Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - High school 'PUPPY LOVE' TURNS MURDER

Episode Date: April 23, 2021

A teen girl and her teen boyfriend make plans to run away together, but when her dad finds out, he puts a stop to it, or so he thought.Two Nevada teens are now behind bars after police say they murdered Daniel Halseth and set his body on fire. According to an arrest warrant, Daniel Halseth’s mother contacted police for a welfare check after she hadn’t heard from him.Halseth’s landlord and a family friend found the 45-year-old burned body inside a garage. Aaron Guerrero, 18, and Sierra Halseth, 16, have been charged.Joining Nancy Grace today: Kathleen Murphy - North Carolina, Family Attorney, www.ncdomesticlaw.com  Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com  Justin Boardman - Retired Detective, Special Victim’s Unit, West Valley City Police Department, Boardman Training & Consulting, JustinBoardman.com Dr. Priya Banerjee, M.D. [BANNER-JEE] - Board Certified Forensic Pathologist, President Anchor Forensic Pathology LLC, www.anchorforensicpathology.com Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories dot Com, Twitter: @swimmie2009  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. And they called it puppy love. How does puppy love end in murder? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. 16-year-old Sierra Halseth dated Aaron Guerrero from June to December of last year, and their future plans caused parental concerns. While the teens were dating, Daniel Hulseth contacted Guerrero's parents.

He told them the teens were planning on running away together, and the parents agreed the teens should no longer have contact with each other. It's as old as Romeo and Juliet, but in this case, everything goes sideways. And now we've got a dead body. That's neither the girlfriend nor the boyfriend. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of it all, Kathleen Murphy, veteran trial lawyer joining us out of North Carolina. And you can find her at ncdomesticlaw.com. Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Justin Boardman, former detective special victims unit West Valley PD. And you can find him at Boardman Training and Consultant at JustinBoardman.com. Dr. Priya Banerjee, board certified forensic pathologist, president of Anchor Forensic Pathology at AnchorForensicPathology.com. But straight out to Alexis Tereschuk, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter and also with LeadStories.com. Alexis, let me understand this. The daughter was 16 years old and she's dating an 18 year old, Erin Guerrero. The daughter, Sierra Halseff. How long had they been dating? It sounds like maybe six or seven months.

That's it. Just six months. They started dating in the summer. And then by December, they had broken up. That's really bizarre. They had broken up. I heard what you said, Alexis. They had broken up. We thought, you know, let's hear that cut from our friends at Crime Online one more time. Take a listen. 16-year-old Sierra Halseth dated Aaron Guerrero from June to December of last year, and their future plans caused parental concerns.

While the teens were dating, Daniel Halseth contacted Guerrero's parents. from June to December of last year, and their future plans caused parental concerns. While the teens were dating, Daniel Holtz contacted Guerrero's parents. He told them the teens were planning on running away together, and the parents agreed the teens should no longer have contact with each other. Well, I guess so. Kathleen Murphy joining us, family lawyer out of North Carolina. Family law is anything but family-like. I'll tell you, I've told you before, Kathleen Murphy, I'd rather try a serial killer than stick my arm in between two people in a heated divorce case, much less when children are involved. Kathleen, you've got a 16 year old girl, an 18 year old boy, and they're planning to run away together i guess the parents did try to stop it

what's the parent really to do with a 16 year old nancy i mean the the reality of that situation starts long before they turn 16 and when they have an acrimonious divorce such as these folks had there's a lot oh yeah education and a lot yeah. I'm glad you brought that up because Sierra Halsef's parents were, I guess, I would say quasi-famous in certain circles because the dad, Daniel Halsef, had been married to a Nevada state senator, Elizabeth Halsef, and the two of them had three children together, including Sierra. Then there was an acrimonious divorce, right, Kathleen? That's correct. And Nancy, I would also say the mother has remarried, so there's a step-family situation involved here. And again, this child is probably manipulating both sides of the court. Back to Alexis Tereszczuk, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter.

