Reid Carter covers Perry Tole's lawsuit against Mark Sanchez and FOX Corporation, claiming permanent disfigurement and loss of function after the parking space brawl. The 69-year-old oil collector wants millions for injuries to his mouth, jaw and face. Darriynn Brown gets life for snatching 4-year-old Cash Gernon from his crib and murdering him. Bionca Ellis goes on trial for randomly stabbing 3-year-old Julian Wood outside a grocery store. Plus Daniel Stearns convicted of killing girlfriend Nancy Howery, burying her, digging her up, burning her body, and scattering 800 bone fragments across four locations. Wednesday proves violence has consequences, whether parking disputes or murder.
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You'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, breaking news updates on cases we're covering, and early alerts when new episodes drop. Our social media is where Reid Carter's hottest takes live, including reactions that don't make it into the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Wednesday, October eighth,
twenty twenty five. Yesterday we covered Mark Sanchez fighting a
sixty nine year old oil collector over a parking space.
Today we cover the lawsuit Perry Tol, the man Sanchez
(00:23):
threw toward a dumpster before getting stabbed, is suing Sanchez
and Fox Corporation for millions. His speech has been affected,
his jaw is damaged, his face is permanently disfigured, all
because a drunk NFL analyst decided a parking space was
worth fighting over. Darien Brown pleaded guilty to murdering four
(00:44):
year old Cash Journan life in prison. Bianca Ellis goes
on trial for murdering three year old Julian Wood, both
claiming mental illness, both facing life sentences. And in Florida,
Daniel Stearns has been convicted of killing his girlfriend, Nancy Howery,
shooting her in the head during a supposed gun lesson,
then spending weeks burying her, digging her up, burning her body,
(01:06):
and scattering eight hundred bone fragments across four different locations
so nobody would find her. Welcome to Wednesday, where parking
disputes lead to lawsuits. Mental illness doesn't excuse child murder,
and boyfriends turned girlfriends into scattered remains. This is Celebrity Trials.
(01:27):
Quick update on Mark Sanchez, who we covered yesterday for
his Saturday morning parking space brawl in Indianapolis. Perry Toll,
the sixty nine year old truck driver who stabbed Sanchez
in self defense, filed a civil lawsuit Monday. He's suing
both Mark Sanchez personally and Fox Corporation, Sanchez's employer. The
lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and anything
(01:51):
else the court deems appropriate. According to court documents, Toll
has suffered severe, permanent disfigurement, loss of function of other
physical injuries, emotional distress, and other damages as a result
of Sanchez's actions. His attorney, Eric May, told reporters that
Tolly's speech and other functions have been affected by injuries
(02:12):
to his mouth, jaw, and face. Think about that. Perry
Toll was working collecting used cooking oil from hotels and
restaurants at twelve thirty in the morning, making an honest living,
and Mark Sanchez drunk and aggressive threw him toward a
dumpster and beat him badly enough that his speech is
now impaired, his jaw is damaged, his face is permanently disfigured.
(02:35):
May said Toll is back home recovering, but will require
extensive medical care in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Toll has worked his whole life. May said, it's a
heck of a thing to see somebody like that still
working as hard as he was, and he's hopeful to
continue working someday. He's a tough son of a gun,
hopeful to continue working someday. That's what happens when a
(02:57):
professional athlete attacks you. You don't know if you'll be
able to work again. Your face is permanently changed, your
jaw doesn't work right, your speech is impaired, all because
you were in the wrong alley when the wrong drunk
celebrity decided you were parked in the wrong place. The
lawsuit also goes after Fox Corporation the claim Fox knew
(03:18):
or should have known about Sanchez's unfitness as an employee,
propensity for drinking and or harmful conduct, and failed to
supervise him properly. The suit accuses Fox of negligent hiring.
That's a tough legal argument to win. Fox would have
to know Sanchez had a history of getting drunk and
attacking people, and hired him anyway or failed to supervise him.
(03:40):
But it's worth filing because Fox has deeper pockets than Sanchez.
You can get a judgment against Sanchez personally, but can
you collect. Fox Corporation can definitely pay. On the criminal side,
Sanchez posted a three hundred dollars bond after his arrest.
Three hundred dollars that's what it cost to get out
of jail after throwing a senior citizen toward a dumpster
(04:03):
and getting charged with felony battery. He had an initial
hearing scheduled for yesterday, but a judge granted a motion
to waive the hearing. It's been rescheduled for November fifth.
