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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

14-year-old Kills Mom With Boyfriend`s Help; Drug Dealer Charged for Giving Out Killer Heroin; 5 Dead, Woman Allegedly Kills Men With Heroin; Missing Plane In Bermuda Triangle; Clumsy Shoplifting Suspect; Drunk Driving Realtor Kills a Mom in 4th DUI; Driver Smashes Into Child, Then Speeds Off. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 17, 2017 - 20:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A teenage girl says she killed her own mom with the help of a much older boyfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother became aware of the relationship and was attempting to have her daughter break it off.

BANFIELD: Now she wants the law to go easy on her, saying she was just a kid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where`s the motive for Jamie?

BANFIELD: Motive or not, prosecutors say she planned the whole thing and was grown up enough to pull it off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamie suggested a plan to kill her parents.

BANFIELD: If kid brains are so different than adult brains, why do we often up their charges? And in Jamie`s case, should we?

Is this the face of a mass murderer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reliving that most horrible day and that night, it`s really hard.

BANFIELD: Street name, Ice. Prosecutors say she killed five men in seven months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think anyone can really understand what it feels like to give testimony in your own son`s murder trial.

BANFIELD: But the weapon of choice, not your garden variety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really happy that we`re coming to a point where we`re going to see some justice for our sons.

BANFIELD: An accused drug dealer facing murder for the heroin overdoses of her customers.

He`s rich and powerful and drives drunk a lot!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When something just randomly out of the blue completely shatters your life and your family, you never get over it.

BANFIELD: But this Teflon realtor skated three separate times before he finally killed a grandmother while hammered behind the wheel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think justice is ever served the way she was killed.

BANFIELD: But why was Jason Tarr (ph) on the road in the first place and allowed to spend Mother`s Day with his mom?

The video is hard to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were kids everywhere. It just was mad chaos.

BANFIELD: Out of control, an SUV hits a kid on a bike and quickly bolts from the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He swerved at the mailbox, hit the car, tried getting out of the way, and then I got hit.

BANFIELD: The kid miraculously survives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit the bike, and then, like, I pushed off like this.

BANFIELD: Tonight, manhunt for the 20-something guy behind the wheel.

From dumbest criminals to the clumsiest. This shoplifting lady is laid out flat on her face while ripping off a Walmart. But smile, lady, police may

just catch you flat-footed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

How many times have you heard the phrase, "It`s not my fault" from your kids, your co-workers, the guy who dented your car in the parking lot, the

lady at the DMV? It is one of the most annoying phrases in the English language, but annoying doesn`t even begin to cover it when you hear Jamie

Silvonek saying it.

And I`m not so sure that`s good thing or a bad thing here because Jamie killed her own mom. She planned it with her 20-year-old boyfriend. It

seems Mom didn`t like Caleb Barnes being that Jamie was only 13 when she met him. And she made her feelings known about that, too. Silvonek admits

to plotting to kill her own mother along with her much older boyfriend, Caleb Barnes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MARTIN, LEHIGH COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: When she learned that Mr. Barnes was 20 years old, she instructed her daughter to end the

relationship. Jamie and Caleb had a cell phone conversation in which Jamie suggested a plan to kill her parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: For her parenting troubles, Cheryl Silvonek took a knife to the neck, dying in agony in her car while Caleb stabbed her and punched her

multiple times. For her trouble, young Jamie, now 16, pled guilty and got 35 to life. Caleb was found guilty, as well, and he got life.

But it seems that young Jamie is now having second thoughts about that plea deal, and she wants an appeals court to give her a chance to knock her case

back into the juvenile system, where she says she belongs, where she could walk free in just five years.

So you might be asking yourself right now, how can she do that, especially when the deal was already sealed? There is one person other than Jamie, of

course, who certainly hopes that this works. It`s her dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE SILVONEK, FATHER, JAMIE`S FATHER: I`ve accepted the fact that she was involved with it. She`s very emotional, and she`s called me on numerous

occasions crying uncontrollably. I see her because I love her. I would never abandon her. I have to forgive her. I`ve just -- I haven`t

reconciled with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So what is the basis for this appeal? Since Jamie was just 14 at the time of her murder, her attorney argued that her brain wasn`t fully

developed, that she was impressionable and that she made poor decisions. Her lawyer says the judge in the case made a mistake when he did not agree

with that assumption.

