Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beloved dance teacher gunned down in front yard, gardening: Why?

Episode Date: May 15, 2020

A popular dance instructer is gunned down in her driveway. She had been out that evening and was confronted by robbers demanding money. She was shot and left lying in her driveway. Who shot Carolyn High? joining Nancy Grace today: Wendy Patrick- California prosecutor, author “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com  Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, www.carynstark.com Cloyd Steiger - 36 years Seattle Police Department, 22 years Homicide detective, Author "Seattles Forgotten Serial Killer-Gary Gene Grant" www.cloydsteiger.com   Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author,"Blood Beneath My Feet" Levi Page - Investigative reporter Crime Online  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Goodbye, friend. Keep the faith. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What happened to a beloved dance instructor, Carolyn High? This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111, the Triumph Channel. How does this happen? Teens, children, children that have grown up suddenly get the news their dance teacher has been murdered.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does this happen? Take a listen now to our friends at KFDX. With Nancy Grace. How does this happen? Take a listen now to our friends at KFDX. Police department officials are asking the public for information in a suspicious death investigation after finding a woman's body in a driveway on Cumberland Avenue earlier this afternoon. WFPD Public Information Officer Jeff Hughes says officers responded to a call just before 345 in the 3500 block of Cumberland Avenue. Hughes says when officers arrived, they saw a white woman lying in the driveway

across from Jarrett Park. Crimes Against Persons Unit, as well as the Justice of the Peace, were called to the scene. Hughes says the body will be sent off to Dallas for an autopsy and the results will be released in a few days. Officials are not releasing the identity of the victim yet. Hughes asked the public to call Crime Stoppers with any information on this crime. Well, we know the name of the dance teacher is Carolyn High and she had taught scores and scores of dance students. With me, an all-star panel, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, also at WendyPatrickPhD.com. Karen Stark, New York psychologist at KarenStark.com. Joining us from Manhattan, Cloyd Steiger, 36 years Seattle PD, 22, homicide, author of Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer, Gary Jean

Grant, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. But right now, to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Levi Page. Levi, let me understand something before we get started on the evidence. She's in a driveway. When I hear driveway, I think of home because if you're at a grocery store or a mall, that's a parking lot. So it's a driveway, I assume of a home across the street from a park. And I noticed they were called in the afternoon. Police. That tells me it was broad daylight when an unarmed female dance teacher who's been in

the biz for a couple of several years now is shot down. Who in the world would have motive to gun down a beloved dance instructor? I mean, it makes me think of Miss Julia, a kindergarten teacher. And she taught us actually in a barn. And her husband, Mr. Ben, restored the barn and turned it into a school. Yes, that's who I thought of immediately when I heard this dance teacher had been murdered. What can you tell me about the location of the crime, Levi Page?

As you said, Nancy, it was in her driveway, and her body was found at 345 in the afternoon daylight, as you mentioned, and it was January 26, 2020, and this was the first homicide of 2020 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Did you say Wichita Falls? Yes. You know, interesting, because you don't hear of a lot of crime in Wichita Falls, especially as I take it this was a residential neighborhood? Yes, a very quiet community. People there in the community said that they saw her gardening out in her yard, mowing her lawn, that she was very friendly and a beloved dance teacher that owned her own dance studio in the 90s

and still did classes at the park near where she lived. Owned her own dance studio, still did classes. You know, another very important thing to Wendy Patchett, California prosecutor? It was on a Sunday afternoon. Now, the reason I say that is because you don't think of a lot of murders going down on Sunday afternoon after church. Statistically, that's a time of the day and of the week that's a low crime time and yes studies have been done for years and years about the most likely time murders are committed when murder and mayhem goes down and it's not on sunday afternoon wendy patrick that's for sure and that's what makes this

so heartbreaking is you're right people are are getting out of church. They're going home. Their guard is down as this beloved dance teachers obviously was. She's arriving home. She's in her driveway. It's familiar circumstances. It's the last thing she expects is going to happen. But you know what, Nancy, that makes her vulnerable. If God forbid there is somebody in the area looking for a victim, not paying attention, radar down to commit a crime. And sadly, that's exactly what happened here. To Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, we have not just us, but experts in statistics have analyzed crime waves. And when we hear, oh, there must be a full moon that's for real because

