True Crime with Kimbyr - College Cheerleader’s Bright Future Shattered: The Heartbreaking Murder of Saleha Huda: Part 3

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

The final installment of Saleha Huda’s case on True Crime with Kimbyr delivers heartbreaking revelations and a closer look at the man responsible for destroying a young woman’s future. As Kimbyrle...igha walks us through the courtroom drama and the shocking evidence revealed at trial, we’re left to ask—was justice truly served? What did the sentencing mean for Saleha’s grieving family, and how has her memory lived on? Don’t miss the conclusion to this devastating yet powerful story, as True Crime with Kimbyr honors Saleha’s life and seeks truth in tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The investigators have been going around to gas stations that were close to where Silla's body was found and pulling up security footage. They wanted to see if they could spot anyone buying gasoline, putting into a gas can or anything suspicious, and they don't get any leads. By Saturday, January 8th, more than 200 of Salia's family members and her friends gathered for a candlelight vigil. It was held in her honor at the Rights Union Amphleteater where Salia used to go to practice dancing with the African Student Union. Speaking on behalf of the Houda family was James Asegby, a UF assistant professor in languages, he said, quote, the family's grateful for the support has gotten from the community.
Starting point is 00:00:37 In Ghana at these times, it's the community that sustains us. This really shows that the same community is here." He went on to say that it's accustomed in Ghana to have a public ceremony that everyone was invited to. And this celebration was beautiful. It included videos of Celia doing cheerleading and dancing, along with her friends speaking and her cousin speaking. Dance team members perform dances.
Starting point is 00:01:04 People who knew her and loved her talked about how much they were going to miss her. The vigil was put together by the University of Florida Center for Student Activities and the UF Competitive Cheerleading Squad. In addition to the African Student Union, many of her friends spoke. One of them was Simone Days. They had known each other for 11 years. And she said the fact that so many people showed up just goes to show you what an amazing person Celia was, what a good friend she was, and how many lives she touched.
Starting point is 00:01:32 The choreographer that I talked about earlier, he talked about how energetic Celia was, how bigger heart was, that she made them realize that no matter what is going on in life, you can always be a kid again. He also pointed out that sometimes they would practice at the same spot late at night, and it brought back so many memories. Cotilia Hall was a friend who met Celia when they were working closely at Fort Clark Middle School, where Celia, where Celia used. used to volunteer with an after-school program.
Starting point is 00:02:01 Back in 2008, Katilia met her. She remembered that Celia used to call her mama. It was because she found out that Katilia didn't have any daughters of her own. So she offered her on that day, from that day forward, to be her daughter. That's just who Celia was. She wanted everyone to feel loved and accepted.
Starting point is 00:02:20 She said of Celia, quote, I thought of her as my beautiful butterfly, and now she's flying away beautifully, end quote. Celia's friend Amanda Ruggett of the cheerleading squad said that, quote, I was fortunate to have cheered with Celia the last year, and she was one of the girls who contributed the most to our team. She was not only amazing at cheerleading, she was the heart and soul of our team. She told Celia, may you fly forever, you're certainly in a better place, rest in peace. Her cousin Elam, through tears, explained that she didn't have anyone to talk about nursing to
Starting point is 00:02:53 anymore now that Celia's gone. They used to spend hours discussing their future plans, and now that's all over. Celia's parents had just fallen apart. They refused to speak to reporters. Her death was actually the second high-profile tragedy in the year that her family and her cousin, Danielle, had to go through.
Starting point is 00:03:12 Her uncle, a U.F. doctoral student, Kofi Adu Brempong, was shot in March in his campus apartment by a university police officer. Luckily, he served in a university police officer. survived the ordeal, but that case was followed by a ton of protests, and as a result, things were changed at the university. So this was a lot for the family to take in. Now they had lost someone.
