Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Remains found in a wooded area confirmed as Elijah Vue.|Crime Alert Recap Saturday 09.14.24

Episode Date: September 14, 2024

Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert Here's one of our top stories this week.   Remains found in a wooded area confirmed as Elijah Vue. Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. the Hunter and recovered by law enforcement. We're taking them to Wisconsin crime meds for DNA testing. But that's by the first. It is with a heavy heart that I announce to you today, those remains were identified as Elijah Booth. With that news and following this briefing, the Amber Alert will be canceled. I'm Drew Nelson. It's something no child would ever forget. Two children covered in their mother's blood crawl through their house to seek help from mom, but it's too late. 27-year-old Laquana Lang was shot and killed in her Augusta, Georgia home.

Her boyfriend, Devontae Parks, has been arrested. Parks, age 26, turned himself in after authorities issued a notice that he was wanted for Lang's murder. Arrest records show he had just been paroled for a 2016 shooting. He allegedly shot Lange in the upper torso, leaving her two young daughters, aged two and five,

alone with their mother's body for over four hours. Regarding Park's history of violence, he was only paroled in July, two months ago, after serving time for shooting Brittany McKee in 2016. She survived being shot six times by Parks. Speaking to WJBF, she expresses her renewed fears. I haven't been asleep since I heard he was out. And Saturday, I had to find out from a Facebook post that it was him.

The details of the case are especially harrowing. Lang was shot around 4 a.m., but her body wasn't discovered until after 10 a.m. The children's little footprints left in their mother's blood are what led to the heartbreaking discovery. Parks now faces charges of murder, two counts of child cruelty, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Lang's little girls, who witnessed their mother's violent death, are left to cope with the trauma. Lang is being remembered as a loving mother. She had only just started her relationship with Parks a few months prior. The Richmond County Coroner's Office has scheduled an autopsy,

and authorities continue to search for the murder weapon. I'm Nicole Parton. In Florida, a Coral Springs woman has been arrested after her child called 911 to report that a man had been shot inside their home. Police now say Denise Malcolm is facing first-degree murder charges. According to Local 10 News, the police responded to the 10,000 block of Northwest 43rd Street after a boy called 911 around 6 30 p.m. to report that someone had been shot inside their home. Once local law enforcement arrived on the scene, twins exited from the house saying they heard gunshots.

Coral Springs PD announced that a victim had been found. The officers made entry into the residence to check on the well-being of anybody who may be inside. They did come across and encounter one male individual who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. According to the police report, Denise Malcolm shot her husband after she said she had reached, quote, her wit's end. The woman told police she had lived in years of infidelity and lies and decided to take matters into her own hands by killing her husband in their home. Denise told police her husband had been unfaithful for two years, leading to a breakdown in their marriage and a heated altercation.

She said, quote, she did not trust him and was at her wits end and was tired of the lies and deceit. After her husband told her he was leaving to go on vacation with friends, the woman said she believed that was a lie and that he was leaving with another woman. That resulted in an hour-long argument. She told police in her rage she grabbed a gun and shot her husband. She could not remember how many times she pulled the trigger. Her two young boys were home. One was eating Chinese food in his room across the hall, while the other watched television in the living room. They heard gunshots and the

boys called 911. Malcolm has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder and remains in the Broward County Jail. I'm Jennifer Gould. The verdict is in for the suspect who stabbed a woman 46 times at a store in Los Angeles and recorded her final pleas for her life. Sean LaValle Smith has been found guilty in the brutal murder of 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer, a UCLA grad student. The 34-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait. He was also found guilty of using a deadly weapon, a knife, in the attack, which was reportedly bent due to the amount of force used. Breonna's father, Todd Cooper, spoke to the media after the verdict came down. We love to feel elation and some kind of happiness.

I can't say that that's really the emotion I feel, but I do feel very relieved the justice system delivered. Prosecutors painted a picture of Smith as a predator who preyed on Cooper's vulnerability. The attack unfolded on January 13th, 2022 at the Croft House House Furniture Store where she was working. Smith, feigning interest in furniture, gained her trust before attacking her. The violence was so horrific that Cooper's final moments were captured on a digital audio recorder that Smith left behind at the crime scene. Here's Habib Balian, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, in court detailing what that recording was. Just telling him, I can help you. I can help you. I can help you.

And he's telling her, it's over. The discovery of that recorder, along with a blood-stained knife with Smith's DNA, proved crucial evidence for the prosecution. During the trial, Deputy D.A. Balian presented a compelling case. He argued that Smith's actions were premeditated and fueled by a hatred for women. Balian described Smith as being, quote, on a crusade to hunt, to destroy and to kill for the mere fact that she was female and alone. End quote. Smith's defense attorney, Robert Haberer, attempted to portray the crime, though, as a spontaneous act. But the jury did not find his argument convincing, reaching a guilty verdict in less than an hour. With the verdict in place, Smith faces a

sentencing hearing in October. He is expected to receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, a separate hearing will be held to determine his mental state at the time of the crime. For the latest crime and justice news, follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this Crime Alert, I'm Jennifer Gould. This is an iHeart Podcast.