This all goes down in Vegas, am I correct? Yep, in Las Vegas. But yet, Halceth gets his car stolen, and it's found in Salt Lake City. So, that is true. The police, Halceth's mother, let's start with her. She was desperately trying to reach her son for days. She kept calling, calling, calling, couldn't reach him. She actually called Sierra, her granddaughter, who lives with her dad, and said, I am not able to reach your dad.

And the granddaughter said, well, you know what? It's okay, Grandma. He's in the shower, and his phone is broken. So don't worry about it. He's all fine. As a matter of fact, Alexis Tereschuk is exactly correct. So not only seemingly does the dad, Daniel Halseth, go missing, but then they find out the teen girl is gone too. Take a listen to Jackie Howard, Crime Online. Investigators track

the teens through surveillance footage. The initial footage showed the pair leaving the neighborhood in Daniel Halstead's blue Nissan Altima. Surveillance footage at Winco shows Halstead buying two gallons of bleach and a gallon of orange juice. Footage from Home Depot showed Guerrero buying saws and gloves. Okay, you know, maybe it's just me, Alexiserese Chuck but when I hear about somebody being in a stolen car and they're buying bleach and saws and tarps I can't think anything good okay nothing good comes out of that scenario tell me about what was found on the surveillance video alexis teres chuck and they're in house's stolen car right they are in the dad's stolen car and they are driving around to multiple stores near the home local stores what the police have described as big box stores and they have also, so on top of the bleach, orange juice, which maybe they were thirsty, and then a tarp.

They also were spotted buying a chainsaw, a hacksaw, and another type of saw. So three different saws police saw them purchase online on video you know alexis tereshchuk have you ever gone to home depot yes and you look around and you see somebody buying a chainsaw and somebody else buying a tarp i guess it's just this line of business but you know i can't think anything good when i see that no and especially not these super young kids like these, you know, if you see a professional person, you know, buying the chainsaw, you think, oh, well, he's going to go cut down a tree for work. But when you see a teenage girl and a teenage boy buying them, nothing good can happen. And they went to multiple stores. And to you, Dr. Angela Arnold, you know, very often police make arrests on a, quote, hunch.

And then they're attacked and torn apart by the press and the defense attorneys but i gotta tell you for those of you just joining us we're talking about two teen lovers who go on the run then they're spotted in a home depot and other places buying things like chainsaws gloves bleach I mean, right there, when you see a teen girl, like Alexis Tereshchuk just said, buying a chainsaw and bleach and gloves, that's a hunch all right. It's a red flag, isn't it?

I mean, what teen girl does that? Teen girls go and get their nails done and their hair done. Now, that's a little bit of a stereotype. That's a little bit of a stereotype, Dr. Angela Arnold, because not all girls. My little girl goes out and pitches a tent and knows how to start a fire. All right? So, you know, I don't know that I would stereotype her. Well, my little girl just had prom this weekend.

But I will say, I mean, agree, disagree, Jackie. When you see a teen girl with her 18-year-old boyfriend buying a chainsaw, bleach, and plastic gloves, that just screams, arrest me. Well, it all comes to a head. Take a listen to this. Daniel Halseth's mother was worried she hadn't heard from her 45-year-old son in days. She contacted police for a welfare check and also asked a family friend to check on Halseth. At the request of Las Vegas police, Halseth's landlord went to the home. On April 9th, the landlord and another person found

Halseth's body in the garage. Now that's something I don't understand, Alexis Tereshak. I mean, the banner is Daniel Halseth, the dad in this scenario, the one who wanted to stop the relationship between his daughter, Sierra, 16, and boyfriend, Aaron Guerrero, 18, is found dead in the garage. But why does the landlord find them? Well, the mom, Daniel's mom, had called the police for a welfare check. I think maybe, you know, at 45, only a few days, they thought maybe there was nothing to worry about, you know, it's a pandemic or, you know, his phone died, but the landlord went and checked it out. And the thing is they kind of noticed actually it wasn't a perfect situation. The front door was ajar.