Starting point is 00:03:36 Also a UF student. It was very heartbreaking. But they also wanted this to be a celebration of life. An African drum circle was formed, and everyone was asked to do what Celia love most to dance in her honor. It was a sad moment, but they knew that Celia would want them to be happy, and she was there in spirit. She would want them to celebrate her life and not be in mourning, so that's what they did. At this point, the authorities had still not ruled her death a homicide. They were waiting to hear from the medical examiner. Investigators looked deeper into Antonio Drayton's criminal record,
Starting point is 00:04:09 and they pull up that police report back on June 16th when he was arrested on domestic battery accusations by Celia. She alleged that Antonio came to her apartment uninvited. When she wouldn't let him inside, he pushed his way through her door. and she accused him of kicking through a locked bathroom door that she was hiding in. Then he pushed her down and he started to choke her. After that, Salyah said that he took over $1,000 in items from her apartment. Antonio was charged with battery, burglary, and larceny. However, once Salya cooled down, she had second thoughts.
Starting point is 00:04:45 She didn't want to go through with the charges because she didn't want to testify against him. So she dropped all the charges. She wrote a letter to the prosecutors. She explained that the items he took were actually things he owned, and he had come over to claim them. There was also someone with him at the time that this incident occurred. It was another woman. There were no more details provided on her identity, but she also wrote a letter to the prosecutors disputing the allegations against Antonio. She mirrored what Celia had stated that the items belonged to him.
Starting point is 00:05:16 When Antonio was confronted about the situation, he said he was drunk. He pushed her, but he never choked her. and the things he took were actually things he had purchased for her himself. And that was during their breakup, but they remained friends afterwards. It's clear that the two of them had a very toxic relationship, yet both of them still kept coming back. Even after Slea had moved on with Mike Carter, it seems as though she was still keeping in contact with Antonio.
Starting point is 00:05:45 Mike even saw text between them. That's how he knew the initials, A, D. And Antonio admits to seeing Sliya, in person just a few days before she was found dead. It's starting to look like one of the women that Antonio's involved with may have had a reason to harm Celia and there's about to be an even bigger reason for this. Remember how I told you that the investigators were going
Starting point is 00:06:07 to all these different gas stations close to where Celia was found on the side of the road? Here's a location on the map. Look at where these gas stations are. They're not very close by to where the road was. It's such a desolate area. However, they do, begin going to them, obtaining the security footage, and it is tedious going through hours and hours to see if anything comes up. They didn't find anything. However, once they started looking at phone
Starting point is 00:06:33 records after the interview with Mike, they wanted to see where Celia's phone pinged when the strange woman answered her phone and Mike called. It turned out, her cell phone pinged in a town called Stark. It's about 25 minutes away from where Celia was found. They wouldn't have thought to look over there, for gas stations, but once they got this new information, they begin going station to station and grabbing footage from around the time frame of 1 to 2.30 in the morning, from the time the calls were coming in to the time they ended up finding her on the desolate road. And remember a witness said they saw a silver Nissan around 2.15 in the morning. Well, finally, after combing through hours of footage, they see something at approximately 1 o'clock in the morning. See that? It's a silver car pulling up
Starting point is 00:07:21 to one of the pumps. When they blew this up and they zoomed in, they were able to confirm that this was Celia's car. Then a few seconds later, after it parks, someone gets out and walks inside the gas station. I'm going to pause it here. I'm going to show you what this person looks like. The investigators can tell the person's taller than Celia. It's a taller, lankier body frame. The person's wearing a blue camouflage jacket with their hood up and blue jeans or pants. As they come through the doors, you get a closer view. They also noticed that the the person had what looked like a darker complexion and looked to have had longer hair. The transaction itself was pulled up at the gas station and the rep told them that the person
Starting point is 00:08:01 purchased just over $2 in gasoline. And that's significant. I mean, of course, yes, they could have been short on cash trying to get home, but they're basically driving Slea's car. And if you were going to fill up, let's say, a receptacle, it stands to reason if gas was about, I don't know, $2 a gallon and you had a gallon gas can. Kind of makes sense. Now, I personally don't have the footage of them filling up the container, but investigators said that's exactly what was caught on video.
