Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen Football Player Viciously Attack by Teammates Over Relationship With Girl

Episode Date: December 17, 2021

16-year-old Cole Hagan ends up hospitalized with two skull fractures and a broken clavicle after being lured into a fight. During a weekend party, Hagan was told by two football teammates that his truck had been damaged. As he went outside to see the destruction, he was assaulted from behind by a third player. Police say a relationship with a girl is thought to be the motive.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Cory Hagan - Victim's Brother Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy), www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology" Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan" Gabby Hart - News Reporter, FOX26 Houston, Motivational Speaker, Twitter/Facebook: @GabbyHartNews, Instagram: @GabbyHart_, GabbyHart.com Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A Lake Jackson teen boy, lured away from his friends, then beaten so badly he's in ICU on a ventilator. Why? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Guys, first of all, I want you to take and listen to this.

This is our friend Bill Spencer at KPRC2. This alleged attacker or alleged attackers, they left him in the street with a fractured skull unconscious. The doctor said yesterday that it was blunt force trauma to the back of his head. He's got fractures inward in the rear of his skull on both sides. He says Lake Jackson police detectives are investigating the attack and this entire ordeal has been gut-wrenching for the family. It's a roller coaster of the most extreme grief you can imagine to see him hurt and to be attacked, it's this senseless brutality.

It's unimaginable. I wish you could see his face. Teen boy Cole Hagen, just scrubbed in sunshine. The all-American boy, star of the football team, well-liked by everyone at his high school there in Lake Jackson, Texas. So why would someone lure him outside, away from his friends, and beat him senseless? Again, thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now.

Gabby Hart, reporter, Fox 26 Houston, joining us. Professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and star of Body Bag with Joseph Scott Morgan on iHeart, joining us, renowned psychologist, forensic psychologist, Dr. Sherry Swartz, her specialty, criminal behavior. James Shelnut, former Metro major case, now lawyer, and special guest joining us, Cole Hagan's brother, Corey. Corey, when did you first learn that your brother had been lured out and badly, horribly attacked? It was last weekend, I guess. I woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning on Saturday to use the restroom and looked at my phone, and I had six missed calls from my father. And so I called him back, and he informed me of the attack and that my brother was in ICU at Herman Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas. So this happened on a Friday night.

Was it after a football game? No, football season had already ended. So what was happening? Your brother's a football player, right? Yes, he is. What position? He's a wide receiver. And isn't he just in the 11th grade? He's a football player, right? Yes, he is. What position? He's a wide receiver. And isn't he just in the 11th grade? He's a junior? He is only a junior, yes. And let

me ask you this. Where are you in relation to him? You're his brother, older brother? 19 years his senior, yeah. So my parents divorced when I was young and my father remarried. And so I have a brother who we share the same father, and we're 19 years apart. So your little brother is lured out and beaten to the point he is on a ventilator. Where was he? They were at a gathering at one of his friend's house, a girl's house. They were all swimming. I guess it was kind of a swimming party. And

that's where the attack occurred. Let's go straight out to Gabby Hart joining us, Fox 26, Houston. Gabby, what do we know right now? What happened? Well, you know, it's just as we've been hearing, pretty awful. And, you know, when we look at the neighborhood where this party was held at, we went over to Cherrywood Court. And I mean, these are nice houses. I mean, this is a very, you know, well-established community. There's a city full of parks and, you know, for families. So the fact that this happened in such a what's assumed to be prestigious area, you know, is also pretty shocking. Gabby Hart, you said that it's a really nice neighborhood

with these big, beautiful houses and parks. Where is Lake Jackson, Texas exactly? So it's a city in just about, I'd say, an hour and a half outside of Houston in Brazoria County. You know, 2019, it had a population of just over 27,000 people. And again, a super nice area, a nice home, quiet street. You know, you look at that neighborhood and think, you know, good people live here and nothing like this would happen on a street that looks like this one just from going to that area. It's written up as one of the best places in the country to live, one of the best places in Texas to live, Lake Jackson, Texas. And, you know, Joe Scott, crime happens everywhere.

But the fact that it happens in a tree-lined, residential, upscale neighborhood tells me a lot about who the perp is. Yeah, it does, Nancy. That means that whoever did this felt very comfortable in this environment. Let's just say it's not somebody standing on the corner selling a head of crack. No, that's not it. Whoever did this was what we would consider to be in the circle of intimates around this young man. They knew him.

