker 1: Cheryl McCullum, psychoanalysts joining me out of Beverly Hills, doctor
1:19
Speaker 1: Bethany Marshall, New York criminal defense attorney Randy Zellin. But
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Speaker 1: first to special guests, the mother and father of little
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Speaker 1: Cannon with me, Bonnie Wadell and Austin Hannett. Bonnie first
1:38
Speaker 1: to you. You know, every morning when I wake up,
1:42
Speaker 1: the first thing I think about, it's what I can
1:46
Speaker 1: do for my twins, who are twelve. I race up
1:50
Speaker 1: every morning to get their breakfast, get them packed for school,
1:54
Speaker 1: and all day long they're on my mind. What happened
1:59
Speaker 1: the day five year old Cannon was shot. He was
2:05
Speaker 1: visiting his dad's house. I was at home with my
2:10
Speaker 1: boyfriend and my other child and we had less to
2:15
Speaker 1: go to the dump and we dropped things off. I
2:19
Speaker 1: had gotten a text message from his dadies fiance saying
2:26
Speaker 1: that Cannon had been shot. I had gotten the numerous
2:30
Speaker 1: phone calls that day of her calling me. I finally
2:34
Speaker 1: caught back and all I hear is something I'll never forget,
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Speaker 1: and that is his dad just screaming in the background
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Speaker 1: and his girlfriend or fiance, sorry, just screaming in the background.
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Speaker 1: And I'm like, I couldn't even think at that time.
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Speaker 1: My mind just went blank. I'm like, this isn't real.
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Speaker 1: Just can't be real, oh'bonnie. That feeling, that feeling, especially
3:04
Speaker 1: when you're away, you're not right there on the scene,
3:08
Speaker 1: the helplessness that they're trying to grapple with what shot
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Speaker 1: and you're not there and you don't know what's happening,
3:17
Speaker 1: and all that screaming. I can't imagine that phone call.
3:23
Speaker 1: I wanted to start with Cannon's mom before I go
3:28
Speaker 1: to his dad joining us, who is at the scene.
3:33
Speaker 1: Take a listen to our friends at w r A LTV.
3:37
Speaker 1: Everybody there just love Cannon. He lit up the room.
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Speaker 1: Austin Hennock was inside his home on Archer's Road as
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Speaker 1: Cannon played outside for his sisters. He says his fiance
3:47
Speaker 1: stepped inside for a moment. As soon as he shuts
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Speaker 1: the door, I hear a loud gunshot that found bug.
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Speaker 1: He ran into the front yard and saw Cannon falling
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Speaker 1: off his bite. That it was something at Balmore Theory
4:00
Speaker 1: bong with youth, and I just scooped him up in
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Speaker 1: my arms and held him and held him and I screamed,
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Speaker 1: and somebody helped me play him. Please help me, say
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Speaker 1: my son, God, say my son. Please. A neighbor ran
4:15
Speaker 1: over with an emergency medical back. His fiance called with me.
4:20
Speaker 1: Now is Cannon's dad, Austin. Austin. I'm just so grateful
4:26
Speaker 1: to you and Bonnie being here today. I can remember
4:32
Speaker 1: for so many days, weeks, months after my fiance was murder,
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Speaker 1: I couldn't even think straight. I felt like I couldn't
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Speaker 1: put two words together. It just seems so unreal. Every
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Speaker 1: day feel I waken up to another to another dream.
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Speaker 1: None of this seem dream. I can't tell you how
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Speaker 1: sorry I am and how much we have prayed for you,
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Speaker 1: your family. Cannon. You know a lot of people think,
5:02
Speaker 1: Austin and Bonnie, it can't happen to me. I used
5:05
Speaker 1: to think that too, until it did happen. You guys
5:11
Speaker 1: had everything set up for Cannon. He was supposed to
5:14
Speaker 1: start kindergarten this week. He loved his body. Yes, he
5:20
Speaker 1: was out playing with cousins outside on a Sunday afternoon
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Speaker 1: in broad dawn, like five to thirty one. Nothing can
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Speaker 1: go wrong, and all of a sudden, gunshots rang out.
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Speaker 1: To Austin, please explain to me what happened that day.
