Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

- They're coming out.

- Female homicide suspects are rare,

but they almost always capture the public's attention

when they're caught.

- There's some dead lady possibly inside of a house.

- Tonight on "The First 48: Critical Minutes"...

- Somebody killed her,

and then somebody tried to set her on fire.

- A woman takes in a friend and winds up dead.

[thunder rumbles]

- And...

- A beloved mother stabbed to death.

- Open the door.

[knocking on door]

I know you're in there.

[sirens wailing]

- Later...

- Jacob's the nicest guy ever.

He helps everybody out.

- A woman torn between a boyfriend...

- I still don't think she's told us the whole story.

- And doing the right thing.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- It is surprising when you get a case

that you find out the murderer or the suspect is a woman,

because most women don't tend

to escalate to that level of violence

unless they're acting in concert with a man.

Knowing that the woman is a suspect,

it doesn't change how you approach the investigation.

I've had some investigators take a woman lightly.

A woman can destroy your confidence

if you're not prepared.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: A few days later,

another woman shows up at Homicide

with information about Jessica.

- Yesterday, I'm sitting inside the bus station.

Jessica, I see her and her boyfriend

with all her stuff because she's homeless.

So I was like, I'm gonna go talk to her.

So we sit there just talking and stuff,

and she's like, Ayla, I got to tell you something.

And I'm like, what?

She's like, I killed somebody.

♪ ♪

Jessica, she's like, can you help me clean this up?

I'm like, hold on.

I really didn't know what to say to her.

- You asked her what the hell happened, right?

- Yeah. What I was getting out of it

is her and her boyfriend, they've been staying near--

narrator: Ayla says Jessica admitted

to killing the woman who took her in.

- Jessica got drunk.

And I guess, the lady, something had happened,

and she said she strangled her.

♪ ♪

- She give you a clue of where this was?

- 46th and Hartford somewhere.

♪ ♪

- She tell you who the lady is?

- She didn't tell me her name or nothing.

♪ ♪

- What's Jessica's last name?

- McBride.

♪ ♪

- So she says, "Man, can you help me clean this up?"

- Yep. I texted her,

you know, getting more information.

She said, "I bought some camp fuel.

We have to do it tonight."

♪ ♪

narrator: She says Jessica wanted help

setting fire to the victim's house

to destroy evidence of the homicide.

♪ ♪

- Let me ask you this.

You're gonna need to go to the Braum's to pick her up.

♪ ♪

Would she be leery of meeting somebody

that's a friend of yours?

♪ ♪

- No, she trusts me wholeheartedly.

narrator: Detective John Brown asks Ayla

to ride along with an undercover officer

to see if Jessica will lead them

to the possible crime scene.

♪ ♪

- Jessica McBride,

drugs, some petty theft.

narrator: 27-year-old Jessica McBride

has prior convictions for unlawful possession,

obstruction of an officer, and burglary.

- She's wanting this girl here to help her set the house

on fire and dispose of the body.

- So there's some dead lady possibly inside of a house.

♪ ♪

- You're supposed to meet at the Braum's now.

♪ ♪

- Jessica's gonna tell him where to go.

He's gonna let you both out.

And he's gonna drive off.

OK?

- As soon as you see officers pull up,

get the [bleep] away from her.

♪ ♪

- [over radio] 15, we're on our way.

♪ ♪

narrator: The undercover vehicle arrives.

- [distorted voice]

♪ ♪

- Friendly's out there talking.

♪ ♪

[laughter]

- 46th Street North and Hartford.

- [over radio] Just backing out.

- There you go.

♪ ♪

- It's that house right there.

- OK.

narrator: The undercover investigator drops off

Jessica and Ayla.

- Let's get to the house.

narrator: As Jessica approaches the house...

♪ ♪

- To the back.

narrator: Warrant detectives find her

trying to crawl through a back window.

- Put your hands where we can see 'em.

narrator: Jessica is taken into custody.

- What's going on? I'm sorry.

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

narrator: In a hallway inside the house...

- Hey, right there.

- Oh, [bleep].

♪ ♪

- There's a frickin' burned body in there.

♪ ♪

Lance, can you pull up 4905 Johnstown?

♪ ♪

narrator: 49-year-old Tracy Russell

was born and raised in Arkansas

and was a member of the Cherokee Nation.

She moved to Tulsa where she had four children.

Five years sober, Tracy was known at her church

for going out of her way to help others in need.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Jessica McBride.

- Yes, sir.

- We found you in a house up north.

- Yes, sir. - Whose house is that?

