Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen girl charges with knife, shot dead

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. A police officer responds to an attempted stabbing, gets there, and sees a woman swinging a knife wildly at another person. That person falls to the ground. So the cop shoots. He ended up shooting a 16-year-old girl, Makia Bryant. 911, where's your emergency? It's 3171, meet your way. Is there an apartment number letter? What's going on?

Starting point is 00:00:58 Come up here. Mamie, you need to talk to me. We need a police officer here now. Ma'am, do you see any weapons? We need a police officer here now. Do you see any weapons? We need a police officer now. Ma'am, do you see any weapons? Ma'am, do you see any weapons? No! You know, you are hearing it just as the 911 dispatch hears it, just as police hear it.

Starting point is 00:01:47 You can hardly make sense of what is going on, and that happens all the time in 911 cases. That is why 911 dispatch is trained so carefully, and police go into a scene really not exactly knowing what they're walking into. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of how a teen girl is shot dead after a frantic 911 call that someone is going to get stabbed. First of all, Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, anchor, court TV at AshleyWilcott.com. Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst to the stars joining us from L.A., star of a new Netflix program, Bling Empire. And you can find Dr. Bethany at DrBethanyMarshall.com.

Starting point is 00:02:33 Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon and star of Poisonous Liaisons on the True Crime Network. Death Investigator Joseph Scott Morgan. But first, a special guest joining us from ABC 6, Fox 28, Columbus, Haley Nelson.

Starting point is 00:02:52 Thank you for being with us. It's hard to make sense of that 911 call. But what I'm hearing, and we have actually recorded it and listened to it over and over and transcribed it, you hear someone screaming into the phone. She's at 3171 Legion Lane, and there is a girl trying to fight and stab them, and they need a police officer there now, and screaming, screaming, screaming. First of all, tell me about the area. What do you know that happened?

Starting point is 00:03:31 Well, we know at this point that someone had called into 911 desperately needing some kind of help. One of the big things going around on social media, people saying in the community was that Micaiah Bryant had called 911. She needed help from police right now. Columbus Police, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, they will not confirm at this point who called 911. But it turns out now we know that the 16 year old had been shot and killed. She was living in a foster home at that time. So that is where all of this violence unfolded. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Is it Hallie or Haley, Nelson? Haley.

Starting point is 00:04:11 Haley. Thank you. Haley, I'm hearing you recite the facts, and I know that you're correct, but something's missing. You're saying they got a 911 call and the girl was shot. But something had to precipitate that 911 call. And do we know if any of the victims in the case had knives? Because whoever called did not have a knife. And I know that Makia Bryant did have a knife. So why would Makia Bryant call and say if she were being threatened by a knife when she's the one that's got the knife? That's how it appears that she had the knife in the body camera video. But that's been some of the big questions we've been trying to get to the bottom to asking, were there other people at the scene that were armed? How did this all begin? Unfortunately,

Starting point is 00:05:06 BCI, which is run by the Ohio Attorney General's Office, they are not revealing those details to us at that point. But that's one of the biggest questions and concerns right now going on in the community. What was going on? Are you saying B-C-I? B as in brother, C as in Christy, I as in intelligence? Yes. B, C, I. Okay. Yes. All right. So right now, we don't know how many people had a knife at the scene when the cops got there.

Starting point is 00:05:35 They don't know how many knives were on the scene? They're not revealing that to us. We don't know how many people were there, ages. They're keeping that pretty close to the chest. Do we know if the victim had a knife? We don't, officially. All we know is what they are showing us in that body camera,

Starting point is 00:05:51 what you can see with your own eyes and draw conclusions from there. And with me is a reporter with Fox 28 ABC 6 Columbus. Haley, you've reviewed the video. What do you see? Do you see anybody else with a knife other than Makia Bryant? I've watched it closely.

Starting point is 00:06:10 It's hard to tell. When you're watching that video, you see her holding something. I don't see the other folks. You see one woman who seems to be holding a dog. But when you listen to that 911 call, it just sounds like pandemonium. Well, it does sound like pandemonium, but we've all looked at the video and I don't see anybody else holding a knife. I see the girl in the pink. She has one hand in a pocket. The other hand is holding a dog. She's standing up by the car. I don't see anybody else with a knife. I see Makia Bryant in blue jeans and a black shirt.

