A Killer Realizes Their Victim Is Still Alive | Forensic Files

Do you know what happened to Adriana tonight? No, I don't. She talked to us. She said that you and
Heather did this to her. So, that's why we're talking to you two. This is the moment Tina realized her
murder victim was still alive. And to make things worse, her victim had just told the cops everything they needed to
know to put her behind bars for the rest of her life. We know what happened out there. It's just going to be a matter of
getting fingerprints and evidence back. I didn't do it. I promise to cooperate. Tina is currently being interrogated
over the horrific attack of her friend in Florida. Like most teenage fights, it apparently started because of a dispute
over a guy. But this isn't the story that she and two other suspects would tell investigators in this extremely
sick case. Okay. Tina, you know Can I call you Tina? Mhm. Okay. Obviously, you know something's up. So,
tell me what happened tonight. Nothing happened that I know of. Heather just said that something about Adriana
got beat up real bad. Okay. You don't know anything about that? No. Let me see your arms and hands if I could. Okay.
And what's this right here? That little scratch there. This? Yeah. I I have a puppy. Okay. And your puppy
caused that? No. I got a little puppy. Got your chin? Okay. 19-year-old Adriana had gone over
to her neighbor's house to patch things up after an argument. But she had no idea that fate was waiting for her. That
neighbor was Tina Brown, and Adriana was walking straight into a trap. What started off as a fight quickly turned
into something much worse. But according to Tina, she's got an alibi. So, where were you tonight? At Heather's. At
Heather's house? Heather said she was going to cook, so I went down there. She was cooking uh fish and french fries,
and then we just started watching movies. You were there all night until the cops came up there? Mhm. What time
did you go over there? Probably just started getting dark. Okay. So, about about sunset. Was
anybody over at Heather's house when you went over there? Just Heather and her husband. Heather?
Okay. Did anybody else come over there? Her and her little friend girls were at the house. She said she hurt her hand,
so usually we get there and then everything is all right, so I don't end up going with her, but she said she was
going to the emergency room. What time was that when they came by, you know? Was it long after you got there? You
know. Okay. So, early in the evening? Um I don't know what time it was. Oh, okay. Um so, about 30 to 45 minutes
after sunset? Tina's daughter, Brittany, was also at Heather's house at the time, but the
problem here was that they, along with Tina, were the three main suspects in the case. The detective already knows
there's bad blood between Tina and Adriana and spent some time discussing their friendship.
What has been going on between you and Adriana this week? Oh, well, I just told Actually, um Adriana and me and Adriana
were together today. Okay. Where were y'all together? Okay. What was going on there? We were just
sitting there watching movies, trying to get my computer um pull it up where I can get iTunes and watch movies. Um have
y'all had any problems? Oh, yeah. We've been having problems. The first three trailers we've had problems for a long
time. What's the problems? Well, lately the new problem is she thinks that I'm the
one who had her boyfriend locked up in jail. Okay, so she's mad at you thinking her
boyfriend's locked up because of you? Yeah, but we talked about it earlier today. This would be one of several
accusations that surrounded the four women. Tina's daughter, Brittany, also claimed Adriana slept with her
boyfriend, but even so, Tina says there were no issues over the last few days. I mean, me and her actually just started
back talking today. Okay. Cuz I asked her um this morning What was I doing this morning?
I was trying to make some phone calls. And I wanted to heat up some chicken, so I asked her would she put the Church's
Chicken in her microwave and she heated it up for me and brought it to my house.
Okay. Do you know what happened to Adriana tonight? No, I don't. Heather just said she got beat up, but that's
all I know. bit more than that. The detective is talking about the horrifying injuries
covering Adriana's body. And despite her story, Tina knows exactly what happened.
Tina, Brittany, and Heather waited for Adriana to arrive at Tina's house in Ensley before ambushing her with a taser
and beating her down with a crowbar. The three then threw her in the trunk of a car and drove her to a secluded patch of
woodland where they set her on fire and then walked away. Clearly, they expected
her to be dead. But Adriana not only survived this horrific attack, but managed to crawl to a nearby house and
find help. She did this with burns covering over 60% of her body. None of the suspects, including Tina, know that
she survived until the detective drops this bombshell. We're not sure if she's going to make it or not. No, I don't.
