Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - NBA star LeBron James distraught, friend Ericka Weems, dead in towel

Episode Date: July 22, 2021

37-year-old Ericka Weems was found dead, alone inside her home on November 2. An autopsy report ruled her death a homicide, caused by a gunshot wound to the head. Weems was shot 3 times. Weems was the sister of Cleveland Cavaliers Director of Scouting, Brandon Weems, and a family friend to basketball great Lebron James. The Cleveland Cavaliers are offering $10,000 in addition to $5,000 from Crime Stoppers for information in the as yet unsolved death. Joining Nancy Grace today: Randy Kessler - Atlanta Trial Lawyer, Emory Law School Professor, Past Chair ABA Family Law Section, Author: "Divorce, Protect Yourself, Your Kids and Your Future", www.KSFamilyLaw.com, Instagram: @rkessler23 Dr. Jorey Krawczyn [KRAW-ZIN] - Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. - Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide” (July 2021) bw-institute.com Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida www.pathcaremed.com, Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine. Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference Karen L. Smith - Forensic Expert, Lecturer at the University of Florida, Host of Shattered Souls Podcast, @KarensForensic, barebonesforensic.com Angenette Levy - Emmy-nominated Reporter & Anchor, Twitter: @Angenette5 If you have information call the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip, The Summit County Crimestoppers, Inc. at 330-434-COPS (2677). You can also text TIPSCO with your tips to 274637 (CRIMES). Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a gorgeous young daycare owner seemingly vanish? Then her body discovered. How can there still be no answers, even with a powerhouse like LeBron James in on the investigation? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A neighbor lays a single red rose outside of a home on Hardesty Boulevard.

What happened here has baffled Akron police and devastated a family. They just stripped our whole world in the blink of an eye. Like, she was just so special. SHE WAS ERICA WEEMS, DESCRIBED BY LOVED ONES AS CARING AND LOVING. SHE ENJOYED TRAVELING AND HAD MANY FRIENDS. DARRELL WEEMS LAST SAW HIS DAUGHTER SATURDAY. She left me Saturday at about 9 o'clock. And I told her to call me when she got home. She never called.

And I called all day Sunday. No answer. It brings up, it conjures up so many images when you call and call and call. And the person doesn't answer. The person that always answers on the first or second ring. That always texts back. That always calls back. And you can't get them in the hours past.

And deep down inside, you know something is horribly wrong. You were just hearing our friends at News 5 Cleveland. But let me introduce you an all-star panel here to try to make sense of the mystery surrounding Erica Weems. And when you look at her, so full of life, vitality, business person, former cheerleader, just this great person. No clues? How can that even be? With me, a high-profile lawyer, Randy Kessler, Atlanta trial lawyer, professor at Emory Law School, former chair of the ABA Family Law Section and author of Divorce, Protect Yourself, Your Kids, and Your Future.

And you can find him at ksfamilylaw.com. Dr. Jory Croson with us, psychologist, faculty, St. Leo University, also with the Blue Wall Institute, author of Operation SOS. Joining us, Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner for the entire state of Florida. You can find him at PathCareMed.com, lecturer, University of Florida Medical School in Forensic Medicine, and founder and host of the International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference, Karen L. Smith joining us. You know her well.

Forensic expert, lecturer, University of Florida, and host of a hit new series, Shattered Souls Podcast. But first, let me go to Anjanette Levy, Emmy-nominated reporter and anchor. You can find her on Twitter, at Anjanette5. Anjanette, I'm having a hard time taking in that there are no facts. Hold on. The first thing you do when you can't find any evidence, you can't find any facts to help you to even start your investigation, you start with your victim. This gorgeous girl in her 30s, dead, and they can't figure out what happened. I find that really hard to believe.

So who is she? Let's look at her. Take a listen to our friend Bob Jones joining us out of Cleveland. Erica graduated from Ohio State and opened a daycare center in Columbus. She had a passion and a love for children. But family members say she closed that daycare to be closer to home and had just started a daycare in the Akron home she moved into a few months ago. She could get kids to say and do things that even their parents couldn't do. So who would want to kill Erica? Akron homicide investigators don't have any suspects.

