Sword and Scale - Episode 284

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

It was just after Christmas in 2011, and 22-year-old college cheerleader Saleha Huuda was found dead and burning in a brush fire on the side of the Gainesville Raceway. As the police tried to figure out how this happy-go-lucky student was murdered, they uncovered a twisted story of lies and sex all revolving around one selfish person.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Even with everything said and done, you know, I know the body is burned and things like that, okay? You can still see whether or not there's any kind of marks or anything. I don't know if you forgot about us, but we're still alive and kicking right here. It's season 12, episode 284 of the award-winning Sword and Scale podcast,

a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. [♪ Music playing. Well, we're doing a lot in case you haven't noticed. Our new podcast that we launched last month is wrapping up real soon. This doesn't happen to people like me. It's still available on Apple and Spotify and on this platform, swordandscale.com, if you want to get it. Also, if you haven't seen our TV show, our award-winning TV show, and the reason I keep saying award-winning is because

we've won a lot of awards and we're very proud of it for what we've done here. Go check it out. Episode 12, the story of Trina Heisch. I mean, these shows that we're doing, this is some of the best true crime I think you'll find in the world. Because we put our whole heart and soul into it. We've been doing this now for 11 years and if you haven't figured it out by now, it's a passion. So go check it out. During the early morning hours of December 30, 2011, some Good Samaritans were driving down the Gainesville Raceway and noticed a brush fire just off the side of the road. Smoke billowed in the dawn as they pulled their vehicle closer and called police. When the cops arrived on the scene, they quickly realized

that this wasn't just a brush fire. The contents of the flames were clearly human. Limbs, a torso, a bra, and a face were visible amongst the black char and soot. The woman was long gone, of course, just the center of her face. Her nose, lips, and cheeks had escaped incineration. A tiny glimpse of a human being was looking up at the cops, and the stale smell of gasoline hung in the air. What a sickeningly sweet aroma that must have been. After an autopsy on January 3, 2012, the police were able to use the body's fingerprints to identify the victim as Celia Huda, a 22-year-old cheerleader from the University of Florida in Gainesville. They found out that Celia had been reported missing by her family at the start of the new year

after no one had heard from her. Now her silver Nissan was also unaccounted for. The members of her family were of course devastated as they talked with the local news. People are still in shock, people are still you know in pain and and it's just like the sorrow that has you know come upon us is just we never expected this never expected anything like this to happen this is this is just horrible what has happened. Salia was a college senior majoring in family, youth, and community sciences but her true passion was dance. She'd been dancing her whole life and now competed for the UF club team as a cheerleader. You know she was this big big, but just had the personality and the spirit of a giant.

And because she was so little, she was always when we threw up in the air. Always. It's like, okay, we need to go up in the air. She's like, okay, I'm ready. And because she did cheerleading, because she did gymnastics, she ran track. She was born in Ghana and came to America as a young child with her family. She was studious, creative, and accomplished. It's tragic and it's hurtful and it's disrespectful

the way that, you know, this has happened. Nobody deserves this, not anybody at all. The last person to see Celia was her new boyfriend, Michael Carter. He soon found himself sitting across the table from two detectives. Mike, you're here on your own free will. You're here, you know, basically as a witness. We're investigating the death of Celia. Celia? Celia, yeah. And we'd just like to know, you know, start from the beginning. Where'd you meet her? We met online on Facebook or whatever. Celia and Mike flirted back and forth over Messenger, but soon exchanged numbers.

But I got a number, so she gave me a number. So we started talking and how long ago did you meet? Like it was on the Sunday. Because she had came back from my sister's graduation from Tampa or whatever. And so she came back, so we seen each other and we're talking and whatever. She came to the house and whatever, we talked and shit. Was it like a month ago, two months ago, one month ago? It was last month or whatever. One of the Sundays when she came back from Tampa.

Celia and Mike's relationship was fresh, but they had been hanging out for the last few weeks pretty consistently Keep going out. Were you pretty serious with one another or just? Yeah, we were like talking at first and then we got serious or whatever like she um I guess she started liking me a little more and she had told me so we had made an agreement that we were gonna start like Talking and dating stuff like that. So that's what happened.

We were just talking here and there, whatever, seeing each other. I stayed at her place a couple nights and she came to my place. My mom allowed her to come or whatever like that. We were just being together almost every day. So you talked to her every day just about? Talked to her every day. She called me every day. Okay. When's the last time? And I'm gonna ask you some personal questions. Yeah, it's just the way it is.

This is serious, okay? When's the last time y'all slept together? Probably at Wednesday. That Tuesday night. But we stayed, chilling like, hanging with each other all that Wednesday at home, the afternoon, then she brought me back about like six or seven.

So she said she was going to her parents' house, I guess it gets on. So it was past Wednesday. Mm-hmm. Okay, so it was past Wednesday in the afternoon? Yes, sir. At her house? Yes, sir.

So Leah lived in the district apartments in Gainesville, which was sort of a student housing unit. She had a modest place. When detectives went to her house after they discovered her body, her dog had been trapped in the bathroom for days. Dishes were piled up in the sink, but her laptops and other valuables were still in the home. There was a note taped to the outside of the door that read, Sally call me when you get

home. Mike had spent the night at Sally's house earlier that week on a Tuesday. Her body was found on the Friday. Mike didn't try to call her again until the weekend and when he did, a woman picked up. That wasn't Celia. I called it and the girl had the phone and said she was asleep so I asked her. Like, put on the phone or whatever. It's important. She said she'll call you tomorrow so I waited. And I ain't never get no call back or whatever so I called her and went straight to the house

and she kept on calling me. I thought her phone was dead. And three days passed by. So I'm like, I know she don't wait this long to charge her phone up. Or whatever. So I kept on calling and trying. I was like, my phone must be dead or broken or whatever. I thought it was weird that Talia had not called him back in days.

