Serialously with Annie Elise - 324: Proof Laken Deleted Photos, Karen Read’s PISSED & DoorDash Driver Delivers Hatchet & Zip Ties

Starting point is 00:00:00 Less than an hour from downtown Toronto, you'll feel a world away with Durham Tourism's new discovery guide, open skies, explore day trip destinations, overnight getaways, and 129 must-try experiences in Durham region, from historic sites to starry nights and delicious days to downtown dates. Want to keep your luggage light and your dollars in Canada? Discover Durham region's open skies. To get your guide, visit durhamtourism.ca.ca slash discover. Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialessly. With me, your true crime bestie, Annie Elise, here to break down everything that is going down in the true crime world this week. And like I always say, I feel like now it's just kind of a part of the intro. There is a lot to talk about. We've got new cases, breaking cases, updates in cases, so much to go over. However, before I jump into some of the, like, big

Starting point is 00:01:21 updates that I want to give you, I want to give you a quick reminder, hitting the road again next week. Back out on tour, we are down to our final five shows. and next week we are going to be in Tampa, Florida and Orlando, Florida. I think Tampa might be sold out. Don't quote me on that. And I think the meet and greets maybe have two left. Anyways, very few tickets left. So go to Annieelis.com now, get those tickets.

Starting point is 00:01:47 I will see you next week in Tampa and in Orlando. And then the week after, or maybe it's a week and a half later, Tacoma, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco. So you can get those tickets as well right now. actually Tacoma is sold out. I hate to break it to you. So again, if you want to go, guys, final five shows, I don't think I'll be going back out on tour next year. We'll probably wait a full year. So now would be the time to snag those tickets and hang with me in person while we talk about some cases face to face. So that being said, I want to first get into an update in the Karen Reed story and Karen Reed case. And I actually wasn't expecting to jump on the mic and give you

Starting point is 00:02:28 any sort of updates regarding Karen in the near future. But here we are. So she is back in court. This time it's because she's facing a wrongful death lawsuit from John O'Keefe's family. This was filed back in August of 2024. The O'Keefe family, for those of you who aren't familiar, I don't think I need to give the whole backstory. I think most of you guys know about the Karen Reid case, but John O'Keefe was her boyfriend who was unfortunately killed that night. So the O'Keefe family said that Karen had caused them emotional distress by, quote, fabricating her own conspicue. You know, fabricating her own thoughts and story about what ultimately led up to John's death. And also for, quote, launching a public campaign of disinformation.

Starting point is 00:03:08 Now, Karen's attorney, Alan Jackson, asked the court to dismiss part of the lawsuit, saying, you know, they don't have the standing to pursue emotional distress or damages because they didn't witness John O'Keefe's death or see his body until after he had already been declared dead at the hospital. So the judge is taking both sides into consideration and he will give his ruling at a later. date. The next hearing is scheduled for November 21st. But in lieu of that, or not even in lieu of that, but I should say like, what's the expression? The opposite of that. Or sidestep to that. I don't really know what term is, but adjacent to that. That's what we'll say. Alan Jackson also confirmed that Karen plans to sue the Massachusetts State Police, as well as many people who testified as witnesses in her trial earlier this year. Some of those people, just to name a few, Michael Proctor,

Starting point is 00:04:01 otherwise known as the biggest douchebag who ever walked the face of the earth, Brian Albert, Nicole Albert, Matthew McCabe, Jennifer McCabe, and Brian Higgins. So it's going to be really interesting to see how this all shakes out. And what's so crazy too about this, obviously this case was extremely polarizing for a ton of different reasons. But there's now book deals in place, movie deals in place, TV series in place, all while these civil lawsuits are also still ongoing. And I wonder what's going to happen with all of these lawsuits. I understand wanting to recoup some of the money or, you know, being upset and angry because of your perception of how things transpired and how it was a smear campaign against you and how all these witnesses were lying. And the truth is, a lot of them did freaking lie, right? I mean, talk about the butt dials that happened nonstop in the middle of the night or, deleted phone history, deleted searches, all sorts of things like destroyed cell phones. Like it looks shady, right? So I don't know. It's going to be interesting to see what happens here