So the landlord walked in and that's when they saw all of this horrible crime scene. They saw there was evidence that something had been burned, that there had been a fire inside the house. There was an obvious cleanup of a crime scene, an attempt to clean up a crime scene. It didn't look pristine. And then they found, they went into the garage, and inside they saw a body.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Justin Boardman, former detective, special victims unit, West Valley City PD, now Boardman Training and Consulting, and you can find him at JustinBoardman.com. Justin, you have handled so many cases, thousands of cases in your career. You know, when you hear the door was ajar, that sounds like an innocent thing, right? But the reality is when you're in a residential area and you see someone's door ajar in this day and age, that bespeaks some wrongdoing. Did you see a door open? Well, absolutely. And here's here's where I'm having a hard time understanding is if they called in a welfare check to the police department, we would drive out,

and we would see if we could peek in the windows and see what's going on. And if we saw a door jar, we would do a welfare check. So we would go in, make sure that everybody is fine, and then we would exit. You could build up the reasonable suspicion to go inside and it would have been discovered right then. I'm not understanding why that did not happen. I'm not understanding that either because police go for a welfare check, but yet they get the landlord to go in. I'm not sure what that means, but I do know this. I know that the daughter and her boyfriend were extremely angry because let me understand this. Alexis Tereshchuk, her dad, Daniel Houseth, calls the boyfriend, Aaron Guerrero's parents and says, look, I found out they're going to run away together. We got to stop this thing.

What happened, Alexis? He figured out that they were they had a plan. They were going to run away together. We've got to stop this thing. What happened, Alexis? He figured out that they had a plan. They were going to run away to Los Angeles together. There also was a thing. The two of them together stole $1,300. Her mom looked and realized that there had been low-level amounts for her. I guess it was a low-level amount. A couple, $200 or $300, leading up to $1,300 they had stolen from her. So they had this money, and they were planning on running away to Los Angeles.

So the dad got very concerned. She's only 16 years old. He's only 18, and he calls the other parents, and he says, this is what our kids are doing. And the other parents agree. They say, oh, this isn't good at all. We need our kids to stop this. This is a really crazy plan. And so they agree these two kids should not be seeing each other again. Guys, I'm trying to figure out how puppy love turns into a murder plot. To Dr. Angela Arnold,

psychiatrist joining us out of Atlanta at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, are those feelings so powerful, your first love, that you're basically willing to do anything? I mean, I've heard of teens sneaking out of the house or staying out after curfew. No. But stealing over $1,000, stealing a car and winding up at Home Depot buying a chainsaw? Nancy, there's a level of pathology there. I think it would be so wrong to just make a blanket statement and say, well, maybe kids do feel so strongly about each other in this puppy love that they, no, there is a level of pathology in this way of thinking. What I've also been thinking about during this whole thing, you know how we always talk about how kids' brains don't really fully develop until they're 25 years old?

Okay, that may be true, but I mean, I'm talking about puppy love. This is so much different than puppy love, isn't it? There may have been some puppy love at the beginning, but these kids plotted and planned, and then to try to actually oh my god to murder your own father and then try to dismember him in your garage well you're right take a listen to david charn's eight news now vegas daniel halsef is the father of one of these teenagers and police say his 16 year old daughter and her 18 year old boyfriend are accused of killing him and then trying to cover it up. Aaron Guerrero is one of those teenagers. Police arrested him Tuesday in Salt Lake City, and that's where he's in jail tonight.

Now, we are not naming the 16-year-old due to her age. Guerrero's arrest report says police found the body of Daniel Halseth almost, quote, fully burned. Guerrero's parents told police their son and his girlfriend had planned to run away to Los Angeles together last year. But when they learned this, they and Hal Seth said the teens could no longer see each other. Now, the day before the murder, more than a thousand dollars was taken out of Hal Seth's bank account. Wow. So taking money out of a banking account, stealing a car, that equals premeditation under the law. But let's analyze what we have just learned from 8 News Now Vegas.

Alexis, jump in. So these kids had planned this. They had stolen the money. Will you please quit calling them kids, okay? Because this man has been brutally murdered and they tried to dismember him and burn the body. No, they're still kids. They are still kids. Go ahead. I guess that's a matter of interpretation.

