Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - HEAR PARENTS' ANGUISH, tot shot DEAD after trike veers into neighbor's yard

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

Five-year-old Cannon Hinnant is riding his bike in front of his family's North Carolina home when a neighbor shoots him in the head. Darius Sessoms, 25, is charged with first-degree murder. The question remains: Why was Cannon shot? Sessoms and father Austin Hinnant had been neighbors for eight years.The two men even had dinner and drinks together the night before Cannon's murder. Cannon's parents are calling for the death penalty in the case.Joining Nancy Grace today: Austin Hinnant - Cannon's Father  Bonny Waddell - Cannon's Mother Randy Zelin - NY Criminal Defense Attorney   Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills; Follow Dr. Marshall on Instagram Sheryl McCollum - Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder Dr. Katherine Maloney - Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Erie County Medical Examiners office, Buffalo, New York Bryan Mims - WRAL TV News Reporter Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A five-year-old little boy is riding his bike on a Sunday afternoon around, I guess it was about 5.30 in the afternoon. Everybody's gone to church. They've had lunch. You know that feeling on a Sunday afternoon when everything is still and quiet? Until the sound of gunshots ring out, little Cannon is dead. Why? According to reports, because he veered his bike into the neighbor's yard. I want justice.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. With me, an all-star panel. Joining me, Brian Mims, WRAL-TV, Dr. Catherine Maloney, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Erie County Medical Examiner's Office in Buffalo, founder of the Cold Case Research Institute, ballistics forensics expert Cheryl McCollum, psychoanalyst joining me out of Beverly Hills, Dr. Bethany Marshall, New York criminal defense attorney, Randy Zelen. But first, to special guests, the mother and father of Little Cannon, the first thing I think about is what I can do for my twins who are 12. I race up every morning to get their breakfast, get them packed for school. And all day long, they're on my mind. What happened the day five-year-old Cannon was shot? He was visiting his dad's house.

I was at home with my boyfriend and my other child and we had left to go to the dump and we dropped things off. I had gotten a text message from his daddy's fiance saying that Cannon had been shot. I had gotten numerous phone calls that day of her calling me. I finally called back and all I hear is something I'll never forget and that is his dad just screaming in the background and his girlfriend, or fiance, sorry,

just screaming in the background. And I'm like, I couldn't even think at that time. My mind just went blank. I'm like, this isn't real. This can't be real. Oh, Bonnie, that feeling, that feeling, especially when you're away, you're not right there on the scene. The helplessness, the trying to grapple with what? Just shot? And you're not there and you don't know what's happening and all that screaming. I can't imagine that phone call.

I wanted to start with Cannon's mom before I go to his dad joining us, who is at the scene. Take a listen to our friends at WRAL-TV. Everybody there just loved Cannon. He lit up the room. Austin Hennett was inside his home on Archer's Road as Cannon played outside with his sisters. He says his fiancee stepped inside for a moment.

As soon as she shuts the door, I hear a loud gunshot that sounds close. He ran into the front yard and saw Cannon falling off his bike. It was something far more serious. Far more serious. And I just scooped him up in my arms and held him. And held him and I screamed. And somebody help me, please help me save my son. God, save my son, please.

A neighbor ran over with an emergency medical bag. His fiance called 911. With me now is Cannon's dad, Austin. Hello. Austin, I'm just so grateful to you and Bonnie being here today. I can remember for so many days, weeks, months after my fiancee was murdered, I couldn't even think straight. I felt like I couldn't put two words together. It just seemed so unreal. Every day feels like waking up to another dream. None of this seemed real.

I can't tell you how sorry I am and how much we have prayed for you, your family, Cannon. You know, a lot of people think, Austin and Bonnie, it can't happen to me. I used to think that too, until it did happen. You guys had everything set up for Cannon. He was supposed to start kindergarten this week. He loved his bike. Yes.

He was out playing with cousins outside on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight 5 30 when nothing can go wrong and all of a sudden gunshots ring rang out to Austin please explain to me what happened that day I don't know how to explain what happened that day? I don't know how to explain what happened that day because it all happened so fast other than it was just like any other Sunday with my family. We went to church. We followed up with lunch and came home and relaxed. Children wanted to go outside and play, and they were just doing what they loved.

Austin, that is so scary to me because that is exactly what families, including mine, do all across the country. You get your children dressed up or not and get their hair in place and get them in the car and get them to church and come out and they're hungry. And you either cook or you, we like to go out for lunch Sunday after church. And then we get home and there's something about Sunday afternoons. It seems like it's the most peaceful time of the whole week. I don't know why. Maybe we're not at work. But that idyllic time in the afternoon.

