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From her head, she had her purse, she had water bottle, 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, ....
Contact with her? but i felt like i didn t get a definite answer. it seemed like there was a little bit of confusion. what do you mean? like when i said, did you speak with her, and he didn t really give me a yes or a no. he just sound a little rushed like, edythe, you know, just sit tight. stay calm. i m sure, you know, we ll get to her. reporter: 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. but she s going to be okay? uh-huh. i thought she was at the hospital. reporter: durham police arrived and taped off the scene. we found denita at the bottom of the steps, and we were basically there was a pretty large police presence at the time. reporter: detective shawn pate wasn t sure exactly what he was dealing with, but it was beginning to look a lot more serious than just an accident on the stairs. however, we weren t able to determine what the injuries were. w ....
Purse, she had water bottle, 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. how d jermeir look? ....