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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Kids Murder Their Own Parents; A Burn Victim`s Dying Wish; Police Officer Shot During a Traffic Stop; Cowboy Cop; Special Needs Teen Tortured on Video/School Bus Driver Leaves 6-Year-Old by Herself on Highway. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 5, 2017 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): Sadistic and brutal, teenage torture live-streamed on Facebook, a helpless white victim, four black assailants

and a degrading hate crime, this special needs student bound and assaulted, leaving veteran cops in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s sickening.

BANFIELD: Alone and afraid, a crying 6-year-old girl dumped on a busy highway. What kind of school bus driver does this?

A cop`s violent answer to this woman`s plea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot arrest me until you have a warrant.

BANFIELD: Now he`s looking for a new gig. But will he face charges?

He stalked her, doused her with gas and set her on fire. After two years in critical, she may not survive. But she may testify from the grave.

The Menendez brothers -- they had looks, smarts and Beverly Hills money. Then they slaughtered their mom and dad.

911 OPERATOR: What`s the problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody killed my parents!

BANFIELD: Almost 30 years later, a new look at their side of the story from prison.

And this ain`t his first rodeo. A cowboy helps the cops by roping in a calf while riding on a cruiser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

Extraordinary video tonight has Americans asking, is that what we`ve come to? Teenagers behaving bodily doesn`t even begin to cover it. It is pure

evil. You`re about to see a recording of an assault, a hate crime. Anger, violence, hate, torture -- it is all in there. And the world was invited

to watch it live on Facetime for 30 minutes. The victim, an 18-year-old white teenager with special needs. His assailants are black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grabbing it (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Call his (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy. Cut it (EXPLETIVE DELETED). A whole patch of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why you do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He represents (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all see this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We put this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) in a trunk and put a brick on the gas and let

(EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Details are still coming in, but what we know so all right is that four suspects are under arrest tonight and they are charged with hate

crimes. Police say the victim may have been held and tortured by the suspects for hours before escaping. Under arrest, Jordan Hill, Tesfaye

Cooper and sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington. They face multiple charges, including felony aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, unlawful

restraint and battery with a deadly weapon.

According to police, it all started New Year`s Eve, the victim dropped off by his parents at a McDonald`s because he was supposed to meet up with his

friend, Jordan Hill. That`s one of the men charged. It was supposed to be a sleepover.

But unbeknownst to the victim, Hill arrived in a stolen van. and they drove all around Chicago visiting friends and sleeping in that van for

days. And then on Tuesday, something changed. The victim and Hill ended up at the home of sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington, and there a play

fight with Jordan Hill escalated right out of control.

Somehow, a whole lot of anger and hatred was rained down upon that young man. He was bound and gagged and tortured of (ph) it, and again, much of

it broadcast on Facebook live.

CNN correspondent Rosa Flores has been following the story all day, and she joins me now from Chicago. The victim in this case -- let`s start there.

Is he OK? Where is he?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, tonight, he`s with his parents, Ashleigh. And from talking to police, they tell us that he`s very

traumatized, as you might imagine. He had a lot of difficulty even talking to police initially.

BANFIELD: There is a moment where the police actually told the press what some of these suspects admitted to. And it is pretty astounding, given how

fast this has all moved. I want you to listen as to what they said transpired.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:04]CMDR. KEVIN DUFFIN, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: They admit that they were beating him, kicking him. They made him drink toilet water. And

then, obviously, the video where they`re cutting a piece of his scalp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Rosa, when this began to break late last night, there was a lot of talk that this may or may not be a hate crime. Even this more than, we

were hearing from the police that they weren`t so clear. But it seemed really clear that there was a racial element to this. And clearly, that

young man has a mental disability. So that is what they`ve charged this with.

FLORES: Absolutely. Now, from talking to the police, they tell me that they were just trying to be very cautious because, as you and I know,

police want to make sure that they have the evidence for the charge that they`re recommending to prosecutors. And so there was a lot of

conversation behind the scenes, Ashleigh, and that`s one of the reasons why I`m hearing from police that it took them a while to file these charges,

because they wanted to make sure that they had the evidence to prove it in court.

BANFIELD: So Rosa, ultimately, he got away. He escaped his captivity. But I`m not really clear on the chain of events. What happened after we,

you know, witnessed these horrible videos and this attack? How did he get out?