So you're at home. You've gotten back from having lunch. What happens then? Well, my fiance went into the bedroom to take a nap and my mother dropped off Jaden which is Cannon's aunt to make the correction, my cousin and they all

played inside as my fiance nabbed in the bedroom. I ended up drifting off to sleep on the couch of the well and around five o'clock I woke up and went to check on nikki my fiance and we both came out of the bedroom and were bombarded with the children wanting to go outside to play so she volunteers to go outside with them and supervise and play

with them and be there with them while they're playing outside. And it wasn't 20 minutes, 30 minutes later, this evil person does something that we can't erase, that we can't take back. So she, Nikki, says she'll go out with the children, and it's Cannon and what other children are playing with him his sisters carly and ava and my little sister jayden and they're outside and nikki comes in very quickly been outside for a little while nikki comes in i think to go to the bathroom and which then what happens um she actually came in to just get some drink of water and say some things to me. She was just talking to me in general about the kids.

And then she walked back outside. And as soon as she walked back outside, I heard one single gunshot. I could tell that it was close. I could tell that it was close. And as soon as I heard it, before I even made it out my front door, I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my heart as soon as I heard that. Part of me had just been taken away from me.

So I had to run outside and find my son laying on the ground, bleeding from the head. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, joining me right now are the mother and father of five-year-old Cannon Hennant. He's just beautiful. I don't understand how a five-year-old little boy is shot dead for what, riding his bike, veering into the neighbor's yard. Guys, take a listen to our friends at WRAL. With a clear view of five-year-old Cannon Hinton and his siblings playing outside, Doris Labrent could not believe what she saw.

My first reaction was he's playing with the kids. And when I saw him just ride right up to him and put the gun right on his head and shot him. She says 25-year-old Darius Sessoms shot 5-year-old Cannon while he was playing outside. It's almost like seeing a movie and then all of a sudden it dawns on you it's not a movie. Labrett says Sessoms' parents have lived on Archers Road in Wilson around 28 years, and she's seen Sessoms over at Cannon's father's house before. There was no yelling, screaming. Cannon's siblings watched their five-year-old brother get shot. LeBrent says his dad, Austin, was close by.

Austin flew out of that house screaming and picked him up. They'll never get over it. Now everyone is left asking the same question. Why would that make him go over and kill the kids is what I want to know. Joining me on All-Star panel to break it down and put it back together again, and I want to thank you for being with us at this horrible time for Cannon's mother and father. They are joining us to speak out about what happened. I'm going to go back to Austin Hennett.

This is Cannon's dad. Today, Cannon would have started kindergarten. Instead, you're here. You said it feels like a nightmare, a bad dream every day. When you wake up in the morning, what do you think? I don't know what to think. I don't know what to think when I wake up in the morning. My little boy should have been going to school to sleep.

That's all I know. We didn't want any of this. We just wanted the life that we had. Dr. Bethany Marshall, a renowned psychoanalyst, joining me out of Beverly Hills at drbethanymarshall.com. I remember that. You wake up in the morning, and for maybe two or three seconds, was it a dream you don't remember?

And then it hits you like a ton of bricks all over again. What are those two or three seconds where everything is, as Austin Hennant said, the life they had, the way it used to be? Why does your mind do that? Because Austin, Nikki, Cannon's mother and father had one reality that they lived with for five years. A beautiful little baby boy was born. They raised him.

He played with his siblings. He was in a peaceful neighborhood they had the rhythms of life in such a beautiful way going to church on a Sunday afternoon playing in the backyard and I don't know if you heard um with Nikki going out to supervise the kids when she came back in it wasn't to do something for herself It was to talk with Cammon's dad about how the kids were doing. I mean, this family's life was revolved around the kids. They were very devoted. So that's a long time to live with one reality.

And then with one gunshot, the whole reality changes to this little boy not being there anymore. Our brains are not designed to wrap our minds around these so quickly. So we wake up in the morning and we go back to how things were. You know, the definition of trauma, Nancy, is a sudden unanticipated change for which there's no prior learning. So this was sudden, unanticipated, and there's no way to learn how to cope with something like this. Just when you're in it, you're in it. And it takes a long time to get over something like this in terms of the trauma, but they'll never get over the loss of the sun. I mean, every time there's an anniversary or

graduation or a time where Buchanan would have gone on to the next stage, they're going to be thinking about him. He'll be in their minds. I can't even see a little boy without thinking of my son. Austin, when you... I've never been 48 hours without him. You've never been 48 hours without your son is that what you said bonnie that is the longest i've ever been away from him it's 48 hours that's it 48 hours is the longest i've ever been away from him and this i can't even explain missing him is there's no words. Bonnie, when you first wake up in the morning, when does it hit you what happened? I barely sleep. So it hits me all day, all night. It doesn't stop.