[20:05:16]Jamie Stover is a reporter for WFMZ-TV. She joins me live from Allentown, Pennsylvania. What is the mistake here? If a judge heard from

experts in the courtroom and was able to weigh those experts, what`s the appellate issue here?

JAMIE STOVER, WFMZ-TV: Well, her attorney yesterday was in court with the appellate panel, and they`re essentially arguing that the defense witness

was not taken as seriously as the witnesses that were brought forward by the prosecution.

They say that Jamie was really influenced by her 20-year-old boyfriend, and that`s really what they are pushing as far as trying to get Jamie into the

juvenile system, where I believe, as you mentioned, she could be out in just five years.

BANFIELD: I mean, someone always will say, I was influenced by somebody else, but this whole young brain business -- I get it. I just assume that

those things are argued before you actually sign your name to a deal, with your lawyer standing beside you, and commit yourself to a prison sentence

of what, upwards of 35 years to life? Why am I crazy when I think they are way past the deadline for having made this argument?

STOVER: Well, I think this was something we actually expected early on into the case, to see this come up in the appeal. This was really the only

appeal that her defense team thought that they had. Even before this case was -- it was decided that it wasn`t going to go to trial, her defense team

had said that because Jamie was not given a decertification, because she was going to be tried as an adult, that they could not appeal that until

after a conviction, or as we`re seeing now, after a guilty plea.

BANFIELD: OK. So lest any of our viewers right now, Jamie, wonder about, you know, how involved was she -- I mean, if the guy, Caleb, did the

stabbing, why is this young, you know, kid taking such a huge penalty? I want to read some of the text messages that they were able to get from her

phone.

She was texting this guy, Caleb, all before poor Cheryl died so violently. And here we go. It started on the day -- well, the day before the death.

"She needs to go, Caleb. She threatened to throw me out of the house. I want her gone. I`m going to the bathroom while you do it, OK? I`ll come

right out as soon as you`re done. Please do it. I`m going to throw up. I love you. We can do this. I want her to shut her f-ing face and stop

being fake."

Just so I`m clear, Jamie, what were Caleb`s texts like to her? Did they have this kind of detail and this kind of demand, or were they just sort

of, you know, OK?

STOVER: From the messages that we were privy to, what would have come up in court or in these criminal proceedings would have been, a "Fine" is one

that I think stood out. And what stood out most of all in this case, I think, was the one text message that you already read, was the quote, "I

want her gone."

Up until that point, there was a lot of questions as what was her involvement potentially in this case. Was she someone who was manipulated

by her boyfriend? And when this -- her older boyfriend, a 20-year-old man who was in the Army -- and when those text messages started coming out is

when people started questioning, did she know more about this?

Of course, then there was also testimony from her best friend, who said she overheard a phone conversation between Caleb and Jamie before Jamie`s

mother, Cheryl, was killed, where they were talking about potentially killing Jamie`s parents.

BANFIELD: Ah, the parents. There`s a dad in the picture, too, David Silvonek.

STOVER: Correct.

BANFIELD: And I was astounded when I heard, Jamie, that he is standing by this daughter. I want to play something for our audience so they can hear

from David`s own mouth how -- he lost his wife. She`s dead at the hands, admittedly, of his own daughter. And yet his daughter is sort of the -- I

guess the surviving family member, and he feels like he -- well, he feels like it`s his daughter. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOVER: I hope and pray that my daughter Jamie gets a second chance at making something of herself because -- another chance. May wife would want

that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: John Waldron is the attorney for Jamie Silvonek, and he joins me from Allentown, Pennsylvania. John, thanks so much for being on the

program.

JOHN WALDRON, JAMIE`S ATTORNEY: You`re welcome, Nancy. (sic)

BANFIELD: I`m going to ask you the same question that I asked Jamie Stover, the reporter who`s covering this trial. It seems like that shift

(ph) has failed to the average guy out here. Wouldn`t the argument that young girl`s brain was too young to understand what she was doing --

wouldn`t that argument be made prior, in pretrial motions? And why on earth would anybody sign a plea deal 35 years to life if that`s still

cooking?

