Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 4 Dead in Georgia High School Shooting | Crime Alert Recap Saturday 09.07.24

Episode Date: September 7, 2024

Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert Here's one of our top stories this week.   The motive isn't clear, but four people have died in an active shooter incident in a Georgia high school.  Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Drew Nelson. The unimaginable happens again in the Atlanta suburbs. A mass shooting unfolds at Appalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, leaving four dead and nine injured. Here's what we know. Earlier today, CNN reports the school received a phone call warning of shootings at five schools, with Appalachee named as the first target. Hours later, the gunshots echoed through the halls.

A 14-year-old boy is believed to be the shooter. He's in custody. 95.5 WSB reports he is a student at the school. Witnesses describe chaos and terror. Hayden Bowen Jackson is a ninth grader at the school. She talked to WSB radio. They kicked the door in and shot four times. He just went out the room laughing.

Jackson says two of her friends were killed and she saw four others get hurt. Quote, I prayed to God that I was going to make it out alive, she says. WSB reports a mother at the school, Erin Clark, shared text messages from her son, Ethan. Quote, school shooting. I'm scared. I love you. She says she rushed to the school and found her son safe but shaken. Barrow County Sheriff Judge Smith says it's an evil thing. This is going to take multiple days for us to get answers as to what happened and why this happened. Sheriff Smith confirmed four deaths and nine injuries at the school. On Capitol Hill, Attorney General Merrick Garland.

But before we begin, I want to address the tragic shooting that occurred this morning at a high school in Winder, Georgia. We are still gathering information, but the FBI and ATF are on the scene working with state, local, and federal partners. I'm devastated for the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. The Justice Department stands ready to provide any resources or support that the Winder community needs in the days ahead. President Biden addressing the nation says, quote, we cannot continue to accept this as normal. He urged Congress to pass what he called common sense gun safety legislation. Stay with Crime Alert. We will have the latest on this breaking story as it becomes available.

I'm Jennifer Gould. A gruesome discovery in the heart of Long Island. A decaying body was found in a suitcase near an apartment building near Huntington Station. The grisly find was made around noon when police responded to reports of suspicious activity in a wooded area off Nassau Road. A passerby had complained of a foul odor emanating from a black suitcase and flies swarming around it, prompting authorities to investigate. This neighbor, who did not want to be identified, spoke to ABC 7 News. The smell was rancid, potent, something I've never smelled before. Upon arrival, officers made a horrifying discovery.

The suitcase contained the remains of a deceased person. The body was badly decomposed. It's unclear how long the victim had been there. This man spoke to News 12 Long Island. This can happen anywhere, anywhere. I don't care what neighborhood you live in. The scene was cordoned off as police investigators combed through the area for clues. Forensic teams and canines were also deployed to gather evidence while residents watched in shock. This, though, was not the first time Long Island

has been rocked by such a crime. Just months ago, dismembered human heads were found in a separate incident in Amityville. That case involved two victims and four suspects who were charged with various crimes related to those murders. As for this case, who's the victim? Who put the body in the suitcase and why? Well, all remains a mystery for now. The cause of death also has yet to be determined. An autopsy will be conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office.

It could take days depending on the condition of the remains. I'm Nicole Parton. In Pennsylvania, a grandmother is behind bars after she brutally beat her three-year-old granddaughter and then left her to die a slow, painful death alone. Denise Johnson, 56, says that she, quote, beat her butt for not listening, end quote. According to WPXI, Johnson has been charged with one count of criminal homicide in the first degree, three counts of aggravated assault, as well as endangering the welfare of a child and abuse of a corpse. Ayla Lyric N. Miller, just three years old, was brutally beat by her grandmother,

with other children in the home being witnessed to the account. Ayla was found dead in her bed, wearing her little pink and blue skirt, in the apartment where her grandmother lives. When I was little, we went to my grandmother's house, and she was somebody that was there to help and nurture. So when I think of a grandmother, that's what I think of. I don't think of somebody that's going to kill a child. I just can't imagine me doing anything like that to my grandchildren or anyone I know personally doing anything like that to their grandchildren. According to the arrest warrant, the left side of the little girl's face

showed significant bruising. She had a black eye and bruises around her ear. The girl had severe injuries to her left hip bone and the right side of her body. She was covered in bruises from her ear to her chest. The three-year-old was covered in bruises on her forearm and elbow and had cigarette burns on her ankles and an infected wound on her foot. It was her uncle who called 911. First responders arrived and found the child cold to touch with blood on her bed. She was pronounced dead at 1146 a.m. According to investigators, the girl had been living with her grandmother for roughly a month. After the little girl's body was removed from the home and taken away, police sent a text message to the missing grandmother. Eventually, the woman

was taken to the police department where she admitted what she had done, saying she was sorry. Her sister also gave testimony to police saying that she had been told by the grandmother that she did indeed punch the little girl in the face. At one point, the little girl fell backward into a coffee table really hard, end quote. According to both testimonies, the grandmother said she placed the little girl in the bed, leaving her there to suffer and die over the next few days. Other children in the home who witnessed the abuse said little Ayla had been beaten and her nose began to bleed. One little girl said she was told by the grandmother to get the belt.

When she returned it to the grandmother, the belt was used to beat the three-year-old child. The grandmother, Denise Johnson, is currently being held without bond. For the latest crime and justice news, follow Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcasting app. With this Crime Alert, I'm Nicole Parton. This is an iHeart podcast.