That was my first baby boy. He was the biggest mama's boy and he always needed me. He always depended on me. You know, you're just making me think of my son so much, John David, who is the sweetest thing. He's way taller than me now. He's almost 6 feet and he's only 12. He's just like that. I mean, I can hear him right now. Mom, Mom, Mom. Yep.

Constantly, all day. Mama, mom, mom. Yup. Constantly all day. Mama, mama, mama. Yes. I miss that little voice. I would get anything to hear it again. Austin, you said you heard a gunshot and you knew, you know, that's funny. You said that funny odd, because I remember when I was walking to work at the library and I got a message to call my fiance's family, I knew immediately. I knew. I knew Keith was dead. I don't know how I knew that. You said you heard a gunshot. Tell me what happened when you bounded out of that door, that front door. I didn't know what to think. It didn't seem like what was happening was really real. Like I said, as soon as I heard that shot, I felt a piece of my heart leave me. And as I got the cannon and scooped him up, I was

looking at Darius full of rage, and I just thought some unthinkable things myself probably in that time, but all I could do was be there with Cannon and pray over him and hold him and let him know that his daddy was there. He was unresponsive, obviously, but I have to believe that he felt that he was in his dad's arms and that I was praying for him. Did he show any signs of being conscious when you got there? I'd rather not answer that question. Okay. Just trying to think about what you went through and everything happening around you.

Joining me right now is Brian Mims, W-R-A-L-T-V. Brian, that day that Cannon Hennant is shot, what do we know about how long it took police and EMTs to get there? No, they got there right away. And as a matter of fact, Austin mentioned that he was, as he was holding his son, there was a neighbor who came running in Austin, but a neighbor came running with an EMT bag, emergency medical bag, and started helping the little boy and telling Austin what to do. But police and paramedics got there ASAP. This is an area not exactly in the center of town.

It's sort of an outlying neighborhood of Wilson. Wilson is a sizable community, but they got there quickly. However, the suspect drove off, and for the night, we didn't know where he was and there was no he was at large i know exactly what you're talking about with me brian mims wral tv i grew up in a an extremely rural area which is great for growing up you're not around traffic or drinking or drugs or a lot of that, but you're way out there. And it's my understanding that Wilson is about 39, 40 miles from Raleigh.

So you're out there in a rural area and it takes cops or sheriffs or EMTs a minute to get there. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about the death of a beautiful boy, Cannon Hennant. And I got to tell you, the first time I heard his mother's voice speaking to me on the phone, the heartbreak was just raw, right under the voice. It felt like at any moment her voice was just going to crack in half.

I want to talk about what exactly happened. Take a listen to Brian Mims, WRAL-TV. A five-year-old boy, five, is the very face of innocence. They were just playing in the yard like any other day. Cannon had gone to church Sunday morning with his dad and sister. Everybody there just loved Cannon. And Cannon just loved riding his bike as he was doing Sunday evening in his dad's front yard on Archers Road. His two sisters there with him.

His dad, Austin Hennett, was inside when he heard the gunshot. I just scooped him up in my arms and held him and held him and I screamed and somebody help me please help me save my son. God save my son please. Hennett looked up and saw his neighbor in the yard next door, gun in hand, pacing frantically. I was looking at him as I was picking up cannon and I was so full of rage but I couldn't leave my son's side. I just wanted to be with my son. Hennett's fiancee called 911. He says his neighbor, 25-year-old Darius Sessoms, who lived with his parents, soon drove away. Police arrested Sessoms the next day, charging him with murder. All right, to you, Randy Zelen, renowned New York criminal defense attorney. You can find him at RandyZelenLaw.com.

Randy, when a defendant is seen pulling the trigger, remember Ken was outside with his cousins? And then when Dad Austin ran out, he actually sees the defendant, Sessoms, standing there with the gun. But here's my question. He then gets in the car and takes off so this is not a whodunit the only way to go now is for the defendant to claim mental defect but i don't

think it's going to work zellen because when you flee evidence flight, when you leave the scene and you hide out 25 miles away in Goldsboro, and the cops have to come looking for you, that tells me you knew what you did was wrong. And isn't it true, Randy Zellin, that under our jurisprudence system, it's the old McNaughton test brought over from Great Britain of the incident. That is the test. And if he knew enough to get in a car and take off, then he knew what he did was wrong. How can you possibly defend that, Randy? Well, first of all, let me say how difficult it is to speak like a lawyer at a time like this, being a parent myself. But

