458: Baby Survives Being Buried Alive, Obsessed Stepdad’s Shrine of Underwear & Incest Dad Walks Free

Time may heal all wounds, but for Crystal Sandleball, there hasn't been nearly time enough. This murder suspect had quite the resume of former NYPD officer, who also served time in the military. We are continuing to look for answers in the murder of ten-year-old Malaysia Alfred, her foster mother accused of killing her. We found little Khoa sharp level months old buried alive, clinging to life. Family, friends, and the Riverdale community gathered outside the building where the attack happened to remember Andrean Cantorini. On south was road in Moira. That's where they found Melissa Pilk, Lorde, dead with multiple gunshots. Hey true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialist Slave. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialist Slave with me, Annie Elise. Happy Thursday, if you are new to the podcast, Thursday means headline highlights where I'm breaking down everything that is going on this week in true crime. Earlier this week on Monday, actually, I released a deep dive on the Sandra Birch more case. Well, not really the case more so the trial and all of the bombshells that came out throughout that, so you can go back and listen if you need more to binge. But if that's a case, I'm sure you're seeing your social media feeds. A lot of people were talking this week too about how early on in the week there was the deadlock note and all of these things. So the purpose of Monday's episode was to really visit and talk through everything that went on in the trial. Which don't worry if you're not that familiar with that case. I did give quite a bit of backstory, but the gist of it is that at 12 years old she joined this explorers program with local law enforcement. And that's a program that young kids join if they're not familiar with. And that's a program that young kids join if they're interested in pursuing law enforcement careers down the road and things like that and starting at just 13 years old, she started being groomed by the head of the program, another police officer that was a part of the program multiple people. And ultimately over the course of nearly a decade was sexually assaulted by men in powerful positions multiple times four years, then ended up getting pregnant was found deceased in her apartment. What was deemed initially self harm then ruled murder and the trial was going on for the cop who was one of the abusers and who initially it was thought that he had been the one who impregnated her and that that's why he had that was the motivation for killing her so that he could silence her come to find out it wasn't even his child. And it's a very messy messy and very disturbing case so I did go into some of the background, but primarily the trial because there were like over 40,000 text messages his own brother who was also having sex with her. And the reason I say having sex rather than sexually assaulting for the brother is because that started when she was legally an adult, but still like these two brothers, it's I could be here for hours talking about it, but anyway my point is that deep dive is available for you right now it released on Monday and there's another deep dive to that we released on Tuesday on my second true crime podcast feed 10 to life that you can go listen to as well. Yeah, so Thursdays it's all about headline highlights what's going on this week there is so much happening that it rages me that I knew I needed to jump on here and talk with you about but starting with a little anecdote of good news first we are doing another Patreon giveaway so round of applause for that. But if you're not already a member in Patreon don't worry there is still time you can join today you can enter just sign up for the official true crime BFF tier or higher head to the giveaway post on Patreon follow the instructions on how to enter and you will be good to go but entries do close tomorrow at 12 p.m. Pacific time. So get it get it while it's hot with that being said I am very very excited for today's guest because she drinks hate a raid just like I do it is my favorite person to hate on people with the young to the end to my Yang of just ripping people a new one and I could think of no better person suited for today's episode when there are so many things that pissed me off that I'm ready to hate on welcome to the sure Amy collette hello. How was that intro I actually love that you know I've been Franklin I couldn't hold my laughter back I know that you're talking to the camera and there she's how are you a Duncan's girl or Starbucks well I'm not a coffee girl but when you get your tea I just start does Duncan have to I think Duncan does have to I'm like a Starbucks refresher girl dragon fruit refresher water not lemonade or a chai tea latte when I'm feeling like wild feeling hot holiday. Yeah I would try to his holiday or is it it's year round but it is you know a more heavy indulgent tree if you will with cream I mean what are the kids drinking these days matcha is how they drink I don't know I tried at once it tasted like dirt and I've never gone back I've gotten I've been trying to get on to like a coffee train for a long time I just don't know that it's ever going to work ever going to make that chap in I don't see it in my future I've had friends make me ones I've had like a Vietnamese split coffee that I heard was really good and I my friend actually did me very dirty because we did it 3 p.m. and I was like up all night and I was like this wasn't even worth it so yeah I don't even know what the original question was. Starbucks Starbucks OK but Duncan has the best donut holes so if you're if you're looking for a donut go to Durgan if you're looking for a curfee go to stir works OK OK so like I said you are my favorite person to talk about things with when I am activated it's a rough week it is a very rough week and I want to start with this because I know when I told you this earlier this week you like couldn't even believe it but the ultra creep disgusting dirt bag Stephen Chavez has officially walked free and for those of you who don't know that name first of all count yourself lucky but basically I've talked about him a few different times here on headline highlights and he is the father in the Michaela settles case so like I said is a case that I've covered quite a bit over the last few months the last update was I think in June or July and that's when Steven Michaela's father was sentenced but very quickly just to refresh your memory in case you are a new listener here 41 year old Steven Chavez had pleaded guilty in May to felony incest and misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to a minor now those charges came after his 18 year old daughter Michaela moved from the Carolinas over to California to after she graduated to start her young adult life in California reconnect with her biological father and literally within being there for just a short period of time he fed her alcohol got her drunk and then brutally sexually assaulted her for four hours back in last July of 2025 and it was such a bad sexual assault as if sexual assault isn't bad enough but it was so brutal and barbaric for four hours that she had to be carried into the emergency room by her uncle because she was so torn from the inside out so after that Michaela went back to her mom's house and left and you know filed a police report they did a sane exam they did all of these things in the hospital but poor Michaela was left struggling with the trauma of what happened to her and was trying to reconcile everything and over the course of just a few months after that had happened she ended up taking her own life that December so Steven was taken into custody after he pled guilty and on June 23rd he was sentenced to only one year in Ventura County jail followed by three years probation and he was also ordered to put put put on the registry for the next 20 years but here's why I was ultra pissed off then and I'm still super pissed off now because Michaela was no longer alive she couldn't testify against her father and he was saying that the whole thing was consensual which I'm sorry but when somebody is has a blood alcohol level