But she talked to us or she talked to the people that came over to help her. Mhm. She told them something. Do you
know what she told them? I couldn't imagine what that is. She said that you and Heather did this to her.
So, that's why we're talking to you two. But she said I called. She's been saying
a lot of stuff lately. Okay. She said I called um cuz this is all stuff that we talked
about today at my house. Okay. About my tire was stabbed. Okay. And I asked her she did it, she
said no. I mean, I couldn't prove she did it, so we I ain't argue about it, fuss about it, or nothing. But you
thought she did it? Mhm. Just just because what people said, but Mhm. Did you hear about her window getting
busted out? Whose window? Adriana's window getting busted out a few days ago? Did you hear about it? No, sir, I
didn't. And you said tonight you were over at Heather and Darren's, right? Yes, sir. And you didn't go anywhere?
No. Did anybody come over there while you were there? Um He had somebody come over, but
I didn't go out. Who were they that came over? He was dark-skinned and he had braids. Okay.
And then there was another guy, but I didn't know who that guy Blocker sound familiar? Yeah. And did anybody else
come over? Um Yeah. Um white guy in a red truck. You know who that was? No, he ran out there and went
outside and talked to And what was Darian doing while y'all were there cooking? Anything? Laying on
the couch watching movies. Is that pretty much what y'all were doing all the way until the cops came? Mhm. Okay,
so you, Darian, and Tina were sitting in the living Heather sitting there in the
in the living room watching movies. Mhm. And when the cops knocked on the door, what y'all do?
We were sitting there. Okay. Why you answer the door? It ain't my door. Okay. So, y'all sat there and when the
cops came, they didn't answer the door. How long were y'all in there before you did answer the door?
I guess the the tape was going out cuz Adriana has a little boy that's kind of hyper. He said that that little boy
probably got that taser and tased that little girl. All right, but you were home all night. You didn't see any kind
of disturbance going on over there before the cops came over there or anything. No, we would have heard something. Right
now, uh Tina is starting to show signs of guilt. She's slumped over with her head hung down and avoiding eye contact
indicating she's very ashamed and regretful or at the very least sorry she's been caught. Whatever the case may
be, she definitely seems uncomfortable. But as the detective points out, it's definitely not for the right reasons.
Did you go to go get anything or go anywhere at all? No, I don't think so. Um mhm. Okay.
You seem kind of lackadaisical about this. I'm telling you that this woman is uh probably going to die
and has named you as the person that's harmed her. It kind of, you know, doesn't sit easy with me that you're
just so nonchalant about this. I just I just talked to talked to her today and I told her I never called DCFS
on them kids. Okay. Well, she's probably going to die is the word we're getting and we're concerned over that. And the
last person she said that did this to her is you and Heather, okay? We're going to go out there. We know
what happened out there. It's just going to be a matter of getting fingerprints and evidence back,
okay? Once again, Tina shows her guilt, this time by touching her lips. This is often a telltale sign someone is lying
and is trying to hide that fact by covering their mouth. The reason we're here. Uh basically, what she told the
fireman was that you two came and grabbed her. Mhm. What'd she say what now? What she told
the fireman was that you two came over and grabbed her, pulled her out of that house,
beat her, and harmed her. And nobody out there, the kids or nobody saw none of this.
Nobody saw it. We talked to everybody in that neighborhood. are always outside. We talked to everybody in the
neighborhood. You saw them all out there. Nope. Mhm. And she's saying that y'all did it.
And we're sitting here talking to you and then that I certainly appreciate and I know Tom appreciates that you're
talking to us. But we got to get to the bottom of this and we got to know what happened, the
truth. And you two choices here. Either you're going to tell us or Heather's going to tell us.
So, who's going to be? I didn't do anything to her. Okay. I was at the And you were home all night.
I was at Heather's house. You were at Heather's all night, never left there. Cuz see, the story between
Heather and Darren is already shaky and your story is a third version of what they've told us so far. This is a
serious allegation. I mean, this is uh life-changing, and somebody's life may end over this. We're getting told that
she's in pretty critical condition at this point, not likely to make it. When Adrianna was found, she reportedly
told her rescuers that Tina had never expected her to make it out of the woods, let alone make it to safety. But
despite her brave fight, Adrianna died from her ordeal 16 days after her rescue. I mean, she was just at my house
today. Why she didn't tell me? I've been blamed for a lot Well, it's it's it's a
circ- a cycle over there. It goes trailer one, trailer two, trailer three, trailer
do it to herself. Somebody did it to her. Adrianna been riding that bike all day today.
