Teen Vanishes After Meeting Up with Girl From School

This is Officer speaking to Santo and Miramar PD. Yeah. What's going on? My son has been missing since Sunday, and I put out a missing report. Dwight's reported missing on October 18th, 2021. That is when a missing adult case starts. And he's only been missing as far as they know for a couple of hours. A teenager goes missing, and it is a race against time to find him. You want to protect your voice? I do, but I don't want to go to jail, so I'm using it. But as investigators are closing in on the truth of what happened here, they come upon a devastating scene. There's a bunch of brothers over there. Hi. [INAUDIBLE] He's going everywhere. The two girls, they were just standing there, but they weren't moving much. And then the guy was moving around the fire, just throwing more gasoline. Do you know how much true [BLEEP] crime I watched? You can't get away with nothing. There's Kim. Jesus, there's Kim was everywhere. [MUSIC PLAYING] Miramar, Florida. It's a sleepy suburb of Miami lies between the everglades in the Atlantic coast. This is more of an immigrant community where people who have come to the United States for a better life raise their children and are sending their children to the local high school, hoping that they will make it to college and get better jobs. And the American dream lives in Miramar for a lack of a better term. But that dream of a better life for Madeline and Emil turns into every parent's worst nightmare. Her 18-year-old son, Dwight DJ Grant, is missing. And every second that he is not standing there with her feels like an eternity. OK, I'm going to-- I'm on my way to the office right now, OK? OK, man. Officers immediately ask friends and neighbors about Dwight Grant to find out where he might have gone. He's a good kid. He's a good kid. He's a good kid because he's a great kid. He goes out, he has a plan, he goes out with his friends. He calls literally all of us all the time to let us know. Mike, what's up? Are you all right? OK. All right. In the morning at night, with your OK. Dwight Grant lived in Miramar with his mom, Madeline and Emil. And he split time with his dad, Dwight Grant, senior. Dwight Grant is a high school student. He's a great student. And there's no reason why he would just suddenly up in banish. That's OK? Yes. She's going flowers. And the mother told me that she'd been looking for her. So, what do you mean? She went to hospital's team. He's not there. Miss Emil takes it into her own hands and starts trying to do everything she can to figure out where her son is. Because he was 18, there was no kind of amber alert. But he was reported missing as an adult. And his family began printing up flyers with his picture on it and doing the hard work of trying to discover what had become of him. They go out searching far and wide for him, but they can't find him anywhere. Now, before police became involved, Dwight's mother is essentially investigating her own son's disappearance. And she discovers something that is chilling. I just looked at the camera for the office and I saw two people hurt in my son. Miss Emil, she was able to access with staff from the community, the video footage that covered the outside area that was just to the east of her apartment and the stairwell. She described seeing two individuals. She thought they were men fighting with her son. I cannot even begin to fathom the pain that the mother felt at that moment where she visually bore witness to this recording of her son being attacked. There's a certain amount of hopelessness that sets in. But there's also something else that's very key here that occurs with families. There's a certain level of anger. Have you ever seen her son around? There are good people like you don't know this is about a once, you know what I mean? The tenants that give you trouble, I don't know what they give you. Let you know, okay. So these are the people that don't bother anybody. So this is what they live. After reviewing the surveillance footage, a Miramar police officer does a foot search for any sign of Dwight. Officer, Demaso Espirito Santo goes to the location. They go to this stairwell. There's a door and a door is right over there. Okay. He's going everywhere. There's blood that's been cleaned up but poorly. There's broken bushes. There are questions as to what's happened at this location. Oh, my goodness. That's a lot more. It looks like a footprint. The officers start establishing a crime scene. The one piece that's missing is still this child. The child is not there. The child is somewhere else. This is initially going to be your primary scene. Hold on. Do you want me to get on a proper rescue? You want me to get on a proper rescue? There you are. Okay. We're in up to make sure. Oh, my God. They start putting up the crime scene tape and they aren't expecting to see the body and they almost stumble across it because it was hidden behind some bushes just steps away from Dwight's mother's front door. Oh, my God. This almost looks like a classic what we refer to as a dumping. When they actually lifted his sweater, they noticed that he had what appeared to be establishing to his chest and further examination revealed that he had even a larger injury to his neck that was consistent with an edged weapon as well. The three main injuries, there are three stab wounds. There's one to the back right of the neck, one to the torso and one to the abdomen. While officers are securing this crime scene, members of Dwight's family are coming out of the apartment to see what's going on. Can you go back inside for me, please? Please. Just give us a few minutes and we'll come in and talk to you. Just go back inside. Can you go back