Starting point is 00:05:02 if Karen gets any wins with the civil lawsuits. I think we already know she won in the criminal case. So like let's see what happens here. And I wonder too, in those, if we will at all learn any additional information that maybe wasn't allowed to be entered during the trial. I don't know what that would necessarily be. I'm not an expert. I'm not her attorney. But wondering if like as they go against, you know, the McCabe's or Higgins, is there going to be other information that surfaces or is brought to light in terms of their communications or anything like that. So I don't know. It's a lot to keep up with. So I will be keeping my eye on it. Now, in other news, I want to talk with you about Lakin Snelling for a minute. Now, as a reminder, Lakin Snelling is a 21-year-old former University of Kentucky student,

Starting point is 00:05:52 and also she was on the stunt cheer team, and she is from White Pine, Tennessee. So she's currently the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation after a newborn infant was found dead inside a closet at a Lexington, Kentucky residence that Lakin lived in. This was back on August 27, 2025. Now, it was unknown if this baby was born full-term, still-born. If there was any sort of issue with the delivery, we don't really know what took place. An autopsy was completed, but the coroner had described the cause of death as inconclusive, saying it was pending further analysis. But in the meantime, after Lakin delivered this baby, shoved him inside a closet, and he was discovered,

Starting point is 00:06:35 she's been arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. Now, we've talked about this before. I think we even actually did a deep dive into this. I know we've talked about this case on headline highlights. Maybe we did a deep dive. If we did do a deep dive, I will link it in the show notes. But anyway, if you want to catch up, you could probably just search my name and Laken Snelling and get the whole story. I wanted to give you just like, you know, a little snip of the backstory because now new court documents have been released. And they detail Lakin's account of giving birth. So the Lexington Police Department reports that in a search warrant for Lakin's phone, they found evidence that, quote, included different things pertaining to pregnancy, images of her during labor, photos of her doing things ordinary pregnant woman should not be doing, and also a concealed or hidden pregnancy. They also believe that other pieces of information may have been deleted relating to the pregnancy and related to, quote, the birth of the full-term baby. Because that's really been the

Starting point is 00:07:38 million-dollar question through all of this. Was she full-term? Was she hiding her pregnancy? Was she trying to hide the delivery of this baby, what really happened and what transpired? Because while she didn't make any formal announcement on social media, there certainly were images where she had her hand on her baby bump, where her boyfriend did at one point two. In some images and videos, she looked visibly pregnant. But again, there was no formal announcement. So there's this undertone argument of she either didn't know she was pregnant or she did but she wasn't telling anybody. And then the delivery went south and the baby, unfortunately, was born stillborn. There's all sorts of things. And because the autopsy hasn't been able to determine what actually happened and what the cause of

Starting point is 00:08:23 death was, she hasn't been charged with murder. And it's kind of been this whole thing where they're trying to just like unravel the case and figure out as many details as they can. So going back to the discovery of it all, Lakin's roommates apparently had heard a loud noise after she had given birth. this was around 4 a.m. on August 27th. But Lakin told them that she just wasn't feeling good and that she passed out in the middle of the night. Later, Lakin told medical staff that after giving birth, the baby, quote, made a whimper and that she, quote, guessed that he was alive. However, she then told the police that she didn't think that he was alive. She went on to say that she passed out, she fell on top of the baby, and that when she woke up, he was, quote,

Starting point is 00:09:08 turning blue and purple. So because of that, she was, quote, turning blue and purple. So because of that, she wrapped him in a towel because she, according to her, thought that he was dead. And then she laid with him on the floor because according to her, it, quote, gave her some comfort in that moment. Then as we know, she got up, put the baby still wrapped in that towel inside a trash bag and then set it in the back of the closet. That baby was then later discovered by the roommate after a dog had been scratching at the closet door, alerting her to something and they opened to the door. There was a very foul odor. They discovered the baby and that's who I believe called the police was the roommate. So it's really interesting because we know that devices, especially when

