back. >> to know she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. >> not just her body, but her mind. >> there was a guy that come in daycare and erica said don't let him hurt me. hello and welcome to dateline. it all started with a crime that not even police could believe. a little girl. just a toddler. shot in the head deliberately. left for dead by a killer who then disappeared. detective vowed to crack the case no matter how long it took. here's hoda copky. >> one of the biggest attractions at the louisville zoo was a floip eppy eared baby named scotty. erica, whose storile captivated a city. >> that girl is a miracle child. >> why do you think they call her that. >> because she's been through a lot. >> a two-year-old shot twice and lived. >> does she have an understanding of what happened to her. >> she knows she was shot. >> if you could have seen her, you would say there's no way this child could possibly make it. >> louisville, the home of churchill downs. in betting. the odds of this storile ever finding oo happy ending were off the board. virtually impossible. would a little girl ever gain the strength not only to recover, but to come back whole? and would a dedicated detective not only crack his biggest case, but keep the emotional promise he made. eri erica's story began. two-year-old wild about dora the e employerer lived heerd with her mom. on may 18, 2006, police got a frantic 911 call when they arrived at the house. the man that made the call flagged them down. >> what was his state of mind. >> he was really hysterical. >> there's a little girl in there. >> detective now retired officer rushed into the house and found a horrifying scene. a woman almost certainly dead on the floor. >> when i first seen her, i thought she was dead. >> was she saying anything, doing anything. >> no and eventually i touched her and she pushed my hand and said leave me alone. >> tell me about the motion you felt at that moment. >> she was there. barely. >> the officers could see the little girl had been shot in the head. dry blood was everywhere. they could tell she had been left there for a long time. >> she has very labored breathing. >> had you ever seen anyone who had made it. >> no. >> there was no time to wait for an ambulance. a sergeant at the scene parked the order for a police car to take her to the hospital. >> we were running to the hospital. >> you're holding her head and you're holding her legs. were you like this. >> just like this. when they finally reached the car. handed her to two ems firefighters in the back seat. now retired officer jumped behind the wheel. captured the final moments of the high speed motorcade as it made the left turn towards the hospital. with traffic, the ride can take up to 15 minutes. >> how long did it take you. >> about two to three minutes. >> across town, another part of the story was unfolding inside this house. all day long harold harper and his wife were wondering why they couldn't reach their daughter erin and their two-year-old granddaughter, erica. harold retired factory worker and judith a homemaker talked to their daughter nearly every day. the silence was strange. then the tv news flashed on. >> first here at 7. breaking news. >> said there had been a shooting down on wilton avenue where she lived. a >> he and judith picked up erin's oldest daughter and drove down to the house. >> it was a whole bunch of people outside. it was taped off. it was a mess. >> you knew something was up. >> yes. i just freaked out. >> it wasn't long before judith and harold's worst fears were confirmed. >> the jewelry she had on, they brought it to me. i knew it was erin then. >> their daughter, erin harper, 42 was dead in the doorway. >> when you saw that jewelry and you knew it was your daughter, what went through you. >> i lost a son in 78 in a car wreck. he was already gone when i got to the hospital. i could have shed a few tears and went on about my business. this was different. my son was 21. he had no children. >> the loss of erin, a mother of four was devastating. now the family had to deal with what happened to baby erica. finding out in the most impersonal way. >> i knew she was hurt. the police rushing her down the street i saw on tv. >> later they learned how badly hurt. she had been shot in the head. >> why in the name of god would somebody do that? >> it was this man's job to find out. >> now, in your experience, how many times have there been babies who are victims. >> there's never been a case i worked where a baby had been shot. >> a life long local with a once promising pitching career. now knew this would be a high profile case. he just didn't know it would be the case of a lifetime. >> a video camera rolled at detective arnold processed the crime scene, honing in on clues. >> the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the every day images of young life. erin's body in a pool of red blood near a kid wagon. and the bed where erica once jumped for joy was now covered in her own blood. >> the suspected blood on the sheets, the pillows and pillow cases. >> detective arnold noticed something on the bed that would burn in his memory throughout the investigation. >> the first thing that immediately hit me was a dora the explorer pillow and it had blood on it. >> what was the emotion when you saw that. >> anger. >> with two young kids of his own, this case