You know, when I heard that, it made me think of my number one favorite teacher, and I've got so many of them. It was second grade, Claribel Bryant. She got me to write my very first poem, believe it or not. Dr. Jory Croson, psychologist joining us today, faculty, St. Leo University. Dr. Jory, why is it that our teachers, even my kindergarten teacher, she taught me kindergarten in a barn. I still remember Miss Julia. And apparently the children and the parents absolutely love Erica Weems. And that makes a forever impact on children.

Yeah, because children, you know, they love to learn. And especially if they have somebody that they can attach to and bond with in that learning process, like a teacher, that goes on throughout the entire life. That person is remembered, just like you said, with your second grade teacher. I had one, my first grade teacher, the same way. It's very normal. That's just the way we attach, bond, and learn. And, you know, it affects you the rest of your life when you get a great teacher. And it's very normal. That's just the way we attach, bond, and learn. And you know, it affects you the rest of your life when you get a great teacher. And according to everyone, this woman, Erica Weems, could get children to behave or do things even their parents could not get them to do.

They loved her so much. So why does that land on crime stories? Well, I'll tell you how. Take a listen to Rachel Polanski, 3 News. A quiet Monday afternoon. Akron 911, what's the location of your emergency? Unanswered calls and texts to Erica Weems' phone only fuel their concerns. It's buses and bleep. That silence was about to crack, fracturing so many lives. As family rushed to Erica's West Akron home that November day, they found her upstairs, slumped on her bed, partially covered in a bath towel, her cell phone in one hand, a drink in the other. It was just, she was swollen and blue and just like cold. So it was basically like I already knew. Paramedics knew as well.

Three bullet wounds all to the head. It wasn't nothing they could do. But why? And who? It just does not make sense, either, all the way around. It just doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. Think about it. On a quiet Monday afternoon, a 911 call to this woman's home, partially covered in a bath towel, cell phone still in one hand,

drink in the other. Sounds like she was either getting in or getting out of the bathtub. And she shot three times in the head, and it sounds like execution style. Now to Anjanette Levy, Emmy-nominated reporter and anchor. Anjanette, what can you tell us? Well, you know, it's just crazy, Nancy, because it sounds like to me at least, you know, her sister couldn't get a hold of her. She goes over to the house and finds her in this state.

I don't know if you were thinking this, but I'm not, as a woman, going to let somebody into my house, but I don't know if I'm in a towel. And the back door of the house was unlocked her sister said when she went in there to check on her and that raised her suspicions a little bit and it to me seems like she's sitting on the bed one of the reports said she was sitting on the bed or at least it appeared she had to have been with that solo cup in one hand and the phone in the other and she's wrapped in the towel so it to me it would think it would only, it seems logical that somebody who knew her possibly was in that house. You wouldn't as a woman let somebody in

your home in that state unless you knew them. You know, Randy Kessler, a renowned trial lawyer joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction today. I don't know if you recall a case I prosecuted a long time ago. His name, well, he was known as the Red Rapist. And he terrorized the city of Atlanta for, gosh, about a year. He would get into women's homes, typically dressed in red. After he attacked them and raped them, he would leave a red rose behind, like he thought he was on a date. This is how he got in, Randy. He would find an unlocked door, or typically, especially in the summer months, a window that was cracked or open. So just because there is no forced entry does not necessarily mean the victim herself did not, as my twins say, by accident leave a door open.

What does it would impress me if there was no rape or theft? What about it, Randy? Well, not only was there no rape or theft, there were no repeat occurrences. There weren't other incidents that were very similar with the same M.O., and there was no telltale sign. I mean, your Red Raper, he had a psychological issue, wanted to get caught. A psychologist, I'm sure the folks on the show would have

a field day talking about him and analyzing him. This is different. This may be, you may be right, it may be a crime of opportunity. Somebody who's in a mood or drunk or out of it on drugs. Which of course is not a defense under the law. Thank you for raising that misdirection