Starting point is 00:09:48 the forensic team gets involved, they carry a lot of information, right? I'm not talking about just the photos and the videos, which they are saying have been deleted, but they've recovered, but any sort of digital communication with her boyfriend or her ex-boyfriend, any sort of search history about pregnancy, about hiding pregnancy, about delivering at home. Devices carry just like an enormous amount of information. So I think we're just scratching the surface here. I think we're going to find out a lot more in the coming weeks and months. So I will definitely keep an eye out. Reporters have been saying that the grand jury could consider the case in as early as October, so this month. But no specific grand jury date has been set and there has been no public court date

Starting point is 00:10:31 released either. So just going to kind of wait and see, I guess, and keep our eyes on it and see where we go from here. But obviously, very unsettling and disturbing. With that, we have some new cases that I want to bring to your attention this week. And I also am thrilled to announce that Amy Colette is back in studio joining us. Wow, got the middle names. A little formal. I don't know, a little formal. Don't worry, guys. I see all your comments all the time. Just blowing me up. Where's Amy? Where's Amy? So Amy's back. And there's actually a story that she DM'd me over the weekend that she's like, I want to talk to you about this. It's crazy. Well, don't talk to me about it. Talk to the true crime besties about it. So yeah, welcome back. Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Starting point is 00:11:16 Yeah. So hit us with this story. All right. Well, they say never trust a guy or a person with two first names. Oh, that is true. This person has the same first and last name. What? This is Muhammad Muhammad out of Hoover, Alabama, who has been charged with a murder for hire for his whole family, which it's just as crazy as it sounds. He's a 64-year-old man who lived in Alabama and had been married in 2021, divorced just a few months later, and had six adult children. He was a plumber who ran his own business, and by all outward appearances, he seemed just to be a small business owner trying to make a living. But in September of 2024, he was caught in the middle of an unthinkable plot to have his entire family murdered. Muhammad sat down across from a man who he

Starting point is 00:12:08 believed was a hitman, classic, and began discussing how much it would cost him to have his wife and six children killed. So yeah, you heard that right, his own family, all of them. And the reasoning is he told the hitman he felt his family had quote unquote destroyed his pride and self-dignity. Muhammad said that he would pay $20,000 for the murder of his wife and an additional $5,000 for each of his six children. His words were, quote, your money maximum within two weeks, 20, not five, 20 because it's the big head. The others, it's okay. They are trash. Cockroaches, you know, but this one deserves more.

Starting point is 00:12:48 I'll give it to you. Muhammad gave him their addresses, descriptions of their vehicles, and said, you pick and choose who you're going to take out and get paid. Start with one, take your time. What Muhammad didn't know was that the man he thought he was hiring for the hit on his family was actually an undercover FBI agent. They had set up the plan after they had received information that Muhammad had already asked one person to kill his family. In fact, he asked this person multiple times. They started investigating, organized this meeting, and Muhammad never realized he was dealing with law enforcement the entire time.

Starting point is 00:13:22 So, eventually he was arrested and charged with seven counts of murder for hire. One count for each of the intended victims. Each count carries up to 10 years in federal prison, meaning he could be facing up to 70 years behind bars. The complete premeditation here is obvious. I mean, he wasn't acting just suddenly on impulse. He had asked one person when that person said no. Then he went and asked this other person and sat down, calculate.

Starting point is 00:13:49 and had this whole plan to have seven people murdered. It's the kind of thing that makes you step back and just think, like, how did this get to this point? And where red flags really started going off is when you look back at some of the other incidents that happened to his family. Things were not always as they appeared from the outside looking in. In April of 2022, Muhammad was arrested in charge with stalking after he allegedly placed GPS tracking devices in his ex-wife's car, violating a restraining order she had against him. Then in January 2023, less than a year later,

Starting point is 00:14:24 his son's pickup truck was set on fire near the driveway of his ex-wife's home. And if you're thinking, wow, this guy really had it out for them, that's not all, because after his first son's track was set on fire in September of 2023, another one of his son's vehicles and three others

