WEBVTT - #347 Maggie Freleng with Talalelei "TJ" Edwards 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:12.879 In two thousand and four, Tala Lalay Edwards, a young 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.840 father and husband living in Anchorage, Alaska, was accused of 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.680 killing a one year old child who was in his care. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.400 TJ was adamant he was innocent. He loved children and 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.800 was known to be a great father to his own sons. 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:30.960 They couldn't bring one person on my behalf. They ever 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.240 say that they saw me the violent, a violent guy 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.360 and would do something to a kid. They even took 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:39.400 my two boys from me when this happened. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.840 When he went to trial, he was sure the jury 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:47.319 would see the truth that he wouldn't hurt anyone, let 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:48.080 alone a child. 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.239 When they said guilty, I was shocked. And what made 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.920 it real for me was my mom. She started building 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.520 out crying and I looked back at her scene or 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.160 just like getting weak and just everybody's trying to pick 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:07.160 her up. I hate re live in that memory that 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.440 was mme. I was trying to erase, but it's stuck 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:16.000 in there. My name is Talala lay Edwards Jr. Everybody 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.600 knows me as TJ. I was in cars ready for 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:24.039 fourteen years for something I didn't commit, and I'm here 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:29.840 to tell my story. 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:32.240 From lava for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:33.440 Freeling today. 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:34.360 Tala L. 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:53.680 Lay Edwards Tala L. Lay Edwards Junior, known as TJ, 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.800 was born in the Samoan Islands on April seventeenth, nineteen 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.600 eighty one, to Salome and Edward Senor. 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.120 We are from the Islands of Samoa. Mom was born 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.600 in western Samore and my dad was from American some Moore. 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.560 For a while, there has just been me and my brother, Richard, 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.519 who is a year younger than me, before everybody else came, 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.840 and it was probably like a five or six year 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.680 gap between the next set of like it was. My 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:24.400 two sisters came after me. 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:28.440 And Richard, eventually adding up to nine kids in total. 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.200 Although the family lived in California briefly when TJ was young, 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.680 they soon went back to the Samoan Islands. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.040 My dad took us back to the islands so we 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.560 can learn the culture, the language we speak, and just 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:45.120 learn everything about the Samoan culture. And so we stayed 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.959 there for about four or five years before moving back 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.240 to California, where the rest of my siblings were born. 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.120 He is like a best friend to me. 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.440 This is TJ's sister Salome, who's named after the mother. 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:02.440 She's six years younger than TJ. 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.560 I just remember him always being the one that I 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.600 looked up to. I wrote a few papers on him 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.960 in school as like the person that I'm I look 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:12.760 up to the most. 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.720 After their parents divorced in nineteen ninety five, TJ, as 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:25.200 the oldest, found his role in the family evolving, so. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:27.400 I kind of had to play their father figure off, 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:30.640 like watching over my other younger siblings, helping her my 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.639 mom with just for life because she was just a 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:38.000 stay at home mom before you know, my dad separated. 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.800 Solme remembers how TJ stepped up for the family at 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.600 the time. She came to confide in her brother about 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.080 everything in her life. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.640 When I wasn't doing so good in school, I would 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:50.920 go to him and ask him for help on homework 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.360 or just anything that I wanted to talk to him about, 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.320 even if it was me dating someone. He was very 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.640 patient and also always created a say space for me 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.280 to go and talk to him about anything I was 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:03.840 going through. 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.000 TJ was only fourteen at the time and couldn't help 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.480 out financially. Yet, when expenses became too much for his mom, 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.040 she packed up a car with whatever they could fit 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.920 and drove herself and her nine kids from California to Anchorage, Alaska, 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:24.480 where she had family. So what is living in Alaska like? 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.760 Living in Alaska's it's a pretty, you know, slow motion state. 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:34.159 It's pretty mellow. At first, I've never seen snow before. 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:35.960 So when we came up here, I was like, wow, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:36.680 this is nice. 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:36.960 You know. 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.280 It was awesome for the first i'd say six months 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.080 until I was like, all right, I mean I'm done 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:42.960 with the coda. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.279 But things were still hard for the family. 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.440 It was a struggle just to live up in Alaska. