Going West: True Crime - Zkira Kemp // 317

Episode Date: June 28, 2023

In July of 2022, a 20-year-old woman was killed in a car crash in Maryland during a road trip with her friends. After receiving a disturbing phone call from one of the friends she was traveling with, getting inconsistent accounts from police and those at the scene, and seeing a mismatched autopsy report, her mother is desperately pushing for the truth about what really happened to her daughter. This is the story of Zkira Kemp. GOFUNDME https://www.gofundme.com/f/justiceforzkira URGE THE POLICE TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION Call the Charles County Sheriff’s Office at [phone] CASE SOURCES 1. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248319402/zkira-tysha-kemp 2. Atlanta Black Star: https://atlantablackstar.com/2023/01/18/it-is-not-adding-up-texas-mother-alleges-cover-up-in-death-of-zkira-kemp-killed-in-fiery-crash-during-road-trip-with-friends/ 3. PVAMU Announcement: https://www.pvamu.edu/blog/pvamu-community-mourns-loss-of-management-major-zkira-kemp/ 4. Memorial page: https://www.simplicitycfs.com/obituaries/Zkira-Tysha-Kemp?obId=25403118 5. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248319402/zkira-tysha-kemp 6. Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/justiceforzkira?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf%20share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR1r8pMXVjZz0x8_GxUdXw4KroEuGddDX5rVhfOXVhz-e8YzWbKdLOnxNUo 7. Yahoo: https://www.yahoo.com/now/texas-mother-seeks-truth-20-003601149.html 8. KCEN: https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/community/killeen-mother-seeking-answers-after-daughters-death/500-2be10604-7e8e-40ff-83be-deb81159f830 9. Austin Angels: https://www.austinangels.com/ 10. Zkira's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zkira.kemp/ 11. Bossip: https://bossip.com/2220722/zkira-kemp-death-compared-to-shanquella-robinson/ 12. The North Carolina Beat: https://thencbeat.com/texas-mother-wants-answers-about-what-happened-to-her-daughter-zkira-kemp-on-trip-with-friends/ 13. Charles County Sheriff's Office: https://www.ccso.us/press-releases/11131/ 14. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/football-anthem-taking-knee-one-all-black-high-school-team-n919116 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Thank you so much to Annelies for recommending today's case. I mean get ready to be pissed because this story is so so weird. Like you guys are gonna get the chills, you're gonna be frustrated, it's just an absolutely disturbing mess. And our hearts really go out to her mother Jalanda for the fight that she's had with just getting justice for her daughter. Yes, absolutely. So please make sure that you share this story and keep Zakira in mind. Oh, and thank you to everybody who wished he a happy birthday yesterday.

We went to Universal Studios for like the billionth time this year. We're always there. And then we celebrated with friends for dinner and it was so awesome, right? Yeah, no, it was amazing. I turned 35 and thank you guys so much for all the birthday wishes. That really made my day, made me feel so happy. I actually did a little bit of a live

while we were at Universal Studios. But I kind of just didn't really know what to say. On Instagram, yeah. Yeah, so I ended it pretty abruptly. But I love you guys and thank you so much. All right, guys, this is episode 317 of Going West, so let's get into it. In July of 2022, a 20-year-old woman was killed in a car crash in Maryland during a road trip with her friends.

After receiving a disturbing phone call from one of the friends she was traveling with, getting inconsistent accounts from police and those at the scene, and seeing a mismatched autopsy report, her mother is desperately pushing for the truth about what really happened to her daughter. This is The Story of Zikira Kemp was born on November 18, 2001 in Starkville, Mississippi to Jelanda Kemp. And at the time, she joined her older brother named Tyler, who Jelanda remembers, was incredibly protective of her off the bat. With Jelanda being a single mother, the three of them were very close, and when the kids were still young, the family left Mississippi and relocated to the Austin, Texas area, where Zikira really seemed to thrive. And we were fortunate enough to speak with Jalanda and be able to ask her some questions, and she spoke glowingly about her daughter, saying, quote,

