Sword and Scale Nightmares - Roadkill

Episode Date: March 2, 2023

Two men on vacation in Florida happen upon a battered and desperate woman who stumbled out of the brush on the side of a remote highway in South Florida. As the men try to help Shandelle Maycock they realize her injuries are severe but she wasn’t worried about them, she was more worried about who did this to her… and her still missing child.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5863198/advertisement

On November 7, 1998, two men from New Jersey were on vacation in Florida. They were driving across the state from Miami to Fort Myers through the Everglades. It was miles and miles of wetlands and not much else. The two men were in a line of cars traveling in a remote part of Palm Beach County when something caught their eye. The cars in front of them were all slightly veering into the other lane as if going around something on the road. That's when they saw it. On the side of the road was a woman. It was kind of stumbling and looked like maybe she was drunk. As they got closer, they could tell she was not drunk and she needed help.

They slammed on their brakes through open the doors and rushed to help her. She collapsed on the side of the road, obviously hurt and bleeding. As she registered their presence, they made eye contact and they saw that both of her eyes were beyond bloodshot. The whites of her eyes were beat red and her face and neck were bruised and swollen. As they tried to help her, she tried to speak, but her neck was so swollen, she could only utter a few words. He's got my baby, she said. Ted. The woman's name was Shendel Mekhawk, and the tale she was about to tell will shock you. Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime and Shendell is experiencing a typical Friday. She's looking forward to relaxing

and not having to work for the next couple of days. She just has to get home first. Shendell is young, only 22, and often struggles to make ends meet. Luckily, she relies on a friend from church for rides too and from work. Five years earlier, in 1993, Shendell had been kicked out of her family home. She was only 17, but she'd gotten pregnant by a much older man, a married man at that.

Her parents didn't like that, they didn't like it at all. She found herself on the streets of Miami, and she didn't know what to do. She knew the father of the child wouldn't expose their affair and ruin his marriage. He even told her he didn't want anything to do with her or his kid. Luckily, the father's grandmother had sympathy for her. So she took the pregnant chandelion to live with her until she could figure out her life. From that moment and that moment on, chandel only worried about providing for her soon to be child. She was resilient and wasn't going to let life keep her down. She enrolled in a special school for pregnant mothers and finished getting

her diploma. She was determined to succeed in life, despite all the setbacks so far. But being young and still pregnant, she still needed support. So she began attending Panorama Christian Center and Highly of Florida every Sunday. Now this is one of those places that's kind of like a makeshift church and a strip mall. People from the surrounding community go there to praise their God but mostly for the sense of community and belonging. This place and the people in it became sort of a new home and a new family to her, something that she desperately wanted.

Her relationship with her congregation would help her for years to come. One Sunday, earlier in 1998, a friend introduced her to Citeria. Now, Citeria was older than Shandell, but they quickly became friends. Citeria had four kids and was all too familiar with the struggle to provide for a whole family. So they connected kind of instantly. They started spending time before and after church talking about their kids, work, and just life in general. Their friendship grew, and Citeria was always eager to lend a helping hand to Chandel.

So when she mentioned that she was having trouble getting things around her apartment fixed, Citeria quickly offered her husband's help. His name was Harold Franklin Brattie. Shandell wasn't that handy around the house and needed the help, but she wondered if letting Harrell into her home was a good idea. But Shandell trusted Citeria, so she extended that trust to her husband, even though she'd only recently met him. Besides, she didn't see how she could turn down an offer for free help. And so she let Harrell come into her home to see

about fixing some things. And he did. He repaired all of the things that she needed, and it was all great. After that initial visit, Harrell starts helping Shandell in any way that he can. In fact, he becomes her regular ride too and from work. So by November of 98, he's picking her up from work and dropping her off, as usual. But Shandell is starting to feel a little uneasy about all of this. And now she has another problem. Her now five-year-old daughter, Quattitia, who everybody calls Candy, stays with her grandmother, who watches her after school, before Chandel gets out of work.

But now it's time to pick her up. And she definitely doesn't want to ask her rel for another ride, mostly because he already helps her so much, but also because he recently made things weird between them. You see, after her rel had fixed some things around her apartment the first time, he just started showing up randomly. She would be home, and there would be a knock at the front door, and she'd go over to the front door and open it up, and there was Harrell. Completely uninvited. At first, she thought it was a little strange, but Harrell only ever checked in on her.

He would ask if she was okay, and if she needed anything. Whenever she would say yes, he would do his best to help her. So this kind of became a regular occurrence. Shandell thought maybe he was just being neighborly, maybe just being charitable. But then one day he made his real intentions known. He didn't just want to help her. He wanted to date her.