that high when she is underage in your serving her alcohol is not consensual period but they didn't feel like the prosecutors didn't feel like they had a strong enough case to bring against him for any sort of like not even murder charges because it was self inflicted but like accessory or anything like that or the sexual assault charges so all he pled guilty to was incest and serving alcohol to a minor that was it which is so in raging because not only of how brutal this assault was against his own freaking daughter but then the fact that she struggled so deeply she took her own life and her family has been so outspoken about it from day one and it is just appalling so then the fact that he pleads guilty he gets this one year sentence which I think you and I Amy had talked about at the time I was like there's no way he's going to even serve a full year it's overpopulated here in California it's unbelievable yeah he's going to be released and sure enough here we are today because now he has been released from jail and he is walking free, which he admitted to what he did to her. And like, but again, he said it was consensual. It's just so frustrating. So like I said, as of Monday, yeah, he was released after spending approximately only five months behind bars, which that sends a message, okay? I was just gonna say what kind of message is that sent? It's that you can, you know, there's so many things that I wanna say here, and I'm gonna get a little vulgar. So I apologize, but that you can rape your own daughter that you can intoxicate a minor, that you can be, you know, commit sexual assault, but also incest, and basically get a slap on the motherfucking wrist. Well, two things that stand out there to me is even if the argument is it's consensual, which it absolutely wasn't, how on earth could you say something's consensual when someone cannot even walk himself into a hospital and they have to be carried in? Number one, and then secondly, the part that it's his daughter, is that not illegal? Unfortunately, incest, I don't believe is illegal. I remember when was it actually, when we first talked about this, I pulled the statute on it. That is crazy. And it's a misdemeanor, or is it a felony? Hold on, let me see, is it a felony? I mean, I guess is it that dependent on age too? I don't know, but that is incest a felony. And I know it's different state to state. So I feel like even consensual sex between a father and daughter, where she's being hand-carried into a hospital because of the state she's in, how can that receive a year sentence? So it is a felony here in California, which yeah, he did plead guilty to felony incest. That's right, and misdemeanor of alcohol to a minor. But states like, let's see, Kansas and some other ones treat it as a level five felony. I don't know, I'm not going to go into all of this. But basically, the maximum is three years in prison, which, I mean, there's your message right there. But that being said, and this is going to gross you out, there have been a lot of cases that I have covered where there is consensual incest between adults. Sometimes it starts because it's grooming, which then the argument is it's not consensual, even if they are an adult because they've been so brainwashed, but there have been cases where they truly find each other in adulthood, and they have an incestual relationship. So that I could see where it's disgusting and crazy, but like something like this, yeah. So I mean, people obviously are outraged at this because, and yeah, I hope you on the registry for 20 years. Okay, fine, but like, what does that do, you know? He's obviously a predator. He had only had contact with her for a short period of time. Literally, I think it was like days, if not less, who's like at our most vulnerable? Trying to just start a new life. And again, this is going to gross you out and probably piss you off his explanation for the injuries and the ER visit is that it was yes, consensual, but it was consensual rough sex. Yeah, but I mean, there's a line, regardless. Right, yeah. And so, I don't know. And yeah, it's, I mean, okay, he's on the registry, which is bare minimum punishment. But that's, if you were to look him up and see that and know he was, he had done that, it doesn't also let you know that she was so upset by this that she took her, like, there's no accountability for that. There's none. And that's, I think why so many people are outraged, especially her family because, as you can imagine, people are livid. The comments have called his release extremely infuriating, disgusting, one person even writing, the justice system failed the victim. Again, always does never enough justice. It's sick. Another person said, I am so outraged at this. I don't even have the words to express it. And honestly, looking through these comments, you can see how much anger there is surrounding this case. And people were already questioning the original sentence. One, you seems like nothing, it was nothing. So now, seeing him released after just five months, it kind of just brings all of that frustration and anger back to the surface. But Michaela's mom is trying to turn all of that outrage into something that could hopefully make a difference. After learning that Stephen was being released, she launched a change.org petition demanding justice for Michaela and changes to sentencing laws surrounding sexual assault. In the petition, she shared that Michaela, quote, felt she had no way out after everything that she had endured at the hands of her biological father. And she went on to call Stephen's punishment, quote, a gross miscarriage of justice, saying that the sentence was an insult to survivors of sexual assault. And she isn't just asking people to be angry about what happened. She's asking them to help make sure that Michaela's story leads to real change. So that another family does not have to go through something like this the way that she's had to go through it. Because to your point, no accountability. So what, now your daughter was wronged in such a horrific personal intimate way. But then your daughter takes her own life and you can't even reconcile that and know that somebody has been held accountable and that there's justice. It's just the vastness of nothing and just the grief. I mean, it's really just so horrific. Like even when you recount it, it's like to wrap your head around that. It's awful. It's awful. And then now that she is doing this, like in being an advocate for her daughter, I mean, wow, what a strong lady. 'Cause I can't even imagine going through that and all the questions you have, you know? Like when your daughter comes, she wants to meet her dad and all of that prep and all the conversations. Then when she returns home and like I just, I can't imagine living with that. No, and I would imagine that there's some level of internal struggle of her mom wondering, and I know that there were, you know, reports of Michaela entering therapy and doing different things. But like, I know for myself, and I'm not speaking for Michaela's mom, but I would internally be struggling with me. Like, did I do enough? Of course. Or did I intervene enough? Should I have watched for more? And it's like, then you're beating yourself up so badly about it and you're a victim. But you're not the monster. Exactly, you are not the monster person is. Who's now walking the streets. Which I'm gonna, I think, make that my new life mission is that everybody knows Steven Vincent Chavez's name and what he did. Maybe I'll make T-shirts with his face on it. Well, when we had this story down, that was his name, and I always know Michaela's name, which 'cause we like to lead with the victim's name, which I like that we do that. But yeah, you're right. We should know his name. Yeah, like he is a monster monster. Which if you guys, like I said, I've covered this for the past few months here and there, but I don't think I've ever done a full deep dive. If you do want the deep dive, although I don't know that you do, because it is again, very highly disturbing. Let me know. And maybe that, I mean, maybe that is a good way to keep her story out there like her mom wants is like doing a dedicated deep dive. That has everything in there, has the change.org