inside, please? Don't. Just do as I ask. Please. In a few minutes, an officer will come talk to you, go back inside. As a mother myself, I found it torturous to watch and listen to the body camp footage of DJ's mother not finding out that he was deceased but that a body has been found. It was so close to the apartment complex that she must have known in that moment what was awaiting her. Can you guys just stay inside for me, please? Just let us do the investigation. The police, I think, are fairly short with her because all they know here is that they have a crime scene. Their allegiance is decedent here. They want justice for him. You need to be in the moment that is an underman to scene. You need to get the rest of the police department there, you need to cut everything off, you need to get up the tape, you need to start a crime scene log. This is a crime scene now so we need you to go back inside, okay? It's important that you confirm the ID though because who's to say it couldn't be somebody else and so for the investigators, they have to make sure that this body is in fact DJ. There's no identification of the body at that point. They have a strong suspicion that it's Dwight Grant. It seems and appears to look like him. But it's not until the medical examiner's office responds and they take a photo of the body and they show it to Dwight Grant Senior who's able to positively identify that as his son. Can you guys go back in your apartment for me please? The medical examiner determined multiple sharp force and blunt force injuries as the cause of death and the manner as homicide. It was absolutely apparent that DJ had blood out from those wounds. Those wounds were the cause of death. This was a homicide. There's also some blunt force injuries that are consistent that Dwight was fighting for his life. It makes no sense. Dwight DJ Grant was kind, smart, he was described as an old soul who could have wanted to kill him. Good morning, Mayor Mark, Dante Felix here, and I'll be introducing you the very wonders of Mayor Mark High, all the things that make it enticing, interesting, and all around. It's a fun place to be around. white was a sweet Funny, young kid. He had just turned 18 in September of 2021. He enjoyed Roblox video games. He loved anything to do with computers. Everybody that met Dwight was changed for the positive by him. He was described as kind, funny, always nice to be around. He never caused trouble. - Come where you lost, Dwight. Dwight's body provides investigators with some clues. The stab wounds make one thing very clear. This was personal. - Let's just talk about beating in and of itself. Particularly when you're talking about striking somebody over and over and over and over again, that's flesh on flesh contact. And that's the most intimate that it can possibly be. You couple that with what I believe is probably the most violent way to die as far as a homicide goes. And that is sharp force injuries. Because it is incumbent upon the person that's wielding the blade to drive this blade into the body. What investigators have to do now is go back and talk to anybody within Dwight's intimate circle. The big question has to be asked, who hates Dwight this much? - Nobody noticed all that run under the stairs? - How it is right now? - Yeah. - Yeah, that is a good run out. - So at this point, law enforcement is trying to recover and preserve any evidence that is there. DNA, fingerprints, shoe prints, and find any witnesses that might have any information. We are now two days post the incident occurring. So law enforcement has to make sure they are taking all steps as quickly as possible to preserve any digital evidence, any other video or surveillance. - We know one angle of the attack on Dwight already exists, but investigators have to gather all of the surveillance footage from the apartment complex from the day that Dwight was murdered. - The surveillance footage shows first a female, not wearing any sort of mask or anything to disguise herself, and she has two very distinct blonde locks, who then meets with Dwight and goes into the staircase just outside of his apartment. Then there's also two other individuals that are masked, covered from head to toe, that are waiting in the stairwell. Those individuals actually pull Dwight back into the stairwell when he almost ran and got away. Then you see those two individuals coming in and out of the stairwell for the next about 20 to 30 minutes, and you see the blonde individual acting as a lookout. And then eventually the surveillance footage shows Dwight's body being carried out, dumped over the railing, and then dragged out of camera view. - At this point in time, the police understand that not only do they have a spot of violence, they've got three unknown potential perpetrators, all dressed in black, that have kind of vanished into the ether. The first thread that you want to pull in the investigation is who is this mystery woman? Because when Dwight enters the stairwell, he's literally giving this individual a piggyback ride. It infers intimacy, doesn't it? So upon further examination, this young lady has a blonde streak in her otherwise very dark black hair, and that kind of makes her stand out. - Dwight's mother tells investigators everything she knows, and that includes one detail from the surveillance footage that she picked up on. - I saw two people hurt in my son and there's a girl that went to his school. She was the last person who saw him, and she was here too. - Ms. Emil went on her cell phone carrier because Dwight's phone was missing, and so she starts looking at every phone number that has contacted him right before he goes missing. From that, she gets a hold of Christy Peresian, and she actually