They knew him probably pretty well. And keep in mind mind this wasn't just a single person uh you you've got a multi-pronged attack here so explain what you're saying and try to uh talk in regular people talk please well they went there with purpose in mind nancy you know who who brings a gang of people to attack a junior in high school? You know, why him? I can't imagine, even though he lives in a nice area, I can't imagine that, you know, he's walking around with gold in his pockets.

And beat this badly. Beat this badly to the point he's on a ventilator. Let's just get right there. What does that mean that you're on a ventilator? When I hear ventilator, I think of one of those big fat tubes down your throat breathing for you. Yeah. All our listeners have to do is take a look at the picture, Nancy.

It's heartbreaking. And that's the condition that he's in. This is a young man who is a highly trained athlete. His body is tuned. And so it was so bad that he has to have his breathing has to be assisted by the ventilator that you're right. It's a tube that goes into the throat and it literally assists you in breathing. That means that his brain has sustained sufficient amount of trauma so that that that the base area in the back of your brain, the primal area that handles everything from breathing to heartbeat, they're afraid that it's going to be compromised, that he won't be able to do it on his own, Nancy.

That's how vicious this was. So it basically breathes for you. Yes, it does. Let me go to you, Corey Hagan, your Cole's older brother. What went through your mind when you got to the hospital and you saw your little brother on a ventilator? It was gut-wrenching, Nancy. I don't know that I've ever experienced grief like I felt in that moment. And then shortly thereafter, anger. We're 19 years apart, so he's more like a son to me than he is a little brother. We never had the spats where we lived in the same house and like normal brothers do. It's just been more of an affectionate relationship where I was trying to guide him and be an example for him and love on him. So he's more like a baby to me,

you know, and it was just, it was a roller coaster up and down constantly of you're just, you hurt for him, you're worried about him, and then you want to hold these people accountable to the full extent of the law. Dr. Sherry Schwartz, I've got to tell you something. Dr. Sherry Schwartz is our now psychologist joining us. She is the author of Criminal Behavior and Where Law and Psychology Intersect. Dr. Sherry, speaking of the bond between these two siblings, Cole Hagen and his big brother, Corey, who is with us right now, I've never seen anybody as close as my twins, John, David,

and Lucy. I mean, that bond between a brother and a sister or a brother and a brother or sister, sister, there's really nothing like it. You know, you think that the mother-child bond is incredible, but that sibling bond is very strong. What creates that, Dr. Sherry? Well, the difference in the relationship is what creates it, right? You know, especially at a certain age when you become an adolescent, you might not want to turn to your parents as much because you think they don't understand. And they understand. Yeah. So for the twins, they're the same age. They understand each other a little bit better.

You know, they're maybe going to be able to figure out how to work around mom. Right. And so this creates a sense of closeness. They cover for each other. I think it's really profound what Corey is saying, that it wasn't really like brother, brother because of the age difference, but that he sees him as more like a son in that way. Right. Because he's so much older. But still, his brother would be more likely maybe to come to him instead of dad and mom because he's not the parent. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Then matters are made worse when we find out more about the plot to. With these kind of injuries, I just have to say the plot to kill, because when you beat somebody so badly, what's your intent? To scare them or to kill them? Take a listen to our cut six.

This is Courtney Carpenter, ABC 13. Cole is still in ICU. His brother says he suffered two skull fractures and a broken clavicle. And sadly, I think it's a long shot for him ever to play football again, which was one of his biggest passions. He's been robbed of a lot. The family is offering a reward for a video they believe will show what happened. Supposedly there's a video, so I went on and said, hey, I'll give you a thousand dollars if you bring the video. A lot of money to a high school kid. And then I just, the support started rolling in. The reward is now up to $25,000. Ultimately, Hagan says he wants the people involved

to be held accountable. To me, that's shocking. These ghouls who stand by and video heinous crimes. The other day I read about, to Dr. Sherry Schwartz, and boy, do I need to shrink on this, a woman was attacked and raped on a subway platform in New York, and nobody did anything. It's Kitty Genovese all over again, where a woman is attacked and raped brutally, and nobody does a thing. What is that?

