Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SEARCH FOR EVIL UBER DRIVER: MOM CHANTI CALLS CAR AFTER WORK & NEVER GETS HOME

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

Chanti Dixson gets off of work after midnight Sunday morning, and immediately orders an Uber to run a quick errand before heading home. When they make it to the drop-off location, Chanti asks the driver to wait for her a moment, she’ll order a second ride home when she finishes her errand. The driver agrees and Chanti orders the second ride.  A few hours later, Chanti’s family realizes she never made it home. The mom isn’t answering her phone either. When Chanti is still unaccounted for 24 hours later, her family reports her missing and heads to her home to search for clues. Inside her home, a family member finds Chanti’s Apple watch. The watch shows Chanti’s phone is still pinging, not far from her home. The family walks toward the phone’s location, ending up in a wooded area about two blocks away.   As the confused family walks through the area, Chanti’s mom, Rise Dixon doesn’t find her daughter’s phone—but sees what looks like a crumpled figure behind a concrete barrier. As she gets closer, Rise realizes it’s a woman lying on her stomach. Her head is covered with a sweatshirt, and she’s naked from the waist down and unresponsive. Rise calls 911, fearing the worst. Investigators discover the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the temple. Rise identifies the woman as her daughter, Chanti Dixon.     Joining Nancy Grace today:  Darryl Cohen - Former Assistant District Attorney, Former Assistant State Attorney, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, CCEAlaw.com, Facebook: "Darryl B Cohen", Twitter: @DarrylBCohen Brian Fitzgibbons  - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, Fmr. Marine and Iraq war veteran Caryn Stark - Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Dr. Michelle DuPre - Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Author: Author: “Money, Mischief, and Murder…the Murdaugh Saga. The rest of the story"- out the end of September., "Homicide Investigation Field Guide" & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide", Forensic Consultant DMichelleDupreMD.com Lauren Conlin - Co-Host of Primetime Crime on YouTube Website: www.popcrime.tv & primetimecrimeshow.com X- @Conlin_Lauren, Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin, YouTube: @PopCrimeTV   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The search for an evil Uber driver after a working mom, Shanti, calls for a car after work and never makes it home. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A late night Uber ride turns deadly. The shocking details of a mother of two's final moments. Shanti Dixon, 30, is described as a fun-loving go-getter, a supportive friend and caring family member, but most importantly, a doting mom. Shanti would do anything for her two children, ages 9 and 13, and works hard to provide for them.

Shanti often works late into the night, relying on rideshare services to get home. Joining me in the All-Star panel, but first I want to go straight out to a renowned psychologist joining us today from Manhattan, TV radio trauma expert. You can find her at KarenStark.com. That's Karen with a C if you're trying to reach her. Karen, thank you for being with us tonight. You know, how many more times does the victim have to be a mother? Because when the victim is a mother, you end up victimizing the children, too.

And I'm not saying fathers don't do their share. Of course they do. But there's something about losing your mother. It can ruin your whole life, Karen Stark. It can, Nancy. It definitely can ruin your whole life. And think about these children. I mean, mothers, we come from our mothers. So there's a special connection and bond between a child and a mother. And when something happens to a mother, as in this case, then the children are left with somebody caretaking them, and it's never the same. How could it possibly be the same? Chanty gets off work past midnight Sunday morning and immediately orders an Uber to run a quick errand before heading home. When they make it to the drop-off location, Chanty asks the driver to wait for a moment.

She'll order a second ride home when she finishes her errand. The driver agrees and Chanty orders the second ride, which is completed in just minutes. Again, joining us at All-Star Panel, straight out to Lauren Conlon joining us, co-host Primetime Crime on YouTube. Where did this take place? This is Indianapolis, Indiana, Nancy. Okay, so a very concentrated population. There's a big difference. Let me go straight back out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining us, Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security. He leads a team of investigators that specialize in missing people at USPASecurity.com. Brian, thank you for being with us tonight.