Sanchez still faces one felony battery charge carrying one to
six years in prison, plus three misdemeanors battery resulting in injury,
public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. Marion
(04:28):
County Prosecutor Ryan Mears was right when he said this
was a situation that did not need to occur. We
are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space,
but it did occur, and now Perry Toll has permanent
damage to his face, jaw and speech. Mark Sanchez faces
criminal charges and a civil lawsuit. Fox Corporation is dragged
(04:51):
into litigation over their analysts drunken parking dispute all over
a parking space at twelve thirty in the morning in
downtown indianas Apolis. That's the update. We'll follow both the
criminal case and the civil lawsuit as they proceed. Now
to Dallas, where Darien Brown pleaded guilty Monday to murdering
(05:14):
four year old Cash Jernin. Brown now twenty two, entered
the plea moments before his trial was set to begin
life in prison without parole. May fifteenth, twenty twenty one.
Five am. Home surveillance footage shows an unknown male entering
a bedroom where four year old Cash Jernin and his
twin brother are sleeping. The mail picks Cash up from
(05:35):
his crib. Cash doesn't wake up. The mail carries the
sleeping child out of the house. Nearly two hours later,
seven am, a nine to one one caller reports finding
an unresponsive child lying in a puddle of blood in
the street eight blocks away. The child is dead, brutally
murdered by eleven am. Cash is reported missing. Monica Sherid,
(05:59):
the girl friend of Cash's father, identifies the man in
the surveillance video, Darien Brown. She knew him he'd been
to the house before. Brown's defense team claimed he'd recently
been released from a mental health facility before the murder,
that he suffered from hallucinations, that he was in a
trance like state. In twenty twenty two, a judge found
(06:21):
Brown incompetent to stand trial. He spent over two years
in psychiatric custody. In January twenty twenty five, he was
declared competent Monday morning, moments before trial, Brown pleaded guilty
to first degree felony murder. The charge was reduced from
capital murder in exchange for the plea life without parole.
He'll die in Texas prison. After sentencing, prosecutors read victim
(06:45):
impact statements from Cash's family. Trevor Gernon, Cash's father, wrote
that his son's death has reduced him to a fraction
of his former self, that he would have given his
life to defend Cash, that initially he wanted the death
penalty for Brown, but Cash's death wasn't painless or humane,
so he wanted Brown to live out his life behind
(07:05):
bars instead. That's both mercy and vengeance. Brown doesn't get execution,
he gets decades of waking up knowing he murdered a
four year old child, sixty years of carrying that weight.
Mental illness explains behavior, it doesn't excuse murder. Brown was
competent enough to enter a house, locate a child, remove
(07:28):
him from his crib, and transport him eight blocks. That's
planning an execution, not a trance. Cash Jernin should be
eight years old now third grade, growing up with his
twin brother. Instead, he's dead, murdered at four, his family destroyed.
Because Darien Brown made a choice. Brown has sixty years
(07:49):
to think about that choice. Locked in Texas prison, no parole,
no second chance, just decades of consequences for what he
did to an innocent child. To Cleveland, where opening statements
began Tuesday in the trial of Bianca Ellis, accused of
(08:09):
randomly stabbing three year old Julian Wood to death outside
a grocery store June twenty twenty four. Margo Wood is
shopping with her three year old son Julian at Giant
Eagle in North Olmsted, Ohio. Just Saturday, errands a mom
and her toddler getting groceries. Bianca Ellis, thirty two, goes
to the Volunteers of America thrift store next door and
(08:32):
steals two knives, then walks to Giant Eagle. She spots
Margo pushing Julian in a shopping cart. Margo is returning
to her car. Julian is sitting in the cart, probably
tired from shopping. Ellis runs at them with a knife,
no warning, no words, just runs directly at a woman
and her three year old child. She stabs Julian multiple
(08:53):
times while he sits in the shopping cart, while his
mother stands right there. Margo tries to pull Julian to
safe tries to protect her son. Ellis stabs her too.
Margo survives, Julian doesn't. Three years old, murdered by a
stranger in a grocery store parking lot. Authorities believe Margot
(09:14):
and Julian were randomly targeted. Ellis didn't know them, no connection,
no motive, just saw mother and child and decided to
stab them. Ellis Is pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
In September twenty twenty four, she was giggling in court
during proceedings about the murder. That behavior led a judge
to rule her incompetent. She spent five months in psychiatric treatment.