- Tracy Russell.

♪ ♪

- Who is that?

- That's Tracy.

- How do you know Tracy?

- Every now and then, she let us stay, you know.

And we'd buy her food.

She wanted his food stamps mailed to her house.

- OK. Why is that?

- Because we're homeless and she was trying to help us out.

- Here's what I know so far.

Tracy's dead... inside that house you were in.

- [choked up] What happened to her?

♪ ♪

- Somebody killed her,

and then somebody tried to set her on fire.

♪ ♪

- What?

♪ ♪

Who would do that to her?

♪ ♪

- That's what we're here to find out.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- You came out of that window with a bag.

And you know what was in that bag?

Camp fuel.

♪ ♪

- [sniffles]

- What happened?

♪ ♪

- She was stealing our food stamps.

- When you said something to her

about her stealing the food stamps,

what did she do?

- She locked all of our stuff in there,

told us she was gonna call 911 on us.

♪ ♪

- Then what?

- We left.

- You and him go back to the house.

Right? - I went back.

narrator: Jessica says she returned the next day

without her boyfriend to get her purse.

- She opened the door,

and she said, "I don't have your purse."

♪ ♪

- What happened next?

- I got mad.

♪ ♪

I put her in a choke hold.

I said, "Where's my purse?"

She told me.

♪ ♪

And she passed out.

I had taken defensive karate.

And they said, when you put someone in a choke hold,

after, like, ten seconds, let 'em go,

'cause they'll start breathing again.

And I thought she was still breathing,

and then I left.

The next day I came back to check,

and she was still there.

I freaked out.

I put a blanket on her.

I lit, like, two corners of it,

and I was gone.

I panicked.

♪ ♪

[sniffles] I didn't know what to do.

[sobbing]

- This is a very, very rare case.

90-something percent of homicides are committed

by men, so it is rare for one woman to kill another woman.

In most homicides that involve women,

the weapon of choice seems to be a firearm

or some type of bladed object.

But in this case, physical force was used

in the form of a choke hold.

Typically, if you find a woman

that's responsible for a homicide,

it's because her feelings are involved.

You've hurt my feelings. You cheated on me.

So it is rare for one woman to kill another woman

unless she's emotionally charged.

♪ ♪

- I do appreciate you deciding you wanted to tell us.

♪ ♪

Just bear with me for a minute.

narrator: 11 hours in, Brown closes his case.

♪ ♪

- That door.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: Tulsa, Oklahoma, 11:00 p.m.

[sirens wailing]

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

- There's not much of a scene.

♪ ♪

There's a driveway on the other side of that car

where I think the stabbing actually took place.

And then the victims made their way back to the car.

Amber McBroom is the victim that's passed away.

♪ ♪

narrator: The deceased victim,

31-year-old Amber McBroom,

was born and raised in Tulsa.

She attended college part-time,

hoping to get a better job

to support her six young children.

♪ ♪

- Where was she stabbed?

narrator: Amber had lacerations

to the chest, leg, and hand.

♪ ♪

- Nakeeya Goff is the victim that's lived.

She's still at the hospital.

Her boyfriend was at the scene,

and he's been taken to Detective Division.

As far as details, I'm basically hearing

that there's some sort of argument.

It's foggy right now.

♪ ♪

narrator: Ritter heads to Homicide to interview

the surviving victim's boyfriend.

♪ ♪

- I don't know what this is about,

but he's got to know what's going on.

- Supposedly, Nakeeya,

victim number two, and him, they're girlfriend/boyfriend.

- Right.

♪ ♪

- What's up, man?

♪ ♪

- Let's just get it all out there as to what happened.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- She's not all right.

♪ ♪

She's dead.

- Yeah.

- I'm sorry.

♪ ♪

- I need to know who.

Who's that?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Let's start from the beginning.

How did all of it start happening?

narrator: He says earlier that day,

he and Nakeeya were hanging out at her place.

narrator: He says he called his friend Latoya

and her boyfriend to join them.

- OK, so the four of you are over there.

narrator: He says Latoya was arguing with her boyfriend

and asked if he would ride with her as she took him home.

- OK, so you're there kind of as protection.

- Where did you take him to?

narrator: He says after they dropped off the boyfriend,

they went to Latoya's mother's house for a drink.

narrator: He says his girlfriend, Nakeeya,

was angry with Latoya for not bringing him straight home.

- So they get into it on the phone?

- Mm-hmm.

- Where does Amber come in?

- OK, then what happens?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[camera clicking]

♪ ♪

I think it hit me a little.