Brian, there's a big difference when you're looking for a missing person in a concentrated urban area. I mean, you've been to Manhattan a million times. I raised the children there. When you're trying to find someone in a concentrated area like Indianapolis, it's like a needle in a haystack. It completely changes the search for the missing person. Absolutely, Nancy.

And, you know, police had to rely on app traffic, Uber capturing or Lyft, the ride share in this case, capturing the location of that vehicle to help narrow down this search. It's absolutely difficult in an urban environment, the challenges that investigators face locating an individual amongst tens of thousands of other individual vehicles that look the same, people that look the same. This is a very challenging environment to track one person down. It really is. Of course, Brian Fitzgibbons, when we're doing a rural search, it has its own problems. But I think here, at least she's not out of ping range in a big city like Indianapolis. You know sometimes when a very rural setting, a

mountain setting, a desert setting, you actually go off ping radar. You can't get a cell and it makes it so much harder to rely on technology. So this is what we've got right now. You've got a mom of two who works at night. The children wake up. No mom. Listen. A few hours later, Shanti's family realizes she never made it home. The mom isn't answering her phone either.

When Shanti is still unaccounted for 24 hours later, her family reports her missing and heads to her home to search for clues. Inside her home, a family member finds Shanti's Apple Watch. The watch shows Shanti's phone is still pinging not far from her home. The family walks toward the phone's location, ending up in a wooded area about two blocks away. Okay, I don't like that at all. The way that phones are now used, it's amazing. In this case, they immediately start doing what they can to find her. And that is trying to ping her phone, find my location. Practically

everybody with an iPhone has that. And there have been a lot of cases where phone pings yield evidence. For instance, who can forget? I can't. I'll never forget it. The case of Sherry Papini. Don't any of you guests hide under your desk. Sherry Papini was the young mom who goes missing at Thanksgiving, leaving her husband and children to face the holiday without her. Everyone assumes she's being kidnapped. Why? Because the husband did a find my

iPhone and he finds her iPhone sitting neatly on the side of the road. And that's when I smelled a rat right there, Daryl Cohen. I'm going to Daryl Cohen, former felony prosecutor in inner city Atlanta, now defense attorney. Daryl, interesting. This is when I first smelled a rat with pepini, but I wasn't sure. And I didn't want to attack a potential victim. So I stayed quiet about it for at least a week. Her phone had the earbuds that attach to the phone by wire. She wasn't using speakerphone or Bluetooth. And the attachment had been wrapped neatly around the phone, tucked in, and like sat on top of a mailbox. Okay, Daryl Cohen, really?

You're out jogging. You're forcibly attacked and dragged off, but you had time to neatly wrap up the phone wire and place it on a mailbox. Don't want the phone to get hurt. Okay, right then, rat, smells, stinks. It doesn't stink. It reeks.

Nancy, we know that phones don't have legs and they don't have arms, so they can't do it themselves. So it's obvious that whatever happened to her when it happened, when it happened, was done by someone else, someone who was so smart, they were so actually dumb in what they did and how they planted the phone unless the phone decided it had a mind of its own. Dr. Michelle Dupree is joining us, forensic psychologist, medical examiner, and happily for me, a former detective with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. She's the author of Money, Mischief, and Murder, the Murdoch Saga. The rest of the story, I don't think so, Dr. Dupree. Sadly, I think there's going to be another chapter such as a new trial. So you may have to write a new book. That aside, this is where I'm interested.

She wrote Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Amazing. Dr. Dupree, you have handled so many autopsies and death investigations. When a family, the victim's family, can you imagine? This is her mother out looking for Shanti. Follows the pings into the woods and they know. Why would she, mom, be in the woods? The sense of foreboding must have been horrible, Dr. Dupree.

What victim's families go through when they know inside the person's dead, but they don't know it yet. Dr. Dupree? Nancy, you know that when you see that that phone is out in the woods, a place that she would not normally be, and you just know what's coming next, and you don't want to see it, You don't want to feel it. You deny it. But you can't. And you go forward and then you find her. Silly, devastating. What happens next?