When she came into this world, she was lovable. Jalanda remembers that she knew that she was pregnant before it was even showing up on tests, and she had to convince her doctor to give her an ultrasound. Jalanda said that that was typical for her daughter, who always made her presence known, saying, quote, that's just the kind of person Zikira was. Her effervescent personality and kind soul carried with her through childhood and into young adulthood, and one friend remembered, quote, she won the hearts of so many of us, to know her was to love her, as she had such a big heart and loved for

real. As a teen she started working with the Austin Angels which is a nonprofit organization that pairs mentors and volunteers with foster children to offer them extra support outside of the home. Zikira was also the president of her school's Honor Society chapter and was passionate about the relationships that she forged with the youths in the program. Jelanda recalled that most kids' rage didn't care to do outreach for vulnerable children in their community, but Zikira, who was naturally gifted with kids and able to make anyone feel comfortable, took to it very quickly and loved the rewarding challenge. Jalanda said proudly that Zakira, quote,

made sure that person knew they were special. That sometimes came at a high cost for Zakira, however, as she would often put friends, family members, and the kids that she was working with before herself. Jalanda explained, quote, sometimes she would put herself to the side to make sure that you were happy. Despite this, Zikir remained a constant source of light in the lives of those who knew her,

especially Jalandas, who said, quote, I haven't met anyone who could say anything bad about my daughter. When she started applying for colleges, Zikir told Jalandas that her main goal in life was to care for her, and Jalandas this really funny saying, quote, that was my goal. I always told her that that was my job being a single mother. I would give up my dreams. I'd give up everything so that they don't have to. My kids knew that they were my first priority in my heart.

While working with the Austin Angels was really fulfilling for Zakira, her ultimate goal was to own her own business. Being ambitious and enterprising, Jalanda had no doubt that she would achieve this. But regardless of how hard she worked or how successful she became, Zakira remained gracious and humble. Jalanda says that her daughter was the type of person to read an employee's name tag at the grocery store, look them in the eye, and then thank them by name. Zakira just seemed like such a wonderful person, and you can really tell how proud her mom

is of her still. Totally agree. So, after graduating from shoemaker high school in Colleen, Texas, Zakira headed to Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University or PVAMU. Preview, Agricultural, and Mechanical University, or PVAMU. Situated 45 minutes outside of Houston, Texas, Preview was about a 2.5 hour drive from her home in Colleen, Texas, but Zacura was excited for a fresh start and a lay down plans for the business that she eventually wanted to own. So she decided to major in management. In the summer of 2022, she was about to head into her junior year at Prairie View, and she was back in clean until her fall semester started.

A friend of hers named Rhonda was turning 21 that summer, so she and Zakira decided to make plans for a celebratory road trip. On July 3, 2022, Zakira, her best friend, Ronda Alice Tinsley, and Ronda's boyfriend named Michael Dukes, were bound for Maryland. They were planning on visiting another friend of theirs named Aiden Fair and would be staying at Aiden's family's Lake House for the week. Zakira was extremely excited like she was just ready for this vacation, writing on Facebook that she had never even left the South and was looking forward to exploring a new place.

Yeah, and this was supposed to be fun. And this is our best friend. They're not only going on a road trip, but they get to stay at a lake house. This is supposed to be really fun trip. Yeah, it sounds like a dream, right? Well the group left Colleen on the early morning of Sunday, July 3rd, and arrived in Maryland on the evening of Monday, July 4th. So the 4th of July, they were in Maryland. They were planning on spending a few days hanging by the lake, just relaxing

and drinking, and then they were going to return home in a few days. So initially, everything seemed to be going well, and the group seemed to be having a lot of fun. Zikira was checking in on a daily basis as she always did, and kept the location turned on in her iPhone so that Jalanda could keep an eye on her. Yeah, and Zikira was 20 years old at this time, but it was still something that she wanted her mom to see. They had this agreement that she would keep her location on. Yeah, just kind of like mutual respect.

Yeah, and I mean, we have this with our families too. Like our whole families, both of us have our location. We know everybody's location. Yeah, we're always like tracking each other. It's just out of safety, but also convenient. It's just good to know if you're not getting a text back, oh, they're here, I understand, you know. Definitely.

