story of two mothers fighting for their sons. he knows he heard my sound bad. i believe every word my son s heads and i d still due to this day. missing tean found dead. his body was laying in the river clearing. we want answers. we want answers. was it murder? i said who beat my baby? or was it something else? he got out of the vehicle, swung on me. how do you get in a scuffle with somebody and the next thing you know your being charged with murder? a trial. i slowly watch my son die every day. heartbreak. nobody wins. and a twist that stunned everyone. it was the first time i ve ever had this happen. we had to stop and think whether we heard it right. hello and welcome to dateline . it s been said there is nothing more powerful than a mother s love for her child. and no greater pain than losing a child. both forces collide in a small midwestern town, when a mysterious death sparked a search for justice. it also divided a community and t
a trial. i slowly watch my son die every day. heartbreak. nobody wins. and a twist that stunned everyone. it was the first time i ve ever had this happen. we had to stop and think whether we heard it right. hello and welcome to dateline . it s been said there is nothing more powerful than a mother s love for her child. and no greater pain than losing a child. both forces collide in a small midwestern town, when a mysterious death sparked a search for justice. it also divided a community and turned strangers into allies. the outcome left both sides reeling. here s dennis murphy with at the edge of town . yards from the chicken place is an unlikely scrap of wilderness in a southern illinois town. a thicket of vines and rumbles. acres of thorns that tear at the flush. for years, people just sped by without a second look. but something terrible happened there one cold night in the winter of 2014. that brought a stranger to town. a mother, looking for answers abo
going to a city council meeting and i m going to get eight by ten pictures of pravin s and put it in their face. comments by citizens? yes ma am? i took a six hour train drive to be here today and i request your kind attention to me. she didn t damned them to hell, she didn t custom out, she didn t threaten. she said, please, i want answers. common courtesy. reporter: then it was monica s turned. i want to show you a few images of what we are being told here are not injuries. she handed out photos of pravin s injuries. one lady excuse yourself, another guy was crying. reporter: weeks later, a copy of the case file was handed over by city officials. monika and lovely couldn t believe what they found inside. reporter: coming up it s a relief. reporter: news welcomed by one mother that sounds another. i fell to pieces.
then she got a surprising break, because the prosecutor did something she never expected. he asked the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to take a fresh look at the case. is this credit to the guy? i know you are not fond of him. but that he did this thing? i guess he was i believe it s god pushing him to do that. because the truth still need to come out. lovely dropped her lawsuit against the city and the police chief. and waited to see what would happen. but half a year went by. i said, that s it, we are going to a city council meeting and i m going to get eight by ten pictures of pravin s and put it in their face. comments by citizens? yes ma am? i took a six hour train drive to be here today and i request your kind attention to me. she didn t damned them to hell, she didn t custom out, she didn t threaten.
he asked the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to take a fresh look at the case. reporter: is this credit to the guy? i know you are not fond of him. but that he did this thing? i guess he was i believe it s god pushing him to do that. because the truth still need to come out. reporter: lovely dropped her lawsuit against the city and the police chief. and waited to see what would happen. but half a year went by. i said, that s it, we are going to a city council meeting and i m going to get eight by ten pictures of pravin s and put it in their face. comments by citizens? yes ma am? i took a six hour train drive to be here today and i request your kind attention to me. she didn t damned them to hell, she didn t custom out, she didn t threaten. she said, please, i want