Starting point is 00:14:41 were found burned in a suspicious fire. Things calmed down for a few months, and then in December 23, a friend of Mohammed's had called his ex-wife trying to reconcile their marriage. She obviously declined and only 12 hours later, another vehicle at her house was set on fire. So obviously this guy is psychotic. That six cars set on fire at his ex-wife's house and at least three of them belonged to his children, which is crazy. So this guy obviously seems psychotic. I mean, he's had six cars set on fire at his ex-wife's house, three of which were belonging to his

Starting point is 00:15:19 children. And while we don't know is for sure him, it seems pretty suspicious. And so right now, Muhammad is in federal custody waiting for his sentencing after pleading guilty. That sentencing is set to happen on December 10th. And this case has drawn national attention, as you could imagine, because of how extreme it is. So we'll be on the lookout for sentencing in the next few months and bring you up to date when we have it. But it's a wild one. a freak. I know. First of all, I'm glad to you, like, pled guilty. I mean, I just want to know what the motive is. No, I know. And to call your own kids cockroaches, get a grip. And what they do to take away your pride? I mean, maybe it's because Mohammed Mohammed. Don't call me

Starting point is 00:15:59 Annie, Annie. I mean, I feel like go after your parents, not your kids. No, 100%. Well, yeah, what did he say? It was like his pride and dignity or something like that, which like, bro, get a grip. I know. I don't know. That's really sick and sad. But I'm glad he pled guilty. And I'm glad that, like, like, yeah, throw away the key. We don't want you around. So the other day in Target, I had one of those moments. You probably have them, too. If you have kids like me, I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid all the time. But I swore that somebody was following me. My heart started racing. My instincts were like on overdrive. And it really reminded me in that moment how important it is to keep my body and my mind fueled for anything.

Starting point is 00:16:42 Just quick to react, ready to go, just like, you know, what's the expression? Like, on 10 toes? I don't know if that's how you use it, but whatever. But that's why I love kachaba, because it's a whole body meal shake with 25 grams of plant-based protein and 85 superfoods, nutrients, and adaptogens that actually taste really freaking good. And now they've launched a brand new strawberry flavor that's made with real freeze-dried strawberries. It's like strawberry but supercharged, and it's like sweet, refreshing, still nourishing. I actually saw my good friend Jess Sims post about it on her Instagram a while back and she was like super obsessed and I've tried the other flavors but I was like, wait, strawberry, I need to get my hands on the strawberry. And honestly, it's right up there with my other favorites like chocolate and vanilla. So I usually will make mine with like some sort of nut milk or a spoonful of peanut butter. But when I do, it keeps me energized, calm and satisfied and full for hours, whether it's a quick breakfast, if it's lunch on the go, if it's something that I feel like I need between lunch and dinner, whatever it.

Starting point is 00:17:41 it is. And you have never tasted strawberry like this. Go to kachava.com and use code A-E for 15% off your next order. That's Kachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A-D-com, code A-E for 15% off. Okay, so now we need to get into another wild and weird story. And when I first heard this, I was kind of like, am I reading this right? Is this real? What would I do in this situation? It is freaking me out. So picture this. You're a delivery driver in West Central Texas. It's a Monday morning, just another routine, you know, drop off, dropping off the goods at somebody's house or place of residence, whatever. But when you pull up to the sweetwater in and check the order that you're delivering, it's not food. It's not even something mildly weird like toilet paper in bulk or

Starting point is 00:18:35 weird, you know, rubber bands from CVS. I just ordered rubber bands. That's why I'm saying that. But it's garbage bags, it's zip ties, it's bleach, and it's a hatchet. Yeah, a freaking hatchet. So immediately alarm bells started going off, right? I mean, this driver knew that something wasn't right. And instead of just shrugging it off and moving on with his day, he called it in. And it was a decision that may have saved a life. So the police rushed to this motel, and it was just before noon.

