True Crime All The Time - Listener Hometown #1 Jorden

Episode Date: January 19, 2017

On September 2nd, 2016 Kody Lott allegedly gunned down one precious 13 year old girl and wounded another in Wichita Falls, TX. We use the word allegedly only because he has yet to be tried and convicted. He has admitted to the crimes. The circumstances, details, and motives behind the crimes are what will amaze you. Both of the girls involved in this case were beloved and we honor the memory of Lauren Landavazo who lost her life and Mikayla Smith who was injured but had the courage to help police capture the man who murdered her best friend. This is our first listener hometown episode. Jorden joins Gibby and myself to talk about the events of the case. She lived in the area where this crime took place and is able to provide details that most people would never be able to understand unless they lived in the community during this terrible event. We hope to make these listener hometown episodes a regular part of the True Crime All The Time lineup. The timing will depend on how much people enjoy them and how many listeners want to join us to talk about a case that happened in their area. Please visit our website at http://truecrimeallthetime.com and click on our Patreon button to go to our Patreon page to see what we have there. Gibby and I have begun taping something before every episode to put on the Patreon page. You can support the show through Patreon for as little as $2 a month. And don't forget that this Sunday is the premier episode or our new podcast True Crime All The Time Unsolved. The introduction is out now on iTunes or for android so make sure you subscribe so that you get all new episodes. I promise you that you do not want to miss this first episode. We have an amazing special guest and she joins us to talk about the murder of her identical twin sister 21 years ago. She has been fighting everyday since that time to find the killer and bring him to justice. It is a very powerful episode.   True Crime All The Time is an Emash Digital Production See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to a special episode of True Crime All the Time. This is an EMash digital production. I'm your host, Mike Ferguson, and always I've got my partner in crime, Mike Gibson, with me today. Gibby, what's going on? Hey, how's it going? That's going good. You know, this is a very special episode. As you'll notice, I did not say an episode number for this one like I usually do.

and that's because we've been talking about something from the very beginning of the show when we first started and that is doing a listener hometown episode right and so because of that we have a very special guest on Skype with us for this episode uh it's a big fan listener Jordan from Texas is on the line and she brought us a case and she's going to be our very first hometown listener episode. So Jordan, say hi to everyone. Hello. I'm so excited. She's excited.

And we're excited to do it. I mean, we've been talking about it for probably a month, maybe. Yeah, about six weeks. Yeah. So Jordan, you've been a fan of the show from very early on. You were probably one of the first to reach out to us on social media. Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah, probably, I mean, part of that first group, for that first wave.

Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I know Gibby, we keep saying this, but it's absolutely amazing how quickly this podcast has taken. taken off. Right. And the reason why it's taken off is because of people like Jordan. Absolutely. It is. Right. I mean, if you look at her activity on Twitter, you know, she's helping to bring in new fans all the time. And that's one of the main reasons why, you know, we're shooting up the charts the way that we are. So and now we want to take a couple of new steps, right? So the first one is this listener hometown episode, which we're doing right now. Right. And as we announced last Friday, our new spinoff podcast is going to be

called True Crime All the Time Unsolved. And that's going to debut this Sunday. So we're excited about that. Jordan, please tell me you'll listen to that. Of course. So, you know, I, I, I, I, you're probably not aware of this because at the time we're taping this, the announcement is being made on the episode that comes out tonight because we tape so far in advance. Right. So this is the first you're hearing of it, I assume. Um, I think you told me a couple days ago. Oh, did I? I let her in. I may have given our little insider information. She is a, she,

she, she is a, uh, uh, uh, uh, correspond back and forth. That's true.

With Jordan. We have been talking a lot because we, we were, we've been working on this episode. So. So Jordan, you gave us this case a while back to research. And you actually gave us a couple to choose from.

And we went with this one. To make our first listener episode. You know, the great thing about this is I've got some commitments from a few other people as well that I've talked to. So we're hoping to make this a regular thing. I don't know if it'll be once a month, once a week. Obviously, it depends on how many people are willing to do it. And who knows, you may even like it so much. You'll want to do another one about some of the other cases that you talked about.

Yeah, I love it. Now, the one thing I want to talk about before we get into any details is the fact that this case is very, very recent. Yes. Much more so than any of the other cases that we've covered on our regular Sunday episodes. Yeah. Right. Yeah, it was just last spring. Yeah.

I mean, this is, it's a very fresh. In true crime time, I don't know if that's the way to say it, but, you know, normally we're dealing with cases that happened years ago where the details had been flushed out. The cases made its way through the judicial system and everything's kind of known, right? This one's a little different. I think, you know, we're going to talk about some things that just happened in September. So unlike most of our other cases, this thing's not even close to being finalized in the court system at all. Now, we do have a lot of facts that we're going to go through. But I want to make a disclaimer up front that everything is alleged.

this point. I don't want to have to say alleged about every little detail we talk about. So I'm making a blanket disclaimer that says alleged, even though, you know, as we're going to find out, you know, some things have been admitted to. I don't want to give anything away. But I do want to say that because technically until, you know, somebody's proven guilty, um, everything is alleged. Right. So, you know, again, this is new for us. I got Gibby on the other side of the studio, not on the other side, the other side of the table. Jordan's on Skype.

And basically, we're just going to walk through like we would a normal episode. And what we're hoping is that, you know, Jordan can add those details that Gibby and I, because we're usually not familiar with the area where the case occurs. And that's usually when I get called a dumbass for something that I say that, you know, people think I should know. Jordan's going to hopefully fill some of that in for us. I hope.

So. I'm really going to look bad if I can't from being there. No. No, you won't. So right off the bat, you're in the Wichita Falls area. Yeah, I'm not living there currently, but I'm two hours away. But I grew up there and I lived there last year.

