Dateline NBC - The Haunted House Confession

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

After 25-year-old Chantay Blankinship’s remains are found at an abandoned building that locals call the Haunted House, investigators sort through dead-end leads until a stunning confession during a church service changes everything. Blayne Alexander reports.

Tonight on Dateline... She would show up sometimes before the pastor. She loved the love we gave her. I got a phone call that she didn't come home. She went missing on Friday the 13th. I heard sirens and my heart kind of dropped. Kids would call in a haunted house. You couldn't imagine a scarier place for a body to be found.

We're trying to identify potential suspects. John Adams was Shantae's boyfriend. He said, I'm your boyfriend. I have a wife. She said, you don't. Collin's name had been mentioned multiple times. Collin told her to meet him in the shed and not to tell anybody. She knew Ryan.

He was missing. He couldn't be located. Take me to that Wednesday night church service. He starts talking about demon thoughts. That's when it just exploded. I grabbed the pew and I was like, ow. Ow. Church is a place where we expect confessions, but not one like this.

I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Blaine Alexander with The Haunted House Confession. Down this back country road is an isolated stretch of land, a place where hunters come looking for prey. Behind the fence, just through the overgrown grass, sits an abandoned farmhouse. The few people who know it's here call it the haunted house. This place is truly creepy, straight out of a horror movie. But one night, the horror became real. This was the scene of a crime so evil, it haunted an entire community and made neighbor

doubt neighbor. Everybody was a suspect. In the very beginning, absolutely. The search for justice would lead to a different house, a house of worship. Had evil made its way there too? For the congregation of North Lake Community Church, this simple building was a refuge, a place to sing and worship in peace, a haven for people like Shante Blankenship. You walk in that church and you felt

like this is home, this is family, and I really think that is what kept her coming back. She felt safe there. Yes. Shantay was 25 and lived with her grandfather and boyfriend in a community on Lake Brownwood in central Texas. Linda and Russell Lamond met Shantay at church. Russell was the assistant pastor. He and his wife took Shantay under their wing when she started showing up with a notebook and her own Bible.

You couldn't help but smile with her around because she just, she gloat. Yeah, she gloat. It didn't take a lot to make her happy. Shantae's younger sister, Destiny Jarvis. You know, she was happy with where she lived, her church, her neighbors, you know, going on her walks every day.

Neighbors could count on seeing Shantay every day as she strolled her neighborhood by the lake. Friday, May 13th, 2016, was no different, except that evening, Shantay went out for a walk and didn't come home. Her grandfather called Shantay's mom, Michelle McDaniel. My dad had called and said that Shantae hadn't came home. My dad had kind of figured she had spent the night

with one of her friends. Shantae's mother wasn't too worried at first, but as the hours ticked by, that changed. He told me she still wasn't home. The next day, her mom went to the house, took a look around, and saw that her purse was still there. She didn't go anywhere without her purse. It had kind of went over me something had happened.

Shante's grandfather said he'd been calling her nonstop. It wasn't normal for her not to communicate, especially with him. I remember us vividly walking down the street and her mother pulled up in her car and she said, have you seen Shante? She hasn't reported back in, she hasn't called, and it's not like her. And so no, we haven't seen her. Was her mother worried at that point? Yeah, her mother was worried sick. The family reported her missing to the sheriff.

And in a community this close, word spread quickly. A search was organized after church on Sunday. Were you surprised by how many people turned out to search? Actually, no. She was loved by everybody. And then in the moment we found out that she was missing, it was like not even a thought. Let's look forward. We had to find Shante. I remember coming down the hill back to the church and the parking lot's full.

Probably two, 200 people. All there to search for her? Yes. Since it was such a small community, it's like she's got to be around here. She couldn't have walked that far. We searched under piles of leaves. We searched under boats, you know, anything that would look like it would be hiding something.

911, what's the location of your emergency? I have no idea where I'm at. I am in the middle of nowhere. We were looking for Shantay Blankenship. It was Sunday afternoon. Shantay had been missing almost 48 hours. We found her. Deputies sped down a road five miles from Shante's home

to that abandoned farmhouse. Their body cameras were rolling as they met Charlie Radel and his girlfriend Jackie Neal. We were just driving around looking for her. Everybody met at 3 at the church to go look for her, and We were just driving around looking for her. Everybody met at three at the church to go look for her and we were just driving around. I walked around in the house and didn't see nothing there and went to all the outbuildings. Yeah. And I was coming back and that storm said over there had a bunch of grass knocked down. So I run around and looked and there she is. She's upside down in there and she is beat.

I got a daughter that age. I don't buy any. Brown County Sheriff's Office investigator Scott Bird responded to the scene. What was the condition she was in? Very brutal assault. There was cuts, bruises all over her face and head, so it was very clear to you from the beginning. brutal assault. There was cuts, bruises all over her face and head. So it was very clear to you from the beginning, this is a murder investigation. Oh yes.

That meant all hands on deck. Texas Ranger Jason Shea was called in to help. I'm a dad. I've got kids. It kind of hits home to you because we all have kids and it affects you. I can tell just looking at you when you talk about it, it affects you. Yeah, sure. A young woman of violent murder. It felt like it couldn't have been a first time killer. The disappearance on Friday the 13th and the location where she was found,

is this some type of cult activity? It could have been anybody. How long could a murderer hide? I can't grab a hold of him. I can't find him. All of a sudden, it was almost like somebody turned the lights on and you were like, oh, and there he is.

I realized it's like I just put my face in front of a killer's face. You know, I'm in that close. MUSIC MUSIC Shantay's mother, Michelle, heard the sirens first. Then a friend who'd helped organize the searches came to find her in person. I remember her telling me they had found her. I remember falling to my knees, screaming.

Are there any words to describe what you felt? I was lost. I just, I lost myself at that moment. I'd fell to my knees and ask him why. I was devastated. Yeah, devastated and in shock. There's bad things that go on in the community anywhere. You'll get that anywhere.

But her specifically, why her? Why would anyone want to hurt Shantae? What was it about Shantae that just really drew people to her? Her love, just her. I mean, just meeting her would make you just fall in love with her. She'd always make you laugh. She'd always do something or say something. Stephen McDaniel is Shantae's stepfather. He'd known her since she was six years old. What was Shantae like?

Funny. Love music. She had a good smile. You couldn't question whether or not she was happy. People not only noticed Shantae's smile, she had a sense of style too. She thought everything was better in pink or with sparkles or glitter.