Well, because of Kitty Genovese's case, some very famous social psychology research came out of that. And we call it the bystander effect, which is in many instances, people have to interpret that something awful is happening to get involved. Now, arguably, you see somebody being beat or raped, you know something awful is happening. But then what people tend to do, especially if there's more people around, they look around to say, well, maybe I'm misinterpreting it because no one else is reacting. Why are you saying that? Dr. Sherry Schwartz, where did you go to graduate school? I went to Florida International University,

and we studied this. Okay, well, I don't know what you guys are talking about, but they're ghouls standing by and watching somebody being beaten or raped and do nothing. And you're telling me that the explanation is that they look at each other to figure out, are we really seeing what we're seeing? Is that what you're saying? Yes, that's what the research shows, that people have to interpret that an emergency is happening. It's sort of a way of passing the responsibility to other human beings. So nobody's doing anything. So I don't want to be the one to get involved. Now, that sounds about right, right there. But when you see a lady getting raped or you see a young teen boy getting brutally beaten,

did you hear two skull fractures and a broken clavicle? You know that's wrong. That is wrong. And not only was somebody standing by watching it, they videoed it, according to Paul's brother, Corey Hagan, who has now put the reward up to $25,000 for video. So, Corey, why do you believe some ghoul, some vulture, actually videoed the attack on your little brother? So, multiple reasons, Nancy. One of those being that we have indication that this was planned in advance.

And these kids today, they video everything. I mean everything. And if they knew this was coming, we assumed that they would video it. But also, we've had a ton of people reach out to me, which are kids, and say that it was videoed. Now, as of now, I have not heard that we've recovered the video or that the police have unless they have not shared that with us yet. But it's a high likelihood that it was videoed. I don't know that we'll ever recover it. Well, I got to tell you this, Corey Hagan, when you don't know a horse,

look at his track record. Do teens video every single thing in their life? Yes. So the answer to that would be yes. Guys, take a listen to our cut 10. This is David Gonzalez, KHOU11. When Corey Hagan pictures his 16-year-old brother Cole, he thinks of a star athlete on the Brazos Wood high school football team

who enjoys hanging out with his family and friends. Man, he loves his friends and he's the kind of guy you can count on. The two are 19 years apart, but they share a close bond. We talk all the time and I'm always trying to help him out any way I can. You know, I love him. He's more like a son than a brother. You know, we don't have you don't have any rifts whenever you're this far apart, you know, so it's just love. So he's heartbroken trying to process what happened to Cole on Friday when he says his brother was attacked at a social gathering with other teens at a home on Cherrywood Court in Lake Jackson. Complete senseless brutality. I mean, completely senseless brutality. Allegedly, two of his friends lured him outside. Stop right there. In with brutality, senseless brutality. But then as the plot unfolds, the shock runs even deeper.

Take a listen to our cut seven. This is Mario Diaz, KPRC. It's just the most evil and bizarre thing I've ever heard. Tom Selleck is a Brazoria County district attorney. There's a lot of people involved, but as cases go, it's fairly straightforward. Officials at Brazoswood were unavailable when we showed up on campus. A member of the football team did say a team meeting was held this morning. The head coach telling players to pray for Cole. Corey Hagan finds it hard to believe teammates are responsible for putting his brother in the

hospital. I played sports growing up and my teammates were like my brothers. These guys would have never done that, even if we had a disagreement. Again, investigators continuing to try and piece this attack together. Members of his own football team possibly gave him a beating so severe he ends up on a ventilator. Take a listen to Brittany Jeffers, KPRC 2. This is high school junior Cole Hagen. Just months ago, this was the wide receiver out on the gridiron, but now beaten unconscious.