had already hit rick arnold hard. on the spot, he made a promise to erica's grandmother. >> you said, we're going to find who did this. >> yes. >> that's a lot to promise somebody, isn't it. >> yes, it is. >> coming up, a glimmer of hope from baby erica. >> i was running her hand and she opened her eyes. >> when "dateline" continues. ta-da! all this devotion only calls for a little bit of dawn ultra. so concentrated, just one bottle has the grease cleaning power of three... ...bottles of this other liquid. a drop of dawn and grease is gone. try using dawn beyond the sink. (cough) it's just a cough. if you could see your cough, you'd see just how far it can spread. robitussin soothes in seconds and delivers fast, powerful cough relief for hours. (giggling) robitussin dm max. because it's never just a cough. robitussin dm max. they feel that they have to drink patients that i see that complain about dry mouth a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. [heartbeat] but having his parents over was enlightening. ♪ you don't like my lasagna? no, it's good. -hmm. -oh. huh. [ both laugh ] here, blow. blow on it. you see it, right? is there a draft in here? i'm telling you, it's so easy to get home insurance on progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto. prwe that's why at xfinityic. from becoming your parents. we've been working hard to simplify your experiences with us. now with instant text and email updates you'll always be up to date. you can easily add premium channels so you don't miss your favorite show. and with just a single word, find all the answers you're looking for. because getting what you need should be simple, fast, and easy. download the xfinity my account app or go online today. detective rick armed admitted it. the shooting made his blood boil. that's why he guaranteed he would find out who killed her daughter and shot her granddaughter. >> why did you make that promise. >> that was emotion spilling over. a baby shot as well as an adult killed. we were expecting at that point the baby do die. >> erica had flat lined at the high speed caravan delivered her. she was rushed into the emergency room where doctors and nurses worked frantically to stabilize her. >> her vital signs were barely measurable. >> doctor thomas performed surgery on the gunshot wounds to erica's head. these were cat scans preop. >> this one you can see part of the bullet. broken bone. >> surgeons life saving mission was to clean the fragments from her head, clear the wounds and preserve brain function if possible. she was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasn't straight down the brain, but exiting downward through her chin. >> what a blessing. as opposed to going through and damaging and destroy everything. >> doctor was relieved the bullet only struck the brain's frontal lobe which can absorb injury better especially in the very young. >> less than three years old, the brain's ability to repair is truly remarkable. >> after a delicate 3.5 hour surgery, the doctor was encouraged by comparison scans of the brain. the bullet and bone fragments in the preop image were groan. despite the repair, brain injuries are unpredictable and doctor urged caution. >> next three days in the icu were going to be critical. >> at the crime scene, detective arnold continued to sift through clues. more leads came into focus. a bloody footprint, three big red soda cans and two cigarette butts by the bed. >> the second one had an ash about an inch long. someone had left that cigarette and rushed out of there. >> detective arnold ordered dna testing on the cigarettes and can. also learning about aaronerin. she was raising four children mostly by herself including erica. the only one home and ebony the oldest at 16. >> instead of like mother and daughter, we were like sisters. >> you were like friends. >> yes we did everything together. she was the best mom. >> and fun to be around. >> she was outgoing. just do anything. she was just a daredevil. i just miss her so much. she was everything to me. >> she loved her kids. she tried her best to take care of them. >> erin worked at churchill downs as a hostess, but she had to go on disability because of ms and a painful inflammatory condition known as fibromyalgia. she often took prescription painkillers to manager symptoms. >> she was a heck of a woman. as far as fighting spirit and everything is concerned. >> her parents were concerned sometimes by the crowd she ran with. even so her parents couldn't imagine who would have shot her and little erica or why. that just ramped up their own fears that the shooter or shooters might come back. >> i was scared to death. i thought, my god. what if they don't catch these people. >> at the crime scene, detective arnold was searching for answers. combing the house for more clues. >> panning in on a closet that contains a safe. >> some contents apparently missing. >> first thing that popped in my head was some kind of robbery. >> next to the door was a cell phone. >> first thing we do is check cell phone records. >> records show erin received two phone calls in the hours before the shooting. both from a family friend. >> james had known erin for years. he called her auntie a. >> police brought him in to see if he had any information that could help the investigation. >> one of the very last people to call her and talk to her by