(09:37):
In February twenty twenty five, she was deemed competent enough
to stand trial. Opening statements began Tuesday. The prosecution laid
out their case. Ellis stole knives, stalked a mother and child,
attacked without provocation, murdered a three year old, and tried
to kill his mother. They argue this wasn't mental illness,
(09:58):
this was evil. The defense are ugues Ellis was so
mentally ill she couldn't understand right from wrong that her
giggling proved her disconnection from reality. That randomly murdering a
three year old proves insanity, because no sane person would
do that. But insanity doesn't mean this was crazy. Insanity
means you didn't understand what you were doing or that
(10:20):
it was wrong. Ellis stole knives before the attack, choose
a weapon, went to a specific location, targeted specific victims,
ran at them with purpose. That's not someone who doesn't
understand reality. That's someone who understands exactly what they're doing
and does it anyway. Julian Wood should be four years
old now, starting pre k making friends, driving his mother
(10:41):
crazy with questions. Instead, he's dead. Margo Wood is traumatized
forever reliving the moment she tried and failed to save
her son. Ellis faces ten felony charges, including murder and
attempted murder if convicted, life in prison. If found not
guilty by an insanity, indefinite commitment to a psychiatric facility.
(11:04):
Either way, she never walks free. The trial continues this
week will cover the verdict when it comes. For now
a jury must decide whether Ellis is mentally ill or
just evil hiding behind mental illness. We'll be right back
with Daniel Stearns and the girlfriend he turned into eight
hundred scattered bone fragments to Florida, where Daniel Lauren Stearns
(11:43):
has been convicted of second degree murder, abuse of a
dead human body, and tampering with evidence for killing his
girlfriend Nancy Howery, then spending weeks trying to make her disappear.
February fifteenth, twenty twenty three, Howery, forty four years old,
divorced mother of two, spent her last morning with her
(12:05):
friend Eana Ramos. They drank coffee together. Nancy talked about
meeting Daniel Stearns, her on and off boyfriend. She face
timed with him repeatedly. The conversations got heated. Around eleven
thirty a m. Nancy left Ramos's house to meet Daniel.
She was last seen alive leaving to meet him at
(12:26):
a CVS parking lot. She never picked up her children
from school that afternoon or the next day. Her ex
husband Todd reported her missing. Police found Nancy's gray twenty
fourteen Honda Odyssey abandoned in Palm Bay. Personal items and
groceries were inside, her driver's license, her bank card, everything
(12:48):
except Nancy. Investigators focused on Daniel Stearns. Todd Howery had
an alibi backed by surveillance footage. Stearns was a thirty
five year old US Army veteran who served an Afghanistan,
trained in combative techniques and Iiketo martial arts, and when
police talked to him on February nineteenth, he lied. Sterens
(13:09):
told police he and Nancy had a falling out and
he hadn't seen her in weeks. He claimed not to
have her number, offered vague suggestions about where she could be,
but flock license plate reader cameras told a different story.
Stern's black Chevrolet Silverado was recorded repeatedly going to a
location called the Compound, an undeveloped twelve point two square
(13:32):
mile area in Palm Bay late at night, multiple trips.
Something was happening out there. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office
and the Game Over Task Force started surveillance on March eighth.
They watched Stern's home around nine fifteen pm. They saw
his truck at the residence early hours of March ninth.
They saw him place an unknown item in the truck bed,
(13:54):
handle a shovel, and move in and out of the
truck several times. At four fifteen am, he left in
the black pickup inside the compound. Agent Tyler Harrel hid
overnight doing surveillance. He heard a loud metallic pinging sound.
Later found freshly disturbed dirt with circular shovel like grind marks.
Saw Stern's truck with a shovel in the bed. On
(14:17):
March ninth, the Star Unit helicopter with infrared surveillance followed
sterns watched him dump material from a bucket into a canal,
then he was detained. Police found shovels, gloves, a tarp,
and other items in his truck. Cadaver dogs were brought in.
A dog named Tito, trained to detect decomposition odor, alerted
(14:37):
on five different spots in the compound, five different locations.
Nancy Howery wasn't buried in one place, she was scattered.
Over the next several days, investigators recovered human remains from
four different locations within the compound, not a body, fragments,
over eight hundred bone fragments, skin fragments ranging from four
(15:00):
to twenty nine centimeters, three pieces of skull bone with
matted hair, skin fragments with fingernails showing red and gold
nail polish, tooth evidence. Doctor Heather Walsh Hainey, forensic anthropologist
from Florida Gulf Coast University, examined the fragments. Extreme fragmentation
pieces ranging from half an inch to three point five
(15:22):
inches consistent with fire damage and thermal exposure. She identified
a semicircular defect with beveling on a skull fragment, a
gunshot exit wound to the right temple area, also blunt
forced trauma to the left side of the victim's head.
All the fragments came from one person, Nancy Howery, confirmed
(15:43):
by a fingerprint lifted from a skin fragment that matched
Nancy's left middle finger. Doctor Matrina Schmidt, Associate medical Examiner,
determined cause of death gunshot wound to the head. Manner
of death homicide. Here's what happened according to the evidence.