Listen. As the confused family walks through the area, Chanti's mom, Risa Dixon, doesn't find her daughter's phone, but sees what looks like a crumpled figure behind a concrete barrier. As she gets closer, Risa realizes it's a woman lying on her stomach. Her head is covered with a t-shirt, and she's naked from the waist down and unresponsive. Risa calls 911, fearing the worst. Investigators discover the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the temple. Risa identifies the woman as her daughter Chanti Dixon Oh my stars

You know Daryl Cohen I pull your leg a lot But you and I have seen I don't know how many thousands of crime scenes And crime scene photos and autopsy photos You know you and I came from the same district attorney's office. I remember the first homicide I ever had. I thought I was ready for it. I wasn't. I opened the file, Daryl, and you know, our SOP was that would have all the documents necessary, well, up to that point anyway, police reports, supplementals, crime lab reports, autopsy report.

And then in the back, there would be a smaller, sturdy manila folder, about six by four. And in it would be documents and photos you don't want to lose, such as the autopsy photos. But when I opened my first murder case, someone along the way had stapled the autopsy close up in the very front. And I opened it up and I saw that and it barely looked like a person. In that case, I distinctly recall the victim's name was Mary and she had been bludgeoned dead, but she had also been asphyxiated with one of those clear plastic laundry bags over her head and she had sucked in the bag trying to breathe and I couldn't tell what I was seeing at first.

It didn't even look like a face totally. But there were particles all around her nose and mouth where she had sucked in trying so desperately to live. And the medical examiner had to pull the plastic off of her face. So that was a shock when I saw that for the first time. I've seen seasoned, seasoned homicide detectives and a lot of rookies literally vomit at homicide scenes. So when we see that Shanti's mother, Daryl Cohen, sees something and doesn't really realize what it is. It's her daughter's crumpled up body, Daryl. Sometimes bodies don't even look like people.

Nancy, it's not something that we can ever, not something I have ever been able to get used to. I know I'm ready. I know I'm ready. And then when I see it, I find I'm not ready. When you see an autopsy, you know immediately why the autopsy took place. But what you see doesn't resonate in many instances with your brain because you don't want to see it and you can't see it, but you have to see it, especially as a prosecutor. You need to know what you're going after, the person or persons who committed that heinous crime that made the body in front of you in a picture real, up close and personal. And when it gets up close and personal, we who prosecute it never forget it.

You sleep and sometimes wake up seeing that picture. The image is so real that you just can't even believe it. And then you think about the people close to you, your kids, your family, what happens if. This is terrible, Nancy. There's no word. There are no words that can explain how those poor kids feel and how mom felt. A community in mourning, a family seeking justice, the ripple effects of Shanti Dixon's vicious murder. What happened to Shanti? Before we went to break, her mother, Shanti's mother, her children desperately looking for her. And then they see what they find out is a crumpled up body. I would not wish that on anyone

to find your beloved's dead body. Listen. Dozens of Indianapolis Metro PD officers combed the area for clues. It appears Shanti's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier. Her clothing, a green tank top romper, is found next to her body

with both straps ripped at the shoulders. A canine locates Shanti's phone and wallet tossed in the woods away from her body. Family members know Shanti's password, giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigators notice Dixon's last move was to tip an Uber driver who provided two rides. Okay, we've got a lot of evidence to go through. First of all, she was shot.

Lauren Conlon joining me, investigative reporter and co-host of Primetime Crime on YouTube. Lauren, one shot, a single gunshot to the temple. Okay, I'm going to circle back in just a moment, Lauren Conlon, with Dr. Michelle Dupree about trajectory path, the likelihood this could have been some suicide, which I doubt. Statistically, no woman commits suicide naked or partially clothed. That's just not going to happen. Why? I'm not a shrink, Lauren Conlon. Don't know.