speaks to her and finds out that that's the last person that saw Dwight. Christy was a good student. She was in an imperial fashion club. Once Christy is identified, law enforcement first goes and makes contact with her to see what they can find out, what she knew if she knew the two individuals that are on scene. - While detectives interview Christy Peresian at the police station, there's another team of detectives that then go to speak with Christy's mom. - Remember our police department? How you doing, ma'am? - I'm waiting for my sister to go by the air who happened. - You mind talking to us? - I have a detective once here. - I know. - Hi, how you doing? - When the police show up at Christy's home, you can tell that she doesn't know what's going on, and she's trying literally to leave the apartment to go to the police station. - Who happened? - I still speak to you over here for a second. - Oh, look. Right now there's an investigation. And I guess it's your daughter? - Yeah, that's my daughter. - Your daughter, her name came up. So, what we're gonna have to do is, we're gonna have to keep you out of the house for now. - Me? - Yes. - Nothing has to do with you for the first time. But we have to keep everybody out of the apartment. - There's nobody else inside right now? - No. - Okay. So, we have detectives that are gonna get a search warrant. - They're waiting for a warrant, because they know that Christy's involved at this point in time. Now, they do allow her to retrieve her phone. (chattering) - Christy wants to let her mother know where she is and what's going on. So, she leaves a very flippant message to her mother saying she's going to be at the police station. - There is something that is so chillingly nonchalant about the way that she states what is occurring to her. The tone of her voice is just shocking. You would think that a homicide occurring is a salient event in a young adult's life. And for her, it was a Tuesday. - Nat the Miramar Police Department, investigators are questioning 17-year-old Christy Parisian about the day that Dwight Grant was murdered. And one thing to keep in mind, is she refers to him by his nickname Dante. - If you can just, I guess, fill me in. So, I don't, so basically I went over there to Dante's house. I met two other boys, cat, colorals, ale, ale, I was like, "Hello, hi, I have my name, I'm Christy, and I've been on this table for Ryan, blah, blah, blah." So, you met these two guys as you were walking from your house to Dwight's house. They were like, "Adle, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The name "Ajra Clemens" comes up for the very first time. The police knew at that moment that that's somebody that they knew to speak with. Christy describes Andre Clemens as her boyfriend that she's trying to make jealous. Andre Clemens was one of the drum majors at the Miramar high band. He played the trombone. He was described as a gifted musician. He had a lot of friends, was very popular, had a lot of girlfriends as well. You have already made up your mind that you were going to cheat on Andre. You were meeting with Dwight Selaik, so got up with him, right? I don't know if I'm going to cheat or remember, because I found out he didn't know me. Who did he cheat on you with? Somebody from school? I don't even know him, hope not. Oh, you don't even know who he cheated on me. I found out he was cheating on me, because I read his message. I would think this would be girlfriend, and I am a director. Please. Look, we've both been there. Unless I'm like a really pissed-up girlfriend right now, don't mind me. I'm going to worry about it. Christy says that she's going over to see Dwight, because she's upset at her boyfriend, Andre Clements, who has cheated on her. And so she is going to cheat on him to get back at Andre. Could you describe them? They were wearing black masks, and they were wearing claddies. Christy Prision tells detectives that she met these two African-American men as she was walking over to Dwight's house. There was two guys, where they called me and said, "I was there on 18-19 months." It was two of you guys. Nobody recognized like from school. Ever seen them before? They came downstairs, and they said, "You **** my girl, blah blah blah." "What **** is you?" They said that to Dwight. And who were they saying it's their girl? They just said, "Where's Andre Clements?" So then they were arguing, and then what happened? They were arguing, "You **** my girl, blah blah blah." You shut going away, and then they grabbed him. These acts are just hot at that point. My background just turned completely away. I did not want to hear anything, not want to say anything. They did not want to be a complete witness, the entire thing. Christy says that they start getting into a fight with Dwight, and that she just turns around and doesn't look. We're doing a whole like 15-20 minutes standing right there. Like that. and not wanting to see anything that's going on. - But you could hear the-- - I could hear the movement, I could hear the pow pow pow moving on. I turned back once a while, and I said stop it, it's not going to shut up. - Christy then goes on to reveal something, even more puzzling to investigators. - I hear the night. - It went night, and it was the night. They're with me. Come on, girl, why are you holding back on me? - It went night. - But why didn't you tell us that before? - I couldn't know the screen. - I'm sorry. So, they beat a Dante. They handed it in a night, you went to the corner, then they threw him over the railing, then you handed them the night. - To call that an unbelievable statement is not to do it justice, you would have to believe that she's making out with somebody. They're attacked by people