♪ ♪

- Do you know where Toya would go?

♪ ♪

- I think the public is interested in shows

that talk about women who kill because of the rarity of it.

Most homicides that involve female suspects

are crimes of passion.

And it's something that's not common,

and so it's intriguing.

They kind of have to see it

to try to make sense of it,

and sometimes it doesn't.

♪ ♪

- Latoya Willis, born in 1980,

damage to property, dangerous drugs, drunk, obstruct police.

Her history runs the gamut, for sure.

She was staying at Mom's house.

The incident took place at her mom's house,

and she walked off from the scene.

♪ ♪

I think finding her boyfriend is gonna be

the key to finding her.

We get a hold of him,

and hopefully he can help us out.

♪ ♪

narrator: Three hours in,

the surviving victim, Nakeeya, arrives at Homicide

after being released from the hospital.

♪ ♪

- Is that your main injury?

♪ ♪

Jesus.

♪ ♪

OK, so let's start with today.

- It's just--

- OK.

- What were you two arguing about?

- Right.

- Was Amber over there earlier in the day

when everybody was over there? - No, no.

♪ ♪

Amber gives me a ride.

We get there.

She come out swinging knives.

She got one in each hand.

- She has two knives? - Yes.

Like, a big, square one, you know, the chef--

- Right. - Chef knife,

and another knife, and she's just cutting.

♪ ♪

So then, of course,

Amber see her doing this, so she get out the car.

I don't know exactly where she cut Amber,

but Amber was like, damn.

And she went and sat in the car.

So then I takes off running next door.

♪ ♪

narrator: She says the 911 caller came out

with a gun to scare off Latoya.

♪ ♪

- Do you know what hotel her boyfriend stays?

- I didn't even know he was at a hotel.

- OK.

♪ ♪

- Amber was a really good person.

She was a good mama to her kids.

Because of this, they ain't gonna see their mama no more.

She didn't know nothing that was going on.

Nothing.

I feel awful.

And all she did, gave me a ride,

and she went and lost her life.

♪ ♪

- Have you seen her tonight?

♪ ♪

Haven't seen her?

Have you guys seen this chick at all walking around?

♪ ♪

Have you seen this girl walking around at all tonight?

- Uh-uh.

♪ ♪

- We ran a bunch of hotel registries.

Didn't come up with anything.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Where the [bleep] did she go, dude?

♪ ♪

narrator: The next day...

[indistinct radio chatter]

- Talked to the witness and he said,

basically, he's pretty sure that's the hotel.

narrator: Acting on a tip from the witness,

the team zeros in on a location.

- This place is known for its criminal element,

be it prostitution, drugs.

Four or five of us are gonna just swarm the area,

knock on doors, and just see who all is out there.

♪ ♪

Tulsa Police.

Is there anybody in here with you?

♪ ♪

Have you seen that chick before out here?

♪ ♪

narrator: One of the motel guests refuses

to cooperate with police.

- I know you're in there. I saw you.

Open the door.

We're not gonna go away.

[knocking on door]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

- Do you know Latoya Willis?

- Is there anybody else in here with you?

- Uh-uh.

- OK. Thank you.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team strikes out.

- I think we're gonna skin out.

♪ ♪

I'm rolling back towards the office.

I appreciate it.

We didn't find Latoya today,

but we'll keep looking

and put it out to patrol.

♪ ♪

They'll do their thing, and she'll turn up.

♪ ♪

I mean, there's only so many places she can go.

♪ ♪

narrator: The following day, as the team continues

scouring the area for Latoya...

[phone rings] - It's Detective Ritter.

narrator: Ritter gets the call he's been waiting for.

- She's there now?

OK, I'm on my way.

♪ ♪

Latoya's showed up at Detective Division

to turn herself in.

I'm gonna see if she wants to talk.

♪ ♪

- [coughs]

- She's got a lawyer with her.

♪ ♪

And when they show up with a lawyer,

they're usually not talking.

♪ ♪

- Latoya Willis, this is Detective Justin Ritter.

- How you doing?

She's not making a statement?

- No, she's not gonna say anything.

- OK.

- She understands she has a right to a lawyer.

- Yeah. - So when do you think

you'll take her and book her in?

- I'll arrest her right now.

♪ ♪

She's gonna get charged with first-degree murder

for killing Amber.

She's gonna get charged with assault

and battery with a deadly weapon

for cutting and stabbing Nakeeya.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Amber's got six kids.

I mean, it's just an example of how many lives

can be affected on one of these deals.

It's gonna be tough on those kids

growing up without their mom.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- These are your mama.