Starting point is 00:06:52 I think that's her. I see a woman in shorts on the sidewalk. She doesn't have anything in her hands. The other woman has a dog in her hand and her other hand in a pocket. Where's this coming from that another person had a knife other than Makia Bryant? One of the biggest things I've been noticing with this situation is there's been a lot of talk going on on social media in the community, people saying that there were multiple threats going on or a lot of people fighting. We don't necessarily see that in the video. Obviously, we just see, sadly, the end result,

Starting point is 00:07:33 kind of the end of all of that, but none of that information has been confirmed. And I think that's why people are so desperate to get more answers from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, DCI, about what exactly was unfolding, because right now there are a lot more questions than there are answers. Let's bring in the panel, but first of all, take a listen to this. This is from Nicholas Reardon's body cam footage. Hey.

Starting point is 00:07:59 What's going on? What's going on? Hey, hey, hey. Get down, get down, get down, get down? Hey, hey, hey! Get down! Get down! Get down! Hey, you! You! You!

Starting point is 00:08:14 You! You! You! You! You! You! You! Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about the shooting death by an officer of a 16-year-old teen girl. Okay, right at the outset, whenever a civilian dies or is shot, when officers go to a scene, there's something very wrong. That's not supposed to

Starting point is 00:09:07 happen. When an officer goes to a scene and perceives a threat to the officer, another officer, or a civilian, shots may be fired. So I'm trying to figure out why this girl was shot. From what I can tell, and you heard that sound, that's Nicholas Reardon's body cam footage. It was pandemonium, as Hilly Nelson is telling us, complete pandemonium. You got a cop going into that scene, trying to make sense of it. And I don't know if you've looked at the video, Joe Scott Morgan, what do you see? Because I don't see anybody else with a knife except Makia Bryant. No, that's the only individual at the scene that I actually see holding a knife at that moment in time. She has it essentially drawn back with her right hand. And this is the interesting perspective, Nancy. The view that

Starting point is 00:10:07 you're getting from the officer-worn camera is literally down the barrel of his weapon. If folks at home, there's a great freeze frame that's out there that you can look down the barrel of that weapon and actually see her knife or the knife that she's holding in her right hand. And she's kind of twisted at her waist to the right as if she's generating force. Just think about somebody kind of holding a baseball bat and twisting backwards to swing forward. And it's a very interesting, and I can tell you why, but it's a very interesting anatomical can tell you why, but it's a very interesting anatomical position, particularly when you consider that there were shots fired afterwards.

Starting point is 00:10:50 I'm looking at the video right now to you, Ashley Wilcott, judge and trial lawyer. What do you see? You know, I agree with Joe Scott Morgan, and that's what I see as well. But Nancy, one of the things that bothers me about what I see and what I heard, if we could go backwards to the 911 tape, is it's children. Listen to the voices and the sound of the voices. And you can tell the age. And when you get there and they're watching this. And so not only do I only see one knife. Yes, there's chaos.

Starting point is 00:11:18 Yes, it's scary when you walk into that situation as law enforcement. But I see kids, Nancy. That's what I see. I see I see teens, but I also see a knife. And when somebody swinging a knife at an unarmed victim, I mean, McKee, I'm looking at it. I mean, am I seeing it from the wrong angle, Dr. Bethany Marshall? Because I don't want a 16-year-old girl shot. But I also don't want another teen girl stabbed dead with a cop standing right there doing nothing.

Starting point is 00:11:52 I mean, I've been playing this video on a loop since we started the show today. And Nancy, not only is it chaotic and not only is this one teen girl the only one with the knife but you have other people actually falling over that's what's strange in the foreground you have both a man and a woman let's see you have two one person on the ground and you have another person falling backwards and I can't figure out what caused that do you you see what I'm seeing? Well, I see Bryant in the video, Makia Bryant, swinging a knife at the young woman. Girl in the pink. In shorts. There's a girl in the pink that has the dog.

Starting point is 00:12:36 And she's kind of leaning back against, at the beginning anyway, leaning back against a car. Clearly not presenting a threat. The girl in the pink jogging outfit. So she doesn't have a knife. She's holding a little dog and she's got her other hand in her pocket. Hands like that because there's no bulge in the pocket, palm and pocket. So she's leaning back against the car. Then I see Makia Bryant, age 16, swing a knife at a young girl, a young woman, who was wearing shorts. And after she slashes, the girl in shorts falls backward onto the ground. I mean, if you look at it, it looks like she may have been cut. A slowed down version shows Makia Bryant then clutching the knife and directs it at the woman who's leaned back against the car. She is cowering, kind of defending herself to the blow that she's about to get.