And she had like the sassy attitude to go with it. Shantae was tiny, not even five feet, barely 90 pounds. But she had big opinions about what to wear, what to do, and how to pronounce her name. We call her Shante. She calls herself Shante. It was a big voice for such a small person. She knew what she wanted, always. And her grandfather Charlie, the one she lived with, was happy to give her whatever she wanted. He had helped raise her from birth. I had her when I was 16.

I guess I was trying to live for me for a while. I worked and I partied. So she just became my dad's permanent kid pretty much. Growing up, Shantae needed extra care. She developed more slowly than other kids. So her walking, her talking, all of that was delayed? Uh-huh. If you talked to her, you would know that she was different than a normal child.

She still kind of talked like a child. It was like she aged to a certain point, and she stopped. How did she navigate those challenges? She just did. Nothing ever bothered her. She would figure it out. But she didn't do it alone. It seemed everyone in the neighborhood had a protective eye on her.

From her family, her friends, and of course, her boyfriend John. He spoiled her just like my dad. She never went without as long as they were together. Sounds like he really took care of her. He did take care of her. So did her friends at church. I understand that there were some times you would help her with the hymns

that would be sung in church. She stood right next to Linda and I in the choir. She was like our daughter. She felt like family to you. Yes. This is the church, North Lake. Shantae's church had become the makeshift headquarters for her search. Now it was where authorities launched their investigation.

Pastor, how are you, sir? Hey folks, could you have your attention just a minute? If you believe you have information that will assist in this investigation, I ask you don't discuss it with anybody else. I want your recollections to be your own. We'll be speaking to you as we get to you, all right? She wasn't involved in any type of drugs or gangs. This was an innocent girl who hadn't done anything wrong, and then we find her in the bottom of a cellar. who hadn't done anything wrong, and then we find her in the bottom of a cellar.

Texas Ranger Jason Shea and a team of investigators canvassed Shantay's neighborhood, retracing her final steps. This really was the starting place for your investigation? Yes, this is the very beginning of it. Besides the crime scene, we knew that she had been over here, so this is the main area where we focused a lot of our investigation.

What did you hope to find out? Somebody that had seen her or seen her get in a car with somebody. A handful of neighbors had seen her at a local restaurant just a few hours before she disappeared. Then she went home, said goodbye to her boyfriend John before he left for work at 6 p.m. She set out for her walk right after, eventually meeting up with a friend. That friend, Kaitlyn Maccabee, told investigators that she and Shantae walked together for a couple of hours. Her grandpa called her right before we got to end the street.

Said, hey, it's getting dark. She's like it's okay Papa I'll I'll be home soon He says I'm walking And that's all and all she said Her grandfather confirmed to police that call was at 8 48 p.m. I think about that Caitlin said after that she and Shantay said goodbye. She was like, kind of laughing and just turned off running. Down the road?

Yeah, down the road. And then within minutes after, she and her friend split. She goes missing. And where she and her friend parted ways, how far was she from her home? Quarter mile. When you think about that small window, does it mean that the killer was maybe following her,

waiting for her? He could have been. He may have been waiting for her and watching for her and waited for that time to where she was by herself to take his chance. What happened next was still a mystery, but a bizarre clue was about to spark a new and terrifying question. You think Friday the 13th, you start wondering, is there something more sinister than just somebody got murdered? The old house was set back from the road, isolated and in a state of disrepair.

Even for a native like Investigator Scott Bird, a complete mystery. I've never seen that house before. I don't know that I'd ever been on that county road in my career. Investigators soon learned it was a party spot for kids. Teenagers had nicknamed it the haunted house. It's obvious that people haven't lived here for years. The floor is gone. It's just joists going across.

You're going to find snakes in there, other living animals in there. What were you looking for immediately when you got here? We looked for shoe prints, what's being left in the dirt, tire tracks, looking for any kind of biological material, blood, hair. I've got his body cam so we can get a video going over there. Investigators set up a grid search, combing every inch of the property for clues.

There's good tire tracks that just dead end at the gate and back out. And then there's spin out marks. It's like someone's been through it recently or something. They found Shantae's bracelets scattered across the grass. Here's another pink man right here, John. She wore a bunch of different colored bracelets. There was one on this side of the gate and then there was one just on the other side of the gate. So what did that tell you? Bracelet here, bracelet there, both on the ground?

Somehow or another she's losing them off of her arm. At that point we didn't know what caused that. Then, in the gravel, they found strands of brown hair. You can kind of see it right there in this grass. Where it looks like something has been through here, right here. Yeah, right here too. Investigators concluded someone had dragged Shantae to the place where she was found. Her body had been thrown over the fence and then she was drugged by her hair to the cellar. Something very brutal happened out there.

You don't just walk and lose your hair and your bracelets and your jewelry. Traumatic events were happening. Just the brutality of it is what sticks out. You could tell the person thought this would be a great place to hide a body. Investigators found a rusty lawnmower blade near her body. It was covered in blood. And there's blood spatter on that brick, so you know she's bleeding good. There were deep cuts on Shantae's scalp and face, There were deep cuts on Shantae's scalp and face, bruises on both sides of her neck, her arms and legs,

and something odd on her chest. We didn't know what it came from. It was kind of jagged lines, almost like triangles. We even took a picture of that and sent that to FBI headquarters. Did you have any idea what it could have been? We didn't know if somebody hit her with a car or a blunt object.

Was it a shoe print? An autopsy revealed Shantae had died from blunt force trauma consistent with that bloody lawnmower blade. She had also been sexually assaulted. blunt force trauma consistent with that bloody lawnmower blade. She had also been sexually assaulted. Not only did we have a murder, we had a rapist as well. Crime scene techs collected evidence at the scene and sent it out for DNA testing, hoping it would lead them to Shantae's killer.

There is a lot of fear that's generated when something like this happens in a place like Brownwood. Alicia Byrd is Investigator Byrd's wife. She is also the county's assistant DA. There becomes a time when you switch from your role as a supportive spouse to I am a prosecutor and there is a murder within my county. When she saw a photo of that mark on Shantay's chest and considered that the murder happened on Friday the 13th, a theory started to take shape. When you put all that together and you think Friday the 13th,

you start wondering if there's something connecting all of this, you know wondering if there's something connecting all of this. You know, is there something more sinister than just somebody got murdered? Is this some type of cult activity? Maybe that could explain the why, if only they could figure out the who. Right away, investigator Bird knew who he wanted to look at first. We were looking for Shantay Gwendoch. Okay.