So it does make sense that she had her location on. Yeah, and especially in this day and age where it's so important that we have this technology to be able to know where our family members are and to be able to make sure our family members are and to be able to make sure that they're safe like this was very important to that family. Exactly. And this does play a part in the story because on the evening of July 7th, so days into

their trip, Jolanda went into work for the night around 5 p.m. starting a shift that would end at 1 a.m. She checked on Zakira around 10.30 pm, and her location showed that she was at a bowling alley. But at 1am when Jolanda left work and checked her location again, Zikira's location was turned off. Now Jolanda found this odd because, again, like I said,

they had this sort of family rule since Zikira had gotten a cell phone that, you know, she would keep the location on so that Jalanda could check and see where her daughter was if she needed to. But even though it was off, Jalanda just kind of shrugged this off, knowing that she'd check it again in the morning and just assumed that her location would pop up and it would be working again by then. And that may be her phone was off or she was in an area without service,

like something small like that. Sure. So Jalanda woke up around 7am, and still had not heard from her daughter. And strangely, the location on Zakira's phone was still turned off. Now still, she was puzzled by this, but she continued to tell herself that

it was likely just an accident. You know, maybe Zikira turned it off by mistake and Zikira would call her later and explain. But then, a friend of hers named Lakisha Kohl reached out to Jalanda and said that Aiden Faire's mother had been trying to get in contact with her. Now, Jalanda found this odd as well, because she didn't know Aiden's mom. So, yeah. So, this seems alarming because like the friend

of your daughter's mom is now getting in contact with you when your daughter is not. Yeah, so what does that mean? So, Jalanda asked LaKisha what was wrong while on the phone. She's not gonna wait for Aiden's mom to call her. Like, what do you mean, why does his mom wanna talk to me? But LaKisha apparently didn't know the details and only told her that the kids had gotten into some trouble

and that Aiden's mom needed to speak with her. So at this point, obviously she is totally panicked and was able to get connected with Aiden's mom who was apparently so anxious about speaking with her that she asked Michael's mom Tracy to join the call as well. So now it's two moms and Jalanda on this phone call. Yeah, so remember, Ronda and Michael and Zikira are taking the road trip and they were going to go stay at Aidan's family's lake house.

So there were three of them on the road trip and four of them hanging out together and now two of the moms are on this call with Jalanda. So with all three of them on the phone, Jalanda begged for some kind of explanation asking if her daughter was at least okay, like can you tell me that much? And the two other moms apparently totally danced around the question and would not give her a direct answer. And Tracy could be heard softly sobbing into the phone. So Jolanda finally cried, is my baby dead?

And in response, Michael and Aiden's moms abruptly hung up on her, which just left Jolanda terrified and confused, which is so messed up we're all adults here. She's just trying to figure out her daughter's alive and you hang up on her? Like it's insane. Yeah, it seems sketchy from the get go, right? Absolutely. So extremely frantic, she began calling anybody that she could think of to figure out what

happened to her daughter and just to get the story straight. She was eventually able to get aid in himself on the phone and he claimed that he didn't even know what happened. He explained that he hadn't been with his friends that night and that Rhonda, Michael, and Zakira had gone out alone without him. Jalana found this weird as the three had driven their specifically to visit Aiden and spend Rhondis birthday altogether, so what she was hearing just did not click with what she knew about this trip.

Jolanda was then able to get Aiden's mom on the phone again, who this time explained that Zakira had been driving them home that night, after being out drinking together and that she lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. Now according to this account, Rhonda had been knocked unconscious by the impact and Michael while severely injured had pulled her from the vehicle. When he went back for Zakira however, he said that the car had burst into flames and that there was no chance of pulling her out alive. A few days later, Jalanda was able to get Michael's mom Tracy on the phone again, and she explained

that Michael had sustained critical injuries. Tracy claimed that Michael had a broken hip, a broken leg, a fractured skull, two collapsed lungs, and that he would need or potentially already had open heart surgery. So injuries of this magnitude would surely warrant a long-term hospital stay, but oddly, Michael was out of the hospital the same day of the accident, which doesn't make any sense at all. So how would it be possible for that list of injuries to be accurate? I am really looking forward to the medical professionals weighing in in our comments on this.