Randy Kessler. That's why you went on your cases. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about Erica Wings, just stunning woman, real business mind. She ran a very successful daycare, but she closed it and reopened a new one so she could be closer to her family. Take a listen to our friends at News 5. And then on Monday afternoon, Erica's sister and brother-in-law went to Erica's home and made a horrible discovery. Erica was dead in a bedroom. I'm gonna miss her dearly. Police say someone shot her in the head. This is such a tragedy for us that is just unbelievable. It's unbelievable. You know, I'm just thinking about

the way that she was found because typically, I want to go to Karen L. Smith, forensics expert, and you can hear her on a new hit podcast, Shattered Souls. Guys, I want to pose this to you, Karen Smith. Routine evidence, okay? Or as I like to say, because that makes it sound like it's run-of-the-mill evidence. Oh, it's just routine, SOP. I mean evidence of routine. Because when the sister could not get in touch with her, she immediately knew something was wrong to the point she gets her husband in the car and they drive over there together. Right. Explain that, why that's significant. Because they know her.

When you know someone, if my best friend didn't answer her phone for the third time that I called her, I would know something was wrong. Even though she lives in Florida, I would be calling 911 and having somebody go do, excuse me, go do a welfare check on her to make sure nothing was wrong. So that speaks to the routine of the victim. And when you have cases like this, where there's, you know, very little forensic evidence, there are very few clues left behind, going to the victim and understanding their routine and how they went about their day is so very important. And there are a lot of forensic clues we'll get to in a little bit with you. But, you know, to me, understanding who she was is going to start the investigation on the right track. Oh, definitely.

And another thing, while we're talking, if you look at this also, and I'm not quite sure how to explain it, let's go to Dr. Tim Gallagher. Dr. Tim Gallagher is the medical examiner for the entire state of Florida. For instance, in my old jurisdiction where I practiced law, we had the Fulton County Medical Examiner. In many jurisdictions, you've got a medical examiner in every big metropolitan area. This guy's the medical examiner for Florida. And let me tell you, there's Tim Gallagher, I want you to take what you do in the morgue

and extrapolate to what we're talking about. This is a woman that was not going out every night partying. I'm not judging. I'm just saying that raises the likelihood of you being a crime victim. If you're out and about at night, if you're in areas with which you are not familiar, if you're clubbing and some guy follows you to your car. I mean, her lifestyle in my mind, and this is anecdotal on my part, Dr. Gallagher, suggests she's a very low risk for crime. She runs a business. She's hands-on with children and their parents. They all love her,

which tells me she's not into drugs or alcohol. She's not clubbing. She's not out on the street buying a hit of crack at midnight. That should lower her exposure to violent crime, Dr. Gallagher. Well, everything you say is true. It really should. You know, there's a couple of things that we have to rule in and rule out here. Number one, we'll get to the body first, is that she would appear in the morgue. Well, it's not suicide. Well, I'm just a JD. You're the MD, but when you're shot three times in the head, you know that's not suicide. Well, you know, that's something that we do have to rule out with 100 certainty oh my goodness and you're not gonna like it are you serious are you telling me this could be suicide yeah i can already tell you're not gonna like what i'm gonna

say next but i've had cases of suicide where the person uh discharged the weapon into their head three times and it was a you're totally lying. What case? But, you know, that was a case of... What case? See, I love doing that to people on cross. Randy Kessler is like, ew, I remember that. When somebody jumps up and says, oh, I had a case where somebody was shot in the head three times

and it was suicide. What case? This was a case of a man who used a.22 with very old ammunition. He's got details. But he did end up shooting himself in the head three times. But those were all contact wounds. Was the weapon found at the scene?

The weapon was found at the scene of the.22 revolver. Okay, well there's no weapon found at the scene here. So what do you think? She threw the gun in the lake? And then, I mean, did she do that too, get rid of the weapon? Well, because they're there in front of me and they do have these wounds, I have to make certain that these are not contact gunshot wounds.

So if they are not, then I look for other signs such as stippling around the wounds, which would indicate that the gun was held at a distance from close to the victim, but at a distance of about two or three feet from the victim when it was discharged. So that would indicate to me that another person was involved. Hold on. Can you break down stippling? Isn't that kind of like, it looks like burn marks.

