be able to do it, whatever it is we needed to do. i but i was really scared. reporter: michelle testified she saw c-styles at crystal s building the day before the shooting. it was up to other witnesses to place him there the day crystal was killed, and there were several who could. the man making his kids breakfast. a neighbor who saw a man who looked like c-styles around 1:00 that same morning, watching the building. another neighbor who actually knew c-styles and thought he saw him loitering in the area. except, all those witnesses were afraid to testify in open court against a known gang member. all except one. the schoolgirl, who may not have known enough to be afraid. miss hall, who was a child, essentially, when she saw someone running away from the scene of crystal taylor s murder, she was willing to continue testifying. yes, she was. reporter: but her family was pretty worried, her mother in particular. yes, her mother was really,
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doing there, and then he told me he was waiting for someone. reporter: michelle had a bad feeling about him. i kind of got this instinct that said, remember what he looked like. and then i froze on what he looked like and went on about my business. reporter: and she warned crystie about the man. i called her to tell her that it was a strange guy that was on the stairs. just be careful when she came out. reporter: so was the man michelle saw on monday the same man witnesses saw on tuesday running from the scene after the murder? what i d like to do, chavonna, is know a little bit about reporter: police brought in chavonna hall, the 11-year-old schoolgirl who saw the running man. did he have anything on his head? yeah. reporter: with her mom at her side, she worked with a forensic artist from the los angeles sheriff s department on a sketch of the suspect. what can you tell me about his nose, his eyes, his mouth? reporter: michelle worked with the same artist.
remembered seeing c-styles fleeing the crime scene. and what did you hear? it was like a, um like a gunshot, like a big noise basically. what next occurred? we seen somebody running past us. reporter: prosecutors then had to connect c-styles with derek smyer. for that they relied on two eyewitnesses. detective williams told the jury he was pretty sure c-styles was with derek at the park on the day crystal taylor was ambushed and murdered. it wasn t until you actually saw him in person that you were able to remember that he resembled the person you saw at the park? objection, leading. it s overruled. yes. reporter: as before, crystal s friend and co-worker jana poletto left no doubt with her definitive testimony. as you sit here today, did you see both of those individuals in the park? yes. reporter: jana also told the jurors that, while crystal was excited to have another son, she
the conversation changed turned into don t worry about him. don t worry about him helping with the baby. reporter: they thought that s all it was, derek didn t want to help raise his child. now they replayed that moment over and over. we should ve said, wait, what did he say what did he say to you? but instead of that we were like, we don t need him. like, just hang up. don t even talk to him. you know, that kind of just yeah, that s exactly what we said. showing her the kind of support. cause we re so used to just picking up our burdens and going. she brought on it up that she was worried, but you didn t hear it or it didn t sound bad enough. you re all kind of beating yourself up for not listening to crystie s warning. exactly. right. even though it sounds to me like you d almost have to be a mind reader to know that she was really concerned. yeah. reporter: the years started to pass. and this family thought a lot about derek smyer. crystal had said