The Brazoswood High School football player is in a hospital bed at Memorial Hermann Hospital. His family says that fellow students are to blame. We're extremely close, and it's just heartbreaking. He doesn't deserve it. We're going to get justice for him. Corey Hagan says his younger brother Cole was lured to a teen party in the Lake Jackson Farms neighborhood on Friday night. And it was there where he says his brother was attacked out in the street by a group of others,

possibly friends of his, who were angry about his relationship with a girl. He says they told Cole to come outside because his truck had been damaged. And after the attack, he was left in the street. Okay, to Gabby Hart joining us, Fox 26 Houston. So his own friends are the ones that lured him out? What happened? Allegedly, Nancy, not only his own friends, his teammates, teammates on his football team lured him out. What happened? Allegedly, Nancy, not only his own friends, his teammates, teammates on his football team, lured him out. Now, what we heard from family and from some

people in that community is that this situation was over a girl. So we have two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old who are now facing some serious charges and accused of attacking him again, possibly over a girl. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Corey Hagan, this is Cole's brother, his big brother. Isn't it true that some of the first words your brother could utter, he thought he had been in a car crash and he asked, were his friends okay? Yes, Nancy, that was the first thing he asked was, are my friends okay? Does he have any idea what really happened? He now knows that he

was attacked. He does not know who did that yet. We are waiting on some advice from a psychologist ourselves to ensure that we present that in such a way that it does not completely dismantle every bit of security that he has. I mean, if you cannot trust your close friends, who can you trust? And so we just want to make sure that we're approaching this the right way and we communicate that in a way that is best for my brother. Guys, this isn't just a black eye. This isn't just a roughhousing in the front yard. He has a broken clavicle. He was put on a ventilator. He didn't even know what happened to him. He had no memory surrounding the attack. He was beaten literally senseless. To you, Joe Scott, explain the force necessary to break a clavicle.

A tremendous amount of force, Nancy. If folks will just kind of touch their shoulder right below their neck, long bone running right there, it's our collarbone. And it's, you know, the thing about that bone itself. You mean across the middle? Yeah, across the middle to either the left or the right of the neck. It's a very robust bone. It takes a lot of force in order to do this. As a matter of fact, it would or the right of the neck, it's a very robust bone. It takes a lot of force in order to do this. As a matter of fact, it would take the equivalent of either being picked up and slammed down onto a hard surface like asphalt or concrete, or somebody standing over you and stomping on it in order to affect that. I mean, you see this in car accidents. That's the kind

of force that it takes. And let's keep in mind that also Cole had two separate skull fractures, not just one. And the skull is very resilient too, Nancy. His skull fractured twice. That means that more than likely he was pounded multiple times in the skull in order to get that external table of the skull that's really thick, the way the good Lord made us to protect our brain, and it actually fractured. What concerns me about this, Nancy, what concerns me are the long-term effects relative to his young body. Even at this stage, he's going to have to look out for things like stroke, Nancy. He's going to maybe have difficulty walking in the future, and memory loss, and those sorts of things. We hear about CTE and professional football players.

This is 10 times worse than that, Nancy. Corey, I'm sorry for you to have to have to hear that. Have the doctors told you guys that? Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, I have not been able to be at the hospital. I got to go during the ER when he was in the ER trauma unit. And then when they moved him to ICU, I could no longer see him up until this past Friday. And so I haven't been in a lot of the doctor's visits. I will say, since everyone's brain is different and heals differently, the doctors, they stay pretty vague on their outlook for the

future, but they give warnings just like Mr. Joseph Scott just was telling us that, you know, we don't know what the long-term effects are going to be. So, I mean, it's, we don't know. It's just going to be a long road, I think, for him. Corey, do they think he's had brain damage? I'm not sure. They've moved him into the rehabilitation facility and they're doing all of their analysis on him now. And so they have not come out and said that he has permanent brain damage, but they have not come out and said he's not going to have any brain damage long term either. So we don't know at this point. Guys, take a listen to our cut eight Fox 26.

The three people arrested for the beating of 16 year old Cole Hagan were actually on the same football team as him. Hagan now has brain injuries. We're told three skull fractures, as well as a broken collarbone. And his brother says he believes all of this was over a girl. And these guys think they own these girls after they break up and they get to tell her who she can and can't date after that and get mad about it. Corey Hagan says his 16-year-old brother, Cole Hagan, was set up and attacked by three people that he should have been able to trust the most. Members of his own football team at Brassels Wood High School. It's unimaginable, really.

