out the dismissal and i put the reasons why. i m not going to do it just because she says she didn t do it. reporter: shannon and her attorney were emphatic that jermeir was the killer and also said that even now, months after the murder, he was making threatening phones calls to shannon, telling her to stay silent about his role. i told them that i m more than willing to look at anything they have if they want to bring me something. but i can t just accept her word for it. that s the problem i m having, i need some kind of proof to back her up. reporter: so the prosecutor challenged shannon, bring me proof. he could not have imagined what was coming next. sex. lies. and audiotape. and maybe shannon crawley s ticket to freedom. a killer conversation. i spent four months in jail because of you, because you lied. i told you to shut the [ bleep ] up. now says shannon s father there s no question his daughter is innocent.
reporter: but he didn t hold back? no, he really didn t hold back. the story is out. so you have to go ahead and tell the truth because if you don t you look like a liar now. reporter: so in that sense, jermeir did do the right thing? he did. reporter: the defense argued shannon was being framed for a murder jermeir alone committed. shannon crawley s lawyer was trying to paint jermeir as a crooked cop, you know, everything kind of elevates shannon crawley as she couldn t do anything like this. it has to be this bad cop over here. i didn t know what he had done, and i didn t know what he was going to do to me. reporter: it s often considered risky for a murder defendant to take the stand. but shannon crawley insisted on telling her story that she was a victim and not a killer. how do you know now that jermeir did it? well, for one he s told me since that he did. and you re trying to tell the jury that then you had no idea what might have just happened there?
Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20190831 08:23:45 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.
reporter: the caller was the apartment s maintenance supervisor, who d been working near denita s unit. when he heard the shot, he d looked up in that direction and he told me he saw a female that was about 5 10 , hair in a ponytail, and had some kind of emblems on her clothing. the young lady that stays over here, she heard it too and she s like upset and shaking and stuff like that. she was covering her face and she went and got into her truck and started driving away. reporter: this woman looked frightened or he said like she was distraught. she had her hands over her face and moving quickly. reporter: like they re horrified by what they ve seen. correct. reporter: so more witness than perpetrator maybe. that s exactly what he thought. reporter: then, according to the maintenance man, the woman got into a burgundy-colored ford explorer which he then followed in his truck. he pulls up beside her, so they re kind of looking directly
lipstick, keys, that kind of thing. all coming down the staircase. and first thing i m wondering is, was there a struggle? was her wallet there? the wallet was there. and money in it? there must have been because at first we didn t think it was a robbery. reporter: edythe, who knew none of this, now rushed to denita s building, where she hoped to find her close friend but instead was greeted by several of the university s professors. i was like, what are you all doing here? and they were like, you know, unfortunately she s not alive. everything in me, you know, just went into shock, of course. i kept saying, you know, i want to see her. i was like, are you sure? maybe it s mistaken identity. i m like, she s not dead, this can t be. reporter: denita monique smith was just 25 years old and engaged to be married. now her fiancé, jermeir stroud, who had also arrived on scene, was given the awful news.