Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 12.31.24 | Parents Leave 2yo in Closet with Space Heater for 20 Hours

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

Tot girl found dead after left alone in a closet with a space heater. Woman claims "trying to help" after kidnapping tot boy from his backyard.  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. Cynthia Perez and Jace Hershey keep their youngest daughter's crib in a closet in their Indiana home. As the nights get colder, the parents put a space heater in the closet with the top. Perez and Hershey put the toddler in her crib for the night at 7 p.m. Then don't check on her again until 3 p.m. the next day. The little girl did with an internal temperature of 109 degrees. Nancy, the mattress in the girl's crib was extremely soiled as was another room where two more children ages three and five,

were kept. The two older children were removed from the home due to the, quote, extremely unhealthy conditions. Responding officers said they felt an immediate heat difference between the bedroom and closet where the little girl was found. An autopsy reveals she died of hyperthermia or overheating. Parents Cynthia Perez, 21, and Jace Hershey, 23, charged with three counts each, felony neglect. What about murder? Neighbors confused when they spot Pamela Monsalve reaching over a fence in their Florida neighborhood, saying there's a little boy in the backyard alone. Neighbors tell her, leave him alone. He lives there in his mommy's home. Monsalve ignores the advice, grabs the child, and starts to walk off. The neighbors alert the mom who confronts Monsalve. She puts the

three-year-old down, who runs to his mother as she calls 911. Monsalve tells police she was just trying to help, but she's booked on kidnap. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and Justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. A Brooklyn man has been indicted for murder and arson in a shocking subway attack that left a woman burned to death. We bring in Sydney Sumner of Crime Online for more. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Sebastian Zepeda

set the victim on fire while she slept aboard a stopped F train at Coney Island. He allegedly fanned the flames with a shirt before sitting nearby and watching as she was engulfed. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the act malicious and revealed the top charge carries a maximum sentence of life without parole. Authorities are still working to identify the victim using DNA and fingerprints. Zepeda, a Guatemalan citizen deported in 2018 who later re-entered the U.S. illegally, was arrested hours after the attack. During questioning, prosecutors say he admitted to being the person in surveillance footage, but claimed not to recall the incident, citing alcohol use. The incident has reignited concerns

over subway safety. While overall crime on the system has declined, homicides have risen, with nine reported this year compared to five during the same period last year. Mayor Eric Adams has directed police to collaborate with federal agencies to explore additional charges under arson laws. Meanwhile, state prosecutors argue their case could result in harsher penalties. A former Georgia district attorney will stand trial in early 2025 on charges she interfered with the investigation into Ahmaud Arbery's killing. Senior Judge John R. Turner scheduled jury selection for Jackie Johnson's trial to begin January 21st in Glenn County with a hearing set for December 11th to address final pretrial motions.

Johnson was the district attorney when Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was shot while fleeing three white men who pursued him in February of 2020. The men, including former investigator Greg McMichael and his son, were later convicted of murder and federal hate crimes. Johnson recused her office from the case due to her prior working relationship with Greg McMichael. In September 2021, a grand jury indicted Johnson on charges of violating her oath and hindering law enforcement. The case has seen delays, partly due to one of Johnson's attorneys defending rapper Young Thug in a separate high-profile trial. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr stated that his office is ready to proceed, while Arbery's family has said they won't consider justice fully served until

Johnson faces trial. Thanks, John. Graduation is just around the corner for Jimmy J. Lee III, studying at University of Mississippi-Oxford. He's already been accepted into the graduate program there, and he hesitantly makes plans to meet with a man he's been seeing, despite the fact the two got in a heated argument last time they were together. Jay drives from his apartment in the Campus Walk Complex to a unit at Molly Bar Trails. Next day, he does not show up for a donation drive he organized as part of his internship. His family immediately reports him missing.

Jay's car found abandoned in the parking lot at Molly Bar Trails. Canines pick up a cent and lose it in the parking lot. Jay Lee, African American, 5'7", 120 pounds, long blonde braids, brown eyes, tattoo of a crown on his wrist, and a flower on his abdomen. If you have info on Jimmy Jay Lee, please call Oxford Mississippi PD 662-232-2400. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com and please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

This is an iHeart Podcast.