WALDRON: Well, we had a decertification hearing before the trial judge. And it was a two-day hearing. We had experts testify and had other

witnesses testify. And after that hearing was finished, the judge ruled that she should remain in adult court. And she`s in adult court because

it`s a homicide charge.

[20:10:16]So we decided then, should we go to trial? Should we work out a plea? And we had to consider a lot of options considering our judge and

other issues, and we decided to take the plea, knowing we could still appeal the decertification issue and try to get another hearing on

decertification, hopefully, with another judge.

BANFIELD: So let me just make sure our audience knows what decertification means, and it`s a fancy word for change her to a juvie from an adult, I

mean, effectively. Am I right?

WALDRON: Correct.

BANFIELD: Yes. So here`s my question.

WALDRON: Remove her from...

BANFIELD: I get the argument, sir, that young brains haven`t fully formed, and I am actually in accordance with that. But when I look at this young

woman -- Jamie was a real smart kid. She had a 129 IQ, I think it was. We just read those texts, where she was clearly not sort of going along with a

plan but instigating a plan, meaning it`s not the impressionable thing. She was the driving force here. And then this whole Walmart business after

the murder, where they went and bought bleach and gloves and rubbing alcohol and a box cutter and a file.

I`m having a tough time hearing your argument that this was a young brain. This sounds like a hell of a sophisticated kid to me.

WALDRON: Well, that`s -- we had a forensic psychologist testify, Ashleigh, and a forensic psychiatrist that was a specialist in child adolescents.

They testified she was not sophisticated. They testified about brain development. They testified that she was not serious about those texts.

She did not believe they could come to fruition. She was just going along with Mr. Barnes.

So that`s why at a decertification hearing, you have experts testify who have met with her. Our experts met with her many hours. They did many

tests of Jamie, and they came to the conclusion she should remain -- or she should be -- excuse me -- decertified and go to juvenile court because of

her age, because she was never in trouble before, because of the coerciveness of dating a 20-year-old Army enlistee.

BANFIELD: OK. All right. I hear that. I hear all of those arguments. I think they`re good arguments. Again, I struggle with this woman because

she seems very sophisticated to me.

I want to, actually, if I can right now, John Waldron -- I want to bring in Whitney Boan and Joey Jackson, both attorneys who might be able to help me

sort of get off the ledge here.

I have always seen trial experts come in, and they state their case, and I`m always amazed that smart doctors can be so diverse in how they see the

same case. But isn`t it really just a battle of the experts? It comes down to a battle of the experts, and someone`s going to win. So why did

they get a second crack at the apple?

WHITNEY BOAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, they wouldn`t get a second crack at the apple had they not made the argument in the first place, Ashleigh. So

the issue had to be preserved at the trial level, or in this case, before she entered the plea, in order for this able to even be able to be argued

on appeal.

But you`re absolutely right. I mean, the appellate court`s going to evaluate, but the trial court had the opportunity to listen to these

experts and to judge their credibility himself.

BANFIELD: The judge did that, Joey. The judge made a decision -- I like your argument about this kid more than I like your argument about this kid,

off to adult prison you go.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, Ashleigh, you`re 100 percent right in terms of the battle of the experts. And we deal with that

in courts of law all the time because experts come in, and each one sounds more convincing than the next!

But it think this issue transcends this young girl and it transcends this jurisdiction and it transcends this case. This is about how we treat

juveniles and how -- you know, how really we should apply the law when anybody, any viewer now, I would challenge you, how were you at 14? How

did you think? What did you say? Who did you speak to? What were the conditions upon which you lived your life? And how did that change when

you were 18, 21, 31, 41?

And so I just think, as a society -- and again, not to excuse the horrific offense, but as a society, we have to really think long and hard. Should

we really leave this to experts, or should we just think and know that 14- year-olds are somehow different than you and me? And should we be sentencing them to life or should we be evaluating their cases in juvenile

court? I think this is a case for juvenile court. I think any 14-year-old who does something, it needs to be adjudicated there and not elsewhere.