murders go up when there are full moons also on Friday and Saturday nights anything after midnight you know it's the place is up for grabs Sunday afternoon I'm not just pontificating I'm not just amusing this is based on statistical evidence just got yeah it You know, you can factor in things like end of the month. You can talk about when people get paid, all those sorts of things. And it seems that we say there's even temperature variations. I had a friend of mine in graduate school that studied instances of increased homicide rates when the temperature increased. So, yeah, there are a lot of these variables, but it's so randomized. Well, let me just take that in for a moment.

I guess because when it's cold, more people are staying in, and they're not exposed to other people to kill them. When it's warm weather, everybody's out and about, which I guess increases the likelihood you're going to have some kind of confrontation. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Plus, you know, tempers rise, this sort of thing, and you have an opportunity to interact. And that's what it's all about relative to crime, you know, interaction with other people.

And that's a driver many times. The fact that this case occurred at the time that it did is absolutely striking. And I mean, you know, Cloyd Steiger, 36 years Seattle PT, 22 of that on homicide Cloyd the reality is that when you just heard Joe Scott Morgan say less likelihood for a confrontation during certain times of the year even based on temperature a confrontation she's bent over in her garden gardening in the front yard for Pete's sakes who's she going to have a confrontation with yeah well that's that's what you what you want to know what's going on. The first thing you're going to do arriving at this scene having no information is find out what's going on in this woman's life.

Who is she? Is there anybody that want to do this to her? Then you start looking for neighbors, maybe that have ring cameras. I said a dance teacher to little girls, not a dancer in a strip club. What enemy is she gonna have she could have you know i don't know knowing nothing about her she could have an ex-husband ex-boyfriend uh maybe a rival of some sort i mean that's a rival you know cloyd you know how much i respect you but what oh you're talking like the ab Abby Lee Miller, what's the name of that? Dance Moms. That kind of rival.

I would not want that woman on my bad side. Although I did report on her bankruptcy fraud. And from what I hear, she was not happy at all with the Nancy Grace show. That aside, that's a whole other can of worms. A rival? This isn't the Dance Moms. I mean, are you even familiar with that, Cloyd? Not really. I had boys. Well, I wouldn't have been if I didn't have to report on her fraud.

And then my daughter sadly got sucked into it. We had to binge on it. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about a beloved dance teacher, but I want you to hear very quickly our friend, CrimeOnline.com's Dave Mack. When a popular dance instructor was identified as the victim of a murder, many friends and students took to social media to share their thoughts. 65-year-old Carolyn High was discovered when Wichita Falls police officers were dispatched to her home and discovered a deceased woman lying in the driveway. Carolyn High was listed as an instructor through the Wichita Falls Parks and Recreation Department, teaching country and western dance. Her specialties were listed as two-step, walt Department, teaching country and western dance. Her specialties

were listed as two-step, waltz, shuffle, and east coast swing. One of her former students who now owns her own dance company, Stephanie Miedenwalt, the owner of Dance Etc., posted on Facebook, your first dance teacher will never leave dance from the beginning. And finally, I'm so sorry, we have to say goodbye to such a wonderful person. You know, I want to go to Karen Stark, New York psychologist, joining me. You can find her at karenstark.com. Karen, I was asked, who's your favorite teacher? And I immediately said Clarabelle Bryant, because I wrote my first poem with her, and she always had our artwork all over the room. She took special time with me. I loved Miss Clarabelle. Now, there was one teacher. I had to travel to her funeral to make

sure she was really dead. And guess what? There were like 10 of us on the back row, just making sure the casket wouldn't creak open. She'd jump out and chase us. Anyway, long story short, this is one of those teachers, Carolyn High, that you remember. Karen Stark, we've been comparing this to Abby Lee Miller and Dance Moms. Nothing like that at all. This is a mild-mannered, layback dance instructor. She owned her own studio. As she advanced in age, she started teaching different things, like the two-step. You know, having a teacher that you love affects you the rest of your life, and we are seeing Facebook, Instagram, pouring in about her murder.