FLORES: You know, this is one of the fascinating things. The downstairs neighbor complained about the noise. And so then the attackers went

downstairs. That gave the victim a window to escape, Ashleigh. He took that time, got out of that house, and that`s when a patrol officer saw him

outside.

BANFIELD: And I`m not sure how clear it is -- we have to blur his face. He`s a victim in this case. You know, he has a handicap. But in certain

points of the video, you can see that he is tied around the neck and being lifted by his neck. You can see that he`s bound at the wrists. And you

can also see that he`s been gagged with duct tape.

As I understand it, he was so traumatized, they couldn`t even get the information out of him when they rescued him.

FLORES: You`re absolutely right. And here`s another detail. Ashleigh, you know that Chicago is very cold this time of year. It was 20 degrees,

about 20 degrees when he was found. And hear this. He was found with a tank top, shorts and sandals. I mean, aside from everything else that they

did to this mean, then he`s walking outside in just so little clothes.

And that is even another layer of the beating, the torture that this young man received.

BANFIELD: It`s harrowing to see the words said. It`s harrowing to see this video. There`s only a certain amount that we can play for our

audience. It`s extraordinarily disturbing.

Symone Sanders is a CNN political commentary. I want to bring you into this conversation, but not before we re-watch, Symone, and re-listen to

that -- that moment off the top of the show. And I want our audience to listen to what`s being said, not so much watch what`s being done but to

listen to what`s being said.

Unfortunately, we don`t have that. I apologize.

Let me just say a couple of things that I think stand out, Symone. F Donald Trump. F white people. It goes on and on. And I know that you had

a conversation on the air last night with my colleague, Don Lemon. And you said you didn`t feel that this necessarily was a hate crime. Today, you`ve

changed your feelings about that.

And my question for you is, we know -- we knew that last night. How did anything change today?

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: So last night, I -- I want to be very clear. This is sickening. It`s disgusting. It has, frankly, no place in

our society. And I am -- I`m glad that there are charges that have been brought.

But charges are definitely very different than justice, so I hope justice is definitely served, and I said that last night. But I never said that

this was definitely not, in fact, a hate crime.

What I think is really important to note here is that there are details we didn`t have last night. You know, we were having conversations about the

family status of the assailants who were torturing this young man. We were having -- and speculation. And so what I said is we cannot speculate.

BANFIELD: You`re not the only person. In fact, two of the leadership in the Chicago police, the superintendent and also a representative from the

Chicago police, said, effectively, Everybody, hold on. Wait for the facts. And I am a big proponent of waiting for the facts.

Let me play for you what they had to say. And then I`m going to -- I`m going to unwind it right afterwards. But have a listen to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPT. EDDIE JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: But I think some of it is just stupidity, you know, people just ranting about something that they

think might make a headline. I don`t think that -- at this point, we don`t have anything concrete to really point us in that direction. But we`ll

keep investigating and we`ll let the facts guide us on how this concludes.

[20:10:06]DUFFIN: They`re young adults and they make stupid decisions. That certainly will be part of whether or not a hate crime is -- if we seek

a hate crime, to determine whether or not this is sincere or just stupid ranting and raving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Symone, nothing I see in this was stupid. Nothing I saw in this was young adults just behaving badly. I saw a man being scalped. I saw a

man being strangled. I saw a man having racial epithets thrown at him. And I feel as though if the tables were turned, and the internet is on fire

with this stuff, if that were a black teenager and four white assailants screaming, Black Lives Matter, F them and F black people, it would be so

clear from the get-go that it was a hate crime and it was heinous. And that would have been instantaneous.

SANDERS: You know, Ashleigh, I think that -- I think you`re right. I think some people would feel differently if the roles were necessarily

reversed. And that`s not right, either.

I really believe that there are people out there in America that want to say, Oh -- last night even and even this morning, when we didn`t have all

of the facts that the police officers had, that we want to say, Hey, we want to -- there are folks out there that want to make sure that we`re not

missing something.

But then on the other end, there are definitely people out there -- we`ve seen it all over social media today -- who are saying, Hey, just because

the person is not of the minority and they are of the majority, we should still be taking this just as seriously.

I think these are the conversations we need to be having. But the fact of the matter is, we are not in a good place where we can have a candid

conversation about race in America.

BANFIELD: I think this has made this a candid conversation. I think the country is talking about this. And I want to bring into this conversation

Danny Cevallos and Joey Jackson on this, as well.