phone was you. which is why we want to talk to you. >> was me. >> he provided some names for investigators to check out. and repeatedly offered to assist police in any way he could. >> i'll help you help you'd find whoever did this. >> back at children's hospital. erica was now in the icu holding on for life. her heart broken grandparents and big sister stood daily vigil. >> it was like a horror movie. >> ebony took it very hard. 14 years older, she had been like a second mother to erica. in fact, erica actually called her mommy. by day four in the icu. erica's family was seeing signs of hope. doctors believed erica was strong enough to remove her breathing tube. now it was time to see how she would do on her own. >> i was rubbing her hand. she opened her eyes a little bit and she said mommy and everybody was like, oh, my goodness. she's speaking. >> while erica had taken first small steps to recovery, there was a big sign of life in rick arnold's investigation. it was a mist fieing discovery. that would turn out to be crucial. unlikely call. cat lack leads to unlikely clue. when date line continues. every day, on every street, in every town, across america. small businesses show their love to you. with some friendly advice, a genuine smile and a warm welcome they make your town... well, your town. that's why american express is proud to be the founding partner of small business saturday. a day where you get to return that love, because shopping small makes a big difference. so, today get up, get out, and shop small. kelp is on the way! with herbal essences bio:renew made with active antioxidants that work from the inside out... to help animate lifeless hair. let life in with herbal essences bio:renew. ♪ do you want clean, stain free dentures? try polident. the four in one cleaning system kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria, cleans where brushing may miss. helps remove stains and prevent stain build up. use polident daily. at lincoln financial, we get there are some responsibilities of love you gotta do on your own. and some you shouldn't have to shoulder alone. like ensuring your family is protected, today and tomorrow, no matter what the future brings. see how life insurance from lincoln can help start protecting your family's financial future now, at lincolnfinancial.com. four days after she was shot, erica woke up and started talking to her family. in the icu, erica was feisty and combative. her neurosurgeon said that was a positive sign. her brain was rebooting. >> did you pray a lot. >> oh, yes. >> judith was the most religious one in the family and a week after surgery, her prayers and unshakable faith were answered. erica's condition was upgraded from critical to fair. >> she looked real bad, but i never dwelled on she wasn't going to make it. now the family had to turn its focus to the one who did not make it. erica's mom, erin. on may 25, 2006, a week after she was gunned down, erin's family gathered for her funeral and the man who delivered the eulogy was none other than the officer who raced erica to the hospital. steve kelsey. also served as a minister in the church. >> it was so moving and personal because he had been on the scene. >> for jesse holiday, a crime reporter, what elevated the story was simple. little erica. the public concern from the very beginning was always that there was a two-year-old involved. >> after nearly two weeks in the hospital, erica was well enough to move to nearby frazier rehabilitation institute. the hard work was just beginning. the brain injury had damaged her ability to walk and talk. what had been second nature to her had to be relearned. running, talking back and forth, and just being a playful kid again. erica's sister who knew her best was worried. erica had lost sight in her right eye forever. and ebony was afraid she would never be her old self again. >> what was different. >> she didn't run and play and talk as much. she was kind of quiet. >> with still no idea why her sister and mother were shot, ebony and her grandparents remained fearful. >> i was thinking about the safety of the kids and me. i didn't go out much. >> back at the police station, detective arnold was trying to figure out his next move when his investigation caught a lucky break. 75-year-old spotted some of erin's things in a rain soaked ditch three miles from erin's house and phoned police. there were empty prescription pill bottles, credit card and id cards and personal papers and something else that did not belong. >> tell me what this thing is. >> this is a cadillac manual. >> cadillac owners manual. it stood out because it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the muddy mess. why was the car manual there and whose was it. rick arnold tried thumbing through it, but the pages were soaked together. >> the front and back cover were soaked together. i started to look through this the first time and flip through it, teenages were still sticking together. >> days later. rick could separate a few pages, but was still frustrated. the third time was the charm. i was able to find stuck all the way down in the binding of the book an automobile insurance card. >> with a name. >> with a name most importantly. >> by now, his working days had turned into working nights. detective arnold typed the name, a man's name into his computer and it spit out 15 matches. one of them