As I follow this story, Nancy, that's exactly what I honed into beside the fact, the tragedy of her being killed, the fact that there was this person who wrote a beautiful thing saying, you never forget your first dance teacher. And I think you never forget your favorite teachers and you never forget the ones that are the worst, right?

The best and the worst. But I remember when I was very young, I had a dance teacher, Rosemary, and she never was somebody that I forgot many teachers, but I didn't forget her. They make an impact on you because that's how you begin to get curious about life and feel good about yourself and grow. This is a terrible tragedy. You know, I remember my first dance class is Jackie and they were at the Y. And I was the only girl that did not have a tutu.

I just had a tight. I didn't know at the time that we really couldn't afford tutus. It was all they could do to get me to the class and pay for that. I bought Lucy. I kind of went overboard. I had her like 10 different tutus. Karen Stark, you lived through my tutu phase with Lucy. She had one in every color, every everything. And she didn't like tutus. Anyway, that's just, you know, my curse. Guys, this Carolyn High, she looks like everybody's favorite aunt to me. I want you to take a listen now to KFDX News reporter Curtis Jackson. We've never had any problems.

Floral Heights, what's typically a quiet neighborhood, was rattled over the weekend after the body of 65-year-old Carolyn High was found in the driveway of her own home. I didn't know much about her except that she kept to herself and I saw her outside mowing the yard or working in her flower bed. Nelta Perkins has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years and says they've never had an incident like this and because the suspect has not been caught Perkins along with Precious McClain and Seth Winkler say they are living in fear. I have a own child. I'm too scared to take her out of the house these days. Like it's getting crazy around here and it's just

it's scary to take her out here. I'm reading right now another tribute to her from a student. Caroline, the reason my sister and I love the art of dance so much. She was the first to instill that love for us. Even after moving on to a new studio, Carolyn was there every step of the way cheering us on. She was there for every one of our recitals and she always let you know how proud of you she was. I will never forget when a teacher from the twin school showed up at some of their piano recitals, I was so touched that she would spend her own private time to come see them play in a piano recital. All these sentiment aside, let's analyze the crime scene with me, forensics expert, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, Joseph Scott Morgan.

You come on a body in the driveway. We have learned that earlier that day she had been gardening in the front yard, but she had gone to the grocery and come back. Do you remember the Pettit case? The Pettit case up in the Northeast where the home invaders came in and they forced the mom to drive to the ATM, get out money, come home, raped the mom, the little girls, set the house on fire after disabling the dad? Yes. I believe they had been spotted at a grocery earlier in the week,

like the day before, and the home invaders had followed them home. So this dance instructor, Carolyn High, had just come back from the grocery store. Mull on that, everybody, but let's talk about the crime scene. What do you do first? Well, you want to lock it down very, very quickly, Nancy. If you're the police officer, this is a broad, you know, this is not like, so that our listeners understand, this is not like it's contained within a home. So everything's within the possibility here.

You're out in the yard. You're out in the driveway. This is a public area, okay? So the police have to be very, very careful in locking down the perimeter because you don't want to lose anything and you want to expand that crime. Remember, you can contract a crime scene, okay? But you only get that one shot to expand it out as far as you can get it so that you can incorporate everything. Because you don't know what you're dealing with.

Cloyd made a great point just a second ago when he was talking about you don't know what you're dealing with when you arrive. So you've got to cast a wide net. And here, you know, we've got a shell case in this lane in the driveway that gives us an indication. Hold on, hold on, hold on got a shell casing that's laying in the driveway. Hold on, hold on, hold on. You're cutting out on me just a tiny bit. I think you said you've got a shell casing lying in the driveway to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Is that true? Was there still a shell case in the driveway?

