Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 02.21.25 | D.C. Teens Beat Man to Death in Mugging

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Two young teens beat a man to death for his cellphone and wallet. Man previously arrested for impersonating officers tries to avoid a background check...by pretending to be a police officer! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Brian Smith, a well-known D.C. area DJ, walks home in the early morning hours from his Saturday night shift. Two teens lunge at him. He tries to defend himself. The 14- and 16-year-old overpower him and beat him to a pulp. EMTs find him unconscious and severely injured, phone and wallet missing. Brian Smith dies in the hospital a week later. Nancy, the teens are suspected in three other robberies that same day and were found sleeping in the back of a stolen car. Smith's family is

devastated by the loss, still grieving another death in the family. Smith's brother passed away from a brain aneurysm just three months ago in the same hospital where Smith died. Smith's mother, Leila Sandoval, is looking for justice, saying, quote, they killed my son over a credit card with a very low balance and a cell phone. These people have taken away my whole entire life. The teens, 14 and 16, now charge three counts robbery and assault, but police expect to upgrade those charges to felony murder. William Milstein knows his application to lease a Florida home will be denied when the owner gets his background check, so he comes up with a brilliant plan to get out of the requirement. He submits a letter from the, quote, Florida Department of Law Enforcement informing the realtor that he,

Milstein, is an undercover cop in the, quote, off-grid command unit, whatever that is, and therefore cannot submit to a background check. Suspicious of all the errors in the letter, spelling and grammatical, the realtor immediately calls police. Turns out Milstead has 13 prior felonies, two of them for impersonating an officer. And this makes 14. Guess what? I don't think he got the lease. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley.

An 86-year-old Kansas City man has pleaded guilty in a shooting that shocked the nation. Andrew Lester admitted to second-degree assault in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell. Yarl, now a Texas A&M freshman and ROTC member, was 16 when he was shot in the head and arm. Lester had been facing first-degree assault charges, which carried up to 30 years in prison. Under the plea deal, he could serve up to seven years when sentenced on March 7. Prosecutors planned to seek five. In court, Lester, appearing frail in a wheelchair, acknowledged his declining health. Jarl and his mother, Cleo Nagby, sat in the front row. After the hearing, Nagby called

the plea, quote, a step toward accountability, but said true justice would require consequences that reflect the harm caused. Lester's lawyer, Steve Salmon, has maintained his client acted in self-defense, but Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thomas said, quote, self-defense has limits. The shooting, which ignited national debates on race and gun laws, remains the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by Jarl's family. Now to a disturbing case of alleged child sex trafficking unfolding on Long Island, New York. Nine people have been indicted after a missing teenager was found on a yacht last month. We go to Sydney Sumner of Crime Online with the details. In Suffolk County Court, nine individuals, seven men and two women, have pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including child sex

trafficking, kidnapping, rape, and endangering the welfare of a child. This follows the discovery of a 14-year-old girl on a boat docked in Islip last month, ending a nearly month-long search. According to court documents, the defendants are accused of exploiting the vulnerability of the 14-year-old girl, who has not been named publicly. Prosecutors allege she was repeatedly raped and essentially marketed for sex. The girl had disappeared from her Long Island home on December 9 and was located by her father on January 3 after he received an anonymous tip following a social media campaign and a reward offer. Among those indicted is Daniel Burke, accused of having sex with the teenager and facing

kidnapping and rape charges. Burke's lawyer, Oscar Cresafio, maintains his client's innocence, stating that the evidence suggests that she was never held against her will. Another defendant, Ralph Knowles, faces rape and related charges. His lawyer, Chase Brown, says Knowles, quote, looks forward to his day in court where the truth will prevail. Our friends with Newsday are reporting that three defendants were remanded to jail while the bail was increased for the other six. Additionally, three more individuals have been charged in connection with the case,

but were not included in the initial indictment. Thanks, John. Irene Fleming shares a home with a friend in rural Washington, southwest of George, 5 p.m. She says she's going for a walk. She's caught on surveillance leaving the home on foot. Hours later, she calls her family saying she's in Wenatchee, Washington, an hour away from home by car. She doesn't come home that night and stops answering calls. Over the next week, employees at several East Wenatchee grocery stores report seeing a woman matching her description,

but cameras cannot confirm those sightings. Irene Fleming, 31, 5'1", 100 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, septum nose piercing, clear frame glasses. Last seen wearing a brown jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots. If you have info on Irene Fleming, call Grant County Washington Sheriffs, 509-762-1160. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com and please join us for our daily podcast. It's called Crime Stories, and we do our very best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.