Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 3 y/o tot boy SHOT DEAD at own birthday party

Episode Date: April 27, 2021

While investigators search for whoever fired the shots that killed 3-year-old Elijah LaFrance at his own birthday party, authorities tripled the reward being offering for information. Elijah, just a few days short of a 4-year-old, and a 21-year-old woman were hit by bullets at about 8:15 p.m. Both were taken to hospitals. The woman, who hasn’t been identified, is expected to survive. Police said the shooting began with an argument in front of the property where the party was held — an AirBnB the boy’s family rented to celebrate the special occasion.Joining Nancy Grace today: Darryl Cohen - Former Assistant District Attorney, Fulton County, Georgia, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, www.ccealaw.com Dr. Alan Blotcky Ph.D. - Clinical Psychologist (Birmingham) specializing in Criminal and Child Custody cases, Clinical Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham  Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet" featured on "Poisonous Liaisons" on True Crime Network Tyler Hunt - Crimeonline.com Investigative Reporter Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Miami-Dade Police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. I distinctly remember my twin's third birthday. It was a big blowout at a jumpy place and there were balloons, massive cakes, somebody got a bloody nose, somebody threw up. It was a heck of a good time. How does a three-year-old birthday party turn into a double shooting? How are there 60 cartridge cases found at a third birthday party? How does a little three-year-old boy celebrating his birthday party end up dead? As you may correctly guess, I want answers.

Listen to this. Police responded to a call around 8 in the evening. When they arrived, they found the toddler and a 21-year-old woman shot. My officer swiftly picked up the child and put him to the hospital, and unfortunately the child is deceased. The woman expected to be okay, but police are still searching for the shooter responsible. You are hearing our friends at CBS Miami along with Freddy Ramirez of the police department there. Let me introduce you to an all-star panel of guests trying to make sense of what happened to this three-year-old tot. And according to his parents, he couldn't even say mommy and daddy yet. Not clearly. And he's dead. Elijah is dead. It's a lot to take in. With me, Daryl Cohen,

former felony prosecutor, now defense attorney. You can find him at ccealaw.com. Dr. Alan Blotke, a boy do we need a shrink, clinical psychologist specializing in criminal cases, professor of psychology, University of Alabama, Birmingham. Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet, and star of a brand new series on true crime, Poisonous Liaisons. Tyler Hunt joining us from CrimeOnline.com. So let's just start right there. Tyler, tell me about where this happened. Didn't the family go to great lengths to rent a party venue for the third birthday party? Yeah, Nancy.

So this is in Golden Glades, Florida, which is a suburb just inside of Miami-Dade County. And yeah, the family had rented an Airbnb house. It was a rental house for the birthday party. And I'd been frequently used for parties in the past. It was sort of a party house. It was a rental house for the birthday party. And I'd been frequently used for parties in the past. It was sort of a party house. There was a pool there. And that was the plan for the afternoon was to have a party for Elijah, who was turning four, would have been this week. And it was his birthday. What more do we know about it, Tyler Hunt? It was a Saturday afternoon birthday party held in a suburban area outside of Miami, Golden Glades neighborhood. What more do we know about the neighborhood itself?

I know it was, I think, a single family residence, like a home, correct? But it was a rental, but it was still a home. Yeah, it was a home. And yeah, like I said, there was a pool there. The neighborhood itself, population about 35,000 people in the Golden Glades area. But the actual house is on an address at the 20 block of Northeast. Guys, I'm looking at it right now and it is in a gated community and a gated home. I'm looking at the photo right now. A very upscale Airbnb.

The family rented specifically for this. I think it had a pool. It was a party house, and it was very desirable. It's also my understanding to you, Joseph Scott Morgan, that it was frequently rented for parties. That's what it was all about. People didn't go there and stay two or three months or two or three weeks or two or three nights.

It was a party house. And you know what? Where I've seen those before, Joseph Scott Morgan, Hallmark, when we would all get together for their TCA events, and it would be all the Hallmark stars. It would be a glittering night. And we would say, whose house is this?

