Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mom of 8-year-old girl kidnapped from Walmart superstore, murdered, breaks silence

Episode Date: March 21, 2018

The mother of Cherish Perrywinkle, the 8-year-old Florida girl who was raped, beaten and murdered by a man who pretended to help her mom shop, speaks out about the case in this special episode of "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace." Donald Smith, 61, was sentenced to die for the 2013 rape and murder of Cherish. Grace is also joined by forensics expert Karen Smith, child welfare law expert Ashley Willcott, and CrimeOnline.com reporter Leigh Egan. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I've been taken. What do you mean? Taken by a stranger. I can't find her. I cannot count the thousands of times I have taken my children. They're 10 now, but their whole lives going through Walmart and Target and Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, you name it. How many times I remember the time that John David got away from me while I was looking for suntan lotion for them on the bottom shelf. I think back on all those times when I would be two aisles over

and come looking for them. And then I see the video of a beautiful little girl cherish Periwinkle in the same position my children have been in countless times except she did not live. She did not live. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. With me right now is a very special guest. Cherishes mother, Rain Periwinkle. Rain, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. I want to start with the phone call that caught the attention of the entire nation. Where did you last see her at?

Walmart. I met him in today at Dollar General. He saw that I was struggling to buy them some clothes. He drove us here to buy us some clothes. And the only reason I went with him because she said his wife was going to be here. Because I told him I don't take rides with strangers. Okay, ma'am. I don't remember what clothes she's wearing because I'm panicking right now.. Okay, ma'am. What color is she wearing?

I don't remember what clothes she's wearing because I'm panicking right now. I'm trying not to panic. Okay, and she was last seen with this man? Yes. He said he was going to McDonald's and he hasn't been there because the store is closed right now. Okay, is he a white man or a black man? A white man. He's got white short hair and he's got dark eyebrows. is closed right now. Okay. black man, the white man, hair and he's got dark ey short hair. No, he's got

eyebrows. I had a strange when I first met him. He took her to the dressing room twice, and I was hoping that she would be okay. And I was looking at the shoes, and I didn't want him to think that I was overly protective, freaking out. But now they're not here, and I find it very odd because he knew that... Okay, ma'am. What kind of vehicle does he drive? It's a white van. Do you remember any stickers or anything on the side of the van?

Anything that you can remember at all? Did it have tenant windows or anything? I know he's got carpet in the van. I didn't take a good look. Sorry. And he said what? I didn't take a good look at the van. Okay, do you remember what, did you see any tag on it or anything?

Was it a quarter tag? No, I didn't look at that. I feel like a fool. Okay, can you remember what he had on? No, I don't look at that. I feel like a fool. Okay, but can you remember what he had on? No, I don't remember anything because I'm panicking right now. With me, everyone, for those of you just joining us here on SiriusXM 132, is Cherish's mother. I have wanted so badly to speak to her for so long. You know, Rain, I want to start at the very beginning. You were at a place

I've shopped so many times, Family Dollar. In our neighborhood, we have a Dollar Tree. Back home in Macon, where I'm from, there's a Family Dollar. And I am there all the time. And while you were there, you meet a man who, you know, it's broad daylight. You don't think anything of it. And he seems so friendly. What was it about him that made you trust him?

First of all, Nancy, I wasn't allowed to say this in the courtroom during my testimony, but I had seen him before. I had seen him earlier that week in his van. Really? But I didn't piece it all together until after all these tragic events unfolded. It's just like a jigsaw puzzle.

You have to piece it all together, and you can't always piece it together in the same day. Sometimes it takes time. But looking back, I saw his van. Rain, that is incredible to me. Not in the sense of unbelievable, but I spoke to other women, another woman and her child, and they had seen his white van before and then it approached them i believe it was at a mcdonald's and he pretended to be a state child worker and that's what happened and now i'm hearing for the very first time you had seen him before when what? It was earlier that week. It was probably either Monday or Tuesday of that week because Cherish was taken on Friday, June 21st. And it was just a regular day. I wasn't thinking anything different. And I was just standing in my living room looking at the television.

And then all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I could see a white van moving so slowly down my street. And it caught my attention because of the way it moved like a snail's pace. And I had never seen that before because, first of all, there was nothing on the road. There was no other vehicles. There were no children walking. So I ran out there, leaned over the rail, and I said, who the hell is that? And the van was moving so slow. And when it got to the corner, it made a left turn, and it almost stopped. It moved that slow. And it was a couple of days after Cherish was taken.