We found her. Charlie Radel and Jackie Neal, the searchers who found Shantay. I thought we already found who did this because you're five miles away from where everybody else is looking. You're in the middle of nowhere. She can't be seen from the road. You have to get out of your truck, climb a fence, walk through 100 yards of tall grass to get to where she was. So you're thinking, we found who did this,

and they gave themselves away. Correct. Time to head to the Sheriff's office for questioning. What might a polygraph reveal? Did you kill Shantae? The search for Shantay had ended, but the hunt for her killer was just getting underway. To start, investigators wanted to take a hard look at Charlie Radel and his girlfriend Jackie, the searchers who found Shantay.

We were just driving around looking for her. It was just, it was odd that they had found this. It seemed so unlikely that they just got lucky. The house is so remote it's almost impossible to find even with GPS. It's on a dirt road off of another dirt road. What are the odds that he found her out there innocently? Sometimes where there's smoke, there's fire. If y'all want to have a seat in the truck so we don't make any more footprints than we've already got.

Charlie and Jackie were both in their 40s, and they both knew Shantae from her daily walks in the neighborhood. She lived about a mile away from them. I got a dog that age. I don't mind it. Investigators took note of Charlie's emotion at the scene and invited him to the Sheriff's office to see how he would answer questions there.

Do you go by Charlie? Everybody knows him by chap. C-H-A-P-E-A. Charlie told the investigator he'd just seen Shantae out walking, not long before she disappeared. When you saw her on Friday, what was she wearing? What was she wearing? A white shirt with kind of faded Daisy Duke shorts on. Charlie said that as soon as they heard

a search was being organized, he and Jackie jumped in the truck and hit the country roads. We said a prayer for Shante's safe return. I was talking to the Lord and I said, Lord, I hope she's okay, but if she's in a bad way, please show her to me. Me and Jackie talked. We checked every ditch, every cupboard, all the way around. Then he said they came upon that dirt road, the one leading to the haunted house.

He had stated that his kids used to go out there and teenagers going out there and partying at this old abandoned house. I walked over to the galvanized gate and I'm propped up on it from looking at that house. Jackie, she comes up behind me, she's pointing with her foot, she said, what is that? I got down close to it and I grabbed it. I said, Jackie, that's human hair.

I shot through the fence and I went to the house. After looking around the dilapidated house, he said he decided to check the storm cellar. That's where he found Shantae's body. Jackie asked me, she said, is she dead? I said, Shantae's body. Why do you think somebody would kill her? I don't know. I can't imagine how anybody could do something like that. They also interviewed Jackie.

The investigator asked her where Charlie was on Friday the 13th, the night Shantae disappeared. When did you get home this time? It was between 7-10, 7-15. He was at work before that. They offered investigators their DNA. Charlie also agreed to a polygraph. How hard did law enforcement press Charlie? Extremely hard. Did you participate in killing Shantae?

Shantae, no. Did you kill Shantae? No. And he showed no indication of deception during that polygraph. And we decided it's time to move on. While investigators searched for Shantae's killer, her family was facing the difficult task of planning her funeral.

Mourners gathered for the service at her beloved church. Everybody had a touch of pink somewhere, whether they were wearing just pink bracelet or that they were wearing actual pink. My mom, my brothers, they'd all got, like, matching shirts and things like that, which Shante would have loved because they're gonna wear her color.

I think if she could have planned her own funeral, she would have planned it very similar to how it was. What stands out to you the most about that day? The people. Some people are standing outside, walking into the church, being seated, and it's packed. People are standing. The whole parking lot's full of people. Did you feel the love that this community had for your daughter?

I did. I did. Did you ever consider the possibility that her killer might be right there in the room, in the church with you. I didn't. She didn't, but investigators did. They rigged up surveillance cameras inside the church. You thought that it was important to see

who was coming, who was going. Yes, people will come back to see what we have found or to downplay what they've done or to hide in plain sight. They also set up cameras at the cemetery by Shantae's grave. Just to see if somebody was acting strangely or causing issues with the family. But after scrubbing through hours of video, investigators didn't find anything suspicious. Still, they were convinced Shantae's killer had to be close by,

almost certainly someone she knew. She wouldn't get in a car with somebody she didn't know. Everyone just knew that about her. They knew that. I can't tell you how many people came up to us and said, had it been somebody I've known because she wouldn't have gotten in a vehicle that she didn't know that person. So they would have to look at everyone in Shantae's circle,

starting with the man closest to her. He said, I'm your boyfriend. I have a wife. She said, you need a murderer. In the days after Shantay's body was found, her family and friends tried to come to terms with her savage murder. I knew that you'd said at some point, even after she was found, there were days when you almost still expected to see her on those walks. Yes, I remember the first time we drove down that road, and it was sad. It's like, she's supposed to be here.

She's not here. It was almost like living that day over again that we found out that she wasn't alive. Was it hard for you to grasp that reality when you traveled down the road? Yes, because I've never been that close to that kind of tragedy. Death, yes, but someone that was killed, that was murdered, it was too close. And I was like, no, this doesn't happen here. Not at all. But it had happened. And as investigators looked for Shantae's killer, those closest to her were under scrutiny.

When we're doing any of these investigations, who are the first people you look at as boyfriend? John Adams, Shantae's live-in boyfriend. At 26, he was a year older than Shantae. They'd known each other since middle school, had been a couple for more than three years. They were even starting to talk about marriage. John meant a lot to her. She meant a lot to him. That's what mattered to Shantae's family. They made it clear to John that Shantae was special and needed to be protected.

So with John, I think there was a lot of conversations between him and other family members about it. And I think they trusted him to not ever take advantage of her and to treat her right. Two days after Shantay's body was found, investigators paid John a visit. Hello. Carlisle, Gover. What's your name?

John Adams. John Adams? John recognized the deputy from a traffic stop. You pulled me over before. I pulled you over before for what? Oh, down there on Sushi Witch and Road. Oh, okay. Is this where you all live in here?

Yeah. Can we go inside? Yeah. John led them to the bedroom he shared with Shantay. Is there anything missing out of here? No. They studied the room. Can we have this brush?

Took pictures and examined Shantae's belongings. Then they went back outside. That's when they let John know they weren't just looking for clues. They were looking at him. Normally, boyfriends are like going to be the number one suspect a lot of times. And also a lot of times when we do these, we do find another suspect. So when we do find the real killer, then we can say, oh, we covered that base. They walked around the property looking into outbuildings.

What is that on the hammer? Is that for pulling out nails or something? They took pictures of John's pickup truck and were interested to see a lot of lawnmowers in the shed. Man, do you guys have a lawn care service or something? Remember, it was a lawnmower blade that killed Shantay. That was missing a, that was tore up. They also wanted to know about John's relationship

with Shantay. Investigators had heard it was loving, but could be tense at times. It was strained. They weren't the Ozzie and Harriet. They weren't the Ozzie and Harriet. They weren't perfect. Shante liked to wave at boys, and boys would wave back, and it made her feel good. That made him a little jealous.

