police also check jamere stroud s cell phone and police radio. and found he was nowhere near durham that day before the killing. only shannon. so police impounded her suv. we did gunshot residue test on the car. the steering wheel, the gear shifter, and comes back there is gunshot residue. and if all that didn t look bad enough, shannon s alibi now started to fall apart. she had told her supervisor and detectives she was taking her child to the doctor at the time of denita s murder. but the pediatrician told police shannon didn t show up that day. the story starts to unravel. nothing is adding up. shannon was looking like a prime suspect. but one thing was missing. motive. then detective pate remembered shannon s account of how she and jamere had decided that she would have an abortion. and the way she told the story
met? and he said, no, they ve never met. but i used to have a picture of denita in my house on on my television and when shannon would help me move in, she saw the picture. shannon knew about denita. shannon knew about denita. but denita had no clue, and everyone i spoke to about denita said if she even suspected, she would have been out of that relationship. she had too much dignity for that. this was an affair jamere was hiding. correct. remember, jamere lived in greensboro, near shannon. but 50 miles away from denita. the woman jamere was officially involved with at the time. it was a tale of two cities and two women. jamere and denita were dating, though not yet engaged. and he was also seeing shannon and that seemed more serious than just a fling. did jamere disclose to you that he had gotten shannon pregnant? he did. and that she had an abortion?
and he says let me call the police. and then she pulls off and takes off out the complex. what do you make of that? that s kind of like make the hair on the back of our neck stand up. so now, police call jamere stroud, who was on his way back home to greensboro. and asked one simple question. do you know anyone that drives a burgundy ford suv? and he said, oh my god, i m turning around now. coming up. a secret affair. they start having a relationship that actually started kind of like friendly but then turned sexual. what, if anything, did it have to do with denita s murder? when internal affairs continues. continues.
be there. he didn t let on like he was aware. word spread fast that something had happened at the apartment complex. edith called to check on denita. she wasn t answering, which was, you know, after i call your phone several times as a best friend, you know, somebody s going to call you back. so i was like that s strange. so my instinct just said call jamere really quick just to touch bases with him. by now, jamere straud had left work and was racing to durham. i spoke so jamere and i m like have you made contact with her? but i felt like i didn t get a definite answer. it seemed like it was a little bit of confusion. what do you mean? like, when i said did you speak with her? he didn t really give me a yes or no. he just sound a little rushed. like edith s, you know, just sit tight, stay calm. i m sure we ll get to her. also, rushing to get to denita was her mother, sharon smith, who was driving to durham from charlotte. you re thinking this is an accident. uh-huh.
and they were like, you know, unfortunately, she s not alive. everything in me, you know, just went into shock, of course. and i i was i kept saying uks you kn i want to see her. maybe it s mistaken identity. she s not dead. this can t be. denita monique smith was just 25 years old. and engaged to be married. now, her fiance, jamere straud, who had also arrived on scene, was given the awful news. how d he look? like a blank expression. he was calm. and he was like, you know, it s going to be okay. he s like calm down. i was like my heart is breaking right now. i m like and it s breaking for you too. because i m like this is your future wife. i m like who saw this coming? but edith didn t know the worst of it. her close friend denita hadn t