i got in the driver s seat and i started to leave. reporter: she says that s when she encountered the maintenance man who, according to shannon, didn t see jermeir hiding in the back seat. soon after they left the apartment complex and drove back to greensboro. i kept asking him what happened, what the problem was. what had happened. i was crying. he was yelling at me. she wasn t rehearsed. and she wouldn t rush to answer a question. it was i d ask a question. she d give it a moment. she d respond. not too long to make me think she s making something up. and in the back of your mind, even though you may not want to admit it, we knew jermeir had did this. yes. reporter: wow. that s a story that sort of fits all the facts and exonerates her. it does. reporter: and in it, shannon is not guilty. exactly. so when she s telling this story, i m thinking, wow, this actually sounds pretty decent so far. but then i think, wait a minute. wait a minute. wait a minute. back up.
death were focusing their investigation on two people. there was her fiance and there was shannon. who may have been jealous of the them. they had arrested shannon but couldn t shake the feeling that he had not been entirely forthcoming. detectives thought they were dealing with a tale of obsession. the question was who was obsessed with whom? involved in a love triangle. before she was shot to death at her apartment complex. police wondered if shannon was obsessed. reporter: shannon s family is emphatic that jermeir was the one who wouldn t let go, harassing shannon with phone calls at all hours of the day and night. he called constantly. he was obsessive. possessive. he would threaten her. he d ask her questions.
Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline Extra 20191129 08:37:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
suspected she would have been out of that relationship, she had too much dignity for that. reporter: this was an affair jermeir was hiding. correct. reporter: remember, jermeir lived in greensboro near shannon, but 50 miles away from denita, the woman jermeir was officially involved with at the time. it was a tale of two cities and two women. jermeir and denita were dating, though not yet engaged. and he was also seeing shannon, and that seemed more serious than just a fling. reporter: did jermeir disclose to you that he had gotten shannon pregnant? he did. reporter: and that she had an abortion? correct. reporter: shannon s mother ann says her daughter had the abortion because the pregnancy wasn t viable. but she claims that when jermeir found out he was very upset. he had contacted the doctor to find out if what she said was true about the pregnancy being
contact with the woman accused of murdering her daughter. shannon would look at me with this little smirky look on her face. she s very cocky, like she knew she was going to get off. no remorse. she didn t feel she had done anything. they had only been engaged for two months. reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks, an experienced, savvy prosecutor, would now square off against a younger court-appointed defense attorney named scott holmes. it s important, i think, to try to see the world, try to see the world from the eyes of shannon on the days that led up to and the day that this happened. the whole trial was basically us saying that shannon crawley committed this murder and the defense saying jermeir stroud did this murder. that was basically the trial. reporter: detective shawn pate worried shannon crawley could walk. after all, the case against her was largely circumstantial. her dna was not at the crime scene.