That`s my position.

BANFIELD: And this is why I said when you hear the phrase "It`s not my fault" in this particular case, I`m not so sure it`s a good thing or a bad

thing if I can`t you get off the ledge on this one.

Stay tuned, if you will. My thanks to Jamie Stover and John Waldron, as well.

This next story, a suspected drug dealer -- I know you`ve heard this before -- charged with murder! But this is weird one because this person wasn`t

even allegedly near the people when they died. But five of them died. They overdosed. And the prosecutors say that`s the lady who sold them the

deadly drugs and that`s why they say it`s murder.

[20:15:12]And it was all smash and zero grab when a car plows through an Arizona store. The weirdest thing was, usually, they plow through and get

stuck. They don`t circle the parking lot waiting for the opportunity to make the dash, do a U-turn in the store and dash right back out again! But

this guy did.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: This week, an alleged drug dealer, street name Ice, is on trial in Minnesota. And this is the first of a kind not because she`s an accused

drug dealer. There`s plenty of that street scum to go around. Instead, this is because prosecutors say this woman, Beverly Burrell, code name Ice

-- they say her drugs killed almost a half dozen people, that they know of. They say five of her customers died in seven months, and they want her to

pay as a murderer.

[20:20:10]The family of Max Tillit told the court this week that their son began using heroin in high school after a football injury, and they say Ice

was his primary source. But the defense attorney says that those addicts could have bought their legal (ph) doses anywhere, adding that it`s common

for them to have multiple dealers in case supplies don`t last.

The parents of another victim had to listen to that. This is Luke Ronnei. His parents said this is not the case for him. They said Ice was the only

person who sold him the deadly heroin. His mom says that she even followed her son on several drug buys, worried about him. She said she watched her

son and his friends all buying drugs from lady Ice. Colleen Ronnei says that the dealer even sold her son, Luke, heroin in the middle of the day

with kids in her car!

Colleen Ronnei joins me now live from Minneapolis. Colleen, first and foremost, I`m so sorry for the loss of your son. I`m so sorry for what

you`ve had to go through. And I`m also -- I`m also buoyed and proud that you are taking this mantle and you are fighting back.

But I want to ask you how things are going in court because this is a tough case.

COLLEEN RONNEI, SON KILLED BY HEROIN OVERDOSE (via telephone): Actually, the court, both the defense and the prosecution, rested their cases today.

It was a very short trial mostly because there were many stipulations that her attorney agreed to because, really, the crimes that she committed, the

actions that she took were indefensible in many cases.

BANFIELD: I want to talk a little bit about the fact that this is a trial with two victims. We talked about five in total, but this trial pertains

to just your son Luke and a friend, Max Tillit. And Max died before your son died. And what is sort of just so ironic about all of this is was

that, as I understand it, Luke was very affected by the death of his friend Max, and called you to tell you that this had happened. What did you do

from that moment forward?

RONNEI: Well, the really kind of ironic thing or the (INAUDIBLE) what kind of a person (INAUDIBLE) that Luke and Max Tillit were not friends. Luke

just knew Max through -- they had a common friend, a friend in common, and Luke was aware through this common friend about Max`s death. And at that

point in time, Luke was in recovery and away at school and doing very well. And he called me because (INAUDIBLE) so upset and he just said --

(INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: I think we -- we`re hearing little bits and pieces, Colleen, from you. I think we`ve got a sketchy cell phone setup. I`m sorry. Can I

just...

RONNEI: Is this better?

BANFIELD: Yes, I think I can hear you now. But I want to ask you about this idea that the alleged drug dealer murderer was in her car with kids at

a time that you say you witnessed her selling to your son, and you did something. You drove right up beside her in that car and said something to

her. Take me to that moment.

RONNEI: I had witnessed her selling drugs to my son on about three occasions at that point in time. And I knew that Luke was -- had -- he had

relapsed. He had been in recovery and he was trying very hard to get back into recovery. He didn`t like being an active addiction.