So you were, you're very familiar with this case. And it's one of the reasons why we chose it. And we have to clarify, it's Wichita Falls, Texas. Yes. Not Wichita Falls, Kansas. It's just Wichita, Kansas. And it's Wichita Falls, Texas. Oh, there is no Wichita Falls, Texas.

Oh, there is no Wichita Falls, Texas. Oh, There is no Wichita Falls. No falls. I don't think so. Somebody's going to call me a dumb ass if I'm wrong about that. But I like it when people call me that. That's why I'm not going to make a comment.

Well, if you did make a comment, it would be something about Illinois. That's right. Illinois. All right. That's sad. We're joking, joking, but now we've got to get serious, right? Because this is a serious case. Yeah, it's very sad.

It is a sad case. So let's start with the details. You know, on September the 2nd, as we mentioned, this is just last year of 2016, Cody Lott, who was 20 years old, fatally shot a 13-year-old Lauren Landavazo. And Jordan, make sure I'm pronouncing that correctly. Yeah, that's how I've heard it. Okay, because I want to make sure. It is. So he shoots this 13-year-old little girl, Lauren Landavazo,

while she's walking home from school. As well, he shoots Lauren's friend, Michaela Smith, who is walking home with her. So we're kind of laying out some of the details, and then we're going to go back and, you know, expand on them. This occurred, you know, sometime around. three o'clock. Like I said, they're walking home from school. It's on Kingston Drive, which everything I read Jordan said, you know, pretty quiet, suburban residential area. I looked at some of the news footage and it appeared to be a pretty nice area.

Yeah, it is. It's nice and quiet. Yeah. So, you know, after the shooting, the girls are rushed to United Regional Hospital where unfortunately Lauren passes away from her injuries Michaela on the other hand survives the shooting and you know that's kind of the basic foundation for this case now I want to play a police audio that would have had to have been like right when that day because because, as you'll hear, they don't know all the details. It's right before 3.30 p.m. We received a 911 call in reference to a check welfare

in reference to a shots fired call in the 5,100 block of Kingston, actually in the alleyway. When we arrived on scene, we located one subject that had suffered what we believe right now. Keep in mind this is all still new. is still just occurring. We saw, we have two individuals that were suffered from a parent gunshot wounds. I do not know the extent, I do not know the condition,

I do not know names, I do not know ages, I do not know anything about the victim. They have both been transported to the hospital by AMR. And right now what we have is the area taped off. We have detectives on scene en route to the same. as well as ID and right now we're just trying to process it speak to witnesses and get as much information as we can. Did you say both victims are female?

From what I was told right now both victims are female. Suspect information? Suspect information. The only thing that we have at this point is a possible suspect driving a black SUV black truck type vehicle, white male, shaggy brown hair. It's about all we have right now. So, you know, you can hear there, this had to have been very soon after the incident because they had very few details.

They had, they were able to say that both of the victims were female. They were able to say that the perpetrator was seen driving away in a black SUV or truck. and that he had what do he say gibby curly brown hair that i mean there wasn't much right so this is very very early on um you know i Jordan i don't know how much you remember you know was this story big story day one or did it kind of come out over a few days or or even a week uh it it was big like the second it happened because Wichita Falls is about 100,000 people. It's a small city. And there are three big high schools there.

So it's a tight-knit community. And a lot of people know each other. And especially through Facebook, if something happens, it's like everybody in the town knows. So it was immediate. And that's what I kind of figured. So if this happened at three o'clock, right, schools letting out, I assume. this made the five o'clock or six o'clock news. Yeah.

Was there any lockdowns at that time? School's out. School's out. So probably not. Yeah, school is out. No, I didn't hear of anything like that. And it was Friday, so. Oh, that's good information.

Yeah. Yeah, it was Friday. So, you know, we know who did it, right? We said that, Cody Lott. We said that up front, even though at this point the police don't know. So what they do is they set up a perimeter around this apartment complex called Fountain Gate. And I don't know if you're familiar with that, Jordan, or not.

And apparently there was a, they received a call about a suspicious person or something around 2 o'clock. and that's when they set up this perimeter. Well, I think, I think I read the same thing you did and I got confused. When I read that, I thought they were talking about Friday, but I'm pretty sure during that and the perimeter, that's when they were about to catch him on Sunday. Yes. I mean to get it.

But yeah. No, I think you're absolutely right because like you said, this happened on the second, this perimeter. And I should have made it more clear. clear happened on the fourth. Yeah. So that would have been, you're right, Sunday. But in setting up this perimeter, they locate Cody Lott after receiving this tip that

we talked about. And apparently he was trying to leave the scene. And they take him into custody in a shopping center that said it was located on Southwest Parkway. Yeah, at the apartment, they found out that that's who they were looking for. They set up the perimeter there, and they waited. I think they waited a pretty good part of the day, and he never came back. And then they knew what kind of car they were looking for, a goldish Tahoe.

I know it said black in the beginning, but it was like a goldish Tahoe. and they ended up getting a call or a cop spotted the car and it's probably about a mile away shopping center and that's where they got him. A mile away from this fountain gate apartments. Yeah, probably a mile or two. But he, when they went up to him and went to arrest him or talk to him, they made him get out and then they searched his car and they found brass knuckles in his car and that's what they arrested him for. because they weren't for sure if it was him. So they arrested him for having brass knuckles. Well, I was just going to say, you know, it could be because they, it sounds like they had a bad

description to start with. Yeah. Yeah. Now that, that description could have changed later on. And I just, you know, I didn't know about it because I just had that one piece of audio. But they clearly were under the impression, at least from the beginning, that they, uh, they were looking for a black vehicle. Yeah.