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.440 We were poor growing up, you know, and we didn't 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.000 have the finance to go get us an apartment, you know, 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:58.720 we had to live with my auntie, and then when 0:04:58.760 --> 0:04:59.479 we moved up here. 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:05.760 Despite the hardships, TJ has fond memories of his childhood. 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.400 Being with my siblings up here, you know, just all 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.120 of us out there in the snow and kind of 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.280 like just enjoying each other's company, you know, just us 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.479 bonding together and being there for each other. Was like 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:19.800 that was all to me. All I wanted to do 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:21.360 was keep the smile on their faces. 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.320 We were pretty spoiled because of him. 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:29.760 Salome remembers TJ taking his siblings everywhere he went, like 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.080 sports games and their favorite hangout. 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.560 We always went to check E Cheese. We went like 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:39.320 probably once a week, literally. 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.119 But life in their part of town was rough. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.479 I dropped out of tenth grade because there's a lot 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:56.520 of shootings going on, and our family was definitely one 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.600 of those houses. I was getting shot at because of 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.080 you know, certain gangs or whatever they call each other 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.600 clicks up here that were going through some battles back 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:06.039 and forth. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.640 The gangs and anchorage included Samoan street gangs that sometimes 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.000 fought with Tongan gangs. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.520 And they thought that we were involved in that, me 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.960 and my siblings, you know, they thought we were involved 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.400 in any of the gang activities and it wasn't the case. 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:24.400 But we were just caughting across fire things and that's 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.400 what kind of made me and my brothers stepped out 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.039 of school, like dropped out. 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:30.800 TJ says. At the time, there was a lot of 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.520 racism and anchorage against Polynesians. 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:39.200 Polynesians were getting into altercations with the police and stuff 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:43.160 like that at that time, and we were definitely being 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.400 frowned upon as far as growing up here with the 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:49.760 law against you know, the poly community back then, and 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.200 it was difficult to like, you know, call them for 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.880 any kind of help because as soon as they pull 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.400 up and find out, oh, there's a poly community or 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.880 Polynesian family, then they kind of like turn their backs 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:02.800 on us or not even give us the help that 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:03.880 we needed, you know what I mean. 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.440 After TJ dropped out of high school, he went on 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.040 to receive an education with the Alaska Youth Military Program. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.720 It was for kids that they are troubled youth or 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.640 whatever and that didn't graduate, but they given this chance 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:22.680 to either you go over there to military or you know, 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.560 you be able to get your your diploma that way. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.440 At this point, TJ also had a girlfriend, Leona. 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:36.000 And when I went into this youth academy program in 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.680 ninety nine, come to find out that we were expecting 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:43.600 the kid later on that year in November, which I 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:46.480 had my first son, which is John t Moses Edwards. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.920 So we got married August fourteenth, ninety nine, and Johnsy 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.480 was born in eleven seventeen, nineteen ninety nine. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:57.800 TJ was nineteen at the time. He had been considering 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.720 a career in the military, but becoming a father put 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.400 a spin on his plans. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.600 It was just one of those things that I fell 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.200 in love with seeing my son being born. I didn't 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.000 want him to grow up without a father, you know 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.560 what I mean, being away, So just me and my 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.920 siblings growing up without our father. That's what really made 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:19.720 me want to stay home with him all the time 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.000 and didn't want to go nowhere, So I ended up 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:23.240 not going to the military. 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.360 Instead. TJ took on two jobs in Anchorage when at Applebee's, 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.840 and one is a security guard. He and Leona got 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:38.640 their own place. In the spring of two thousand and one. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.400 TJ and Leona opened their house up to their close 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:45.040 friend Melissa and her one year old son, Derek. Derek 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.160 was TJ and Leona's godson, so they didn't hesitate when 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:49.760 Melissa needed a place to live. 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.760 We didn't want them to be out there in the streets, 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.520 and I have nowhere to stay, so we had an 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.240 extra room and absolutely I said sure, why not. She 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.280 ended up moving in with us, and we started noticinging 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.880 like a pattern. She loves to go out and have fun. 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.400 Often leaving Derek in TJ's care, but he was fine 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:09.680 with that. 