in all black. He stabbed, he's bleeding, he's on the ground, but instead of calling for help, she said, "Here's your knife, it defies all comprehension that you would hand somebody who was just murdered, somebody you were making out with." Oh, yeah, then, here's your knife. - That's a big tell here for the investigators. They know that she's not fleeing, even though I think any rational person that had witnessed the level of violence that would have been witnessed on that stairwell, would have tried to create as much distance between themselves and these perpetrators as possible. Anything would happen in this case. Come on, man, stop lying. Stop lying. - That's it, like, honestly, like you're going around the circles and you're seeing one thing and seeing like that, and you should go back and forth. - I'm here to kind of like help you and all that, but you sound like my son when he's telling me your story. - She makes up these two individuals, and she says she thinks they live at building B in the same apartment complex that she lived in. And what Ms. Peresian didn't know is Detective Interioran was a participant in the officer next door program. So at the time of this incident, Detective Interioran lived in building B, and so he knew there were no such individuals that fit that description that lived in his building. - When pressed further by the detectives, Christy says that after this incident with the two hooded figures, she meets up with two friends that she just happened to run into and they walk out of the apartment complex together. - On the way back, you came with Andre and Jasmine, and you guys went to your apartment first, so you guys went to add Jasmine. - Jasmine's apartment first, but then we got something, and then we went outside and they went and burned on the floor so they burned both by the lake. - Jasmine Smith comes up because Christy Peresian gives her name as well. So Jasmine's a little bit younger than Andre and Christy. She's 16 at the time. - Jasmine is also in the marching band at Miramar. She is close with Andre. She sees him as a brother, a mentor, someone that she can learn from. - Burned all the clothes by the lake. Why would they, what clothes would they burn? - Baby clothes. - Baby clothes? Why would they burn it? - We're like, we're trying to make somebody look sad. I don't know my phone, so. - It continues on with, she was depressed about this murder and the other two decided to give her a bonfire to cheer her up. - At this point, law enforcement is already aware that Christy, Andre Clements and Jasmine Smith were together the evening of the homicide because there's the report that was called into security about a bonfire where they were lighting things on fire behind Jasmine Smith's apartment. - The two girls, they were just standing there but they weren't moving much. The chubby girl chooses like moving back and forth but like standing at the same spot and moving a little bit. - Did you recognize any of them? - No. - 'Cause it was pretty far, but seeing them on the news, they're like, they're faces. That's when I can remember. - Yes, they were the same one. - Yes, you saw it by night. - Yes. - Okay. - So, detectives question Christy further about this bonfire. - Who's close to the-- - Alex, they're close. - Andre's and Jasmine's. Okay. So Andre, did he have the clothes with him? - No. - It was his own clothes and the clothes he was wearing. Okay, so he took off it and what did he put on? Was he just naked then? - No, he had a separate pair. - He had a separate pair of clothes. Okay. So he took off his clothes and he burned it out of the lake. - Yeah, they took them on the fighting somewhere and they had enough blood housing. - Christy Peresian is confronted with some of the surveillance footage and she identifies herself in that footage. However, she still denies that the individuals that are pictured alongside of her are Andre Clements and Jasmine Smith. She goes so far in the interview as to say things like I asked Andre and Jasmine if they had anything to do with it and she says they had nothing. - Investigators end the interview, but before Christy leaves, they ask if they can take a look at her phone. - Christy gives them her passcode to her phone and allows law enforcement to do a forensic download of all the data on her phone. - It's borne out that she's not necessarily as innocent as she may have led on because they start to search her text messages and they find a text message that she received from her boyfriend, Andre, that said murder is gonna happen soon. (gentle music) - Police also get this tip from a concerned citizen about this suspicious text chain among teenagers at Miramar High School. - I'm seeing on the news that they found a body over by Sherman Circle and they keep showing the picture of the kid that goes to Miramar High saying they can't guarantee that 10 basically, but on my (beep) all the texts are coming through that there's people from school there and they know it's him. - Okay. Did he speak to a detective or anything like that? - No, I haven't spoke to anybody. I just came here because (beep) he's telling me that she had got these texts from this girl. Yesterday, she said it was the most traumatizing day or like when she seen him yesterday, which would have been Sunday. And I'm not saying she did anything, but I'm all saying, I can't come here. Not show you either because she's saying I'm not people, she's killed and she's in the gang. - Now the big question for investigators, are these text messages just, you know, loose talk among teenagers? Who are they connected to the murder of Dwight Graham? - There's a lot of text messages between Andre and Christie that kind of make you raise your eyebrows. For