You guys have heard, along with Symone, that these were kids, they`re 18. At 18, you can go to war. At 18, you can vote. And at 16 and 15, you can

be charged as an adult. These are adults. One of them is 24. Why is anyone giving a pass to someone being so cruel? I don`t care what color

they are, they were torturing a disabled kid who is 18, as well.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. It`s -- these are adults...

BANFIELD: Kids behaving badly?

CEVALLOS: You know, there is that -- there is -- there are studies that show that we develop well beyond our 18th year. But the law is clear. At

18, you`re an adult. And the police are treating them like adults.

And the question arises, is this a hate crime? Under Illinois law, it is because all Illinois law requires is that discriminatory selection. It

actually doesn`t even require hate, any actual animosity.

BANFIELD: I mean, you`ve got race here! You`ve got a protected class, a person with disabilities!

CEVALLOS: You got two protected classes.

BANFIELD: Yes, it`s acute (ph) two-edged sword. But honestly, to defend these kids and the 24-year-old in any way -- again, let`s throw race out of

this. They were torturing someone. These are not kids behaving badly!

JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Let`s talk about it from a human perspective and then a legal perspective. From a human perspective, where

is the humanity? Where`s the example set for our young people such that they would think that behaving in this way was appropriate and OK? And so

a person, as a parent, as a father, it hurts me to see anyone acting in this fashion...

BANFIELD: And enjoying it!

JACKSON -- to someone else . Apparently.

BANFIELD: Joey, enjoying it! They were (INAUDIBLE) laughing!

JACKSON: Way too much. Now, as a result of that, from a legal perspective, they`ll be held accountable. Let`s talk about how. They`ve

been charged with aggravated kidnapping. What does that mean? It means that you abduct and otherwise detain someone against their will. What else

does it mean? It`s means that it`s punishable from 6 to 30 years in jail.

In addition to that, they`re charged with aggravated battery and assault. That means that they used a deadly weapon in order to torture and otherwise

harm him. So there will be a punishment from that regard.

Now, finally, the system, because of their age -- and any defense attorney is going to make the argument that the age needs to be factored into it.

You`re going to hear that, Ashleigh. Why? Because when you`re 18 years old, the argument will be made that, You know what? You`re a teenager but

you`re a young adult.

And as a result of that, it`ll go to the issue of mitigation. And you`ll hear it argued they know not what they do. Of course, the prosecutor will

say, Of course you knew what you did. And you enjoyed it. You liked it. And you wanted the world, right, to look at what you were doing and take

pride in what you were doing. And that`s despicable!

CEVALLOS: Good luck arguing at sentencing that they`re youth and inexperienced when you have a video like that. Talk about aggravating

evidence.

BANFIELD: Talk about it!

SANDERS: I just don`t think we can normalize this on any bounds.

BANFIELD: Any level.

SANDERS: So I think this requires a more in-depth conversation. It`s definitely more than we could have got in last night, definitely more even

with everything we`ve had on the air today. There are lots of layers to this, but at the base of it, it`s absolutely unacceptable.

BANFIELD: We`re going to continue to watch this story, see what the developments are. I don`t think it`s over yet. And this country is

talking about it on all levels, the teen aspect of it, the race aspect of it...

JACKSON: As we should.

BANFIELD: ... and the conversation about it all, which is terribly important.

[20:15:00]I also want to update you on a story that we`re following. We brought it to you last night on PRIMETIME JUSTICE, an absolute mystery in

Oregon. And investigators have now recovered some huge clues, the remains of five people.

They were missing, this whole family. Their house burned down. This is the Kroeker family of Hubbard, Oregon and now they say there are five

bodies in that house, an adult, a man, an adult, a woman, and three children. Medical examiner still has to positively make identification on

those bodies, fire officials still looking through piles and piles of debris to figure out what caused the inferno that killed them all.

But they have said this. The fires on three separate buildings at their farmhouse and the outbuilding and the garage were all intentionally set.

So stay tuned to this space.

A 6-year-old girl left alone by her school bus driver at the wrong location on a busy highway. What do you think`s going to happen now?

And it was a cold-blooded double murder. And it was famous. A wealthy California couple, their sons wanted the police to think it was organized

crime when it was really them.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: You came home and found who shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom and dad!