lived in southern india, just across the river from louisville. around 11:00 p.m. rick called the man. >> asked him if he knows why his mu manuel would be in a drainage ditch. >> he said i don't know, but my car was broken into. >> i asked him. where do you work. >> he said he's a pharmacist at a walgreens. and bells and whistles go off in my head. >> he works in a drugstore where they sell prescription drugs. it hit me immediately there was a reason that manuel with was the stuff. someone broke into a shiny cadillac parked outside an indiana walgreens. car happened to belong to the store's pharmacist. for no apparent reason, the thief grabbed the owners manuel from the glove compartment and tossed it into his own car. he then went to erin's house where she and erica were shot. and earn's prescription pills and credit cards were stolen. then according to the theory, the person rushed away from the house, threw the pill bottles and credit cards into the get away car and drove off. a few miles away, who whoever was in the car got rid of the hot property, tossing the empty pill bottles and credit cards out of the window along with the cadillac manuel. and that's how everything ended up together in the drainage ditch. >> i think they were just grabbing stuff, and, i believe, they just thought, wow, we don't want to have this. she's dead. >> rick asked if the pharmacist knew who broke into his car. >> he said, i don't know for sure, but i have a pretty good idea. >> the pharmacist remembered and store security cameras confirm a man in a baseball cap and another man came into the walgreens at 9:30 p.m. on may 17. just hours before erin was shot. and he said they didn't look like they were regular shoppers at our walgreens. most of our prescription customers are regular customers. they had come back to the pharmacy and tried to obtain prescriptions using bogus names. and on the security cape, looked closely and saw the man leaning through the window of the pharmacy section seemingly checking out names from pill bottles. over and over detective arnold staired at the grainy walgreens tape. the man in the baseball cap looked familiar. as in james. erin's family friends who phoned her minutes before the murder. earlier he told the detective how much he wanted to help the investigation. >> i want to help you, help you find whoever did it. >> rick wasn't buying any of it now. he has become a prime suspect. though rick wasn't ready to arrest him. not yet. not until he had the other man, but that wouldn't be easy. although there were two suspects in his sites, the mystery man was not in focus. >> how clear is the image of the second guy. >> it's not very clear. >> coming up, it turned out it was an image that was all to clear to little erica. >> they was the guy that come in the daycare and they had braids in their hair and erica said don't let him hurt me. >> when "dateline" continues. the search is on in egypt for armed attackers who killed 235 people in a mosque during friday prayers. first detonate add bomb before spraying gunfire in the deadliest attack in history. on a matter, the president says time magazine indicated he might named man of the year and he turned it down. times content officer says there is not a speck of truth about that. now, back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. detective rick arnold believed he identified one man now a suspect for murder on security video. there was another person in the picture too. would detectives track him down before it was too late. once again, hoda copky. just 27 days from being shot in the head. erica was released from rehab. it was nothing short of a miracle. >> to see the looks on the faces and know she had survived with a powerful moment. >> erica laughed. cried and acted like a two-year-old. reporter was amazed by the progress and also concerned about long-term brain damage. >> i didn't feel like at that point i could say for sure she was going to be okay. >> but even getting this far had beaten the odds, erica was going home. >> just great to have her there. you know, to get her home from the hospital. >> it was a home she already knew. grandparents judith and harold harper were waiving good buy to carefree golden years. they were full-time parents again. >> i agree from the first day that i would take care of her not knowing what kind of shape she was going to be in. not knowing what mental state she would be in. >> erica's father had never been a big part of her life so a court granted judith and harold full custody of erica and her baby sister. >> you worked your whole life to kind of kick back and put your feet up. that's not for you. >> that doesn't bother me in a bit. me and my husband are a little different. >> didn't turn out exactly like i wanted, you know. >> four years before the shootings, harold had retired from long time meat packing job expecting to ride his harley into the sunset. i have a california trip and i've been in into canada most everywhere and that had to stop. >> he knows that i couldn't maintain these children without him. >> i love those little kids. >> i love my grandparents. they the best parents ever. >> do you think they sacrificed a lot to do this. >> yes, my grandpa loves his harley. >> but people do what they have to do. what's in their heart to do. >> together they gave erica a secure home. day by day she was gaining