Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mother in shock when her murdered son's attacker walks free after jail snafu, then vanishes

Episode Date: February 27, 2019

Days before Christopher Dickerson disappeared from his Adrian, Michigan, home in January, he sent a photo to his mother showing injuries from being jumped. Tracena Dickerson feared her 27-year-old son's disappearance was related to his testimony against a man who was charged with trying to kill him in May 2018. Dickerson's body was found in a wooded area in rural Michigan on February 22, 2019, the apparent victim of a fatal stabbing. His mom is now convinced there is a connection, considering the defendant in the attempted murder case had been quietly released from jail near the time her son vanished. Nancy Grace digs into the case with the mother. They are joined by a panel of experts including former detective Steven Lampley, North Carolina family & divorce lawyer Kathleen Murphy, and psychologist Caryn Stark. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find out how to protect your child. When you're out at the mall or the store or the grocery, in the parking lot, at home. Find out about protection regarding babysitters and daycare, even online. I'd rather have that any day of the week than a plastic toy or, God forbid, a toy gun. Join Justice Nation. Go to crimestopshere.com. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Tristina Dickerson has been searching for her son Christopher for over a month now. Family members last saw him on January 20th.

He was set to testify at his own attempted murder trial at the end of the month. Chris's mother says he was jumped by a man who told him not to testify at the trial. She believes the man was an accomplice of Andrew Cecil, the man who allegedly stabbed Chris in May of last year. That stabbing so life-threatening, Chris was airlifted to Toledo Pro Medical Hospital. In the meantime, Chris's mother doesn't know whether her son is in hiding or in danger. I am hoping that Chris's story reaches somebody that knows something. Somebody has to, I don't care if it's good or bad. At this point, I need to know. If you have any information about Chris or his disappearance, contact Lenawee County Crime Stoppers.

You are hearing our friend joining us from WTOL-TV. That's Ariel Onstott reporting. Mothers, fathers out there listening now, can you imagine if your son suddenly just disappears? You know, this morning when I took the twins to school, I watched them walk inside. What if I went back and they were nowhere to be found? What if they just seemingly vanished off the face of the earth? What does a parent do?

Do you run up and down the street screaming at the top of your lungs? Do you call police? Do you put up flash? What do you do? And then when you come home at night and the house is empty and you don't get that text or that phone call and they're not at the table, what do you do? That is what the mother of Christopher Dickerson, the hell she's been in, the search for Christopher in the last hours has come to an end. And today, I ask you not to help me find Christopher Dickinson, but to help me find who murdered Christopher Dickerson.

Joining me right now is Christopher Dickerson's mother, Trisina. Ms. Dickerson, thank you for being with us. And thank you so much for the help. I'm just sick. I'm sick. When we first learned about Christopher's case, because you called our hot 909-492-7-left-us messages, I didn't even know about it. I hadn't seen it in the news. 909-492-7leftus messages.

I didn't even know about it. I hadn't seen it in the news. I hadn't seen it in any of my criminal investigations or research. I'm just wondering what your life has been like since he went missing. Tell me about the day he went missing, and then I'll work up to what we are asking our listeners to do now. Tell me about the day, Tracina, he disappeared. Okay, the last day that I spoke with Chris was on the 20th of January. He had FaceTimed me on Facebook and he, I didn't, you know, he told me, he said, Mom, I have something to tell you.

He says, I can't tell you where I'm at because I'm scared. He said, I was jumped last night by a few people. And he said, I was beaten up pretty badly and he sent me two pictures of his face was all bloody and he had had two gashes on his cheek that needed medical attention and I told him I said Chris you've got to go to the hospital he He said, Mom, I can't. He said, they'll call the police. And he says, I don't want to do this. He says, I can't make a report. And I begged him, please, Chris.

I said, then let me come and get you. Let me bring you home. Let me do something. And he said, Mom, I can't. He said, I don't, I don't want, I don't want you to be in danger. And he, um, he sent me those pictures and he, uh, we, we had talked for a while and I, of course, I continued to try to get him to tell me where he was at. And eventually, of course, like the Internet always does, you know, I ended up losing him. And he messaged back to me.

