1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace breaking crime news now. The 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Stephens family enjoys a quiet morning at their Texas home 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: when Daryl Stevens spots a man with a machete on 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: their ring camera casing out the house. He has his wife, 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: hi their two young children, calls nine one one while 6 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: he runs around, locking doors and loading a handgun. Jesse 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: Escimeda climbs onto the back porch with the machete in hand, 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: but quickly retraces his steps when Stephen greets him with 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: a gun Nancy. 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 2: While Escamia retreats, cops are arriving, meeting him with handcuffs 11 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 2: in the front yard. The Stevens moved out to Liberty Hill, Texas, 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 2: a small world town, to feel safer than they did 13 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 2: in their Austin home. Now that sense of security has 14 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 2: been ripped away, Darryl Stephens saying they will be upping 15 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 2: security to turn their home into Fort Knox. 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: Jerry Eskima, forty three, now charged with criminal trespass. A 17 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: California Highway Patrol helicopter tries to break up a huge 18 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: car side show when of the occupants of a Cadillac 19 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: CT six starts shining lasers into the violet's eyes. Vallejo 20 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: police on the ground try to stop the caddy, but 21 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: the driver takes off, leading a chase for ten miles 22 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: before four people bail out of the car. While police 23 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: chase down the suspects, several others stay behind to search 24 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: the car. They find a ten foot python inside. A 25 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: very brave officer poses for photos with the snake, which 26 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: is then returned to its owner after he's released on 27 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: bail with a felony evading charge. I bet when they 28 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: were reunited they had a nice long hug. 29 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 3: More crime and justice news after this. 30 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news Crime 31 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: Onlines John Lemley. 32 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 3: We began in Las Vegas as four teenagers have pleaded 33 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 3: guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the fatal beating of their 34 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 3: high school classmate, Jonathan Lewis junior. For more, we turned 35 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 3: to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. 36 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 2: The plea is part of a negotiated deal with prosecutors 37 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 2: that will prevent the teams from being tried bolts. The 38 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 2: case originally saw the four charges as adults with second 39 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 2: degree murder and conspiracy stemming from the violent incident in November. 40 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 3: Of last year. 41 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 2: The attack which was captured on cell phone video and 42 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 2: widely circulated on social media, sparked outrage and calls for justice. 43 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 2: Under the terms of the plea agreement, the teens will 44 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 2: be sentenced to time in a juvenile detention center, though 45 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 2: the exact duration of their incarceration remains undecided. According to 46 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 2: our friends with the Las Vegas Review Journal, the juvenile 47 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 2: justice system in Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, focuses 48 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 2: on rehabilitation rather than traditional imprisonment. Miners prosecuted in this 49 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 2: system are typically released after completing specific rehabilitation programs, as 50 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 2: explained by Bridget Duffy, director of the Juvenile Division of 51 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 2: the Clark County District Attorney's Office. The names of the 52 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 2: defendants are not being released by Crime Online due to 53 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 2: their ages at the time of the crime. Defense attorney 54 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: Robert Droskovich, representing one of the teenagers, described the plea 55 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 2: deal as a quote very fair resolution. However, not everyone 56 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 2: agrees with the outcome. Lewis's mother, Melissa Ray, expressed her 57 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 2: dissatisfaction with the plea agreement the District Attorney's office in 58 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 2: a statement to the Associated Press last month. Defend of 59 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 2: the decision, highlighting the complexities of the case and the 60 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 2: potential legal challenges that could have arisen if it had 61 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 2: gone to trial. The office also emphasized that the juvenile 62 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 2: court system is better suited to provide the necessary resources 63 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 2: for the defendant's rehabilitation. 64 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 3: In Nevada, teenagers thirteen and older who are charged with 65 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 3: murder can be prosecuted as adults. A significant breakthrough in 66 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 3: a decade's old cold case has led to the arrest 67 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 3: of a Missouri man in connection with the nineteen ninety 68 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 3: three rape and murder of a young Indianapolis woman. Once 69 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 3: again Crime Online Sidney Sumner. 70 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 2: Authorities of charge fifty two year old Dana Shepherd, a 71 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 2: resident of Columbia, Missouri, with murder, felony murder, and rape 72 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 2: after DNA evidence linked him to the brutal killing of 73 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 2: nineteen year old Carman Van Huss. According to the Indianapolis 74 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 2: Metropolitan Police Department, Sheppard was apprehended in Missouri and is 75 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 2: currently being held without bond at the Boone County Jail. 76 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 2: An extra day hearing is expected to take place in 77 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 2: the coming days. The case dates back to March nineteen 78 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 2: ninety three, when Van Huss was found dead in her 79 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 2: Indianapolis apartment by her father after she failed to report 80 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 2: to work. Court documents reveal the horrifying details of the crime. 81 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 2: Van Huss had been raped and stabbed sixty one times. 82 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: Despite the presence of DNA evidence on her body and 83 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 2: bloodstains on a paper bag found in her apartment, the 84 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 2: investigation eventually stalled, leaving the case unsolved for years. In 85 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 2: a renewed effort to crack the case, the Indianapolis Police 86 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 2: submitted the DNA sample to a specialized genetic analysis company 87 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 2: in twenty eighteen. Last year, advancement's in genetic genealogy allowed 88 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 2: detectives to identify Shepherd as a potential suspect. Further investigation 89 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 2: led to the collection of Shepherd's DNA in February, which 90 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 2: matched the DNA found on Van HUSS's body and the 91 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 2: paper bag. 92 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 3: Investigators have determined that both Van Huss and Shepherd were 93 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 3: residents of the same apartment complex at the time of 94 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 3: the crime. 95 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: Thanks John Bethany Brown, thirty nine, goes home with her 96 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: children boyfriend Tony Swainey after her daughter's sixth birthday party 97 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: hosted at Grandma Brenda Barnes home. Taylorsville, North Carolina. Hours later, 98 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: Bethany calls min Brenda, distraught over an argument with Swayney. 99 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: The next morning, Swainey finds Bethany gone. She doesn't answer 100 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: calls from Swainey or Mom Brenda. Bethany's car and purse 101 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: still at home, phone missing, attempts to ping it unsuccessful. 102 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: Tony Swainey cooperates with the investigation and pastor Polly. Alexander 103 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: County Sheriff search multiple places suggested by family members. No 104 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: sign of Bethany. Bethany Brown now missing two years. Bethany 105 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: five five, one hundred and thirty pounds, brown hair, blue eyes. 106 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: She's got a butterfly tattoo on her left hip. If 107 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: you have info on Bethany Brown, called Alexander County, North 108 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: Carolina Sheriff's eight two eight six ' three to two 109 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,679 Speaker 1: one one one. For the latest crime in justice news, 110 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: go to crime online dot com and please join us 111 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: for our daily podcast crime Stories with this crime alert. 112 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Grace.