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.079 You know, I don't mind watching my godson because him 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:18.120 and my son are pretty much, you know, the same age. 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.640 Melissa and Leono worked together, so when TJ wasn't working 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.000 and the babysitter was unavailable, TJ took care of both 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.400 Derek and john Te. TJ even got certified as a 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:34.160 caregiver and learned CPR and other first aid. One day, 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.200 while TJ was watching the boys, he noticed a scratch 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.520 on the back of Derek's head and he mentioned it 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:40.120 to Melissa. 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.960 He was like, hey, have you noticed anything wrong with 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.960 your son's head? Like, and she was like, oh, She 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:48.600 had no idea where the scratch came from. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.000 Derek had also been sick for a few days. He 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.959 wasn't eating and was throwing up a lot. Melissa was 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.120 already planning to bring him to the doctor. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.440 So we tell there's, well, you know, you should probably 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.960 go and have this looked at, you know, when you 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.880 go to a doctor. So when you brought Derek back 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:09.760 to the house, we asked himself, did you mention anything 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.280 about their head injury? And she never mentioned it, So 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:16.200 we were kind of like stunk, like why not, why 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.760 didn't you tell the doctor whoever was seeing about you know, 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:21.080 that scratch behind his head. 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:30.440 A few days later, on the morning of May eighth, 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.560 two thousand and one, Melissa left Derek with TJ and 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.520 John Tay while she went to work. Leona had already 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.680 left the house for the day too. TJ was alone 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:40.679 with the boys. 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.280 She brought him in the room. He was sort of 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.840 crying a little bit, and then he stopped crying, and 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.280 then you know, we went downstairs. I started cleaning up 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:50.360 the house and everything. 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:55.040 But soon TJ noticed Derek wasn't doing well. 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.800 I noticed him not responding or just breathing period. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.360 When TJ picked him up, he saw that Derek's eyes 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:07.000 were half open and his fists were clenched. TJ tried 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.600 blowing air in his face to arouse him, but Derek 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:11.360 was not responding. 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:16.160 And so I immediately I freaked out. I started doing 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.320 CPR and him and rushing to the hospital instead of 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:21.200 calling nine one. 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.640 One, because TJ still didn't trust the police. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.880 I've had issues with calling any kind of authorities or whatever, 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.720 so my immediate reaction was to make sure that Derek 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:33.840 makes it there alive. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:51.000 Still. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:55.160 This episode is underwritten by AIG, A leading global insurance 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.640 company AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.559 making a positive difference in the lives of its employees 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.520 and in the communities where they work and live. In 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.239 light of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.400 and in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.720 justice reform, the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:27.959 services and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals at 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.240 the hospital. Once the doctors took Derek, TJ was left 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:33.840 alone to process what had just happened. 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.920 They went back there, and it took forever for them 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.719 to come tell me what was going on. As lay sir, 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.200 can you go in the front. You got some some 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:42.960 past that wants to talk to you, stuff like that, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.559 and I'm like, okay, I'm thinking maybe they'lln't tell me 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:46.360 what's going on. 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:51.480 But instead one of the detectives started questioning him. TJ 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.680 told the detective everything he knew. He was just cleaning 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:57.840 up the house when he noticed Derek struggling to breathe. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:03.200 He's saying, no, something happened. You shook the baby or something. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.840 And I'm like, shake the baby, what are you talking about? 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.079 You know, and I was kind of dumbfounded about the 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:11.000 whole situation, like, why are you accused of me? 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.760 At eight fifty five that night, Derek was taken off 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:27.360 ventilator support and died. Doctors had discovered that Derek's brain 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.800 was bleeding and swollen, but showed no signs of blunt 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:34.439 force trauma. Brain bleeding and swelling, bleeding in the eyes, 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.800 and little or no evidence of external trauma were known 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.960 at the time as the triad supposedly telltale signs of 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:46.400 SBS or shaken baby syndrome. Experts at the time claimed 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.160 these injuries had only three known causes, falls from a 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.880 three story building, high speed motor vehicle crashes, or violent shaking. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.240 Because he had been the last adults alone with Derek 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:05.960 before his death, TJ immediately became the only suspect. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.280 They're you know, the whole time, they were like convinced 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.160 that I did it that morning, you know, like, oh yeah, 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.679 look how big years. And that's what the detective was 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.880 kept drilling to me after when he was interviewing, You're like, TJ, man, 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:20.760 look how big yard. Like if I was a kid 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.720 and you were over here like shaking me, I would 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:25.440 be in the same position, Derek saying. 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.160 I'm like, what, are you a big guy? 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.880 Yeah? I was. I wouldn't say like a big guy, 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.280 but I mean I was. I was too sixty at 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.800 that time. I was, you know, pretty athletic and stuff, 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:41.359 and I didn't really see myself as a as a Polynesian, 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.360 like a big you know, and that's how they look 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.800 at us, you know, you guys are pretty big people, 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:51.000 and so I yeah, I was kind of like freaking out, like, wow, 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:52.640 they are actually jelly for me. 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:52.880 Now. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.640 The investigation into Derek's death took nearly six months. During 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:13.400 that time, police failed to investigate any other angles besides SBS. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.560 In fact, they often disregarded evidence that did not point 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:22.160 to SBS. For example, police and doctors ignored the fact 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.680 that Derek had been sick before his death, and was 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.320 in fact taking multiple medications a doctor had prescribed to 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.920 address his symptoms. Also, in the weeks before his death, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.960 while being babysat by two twelve year old girls, Derek 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.440 suffered a fall. The police did not ask the babysitters 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.640 about this, nor did they follow up on any of 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.920 his other medical issues. When Derek first got to the 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.880 hospital that day, doctors also noted that he was doing 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.520 something called posturing, which is what TJ saw with Derek's 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.400 clench fists and bent arms. Posturing is a sign of 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.880 seizure activity and can also indicate swelling in the brain. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.760 But when doctors discovered the brain swelling, they then focused 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:08.800 their attention on confirming their suspicions of SBS, ignoring any 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:18.760 other possible causes. During the investigation period, TJ and Leona 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.960 were still in touch with Melissa. She didn't blame TJ 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.280 for the death of her son, and in fact had 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:25.880 told that to the police. 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.760 She said, yes, I went to cops and I told 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:30.920 him that you didn't do it. I know you didn't 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:32.840 do it. You would never do something like this with 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.160 my son, because she knew, like I took care of 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.400 her son better than she's ever done, you know what 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.880 I mean. I've always been there to bathe him, and 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.720 you know, whenever she's too tired to care for him 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.200 or whatnot. And plus you know, Derek and my son, 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.560 like we're almost the same age and they play with 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.280 each other. So when she made that statement that she 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.360 knew that, she knew I didn't do nothing to her 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:57.120 son to cause this harm against Derek. They looked at 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:59.920 her as a suspect. They didn't turn her. I say, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.600 what was either you're a TJ. Now, if you're saying 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:04.520 the TJ didn't do it, then you're the one. And 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:08.400 so that's when she retracted her statement and made another statement. 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.560 On October tenth, two thousand and one, TJ was working 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:19.720 one of his jobs when the police showed up. 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.480 There is like seven patrol cars that came on base. 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:29.600 I didn't know what was going on. I'd seen my 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:31.800 boss walking with a whole bunch of guys behind him. 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:35.879 Those were the detectives that are coming to apprehend me 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.760 for the charge of the shaking babysitter case. 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:52.000 TJ was arrested and charged with manslaughter and second degree murder. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.920 Salome was shocked when she found out. She remembers thinking 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.639 about her youngest sister, who is thirteen years younger than TJ. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.679 My mom left my dad when she was only a 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.080 week old. So TJ was literally like her father growing up, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:14.080 and I've seen him like change her diverse, you know, 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.040 literally everything. So it was hard to it was hard 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:21.000 to even accept that's what they were charging him with 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.560 or arresting him. For because that's just not what I 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:25.960 could never imagine him doing. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.119 In addition to the charges, TJ was hit with a 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.320 double whammy. 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.480 They even took my two boys from me when this happened. 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.639 By this time, Leona had given birth to their second son, Javin. 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:46.280 They said I couldn't be around my kids until further investigation. 