He said, Mama, I'm sorry, but I'm so stressed. And that was the last thing I I've seen from him on Facebook was that day he did post he did post something on his Facebook on the 21st but that was the last thing I'm just listening to the heartbreak in your voice

and it's hard for me to hear it but you know Miss Dickerson, Tracina, if I may call you that, I learned early on as a felony prosecutor, and this was after the murder of my fiancé, that as much as I didn't like the facts, as much as I didn't like recounting them to a jury out loud, or saying the things that I'd seen or learned in an investigation, or as much as it hurt,

I'd rather know the truth. I'd rather know every single detail, because then I can work with that. I can do something with that, or at least I can go down trying. And that's what we're going to do today. Ms. Dickerson, I want to know every single fact with me here in the studio. My partner in crime, Jackie Howard, my co-conspirator joining me from LA, Alan Duke, also with me, psychologist Karen Stark. You can find her at karenstark.com. Veteran trial lawyer, Kathleen Murphy, family and divorce lawyer, Stephen Lampley, renowned detective joining us. Tracina, I understand that someone had tried to hurt your son. Someone had tried to kill him. And he, of course, went to police.

He told them everything. And he was set to be a star witness in the trial. Because he, unlike so many others, lived to tell the tale. Do you think that had anything to do with the discovery of his body in the last hours? Absolutely. Tell me, he was set to testify against Andrew Cecil, is that correct? Yes. Now, at the time he was jumped and beaten up and threatened and ordered not to testify, was Andrew Cecil behind bars? At that time, yes, he was. Are you telling me he no longer is?

No. He's out? He was released on the 31st of January. Why? So why should he get out? Because of a snow day? Yes. Well, I don't understand what you, I, they let a guy charged with attempted murder out because of the weather? Yes. And this, this man was on a million dollar bond. I don't understand that. Yes. So after he was let out, is that when your son was killed? We don't know. We don't know the day. Of course, you know, they can't,

they haven't pinpointed a day of when Chris went deceased. We don't know that information yet. A mother in Michigan pleading for her son's safe return. This takes me back to when I had breast cancer five years ago. And it's that fear of the unknown that is the most horrific fear you can have. That's Tracina Dickerson talking with WTOL-TV in Toledo. Her son Christopher had been missing for over a month. Family members last saw him on January 20th. He was staying at the Oaks of Adrian Apartments

in Adrian, Michigan. He was set to testify at his own attempted murder trial at the Oaks of Adrian Apartments in Adrian, Michigan. He was set to testify at his own attempted murder trial at the end of January. Just a day before he went missing, he sent a picture of himself to his mom. In the photo, he's bruised and bloodied. It was obvious that he had been attacked. I'm just going from a mother's perspective and this is not a coincidence. Christopher Dickerson was the victim of a stabbing May 1st, 2018 at a residence in Adrian, Michigan. He testified May 30th in a preliminary examination in Lenawee County District Court about the incident in which he fought with a man who came to the residence of a woman Dickerson was visiting. Dickerson suffered a stab wound to

the back, ran from the residence, and called 911. He was treated and released that day from a Toledo hospital. Andrew Cecil was charged with assault with intent to murder and first-degree home invasion. He was scheduled to go to trial January 29th in Lenawee County Circuit Court, but it was postponed when Circuit Court was closed due to extremely cold weather. At some point, Cecil was released after having been held in the Lenawee County Jail on a $1 million bond. I don't understand why he was released, and now Christopher Dickerson is dead. His body has been found. His mother, Dracena, with me now, mounted an all-out search for her son. And now for the search to come to an end with the discovery of his body, and we know

this thug on a million-dollar bond gets let loose, and the family wasn't even told he was released. Karen Stark, psychologist, joining me from Manhattan this morning. You can find her at karenstark.com. Karen, I was at Court TV, as you well recall, and went down to my office. I remember it like yesterday, flipped on my computer, and I had an email from a viewer to tell me my fiance's killer had been paroled. Nobody told me. I found out the hard way. This family did not know that this thug, Andrew Cecil, who was charged in the stabbing of Christopher Dickerson, nobody even told them he was out karen is such a betrayal it's unacceptable nancy and so