Starting point is 00:14:04 And Re in fires. That's what I see. Am I missing something? Nancy, not only is it the knife when she pulls back and she has the knife aimed at the girl in the neon pink jogging suit, it's right at the girl's abdomen. I mean, I'm a psychoanalyst. I'm not a medical psychoanalyst. I'm a non-MD clinician. But when you point a knife at

Starting point is 00:14:28 somebody's abdomen, that's where all the major organs are. And I can see how in the melee, you might be really concerned that somebody's going to die at the scene, that this is a deadly situation that's unfolding very quickly. You know, we have the gift of hindsight. We're playing this tape again and again and again. But what happens when you're on that scene, your adrenaline's pumping, and you're trained to keep people safe, and somebody's walking around wielding a gun in such an aggressive manner. I can't imagine how someone makes a decision in a case like that. It seems very

Starting point is 00:15:14 threatening to me. Well, now we have freeze frames of the incident and you see it's pretty damning. I see Makia Bryant, age 16. It looks like she's got one, her left hand up toward the victim in the pink track suit, kind of neon peach. And she's got her right hand reared back like she's fixing to she's about to stab the girl and you see the neon pink tracksuit girl defending herself in a classic defense maneuver she pulls up she drops the dog the dog is dropped on the ground she's got both hands up like this. She does not have a weapon in her hand. Palms are open. She does not have a weapon. She's cringing back. She's lifting her left knee up over her body like this. And Makia Bryant is going in with the knife. That's what I'm seeing. But you know what? Let's listen. Take a listen to more.

Starting point is 00:16:27 This is the second officer that arrives on the scene, body cam footage. And it sounds crazy, but let's try to dissect, pick out what we can make of it. Get down, get down, get down. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Starting point is 00:17:09 I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Starting point is 00:17:15 I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, for those of you just joining us, there are no winners in this scenario. And the truth is very difficult to discern. But what we are talking about is a 16- old teen girl who is welding a knife and it's a substantial knife too i'm interested to find out joe scott morgan you're my forensics expert that just the blade on that knife looks to be at least four inches long yeah i think i think you might be shy on your measurement there.

Starting point is 00:18:06 I think that it might because the freeze frame I'm looking at right now, her right index finger is actually obscuring part of the blade, Nancy. That's right. I know I'm looking at the same thing. Is this with neon tracksuit girl cowering and the dog is on the ground and Makia Bryant is reared back with a knife and the knife you can see it really well yeah and you know part of the handle is actually hanging out of the backside she's really choked up on this thing it almost looks like this is a kitchen knife nancy it looks

Starting point is 00:18:38 like a butcher knife to me looks like a butcher knife who goes out in the yard with a knife like that i'm thinking you know it's one thing if you're carrying a pocket knife. This is no pocket knife. No, it's not. You're showing up with a knife that has that length of a blade. It's pretty amazing to me that someone would even have that in their hands. I mean, what are you doing with a knife like that? That takes purpose. uh purpose you have

Starting point is 00:19:07 the purpose i'm gonna go look at the other still frame with the dog still on the ground and the neon tracksuit girl is now that she's got her knee up against her right in the defensive gesture yep now you see makia bryant has the knife. Now she's got it up like that right at neck length, I guess. The same paralleling her neck and face. Do you see that? Yeah, and so she's coiled at that point in time. I'm talking about Bryant is coiled at that point. She's generating

Starting point is 00:19:47 energy in order to thrust the thing forward. And Nancy, if I can just expand on this a little bit, I got to tell you, I've worked a lot of knife fatalities over the course of my career. And most of the time they take place in the home. All right. This is not something you see. You hear about it on the street, but they take place in the home. All right, this is not something you see. You hear about it on the street, but they take place in the home. What do we reach for in the home? The thing that's the most convenient. And most of the time, you see more, in my experience, my little slice of the world, I've seen more knife fatalities relative to things you use in the kitchen

Starting point is 00:20:17 as opposed to a guy carrying a switchblade or a buck knife or something like that. And so these injuries are particularly nasty first because the shank on the blade, the backside of it is very, very robust. All right. Cause you know, you're talking about cutting through bone and, uh, you have such length. So you're going to be able to really get in to the central part of the body and kind of work your way in with this knife. And these injuries, most of the time, particularly if you hit anywhere in the chest,

Starting point is 00:20:51 they have a high, high percentage of lethality at that point in time. You're saying lethality, lethal. Lethality. Yeah, absolutely. It's not going to end well, Nancy. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. It's not going to end well, Nancy. Okay, this is what the Columbus mayor says. Andrew Ginther says, we know based on this footage, the officer took action to protect another girl in our community. Already protests have started. There are reports that the victim, Makia Bryant,

Starting point is 00:21:23 made the call to police. Let's take another listen to that 911 call, Hour Cut 1. Listen. 911, where is your emergency? 911? It's 3171. Leave that way. Is there an apartment number or letter?