Yes, that is true. That tells me a lot right there. To Cloyd Steiger, that tells me she was shot right there in the driveway. She wasn't shot in a car, then dumped out. Nothing like that. The showcasing is right there. That tells me where it went down. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, and I believe in reading the trunk was open on her car, and she was by the rear of her car.

So it looks like she may have been getting something out of her car when the assailant walked up and shot her. Yeah, just getting back from the grocery. Let's try Joe Scott again. Joe Scott, back to what you would do at the crime scene. I'd like to find out how long she had been dead. How do you tell that as a medical examiner, a death investigator? Because that will start my timeline. Yeah, exactly. One interesting little side note. Remember in the report, they said the justice of the peace was called to the scene. People might not know this, but actually the justice of the peace in the state of Texas acts as the de facto of the court. But when they arrive at the scene, you want to check for the level of rigor mortis, which is the stiffness in the body.

Distribution of settling of blood, which is postmortem levitity as the blood settled and you can match times can we just break that down to regular people talk wendy patrick post-mortem levitity is when say i shoot you dead and you fall down on your back your blood is no longer pumping through your body wendy patrick so it settles to the lowest point. And that would be your back, your rear end, the backs of your legs, the backs of your arm. That's how that works, right? And how is that used, Wendy Patrick, to determine cause of death, I mean time of death? That's right. So you would look and then you would have a medical expert basically go backwards in time and say, if this is how we found her, this has had to be the time of death.

What's interesting in this particular case, Nancy, is the fact that it was right out in the open on a Sunday afternoon in the driveway. You have to wonder how long could she possibly have been lying there before somebody would have noticed this. So that's another interesting fact is it wasn't a case of, well, maybe she died elsewhere and somebody dumped her body at the scene. They're probably going back right now when they found her and trying to see, well, who shot her and how long was it before somebody walked by on a Sunday afternoon? Someone's going to see that. We'll be right back. is enough to make you look around and look over your shoulder when you get out of your car in the driveway. Take a listen to our friends KFDX Curtis Jackson. Winkler and McLean actually knew the victim. They met her when they were driving by her house and saw her fall, so they pulled over and helped her into her home. McLean says she was a kind-hearted woman. She was a very, very kind

and sweet person. She cared about her family a lot. That's all she spoke about. She was a very, very kind and sweet person. She cared about her family a lot. That's all she spoke about. She was very loving person. Gary Harley is a floral heights resident as well and says he couldn't believe the news when he read about what had happened. I think that's a terrible situation. If somebody did this and then you catch them. I hate to hear that that happened to that woman. And as the investigation continues, the normally peaceful neighborhood has people fearful, waiting for the killer to be caught. Right now, as it progresses, police disturbed, don't know what happened. Only when someone goes by and notices the body is that when the 911 call is made. She's found around 3 p.m. And as Joseph Scott Morgan was telling us, based on rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body, and post-mortem lividity, the settling of the blood in the body, the medical examiner may be able to get a time of death.

Very quickly, Levi Page, who discovered her? Who saw her body? Her own daughter, Tanya Florida, discovered the body and called 911. Oh, my stars. Oh, my stars. Her own daughter. So, Joe Scott, back to you. I want to get that time of death. So, yeah, one of the other things that we would look for is also, you know, how cool is the body? You know, we have something that's actually referred to as algor mortis, which is the cooling or post-mortem cooling of the body. You know, we maintain at 98.6 throughout our life, and we can actually measure that on an hour-to-hour basis relative

because we lose roughly a degree of body temperature for every hour after death. So that gives us an indication as to how long the individual would have been down. This is going to be also kind of combined with all the other information, and that will give us an idea as to how long she had been down. Plus, it has to be coupled with statements from people who last saw her alive. That's where we're going to start from as investigators. And then we'll kind of marry that up together and come up with a scientific estimation, if you will. And Chloe Steiger, 36 years Seattle PD and author. Chloe, I didn't

realize this until my first arson case, arson homicide, that medical examiners also use extrinsic evidence, evidence outside the dead body. For instance, in that case, the cops, the arson detectives looked at the last time the victim was alive, the last time she used her cell phone. They look at other evidence to help them pinpoint the time of death. And in this case, Cloyd Steiger, since as I believe it was, you mentioned that her trunk was still open. She was near the back of her vehicle.