It's gunpowder burn marks. Right. So stippling, not only does the bullet come out of the muzzle of the gun, but a large flame comes out of the gun and sparks come out of the gun. And these sparks are the burnt gunpowder that is discharging the bullet. And when these sparks land on the body, they actually burn a little pinpoint black mark on the body. And this mark would indicate that the gun had to be within a couple of feet of the victim because if it was greater than a few feet, the little spark would cool off and fall down to the ground and not reach the victim.

So as long as the gun is within two or three feet of the victim, this spark would come out of the barrel of the gun, land on the victim, burn their skin, and cause a small burn mark or tattooing of the skin. And then this is what we call stippling. And then we can judge by the pattern of this stippling on the body how far or how close the gun was to the victim when it was discharged. You know what? I'm completely entranced in what you're saying, Dr. Gallagher. Hey, Randy, do you remember Kelly Fite, the head of the ballistics division at the crime lab? Do you remember that name?

I remember the name. We never worked together. Well, I hope not since you'd handle a lot of divorces. I hope you don't need a ballistics expert. But when he would take the stand, and I rarely did this in court. I would just go sit down. I would go to my counsel table and just sit down because it's so amazing and so intriguing to hear the science behind ballistics. And, you know, normally, Randy, you got to be on your feet the whole trial to, you know, save yourself the energy of jumping up out of your seat or, you know, you're taking exhibits back and forth to the witness and in front of the jury.

But when Fite, the ballistics expert, much like Gallagher just did, start explaining the science of ballistics, it's really incredible. Now, Gallagher was talking. It's easy for you. When you got a cross exam and they're, what do you do? You just sort of say, you know what, no questions. Exactly. The defense just has to put their tail between their legs and just sit down.

But Gallagher, you're talking about stippling and how close the gun has to be for that stippling effect to manifest on a person's skin. But then there's also GSR, gunshot residue, and that would only make it... Will you explain the significance of gunshot residue possibly on her hands? Right. So the gunshot... Explain. Sure. So gunshot residue is the smoke that comes out of the gun after the bullet is discharged.

And that smoke has to land on something, and it lands on the closest thing to it, and that is the person's hand that they're holding the gun. So I can test the person's hand using a gunshot residue detection kit. And if that hand is positive for gunshot residue or the smoke that lands on it from the gun, then I can say with certainty that this person had fired the gun or was in close proximity to a gun that was fired. Guys, what you're hearing right now is the analysis involved in case preparation. It's really wonderful to have an all-star panel like we have today, Kessler, Cross, and Gallagher, Smith, Levy, because they add so much to an investigation.

But this investigation is not clinical. It's not rhetorical or hypothetical. It's real. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. There is a beautiful young woman found dead, wrapped in a towel, holding her cell phone, which I also find significant, and a drink in her towel upstairs in her bedroom. Heather either just got in or out of the tub, shot three times in the head, still unsolved. I'm going to tell you how LeBron James, the LeBron James, I just finished watching Space Jam with my son. This guy's incredible. How did he get in the mix? But first, I want to go back Jam with my son. This guy's incredible.

How did he get in the mix? But first, I want to go back to what we know. Take a listen now to our friends at News 5 Cleveland, Hour Cut 5. So early on in the investigation, police have many questions. Did Erica know her killer? Did she allow that person to come inside? Is anything missing? Was there a break-in?

So far, detectives don't have the answers. If you know anything, turn yourself in. Tonight, Summit County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to Erica's killer, while a heartbroken family pleads for justice. Please. Like, I never even would have thought I would have ever been in this position. Just please tell somebody something. I'll just hate hearing the family. I think that's his sister begging for help. Guys, the tip line is 330-374-2490. Repeat, 330-374-2490.