Starting point is 00:21:48 Come up here! Ma'am, you need to talk to me. It's 3171. We got these grown girls over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put our hands on our grandma. Get here now! Have you seen any weapons? Ma'am, have you seen any weapons? We need a police officer here now. Do you see any weapons? Police officer now. Ma'am, have you seen any weapons?

Starting point is 00:22:24 We got a gun on the dog call just like dispatch did. And now take a listen to Clay Gordon and Yolanda Harris, 10TV News. This is the body camera video released from Columbus Police. Interim Police Chief Mike Woods says Officer Nicholas Reardon was the one who discharged his firearm. Here he is heading towards Legion Lane after two 911 calls to police. Arriving at 3171 Legion Lane. Footage shows seven people in a driveway. And when the officer says, what's going on?

Starting point is 00:23:04 That's when another woman is shoved to the ground. The footage shows seven people in a driveway, and when the officer says what's going on, that's when another woman is shoved to the ground. Police later identify Micaiah Bryant. She appears to be the one shoving down the other woman. We are going to slow this part down. Officer Reardon draws his gun 10 seconds after getting out of the cruiser. A woman on the ground gets kicked by a man on the sidewalk. Columbus police say other potential crimes within this video are being investigated separately. Then you see Micaiah Bryant lunging towards a

Starting point is 00:23:30 woman in pink with what appears to be a knife. Then the first shot is fired. We're going to pause this video here for 10 seconds as Micaiah falls to the ground and the officer's gun is still pointed at her. We're not going to show her death out of respect of her life and for her family. A second officer's body camera arriving on scene. Pick up the shots. Okay, back to Ashley Wilcott, judge and trial lawyer, Anchor at Court TV. Weigh in, Ashley.

Starting point is 00:24:01 So here's the thing, Nancy. You understand that, of course, based on the training of the officer, they are there to assist and put the threat away so nobody's hurt. And that's what he's done. But I have so many questions listening to this, watching this over and over and over like I have. Nancy, here's what I don't understand. There are other ways. Do you have to shoot a person and then kill them when you're trained law enforcement? What about a case?

Starting point is 00:24:23 Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean by that? What do you mean do you have to shoot them and kill them when they're a trained law? Are you suggesting that, what, a shooter in the leg? Yes, yes, or yes. Why? If the threat can be stopped by shooting elsewhere and not shooting to kill, absolutely, absolutely. The other question I would have,

Starting point is 00:24:46 and I know it's a Joe Scott Morgan question, it's not a me question, is what about a taser? Did he have the ability to use the taser? Was he too far away? I don't know those things, but are there other ways to get rid of the threat without the individual dying?

Starting point is 00:25:00 Yes, she was a risk. Yes, she was going to hurt someone. Yes, she had to be stopped. But was this the best way, the best training to stop her? That's my question. Yes, I agree with you. Was it the best way? I know this. If somebody pulled a knife on my child, and they are unarmed, and they are carrying back, and they're trapped against the back of a car, and the aggressor pulls the knife back and starts to stab them, what do you think about that, Ashley? Well, you do have a point, Nancy.

Starting point is 00:25:50 I mean, obviously, we are all going to want our health protected. Protected. Absolutely, you want them protected. But I still stand by, was that the only way this officer could make certain that the victim was not harmed? That's my, I don't know the answer. I'm not an expert in law enforcement, but I have to ask that question. I agree with you. I agree with you.

Starting point is 00:26:21 Was there another way? Could there have been another way? Let's put the shoe on the other foot. If my child had a knife and was reared back, would I want the cop to shoot my child? Of course not. But in this case, when you are pulling a knife back and lunging forward on an unarmed person, the cop is going to shoot. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Starting point is 00:26:59 Let me understand something. Haley Nelson with me, reporter ABC6 Fox 28. Did the cop shout out to Makia Bryant to stand down? We don't hear that in the body camera video and Columbus police say that that's something that they like officers to do to announce they might be firing, but it is not an absolute mandate here for Columbus police to do that. Well, I know it's not a mandate, but I was told that he yelled out, get down, get down, get down before he shot.