Still, he kept trying her number. And it would go to voicemail again and again. That's when he logged into Facebook. I'm like, I ain't believing that further than whatever. Then I called a friend, I named her Metris or whatever, and she told me or whatever, I like, for real. I told her I called her Mara, and asked her whatever that, I didn't know, it was too hurt last night. You knew any of her friends? Only friends, I ain't know none of her friends

besides Metris or whatever, huh? Metris got alone, they went to school together. What is her name? Metris. Oh, Metris.etris, like, got along. They went to school together. What is her name? Ametris. Ametris. Ametris? Smith. Mike hadn't met any of the people Soleil was close with, except one other friend. Did she ever say anything about anybody else? Like, ex-boyfriend?

Yeah, she had an ex-boyfriend who she had an altercation with, like, a while back that had got her in trouble or whatever, and all that. So I guess they were trying to work something out. He'll come by the house when I was there and knock on the window and the door or whatever but she never opened. I asked her, I said, why you ain't answer? She's like, I don't feel right like let him in or whatever and me and you go together and all that bring another man to the house. When was the last time that happened? I think it happened at Tuesday or that when yeah Tuesday morning or whatever, because he was bringing his movie back.

I guess that was the way he was trying to get with her, like talk to her, but she didn't open the door. You know his name? The only initial she had on the phone was A.D. Mike said that Celia's ex-boyfriend had knocked on her apartment window to bring back a DVD when the two of them were hanging out earlier in the week. He had no clue what the guy's name was all that he knew was that Salia had him listed in her cell phone as

AD she told me a whole bunch of serious stuff that she never told her parents or nobody to know whatever about her personal life What I like what like how she got in trouble with him, about another girl, and all that, and went to jail or whatever. My mama didn't ever know. So I guess you find, they seen her dad came to the house and seen some papers or whatever when she had went to jail and got in trouble or whatever. Salia had confessed to Mike that A.D. and her used to fight a lot, and at one point the cops had been called.

Celia even admitted that she had been recently arrested for violating a restraining order that AD's new girlfriend had taken out on her. It was all really messy and embarrassing. Their relationship was a revolving door of chaos until recently when Salia had put a stop to it and started dating Mike. Did you ever talk about how he treated her? Yeah, like they argue and they fight or whatever when they were together like a while, while back or whatever.

It wasn't recent though. Anything about her getting hurt by him? Did she ever mention anything like that? Nah, he hit her before or whatever she said and like one time I think he got mad and then The cops would have to look into A.D. But first, they had to make sure that this wasn't a lie to get police off of Mike's back. Still, Mike swore he hadn't seen Celia since Wednesday. Wednesday night, in fact, when she dropped him off back at his house at 7 10 p.m. How sure are you about the seven?

He said seven 10 p.m. How come you know that? So we were like, I look at the time what I was trying to see my mom's was in chiefly, but I came home by myself or whatever. So that time that I let the time where I was like, okay, well, she left at like 10, so I was seven something. So I want to see what you don't get back like 10 something because she wasn't getting back. This is in having, you know, you't being came back This is an have you know you wear watch

This is her car. Mm-hmm. I had on my phone too. What kind of person what did she have? It was either I think Gucci or a coach purse. I mean was a big smile. There's one big like big person Which you normally carry she carried carries everywhere, everything with her. That's where her wallet would be maybe. Wallet, phone, everything. Her medication that she'd take at 11 o'clock or whatever. She'd take it every night. What does her phone look like? She had I think a Galaxy T-Mobile phone with a pink cover on it.

Then Mike agreed to hand over his cell phone and give his fingerprints. He said he had nothing to hide. Do you know what happened to her? You didn't hear anything on the news. I didn't see the new, I seen the old phase board, they said, Risen in Peace. And they had told me, the new girl, Meech was told me shit like, somebody burnt her up in her car or whatever. As Mike was talking with the detective, another team of officers was over at Salia's apartment collecting evidence.

Security guards confirmed that Salia's car had left the complex when Mike said it did and hadn't been seen again. As they combed through her belongings and canvassed the complex, a man approached Celia's door. He was tall, black, and muscular. He walked right up to the group of officers outside and introduced himself. His name was Antonio Drayton, A.D. He claimed he was Celia's boyfriend and he wanted to know if they needed his help. A.D. would prove to be even more helpful than he seemed. 22-year-old cheerleader and university senior Celia Huda had been found dead on the side of the road and set on fire. Her car was gone and no one had seen her in a week. Her boyfriend, Mike Carter, had been the last one to see her live, but as the police were

searching her apartment for clues, another black male showed up and introduced himself as Antonio Drayton, claiming he was Celia's boyfriend, and offering to help them with their investigation. But Mike had warned the cops about a man who Celia had been dating, who he knew as A.D., and now A.D. was here. So Antonio, or A.D., voluntarily went to the police station. They asked him to start at the top. How did he first meet Celia?

I recall going into the mall and she was working in Empire, a clothing store. And I saw her there and she helped me get my clothes. Like I was trying to pick out a outfit. That's the Oaks mall? Yeah, it was called Empire. Yes, sir. OK. Yeah, the clothing store. Oh, she helped me get an outfit.

I didn't ask her her name or anything. I saw her out in the club. Oh, no. In the venue. Oh, I remember seeing her in the club. About two years ago. Two years ago. I saw her out at the club.