example, they talk about Bonnie and Clyde syndrome. Someone who is romantically interested and someone who commits murder, they talk about stabbing people to death weeks before this homicide occurs. At one point, Christie writes a comment about what color she's going to get for a pedicure. So that it will be red to match the blood when they stab someone to death. - Now while the text speak to premeditation, investigators still don't know exactly what happened on the day that Dwight was murdered. So they turn their attention to 16 year old Jazzlin Smith, the friend that was with Christie and Andre at the bonfire where they burn their clothes. - When Longforce Smith goes out and makes contact with Jazzlin Smith, she's home. She's with both of her parents and she speaks to Longforce Smith on her front porch with her mother. Jazzlin's father is bedridden and unable to leave the apartment. - Andre told me that somebody had pissed him off. That somebody was with somebody else's girl or something. They had to do with some best to check. And he was upset that he needed to back up for a fight to be able to just come fight. - Eventually, it starts coming out that Andre had an ex-girlfriend and that this ex-girlfriend had somehow hooked up with DJ and that Andre needed to do something to DJ about it. - He told me to dress up in all black and follow me. - Andre? - Yes. - Okay. - I wanna do that, you know what I mean? And one of us, they went and Christie was there. Christie had to do something with what I know. And Andre told me that someone had a stare. Stay here and just look intimidated to scare him. And then we're rushing down the stairs 'cause he got scared and Andre said grab him. And we're both chugging him into the corner of the stairway. We pushed him in and we were fighting. - Jazzlin Smith tells Longforce Smith, she doesn't think that any murder is going to happen. - Jazzlin is told that they are going to have a complete change of clothes and then be prepared to get rid of all of the clothes that they used and burn them after. - Andre was talking to him and I was just, he said this is the fight and then they were the weapon. I was told to hold it. - Jazzlin thinks that any weapons that are brought are just there for intimidation. She doesn't think anyone is actually going to get hurt. - Andre took the weapon and they were tussling and he's only holding down the blade and he. - He heard him. - What's wrong? - He heard him. He heard him say that that the details you tell him, you know him. Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine. Now, Jasmine's mom is clearly upset by what she's hearing, but she decides to come back and give her daughter some motherly advice. Do you know how much two [bleep] cry I watch? There's Kim. Oh, my God. There's Kim was everywhere. She's not wrong because in this particular case, they actually have videography of her daughter, along with this perpetrator, Andre, and along with Christie. Emerging from that stairwell on videotape, they can place them there at that specific location when Dwight's life was taken. This isn't stupid. [bleep] Stupid. Okay, some girl. [bleep] What adds even more to the senselessness of all of this is that all of this violence appears to be over Andre's ex-girlfriend, not even over his current girlfriend, Christie Peresian. Yes. It is stopped. No, no. I mean, for you to keep talking. It stopped. And it was over and everything stopped. I was trying to just attend it and forget that it didn't happen. I already knew that it's something like this is going to happen. I already knew the cops. I'm going to show it to them later. And I said, "Are you starting to compare?" Am I going to go for the word mom? If they say me, "Way, mom?" [sighs] Because by everything I've already said, I'm going to come with it and I know this. I'm sorry. I can't, I can't. I can't. I can't. I just. [sighs] [laughs] Jasm Smith is then interviewed by detectives in the back of the squad car with her mother present. I'd like for you to kind of tell me, step by step on how everything occurred. We had walked up to stairs. We had walked through the front gates of the complex. As immediately when we got in there, we had walked over to where the stairwell was. And while he and the time needed to move this way to avoid a camera or to avoid being seen. And then he got a signal from Chrissy to walk downstairs. He walked downstairs and he. he told me to hold the weapon. He had approached the boy and Chrissy had moved back and walked the camera business. And who was the first one to say something to the boy? Okay. Andre, and do you remember exactly what it was that he said? No, but I do remember him saying, "I'm pretty sure you know I'm here and exactly who I am." So we're not going to sit here and pretend that you don't know any rhythm. I would be here or who I am. Okay, when is the boy standing back down? He says, "You, you're Andre's voice and then Andre had also taken off his mask." The boy tried to make a run for it. I ran and I helped Andre to tackle him. I've got him onto the ground. We're just holding him down. I'm telling him to calm down, calm down. We just want to talk. Had him into a corner. Because he came back down with a weapon and gave it back to me and I'm just standing there holding it, using it as a phone interrogation. Andre is talking to him, saying everything he has to get off his chest, and saying, "Come on, now he is." And then he perceived to say, "You know what I have to do, right? That I have to hurt you. That I have to get you back from what you did." And the boy is like, "You don't have to do this. I will bother you. I won't say nothing. I haven't seen you guys. I won't say anything." Nothing. DJ, I, for all intents