5:38
Speaker 1: I don't know how to explain what happened to day,
5:40
Speaker 1: because it all what happened that day, because it all
5:42
Speaker 1: happened so fast. Other than it was just like any
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Speaker 1: other Sunday. But my family, we went to church, we
5:52
Speaker 1: followed up with lunch and came home and relax. Children
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Speaker 1: wanted to go outside and play and we're just doing
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Speaker 1: what they loved. And Austin, that is so scary to
6:04
Speaker 1: me because that is exactly what families, including mine do
6:10
Speaker 1: all across the country. You get your children dressed up
6:14
Speaker 1: or not, and get their hair in place, and get
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Speaker 1: them in the car and get them to church and
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Speaker 1: come out and they're hungry, and you either cook or
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Speaker 1: you We like to go out for lunch Sunday after
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Speaker 1: church and then we get home. And there's something about
6:34
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoons. It seems like it's the most peaceful time
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Speaker 1: of the whole week. I don't know why. Maybe we're
6:40
Speaker 1: not at work, but that idealic time in the afternoon,
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Speaker 1: So you're at home, you've gotten back from having lunch.
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Speaker 1: What happens then, well, might Beyonce went into the bedroom
6:57
Speaker 1: to take a nap. Man my mother are dropped off
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Speaker 1: Jaden now which is Cannon's aunt to make the correction,
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Speaker 1: my cousin and they all played inside as my fiance
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Speaker 1: napped into bedroom. I ended up drifting off to sleep
7:17
Speaker 1: on the couch of the whale, and around five o'clock
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Speaker 1: I woke up and meant to check on Nikki, my fiance,
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Speaker 1: and we both came out of the bedroom and were
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Speaker 1: bombarded with the children wanting to go outside. To play.
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Speaker 1: So she volunteers to go out out and I with
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Speaker 1: them and supervise and play with them and beat with
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Speaker 1: them while they're playing outside. And it wasn't twenty minutes
7:41
Speaker 1: thirty minutes later. This evil person is something that we
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Speaker 1: can't erect, that we can't take back. So she Nikki says,
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Speaker 1: she'll go out with the children. And it's Cannon and
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Speaker 1: what other children are playing with him? His sisters Crawley
8:02
Speaker 1: and Avam and my little sister Jaden, and they're outside
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Speaker 1: and Nikki comes in very quickly. Been outside for a
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Speaker 1: little while. Nikki comes in, I think to go to
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Speaker 1: the bathroom, and which then what happens. She actually came
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Speaker 1: in to just get some drinking water and say some
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Speaker 1: things to me, and and she was just talking to
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Speaker 1: me in general about a kid. And then she walked
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Speaker 1: back outside. And as soon as she walked back outside,
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Speaker 1: I heard one single gunshot. I could tell that it
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Speaker 1: was close, and I could tell it it was close.
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Speaker 1: And as soon as I heard it, before I even
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Speaker 1: made it out my front door, I knew something was wrong.
8:44
Speaker 1: I shot it in my heart as soon as I
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Speaker 1: heard that that part of me had just been taken
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Speaker 1: away from so I had to run outside and find
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Speaker 1: my son laying on the ground, pleasing for med crime
9:09
Speaker 1: stories with Nancy Grace, guys joining me right now. The
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Speaker 1: mother and father a five year old Cannon Hnnet. He's
9:22
Speaker 1: just beautiful. I don't understand how a five year old
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Speaker 1: little boy is shot dead for what? Riding his bike
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Speaker 1: veering into the neighbor's yard. Guys take a lesson to
9:40
Speaker 1: our friends at w R A l With a clear
9:44
Speaker 1: view of five year olds Cannon Hnnen and his siblings
9:47
Speaker 1: playing outside, Doris La Brette could not believe what she saw.
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Speaker 1: My first reaction was he's playing with the kids, and
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Speaker 1: when I saw him, just ride right up to him
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Speaker 1: and put the gun right on his head and shot him,
10:01
Speaker 1: She says. Twenty five year old Darius Sessum's shot five
10:05
Speaker 1: year old Cannon while he was playing outside. It's almost
10:09
Speaker 1: like seeing a movie and then almost a dawns to you.
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Speaker 1: It's not a movie. Labrene says. Sessam's parents have lived
10:14
Speaker 1: on Archer's Road in Wilson around twenty eight years, and
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Speaker 1: she's seen Sessim's over at Cannon's father's house before. There
10:22
Speaker 1: was no yelling, screaming, Kennon's siblings watched their five year
10:26
Speaker 1: old brother get shot. Labren says his dad, Austin, was
10:30
Speaker 1: close by. Austin flew out of that house and screaming
10:35
Speaker 1: and picked him up. They'll never get over it now.
