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NANCY GRACE

Mom Bathed and Dressed Toddlers After They Died in Hot Car

Aired August 3, 2007 - 20:00:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, breaking news out of Charleston, South Carolina, the suburbs. A 27-year-old mother of two taken from the local hospital dressed in hospital scrubs and handcuffed, escorted straight to jail. Why? Police say 1-year-old Triniti, 4-year-old Shawn died a painful death when left trapped in soaring temperatures in mom`s car. Accident? Hold on! After mom makes a solo run to Arby`s for her own dinner, police find the children in garbage bags dead under the kitchen sink. Hope you enjoyed that roast beef sandwich, Mom, because it`s jail food tonight!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking details in the case of two kids who died after sitting in a hot car while their mother worked just steps away. The dead bodies of 4-year-old Shawn and 1-year-old Triniti were washed and dressed before being wrapped in trash bags, according to arrest warrants. A pathologist believes the kids were probably dead from heat exposure before they were washed, dressed and thrown under the sink next to a bag of garbage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, a high-profile editor of a major Oakland newspaper gunned down execution-style on a public street as he, like the rest of us, simply walked to work that morning. The newspaper superstar, 57-year-old Chauncey Bailey (ph), now believed by police to be the victim of a hired hitman. But why?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chauncey Bailey, a long-time journalist who was shot to death yesterday in the heart of downtown Oakland. Fifty-eight- year-old Bailey was walking to work yesterday morning on 14th and (INAUDIBLE) Streets when he was gunned down. He most recently served as editor of "The Oakland Post." SWAT teams made entry into that one business called Your Black Muslim Bakery. It`s on the 5800 block of San Pablo (ph) Avenue. They say this stems out of a year-long investigation, including murder and robbery, several violent crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search warrant yielded several weapons and other evidence of value, including evidence linking the murder of Chauncey Bailey to members of the Your Black Muslim Bakery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight.

First to South Carolina -- her two children found dead under the kitchen sink, left alone in a stifling hot car while mom goes to work, the temperatures soaring there in Charleston, South Carolina. But that`s not the end of it. Her two children apparently dead, and she heads to dinner at Arby`s?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, police say

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We responded to a disturbance at the Villa (ph) Apartments on Reenout (ph) Road. Officers arrived on scene. They saw a female in a struggle with an unknown subject. That male directed the officers to check inside the cabinet, at which time the bodies of two small children were discovered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early speculation is that, you know, she took the children with her to work, didn`t have any care for the children, and left them in the car. That`s one possible, you know, instance that we`re investigating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: OK, let me get this straight. After the two children, toddlers ages 1 and 4, are dead, apparently from heat exhaustion there in the car, heat stroke, she then bathed them, washed them and meticulously dressed them before putting them out with the garbage?

Out to Marika Kelderman, reporter with WCSC-TV joining us from Charleston. Marika, explain. What`s the latest?

MARIKA KELDERMAN, WCSC-TV: Well, the big news today, Nancy, was that two psychiatrists were actually with the children`s mother, Sametta Heyward, just hours ago. They were brought in by her defense attorney to start on a mental evaluation that he actually says could take several weeks to complete. They want to do a full history to find out what her mental status was.

Now, this was going on at the exact same time that a visitation was being held for her two children, Shawn Campbell, Jr., and his sister, Triniti. Their funeral is going to be held tomorrow. And we`ve actually learned their mother has been barred from attending the funeral and a judge actually denied a special request to have a private visitation for her so that she could say good-bye to her children. That`s the latest.

GRACE: Well, I think she had plenty of time to say good-bye while they were out in her car for about, let`s just say, eight hours in the stifling heat! Now -- now, hold on. Here we go. Second verse, same as the first. The defense is already bringing in psychiatrists to try and develop an insanity defense.

Let me go straight to Bethany Marshall, psychotherapist and author. Bethany, give it to me straight. And remember, you haven`t been hired by the defense, all right? This is a mom that worked her shift normally at work, no indication of mental illness, leaves the kids locked in the car, when she couldn`t -- didn`t try, I don`t know, or couldn`t get -- a baby- sitter, then comes home, bathes them, clothes them, goes out to Arby`s, and according to this police investigation report, calls an ex and says, I killed my babies. Now, where`s the insanity?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: OK. Well, the fact that she called the ex and said, I killed my babies, means that she does know right from wrong. Here`s what I would be evaluating for. You have to look at socio- economic status. She was probably terrified to not show up for work, afraid of losing her job...