One of our friends came over, and she lives around the corner. And she said, Rain, you know that van went down our street and then i remembered that morning oh my stars cheryl you know what that says to me cheryl mccullum director of the cold case institute that says to me that um i find that to be uh it's simpatico with the facts as we know them in other cases. So he, that means to me, Cheryl, he did not just meet them that day in Family Dollar. He had been watching them and likely followed them to Family Dollar. And the reason they probably didn't want to talk about it at trial is because she didn't see his face and can't prove that was him.

And if you absolutely don't know a fact, don't bring it into trial because you can get attacked on it later. You know, like he could have jumped up and said, oh, I had my van in the shop that day and ruined, which of course would be a lie. But what does that not your fault. It is not your fault. It is not your fault. Thank you. A lot of people blame me. This man set his sights on Cherish, and nothing was going to stop him well you know what i'm glad you said that cheryl because rain has gotten a lot of heat a lot of heat thank you nancy i have for what happened later but i want her she couldn't do it from the stand to have a chance now to speak to everyone

across the country that is listening on sirius XM 132, and that may later download your words. When you met him at Family Dollar, how did he appear? How did he approach me? Yeah. It was very strange. He had nothing in his hand. He wasn't buying anything. He didn't have a basket or a shopping cart. I just had a strange feeling that someone was next to me. And I was just looking at some baby items, clothes. And my children were in the toy section of Family Dollar. And I went there a lot. So the cashiers knew everything about my family. My children never ran too far away from me. They were always within listening distance. Okay. And so I had a strange feeling and I look up to my right and here's this

old man leaning into my face and he freaked me out. And all I remember is the black on his chest from the t-shirt from the chest up. He had the white hair and these eyes almost black okay and freaked me out and immediately I walked away from him but Nancy I put it out of my mind because I was there for Cherish Destiny and Vaea I wasn't there for myself he sought us out and he probably saw me when I was either walking my children to or from school because he was seen in the same area of Moncrief. I don't know. I think he knew my pattern.

He knew that I went to those stores. So this guy comes up to you, and at first you're taken aback because he was a little too close. But then he strikes up a conversation, and you're there buying clothes and things for your children. That's funny that you like to look at the children's stuff because every time I go into, um, target or dollar tree, I always stop at all the children's clothes cause they're so cute. The children, mine can't wear those anymore. The toddler things, but they're so cute. I always linger and look at them. I know what you're talking about. So you're there. And so at first you were put off by him because he's a little too close, but then you're buying the clothes and the items for your three

girls and you're short on money. What happens? I was short on money because my ex-boyfriend gave me a $100 bill, but I was very limited with it, Nancy, because we had to put Cherish on the plane the next morning at six. And so because we didn't have a vehicle at the time, we had to put so much money aside and save it, you know, for a taxi. And that's why I was only allowed to spend at least $50 or maybe $45 and leave the rest of the money and bring it home. For the cab the next day, where was she going the next day, Rain? She was going to California to see Billy, who is her birth father,

and she went the summer previously in 2012. So, Rain, what happened next? Well, first of all, I was shopping around the store. In Family Dollar, I was looking for a pencil sharpener. And if they would have had one, I would have gone straight home. And so I said, come on, girls, let's go across the street to Dollar General, see if we can find a pencil sharpener. And so we went over there. I found the pencil sharpener, and I was buying hair ties and coloring books and all that stuff. And I we went over there. I found the pencil sharpener and I was buying hair ties and coloring books and all that stuff. And I saw a little dress that I wanted to get my four-year-old

and I took it up to the counter and this demon was looking at me and I had this bad feeling. And I look over my shoulder and he is there watching me count out money. I ended up putting the dress back, but I thought he was going to rob me. I still, Nancy, I still had not pieced together. This was the same man that was driving the van down my street earlier that week. I still had not pieced together that he was in family dollar only maybe less than an hour earlier but I was I was in the now moment and what I thought was I thought he was going to rob me so I go outside and I've got the stroller and I'm starting to walk and he called out to me and he yelled out you look like you have your hands full and that made me upset because I really liked having my three little children with me at all times. I took them everywhere.