Even though the jury never heard Stern's confession, it was
(16:03):
suppressed for Miranda violations. Sterens and Nancy met up after arguing,
he claimed, she asked for a shooting lesson. They went
to the compound. During the lesson, Sterne said Nancy lunged
at his gun. After a struggle, he shot her once
in the head. Then, instead of calling police, Stens carried
her body into the woods and left her. Returned later
(16:25):
and buried her. Returned again, dug her up, transported the
remains to a different part of the compound, doused her
body in lighter fluid, and set it on fire. Days later,
he returned to gather the burned remains into buckets, which
he then scattered across multiple locations. This wasn't panic, This
was methodical destruction of evidence. Multiple trips, multiple locations, fire scattering,
(16:52):
all designed to make Nancy Howery disappear forever. The prosecution
didn't have Stern's confession because it was ruled in admissisle,
so they built their case on digital forensics, cell data
and forensic anthropology, and on Stern's own Internet search. History
agent Jason Hammond from the digital forensics unit testified about
searches on Stern's phone. Searches for violent content on a
(17:16):
livegore dot com woman dies of stab wounds, uncensored videos, murders, executions, suicide's,
terrible accidents, searches related to local crimes, two black teens
found dead at the compound. Searches about blood loss. If
I lose a lot of blood, how long before I
can't put it back into my body? Search is about
(17:37):
hiding evidence. Which materials can hide you from thermal devices?
Amazon searches for tactical torches and butane torches. Those searches
happened after Nancy disappeared. Sterns was researching how to hide
a body from police, how to avoid thermal detection, how
to burn remains effectively. The defense tried to argue suicide
(17:59):
or accident, suggested Nancy might have shot herself. Claimed Sterns
panicked and cremated the body rather than reporting it asked
the jury to ignore the fact that he spent weeks burying,
digging up, burning, and scattering her remains across four locations.
That's not panic, that's cover up. Panic is calling nine
(18:20):
to one one. Panic is leaving the scene. Panic is
not methodically returning multiple times over several weeks to destroy
and scatter evidence. The jury, deliberated for two and a
half hours, found Stern's guilty on all counts, second degree
murder with a firearm, abuse of a dead human body,
and tampering with evidence. He faces up to life in
(18:42):
prison on the murder count, plus up to fifteen years
for abuse of a dead human body and up to
five years for evidence tampering. Sentencing is scheduled for December third.
Nancy Howry was forty four years old, a divorced mother
of two. She ran an Amazon arbitrary business, buying in
bulk and reselling goods. She had friends, she had family,
(19:05):
She had children who needed her. Daniel Stearns shot her
in the head, then spent weeks turning her into eight
hundred bone fragments scattered across four locations. So her family
would never find her. Her children had to wait weeks
before police could even confirm their mother was dead because
Stearns had burned and scattered her so effectively. But forensic
(19:27):
anthropologists pieced together those eight hundred fragments, identified the gunshot wound,
lifted a fingerprint from a skin fragment confirmed it was Nancy,
gave her family answers. Even though Stearns tried to make
her disappear forever. The jury saw through his lies, saw
through the suicide theory, saw through the accident claims. They
(19:48):
saw exactly what happened. Daniel Stearns murdered his girlfriend, then
spent weeks trying to hide what he did. He failed.
Nancy's remains were found, her cause of death was determined,
her killer was convicted, and in December he'll learn exactly
how long he'll spend in prison for turning the woman
(20:09):
he supposedly loved into scattered fragments across a Florida wasteland
that celebrity trials for Wednesday, October eighth, twenty twenty five.
Perry Toll is suing Mark Sanchez and Fox Corporation for
millions after suffering permanent disfigurement, impaired speech, and jaw damage
(20:29):
from a parking space brawl. His attorney says he's hopeful
to work again someday. He's sixty nine years old and
doesn't know if he'll recover enough to continue his job
collecting cooking oil, all because a drunk NFL analyst decided
throwing him toward a dumpster was an appropriate response to
a parking disagreement. Darien Brown got life without parole for
(20:51):
murdering four year old Cash. Journal mental illness explains his actions,
but doesn't excuse them. Cash's father wants Brown to spend
sixty years thinking about what he did. Bianca Ellis is
on trial for randomly stabbing three year old Julian Wood
to death outside a grocery store. The jury must decide
if she's insane or just evil. And Daniel Stearns was
(21:13):
convicted of murdering Nancy Howery, then spending weeks burning her
body and scattering eight hundred bone fragments across four locations.
He tried to make her disappear forever. Forensic anthropologist pieced
her back together. The jury saw through his lies. December third,
he learns how long he'll spend in prison for what
he did. I'm Red Carter. Wednesday proved that violence has consequences.
(21:37):
Whether it's a parking dispute, child murder, or turning your
girlfriend into scattered remains, Eventually you face justice. Sometimes it's
a lawsuit. Sometimes it's life in prison. Sometimes it's both.