Starting point is 00:19:05 They look at the order, look at the contents, and then they look at who placed the order. and it was placed by a 42-year-old man named Neil Cooper. So when officers knocked on this motel room door, Neil refused to come out. He claimed that he was armed, and then came the chilling detail in all of this. There was somebody possibly inside that motel room with him. So now you have this deranged freak

Starting point is 00:19:28 barricading himself inside this motel room who just ordered a hatchet, zip tides, and bleach. Somebody else in that room with him, all while he's refusing to open the door or come out. I mean, it's a hostage situation. right? Now at this point, officers knew they had to slow everything down. So they began negotiating, they were trying to keep Neil talking, they were trying to just keep things calm. But while they were outside and they were tense and they were waiting and they were trying to like move through everything

Starting point is 00:19:53 appropriately, the hostage makes a move. Somehow they managed to escape the room and just run out and bolt to safety, which thank God. But that's when Texas Department of Public Safety stepped in. They sent in a crisis negotiator who was then able to convince Neil to surrender and surrender peacefully. No shots fired, nobody hurt, which is great because, as we know in this situation, it certainly could have ended in tragedy. But instead, it ended in handcuffs on good old Neil. Neil was arrested on the spot and charged with aggravated kidnapping. But that wasn't all in all of this. Because it turns out he also had multiple drug warrants out for him. And then with all of this unfolding, in comes a twist that nobody saw coming. That so-called hostage, the one that booked it and ran to safety,

Starting point is 00:20:43 they weren't just a victim. Police say that that person also had a warrant. And when officers asked this hostage victim for their identity, they flat out refused. Just said, no, I'm not giving you my name. I'm not giving you my ID. Like, get out of my face. So they ended up being arrested too on failure to ID and for their own pending drug charges. So in the end, I mean, it's just really interesting, right? Because you have this motel standoff, a hostage escape, two arrests, and this massive, massive thank you that is owed to this quick-thinking delivery driver who's like, the contents of this bag is freaking weird, which I am just going to say really quick. This story has certainly given me pause in what I order on DoorDash, because I'm not somebody

Starting point is 00:21:25 who just will DoorDash or Postmate food. I am such a troll that I'll have them send me all sorts of things. Like I said, I just placed an order the other day for rubber bands at CVS. And I did have trash bags, I guess, in that order, too. What else did I have? Oh, I had bunch of crunch because I wanted chocolate. But like, you know what I mean? Like, maybe there are innocent deliveries, but it looks really bad when you look into it. I mean, I've never ordered a hatchet. So maybe I'm just like talking for fucking no reason. But anyway, I know I've referred to the driver as a door dash delivery driver this whole time, but it turns out he wasn't a door dash delivery driver. he was just an independent delivery worker, someone who really trusted his gut at the end of the day

Starting point is 00:22:06 and refused to ignore the red flags and sprung into action and called the police. Because again, here's the thing, like, how many times have we been in a situation where there's been like weird vibes and we brush them off? And we tell ourselves like, oh, no, no, no, no, like it's nothing. I'm overreacting. I'm paranoid. But this time, that suspicion really paid off because who knows what would have happened in that hostage situation. It seems like both of them were possibly on drugs or something like that. But who knows what could have happened? I mean, clearly he was ordering bleach, zip ties, and a hatchet for a reason.

Starting point is 00:22:36 So they got the victim out of there. They got a safe surrender from Neal. And this guy did the right thing. Which sounds cliche, but I'm going to say it again. Always trust your gut because it is there to act as your first line of defense against anything and everything. It kind of makes me think it's your... That's such a mom thing to say right now. I'm like, wow, first line of defense.

Starting point is 00:22:56 Well, it is so true. And you know what? I don't know if you were thinking of this as I was sharing that story. Do you remember what happened in Phoenix last year? I wasn't thinking about it, but I do remember. So it wasn't a delivery driver, guys, but we called an Uber to pick us up from my Phoenix show last year. And I don't even remember exactly what happened. But right from the jump, it was super sketchy. He was sweating. I had to get in the front seat for some reason, right? Well, we thought you were going to have to get in the front seat because we had the Pelican cases. But then we've configured the seats. So you did. But then he insisted you still get in the front, which is what made you feel weird. And then it was like a 20-minute drive to the hotel. And, yeah, it was late. It was like 11 o'clock at night.

Starting point is 00:23:37 And I was sitting in the front seat. It was like dead silent. And I look over. And yeah, he's profusely sweating. And it wasn't hot guys. And like uneasy. Like he was, yeah, he was uneasy. His eyes kept like tracking like to the side of the highway then at me in the passenger seat.