10:38
Speaker 1: Everyone is left asking the same question. Why would that
10:42
Speaker 1: make him go over and kill the kid? Is what
10:44
Speaker 1: I want to know. Joining me and I'll star panel
10:48
Speaker 1: to break it down and put it back together again.
10:49
Speaker 1: And I want to thank you for being with us
10:52
Speaker 1: at this horrible time for Cannon's mother and father. They
10:57
Speaker 1: are joining us to speak out about what happened. I'm
11:02
Speaker 1: want to go back to Austin Hnnett. This is Cannon's dad. Today,
11:10
Speaker 1: Cannon would have started kindergarten instead. You're here. You said,
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Speaker 1: it feels like a nightmare, a bad dream every day
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Speaker 1: when you wake up in the morning. What do you think?
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Speaker 1: I don't know what to think. I don't know what
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Speaker 1: to think going I wake up in the morning. How
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Speaker 1: little boys said, have been going to school to seek
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Speaker 1: is all I meant. We didn't want any of this.
11:42
Speaker 1: We just wanted to life that we at Doctor Bethany Marshall,
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Speaker 1: renowned psycho Alice joining me out of Beverly Hills at
11:50
Speaker 1: doctor Bethany Marshall dot com. I remember that you wake
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Speaker 1: up in the morning and for maybe two or three
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Speaker 1: second was it a dream you don't remember, and then
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Speaker 1: it hits you like a ton of bricks all over again.
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Speaker 1: What are those two or three seconds where everything is
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Speaker 1: as Austin Hannett said, the life they had, the way
12:18
Speaker 1: it used to be. Why does your mind do that?
12:22
Speaker 1: Because Austin, Nikki, Cannon's mother and father had one reality
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Speaker 1: that they lived with for five years. A beautiful little
12:32
Speaker 1: baby boy was born, They raised him, He played with
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Speaker 1: his siblings, He was in a peaceful neighborhood. They had
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Speaker 1: the rhythms of life in such a beautiful way, going
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Speaker 1: to church on a Sunday afternoon, playing in the backyard.
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Speaker 1: And I don't know if you heard with Nikki going
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Speaker 1: out to supervise the kids. When she came back in,
12:55
Speaker 1: it wasn't to do something for herself. It was to
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Speaker 1: talk with Cannon's dad out how the kids were doing.
13:01
Speaker 1: I mean, this family's life was revolved around the kids.
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Speaker 1: They were very devoted. So that's a long time to
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Speaker 1: live with one reality and then with one gunshot, the
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Speaker 1: whole reality changes to this little boy not being there anymore.
13:19
Speaker 1: Our brains are not designed to wrap our mind around
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Speaker 1: these so quickly, so we wake up in the morning
13:28
Speaker 1: and we go back to how things were. You know,
13:31
Speaker 1: the definition of trauma, Nancy is a sudden, unanticipated change
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Speaker 1: for which there's no prior learning. So this was sudden, unanticipated,
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Speaker 1: and there's no way to learn how to cope with
13:45
Speaker 1: something like this. Just when you're in it. You're in it.
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Speaker 1: And it takes a long time to get over something
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Speaker 1: like this in terms of the trauma. But they'll never
13:54
Speaker 1: get over the loss of the sun. I mean, every
13:57
Speaker 1: time there's an anniversary or graduation or a time where
14:01
Speaker 1: the cannon would have gone on to the next stage,
14:04
Speaker 1: they're going to be thinking about him. He'll be in
14:06
Speaker 1: their minds. I can't even see a little boy without
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Speaker 1: thinking of my son, Austin. When you've never been forty
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Speaker 1: eight hours without him, You've never been forty eight hours
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Speaker 1: without your son? Is that what you said, Bonnie, That
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Speaker 1: is the longest I've ever been away from him. It's
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Speaker 1: forty eight hours, that's it. Forty eight hours. It's the
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Speaker 1: longest I've ever been away from him. And this I
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Speaker 1: can't even explain missing him is there's no words, Finny.
14:41
Speaker 1: When you first wake up in the morning, when does
14:45
Speaker 1: it hit you what happened? I barely sleep, so it
14:49
Speaker 1: hits me all day, all night. It doesn't stop. That
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Speaker 1: was my first baby boy. He was the biggest mama's boy,
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Speaker 1: and he always needed me. He always depending on me.
15:02
Speaker 1: You know, you're you're just making me think of my
15:04
Speaker 1: son so much. John David, who is the sweetest thing.