Starting point is 00:08:29 Then they put it into the car and they drove off. After seeing this footage, the theory is that whoever this person is, most likely they left this location and went straight to the roadside with Celia's body already in that car. Took her out, placed her on the side of the road, doused her in gasoline, and lit her on fire. Or they left this location to retrieve her body from wherever it was, and then they went to the roadside. Either way, they believe this person is directly connected. So the most important task is to find out who this person is. They zoom in again, and it's very hard for us to see this
Starting point is 00:09:06 because we don't have forensic video tools, but they determined that this was a woman, and that the person's hair kind of looked long, and some of it was hanging outside of the hood, and some of these clips I can kind of see it if I zoom in. Investigators matched this hairstyle to Angela's. It's just the volume, the length,
Starting point is 00:09:24 so they quickly pull up Angela's phone records to match them to Celia's. If they can put those two phones together on the same route, that's enough for a rest. But instead of matching with Celia's, they match with her alibi. She was at work, and then she went home. So combing through the evidence and the information
Starting point is 00:09:43 that they have, they realize that Antonio's foster family lives in Stark, which we're was close to this gas station. So they reach out to his friends and family. They're asking him, did you see Antonio that night? And finally, they get a new lead that will help them not only identify this person at the gas station, but also how everything connects.
Starting point is 00:10:05 On January 12th, a friend calls in. He's a friend of Antonio's brother. He's calling in to respond to the investigator's inquiry about whether anyone had seen Antonio that night. He said he was told by someone close to Antonio that He came to his foster family's house in Stark unannounced around 11 p.m. asking for a gas can and a shovel. They get in contact with Pedro. He confirms it's true.
Starting point is 00:10:31 He also tells them about a phone call with Antonio on New Year's Day that he thought was important, Pedro, why'd you wait? But finally, he said, you know, when I heard about what happened to Celia, he asked his brother, what was up with that? His response was Ask Cass, as in Ask Cassandra. Antonio said, quote, if I go down, I ain't going down by myself, you know? End quote. Well, now they have Cassandra's name coming up again.
Starting point is 00:10:57 And they show Pedro and Antonio's family, the gas station video, and immediately they say they recognize the person in the footage as Cassandra Kimbrough. And they know all about her. They're very familiar with who she is and her intentions with Antonio. It doesn't seem like they're big fans of Cassandra, but investigators wonder if she would be jealous enough or angry enough. at Celia at this other woman in Antonio's life to go so far as to kill her. It's taken less, so yes, they know it's possible. Since the family knows so much about the relationship, the investigators want to find out who Cassandra is
Starting point is 00:11:33 and what her relationship really was with Antonio. Because the way Antonio described it, Cass was just one of his friends. She knew about the other women. She kept it a secret, and that was okay. But had she had enough? Did she want to be his main girl? Well, here's what they uncover about single mom, Cassandra Kimbrough. She was a seemingly hardworking, quiet woman who wasn't necessarily looking for a relationship,
Starting point is 00:12:00 but Antonio caught her eye at work. And just like he did with many other women, he captivated her, and she couldn't help but flirt with him, even though he was only 22 and she was 40 at the time. Despite this almost 20-year age difference, there was something about Antonio that she couldn't resist. It's like she broke all of her own rules when it came to him. As she began flirting with Antonio, he liked the attention, especially because he was used to the girls at the club, the girls that he would meet, they were different than Cassandra.
Starting point is 00:12:30 She was well-dressed, mature, she carried herself well, she had stability in her life, she was hardworking, and that interested him. Well, once Cassandra started getting this attention from a much younger guy that she was very physically attracted to, it made her feel like she hadn't felt in so many years. There was excitement, there was fantasy. It's like it made her feel young again.
Starting point is 00:12:52 And I just want to stop and say that when I was researching all this, and I kept hearing them make Cassandra out to be some haggard old woman, I kind of wanted to cringe. I'm 41. There's nothing old about me. Cassandra was a very attractive woman who was older than Antonio. But 40 years old is not an age to view someone as like decrepit or a fossil or something, but I digressed. It just, it triggered me.
Starting point is 00:13:16 Yes, she felt passion in her again. It was reunited. It was fun. It was new. And this is common at any age when you're having this new fling. Finally, the two of them got together and they started a sexual relationship. And that's when things went to a whole other level for Cassandra. Age did matter here because the men her age weren't doing the things that Antonio was.