terrible for the family just as it was for you because i i just don't understand why authorities would do that people need to know we have a need to understand not just what happened to our loved ones, but if the person who perpetrated the crimes being released, just for your well-being, for your knowledge, for your idea, for having to survive, you need to know these things and be aware. And this is an awful situation. I feel terrible for the family. Just terrible. I'm looking at this guy's mugshot, and he looks so angry and so, I mean, he looks as if he could just come through the camera and strangle anybody that he comes upon. To Tracena Dickerson, please tell me your theory about what happened. And I'm going to start with what you did to find your son, Christopher.

Okay. Well, that first week, I wasn't concerned. I was concerned, but it was a little easier because I thought, well, you know, maybe Chris was just laying low. Maybe he doesn't, you know, isn't going to testify and he just doesn't want, you know, anybody to know where he's at. Because he didn't want to testify. But when the 31st came and then the 1st and then the 2, and there was no, no, nothing coming from Chris and there was no activity on his Facebook.

I, my worries started to grow and I reached out to one of the detectives that was working on the case, um, the stabbing case. And I left a message, I didn't get a return phone call. So I waited a few more days and then I left another message, still nothing. Well, about two weeks after the first message, he called me back and I explained to him at that time, I haven't seen Chris. Everybody I talked to has not talked to Chris. What do I do? He, of course, said that, you know, he was real busy and, you know, he was just getting back to returning his messages and that he had a couple of avenues he wanted to check into about Chris and to hold off on the missing person. And, you know, he would get back with me.

Well, of course I didn't get any, any kind of response back. So on the 18th, something just kept telling me, I need, I, I'm not going to wait anymore. I have to file this missing person as it is right now. Chris, Chris isn't even listed as missing. So I contacted the sheriff's department on the 18th and they came out and filed a missing person. And I explained to him at that time about him being jumped. And I gave them the pictures and explained to them, you know, about this trial and everything. And they told me that they would open a missing persons

and, you know, they would check into anything, you know, any kind of leads that they had. But at that time, he didn't feel that, you know, that they had a lot to go on. And that was kind of it for that. And then, of course, I jumped on Facebook, started posting, you know, Chris's picture and a little bit of his story and, you know, begging for anybody, you know, any information, anything.

And then I contacted Channel 11 News in Toledo, and they came up and did a story on Chris. And we were actually in the process's right showed up at the door. You know, Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family and divorce lawyer, to hear Tracina speak is so upsetting. And hold on, Alan, you have an excellent observation regarding the tattoo. I'd like to hear what Kathleen and Stephen Lampley think about that. Go ahead, Alan. If you look at Cecil's mugshot, you see the tattoo on the neck.

It says Itha, which is the last part of Tabitha. Tabitha Rose White Eagle, a 25-year-old woman, is in a sense a co-defendant with Cecil because she was the woman who Chris was visiting on May 1st in Adrian when this initial attack happened and she has been charged because you see her mugshot too she's charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony and lying to a police officer in a violent crime investigation so that's how passionate Cecil was about Tabitha. He had her name on his neck tattooed. You know, I want to hear what you think about that, Kathleen Murphy. That's no coincidence. That is not a coincidence. And he was at this one woman's home. And as a result of being at the home, he's now dead, in my opinion. And I think that they are co-conspirators for a reason. I am appalled

that he was out and this mother was not notified and that Chris was not notified. I'm appalled to Nancy. To Stephen Lampley, high profile detective, Stephen, I can't believe number one, they let this guy, Andrew Cecil out. And now Christopher Dickerson ends up dead. That's no coincidence. And Alan Duke, who's sitting in the studio in LA, can see the connection for Pete's sake. And he's a thousand miles away plus. So can't the cops see that the tattoo on the guy's neck is the same woman Dickerson's visiting? They can't piece that together? Nancy, I would like to think so.