Who lives here? And it would be this in L.A., but it would be rented out for events. Right? See where I'm going with this? This is critical, Joe Scott Morgan, as far as evidence goes. Yeah, it is. From an evidentiary standpoint, this is a monumental clue, and this is why. You're going to have multiple people that have an awareness of this address.

If a lot of people have been using this for partying, and maybe, let's say, for instance, group A. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Right there. Whoa. Yeah. Stop. When you say people partying, that's got a lot of connotations because when I hear, hey, they're partying, that has a negative connotation to me. We're talking about a little boy's birthday party, not a bunch of adults vaping and smoking and getting drunk and wild. You know, like girls, girls gone wild partying at this big mansion. That's not what this is, Joe Scott. Let's be clear. Yeah, but this is this is what this is. This is a suburban... But what? This is a nice family event at a super nice Airbnb rental for family parties like this child, Elijah's, birthday party. And you're saying it's significant evidentially, and I agree with you, because either someone knew that this was an Airbnb

party rental home, or they knew this family specifically, and these guests were going to be there. And in my mind, that narrows the pool. That's a question that an investigator would ask, you know, how has this information been disseminated? You know, look, you have kids. I have kids. When they were little, we'd send out little invitations, you know, to all their little friends. It was this little cutesy thing that you would do. And so who has received an invitation to this? Who has an actual awareness? And immediately you can develop a suspect list off of this. Now, it's not necessarily going to be one of the people that maybe attended the party that had been held earlier in the day. Keep in mind, this was after 8 p.m. in the evening when they're cleaning up when this occurs.

But it could have been a peripheral person that said, hey, there's going to be somebody there that we're going to specifically target. We've got anybody in this group that's occupying that space for this party or that's part of the family or whatever that's been involved in any kind of criminal activity or some kind of activity that has gone sideways. Wait a minute. It doesn't have to be criminal activity. It could be an angry spouse or an ex or it could be any number of ends up.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Listen, you've got a group of people showing up armed. It's not like you've got an angry adult. Singular that's showing up with a firearm. That's a good point. Listen to this, guys. Response to a child shot. Shot spotter technology sending police to the 20 block of Northeast 158th Street Saturday.

When the first officer arrived on scene, they found a three-year-old child who had been shot. That officer jumping into action, placing the child in their patrol car, and rushing that child to the hospital, where he would sadly later die from his injuries. I would say anywhere from 30 to 50 shots. Mark Anderson says he was outside working on a truck when he had to duck for cover.

People were running, so we ducked behind his truck, and some people ran out and hid behind these two trucks. Police tell us that the home involved was an Airbnb rental in the Golden Glades neighborhood. The shooter took off from the scene of the crime and is still out there. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace for those of you just joining us in the golden glades residential community a gated home in a gated area a three-year-old tot boy is shot down dead why and then we understand now that forensics tells us that there wasn't just a single shot. There were 50 to 60 shell casings found on the scene. As a matter of fact, Daryl Cohen, Dr. Alan Blotke, Joseph Scott Morgan, and Tyler Hunt, did you hear what we just learned from our friends joining us from WPLG? When the first officer arrived on the scene, he immediately found the three-year-old had been shot.

The officer grabs a child, puts a child in the patrol car, did not even wait for 911 to arrive, and raced the child to the hospital where he later died of injuries. Now, neighbors say they heard 30 to 50 shots, but Daryl Cohen, you and I both prosecuted cases, felony cases in court where an ear witness hears something, but they don't always know what they heard. Nancy, it could have been a car backfire. 30 times? It could have been anything.