Don't care. Frankly, I just know that it's true. Okay. So I'm going to go to her about the manner in which the body has been found, the mode and COD, mode of death, manner of death and cause of death. But let me understand, describe to me, Lauren Collin, exactly the condition in which Shanti's body is found. Her body was naked, crumpled on the ground, and her head was covered with some kind of sweatshirt. She was clearly deceased, Nancy. Crumpled on the ground, a t-shirt or some sort of covering over her head, which is a whole other psychological aspect.

The single shot to the temple of this 30-year-old mom out working at night for her family on her way home to her two children, ages nine and 13. Let's talk about it, Dr. Michelle Dupree, because right there, that is a lot of probative evidence, evidence that proves something to me, critical evidence. Let's start with a single gunshot to the temple. That tells me a lot right there. What can you learn? You know, I always talk about trajectory paths. Like did the bullet come in straight to the side and come out straight to the side? Can I see a trajectory path going straight across? What does that tell me? That tells me that the victim did not shoot themselves because when you shoot yourself you end up pointing whether you mean to or not

up or down one way or the other also I can tell if it was point-blank is there stippling in other words burn marks where the skin has actually touched the end of the gun is there gunshot residue Or was the shot from at least 36 inches away or more, which would render no gunshot residue around the body? Another thing, is there gunshot residue on her hand? We've got a lot to think about. And I've always been curious how, how you, what do you open up the skull to find that trajectory path? How do you actually get and determine the trajectory path of the bullet? Nancy, everything you said is accurate. And we look at all of that. If there is something we call tattooing or stippling, as you mentioned, it may be 36 inches or so away. Then when we do open the skull, we do trace that bullet path

absolutely through the skull and through the brain, what tissues it did. And we find that trajectory. Was it up or down? Was it right to left? And all of those things tell us a lot about what actually happened. This is such a beautiful young lady. I cannot imagine their parents finding her like this. You know, you mentioned right to left. That's also critical. I can't believe I left it out of my summary because what if I find out she's left-handed? A left-handed person cannot shoot themselves from right to left. Okay. You and I have been carefully analyzing another case where that comes into play. The suicide of Ellen Greenberg, a young first grade teacher that stabbed herself 20 times in the back and the back of the neck and the back of the head. In that case, a lot of the stabbings, which is a whole nother animal to try for for the medical examiner to make sense of in the stabbings.

They were many of them would have to have been done with the left hand and she is right handed stabbings that I do not believe someone that was right dominant could have performed with their left hand because of the force necessary and the accuracy necessary to inflict those stab wounds. So it's amazing, isn't it, Dr. Dupree, what we can figure out during autopsy based on the wound alone? Nancy, the body can tell us so many things. It gives us all kinds of clues. If we're just there and looking for it as we should be, it can tell us the whole story nearly. You know, Karen, start with me, renowned psychologist. Karen, I need to talk to you about leaving the mindset of someone that would leave this mom's mostly naked body out in plain view, crumpled up, and interestingly, with a covering over the face. That's something you and I have analyzed many

times. I always use this example, which I find really odd. I had one murder victim shot, found naked on her bed, in her bedroom, at home, and the killer had placed a white wicker trash basket over the victim's head and left her that way. Then there are, of course, less odd variations where the victim's face is covered up with leaves or branches if they're out in the woods with a sheet or a blanket if they're in a home. Here we see the victim's face covered with a t-shirt or a sweatshirt. It means something, Karen Stark. What does it mean and will it help me catch my killer? It means that this particular killer could not bear the thought that this person, even though she's dead, is looking at him, doesn't want to see the face, doesn't want to see what he did. In some instances,