When she said, I never thought this would happen at my family, that's what I thought before my fiance was murdered. I mean, you just don't think violent crime is going to happen to you. What happened? How could a woman, this woman, a daycare operator, be shot three times in the head? Now, how did LeBron James get into the middle of this? Take a listen. Erica ran a daycare in Columbus and another out of her Hartsley Boulevard home. Banks says she was always around to give advice and even gave her money to get her through. Police found Erica Tuesday afternoon in her home after a call for a wellness check by

family. Her death sending shockwaves throughout the community. LeBron James tweeting this out just a few hours ago saying the family needs answers to why and who would do this. Quote disgusting thing to such a caring and loving angel. Banks is wondering the same thing. Not an evil bone in her body at all, at all. And so it's very, very heartbreaking that somebody would be so evil to her because, again, she would give her last to anybody. You know, back to you, Randy Kessler, Atlanta trial lawyer, professor at Emory Law School. It goes on and on and on. Randy, a couple of times you and I would bump into each other in the hall at the courthouse.

And I don't know if you remember this, but one time I was really down. And I was wondering this very question. You probably don't remember it, but I remember you. You were coming off the elevator and coming down a long hallway. It was in the new annex courthouse. And you had this big smile on your face. And you said something very lighthearted. It kind of snapped me out of it. I was really down in the dumps because of this very thing. You see victims that are just really angels on earth that would do anything for anybody. And then they're the ones that end up being murder victims or raped or mistreated in some way.

And I would always wonder, why is it that such good people are murdered or mistreated or hurt. And you're hearing that right now about Erica Weems. She would give you the shirt off her back, her last penny. Genuinely loved the children in her daycare. She's now running two, one at a facility and one in her home. And Jeanette Levy, how did LeBron James get involved in this case? Well, when LeBron James was a kid growing up in Akron, he was friends with Erica's brother. And he had said that Brenda and Daryl Weems, who were Erica's parents, were really involved in his life. So that's how he referred to Erica as his sister.

So they knew each other from childhood, and LeBron was still very close to her brother Brandon. You know, I know a little bit about his past from my son forcing me to watch Space Jams, which was actually pretty good, about growing up and the mom would have to drop him at games and she would have to go to work. She could never watch his games. And just the way he was brought up,

really working hard to achieve what he has achieved. And now I'm thinking about what you're telling me, how Erica Williams' family helped him as he was growing up, and he's now trying to help find her killer. That's a really weird twist, Dr. Jory Croson. But it happens in life that way. Yeah, just circumstances draw in like these, I don't want to say strangers, but friends, and then all of a sudden some evil enters in and just destroys the family.

This is what I know. People refer to Erica Weems as, quote, the total package. Beauty, brains, talent. Fun, outgoing. She loved to sing and dance. She was a cheerleader when she was younger, but she played basketball, too. Enter LeBron James.

When she was growing up, everybody in the house was always scrambling to get to a basketball game or a tournament or studying. He says, this is the dad, they were all on honor roll and they all, including Erica, graduated at the top of their class. Middle child, and as you heard the sister say, she would still help support financially her sister, especially during COVID. I mean, it just goes on and on. And this is significant to you, Karen Smith. Sometimes she would speak or text with her sister

up to 10 times a day. I'm not telling you that to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling. I'm telling you that for probative reasons. What does it prove? It proves she is in contact. You text her, you call her, she's going to respond. And when she didn't, it sent off alarm bells. Unfortunately, they were correct.

That goes into her personality too. And Dr. Jory can talk about this much better than I can. But it tells me that she is a loving person. She's responsive. She wants people to know she's OK. She wants people to know that what's going on in her life. So that is really important as far as victimology. And Nancy, there are I have so many questions about this scene.

We'll get to it. But I am chomping at the bit to talk about this. Well, another thing, the texting and the calling, the constant being in touch with family, like my family is, it also helps you establish a timeline. I mean, timelines have been established in many different ways, and they're very critical to an investigation because it can limit the people you were exposed to at the time you were killed. Like you're close to your family. Well, where were they? Where's your ex-husband? Where's your boyfriend? Where were all of them at the beginning of the timeline when you were killed? So it's critical that we get all these texts and phone calls that will help us establish a timeline.