Could have been a shot. Could have been shots. Could have been something else. Unless you see it, unless there's shell casings, unless there's something other than what I hear, you need more. And you need a lot more. You do need more than an ear witness, as we say. But I don't think a car can backfire 30 to 50 times. Guys, take a listen to our friends

Julie Leonardi at NBC6. Three-year-old Elijah LaFrance shot and killed at a party intended to celebrate his life. Children were enjoying an afternoon in the pool, then shots were fired. Neighbors say they heard more than 20 gunshots. It sounded like fireworks or firecrackers, but it was really abnormal. It turned out to be gunshots. I'm like fireworks or firecrackers, but it was really abnormal. It turned out to be gunshots. I'm completely devastated. I'm disgusted. You know, we talk about accountability. When are we going to hold ourselves accountable for what's going on in our streets? Detectives say they'll be working around the clock to solve this senseless murder. A senseless murder. Back to you, Daryl Cohen. Typically, when we say murder, we think

in the legal sense. As a matter of fact, like mens rea, malice of forethought, mal, which is the root of malignant, malice. And that's where legally the intent to do the act, shoot the gun, shoot the child comes in. But in this case, Daryl Cohen, felony murder would apply as well, which has the same sentence penalty as does malice murder. An aggravated assault, which is pulling a weapon and scaring someone, making them in serious fear of immediate physical harm, and then someone dies, that's an underlying felony to equal felony murder. So the shooter doesn't have to shoot, intend to shoot three-year-old Elijah. The shooter only has to intend to raise the gun and shoot it toward a gathering of people to get a felony murder charge. Agree or disagree?

Absolutely agree, Nancy. And the sad thing is, the really sad thing is, it doesn't matter to this poor child who's dead whether the person meant to shoot at him or shot him by mistake. The truth is this person or persons, they are guilty of murder. And again, whether they meant to shoot him or not doesn't matter. You are so right. Firing that weapon at or toward a person or threatening people, that is a felony. And when someone dies as a result of it, it is murder. To Dr. Alan Blocky, Ph.D., joining us out of Birmingham, a clinical psychologist.

I was out with the twins last night, and my son was running into this little bodega to, what was he looking for? Some kind of a bun with something inside of it. And it was still daylight, even though it was about 7.30. And I, in light of all the shootings that had been happening in public places like malls and parking lots. I thought, what just crossed my mind, what would I do if somebody started shooting or we were in a restaurant or somewhere and somebody starts shooting? That's what parents have to think about now to protect their children. Out of the blue, out of nowhere, a shooter shows up and starts shooting. It's scary. But now, even at a third birthday party, for Pete's sake, a pool party, where the worst thing you're worried about is somebody getting thrown in the pool or hitting

their head, you have to worry about a shooter. Sadly, in our country, nothing is safe. Nothing is protected anymore. And it's true. No matter where I go, I'm much more afraid now than I was a year ago or two years ago or five years ago, because we hear it every day in the media. Every day, it seems like there's a shooting like this and it's out of control and everybody should be afraid you know I don't think of it so much as being I'm afraid I think about what am I gonna do if slash when this happens how am I gonna protect John David and Lucy and I was thinking about that because Lucy stayed in the car with me and John David went in.

I could see him, but we were separated. And there was no way I could protect him and Lucy at the same exact moment in time. And I know that this is anecdotal, but Daryl Cohen, when we grew up, we would, I was a latchkey kid. I would get off the bus or just walk home on my own for Pete's sake. And it was a good little hike, about a mile. And get in the house. If I couldn't find the key, I would find a way to get in the house. And we would ride our bikes by ourselves or together.

Or whatever, until it was time for supper. Now, you've got to worry about getting shot at the third birthday party. Yeah. I kind of blame you, Daryl Cohen, actually, because you're the kind of defense attorney that gets people like these shooters out of jail so they can go do it again. You know recidivism rates, right, Daryl Cohen? Nancy, I only represent those who have been wrongfully charged and rightfully acquitted. Okay, you know what? Just stop because you're wasting my airtime right now to hear

wrongfully accused. But what more do we know about the scene? What actually happened? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, a three-year-old top boy is gunned down at his birthday party. It was at a very upscale Airbnb with a pool. Everyone showed up to this gated home and the party commenced. But how could the parents foresee that this shooting would occur? Straight out to Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott, what does that tell you? We just heard about the gate to the home to stop party crashers being riddled. That we actually have essentially a backstop or a catch, if you will, for these spent rounds, these bullets that are

going down range. So if you've got holes in the gate, as the reporter had mentioned, that means that some of these projectiles that had been fired, she said that they recovered a lot of casings. I can get into that in just a second. But the bullets itself, that that comes out of the end of the weapon has been captured potentially by the gate and any other kind of fencing that may be around there. We can take those and compare them. Remember what she said, Nancy. There are multiple weapons involved in this case, according to the witnesses. So that means that for every single weapon, you have a different set of hands that are holding these weapons. The weapons, it doesn't matter if they're manufactured by the same people.