And I followed him on one occasion. And he had told me, Mom, she`s got kids in her car. She`s always got these little kids in the back seat of

her car.

And so I pulled up alongside of her after I had witnessed her selling drugs, and I just -- I rolled down my window and I looked at her and I

said, If you sell drugs to my son one more time, I will ram your car and I -- every policeman within a mile will be here, and you will be done. And

she just looked at me, and I drove off because I didn`t know what else to do.

BANFIELD: Well, and if you`re dealing with a dealer, you don`t know what they might have, as well. You know, Colleen, it`s -- the defense that

Beverly Burrell, code name Ice, gives is that addicts have numerous sources. And it is true. Addicts do have numerous sources. How do you

get past that? What -- how can you prove that Luke only got his drugs from her, thus her drugs killed Luke?

[20:25:07]RONNEI: Well, because Luke had been -- I mean, in terms of somebody who struggles with the disease of addiction, Luke only struggled -

- "only" I say, but for two years. And of that two years, about 12 months of that time he was in recovery. And he wanted to be clean and so he was,

like, You got to help me, Mom.

I mean, we -- as a family, we were together and we were on a family plan with his cell phone. And so I monitored his calls and his text messages,

and I could tell when he was leaving the house or there was behavior attached that might indicate buying drugs. I would block those phone

calls. Those messages that -- that phone number, her phone number, and she was the only person that he bought from. She never ran out of drugs to

sell.

BANFIELD: Looking of the pictures of your son on the screen, Colleen, he`s a beautiful kid. He really is. And I know that people watching might have

two opinions. They might say, That`s a tragedy that that child died. That`s your child, and that is an illness. Addiction is an illness. And

there are other people that say he`s grown up enough to take the chances if he`s going to take drugs.

Do you struggle ever? Are you ever angry about what happened? Are you -- how do you feel about this battle in America, an opioid addiction, a fight,

and also, an attempt for many to blame the victims of this a lot when they are ill?

RONNEI: Well, and I think that comes from just completely not understanding that addiction is a disease, that these people -- you know,

that anybody who struggles with a disease chooses it. In Luke`s case, he didn`t knowingly use. The first time he was introduced to heroin, he was

not aware of what he was using. And for Luke and his case, he -- once we went through that door, there was no coming back through it again. I mean,

he went down the rabbit hole, and that was it for him.

And I think for many people who think that they might be able to experiment with this drug or use it a few times and it`ll be fine, they have no clear

understanding of what a horrible, evil drug this is. It is like none other.

BANFIELD: Well, Colleen, listen, I`m going to thank you on national television for being this brave because we are in crisis in this country,

and beautiful kids like yours are dying at record numbers, lots of people, moms, sisters, brothers, dads. And they are not guttersnipes. And they

are not, you know, those from the `70s that we thought had gone down a long life of drug abuse and made their choices. This is happening, as you said,

almost lickety-split. And so I applaud you for doing this, Colleen.

I also want to bring in Jon Justice into this conversation, if I can. He`s the host of `Justice and Drew" on KTLK, Twin Cities News Radio.

Jon, there -- the case involving Luke and Max that Colleen was just talking about -- those are two victims. But the allegations are that Beverly

Burrell, Ice, killed five.

What is the story on the other three? Why are they separated? Why are there several trials? Are there more than -- you know, is there more than

one other trial coming? How are they -- how are they -- what are the mechanics of this?

JON JUSTICE, KTLK: Well, at this point in time, there hasn`t been a specific reason that I`ve seen as to why the Luke Ronnei and Max Tillit

case went first. My understanding of all the evidence so far has been that they`ve had the most evidence attached to it.

And you know, listening to Colleen, I think the biggest reason why, certainly in Luke Ronnei`s case, his is going first even before Max Tillit

is because of her involvement, the amount of information and evidence that she was able to give to law enforcement, confronting this woman, and the

overwhelming amount of evidence of contact to show that this was the person that gave these drugs to her son that ultimately killed him. And I think

the same rings true for Max Tillit.

Once these cases wrap up -- and as she said, the Ronnei case wrapped up today -- the judge will have one to seven days before he`ll render his

verdict. And then for Max Tillit, both sides will present their cases, and that will wrap up sometime in July. And then after that, Hennepin County

will move forward in those other three cases.