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Speaker 1: He's way taller than me now, he's almost six feet
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Speaker 1: it's only twelve. He's just like that. I mean, I
15:15
Speaker 1: can hear him right now. Mom, Mom, Mom, yoop constantly
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Speaker 1: all day, Mama, Mama, momma. Yes, I missed that little voice.
15:26
Speaker 1: I would get anything to hear it again. Austin, you
15:31
Speaker 1: said you heard a gunshot and you knew. You know,
15:34
Speaker 1: that's funny. You said that funny odd because I remember
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Speaker 1: when I was walking to work at the library and
15:42
Speaker 1: I got a message to call my fiance's family. I
15:44
Speaker 1: knew immediately. I knew Keith was dead. I don't know
15:48
Speaker 1: how I knew that. You said you heard a gunshot.
15:53
Speaker 1: Tell me what happened when you bound it out of
15:55
Speaker 1: that door. That front door. I didn't know what the thing.
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Speaker 1: It didn't seem like what was happening was really real.
16:07
Speaker 1: Like I said, as soon as I heard that shot,
16:11
Speaker 1: I felt a piece of my heart leave me. And
16:15
Speaker 1: as I as I got to Cannon and stooped him up,
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Speaker 1: I was looking at Darius full of rage, and I
16:22
Speaker 1: just I thought some unthankaful things myself probably in that time.
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Speaker 1: But all I could do was be there with Cannon
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Speaker 1: and pray over him and hold him and let him
16:33
Speaker 1: know that his daddy was there. Hey, he was unresponsive, obviously,
16:41
Speaker 1: but I have to believe that he felt that he
16:45
Speaker 1: was in his dad's dogs and that I was praying him.
16:49
Speaker 1: Did he show any signs of being conscious when you
16:54
Speaker 1: got there. I'd rather not answer that question, Okay, I'm
17:03
Speaker 1: just trying to think about what you went through and
17:06
Speaker 1: everything happening around you. Joining me right now? Is Brian
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Speaker 1: MEM's w r A LTV Brian that day, that day
17:20
Speaker 1: that Cannon Hinnett is shot. What do we know about
17:26
Speaker 1: how long it took police and EMTs to get there? Now,
17:31
Speaker 1: they got there right away, And as a matter of fact,
17:35
Speaker 1: Austin mentioned that he was as he was holding his
17:39
Speaker 1: son there was a neighbor who came running in Austin mathis.
17:43
Speaker 1: But a neighbor came running with an EMT bag emergency
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Speaker 1: medical bag and started helping the little boy and telling
17:54
Speaker 1: Austin what to do. But police and paramedics got there,
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Speaker 1: as this is an area not exactly in the center
18:06
Speaker 1: of town. It's sort of an outlying neighborhood of Wilson.
18:09
Speaker 1: Wilson is a sizeable community, but they got there quickly. However,
18:15
Speaker 1: the suspect drove off and for the night we didn't
18:21
Speaker 1: know where he was and there was no he was
18:24
Speaker 1: at large. I know exactly what you're talking about with me.
18:28
Speaker 1: Brian MEM's w r A LTV. I grew up in
18:31
Speaker 1: an extremely rural area, which is great for growing up.
18:36
Speaker 1: You're not around traffic or drinking or drugs or a
18:41
Speaker 1: lot of that, but your way out there. And it's
18:44
Speaker 1: my understanding that Wilson is about thirty nine forty miles
18:48
Speaker 1: from Raleigh, So yeah, yeah, it's out there in a
18:54
Speaker 1: rural area and it takes cops or sheriffs or e
18:58
Speaker 1: mts a minute to get there. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Guys,
19:16
Speaker 1: we are talking about the death of a beautiful boy,
19:21
Speaker 1: Cannon Hennett, and I gotta tell you the first time
19:24
Speaker 1: I heard his mother's voice speaking to me on the phone,
19:29
Speaker 1: the heartbreak. It was just raw right under the voice,
19:33
Speaker 1: that felt like at any moment her voice was just
19:37
Speaker 1: gonna crack in half. I want to talk about what
19:42
Speaker 1: exactly happened. Take a listen to Brian M's w r
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Speaker 1: A LTV. A five year old boy five is the
19:50
Speaker 1: very face of innocence. They were just playing in the
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Speaker 1: yard like any other day. Cannon had gone to church
19:57
Speaker 1: Sunday morning with his dad and sister. Everybody just loved Cannon,
20:02
Speaker 1: and Cannon just loved riding his bike as he was
20:04
Speaker 1: doing Sunday evening in his dad's front yard on Archer's Road,
20:07
Speaker 1: his two sisters there with him. His dad, Austin Hennett,
20:11
Speaker 1: was inside when he heard the gun shot. I just
20:14
Speaker 1: scooped him up in my arms and held him and
20:18
Speaker 1: held him and I screamed and Mighty helped me play him.