Starting point is 00:23:50 And he's like sweaty. And I was like, I don't get super nervous all the time. But I was like getting really nervous. And I was not clock. it at all. Amy was in the backseat just like, do-to-do-do-do, just like. I was on my phone. Yeah, scrolling. I'm in a day. I'm in a day. Yeah, had no idea. So then off a sudden I say, what did I say? I was all, you have the scissors or you have the blade, right, Amy? Like, you have the knife or the box cutter. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, what is she talking about?

Starting point is 00:24:19 Yeah, well, you have the box cutter, right? She's all, huh? And then, like, I was trying to give, like, sister, like, what is it not? Like, innuendos. Is that the word? I don't know. But, like, trying to get you to pick up on what I was feeling. And I'm all, you know, the box cutter and the scissors, you have those with you, right? Like, try thinking, that's going to scare this guy if he's going to kidnap us and murder us. No, but then it got even weirder because you finally clocked what I was doing. Yeah, and we took the story to a whole new level. And then I see Annie, like, putting her hand on the glass bottle next to her. Oh, my God. Or no, that was, maybe that was me that reached for the glass bottle. We had a glass water bottle. And you were

Starting point is 00:24:54 holding it by the head, like the neck of the bottle, I guess if we were going to crack in over that head. It had initially made you scared. So I thought maybe something really serious had happened that I wasn't aware of. So I was just ready to go. I had your back. Well, and then we called our friend Chuck, my husband's best friend who was with, he lives in Phoenix and he was with us that night filming. And so I'm like, yeah, are you tracking me? Like, we'll be there in 10 minutes. Is everybody waiting for us? Like, all this stuff, just like totally like doing anything we could to make this guy nervous to, like, act out on anything. But then, so we get to the hotel and we get out of the car.

Starting point is 00:25:31 Amy's unloading the Pelican case, which those of you who don't know at a Pelican case, it's like this big ass, like, black rubber made container, and we brought it with us on tour with, like, merch and things like that. So she's, like, unloading. The guy gets out of the car to help us unload the bags. Then do you- Annie embraces him for a hug. No, okay.

Starting point is 00:25:48 Hold on. No, I did not embrace him for a hug. Rewind. he remember he was like he wanted a really good tip and so he literally stood over my shoulder and watched me in the app give him a tip and a rating to make sure I was giving him five stars and like a good tip and I was like scared out of my mind because I was like even though we're back at the hotel like you could still do something to me so I think I tipped him like 50 bucks or something like that and then he was so overjoyed by the tip that he gives me this massive hug

Starting point is 00:26:18 And that's when I look up and that I, we go from terrified and calling our friends to Annie's giving the guy a hug. I'm like, can we just please go inside? And he was still sweaty, which was disgusting. And yeah, I like gave him this big tip. But don't worry. Afterwards, I like contacted Uber. I'm like, this guy's, maybe it's nothing, but like he freaked me out a little bit. And I think we ordered Big Macs and went up to the room.

Starting point is 00:26:41 Typical. A fountain Diet Coke and a Big Mac. And all was well. And all was well again in the world. No, so I don't know what that has to do with DoorDash, or this delivery driver story, but it just kind of... You tried DoorDash, the Big Macs. We for sure did. But it kind of just gave me a flashback to that moment where it's like, trust your gut.

Starting point is 00:27:00 In that case, thank God it wasn't panning out. Long story short. If you're ever in a situation where you feel like you're being threatened by an Uber driver, pretend you have a box cutter on you, say that people are tracking you, grab the glass water bottle by the neck to be prepared for anything to whack someone in the the head and get to safety. And then overdraft your account by tipping. And then when you're happy that you're safe, give them a big hug. Stockholm syndrome right there. Honestly, honestly. Well, I'm going to stop talking. Can we get to the next story? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. This one's really bizarre. It's a case out of Shelbyville, Indiana, and it's about a 28-year-old