911 OPERATOR: They`re in bed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) also still in the house, the people that did the shooting.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Lyle Menendez talking after decades from prison, and he has a whole lot to say about what happened in that house.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:23]BANFIELD: Terrified and alone -- it is hard to imagine what a 6- year-old girl dumped by a school bus driver along a busy highway instead of at her day care was feeling. But there she is. She`s caught on a dashcam

video in rural Georgia when help in the form of a good Samaritan arrived. And strangely enough, that good Samaritan is a private investigator who

just so happened to have audio and video as she pulled up to the side of the road to find out why that little girl was crying and alone.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE HOLMES, GOOD SAMARITAN: Are you OK, sweetheart? Come here. Come here. What`s wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lost my family!

HOLMES: You lost your family? Why (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because the bus took me to my house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you`ve been crying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Here is the story. The girl was supposed to be dropped off at her after-school day care. But instead, a substitute school bus driver

allegedly let her out near the family`s home. Well, they weren`t there, and she was all alone. Her front door was locked. She tried to walk the

highway to her day care.

Her father says the school had a note on file instructing the school that his daughter was to be taken to the day care.

Joining me now is Jane Holmes, who just happens to be the driver of that vehicle, the good Samaritan who rescued that little girl from the highway,

and also with her, Gilberto Pimentel. He`s that little girl`s dad.

Thank you to both of you for joining me. Jane, if I can start with you -- what did you think the minute you heard that little girl say, I lost my

family?

HOLMES: Thank you, Ashleigh. It broke my heart. I thought she said, I left my family, so I wasn`t sure of the circumstances at the time. It

really -- it tore me up to see her because I saw her crying and running down the side of the highway.

BANFIELD: What was the first thing you did? I mean, did you think for a moment, How am I going to find where this little girl belongs?

HOLMES: Well, not really because I`m a private investigator and that`s part of what I do. I do missing persons cases around the country with a

team that`s involved with Child Rescue Network. So this is part of what I do for a living. So I stopped. I wanted to find out why this child was on

the side of the road, and find where she`s supposed to go.

BANFIELD: I want to play a little bit more from your dashcam video, and mostly the audio. And I`m just going to apologize to our viewers. It`s

very, very static-y. But we transcribed everything that you and the little said so that people can get a feel for what happened on the side of that

road. Have a listen.

HOLMES: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do you -- where do you go to school, sweetheart?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) find your mommy, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I have to ask you, Gilberto, you must be absolutely livid.

GILBERTO PIMENTEL, FATHER: Yes. Yes, Ashleigh, I am. I`m very upset.

BANFIELD: What are you doing about this?

HOLMES: The first thing is, I want to let -- give everybody a message of what`s going on. Every parent out there should know exactly what happened

and should be prepared for what can happen next.

BANFIELD: But you actually have more going on in this story because while this happened on December 16th, the school bus driver was only fired

yesterday. And it seems as though it is because it made the news, not because you actually talked to the sheriff. You told them what happened.

You told the school what happened. It seems as though the actions only really sort of got fired up since it hit the news.

PIMENTEL: Yes. After I found out exactly what was happening, the school kept telling me everything is under investigation. And I kept hearing the

same thing over and over. And after speaking with Jane about the situation, I wanted to go public. I feel that I deserve better answers.

And as a result, this is what we come to the conclusion.

[20:25:09]BANFIELD: How is your sweet little punkin doing right now? We just saw a picture of her. I know you don`t want to release her name.

Completely understandable. But you`re OK with us showing her picture. She is totally adorable. How is she doing?

PIMENTEL: She is wonderful. The only thing, we want her to get back to the school bus, but everything -- she`s been so terrified about the whole

entire situation. As her father and my wife, we`ve been discussing to see if maybe we were just paranoid about her going back to the bus. She`s

afraid. You know, she`s terrified about the whole situation. And I feel that I need to step up. I need to do something about it.

BANFIELD: Do you think there`s going to be any further action? Are the police going to take any action here? Are they -- have they updated you on

this case?

PIMENTEL: Not yet, Ashleigh, at all. I haven`t found out yet more information about this situation. As far as -- I recently just found out

that they just let go of the driver yesterday.

BANFIELD: Jane, this seems really weird because you also took this to the sheriff. Are they telling you that they`re going do anything about it?