and purposes, pleads for his life, says, "You don't need to do this." There's an out there. This is classic premeditation because they went there with the instruments to commit the crime. And then there was a pause before committing the crime. He was just standing there and he was playing what he was meant. And the boy tried to run again to Andre punched him. And he had him right there, right where he wanted him. And then Andre had continued his little rap, where his speech was going to go. And then he explained to the boy that he was going to kill him. Jazzlin lays out what happens to Dwight Grant, very matter-of-factly. She doesn't seem to show any emotion or have any remorse for what's happened at this point. Andre asked for the weapon after explaining to him that he was going to kill the other boy. And I just handed it to him. I'm not about this, but I'm like, okay, maybe you're joking. And he had taken a weapon and he had pushed the other boy to the corner. And he was begging not to get hurt. Andre told me to come here and help him. Like, okay. And I'm just holding him. And then Andre received a rapidly puncher. And then after a while, Chris, he said there's a lot of cars here. There's a lot of people watching. He just kicked out. We heard him. So like, Andre, you know what you got to do? Just heard him. We got to tell him. Andre was looking at me, and he said the weapon is his. And the other boy he has, the weapon just like waving it, just like trying to not get hurt. And then he had another smaller weapon, and he took that out. And he. I have him right here. Where is it right here? On the back side of the neck? Like side. On the right side? Right side of the neck. Jocelyn Smith gives a very accurate description of where the injuries are on Dwight's body. You had said that the weapon he used the. Andre was using. He used it to stab the boy. I'm assuming it's a knife, then, he had. It was a knife and then there was a new weapon and a sword. A longer weapon? A sword. A sword. So it was a small knife and then the long sword. There were apparently two weapons at the scene. She does confirm that there was a smaller knife, that she knew that Andre used to stab Dwight with. The boy he was just like, "You're going to kill me." "Just choke me out." And then, because he kept going in and out, he was like, "Help me out." And then, and Andre stabbed him again. Jocelyn Smith describes that Dwight Grant begged for them to end his life, to just do it to kill him already, because he was in so much pain. He still wasn't dead, and he was coming in and out. So Andre looked at him and he was like, "It's hold him." And I held down his one arm and one leg. And Andre had taken the car just like that. Just. Okay. Jocelyn was very consistent in both of her interviews, which is something that can tell investigators that's what actually happened. She's not making things up. She's not trying to remember a story. She's consistently saying the same thing over and over. She states that Andre took the sword and he drove it into Dwight's chest. And, of course, that eventually leads to Dwight's death. None of the trio showed any mercy, particularly Andre. Andre was holding him by the mouth and the nose and had a hand over his chest and where he is. And I would hold him, like, quite a down and then he slowly just died. Law enforcement was able to identify via Amazon purchase records, a snake eye tactical weapon set that Andre Clements has purchased. Law enforcement was first made aware of this weapon set because an anonymous teacher submitted a photo of this large black and red knife. And three smaller dagger-type knives that Andre Clements had taken a picture and sent to another student. So that's how law enforcement knew what type of weapon was a possible murder weapon in this case. He had told me to get Chrissy and get clean supplies. And at this time, we both had not eaten. We both were exhausted, so he's, like, pushing it back here. To the bushes and just even there. Oh, figure out what to do with him at a different time. And I'm just saying, okay, because prior to this, he had told me that this went to the first person he had ever killed. On October 23rd, 2021, less than one week after Dwight Grant's body was found, Christi Peresian and Jazzle and Smith are arrested for his murder. Jazzle and Christi start talking about the fact that they're going to go to juvenile detention, that they're going to have to wear uniforms, that they think that they're going to get some sort of probationary sentence based on their involvement in this. I also talk about where's Dre, why isn't he been picked up, they make comments about well if they picked us up with a police car they're going to send a whole SWAT team after him. Law enforcement tried to take Andre Clements into custody the same night they did Jazzle and Smith and Christi Peresian. They were not able to do so, Mr. Clements turned himself in to the Miramar Police Department the next day. Mr. Clements, Serenders, he asks to speak to an attorney, he doesn't give a statement at that time, he is taken to a holding cell and he asks when he will get a psychiatric evaluation. Now that Christi has officially been arrested and is in custody, investigators need to interview her second time. I can tell you that some of the things that you told us on Tuesday, we know for a fact to not be true. Right now I think the best thing for you to do is to be honest, be upfront, let's talk about the 11th of this month. So that Monday, you shot me off home and you found out that his ex-cofering was missing. Who's he? Andre Clements. He's Andre Clements. He's very much in custody. I understand. I do, but I don't know what it is now, so I'm going to put you in the dig to