Starting point is 00:27:39 mom named Sophie Igo. It's tragic. It just honestly leaves you with a lot of questions. On September 17th, just before 11 p.m., Sophie called 911 saying that her baby was dead and, quote, cold to the touch. Police and medics rushed over to the house, and when they got there, Sophie was standing in the driveway with her 22-month-old son, Jasper. Now, there are mixed reports on if she was actually holding Jasper or if he was lying in the driveway, but regardless, he was wrapped in a sheet, and then when responders got closer, they noticed immediately that Jasper had been dead for some time. They tried everything they could to get him to breathe, but there was no way they were able to bring this baby boy back. And that's where things get even more sad and twisted. Investigators describe Jasper's body as already being in a, quote, significant state of decomposition. They also described Jasper as appearing severely malnourished. His little body was so thin that his bones were visible

Starting point is 00:28:36 and he had almost no body fat left at all. So the level of decomposition of Jasper's body showed that he hadn't just passed away moments before Sophie made that 911 call, like she was trying to make it seem. He had been dead for a while. So when investigators confronted Sophie with this information, how Jasper was clearly dead for a lot longer than she was letting on, she acted shocked. She started asking the investigators, did I do this? Am I going to jail? Now obviously something didn't seem right here. How could this mother not know that her son was dead, seemingly moments before this 911 call? So police searched the house to see if they could find any information that might help piece this together.

Starting point is 00:29:17 And what they found was horrifying. Inside the house, officers described unsafe, unhealthy conditions for anyone to be living in, especially kids. There was trash everywhere, bugs were crawling over every surface, and there was hoarder-like cluttering all over the house. And what's worse, investigators even found, quote, decomposing matter inside Jasper's crib. which is where he would have slept. When investigators interviewed Sophie, she said she had three kids, Jasper, a four-year-old, and an eight-year-old, and that all the kids had lived with her since her ex-husband had moved out in November

Starting point is 00:29:54 2024. She said that she had been taking care of the kids by herself for the last five weeks, and in just in the last 24 hours, Jasper had started throwing up and was having trouble eating. Sophie said that she couldn't take her kids to the doctor because she was still, quote-unquote, trying to get her bearings as a single mom, and that Jasper hadn't been to the doctor since he was two months old. In other words, he hadn't seen a doctor for over a year and a half, and he wasn't even two years old yet. And I mean, I understand parenting is probably very difficult, but when

Starting point is 00:30:26 your child is that sick and clearly thin and not gaining weight or even losing weight, that's when you need to call and get help. So if Jasper was just two years old and just shy of that and had not have been to a doctor at all, that just begs the question, like, how long was this all going on and what was really going on in that house? Now, the full autopsy results have not been released, but we do know that the Shelby County coroner reported that Jasper was only 14 pounds, four pounds more than he weighed when he was only two months old at his last doctor's appointment. As for the cause and manner of death, that information is still pending while the coroner waits for toxicology and other test results to come back. So Sophie is facing one,

Starting point is 00:31:07 multiple counts of child neglect, including level one neglect of a dependent resulting in death. And in Indiana, that's the most serious level of child neglect that someone can be charged with. Her bond has been set at $2 million, and that really tells you just how serious the court's taking it, which is good. And the heartbreaking part of all of this is that Jasper wasn't even two years old yet. So now people are left wondering, like I said earlier, how long has this been going on? Why didn't someone step in sooner? Does the ex-husband know about any of this? And so we'll be tracking this one as well. That is so disgusting for so many reasons. And when you said he was 14 pounds, I was like, it's literally like, I mean, weighed when she came out. So not quite, but, like,

Starting point is 00:31:53 kind of. No, but and then when you said the decomposing matter was found in his crib, I would guess, my guess would be she started neglecting these kids. She didn't want. want to deal with being a mom. Maybe she went into a depression after her husband left, which that's no excuse. I wonder what the condition of the other two children is and if they look malnourished or if they were taking care of because maybe it was like the baby that she was resentful of and that because he left. It's harder to care for. Yeah. And because if she found decompose, if they found decomposing matter in the crib, I think the argument could be that she obviously left him unattended for very long periods of time. That's why you could see his.