I see her a few times in the club. And I used to just walk up to her and like, Miss Empire or whatever. But it was a couple times I did that, but it was about three times. About three times I went out like three times. And the next time I wake up, I have a, I check my MySpace,

and she wrote me on MySpace. And she was looking for my page. She saw my picture, found out my name and we exchanged numbers over in MySpace and we began talking and just hanging out. On February 1st, I wanted to say, oh no, still it's the Super Bowl, I asked her to be my girlfriend. Antonio or Tony and Salia got serious after that Super Bowl party and the two became an item. They were big in the club scene. Celia loved to dance after all and Tony was a notorious flirt

who stationed himself at the bar and let women flock to him. He was the kind of guy who'd have a few girls in his back pocket at all times. You know the type. We've seen him before. Anywho, Salia would often get jealous, confront him, and he'd gaslight her. A pattern I'm sure many of us are familiar with. Cheaters do what cheaters do. Then they would get into a huge fight, of course, and eventually they'd

always end up back together. It's just how it goes. It was a cycle of chaos and drama until a girl named Angela Owens came along. Tony started seeing Angela behind Celia's back, but Celia kinda sensed something was up. I'm gonna let Tony explain and I'll fill in the gaps. Like months, it was months, months back, months back. And it was around last year, June was Anthony's birthday, June 21st I think. I was that same day, previous that day, me and Leah got into it.

We got into it and I asked for my own stuff back. I was like, man, just give me all my stuff I bought for you. From that I bought for you. She was like, no, no. At first I was making so much commotion. She was living in the States then. I'll translate. Basically, it was Angela's birthday and Tony was trying to be a boyfriend to both her and Celia. Celia found out and she lost it, of course. They got into a big fight at her place and Tony left. Ends the birthday with that same night I was going to a party at Stanis nightclub. I goes downtown in the parking garage. The same officer's always there. They know me by name.

Mr. Drayton, you gotta talk to you. I was in the restroom. I was like, you need to talk to me now? He's like, yeah, man. In the time that Tony had left Celia's and showed up at the club, Celia had called the police and reported that Tony hurt her during their fight.

The cops found him easily. Yes, we just wanna do our job. We know if you knew anything about it, you probably wouldn't even came out, but we knew where you were going to be. And he was like, yeah, you got a dispatch, dispatch against you from being in the states against Salihahuta. And it's looking pretty bad. Some serious charges. She said you strangled her, you took some things that belong to her and it was all things that belonged to her, and it was all felony charges. It was all felony charges.

Okay, so this happened in June. Yeah. You all had this argument, you wanted your stuff back, and she gave you the stuff back. She gave me the stuff back. I left. You left? That was it. I was trying to call him, she wouldn't talk to him, say nothing to me.

So then what? A few days? No, the same day. Same day? Same day. You were at the club? Same day, I went out to the club, the officer seen me, Mr. Dre. Before I even went to, before I got to the club, I was headed there, went downstairs,

he said he needed to talk to me, he was like, man, we knew you were going to beat you, you know nothing about this, do you know a sleuth? I said yes. I said yes, that's my English girlfriend, man. Told me everything that was against me. He was like, well, cooperated. I was locked up. Tony was arrested on domestic violence charges

and spent two months in jail. He got out and who did Tony run to? Well, Angela and Celia, of course. This brings us to December, 2011 when Celia went missing. A few nights before her body was found, Tony and Celia had a date. But he knew that Angela would also be at the club, out looking for him. And Celia. Did y'all meet up at the club?

Oh no, they went, I went, I tried to go to the Obesey Club with Celia. I don't like to be in the same club because I'm well known in the clubs, so and it's like different girls, so if she sees something it's gonna make her mad or she'll end up fighting or you know it's vice versa. So I tried, she'll want me to be in the same club, but I try to not go, I try not to go to the same club. So Tony brought Celia to another club to avoid Angela and his other little friends. But it didn't work.

Celia and Angela met face to face. And they ended up talking because of this injunction thing. They didn't have an understanding between each other. And it was like, well, Angela told her, I had sex with Tony two days ago. And when did you see Tony? Well, Tony just sex with Tony two days ago, and when did you see Tony? Well, Tony just left my house two hours ago, and he gave me money.

They basically got caught up in all my lies. I was telling them between the two of them and all the other girls. When they talked, she was about to fight some girls, and they told me, and Sliya called. I was like, what's Sliya, where are you? She called me. No, I called her first. She didn't answer, and I called her back. And she was like, what Celia, where are you? She called me, no, I called her first.

She didn't answer, I called her back. And she was like, it's crazy, I'm headed home, I'm headed home, I'm messed up. Me and Sam got into it and I'm going home. So I'm like, okay, she's home, she's messed up. I know she's home. So you said messed up, what's that mean? Drunk, she's drunk.

She's intoxicated. I mean, she's drunk. Did she drink a bunch? Yeah, Celia drinks a lot. That was the last he heard from Salia that night. He went home, slept, and then tried to reach her the next day, but she was gone. She wasn't answering the phone, so I got, um, I got Quon. I went over there. I went over there.

And she wouldn't answer the door. She went home. She wouldn't answer the door. Antonio said that he hadn't seen Salia in days. You wanted to give us a DNA swab, you know, just a swab of your mouth? A swab of my mouth? Yeah, we just take a swab and... It's a DNA sample. Sample. DNA sample. You want to do that? Well, then, is that, I can do that, but what am I? Well, you want to prove it. You're not involved in this anyway. No, I'm not involved in this. So if you're not involved in this, then you have to.

I get them, so I'm not left. Exclusionary. Yeah, exclusionary. It's like we take fingerprints of people that are exclusionary prints. My prints are in the system, so. Well, I know that, but we do that anyway. It's exclusionary. That's basically all it is.

You want me to do that? Yeah, I'll do it. Now, police had to find Angela and get her side of the story. The words of Mike Carter still hung at the forefront of their investigation. I called it, and the girl had her phone the phone said she was asleep so I asked her. Like, you put on the phone or whatever. It's important. She's like, well, she said she'll call you tomorrow so I waited. And I ain't never get no call back or whatever so I called her and went straight to the answering machine.