strength. things were not normal. >> erica was so afraid of balloons. >> balloons. >> popping. >> she was afraid of fire crackers. >> loud noises and everything, she's like this. >> she was scared when it rained and thundered outside. >> anything that sounded like gunshots. >> yes. >> but there was something else that terrified erica and it was harder to understand. >> there was the guy that come in the daycare would pick his child up and have braids in his hair. and erica started running and crying to the teacher and said don't let him hurt me. >> judith told detective arnold about erica's new fear. men with braids. and there on the walgreens video. detective arged saw it the man coming in with james had braids. the image was still too fuzzy to figure out. circulated a freeze frame of the man and hoped someone could identify him. then he waited. eight months later, rick got some promising news, a detective told him he thought he recognized the walgreens guy from another shooting. might want to check him out. >> his name, kenneth williams. compared several with the walgreens video and you think boom. >> i think it's probably him. tlen again the picture on the video is not real good. i started focusing on him. >> then the investigation got lucky again. unlikely witness came forward with information about the same kenneth williams and the night her and erica were shot, but the witness was questionable. charged for murder himself for which he'd later plead guilty to manslaughter and also gravely wounded instead a shooting. prosecutor. >> he's on his death bed. thinks he's going to hell and has something to say. weeks later health improved enough to talk to him. >> i cannot live they had supposedly hit a lick on a woman. >> hit a lick on some lady. >> what does that mean. >> that's slang terms for a robbery. >> robbery that quickly escalated to murder. >> he knew things he couldn't know. he knew things that weren't in the media. >> there's no way he could have known some of this stuff. >> he couldn't have known there were pills involved. >> it was a long frustrating 15 month investigation, but rick was finally close to the answers he had promised erica's grandmother. >> what kept you going during some of those times where you might have felt like i'm hitting dead ends. >> two-year-old baby. >> five days after interviewing turner, detective arnold was ready to bring in williams and gizberry to ask them questions. had enough on him to arrest him earlier. he wasn't ready yet. he wanted more. both men from the walgreens video so he could play them off of each over in dueling interrogations. and now, he had them. >> you have been waiting and waiting patiently so it's time to do your thing. >> now it's time to move. >> detective moves to get each suspect to implicate the other. not knowing he was nearly out of time. >> coming up. >> so you didn't know you were plays to beat the clock. >> no idea at all. >> when "dateline" continues. with advil's fast relief, you'll ask, "what pulled muscle?" "what headache?" nothing works faster to make pain a distant memory. advil liqui-gels and advil liqui-gels minis. what pain? 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. advil liqui-gels and advil liqui-gels minis. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get. i got this...n there? that's the new man, huh? yup. getting kinda' close to my ride. wow... now, that's how you make a first impression. they're going to love you... that's ford, america's best-selling brand. hurry in today for 0% financing for 72 months across the full line of ford cars, trucks and suvs! and just announced...get 0% apr for 72 months plus $1000 cash back! take advantage of these exclusive holiday offers during the ford year end sales event. your body was made for better things than rheumatiod arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate. ask your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. (dyou're drew brees?! i'm sorry to bother you, but my car broke down and i'd really appreciate a ride to the stadium. yes! ...but, no, i have to stay here and wait for a package. i thought anybody who rooted for me would have fedex delivery manager. that way you can sign for your packages remotely and even customize your delivery time. (car alarm beeps) excuse me sir, could you take me to the stadium? sure! hop in. - thank you.- hope you like jazz fusion. (neighbor starts singing) sorry. customize your deliveries with fedex delivery manager. i'm pretty cynical. i was not really sure what the long-term affect was going to be. >> one year after earon was left for dead, reporter jesse holiday made a house call to erica's grandparent's house. a check up of sorts. we wanted to go back and see how she was doing. >> erica had jesse at hello. all it took for the high spirited then three-year-old to win over the cynical reporter. >> erica was in it from the very beginning. she was trying to write with my pen. wanted to color on my notebook. i was struck by her curiosity. >> jesse reported that erica lost all sight in her right eye and also had a small scar on her chin where the bullet had exited. >> i think people still wonder how she survived. i still wonder how she survived. >> louisville and erica's family were still consumed by two questions at the heart of it all. who could commit such a horrifying crime and would the shooter ever be caught? but