Okay, but somebody did it to her. I didn't. Okay. I swear I didn't. But she's saying you did it. I didn't.
Adrianna been saying I didn't I didn't It may be the last thing she tells somebody.
You know? Tina, Heather, and Brittany were all found guilty of murder, with Tina believed to be the ringleader. Had
Adrianna not made it that day, these three killers could have escaped justice. But now Tina sits on death row
waiting for her day of execution. Detectives often know exactly who the killers are right from the start, they
just need to prove it. But sometimes things are different, like in this case, where the detectives realize they got
things completely backwards, and their main suspect ends up revealing the shocking truth in the hunt for a missing
girl. Do you suspect Sam in any of this? The guy that, you know, was interested in her. And you know, some other guys
that were interested in her, but they found out that she had a boyfriend, you know, they're just they're friends now.
I really couldn't see him doing it. One afternoon in April 2016, 17-year-old Ashley left her home in Illinois with
her boyfriend for an interview and a basketball game, saying she'd be back before 10:30. Ashley didn't return that
night. Her terrified parents called the police, who found her boyfriend's vehicle abandoned with two outfits, one
for the interview and one for the game. Adding up all the evidence, her boyfriend, Jeremy, was now the prime
suspect and was taken in for questioning. Has she been through any kind of trouble or trying times recently or
anything like that? Not recently. A while back we had an abortion, though. And how long ago was that? Um
probably December. Okay. It was No, it was a little bit before December. How How did she take that?
She was all right. I mean, it wasn't like horrible like a bout of depression or anything, you know. It was She's fine
and she's a lot better now. How often do you see her? Once a day, usually. And then on Tuesday nights we
don't see each other cuz I got a a designated party night with my buddies, so other than that it's usually once a
day. Once a day, so I mean you guys are pretty serious then. Yeah. Yeah. Been going out for how long now?
Almost 2 years. It'll be 2 years in July. Okay. What if somebody came up and said that
you know that she had uh some marijuana in her room? I'd be real surprised. Okay. I'd be real
cuz she tells me everything. What about uh possibly owing somebody in Cahokia some money for
drugs? What about that? I'd be really surprised. Do you know the name Mike? Does that name sound familiar?
No. Maybe it's not familiar. Mhm. A name comes up during the questioning that Jeremy has never heard before and
his reaction to hearing the new name is noticeable. This would be one of many men in Ashley's life that he doesn't
know about, but there's one that remains familiar to Jeremy, 27-year-old Sam. Do
you suspect anything between Sam and Ashley? No. I I I couldn't see it. I mean, I just I trust them both too much. I
mean, I trust her so much more than him, you know, because it's my girlfriend. I
I he I don't think he would ever do anything to harm her, you know. It's just it doesn't seem like it's his
nature. Well, what about if uh you know, possibly not even harming, but what about
if they were to you know, if they if they were an item or something like that. Would you
suspect that at all? No. No. The fight that you had Tuesday night, you were telling me you guys had a
little argument. What was that about? It was because apparently I I yelled at her or
something and she didn't like it. And then she gave me all my stuff back, well what
she had and said, you know, I'm going to break up with you and I No, and we don't
want to talk it over and stuff and you know, that it was just all just I don't know.
Just stress because that's when she thought that she might be pregnant and Tuesday night again? Yeah. And and she
turns out she wasn't and that was the stress of that doing that and, you know, Do you know of any friends that she
might be with that uh that you know, that good friends that she would hang out with that she would go to
their house or anything like that? I can't see the ones that she would their parents letting it happen and not
letting her parents know. I There's no way that if she went to Brittany's house, there's no way
her Brittany's parents would, you know, not tell Ashley's parents. Or Christy's house, there's no way Christy's parents
would not tell Ashley's parents, you know. Who does she normally hang out with like there at the at school?
Christy and some other girls. I don't know their names cuz I I never really met them outside of school, but
uh she's played basketball with I think a couple of them that I haven't met and I
I don't know their names, but other than that, just Christy's like the main one. When Jeremy said Ashley went
out of town to play basketball, the detectives wondered what it was that made her travel so far when there were
basketball courts nearer her home. It turns out that the reason was Sam and Jeremy was completely clueless about
anything going on between them. Suddenly, police have a brand new suspect. Uh how long have you known Sam?