I mean, it just seems crazy. If you have collapsed lungs, you have broken legs, a broken hip, you're probably gonna be in the hospital for I want I mean, I mean, the old surgery surgery, cheese. Yeah, and this is really intense. These are intense injuries. You would think that the shortest amount of time that you would spend in the hospital for that amount of injuries would be like a couple weeks at least. At least you would imagine. And what was even more strange was that Jalanda could hear Michael talking to her in the background of the phone call, asking to speak with her in person. Jalanda wondered how he could possibly be home and able to talk to her, given the extent of his injuries, saying quote, my antennas went up when I heard him calling my name in the background and asking to see me face to face, because his mom said that he had open

heart surgery and two collapsed lungs, so how could he talk so fast? She also wondered why Tracy refused to put him on the phone. In this phone call which Lawn to recorded, Tracy detailed the extent of his injuries, saying quote, he can't walk or anything so he needs to be lifted up and carried. When Jalanda asked how he could possibly have been released so quickly, Tracy sounding obviously very nervous, explained quote, it's really bad, I just don't like to talk about it with you. Because I know yours is worse, but it's really bad. He's just been hallucinating and stuff. He was just

scared and he didn't feel safe. When Jalanda again asked this question, Tracey said, quote, he's tired of being poked. They keep poking him. He's had so many surgeries. She continued on to say that quote, he's just tired, they, referring to Michael and Rhonda, just need counseling, that's all. Amidst the chaos of the days following the accident and with so many different accounts coming out, Jolanda was left with only questions. She began to suspect that the parents of her daughter's friends were lying to her, but she couldn't understand why. She was also devastated by their very dismissive treatment, acting as if her daughter's

sudden and very tragic death was just a minor accident that she had brought on herself by drinking. And according to Jalanda, she had loved her daughter's friends as her own, and felt like she wasn't getting the same treatment by their parents when it came to Zikira. Questioning quote, When your children were here with me, I fed them, I took care of them. Why can't I get the same for my child?" In the days following the accident, Jalanda was finally able to speak with Michael about his account of what happened. Michael claimed that, as his parents said, the three of them had been drinking together

that evening and then took off together in the car. Ronda had been in the front seat asleep and Michael had been in the back. He said they'd been driving through a remote area when Zikira lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. Apparently surviving on adrenaline, Michael had pulled himself and Ronda from the car and crashed into a tree. Apparently surviving on adrenaline, Michael had pulled himself and Rhonda from the car, despite his supposed critical injuries, but by the time he went back for a zikira, the car was engulfed in flames and it was too late. And Michael did not explain how he was able to do this given the severity of his injuries. Jalanda was still without an official police report or autopsy and just had first and second

accounts to go off of from people who seemed to be concealing something from her. First straight edge, she said, quote, they were lying about what happened to my daughter. I'm trying to understand how my daughter is the only one that did not make it. Jalanda then spoke with Rhonda about the accident, who gave yet another different account of what happened that evening. So Rhonda claimed that she remembered even less than Michael, that she had been in the car laughing, and then the next thing she knew, she woke up in the hospital. So this was obviously very strange because Michael claimed that, you know, she had been

asleep at the time of the crash, not awake and laughing. One thing Michael and Ronda did agree on, however, was where the crash took place. They both claimed that it was a rural area, a forest, with seemingly no one around for miles. But Jalanda again questions this, wondering how police responded to the crash and helped Michael and Ronda who were supposedly both incapacitated. Jalanda said, quote, who called 911 because I was told there was no 911 call, where is the 911 call? She's also never seen the police report of this incident.

Then on Monday, July 15, 2022, exactly one week after her daughter's death, Jelanda herself traveled to Maryland to bring Zikira's body home. But she was devastated when she was told upon arrival that she was not permitted to see the remains, according to the Maryland medical examiner laws. As Jelanda describes it, she decided to launch her own investigation, and she started by visiting this crash site. And initially, she was just planning on simply paying her respects, but her excursion quickly brought forth even more questions. Again, Jolanda was told by both Zacchira's friends and their mothers that the crash happened

in a remote location in the woods. So heading to the address that she was given, Jalanda was shocked to find that it was actually a residential area. In fact, the actual crash site was a tree in the front yard of someone's house. The site of the crash is in the 113-00 block of Maryland Point Road in Nangemoi, Maryland, which is a wooded area, but it's also a neighborhood dotted with mailboxes and houses. And when you do look at pictures of this specific road, it is a country road, but it's not desolate. Like, Daphne is saying there are houses and mailboxes around.