They have unique ballistic identifiers. And the idea is that you capture that bullet, you compare the striations or the bullet markings to those markings that are created by those barrels and tie them back to the specific weapons. Now, the key is with this little baby that was murdered and slaughtered in front of this home, are they able, were they able to actually recover a projectile from his little fragile body? If they were, you can use the same principle, the bullet striations that you remove from his body, take that and compare it to one of these unknown weapons. You put that weapon in the hand and that kind of pairs this thing down relative to who fired the fatal shot that killed this little baby. To Daryl Cohen, former prosecutor, now defense attorney with Cohen Cooper East, Eastup, and Allen. Daryl, there is also the national database as far as guns go. If this gun had ever been used before,

we can find out, match the bullet to the gun. If the bullets can tell us that anyway, not only that, I want to find out in your mind what it means to you that the perps unloaded 50 to 60 bullets, obviously an automatic weapon. Nancy, it means to me that there was more than one perp. It means to me there was some sort of feud going on. Were we going to get even for a drug deal that went down poorly? Why are you putting drugs into this? Nobody said anything about drugs. There were no drugs in the home, no drugs at the party. This is a child's birthday party, Daryl. They weren't after the child, Nancy. Somebody was after other perps or other people because of something

that happened before. You made me mad. You made me, you embarrassed me. You didn't, and drugs seem to be the root of everything in addition, in addition to all of the guns that we cannot control, in addition to all of the automatic weapons that seem to come out of water faucets like water. Yes, if that weapon had been used in the past and the police, the law enforcement had gotten a hold of it, yes, it can be matched. But I'll tell you, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that those weapons will never be found and they will never be matched because they're now probably sitting in the inland waterway. And not only that, I doubt they were bought through any reputable methods such as at a gun store or a gun show, which we see basically

traveling around the country. It seems like every other weekend driving down the interstate, you see a big sign for a gun show where you sell guns. These guns are probably black market guns, and they've probably been involved in cases before. And as Daryl said, they've probably been torn apart, broken down, and the pieces scattered between here and Timbuktu. Guys, take a listen to our friends at CBS Miami. According to police, there was some sort of altercation out in front of the home.

Someone pulled out a firearm and began to shoot his gun. And as a result, we have a dead three-year-old. Neighbors tell us they heard anywhere between 20 and 30 shots being fired, one showing us what appears to be a bullet hole left in the hood of his car and several more seen all over the property. Investigators who have passed out flyers in the neighborhood are asking for the community's help in finding whoever is responsible. And I call out those subjects, you better turn yourself in

because we're not going to let this go. That's a three-year-old child. That's our future. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The person responsible for the shooting is still out there. And while it seems as if it's an isolated event, because how could this happen? I want you to take a listen to our cut 10. This is Robbie Simmons, 7 News. A packed memorial for a six-year-old whose life ended at a celebration for someone else's birth. Friends and family of Chassidy Saunders still reeling from the loss.

The pictures back up what her grandmother Sharon Collins describes, a lively, girly girl. She was a diva, a real diva. She loved lipstick, makeup and and hair, and nails, and lip gloss. Candles, notes, and stuffed animals for the little girl, who, according to friends of the family, was attending a birthday party for a place near 50th Street. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Miami police say it happened around 7 in the evening. You can still see the bullet holes in the window of this car and another on the side of this vehicle. At least a dozen evidence markers visible.