And I think later it turned into the gold, goldish, late, you know, early model 2000, GMC, SUV, Tahoeu, Yukon, whatever that Jordan just told us about. And then, like Jordan said, they pull them over, they find the brass knuckles in there. And then later through more in-depth search of the vehicle, they do find one spent shell. Yeah, so he's arrested on this brass knuckle charge, whatever, whatever charge, you know, concealed deadly weapon maybe. I don't know what charge they booked him on. They find the spent shell. And I don't know how long it is, but I don't think it's that long that he confesses to the murder or the shootings.

Yeah. I don't think it was very long. long. So at this point, he's confessed. He's in the Wichita jail, Wichita Falls County Jail, maybe, we'll call it. You know, I had read that they set his bail at four million. Yeah.

Which is, you know, pretty high. Sizable number. Right. For a 20-year-old. And I'm assuming. that he didn't come from, you know, a wealthy family. Maybe he did.

I don't know. I didn't read that. I don't think so. But four months- I think that that really shows people were just, I don't even want to say angry because that doesn't even come close. It was people hated him before they even knew him. They didn't even know the girls and everybody in the community hated him.

Just outrage. Oh, yeah. And I assume a lot of. of that comes from the fact that, you know, we're dealing with children. Yeah, and it could have been anybody's kids because it was where the school is. I wish this was visual, but we have a huge stadium, and it's where all of our big high schools play at. And right in front of it is McNeil Jr. High. That's where they went to school. And there's a main road that runs in front of it. And across the main road are those apartments. So he watched them on home every day. That's how close

all this is in that neighborhood. So that's why it was so shocking and so horrible because it could have been anybody's kids or. Right. Whoever happened to walk that path that day at that time could have been his victim. Yeah. Now, now we are going to talk about motive a little bit. And I think it is a little more specific. Yeah.

To one of the girls. But again, I see what you guys are saying because anytime. you've got a situation where a child is is killed. You know, people get pissed, you know, and it could be that it's three towns over. They don't know this,

you know, they don't know these people, but it doesn't matter because the thought process is, you know, that could be my kid, my child, Jordan, like you said.

And the fact that, you know, this, these 13 year olds, one was 13. I don't know if they both were or not, but. They both were. Yeah.

So these 13 year old girls, they weren't doing anything to put themselves in a position where, you know, something bad could happen to them. Not that that would make it okay either, but all they were doing is simply the same thing that they did every weekday, which is walking home from school. And as a parent, you know, who you can just sit there and think okay my kid walks home from school and you got a nut job that is sitting at his apartment complex casing waiting and we're going to get into some of that but i think that's where the fervor and and i'm surprised they didn't storm the

i'm sure people thought about it and drag his ass out of the out of the county jail or whatever jail it is. But that's it, right? When it comes to kids, there's nothing that rouse people up more. Could have been your kid, my kid, Jordan's could be her, you know, I don't know how your sister is. Violence towards kids is the,

I mean, that there's nothing that gets people in sense more than that. So, so, you know, at this point, point they've got him you know he had matched the description that that the witnesses had had given to police um white male curly brown hair uh and even though it wasn't a black pickup

i think they had later probably changed it to this goldish brownish whatever it was but i you know I think right now we need to talk about um the victim I mean there was two victims one survived, one passed away. The girl that passed away, her name was, again, Lauren, Land DeVazzo. She was a student at McNeil Middle School, Jordan, which, you know, you had said in Wichita Falls. I did want to read a statement that the superintendent Michael Kurt issued just after the shooting.

You know, he said, today after school, there was a. tragic off-campus situation involving two girls from McNeil Middle School. I'm saddened to report that one of those girls passed away and the other is in guarded condition. Please know that the district is coordinating efforts to provide grief counselors for students. As soon as we have more information about those resources, we will pass that along to you. As a district, we are saddened by the senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with all of those involved. I think that's pretty standard. I mean, from what you would expect to hear.

But one word in that stands out to me more than any other. And I think that word is senseless. I mean, tragic, all that. But this one, I mean, they're all sense. senseless, right? On this show, we cover a lot of crazy things. This one might be up there with the Sandra Cantu as unbelievably senseless. Yeah. Well, that's always when it involves a kid. Right. So, I think, you know, we're going back to that. I did want to talk a bit about Laura and, and how she was remembered by the brother of her friend Michaela.

Michaela's brother's name was Trevion, Elliot. And, you know, he just had the most amazing things to say about Lauren, his sister's best friend. He just said, you know, they were always talking, whether it was through text messages or Snapchat. They always walked home together. They walked to school together since they lived in the same neighborhood. And they walked home together as well. you know it's those kind of things again because you're talking about a 13 year old child you know this she's walking home with her best friend when when this violence breaks out

also there was a family friend named Kenya she described Lauren as a ray of sunshine and that she was just always very, very happy. Again, talking about how much Lauren enjoyed walking home from school with her friends every day. Lauren absolutely loved it, said Kenya. It was only three blocks. And they could have been home in less than five minutes, but it took them 20 minutes because they were always talking and giggling with friends along the way. And the last thing that she had to say was that Lauren just wanted to cheer people up and make them happy.

That was her thing. So again, I mean, obviously nobody's going to come out and say anything bad about a 13-year-old child. But also, it's probably because this was a great kid. You know, she was loved by everybody that she had contact with. And she probably was super, super happy. And it just, you know, makes it just even that much more tragic. So Gibby and Jordan, I think we have to talk a little bit about motive because, like we said, this was a senseless crime.

And the motive here to me is, is interesting. And I think it's where we start to get into some of the, I don't know. I don't know if crazy is the right word, but some of the interesting aspects of this case. You know, apparently, from what I researched, you know, Lott told the police very early on that he had planned this out. And Jordan, I think you alluded to it already.