So they had to find the woman who answered Salia's cell phone after she'd gone missing. First, they'd start with Angela Owens. It would be easy to find her. after she'd gone missing. First, they'd start with Angela Owens. It would be easy to find her. She was the only one who had given Tony a ride to the police station. Angela explained that tensions had been so high between herself, Tony, and Celia

that she'd taken out a restraining order against Celia. She was afraid of her because Tony had made it seem like Celia was after her. But that night at the club, Celia was at the bar with her friends when Angela approached and Celia reached out and grabbed her arm, asking to talk. We went to the bathroom and talked and in the bathroom she was just saying, like she was kind of asking questions like when did me and Antonio make it official that we were together and I told her May 16th and she had asked me she was just mainly like saying that like he like even if she

wanted to be with him she knew that she couldn't because he didn't make her happy and she felt like the only reason why she was still holding on is because she felt like she needed him to get the injunction dropped because me and her never talked. She apologized about the whole situation as like how she wanted to fight me. That's the whole reason why we had the injunction. So she apologized about that.

And I just, I basically was just like, if me and her could have talked from the beginning then I would have never put a restraining order out against her but I guess just the lack of communication and whatever he was telling her versus whatever he was telling me. While they talked in the bathroom, the two women realized how Tony had been playing them both. There was no need for any of this craziness.

How did that end? There was no need for any of this craziness. How did that end? The last thing ended with me and her as I was just like, well, I'm telling you now that I'm done. Like I don't have, you can have him, whatever you guys have going on. And she is just like, I don't even want to be with him. She was just like, I just want to get this injunction dropped

so that I can graduate and move on with my life. So there was no argument between you guys, no physical? No, no nothing, no argument, no confrontation. And that was the first time we had ever even had a conversation. In person? In person. Angela agreed to lift the restraining order

and the two-parted ways back into the nightclub. A few days passed, and even though Angela told Salia that she was done with Tony, she kept seeing him. He lured her back in, and she fell for his charms. On Friday evening, she got off work and went over to Tony's house to meet up. That day, it seems he was strange because when I got over there, he was sitting on the couch and I'm like, what's up and

He's just like just thinking got a lot of stuff on my mind, but he always says that so Whatever and then um Cass kept calling him Cass is short for Cassandra Kimbrough a I don't know if you guys know who that is. Cass is short for Cassandra Kimbrough, a 42-year-old mother of six who was also in Tony's back pocket. Probably.

You ever met Cass before? Yeah. Who is, I mean- She's like this 40-year-old lady who's like, I don't know. I really don't know. She's been around him ever since I've known him. She like, I guess just does a lot of stuff for him.

Is it like family or something? No, not, she's not his family. But she just like... I mean, did they used to date? Now they're just friends? I guess. What's their relationship? They never, he said they never dated. She was his boss at Dollar General when he used to work there in the warehouse.

And I guess something transpired between them. I don't know. But ever since I've known him, she's always been around. What do you mean around? She's been at his place? Has she ever been there when you got there? Yeah, she's been there. His apartment is in her name. She's been at this place? Has she ever been there when you got there? I mean, she's been, like, yeah, she's been there. Like, his apartment is in her name. Like, she's just weird. Unbeknownst to Angela, Cassandra and Tony had dated back

when she was his boss at the Dollar General. Are you surprised by his career ambitions? I'm not. Yeah, so the two were dating, but Angela didn't know that. Celia didn't know that. and Tony made sure to cover his tracks by painting Cassandra some sort of crazy middle-aged nut What do you think the reason behind that is? I think I see it as he has a lot of dirt on her and so he uses that to get stuff from her

So he's blackmailing her. Yeah, that's what I see it as. What dirt does he have on her? I don't know he just always he'll never tell me but he'll just always be like there's so much stuff that I have on that lady that's why she just does what she does because she's scared. Because they'll call her and be like oh can you bring me something to eat I'm hungry and it'll be like four o'clock in the morning and she'll do it.. Is he there every time that when you're at the house? Yeah. You're going to show up? Mm-hmm.

When you're there? Yeah. According to Angela, Cassandra was like Tony's personal slave, bringing him snacks at 4am when he asked. I don't care who it is, no one should be jumping out of bed to bring a man in his 20s snacks at that hour Let me walk that back cuz I like snacks What I'm trying to say is there's a balance, you know

So you said cast kept calling or texting? calling Tony And What would you know why she kept calling? I don't know I I had asked him, I'm like, what are you guys doing? And because on the phone, he kept saying stuff like, I need like bleach, rags, stuff like that. That's what he was telling her on the phone. And then I don't know what she was saying. And then he was

just like, get off the phone. And I'm like, what are you guys doing? Are you cleaning? And so then we just got back. Like he never really said he just never said what the bleach and the rags were for? No, this is the whole time it takes and you guys are where I'm at his house. He's on the phone. This is Friday night. This is after I time it takes and you guys are where? I'm at his house. He's on the phone. This is Friday night. This is after I leave the mall and I come to his house. But when the police asked Cassandra about the bleach and the rags, she started talking about laundry.

Like sometimes he'll call me and say, you know, I got a load of clothes that he want me to do for him. Did you do them at your house? Sometimes. So you just go pick them up? Yeah, I'll come take a basket and it'll take me a couple days. You're not in high ropes? No, I take my time.

I might have had some of his towels and stuff that he probably... Because if he don't have them, he saw some rags or whatever. Oh, for like rags? When you say rags, are you like? So, face rags. Oh, wash rags? Yeah, yeah. Sorry about the audio on that clip.

We do have some incredible equipment and very talented engineers here, but it doesn't really work like you see it in the movies. It's not like CSI Miami. Zoom in. Doesn't really work that way, just so you know. Anyway, back to the movies. It's not like CSI Miami. Zoom in. Doesn't really work that way. Just so you know. Anyway, back to the story. When Cassandra showed up at the police station, she was wearing a black Hillary Clinton-style pantsuit. Stylish. Her short hair was neatly

combed to the side, showing off her gold hoop earrings. She was naturally friendly, yet meek. But there was something a little off about her. Cassandra Kimbrough was originally from New York. Nine years ago, she was working for FedEx when they transferred her down to Florida, and after six months she and her husband split up. Now, she had two part-time jobs, her six kids, she took care of her aging mother, and apparently she was bending over backwards to do everything and anything for Tony. Well, we just want more detail about really that week,

you know, your relationship with Antonio, and also, you knew the victim, is that right? Yeah, I knew her. OK, did you ever? I wasn't familiar with her, but I knew her. OK. When was the last time you talked with her? I want to say she had, because she

was planning a Christmas party. And she had invited me to it. And she had asked me that night if I wanted to come. And I told her, no, you guys just have fun. I didn't want to. Oh, the night she had the Christmas party. Yeah, I think it was the night she had the Christmas party. She had asked me if I was coming.