And then he says, I got a couple of little ones. And I looked at him a little closer. I kind of tried to squint at him, thinking, how old are you? And then he said, if you really want that dress, I'll get it for you. And kind of thought for a few seconds, and then he said it again, if you really want that dress, I'll get it for you. He said, I have a $150 gift card. I'm waiting on my wife.

And then I looked at Cherish, and I said, Cherish, I think this man is trying to bless us. You think this man is trying to what? Bless us. Do a good thing. Yes, I thought that he was a good Samaritan. I still hadn't figured it out that he was the same guy that creeped me out across the street because I saw him very quickly. But looking back now, about a month later, I went to Family Dollar and the same cashier that was there that night of this tragedy in June, she said to me, that man was following you around in the store. And I said, why didn't you tell me? She said, because I didn't know. See, but after all this has happened and I can piece a lot of these little pieces together, or put a lot of these pieces together, it makes more sense.

He sought us out. That you couldn't possibly have known at the time. So how do you guys get from, you think he is a good Samaritan, and how do you get from Family Dollar over to the Superstore? Well, I hesitated. I hesitated for probably, I don't know how many minutes, but it seemed like maybe more than 20 or 25 minutes. I was waiting for his wife to appear. And I didn't want to get in that van until she showed up.

But he got snappy with me. He said, you don't have to do this. And then he kind of says, do you want to see my driver's license? And I told him no because I felt he was putting me on a guilt trip, that he's such a good person, and why would I question him? And I was foolish. I admit it. But a lot of parents have made mistakes.

What happened in his van en route to the superstore? How did he behave? He told me I was foolish. I admit it. But a lot of parents have made mistakes. What happened in his van en route to the superstore? How did he behave? He told me I was safe. He talked about how he works for Habajax. That was right before I put the stroller in the van. He told me he works for Habajax. He volunteered that information. And then upon hearing that, I thought he was safe safer than what I was feeling earlier was very paranoid but he had always had a way to calm me down and then I kept thinking well maybe he's okay so you get to the Walmart superstore which is huge and which has a they have all sorts of things in there they have a barber shop in there they have um a tire center they have a mcdonald's inside the the super center so you guys get in there and where did he say his wife was he never gave an explanation of where she was but he made

me feel that he was talking to her on the phone, Nancy. And it freaked me out. I mean, now it freaks me out. But back then, I didn't know. I thought maybe his phone was on vibrate and he just picked it up out of his pocket and started talking. He had a plan to make sure I didn't have a plan. And it worked. And the crazy thing is, this goes on more than what we realize it it does it really does rain it really does like you say you had no idea he was following you around and had likely been stalking you for well over a week so you get to the walmart superstore

and you're inside what happens when you're inside with him? He told us to go in first. My children were getting fussy in the back seat. And, uh, he says, you go in first and meet me in the little girl's section. That's what he said. So I went to the shoes section and I was trying on all these shoes on my children. And I was trying not to get too excited because I thought, I hope he doesn't ditch us and leave me here with all this stuff. And then I have to put it all back and take a taxi home. And really, I didn't have enough money for a taxi because I was supposed to save that money for the next morning to go to the airport. So I was in a bind then. Okay. And I still kept wondering when is his wife coming? So I left the shoe section and went to the little girl section and then he appears.

And the first thing out of my mouth was, where's your wife? And he said, oh oh she's coming and so I thought I'll wait because she he said she's coming I mean well how far does she have to drive so we looked around the clothes section and it seems like he wanted chairs to have whatever clothes she wanted and at that time I didn't know he was grooming her, but now I know the signs. Back then, some people say I was really stupid, I should have known. Well, maybe if they were in my shoes that night, they might not have known either, because when someone approaches you with seemingly good intentions and pretends that they go to church and pretends they're a christian why would you not believe them christians are supposed to be perfect and walking in christ and being generous and all this which it was a facade well i have to say as a christian

the christians like myself and others are all, you know, pretty much sinners. And the whole reason we even try is because we need help. I don't believe I've ever known but one perfect Christian. I agree with you, Rain. I agree that when, for instance, when I take the children to church, I assume that everybody has good intentions. I don't think something bad is going to happen to them. And, you know, maybe that's wrong. Well, it is wrong. But I agree with you. He portrayed himself that way.