petition, has every single thing about him involved in it so that like anytime someone Googles his name for a job application or dating or whatever, that that pops up. Like we can link some SEO to it. Yeah, we can do it. Yeah, that's the move. Okay, so yeah. Let me, let me, yes. What, ruminate on that for a minute? Is that the right word? Well, and where's my fifth source? Yeah, okay. Yeah, we need it, I think too. Like, I just had a thought, what about the uncle who carried her in? Like, was that his brother? And I don't remember that one. I want to say it was her mom's brother, but I don't, I can't, I don't remember. I need to revisit it. It's been a few months. Do the deep dive. Okay, do the deep dive. All right. Well, speaking of monsters. Yes, yes, I know. Well, this next case has been making headlines over the last couple of weeks. And now there's finally been some major developments. It involves 28-year-old Katie Suarez, who is out and about for an evening jog in Brooklyn, New York, when she was randomly attacked and stabbed in the neck. And sadly, Katie didn't survive and after nearly a week of searching for whoever was responsible for this, police have now arrested a suspect. But the details that keep coming out of this investigation get more and more disturbing, which I know we say often, but this one is wild. Katie was an avid runner and on Friday, October 30th, she had just finished her shift at TD Bank when she changed into her running clothes and headed out for a run, which she did often. In fact, she was preparing for the New York City marathon, which was coming up. She was supposed to meet up with her family that evening and around 8 p.m., she called her dad to let him know she was just about a half mile away. And for Katie, that half mile would take just about five minutes. So when those five minutes passed and she never showed up and stopped answering her phone, her parents got very worried and they started looking for her. Her dad eventually found her about 20 minutes later on the Shore Parkway Greenway bike path with stab wounds to her neck. Just, and I was reading that and just imagining, imagine as your father, you hear that every time you go, you leave your parents say, like, be safe. See you soon and like your worst nightmare comes true. And then you go looking and you find her. And she was only five minutes away. I like so close to home. I know, I can't even imagine that. I know. So Katie was rushed to the hospital and she was placed on life support. But unfortunately, her injuries were too severe and she died just three days later on Monday, November 2nd. That was just the day after the marathon. Yeah, she was out running, I think, two days before the marathon, like just getting in like, what do they call it? I forget what you hear calls it. You're not your shakeout run. But like something like that, yeah, just prepping about, yeah. So now, initially police had very little to go on because Katie still had her cell phone and her jewelry. So robbery did not seem to be emotive. And investigators believe that this was most likely just a random attack. But the main problem was that there wasn't any surveillance cameras directly covered. covering the area where she was found. So police brought in search teams, canine units and drones and even started looking at data from license plate readers, which had captured roughly 1700 vehicles passing through the area around the time of the stabbing. They were hoping to identify drivers who may have had dashed cam footage that could help and maybe captured some of that information or somebody or something that could lead them to who did this. Meanwhile, Katie's mom was making her own plea for someone to come forward. Just days after losing her daughter, she was pleading for anyone who knew anything to come forward and speak up to help get justice for Katie. She also shared that she had always worn Katie to be careful while she went running. Like we said earlier, I'm sure every parent says that to their kids, whether they live with them or not. It's like be careful, we love you. But Katie would reassure her that she was gonna be just fine telling her mom nothing's gonna happen to me, ma. I'll be fine. So obviously you could imagine to her mom, those words are super heartbreaking now. And this is a reminder to me too, 'cause it's like, how often do we just leave the pepper spray? - Right. - You know, fine. - God these days, even if you have your keys, your pepper spray, your air tag, whatever it is, it's happening in broad daylight while women are out running. It's scary. - It's scary. - But then on Saturday, November 7th, more than a week after Katie was attacked, there was a break in the case. Police announced that they had arrested 27 year old Sayed Mohasib. He was charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. But then the question was how did police connect him to Katie's murder? Well, after initially struggling to find evidence because there was no surveillance cameras where the attack actually did happen, investigators did eventually uncover other surveillance footage that allegedly showed Sayed in the area nearby before the attack and then running away afterward. And when police questioned him, he reportedly did admit that he had gone to that path carrying a knife. He claimed that he had blacked out and later woke up on a bench covered in blood. He denied stabbing anyone but said he believed he had to go there or people were going to kill his family. Investigators said that that surveillance footage showed him returning home and about 15 minutes later coming back outside in his underwear to dump bags of garbage. And according to the criminal complaint, he admitted throwing away his bloody clothes and the knife in those bags. But as investigators dug further into his background, they found that there had been some concerning incidents involving him before. And this is where things get extremely frustrating and crazy to hear that there had been all of this stuff that had happened before. He had previously worked before as a rookie NYPD officer before resigning in December 2022 and also briefly served in the military but was reportedly discharged following mental health concerns. According to law enforcement sources, he was then later taken to a psychiatric ward after showing some "unusual behavior" when he went back to reapply to get his police job back. Then in 2024, his mother and sister reportedly told police that he had threatened to "chop them up" and he was found not far away and was taken to a hospital. So all of these things obviously very concerning. - Yeah. - And seemingly went unaddressed or not to a point where there was corrective behavior. It does seem like there's some sort of mental health aspect at play but the fact that he also says he didn't stab anyone but he remembers, like he doesn't remember anything, he blacked out, was covered in blood. Yet he does remember that he had to go to the park because otherwise somebody was gonna hurt his family then he goes home and quickly changes. It's like, oh, so you have selective memory? Like, you know, it just seems a little too convenient but I don't pretend to be an expert on mental health. So I don't know. - I know. - There's what's really concerning. At the time of Katie's killing, he was working as a paraprofessional at Brooklyn Elementary School where authorities say he continued showing up and working around children even after the attack. - Oh God. - But obviously after finding out about this, the Department of Education has since moved to terminate his employment. But I also wanna talk about Katie because we like to make sure that we're highlighting the victim in all of this and not just focusing on these disgusting monsters because there's obviously so much more to her life than this horrific ending, this poor girl, just getting off work, going for her run, getting ready for the marathon. She was originally from El Salvador, graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in television and radio and had been working at TD Bank since 2021. She also loved running and had participated in many previous races. And even after her death, Katie has helped save lives. She was a registered organ donor and five