GRACE: Wait. Did you just you tell me insanity depends on your socio-economic status?

MARSHALL: No. No, no, no. That`s not what I said. I said...

GRACE: Because I would have been crazy working in law school working those three jobs.

MARSHALL: Hey, no, what I said was the fact that she called her ex says that she does know right from wrong. She called her ex and said, I killed my babies. That`s not insanity. This is something a little different, fear of losing her job. I would wonder if you have an ultra- conforming personality, panic, low ego strength, and I would want to do some psych testing to see if she has problems in the frontal lobe because people...

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

MARSHALL: What that means, this is the part of the brain that`s the center of higher reasoning. And people who have problems in that area, when they panic, they cannot engage in linear causal or cause-and-effect thinking. So such as, How am I going to feed my babies? What`s going to happen if they need to go to the bathroom, if they need food, that kind of stuff.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Richard Todd, the host of "The Morning Buzz," 1250, WTMA AM, joining us out of Charleston. We see it starting up right now, psychiatric defense. Not only that, the defense attorney saying it will take weeks to do an evaluation. What`s the latest on your end, Richard Todd?

RICHARD TODD, HOST, "MORNING BUZZ," 1250 WTMA AM: Well, it`s funny that your previous guest mentioned problem with ego, and from the fact that she had been very happy in recent months. She was not on welfare. as she bought her own car, earned a degree at Trident Technical College here locally, and had been getting financial help from family and friends, rather than going on welfare. And of course, now the defense attorney for her here in the low (ph) country is looking at the -- subpoenaing the work records for where she worked.

The defense attorney for Ms. Heyward had made the contention that he had been contacted by other employees of the Charleston County Disabilities Board and that they had a work environment that was not conducive to positive mental health. And so he has filed a subpoena, which so far has been denied, in saying that he has been contacted by other employees that worked there, while at the same time, the Charleston County Disabilities Board has disavowed those claims and stated that she was a wonderful employee and there was no indication that she had ever had problems...

GRACE: OK...

TODD: ... getting child care before this.

GRACE: With me, Richard Todd with "The Morning Buzz" 1250 AM WTMA, and Marika Kelderman with WCSC-TV.

Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me out of New York, Susan Moss and Kathleen Mullin, both veteran trial lawyers, and out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Renee Rockwell.

Susan Moss, I`m hearing a whole lot of nothing. Look, no job wants you to miss work, period. A lot of jobs will put pressure. I remember losing a job because I had to study for finals in law school. I lost a job. At a sandwich shop, true, but I lost a job. End of story. I`m hearing all of this, what is it, non-con -- ultra-conforming personality, wanting to please others? Is everybody forgetting about the two kids that died of heat stroke? You know what that`s like, Susan Moss?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: I don`t, thankfully. But this is not the lifetime sob story that some people might make it out to be. Let`s look at the facts. Mommy dearest was allegedly calm and cool when she bought those curly fries and Coke from Arby`s. She had already lost custody once of the deceased older boy, who was put into foster care, although she ultimately got him back. It is reported that she was under psychiatric care at one point. She also lost custody of her older son to the father.

There are many facts that point out this is not just a mom who made a terrible mistake, but this is the culmination of many, many bad decisions that have hurt her children in the past.

GRACE: Out to Court TV`s Jean Casarez, on the case from the very beginning. What can you tell me about prior problems with the Department of Family and Children`s Services, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: Well, it was in 2004 that her 4-year-old was actually removed from the home. The allegation was dirty conditions, uninhabitable. The child, as Susan Moss says, was returned. In 2006, OK, not very long ago, she was found not guilty of domestic abuse.

And Nancy, the ironic thing here, which is interesting, she was a caregiver. That is what she did. She worked for the Disabilities Board of Charleston County, and she was at a home, taking care of others, while her own children were in the car in 88-degree heat.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Laurie in Pennsylvania. Hi, Laurie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy, I think you`re the best.

GRACE: Thank you, Laurie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Also, congratulations to you.

GRACE: Can you believe it? You can tell all that to the defense bar who`s on the show tonight. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, is she eligible for the death penalty?