20:22
Speaker 1: Please help me say my thun, God, say my thunb Please.
20:25
Speaker 1: Hennett looked up and saw his neighbor in the yard
20:27
Speaker 1: next door, gun in hand, hacing frantic. I was looking
20:32
Speaker 1: at him as I was picking up cannon and I
20:34
Speaker 1: was so flull arrayed, but I couldn't leave my thun thide.
20:36
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be with my thun Hennett's fiance
20:39
Speaker 1: called ninety one part. He says his neighbor, twenty five
20:42
Speaker 1: year old Darius Sessems, who lived with his parents, soon
20:45
Speaker 1: drove away. Police arrested Sessems the next day, charging him
20:49
Speaker 1: with murder. All right, gee, Randy Zellen, renowned New York
20:53
Speaker 1: criminal defense attorney. You can find him at Randy Zelen
20:56
Speaker 1: Law dot com. Randy. When a defendant is seen pulling
21:04
Speaker 1: the trigger, remember Kennon was outside with his cousins, and
21:08
Speaker 1: then when dad Austin ran out, he actually sees the
21:13
Speaker 1: defendant Sessims, standing there with the gun. But here's my question.
21:20
Speaker 1: He then gets in the car and takes off. So
21:24
Speaker 1: this is not a who done it? The only way
21:27
Speaker 1: to go now is for the defendant to claim mental defect.
21:32
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's going to work, Zellen, because
21:36
Speaker 1: when you flee evidence a flight, when you leave the
21:42
Speaker 1: scene and you hide out twenty five miles away in
21:45
Speaker 1: Goldsborough and the cops have to come looking for you,
21:49
Speaker 1: that tells me you knew what you did was wrong,
21:53
Speaker 1: and isn't it true? Randy Zellen that under our jurisprudence system,
21:57
Speaker 1: it's the old McNaughton test brought over from great of
22:01
Speaker 1: the incident. That is the test. And if he knew
22:04
Speaker 1: enough to get in a car and take off, then
22:07
Speaker 1: he knew what he did was wrong. How can you
22:10
Speaker 1: possibly defend that, Randy? Well, first of all, let me
22:14
Speaker 1: say how difficult it is to speak like a lawyer
22:20
Speaker 1: at a time like this being a parent myself. But
22:23
Speaker 1: this is what I am here to do, and I
22:25
Speaker 1: will do the best that I can to compart mentalize
22:29
Speaker 1: my emotions and the loss that I feel for these parents.
22:33
Speaker 1: But from purely illegal perspective, Remember here North Carolina is
22:38
Speaker 1: a death penalty state. So the issue of the defendant's
22:44
Speaker 1: state of mind and his ability to know the difference
22:47
Speaker 1: between right and wrong and to appreciate the nature and
22:51
Speaker 1: consequences of his action not only become relevant from the
22:57
Speaker 1: standpoint of guilt or lack of guilt, because remember insanity
23:01
Speaker 1: is a defense, you also have from a death penalty standpoint.
23:06
Speaker 1: If the defendant would be were to be convicted, you
23:10
Speaker 1: then have the issue of not only the purely legal
23:14
Speaker 1: definition of insanity. But keep in mind that insanity is
23:20
Speaker 1: not only exemption an exemption from the death penalty. It's
23:23
Speaker 1: also in an instance where it's not quite insanity, but
23:28
Speaker 1: the defendant is still suffering from a severe disorder or
23:31
Speaker 1: defect which significantly impaired, not necessarily took away, but significantly
23:38
Speaker 1: significantly impaired his capacity to appreciate the difference between right
23:43
Speaker 1: and wrong and the nature and consequences of his action.
23:45
Speaker 1: But look, Nancy, you are right, and I will tell
23:49
Speaker 1: you when I agree with you. It is difficult when
23:52
Speaker 1: you have what we call consciousness of guilt, which is
23:55
Speaker 1: you do something bad and then you leave lutely know
23:58
Speaker 1: what you just did was wrong. Now you know why
24:02
Speaker 1: Randy Zellen wins so many cases. You just heard it.
24:06
Speaker 1: But I see straight through that right now, and I
24:10
Speaker 1: want Austin and Bonnie to go ahead and get ready.