of her organs were donated, saving four people. Her mom said she wants people to remember Katie for her smile and for the person she was. She said she just wanted to run. And this is really shaken the community as you can imagine. People who have used that same path for years are now afraid to go back, especially women to go for a run there. One neighbor pointed out that Katie was someone so many people knew and that tomorrow it could be someone else in their neighborhood. - I mean, that is a real fear. It's again, it's happening so frequently and it's so common now that, again, even in broad daylight, it's crazy. - I know. - And it's like you can take all the right precautions and measures to protect yourself and be safe. Tell a friend where you're going, tell the friend when you're going to be back. Have your tracking on, use your Strava. Do this, do that, have the pepper spray. But sometimes it doesn't matter because these guys are like just creeping on the trail or on the path or wherever it is. And they can blitz attack you in a way to where, who knows how you're going to react in that moment too? Maybe you're going to freeze, but like they catch you when in a moment where you're unprepared. - Well, I think that's what's so scary is, you know, you take precautions of thinking there might be that like stereotypical creep out there that's like hiding in the bush or like, so you go to places where there are other people around. Maybe it's in daylight, you take those measures but then you have something like this which could have just been this split. Like friends eat it in or unplanned. And so it's like, you can't plan for that. They're not planning for that. And then what's the solve there? I mean, you can't live in fear. She's talking to her parents. I'll be there in five minutes. - I know. - I mean, it's just so sad. - I forget which serial killer it was, but there was something I was watching the other day. And I can't remember who was like an interview with him on my TikTok feed. Maybe it was, I don't remember where I saw this, but he was basically, he's a convicted serial killer and he was saying that the way that he would scout his victims would be on walking trails or hiking trails in the National Forest or wherever he was and that he had a dog with him and that he would go up almost as like a friendly person of like, hi, and like they'd go and pet their dog towards not even to your point, the creep hiding in the bush who jumps out, but it's somebody who is befriending you and like has this cover story built around them to where they disarm you a bit and then that's when they attack you. So it's like, again, you could take all the precautionary measures you want and unfortunately, it still isn't enough sometimes and you just really don't know. 'Cause I mean, part of the nice thing of walking or running in your neighborhood is like running by, like they said, the community knew her and I'm sure it did shake the community 'cause you know the city in like New York during that time, that weekend is so energetic so it would have lost one of its own runners. - I know. - It's horrible. That's why I don't run, honestly. That's one more reason why I probably will never start running. Okay, this next case is really disturbing and when I first heard about it and read the headline, I had to like go back and double check that I was reading this right because I was like, there's no way this possible. Kind of almost gave me Susan Powell vibes in a weird turned around way which you'll understand if you're familiar with that case as we go, but it involves a woman whose daughter says that she had been trying to get help for years before her mother ultimately was murdered and now she's coming forward with some pretty horrific allegations about her mother's ex-husband and what she says had been going on behind closed doors for years. So on October 27th, 50-year-old Melissa Pellklor was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds inside her home in upstate New York and pretty quickly the police began looking at her ex-husband, 50-year-old Norman Jr., who lived in Michigan. Now Norman was eventually located pretty far away, about 200 miles away from Melissa's home and he was driving his pickup truck through another part of New York and when police had tried to pull him over, he just like took off, booked it, leading them on this chase that ended when deputies had to end up using spike strips to stop his truck which kind of feels like it's out of a movie where it's like this high-speed chase and then they roll out the strips across the road and they drive over it and you know, flat tires, all the things. Even after his truck went off the road, Norman refused to get out of the vehicle and not knowing what kind of weapons he might have had or what he was capable of doing, the police brought in an armored vehicle but when they finally approached his truck, they discovered that he had shot himself. Now first, this appeared to be a murder, self-harm type of situation involving a woman and her ex-husband. Unfortunately, a case we see far too often. If I can't have you, no one can, they kill the partner and then take their own life. However, Melissa's daughter Alison started speaking out about what she said had been happening in the years leading up to her mother's death and some of what she's alleging is absolutely horrific. It is creepy, disgusting, gross, foul, all the different adjectives. So Alison has accused Norman of sexually assaulting her, stalking her and repeatedly violating a protection order that she had against him. she says that his behavior had gotten so obsessive with her that she eventually felt like she needed to move away from him just to be safe. And I guess at one point, Allison was so concerned about what Norman might be doing when she wasn't around that she actually installed cameras to try to catch him doing whatever he was doing. And since then, she has shared some of those clips on Facebook, some of that footage. And in one of the clips, you can see a man who she identifies as Norman wandering around her bedroom like a creep completely unaware that he is being recorded. And what's even more disturbing is what she says she found out he had been doing with her personal things while he was in her bedroom. In another clip, Allison showed this very rundown storage closet where her underwear had been scattered all around, along with what she described as "inappropriate items and liquids." And apparently that closet had also previously been filled with like around 100 guns. But Allison says that Norman cleared all of them out so that he could then put her things in there instead to build this shrine of Allison where he would go, I would argue, beat off to her underwear as her like stepped at. It is so sick. She also alleged that on one occasion, he took her underwear with a dirty sanitary pad, still in them, and put it in his pocket, which for any of my male listeners, sanitary pad is a period pad. I literally have chills. It's disgusting. So he takes her underwear that has her period pad in it and puts it in his pocket with like, what a creep and I know I'm going to get so gross right now. Don't take a bite of your food, anybody who's listening. When I have covered cases like this in the past, not only when it comes to underwear but when it comes to period items being saved, it's because they like smelling it. No. I know it is so freaking disgusting. Now, Allison obviously said that the shrine really freaked her out and that she and Melissa actually went to the sheriff's office to report what was happening and to report the sexual assault, but she felt like nobody was taking her seriously. And at one point, she says that she even asked an officer, are we going to wait until I'm actually dead? Like why are we not doing anything? Which that is so heartbreaking to hear, especially knowing what ended up happening to her mom. Like this guy was clearly a violent creep. And this wasn't a situation where there was no documented history of problems. Allison, like I said, had been granted a personal protection order against Norman back in 2024. And he was also arrested in April of 2025 for violating the protection order. But Allison says that the