It seemed as if he was trying to do a good thing for you guys. You had no idea this guy had been stalking you for over a week. So you're in the little girl's section. He's wanting to get everything for Cherish, but what about the other girls? Oh, I got them all clothes, and I was so excited. I was getting them the same type of clothes, but in different colors, and I was putting Cherish's clothes on one side of the cart and Avea's clothes on the other side of the cart and Destiny's clothes on another side of the cart and then I had all the shoes in the middle. I recall uh that he kept

he pointed out stiletto heels high heels for the girls. He did. Cherish appeared to me on two different occasions with, it seemed like they were adult women's shoes. And at the time I didn't know that until later on, I saw the shoes on the shelf. A few days later, I returned to that store. I looked for the shoes and I found them in the women's section. And I was highly, highly infuriated that he had the nerve to send Cherish over to me and she said mommy could I get these and maybe he could have been a man that didn't understand that they're women's shoes but now I look back he knew the hell what he was doing he was grooming Cherish because Cherish knew full well there'd be no way I'd let her have shoes like that. But he was saying to her right in front of me, she could have whatever

she wants. And now I know I was a target, number one, because I'm a single mother on foot with three little children. Number two, he knew that I was struggling for money that day. And he knew that there was no man around me. Even if my ex-boyfriend was with me, I believe this demon would have left us alone. He was looking for someone vulnerable and someone with more than one child. Because when I saw those videos before I went to court, I was allowed to view them. And I realize now he was waiting for us the way he was walking around the store, flipping through a magazine. And I knew he wasn't going to buy it just by his demeanor. But see, at the time, I didn't see that.

I was just focused on Cherish, Destiny and the Van. Let me ask you this. After you have been shopping for a period of time, no wife has appeared yet, the children are getting hungry. How did you come to the decision to let Cherish go with him to McDonald's, which I want to point out is not down the street. It's not on the other side of the town. It's there in the Superstore.

Nancy, may I say something really quick? There's a big misconception about the dressing room. A lot of people that are hating on me saying, you let him go to the dressing room with her. First of all, the dressing room was a clear shot from the children's section. And if you go to any Walmart, you'll see what I'm talking about. You can see a clear shot of just straight there. There's no other way to get there, you know. And there was one time that I looked up and they were returning from the dressing room and he said, here,

you take her next time. And the shirts didn't fit her because they were way too big. And later on that night, when I was waiting for the police to arrive, I asked one of the attendants from the dressing room, I said, did he take her in there? She said, no. So that cleared my mind. He did not go into the dressing room with Cherish. He walked her there, but he did not go in there. How did he bring up taking her to the McDonald's within the store? I was looking at all the clothes in the cart. And then I look up and Cherish comes over and stands by my left. And she said, he's got a $150 gift card. I said, is that what he told you? And he walks up

and he's a few feet away from me. And he puts up his right hand like a puppet is what Mark Khalil, the prosecutor, said. And that's exactly true. This is his gesture. He puts up his right hand very strangely and says, I'm going to McDonald's. What do you want to eat? And he never said we. He said I. And when Cherish ran over to me she asked me what do you want to

eat and I said cheeseburgers and then she repeated cheeseburgers and that was the last thing she said I walked I watched her walk away behind him but because of how close she was to me. She would never have willingly ran away from me. And I knew the McDonald's is inside Walmart. And I thought to myself, he can't hurt her in here. There's too many cameras. But see what I've learned through this, Nancy, cameras don't stop crime. They record it because there's so many brazen people out there they don't care that there's a security camera and uh she followed him to McDonald's and by the time I got to the front of the store I started to panic and I looked through every aisle at the cash register and they were not there when did you

get a feeling that something was wrong? Walmart was closing at 11 o'clock, but we got the call on the intercom at 1030. And so I started to walk past the shoe section because Destiny was whining for a bigger pair of shoes. And I had two little children with me and my mind was focused on getting a pair of shoes for Destiny that fit her. And some people might say that's a selfish thing. But when I was with a man that pretended he was Christian, pretended his wife was coming, and he knew that I was struggling for clothes, I never asked him for clothes. I never asked him for money or anything. I thought he was trying to bless me. And people do that every day. They bless other people.