Now, Chandel was 22, and Harell was 49 over twice her age. But that wasn't the first thing that came to her mind. The first thing that came to her mind was Harell's wife, her friend, Citeria. But trying not to jeopardize this newfound support system, or ruin her friendship with Citeria, she politely rejected him. She told him, I don't see you and me, and left it at that. Harell was undeterred and continued to periodically stop by Shandell's apartment asking if she needed anything. Being a single mother, she always needed something, so she would usually, reluctantly say yes.

Arrell even gave her small amounts of money every once in a while to try to help her pay rent. Although Shandell didn't really like the reason he was helping her, she was in no position to turn it down. She lived on a single income with a five year old kid and had no other support to speak of. Then, one day, Arel made his move. He was sitting next to Chandel during one of his many unannounced visits when he awkwardly placed his hand between her legs. Chandel was taken aback.

She recoiled, jumped up, and she said, what are you doing? She thought she'd made herself clear that she was only interested in being friends. But if there was one thing she'd learned from being on her own since 17, it was how to stand up for herself. She immediately got angry and jumped up and grabbed a knife and warned him not to try that again. Arrell immediately recognized his error, hopped up and quickly got out of there. Later he apologized to her for his actions. Now Shandell knew how to keep secrets. She kept the secret of her affair with a married man when she was under age.

She kept the secret of the resulting pregnancy, as long as she could. She was willing to keep herrell's unwanted sexual advances of secret too because she knew all her help would go away and probably her friend too if she didn't. Things seemed to be okay for a while. Shandell did her best to keep the relationship light and friendly, and her rel didn't try any funny business again. She wanted to avoid another incident like that. But one evening after coming home from work, she ran into a bit of a problem.

You see, she had to pick up her daughter, Candy. She starts calling around to all the usual people she asks for help, but nobody's available. She pages Candy's uncle and she even walks over to a friend's house, but still can't find a ride for Candy to come home. It starts to get later and later, and now it's nearly 10 o'clock. Then suddenly she hears a knock at the door. She stops what she's doing, which is calling everyone she can to try to find someone to pick up candy and walks to the front door. She pulls it open and on the other side of the door is herel. Once again, uninvited. He tells her we need to talk. At this point it's getting

beyond weird. Why is he here? Again, what does he want? But frankly, she's too desperate trying to find a ride for her daughter at this point that she just doesn't care what he's talking about and assumes it's another attempt to woo her into having sex with them. So rather than talk about whatever it is he wants to talk about, she reluctantly asks him for a ride to go get her daughter. Arel says of course, and they'll talk when they get back. So they set off in his car together, and that car ride would turn out to be the biggest mistake of her life. The ride takes a while, and by the time the three get to Shendel's apartment, it is

much later, almost midnight. Arel doesn't just drop them off, he parks, shuts off the car, and walks them to their door. He insists on going inside, he still wants to talk to her. She is exhausted, and only wants to relax, but she's so tired she can't even argue. So she gives in to his request and lets him inside. He walks in and makes himself comfortable. Shandell's studio apartment was small. It was a single room with a small separate bathroom. If you stepped across the threshold

of her front door, you could see the entire apartment, which only consisted of a small kitchenette on the far wall, a small table with a couple of chairs tucked underneath, and a couch closest to the door, which pulled out into a bed. Candy had her little bed off to the side. Candy is already peacefully sleeping, tucked into her bed, wearing her care-bear pajamas. Shendell kind of randomly starts straightening up the apartment, waiting for Herell to say whatever it is he wanted to say. But before they can discuss what Harrel wants to talk about,

the phone rings. Chendelle quickly answers it, a little relieved to escape this awkward conversation. On the other end is Candy's uncle. Harrel just stands there waiting for his turn to speak, but he can tell that there is a man's voice on the phone. Shandell argues with the caller for a while before hanging up. The phone call is the opposite of the relaxation she wants and needs right now.

Her exhaustion after a long work week really hits her. So she decides to take the opportunity to pretend that it was a friend calling. She tells Harell, you have to leave, I have a friend coming over just trying to get him out of the apartment so she can finally get some rest. As soon as the words are leaving her mouth, Harell just erupts into screaming. Once again, she knows how to take care of herself and starts shouting back. She wasn't going to let him yell at her in her own apartment. Then suddenly, he leaps from his seat and lunges towards her.

Before she can register what is happening, he punches her in the face and threatens to kill her. He grabs her by the throat and he punches her in the face and threatens to kill her. He grabs her by the throat and slams her to the floor. She tries to fight back, throwing punches, kicking, and scratching him, but it does little to this powerful man. His grip tightens as she struggles to scream for help. The pressure builds in her head and her vision begins to tunnel, but her rel only squeezes tighter. Her vision fades to blackened. She loses consciousness.