violations continued. In fact, just weeks before her mom was killed, Allison filed another affidavit alleging that Norman had contacted both her and her mom in a group message despite the protection order. And here's where the timing of all of this gets really suspicious. Norman was supposed to be in court in Michigan on October 28th to address the allegations of these violations. But Melissa was murdered the day before on October 27th, just one day before the hearing, which again, how many times have we heard about that? Whether it's a custody hearing, a murder or hearing, an assault, DV hearing, that the witness who's set to testify against him and bring evidence somehow disappears or is killed right before that hearing can happen. And remember, Norman lived in Michigan. So he allegedly drove more than 700 miles to get to Melissa's home in New York. Now, we don't know if that upcoming hearing had anything to do with his decision to go there. I'd argue it probably did. But there have of course been questions about whether he was trying to prevent Melissa from speaking out about what happened. Authorities have not confirmed a concrete motive, but I mean, the timing, hello. It's pretty concerning. And what so sad is that Melissa had really been trying to move on with her life. Allison says that her mom was afraid of Norman and that she had moved to New York to put some distance between the two of them. She also had just returned from a trip to Las Vegas where she had been celebrating Allison's 30th birthday. Since Melissa's death, Allison has been sharing memories of her mom, including one post where she wrote, "I keep expecting her to walk through the front door like she's just been out running errands, ready to do something spontaneous like she always did." She also talked about how many people have reached out with stories about Melissa, including memories that she and her brother had never even heard before, and how much it means to her just to see how many lives her mom truly did touch. Which is just awful to think about all of this, that Allison and her mom had been asking for help for such a long time, again, doing the right things, documenting things, taking all these precautionary measures, trying to avoid something like this from happening. But now Allison is left grieving her mother because nobody listened or took it seriously enough or took action on it. And you have this creep who, in a cowardly way, self-deleted basically, and he'll never be held accountable. I was just gonna, I'm so sick and tired of hearing these stories where it's like they did everything right, like why does it have to get to that point? And who hears that this man has this shine and isn't like, we need to dig into this deeper? Right. And allegations of outright sexual assault, not just like voyeurism or creepy behavior, not that that shouldn't be enough, but like allegations of actual sexual assault and like a protection order, you know, it just, it blows my mind and it makes me sick. So while I'm glad he is no longer here to pray on anybody else, I am upset that they're not gonna get the justice in the sense of like the trial accountability, throwing his ass under the jail and like having that peace of mind. I mean, what a creep to the like ultimate degree. I don't know if you are familiar with Susan Powell, but it reminded me very much of that because the dad remember with video tape, yeah, he would videotape her like hug her closely and like made her feel so uncomfortable and I think he did take her underwear, didn't he? If I'm remembering correctly, it's like, guys, ew, but there's also such a weird, a huge market like on OF for that where women sell their dirty and they're like, there are guys who like that is their kid, but you're like daughter-in-law or your stepdaughter, it's just like you're freak, you're freak, you're a freak, not to King Shane, but use a freak. Yeah, oh, okay, this next case is another one that's really disturbing and brings us back to New York. I know a lot of New York cases this week. I know. Sorry, New Yorkers. And a lot of cases involving fathers. I know I am happy that we're taking a break from Florida, but sorry, New York. New York. This week we're coming for you. Yes. So the details of this one are really devastating. It involves a 37 year old mother who is dead, her boyfriend's dead and her father says he spent 14 minutes on the phone listening to his daughter beg for his life while he desperately tried to convince the man holding her at gunpoint to let her go. Andrea Cantorini was a nurse and mom who was fatally shot inside of her Bronx apartment on Tuesday, November 3rd, and her boyfriend, 38 year old Juan Cornelio Diaz, who worked at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer at JFK Airport, also died at the scene in what authorities are saying was an apparent murder self-harm. Now Andrea's father, retired NYPD officer Rudy Cantorini, is speaking out about what happened that night. And some of the things he has shared are really, really difficult to hear. Rudy was on the phone with Andrea when she died, and he said the call started when Andrea called him around 847 PM, screaming that Juan had a gun pointed at her head. So again, I can't even imagine as a parent receiving that phone call. And being on the phone like, oh my god, it gives me a pit in my soul. I know. I do not even believe, like, I imagine that. She told him he's gonna kill me and he's got a gun to my head. And for the next 14 minutes, Rudy says he was on the phone begging Juan to let his daughter go while he held a gun to Andrea's head the entire time. He remembered pleading with Juan, saying, please do not do not kill her Juan. It's not too late one. Just let her go. For 14 minutes, I'm sure that felt like an eternity. Oh my god. And as a retired NYPD, you're just going through all the, like, what am I supposed to be doing, but this is now you're in the shoes as the father. And probably wondering, like, when are the cops going to arrive? Like somebody, like, like trying to talk them off the ledge, but praying, like that somebody else arrives to intervene like, I don't even know if they've called 911, that they called them. Oh, maybe not me. The phone line was tied up. Oh my god. So it's just like, yeah, do I get off the phone and like, you know this person, so you're trying to rationalize with them. I can't even imagine. But Juan didn't listen and then Rudy heard a gunshot. And according to Rudy, after he shot Andrea, Juan got back on the phone and said she's gone Rudy. Juan then shot himself. But there is actually another incident earlier that day that Rudy says he learned about only afterward and it gives him a alarming context to what happened that night. According to Rudy, Andrea and Juan had gotten into an argument that morning and at some point, Juan allegedly shot Andrea inside a room while waving a gun at her. All while her young daughter was just outside the room screaming and crying, Andrea eventually managed to get away. And before heading to work, she drove to her parents house to drop off her little girl. But once some of Andrea's friends and family learned what had happened that morning, they were worried about her going back home, obviously. Her mother begged her not to go back to the apartment and two of her closest friends at work also told her to stay away. But when Andrea finished her shift that evening, she headed back to the apartment, apparently believing Juan was out working. According to Rudy, Juan was actually inside and he was waiting for her. He described it as an ambush, saying Juan got Andrea into the bedroom and wouldn't let her leave. And that's when she called her dad. Can you even imagine? I mean, the one silver lining in all of this is the daughter, daughter away. Yeah. And because not only for her to have witnessed it, but if he would have killed her as well, which there's no doubt in my mind, he probably would have. Or he wouldn't have cared that she witnessed. Right. I mean, he obviously wasn't thinking about anyone but himself. Rudy said that Andrea just wanted to end the relationship, but one could not accept it. He also said that he wasn't aware of any mental health issues involving one before this all happened and that