Now, the suspect, Beverly Burrell, hasn`t been directly attached to those cases yet. But when you look at the evidence, it`s littered with just

information of how much contact the three other individuals who also received heroin...

[20:30:00]BANFIELD: OK, hold that thought. Hold that thought...

JUSTICE: ... as well. Yes.

BANFIELD: ... for a second. Real quickly, Joey Jackson weigh-in here. When that jury gets the case, will they give the benefit of the doubt from

a drug dealer.

JACKSON: I think it jury`s like drug dealers, I don`t think - people in general like drug dealers, but I think it could be a stretch to apply this

law to a drug dealer in this scenario. For the actual death, there are so many intervening circumstances that could lead to the death and that is,

what the jury will be focusing on.

BANFIELD: Except people are mad. They had it with heroin overdoses, with babies in the backseat at the stoplight, do you think a jury would say

we`re sick of it, too.

BOAN: The jury will probably actually think of it. Prosecutors are sick of it and lawmakers are sick of it. You often find on appeal appellate

courts don`t uphold these convictions, because they finds that this are hard to prove in terms of proximate cause between the drug dealer dealing

the drug and death. This is an amazingly traumatic and horrible incident, I have some concerns and in terms of how an appellant court might view this

in terms of whether or not this lady actually cause the death.

BANFIELD: Well I want to thank (inaudible) for being so brave and going publicly about this, this is the kind of voice that everybody needs to

hear. I`ll ask the two of you to stand by.

A mystery in the Bermuda triangle tonight, you haven`t heard that for a while, right? The search continues for survivors of a small plane crash.

Jennifer Blooman and her two young sons and pilot Nathan O`rick flying from Puerto Rico to Florida but never got there and air traffic controllers said

it was weird. They last radar contact 37 miles you guessed it east of Bahamas, Bermuda triangle. Earlier today coastguard confirms the discovery

of debris identified as components of the missing plane. Search for the passengers and of course for the plane as well continue.

We know that thieves aren`t always the sharpest tools in the shed but sometimes they aren`t the most great or coordinated, either. Got the proof

in Canada, there she goes, dope. Wow. I love this. Woman caught on surveillance trying to make a quick escape from an Ontario Wal-Mart

literally tripping over her own silly feet. CTV new reports that the suspect was trying to lift more than $650 worth of merchandise, I am not

sure how she was going to load it into the car because the Wal-Mart guy is running after her. They say she is likely in her 40s and probably helped

by two men and three women and asking for anybody that knows anything for help. She is responsible for over $1,000 in thefts like that maybe in the

week before. She is not very good at her job.

When a car plows into a store after hours, you usually think a burglary is about to happen next but not in the case I`m about to show you. There is

surveillance video from the state trailer supply store in Arizona and it is not your regular smash and grab. Watch. There he goes, circling the

parking lot making choices, finally deciding to bulldoze the store. The driver goes right through, gets caught on surveillance. You think it`s

going to stop there. No, no, no, no, no does a full you turn and guns for the exit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m surprised it went through because the doors are probably a couple hundred pounds.

I first saw somebody was knocking down the doors to steal products which happened in prior employment I had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Police are still looking out for this driver. Car is mid 2000 silver or gray Chevy cobalt. There is a $1,000 reward and I don`t think

that is their car, because who would do that for fun to their own car? Usually take someone else and do that.

A Texas mother killed by a drunk driver and it wasn`t the drivers first time at the rodeo, wasn`t his second. How on earth does this happen? How

do you get multiple DUI convictions and you yet still get to get behind the wheel after having a whole lot of drinks with your pals? Wait until you

find out who he killed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:38:35] BANFIELD: In baseball it`s three strikes and you`re out and for the most part, it`s the same when it comes to crime and just about any

other law, right, on the planet? It seems in San Marcos, Texas it doesn`t work that way and for proof look no further than this man Jason Tar. He is

a three-time DUI offender who is still free on the street to chug liquor all day long with his pal and get behind the wheel and wouldn`t you know