She didn't mean anything by it, but John was a little bit jealous, so it upset him some. Did you ever learn that Shante had complained to neighbors about John sometimes wanting to control her? Sure. I would tell her what to eat, what not to eat, where she could go, where she couldn't go. Bitsy Hobbs, one of Shantae's friends, told investigators she heard the couple fighting.

Shantae sounded angry. I think talking to witnesses who had spoken to John prior to the homicide, that he was worried about the relationship and didn't know how much longer it was going to last. So he was thinking it may come to an end soon? Quite possible. You know, could this have been a spat, an argument, and that's why, you know, she was killed? We didn't know at that time. But they were about to find out. They had a stack of questions for John Adams. For starters, what did he do with his phone?

These text messages that you deleted, and you know what I'm talking about, because you even told somebody hey my phone's clean I spoke with John Hart for the first night and stuff told my side of the story John Adams seemed like a friendly guy when he met investigators. Who lives here? Charlie Barnett. And this is where you lived too? Yes, sir.

But friendly didn't mean innocent. We didn't know if he knew more about what had happened to Shontay than what he was actually telling us. Did you bring him in? We did bring him in and asked him what was going on. So we had a good timeline of where Shante was at and we needed to see where he was at during that time. So the last time you talked to him on the phone.

John said that around 5 p.m. he picked Shante up at the restaurant where neighbors had seen her that afternoon. So you picked her up and took her to where? To the house. And dropped her off? No, and went to shower and then up, where's the bear? John said he then went to work at his restaurant job around 5 the next morning. Shantay wasn't there.

He thought maybe she was at a friend's place. I called her phone and it was disconnected. They dug into his relationship with Shantay. Do you have another girlfriend? Do you have another girlfriend? No. Another girl in your comp too that you don't like? No. I'm a faithful man. I'm not worried.

Did she ever tell you that she didn't sexually intimate with anybody else? Never say anything about that. I would ask her. Did she just say no or did she just avoid the conversation? She avoided the conversation or say no. After that interview, John was free to go. But investigators found something while searching his cell phone data. He had given us his cell phone to download. We looked at that and noticed that there was some communication that had been deleted. So we had to pull him back in.

Some messages? Some messages. This time the conversation was less friendly on both sides. You delete your text messages. Yeah. Okay. And apparently you deleted something yesterday before you showed up. That was way too early.

No, that's not what these text messages that you deleted. And you know what I'm talking about. John admitted he was trying to hide something, but not about Shantay. You know, he said, hey, this is what was going on. I smoke weed and I just don't want that. That's the only thing that would be in there. You know, he said, hey, this is what was going on. I was using drugs and those messages were in reference to buying and selling marijuana. And so that's how he explained it. I'm asking you questions. They interviewed John four times. They repressed for me. We interviewed him too and asked him what it was like to be grilled like that.

Could you you could tell that when they were talking to you, they weren't just trying to get information. They were thinking that you had something to do with it. They're trying to pressure me to confess what they were trying to do. Were you upset? I was. I was very upset. It hurt.

I have I don't have a bone in my body to do something like that to someone. He told us the same thing he told investigators. His relationship with Shantae was not perfect, but it was solid. Were there ever any rocky moments? There were things, you know, she'd just get mad for certain reasons. There would be times where I'd just have to, I'd walk away, I wouldn't yell really at her, argue with her, you know. But I mean, her and I, we stayed together, you know, made it work, you know.

Even if there were ups and downs between the two of you? Yeah. It wasn't just investigators. John knew neighbors were quick to assume the boyfriend was to blame. But he told us what some saw as controlling behavior was his way of protecting Shantae. Already people were starting to point their fingers at you.

And it made me mad. Knowing day and well, I didn't do nothing. I did nothing not hurt her. Investigators needed to check out everything John told them, including what he said about other men in town, like a guy named Bobby Sosa, who John said liked to throw parties. He lived in the area.

He was always seen driving around that area. Shantae's friend told investigators she'd seen a red and white Bronco in the neighborhood the night Shantae disappeared. That the driver waved at them and seemed creepy. They tracked down Sosa and confirmed he drove a red and white Bronco and brought him in for questioning at the sheriff's office. Sosa said he did drive by Shantae on her walk that night, but that was it. Did investigators search his house, search his car? They searched everything. He was come in my house, searched my vehicle, look anywhere you want. So he was very open. Absolutely. They searched everything. He was come in my house, searched my vehicle, look anywhere you want. Sorry about the mess. Oh, you're good, man. So he was very open.

Absolutely. He also shared where he'd been that night. He had gone to another residence and there were multiple individuals there that he didn't leave till late that evening. Were you able to verify that? We were able to verify that. The pressure to find Shantae's killer was mounting. We just know that they're out there. It's scary.

You were preparing for a manhunt. We were getting ready for a manhunt. It would all come to a head in a place they least expected. I remember saying, please don't tell me he's talking about Shantae. Please don't tell me. That place that Shantae loved most of all. We want to hate you, but we can't. John Adams, Shantae's serious boyfriend, was an obvious person to look at, even more so after investigators found out he'd been deleting text messages from his phone.

Investigators checked out his story and confirmed those deleted text messages were just about marijuana. So you caught him in something else, but not murder. Correct. They were also able to get security video from the restaurant where John worked, along with the time sheets. He told us exactly where he was, what he had done, and everything he told us was truthful. So he gave you an alibi and you were able to verify it? Yes, through video.

I mean, it doesn't get much better alibi than that. He was just worried and upset that his fiancee had been killed. He wanted to figure out who had done this also. I want to ask you, John, what do you miss the most about Shantay? The most I've missed about Shantay? Most I miss about Sante are laughter. Maybe when she smiled and just laughed and not mad at you. She was like my best friend. John as a suspect was a dead end, but that didn't mean talking to him was a waste of time.

Not at all. We still needed more information of potential suspects that might be involved in the case. So we had to continue to try to keep him on our side to get as much information as we could. John gave them another name, a name they heard from other neighbors, Colin Smith. We started doing interviews. His name had been mentioned multiple times. Colin was in his 20s, did some lawn mowing and odd jobs around town, and he lived just around the corner from Shantay.

Shantay went missing and it was right there by Colin's house. Here's where Colin was living at the time. And it kind of backs up back to the road to where Shantay was living at too. So she would have had to walk down this area the day that she went missing. John Adams told investigators Colin was a troublemaker. He used to ride around with him and stuff. And he used to just do his secret stuff. And he'd like, ride around with his drone.