Nancy, where I followed a case, there was a father who killed his family. And with the children, he put something over their head so he wouldn't have to see what he had done as though they are still alive. And it happens a lot, just like some killers pose bodies. They actually are thinking about what the victim looks like after they are dead. We wouldn't imagine that, but they are doing that. A mother of two becomes the latest victim in a disturbing trend. Her story highlights the dark side of ride sharing. Dozens of Indianapolis Metro PD officers combed the area for clues. It appears Shanti's body was dragged behind the concrete barrier. Her clothing, a green tank top romper, is found next to her body

with both straps ripped at the shoulders. A canine locates Shanti's phone and wallet tossed in the woods away from her body. Family members know Shanti's password, giving homicide investigators access to her last digital activity. Investigators notice Dixon's last move was to tip an Uber driver who provided two rides. Last known digital activity, tipping an Uber driver for two rides. What does that mean? That she took a ride, then did an errand for a few moments, and then took another ride with the same driver. What more do we know? Listen. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police respond to a 911 call from a hysterical mother looking for her missing daughter. Risa Dixon is tracking Shanti Dixon's phone when she finds her daughter lying behind concrete barriers at the dead end on Wagner Street, shot in the head.

Shanti Dixon is naked from the waist down with a sweatshirt covering her head. The wrist of Chanty's clothing found ripped nearby and her belongings missing. Joining me is the Director of Operations, USPA Nationwide Security, Brian Fitzgibbons. Brian, again, thank you for being with us tonight. I want to talk about the phenomena of Uber driver, Lyft driver, all the ride chairs and how carefully they are tracked. There is a central location where you can see where they're going. Are they deviating from the address that the client puts in? How does that work? What is the technology that allows us to know? I mean, if I do Instacart for Pete's sake, I can look or Uber Eats, I can see where the driver is, right? So how does it work? It sounds complicated, but it's not,

is it? Well, you're looking at basic GPS technology that's through that driver's app. Okay. And, you know, when it comes to a woman's safety alone with a driver, you know, we're talking about a volume play here. There are so many Uber drivers on the road that Uber corporate, there's no way that they can track any deviations real time. Brian, the technology of that, it's public. I mean, if I can see what the driver's doing, can't Uber headquarters see what the driver is doing? Absolutely. They're going to be able to, you know, especially when police request it, tell you exactly where that driver went, what time, what location, etc. And if there was any

deviation from what the requested ride passenger had asked for. So obviously, Brian Fitzgibbons, we can also determine who is the Uber driver, right? Of course. Of course. So in this case, they were able to quickly do that. And of course, also in this case, I got to go to a shrink on this. The Uber driver that drove Shanti home from work that night to her children is a guy named Francisco Valdez. Karen Stark, he's 29 years old and he lives in mommy's basement. Help me. So this is somebody who is still attached to his mom. Remember we talked before how no one will care for you

or really pay attention most of the time unless it's your mom. Well, he's a mature adult, but he can't leave his mom yet. He's very dependent on her. So he actually has not matured. But wait, I can figure that much out, Karen Stark. I mean, help me out with living with your mom, but not having a relationship of your own with a woman like you don't date, but you still live with your mom. Can you be, for instance, an incel and hate women,

but still live with your mother? You can still live with your mom and actually hate your mom, Nancy. I mean, that is a possibility. It's somebody, if he's not dating and he's still interested in women, then he doesn't come across well with women. He doesn't feel comfortable. He's awkward. And he could possibly really have a hatred for women that is not coming out. Even for his mom, he can't leave her, yet he doesn't feel good about being there or who she is. It happens a lot. You see guys who fight with their mom all the time, but they can't leave their mother. You know, Daryl Cohen with me now, renowned defense attorney throughout the Southeast and beyond, but former felony prosecutor

in a jurisdiction where there's never a lack of business. Inner City Atlanta. Daryl Cohen, we did not call them in sales and voluntaries celibates. But you and I have had a lot of cases where, well, almost always women and children are the victims in a large, large majority of cases. But where it's so obvious that the perp hated women. They were nothing to him. Whoever did this had to really hate women, not just shanty. He didn't even have to know her. Hated women to leave a lady like this? Obviously, what he did was unforgivable and unmentionable. He likely did not know she was a mother and didn't really much care that she was a mother. What he cared about was killing this woman, killing this woman who absolutely likely did nothing to him. Maybe she engaged with him vocally as he was driving. But that's it. He hated her and he made it may have hated all women because what he did show he had no relationship with her. So as a result,

you have to generalize. And in my view, in my view, what he did was unconscionable and unmentionable. And when and if he needs to have one thing and one thing only, and that's the death penalty. And that's me as a defense lawyer, a former prosecutor. So who is 29-year-old Francisco Valadez? And let me warn you, the lies start immediately. Listen. The Uber driver is identified as Francisco Valadez, 29. Using his Uber vehicle details, cops track him down to a home he shares with his mother.