And there are streets, like off streets where I'm sure there's many other neighborhoods. Right. But yeah, if you look at it, there is a street view which I will post on our socials and it's a beautiful country road, but definitely not. Like they had described it as it didn't seem like there was anybody for miles which is just absolutely not true especially considering the fact that the crash literally took place in somebody's front yard so that is just weird off the bat and which means that michael's claim that there was no one around to assist them just didn't ring true at all so jolanda was reeling from trying to reconcile yet another lie that she had been told by the

last people to have seen her daughter alive, saying quote, They told me it happened in the middle of nowhere. It was just trees and they couldn't get help. If they were in someone's front yard, then why didn't they run to the person's house and get help? I'm just like, ain't no way this is where this happened at, but it was. Standing on the charred grass and asphalt of the wreck that supposedly took her daughter from her, Jolanda placed a picture of Zikira in front of the tree to honor her. And as she did, a woman emerged from the house in front of which Zikira had crashed. She and Jolanda exchanged hellos, and the woman introduced herself as the owner of the house.

While she offered her sympathies, this woman also offered yet another entirely different account of what had happened that day. She seemed confused that Jalanda had lost a daughter in the accident because she had been told that a young man had died there. A few days earlier, a man had come by to visit the site and according to the homeowner, her husband had emerged from the house to ask what happened, and her husband described that the man had been crying and that he explained that he had lost his son in the crash and that another one of his sons was in critical condition. Jelanda recorded her conversation with the homeowner

who claims that the man had described, quote, his son got killed, got burned up. And the other son was in the hospital. He was in critical condition. And the girl, she was hurt too. That's what he told me. And I asked his name, and I said, did you know them? And he said yeah

They were my kids. They came up to visit me. There were two miles away He said it was his son and his other son was in the hospital and the daughter went to that's what he said that's what he told me So this mysterious man also came by the crash site and spoke with the homeowners a second time This time with three kids to accompany him who looked between the ages of 10 and 12. He drove a black truck and claimed that he lived on a farm nearby. He again claimed that his son had died there. When the homeowner asked the man what caused the accident, the man answered that the driver might have fallen asleep. But here's the thing,

Jalanda later learned that this man was Aiden Faire's father, the father of the man whom Zakira, Rhonda, and Michael had driven out to Maryland to see. The same man whose lake house the four were supposedly staying at that week. This is just such a frustrating and confusing part of the story, but there's no other information past that, which is part of what makes it all so perplexing that this man, Aiden's dad, is saying that his son died, that he said it apparently multiple times, that his son died and his other son was in the hospital, but Aiden didn't die because remember, he spoke with Jalanda on the phone and said that he didn't know what happened and he apparently wasn't even in the car.

Yeah, he wasn't apparently with them that night. Yeah, and Jalanda, remember, also even spoke with his mom. So who is this son that supposedly died in this crash and who is the brother that was supposedly severely injured? Like, the only thing that I can think of is that maybe he was referring to the kids as his own because maybe he felt responsible since they were staying at his lake house, but then why say son, assuming that's what he really did say, which it seemed like the homeowner was very adamant that he said the word son multiple times.

Like it's just so weird. It's very weird. Yeah, and I don't know why she would like make that up and say that he was talking about a sun when he wasn't. Yeah. So, while she was in Maryland, Jalanda hoped to see her daughter's body and bring it home with her. And she had already been told that the former was impossible.

But when she told the medical examiner's office that she wished to have her daughter's body shipped home, you know, for like a proper burial, she was again told that that would be impossible. For seemingly inexplicable reasons, Jalanda was told that she needed to agree to have her daughter cremated in order to be released from the funeral home, and that they would not release Sakura until Jalanda signed off on this. So confused and racked with grief, Jalanda finally agreed. But then, when she saw the initial autopsy report,

she immediately regretted having her cremated before a second opinion could be obtained. Zakira's autopsy is strange and disturbing and indicates even more inconsistencies in the case of her death. The body apparently was 3 feet, 3 inches tall, and weighed 88 pounds. And for reference, Zacure was 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighed about 170 pounds.