And Shantae's stepdad, Stephen, recalls that months before the murder, Colin took Shantae out for a late night joy ride. Stephen was furious. What did you say? I just asked him what he was doing with her, and I made her get out of the vehicle, and Colin better stay away from her.

You told him to stay away from her? Yes. Did he? As far as my knowledge, yes. But Ranger Shea heard that's not what Colin did. Miss McBee that had been walking with Shante had told us that Colin Smith had purchased her some shoes recently.

Shante also told her friend Colin wanted to meet up the night she disappeared. Saying, hey, meet me out by the barn tonight, but don't tell anybody. To Shante? Yes. She told me Colin told her to meet, or yeah, told her to meet him in the shed behind his house that night and not to tell anybody. That very well meant that Colin could have been

the last person to see her alive. Sure, and that's what we were thinking. Is he the one? Did she say something that upset him? In my opinion, he was a number one that we needed to talk to. Shea went to see him in person. How you doing, sir? I'm Jason Shea.

I went to Texas Rangers. What's your name? Colin. How you doing, sir? I'm Jason Shay. I'm with the Texas Rangers. What's your name? Colin. How did you find him? Was he, did he seem shifty to you? He really didn't. There was a little bit of concern. I mean, that's ridiculous that I'm even being looked at.

Like other neighbors, investigators spoke to. Colin said he did see Shantae the night she disappeared, but only from a distance. He'd seen her pass by his house on her last walk. But probably around the last time we seen her, it was around 6 37. Shantae was just a friend, Colin said, but he told investigators that she was interested

in more than friendship. I had to change my number because she would call it from like 6.30 in the morning to like midnight at night. Just call, hang up, call, hang up, call, hang up. Like a high school girl? Yeah. Did y'all have any type of physical relationship at all? No. So never?

No. Investigators wanted to ask him more questions, this time hooked up to a lie detector. Why are we here today, Colin? They want to find out who the murderer is. I want to prove to them that it ain't me. But right before they got started, a key part of his story changed. He admitted he did have a physical relationship with Shantay.

After a while, we thought we were dating. a physical relationship with Shantae. Collin told police he didn't know Shantae and John were serious. He ended up admitting that he had been in a sexual relationship with her. Was that the only thing he'd been hiding? Wired up to the machine, the questions got very specific. Did you physically cause the death of Shante? No. You don't know how she died? Not at all.

You don't know what kind of weapon was used. The investigator told Colin the results of the tests were not good. I've done a lot of these tests and I'm looking at this and I'm showing deception. Was that a red flag? That's a big red flag. I'm telling you right now that something is causing issues on this and I want to get down to the bottom of it. If you didn't kill her... I have no idea. I didn't do it. Bottom line.

Colin, who'd been cooperative up to this point, seemed eager to leave. Well, we're done. You still want to cooperate, right? Yeah. Don't make me out to be the bad guy here. We're going to have a serious problem. I will hire a lawyer. Hey, I don't give a f*** one way or another if you're going to hire a lawyer. Do not sit there and try to threaten me with I'm going to hire a lawyer. You're the one that's in here cooperating, are you not?

Yes, sir. I thought you said we were done, though. Okay. Go ahead and put your hands together, please. I thought you said we were done. I'm sorry. Colin stayed long enough to give them his alibi. He'd been at his brother's house, he said, about 10 miles away.

Where did you stay that night? My brother's living room. I fell asleep watching basketball again. Texas Ranger Shay and I knew we had to get to the brother to talk to him before Colin could. To get the true story of not Colin calling his brother and saying, hey, cover for me. Would Colin's alibi check out? Or would police be forced to consider a whole new theory?

It felt like it couldn't have been a first time killer. Investigators thought they might finally be getting somewhere, in a room with a young man they found highly suspicious. Colin Smith was my main focus. Colin had initially lied to detectives about his relationship with Shantay. And when they hooked him up to that polygraph, it seemed he still wasn't telling the whole story. Colin told the polygrapher that he had an alibi.

He was with his brother, but couldn't explain why he failed the polygraph. Investigators raced to talk to Colin's brother before he could, and the brother confirmed his alibi. It's not just his brother that we talked to. Who else is there with you? They also talked to his niece and nephew, who said they saw Colin, too.

Of course, they're family members, so we've got to look at that too. It's not the strongest alibi. It's not the strongest because, you know, family members will cover family members. Investigators also took Collins' DNA and sent it to the crime lab. How does that come back? It come back that he's not a match to the DNA that was found on her body. So you're able to clear him?

Yes. Another dead end. By now, DNA results were coming in from the other men they'd talked to. Shantae's boyfriend, John, was not a match. Neither was neighbor Bobby Sosa. Nobody may have ever looked in that cellar. It may have been years.

And the DNA also proved those searchers who found Shantae were exactly what they appeared to be. Good Samaritans. Far from suspects, they had been a blessing to the investigation. We were very lucky, very blessed. There's all kinds of predatory animals out here. Coyotes, bobcats, stray dogs, any kind of occasional mountain lion.

If we hadn't have found her, that's probably what would have found her, some kind of animal. The timely discovery of Shantae's body was a stroke of luck that, to investigate her bird, felt like divine intervention. But that luck seemed to be running out as they tore through lead after lead.

How many calls were coming in that you guys had to chase down? A lot. Hundreds. At first, it was just, try this name, try this name, try this name. And you all have to chase after each and every one? Absolutely. Anytime somebody called in and said, hey, this person was in the neighborhood, we'd go talk to them, and we would ask the male for a buckleswap to take their DNA.

Investigators collected samples from at least two dozen men, including Shantae's grandfather, Charlie. It seemed unthinkable the doting Charlie could be the killer, but Shantae's mom was in favor of testing him. You thought he could have possibly been involved? I doubt everybody was involved. Nobody was ruled out in your eyes. Nobody was ruled out in my eyes.

It wasn't the grandfather. And it also wasn't anyone in CODIS, the National Law Enforcement DNA Database. Back to square one. Back to square one. Just heart-wrenching. Heart-wrenching for everyone in Shantae's quiet lakeside neighborhood. As weeks went by and then months. We just know that they're out

there. It's scary. Out there and possibly right there in the community. Right. Is this a neighbor? Is this a friend? Everybody was scared. The kids that walked out there constantly started pairing up. Nobody walked alone. It snatched away that feeling of safety from the whole community. Everybody, that's when everybody started locking doors. I'm sure there were people who were out there wondering if they were, you know, eating supper beside the person who had done this. At Shantae's church, parishioners were desperate for answers.