it, he did it again, DUI. And this time it cost Nancy Sterling Dolton her life. Witnesses say that 37-year-old drunk weaved over on the shoulder of

the road, kept on swerving until he went right on, head on into Dolton`s car killing her. Nancy was just coming home from the gym that night

because she was trying to get ready for her daughter`s wedding, of course. That daughter`s wedding was coming up in less than two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMBER MCKEE, NANCY STERLING-DALTON`S DAUGHTER: She was looking out to fit in her wedding dress and when something randomly out of the blue completely

shatters your life and your family, you never get over it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And now the understatement, initially Tar was only charged with intoxication manslaughter in her death but the prosecutors decided to add a

murder charge, because of his three previous DUI convictions. He went on trial and it was quickie. Jurors took only about ten hours to decide he

was guilty as charged. What has the family of Nancy Sterling Dolton upset is not the fact his sentence was 20 years, he could get out in ten, they

are upset that Tar was allowed to go home after the guilty verdict and before his sentencing. That is rare. And during that time he was allowed

to spend mother`s day with his mother. And that is something that Nancy will never have with her family. Nancy Sterling Dolton`s family will never

celebrate mother`s day with her. Amber McKee is Nancy`s daughter and she joins me live from Las Vegas. Amber, it is astounding this man was out on

the road. Is there something about Texas I don`t understand, that someone could have 3 DUI and still be free to go out on the road absolutely

hammered and do what he did to your mom?

[20:41:05] MCKEE: No, it was surprising to me when I found out shortly after my mom was murdered how many DUI`s he had and it was my understanding

he got out of some, as well.

BANFIELD: I want to show our viewers, Amber so they are crystal clear of Jason Tar. In 2001, he pleaded no contest to driving while intoxicated.

In 2002 -- let`s put this up on the screen and see if we can take a look. Not his picture, his wrap sheet. Unfortunately, we don`t have it. I`ll

read it for you. In 2002, yesterday again, no contest driving while intoxicated. One year later, 2003, no contest. Driving while intoxicated,

one year later, 2004, guilty, diving while license suspended. So how was he out on the street? I mean, did the prosecutors help you and your family

get through this and understand why you had to be in -- why it took the death of your mother to finally put this man behind bars?

MCKEE: The prosecutors were quite surprised, as well, that he had such a long wrap sheet, which is one of the reasons they aggressively pursued the

murder conviction. When they started digging into his history, they found not only did he have previous DUI`s. He had been in several accidents

while intoxicated. Found on the side of the road by police officers, drunk passed out in his car and police officers had to sandwich his car between

cop cars to wake him up because they were afraid he would roll and hit someone else. One of his DUI`s was in the neighborhood that my mom was

actually murdered in where he was in another accident and taken away via ambulance from that accident and charged with a DUI at the hospital.

BANFIELD: Looks like a pretty clean living guy in the pictures. We show the pictures of him with the suit on and the kid, and yet, there is all

that awful background to him. I want to ask you about the people who showed up for him, not only at court, outside the courtroom, inside the

courtroom but on the internet, as well. It was a bit weird to see that this man had a huge core of supporters.

MCKEE: Yeah, very, very two-faced person. He -- I believe that he gave people a presence of someone that was very successful, giving in the

community but he behind the scenes was a very terrible person. It seems that even when I was talking to him and saying that, you know, you killed

my mom. I said you put us all through this, you could have plead, you could have plead and he truly believed that he could not have plead and

when I looked at him, it was obvious to me that his face in front of his family was more important than anything else.

BANFIELD: I mean, look at our banner, fourth DUI. I am a forgiving person, Amber and I can only imagine you are, as well. I`m not here to

destroy, you know, his family but for god`s sake, honestly, fourth DUI and now he`ll go away, because your mom ultimately had to pay the price? It`s

appalling. It`s absolutely appalling. I am very sorry, Amber. I`m very sorry you had to go through this but I guess there is slight justice in

that he`ll be spending the better part of his life now behind bars, thank you for being here tonight. Amber McKee joining me live tonight,

unbelievable.