I would look at the grocery store receipt. I would look for surveillance video at the grocery store, surveillance video in the neighborhood to help me as I determined time of death. Cloyd Steiger. Yeah. You know, time of death is a very inact in,

in precise science for corners. So they're looking for any outside information and that's exactly right. You'd go to the store to pick her out in a video, see if anybody was following her around anything suspicious. Maybe you can see the parking lot. Did anybody follow her car out? Those are the type of things you're going to look for. You know,

Wendy Patrick, if you watch TV enough, you find out that in all of the crime mysteries, the medical examiner looks at the last food that they had in their stomach, and then suddenly they have a time of death. Like, aha, she had French toast at 11 a.m. You know what? It's not like that. You don't know what time she had French toast. That's funny, ironic that it's boiled down to that. But I guess that's one of the things you would look at, right? It is one of the things you would look at because sometimes when you see a dead body,

it might be obvious as to what the cause of death is. But usually it's not. For example, you might see a lot of blood at the scene, but somebody didn't die of bleeding out. There might be some other cause of death. So that's why autopsy results are so important. But you are correct that you can't just look at one thing and then do that extrapolation backwards, which is why common sense clues like this, what's the time stamp on the receipt? When did somebody see her? When did she last use her cell phone if, in fact, it was her?

Sometimes the very common sense clues are a better indication of cause of death than the medical things that we think might be obvious. And another thing, Karen Stark, I don't want to live in fear, but this woman had been gardening in her front yard, low crime area. Neighbors saw her gardening. She went to the grocery store. She came back, getting her groceries apparently out of her trunk. She's shot dead.

It makes you afraid to even get out from under the bed. And it's a small town. And as you said, Nancy, there's really very low crime. They don't really know things like this. So don't be afraid. I think that this was a fluke. I think that whatever happened here, it had nothing to do with the fact that she was out in gardening.

Something went very, very wrong. Guys, I want you to take a listen to News Channel 6. Is there a break in the case? Reporter Alyssa Ostredok. Suspects who then demanded property and later shot her before fleeing the scene. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our citizens for the tips that they called in, texted us, and emailed with. I would appreciate if you would continue that as this investigation continues. Citizens should be alert of their surroundings and be aware of that. But I would just say exercise caution as you normally would. Detective Laughlin said citizens did come forward with information

that helped point investigators in the right direction. The investigation is still ongoing, but Chief Borrego says the WFPD is always open to any information that the public can provide. But what super secret information that is apparently pointing cops in a particular direction? Take a listen to KFDX, Daryl Franklin and Melanie Townsend. Two narcotics officers found a white male with a bag in the 2300 blog, and they say right next to him was a fire on the sidewalk, and they quickly put it out. They say they found charred remains of cards and papers with High's name on them as well as her purse. Coy was then taken to the police station where they say he was read his rights.

They say Coy waived his rights and confessed that he knew the purse belonged to the woman who was murdered and that he started the fire to destroy the evidence. Autopsy reports have not been released. Crime Stoppers is still asking for tips and is still offering a $2,500 reward. Police are also asking residents in this area to check their surveillance camera recordings to look out for anything that may be related to this murder. You know, so now what am I, is this correct to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, that two narcotics, drug cops, are out, I guess on their regular beat,

and they see a guy burning papers. They go over and they find a bag. I'm wondering if they're talking about a pocketbook. And in it, they discover items and they look at what was being burned. And it's Carolyn High's papers that would have been in her pocketbook. What can you tell me? Yes. 46-year-old Coy Davenport, he was arrested for tampering with evidence in the Carolyn High murder investigation, and he started a fire and was burning her belongings. Some of them were credit and debit cards that were attributed back to Carolyn High. And what's interesting is the guy that has her purse and her credit card says, yeah, I know they belong to the dead dance instructor. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