Let me ask you, when you got suspicious, what made you feel something was wrong? hardly any people walking around when I was when I left the shoe section and I started to walk to the front of the store there was maybe one or two employees but there were no customers and so so I started to to um hasten my pace a little bit faster and I looked down every every uh aisle where the cashiers are and I couldn't even see a cashier. And then I found a lady behind the register. And I started to put a few clothes up on the belt, the conveyor belt. And then I looked over to my right and I realized there's no one there. And I said to her, hold on a minute, there's supposed to be someone coming to pay for this. I said, will you watch them? And I ran over to McDonald's. And I said to the young man behind the counter, I said, did you see a little girl with dark hair? And he said, no. He said, call 911. My daughter's been taken. And he just looked at me.

And I started walking around looking like I was in a daze, looking for a phone because I didn't have one. And a lot of people say, phone because I didn't have one and a lot of people say well why didn't you call 9-1-1 right away why did you wait two hours that wasn't true at all people were looking at me like I was playing a game like I wanted attention and that was so hard I got chill bumps right now because it takes me back you mean it took them two hours to call 911? No, I made the phone call at 1109. That's the time that the prosecutor, Mark, who told me when I made the call, and the police arrived at 1119. But even if I did get to make that phone call earlier, I feel that the 911 operator thought that I was playing a game also, just the way she spoke to me.

And I don't want to leave anything out. What do you mean by that? I thought that she was taking too long. I thought that she was asking too many questions. Oh, they do that. Ashley Wilcott is with me, child welfare law expert. Ashley, that's true. I have played so many 911 calls in court, and they ask so many questions when you're about to jump out of your skin.

Yes, they do. Not only do they, anyone within the system does. DFACS does the same thing if they're involved in a case. And it's almost infuriating when you listen to it because you think, talk faster, get the information. Don't ask for that information. All I need is a police officer here now. When you were desperately trying to get somebody to call 911, and just before that, when you

looked around, Rain, and you saw there was hardly anybody left in the Walmart Superstore. What went through your mind and body? I knew he'd taken her outside, and I knew she was with a very dangerous individual. There's nothing I could do to stop it, and I was freaking out, but trying to not scream too loud, because as it was, people were just staring at me like they're thinking, what is wrong with you? And it was a female Walmart employee that walked over with her cell phone and said, here, use my phone. And I took the phone outside and I called 911.

When the police got there, 10 minutes after the phone call, did they at first think this was some ruseuse some trick to do with custody because you didn't want your daughter to go to california they did two detectives were there that night detective alexander and detective cohen and detective alexander walked up to me i was sitting on one of those little benches and he said hi miss per Ms. Periwinkle, this is Detective Alexander. And I looked up at him and he said, I've got something to show you. And he took me over to this laptop. We did not go to a police substation. We were inside Walmart sitting down. Okay. And I sat down with these two detectives and they brought out the laptop

and I had described the van and they asked me, what is this individual's name? And I told them, okay. And they flashed a picture of him and I identified him in a lineup. And then he flashed a picture of him, and I identified him in a lineup. And then he flashed another picture. Well, hold on.

You know what that means. You know clearly what that means. Alexis Tereschuk, RadarOnline.com investigative reporter, when they have his photo, that means only one thing, Alexis. He is a criminal he was actually released from jail just 21 days before that he had been on the sex offender registry list since 1993 and Alexis for posing as a child welfare worker which I'm sure is going to infuriate Ashley Wilcott. And he got some little girl on the phone and started asking her sexual questions,

pretending to be a child welfare worker, which was one of the things for which he was convicted, Alexis. And the thing is, is that the police knew immediately who this man was. When Rain described him, they knew immediately. He was known to them in this community as somebody who was a predator. And this is what's horrific, but they knew. And this was such a failure of the system. To Rain Periwinkle, for those of you just joining us, Rain is the mother of three

little girls, including Cherish Periwinkle, who was kidnapped from a Walmart superstore, assaulted and murdered. Rain, when you saw his face, what did you say? What did you think when you saw the police pull his face up on their laptop? I thought she's with a very dangerous individual. That's my feeling. As soon as I saw his face, I identified him. Then they flashed another picture. I said, is that his driver's license? And the response was yes.

And then my question was, is he a sex offender? Detective Alexander said yes. And I jumped to my feet and put my head down and screamed. And I said, she's not coming home. And it was fruitless. I just had this feeling of dread. He's already got her outside. She's not coming home. But I knew she wasn't far away. She couldn't have been too far away within those few minutes. I just wanted them to just hurry up and get out there. Detective Cullen looked at me.