[20:45: 20] So there is this video that we received today, an SUV completely out of control, but came into contact with that kid on a bike.

And the video is hard to watch. But he is ok. The trouble is we don`t know who it is that was driving yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We all hope that when your kids are playing outside, riding their bikes on the street in your homes that they are going to be safe,

right? Especially if they are on the sidewalk, but one mom in Florida, is extremely thankful that their teenage son narrowly escaped, just a few

scratches, with big bruises after being hit head on by an SUV. It is unbelievable video caught on a home security camera. I`m going to point

you to the top of the screen where you can see a gold ford expedition swerving crazy down the street fish tailing, slamming into that pickup

truck before hitting that 14-year-old on his bike. What`s even more shocking is that driver just kept going. Johnny Walsh junior was that kid

on the bike who was hit. I want you to listen to him explain what happened from his point of view.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY WALSH JR, HIT BY SUV: I seen a dude swerve out and I was like what`s going on? And then he swerved, hit the mailbox, hit the car, tried

getting out of the way and I got hit.

It hit the bike and I pushed off like this and I hit the floor and rolled and the tire was right in front of me so I had to hurry and get out the

way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: We have just learned that the police found the SUV, gold 1998 Ford expedition with this Florida tag. GYCT 99 was found in the woods by

mosquito control workers of all things. Here is the problem. Whoever was behind the wheel was not in that vehicle when they found it so they are

still looking for that driver and the vehicle was reported stolen. After Johnny Walsh junior was hit. His dad, Johnny Walsh senior is now live with

me on the phone from holiday, Florida. Johnny, how are you doing?

JOHNNY WALSH SR, SON HIT BY HIT AND RUN DRIVER: I`m doing good, ma`am, how are you doing?

BANFIELD: Well, I`m much better knowing that your son is okay because every time I look at this video, I am astounded that he is alive. Much

less up and around and talking about his bruises, he is in the room with you, right? Can you tell me how he feels tonight?

WALSH SR.: He is still in pain, he is still limping a little bit, and I think it`s getting better.

BANFIELD: So what did he tell you and when did you find out about this?

WALSH SR.: I found out after he had got hit. He called me on the phone. I was in the house cooking dinner and he called me on the phone to say hey,

dad, I just got hit by a car. I thought it was just a bump, just --

BANFIELD: Let me get this straight. Mr. Walsh, your son was somehow -- had the where with all to pick up his phone after that happened and call

you and say dad, I just got hit by a car?

WALSH SR.: Yes, ma`am. You know, the way he sound, he just got a little bump on him but after I saw the video, I was like wow, he in more pain than

he thought he was.

BANFIELD: Unbelievable.

WALSH SR.: It was a shocking moment when I saw that video.

BANFIELD: I know he is a little bit nervous but do you think he wants to get on the phone and make a plea to the driver to come forward?

WALSH SR.: Yes, he can, Junior?

WALSH JR.: Hello.

BANFIELD: Hi, Johnny. How are you doing? Are you okay?

WALSH JR.: Sore and my back hurts and my arm.

BANFIELD: Listen, kiddo, I`m so glad that you`re alive because that video was so scary. Do you want to say something to that driver of the car they

are looking for right now?

WALSH JR.: Turn yourself in. Please.

BANFIELD: Amen to that. Want to tell him how you feel about him?

WALSH JR.: What were you doing like were you aiming for me or what? Was it just an accident?

BANFIELD: Well, you are wise beyond your years and Johnny junior, thank you for getting on the phone. I know you`re nervous. Thank your dad as

well for talking to us and I hope your bruises and bumps heal soon.

WALSH JR.: Thank you.

BANFIELD: We`re back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:54:35] BANFIELD: Huge problems and huge thanks to Whitney Boan and Joey Jackson, first time on the show.

BOAN: Yes, thanks for having me.

JACKSON: Florida.

BOAN: Up here in this heat. What`s going on here?

BANFIELD: It`s as hot here as it is there. You thought you would escape the heat. Thanks for being here.

JACKSON: Great show, Ms. Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Stay tuned, "FORENSIC FILES" is coming up next. You don`t want to miss that. See you tomorrow.

END