Mark Sanchez threw away his career over a parking space.
Darien Brown and Bianca Ellis threw away their freedom killing children.
(21:59):
Daniel stern Earns threw away his life trying to hide
what he did to Nancy Howery. All of them made choices.
All of them face consequences. See you tomorrow with whatever
fresh horrors America produces overnight
Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Wednesday, October eighth,
twenty twenty five. Yesterday we covered Mark Sanchez fighting a
sixty nine year old oil collector over a parking space.
Today we cover the lawsuit Perry Tol, the man Sanchez
(00:23):
threw toward a dumpster before getting stabbed, is suing Sanchez
and Fox Corporation for millions. His speech has been affected,
his jaw is damaged, his face is permanently disfigured, all
because a drunk NFL analyst decided a parking space was
worth fighting over. Darien Brown pleaded guilty to murdering four
(00:44):
year old Cash Journan life in prison. Bianca Ellis goes
on trial for murdering three year old Julian Wood, both
claiming mental illness, both facing life sentences. And in Florida,
Daniel Stearns has been convicted of killing his girlfriend, Nancy Howery,
shooting her in the head during a supposed gun lesson,
then spending weeks burying her, digging her up, burning her body,
(01:06):
and scattering eight hundred bone fragments across four different locations
so nobody would find her. Welcome to Wednesday, where parking
disputes lead to lawsuits. Mental illness doesn't excuse child murder,
and boyfriends turned girlfriends into scattered remains. This is Celebrity Trials.
(01:27):
Quick update on Mark Sanchez, who we covered yesterday for
his Saturday morning parking space brawl in Indianapolis. Perry Toll,
the sixty nine year old truck driver who stabbed Sanchez
in self defense, filed a civil lawsuit Monday. He's suing
both Mark Sanchez personally and Fox Corporation, Sanchez's employer. The
lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and anything
(01:51):
else the court deems appropriate. According to court documents, Toll
has suffered severe, permanent disfigurement, loss of function of other
physical injuries, emotional distress, and other damages as a result
of Sanchez's actions. His attorney, Eric May, told reporters that
Tolly's speech and other functions have been affected by injuries
(02:12):
to his mouth, jaw, and face. Think about that. Perry
Toll was working collecting used cooking oil from hotels and
restaurants at twelve thirty in the morning, making an honest living,
and Mark Sanchez drunk and aggressive threw him toward a
dumpster and beat him badly enough that his speech is
now impaired, his jaw is damaged, his face is permanently disfigured.
(02:35):
May said Toll is back home recovering, but will require
extensive medical care in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Toll has worked his whole life. May said, it's a
heck of a thing to see somebody like that still
working as hard as he was, and he's hopeful to
continue working someday. He's a tough son of a gun,
hopeful to continue working someday. That's what happens when a
(02:57):
professional athlete attacks you. You don't know if you'll be
able to work again. Your face is permanently changed, your
jaw doesn't work right, your speech is impaired, all because
you were in the wrong alley when the wrong drunk
celebrity decided you were parked in the wrong place. The
lawsuit also goes after Fox Corporation the claim Fox knew
(03:18):
or should have known about Sanchez's unfitness as an employee,
propensity for drinking and or harmful conduct, and failed to
supervise him properly. The suit accuses Fox of negligent hiring.
That's a tough legal argument to win. Fox would have
to know Sanchez had a history of getting drunk and
attacking people, and hired him anyway or failed to supervise him.
(03:40):
But it's worth filing because Fox has deeper pockets than Sanchez.
You can get a judgment against Sanchez personally, but can
you collect. Fox Corporation can definitely pay. On the criminal side,
Sanchez posted a three hundred dollars bond after his arrest.
Three hundred dollars that's what it cost to get out
of jail after throwing a senior citizen toward a dumpster
(04:03):
and getting charged with felony battery. He had an initial
hearing scheduled for yesterday, but a judge granted a motion
to waive the hearing. It's been rescheduled for November fifth.
Sanchez still faces one felony battery charge carrying one to
six years in prison, plus three misdemeanors battery resulting in injury,
public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. Marion
(04:28):
County Prosecutor Ryan Mears was right when he said this
was a situation that did not need to occur. We
are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space,
but it did occur, and now Perry Toll has permanent
damage to his face, jaw and speech. Mark Sanchez faces
criminal charges and a civil lawsuit. Fox Corporation is dragged
(04:51):
into litigation over their analysts drunken parking dispute all over
a parking space at twelve thirty in the morning in
downtown indianas Apolis. That's the update. We'll follow both the
criminal case and the civil lawsuit as they proceed. Now
to Dallas, where Darien Brown pleaded guilty Monday to murdering
(05:14):
four year old Cash Jernin. Brown now twenty two, entered
the plea moments before his trial was set to begin
life in prison without parole. May fifteenth, twenty twenty one.