But he even goes on to say that he had spoken to the devil about and colluded with the devil about what he was going to do i don't know how much of that came out in the um local media in the local media yeah i think that was about it i don't think he really he just said and his dad said that he did he was i think he said if i'm right he was um bible or and schizophrenic so i think that unless i'm thinking of a different thing but I think that that had been happening more and more regularly. Well, we know we had mental issues. And we're going to talk about that a little bit.

We've got a clip from Lott's father. I mean, when you got Lott telling the police that the murder was not senseless. Right. Right. Going back to what you said, because it's not senseless because the devil told me to do it. Yeah, because I planned it with the devil. Yeah, he's trying to make it, you know, a legit reason. So right there kind of tells you that, you know, the boy wasn't stable.

Yeah, so apparently he goes on to tell the police that, you know, he knew both of these girls. And the fact that, and I believe it was Lauren. So Jordan, correct me if I'm wrong. But the fact that she was in a relationship or had a boyfriend or something had made him angry. Um, you know, he was apparently very upset about the fact that he didn't have a girlfriend and he must have, you know, he must have seen this Lauren and, and liked her in some way from the apartment. Yeah.

Yeah. Um, talking about like the whole thing kind of breaking down, uh, like I said, it was a Friday night and it's north texas and friday is just like in the movies it's a huge football night right and yeah that's and just like i said the stadiums right there right behind their school and so um i had heard that the plan was they had talked about earlier in the day that they were going to walk home together like they did a lot and her and her boyfriend um uh donovan or Are we saying last names? Donovan's good.

Yeah, Donovan's good. Okay, Donovan. And they were going to walk home, and then he couldn't get a hold of his parents to ask. And so he said, well, I'm just going to go, I'm just going to go home. I'll ask them, and I'll get money, and I'll meet back up with you. And they were really excited about going to the football game together. And so he was supposed to be there. But, yeah, he had, Lott had seen Lauren.

And her boyfriend walked home and Michaela, but it was Lauren that he was, he liked and he was mad that she got to have a boyfriend and he was single. And she, he liked her. All right. So we, you know, we got to talk about this for a minute because this is a 20 year old man. When you're 20 years old, you're no longer a kid. You're not a teenager. You're a man by all definitions.

Right. what in the hell is this guy doing? Fascinated with a 13 year old? Fascinated with a 13 year old. I understand that he's upset. He doesn't have a girlfriend. Yeah. But go out and find a 20-year-old girlfriend.

And I know some girls look older than they are, right? You know, I mean, not giving any justification. I'm just saying you can run into a, to, uh, um, to, uh, a girl. Are you going down a bad path? No, no, I'm just saying you, you know, there's been times that my daughter, you know, put on too much makeup and looks like a whole different person. Yeah.

Right. And I'm like, oh, I don't approve of that, you know. So, so, you know, maybe he thought she was older. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he knew her age. It just was weird. You're right. You know.

Either way it's weird. Yeah. Either way. I mean, clearly he knew that she was probably in middle school. I'm guessing because... She's coming home from the middle school. Right. I would think he would know that that age group would probably be no higher than 14.

Yeah, I don't know what it goes up to. Yeah. But maybe 13 and 14. Yeah, 13 or 14. Because she was probably topping out or probably in the higher grade of that middle school. And both of these girls are, they're gorgeous. They're very pretty. girls now I feel like look so much older than even when I was in junior high.

Well, they do. They look older and they do. And I think that's what Gibi was trying to say. But any hate mail should go to Ghibie is a dumbass at gmail.com. Do not send that to me. No, I'm just kidding. But it is a fact, right? You know, I think back many, many years ago because Gibby and I are both a little older.

and little girls look like little girl. I mean, high school girls looked so much younger than high school girls do today. You know, that's a testament to my Ulta makeup bill that my kids run up and Sephora and all this stuff. But, you know, anyway. But either way, the bottom line is 20-year-old guy, he had to have known give or take, a year or two. He had to know this girl was underage.

Let's put it that way. So he knew he was infatuated with somebody that he shouldn't have been. I think we can all agree on that. Right. But, you know, it was a part of the motive. I mean, I think he said that. He told police that, you know,

he was upset about the fact that she had a boyfriend. She liked him. He didn't have a girlfriend. he was mad about that. You know, he confessed that, you know, he had taken his, I think it was a stepfather's rifle from the family apartment. And Jordan, as you alluded to, he was waiting at the window, waiting for these girls to apparently see them walking down the sidewalk.

And who knows how many times he had done this. before had probably done it many, many times. And as soon as they pass by, that's when he gets in his Tahoe pickup. I'm a little unsure, whatever vehicle he had. Tahoe, Tahoe or Yukon. Yeah. And he drove to them.

And that's when he opened fire. with a AR rifle Yeah, and it's a 22 though Okay It's an AR style rifle But it was a 22 Not to make that any

Less violent than it is But a normal AR is You know 556 or 223 Right This was a 22 caliber Made just made to look like an AR style rifle that's what I got. We don't want to get into guns

because then we're in my other podcast. But we know at 22 caliber can do a lot of damage too because of the ricochet effects and things like that. And you're absolutely right. Sometimes a 22 can do more damage because, you know,

a higher velocity bullet, depending on where it hits, we'll go through. But at 22, sometimes we'll, you know, hit something. And then like you said, it'll ricochet

and do a lot of, lot of damage that way. So, so he shoots her initially a few times, right? And then he shoots at her friend Michaela hits her once and then comes back and hits unfortunately Lauren a few more times a total of 14. That's what I read a total of 14 times 14 times, which is just unbelievable to hear that. Yeah. Well, the thing that makes that terrifying is that to give you perspective, again, the middle schools here, the apartments are here, the main street goes between them. They're walking down the sidewalk in front of the apartments, and then you turn right into an alley. So they turn right.