Starting point is 00:13:39 They both brought newness to each other in different ways. And eventually, both of them kept coming back for more. for more. But the difference between Antonia and Cassandra was that he wanted more than just Cassandra and she was a mature woman who had more experience with younger men in her past and she knew that either she had to be okay with it and continue receiving the benefits she was receiving or he would get sick of any jealousy or drama. Cassandra decided that the benefits were worth her being the cool older cougar and letting him have his freedom. And on the other hand, Antonio
Starting point is 00:14:15 was getting his needs met in many ways. Once he knew that Cassandra would always be around if one of his other girls wasn't available, he could have sex anytime he wanted. It was just a phone call or a text away. But he also grew up without a mother. There was something about Cassandra being older that drew him in.
Starting point is 00:14:33 She took care of him. She would give him advice. She was his confidant, and she was also funding his lifestyle. It's true. Antonio was able to charm Cassandra enough that she began buying him things, from jewelry to paying his bills, anything, so that she could remain an asset in his revolving door of women.
Starting point is 00:14:55 This arrangement worked well for both of them, especially for Cassandra. She could be around him all the time without women in his life thinking anything of it. She would pass herself off as the mama of the house, a dear friend, a coworker that adored Antonio like a son. Even Antonio's friends had no idea that he had no idea that he would He was sleeping with her. This meant that she could also be a fly on the wall and know everything that was happening in Antonio's other relationships. She seemed to be the helpful older woman who cared about Antonio and his girlfriends, hanging
Starting point is 00:15:27 out with them, being there to support them. But as soon as Celia or Angela or any of Antonio's other girls left, Cassandra was the one jumping in bed with him. With information comes control. And Cassandra was armed with all the inside information. on everyone in Antonio's life, and she would keep him involved with her by making sure to give him anything he asked for.
Starting point is 00:15:51 We know. A woman was with him when the altercation happened at Salias, which caused him to be arrested because a woman wrote to the prosecutor supporting Antonio's narrative. Could it have been Cassandra? I don't know. But it was also a woman who picked up the phone
Starting point is 00:16:07 when Celia's current boyfriend called her the night of her murder. Could this have been Cassandra? Well, it's clear, Antonio. his family firmly believes it was her buying gas. Filling up that gas can, the night Celia's body was set on fire. The question remains, who killed Celia? When Angela had been questioned about Cassandra during her initial interview, she said neither her
Starting point is 00:16:32 nor any of Antonio's other girls ever saw Cassandra's competition. She said that Tony had pretty much convinced all of them, that this was just a lady who was looking after him. She was just always there to help, so never once did anyone think there was any kind of relationship going on past that. However, when they asked Angela, if anything stood out to her in the time leading up to Slia's murder, she makes an interesting observation. She said she was over Antonios on the evening of December 31st, and now it even made more sense as to why Antonio was asking her what he did.
Starting point is 00:17:07 He asked Cassandra for bleach, rags, and gloves. So now investigators go back to the phone. records and they look at the ones between Antonio and Celia and it is clear that in a month or so prior to her death, Antonio was the one reaching out. Celia was not returning his calls or his text messages, but by winter break, Antonio had finally convinced Celia to speak to him again and to see him. Text records show that on Wednesday night, Antonio was planning to meet up with Celia for a hookup after Angela left for work.
Starting point is 00:17:38 Around the time Angela was leaving, he got a text from Celia that said, Where Are You? responded with I'm home she asked how long he was going to be there and he let her know that he was free as in I'm alone you can come by after that Antonio kept texting he was saying things like where are you and he even called her around 3 a.m. When questioned about this he tells investigators that that's why he spent the night with Cassandra after all because Celia never showed up so he figured okay well I guess she made other plans he said that he did try calling her around 3 a.m. but he went to voicemail and that's when he actually got worried
Starting point is 00:18:13 He said the only time that Celia doesn't answer her phone is when she's with her parents or she's mad at him, but she never turned her phone off. Now they wonder if Celia had gone over there all along, and something went wrong. Antonio and Cassandra were each other's alibis, which is very convenient. Now, all of this is circumstantial at this point.