24:15
Speaker 1: Because while defense attorneys may seem really nice and regular
24:19
Speaker 1: life if you see one at the grocery store or
24:22
Speaker 1: at church or wherever you might run into one, but
24:25
Speaker 1: when they get in the courtroom, they do what they
24:28
Speaker 1: think they got to do, and they say things just
24:31
Speaker 1: like that. So get ready. Whether you agree with it
24:34
Speaker 1: or not, that's what they're going to say. I want
24:36
Speaker 1: to go to the founder of the Cold Case Research
24:39
Speaker 1: Institute and forensics expert, Cheryl McCollum. Cheryl, please come on.
24:46
Speaker 1: Premeditation can be formed in the moment it takes you
24:49
Speaker 1: to go get a gun, point it and pull the trigger.
24:54
Speaker 1: Hold on. Cheryl to doctor Kathery Maloney, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Buffalo.
24:58
Speaker 1: Doctor Maloney, I have been told that was this was
25:02
Speaker 1: at point blank range. How do we know that? Well,
25:06
Speaker 1: if you have a gunshot wound that is at point
25:08
Speaker 1: blank range, there are different residues that may be left
25:12
Speaker 1: on the body that can give you information about how
25:14
Speaker 1: far away the end of the barrel of the gun
25:17
Speaker 1: was from the skin. So sometimes you might see gunpowder
25:21
Speaker 1: or marks left by the gunpowder that will let you
25:23
Speaker 1: know that the end of the gun was closer to
25:25
Speaker 1: the person's body exactly, Doctor Maloney. Stifling stippling at three
25:31
Speaker 1: feet or less, starry six inches or less, there will
25:34
Speaker 1: be gunshot powder residue as fine as a baby powder
25:38
Speaker 1: stip playing it as when there are actual burn marks
25:43
Speaker 1: left on the victim from the weapon being so close
25:47
Speaker 1: to the skin, is it Trey Brian m s R
25:53
Speaker 1: A L. I have read that this was at very
25:56
Speaker 1: close range. It was, It wasn't close range. It was
26:01
Speaker 1: essentially point blank at his head. It's hard to say
26:05
Speaker 1: that when discussing a five year old boy, but it
26:09
Speaker 1: was a close range and the suspects began pacing frantically
26:19
Speaker 1: around the yard, the yard of his home, according to police.
26:23
Speaker 1: I don't care Brian MAM's w R. Al that may
26:28
Speaker 1: be true, But isn't it true? Randy Zellen that under
26:31
Speaker 1: the law and I quote, one may immediately regret the deed,
26:37
Speaker 1: but that does not negate premeditation or intent to do
26:42
Speaker 1: the act. I don't care how sorry he is. That
26:46
Speaker 1: doesn't matter to me, and the law agrees, does it not, Zellen?
26:50
Speaker 1: From the standpoint of guilt or lack of guilt and insanity,
26:54
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right that moment, It is that moment in
26:58
Speaker 1: time when you pull the truth. Do you appreciate the
27:01
Speaker 1: nature and consequences of what you're doing? Do you know
27:05
Speaker 1: the difference between right and wrong? If you lose your
27:08
Speaker 1: mind after that, it doesn't matter if you come too
27:11
Speaker 1: after that and suddenly you are incredibly remorseful that may
27:15
Speaker 1: be what keeps you from getting phenobarbital pumped through your veins,
27:20
Speaker 1: but it is not going to mitigate the question of premeditation.
27:25
Speaker 1: In fact, that could also be viewed as consciousness of guilt.
27:29
Speaker 1: Bonnie Wadel, who first contacted me, this is Cannon's mother.
27:37
Speaker 1: I want to apologize to you and Austin for discussing
27:41
Speaker 1: the facts and strategy. But all I can do right
27:45
Speaker 1: now is figure out a way to try to help
27:47
Speaker 1: get justice. And I'm sorry you're hearing all this not saying.
27:53
Speaker 1: Is everybody's like, you know justice has been served, you
27:56
Speaker 1: know they locked him up. Then yes, it might be
27:59
Speaker 1: he was served, but this man is hammer. Until the
28:05
Speaker 1: Judda drives that hammer, justice ain't served. I agree, Austin.