I told her, no, I wasn't coming. We didn't talk on a regular basis, but we weren't enemies. I would see her on the bus. I would say hello to her. If she saw me, she would say hello to me. So I'm confused. I'm confused with Anamasi for what? I don't understand. I would say hello to her or she would, if she saw me, she would say hello to me. So it was pretty casual. Anamasi for what? I don't understand. I mean-

With the whole Tony stuff. She didn't see me. I don't know. When she first, like two years ago, when she first started seeing him, she didn't really know about me. Nobody in Tony's life knew about Cassandra. Angela thought she was some weird ex-boss Tony was blackmailing for rent and food. So Leah had her suspicions that Tony and Cassandra had slept together, but the truth was that Tony and Cassandra were in a sexual exchange.

They had been sleeping together for years. She was basically his sugar mama, and she had been with Tony longer than any of the other girls. Tony- You kind of look over, you look after him a little bit. I mean, you pay for his apartment, you know, that's in your name. I mean, you look after him a little bit. Tony- I do, if I can. Tony- I mean, you do. I mean, I'm not saying, that's not a bad thing. I'm just saying you're trying to help him out. I love him.

I don't help him out as much as he make me see me. He doesn't have a roommate, does he? No. So he lives there by himself? Yeah. Okay. Well, I mean, he did say you pay for his apartment. I helped him pay for it.

Cassandra knew that Tony was embarrassed about their relationship and that he kept her a secret, which she said she was fine with. After all, her oldest son was Tony's age. What was it that he had over you? What was the trouble he had over you? He had nothing over me. He would say that to people because they, you know, why you with he, I, to be honest, the biggest issue he had was my age. I think if I was 20 something, we probably would have been together. But his issue was, you know, because they, if like he meet, why you like that old lady and why you. Was that part of you? I would tell him, you know,

you could just tell him, you know, be cool. You could just say that. I mean, but I've gotten over it. Was she really cool with all of this? Let's just take a step back here. Kazandra had been sleeping with Tony for years, longer than Angela, Celia, or any of the other club girls Tony was with. He also had a baby with another girl, just FYI, who he still had sex with on a regular basis. Cassandra worked non-stop to provide for everyone in her life, including Tony. A grown fucking man. She was a doormat, basically, and there's no way in hell that she didn't feel stepped on every time she did something for Tony, only to find out he'd spent the night with Celia.

Still, she insisted she was fine with all of this. Celia came on board at why y'all were dating or seeing each other or whatever? Yeah, he got serious with her while we were dating. How do you feel about that? I just backed off. You know, they make no difference. Well, you don't seem like the jealous type. No, I'm not.

I mean, I don't have jealous type. You don't seem like it to me, but I don't know. I mean, under different circumstances. No, I've been through two horrible relationships. So I was just... You're not really looking to get something serious, are you? No, not with Tony. Even Tony said she was fine with all this.

See, Cass knows everything that goes on, and she plays, like, the friendly part or whatever. I do my thing. She don't say nothing. She knows, I'm seeing Lil, I'm seeing Angela, I'm seeing something, Cass don't say nothing. It's like Cass can come to the house and nobody knows. She's just a friend to me, that's all they see. She won't say nothing to none of them. Cassandra may have been fine with being Tony's side chick, but Celia certainly wasn't. Angela knew this well, which was why she was scared of Celia.

When Celia cried and begged Tony to be faithful, Cassandra situated herself in the wings as the calm, cool, older woman who Tony could share everything with. She would never get jealous as he whined about the hysterical girls he was sleeping with. There's really something to be said about traditional values because when you find yourself in a situation like this, you know things are going to go fucked up in some way. You just know it. Especially if you're hearing my Voice retell your story. He just couldn't take her crying to him.

He's like, you know, he'd sit and listen to it and then he'd be like, all she did was cry, all she did was cry. So. What was their issue? Do you know their issue? Same as everybody else. Everybody else is what? Him not being monogamous, I guess.

Not being faithful to every state. Yeah. And did you ever know him? Did he ever say anything about hurting her in any way? No. Still, she swore she had nothing to do with Celia's murder. And we need you to be completely truthful with us. Okay.

Do you know who killed Celia? No. Honestly, I don't. I wish I did. Did you kill Celia? No. No way. I have no...

I did not kill that girl. Do you have any knowledge of who killed Celia? No. No, I don't. The cops were getting nowhere. of who killed Celia. The cops were getting nowhere. All they had now was a serial cheater who wouldn't stop talking and his many girlfriends. Then something amazing happened. They found Celia's silver Nissan,

and the car would lead them to her killer. 22-year-old Salia Huda had been murdered and left burning like trash on the side of the Gainesville Raceway. Her ex-boyfriend Tony Drayton had volunteered to help the police and ended up revealing that he had three main women he was seeing. Celia, Angela, and Cassandra. And they were all jealous of one another. The cops also knew that a woman had answered Celia's cell phone after she went missing, but they still had no clue who that was. Then they found Celia's silver Nissan

abandoned in an apartment complex just down the road from Tony's apartment. Her purse was inside and nothing had been removed. Her money, her apartment keys, her cell phone, they were all still in there. But the car reeked of gasoline. The smell was so intense, in fact, that when the officers opened the trunk, they expected to find a full can of gasoline, but there was none. All they found was a comforter that matched the pattern of a burned piece of cloth found