Valadez confirms he drives for Uber and was working early Sunday morning. Valadez tells cops he owns a 9mm pistol but does not carry it when driving. Valadez recognizes a photo of Chanty and remembers her back-to-back rides, but says there was nothing unusual about them. Valadez comments that he heard what sounded like a gunshot as he drove away from the second drop-off. Valadez says he called the police non-emergency line about an hour and a half after dropping Shanti off. When asked why, Valadez's story changes. He now claims that while stopped at an intersection,

a black male armed with a gun approached the back passenger seat where Shanti was sitting and demanded she hand over her valuables. When Shanti refused, the man shot her in the thigh. Valadez says Shanti declined his offer to call 911 and got out of the car still bleeding. Valadez says when police did not respond to his 5.30 a.m. call, he cleaned up the blood in the back seat. Oh, I love it when targets start changing their story.

Not adding to the story because that's to be expected upon further questioning. The witness will add facts with the right questions. But here we get a totally different story. Lauren Collins joining me, investigative reporter, co-host of Primetime Crime on YouTube. Lauren, now, first of all, which is like a big red flag. OK, Jackie, I need a red flag to wave on the set. Cause this, listen to this. He says when he drops her off, he hears what sounds like a gunshot when he drives away. I mean, really, I love that eye roll that, Hey,

I need that eye roll on video. I'm going to turn that into a meme. He hears a gunshot, but yet he just keeps driving. All right. That's the first story. Then he says he called the non-emergency. When I hear what I think is a gunshot, I immediately call 911. They recognize my number. He says he called not non-emergency an hour and a half after dropping her off. And they go, why? Why an hour and a half? He goes, oh, darn, I screwed that up. His story changes. What's his new story, Lauren Conlon?

Well, his next story was that she got shot in the thigh and then police are like, well, she was shot in the head. They realize that he's lying. They take him down. Wait a minute. Wait, you left out the black man. Oh, yeah. It's like Susan Smith all over again. Blame the black man.

OK. Yes. Wait, wait, wait. OK. Daryl Cohen. Daryl Cohen. Daryl, do you remember who went on to become an incredible judge? My former trial partner, Herman Sloan, in our office. Okay.

Of course. Susan. I happen to be. Okay. He wasn't really my trial partner. He would just bail me out when I got in trouble in court, which is like every hour. He'd come in and have the right law and get me out of contempt. Anyway, great friend.

The description that Susan Smith gave of the black man that took her children and carjacked her out in the middle of nowhere. There's a head on also of him. That's not the one, but I saw that and I went, Herman, where were you? Because the front, not the side one at all, but the frontal face description she gave looked like Herman he goes I know I've already been told I look like the guy that carjacked Susan Smith's children the black man is the black man did it and here we're hearing it again he now claims that stopped at an intersection.

Somebody's been listening to Susan Smith. A black man armed with a gun approached the back passenger seat. How did that happen? How did the guy get from the intersection into the back passenger seat and demanded she hand over her valuables, not the driver? And she refused. He shot her in the thigh. I mean, really? Nancy, is what we call it pfa herman sloan got off the bench came over to that area did a pfa which is a pick from

air and all of a sudden she got shot in the thigh which majesticallyically and as if by magic went straight up to her temple and she died. The magic bullet like in a JFK shooting. Okay. That's another thing for Dr. Dupree to explain how that shot in the thigh ends up going right to left and trajectory path through the victim's head. Okay. Listen to this, guys. The investigator informs Valadez that Shanti's body was found and she wasn't shot in the leg. Valadez quickly changes his story again informs Valadez that Shanti's body was found and she wasn't shot in the leg. Valadez quickly changes his story again. Valadez still blames the mugger, but admits he panicked afterward and dumped Shanti's body. However, Valadez adds another odd comment saying that Shanti was clothed when he left her and whatever happened after I dumped her, I know