GRACE: I don`t know yet. I don`t know how they`re going to regard special aggravating circumstances. I know in South Carolina, they have the death penalty, and I know that one aggravating circumstance, as it is called, every murder does not qualify for the death penalty. However, one of the circumstances, universal in every state, generally is mass murder, which is more than one body. Here you`ve got that right off the top, Laurie in Pennsylvania. There also may be a specific aggravating circumstance regarding specific heinousness or torture before death. And if leaving two children to die in the heat in a car with the windows rolled up isn`t torture, I don`t know what is. But we see, Laurie in Pennsylvania, where the defense is going.

Let`s unleash the lawyers, Kathleen Mullin and Renee Rockwell. Out to you, Kathleen Mullin. What`s your best shot?

KATHLEEN MULLIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, what`s the theory here, that this woman is a homicidal maniac? I mean, my best shot is this. She has a history of what appears to be cognitive impairment. She doesn`t function at a very high level, certainly not the same level...

GRACE: She just got her degree, didn`t she?

MULLIN: ... that we would expect her to function.

GRACE: Hold on! Marika, didn`t she...

MULLIN: I don`t know what her degree is in, Nancy, but she can`t function well.

GRACE: ... just get her degree? Marika? I think I`ve got...

KELDERMAN: Yes.

GRACE: She did? What was it, Marika?

KELDERMAN: Well, she works for the Charleston Disability Board, which means that she actually goes to a house to take care of people with disabilities, and that was what she was doing. As to exactly what her degree is, it`s unclear, but she was a caregiver.

And I know you mentioned before that her defense attorney is trying to get records of her work -- her work records, to find out where she was working and how many hours she was working. Her employer actually released to us today that she, in fact, in the past that she`s worked here, she only in the past year, she only worked two 12-hour shifts in the entire year that she worked. And then she worked one other double shift, one 16-hour shift, and that she was scheduled on this past Sunday,. when she left those children to work, a 15-hour shift, and she owner worked half of that shift. And then, at 11:00 o`clock, apparently called her employer to finally say she was having baby-sitting problems and had to leave.

GRACE: Back out to Kathleen Mullin. She got a degree at Trident Tech College, just bought her own car, was holding down a job, and managed to call the ex and say, I just killed my children. OK, now go ahead and tell me about her insanity.

MULLIN: Nancy, it`s not insanity, it`s a limited functioning that we`re looking at here. She got a degree from a technical college, which I applaud. She went to work caring in a physical capacity for other people. We`re not talking about a woman who made a decision to intentionally take her kids and put them in a car and have them incinerated in 88-degree heat. She just didn`t put those factors together in the way that a person who functions at a higher cognitive level would be able to do.

And Nancy, when she takes hem hone and she bathes them and she tenderly clothes them, that shows you this woman never intended for these children to die.

GRACE: We`re showing you children who died inside overheated cars. And believe me, all these parents and caregivers did not succeed with the insanity defense.

Renee Rockwell, veteran defense attorney, long story short, by calling the ex and telling the ex that she had killed her children, and then writing this ridiculous suicide note -- I don`t know why we don`t call it a homicide note! Why do all these moms say, I meant to commit suicide, then they end up -- the children end up dead on TV, dead, and the mom ends up alive on TV. How is that? This is not a suicide note.

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I don`t know where everybody`s going with this. This is not some woman that was out smoking crack and accidentally left the kids in the car. She...

GRACE: Yes, she did it intentionally!

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: She did it intentionally!

ROCKWELL: Nancy, this is nothing more than a negligent homicide, at the most, and anybody that`s going anywhere else -- I`ll tell you why...

GRACE: You know what, Renee Rockwell?

ROCKWELL: No, Nancy.

GRACE: If somebody had done this to their two little mini pinnies (ph), like you have running around your apartment, miniature Doberman pinschers...

ROCKWELL: Nancy...

GRACE: If somebody had done this to two dogs, you would be raising H- E-L-L.

ROCKWELL: Nancy...

GRACE: But because it`s two children, you say it`s just negligence.

ROCKWELL: Nancy, can I say one thing?

GRACE: Yes.