judith harper had faith all along that justice would be done. most of all, faith in detective arnold. after all, the promise he made to solve the case was to her. >> he going to see that these people are found. if it had just been earon, it would have been just maybe another dead, but since erica was involved in that, he wasn't going to let up on it. >> judith didn't know it yet, but down at police headquarters, detective arnold was close to getting answers from the man he had been pursuing since their starring roles in the walgreens video. quisenberry the family friend who made the last phone call to earon and kenneth williams who admitted to a witness he was part of a robbery that turned deadly. now, it was time to bring both men in and interrogate them. >> i was a little apprehensive. no nervous. no butterflies. just because it was something i planned on and prepared for for such a long time. >> you were ready. >> i was ready. >> 15 months after the shooting quisenberry and williams voluntarily came down to headquarters. each knew the other was there. >> i wanted to understand if they didn't tell us the truth, the other guy may be. >> as a tactic, even walked williams past a closed circuit monitor where he could see quisenberry in the interrogation room. he's got time to think, hey, what's he telling them. >> they needed both to admit they were in the house when shootings went down. back up murder charges against both of them no matter who pulled the trigger. quisenberry was interviewed first. said he knew nothing about the crime. as the interrogation wore on, he started blaming the man in the other room. >> i wasn't there. >> but detective arnold knew something quisenberry did not. after quisenberry's first interview, rick had scooped up his smoked down cigarettes for dna testing. the results were now back and bingo, they matched a cigarette butt from the crime scene. >> you've got dna that puts him there. >> you were in that house. that's what i want to know about. >> how does he react to being cornered. caught in a lie. >> he was backtracking. he was getting scared. >> i never told you i was. >> that's my point. i be over all the time. that's what i'm saying. >> news he was saying he had visited his friend earon that day, but insisted he left before anyone was shot. rick sensed that quisenberry and his story were crumbling so he went for the jugular. demanding he come clean. i want to know what you saw at the house and it worked. >> i saw him go in there, and i was bind him. pow pow pow pow. i hear more gunshots. >> him saying he was in that house was critical. that becomes the most important thing he says in the whole statement. detective arnold now had admission number one. the interview nearly over. quisenberry had a request. one of the strangest rick had ever heard. i know in is hard to ask police. i need to smoke a blunt. >> a blunt is a king sized marijuana cigarette. >> i've never been asked that in an interview before. >> we can't do that. >> now it was time to interrogate williams. he proved to be a tougher nut to crack. >> first impression. >> he's hard core. hard core to the max. >> i did not shoot the lady. i did not do nothing to her. >> he also denied everything and blamed the man in the other room. quisenberry. >> did he have a gun. >> yes. >> what color. >> williams kept insisting he was not even in the house, but rick needed to get him inside as he had with quisenberry. >> i wanted him in the house. not outside by a car. not outside down the street by a stop sign. >> and he needed it fast. he didn't realize how fast at the time. >> you didn't know you were playing beat the clock. >> no, not at all. >> detective arnold saw an opening and pounced. first you'll hear williams finally admit to coming inside. then listen closely as rick asks a rapid fire follow up about his location in the house giving him no chance to think or change his story. >> after i heard a gunshot i ran in there. >> what room were you in when it had. >> i was in the back room. >> that was music to my ears hearing him say i'm in the back room. >> rick had him right where he wanted. inside the house. and none too soon. >> got an attorney. >> an attorney who immediately stopped the interview. >> just under the wire, just in the nick of time. >> detective arnold placed williams and quisenberry under arrest. and then he wasted no time making the one phone call he had waited 15 months to make. to erica's grandmother. >> i literally made the phone call from the bathroom. >> what was that call like. >> it was an echo because i was in the bathroom. it was just a relief. i promised judy harper i would get those answers and now we had them. >> what did you think when they told you. >> well, just relieved. i had confidence that they would find them soon ser or later. they couldn they couldn't get away with it forever. >> williams and quisenberry would stand trial for the murder of earon and attempted murder for erica. eye for eye. death penalty hung over both of them. >> coming up, emotional trial and a little girl who not only survived, but thrived. when "dateline" continues. what started as a passion... ...has grown into an enterprise. that's why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. now, i'm earning unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase i make. everything. what's in your wallet? how you doing. >> but