What did they do? He looked at me and he said, you did it. I know you did it. You're going to prison. He said that to you? Detective Cullen. Yes, he did. He looked at me. He said, you did it. I know you did it. You're going to prison. He said that to you? Detective Cohen. Yes, he did. He looked at me. He said, you did it. I know you did it. And you're going to prison. I said, no, I didn't. He said, yes, you did. And you're going to prison. And I said, why do you think I did it? He said, because you're, rolling around on the floor screaming. Why should I have to do that when I'm telling them this old man took my daughter out of the store? And he has intentions. I felt it. I knew it right then. Why else would he take her outside that time of night?

Why else would he take her outside? And I know now why he waited so long. He could have taken her out when we first got there. There were too many people around. He was waiting for the store to close. And I didn't know that then. What happened next, Rain? I wasn't allowed to leave all night.

I had to stay there with Destiny and Evay. So you're sitting there at the Walmart Superstore overnight with the girls, when did you learn police had found Cherish? What happened? The next morning, I had a bad feeling. I couldn't sleep all night. We went home about, I want to say, before 6 a.m. the next morning. And a police officer drove us home, and I sat in front of the television because I just couldn't stomach doing anything else. I couldn't even eat.

And I sat there and watched. And for the Amber Alert, all it had was a description. It did not have a picture or anything. When did you learn they had found Cherish? A homicide officer came to the door and immediately as soon as I knew he was from homicide he sat down in front of me and he said we found a little body you know where he was and I started screaming and I ran outside and fell on the grass immediately I lost it there was no one around it's just the grass and I just making contact with that grass just pulling at it just screaming how could this be but I felt it

see because it was just too weird after he walked walked out of the store, I lost all my faith in Nancy and these wonderful people that are with you right now on your staff. I was praying to God all night. I was pacing in front of those cash registers, and I had my hands up to my face saying, please, God, bring her a box not in a box wanted to bring her home but they took too long with me is rain periwinkle this is cherish's mother and she has taken so much abuse and heat and ugly talk about her daughter going with this truly a monster from hell. But you know what? He looks like any other guy you might meet at Costco or Target or a senior citizen who offered to help her. And they were just going within the store to the store McDonald's just to get a cheeseburger. And I got to say, Cheryl McCollum, my longtime friend, director of the Cold Case Institute, you know, as a lawyer, I'm trained to always say the right thing, at least in court anyway. But when I hear her talking, this is the way

it happens. This is the way it happened to me when my fiance was talking, this is the way it happens. This is the way it happened to me when my fiance was murdered. This is the way it happens. You think it's a normal day. You think everything is all right. Everything's fine. And then all of a sudden, your world changes, and it's never the same again. You're right, Nancy.

And here's the thing. This man made his mind up of what he was going to do. He took the back seat out of his van to prepare. He stalked them for a week. If it had not been Cherish Periwinkle, it would have been another child. He would not have stopped. And we can look for blame if we want to but there's nobody to blame in the case of adam walsh except the person that killed him or amber haggerman except the person that killed her or levi frady except the person that killed

him and cherish perry winkle the only person to blame is the person that killed her period rain i just want to know i wish i could hug you nancy i do too i do too i just i wish i could hug you nancy i just hate what you've been through i don't know what it's like to have that happen to me. Oh, let me tell you something, Rainn. It was awful, but I have to say that now I have children. What you went through has got to be the worst thing on earth is to see your child harmed. I don't think anything could ever compare to that. And I don't either. I just

don't know how you made it through her funeral and how you made it through that horrible trial. I was screaming though, during those times, Nancy, as you probably were screaming when that atrocious act was placed on your fiance. I don't know how else to say it. I hate saying the word murder. It's just, you know, I know what happened, but to come to terms with it, there's times where I go numb and I don't feel anything. And I'm not saying that to sound callous. It's how, it's how I deal with it. And for the first year, I screamed every day. And when I lived in my house before I had to leave, I lost everything over this. And when I was still in my house for a month, I had no electricity and I lost all my furniture. I lost

everything. But I would go to bed every night screaming i wake up every morning screaming because the pain was just so bad back then and i would pound the walls and scream out i hate you mother ever you're going to burn in hell and all this stuff and i could say his name back then but i i rarely say his name now and rain that is so odd because I never speak the name of the man that killed Keith. I never speak it. I try not to even think about it. I have never gone back to the spot where Keith was murdered because it's so painful. And now I have the twins to live for. And when I think of it, it sucks me into a depression and in such a horrible place that if I go there, I feel like I might not be able to come back.