Starting point is 00:18:35 It's not enough for an arrest. They do, however, go back over everything, and using the information from family, friends, and friends, medical records, investigators are able to tie several of Celia's injuries in the past to fights that she had with Antonio. So there was a history of violence between them, and it's known to escalate in cases like this. Now they start looking at Antonio and Cassandra's phone pings on the night of the murder. And sure enough, they are not at his home where they said they were. Instead, guess where their phones were pinging? I know you already get
Starting point is 00:19:13 It was off on that remote area on the side of the road where the fire was set. Yep. 10 minutes before the 911 call came in. But you know, that's still not enough. So phone pangs aren't always exact. And just because someone was near the scene doesn't prove they committed a crime. So they keep searching. They look at where Celia's car was found and realize it's only a three-minute drive, a 10 minute or so walk from Antonio's place at Pine Ruffer.
Starting point is 00:19:43 apartment right here on the map. The car could have easily been dropped there, and it could have made it back to Antonio's on foot. Not only that. A woman comes forward. Quintisha Aldridge, she's 24, she lives out in Stark. She tells them on December 31st, which would be the day after the night of the fire,
Starting point is 00:20:02 she drove Antonio out to a dumpster at the Turtle Oaks apartment complex around 2.30 p.m. So he could pick up a key, a key. That's interesting. That's where Celia's car was found. So was this her key? Or was it a key that someone left for him? Maybe Cassandra dropped Antonio back off in Stark
Starting point is 00:20:22 to stay with this other woman, or his family. And then this other woman drove him back to his place, which was only three minutes away from where her car was found. What do you think this key was for? Investigators feel like they're getting closer, so they go back to the evidence that was collected at the crime scene. Antonio's friends and family do not recognize the melted phone case. So now they're relying on DNA evidence,
Starting point is 00:20:47 any that could have made it through this fire and been on these items. But these tests take time, so they have no choice but to wait. During this time frame, some very unusual things start to happen. On January 24th, court records reveal that Cassandra Kimbrough changed her legal name to Sandra. She got a new driver's license with a different date of birth, a different address and a six inch height difference.
Starting point is 00:21:14 Wow. I wonder what she was trying to cover up. However, this still does not prove anything until February 2nd when the DNA results come back in. Remember that paper napkin that was in perfect condition on the side of the road? Well, guess what? It had Antonio Drayton's DNA on it. And that was enough to arrest both him
Starting point is 00:21:36 and the woman who was formerly known as Cassandra Kimbrough. That same day, the medical examiner William Hamilton released the report with Celia's official cause of death. It was determined that she was killed before that fire was started, and the cause of her death was ruled as homicidal violence of an undetermined type. We will get into that. On February 2nd, 2011, 35 days after Celia's body was found, police arrested both Antonio Drayton and Cassandra Kimbrough for first-degree murder. They were both brought into the station. They were put in two separate interrogation rooms, and investigators are hoping that with all the evidence
Starting point is 00:22:15 that they have against them, they will get a quick confession. First, they press Antonio. They confront him with all the evidence. The most damning, the paper napkin. The detective said, we know you were there. That's when they show him the napkin. They're like, you see that? He's like, what? See what?
Starting point is 00:22:33 The detectives are like, you see that little white thing, showing him this photo right here. So Antonio leans in as the detective explains, that's a napkin. They ask him, guess whose DNA is all over it? Yours. Something that I want to say before I tell you his reaction, and don't come from me, I'm just making an observation. He's someone close to Celia. He'd been in her car before, I assume. He could have left that napkin months ago. DNA stays on items.
Starting point is 00:23:04 And to me, if it was her car that was there at the scene and it fell out, That isn't hard evidence that he killed her. That's just a side note. What's important is that it did elicit a response from Antonio, and that's what they wanted. More than anything else, they're using this evidence to put pressure on their suspects and hope they will crack. It's up to a court and a jury to convict someone.