What happened to a beloved dance instructor, Carolyn High? Take a listen to KFDX. This is Melanie Townsend and Daryl Franklin again. 46-year-old Coy Lee Davenport was arrested on a charge of tampering with physical evidence. Record searches show no previous arrests or convictions for Davenport. 65-year-old Carolyn High was found dead on her driveway Sunday in the 3500 block of Cumberland. The affidavit for Davenport's arrest states the victim's daughter, Tanya Florida, called 911 to report she'd found her mother in the driveway unresponsive. The first officer on the scene Sunday afternoon said High was on her back, apparently dead, and there was blood on the ground at a shell casing nearby. The officer said Florida told him her mother had gone out the night before and that she always keeps her purse in the trunk of her car,

which was open and the purse was missing. Police say a confidential informant contacted the organized crime unit just after midnight on Tuesday and said a man named Coy had High's purse and credit cards. Now we know she was in her yard gardening that day, that Sunday, and had been to the grocery store. In broad daylight, she's attacked and then her purse ends up elsewhere. Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags, that's kind of tough to believe this guy has her pocketbook

but says he had nothing to do with her murder. He just got her pocketbook. That's a little tough to swallow. and is in the process of destroying evidence and that's what makes it so incriminating looking just from the outside but even though it looks really bad this is one of those scenes that just begs for more investigation because of the nature of this particular crime without any forensic evidence or eyewitnesses tying this man to the scene, there has to be more of a timeline to automatically think this is the suspect, even though to the untrained ear and eye, it sure seems suspicious at first glance.

Yeah, it takes more than just wrong place, wrong time, wrong pocketbook to get a murder conviction. Apparently, cops are going along with the fact that he's got the dead woman's pocketbook and burning the contents because listen to this, KFDX Lauren Linville. Officers responded to a call from High's daughter. When officers arrived, they saw High lying in the driveway across from Jarrett Park. Crimes against persons unit as well as the justice of the peace were called to the scene. Everybody knows something no matter how insignificant they think it might be, please let us know. Call Crime Stoppers because it may be that one piece of evidence that we're looking for to connect some other dots that we already have on the board. POLICE SAY 46-YEAR-OLD COILEE DAVENPORT, WHO WAS ARRESTED TUESDAY AFTER OFFICERS FOUND

CHARRED REMAINS OF CARDS AND PAPERS WITH HI'S NAME ON THEM AS WELL AS HER PURSE, IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE MURDER. THEY SAY HE GOT THE PURSE AFTER THE INCIDENT. Officers found charred remains of cards and papers with High's name on them, as well as her purse, is not connected to the murder. They say he got the purse after the incident. Okay, now that's a stretch, but it could be true. The guy found with her purse, burning the contents of the purse, not connected to the murder? Okay, but how can he help us? How can he help us find the killers? If he's not connected, how did he find the purse? Who gave it to him?

Take a listen to KFDX Lauren Linville. Officers with the Wichita Falls Police Department arrested 18-year-old Chandra Ransom and 17-year-old Zavion Denson. Yesterday, WFPD officers executed two search warrants after interviews and follow-up investigations. both are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity capital murder and in the Wichita County Jail on a 1.5 million dollar bond each. According to an arrest affidavit, Denson confessed to going with ransom and two other males who have not been identified to look for someone

to rob. WFPD Detective John Laughlin says it appears that on Saturday, January 25th, High had been out and when she returned home and pulled into her driveway, she was found with a gun in her hand. The WFPD says the suspect

was a man who was in a car and was seen driving around the area. The WFPD says the suspect was a man who was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was in a car and was to look for someone to rob. WFPD Detective John Laughlin says it appears that on Saturday, January 25th, High had been out and when she returned home and pulled into her driveway,