Go ahead, please. So the kids planned, the teens, they planned to do this. They went shopping. First of all, they stole money from her mom, and then they went shopping at these big box stores. They bought saws. They bought tarps. They bought bleach. They bought everything that probably that you would watch on TV or a movie. Let me think of ways to cover up a crime. But they're never going to get away with this because

they just leave a mess in the house. And when the landlord comes in, he sees immediately, he sees there's been a fire in the house. Like they lit the house on fire. Then he goes, they go in the garage. They see what they assume to be a body. It was probably not that close, but it's big enough to be a man. Burned. And there is gasoline. There's a smell of gasoline all in the house.

And that's what he said when he first walked in. It smells like there's been a fire. It smells like gasoline in here. So this couple went all around town to purchase the supplies to commit this crime. Joining me right now, special guest, board certified forensic pathologist, president, Anchor Forensic Pathology at anchorforensicpathology.com, Dr. Priya Banerjee. Dr. Priya, thank you for being with us. Explain how difficult it is to actually burn a human body to the point it can no longer be recognized. Thank you for having me. I just wanted to say that these are extremely horrific cases, as you would imagine, because usually with an accelerant like gasoline, it's a rip roaring fire. These people are usually burned

beyond recognition. So, you know, the outside is just totally damaged. The interesting part about this though is, and I know credit to the Nevada medical examiner's office, that you can still see the injuries inside. So I know that they were able to do the autopsy and determine that he was stabbed to death. So really, that's the job, you know, and to figure out did he die from other injuries or did he die from the fire? Nonetheless, as a mother, I can't even imagine a daughter, you know, doing this to her father. This is just horrific. Well, how difficult. I'm thinking back on the case of Teresa Holbach and Stephen Avery, and they shot to fame with making a murderer. Teresa Holbach's body, she was a young photographer who was lured to the home of Avery,

uh, was raped and murdered. She was shot dead, and then her body was burned in the backyard. Avery, the killer, basically stirred the fire pit well into the night. All that was found was, I think, some teeth and the Daisy Fuentes studs that were on the back of Teresa's blue jeans. She had been totally burned. But that fire went through the night into the next day. So my question again, Dr. Priya, is how difficult is it to actually burn a human body to the point there's no DNA left, there's unrecognizable, and all the evidence is gone? Oh, yes. I mean, I think these are slightly different scenarios, but burning a body is hard. I mean, cremation or, you know, an extended fire

needs to be tended to, like the Avery example you gave. I think in this example, it's, it's, you know, set ablaze, but maybe not stoked for as long. So probably the father's body was a little bit more intact where they could see the injury. Right. But still, it's horrific. I mean, the body will burn. Yes, it is horrific. So I guess the bottom line would be it's really difficult to burn a body beyond recognition. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, teen love, puppy love, turns into premeditated murder, where the man's body stabbed and nearly burned beyond recognition.

An attempt to burn down the entire home to cover up the crime is a working theory. Right now, take a listen to our friends at 8 News Now Vegas. Metro Police say they found the body of 45-year-old Daniel Halseth in this West Valley home Friday. His 16-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Aaron Guerrero, are accused of killing him and trying to cover up the crime. Lieutenant Ray Spencer is releasing more details for the first time. There had been items purchased such as lighter fluid that was used to light the fire. There was also the purchase of a chainsaw and a circular saw and a handsaw where attempts to dismember his body were made prior to the fire.

The teens were missing since Friday. And also David Charms, 8 News Vegas. Police found two folding pocket knives in the home's kitchen that had been cleaned. The cause of death, multiple stab wounds. And we also, police also saying that there was a handsaw found in that home with blood on it. Detectives say the teenagers purchased bleach, a saw, gloves, and other items

at two stores the day that they believe the murder happened. And they also say that those teenagers tried to dismember that body. You know, the reality is to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina domestic law expert, these two have been watching way too many movies. They go out and buy a circular saw, hand saw, bleach, gasoline, or a lighter fluid, plastic gloves, and think they're going to pull this off. It's not that easy. Again, way too many movies. And way too young. Their brains are not even fully developed, as they say. But I will say, Nancyancy this is not a funny situation but it's repeated over and over and over again and we have all these crime shows i'm just like it it just goes to show