What Shandell was unaware of was that the 6 foot tall and 220 poundlayer was even stronger than he looked. He was not just a large man, he was actually known for his feats of strength among his fellow construction workers. Moments later, she wakes up, still in her apartment. For a moment she's unsure of what happened, but she looks around and remembers when she sees her else standing there. He rushes back to her and chokes her out again. All the yelling alerted the landlord who lived in the apartment attached to hers. When he looked outside, he only saw a tall man and

candy standing next to the car. But he didn't see Shandell at all, and the yelling stopped so he didn't think anything of it, and went about his business. When Shandell opens her eyes a second time, she is lying in the spacious backseat of her rel's car, and he's driving. Her first thought is panic for her daughter. Her adrenaline starts pumping and she spots candy in the front passenger's seat. Shandell can see that her little face is full of fear as she cries, Mommy, Mommy. She whispers to her. It's going to be okay. But Shandell didn't know that.

She was just trying to soothe her upset child. She starts looking around and realizes where they are. She recognizes the buildings and knows they haven't gone far from her apartment. And she knows that they are in very real danger. Arrell is enraged and violent. Seeing him like that away, she had never witnessed before sends chills down her spine. She slowly leans forward trying not to draw the attention of her rel and whispers to Candy. But her rel is right there and of course he can hear what she is saying. He

warns her not to jump. Ignoring him she grabs Candy's arm and struggles to pull her into the back seat and onto her lap. Then, she opens the door. There's a rush of wind and noise. She clutches Candy tightly to her chest and hesitates for a moment, watching the rough asphalt whizz by. When Horel realizes it's there actually gonna jump, he speeds up and turns into a residential neighborhood. Candy's cries echo into her ears as they fall from the car.

She cradles Candy in her arms and tries her best to hang on, but they hit the pavement hard and start rolling and rolling and flying apart. Eventually the two skid to a stop across the rough surface. Shandell tries to get up to get her child to run, but she's too dazed. She's taken a big hit. She has a deep gash on her right foot, that is freely bleeding, and everything else burns and aches. Candy is crying and walking with a limp towards her. Chandel hears the brakes on her L's car screech as they force the car to stop, and then the

tire squeal and the engine revs as he races back towards them. A rail grabs both their hands before they can run, leading them back to the car promising, I'm gonna take y'all home. She watches a rail usher candy into the back seat and return to her if she doesn't believe his promises. He throws her to the hard ground once more, wraps his fingers around her neck and squeezes. She can do little to defend herself after the fall from the car, and soon the entire world goes dark again. Shandell slowly comes to and realizes she's in the trunk of the car.

She feels around to find an empty trunk only illuminated by the faint red glow of tail lights. She strains her senses, trying to hear if candy is okay. Eventually she hears the little girl cry from the other side of the seat and feels relief for a moment before her panic sets back in. She doesn't know where they are heading. She doesn't know the extent of Candie's injuries after jumping from the car. And she doesn't know what her rel is about to do. She lays there silently for almost an hour just waiting and listening. She begins to pray. She prays the entire time she's in the trunk that her rel will not kill Candy

Then she feels the car beginning to slow down She's unsure what to do so she remains quiet and still She feels the car come to a stop and the driver's door opens then closes She knows her rel is making his way back to the trunk. When the trunk opens, she sees an ominous figure. Again, it's a pitch black knight. Her rel is bathed in the crimson light of the taillights. She immediately begins to beg for her life.

Why are you doing this?" she asks. He doesn't reply. He just begins to pull her from the trunk. I know you're not this type of person. You don't need to do this. She pleads. Finally, he replies and says, you used me, as he throws her to the ground and wraps his hands around her neck once again.

I know I am going to jail for the rest of my life anyway." He says, as he squeezes tighter and tighter until she goes limp. Harell picked up her limp body and dumped her a short distance from the roadway. Shendel wasn't completely unconscious this time. She was aware enough to hear candy's screams slowly fade as her red drove away. Repeatedly strangled, injured from head to toe and exhausted. She passed out. Shendell would lay there for some time as cars rushed by, mere feet away. Hours later, Shendell's eyes open. It's daylight now. She surrounded by thick, wild foliage, her body aches, the stiffness of her injuries fighting against every attempt at moving. She struggles to see where she is or where she's going through her blurry vision.