The body was found to have alcohol in its system, but the amount was unspecified. And Jalanda also found this strange, saying that Zakir was more of a weed smoker than a drinker. She found it even more odd that Zakir was only found to have alcohol in her system, and that there was apparently no weed. The right forearm of the body in question was longer than the left, and her legs had been amputated. While it's possible that these were all injuries that she sustained in the crash or possibly

the fire, Jalanda said that she had seen a picture of what was supposedly her daughter's body before the autopsy, and that it looked much more like her daughter, sharing the same shape and size instead of such a small figure. Zakir was supposedly identified by her dental records, but Jalanda later said that even those were not confirmed with what 100% accuracy. Every revelation was more shocking to Jalanda, who said, quote, at this point, I'm like, is my daughter even dead? This is a valid question, for sure, because she is getting so many conflicting reports.

None of it is making sense, especially with what she heard regarding what we just said about Aiden's father saying that his son died. So she's obviously thinking, did a different crash happen here or was my daughter even in the car did somebody else die and they're covering her death up in some other way? Like, how could you not think that? I think you're right. I think that's totally fair for her to be questioning all of these scenarios.

And maybe the scenario isn't as out there as some people would like to believe, but maybe it's more simple than that, but the fact that there's so many inconsistencies and it seems like people are lying, that gives her the right to question things. Absolutely. And I just want to go back to what you're saying, Heath, about the size of her body during

the autopsy. So, again, her body or the body in question was three feet, three inches tall and weighed 88 pounds, whereas Zikira was five foot four and weighed 170. So we know, like you said, that her legs had been amputated. We also know that she was burned, right? So, something I wonder if this is just the length of her body after that amputation, which would make a little bit more sense, but still, I don't know if maybe her body would have gotten any smaller

due to the burning, but three foot, three versus five foot four, that's two feet shorter, right? Absolutely. So it would make sense, though, without her legs, right, because your legs take up about half your body or more. Absolutely, but I think I think I get what you're saying here and I definitely think that that's probably The likely scenario of what actually happened is that they were you know Measuring the length of her body base of what they had act you know after the accident right and possibly the weights of

The you know, sorry, this sounds very graphic, but the chart remains from the fire. Absolutely. So that is kind of where, where my head is. I totally understand that she is saying that she saw a picture of her daughter's body before she saw the autopsy report and that it seemed like maybe there was more of, again, this is so graphic, but there's really no way around it. More of her left than what the autopsy showed.

So I understand in that way as well that she's like, this really isn't matching up with what I saw or what I heard, you know? So yeah, this again is just another very confusing piece to this story. Yeah, but that, you know, if that is the, if that is what happened, it would be so easy to just confirm this by saying yeah this is this is the case but they never did that for jolanda right exactly so on july eight twenty twenty two the day the crash occurred because remember happened in the very early morning the charles county sheriff's office issued a

press release about the incident that red quote, on July 8th at 2.18am. Officers responded to the 113-00 block of Maryland Point Road in Nangemoi for the report of a single car crash. A preliminary investigation revealed the driver of the vehicle was traveling on Maryland Point Road when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree, catching fire. Two occupants were able to get out of the car, when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree, catching fire.

Two occupants were able to get out of the car, but a third person was pronounced dead on the scene. That person has not been positively identified. The two occupants, a 20-year-old male from Hyatt'sville and a 21-year-old female from Texas, were transported to a hospital with serious injuries. Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or who has information relating to it is asked to contact Corporal Arbrookes in the Traffic Operations Unit at 301-932-3056. The investigation is ongoing.

So something about this I want to just recap. Back when Gelanda was checking Zikira's location that night because she did, which is ongoing. So something about this, I want to just recap. Back when Jolanda was checking Zikira's location that night, because she did, which is amazing, she checked it at 10.30 p.m. and the location showed that she was at a bowling alley. Now, we're not sure how far this bowling alley is from the crash site, but then we do know that at 1 a.m., which is when Jolanda left work, she checked it again

and Zikira's location was already turned off. Right, and then police officers responded to the crash site at 2.18 a.m. So in hour later. And over an hour later, you know what's like? Exactly. It's like, which is a significant amount of time before Michael, who supposedly had all these