on Salia's corpse. It was clear Salia had been murdered, then the killer had used her car to get gasoline and burn her body. The police subpoenaed security footage from all the nearby gas stations and soon found the last known footage of Celia's Nissan. At the Kangaroo gas station during the early morning hours on the night that Celia was killed, video showed a woman exiting the vehicle with her hood up. She filled a can with $2 worth of gasoline then slipped back into the car. The woman had her hood pulled up over her face, but

her long hair was sticking out. Angela had long hair. Cassandra did not. When they brought Angela back in, they had even more ammo. A tissue had been found at the crime scene with her DNA on it. The other thing is we sent, there was a napkin, kind of paper towel thing found at the scene where Celia's body was. That's the side of the road, and that's it in the bigger picture,

and this is where her body was. We sent that off to have testing done from FDLE, and Tony's DNA kinda back on it, but yours did too. But do you know how your DNA? No, I don't know. I have no idea. Have you ever, you said you never were in her car? No.

Tony's DNA was on the tissue along with Angela's. And things were not looking good for her. Because what we had was called a mixture. We had a mixture of his and yours. But they were able to separate it out to identify the person. I mean, unless he had something in his pocket that fell out, like you said.

But other than that, that's OK. Did you guys use condoms when you had sex? Or? Mm-mm. So I mean, he would clean up with something afterwards? Or what? Or nothing? Yeah.

OK. Is that possible I Mean That we had sex when this happened. No, we're like no, I'm saying is it possible We don't think like you lay down here and had sex like as a crime scene like that No, I'm just saying like obviously he had this on him somehow So if there's a mixture of your DNA and his we we're just trying to figure out how that came about. Oh, I mean, it could be from that. I mean, then you all had sex, and then, you know, he just basically cleaned up with that a little bit himself,

and your DNA would be on there too. It doesn't take much. That could be an option. Then the cops brought up the confrontation with Salia. Angela said that everything went fine and that she had told Tony she was done with him. That's when she revealed how angry he got. I text him after I got in the car and I was like, I spoke with Salia and I'm done with you. You know all I want from your house is my glasses.

And he was like, okay. And then the next day I was like, just let you know, cause it was the day after Christmas, the mall closes at 7.30. So I'll get my glasses from your house when I get off. And he's like, oh, I'll have Cas bring them to you. You know, I don't want you to think I'm trying to keep, like he was kind of seemed angry at the time.

And I was like, okay, I didn't argue with him or anything. Right. Argue back with him and then Cass never showed up. So I text Cass and I was like, I don't know if Tony told you, but I guess you're supposed to give me my glasses. And she was like, well, I don't know anything about it, but I'll call him. So I guess she did.

And then he texted me an hour before the mall closed, and he was like, can you come over? I just want to talk. And then you can get your glasses. And I was like, I'll come by, but I'm not coming inside. I went over there. He came out. We sat in the car for like two hours.

He talked, begged, cried, whatever. I still said, no I'm not going to take you back. He gave me my glasses and I went. Angela agreed to give the police her cell phone for data collection and as they were doing that the results from Tony, Celia, and Cassandra's phones came in. It turned out that they were all pinging off the same tower at 2.27 a.m. on the night Salia was murdered. How could that be? Were they all together? Cassandra had told police that she worked a triple shift that evening, but there was a small sliver of time between her work hours that she claimed she was at Tony's apartment and they just hung out.

But when they talked to Tony's family, his brother admitted that Tony had showed up late that night looking for money and acting strange. The cops knew that Cassandra and Tony were not snuggling on the couch that evening. Either both of them or Cassandra was driving Celia's car around with her dead body inside. So they brought Tony and Cassandra back in. And this time they were both under arrest. You realize how serious this is? I understand how serious this is. You really understand how serious this is? and this time they Yeah, I guess. I think I had it with me. It was after.

I usually just, like I said, I usually either leave it in the car or bring it and just sit it on the dresser and have it in the house. We've been working on this for? 33 days. 33 days? Mm-hmm. OK.

And to get somebody in handcuffs to get them arrested is, that means you have to have evidence. We have evidence. Okay, we have evidence that you didn't stay in his apartment the whole night. We have you in the car, so that is his car. We have evidence that you're, you bought gas up in Stark, wearing that blue jacket that's on the search warrant. We have more than just that shot of just the back shot of you. Okay? Honestly, I don't think you killed Selena. I didn't. Okay? Okay. But I believe Antonia told you

what happened and maybe it was an accident. I don Antonio told you what happened. And maybe it was an accident. I don't know what it was. Maybe he never intended her to die. That's fine. And he freaked out and called you. And then you came over and then like what you do for Antonio is everything. I don't do everything.

Yeah, well we know. I don't do everything. Well, you're there for Antonio. You're there for Antonio. Regardless of what you do and what you don't do. You're there for Antonio. You're there for Antonio. Regardless of what you do and what you don't do, you're there for Antonio. And he asked you, basically he puts you in a really bad jam. In my opinion of how it went down, I think could be wrong.

But based on our conversations, you know, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he puts you in a really bad spot. And then you helped him. Cassandra sat tensely as the officers leaned in and pressed harder. They were unrelenting. Cassandra denied everything despite the cold hard evidence right in front of her face. She wouldn't give it up for her precious Tony.

Okay, then we can continue this conversation. How can I be sure y'all got him? What, that way Tony is down there? Yeah, I mean, if I don't say nothing, like if they... We can prove that he's down the hall. I bet you my paycheck on it. I bet you my life on it. You want to throw him down here and we'll let you see him in handouts?

You don't want to see him. Okay. Maybe, can you peek through the window? We can peek, maybe. I don't want to see him. You want to see him in Hane Townsville? I don't want to see him. I know y'all got him. Okay, and he's not going anywhere.