through it all other questions swirled too. what happened in the house on wilson avenue and would the men involved in the shootings pay for their crimes? >> we have on the record. >> those answers would come three years later, april 2009 in a louisville courtroom where james quisenberry and kenneth williams stood trial for the murder of earon harper and the attempted murder of little erica. whatever the verdict, one man would not be there to hear it. facing the defendants was too much to bear. >> i couldn't look him in the eye without rage. and i was just afraid that i would mess everything up. >> it was an emotional trial. co-prosecutor mark baker with two young daughters himself cried in his opening statement. >> once he determined that there was still life in that little body, you could imagine what the officers thought there at the scene. >> prosecutors maintain the defendants came to steal the money but williams changed the plan after earon fought back according to key witness sean turner. >> he told me he snatched the purse from her but she wouldn't let go of the purse and he shot her. >> and turner's testimony filled in another piece of the puzzle. why quisenberry and williams were in the house. it appears that after earon became too ill to work she found a way to supplement her income selling her prescription medicine. she had invited her friend quisenberry to buy pills before but this time the deal deteriorated into robbery and ultimately murder when williams came along with his gun. >> i had no idea that they would go in the house and kill you over a bottle of pills. >> the trial took just one week and there was little doubt that quisenberry would be convicted of some crime. he got manslaughter and a maximum 45 years in prison. as for williams -- >> we the jury find the defendant kenneth williams guilty -- >> guilty of murder. and then a life sentence with no possibility of parole. spare the death penalty only because one hold out juror would not vote for it. >> did you think that he should have gotten the death penalty? >> no. i can't go around talking or acting with hate in my heart because if i do that, then my children, they're going to be thinking it is all right for them to do it. >> rick was gratifiedco make good on his promise had aircraft's grandmother but also got something back from her. >> i drew from judy's strength because she told me from the get-go that things would work out and that is a sign of her faith. >> out of the tragedy the harper family had pulled together with grandparents as guiding lights. >> huh-uh future looked bright. when i caught up with her she was a playful 6-year-old and we went to the zoo when she stopped to talk. >> they call you the miracle baby. why do they call you that. >> i'm a special girl. >> why are you special? >> i know everything. >> you know everything. what do you know? >> i know about, like, when banana's are rotten, i don't eat them. >> erica struggles became blockbuster news in her home town. and the miracle baby became the media celebrity as the familiar face for a community leader's campaign to keep the children of louisville safe. >> please help us fight crimes against children. >> she's still the miracle baby and also a great advocate for fighting crimes against children. >> erica, what do you want to be when you grow up? >> a nurse and a teacher. >> and why a nurse? >> you have to help people. >> erica, come here. >> like the nurses and doctors from the children's hospital who saved her life. >> we're so glad to see you. >> more than three years later, they celebrated erica's recovery with a red carpet reunion. taking it all in, surgeop thomas as mory proud and pleased he could give his miracle patient a clear bill of health. no brain damage whatsoever. >> she's wonderful and perfect and this little flower that has grown. >> he left her with a good brain and that is important. >> smart cookie. >> yeah, she's going to need it throughout life. >> when you look at erica, do you see any of your mom in erica? >> yes. >> what part? >> the main thing i see it her loud mouth. >> is that right. >> yes. and erica is loud and she's got the rasp voice just like my mom had. >> where is your mom right now. >> up in heaven. >> do you think about her a lot? what kind of things do you think about? >> think about her coming down. >> what happens when she comes down. >> she'll still be my momma. >> so it is like a constant reminder your mom is with you. >> yeah. >> and there is one other shared trait and that is what kept erica alive in her darkest hours. her mom's fighting spirit. >> to battle what she had to battle, i guess she did have earon's fighting spirit, to pull through all of that. so thank god for that. >> that is all for this edition after "dateline." i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc headquarters. it is 7:00 on the east and 4:00 out west and here is what is happening. cutting ties and raising questions what a source told nbc news about former national security adviser michael flynn and the russia probe. person of the year or not. president trump is saying thanks any way to time magazine. and the first daughter's club sends a message to the tabloids about leaving malia obama alone. and new this morning, another jab in the sparring between president trump and time magazine over the person of the year distinction. first the presi