- Mama.

- All right. - Me.

That's my mama?

- That's your mom in all of these.

- Oh!

- I want to see.

Mama?

- Most homicides are committed by people that have

some type of affiliation with each other.

So to have a homicide with a woman

involving a woman not only as a victim,

but as a suspect, and they have no affiliation

with each other, is extremely rare.

In this particular case, sadly,

there are innocent children that are in the middle of that.

Someone's dead.

There's no winning in that.

And that's a tremendous burden

for a child to carry.

♪ ♪

[dog barking]

♪ ♪

- Originally got the call from the neighbors.

He went to check on the victim and saw him

and thought he was dead, so he called us.

♪ ♪

- Was the door breached or open?

- No.

- No forced entry.

[camera clicks]

♪ ♪

- The victim's identified as Jacob Murphy.

♪ ♪

narrator: 41-year-old Jacob Lee Williams-Murphy

was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

but moved to Tulsa as a child.

A gifted musician, Jacob performed in the Tulsa Choir

and worked part-time as a cook and waiter.

He leaves behind his mother and two children.

♪ ♪

- Quite a bit of blood.

[camera clicking]

- We don't have a phone?

- No.

♪ ♪

- Where's the guy that found him?

- He's in his apartment next door.

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

- I noticed the door was open.

I just walked in and saw a man in his ashtray.

I'm like, bro, you must be passed out pretty hard.

- Does he live there by himself?

- Yeah.

He had a few people staying there--

Pika, Mike.

narrator: He says Jacob was letting some friends crash

at his apartment, including a homeless woman

nicknamed Pikachu and her boyfriend, Mike.

- I don't even know her name.

Mike and Pika just moved in a couple weeks ago.

- They get along?

- Yeah.

Never heard 'em fighting or anything like that.

- Why would somebody want to hurt him?

- Man, I don't know.

♪ ♪

Jacob's the nicest guy ever.

He's, like so cool and helps everybody out.

♪ ♪

He didn't deserve whatever happened.

♪ ♪

- OK, thank you.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Got a couple people that have been staying

with this guy off and on.

They're homeless.

They're unaccounted for right now, so...

[tense music]

- If you want to look for Pikachu and Mike--

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- What kind of contact we have with her last?

- Dope arrest maybe.

- Oh, really? - November.

narrator: Sheila Sierra has prior convictions

for possession of a controlled substance

with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm

while in the commission of a felony.

- She's a flopper.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

- They're coming out.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- All right, Sheila.

This is Detective Leatherman, OK?

♪ ♪

I know yesterday something happened bad

up at Jacob's apartment.

So tell me what happened.

- Everybody was downstairs drinking, having fun.

♪ ♪

- You're at Jacob's place, you and Mike both?

- Yes.

Head to my cousin's.

narrator: Sheila claims she left,

but Mike and his friend stayed behind.

- What do you know about the shooting?

- I get a text talking about,

that there was gunshots over there.

narrator: She says later that night,

she learned Jacob was dead.

- OK.

Did Mike talk to you about this?

Be straight up with me.

♪ ♪

- All he said is something bad happened over there

and that he didn't want me over there.

♪ ♪

- Did Mike tell you he shot Jacob?

- No, sir.

♪ ♪

- Grabbed Mike by his throat? - Yeah.

He said that his dog attacked him.

♪ ♪

And he ended up pushing the dog away and Jake got mad.

♪ ♪

- Is this during the time that something bad happened?

- Yeah. It was, like, I guess, before.

- Yeah, when you're not there. - Yeah.

- So Mike is telling you stuff that happened.

- Well, just that much.

- He told you exactly what happened.

And you're getting yourself mixed up in this [bleep] deep.

♪ ♪

- He said he was trying to go shoot the dog

because the dog had bit him--

like, literally bit him.

♪ ♪

- Did he say he hit Jacob

whenever he tried to shoot the dog?

- No, he didn't. He didn't.

♪ ♪

- We're gonna go over and talk to him.

You got everything out,

and I'm not gonna learn anything else from him

that's gonna jam you up later?

♪ ♪

narrator: On a hunch Sheila is holding back,

the team brings in Special Victims Unit

Detective Shea Duff, who's known Sheila for years.

- Sheila is a classic example of addiction.

In 2017 or so is when I discovered

she had fallen in love with this Michael guy.

They were together quite a bit.

That's a source for her addiction.

- I think in a case like this,

she might want to protect the man for two reasons.

One, she truly loves him

and would hate to see him incarcerated,

and two, out of fear.