The attack happened Friday night at a party near Cherrywood Court in Lake Jackson. Allegedly, there were two that lured him outside who were both his friends. I know a couple of the kids involved he actually went to prom with this year. Hagan is still in the ICU at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Family says he is making some progress. He's off the ventilator and breathing on his own. Went to prom with him and they gave him brain damage. Explain to me, Corey Hagan, what you think happened. I think that you had an entitled group of young men that, and allegedly a

couple of young girls who helped instigate this um they got upset about a picture that my brother was in with one of these boys ex-girlfriends um there was nothing risque about the picture it was um just a picture of them beside one another and um these kids came up with this plan uh that they would carry out this attack where they sent, the group of them got together at one house and they sent two of them to the gathering where my brother was to tell him his truck had been hit. He comes outside to check on his truck and the group of kids are there. Now, we don't know, the police are saying they don't have any reason to believe that there was more than one actual physical attacker.

But we don't know yet. I mean, they're still doing an investigation. I can tell you one of the hardest things for our family is that physical attack. The main attacker that they arrested first, Reed Mitchell, you know, he didn't even spend a night in jail. The J.P. came in on a Sunday morning, set his bond at twenty thousand dollars. He paid two grand, took a couple of pictures for the mugshots, and he was headed home while my brother was fighting for his life. Do you mind telling me that again in slow-mo? Not at all. So what we believe happened was there was a group of high school boys and a couple of

girls that came up with this plan. We have firsthand witnesses that heard the planning of this attack. That group of kids got together at one house while the gathering where my brother was was going on at another house. The group of attackers planned to send two of their group to where my brother was to lure him outside. So they went in and said, Cole, someone's hit your truck. Let's go see it. Well, these guys were on his team. He trusted them. He walks outside with him to check on his truck, and the attack takes place.

They leave him in the road, unconscious, and the main attacker, Reed Mitchell, allegedly main attacker, Reed Mitchell, sends a message to one of my brother's good friends in the backyard of the place where they were to say, hey, come get your boy. He's laying in the street. So they came and got my brother, called 911, and they were going to lifeline him, but the fog was too bad that night. But the worst part for our family, or one of the worst parts of this, is that Mitchell didn't even have to spend the night in jail. A local JP came in on a Sunday morning, set his bond at $20,000.

He paid $2,000, took his pictures, and he was on his way while my brother laid in bed fighting for his life. Take a listen to our cut five, Fox 26 Houston. The community came together Wednesday night at Freeport Park and prayed for a full recovery. Police have identified the suspects as 17-year-old Aiden Holland, 18-year-old Logan Huber, and 17-year-old Reed Mitchell. They're all facing serious felony charges. I just hope that they're held accountable to the full extent of the law. My brother's certainly not getting cut any deals. He's laying in a hospital bed and we're all so praying that he's going to come back and be normal again, which we don't know.

And now the family says they believe that there's video of the attack out there and they say they're offering a $20,000 reward for anyone who hands it over so that they can assist police with this investigation by checking out and looking at that video. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Gabby Hart joining me from Fox 26 Houston. Gabby, again, thank you for being with us. It's my understanding that two of the perps reportedly lured Cole out and then he was attacked by Mitchell. Well, what's the working theory of cops right now? And what jackass gave this guy bond?

You know what, Nancy? There's a lot of people asking that same question right now. But again, you know what we're hearing, and this is unconfirmed, but that this kid, Reed Mitchell, who is accused of this attack, actually has some pretty high connections, you know, within the higher ups out there. So he was able to be released that quickly. Again, we're still working to confirm that. Now, again, police saying that they believe Reed Mitchell is the 17 year old who committed this assault. And the other two arrested, Aiden Holland and Logan Huber, Aiden is 17, Logan Huber is 18, are believed to be the two that allegedly lured him out of the home. I can tell you right now all three of the suspects at last check are looking at charges of aggravated

assault. We've also seen some comments on social media, comments from people in the community saying that those charges just aren't stiff enough for what happened to Mr. Hagan. You know, the law is that it's presumed you intend the natural consequence of your act. And I've used this example before because I use it with juries. For instance, if I take a piece of fine china, the kind that you can actually see through, almost you can see a shadow of a hand behind it, and then I throw it to a cement floor, the law presumes I intend to break it. So when you jump on a guy, throw him to the ground, to the pavement, fracture his skull, beat him, smash his face in with your elbow, and go on and on and leave him there bleeding out, what does the law presume you intend to kill him? That's what the law presumes you intend. So why are they not charged with attempted