Starting point is 00:27:35 Sure, we hear him say, get down, get down. We don't necessarily, at least from what I hear watching this, we don't hear him say, I'm going to shoot necessarily. But there are some commands, get down, get down, hey, what's going on? So he does order her to get down. From what we are hearing in body camera video, there are some commands that go out. But as you heard, there's yelling, there's people all over the scene. Well, I know that, but I'm confused about why I can't get a straight answer. Because I hear all the reports are is that he yelled out, get down, get down, get down.

Starting point is 00:28:11 Why is that? I mean, why is that so hard to say? The cop yelled out, get down, get down, get down. Okay, you know what, Dr. Bethany Marshall, as my hearing completely just failed me, am I not hearing the cop yell, get down, get down, get down? He's yelling, get down. And from a mental health perspective, I'm thinking about why is this 16-year-old not hearing him or purposely not hearing him? Obviously, she can hear him. I don't think she him. She's capable

Starting point is 00:28:45 of doing that. I don't know if she heard him or not in the heat of that moment. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah. Well, well, I guess, you know, you and I are thinking the same thing. She's in such an agitated state. Obviously, she's very aggressive. She has excessive goal-directed energy. She has her victim in her sights. And the fact that she is not responding to the officer says something about her state of mind, something about her intent. She's literally charging at the victim some kind of a bipolar state. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but something is going on with her psychiatrically that is unfolding very, very quickly. And the fact that she's either unable to hear the officer

Starting point is 00:29:36 or is purposely not listening to the officer is an indicator of her intent. That she, you know, sometimes, you know, when we think of Rachel. I don't know if she could even, in that agitated state, whether she even heard him. There's no win here because a teen girl has been shot dead. And when police go into a situation ending up having a civilian dead, something went horribly sideways. Another thing that I think is very significant is what Haley Nelson is telling me from ABC 6 Fox 28. If the girl, Makia Bryant, is the one that made that 911 call, that changes everything. Because that tells me that at some point she was afraid of a

Starting point is 00:30:29 knife attack if, in fact, that was her making the call. If Makia Bryant made that 911 call where she's begging an officer to come to the scene because somebody has a knife and is attacking her and others. That really changes everything, Ashley Wilcott, because that takes her away from being the original aggressor. Absolutely. It changes everything because she's not the original aggressor. She, therefore, was initially the victim, and there's a very good argument then defending herself. I hear you.

Starting point is 00:31:12 But even if she was the initial victim, she still was the aggressor on the girl with the neon pink sweatsuit because that girl was unarmed. I don't know what happened before this, before the officer got there. Haley Nelson, where are the reports coming from that Makia Bryant is the one who made that 911 call? None of us want a perp, any perp, shot dead on the scene. When an officer shows up and thinks he's got to shoot to save an innocent victim's life, they're going to shoot. But I can't understand everything that was happening.

Starting point is 00:31:56 Where is it coming from that she made the 911 call? None of that is confirmed officially by police or investigators. That is what people in the community are saying, what people on social media are saying. We've seen massive protests through the city of Columbus. That's one of the major points that a lot of people demonstrating are saying. But we asked BCI, we asked investigators about this. They're not telling us yet officially. Well, they need to be completely transparent and get all the facts out

Starting point is 00:32:26 there. If there's something we don't know, we need to know. The public has a right to know. Jump in. Yeah. Hey, look, look, this is why I love science, Nancy. The beauty part of this is that it's going to be determined who made the 911 call. More than likely, I doubt very seriously, it came from a landline, which problem solved right there. More than likely, it doubt very seriously, it came from a landline, which problem solved right there. More than likely, it came from a cell phone. That cell phone has a distinct signature. We'll know who owns the phone. And if they want to take it another step, they can do a voice analysis. Now, back to this young woman. I mean, certainly a witness is going to be able to say he called 911. But yeah, you're right. It can be traced back to the cell phone.

Starting point is 00:33:05 Oh, yeah, absolutely. And that takes that level of emotion and lack of clarity out of it very, very quickly. And BCI is very good at what they do. All right. So I know that they'll track this down. Secondly, relative to the officer, when he came up, he's trying to interdict the situation. Now let's just say, let's take this idea that he's going to shoot to wound. I've heard many people over the years to say, to actually say this, and I understand the premise

Starting point is 00:33:38 behind it. However, the target that you're talking about shooting is a target that you have to acquire within a millisecond. If you shoot, if you just stand by and wind up shooting somebody in the leg, if you're fortunate enough to hit that spot, all right, by that time, she could have cut this other girl's throat. Now, not only do you have the girl bleeding out on the ground that had her throat cut, now you've got another person that has been shot potentially in the leg. Guess what runs through the leg? The femoral artery. All kinds of other vessels run through there. Now she's bleeding out. You've got two people dying.