that there is a phenomena where these children are not even able to comprehend the actions that they take. I don't really think of an 18-year-old young man as a child or a 16-year-old girl at Home Depot. I mean, there were plenty of times for her to back out of this, the murder of her own father. Maybe when she bought the bleach. Maybe when she bought this circular saw or the pocket knives where they tried to clean her father's blood off. Maybe when she was pouring gasoline or lighter fluid all over the home. Would have been a time that she could have backed out. But Justin Boardman, former detective with Special Victims Unit, she didn't. She didn't, which is surprising to me.

You know, the puppy love has certainly turned their brains into mush a little bit here, not thinking through things and certainly not understanding how they were going to cover up this crime. There wasn't any way. You know, we're talking about knowing the stab wounds. It's a bad analogy, but if you've ever burned a marshmallow, it's just burned the top part and not the inside. And so you would also be able to get the stab wounds there and the trauma. So trying to cover this up was just sloppy, sloppy. Yeah, man. Well, I imagine that they thought when they doused the home with gasoline or lighter fluid that they would burn up the whole home and that he would be burned to a point where the stab wounds would not be evident.

I mean, back to you, Dr. Priya Banerjee, board certified forensic pathologist and president of Anchor Forensic Pathology. Dr. Priya, how does a medical examiner determine cause of death when the body has been burned? For instance, in this case, stabbing. You know, it's hard. And, you know, I just do want to highlight, first of all, that marshmallow analogy is great. You know, it's really accurate in how we see the body. The outside is unrecognizable. But because of the difficulty to fully burn a body into ashes, which is probably what they thought was going to happen, we can peel away the burned outside and still see the inside.

And that's where the stab wounds are really going to become apparent. Let me be blunt, as you have to do if you're analyzing a murder case. In court, prosecutors are not allowed to introduce autopsy photos because they're believed to be too inflammatory for a jury, too upsetting. The only way autopsy photos can be introduced, usually, in front of a jury, is if that autopsy photo, you just heard Dr. Priya Banerjee say, the outer layer pulled back. What she's talking about is the skin.

So you'll be showing a jury a picture, a photo of a body that had essentially been skinned by the medical examiner. Why? Why is this necessary? It is necessary to actually show the jury the stab wounds. Is it pleasant? No. But it is the duty of the state to prove beyond reasonable doubt what happened. And if that includes autopsy photos, then so be it.

So a jury in this case would see photos of the victim, Daniel House, which is 45 years old, burned body. But you wouldn't be able to see cause of death. So then the medical examiner is going to have to make the typical T-bone incision, and skin will have to be pulled back to show the underlayer where the stab wounds went. How deep would a stab wound have to be, Dr. Priya, in order to kill somebody? I guess it would depend on where they were stabbed. Exactly right. And I just want to clarify that in this case, maybe you do want to show the outside because there might not even be skin left if he burned beyond recognition. So,

you know, that's how horrific this crime could be. You know, anything burned, any body burned can really have nothing left on the outside that's recognizable. So the photos are horrific, but sometimes are very demonstrative of the crime. I think you're right, Dr. Banerjee. And then, you know, it really depends where you're stabbed. But it could be, you know, anywhere like the neck can be so superficial. It doesn't even have to be a stab really it can just be sliced across the neck and you're you know half inch and you could be dead if the carotid or the

jugular hits the heart maybe you know three four inches so it's up close and personal and very violent and we know that pen knives just purchased pen knives uh which are the size of a pen. Right. For a pen knife to be a murder weapon, Dr. Priya Banerjee, you'd have to cut the person in just the right place because a pen knife is not usually deemed lethal. Right. You just have to hit a major organ or blood vessel. Exactly right.

You know, deep, but it doesn't have to be a very wide hit, right? It just has to be deep and on target and you're good to go. I hate to be that crude about it. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I just wonder how these two lured the dad to his own death, his own 16-year-old daughter. I mean, when my daughter calls me or my son, they go, Mom, I go straight back there. Straight to their room or wherever they are. That's probably what happened here. Hey, Dad, bam, he's dead. And Kathleen Murphy, a veteran trial lawyer joining me out of North Carolina, Kathleen Murphy, think about it. Think about it. You keep calling them kids. Oh, these crazy kids. Well, they lured the father into his death. Think about this.