Now, this woman is smart. I find it really hard to believe that she would have left a door unlocked. This woman had two college degrees, including a master's degree. You know, she's no deadbeat. So what happened? Take a listen to Suzanne Stratford, Fox 8. Earlier, you heard Kendall Forward, 19. Now listen to Fox 8. Late afternoon, sometime right before 3 o'clock, I heard Kendall Forward, 19. Now listen to Fox 8. Late afternoon, sometime right before 3 o'clock, I became aware of his tweet.

LeBron James taking to Twitter Wednesday asking his hometown to help solve a very personal murder. To help stir the conscience of the community because it does take most often tips or helps from the community to solve a crime like this. 37-year-old Erica Weems found shot inside of her home on Hardesty Boulevard Monday afternoon. She wasn't someone that was in harm's way or running with the wrong people. They said she was an extraordinary woman. A vibrant woman who just celebrated a birthday, ran a daycare, and volunteered feeding the homeless. Also, the sister of Brandon Weems, director of scouting for the Cavaliers, and lifelong friend of LeBron James, since they played together in high school.

LeBron tweeting, My brother's family need answers to why and whom. My city, I need y'all to go to work and find out who did this awful, shameful, disgusting thing to such a caring, loving angel. And that is exactly what we are doing right now, trying to give this family some answers. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, let's talk about the scene. Karen Smith, forensic expert.

I've learned a lot. Tell me what your analysis of the scene is. But I'm going to go, I'm going to walk through the crime scene in my head. I don't have the photograph, but this is what I'm seeing, and it's hypothetical. The back door was unlocked. Was there a key hidden somewhere? Was there a deadbolt or any other locks that were disengaged from the inside of that door suggesting that maybe somebody was let in?

Or did they let themselves in? No signs of forced entry. This happened upstairs. Whoever did this knew the layout of that house. They knew her habits. She was in a towel. Did this person lie in wait behind a door or in a closet also the scene seemed staged to me nancy she had a cell phone in one hand and a cup in the other if you're shot three times in the head

i have never seen a scene in all the ones that i've worked where somebody had an item in both hands that wasn't put there on purpose. Not saying that happened, but was there liquid in the cup or had it spilled out? Somebody seemed to me somebody was lying in wait for her. They were quiet. Was music playing? Were they able to get the jump on her? It's an intermediate gunshot wound, meaning they got close enough to her head without her knowing. She's sitting on the side of the bed, according to reports. She didn't move. Somebody got the jump on her and snuck up on her. Also, a few items and her purse were missing.

Valuables were left behind. To me, is that a trophy that somebody took? Something that somebody wanted of hers to take with them? All of these questions should have been asked at that crime scene. Here's a little bit of what I've learned. This may give you some answers. No signs of a struggle. No signs of a break-in. Purse missing.

Other valuables left behind. Autopsy records we obtained reveal she was shot three times with a small caliber gun. A.22 springs to mind. Often that indicates a woman. Right, and a revolver. There's no casing. No casing built with a revolver. One bullet fired from intermediate range through right temple caused the fatal wound.

Other wounds caused superficial damage. All three were gunshot wounds. Four bullet fragments in all were recovered. No firearm, no shell casings. That's what we know about the scene. To Dr. Tim Gallagher, they're saying she had a cell phone and a drink in her hand, but I don't know if did she fall off the bed and forward, and those things were near her hands?

Were they actually in her hands? So Dr. Gallagher, post-mortem, as soon as she shot, wouldn't she drop those items? Yes, your guess makes an excellent point. You know, one that should be taken under serious consideration as far as the scene being staged. You're correct. When you are shot, you go and the body goes into something called a decorticate and the cerebrate position where the hands open up, the arms extend, even if it's just for a couple of seconds. And then whatever's in the hands drop. That's why we do not find people who commit suicide with their guns still in their hand. It's on the floor next to them. Right. But she does make an excellent point.

It does sound like there could be evidence of staging here. The.22 caliber gun is something generally that women carry versus men. You know, so I would expect that women should not be ruled out in the suspect pool. I want to talk to you about this, Randy Kessler and Dr. Jory Croson. Very often when people are broke, they will do anything to keep afloat. It's like a rat on a sinking ship. This woman had paid off all her credit card debt. Her home was almost paid for. She recently picked out a new building for her daycare.