And I think his apartment was on that alley side. So that's, I think, where he would watch them. Right. And isn't that where it happened in the alley, right? Did he wait? He waited. He knew he, I think. think that he had seen them like he'd be driving around and he'd see her and then he'd think oh

she probably does this every day and then watch and so he knew her way she went so he knew when she passed that they still had a pretty big chunk of alley to go so he goes down gets in his car drives around and parks at the end of the alley and blocks them off so they're walking straight to him so there was nothing there was nothing they could do no and they had no idea. There's a car there. They're like, okay, I'll just go around it. Well, and as a, as a 13 year old walking home from school, I don't say you shouldn't have a care in the world. You should be aware of your surroundings, but you don't, what you don't expect is some 20 year old guy to, you know, come after you with the rifle. And he didn't even get out

of his car. He just rolled down the window or opened the door, but I know he didn't get out. Right. He just sat there and then drove off. Yeah. So what I read was, you know, so he drives off. He just, he gets rid of the rifle somewhere on a rural road, throws it out or does something. Yeah. In the field. But then he later he goes back and he gets it. The next day. And he returns it to his parents' apartment. Yeah, I think he probably did it. And then he was like, there was a shooting and my dad's going to wonder where his gun is. Yeah. Or stepfather. I was a little. I was a little. confused about that because we have a clip from his dad, but everything I read said he must have been living with his stepdad at the time. Yeah. Yeah, because it was a stepdad's rifle. Yeah. All right,

well, I've got a news clip here. I want to play real quick. Injuring Michaela Smith as they walked home from school. She joins us now. Danielle police say Lott told them he was attracted to Lauren. Lot told investigators he was angry. He did not have a girlfriend. and that Lauren was with someone else. Lot told detectives he knew she had a boyfriend because he'd seen them walking home from school together. Lot told investigators he was watching for Lauren to walk by that day. He says he went to his parents' apartment at Fountain Gate,

grabbed his stepfather's 22 caliber, AR-style rifle and waited by a window. He says when he saw Lauren, he drove to the alley near Trinidad Drive and shot her and Michaela. Lot told police he shot Lauren first and then turned the gun on Michaela shooting at her a couple of times before moving back to Lauren to finish her off. The 20-year-old says he then drove off and later threw the rifle he used in a field. According to the arrest warrant, Lott says he went back to the field to get the gun Saturday and took it back to his parents' apartment at Fountain Gate. Lot's story matches that of victim, Michaela Smith.

She told police the driver reached into his car. and pulled out a gun and then shot her. She said she panicked and ran away. She says she looked back and saw her friend laying on the ground and the road and just kept running as the SUV drove off. While she was being treated at the emergency room, Michaela Smith told police officers what had happened

and was able to give them a description of Cody Lott. Michaela says she did not know the driver but was able to make eye contact with him. Danielle Malagary News Channel 6. Some chilling details. Thank you, Danielle. Officials say a preliminary autopsy show that Lauren was shot 14 times, and Michaela had been shot once, but had three separate wounds. There were 15 shell casings found by police at that crime scene.

So, yeah, there's a report from Channel 6, and it kind of backs up a lot of the things that we've been saying. But the one thing I take away from that was the talk about Michaela Smith, you know, which is the girl that was shot, um, but survived. And I think Givie helped me. What did they say? She was shot only once, but had three separate, um, injuries or bullet wounds somehow. 22, you know.

Right. So that must have been some of the ricochet. But what was amazing about Michaela, if you think about it, um, she's probably one of the big. reasons that they were able to catch Cody Lott because she's the one that gave them the description of Lott with a curly said she didn't know who he was but she did get a good look at him and you know she probably had a big hand in them ultimately being able to to capture him. So Jordan, I mean, I assume this is nightly news.

for quite a period of time? Well, for that night and then Saturday night and all day, Sunday. And people were, well, yeah, and they were still talking about it for quite a bit. But they were, a lot of people were scared because they didn't know if he had plans to, I mean, they had no idea of his motive, who it was, or if he was going to go somewhere else. So for the two days afterwards, everybody was definitely, before they got him in custody. people were just panic, freaking out, like,

not wanting to leave their house. Yeah. And now I would have to imagine that because I don't know that there's much that's happened because this is so new or so fresh. I assume that, you know, other than like preliminary type trial stuff,

there's really probably not much that has gone on since then. no so this is another one you know mike that um we may have to update right and and i'm sure jordan will let us know and but i so you know i know we were still diving into some of his motives and his past a little bit and you know i did find it interesting um that he was involved you know, back in June of 2015 in Baylor County. I don't know Jordan how close Baylor County is or if that's the county you're actually in,

but he was threatening to shoot people at his grandmother's house. And he wasn't charged. But yeah, so, you know, there is in Baylor County in, you know, the year before. I assume Baylor is close. to Waco if I had to guess. I don't know.

It's close to us. I can't think of what town it's in, but I would say within 30 minutes. So it's not close to Waco? Because this isn't Baylor University in Waco? It must be too difficult. I don't know. I should know that. I definitely know that because I'm a sports guy.

But yeah, I mean, you know, continuing on with Lott, you know, again, he's got a Facebook page. He's 20 years old. Right. And it's filled with all kinds of crazy stuff. Oh, it's bizarre stuff. I mean, he's got references to the Illuminati, which most 20-year-olds don't even know what that is. Right.

And I guess he was really big into conspiracy theories. And he also had some at least one post, maybe more about mass shooters. Right. Well, he definitely had, you know. some weird takes on things. Yeah, it had something to do with mass shooters being controlled by prescription drugs. And again, that may have, that may go back to Jordan, what you were saying. And we are going to play this clip with his father trying to get him some help.

But he also had a lot of posts about weed. Yeah. He was arrested in 2014. twice for thefts of between $20,000 and $100,000?