this is what I am here to do, and I will do the best that I can to compartmentalize my emotions and the loss that I feel for these parents. But from purely a legal perspective, remember here, North Carolina is a death penalty state. So the issue of the defendant's state of mind and his ability to know the difference between right and wrong and to appreciate the nature and consequences of his action, not only become relevant from the standpoint of guilt or lack of guilt, because remember, insanity is a defense. You also have, from a death penalty standpoint, if the defendant were to be convicted, you then have the issue of not only the purely legal definition of insanity, but keep in mind

that insanity is not only an exemption from the death penalty, it's also in an instance where it's not quite insanity, but the defendant is still suffering from a severe disorder or defect, which significantly impaired, not necessarily took away, but significantly impaired his capacity to appreciate the difference between right and wrong and the nature and consequences of his action. But look, Nancy, you are right. And I will tell you when I agree with you, it is difficult when you have what we call consciousness of guilt, which is you do something bad and then you leave. Completely know what you just did was wrong. Now you know why Randy Zellin wins so many cases.

You just heard it. But I see straight through that right now, and I want Austin and Bonnie to go ahead and get ready because while defense attorneys may seem really nice in regular life if you see one at the grocery store or at church or wherever you might run into one, but when they get in the courtroom, they do what they think they got to do. And they say things just like that. So get ready, whether you agree with it or not. That's what they're going to say. I want to go to the founder of the Cold Case Research Institute and forensics expert, Cheryl McCollum.

Cheryl, please, come on. Premeditation can be formed in the moment it takes you to go get a gun, point it, and pull the trigger. Hold on, Cheryl. To Dr. Catherine Maloney, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, Buffalo. Dr. Maloney, I have been told that this was at point-blank range. How do we know that? Well, if you have a gunshot wound that is at point-blank range, there are different residues that may be left on the body

that can give you information about how far away the end of the barrel of the gun was from the skin. So sometimes you might see gunpowder or marks left by the gunpowder that will let you know that the end of the gun was closer to the person's body. Exactly, Dr. Maloney, stippling. Stippling at 3 feet or less, 36 inches or less, there will be gunshot powder residue as fine as baby powder. Stippling is when there are actual burn marks left

on the victim from the weapon being so close to the skin. Is it true, Brian M. W. R. A. L., I have read that this was at very close range? It was. It was at close range. It was essentially point blank at his head.

It's hard to say that when discussing a five-year-old boy, but it was at close range. And the suspect began pacing frantically around the yard, the yard of his home, according to police. I don't care, Brian Mims, W.R.A.L. That may be true. But isn't it true, Randy Zelen, that under the law, and I quote, one may immediately regret the deed. But that does not negate premeditation or intent to do the act. I don't care how sorry he is. That doesn't matter to me. And the law agrees, does it not, Zelen? From the standpoint of guilt or lack of guilt and insanity, you are absolutely right. That moment, it is that moment in time when you pull the trigger. Do you appreciate the nature and consequences of what you're doing? Do you know the difference between right and wrong? If you lose your mind after that, it doesn't matter. If you come to after that and suddenly

you are incredibly remorseful, that may be what keeps you from getting phenobarbital pumped through your veins, but it is not going to mitigate the question of premeditation. In fact, that could also be viewed as consciousness of guilt. Bonnie Waddell, who first contacted me, this is Cannon's mother. I want to apologize to you and Austin for discussing the facts and strategy. But all I can do right now is figure out a way to try to help get justice.

And I'm sorry you're hearing all this. My thing is everybody's like, you know, justice has been served. You know, they've locked him up. And yes, it might be halfway served, but this man is still present. Justice ain't served until the judge drops that hammer. Until the judge drops that hammer, justice ain't served.

I agree, Austin. And this is not revenge. I'm not looking for revenge on anybody. That is not what Lady Justice is about. It is about seeking justice and doing the right thing. I mean, Bonnie, it's bad. It's horrible to find out somebody you love is just gone just like that. But a shooting at point blank range?

When he done this to my child, I just, I couldn't believe it at first. With me, the parents of five-year-old Cannon Hennant, who's supposed to start kindergarten today. That's not happening. This five-year-old little boy is gunned down dead for what? Veering his trike into the neighbor's yard? To you, Cheryl McCollum Forensics Expert, Director of Cold Case Research Institute. Now you've heard all the facts.

Weigh in. Nancy, this was a straight up execution. This person walked toward that baby. He never veered off. He never slowed down. He didn't stop himself. He walked up to that child, pointed that weapon directly at his head and fired at point blank range. And point blank range basically means you ain't got to aim. You're that close. You're going to hit your target. And then he panics and kind of paces back and forth. And then he gets in a vehicle and flees that scene because he knew good and well what he had done. He absolutely knows right from wrong. He, you know, the evidence that's going to be there that they have to look for are like burn patterns, the star patterns.