he wishes he'd known about that gun incident in the morning while it was happening because then he would have called the police. And as for Rudy, there's another layer to all of this. As we said, he's a retired police officer who seen situations play out this time and time again over his career, but this time it was his own daughter, which I'm sure hit much, much differently. He said, "I've seen this so many times, you know, in the police department, but now I'm on the other end." He described Andrea as a beautiful person inside and out, a wonderful mother, and someone who was incredibly close to her family. And when he talked about those 14 minutes on the phone, he said there's something he'll never, ever be able to get out of his head. Those 14 minutes just keep repeating over and over again in my head. He said, "I have to live with this the rest of my life." I will never understand. Well, I do understand. I shouldn't say that. Why these guys don't just take their own life and end it there. And I get it because they want the other person to suffer too. And like, it's a matter of control, but it's like, God. And for these girls, even if you think he's working or not, nothing's worth going back to a situation, especially when someone has pulled a gun on you. They're a ticking time bomb. You can't risk it. Nothing's worth it. Even don't even bother bringing a person back, like call the police. Have a police escort. The police will walk in the house first, check it all out. I mean, it's never worth it, even if you feel like I just want to grab my stuff or I want to do this, yeah, because you never know. If somebody is motivated to hurt you, they will find a way, no matter what. And I have all of a said, like, when people start acting out in public or in front of people like children or someone's family and they start fighting, you know it's way worse behind closed doors, and they don't give a shit. No. And they don't see the consequence at that point. They're just seeing their own selfish feelings. Okay. So now we need to talk about a case that is actually breaking right now. And I want to warn you, it is incredibly disturbing. I don't even know how to wrap my head around this. And just realizing that there are such evil people in the world. But in 11 month old baby was buried alive, not only buried alive as if that's not bad enough, but buried in a dog crate in the woods. And this 11 month old baby, he survived for about 24 hours underground. And in a very heartbreaking detail, although thank God he survived. The thing that saved him was the sound of his own crying. Someone heard as they were searching for this baby heard his crying beneath the earth surface down below, buried and covered in a towel. And it just blows my mind. Now his name is Koisharp. He is 11 months old. He weighs about 20 pounds. He has reddish hair. And on Tuesday afternoon of this week on November 10th in Lexington County, South Carolina, deputies dug him out of a shallow grave. Now like I said, this is one of those cases where the ending is truly a miracle. But everything leading up to it is a nightmare. And there still is a lot that we don't know because it is breaking. But I knew I needed to include it in today's episode. You've been tagging me. I've seen it myself. And it's just something that I am following very closely. But here's what we know. Koa was staying with his grandmother, his father's mother. And I guess she took care of him a lot. So that's who he was with on Monday morning, November 9th. His father, 25 year old Michael had come over to the house that morning. Michael had said that he was keeping Koa for the week, although that is disputed, which I'll get into. But at some point, his mother who was watching Koa left the house to go run an errand. Another caregiver though was supposed to come by. However, by the time that caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koa was gone with him. So deputies went to the home of Michael's father around noon on Monday looking for Koa. And I guess the doors were wide open and Koa's belongings were still inside the house. And there was, you know, they were trying to figure out what was going on. But there was no sign of Michael and no sign of the baby. So a family member reported Koa missing around three o'clock that afternoon. And that's when the search started, which I have to say, they picked this search up and they went full force immediately, which obviously, I mean, you have a missing 11 month old boy, right? By the sheriff's count, nearly 100 police officers, firefighters, and other officials were out looking for this little boy. Now, one thing that people have asked about is why there was no amber alert during the search. However, the sheriff had said that Michael did not have a car. He had been getting rides from different people all day on Monday and using different transportation services. So investigators didn't have a vehicle description. Therefore, they didn't have a license plate either. And that's what the state alert criteria required. But then on Monday night during the search around 10 30 p.m., deputies found Michael hiding inside a shed, a shed, though, that did not belong to him. So he was arrested on a burglary charge. But get this, Coa was not with him. And the sheriff said that Michael gave them very little information about where his son was. So all they could do was keep searching all night and all into Tuesday. And on Tuesday afternoon, around 130 p.m., searchers went back to an area that was near Michael's father's house. And about 50 yards into the woods, they found a patch of freshly disturbed dirt. So when they saw that, they started digging. And as they were digging, that is when they heard him. They heard baby Coa crying. Once they dug the ground open, what they found was horrifying. It was a wire dog crate about two feet by two feet. It had been wrapped in a towel and then buried in a shallow hole with at least a foot of dirt on top of it trying to conceal it. And inside that crate was Coa, alive, crying, and screaming. The sheriff said, quote, he was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world. I would guess the sheriff said that the towel that was wrapped around the crate probably had created an air pocket and that that is most likely what kept baby Coa alive. He also said that the cool weather may have helped, which when I first heard that, I had so many thoughts going through my head. Imagine if there was no towel. Imagine if this crate was just placed in the dirt, we know a foot of dirt was thrown on top of it. And imagine that all of that dirt, you know how a crate looks. It's like a grid. And so imagine that that, and I'm assuming it's a grid one. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's a fully plastic and sealed one. I haven't been able to verify exactly. I've seen different reporting. But imagine all of the wood getting inside of it and suffocating the baby. It's just it's an awful thing to think about. So Coa was rushed to a hospital on Tuesday afternoon and luckily doctors indicated that he is expected to make a full recovery. However, as I started researching, which there is still so much more information to come out, but there is a backstory here. And the backstory matters because it tells us more about how this happened. So Coa's mom's name is Desiree Sharp and she has been posting publicly ever since Coa went missing. And according to her, she never had agreed to Michael keeping Coa for a week. She says that Michael and his family had told her that they were keeping him. And apparently they didn't even ask her, which I don't know the inner workings of how all of that went down. But when she found out like that they were keeping him or something or they said that they were keeping him, she demanded him back right away. I'm assuming that maybe the mother was the Michael's mother, the grandmother was watching him, but then they said they're keeping him. And she's like, uh, no, that's not happening. Give him back to me. I don't know. Again, still a lot of details working out. But she says that when she demanded that they bring him back right away, they promised that he would be home that morning. But he was not. Now, according to Desiree, the two