make right. You're sitting here and talking to us because of him, but you want to detect him. Christi did express some sort of fear and almost paranoia about Andre knowing that she was the one that spoke. Andre and I were talking about how a f*** with a girl I was in school, and Andre, they just talked about it. So I was talking about him in the car and he was like, "I know that f*** has holes with a guy, and I'm like, yeah, first of all, he was like, yeah, I know that don't take him on those holes." I was like, "I know that, but I'm a little bit of a complication." He was in a room already, he was in a social media room, and he was in a room around the school. And I don't know how I was able to talk to him for a second or a while, but I was like, "Merryard, what's your happen?" So you know the messages, you read my phone, you know, I just just didn't understand. I didn't think you meant that actually, I'm worried about it. Some of these text messages that occurred prior to the homicide really took away the argument of, "Oh, I just thought we were going to beat him up," because it's very difficult to take a text like murder is going to happen soon, as I didn't mean it like that, especially once somebody is actually murdered. I mean, you know, fighting and being in him offers something, a classic, high school, you know, boy, boy, I missed what you're going to miss with my girl, it's kind of fighting, but I didn't know it was going to be like actual murder. So you know, I saw a message, I put it, so yeah, I'll help, I think of the actual murder. When Christie is downplaying what the plan was for the murder of the white grant, she was doing that to minimize her own involvement, as well as to try and protect Andre, because at the time when everybody is arrested, they're still dating. She is still in love with him, from the 5,000-some odd messages they exchanged from just October 1st to October 19th. She is head over heels for Andre. After that, he was just like, so, how am I going to do this or what? Christie actually relates to the police that there was a plan in place. Apparently prompted by Andre, she was told to, in effect, seduce, Dwight, compel him to enter the stairwell. Christie is then going to wait a couple of minutes and there was some sort of pre-arranged signal where Andre and Jasmine would then come down and confront Dwight. It's not only for the God's sake, it's not in Andre's decades, it's not for his, he has not been, he has not been behind, and they come down. Christie was the bait, he sends his own girlfriend out to be bait. For this homicide and then he and Jasmine come upon them later and attack. He pulls out the big red and black knight, which he found out by now. The big red and black sword knight they got from Amazon. I didn't know what was in front of him, killing and putting an actual staggy stab device into the blade at multiple times. Did you see who actually stabbed, don't they? Okay, several times. Several times? You know one thing you start to wonder when you're seeing all these interviews is, did Christie have a moment where she thought she could intervene and stop what was happening? And detectives are curious about that too. At no point did you feel like, you know, maybe it should come out or maybe it should do something about this. At that point when some of them are familiar and they're studying someone else, you don't even need to be involved in any other life. You know, but at that point I'm just scared. Like we're frozen. It's like we actually do this. And she's studying something. And even after everything, not only the murder itself, but being arrested and charged for it, Christie doesn't seem to appreciate the seriousness of the situation she's in. Once we're done with all the paperwork and all that, then we're going to take YouTube. It's a patient for a lot of them. It's called the juvenile assessment center, which is the jail for juveniles. I don't have the answer for that, right? Because I don't work with them, but I think it's going to be for a little while. Just be honest. I don't think it's down here. Not enough time to read, prevent a murder now. The other thing of life was taken. And you had your hand in that. This is nothing. It is burglary or stole some candy shop listed. Life was taken with the highest crime you could possibly connect. But we can't touch him. It's not what you're very best. Investigators find even more text messages. This time between 17-year-old Andre Clemens and his ex-girlfriend. Andre's ex-girlfriend. She had brought up the fact that Andre had told her he was going to murder the victim. She had confronted him and said, "You weren't serious about that. Were you?" And he just said, "We're not going to talk about that." With all the suspects now in custody, investigators can now do a more thorough examination of all the communications between the trio. The text messages were a treasure trove of evidence. They showed that Andre Clemens had premeditation more than a week before this crime occurred. He had decided that this was going to happen on the Sunday. had to happen before homecoming. He and Christy Peresian went back and forth coming up with ways to figure out exactly where Dwight Grant lived. Christy Peresian also sent messages indicating that she had a family birthday party that she had to go to, but she was going to do whatever she needed to, fake crying, fake some sort of emergency to not attend the family birthday party. - While these messages are important and age-old evidence, investigators still need physical evidence to tie these three suspects to the murder of Dwight Grant. - From the messages, we know there's a missing necklace. Andre Clements and Christy Peresian had matching gold heart