HOLMES: They haven`t told me what they`re going to do. I did take her to the sheriff`s department headquarters on the square in our town. And they

tried to locate this child through the school. She didn`t have her -- she didn`t have the school name on her backpack or anywhere, so we didn`t know

what school she went to. So they tried to contact the school system to find out who her teacher...

BANFIELD: Yes.

HOLMES: ... where she thought. But they haven`t told me anything. If a parent had dropped a child off on the side of the highway, they would have

probably faced child endangerment charges, or you know, reckless conduct at the very minimum. I`m not sure if they`re going to do anything with this

driver or not. I really don`t know.

BANFIELD: Well, that substitute driver is out of a job tonight. And Jane and Gilberto, thanks so much for being with me. And best of luck to your

little punkin. She`s a sweetheart.

PIMENTEL: Thank you so much, Ashleigh.

HOLMES: Thank you for having us. Thank you.

BANFIELD: That`s the driver there. Yikes, terrifying for all of us who have kids who ride the bus.

I`m going to switch gears here for a moment. This is a name that even 30 years later, when you say it, it stands out -- Lyle Menendez, Erik

Menendez. Lyle is speaking out from prison right now about why he and his brother killed their parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: The thought of kids murdering their parents certainly does send a chill down the spine. And it`s part of

what makes the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who slaughtered their parents in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion in August of `89. So

incredibly captivating.

At first, Erik and Lyle tried to cover it up, make it sound like somebody else unleashed this blood bath. In fact, the 911 calls from that night

really sound convincing, too. If you don`t know the truth behind the tragedy. But listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s the problem? What`s the problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone killed my parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pardon me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone killed my parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? Who? Are they still there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people who...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were they shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were they shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up! Erik, shut up, Erik.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You came home and found two shots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re in bed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know if they`re still in the house, the people that did the shooting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who was the person that was shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom and my dad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your mom and dad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom and dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Very convincing. The father was a media executive named Jose Menendez. He was shot point-blank in the back of the head. The mom, Kitty

Menendez was shot in the chest, in the face and in the arm.

At trial, the defense team tried to argue that Lyle and Erik suffered a lifetime of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of their

parents. Just listen to Erik on the stand in this unbelievable testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIK MENENDEZ, CONVICTED OF CRIME: My dad came in and told me to take off my clothes and to kneel on the bed. And he closed the blinds and he put the

slide underneath the door like he always did. And he told me to bend over the foot board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did your father put anything on you or ask you to put anything on you?

MENENDEZ: This time, he just did it himself. Usually, he told me to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was it that was put on you?

MENENDEZ: He had a Vaseline jar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in the past when he had tried to do this, he had had you put the Vaseline on?

MENENDEZ: Yes. He puts some on himself. And he put -- had me put it on myself. He would stick things in me as he was giving me oral sex or at

times he would just sit on the bed with his legs up spread and with his back to the back of the bed and he would have me give him oral sex. He

would stick the needles or the tacks into my thighs as he was doing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, the prosecutors weren`t so sure. In fact, they were convinced those brothers killed the parents for all that money. But nearly

30 years later, the Menendez brothers still say it was abuse that drove them to murder.

And in an exclusive interview with my colleague Chris Cuomo, Lyle Menendez from prison is revealing some brand-new details in a premier episode of a

new HLN original series How It Really Happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYLE MENENDEZ, CONVICTED OF CRIME: My brother was suicidal, was emotional. And revealed this horrific of, you know, of what had been going on with his

father.

[20:35:06] You know, I had that reaction that I still today -- you know, how complicit was he in it?

I mean, he is an 18-year-old kid. Obviously, this isn`t something where you are being forced. It`s a -- but, I don`t know. That`s just complicated

whether, you know, how emotionally beaten down he was at that point. But obviously they were in a sexual relationship that he wanted to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Be sure to watch How It Really Happened Murder in Beverly Hills on Friday, January 27, 9 p.m. right here on HLN.

A burn victim`s dying wish to testify against the man convicted of dousing her with gas and setting her on fire. How Judy Malinowski`s attorney is

trying to make it happen from a hospital bed before it is too late.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A beauty pageant winner doused with gas and set on fire is still in critical condition a year and a half later.

Michael Slager came looking for Judy Malinowski, his ex-girlfriend. And when he found her at a gas station in Columbus, Ohio, he decided to douse

this beautiful girl with gasoline and set her ablaze.

[20:39:59] And every day since that moment Judy has been in critical condition in the hospital hanging on for life and suffering through 53

surgeries. Excruciating pain every single one of those days.