of them are not married. He does not have custody. But she says that he gets very angry. He yells a lot and he threatens to take her to court. But she says that until he actually does it, he will not get custody. So that's her side of it. That's what she has said publicly. Although it has not been confirmed by law enforcement or by a court at the time of this recording. However, it is her account and it is out there. And then there's one more thing that she has said. She said that two days before Coa went missing, Michael texted her about a quote dumpster baby. Now she says at first she thought that he meant her own pregnancy, which I still don't really fully understand. But now she thinks that he was talking about a real baby. And while Coa was still missing, she was I guess asking people near stores and near dumpsters to listen and look out for him. Again, that's her account. That's what she says. He texted her. It has not been confirmed by the police. But if that's true, it means that he may have been talking about abandoning a baby two days before Coa disappeared. And here's what we know about Michael from the record. At least at the time of this recording, I know more information is coming out rapidly. But at the time of this recording, court records show that he had been placed on probation just over a month earlier after pleading guilty to aggravated beach of peace. Records also show arrests earlier this year involving domestic disputes and violence and a weapons related charge. And the sheriff even acknowledged that there had been previous incidents involving Michael and Desiree, referencing recent domestic dispute-related cases and court proceedings, but here is what's not on record yet. There has been no motive announced. Nobody has said why this happened at the time of this recording. And this is also very important. As of right now, and I know I keep saying the time of this recording, but it's because things are changing very quickly, but as of right now, as I'm recording this, Michael is in custody on a burglary charge. That's the charge from the shed that he was found in on Monday night, but as of now, no one has been charged in connection with the burial itself. And while it would be easy for me to sit here and tell you he buried his own son, there has not been an arrest all at what I can do it, and all I can tell you is what the authorities have said. They say that Michael took him on Monday morning. They say that baby coa was found buried in a dog crate near his grandfather's house on Tuesday afternoon, and they say that his father is in custody and prosecutors are deciding what charges come next, which hopefully at the time this episode is released, we have more information, charges have come. And if so, you know, I will give you an update on that either on my Instagram, which is at underscore Annie Elise or true crime with Annie, I have to or of course, in next week's headline highlights. But as of right now, that's where this case stands. But there are still of course a lot of questions. What happened in those 24 hours when he was missing and what drove whoever, I mean, I think we all know who, but like what resulted in baby coa being buried in the ground in a dog crate alive and what charges are going to be filed. So I'm going to keep following it. And when there are more charges and when there is a motive and more updates, I will absolutely come back for now, though, coa is alive. That is the part that matters the most and oh my gosh, I am just so thankful for that. And you know what? It's awful as it is to think of how long he was crying while buried alive. The fact that he is so young and will have no recollection of any of this is such a huge blessing in my mind. I'm sure there are certain things. His body from the crying and all of that will go through absolutely. There is a trauma that I'm sure is deeply embedded after something like that, but at least the memory of all of that, at least he won't have that. I mean, oh God, I don't even know. I am beside myself with this case. It is horrible. Well, this next case, I've seen all over my feed, but for some reason, I feel like it's not getting enough attention, which enrages me because when you really hear about what happened, it's very heartbreaking. It's difficult, but there's a lot of serious questions about what happened here and how it happened. And we're talking about 10 year old Malaysia offered Malaysia had been living with a foster family in West Philadelphia. And according to her aunt, her foster mother said that she had last seen her walking alone toward the bus stop on the morning of October 26th. However, Malaysia never made it to school that day. So police immediately started searching the neighborhood, questioning neighbors, reviewing rain cam footage, surveillance footage, trying to figure out like was this little girl abducted, had something happen. She's 10 years old. I can't imagine she would have just wandered off like they brought in canine units everything. But when there was still no sign of her by November 3rd, which was gosh, what is that a week later, the FBI joined the search. They started going door to door asking neighbors for any footage they might have. And if there was anything suspicious that maybe they had noticed, just trying to figure out like, okay, it's been a week now. This 10 year old girl vanished. She never made it to school, you know, the last time she was seen was going toward the bus stop that morning. What happened here? But here's where things start getting strange. Many members said that her foster mother had called her aunt and claimed that she had gone back to live with her biological mother, except her biological mother didn't have custody of her and she wasn't with her. So now there were obviously some major questions about what had actually happened to her. And as investigators continued digging and going through their investigation, trying to figure out what happened here, they eventually uncovered something that completely changed the direction of this case. Because on November 4th, Malaysia's body was found inside the trunk of a car about 20 miles away. The car was at an apartment complex in Linden, Wold, New Jersey. An autopsy determined that little 10 year old Malaysia died from blunt force trauma. The very next day, her foster mother, 36 year old Caprice Williams, was arrested and charged with her murder. The same foster mother who said she saw her walking to the bus stop. The same one who said, oh no, she went to go live with her biological mother, just making up all of these lies. And the details that investigators have released about what they believe actually happened and what the truth here is, it's absolutely horrific. According to prosecutors, surveillance footage from the early morning hours of October 26th showed somebody removing what appeared to be a body from Caprice's house and that the body was in some type of bag. Investigators believe that of course that body belonged to 10 year old Malaysia and that whoever carried her out took it to a second location where they then moved the body into the car where it was eventually found. And interestingly, prosecutors said that the person who allegedly moved her body out of the home was not her foster mother, Caprice. Although they haven't publicly identified at the time of this recording, who it was, other than saying it was one of Caprice's family members. So something happening inside the home, a cover up then, of course, happening after the fact and trying to cover their tracks. But what allegedly happened to little Malaysia before her death is even more heartbreaking. Because investigators said that they found indications of, quote, repeated physical abuse. A police report was released earlier this week, which included witness statements alleging that she had been beaten with a phone cord, thrown down the stairs, and sometimes deprived of food for up to a week. They also described punishments like making her stand in a corner overnight, enforcing her to repeatedly walk up and down the stairs while wearing a heavyweighted vest. And as if all of that wasn't bad enough, investigators believe that her foster mother, Caprice, actually tried to cover up what happened by