Starting point is 00:34:15 Maybe resources are limited. As far as tasers go, again, this is a millisecond decision. I don't know that he could cross that ground in that amount of time because there is a terminal length to the distance a taser can deploy. And if you have somebody, as Dr. Bethany had mentioned, has a highly agitated mental state, let me tell you something, you're not going to interdict them with a taser necessarily. This is a lethal event that is going on. The police officer had to make that decision in that moment. Guys, how did this young girl, Makia Bryant, age 16, end up wandering around with a butcher knife in the front yard?

Starting point is 00:35:00 Take a listen to our Cut 8. This is Lacey Crisp, 10 TV. As the world heard the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case, Paula Bryant's 16-year-old daughter, Micaiah, was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer on the city's southeast side. I'm very upset. I'm hurt. I want answers. Columbus police were called to Legion Lane on reports of his stabbing. A Columbus police officer fired his gun, shooting and killing the teen. My daughter dispatched the Columbus police for protection not to be a homicide today.

Starting point is 00:35:40 Micaiah was staying at a foster home, but Paula tells me the two last saw each other on Thursday. Haley Nelson, ABC 6, Fox 28. Why was she in a foster home? We know that they had had a history. She'd had a history with Children's Services since 2007. As for specific details, they're not sharing those with us, but she'd been living in a foster home and at that specific address where this unfolded for just a few months, for just a little bit of time. The specific address, what are you saying? The address, this location where, sadly, this deadly shooting unfolded.

Starting point is 00:36:10 Okay, let me understand what you just said. 3171 Legion Lane is the foster home? That is my understanding. Holy moly. So is it a family residence or is it a home where multiple children live? It's a residential area. We don't know how many children might live at that home, but we do know she had been there recently. To you, Ashley Wilcott, a judge and trial lawyer, she's in a foster home and she's allowed to wield a butcher knife out in the front yard. Who's supervising her in that foster family? Yeah, so this is a whole other issue. You know,

Starting point is 00:36:56 I'm a child welfare law specialist and deal with these issues on a daily basis in juvenile court. Let me say this with this entire scenario. I'm assuming it's probably a residential foster home, meaning for those who aren't familiar with our system, that there are children placed in the home, but it's not a group home. So you're not going to have 20 or 30 children, but rather a couple of children placed in the home. She might have been the only child. There are strict regulations, policies that foster parents have to go through to ensure that their home is safe for children who, frankly, they don't know well, right? Children who have been through trauma and should not have access to weapons. And a butcher knife is a weapon. Now,

Starting point is 00:37:37 there's some that would argue, but it's just used in the kitchen to cook. Okay, fair enough. But when you have teens put in your home that you're not familiar with their history, their trauma, what they need, and you are a foster agency or home for a state agency, there are criteria that need to be met. You have to supervise the children. So this child should not have had access to a butcher knife in order to then be threatening individuals and actually chasing a victim in order to stab them. There are a lot of issues with that scenario, and that child, I would suggest, was not being properly supervised.

Starting point is 00:38:16 Right now, we're looking... Jump in, please. Yeah, I'd like to add one more thing, too. Something else that's kind of disturbing to me that I caught in this video. I don't know, maybe I'm misinterpreting it, but I could swear that at a couple of these views, I saw adults out there spectating. And for me, that's very troubling. And let me tell you one more, if you like that one. If in fact, any of these adults had a camera in their hand and they were videotaping this their collective asses should be in jail period because they didn't interdict prior to the cops

Starting point is 00:38:54 having to show up and do what they did so if there were adults out there and they were watching these minor children engage it almost you know i gotta, I got to tell you, Nancy, I love history. It almost looked like gladiator games. Is that what they're doing? Is this like entertainment for them? Because that's very, very disturbing. We also know that a woman named Hazel Bryant, who ID'd herself as Makia Bryant's aunt, stated Makia Bryant lived in the foster home and had gotten involved in an altercation with someone else there in the foster home. Clearly, there was no supervision at all.

Starting point is 00:39:33 Right now, we're looking for answers. Why a 16-year-old girl has been shot and the reverberations go on. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen girl charges with knife, shot dead

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Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen girl charges with knife, shot dead

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