Starting point is 00:23:27 They're innocent until proven guilty. When Antonio is confronted with all of this, he finally breaks down. He says that Cass and Leah, as he called them, Cassandran, Celia got in a fight. According to him, Cassandra went over to Celia's apartment to collect on some money that Celia had owed him. This sounds a lot like the time that he went over there to steal back things that he purchased
Starting point is 00:23:51 before. Maybe this was a regular occurrence. Maybe any time he was low on cash, this is what he did. But he goes on to say, Cassandra came back and she told him that she got into a fight with Celia and killed her. He said, and these are quoted phrases from him, He said, Cass told me what she did when she came to my house. We didn't get into details about it because I was spooked.
Starting point is 00:24:15 I told her, don't talk about it. Don't say anything. He also told her that he didn't know what to do. So that's the end of his quoted phrases of what he said. And it sounds plausible for sure. We know Cassandra does a lot of things for Antonio. She makes sure he has cash. She knows his issues with other women in his life.
Starting point is 00:24:34 And I can imagine him telling her to go over there. this older woman and get his money. And I can see both Celia and Cassandra getting feisty and this happening. But there's a problem with this version of the story. The investigators had already looked into anyone that could have gone into Celia's apartment complex during the time frame in question
Starting point is 00:24:54 because they had a security gate there. Everyone who entered that gate had to either open it with a key card, which was registered to a particular tenant, or someone had to call them in or they had to give a security guard their information. and he would call. No one entered that wasn't accounted for. So they tell that to Antonio.
Starting point is 00:25:14 Nice try. We know that's not what happened, so he backpedals. He said, okay, when I said she never came over that night, I lied. After Andrea left, he said Celia did come over, and so did Cassandra, and that is when the fight happened between these two women. Now, this seems plausible, too,
Starting point is 00:25:33 because we know the same scenario played out just a couple months ago, Celia confronted Angela at Antonio's apartment. So this could have happened again between Celia and Cassandra. Antonio explains they just all got caught up in it. He tells investigators that Cassandra took a fire extinguisher and hit Celia over the head with it. She fell to the floor and got knocked out.
Starting point is 00:25:55 And at that point, Antonio thought she was dead. And that to test this, Cassandra actually got on top of her and stood on her chest, but that he couldn't touch her. Wow. With all of this information, the investigators go over to the room that Cassandra is in, and they present her with everything that Antonio said happened. Cassandra's calm. She's cooperative. She sits down with detectives. And right away, she said she has nothing to do with Celia's death, and she can promise them that.
Starting point is 00:26:27 What if she didn't do it? Who did? She responded that she doesn't know. She said, like she told them before, she went to Tony's. and she just stayed the night. I don't know what else was for a sudden. I have nothing to do with her death. I promise you right. And her dad? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:26:44 I really don't know. All that deal was like I told you, I went to Tony House and I just stayed there. While the woman detective pipes up, she's like, who are you trying to protect right now? Tony? Because he's not worth it. And thank you, ma'am, thank you.
Starting point is 00:26:59 He's not worth it. He never has been worth it. Cassandra was like, no. She's adamant that she doesn't know what happened. They were at this for hours. They wanted to get a confession. And finally, finally, one of the detectives is like, we need to set the record straight. The truth is the truth.
Starting point is 00:27:16 So who are you trying to protect right now, Tony? Because he's not worth it. Set the record straight. The truth is the truth. Cassandra breaks down. She's almost in tears and she says, quote, but everyone's going to think I'm a horrible person. End quote, I'm a human.
Starting point is 00:27:31 This is Kimber speaking. I'm a human. I felt for her in that moment because, because I truly think this woman was under Antonio's spell. It doesn't excuse anything she says next. But I feel for her. Both detectives are like, listen, no. If you don't tell us what happened,
Starting point is 00:27:46 then people are gonna think that you killed her because you're jealous of her. They can tell that she is about to crack. So they say, slow down. Let's go back to the beginning. That way, Cassandra can take a moment. She can tell them everything, how she met Antonio, how the relationship progressed,
Starting point is 00:28:03 and that's how we have a lot. of what I told you, how he made her feel, how she was giving him money, and then finally they get up to the night that Celia went missing. Detectives ask her if she knew something happened before she went over to Antonio's and she said no. She said that she came over like usual, and when she came in, he was just sitting there.