pretending to be 10 year old Malaysia. According to the police report, Caprice allegedly used her young 10 year old foster daughter's phone to send herself text messages, making it look like she had gone off with her biological family and didn't want to be adopted. One of those messages was allegedly sent on October 26 at 3.23 pm the day that she went missing. And it said, Mommy, I know you are waiting for me to come home, but my family. They don't want me to be adopted. And I just wish we can all be together. I love you and blank so much. And you all have been the best family to me, but I just really want to see how it feels. Please don't be mad. I'm sorry, Mommy. So sorry, I love you, Mommy, which this message is diabolical to me in so many ways. Not only the fact that you are pretending to be your 10 year old foster daughter, and as a foster parent, people generally should, oh, and I'm not going to say do should only foster because they want to give these children a better life than the one that they currently are experiencing, which I know that that's not always the case because a lot of people foster for the money from the government and for selfish reasons. The Turpin family is a great example or not the Turpin family, the, yeah, the Turpin family when they were then fostered by people who continued to sexually assault the children after they were rescued. And like, so I know people have all these nefarious motives. But the fact that she's also in this text message, trying to make herself look as though she's this amazing mother so much so that Malaysia is being like, I love you, Mommy, you've been the best mommy all these things, it's so fucking twisted. Investigators say after sending this message to herself, Caprice then texted her phone back saying she wasn't mad, but that Malaysia needed to come home. So investigators believe that she was essentially having this big conversation with herself using the phone of this little girl who was already dead. And there's another part of this case that is also raising some pretty serious concerns and questions. Caprice had previously been involved in a separate foster care case involving allegations of severe abuse against another child, a child who was hospitalized back in 2021 with a traumatic brain injury and also severe malnutrition. A lawsuit alleges that officials had actually recommended that she should never be allowed to foster another child again. So how did she get her grimy little hands on Malaysia? I don't know, she had a successfully appealed those findings. So because of that, her record ended up being expunged, which allowed her free reign to foster another child. Do the exact same cycle of abuse and starvation because that's what it is, right? And just continuing to do it. Not because she loves children, not because she cares about children, but because she wants the paycheck that is attached to that child's head. And she's so inconvenienced by them that she treats them so horrifically. So now investigators are gathering records from Philadelphia's Department of Human Services about malicious placement, including what kind of supervision was taking place. And officials have declined to say whether case workers had recently visited the home or not. But I mean, 10 year old Malaysia, like, it is just so sad to think of this. And like, she's already been ripped away from her biological mother's care for whatever reasons. I don't know the specifics. I mean, conflicting reporting, but now being subjected to this kind of torture and horrific abuse by someone who was supposed to be looking after you and caring for you. So for now, Caprice is facing multiple charges, including murder, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. And she was luckily denied bail. However, there are, of course, still some very big questions about not only how how this woman was allowed to foster another child, but could anything have been done to prevent what happened? Were there sight visits? Who was this other person who carried this body in a bag outside of the home? Was it Caprice who actually is the one who inflicted the blunt force trauma or was it somebody else in the family and Caprice is covering it up? But she also was getting the murder charge for her participation or her involvement. Like so many questions and that's again, why I wanted to talk about this because I feel like it's not being talked about enough. Like, it's just enraging. First, yeah, I have a lot of things to say, but it always boggles my mind that people can hurt kids and torture them that way. Like how are you born with that in you to be able to do that? I can't even stomach watching a kid cry, let alone, you're like starving them and hurting them. When you chose to foster this kid, which I understand it's for the paycheck, but yeah. There's a lot of other things you can do for a paycheck. But they just want to be lazy. I remember that I'm not going to name him on here, but one of my ex-boyfriends when I was, gosh, late teens, early 20s, he had a foster parent and we went over to that house one time. And there were so many kids there and it was an inland empire. And I remember just being like, even not really being exposed to all of this in the world yet and still being like, you know, a young adult, but like relatively not even the sense of knowing what people's motivations are. I remember looking around and thinking, oh, I understand what's going on here. It's for the money, especially knowing, you know, his background and his story and things like that. And I just remember being like, to them, it's an easy paycheck. They just collect them. They don't care for the kids. So for them, it's not a job. They don't have to do anything. If anything, they're just like punishing them because they are getting in their way of their lifestyle or whatever they want to do. It's horrible. I guess neglect is one thing, but like abuse, which neglect is a form of abuse, but actually physical. Yes. And the star of a child, I mean, that's just in, it's inhumane that I can't wrap my head around it and this poor little girl. And the fact that it could have been prevented again, infuriated. I know the other child who had a traumatic brain injury, like, and then she was able to appeal it and get her record expunged. It's like, it kind of reminds me of a manual horror, the case that I've been not too long ago about it within the last year and a half. And that situation, Gabriel Fernandez, which also was an inland empire case as well. And don't even get me started because I think, well, actually, I'm not going to get into all of that about like the death sentence and all whatever. But like all these kids who are just hurt by either their biological parents or their foster parents and all of these things and like so much so that there's brain injuries to them because it is like repeated abuse. It's just awful and heartbreaking. - I really am. - So hopefully we learn more and figure out what the involvement was of this other person, what really happened and throw them straight under the prison, straight under the prison. All right, guys, that is it for headline highlights. Don't forget, there are two deep jobs you can go listen to right now on this feed and the tend to light feed. Both of course are on my YouTube channel, Annie Elise. And as a reminder, I haven't mentioned it for a little bit. I know sometimes if you are listening to this or watching this on YouTube, you hear the mutes, the sensors, all those things. It's because YouTube is getting very strict with what is allowed to be shared, even if it's legal terms or medical terminology, which I think is like so fucking ass backwards. But if you ever want these cases fully uncensored and unfiltered, you can get the video version either on Patreon where there's also no ads at all or you can listen to the audio version on the podcast feed which is completely uncensored and also you can opt in for no ads there as well if you listen on Apple. So there are versions where you don't get the censorship and you don't get the ads if you want them. That those versions they are available. Until the next one, thank you for listening. Be nice, don't kill people, be careful, New Yorkers. - Yes. - And stay safe. - Bye.