I can't believe they would take such a precious person. She meant so much to Linda and I and to the community. Pastor, how are you, sir? The pastor hounded investigators for updates. Called me every day, every two days, every three days, wanting to know what we found and asking questions about the evidence. Asking about the case. Yes. And because no one was above suspicion, investigators even wondered about the pastor himself. When somebody becomes too involved in your case, sometimes they're trying to figure out what you do know,

what you have found out, what you haven't found out to protect themselves. That went nowhere. And while authorities suspected the killer was someone Shantay knew, they couldn't rule out other theories. Did you ever consider the possibility that you were dealing with a serial killer?

You know, that's always a possibility of things that we look at. There was absolutely a thought process of, you know, look for other similar patterned crimes to see because it felt so brutal that it felt like it couldn't have been a first time killer. Alicia Bird was still thinking about that strange symbol on Shantae's chest. What could it mean? The disappearance on Friday the 13th and the location where she was found, it just all haunted house.

You're looking for some sort of cohesiveness. You're looking for some theory of the case. A lot of sleepless nights, laying there wondering, what did I miss today? Did I talk to this person today? It makes you start second guessing yourself, what are you missing? You were really taking this case personally.

Absolutely. Investigator Byrd's wife could see the case was weighing heavily on her husband. The great thing with us both being in this field is we're able to give each other that space, um, recognizing that he needs to be able to think and to figure out what his next investigatory step will be. Shantae's family feared the investigation had hit a wall.

It seemed like that nothing was getting done to me. Desperate for answers, Shantae's stepfather admits he badgered his neighbors. I would stop everybody that drove by the house. I was out there, morning till dark, trying to find out answers. I caused a lot of problems out there. I want to know.

You were desperate. That was your girl. Yeah, ma'am. You start thinking at that point, they'll probably never actually find who did this. They told me they would never stop, but in my eyes, they had stopped because they were doing stuff that I didn't know at the time.

What she didn't know was that Investigator Byrd was about to take a leap of faith with a cutting edge technology. Maybe this would reveal the face of the killer. I'm willing to try anything. It very much seemed too good to be true. One year after Shantae was murdered, her mom organized a memorial. Friends and family came together and walked Shantae's route. Everybody was out of breath.

We didn't know how she did it. Yeah, but that was her thing. That was her thing. It was. She loved it. Everybody always talked about her, you know, all the beautiful moments, you know, everybody's seen her. Most of them are her walking and her smile. And she had this little walk where her little honey should. That's how you remember her, seeing her,

like living out there on that road with her being gone. I could see her. Those were difficult days for everyone. Those who loved her spent hours by her grave, the stone inscribed, singing in the angels choir. Her stepfather, Stephen, was grieving and feeling guilty. Before she went missing, he told Shantae he might take her fishing on that Friday.

Instead, he picked up an extra shift at work. It's been hard, real hard, because I figured if I wouldn't have went to work that weekend, she'd still be here. You think through all these what ifs. And I blame myself every day. The Lamans were suffering too. I cried for months and months. Afterwards, it came to the point where it was unsolved.

It hurt. I was really angry that, you know, if I said, man, if I just get five minutes alone with this guy, and, you know, that's not a proper way to think. But, you know, still, you know, that's not a proper way to think. But you know, still, you know, they took something from all of us. Despite all the leads the investigators had run down, Shantae's killer was still out there. Now, like a losing football team, they were ready for a Hail Mary. I was trying anything I could.

We were, We were lost. We couldn't, we didn't know what the next step was. Bird felt incredibly frustrated. He couldn't crack the case, even though he had the killer's DNA. It tells us who the killer is. It doesn't give us a name, but it tells us who did this.

And it's undisputable. So what you have in your hand is quite possibly the best piece of evidence in terms of identifying someone but no name. Right. That's how I've described it to people. I know exactly who you are. Then Bird heard about a new DNA technique his department had never used. The process is called phenotyping. It uses DNA to predict the way a person looks, eye, hair, and skin color, among other things. Back in 2017, it was a shiny new tool for law enforcement.

One of our investigators, who doesn't work for us anymore, saw a show on TV. And it was about phenotyping. And he told me about it. Verde Googled it and called around. So you're hearing success stories. Correct. And thinking this could work for us too.

Right. But when the investigator ran it by others, he hit a wall of skepticism, including his wife, Alicia, in the district attorney's office. It felt very television-esque, you know, it felt like something that you see on TV, but it doesn't really happen that way in real criminal cases. And so it, it very much felt like a science fiction idea. You doubted it from the very beginning.

From the very beginning, I didn't believe that it would work. This is not a TV show. This is not a TV show and this is not, they can't do that with DNA. You had a lot of people to convince. I did, including the sheriff, the district attorney, and then I had to convince them to give me some more money.

That couldn't have been easy. That's not easy. The price tag? $3,600. More money for an investigation that was already one of the most expensive this sheriff's office had ever done. Michael Murray is the Brown County District Attorney. Did you have concerns about whether or not this would even be admissible in court? Right. It wasn't so much that we needed to use it in court,

but we needed a lead that would help lead to real other evidence. And so sometimes while it may not be the primary evidence you use in court, if it leads to other evidence, that would be the important aspect here. Finally, they all agreed it was time for that Hail Mary. They got the money, and the DNA was submitted to a lab owned by a Virginia tech company called Parabon. You thought there goes $3,600 down the drain? Yes.

I think the county just wasted some money. Five months later, Investigator Byrd got an email. It was late afternoon. I pulled it up and it said the image was included. A few months later, Investigator Bird got an email. It was late afternoon. I pulled it up and it said the image was included. Oh, goodness. What are you thinking before you open this picture? I hope I recognize the person.

I hope this gives me an idea of who the person is. This is the image in the email. So I opened it and I had no clue. It was just a stranger. Zero recognition. Zero. Did you see it? I did.

Did you think that it looked like a person? I mean, did it seem like, hey, this could lead us somewhere? It looked like, to me, it looked like every white kid out in Northlake. It could have been anybody. Not exactly the miracle they were hoping for. Still, they posted it on social media and pinned their hopes on the public, the chance that somebody out there

just might recognize this face. I mean, like, I have no idea. This looks like just an average white boy with sandy blonde hair, and it's like, I don't know who that could be. We look at the sketch, me and my husband, and nothing. Did anything about it stand out to you? Nothing. Nothing. Did not.

Not familiar, nothing notable? My dad looked at it, nobody knew it. Shantay's sister studied it and was struck by its sophistication. You know, you grow up looking at the news and they're looking for the guy who did whatever and it's like a stick figure and it looks like something you could have drew an art class. This was way advanced compared to anything that you had seen prior to that. But it didn't ring a bell for Destiny either.