murder? And more important, why are they out walking free, all three of them, on bond? Why is that, Corey Hagan? You know, the only thing that we can think of is because of the connections that these kids allegedly have in the group, you know, the Mitchell kid, allegedly his grandfather was a former sheriff of a neighboring county. And we've been told that he made calls, which is, again, it's an allegation. Two of the other guys that were involved in the group that came over to carry out the attack one his grandfather is a municipal judge here in lake jackson the other his grandfather is a former

sheriff of our county and so you know i've i've hired an attorney for our family and we have set with the district attorney and with the local police department to let them know that, you know, our expectations are that these kids are treated, you know, just and fairly. With me is Corey Hagan. This is Cole's brother, his older brother. So who we think to be the main perp, reportedly Reed Mitchell, 17 years old, is the one who did most of the beating, reportedly. You're telling me his grandfather is who?

He is a former sheriff of the neighboring county. Okay. And Logan Huber. I'm not afraid to say their names out loud. And I'm looking right at their pictures. Logan Huber, 17, reportedly lured your little brother out to take a beating that gave him brain damage and left him on a ventilator. He and Aiden Holland, those two boys are the ones that lured him out. Right. He and Aiden.

I'm taking them one by one. So Logan Huber, daddy or granddaddy is who? He doesn't have any connections. He's just with the connected. Okay. Aiden Holland, 18. Who's his dad and granddad? He does not have any direct connections that I know of. Just part of the group that has the connection. So hangers on. And these were your brother's friends? Teammates.

Prom, went to prom together with all of these boys. Dr. Sherry Schwartz, I don't understand it. I do not understand it. Could you explain to me? I would say pack mentality, but when you have pack mentality, all I can think of is the Lord of the Flies. But this is worse than pack mentality because have pack mentality, all I can think of is the Lord of the Flies. But this is worse than pack mentality, because with pack mentality, you go along with the crime. But not necessarily when you know the victim so well, that's more of a random crime scenario.

It's called wilding. What is this scenario, Dr. Sherry Schwartz, in psychological terms? Well, in psychological terms, what we have here, we have kids who are playing football, kids who sound like they come from privileged backgrounds. So their aggression, all of that is rewarded, right? Because in football, hit hard, you get rewarded for that. That's how you win. That's how you get accolades. And then, you know, you have all of this jealousy, it sounds like, over the fact that, you know, this was over a girl potentially. And then you have the peer pressure aspect of these kids who know in advance what's going to happen. Maybe not everybody knew that it was going to be this brutal, but they knew that, okay, we're going to lure him out

and he's going to be confronted. And people participate in this. And in an environment where kids are not really good at keeping secrets from each other, they do somehow keep this somewhat secret from Cole to be able to lure him out by telling him, hey, you know, your truck got hit. So you've got this cocktail of, you know, what your friends are doing. You don't want to be left out. You don't maybe want to be bullied yourself. You don't want to be uncool. And then you stand by and watch this horrible thing happen. And no one

reports it, Nancy. That's the other thing. It's unlikely, right? We don't know. It's unlikely they planned it that day. So no one reported it. No one told the teacher. No one told another parent. I mean, that's really scary. Gabby Hart joining me from Fox 26 Houston. Because of the reported connections these thugs have, is this going to just be swept under the rug and nobody cares or notices? Well, you know what, Nancy, I can tell you that the community cares. And us as a news organization are going to do everything on our end to get answers. I can tell you that we've been in constant, you know, communication with the Lake Jackson Police Department requesting statements, requesting updates. So, you know, it's not something that's going to fall by the wayside. And we're also going to ask the question, you know, is there a need for

tougher charges on these teens? Why are they out? You know, we've already asked that and we're waiting to kind of get some correspondence back on that. But it's definitely something that us at Fox 26 plan to keep pushing for answers. We also plan to update, you know, the community on Cole Hagan's status as he improves. And of course, wishing him the best here. But we plan to stay on top of it, Nancy. Well, I'm just wondering if we don't need an independent prosecutor brought in, because if this prosecutor has ties to a former sheriff or a former judge, that's not going to work. No, you need somebody completely unbiased that will investigate and prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law. Guys, today, our prayers for Cole Hagan. We don't know what his future may be or what his family is going through.

But I can guarantee you this, Lady Justice doesn't cut you a break just because your daddy was a sheriff in the neighboring county or your brother's a judge. It doesn't matter to her. It doesn't matter to us. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.