Five am. Home surveillance footage shows an unknown male entering
a bedroom where four year old Cash Jernin and his
twin brother are sleeping. The mail picks Cash up from
(05:35):
his crib. Cash doesn't wake up. The mail carries the
sleeping child out of the house. Nearly two hours later,
seven am, a nine to one one caller reports finding
an unresponsive child lying in a puddle of blood in
the street eight blocks away. The child is dead, brutally
murdered by eleven am. Cash is reported missing. Monica Sherid,
(05:59):
the girl friend of Cash's father, identifies the man in
the surveillance video, Darien Brown. She knew him he'd been
to the house before. Brown's defense team claimed he'd recently
been released from a mental health facility before the murder,
that he suffered from hallucinations, that he was in a
trance like state. In twenty twenty two, a judge found
(06:21):
Brown incompetent to stand trial. He spent over two years
in psychiatric custody. In January twenty twenty five, he was
declared competent Monday morning, moments before trial, Brown pleaded guilty
to first degree felony murder. The charge was reduced from
capital murder in exchange for the plea life without parole.
He'll die in Texas prison. After sentencing, prosecutors read victim
(06:45):
impact statements from Cash's family. Trevor Gernon, Cash's father, wrote
that his son's death has reduced him to a fraction
of his former self, that he would have given his
life to defend Cash, that initially he wanted the death
penalty for Brown, but Cash's death wasn't painless or humane,
so he wanted Brown to live out his life behind
(07:05):
bars instead. That's both mercy and vengeance. Brown doesn't get execution,
he gets decades of waking up knowing he murdered a
four year old child, sixty years of carrying that weight.
Mental illness explains behavior, it doesn't excuse murder. Brown was
competent enough to enter a house, locate a child, remove
(07:28):
him from his crib, and transport him eight blocks. That's
planning an execution, not a trance. Cash Jernin should be
eight years old now third grade, growing up with his
twin brother. Instead, he's dead, murdered at four, his family destroyed.
Because Darien Brown made a choice. Brown has sixty years
(07:49):
to think about that choice. Locked in Texas prison, no parole,
no second chance, just decades of consequences for what he
did to an innocent child. To Cleveland, where opening statements
began Tuesday in the trial of Bianca Ellis, accused of
(08:09):
randomly stabbing three year old Julian Wood to death outside
a grocery store June twenty twenty four. Margo Wood is
shopping with her three year old son Julian at Giant
Eagle in North Olmsted, Ohio. Just Saturday, errands a mom
and her toddler getting groceries. Bianca Ellis, thirty two, goes
to the Volunteers of America thrift store next door and
(08:32):
steals two knives, then walks to Giant Eagle. She spots
Margo pushing Julian in a shopping cart. Margo is returning
to her car. Julian is sitting in the cart, probably
tired from shopping. Ellis runs at them with a knife,
no warning, no words, just runs directly at a woman
and her three year old child. She stabs Julian multiple
(08:53):
times while he sits in the shopping cart, while his
mother stands right there. Margo tries to pull Julian to
safe tries to protect her son. Ellis stabs her too.
Margo survives, Julian doesn't. Three years old, murdered by a
stranger in a grocery store parking lot. Authorities believe Margot
(09:14):
and Julian were randomly targeted. Ellis didn't know them, no connection,
no motive, just saw mother and child and decided to
stab them. Ellis Is pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
In September twenty twenty four, she was giggling in court
during proceedings about the murder. That behavior led a judge
to rule her incompetent. She spent five months in psychiatric treatment.
(09:37):
In February twenty twenty five, she was deemed competent enough
to stand trial. Opening statements began Tuesday. The prosecution laid
out their case. Ellis stole knives, stalked a mother and child,
attacked without provocation, murdered a three year old, and tried
to kill his mother. They argue this wasn't mental illness,
(09:58):
this was evil. The defense are ugues Ellis was so
mentally ill she couldn't understand right from wrong that her
giggling proved her disconnection from reality. That randomly murdering a
three year old proves insanity, because no sane person would
do that. But insanity doesn't mean this was crazy. Insanity
means you didn't understand what you were doing or that
(10:20):
it was wrong. Ellis stole knives before the attack, choose
a weapon, went to a specific location, targeted specific victims,
ran at them with purpose. That's not someone who doesn't
understand reality. That's someone who understands exactly what they're doing
and does it anyway. Julian Wood should be four years
old now, starting pre k making friends, driving his mother
(10:41):
crazy with questions. Instead, he's dead. Margo Wood is traumatized
forever reliving the moment she tried and failed to save
her son. Ellis faces ten felony charges, including murder and
attempted murder if convicted, life in prison. If found not
guilty by an insanity, indefinite commitment to a psychiatric facility.