Like he just said, his bond is a million dollars. The evidence against Tony was overwhelming. His DNA was found at the crime scene in Salia's car, on her cell phone, and his family had revealed that he'd come home asking for money and to borrow a gas can. Yikes. Another friend told the police that they overheard Tony admitting to the murder at breakfast. I wonder if he was having one of those delicious Denny's moons over my hammie. Those are quite tasty. Anyway, the tips were flying in.

You need me to throw more out here for you? We know you left with Tony. We know you went up there. We know you went to the convenience store. We know you bought the gas for two dollars. We know you were in the snake car. We know you bought the gas for two dollars We know you were in the same car. We know you answered the telephone when Salinas a new boyfriend called and said she's asleep and then he said He said She'll call you tomorrow Cassandra was the strange woman on Salias phone She was the one who had paid for the gas in a wig with her hood up.

It was all crashing down on her. She hung her head in her hands and started to cry. I don't hate him. I blew him up. But he's not... He's our own person. I told him 100 times. I told him just be right, do right by her. That's all he had to do. Just do right by her. That's all I ever did was tell him to be right with Selena because she was a nice girl. She was crazy but I tried to tell her about him. She got mad at me, so I left it alone. That's why I just started leaving all this stuff alone.

I tried to be with all the girls just to kind of know who he is. And everybody gets mad at me. His cast is, because he calls me, y'all want to be in my position. I'm not in a position for somebody to want to be in. It's not a great place to be. Cassandra said that Tony killed Celia. She didn't know how or why. She didn't ask questions.

She was just trying to get out of his apartment. But she knew he wouldn't let her leave. Did he threaten you if you don't, did he say something or? I knew if I refused, he would have. If I said no I'm not, he did. I mean I didn't try to fight with him. Sure. Because if I did, I knew what would have happened. I tried to stay calm, to keep him calm so he don't attack me. Right.

I should have, I should have said something. I should have been more. Well, you're looking out for yourself. Tony used his power to get Cassandra to help him dispose of Celia's body, the same way he used his power over her to get snacks at 4 a.m. or free rent. She just could not say no to him. Is this really power he had over her? Or is this a decision she made herself? Did you see Silly at that point? You don't know if she was in the back seat or in the front seat? He tried to. I didn't want to see her. He tried to what? Show you her? I said I don't want to see her. Where did you, where did he sit?

In the passenger seat. So you drove the car and he sat in the passenger seat? Should I speak to a lawyer? Because I'm incriminating myself. I mean I want to be a witness, but it's too late. I don't think at this point you're hurting yourself by telling us. Too late, Cassandra. That's a little too late to ask for a lawyer.

I mean, you kind of have to feel sorry for her a little bit, no? Cassandra said that Tony made her drive Celia's car to run the errands to finish the job. She said she was afraid that Tony would hurt her if she didn't go along with what he wanted. So, like a dutiful side girlfriend, she got the gas and helped him dump Cel area that was kind of secluded. And we saw no other cars coming. We pulled over one time, but we saw a car coming, so we kept driving. And he got there and said, let's just throw it over the bushes. You know, just let it go over the bushes. He maybe grabbed his hand. It's the part where I'm scared.

Because you put the gasoline on her? We know you're scared, and I can't, I mean. Yeah, but that's the point he said, by saying that, because I did that. I said just throw it over, you know. You were just going to throw it over. Throw the body over or throw the gasoline over? That's what he, no, he want, he made me do the gasoline. That's what he kept, that's what he kept holding over me.

You can't say nothing, cause you, you understand that. Cause you're the one that's not right. I'm the one, you're the one that did this and you're the one that did that. Y'all gonna look at me and I did it too, but I. Because you were scared. I just wanted to come home. That's why I said just throw my body over.

The bushes would be big enough. No one would find it. He was trying to make you equally guilty. That way he'd protect him because that's all he cares about is himself. It was true. All Tony cared about was himself. That's pretty obvious.

But we can't blame it all on Tony, can we? He was a true sociopathic narcissist. The word narcissist is thrown around all the time these days, especially by middle-aged women whose relationships have fallen apart. It gets used again and again and again and overused and loses its true meaning. There are actual real narcissists out there who care about nothing other than their own comfort, their own pleasure, their own gain at the expense of everyone else's. Make no mistake about that. The word gets thrown around to describe any kind of

douchebag that does any kind of thing we don't like. But Tony Drayton truly is a narcissist who used every woman he ever met. Only the most selfish animal could commit a crime like this and brazenly walk towards the police offering his assistance in solving the very crime that he committed. The arrogance, the cuspa, you know? The gall of this pile of shit. So he had a lighter or matches? I think a lighter. A lighter? I think so. Did he light something else? Did you see him do this when he lit it?

No, I was in the car. You were in the car? Someone was with a cigar. Someone was with a cigar. So he lit the fire. I was in the car. And what did he say? He didn't say anything. That was it.

Cassandra gave it all up. But she still didn't know how Tony killed Salia. So how the deputy transports you? You want to see it? The deputy? No, Antonio is down transports you? You will see the deputy? No, Antonio is down the hall. He can't see you. He can't see you.

We're not going to let him see you. We're not going to go ahead and transport you. And he won't see you leave. He's in a whole other room. OK. He didn't know I said something. What about? Whether he finds out tonight or wherever this ends up, trial or whatever. I mean, I don't know, but like I said, I just don't want him to know nothing of what

was said. What I said, I don't want nobody coming to meet to my family. Cassandra was terrified of Tony and didn't want him to know that she had squealed. You have to wonder, was she afraid because she thought Tony would do something to her family or was she scared because she didn't want to disappoint him? She's very hard to read. Then they let Cassandra call her mother before they took her to jail. She didn't want her aging mom to find out about this on the 6 o'clock news, after all.