If you are the least bit squeamish, you need to look away now from your set now. And if you have children, you absolutely need to have them leave the

room.

Now I`m going to give you a second do that. Because this warning of graphic photos is necessary. You truly cannot understand the pain and suffering and

the anguish that this crime victim has suffered unless you see how she was victimized.

Slager got 11 years behind bars for what could only be described as human destruction. This was only in December, a year and a half after the attack.

Slager said it was an accident. But here is what`s going on now.

If Judy Malinowski does not survive, if she ultimately ends up dying from these wounds, murder charges will follow. So that whole 11 year thing, that

plea deal he got for the arson, that`s out the window. Murder is way more serious.

The idea here is for Judy to testify against him so that her words can be used in a murder trial after her death that would keep him off the streets

perhaps for life and prevent this from ever happening again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONNIE BOWES, JUDY MALINOWSKI`S MOTHER: There will be another victim. There will be another victim unless something changes with him. I know

that`s why Judy has fought so hard was to tell the story to show the world how bad it really is. I believe she truly thought she could help him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That was Bonnie Bowes, she`s Julie Malinowski mom. And she`s live with me now from Columbus. Thank you so much, Bonnie. Do you think

that you really have a chance here of getting a judge to agree to allowing your daughter to testify from her hospital bed so that it can be on the

record if she dies?

BOWES: I do. And I think that that`s why we`ve asked the judge to allow it. We`ve also actually asked him also to allow her in a more shortened

time than usual to testify from her bed. So, I do. And I also lift it up in prayer that we`ll be able to get that testimony in.

BANFIELD: You have said in the past -- we`ve talked to you before -- that you believe your daughter, who suffers every day from excruciating pain

since this attack, is hanging on, is truly hanging on for the opportunity to testify and put this man away.

BOWES: Yes. I still believe that. I believe she`s hanging on to testify, to put him away, to stop him from hurting anybody else and to get her story

out there so that other domestic violence abused can also get away from their perpetrator.

BANFIELD: Bonnie, she suffered third and fourth degree burns over 90 percent of her body. And they only expected her to live for 48 hours. And

that was a year and a half ago.

I have to ask you this difficult question, because this whole issue is about the potential of her dying and a murder case that could follow. Do

you think that your daughter is not going to survive?

BOWES: I can tell you if from my medical standpoint, from statistics standpoint, she will succumb to her injuries in a -- as a matter of time.

Whether it`s one day or 10 days or a year, I don`t think the medical team can tell us that.

But statistically, medically speaking, she will succumb and she will pass from these injuries. She has said that she`s aware of that. She`s made

peace. But certainly wants it known on the record, wants her story told and wants to be able to testify under oath what has happened to her.

BANFIELD: So now that the technical issue, your daughter is unable to speak in the classic sense among the horrible injuries she suffered, she

lost a hand, she lost her ear. She lost so much of her skin.

She has been through 53 surgeries. The most recent one just as we were speaking about a month ago. I want to play for our audience how she

communicates with you. And obviously, as I play this, it`s silent. But we`ll be able to see through closed captioning what she is saying. Have a

look at this.

[20:44:57] Bonnie, if she is able to physically withstand a deposition -- and for anyone, it`s a grueling experience, how will the communication

happen? Will you serve as her translator? Will she nod? Will she be able to only answer yes, no? How will it functionally work?

BOWES: I understand that I will not serve as her communicator. That is not -- that would not be OK via the law.

BANFIELD: An option.

BOWES: So that`s not an option via the laws. It certainly has to be in what we would call a judicial system in a court setting. So I would not be

in the room. The courts would have their appointed attendees in the room with her. And she would be able to nod yes or no. She could lip her answers

as best as possible.

Also, she will back off on her pain medicine as much as she can stand or tolerate to give that testimony. And I know she`s done this before as we

have done some trial runs, trying to testify from her room. We did do a couple of those. And she will do that again. She will back off as best she

can and endure as much pain as she can and still be able to answer the questions to testify and...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Do you think, Bonnie, would she be able to withstand a cross examination as horrifying as that sounds? It would be necessary.

BOWES: I think -- I think she will fight to. I think her spirit will allow her. Again, you know, I`m certainly speaking against odds. But I believe in

God and a higher power and justice. I believe that if it`s God`s will, we will be able to get that testimony.