ROCKWELL: Let me tell you what her lawyers are doing now. They need some psychiatric help because she`s probably just so torn up over this. This is a lady that was trying to work, was afraid to lose her job. And you know what this is going to do with the nation? Maybe employers are going to start saying, Let`s be a little more sensitive to our people that can`t get baby-sitters, can`t get...

GRACE: Renee.

ROCKWELL: ... the aunt to watch the kids...

GRACE: Renee?

ROCKWELL: Yes, ma`am?

GRACE: Don`t care. I don`t care what employers are going to do tomorrow. I care about Triniti and her brother dead in a baking hot car while mom`s inside making money in the air-conditioning!

And I want to go back out to Richard Todd with "The Morning Buzz." How hard did she try to get a baby-sitter? I know the neighbor was going to baby-sit and had to back out, said she was sick. The aunt expected her to call. She never called, according to the aunt. You don`t think that`s a problem, Richard?

TODD: You know, this is a lady, remember, who had her first child when she was 15 years old, whose father has the custody now of the 12-year- old in Maryland, a woman who`s had a run-in with the law, a woman who`s had a run-in with the Department of Social Services before, and a woman who, besides the two kids that she bathed, clothed and put in trash bags under her sink, also apparently had another child earlier this year, gave it up for adoption in January, unbeknownst to even the closest family members of hers.

So I find it very hard that when she writes in the suicide note that she was afraid of getting in trouble at her job and she wanted to check on the kids so desperately, that this is somebody who did not know exactly what was happening as it was happening and has a long history of poor choices.

GRACE: Right. Richard Todd joining us.

I want to go to a special guest I just got hooked up to. It is Lt. Michael Fowler with the Hanahan Police Department. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us.

LT. MICHAEL FOWLER, HANAHAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: My pleasure.

GRACE: I`ve heard a lot of conflicting reports about the timeline. What can you tell us happened that evening that you know so far?

FOWLER: We know she went to work at 3:00 o`clock Sunday afternoon, was scheduled to work a double shift as, you know, you heard earlier. We know she left somewhere between 11:30 and 11:45. So that would be, you know, where the children were in the car for that, you know, eight, eight- and-a-half-hour period.

GRACE: We`ll be right back with Lt. Michael Fowler and the latest on this case.

But first, recovery teams find yet another casualty after a major Minnesota bridge collapsed during the height of rush hour, the Twin Cities interstate 35W bridge crashing down 64 feet into the Mississippi all in the space of four seconds. The number missing now 8, 110 injured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking details in the case of two kids who died after sitting in a hot car while their mother worked just steps away. The dead bodies of 4-year-old Shawn and 1-year-old Triniti were washed and dressed before being wrapped in trash bags, according to arrest warrants. A pathologist believes the kids were probably dead from heat exposure before they were washed, dressed and thrown under the sink next to a bag of garbage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The stunning headline tonight. Apparently, after the kids are dead from the stifling hot heat in a baking car, the mom bathed and dressed them.

Out to Lt. Michael Fowler with the Hanahan Police Department. How did you determine that they were bathed and dressed after their death?

FOWLER: Information that the detectives gathered during their interviews with, you know, several of the family members and witnesses.

GRACE: Bathed and dressed and then placed in garbage bags with the garbage under the kitchen sink.

To you, Bethany Marshall. The ritual of bathing and dressing them -- freaky.

MARSHALL: Well, it is very strange. I think perhaps it was her final maternal act, and I think it speaks to how decompensated she was, meaning all her coping mechanisms failed. And I want to make a comment. Mothers who purposely kill their children...

GRACE: I don`t know why you keep saying that about all her coping mechanisms failed. You could say that about any killer.

MARSHALL: You could, but I want to say, first of all, explanation is not the same as excuse. Trying to find out why somebody did something is not saying that it`s OK. And also, mothers who want to kill their children often drown, poison or suffocate them. They don`t leave them in a car. And usually, there`s a relief (ph) space after killing the child. They`re very happy that the child is gone. They don`t wander around barefoot, suicidal, calling relatives, asking the police to kill them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two young children are dead after police say they were left inside their mom`s car for hours while she worked. It`s still unclear where they died, but the temperature soared to 88 degrees outside the car. Law enforcement says it didn`t stop there, though. After coming back from work, 27-year-old Sametta Heyward is accused of putting her kids in garbage bags and dumping them under her kitchen sink.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: To Dr. William Morrone. Dr. Morrone, what do you go through, what would the children go through, dying of heat stroke?

DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The first thing would be confusion and disorientation, probably stupor. Eventually, it would lead to possible seizures and coma with convulsions and vomiting. It`s not pleasant.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Lisa in New Jersey. Hi, Lisa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love your show.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d like to know what the involvement of DYFUS (ph) and children`s protect -- you know, children`s protective services, was really involved in this case? And do you think that when she dressed them and bathed them, that was her last act of proving she was a good mother?

GRACE: Excellent question. First to you, Jean Casarez. What was, DFAC, Department of Children and Family Services, involvement?

CASAREZ: Well, that was 2004, and they removed one of the children, the 4-year-old, the older one, because of dirty, filthy living conditions. Now, the not guilty just last year of domestic abuse, we don`t know what that concerned. That has not come out yet. So it possibly concerned one, allegedly, of the children.

GRACE: But what was the title of it? She was not guilty of domestic abuse?

CASAREZ: Domestic abuse, yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We responded to a disturbance at the Willow Apartments (ph) (INAUDIBLE) road. Officers arrived on scene. They saw a female in a struggle with an unknown subject. That male directed the officers to check inside the cabinet, at which time the bodies of two small children were discovered.

Early speculation is that, you know, she took the children with her to work, didn`t have any care for the children, and left them in the car. So that`s one possible instance that we`re investigating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: He left out one thing, that while the children lay dead, she went out to dinner for herself at Arby`s. Hope that roast beef was good, Mom.

To Lieutenant Michael Fowler with the Hanahan Police Department, Lieutenant, I understand the neighbor was supposed to take care of the children and backed out. Do we have evidence she did not call the aunt?

LT. MICHAEL FOWLER, HANAHAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think it`s -- I think it`s safe to say that, yes.

GRACE: I know the aunt had made statements to the press that she kept the children before, but the defendant never called her that morning. I find that very, very disturbing.

Out to the lines, Joy in Washington state, hi, Joy.

CALLER: Well, I listen to you enough to know that all of our questions are excellent.

GRACE: Bless you.

CALLER: But, anyway, we e-mailed you the other day with these three questions, but my middle question is, was the car searched for even a diaper bag? Had she even taken a diaper bag with her for the 1-year-old while she worked?

GRACE: Washington State, brilliant. Lieutenant, was the car equipped? I know in her suicide note, she said, "Search the car, it is parked at Arby`s." Was there a diaper bag or anything in the car for the children to eat or drink or take care of them in any way?

FOWLER: No, there was not.

GRACE: OK. Kathleen Mullin, you want to try another stab at it?

KATHLEEN MULLIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, doesn`t that just verify what it is we`ve been talking about?

GRACE: No.

MULLIN: That Miss Heywood is not putting one and one together and getting two. She is functioning at a level where she has a decision to make and, in this moment, she solves this problem alone, and nothing else beyond that comes into her purview.

GRACE: That`s not a defense.

MULLIN: She`s got a 1-year-old -- well, Nancy, it does tell you something about her, that, like I said, she doesn`t function...

GRACE: She doesn`t plan for her kids.

MULLIN: She`s not planning to kill them, either. That`s pretty clear to me, and it should be pretty clear to anybody who looks at the circumstance of this case.

GRACE: You know, I`ve heard that same, old, tired excuse so many times, Renee Rockwell, "I didn`t mean to kill them." What do you think is going to happen when you lock your kids in a stifling hot car all day, eight hours?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: But, Nancy, you`re compared her to yourself. This is a girl that might not be able to think.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: She had a job. She bought a car. She got a degree. Don`t tell me she can`t think.

ROCKWELL: But, Nancy, she`s living in an extended stay hotel room doing the best she can, and she made a bad move that day, and it`s not a homicide. It`s just some reckless act. And I can tell you, that`s ridiculous that somebody would even...

GRACE: Leaving those children out in that car, nothing to drink, nothing to eat, all day long in the stifling heat, you wouldn`t do that to an animal. To Vito Colucci, private investigator, how should they -- not that they need our help -- but how should they process that car? What should they be looking for, and the home, crime scenes now?