Really? I don't know what the hell you're stealing between $20,000 and $100,000 and why you're still on the street.

And it was weed related? Well, I don't know. Okay. One of them. On his Facebook, like he has a ton of memes and just some random stuff.

If you're not his friend, I'm sure it cuts out a lot of stuff you see, but some, most of the stuff that he actually typed into a status, there were probably three or four talking about friends of his that had passed away and rest in peace. And it was just bizarre to me that, and they were years ago, but still, it was weird to me that he seemed caring and his friends had died and that he was. Well, he was definitely into weed for some reason.

Yeah. you know and and I think the last thing I want to talk about as far as that is and maybe you can elaborate on this part because one of the things I read was that early on I think it was maybe Sunday after he'd been captured there were a lot of rumors that were going around online that the shooting was maybe somehow racially motivated Because we didn't mention this in the beginning, but, you know, Lauren is white and Michaela is black. Right. So at least there was some mention that on some websites that maybe this gunman was a white supremacist who was upset with Lauren because she was friends with Michaela.

But police pretty early on, I think they were trying to squashed that. They were trying to squash that. And we all know now, knowing what we know, that that wasn't the case. But I don't know, Jordan, if you had any insight or if you had heard any of that, if that was on, I don't think they would probably be saying that on the media as much as they, as that would have been maybe on social media, probably. Yeah, I think I saw that on Facebook quite a bit, but I saw a ton of stuff. I think it was just a small community trying to make sense of something. So it was just like everything, anything you can imagine people were saying is what happened. And that makes a lot of sense because until the facts actually came out and the facts don't make sense, right?

The real facts don't make sense. So I can imagine people sitting at home on Facebook or on calling each other trying to make sense. of something that you really can't because there is it just doesn't make any sense but um hmm but anyway it was the police did come out pretty quick and and squash that so I do want to play a clip from lots father because it does talk about some of the things that we've touched on as far as um mental illness and some some of that just one day after the man accused of killing a 13-year-old girl and wounding another is arrested. His father is speaking out.

Good evening, text told me. You're watching News Channel 6 at 10. I'm Ashley Fitzwater. News Channel 6, Danielle Malaghery sat down with Cody Lott's dad today. She joins us now, and Danielle, he says this is a nightmare for everybody. Attempting to hold back tears, Cody's dad says he was shocked when he found out it was his son who confessed to committing Friday's deadly shooting. He tells me he did not want to. to show his face on camera, but did want to offer his condolences to the families affected.

We saw what happened on TV Friday, and we said, how can that happen in Wichita Falls? How can two little girls be walking home? And something like that happens. Cody's father says the following day he got a phone call he never thought he'd receive. His brother telling him, his son was the one who pulled the trigger, taking the life of Lauren Landavazo and injuring Michaela Smith. It's just a nightmare for everybody and it's hard on everybody. He says although Cody had mental health issues, he never would have thought he could take someone's life.

I knew he had mental problems, but I was in the process of trying to get it resolved and he was on medication. I'm not making excuses for him. We got him on file with sole security to try to get him some kind of mental health. And to my horror, this is what's happened. He also told me, Cody,

was in a mental hospital in Houston for about a month. There he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He recalls Cody as a child and tries to piece together where things went wrong. Cody was a straight-a-student. I told he was about 10 years old. The divorce, I don't know if that's what affected him.

Something changed. But says what he cannot change is the fact that 13-year-old Lauren Landavazo is no longer with us. I feel the pain that that family I don't have the words to tell you how sorry I am for you. I don't have the words to tell you how sorry I am. All I've done is pray for the Lord to make me strong and keep me strong, and I pray that that family can be strong.

I'm not asking them to forgive him. I know people hate him and I don't blame him. I hate what he did too. Nobody is more disappointed in him than I am. I don't know what to say to him. I can't tell him I'm disappointed. I hadn't seen him. I can't believe he did it.

I can't believe it. I wouldn't know what to say if I saw him. I guess I'll never see him again. I don't know. Cody's father tells me he does not feel sorry for his son, and it's not making any excuses for him. Really, he says he's just heartbroken and in disbelief that his child chose to throw his life away like this. And adds, he will never understand why Cody made the choices he did forever changing the lives of so many in this community. Danielle Malagheri, News Channel 6. I don't know about you guys, but that was pretty powerful. That was, that was, I mean, you know, here's the dad just, man, he's trying to make sense of something that is something terrible his kid's done.

And, you know, obviously he's heartbroken. Oh, he's heartbroken, apologetic. He's, you could tell, you could hear the anguish. I mean, that was not put on. No. That was real, for different, you know, for the families and for the little girls. And then for him to talk about how, you know, the anguish of having to find out that it was his son that had committed this. Talking about how he tried to get his son help for his mental issues, you know, talked about how he, how he, you know, they knew that he, you know, they knew that he, you know,

know, bipolar and he was schizo, you know, talking about yeah, Jordan had mentioned bipolar. She did, yeah. Earlier and then,

in this one he said paranoid schizophrenia. And they talk about, you know, and here's a father thinking of, you know, because you think of your kids, no matter how old they are,

you always remember on more of the younger stage. So he's countering back, going back a time a little bit and saying he was a straight day student up until he was 10 and then we got divorced and maybe the divorce caused all this you know so he's trying to reach out and find and grasp to any reason on why his son did something horrific right right and he's never going to find out what that is and and you know gibby you and i have been talking in

recent episodes about guilt um people feeling guilt and and just imagine the guilt that uh you know this guy feels for being the father of, you know, this kid that's committed this terrible act. So Jordan, I didn't know if you had anything on that. You know, I feel for, you know, Lott's father is as bad as the thing was that the crime that Lott committed, unless that guy, unless his father is some kind of Oscar-winning, actor, I truly feel what he was saying was genuine. Yeah. Yeah, and I haven't watched that since it first happened a year ago.