And I'm going to frame of mind, course of conduct, modus operandi, that he was then burned. They tried to burn down the house to cover up the crime. That's some planning. You know, you can keep calling kids all you want to. Devil kids. Yes, I don't disagree with you, Nancy, but I will say that it just proves to me that the brain is not fully developed until a child or a young adult is 24.

You can say that about every murder. They murdered someone. Well, their brain must not be developed. Oh, they should be held responsible. You know what? 100%. There's so many things I could say, but I'm going to try to forge forward. Let me go to you, Dr. Angela Arnold.

I think I know what you're going to say, and I don't think I'm going to like it, but go ahead, hit me. I mean, Nancy, it's just a fact that their brains aren't fully developed. It's not an excuse, okay? There is still, like I said before, there is still such a pathology. Ninety-nine percent of kids never, never have the idea of killing their parents. And I'm sitting here thinking also, Nancy, can you imagine that they watched him burn? We're talking about what his burned body looked like after it was burned. Nancy, they watched the man burn.

And the smell and all of that, I mean, how disgusting is that, right? And it really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if they were in love. It doesn't matter what scenario this took on, does it? They planned. Okay, I get the whole running away together. Yeah, run away. Why did they have to murder him?

Guys, take a listen to our friend Vanessa Murphy. Lieutenant Spencer says the teen daughter had stolen her father's car, and there was also money stolen from him. Guys, take a listen to our friend Vanessa Murphy. Lieutenant Spencer says the teen daughter had stolen her father's car and there was also money stolen from him. Both teens were taken into custody in Salt Lake City, Utah Tuesday morning. The family of Halseth provided this statement to the I-Team. Quote, our family is heartbroken this has happened to Daniel. We love Daniel beyond words. He loved his children and was an amazing father. We ask for privacy and respect for the family at this time." Lieutenant Spencer tells the I-Team detectives were interviewing his daughter Tuesday. We do know that the father

had recently made comments that he did not want his daughter dating Aaron. Now in Nevada, a teen 16 and older is automatically charged as an adult for the charge of murder. You're hearing that now they are going to be charged as an adult for the murders. Jump in, Alexis Tereschuk, what can you tell me? Well, I think it's interesting that the kids, the teens were planning to run away to Los Angeles, but instead they run away to Salt Lake City. And they actually got on a train without a ticket. And that's how they got busted. The conductor was going around checking for tickets. And the boy said, I don't have a ticket. And Andrew Guerrero, the 18 year old said, I don't

have a ticket. So they arrested them there. This was just a lucky happenstance that the conductor was asking for his name, wasn't saying, you know what, that's okay, I'll let you go. Sometimes, you know, people might think that, but instead, nope, said that, you got to get off, and then the police were called and they were arrested for this crime. So they had gotten pretty far away, you know, to Salt Lake City. It was almost like the Los Angeles part of the story was not true. And that was what they were saying, but secretly they were going somewhere else.

It's not the first time that teens have murdered their parents. Take a listen to our friend Lauren Stevenson, WJFW. 37-year-old Thomas Ayers and 40-year-old Jennifer Ayers had been killed. Investigators linked 17-year-old Rhinelander High School student Ashley Martinson to the deaths of her mother and stepfather. Oneida County Sheriff's Captain Terry Hook wouldn't confirm when the murders happened, but a source we trust told us the couple was killed on Saturday after an argument with Ashley. Oneida County deputies put out a nationwide alert to law enforcement to help arrest Martinson, who they consider a suspect. As we were getting information, we were making contact with agencies

as further and further south. So they were aware that we were looking and they were keeping a lookout for us. Hours later, a Boone County, Indiana sheriff's deputy recognized the car Martinson was believed to have been driving. He arrested Martinson and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Ryan Daniel Sisko. Right now, investigators do not believe Sisko was involved in the killings. Once again, the daughter flees with a teen boyfriend, and in that case, not one but both parents killed. Take a listen to our Cut 13. This is about 17-year-old Alyssa Hatcher.