VITO COLUCCI, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: Yes, but what you`re doing on this, Nancy, obviously you`re going to tear the car apart just to see what you said before, any juice cups, any food at all, anything of that nature. But, you know, these defense attorneys are ganging up on you. You know what`s amazing, Nancy?

GRACE: Believe me, I`m not worried, Vito.

COLUCCI: Ten pages of research, I did today, 9 1/2 of the pages are saying, "The boss made me did it and terrible working conditions." There`s about a half a page of what she actually did. And this is ridiculous. This lady had a tough job. She was dealing with mentally challenged and disabled people. Couldn`t she have brought the kids inside? Weren`t there beds in there? Could there have been an empty room? You know, I mean, this case on the defense side I think is going nowhere, as good as Renee and Kathleen are. This is really...

GRACE: Vito, I just remember, you know, waking up, waking up at 7:00 a.m. every morning, and my mom would already be gone to work, and there would be breakfast out, and she would get home at night from work, maybe 7:00 p.m. or so, she`d have a stack of papers this high she`d have to go through and continue working. Long story short, I know people have tough jobs, circumstances. I know that just as well as anybody else. But that does not excuse what pain these children went through.

And when I find out from Lieutenant Michael Fowler -- and remember, everybody, a lot of this is public record, he`s not compromising the investigation -- to Paula in Florida, there was not even in a juice cup, nothing, not even a diaper for the 1-year-old in that car. Paula, what`s your question?

CALLER: Yes, hi, thank you very much. And I love your show, and I`m wearing my Nancy Grace t-shirt.

GRACE: Bless you.

CALLER: Now, I need to know whether she worked an eight-hour shift or a double shift. Wouldn`t she have gotten a break where she could have gone -- that`s two questions. Couldn`t she have gotten a break where she had gone to check on the children?

GRACE: What about it? Back out to Richard Todd with the "Morning Buzz." I know she was supposed to work a double shift. I think she worked from 3:00 to 11:00, which is one shift. And under the law, you`re supposed to get a break.

RICHARD TODD, "MORNING BUZZ": Well, she actually left her 15-hour shift more than halfway through, about eight or nine hours into the shift, saying that she had a baby-sitting emergency. And, remember, Nancy, as well, this is a state here in South Carolina that ranks ninth in America for cases of homicide by child abuse. And two-thirds of black babies born in the state are born to single parents.

And when they went to the car that they were directed to go to, and the suicide note, or as you appropriately call it the murder note, when they go to her car, they find documents in her car that led them to believe that she had been pregnant and given up another baby for adoption in January of this year, and her family didn`t even know about it.

GRACE: You know, Richard, I don`t want to come down on her for giving a baby up for adoption, because after you`ve seen and prosecuted so many cases where moms murder their children, I wish, I pray to God they give them up for adoption.

TODD: Well, her relatives actually said they thought she did it so that the kid could have a good life, but when you have your first child at 15, you murder your second and third kid, and your fourth kid goes up for adoption, you have obviously a series of choices and aberrant behavior.

GRACE: Yes, you`re right, Richard, some track record.

I want to go -- well, quickly, let`s take a look at similar cases. Nobody can forget the most recent case of Christy Freeman, four fetuses found buried in around her house. Andrea Yates, her children are all drowned to death. Susan Smith tried to blame the death of her children on "a black guy," those were her words. Deanna Leaney, rock mom, she beat her children to death with rocks. Amy Grossberg, she had it all, silver spoon in her mouth. There`s her boyfriend, Brian Peterson, in college, beat the little baby boy to death, found him in a Dumpster. And, oh, yeah, here`s prom queen Melissa Drexler. After she killed her baby boy in the bathroom, she went out and asked for Metallica`s "Unforgiven" to be played at the dance. Yes, "Unforgiven."

Out to the lines, Nancy in Texas. Hi, Nancy.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy, I love your show.

GRACE: Thank you. What`s your question, dear?

CALLER: I want to know, does the -- does anyone know when she discovered when her kids had died? I mean, could it have been that she came out to her car and thought they were asleep and drove home? Did she know when she got in the car to go home from work that they were dead?

GRACE: Interesting question. Interesting question, Nancy, because that would affect the whole timeline they were predicate the theories of the show on. To Lieutenant Michael Fowler, didn`t she say, when she came out and saw that they were dead or that they had a faint pulse, she tried CPR on them?