And so, but I still remember how powerful it was. And I remember forgetting that it wasn't his son that had died because that's like how much grief he speaks with. he just is so overtaken and I guess it's because I don't usually see the murderers parents speak out I feel like they stay behind the scenes more and I guess yeah yeah I mean it was to hear him say you know I don't know if I'll ever see my son again I can't forgive him I mean you know that it's all powerful yeah so we're learning more and more about him right we're learning at a younger

age, you know, not too much younger, but he had issues. He was kind of diagnosed with bipolar. You know, he had issues with his weed. He had issues with some theft issues. Shooting guns at his grandma's house. Standoffs with the sheriff. But then he also had issues with some ex-girlfriends. Yes. One, at least, I mean, one big one in particular. and maybe more. Right. And I think you've got more details on that or Jordan does. I know you got a nice clip on it.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, he had an ex-girlfriend named Haley. Apparently they had about a two-year relationship. And I'm not sure Jordan when it came out. But after this, obviously, it came out that he was physically abusive to her during the relationship. I mean,

and we're not talking about, I mean, any physical abuse is bad. So I have to be careful what I say. But we're talking about some crazy stuff here. Yeah. Pushing her down the stairs, busting her head on the,

on things. Yeah, on the car dash and wrapping the seatbelt around her neck. So I don't, I don't know if you remember how long it took for that or when that came out time-wise probably pretty soon. It was pretty quick. Yeah, it was pretty quick because they were trying to, I mean, I feel like they were still trying to make sense of it. So they were finding anybody in his past to explain, did you see this coming? Has he always been like this? Did it just happen?

And so I'm pretty sure she, they found her pretty quick. Yeah, and I'll play the clip here in a minute, but, you know, apparently, uh, at one point she had moved to Colorado to live with her mother. Um, and a lot actually moved with her. But, uh, I guess he was, you know, displaying such bad abusive behavior in front of the family that, uh, her mother kicked him out and actually bought him a bus ticket and said, you know, hey, you got to go back to Texas because you can't here. And, but, you know, so she ultimately moves back to Texas, I guess, for her senior year. And, but at this point, she's in a new relationship.

And Lot is harassing her and threatening her, not only her, but her fiancee and her child. And, you know, he was, you know, and apparently they were keeping a trail of this through text messages and stuff. But let's hear her, and then we can talk about it a little more. The question on everyone's mind is we struggle to process the senseless shootings this weekend of two teenage girls is why. You're watching News Channel 6 at 6. I'm Ashley Fitzwater, Chris Hogan, has the night off.

Authorities say the shooter Cody Austin Lott is in custody and confessed to the murder of Lauren Landavazo and the shooting of Michaela Smith. But who is Lott? One person says she knows. News Channel 6, Ava Van Velen, spoke with Cody Lott's ex-girlfriend, and Ava. She says that she's been harassed by him for years. Yes, Ashley. Haley Clayton says she started dating Lott in 2010.

She says they dated for two years and throughout the relationship he physically abused her. She says after their breakup, he started a campaign of harassment that continued up until last Friday morning, the day of the shootings. I had a seat belt wrapped around my throat. He pushed me downstairs. is best in my head on the dash of his car that he had then and it was just a really abusive relationship. Haley Clayton is describing some of the abuse she claims she suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Cody Austin Lott. She met Lott when they were both students at Archer City High School in 2010. She was a sophomore and says they dated for two years.

The entire second year of our relationship, he was really abusive. In 2012, she moved to Colorado to live with her mother and Lott moved with her. But she says within a month he was displaying such abusive behavior in front of her family that her mother bought him a bus ticket back to Texas and they broke up And I stayed up there for a year because I was scared to come back because he kept threatening to kill me then She moved back to Texas her senior year in 2013 She says she was in a new relationship with her current fiancee and it had a baby She says that's when the harassment began she says Lott started threatening her her child and her fiance's lives He said that he was going to catch us out and about and he is going to

make us work our vehicles and he is going to kill us and torture us. She says she went to the Archer City Police Department to get a restraining order, but she says they said they couldn't help her. Every few months, she says they would get harassing text or calls. She had blocked Lott from her phone and Facebook, but he was still able to text her fiance because she says they wanted to keep a paper trail of the threats and harassment. Lott sent this threatening text to Clayton's fiancé at 10.22 a.m. Friday, the day of the shootings. I wanted to kidnap all three of us and have my fiance and torture my son and I in front of him and make him watch. She said because of Lott, she's lived in constant fear for not only her life but that of her fiance and son.

She says her heart breaks for the victims and families of the tragic shooting. And sadly, she says she wasn't too surprised when she heard Lott had been arrested. His entire life, he wanted to hurt people. That was like his life goal was to hurt people because he was sad or mad or whatever. So that's, you know, that's something when your, your ex-girlfriend says that your life goal is to hurt people. You know, I don't know, Gibby. One thing I took away from that was when he was sending all these threatening texts, the last one that he sends. And it wasn't even to Haley, it was to her fiance.

say it was sent at 1022 Friday morning right that same day of the shooting so you've got to wonder what role did this whole thing play in it or was it just a side thing and and you can weigh in Jordan yeah I mean all the Jordan weigh in here in a second because you know and I think if he could have found the ex and the child and the fiance I think he would have you know used that weapon on them I think his threat was very real

I think if if he could if he would have found him we would have been talking about other victims that's yeah yeah I agree yeah I do too I mean well

the guy's a 13 year old girl. Yeah. I don't think he would have any qualms over, especially with the amount of harassment that, you know, he had made to this ex-girlfriend. I don't think he'd have any qualms about, you know, harming them as well. I just, I just wonder, did it have a role in what he actually did? Or was it just a separate thing, right?