Just like you said, it's there. It's pretty obvious to anyone. And then back to the release of the suspect or the person of interest or the defendant, whatever you want to call him in this case. There have been times when I was a detective that we would arrest a defendant, a suspect, place him in jail, and we would not know, Nancy, that this person had been released until maybe two or three days later. Sometimes it happens, and despite the police's best efforts uh the courts it was the

jail it was the jail system yeah i mean this guy this andrew cecil was charged with attempted murder of christopher dickerson he gets out and now we find Dickerson's body. I mean, what more does a mother have to do? Lay on the steps of the courthouse and beg? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A Michigan man reported missing last week has been found dead in Medina Township, the victim of an apparent homicide. Detectives from the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office and Adrian Police Department were following leads from a missing person report about Christopher Dickerson.

Their investigation led them to a wooded area where they found Dickerson's body. A Michigan State Police crime lab was called to the scene, as were emergency personnel from nearby Marinci and Waldron. Dickerson was reported missing February 18th after family members became concerned after not seeing any posts on his Facebook page or having any contact with him since January 20th. Joining me right now is Justina Dickerson, mother of Christopher Dickerson. Ms. Dickerson, I know that you seem to blame yourself because you tried so hard to get him to come home, but he had been beaten, jumped. And it's all because no one wanted him to be a witness in this case. He was not getting any sort of protection at all. And I understand all witnesses can't have protection. But then to let the guy out that's charged in his attempted murder, I know that you are torturing yourself because he was so scared.

He didn't want to come home and lead the thugs to your place. I remember you told me, he said, Mom, you don't understand. I can't come home. And you wish to this day you could have made him come home that night. Why, Ms. Dickerson, why? What difference would that have made in your mind? Because I feel like I couldn't protect him. I felt if I had him at home, you know, he's my baby. I could have protected him somehow. Tell me this, Ms. Dickerson, who was the last person to see him? We don't know that. It's like everybody I talk to, it's like nobody wants to be that last person that saw him.

They just come up with things like, you know, well, I seen him right after he got jumped or I seen him right before. You know, just nobody, I can't find anybody that's seen him after I spoke with him. What we know is this. Her son, Christopher Dickerson's body was found in a wooded area. It is a wooded area, I believe, there in Medina Township in Michigan. Detectives don't know how long he had been there or the cause of death. To Dracena Dickerson, I assume the medical examiner is examining his body. When do you expect to learn the cause of death? I don't. The way that they found it, it's going to be a long time. As of right now, they still have not released my son's body. They said probably not till Thursday or Friday, so I can't even really plan his funeral or anything right now.

I can't do anything. To Alan Duke joining us, Alan, hearing Drisina in so much pain, I just, I'm desperately thinking of something we can do to help her. Alan, you have been in touch with authorities. Would they speak to you? Well, we called the Lenawee County Sheriff in Michigan for information, but they declined to comment because they said it's an ongoing investigation. And also understand they're not really telling the family a whole lot right now. They're keeping their cards very close to their vest. Guys, there is a link to a GoFundMe page that was set up in Chris's honor. Just go to GoFundMe and put in his name, Chris Dickerson, C-H-R-I-S Dickerson. To Stephen Lampley, renowned detective, what do cops need to be doing right now?

Well, they need to be looking at, obviously, the suspect Cecil. And it's my understanding from what I heard from the mother there that there were several people involved in the assault of her son. So there are people they need to be talking to. Obviously, Cecil is my prime person that I would want to be talking to. Of course, the evidence coming back from the medical examiner, but at the police department level right now, they need to be talking to persons of interest. Now, this is my understanding that he is out on the lam. Jacina Dickerson, has he been brought in for questioning? Have cops even found Andrew Cecil yet? That is my biggest fear right now.

I don't even know if they know his whereabouts. They have not said a word. As a matter of fact, when I talked with the detectives on Sunday, they did not know this man was out of jail. I had to tell them because I heard through the court when I called the victim's people when Chris was missing and spoke with them. That's how I learned that the Cecil was out of jail. When I spoke with the detectives on Sunday, when I brought up Cecil being out of jail, they both looked at me like I slapped them. And they jumped on the phone to call the jail to confirm that Cecil was out. The detectives didn't even know.