(11:04):
Either way, she never walks free. The trial continues this
week will cover the verdict when it comes. For now
a jury must decide whether Ellis is mentally ill or
just evil hiding behind mental illness. We'll be right back
with Daniel Stearns and the girlfriend he turned into eight
hundred scattered bone fragments to Florida, where Daniel Lauren Stearns
(11:43):
has been convicted of second degree murder, abuse of a
dead human body, and tampering with evidence for killing his
girlfriend Nancy Howery, then spending weeks trying to make her disappear.
February fifteenth, twenty twenty three, Howery, forty four years old,
divorced mother of two, spent her last morning with her
(12:05):
friend Eana Ramos. They drank coffee together. Nancy talked about
meeting Daniel Stearns, her on and off boyfriend. She face
timed with him repeatedly. The conversations got heated. Around eleven
thirty a m. Nancy left Ramos's house to meet Daniel.
She was last seen alive leaving to meet him at
(12:26):
a CVS parking lot. She never picked up her children
from school that afternoon or the next day. Her ex
husband Todd reported her missing. Police found Nancy's gray twenty
fourteen Honda Odyssey abandoned in Palm Bay. Personal items and
groceries were inside, her driver's license, her bank card, everything
(12:48):
except Nancy. Investigators focused on Daniel Stearns. Todd Howery had
an alibi backed by surveillance footage. Stearns was a thirty
five year old US Army veteran who served an Afghanistan,
trained in combative techniques and Iiketo martial arts, and when
police talked to him on February nineteenth, he lied. Sterens
(13:09):
told police he and Nancy had a falling out and
he hadn't seen her in weeks. He claimed not to
have her number, offered vague suggestions about where she could be,
but flock license plate reader cameras told a different story.
Stern's black Chevrolet Silverado was recorded repeatedly going to a
location called the Compound, an undeveloped twelve point two square
(13:32):
mile area in Palm Bay late at night, multiple trips.
Something was happening out there. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office
and the Game Over Task Force started surveillance on March eighth.
They watched Stern's home around nine fifteen pm. They saw
his truck at the residence early hours of March ninth.
They saw him place an unknown item in the truck bed,
(13:54):
handle a shovel, and move in and out of the
truck several times. At four fifteen am, he left in
the black pickup inside the compound. Agent Tyler Harrel hid
overnight doing surveillance. He heard a loud metallic pinging sound.
Later found freshly disturbed dirt with circular shovel like grind marks.
Saw Stern's truck with a shovel in the bed. On
(14:17):
March ninth, the Star Unit helicopter with infrared surveillance followed
sterns watched him dump material from a bucket into a canal,
then he was detained. Police found shovels, gloves, a tarp,
and other items in his truck. Cadaver dogs were brought in.
A dog named Tito, trained to detect decomposition odor, alerted
(14:37):
on five different spots in the compound, five different locations.
Nancy Howery wasn't buried in one place, she was scattered.
Over the next several days, investigators recovered human remains from
four different locations within the compound, not a body, fragments,
over eight hundred bone fragments, skin fragments ranging from four
(15:00):
to twenty nine centimeters, three pieces of skull bone with
matted hair, skin fragments with fingernails showing red and gold
nail polish, tooth evidence. Doctor Heather Walsh Hainey, forensic anthropologist
from Florida Gulf Coast University, examined the fragments. Extreme fragmentation
pieces ranging from half an inch to three point five
(15:22):
inches consistent with fire damage and thermal exposure. She identified
a semicircular defect with beveling on a skull fragment, a
gunshot exit wound to the right temple area, also blunt
forced trauma to the left side of the victim's head.
All the fragments came from one person, Nancy Howery, confirmed
(15:43):
by a fingerprint lifted from a skin fragment that matched
Nancy's left middle finger. Doctor Matrina Schmidt, Associate medical Examiner,
determined cause of death gunshot wound to the head. Manner
of death homicide. Here's what happened according to the evidence.