Ransom and Denson approached her and demanded her purse before shooting and killing her, then taking her purse. Coming back from the grocery store in her own driveway, a dance instructor gunned down by a robbing crew as it is called levi page crime online.com explained to me so these guys what they just get in a car and roam around looking for somebody to rob do i understand that correctly and she had to die you're correct nancy police received a tip it led them to these two teens chandre ransom 18ansom, 18, and Zavion Denson, 17. And police actually went to their apartment, and they were in possession of a stolen car that was connected to another robbery separate from this in Waco, Texas. And then they questioned the girlfriend of one of the suspects, and she said that the two had bragged about killing and robbing Carolyn High. And when police started

interrogating them, Zavion Denson confessed that he murdered Carolyn High. He said he and his friends were trying to find anyone random to rob. They came across 65-year-old Carolyn High in her driveway. They pointed a gun at her, asked her for her purse. She resisted them, and then they shot her dead and took her purse. You know what really caps it off for me? Joseph Scott Morgan, they bragged. They were bragging. The big guys overpowered a little 65-year-old lady with groceries in her hands. Wow. They're the badasses in town, aren't they? I mean, and then they bragged about it to their girlfriend, Joe Scott. Yeah, real big men that would do this to this poor woman who had served her community and served, you know, impacted so many lives.

I've got a little girl and she took dance. I've seen the Nutcracker more times than I can count in my life. But, you know, my daughter loved her dance teacher. She had a big impact. And this woman had a big impact. But, you know, something that's really interesting to me is that they would be so bold to shoot this poor woman in her driveway. And that gives me an indication forensically that if we can take that casing that we mentioned just a moment ago and tie it back to that weapon. If they're so bold to do this right now, I wonder how many other crimes that weapon may have been involved in. Remember, we've got an indication that something has happened down in Waco.

I'm wondering if maybe this weapon has been used before. These people are so bold to do this. Who knows what they would have done in the dark at night? You know, Joseph Scott Morgan, that's a really good point. We know we've got APHIS, the fingerprint databank. So they find a fingerprint in a crime. That fingerprint, if you can lift it, can be plugged into, entered into APHIS to see if it matches any convicted felons

or anybody in the APHIS databank. CODIS, DNA databank. There's actually a databank for weapons as well. Explain. Yeah, it's actually managed by ATF. And the reason it's managed by ATF is, you know, they examine firearms from all over the country. And they're really involved in examining gang violence. And they have this network that's really plugged in with weapons.

And it's amazing, Nancy, in the cases I've worked over the course of my career, how many weapons are passed around many times to other people. There was actually a group of people in Atlanta that would rent weapons to individuals that wanted to go do strong arm robberies and this sort of thing. So over that period of time, this weapon has a history. And you can tie it back. On that shell casing in particular, there's something, because I'm assuming it's a semi-automatic, there's something that are

called extraction marks. That means when that spent casing is pulled out, there is a specific ballistic fingerprint or machining imprint that's left on the sides of that spent casing. I love it when you talk like that that but let me just try regular people talk when a gun is created as you know it's metal and uh it's forged and as that hot metal dries on the inside of the barrel there are little marks like little specks and when a bullet hurdles down the inside of a barrel the metal of the bullet hits the metal of the barrel, and it makes permanent striation or scratch marks on the bullet. And every bullet that's shot from that gun makes those marks.

It's like a fingerprint. Yeah, we know about a stolen car connected to this gun. You know, another issue, what do we know? Levi Page, the four suspects, Diaz, 17, Denson, 17, Morales, 19, Ransom, 18, all teens, but all part of the same act. Wendy Patrick, there is the death penalty in that jurisdiction. Now, Supremes say you can't put DP death penalty on anybody 18 or under, but there's one here that's 19. Yeah, and that's one of the things that probably takes this case out of the norm is that you're right. You have four people that are both, that are all charged with the same crime.

Obviously, we're going to have to figure out respective levels of culpability, but you can imagine a defense argument. If you're going to have three that are not eligible and they're all culpable, you can see how that's an argument to the court. That may actually be persuasive. I say that because of the trend across the country towards not imposing those types of penalties on juveniles. We've seen it over the years. But you are correct that technically that's something the prosecution can go for if they decide to. Yeah, I don't think it's going to work because the other three co-defendants would not be able to be facing the death penalty. Also, 19 years old.

We wait as justice unfolds in the at-random shooting death of a beloved dance instructor. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.