FOWLER: That`s correct.

GRACE: Why didn`t she call 911?

FOWLER: We don`t know.

GRACE: Do you really think she tried CPR, Lieutenant?

FOWLER: We have no real way of knowing either way at this point, but an autopsy, I`m sure, could determine whether or not that was done.

GRACE: Dr. Morrone, what will they find in autopsy if there is heat stroke or if she did CPR?

MORRONE: Well, if they`ve done CPR on a child, it`s real difficult because it`s using fingers and not hands. And if you`re not trained, when you use a hand on a child, you`re going to create a lot of damage, and that will be seen on autopsy. But the heat stroke or the hyperthermia as the cause of death, there`s a lot of vomit. There`s hyperemia, blood rushing to the skin. And this can be seen on microscopic pathology. And it`s very specific in the absence of any other pathology with a history of exposure to heat.

GRACE: Everyone, when we come back, a high-profile newspaper editor gunned down in broad daylight. Was it a hired hit?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today at approximately 0500 hours, several law enforcement agencies, led by the Oakland Police Department, served four search wants at the following locations: 5832 San Pablo. That is the Your Black Muslim bakery, 1083 1085 59th Street, and 972 Eileen Street. All these locations were in the city of Oakland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During our investigation, Chauncey Bailey was murdered, and it turns out that evidence in that case also links the same individuals we were looking at in the other two prior murders to that case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A high-profile newspaper editor gunned down as he walked to work in the morning just like the rest of us, now believed to be the victim of a hit. Now, somehow, a bakery is involved. Sounds like to me there could come out more than doughnuts at that bakery.

Out to Jeff Shuttleworth with the Bay City News Service. What`s happening?

JEFF SHUTTLEWORTH, BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE: Hello. Well, it all started Thursday morning, when Chauncey Bailey was walking to work from his home near Lake Merritt to "The Oakland Post," where he works as editor. And he was shot multiple times and killed. And now there`s word that this was all linked to a story he was writing about the Your Black Muslim bakery.

GRACE: To Sabrina Lamb, a close friend of Chauncey Bailey`s and a media commentator, first of all, Ms. Lamb, we`re sorry about the loss. We know that you were very close, very good friends with him. I don`t know the connection between his murder today -- although it does sound like a hit, someone masked, coming up to him, 7:30 a.m., highly unusual time for a murder, jumping back into a van that speeds away, no robbery, no sex attack, no assault. What is the connection between him and this bakery?

SABRINA LAMB, CLOSE FRIEND OF CHAUNCEY BAILEY: Well, thank you for having me, first of all, Nancy. Chauncey Bailey was a staunch investigative reporter, and he represented his readers and the goals of the African-American community in the Bay Area. So when he found a story that needed to be aired, such as the corruption and the violence that perpetuated this Black Muslim group in Oakland, he thought that the readers should know about it. He was specifically looking at the bankruptcy filing and the financial dealings of the Black Muslim bakery, which has not only a bakery, but also other linked businesses, like dry cleaners and so forth.

GRACE: So did he believe that this Black Muslim bakery was connect to violence? And what did he hope to uncover in the bankruptcy filings?

LAMB: Well, it`s public record that they were connected with violence, I mean, for years, not only with the son, Yusuf Bey IV, that was indicted and arrested for ransacking a liquor store owner`s premises because he didn`t believe that that was a Muslim tenant, to drink and to sell liquor. I mean, there`s videotape on that.

So it`s not what -- I can`t report what was in the head of Chauncey as of yesterday morning, but it`s public record what their activities were. You know, and I represent just one of thousands of people that adored and loved Chauncey Bailey.

GRACE: Joining me right now, Martin G. Reynolds, a very special guest joining us, and managing editor of "The Oakland Tribune," a former co- worker of Chauncey Bailey. Sir, thank you for being with us.

MARTIN G. REYNOLDS, MANAGING EDITOR, "OAKLAND TRIBUNE": I`m glad to be here, Nancy.

GRACE: What can you tell us about these alleged connections between what your friend was trying to uncover and this bakery that police now believe may have caused him to end up the victim of a hit man?