nothing about. But you have to hear this. That's not all. Wait for it. Listen. Valadez tells investigators he's a 30-year-old virgin and asked Chanti if she would have sex with him during the ride. Valadez says Chanti refused him, but eventually agreed for an undisclosed sum and undressed. Valadez claims that while he was struggling, Chanty made fun of him and eventually angered him so much that he shot her. Valadez then drags Chanty's body into the woods and decides to have another go at it. After another attempt at intercourse with her body, Valadez then dumps her belongings and leaves. Lauren Collin, let me understand. He is saying that Shanti, who's been working all night, okay, on her way home, agrees to have sex with the Uber driver out in the middle

of nowhere and starts undressing. That's his story? Okay, no Lady Gerard is ever going to believe that. No, and he also said at one point, too, that she was smacking him on the head. So he was acting in self-defense. But yes, that is such an absurd claim. And every woman knows that that is BS. Uber faces an alarming surge in sexual assault allegations, with reported cases skyrocketing from 321 in July to a staggering 1,346 today, an increase of over four times in just three months. For people that's out there doing stuff like that man did to my child, because you picked up a stripper at work and you thought, well going to care? We care. And y'all can't do that. From our friends at WRTV,

this mom has lost her daughter. Her daughter had two beautiful children that she supported. Now what? I want to take a listen to what we just heard. Guys, Valadez tells investigators he's a, quote, 30-year-old virgin. Okay. Then he says he gets angry at Shanti, shoots her dead, then drags her in the woods to, quote, have another go at it and tries to have intercourse with her body.

Believe it or not, Karen Starr, you and I know it's not that uncommon. What is that? Well, you're talking again, Nancy, about hatred and you're talking about men who very often have sexual issues. This rape, rape is not about sex. Rape is about violence. Rape is about anger. And they have tremendous anger. They're violent. And they don't care if their victim is alive or dead. Can I get you out of the weeds and back into the middle of the road, Karen Stark. I'm talking about necrophilia, sex with a dead body. That's what I'm explaining. It doesn't matter. Actually, it's easier if the person is dead for these particular people because then they don't feel like they're judged. They don't feel like someone is watching them if they're inadequate, if they're not doing well. And they can just have a go at it and not have to worry about what the reaction is. Death actually turns them on.

Don't you think that's a little euphemistic, Karen Stark? Those are the words of the defendant. Valadez, have a go at it. It's certainly putting perfume on the pig, Dr. Dupree. Have a go at it. That means trying to have sex to penetrate a lady's dead body. Let's just call it what it is. All right. That does not mean Valadez who's presumed innocent until proven guilty. That does not mean that he is insane. Have you ever seen that phenomena?

Dr. Dupree? Yes, Nancy, I have. And there's usually there's evidence of that at the autopsy as well. So this is not something that we see, hopefully very commonly, but it does happen. And he is a sick man. Some may call him sick. I call him a killer. And let me remind Mr. Valadez, lethal injection, the needle is the mode of death in Indiana. A lot better than what Shanty endured. But here's a tiny bit of good news. Listen to Chief Chris Bailey. After an interview, they arrested 29-year-old Francisco Valadez, who was preliminarily charged with murder. I anticipate additional facts being discovered

and additional charges on this individual as we move forward. Like tampering with a dead body, destruction or misuse of a dead body, desecrating a dead body. And remember, a case cannot be made based solely on the confession of a defendant. So we've got to find evidence that he did desecrate her body post-mortem. Tonight, our prayers with her children and her mother. If you are so inclined, there is a GoFundMe set up to help Shanti Dixon's children after her death. Remember, law enforcement is still building its case. If you think you have information of any type, dial 317-262-TIPS. That's 317-262-8477.

We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.