So how do you do an investigation and you don't even know where the prime suspect's whereabouts is? This is what I know about Andrew Cecil. He is a white male, brown hair, blue eyes, 5'7", 140 pounds, DOB 7191. I also know this. In his bookend, he looks, his mugshot, he looks as mean as a snake. Tattoo, lower left hand, only God can judge me. Well, you know what? I disagree. Number two, lower left vertebra, Haley. Haley, as in Halley's Comet, H-A-I-L-E-Y. Okay, Haley. Haley, as in Halley's Comet. H-A-I-L-E-Y. Okay, Haley.

Tattoo, right wrist. Serena. S-I-R-E-N-N-A. Tattoo, upper left arm, cross. We know he has another tattoo on his neck with a name on it. Sentence one. Leaving the scene of a crime two years six months to fleeing a cop two years six months um there's an impressive rap sheet that i

won't bother reading but he was arrested and put in jail. One million dollar bond and some, let me just say, idiot let him go. Now we know that this young man, Christopher Dickerson, is dead. Now this is another interesting thing that I learned from the Daily Telegram. I know that these two, I'm looking at that tattoo on his neck right now. What does the tattoo say? Tabitha. Okay, so he's got the names of three women tattooed on his body. Two people were charged in a stabbing. May 1. Okay? They continued their not guilty pleas. But this is what I know.

The two of them, and there's two, a man and a woman, charged in that stabbing. To Christopher's mom, Tracita Dickerson, who's the woman charged in the stabbing? This was the lady, the girl that Chris had went over to visit on May 1st. Uh-huh. Tabitha Rose White Eagle. Andrew Aaron Cecil, Tabitha Rose White Eagle, both of Adrian, were set to appear before the judge, Circuit Judge Margaret No.

He's charged with assault with intent to commit murder and first-degree home invasion. Million-dollar bond. The public defender, John Glazer, says he wanted to quash the home invasion charge. All right, fine. White Eagle, the woman, waived arraignment. She had been charged with accessory after the fact and lying to cops. She posted bond. She got out on $2,500. The man wounded, that would of course be Christopher Dickerson, testified in a preliminary hearing that he was visiting Tabitha White Eagle when Cecil came to the residence and he was stabbed in the back, ran call 911. That's how this whole thing went down.

Cecil gets out of jail and now Dickerson is dead and we don't have answers, and there's no arrest. Tristina Dickerson has been searching for her son Christopher for over a month now. Family members last saw him on January 20th. He was set to testify at his own attempted murder trial at the end of the month. Chris's mother says he was jumped by a man who told him not to testify at the trial. She believes the man was an accomplice of Andrew Cecil, the man who allegedly stabbed Chris in May of last year. That stabbing so life-threatening, Chris was airlifted to Toledo Pro Medical Hospital. In the meantime, Chris's

mother doesn't know whether her son is in hiding or in danger. I am hoping that Chris's story reaches somebody that knows something. Somebody has to, I don't care if it's good or bad. At this point, I need to know. If you have any information about Chris or his disappearance, contact Lenawee County Crime Stoppers. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. We discovered Christopher Dickerson was missing because his mom, Dracena Dickerson, called us on our tip line, our hotline, 909-492-7463.

909-492-7463. And that equals to 909-49-CRIME. C-R-I-M-E. I would not have even known about the case had it not been for her calling our hotline. The tip line 517-266- 6161

517-266- 6161. That's Lenawee County Crime Stoppers. If you know where this guy is, Andrew Cecil, I guarantee you who does know where he is, that would be the woman, Tabitha White Eagle. And if you could see her book in photo, she's posing like Kim Kardashian, you know, like kind of poking her lips out in the trout pout. I am so beside myself.