very severe injuries, could get help. That's just a lot of time. And right, yeah, and there was... And then who called the police? We still don't know. had all these very severe injuries could get help. That's just a lot of time. And right, yeah, and there was. And then who called the police? We still don't know. Yeah, we don't know who called the police. It could have been the homeowner

that the crash happened in front of, I'm not sure, but, or it could have been somebody that was away from the site, because, you know, Jalanda was asking, who called 911, and nobody could tell her, and nobody explained that they had called 911 so she's like okay so apparently nobody called for emergency services but then also

so this car was sitting in front of this person's house on fire for like an hour you know and it would make sense if the car caught fire and so did secure his phone and that's why her location was turned off because her phone broke in that process if this crash occurred at about one in the morning that would make sense but again if the car caught fire right away which is really what michael and ronda are claiming or at least michael is really claiming it

because he got out the car he got ronda out and then he couldn't get secure out that would mean again that this car is sitting on fire for over an hour claiming it because he got out of the car, he got ronded out, and then he couldn't get secure out. That would mean, again, that this car is sitting on fire for over an hour, like in a wooded area, and it didn't cause a forest fire, you know, like, it's, again, it just doesn't make sense. There's a lot of missing information here. But another thing that makes this complicated

is the time zones, because I'm sure a lot of you guys are wondering that in your heads right now, but basically, Jelanda got off work at 1am in Texas, which would be 2am in Maryland. She says all of the time zones that we're talking about are Eastern, but I really think that she might have actually gotten off at 1am, Texas time, Central time. Because that would really make sense with this timeline because of the police showing up at the scene at 218, if this crash occurred around 2am instead of 1am, that would make a lot more sense, but I just wanted to mention all of this to you guys as we explore it ourselves, because we don't know this for sure. So, beyond this statement that I just read, and a few scattered articles, the local coverage

was just non-existent about this crash, which Jelanda just couldn't wrap her head around. Despite the inconsistencies in the witness stories and the autopsy, she says that there hasn't been an investigation at all. She also feels that the pressure is on because, at the one year mark, which is rapidly approaching, by the way, the police have the right to destroy any evidence in Zikiris' case if they don't feel it warrants keeping. And we are releasing this episode on June 27th, and the one year mark is on July 7th, which is in just 10 days.

So obviously, a plethora of theories have emerged in discussions about Zikiris' case, and many including Jalana herself have indicated that the crash may have been a ruse, a cover-up to abduct Sakura or potentially dispose of somebody else's body. Some also pose the idea that it could have potentially been to Harvest her organs or to forster into sex trafficking. Now, obviously these theories are a bit more unlikely, but with the story that's this convoluted, almost anything seems possible at this point. Another theory is that the families of one of the kids, either Rhonda or Michael or Aiden,

had a family member or a close contact in the police department or possibly the medical examiner's office and were able to smooth over whatever really happened in this crash. That connection remains unknown, but Aiden's family does appear to be well known in the area. Aiden himself was a bit of a hometown hero on his high school's football team, and his father, Addison, was actually his coach. So this may not warn enough small town status to cover up a murder, but it's also not entirely impossible.

One commenter on a forum regarding the case theorized that maybe this may have been an insurance scam to collect on a phony death or accident. But the most pervasive and probably most believable theory is that someone else was driving the car that night and not Zikira. And this is believed because of the autopsies finding that she was actually in the back seat. It seems like that either Ronda or Michael were actually the one driving the car, and that Zakira was tragically killed by the accident. And it's also possible that the accident could have caused her body to fly into the back

seat, but to me that kind of seems less likely. I feel like you don't really see that very often, but something we have not mentioned have caused her body to fly into the back seat. But to me, that kind of seems less likely. I feel like you don't really see that very often, but something we have not mentioned yet. I'm so sorry I forgot to put this earlier, is that Zikira's car is the one that got in the accent. She had offered her car for the road trip. So you would imagine like initially,

oh, it's her car, she's probably driving, but in a road trip, as we know, people switched off driving, and obviously they were out that night having fun, but just because it's her car doesn't mean that she was the one driving which brings us further into this theory if you want to take us there, Heath. Yeah, I mean, I think it's silly to assume

that someone else couldn't be driving. I mean, I've had many nights out, you have as well, where other friends take over or they drive your car. I mean, it happens. So obviously, we can't say with certainty that secure was driving. And if one of the other people were driving