17-year-old Alyssa Hatcher was arrested by Lake County deputies yesterday. News 6's Jerry Askin is following this story. He is live at the Lake County Sheriff's Office. And, Jerry, you learned the suspect is a senior at Umatilla High School. Lisa, yes, but right now she's sitting in juvenile jail facing felony charges. office and Jerry you learned the suspect is a senior at Umatilla High School. Lisa yes but right now she's sitting in juvenile jail facing felony charges and deputies say her friend told a school resource deputy that deputy told investigators here in Lake County and right now we're asking Lake County Sheriff's deputies to release more. There is nothing that your parents

can do to you be it you're grounded a car taken away, you can't go to the prom, whatever, for you to get to this point. Right now, as Lake County investigators are piecing together why they say 17-year-old Alyssa Hatcher stole her parents' debit card and paid two guys to try and kill them, they want to remind other kids there's help out there. That's why they have the counselors set up in school for things like this. But, you know, as far as juveniles, teenagers never let it get to this point. Get them help. Help for what? You can't go to the prom. You got a curfew. I'm taking your phone away. Really? Help? Well, here's another 15 year old DeJana Holmes in Kansas City. Take a listen to our friends at Fox 4 Kansas City. You were just hearing Fox 6 in Florida. Listen. 15-year-old Dejana Holmes was initially taken into juvenile detention, but now she's facing second-degree murder charges as an adult. Court records

allege Dejana called 911 and said her family's home had been robbed, her parents shot. But when she met with officers, she told off she was scared. And in fa star had shot her mother the gun, then killed her Investigators say they fo dejana's backpack with a me who was holding a gun stick figure labeled dad

her phone, which found we movies where kids kill parent but family members insist this was just a scared child who is not a violent killer okay a scared child not a violent killer but she's looking up scary movies where kids kill parents i mean justin boardman former detective special victims. What more do you need to take to a jury where the teen is looking up scary movies where a kid kills parent? You know, I don't think much more than that, especially with the Internet searches and doing the research um i think the defense of course would be um the maturity level and so on and so forth um but i think that's that's the smoking gun so to speak you know straight back to alexis teresha crime online.com investigative reporter

you and i covered the case of jamie sylvanek of upper mcie Township. She went out to a concert with her boyfriend. The mom had met them at a diner. There had been a lot of talk about whether she could go to the concert or not. And it made the daughter so angry. The mother was trying to curtail her sex with her boyfriend. That she texted her boyfriend, mom has, quote, got to go. Boyfriend murders mom in the car parked outside the home. And the dad was asleep. He said he heard a car horn beep a couple of times. It didn't think anything of it, as I recall.

The boyfriend was murdering mom because she was sick of the two of them having sex all over the basement. I mean, I don't get it. Now, you hear Dr. Angie saying their brain isn't formed. Well, you know what? That may be true. But the mom is still dead. And in this case, the dad is still dead. And in this case, the dad is still dead. Are you sure both of these two defendants, Aaron Guerrero and Sierra Hale, so they're going to be treated as an adult and tried

for murder? That is the law in Nevada. That's what they don't have juvenile court for people under 16. And she is 16 and he is 18, which is an adult in every state in the country. So that's how it is in Nevada, that the laws haven't changed. There are no special circumstances that they would change this under. That's just not the way the law is set up there. And these kids, you know, she lived with her dad, too. She hadn't complained, you know, she hadn't moved in with mom. She hadn't changed her living situation because maybe, you know, if you live with mom, you could sneak out with the boyfriend a little bit easier. This is what she did and there was no indication up until

two days before when they were caught on video buying the weapons to murder him that this was a plot that they had it was that they were going to run away together so they could have just stolen dad's car and run away together but instead instead, they went. Complete opposite. Well, due to their age, neither of these are ever going to get the death penalty. But the thought of killing your own father so you can go have sex with your teen boyfriend, a jury is not going to like that at all. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.