To me, looks like any dude. A pitcher, you know? Everyone felt defeated. Then Michelle got a call from another member of the family, Shantae's half brother. He saw something others didn't and gave his mother a name to look up. My heart hit the floor and I remember crying

and I turned and I said, this is him. to look up. At first, the parabond sketch felt like a big dud. Police posted it on social media and showed it to the family, but nothing. Then Michelle's son, Cutter, called her. He said he felt like he knew it right then. Cutter told his mom he was sure the sketch showed somebody he knew, someone named Ryan Riggs.

I looked him up and as soon as I seen that face, my heart hit the floor and I remember crying and I turned and I said, this is him, this is him. All of a sudden it was almost like somebody turned the lights on and you were like, there he is. Ryan Riggs was a local, a member of Shantae's church. Cutter knew Riggs from high school and would never forget him. Ryan had bullied Cutter in school and had poured a whole glass of sweet tea over his head.

So your son had known him for years. They all did. And they all used to play video games together. Michelle called Scott Bird and gave him the name You've got a picture. You've got a name. How do you put those together? We went social media We basically looked up Ryan Riggs on Facebook and a picture that popped up of him Was the spitting image of the computer image that we'd received. It felt definitive.

It felt like here is the answer. We have been looking for a year and a half and we've had nothing. And here it is and it's a perfect match. What did you think when you saw that side by side? I started becoming a believer. Maybe it wasn't a waste of $3600. Maybe this is not a waste of money. Investigators still had a lot of work to do. The sketch alone wasn't enough for an arrest.

We start diving into Ron Riggs to find out who he is. They learned that the 21-year-old Riggs loved playing video games online and picked up work doing lawn care. When Shantae first went missing, he'd even been part of the search. Riding with John on an ATV. We was yelling her name and just trying to see anything that was out of ordinary or see if we could just get lucky to find her, you know? And Ryan was calling her name too? Yeah, he was. When investigators looked in their own files,

they learned more. We found that he was a suspect in an illegal dumping case. That's where he dumped some trash on a county road. Dumping trash is no big deal, but where he dumped it was. Just a half mile from where Shantae's body was found, along that same remote country road. So what does that tell you? He knows the area.

What's more, in those dark days after Shantae's murder, Riggs was a constant presence. Here he is captured on the police surveillance video, attending Shantae's funeral, waiting at the entrance to the church, then watching from the doorway. Midway through the service, he gets a program and takes a seat,

and then he leaves before it's over. He was at the house for her wake. He was at our house multiple times with John, Shantae's boyfriend. I'd be crying, talking about it, and he'd just act like just normal. He would come into your intimate space and offer comfort, give you hugs.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. He was there, standing next to me, shook my hand. He shook your hand. Yes, ma'am. Today we buried my daughter. The fact that he was there for some of the most painful moments, that had to feel like the ultimate insult.

It was. How could anybody do that? I mean, I just didn't understand. And I was mad just because he was there the whole time and I couldn't see it. And he was right there. After 18 months of hard work, investigators now had a new and urgent priority. Find Ryan Riggs. We find his mom and dad. They let us come in and look in the house.

He's not there. They don't know where he is. Hasn't been home for several days. After police released the sketch to the public, Riggs had taken off. So now we know Ryan's on the run from us. We figure he's seen the sketch. He's seen the news release. And at this point you're looking, but...

We can't find him. My job at that point was we're going to have to come up with a plan to locate him. If that's out in the woods, out in the brush, wherever he's at, we've got to find him. You were preparing for a manhunt. We were getting ready for a manhunt. The investigation had been jump-started, and another dramatic development was just around the corner, not in the woods or the brush, but at the very church that Shantay loved.

I want you guys to take me to that Wednesday night church service. Ryan Riggs was now the prime suspect in Shantae's murder, but almost a week after the DNA sketch was made public, he was nowhere to be found. Scott Byrd believed he was on the run. We're calling informants. We have his picture out to the police department, our department. Everybody out driving around is looking for him. Russell and Linda Lamond had no idea

there was an all-out manhunt underway for the young man they knew from church. He would pop up every once in a while. He was always with his mom and dad or if mom was there by herself. And his sister as well. Yeah, yes, his sister. What did you know about Ryan Riggs? Oh, he was a good kid. Good kid. He would do anything for you.

Anything you would ask him, hey, can you do this for me? And it would be, yes, ma'am, yes, sir. We had a community clean-up of one of the homeless shelters. I remember him out there weed eating, just going to town and weed eating, cleaning up the community. He was very excited about doing it. On November 15, 2017, 18 months after Shantae was murdered,

the Lamonts headed to church for a regular Wednesday night service. I want you guys to take me to that Wednesday night church service. OK, I'll start. When we got to church, there's Ryan's parents, the pastor and his wife, and then I see Ryan in the middle. There was Ryan, not hiding, not on the run, but there in plain sight at the church. We sat down and the pastor said that, you know, Ryan wants to tell us something. And

he starts talking, but he's talking about his salvation. And my thought's like, what is he talking about? So you're just lost. I'm lost. And he starts talking about that he had demon thoughts, or he had voices in his head that was telling him to do things. And then Ryan Riggs, standing alone at the pulpit in front of the whole congregation, said it.

He was a murderer. I start crying and I don't even remember everything he said at that point. I want to ask you, Russell, all I had to do was mention that church service and you were almost brought to tears. It was very difficult, very difficult because when he said, I'm a murderer, I just got sick. I was like... I remember saying, please don't tell me he's talking about Shante. Please don't tell me. And the pastor's wife was standing next to us and I was so angry. I was so angry.

But I put my head down, I grabbed the pew and I was like, how? I love this boy. And Pastor saw that he could see you. You were really conflicted. He goes, Russell, I want you to come stand next to him. And I'm thinking to myself, that's probably not a good idea right now. You know, I'm not an angry person,

but I wanted to hurt you for five minutes. I kid you not, because I loved her so much. And now you're being asked to stand next to him. I'm being asked to stand up next to him. And I went up to the pulpit, and I put my arms around him, and I embraced him. And I told him I loved him. It was one of the hardest things I had to do.

Did you forgive him in that moment? Yes, I did. I did. This is a brutal, cold-blooded murderer, and he's being treated with kid gloves. He's allowed to come to this church, where he's very familiar, confess in front of people who love him.

Where's the SWAT scene? Where are the dogs? Yeah, yeah. Where's the SWAT team? Where are the dogs? Yeah, yeah. I don't know how he was able to do that at church. And my thought was, he needs to know we're angry. And so before he left, I just put my face in front of a killer's face. You know, I mean, that close.