I want to understand how you get through the day now. What did you tell your other two girls about Cherish. Oh, we were sitting in Walmart that night, and I told them an old man took Cherish out of the store. And they were too little. They didn't really understand too much back then. Have you felt that Cherish has tried to communicate with you? You know, it's strange that you ask that because a lot of people that have been through this,

whether it be their fiance whether it be a parent a relative or a child they will they will say certain things that it could be taken as well she's just having a dream no There were at least two different incidences where I felt her. I touched her picture. I think it was a day or two after she was taken. There was a picture of her on my wall. And I just touched her face. And I said to her, Cherish, tell me where that man took you. And within a few seconds, I just was trying to be quiet. And I had a thought. He took me to a house with a dog and the house was white. Well, after the stroller was found, I asked Mark Khalil a few days ago, was that house white? And he said, well, I said, come on, was it white or

was it off white? And he said, yes. So I take that information as that she was trying to tell me, and I can't prove it. It's just what I felt at the time. And a lot of little children like dogs, even though I don't like dogs around my children because they could get bitten by them. But I don't believe that he did this act in the van. I think that he had to have some elbow room. I think he had to have a lot of space and he had took time to think about it. Rain, what was the most painful part for you as you endured the trial of Donald Smith? That's a good question. The worst day was the Tuesday, the following day. First of all, after my testimony, I went to an empty room and I watched Officer Wilkie.

He had found Cherish and I fell on the floor screaming at his testimony so that was extremely difficult but you're asking me what was the worst day it was on the tuesday when dr ral was talking about cherish's injuries and uh i was on the floor screaming for that. I knew I couldn't sit in the courtroom, and her injuries were far worse than I thought. Rain, take a listen as the verdict is handed down. State of Florida v. Donald James Smith. Verdict count one. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder as charged in the indictment. We further find the killing was premeditated. We further find the killing was done during the commission or attempted commission of

a felon to commit kidnapping or sexual battery. Verdict count two, we find the victim was under 13 years of age at the time of the offense. We find the defendant committed sexual battery on the victim during the commission of the offense. Verdict count three. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of sexual battery upon a person less than 12 years of age as to person in the indictment. So say we all done at Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. Signed the court person February 14, 2018. Ashley Wilcott, final thought.

Sure. First, all my thoughts and prayers to Rain and her family, the siblings, everyone. But we have got to be more diligent as people, as a system, to identify these perpetrators, to believe parents when they say, hey, something's happened to my child, to protect, to investigate, to arrest, to convict, and then not to release perpetrators and pedophiles who are so prolific like this man was. And we have to do all of that with crazy urgency. The second thing I would say is trust your gut and others need to trust it too. All of us know deep in our gut when something's happened and if others would trust

that as well, it goes a long way to improving the system response that failed in this case. Cheryl McCollum. When it comes to your children, don't trust anybody. Don't trust the family they want to go spend the night with because it's their best friend. Don't trust the preacher. Don't trust the Boy Scout leader. I don't care who it is. You make sure that you have, you know, the oversight of your child all the time. I mean, that's just a scary reality.

Because I'm going to say again, this is not Rain's fault. This person set their sights on Cherish Periwinkle, period. Rain, my last question, final thought. I miss everything. She would sing a lot, and sometimes she would annoy me. Looking back now, I'm so sorry. Because children can be annoying, Nancy. Little children can be annoying.

Sometimes you'd have your days where you'd say, get away from me, go to bed. But looking back, I miss everything. I miss it when they scribbled on the wall in their bedroom. I miss it when they were running around the yard playing with all those cats we had. And I miss taking them to school. I miss diaper changes. I miss breastfeeding. I miss everything. And for some people to say, I wish my child would grow up and I'm tired of this. Just please. I hate saying the word cherish. I only use it for her name, but just please revel in, if that's a good word, just appreciate what you have with your children now,

because one day they may not be here. I want to thank Rain Periwinkle for joining us today. God bless you. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.