To Tracina Dickerson, did your son know her? What was his connection to this girl? Yes. With my son, Chris liked his women. And I don't know, you know, he, of course, I'm his mom, he wouldn't go into detail about that. But I do believe they, they had been friends and from what he did tell me, you know, she invited him over. Um, you know, he came over, he said they were, you know, hanging out and he said, the next thing he knew, this Andrew Cecil came through a window, not, not through the door, came through a window with a knife in his hand. It's just like wild animals, Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family and divorce lawyer, coming through the window with a knife in your hand. I mean, what, what, we're in the wild, wild west. Who comes

through a window with a knife in their hand and stabs somebody? And this guy is out on the loose and they've done nothing? And Nancy, all I hear is that Chris was doing the right thing. He called 911 when he was stabbed rather than trying to hide that he was doing anything wrong. He communicated with the police officers. He worked with the prosecutor's office. He was doing everything he should be doing to protect himself and to keep the drug off the street, to keep a criminal off the street.

And you know, another thing, to Karen Stark, psychologist joining me, you can find her at karenstark.com. People say, oh, that could never happen to me. You know, they aren't like me. They live in X. They didn't go to, what, grad school, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know what? I was just reading about a stabbing that occurred in one of the most exclusive areas in Atlanta at the gate of a fancy country club. They were having some kind of a wedding soiree and a couple came out to the street at the gate of the fancy country club because they called an Uber. And some thug comes up, tries to steal their car

keys and their wallet. And the guy resisted and said, no, they stabbed him dead. They killed him right there at this, you know, society studded wedding with all these wealthy, educated people in there. The guy's dead. He leaves behind a wife and a baby, a brand new baby that had just been born. So new, they couldn't come to the wedding event. It happens across the board. I mean, Karen, can you hear this mom, Tracina Dickerson, and people can sit back and say, oh, well, blah, blah. That makes you feel better because it makes you think, oh, this isn't going to happen to my family. It can happen to your family, Karen Stark. That's a part of life, Nancy. Anything could happen to anyone. And I want to say something about this mother and to Mrs. Dickerson. Please don't blame yourself.

It's such a natural thing to do when you lose a child and you feel like it was your job to protect them. There was nothing that you could have done, nothing. I know that this is killing you and it's heartbreaking, but you need to understand that you have nothing to feel guilty about. I'm sure you were a wonderful mother. Tell me, Trisina, your most vivid recollection of Christopher. Oh, boy, where do I start?

Chris was so... When Chris was around, you could not help but have a smile on your face. If anybody was sad or down, Chris wasn't having it. He would bust out singing, dancing. It didn't matter to him. He would do whatever it took to make sure that everybody was happy. That's all he wanted.

He loved his friends. Chris had almost 2,000 friends on his Facebook. Chris was so social. That's why it scared me that nobody, you know, had seen him because he, he had to be where everybody was at. You know, he had to be the center and he, he just, oh, he, I'm just going to miss him so much. Oh, God. Oh. Oh, Ms. Dickerson, it hurts me so bad to hear you.

Stephen Lampley, this is my fear. If some idget at the jail, be it by accident or on purpose, I don't know, let him walk. They still haven't brought him in, Stephen. And you know he's at his same old haunts. Go to his mother's house. Go to his girlfriend's house. Go to the same places he always hangs around. That's where he is.

I've gotten so many thugs out from under their mama's bed, and there they are up in their 20s and 30s and 40s. I can't even count them all on fingers and toes. I personally have gone to get defendants back to the jail when it was time for trial. Oh, yes, I have. Why are they not arresting this guy? I mean, do I need to call them? Do I need to go up there and look under his mommy's bed, Stephen? Nancy, I agree with you. This gentleman needs to be picked up. He's obviously, in my opinion, a prime suspect, a prime person of interest.

Now, I don't know if he did run, but you're right. Most of these defendants, most of this type of defendant, you're going to find hanging out with their mama, Nancy. You're going to find them hanging out with their friends. You're exactly right. If I was a detective in the case, I'd be looking for Cecil. And I'd be looking for Tabitha White Eagle. All right?

Okay? Right there, she knows something. She's charged with accessory after the fact. If I had to do it, I would hold my nose and do it, but I cut her a deal to get him. Oh yeah. What is happening at the Lenawee County Sheriff's office? Who let this thug out to start with? Now we've got a dead son. If you have information, 517-266-6161. And as I close, let me ask you this. If it was your son, wouldn't you want someone to help you? Nancy Grace Grimes, Story, signing off.

Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.