Uh I was probably sophomore in high school, I want to say. When you met him, he was a teacher?
He I I'm pretty sure he was a teacher over in St. Louis. I think he was doing something
something with kids. And then he was also doing wrestling stuff. He plays a lot of sports, so. Do you know him well?
Yeah. What's he like? What's he do? He's just your all around average, you know,
guy. I mean, loves to party and, you know, loves to teach. That's That's like his
main goal, but he's just average. I mean, there's nothing special or unique about him.
Just easygoing guy. But, uh, as far as like, uh, physical abuse at the house, No.
ever seen anything like that? Have you ever seen any marks on her or anything like that? No. Bruises or anything? Has
she called you up and told you anything like that or No. Okay. I know she's runs into walls a lot, like
literally. I mean, she's got kind of I've seen her do it. Not like, you know, she says that she runs into walls, but
I've seen her cuz I don't know if you want to call it she's blind or whatever, but
yeah, it's not like a continuous thing. I've just seen her do it a couple times,
but What's your mom like? Her mom? Mhm. She's She's real nice. I mean, she's raising two girls and, you know, dealing
with Mike, but What's What's he like? What's he do? He He's good. He I mean, he's a good dad. I mean, he loves them
both both those kids to death. After pressing him for nearly an hour, it slowly became clear to detectives that
Jeremy had nothing to do with his girlfriend's disappearance, but he had given them vital information about her
27-year-old basketball friend. Sam was a teacher at a rival school, and his number was found in Ashley's phone. It
turns out they made an awful lot of phone calls to each other. So, this time he was brought in for questioning. In a
story we've all heard before, Sam started out by claiming their relationship was friendship and nothing
more. Well, I gave her like a hug goodbye. I would do that. I That's not sexual, is
it? You give someone a hug goodbye. I think she kind of started to become obsessed with me. Cuz like I said, she
was calling me not like literally non-stop the time. But after being confronted with the testimony of
Ashley's friends, he changed his story. I will say this, we never kissed. We never kissed. Yes, we did have sex in
the back of the vehicle there. And after that day, I felt absolutely terrible about that.
Sam changed his story several times during the course of the questioning, and it was becoming clear to detectives
he knew more than he was saying about Ashley's disappearance. The detectives needs to break down the barrier that Sam
has created, and in order to do that, they try to guilt him into a confession. They're going to use his most loved
family members against him as a way of making him crumble. Grandma's not here. I know. Your mom's not here.
No, but you know what? In a way they are. Because everything they taught you, all the talks Grandma had with you,
are within you. All of them are. And unfortunately, right now, Sam, you ain't telling us the truth.
Can I go show you what happened? Please. She's still out there, Sam. She is. And where is it at?
I have to show you. It took these detectives an agonizing 12 hours to crack Sam, but he finally
admitted to being responsible for Ashley's disappearance. He told police that he got Ashley in a choke hold
during the argument and heard her neck snap. He decided to make it look like she had been strangled, so he choked her
again, and she became lifeless when he left the scene. Sam thought after 30 hours she would be long dead, and he was
taking the police to find her body. But by some miracle, Ashley was found barely
alive. It took her weeks to wake up from the coma she had slipped into and even longer to heal the psychological wounds,
but she was able to testify against Sam and live to see him sentenced to 20 years for her attempted murder. If you
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Brief Summary

Tina Brown and Heather are interrogated after their friend Adriana survives a brutal attack they orchestrated, revealing shocking truths about their friendship.

Key points

Tina's Interrogation. Tina is questioned about her involvement in the attack on Adriana.
The Shocking Truth Revealed. Detectives uncover the brutal attack on Adriana and the suspects involved.
Adriana's Survival Against All Odds. Despite horrific injuries, Adriana managed to crawl to safety after a brutal attack.
Tina's Guilt. Signs of guilt emerge as Tina is confronted with evidence against her.
The Consequences of Violence. Tina and her accomplices face severe legal repercussions for their actions.
Sam's Chilling Confession. Sam admitted to choking Ashley during an argument, leading to her near-death experience.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I didn't do it. I promise to cooperate.

Tina's claim during interrogation.

0:27WatchDec 18, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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