innocent of crystal s murder, said the defense. maybe c-styles was too. there was no physical evidence placing him in that parking garage. maybe, they said, this wasn t a hit after all. several of the witnesses testify to hearing an argument. and then all of a sudden the argument ended, there was a pause, and a gunshot. it is absolutely inconsistent with a hired hit. if not a hit, then what happened? the defense had a theory. it involves this photo of crystal s son javonte, found near her body. it s obvious that miss taylor was holding that picture when she got shot. schneider wasn t allowed to directly spell out his theory for the jury. he did for us. i think she was confronting her killer saying, the only thing you re going to see is a photograph of your son until you pay child support. and you think that s when she
really concerned about that. reporter: the d.a had his own concerns. the testimony of a schoolgirl, and the sister of the victim, didn t seem enough to convict. and that s about all the evidence they had. police never found any dna, fingerprints, or forensic evidence that linked c-styles to the garage of crystal taylor s apartment. and while they found a .38-caliber bullet lodged in crystal s brain, they never found the gun that fired it, let alone linked that gun to c-styles or anyone else. if c-styles went to trial and was acquitted, that would be the end of it. and so, rather than take that chance the d.a. dropped the charges. when the prosecutor said, we don t want to try this case now because we don t have the evidence right now, and the witnesses are skittish. we want to wait. and you think that s gonna be a couple of months. couple of months. maybe a year. uh-huh. reporter: instead, many
pause, and a gunshot. it is absolutely inconsistent with a hired hit. reporter: if not a hit, then what happened? the defense had a theory. it involves this photo of crystal s son javonte found near her body. it s obvious that miss taylor was holding that picture when she got shot. reporter: schneider wasn t allowed to directly spell out his theory for the jury. he did for us. i think she was confronting her killer saying, the only thing you re going to see is a photograph of your son until you pay child support. and you think that s when she was shot? absolutely. reporter: the defense suggested javonte s father killed crystal. never mind that police had cleared him early on. derek s lawyer told the jury his client was an innocent man. but this tragedy, it will be compounded if you convict a person that is not involved. and i m asking for a not guilty
wonderful family there was. my mom and i were best friends and my little sister were best friends. and, you know, so, i thought life was great. i m the oldest. michelle s the middle, and crystie is the baby. and she was every bit the baby. she s my mom s baby. reporter: crystal taylor was the youngest by six years. and both older sisters thought momo loved crystie a little extra. spoiled her too, say michelle and monica. they talked every day. and she would just immediately start whining as soon as she talked to my mom. she could be, like, being a grownup, and as soon as the phone rang, she went right back to 8-year-old. all the time. reporter: tia, her niece, remembers crystie as both a homebody and a romantic dreamer. she wasn t flashy. she wasn t someone who, like, shopped a lot. she was just a really down to earth, simple, just happy to be at home watching movies. she watched the same movies all the time. all the time. over. and she loved love stories. hope float