I know, Ma. I know, I know. Ma, I know. I know. That's why I wanted to call you. I wanted to tell you before you saw anything. I just was, I don't know. I know, mom, I'm sorry, mom, what can I do? I'm sorry, I'm just, I just don't know. I don't know. I don't know, I don't know. We kept threatening the kids and threatening everybody. I just wanted to keep everybody safe. I figured everybody say nothing, everybody would be...

But I was scared. He was sitting there walking around before they could get him. He could have did something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mom. Then the police had to deal with Tony.

If anyone should have asked for a lawyer, it was this guy. Tony denied everything. He babbled on and tried to twist and turn his stories. Maybe his smooch talking and mind tricks worked on the girls at the club that he manipulated, but detectives are slightly smarter than that. Slightly. They'd seen a million boneheads like Tony and they weren't gonna give up. Tony, this is your life, man. This is your life. This is your life. Nobody, this ain't nobody's life but yours right now, okay? This is yours. This is your chance. I'm trying to give that to you, man.

I'm trying. You talk me through this, okay? Talk me through it. I really don't know what to do. Cas, you forgot to invite? Where at? Please, bring me the world's tiniest violin for old Tony boy. Tony had a big, dramatic story about how Cassandra went to Celia's apartment, unbeknownst to him and attacked Celia, killing her with a fire extinguisher of all things. Then she called Tony for help.

But that didn't make any sense because, you know, cops aren't as dumb as he is. of them. Right, right. But how? How would she get, how would she get, how would she get Saleya's keys? How would she get her car keys? She don't have sets of Saleya's car keys. How would she drive? Once she run into Leigh-At, she'd have to go in the apartment and get the car keys to drive it over to your house with the body in the trunk. And I'm just trying to make sense out of it. What I'm saying is, it can be bogus. What I'm saying is, it can be bogus. What I'm saying is, it can be bogus. But what I'm saying is, though, you saying I did this at my house, when I know dealing with this shit ain't go down in my house.

Tony continued to argue, manipulate, and twist his way around the truth. He leaned back in his chair and threw up his arms. He did his usual drama routine, and when that didn't work, he softened up and tried to play the victim. He said that Cassandra killed Celia, and she forced him to help her clean up the mess. He panicked and went along, because, you know, he's just a scared little boy. I helped Kaz, I helped him take the body out, but I made sure I didn't light that match. Kaz poured that gas on it and lit the match. Kaz poured the gas?

I made sure she did it. I didn't, I made sure she did it. I wasn't, I wasn't going to touch it. So she, she poured the gas and she lit the... She lit the body, yeah, she lit the body up. But the fire extinguisher story didn't make sense because, well, forensics. Tony was a liar, but Salia's corpse would tell the truth. Even with everything said and done, you know, I know the body is burned and things like that, okay? You can still see whether or not there's any kind of marks or anything. And there's nothing, there's no gouges or nothing on top of her head.

So I don't get how that could happen. It's hard to be having gouges when you got like a half piece like that. Yeah, you still, that shit's gonna, you have to have some kind of mark. Yeah, but you gotta think the fire is doing that weight on you. It has weight. Right? It has weight. You know what I'm saying? You can You have to find a student out late on the day. It has to wait. Right. It has to wait. You can knock yourself out with a fire extinguisher.

And you're right, I get that, but I can't understand how there ain't gonna be no hearts at all. You see what I'm saying? Tony stuck to his lies. Unfortunately, Salia's body had been burned so badly that it was hard for the medical examiners to determine the actual cause of death. But based on Tony's track record of putting hands on his girlfriends when he got overly emotional and the fact that there were no signs of blood force trauma, it was assumed that he strangled her to death.

Are you sure that you ain't got nothing else to tell me? Because when this last time when strangled her to death. They fought, and I knew they couldn't do that better. But I knew it would be better if they... They fought. They fought. Who hit her in the head? I didn't hit her in the head. Are you sure she got hit in the head with fire extinguishers? She didn't hit her in the head. Tony was taken to jail where he continued to call Angela because she was the only one

who would answer. He was charged with first degree murder. But as time went on, Tony had a change of heart. Or maybe just some good legal advice from his public defender. By the way, in May of 2012, right before Celia's birthday, Tony Drayton T.D. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He would avoid a trial and the judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison. Cassandra Kimbrough pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received two years in prison. A slap on the wrist if you ask me. Tony Drayton was your textbook narcissist who thought that he ran the world.

That's probably why he kept his world so small, so he'd always be the big fish in the little pond of his Gainesville college club scene. Tony thought that the women in his life were inferior to him, especially Cassandra, who he used and used and abused for years just because she was weak and led him. He wanted these girls to fight over him, to actually scratch and claw at each other over his affection. He liked the fact that Angela took a restraining order out on Celia. But when the girls settled their differences and Angela told Tony she wanted nothing more to do with him, that's when Celia lost her life. Was that his motive?

Did the fight with Celia start because Tony was furious that she had ruined his fling with Angela? Tony was a serial cheater who relished in the fact that he could jump from one girl to the next, doling out lies like candy to make sure he had a constant stream of admiration, attention and sex coming his way. In fact, dishing out lie after lie to the police was just as easy, and he did it with such prowess that had his crimes not been so sloppy, the cops may have just believed him. Tony was willing to go to any measure to maintain his hedonistic and shallow life.

Celia Huda just happened to be the tiny yet mighty cheerleader who tried to stand up to this creep when he finally took it too far. You know, sometimes it's the little tiny seemingly inconsequential decisions that make all the difference. So if you hear my voice talking to you right now, and you find yourself in a similar situation to any of these women, maybe let go of that ego just a little bit. You're not all that smart. None of us are. And truly give it some real hard, deep thought. Think real hard about what you may be unintentionally setting into motion. Just a thought. Stay safe. I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a Please support the show if you can. Head on over to swordandscale.com and sign up for plus. It starts at just 10 bucks. If you go to the second tier and you do 20, you can see the TV show too, which I highly recommend. Thanks for watching!