Starting point is 00:28:25 That's when he told her he did something to Celia, and she's like, stop lying. Antonio explained, Celia and him got into a conversation and he told her the truth about her, everything about Angela, about Cass, about all the other women, and Celia got upset. She threatened to call the police or do something to him and get him in trouble. And that's when everything happened. Cassandra never specifically said that Antonio killed Celia, but it was clear because
Starting point is 00:28:51 he asked her to help him get rid of the body. What would you have done if you were in the same situation? If your man or the man you're seeing just told you that this happened with his ex, Tell me in the comments if you're brave enough, to be honest, what were her options at this point? Cassandra said that she felt threatened and that she felt forced to help him. Do you think that's true, or do you think that she was playing the mother figure and that she was helping him
Starting point is 00:29:21 because that had been part of her job the last couple years? Doing anything that Antonio wanted. Ultimately, they wrapped Alia's body up and they put her in the trunk of her own car. Then they drove to Antonio's relative's house. Now I wanted to say this was interesting because that betting set, they put that, if it wasn't Salias, they put that in the car to essentially get rid of it. So there was a lot of planning going on in these moments.
Starting point is 00:29:50 They drove to Antonio's relative's house and Cassandra waited outside in the car. The detectives asked her if she saw him come back to the car carrying anything and Cassandra said yes, a gas can and a shovel. Then they proceeded to go to that gas station where Cassandra tried to hide her identity with the hood and the jacket, and they bought the gas. And then they went to the side of that desolate road. Cassandra said that Antonio made her poor gasoline
Starting point is 00:30:22 on top of Celia's lifeless body. She said she wanted to go home. She wanted to leave so bad, but that he kept holding things against her and threatening her until she finally did, as he said. Then he lit Celia on fire and jumped back in the car and said, go. Cassandra said she was praying at this point, and she was praying for Celia, too. This seems like the most likely scenario to detectives. 24-year-old Antonio Devon Drayton was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Starting point is 00:30:52 42-year-old Cassandra Kimbrough was charged with accessory to first-degree murder, and they were both charged with grand theft, abuse of a dead human body tampering with physical evidence and willful burning of lands. The prosecutors decided to offer Cassandra a plea deal because through everything they put together, they believed that Cassandra was telling the truth, that she was not at Antonios until after Celia was already killed. So they wanted to give the appropriate charges for her cooperation in exchange for testifying against Antonio. Her deal was two years in prison, with eight years of community supervision or probation.
Starting point is 00:31:32 While when Antonio finds out that his devoted lover, Cassandra, is going to spill the details and testify against him, he also takes a plea deal. On May 24, 2012, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. His current release date is September 8th, 253. He never gave a reason why he killed Celia. He's the only person that knows what really happened that day. What do you think transpired and why?
Starting point is 00:32:01 And was this justice? Nothing is going to bring Celia back. Her family's just sad that they couldn't do anything to help her before this happened. Her sister, Sean, said that she was in the process of trying to find a way to get through to her about all of this, about Antonio and the toxic relationship, but any time she tried to bring it up, Celia would brush it off. It's really hard being on the outside when you can see all of the very very things. red flags and they're just sitting there waving but no matter what we try to say to our loved ones to change their minds as they say all is fair in love and war but love shouldn't be a war
Starting point is 00:32:40 love should not hurt that's enough of a sign that you deserve more celia deserved more i think she was coming around she was trying to move on with someone else but antonio still had her heart and she She was a loving person. She wanted to give him chance after chance thinking that he would change, but it was too late. I don't think Antonio ever wanted Celia to move on. I don't think he was okay that she was with Mike. I think that was a signal to him that maybe she was going to slip out of his fingertips, and that's why he kept pursuing her even after she kept ignoring his calls.
Starting point is 00:33:20 I think something of the holidays and being nostalgic, it brought her back in. knows what he said to get her back at his apartment. But I think this was a case of if he couldn't have her, nobody could. I'm so sorry to Celia. I'm so sorry to her family. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you in my next video. Bye.

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