BANFIELD: Bonnie, I wish you luck in the hearing. I wish your daughter Judy luck in her recovery. I hope you never have to go through it. But I

know that in an ironic sense, she would like a murder trial. I wish your whole family peace. And I thank you for being so helpful to us to work

through these legal issues as well.

BOWES: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thank, Bonnie. We`ll keep in touch with you on the story as well. I want you to know that there is a Go Fund Me page that`s up for Judy

Malinowski. Her medical bills as you can imagine are astronomical. A year and a half in critical condition and still counting.

A police officer shot during a traffic stop. All of it caught on his dash cam. And ultimately, the video was something to see. But so was the

suspect`s mugshot. And this isn`t even the half of it.

[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: OK. I`ve got a total justice story here about a hero and a zero. And it comes from Oklahoma. It`s all over a traffic stop. And you are about

to see the traffic stop take place.

Police officer pulling over a truck and getting out and ultimately you can see him. The truck is in the left-hand side there. He gets out of his car

there, he approaches the truck and the driver of that truck shoots him, bam!

He skips as off. The truck takes off. And what we don`t see here is that he`s shot in the leg. Now that may not be a lethal injury except it was

right near his femoral artery. So, good Samaritan shows up, sees what`s going on, runs back to his truck. Knows he needs a tourniquet. Does that,

saves the officer. So there is our hero.

And now here is our zero. The guy they caught. That`s Corey Lee Hart, as well, 27-year-old. Probably seen some better days. Looks like he took a few

to the left side of the face, maybe even the right side of the face. And I think that`s a, correct me if I`m wrong, I don`t know, Swastika up there up

above the eyebrow.

The only reason I thought it could be is because when you see the other pictures of him on his Facebook taht he`s so proud of. He`s actually

flashing some gang signs. Look close, real close, do you see it? W.P? I don`t know a lot about gang signs, guys. Looks like white power to me.

So, Alan Ripka, this guy goes into a courtroom. And here is my thought. These pictures comes in. The officer is black. That guy is white. He`s got

white power stuff tattooed all over him. Is that an issue for the jury?

ALAN RIPKA, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Big-time issue. We got - we have an attempted murder here. They are going to look at his motive because he

wants to down this cop. They show his history of his hate, and all that goes directly to the jury believing that he did this intentionally and he`s

a racist.

BANFIELD: By the way, that hurt that it`s all caught on video almost in real-time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. He`ll be in prison for some time to come. But it goes to the issue also of no, you know, we talk about this a lot,

traffic stops. And no traffic stop is routine.

BANFIELD: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He referred to them as routine traffic stops but anything can happen.

BANFIELD: OK. I want to take you now to Fowlerville, Michigan. And when I show you this video look to the top right-hand corner to a group of people

sitting in a booth having a nice dinner when something happens right behind them.

Again, when the video plays, look to the top right-hand corner. That happy ding couple. Oh! Oh, man! Did that come close. That was a 74-year-old woman

who thought she was hitting the brakes and she was hitting the gas.

And the car -- look again. Wow. It actually moves their chair. They are so lucky to be alive. It is unreal. She drove right through the restaurant.

OK. I am going to play a video for you of a cop who was after a calf cruising down the interstate...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love this.

BANFIELD: It`s the best. And there is a cowboy he finds. And I`m just going to let the video speak for itself. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:04:59] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, folks. I got David Bevill who got a calf in the middle of the highway. Going down the middle of the highway. We`re

trying to rope him right here.

BANFIELD: Seriously. This really happened, folks. He`s riding in a cruiser.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just got him. We just got him. Tie him to the front of my car.

BANFIELD: And he celebrates. Clearly not his first rodeo, Danny. You`re speechless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is good.

BANFIELD: He`s good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy has got skills. He`s very talented.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We expect many things from our deputies, but this goes far above and beyond the normal training and experience they do.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Regular as a cowboy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don`t get that training in Philly. I got to tell you. I don`t think that comes at Philly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not New York City either.

BANFIELD: Philly, you`ll love it. Kudos to the cowboys David Bevill and Sheriff Monte Belew. I love you all. Hey, thank you, guys. I appreciate it.

Good to have you on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great story.

BANFIELD: I know. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BANFIELD: It was a hard night. Thanks for watching, everyone. See you back here Monday in Prime Justice. Forensic Files starts after the break.

[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END