He was that close, Nancy. He was that close to that poor child. And again, I want to echo what everybody else has said to his parents that are with us today. I am so sorry. But I'll tell you something else. If Nancy Grace was your prosecutor, there's going to be a lot of people talking about motive. She would stand up and she'd tell that jury, there is no motive that I will ever accept.

There isn't. And we keep wondering to you, Austin, why, why, why? B.S. Under the law, the state does not have to prove motive. A prosecutor doesn't have to crawl into the dark mind of a killer and figure out why. What possible motive could there be

to kill a five-year-old little boy riding his bike in the front yard? The dad, Austin Hennett austin and mom bonnie waddell with me right now austin there was no bad blood between the neighbors in fact i understand the family of darius sessoms had lived in the neighborhood 20 plus years and you guys had lived there i guess close to 10 years you had had it for dinner no no problem in fact you saw him in his car i think the night before and said hey buddy come over have a supper with us and did he that's right that's exactly what happened he was sitting in his car he looked like he had a lot on his mind.

He looked like he was just kind of down. And we were already cooking chicken on the grill for the kids and ourselves, and there was extra. So I just told him, the Lord says to love thy neighbor, and that was the kind thing to do. That was something that came in with it. I'm just trying to take all this in. Darius Sussons was found about 30 to 40 minutes away, hiding out in a nearby town of Goldsboro. Now, all of this, for you to get a mental image, is not too far, about less than an hour from Raleigh.

Now, when you think of Raleigh, many people think of Andy of Mayberry. Okay? Remember? They were always going to Raleigh now when you think of Raleigh many people think of any of Mayberry okay remember they were always going to Raleigh and there's nothing more peaceful and calm and a happy scenario than Andy of Mayberry and that's what people think of when we talk about that that is not what happened on that Sunday afternoon. To Bonnie Waddell, it's my understanding, Bonnie, that the defendant's own family made a comment that the defendant had been involved in drugs. Not the family.

I'm sorry, but... Go ahead. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't care. I have seen people on drugs. I'm 25 years old. I'm young. I've seen them all on drugs. There's no amount of drugs to be in your mind to kill a child.

You are not that high. That's exactly what the law says, what you just voiced in your own way the voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is not a defense under the law else everybody in the jail would say right now oh uh i was high on pot so you know you can't hold me liable in fact under the law you have to be comatose for drugs or alcohol to be a defense. It is not a defense. To Austin Hennant, what is rubbing salt in the wound is that you had reached out to the defendant the night before to try to help him out,

bring him over to your home, had him at your table for dinner. Did he show any animosity, any anger toward Cannon? Anything? Never, never. He sat right on my couch with me and we ate at the coffee table while my fiance ate at the kitchen table with all three of the children. There was never any issues. We finished our dinner and walked outside, had a cigarette. He said thank you and went on about his night. What do you make of comments that have reportedly come from the family

that he had used drugs? I don't care what he used. What he did is unforgivable, unthinkable, and it can't be undone. So now he's going to suffer the consequences to the police. It's in the law. And that's just the bottom line. To Randy Zellin, you hear the parents speaking out in what should have been Cannon's first day at kindergarten. I don't care either. I agree with mom and dad. I don't care if he was high, if he wasn't high. I don't care. That's not going to be a defense for what he did to Cannon. This is true, but we must remember that we have to view the law dispassionately. We have to look at the law. And as you know, Nancy, when you are in front of a jury, sympathy is not ever supposed to enter into the courtroom, even though it does.

But here, where the drugs or whatever impact the drugs may have had on this defendant may play more of a role from a penalty perspective than from a guilt or lack of guilt perspective, keeping in mind that the death penalty is the ultimate sanction. And before the court is going to impose the death penalty upon a defendant, putting aside the cost that is inherent in a death penalty. Oh, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just stop. Stop with the money. I want to go to Bonnie and Austin. Bonnie, what is in your heart and in your mind right now that should have been his first day of kindergarten? I woke up this

morning and that's all i could think about it's my day he was supposed to start kindergarten i'm gonna tell you what's in my mind right now he better be in jail praying that they give him the death penalty that's what's in my mind right now because as the days pass and the more I mourn the loss of my son, the more the anger builds up inside of me. So I'm going to leave it at that. It's devastating. Bonnie and Austin, I wish we could take away from you what you're going through. Thank you. All we can do right now is pray for you and pray for

Cannon and God willing, seek justice. We wait for the courts to act. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.