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.440 And you know, when they took my kids from must, 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.920 I couldn't believe it. I just felt like there was 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.720 a nightmare. I just I still remember that day like 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.200 vividly right now, and that's why I was like, man, 0:18:58.920 --> 0:18:59.959 I just hated that feeling. 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.280 TJ's trial started two and a half years later in 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:14.320 March of two thousand and four. The prosecutor was Adrian Bachmann, 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:17.080 and the case against TJ was thin. 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.000 They can bring one person on my behalf. They ever 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.680 say that they saw me be violent, a violent guy, 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:24.960 and we'll do something to this, you know, to a kid. 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.479 The prosecution's entire case rested solely on the idea that 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.680 only violently shaking a baby could cause the symptoms Derek had, 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.240 and that the injuries could have only happened within a 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.360 few hours of Derek's death, when only TJ was home 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:43.240 with him. 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:49.280 The testimony a trial was pretty consistent with if these 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.399 three symptoms show up, it's child abuse and shaking baby, 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.159 and it has to have happened within the last couple 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:56.680 of hours. 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.879 This is Bill Oberly. He's the executive legal director of 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.320 the Alaska Innocence Project. He says this was pretty much 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.600 the only evidence presented at trial. 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:12.439 No signs on Derek of any fresh injuries, no signs 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.600 that he was picked up and held tightly and shaken, 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:21.119 no neck injuries. There was nothing presented that would support 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:26.240 provide physical evidence of the allegations they were making. 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.959 However, one neighbor did testify to hearing a noise like 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.920 furniture dropping quote loud enough that it shook the ceiling. 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:39.920 The prosecution suggested this was TJ slamming Derek on the floor. 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.040 So how did the defense respond? 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:48.760 That was much of the defense was that there was 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:53.040 no indication of any fresh injuries. 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:55.600 TJ's attorney was Rex Butler. 0:20:56.080 --> 0:21:02.000 The defense called one expert witness, Janice Ophoven, who was 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.080 a forensic pathologist. 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:09.040 Doctor Ophoven testified that there were indications of iron deposits 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:10.280 in Derek's brain. 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:16.520 When blood starts to decompose after bleeding, like in the brain, 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.800 iron is formed, and so the presence of iron in 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:26.080 Derek's brain meant that the injury he suffered would have 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.200 been five to seven days old. 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:32.480 But that wasn't enough reasonable doubt for the jury. After 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:36.040 three days of deliberations, on April first, two thousand and four, 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.240 TJ was convicted of second degree murder. 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:45.000 I didn't think it was real because I got convicted 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.720 on April Fool's Day. When they say guilty, I looked 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.680 at my attorney, I say, did they just say guilty? 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:56.119 I was shocked. And what made it real for me 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:58.800 that I knew that they say guilty was my mom. 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:02.800 She started helping out crying and I looked back at 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.159 her and not just seeing her just like getting weak 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.040 and just everybody's trying to pick her up, and I 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:13.080 just started like breaking down. I can't believe it. It didn't 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:15.719 finally hit me till they closed the door after escorting 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:21.239 me back where they hold people. It was tough. It 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:23.919 was I hate reliving that memory, and that was the 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.800 one memme I was trying to erase, but it's stuck 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:27.120 in there. 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:32.760 Twenty two year old TJ was sentenced to twenty years 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:34.880 in prison the minimum sentence. 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:39.159 At the time, first, it was a scary you know, 0:22:39.280 --> 0:22:43.639 just a scary just a being incarcerated. You see a 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:46.240 lot of movies about prison, and you know, for me 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.600 to actually be there, and yeah, I didn't want to 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:51.399 do nothing. I didn't even eat their food for a 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:56.399 whole year. I started questioning that, man, where did I 0:22:56.480 --> 0:22:59.560 go wrong? And you know, with my life, you know, 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:02.359 there's a lot of questions going through my head. I 0:23:02.359 --> 0:23:03.280 didn't know what to do. 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:23.480 Leona brought their kids to see TJ regularly, but as 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:27.959 his years in prison went on, TJ's relationship with Leona deteriorated. 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:32.800 I didn't blame her for it, you know what I mean, 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:37.240 It gets lonely out there for people. Of course, she 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:39.560 has needs and wants stuff like that that need to 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.680 be met, and she ended up going her separate way. 0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:45.359 And it was tough to even explain it to my kids, 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:49.000 but they knew what was going on. Like in some 0:23:49.080 --> 0:23:51.400 of our visits, will start kissing and hugging each other, 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:55.520 and then as we started getting years in, they noticing 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:58.760 us just not even doing that. I'm doing that with 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:01.679 my kids, I'm hugging them. So they started noticing that 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:04.800