Saunders and one of the two adult victims rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Rider Trauma Center, but the six-year-old would not survive. A six-year-old girl, Chassie Saunders, dead. That's not all. Take a listen to Elena Washington. It was just after 8 Saturday night when seven-year-old Alana Washington was shot while inside her family's car. Her mother is now appealing for the public's help. Alana was only 7 years old getting out of a car. My grandson is only 1 years old and he's still holding on.

It also left three other people wounded, including a man, a woman, and Drayton's grandson. Police say dozens of rounds were fired from another car that took off. It happened in Northwest 29th Avenue and 51st Street. From Florida to ritzy, buckhead community in Atlanta, take a listen to our friend Rick Fulham, CBS 46, our Cut 12. We were just leaving Lenox Mall. I literally just left it. We heard a gunshot, like a gunshot sound. And then all of a sudden, my niece falls over. She's seven. Wow. And that is the 911 call. Very, very difficult to listen to. After a seven-year-old girl was hit by gunfire near Phipps Plaza, and tonight she is still fighting for her life,

detectives are still trying to track down the shooter. And Maura Sirianni, WXIA 11, listen. Metro police have worked 155 homicides so far this year. The latest victim is an innocent child. After spending five days in the hospital fighting for her life, police say seven-year-old Kennedy Maxey died the day after Christmas. The victim of senseless gun violence. Police say Kennedy was riding in the car with her mother and aunt last Monday near Phipps Plaza when she was shot in the back of the head. Investigators

believe Kennedy was hit with a stray bullet, possibly fired during an argument between a group of men in the nearby Saks parking lot. Atlanta police are still working to track down the shooter. Saks, as in Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the most glitzy and expensive stores you could think of. And a little girl gets shot dead after they leave Saksville. That's in the ritzy, butt-keg community. Now let's go to Somerville, South Carolina, our Cut 15. Somerville police returned to the scene this afternoon to look for more evidence and talk to residents

after a five-year-old girl was shot and killed. When we came out, we seen all the policemen and stuff like that. That's not actually happening. was shot and killed. When we came out, we seen all the policemen and stuff like that. We realized something had really happened. Bullet holes remain in the window of the home on Langley Drive. Authorities say someone fired into the house from outside. And while you were listening to WCSC Live 5, Caitlin Stansell, that's in Somerville, South Carolina. Now, Cleveland, Ohio. Take a listen to our friends at 19 News Cleveland. An online fundraiser portrays Michaela Pickett as a smiley, ordinary eight-year-old girl tragically gunned down while playing outside.

Eight years old, man. I mean, come on now. Who would do something like that? Why would they even come around here shooting like that? Willie Walker tells me he was hosting a birthday party for his teenage grandson in the backyard of his home on Roselle Avenue in Akron. To Dr. Alan Blotke, Ph.D., joining us. Dr. Blotke, what is the thinking or the mindset of a shooter who shoots blindly into a group of people and ends up shooting a child? What are they thinking?

You know, Nancy, it's so distressing. Probably during the time that we've been doing this show, there's been another child in this country who's been the victim of violence like that. What are they thinking? They're thinking violence. They're thinking attack. They're thinking vindictiveness. They're thinking, I want to kill.

They're not thinking about little children. It's a total disregard for life. Bottom line. You know, Daryl Cohen, if I could get my mitts on this case and prosecute these shooters, couldn't they tell it was a birthday party? In my mind, this is a death penalty case. Nancy, it doesn't matter to me whether it is a birthday party, whether the child is outside playing. In my mind, I'm with you. These are all death penalty cases because we need gun control, not taking guns away from all of the righteous people, but stopping these automatic weapons from being available, stopping people from being able to find a gun wherever he or she wants it to be. And educating people that when you do something like this, you are going to pay and you're going to pay with your life.

Well, you know what, Darrell Cohen, gun control in our country is a pretty tall order. Can we just start right now with finding whoever shot little Elijah LaFrance, just three years old, at his birthday party? Tip line, 305-471-TIPS. Repeat, 305-471-TIPS. Nancy, 305471TIPS. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.