Starting point is 00:32:33 bones. That's why he only weighed 14 pounds and that he literally started decomposing while in that crib, which is so sick and twisted. I wonder what those kids saw. I mean, they're young, too, but like, I wonder what they saw in that house. I just don't understand why people don't just, if you're not wanting to be a parent, just vocalize that and get help. Yeah. Maybe there will be more information, like if she was in some sort of psychosis or not even part of psychosis, but something to, because if she said to them, like, did I do this? Am I going to do this? Maybe, like, you know how, I don't know what the term is, but you know how there's, like, those dolls out there that people have where they, like, think it's a real baby or they do it as, like, a level of comfort

Starting point is 00:33:14 because there's some sort of psychosis, like, that makes them think that they are a parent. Like, I'm wondering, was there something maybe where she, like, didn't realize? I don't know. Or, like, that was okay. Like, disassociated from being a parent to that child. But that's why I would be curious to know the condition of the other kids. And like, wow, that's fucking awful. Awful. Well, okay, that was a really shitty note to end on.

Starting point is 00:33:37 No, that's okay. Wow. All right. Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in this week with us. As a reminder, last few tour dates on the calendar. Get those tickets now at annie elyse.com. Amy will be there too, so you'll get to see her and all her glory working in the booth and the booth like wheeling and dealing or like, I don't know, isn't it the sound booth?

Starting point is 00:33:59 Oh. I don't know. What do you think I meant? I don't know. I'm like, are we going back to CrimeCon? No, I know. I don't know. Whatever. Fuck it. But yeah. So get those tickets now at Annie Elise.com. Also, as a reminder, if you have not listened to Monday's episode yet, I dropped two deep dives on Monday. Just feeling so generous this week. She never stops. No, honestly, I don't. It's psychotic. No, we did a full deep dive into everything going on with the singer David, Celeste Hernandez. the body found in his trunk, all the weird circumstances and things that, like, don't make sense. We did a full deep dive into that. We also put out another deep dive into the Ellen Greenberg case. And I know you're familiar with that one, but a new docu series just went out on Hulu called Death in Apartment 603.

Starting point is 00:34:48 And it's all about the Ellen Greenberg case. And if you haven't heard of this case, you need to listen to Monday's deep dive because how anybody is ruling this a suicide is like beyond. There's no way. This girl in her 20s had 20 stab wounds to the back of her head and back and neck. And not to mention the 911 call that her fiancé made, it's still, I listened to it again last night. It literally sends a chill down my spine. And look, he hasn't officially been named a suspect. He hasn't been arrested.

Starting point is 00:35:17 Which is wild. It's wild. But I talk in the episode about why I think that is. And the medical examiner, so when it all went down, at first it was ruled homicide, then it was switched to suicide. now the medical examiner has changed their opinion again, saying they do believe it's a homicide. Finally. I know, because her parents have just like not stopped. We actually had them involved in this episode, so you'll hear directly from them.

Starting point is 00:35:41 But just a reminder, those two episodes both released on Monday so you can go back and binge. And another announcement, if you're not following the podcast yet, you're going to want to take a second. Open up your podcast app, whatever one you're listening, Apple, Spotify, wherever it is, press the follow button. because on Monday, I am dropping a mega announcement. And all of you watching this on YouTube, subscribe because the announcement will be here as well. It's a mega one. It's a big one. It's about it's going to change everything. Will mom talk survive this?

Starting point is 00:36:13 Oh, my gosh. It's a big one, though. It is a very big one. But if you're not following, you're not going to get the announcement. So follow. All right, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. Is there anything I'm missing? I think you covered it.

Starting point is 00:36:26 This was a big one. This was a big daddy episode. Ew. Why did I say that? I'm grossed out. I'm so grossed out for myself. All right, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. I will be back with you on Monday with an all new deep dive.

Starting point is 00:36:40 Until then. Be nice. Don't kill people. Don't join any cults. Don't just don't be a shitty person. Get a divorce. Get a divorce. Just get a divorce.

Starting point is 00:36:51 Okay. Bye. Thank you.

Serialously with Annie Elise - 324: Proof Laken Deleted Photos, Karen Read’s PISSED & DoorDash Driver Delivers Hatchet & Zip Ties

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