It kind of scared me a little bit, but I had grabbed his hands and told Ryan. I said, Ryan, we want to hate you, but we can't. We love you. Because I just wanted him to feel that what he did was wrong. Do you think he felt that? I'm hoping he did. Before that unforgettable scene at the church,

Riggs had been on the run for several days. But then he showed up at the church with his parents, told the pastor what he'd done, and asked if he could confess to the congregation. The pastor agreed. So after the confession, what happens? Pastor Keener calls Sheriff Hill and says, I'm bringing in Ryan Riggs.

He's just confessed to me in the church of killing Shante. So they all ride to the sheriff's office together. He's not cuffed. He's not arrested. He's just in the car with his parents going to the sheriff's office. The sheriff met him out on the highway He's not arrested. He's just in the car with his parents going to the sheriff's office. The sheriff met him out on the highway and followed him in to make sure Ryan didn't have a change of heart.

Investigator Byrd and Ranger Shea rushed to the sheriff's office. As you're processing all of this. How can you process that? That he just confessed to the church that he attended, that he's the one that everybody's been looking for for the last 18 months. You know, driving to the sheriff's office, trying to process that, a million things are going through your mind. Did he really do it?

Is he just saying that he did it? This is somebody that you've been pursuing for 18 months, day in and day out. Finally, you're face- face to face with this person. What was that moment like for you? I kept thinking, my job's not done yet. Now it's time to talk. And did he talk? Yes, he did.

I've always had this, it's like this different part of me that it just wants nothing but destruction and evil. There's always more to the story. To go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, listen to our Talking Dateline series with Blaine and Josh, available Wednesday. This was the news Michelle had wanted so badly for so long, ever since that terrible Friday the 13th. Her daughter's killer was finally in custody. But she was confused by the way it happened.

Ryan Riggs did not confess to authorities. He'd done it in front of the congregation at Shantae's church. This was the place where she would go and find comfort day after day, where she would sing and sit in the pews. The place she loved. How did it feel to know that he had chosen that place, that church, to confess to killing her? I couldn't imagine being a person sitting on that pew

when he confessed that. Michelle was angry that the pastor had arranged what Riggs himself described as a moment of salvation. I felt like it was done wrongfully, that he shouldn't have been brought into the church. Should not have been able to step foot in that church. The way he decided to go about telling everybody was like his opportunity to try to cleanse himself or ask for some sort of forgiveness or his way of saying like, Hey, look, I'm sorry. Um, I don't believe he was sorry. When Riggs arrived at the sheriff's office after the service, he was finally face

to face with Ranger Shay and investigator Bird. What I'm going to do is take you back a little bit and go through some of the stuff. Where did you find Shantae that day? She was walking past the mailboxes and I had stopped and asked her if she needed a ride and she got in my truck. Riggs said they drove around the neighborhood.

Then he pulled over in a secluded spot. When you're sitting in the truck talking where you're talking about music. I don't like what was playing on. I was looking for. The throw my music. Every time she play a song should be she should say something like that's my song.

He told investigators that as they sat there in the truck listening to music. she would say something like, oh, that's my song. He told investigators that as they sat there in the truck listening to music, something inside of him snapped. Out of nowhere, I just put my left arm around her and began to strangle her. And whenever she had passed out, I took her clothes off and I raped her. While she's unconscious? While she's unconscious. Then what happened?

He told us he knew he couldn't let her live because he had raped her. And he couldn't have her talking. I went to that abandoned house. Riggs knew about the haunted house because he'd been there with friends when he was a teenager. I threw her over that fence and then climbed over the fence and dragged her to that tank battery where I had to put her. But before I threw her in there, I went back to my truck and got a lawnmower blade out of the back of my truck.

And I went back to where she was, and I beat her to death with it. I had stomped on her chest as well. So he stomped on her chest to try to kill her. That was the mark. And that's the mark from his shoes. It was an appalling story. But the way Riggs told it was cold, almost methodical.

I think whatever came over me knew that she was an easy target. What was his demeanor? Matter of fact. And that's what surprised us also. There wasn't really a whole bunch of emotion involved in this. It's like this different part of me that it just wants nothing but destruction and evil.

It wanted to kill somebody. It wanted to rape. How long have you been having those thoughts before this happened? I've always had these thoughts. We used to have a chihuahua, and I tried on numerous occasions to drown that chihuahua in a five gallon bucket of water. But I would just hold it there long enough to where I would just think to myself, what am I doing? Your parents never saw you do it?

No, I always made sure to do it whenever they were away. As you're sitting there listening to him, what are you thinking about this guy? This guy's dangerous. This guy's scary. He kills without remorse and I'm shocked he hadn't done it again. Did you believe that Ryan Riggs would kill again? Absolutely. If you could say something right now to Sean today. What would you say? That I'm sorry that I did what I did. And I, whatever I have coming towards me, I deserve.

What do you think you deserve? Death for sure. Riggs was charged with capital murder. In the state of Texas, if you commit a murder and there's aggravating circumstances around it, for instance in this case, sexually assaulting the victim, that by itself transformed this from a regular murder case into a capital murder case.

So the death penalty is on the table. At this point, it very much is. But before D.A. Murray went to court to seek the death penalty, he talked to Shantae's family. He wanted them to know there is a long process before an execution can be carried out, likely spanning many years. The question is, are you going to be able to get justice for the family in a reasonable period of time that's not going to prolong their agony?

Shantae's mom decided death was too good for Ryan Riggs. To me, that would have been an easy way out. Easy for him? Easy for him, what? He wouldn't have got to suffer. So the state offered Riggs a deal, a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It was important for our community to have closure.

And the finality of being able to tell everyone, we are guaranteed that he will remain in prison. That was incredibly valuable for our community. Riggs accepted the deal. He was sentenced in February 2019. He will never marry, never have kids, but he's still alive and he can still see his family. He got the choice to live or die and Shantay did not. Michelle feels she knows what would have been in her daughter's heart.

She would have forgave him. Do you forgive him? I don't. Shante's loved ones try not to dwell on the man who killed her. Michelle would rather remember her feisty, radiant daughter. When you close your eyes and think about your daughter, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Her smile. Her smile.

Yeah. It doesn't ever go away. I see her all the time. I want people to remember her singing at the choir, walking down the street, waving at people. That's how everybody needs to remember her, not as some sort of a victim. And on the streets where she walked, in the church where she sang, Shantae's spirit is still very much alive. Her family visits her on holidays, decorating her grave and picturing her smiling as she sings in the Angels' Choir.

That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again next Friday at 9, 8 Central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt, for all of us at NBC News, good night.