This can present challenges

because he has a great deal of influence on her.

She's afraid of him, to start with,

so it creates a huge challenge

because he's captured her mind in a way

that the majority of us don't even begin to understand.

[door opens]

- What happened? I heard you were down here

and I came down here to see what was going on.

♪ ♪

- [sniffles]

♪ ♪

- Just listen.

If he tells them you were involved

or that he told you something else,

they will send you to prison, Sheila.

They will.

♪ ♪

There's somebody dead.

- I know.

I mean, I liked the guy.

He was helping me.

- Does it scare you that the guy you love

might have done something?

- I mean-- - You know he's got a temper.

♪ ♪

[tense music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Before Kennedy and Leatherman interview Mike,

Watkins looks up his criminal history.

- All right, let me see.

♪ ♪

narrator: Michael Bowen has a prior conviction

for carrying a firearm without a license.

♪ ♪

- Well, we're gonna see what he has to say.

♪ ♪

Hey, Mike.

♪ ♪

So I'm giving you an opportunity

to tell your side of the story,

because there's always two sides to a story.

♪ ♪

- [speaking indistinctly]

♪ ♪

- Here's the couch.

Where were you at?

- Me and the dog is right over here.

As I then grabbed the dominoes,

I'm headed toward the door.

As I'm walking, you know, we arguing.

He raising his voice.

- Mm-hmm. - The dog is by the door.

Now he's growling.

So I had to stop, like,

OK, bro, you see you're pissing the dog off.

- Mm-hmm. - Then when I yelled back,

the dog comes toward me.

- Right. - When he tried to nibble me

the first time, I hit him.

Now he's really pissed off.

narrator: He says Jacob was angry at him

for hitting the dog.

- He stood up and just reached out.

He tall and lanky. - Right.

- Just grabbed me by the throat...

- All right. - 'Cause he see

what I was trying to do.

The dog is pulling me.

He got my belt loop stuck in this tooth.

And [bleep], I guess I just kind of fell

and, you know, kind of shot behind me.

♪ ♪

- You just fired once?

- Just one.

- OK.

- I mean, what's your odds...

- Right. - That it shot [bleep]

when I got my back to him?

♪ ♪

- So after the shooting,

how long after that did you leave?

- I left immediately after.

♪ ♪

- Where did you go then?

- Down to--

♪ ♪

narrator: Mike says when he fled the apartment,

he met up with his friend and Sheila's cousin.

- Well, here's the other problem we have.

And just--you've been straight up with me,

and I appreciate it.

But his phone is not in that apartment.

♪ ♪

If you took his phone, just tell me, dude.

- No, sir. No, sir.

I swear to God.

- Did anybody take it?

- That's a possibility.

- What happened to the gun?

- I gave it to him as I was walking.

narrator: He says he gave the gun to his friend

who was on the porch when the shooting happened.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Hey.

♪ ♪

So here's the deal.

Mike's confessed.

I want you to tell me what happened,

and then we'll compare 'em.

And hopefully they match up.

- OK.

Mike went right over to the couch,

walked over to Jacob--pow!

♪ ♪

- Where did he hit him with the gun at?

And he's kind of, like, busted up a little bit.

- So does he eventually get off the couch?

Pshoo!

♪ ♪

- He just pushed him away?

And then that's when Mike just blasted him?

♪ ♪

narrator: He says he fled with Sheila's cousin and Mike

to the cousin's house.

- So she's saying the guy was talking

even after they walked out?

♪ ♪

- OK. All right.

- Thank you. Appreciate it.

- Thanks very much.

♪ ♪

His story was totally different than what Mike gave us.

Mike felt disrespected, in my opinion,

and he ended up shooting him.

♪ ♪

I anticipate, if we find Sheila,

we'll probably be arresting her

on accessory charges 'cause she's lied,

and it looks like she took the victim's phone

to prevent him from calling 911.

It looked like he had gotten a towel.

He was trying to give himself first aid.

So she takes his phone, so he don't have a phone

to call 911 to save himself.

They don't call 911 to save him.

And maybe if they would have gave him aid,

he would have lived.

♪ ♪

- Sheila might not have been the person

that actually pulled the trigger,

but she did a lot of things after the fact

that contributed to his death.

If he had been allowed access to his phone,

he probably could have called medical attention

and could still be alive today.

She took that phone from him.

So where she might not have been the person

that actually pulled the trigger,

she still played a large part in this case.

Murder's murder.

And a suspect, whether it's man or woman,

still needs to be held accountable.

♪ ♪