He was, was he infatuated with this girl? And then at the same time, still upset with his, uh, his ex-girlfriend. So they were kind of separate and apart. And he just happens to send this text on the same day that he commits the murder. I guess it's what the devil told him. I don't know. If the devil told him would do this and that, you know, in his head, you know.

I'll tell you, you know, this, you know, schizo. and bipolar, you know, it's something we talk about a lot. You know, and I've experienced it, you know, unfortunately,

I keep bringing this up, but I've somehow have been connected to a lot of bad stuff. Bad stuff, right? And, you know, there was a coworker that was bipolar.

And he actually, you know, worked with him for years. And on all accounts, counts normal, but he was diagnosed bipolar when he didn't take his meds. You saw somebody totally different. And so, you know, he eventually, you know, one night came home after being out in the bars with his girlfriend and killed her. You know, horrific, another horrific killing because the method he used.

You know, a framing square. So any, yeah, it's crazy. Again, and it was related, you know, most of the talk was because if he was, if he would have took his bipolar meds, maybe it would never happen. Yeah, I mean, I think you have to talk about mental health, right? Because it's such a huge topic. And it is kind of related to most of these cases that we talk about. And Jordan, one question I had was, and I don't know if you remember, but what was the talk? there in Oklahoma about guns after this happened. And before you answer, I'll just say, you know, we had an incident up here in Ohio where a crazy person drove their car into a bunch of people at Ohio State.

Ghibi, you remember that happened a while back. And they didn't have a gun. But when you looked at the, you know, the comments on the news pages, The first comment was, you know, we've got, we've got to do something about guns in this country. Well, it turned out the person didn't have a gun. They just, they ran over. They tried to run over a bunch of people. So Jordan, I just wonder, you know, how, what, how big of an issue was the gun portion of this?

In Texas. You said, Oklahoma. I'm sorry. That's tonight's episode, the one that's coming out tonight. Um, it's Texas, so I'm definitely not going to say everybody is for guns, but a majority are four guns. And I have no recollection at all of hearing anything about it. And to be honest, I think because, so even if someone had an issue with gun control in, in that state, the problem with this one was he didn't go get a gun. He just, he took a gun from a stepdad.

So even if his stepdad. had the gun legally, you know, you know, if, you know what I'm saying, by having a mental illness, it wouldn't have mattered. If he would have registered, he wouldn't have received it if he was if, but with that, even if he didn't have a gun. Right. Right. He would have found another way. Yeah. That's usually my kind of my argument. But I don't want to get into the gun debate because we'll get people too riled up. But I, I was more of just wondering because up here, when stories happen. That's kind of the first thing that people talk about is, you know, we've got to get rid of

these guns. And really, you know, what I was more saying was, you know, I think a lot of this, especially this case you've brought to us, Jordan, is a mental health issue case. Right? And I know his dad said they were trying to get him help and I don't know what meds he was on, but obviously he had mental health. issues that led him, you know, down this, this very bad path. Allegedly.

Allegedly, right. I made the disclaimer in the very beginning. I mean, the guy confessed for crying out loud, but technically is not being convicted. So it's all alleged. Well, and, you know, as people will hear the podcast episode that we released tonight on Alton. Nolan Nolan that they will hear on there that even though he confessed right

the judge wouldn't take the guilty plea right for I'm sorry Jordan you probably hadn't listened to it yet but you're good understanding on why she does that when you listen to the podcast but and you could have a similar situation here absolutely I don't know the differences between Texas and Oklahoma but, you know, they're going to want to make sure that this guy is right in the head

before they move forward with this guilty plea to make sure it sticks. I know that's where you're going. Exactly. Exactly. Anyway, you know, I'll tell you what. You know, we've got to wrap it up. But it, Jordan, it's been a lot of fun. And it's great.

Yeah, it's great being able to ask you questions. And you brought us a good case. I mean, I should. shouldn't say it's good because it's the death of a 13 year old girl, but it is what we talk about these cases and why people do what they do. So what did you think? I loved it. All right. Well, you can't the good news is it's going to be out before you know it. I know. I'm so excited. All right. Well, thank you so much. You did awesome. Thank you. You did a great job and we'll talk to you soon. Okay. All right. Bye-bye.

Bye. See you, Jordan. All right. So Jordan left us via Skype. And it's just me and you, Gibby. And that was good to have her on. It was. Get her input.

Get her knowledge of the area, the, you know, the geographical area. Well, it helps because, you know, when I was doing the research, I didn't realize the geography of the school versus the apartment complex versus the. is the alleyway and you couldn't see it but she was on video using her hands to oh give you like yeah she was like mapping it out right um but it did help right so she she had a lot of good little morsels that um unless you live there you're just not going to know that stuff and and And it doesn't matter how much research we do. We're not going to fly to, you know, Wichita Falls, Texas and survey the scene. And we're just not going to have all that information.

Right. She was definitely informative. Yeah. So, you know, I like the format. We're going to try a couple, see what people think of it. We've got some, like I said, a couple other people that want to do it. And, you know, I hope it's something we can roll out every now and then as a supplement. Yeah.

I mean, if the listeners like this, reach out to Mike, you know, if you're interested in doing something like this. Yeah, definitely. With, who,

who that subject matter would be, right? The one caveat, and I think I've said it before, is, you know, it needs to be a case that is not very well known.

Like, like, don't, don't email me and say, I want to do Jeffrey Dahmer. Yeah. Because, you know, obviously we're going to cover Dommer.

Right. It needs to be a smaller case. More regional. Interesting. Interesting. But something that you, you know. Phil, you could contribute. Yes, exactly.

Gibby's saying all the right things for me. So anyway, that's it for this episode. You know, I'm Mike Ferguson for Gibby. It's true crime all the time. Stay safe and keep your own time ticking.