Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Driver with BODY IN HIS CAR NOT ARRESTED | Crime Alert 03.18.25

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Driver found with a dead body in his car during a traffic stop isn't collared, free to leave! Bear escapes the LA fires in the crawl space of a home! 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. Georgia deputies make a traffic stop and find a body shot dead in the car. The victim's family outraged when the driver set free. Here's what happened. Douglas County sheriffs say they pulled over a driver near Thornton Road, I-20 in Lithia Springs. In the car, they find 21-year-old Malachi Mitchell shot dead. The driver's taken for questioning, later released without charges. Mitchell's mother, Kenya Mitchell, wants to know, how do you get to go home? Nancy, Malachi Mitchell was shot and killed after meeting the man to sell him a firearm. According to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office,

after the transaction was completed, a struggle broke out inside the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, after the transaction was completed, a struggle broke out inside the suspect's vehicle. The man, who was also the driver, allegedly pulled out a second firearm and shot Mitchell, believing he was being set up. He then fled the scene but was stopped by deputies due to erratic driving. That traffic stop near Thornton Road and Interstate 20 led to deputies discovering Mitchell's body inside the vehicle. The district attorney's office has not commented on the case. Hey, maybe you should. When Altadena, California, utility workers turn up to restore power to a home spared by the recent fires,

they discover a 525-pound bear sheltering in the crawl space. Department of Fish and Wildlife step in, deploying a rescue team of eight. It takes over 24 hours to figure out how to get the bear to leave. Eventually, a food-laden bear trap placed at the opening. Within minutes, the bear emerges, steps in the trap, and triggers the door. The bear is transported to the Angeles National Forest where it undergoes a welfare check. It is GPS collared, measured, and safely released after midnight. The homeowner's power now restored and the crawl space is sealed with bear-proof materials in case their new friend wants to visit again. More crime and justice news after this.

Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In a rare case of parental accountability in a school shooting, a Georgia judge has granted a $500,000 bond for Colin Gray, the father of a 14-year-old accused of a deadly attack at Appalachee High School in Winder. The 54-year-old Gray faces 29 charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say he gave his son, Colt Gray, an assault-style rifle as a Christmas gift, despite knowing the teen's mental health was declining. Investigators also revealed that the boy had an obsession with school shootings and even built a shrine to the 2018 Parkland gunman. Cole Gray is charged as an adult with 55 counts including murder and

aggravated assault. Prosecutors say he smuggled the weapon onto a school bus and on September 4th opened fire inside the high school, killing four, two teachers and two students and wounding nine others. Judge Nick Prim acknowledged the pain but stressed that bond decisions must follow the law. He found no evidence that Gray was a flight risk or a threat, ordering him to have no contact with witnesses. Gray, if released, will stay with his sister in Cherokee County, Georgia, about 70 miles from Winder. Meanwhile, his son remains jailed awaiting trial for what investigators call a meticulously planned massacre. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has now ruled that Karen Reed will face a retrial on all charges related to the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. We turn to Crime Online's Sydney Sumner for more. Karen Reed, a former adjunct

professor at Bentley College, is accused of striking officer John O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. Prosecutors have charged her with second degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a crime. The initial trial concluded in July 2024 with a mistrial after jurors reported being deadlocked. Defense attorney Martin Weinberg contended that jurors had unanimously agreed on not guilty verdicts for the second-degree murder and leaving the scene charges, but were deadlocked on the manslaughter count. However, the court emphasized that post-trial juror statements cannot alter the trial's outcome. The defense maintains that Reed was framed to protect other law enforcement officers allegedly involved in O'Keefe's death. They argued that O'Keefe was killed inside a fellow officer's home

and then placed outside to conceal the true circumstances. In a recent interview with Boston 25 News, Reed expressed her readiness for the retrial, stating, quote, I don't care who I face. I have the truth. I have the best attorneys. Do your worst. Reed's retrial is scheduled to commence on April 1st. Thanks, John. Colton Ross Barrera, 17, vanishes from Russell, Kansas, September 26, 2008.

A friend drops him off at an outdoor skate park. Colton's supposed to call home for a ride. The call never comes. Authorities believe the teen left the park on his own. His family disagrees. Colton leaves his wallet, money, and ID at home. 5'9", 135 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, a concave sternum, wearing glasses. Today he would be 34. If you have info on Colton Ross Barrera, please contact Russell County, Kansas, Sheriff's 785-483-2151. 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.