28:09
Speaker 1: And this is not revenge. I'm not looking for revenge
28:12
Speaker 1: on anybody. That's not what Lady justice is about. It
28:16
Speaker 1: is about seeking justice and doing the right thing. I mean, Donnie,
28:23
Speaker 1: it's bad. It's horrible to find out somebody you love
28:27
Speaker 1: is just gone just like that. But a shooting at
28:30
Speaker 1: point blank range, when he done this to my child,
28:37
Speaker 1: I just I couldn't believe it at first. Crime Stories
28:54
Speaker 1: with Nancy Grace with me the parents of five year
28:58
Speaker 1: old Kennon Henna, who's supposed to start kindergarten today. That's
29:03
Speaker 1: not happening. This five year old little boy is gunned
29:07
Speaker 1: down dead for what veering his trick into the neighbor's yard.
29:14
Speaker 1: To you, Cheryl mccollin, forensics expert, Director, Cold Case Research Institute,
29:20
Speaker 1: now you've heard all the facts. Way in, Nancy, this
29:24
Speaker 1: was a straight up execution. This person walked toward that baby.
29:31
Speaker 1: He never veered off, he never slowed down, He didn't
29:35
Speaker 1: stop himself. He walked up to that child, pointed that
29:39
Speaker 1: weapon directly at his head and fired at point blank range.
29:44
Speaker 1: And point blank range basically means Jenny got to aim.
29:47
Speaker 1: You're that close, you're gonna hit your target. And then
29:51
Speaker 1: he panics and kind of pass back and forth, and
29:54
Speaker 1: then he gets in a vehicle and flees that scene
29:56
Speaker 1: because he knew good and well what he had done.
29:59
Speaker 1: He absolutely lee knows right for wrong. He you know
30:03
Speaker 1: that the evidence is going to be there that they
30:06
Speaker 1: have to look for or like burn patterns, the star patterns.
30:09
Speaker 1: He was that close, Nancy, He was that close to
30:14
Speaker 1: that poor child. And again I want to echo what
30:17
Speaker 1: everybody else has said to his parents that are with
30:19
Speaker 1: us today. I am so sorry, but I'll tell you
30:23
Speaker 1: something else. If Nancy Grace says you're a prosecutor, there's
30:26
Speaker 1: going to be a lot of people talking about motive,
30:29
Speaker 1: she would stand up and should tell that jury there
30:32
Speaker 1: is no motive that I will very except there isn't.
30:38
Speaker 1: And we keep wondering to you, Austin, why why why
30:43
Speaker 1: b s Under the law of the state does not
30:45
Speaker 1: have to prove motive. A prosecutor doesn't have to crawl
30:48
Speaker 1: into the dark mind of a killer and figure out why,
30:51
Speaker 1: what possible motive could there be to kill a five
30:55
Speaker 1: year old little boy riding his bike in the front
30:58
Speaker 1: yard had died? Austin Hannett, Austin and mom Bonnie widel
31:04
Speaker 1: with me right now, Austin. There was no bad blood
31:08
Speaker 1: between the neighbors. In fact, I understand the family of
31:12
Speaker 1: Darius Sessems had lived in the neighborhood twenty plus years,
31:18
Speaker 1: and you guys had lived there, I guess close to
31:20
Speaker 1: ten years. You had had him meighbors years for dinner,
31:26
Speaker 1: no problem. In fact, you saw him in his car
31:30
Speaker 1: I think the night before and said, hey, buddy, come over,
31:33
Speaker 1: have a supper with us, and did he That's right,
31:37
Speaker 1: That's exactly what happened. He was sitting in his car.
31:39
Speaker 1: He looked like he had a lot on his mind
31:41
Speaker 1: and looked like he would just counting down. And we
31:44
Speaker 1: were already cooking chicken on the grill for the kids
31:47
Speaker 1: and ourselves, and there was extra. So I just told
31:50
Speaker 1: him the Lord says, that loved the neighbor and that
31:52
Speaker 1: was the kind thing to do. That was something that
31:54
Speaker 1: can I'm just trying to take all this in. Dairy
32:00
Speaker 1: assesss was found about thirty to forty minutes away, hiding
32:05
Speaker 1: out in a nearby town of Goldsboro. Now all of
32:09
Speaker 1: this for you to get a mental image, is not
32:13
Speaker 1: too far about it less than an hour from Raleigh. Now,
32:17
Speaker 1: when you think of Raleigh, many people think of Andy
32:20
Speaker 1: of Mayberry. Okay, remember they were always going to Raleigh.
32:24
Speaker 1: And there's nothing more peaceful and calm and a happy
32:30
Speaker 1: scenario than Andy of Mayberry. And that's what people think
32:35
Speaker 1: of when we talk about that. That is not what
32:39
Speaker 1: happened on that Sunday afternoon. To Bonnie Waddell, it's my understanding, Bonnie,
32:47
Speaker 1: that the defendant's own family made a comment that the
32:52
Speaker 1: defendant had been involved in drugs, not the family. Go ahead.