She uses the last of her strength to push through the brush to the road, and then she tries to flag down a passing car, but her body is so tired from every movement. Everything is pain. Every time she tries to walk, she only makes it an unbalanced step or two before collapsing. Her only thoughts are of candy. She knows she has to keep going. Even though this part of the county was remote, the road she was on was one of the few that traveled from east to west. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would find help, but nearly 20 cars passed by before finally two men from New Jersey stopped to help her.

Those two men saved her life. Shandell was rushed to the nearest hospital where the extent of her injuries became apparent. The force of the strangulation ruptured all the blood vessels in both of her eyes, and in the skin around her eyes. Her neck and her head looked like one big swollen bruise. Her right ear and right side of her neck were raw, with road rash. Through the pain of it all, she gave police her statement, and the name was, Herrel Brattie. A quick criminal history search on Herrrell revealed a damning past.

Harrell was previously convicted of armed burglary, robbery, kidnapping, and escape. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison, but only served thirteen. Because of prison overcrowding, he got out for good behavior, less than a year before meeting Shandell. Officers went straight to Horel and Citeria's house and parked out front to wait for uniforms backup. While they're waiting, they see Horel, Citeria, and one of their four kids come out of the house, get into the car, and leave. But there's no sign of candy. So they follow him. Eventually, he pulls into a gas station and gets out and starts to pump gas.

Officers approach him and ask him if he can talk about a missing five-year-old. At first, he denies having any knowledge about whatever it is they're talking about. Then, they tell him Shandell is alive, and she is talking. Immediately, his expression changes and he becomes pale. He starts to sweat profusely and he's shaking and crying. He stumbles and says he feels like he's going to faint. Meanwhile, in the front seat of the car, his wife, Citeria, just goes hysterical, confronted with this allegation against her husband. The police don't arrest him yet, but they do take him into custody to question him about

Candy. And as they take him to the squad car, he utters a strange phrase. Moses was a murderer, and John, who was related to Moses, was an adulterer. That in itself did not make them bad men. It was almost as if this was some sort of confession and his personal rationalization for the atrocities he had committed. When police get him into an interrogation room, they start trying to get him to talk and tell them where candy is, but he doesn't. He puts his head down and just avoids all conversation.

The officers aren't getting anywhere with this guy, so they step out to discuss alternative tactics. And when they re-enter the room, Harrel is standing on a chair in the corner of the room with his shoes off. Before they can ask what he's doing, he hops down and exclaims, I'll take you to her. The officers eager to find this little girl shackled the guy and set off. But it turns out to be a wild goose chase. He doesn't take them to candy, instead he just drives them around to random places. One of the officers finally gets tired of this, charade,

pulls him forcefully from the car by his shirt and pins him against the cruiser, with his forearm, on his throat demanding to know where she is. Still, he doesn't say a word. They give up on searching, realizing that he's leading them nowhere. When they finally return to the interrogation room, Harrell was in previously, they noticed something. Above the chair, the chair he was standing on, right before he said he would take them to candy, was an air vent. When they caught him on the chair, he was actually trying to pry the vent out of the ceiling, so he could die hard his way through the ducks and escape.

On November 9, 1998, two fishermen found the body of a child floating in a canal in alligator alley. It was wearing care bear pajamas. Our cause of death was ruled, blunt force trauma to the left side of the head. There was evidence of her being ripped apart by alligators while still alive. But the medical opinion is that she was most likely already unconscious. Whether this is factual or just something the medical examiner wanted to put out there to alleviate the pain of her mother and her family, nobody really knows. But her left arm was missing, likely in the belly of a Florida reptile. Her lips had been nibbled by fish.

Arrell never said what he did to Candy other than leave her by the side of the road in the middle of a swamp well after midnight. Her death could have been the result of Chandel's attempt to escape, or Arrell could have tossed her onto the rocks that lined the alligator alley canal. The only thing he did say was that she was alive when he left her there, and that he knew that she would most likely perish. It took eight years before he would go to trial. Turns out that during his previous 13 years in prison, he had used his time behind bars, studying the law. Through his training and

a little bit of luck, he was able to have his trial continued for years. During his trial, Chandel would take the stand and give her account. A rel's wife, Citeria, also testified, claiming she was completely unaware of his infidelity or his actions that night. Eventually, he was finally convicted of burglary, assault, and battery. Child neglect attempted escape kidnapping, attempted murder, and the murder of Little Candy. He was sentenced to death, but in 2016, a Supreme Court ruling deemed Florida's sentencing system unjust and ordered a new sentence.

A rel is still waiting in prison for his new fate. If you enjoyed the show, please consider joining plus at swordandscale.com slash plus. But if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review on your preferred listening platform, sweet dreams, and good night.