after realizing the extent of the crash, it's possible that the two can cocted a plan to cover for each other so that, you know, whomever was driving could avoid being charged with driving under the influence and possibly manslaughter. Like, it's definitely, it feels like this is where that is going. And in my opinion, I feel like just because of the way that the parents were acting, because of the fact that there were so many inconsistencies, I think that somebody else had been driving

that night and that, okay, the Shakira is dead, we don't want our kids to go to prison so they kind of concocted this whole story that Shakira was the one driving, but it's like you're tarnishing her name and acting like she was the one that was driving under the influence when it was somebody else. And I can't say for certainly that that is exactly what happened but that just feels so much like what actually happened here well and we also have to go back to the fact that

the other parents wouldn't let the kids talk to jolanda and maybe the parents were worried that the kids would feel guilty and tell the truth if the truth was in fact that Zikira was not driving, so maybe that is why they were kind of keeping the kids off the phone and why the parents couldn't really tell Jolanda exactly what happened because they were making it up

because it wasn't true what they were telling her. And I feel like that does make a lot of sense. We know that Zikira was found in the back of the car. Maybe it is possible that the car caught on fire before Zikirah could be saved, but again, like we really don't know what happened because personally, I do not believe Ronda and Michael's claims of what happened. I do not believe their stories. I don't think they're telling the truth.

So most of the involved parties have either deleted their social media or blocked Jalanda, according to Jalanda. And Rhonda still has a Facebook profile, but has made most features private. One of Zikirah's last posts made two days before the crash was a picture of two trailers joined by a deck and a staircase in the middle with the caption, when you and your best friend are really close. Zikira tagged Rhonda in the post and Rhonda replied, we need this.

Now, defenders of Zikira's have taken to the comments to call out Rhonda for her possible involvement in the suspicious circumstances surrounding Zikira's have taken to the comments to call out Rhonda for her possible involvement in the suspicious circumstances surrounding Zakira's death. Instead of engaging, Rhonda simply started blocking anyone who reached out to her. One comment reads, not you blocking me, another says, why make your page private now. Jolanda says she's had no more contact with the kids or their parents and that some have blocked her completely. And still, she maintains, quote, I know she didn't die in that fire. I know it didn't happen like they said.

As she was conducting her own investigation, Jolanda discovered that there was another fatal car crash in the area the evening prior to Zikiris crash. It happened around 5 pm on July 7, 2022, so about 9 hours before the supposed Zikiris crash. In pursuing the limited coverage of that crash, Jolanda found something curious. One of the cars looked like Zikira's car. The crash was a two-car crash with one fatality and police never released the name of the victim. But this supports an inconsistency that she found earlier.

Rondas and Michael's families told Jalanda that their kids were taken to a hospital in Virginia, and while the border is close, she couldn't understand why they would be taken to a hospital in a different state if the extent of their injuries were so threatening. She's not sure how this crash may have been related to her daughters, but says that at this point, no theory seems too outlandish. After her trip to Maryland to complete her own investigation, Jelanda had exhausted her savings and her time off and was forced to return to Texas and go back to work. With the deadline of the one-year mark fast approaching and the threat of losing what little evidence she does have, she's created a GoFundMe in hopes of retaining a lawyer

to demand further investigation into the crash and what really happened to her daughter that night. Even though many doors have been closed in her face, she vows to keep pushing for answers for Zakira, saying quote, I won't stop until I take my last breath. If you'd like to help Jalanda camp search for answers in the case of Zakira's mysterious death, please consider donating to her GoFundMe, which we are going to share on our socials, or calling the Charles County Sheriff's Office at 301-932-2222, and to urge them to open an investigation into Zagirik Hemp's case.

Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. This is just such a truly bizarre story. I'd really like to hear everybody's thoughts about it. And again, also I actually wanted to mention Heath just said that the GoFundMe is going to be on our socials, but we're also going to put it in the description of this episode, as well as the information for the Charles County

Sheriff's Office. So if you'd like to donate alongside us, or call them alongside us and urge them to open an investigation into Zikirus case, please do because it would be astronomically helpful because like we said, the one-year mark is fast approaching. So thank you so much for listening to this one and thank you in advance if you decide to share her story.

Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you