REYNOLDS: Well, I think it`s very early to try and speculate exactly what the connections were. As your previous guest pointed out, there is obvious public record about what this group has allegedly been involved in over time. And I think the bottom line is that Chauncey got wind of something, wanted to look into it, did so, and now it appears that it could have cost him his life. And it`s very upsetting that a journalist who`s going about the good work of being a watchdog for the community can be subject to this kind of violence. It`s very upsetting.

GRACE: And apparently -- with us, Martin G. Reynolds -- apparently, he always was, always was reporting on social issues, things that he believed in, was a real diehard, trying to do good, and now he`s dead. Tell me about the family he leaves behind, a son, I understand, correct?

REYNOLDS: Well, yes, he`s got a great son, a little 13-year-old boy who he used to always bring into "The Oakland Tribune" newsroom, and he was very proud of his boy. You know, we at the paper, I want to quickly commend all the reporters, and editors, and writers who worked on the story, because they all knew Chauncey and had to cover this difficult situation. So he leaves a great son, and it`s very tragic. He loved his boy very much.

GRACE: I am just sick about it. I am just sick about it. Here`s a guy trying to do something good for his community and gets gunned down. Out to the lines, Anthony in Ohio. Hi, Anthony.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: How are you, dear? What`s your question?

CALLER: Thank you, I love you, congratulations. And my question is this evening, do you think it could have had anything, this crime, this horrible crime, could have anything to do with anything he had recently written?

GRACE: Well, apparently, they`re trying to make the connection, Jeff Shuttleworth, between an article he was writing about the Black Muslim bakery and its ties to alleged violence. They`re connecting that up or trying to right now, right?

SHUTTLEWORTH: That`s the word. The police were not saying much about that at the press conference today. They said they didn`t want to get into the motive, but from all indications, that`s what was happening, although the article had not been published yet.

GRACE: Jean Casarez, what else can you tell us?

JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: I think it`s very important to remember the basic facts here, because when it comes to the charging document, once they find who they believe killed him is critical. He was in the downtown area, very close to downtown in Oakland, about 7:30 in the morning. He apparently every morning went to the local McDonald`s, got breakfast, was in a parking lot. So if someone was what you call "lying in wait for him," knowing that that was where he would be at that time, and then killed him - - and we`ve heard it was with a masked man -- that`s a special circumstance. This will be a death penalty case.

GRACE: Jean, in the most recent press from A.P., the most recent wires, police are saying that arrests are going down pursuant to search warrants right now.

CASAREZ: Well, then, it`s very close at hand. The search warrants were executed this morning at the bakery and two other locations. They found evidence we had already heard they thought was attributed to this killing. The result will be arrests.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and the people that touched our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Michael Vick indicted by a secret federal grand jury, charged with basically leading an underground dogfighting operation. I know I`m bad, all right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re not bad, you do bad things.

GRACE: But I would not stand by and let an innocent dog be executed.

A well-known doctor allegedly (INAUDIBLE) antibacterial (INAUDIBLE) mixed with morphine to speed the death process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So (INAUDIBLE) giving them that betatine (ph). Essentially, this person was in the process of death.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Bodies of four dead have been found in the home of a young Maryland mom, found the infants under the bathroom sink to outside in a motor home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter.

GRACE: (INAUDIBLE) died a painful death when left trapped in soaring temperatures in mom`s car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She freaked out. And...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Freaked out is not a legal defense. Freaked out is not in the code.

Terror over the water, a bridge that towered over a swirling Minnesota river crumbles at the height of rush hour. Tonight, our prayers there in the Twin Cities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Let`s remember Navy Chief Petty Officer Patrick Wade, 38, Key West, Florida, killed, Iraq. A Navy explosive tech on a first tour, awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He loved trombones, swimming, boating, jokes, dreamed of spending time with his family. His family serving the military for generations. He leaves behind mom, Shirley, brother, Barry, widow, Carrie, and two little girls, 3 and 10 months. Patrick Wade, American hero.

Thank you for being with us and inviting us into your home. A special good night to Louisiana Cajun friends of the show John and Andy. And from the New York control room, good night, Brett, Rosie, Ben.

Our prayers with "Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts, recovering from breast cancer surgery today. And a special goodbye to one of our stars, Jennifer Scott, headed to law school. I can`t believe she`s leaving us. I`ll see you in court, friend.

I`ll see you all tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END