Even though the jury never heard Stern's confession, it was
(16:03):
suppressed for Miranda violations. Sterens and Nancy met up after arguing,
he claimed, she asked for a shooting lesson. They went
to the compound. During the lesson, Sterne said Nancy lunged
at his gun. After a struggle, he shot her once
in the head. Then, instead of calling police, Stens carried
her body into the woods and left her. Returned later
(16:25):
and buried her. Returned again, dug her up, transported the
remains to a different part of the compound, doused her
body in lighter fluid, and set it on fire. Days later,
he returned to gather the burned remains into buckets, which
he then scattered across multiple locations. This wasn't panic, This
was methodical destruction of evidence. Multiple trips, multiple locations, fire scattering,
(16:52):
all designed to make Nancy Howery disappear forever. The prosecution
didn't have Stern's confession because it was ruled in admissisle,
so they built their case on digital forensics, cell data
and forensic anthropology, and on Stern's own Internet search. History
agent Jason Hammond from the digital forensics unit testified about
searches on Stern's phone. Searches for violent content on a
(17:16):
livegore dot com woman dies of stab wounds, uncensored videos, murders, executions, suicide's,
terrible accidents, searches related to local crimes, two black teens
found dead at the compound. Searches about blood loss. If
I lose a lot of blood, how long before I
can't put it back into my body? Search is about
(17:37):
hiding evidence. Which materials can hide you from thermal devices?
Amazon searches for tactical torches and butane torches. Those searches
happened after Nancy disappeared. Sterns was researching how to hide
a body from police, how to avoid thermal detection, how
to burn remains effectively. The defense tried to argue suicide
(17:59):
or accident, suggested Nancy might have shot herself. Claimed Sterns
panicked and cremated the body rather than reporting it asked
the jury to ignore the fact that he spent weeks burying,
digging up, burning, and scattering her remains across four locations.
That's not panic, that's cover up. Panic is calling nine
(18:20):
to one one. Panic is leaving the scene. Panic is
not methodically returning multiple times over several weeks to destroy
and scatter evidence. The jury, deliberated for two and a
half hours, found Stern's guilty on all counts, second degree
murder with a firearm, abuse of a dead human body,
and tampering with evidence. He faces up to life in
(18:42):
prison on the murder count, plus up to fifteen years
for abuse of a dead human body and up to
five years for evidence tampering. Sentencing is scheduled for December third.
Nancy Howry was forty four years old, a divorced mother
of two. She ran an Amazon arbitrary business, buying in
bulk and reselling goods. She had friends, she had family,
(19:05):
She had children who needed her. Daniel Stearns shot her
in the head, then spent weeks turning her into eight
hundred bone fragments scattered across four locations. So her family
would never find her. Her children had to wait weeks
before police could even confirm their mother was dead because
Stearns had burned and scattered her so effectively. But forensic
(19:27):
anthropologists pieced together those eight hundred fragments, identified the gunshot wound,
lifted a fingerprint from a skin fragment confirmed it was Nancy,
gave her family answers. Even though Stearns tried to make
her disappear forever. The jury saw through his lies, saw
through the suicide theory, saw through the accident claims. They
(19:48):
saw exactly what happened. Daniel Stearns murdered his girlfriend, then
spent weeks trying to hide what he did. He failed.
Nancy's remains were found, her cause of death was determined,
her killer was convicted, and in December he'll learn exactly
how long he'll spend in prison for turning the woman
(20:09):
he supposedly loved into scattered fragments across a Florida wasteland
that celebrity trials for Wednesday, October eighth, twenty twenty five.
Perry Toll is suing Mark Sanchez and Fox Corporation for
millions after suffering permanent disfigurement, impaired speech, and jaw damage
(20:29):
from a parking space brawl. His attorney says he's hopeful
to work again someday. He's sixty nine years old and
doesn't know if he'll recover enough to continue his job
collecting cooking oil, all because a drunk NFL analyst decided
throwing him toward a dumpster was an appropriate response to
a parking disagreement. Darien Brown got life without parole for
(20:51):
murdering four year old Cash. Journal mental illness explains his actions,
but doesn't excuse them. Cash's father wants Brown to spend
sixty years thinking about what he did. Bianca Ellis is
on trial for randomly stabbing three year old Julian Wood
to death outside a grocery store. The jury must decide
if she's insane or just evil. And Daniel Stearns was
(21:13):
convicted of murdering Nancy Howery, then spending weeks burning her
body and scattering eight hundred bone fragments across four locations.
He tried to make her disappear forever. Forensic anthropologist pieced
her back together. The jury saw through his lies. December third,
he learns how long he'll spend in prison for what
he did. I'm Red Carter. Wednesday proved that violence has consequences.
(21:37):
Whether it's a parking dispute, child murder, or turning your
girlfriend into scattered remains, Eventually you face justice. Sometimes it's
a lawsuit. Sometimes it's life in prison. Sometimes it's both.
Mark Sanchez threw away his career over a parking space.
Darien Brown and Bianca Ellis threw away their freedom killing children.
(21:59):
Daniel stern Earns threw away his life trying to hide
what he did to Nancy Howery. All of them made choices.
All of them face consequences. See you tomorrow with whatever
fresh horrors America produces overnight
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