She was not in any financial trouble, no drug or alcohol problem, which puts her in a different category of victim. What about it, Randy Kessler? And Randy also, the fact that the scene was staged tells me it may not have been random. For instance, you and I have seen plenty of burglaries gone wrong. First of all, it's wrong to start with if you're burglarizing a home. But somebody comes in, they find the woman home, and then they either kill her out of panic or then rape her or rape and kill her. But here, I mean, we could easily have had a burglary gone wrong.

But typically, Randy, don't you agree the burglar will just hightail it? That's always what they do. You know, that's why you tell people yell, scream, make noise, do whatever you can. You know, they don't want to get caught whatever you can throw you know they don't they don't want to get caught right i mean it's not they don't go into that business to get caught but nancy why you gave me the floor for a second you were back on lebron james and i want to say there are people in this world great people like lebron james and like nancy grace who see or experience tragedy and do something about it and god bless him for doing something about it and god

bless you for you doing about it and And it all comes from the same place. You want to help. So I know that wasn't the question, but I've been dying to say that. I really do. Thanks, Randy. I really do. Because when I heard that sister and the family, they're all just devastated and they still don't have answers.

To Dr. Joy Cross, and I want to follow up on that, a loved one really can't finish grieving until you know what happened. So in their mind, the investigation is still going. This is unsolved. Yeah, that's the ambiguity, you know, that we're always searching for the why. And, you know, the family definitely needs to have those answers. Getting back to what Karen was saying about the staging of that scene, personality-wise, this individual appeared to have taken some time.

This wasn't like a random come in, you know, fire three shots and then leave. There seemed to be like a time element where this individual was controlling this environment for maybe even a couple minutes. But setting it up like that, possibly, you know, with the cell phone and the drink in the hand, that's very peculiar. I mean, and that's got to have some meaning. Man, I hope that they process that, Dr. Joy Joy Cross to see if there were fingerprints other than hers on the cell phone and the drink. And here's another fact I was talking about. Did she fall forward and how was she holding onto a cell phone and a drink? I now know, I'm rereading evidence about the scene. They found Erica slumped on her bed, both feet dangling off the side.

That's really peculiar, isn't it, Dr. Tim Gallagher? It's true, but peculiar. She was still sitting on her bed, slumped over with her feet dangling off the side, dead. She didn't fall over. Yeah, that does speak to a staged scene, no doubt. So to have somebody commit suicide or be killed in that position is highly unusual without the assistance of somebody placing them in that position. And the point of that, I'm not just fascinated by the fact that somebody would commit murder and then stage

a scene. It indicates it was not random. Random killers, you come in, you blow up in there to steal stuff, you shoot somebody, you want to get the hay out of there pronto. You don't take time to stage the scene. Like in JonBenet Ramsey,

the killer wrote two ransom notes, a practice and a real one, and then staged the scene of the body being found. That's extremely odd. Very odd. When you find a staged scene, in my experience, agree or disagree, Karen, it's someone close to the victim. Somebody close to her, somebody knew who she was, somebody obsessed with her, somebody who knew her habits, absolutely, 100%. Take a listen to more of what we know about this victim, Erica Weems. 37-year-old Erica Weems always took the safe road. A bachelor's degree from Ohio State, a master's from Kent. She owned her own home and a daycare business.

Children loved her and she adored them, despite being unable to have kids of her own. Most of all, she loved her family and traveling. Now her older sister, Shermaine, is left to unravel the mystery. I'm just like, it seemed like she would tell us if she was scared or something. Widespread news accounts of her death initially brought attention. Erica's brother, Brandon, was a St. Vincent, St. Mary teammate of LeBron James. And James was raised alongside the Weems. He considered Erica a sister.

Everyone should understand the angel that we lost here on earth, but know that she's in a bigger place. And offered a tearful eulogy at her memorial service. We will find justice and we will get justice. I pray for justice in the murder of this beautiful girl, Erica Williams. Tip line 330-374-2490. We wait as justice unfolds, God willing. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.