32:59
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to say this, but I don't care. I
33:02
Speaker 1: have seen people on drugs. I'm twenty five years old,
33:05
Speaker 1: I'm young. I've seen him all on drugs. Is no
33:09
Speaker 1: amount of drug to be in your mind to kill
33:12
Speaker 1: a child. You were not that high. That's exactly what
33:16
Speaker 1: the law says. What you just voiced in your own way.
33:20
Speaker 1: The voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is not a
33:24
Speaker 1: defense under the law. Else everybody in the jail would
33:27
Speaker 1: say right now, oh, I was high on pots, so
33:30
Speaker 1: you know you can't hold me liable. In fact, under
33:33
Speaker 1: the law, you have to be coma chose for drugs
33:37
Speaker 1: or alcohol to be a defense. It is not a
33:40
Speaker 1: defense to Austin Hennant. What is rubbing salt in the
33:46
Speaker 1: wound is that you had reached out to the defendant
33:51
Speaker 1: the night before to try to help him out, bring
33:53
Speaker 1: him over to your home, had him at your table
33:56
Speaker 1: for dinner. What did he show any animals, see any
34:00
Speaker 1: anger toward cannon anything. Never. Never. He sat right on
34:06
Speaker 1: my couch with me and we ate at the coffee
34:08
Speaker 1: table while my fiance ate at the kitchen table. Would
34:11
Speaker 1: offer the children never any issues. We finished our dinner
34:16
Speaker 1: and walked outside, had a cigarette. He said thank you
34:20
Speaker 1: and went on him by his night. What do you
34:23
Speaker 1: make of comments that have reportedly come from the family
34:27
Speaker 1: that he had used drugs. I don't care what he used.
34:31
Speaker 1: What he did is unforgivable, unthinkable, and it can't be undone.
34:36
Speaker 1: So now he's gonna suffer the consequences to the police.
34:39
Speaker 1: It's end of the law. And that's just the bottom
34:41
Speaker 1: line to Wendy Zellen. You hear the parents speaking out
34:46
Speaker 1: and what should have been Cannon's first day at kindergarten.
34:51
Speaker 1: I don't care either. I agree with mom and dad.
34:54
Speaker 1: I don't care if he was high, if he wasn't high,
34:58
Speaker 1: I don't care. That's not going to be a defense
35:01
Speaker 1: for what he did to Cannon. This is true, but
35:07
Speaker 1: we must remember that we have to view the law dispassionately.
35:13
Speaker 1: We have to look at the law, and as you know, Nancy,
35:16
Speaker 1: when you are in front of a jury, sympathy is
35:21
Speaker 1: not ever supposed to enter into the courtroom, even though
35:24
Speaker 1: it does. But here where the drugs, or whatever impact
35:30
Speaker 1: the drugs may have had on this defendant, may play
35:35
Speaker 1: more of a role from a penalty perspective than from
35:39
Speaker 1: a guilt or lack of guilt perspective. Keeping in mind
35:44
Speaker 1: that the death penalty is the ultimate sanction, and before
35:52
Speaker 1: the court is going to impose the death penalty upon
35:56
Speaker 1: a defendant, putting aside the cost that is inherent. Oh
36:05
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah, just stop, start with the money.
36:09
Speaker 1: I want to go to Bonnie and Austin. Bonnie, what
36:15
Speaker 1: is in your heart and in your mind right now?
36:17
Speaker 1: This should have been his first day of kindergarten. I
36:20
Speaker 1: woke up this morning and that's all I could think about.
36:23
Speaker 1: It's my day he was supposed to start kindergarten. I'm
36:30
Speaker 1: gonna tell you what's in my mind right now. Any
36:32
Speaker 1: better be in jail praying that they give him to destinerty.
36:35
Speaker 1: That's what it's in my mind right now, Because as
36:37
Speaker 1: a day's past, and the more I'm mourned the loss
36:40
Speaker 1: of my son, the more the anger it was up
36:43
Speaker 1: inside of me. So I'm believe it of that. Bonnie Austin,
36:53
Speaker 1: I wish we could take away from you what you're
36:56
Speaker 1: going through. Thank you. All we can do right now
36:59
Speaker 1: is to pray for you and pray for Cannon and
37:02
Speaker 1: God willing seek justice, we wait for the courts to act.
37:10
Speaker 1: Nancy Grace crime story, signing of Goodbye Friend,