necklaces that they wore as part of their relationship. Detectives, they eventually locate the necklace, the charm that was missing from Andre Clements at the site where the bonfire, the burn site occurred behind Jazzlin's apartment. The DNA results that come back also show Jazzlin's DNA on part of a rubber latex glove that was found. - Search warts are executed at both Christy and Jazzlin's homes and there, investigators find even more evidence. - At Christy Peresian's house, they'd find the boots that Christy was wearing. Subsequent DNA testing of those boots would show that Dwight Grant's blood was found on them. They also find the very distinct orange and pink purse that Christy Peresian brought to the crime scene that contained the items that she was using to help clean up after the homicide occurred. - Between the statements from Christy and Jazzlin, the surveillance footage, the phone data, the DNA evidence, investigators now have a solid theory as to what happened the night Dwight was murdered. - Dwight fought and tried to escape that was pulled back in. He was held down. He was told he was going to be killed. He was hit. He was stabbed three times. He was muffled. The statements from the witnesses that were there, Christy Peresian and Jazzlin Smith both put the sword in Andre Clements' hands when Dwight was killed. - For the killing of Dwight Grant, all three defendants are charged as adults for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. And it is clear to investigators that Andre Clements is the mastermind. - Andre Clements had the motive based on his statements and his ill will towards Dwight for Dwight having started dating Andre's ex-girlfriend. While Andre Clements had moved on and was dating someone new, he didn't feel his ex had that same right. Andre Clements orchestrated this entire homicide, the murder of Dwight Grant because of his jealousy. - You know, this case had all the makings of a big public trial. But in August of 2024, Christy and Jazzlin make an unexpected move. - Christy Peresian and Jazzlin Smith both decided to take please. Christy and Jazzlin both pled to the lesser included offense of murder in the second degree and both were sentenced to 25 years in Florida State Prison. - But Andre Clements still wants to take his chance with the jury. - When Andre Clements is set for trial, we take depositions from both Jazzlin Smith and Christy Peresian and anticipation of trial. We get all of our witnesses lined up. We make sure that we have what we need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that Andre Clements committed this crime. - But on the eve of Andre Clements trial, the prosecution is approached by his attorneys. - Andre's attorneys approached us asking if we would consider a plea. - Under the Florida Constitution, victims and their next-of-kin have important rights and we take that very seriously. So we met with Miss Emil and Dwight Grant Senior and from that, they decided they would extend that grace and allow a plea to occur. The plea happened right before we were about to start jury selection. Andre Clements was convicted of murder in the first degree of Dwight Grant. - He knew a virtue of all of the evidence of digital evidence, the videography, and of course, eyewitness evidence that demonstrates him actually committing the fatal act that's powerful. It's almost insurmountable. So I'm not surprised at all that he copped a plea here. - At sentencing, Magil and Emil, the mother of Dwight Grant, gives a heartbreaking, victim-impact statement. - I would never want my son down there. He would never come and say anything to me 'cause he's not here, but he's arrested and powered. - Dwight's mom is one of the sweetest human beings I've ever had the opportunity to meet. She brought everyone in the courtroom to tears. Even the judge was in tears and had to run off the branch. - Consulate Blaster, thank you for this case. - How the hell couples are? - The case was presented over by Judge Ernest Calra. He was absolutely devastated by the impact that this case had on everyone involved. There were so many parents that lost their children. You had Dwight Grant's family who will never get to see him again, but you also had Christy Peresian's mother, Jaslan Smith's family, and even Andre Clements' mother, who were losing their children as a result of these actions. The judge expressed how senseless he felt it was. It's just some petty indiscretion committed in a high school and somebody decides that the penalty for that is death. The escalation there, it really blows the mind. - Andre Clements was sentenced to 40 years in Florida State Prison, followed by lifetime probation. Justice for Dwight is the most important thing. Drew Justice would be bringing him back and the court system can't do that. - We feel that the sentence that was imposed is a measure of justice for Dwight Grant. - He's gone forever and ever. And all because somebody got jealous. - It's tragic beyond belief. Four families shattered because of one teenager's jealousy and rage. - Dwight Grant had a wonderful future ahead of him. He had family that loved him, friends that cared deeply. He was looking forward to going to college and pursuing a career. The senseless nature in which he was taken from his family and his friends. By Andre Clements, Jazzlyn Smith and Christy Peresian will haunt his family and friends for the rest of their lives. - All right, Juan, here you go. Good morning, Mayor Mark. Is there like a format for this? - Can you give us? - No. - We're going to be doing the finishing. - Oh, it was very good. - You grandma got right over where I ran you. - I had to make it easy for you. You don't know that. - Some men. Come when you get lost, bud.