March 24, 2026
She Watched Him Kill Her Mother. The DA Let Him Out First.
She was fifteen years old when her stepfather assaulted her. She reported it. She gave up his illegal guns. She documented his death threats in a police report. And the Clark County District Attorney's office let him walk out of custody three days later.
Eleven days after that, Leonard Woods stabbed Josie Kate Jones sixteen times in a Walgreens parking lot while her daughter watched.
In this episode of No Tears For Black Girls, we tell the story of Divina Leal, a Las Vegas woman whose life became a masterclass in surviving the unsurvivable. Her story is not just about one murder. It is about what happens when a domestic violence system fails a Black woman who did everything right, reported everything, documented everything, and still could not outrun the consequences of a paperwork error made by a public official who is still in office today.
We trace Divina's full story from a childhood built on love and chaos in equal measure, through the assault, through the murder of her mother Josie Kate Jones, through the compounded grief of losses that kept arriving before the last one finished breaking her, all the way to Indianapolis in 2024, where the man she had finally allowed herself to love again was shot and killed in what his family believes was a case of mistaken identity. His murder remains unsolved.
This is black true crime told the way it should be told. With full humanity. With accountability. Without apology. No Tears For Black Girls exists to cover black women stories that mainstream media picks up too late, covers too briefly, and moves on from too quickly. Divina Leal's story is one they never covered at all.
This is not a cold case. This is an open wound. And we are not moving on.
SHOW NOTES:
Episode: She Watched Him Kill Her Mother. The DA Let Him Out First.
Josie Kate Jones. Age 41. Murdered August 5th, 2015 in the parking lot of a Walgreens at Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stabbed sixteen times by her former partner Leonard Ray Woods in front of her fifteen-year-old daughter.
Leonard Ray Woods was arrested on July 18th, 2015 following the sexual assault of Divina Leal and the discovery of illegal firearms in the home. He was released from custody approximately three days later by the Clark County District Attorney's office. Public reporting cited a paperwork error. He was rearrested following the murder of Josie Kate Jones on August 5th, 2015.
In March 2019, a Las Vegas jury convicted Leonard Ray Woods of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, invasion of privacy, gross lewdness, and illegal firearms possession. Deliberations lasted less than twenty minutes. He was sentenced to life without parole.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has held office since 2012 and as of early 2026 is running for a fourth term unopposed.
Charles Lovelady Jr. Age 28. Shot and killed October 12th, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Co-owner of Chuck's Coney Island restaurant. Community leader and businessman. His family believes his murder was a case of mistaken identity involving an identical vehicle.
His murder remains unsolved.
If you have information about the murder of Charles Lovelady Jr., contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477. A substantial reward has been offered by his family.
If this episode brought anything up for you, text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
New episodes of No Tears For Black Girls drop every Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss a story. Leave a five-star review if this episode moved you. Share it with someone who needs to hear it. The more people who listen the more black women stories we can tell and the more families we make sure are never forgotten.
Follow us everywhere under No Tears For Black Girls.
CREDITS:
Created, Written, & Produced by John Reedburg
Hosted & Narrated by Samantha Paul
Production Company: John Reedburg Media
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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Imagine this.
You are five years old, and you
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00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,840
already know how to read a room.
Not because someone taught you.
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00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,560
Because you had to.
Because the house you grew up in
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00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,120
was the kind of house where the
energy could shift without
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00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,520
warning, where loud meant
something specific, where quiet
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00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,000
meant something else entirely,
and where you learned, before
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00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,200
you could spell your own name,
that your safety depended on
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00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,000
your ability to feel the
difference.
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00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,240
You grew up in Las Vegas.
Not the Las Vegas people see in
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00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,960
movies.
Not the Strip, not the lights,
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00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,960
not the spectacle.
The Las Vegas behind all of
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00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,880
that.
The neighborhoods where people
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00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,160
are working double shifts and
the lights get cut off anyway.
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00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,200
Where you do your homework by
candlelight and wash your
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00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,520
clothes in the bathtub with
shampoo.
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00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,160
And you don't tell anyone at
school because that is just how
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it is.
And you already know that some
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00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,280
things stay inside the house.
Your mother is everything to
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00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,680
you.
She is young and beautiful and
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magnetic and she is your best
friend in the real estate sense
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of the word.
She takes you everywhere.
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You are her Rd. dog.
You go where she goes.
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00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,680
And that means you see things
that children were not built to
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00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,680
process.
Men coming and going trips that
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were explained one way and meant
something else entirely.
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00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,640
A candy apple green car with the
words CANDY girl written across
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the back window in cursive that
you thought was just because
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your Mama loved her car until
you were old enough to
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understand it wasn't about the
car at all.
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You absorb all of it.
You file it away.
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You build your normal out of
what you have.
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00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,720
And then a man comes into your
life.
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00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,440
He has been there since you were
five.
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He braids your hair before
school.
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00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,760
He teaches you to cook.
He puts his gun in your hand
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00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,240
when he goes out and tells you
that you know what to do with
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00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,240
it.
He is cold in a way that is hard
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to name but impossible to miss,
quiet in a way that makes a room
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feel smaller.
You love him when you are little
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00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,440
because that is what children do
with the adults who show up for
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00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,919
them.
And as you get older, something
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00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,800
shifts and you can feel it, and
you do not have the language for
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00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,240
it yet, but your body already
knows.
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00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,160
You are 15 years old.
And one morning you are home
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00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,000
alone with him, and your mother
is at work, and he has kept you
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home for a reason.
And when you understand what
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that reason is, something in you
goes completely still.
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Not frozen with fear, still with
survival.
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This is no tears for black
girls.
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I'm Samantha Paul.
Before we go any further, this
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episode contains detailed
accounts of child sexual
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assault, domestic violence,
murder witnessed at close range,
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and compounded loss that spans
nearly a decade.
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There is no gentle way to carry
this story, but there is a right
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way and that is the only way we
are going to do it.
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Please take care of yourself
while you listen.
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Her name is Davina Layal.
She is alive.
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She chose to let her story be
told, and we are going to honor
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that by telling it with the full
weight it deserves.
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Not sanitized, not
sensationalized, but true.
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Davina grew up in Las Vegas.
Her childhood was built on love
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and chaos in equal measure.
Her mother, Josie Kate Jones,
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was her person, the one constant
in a life that had very few of
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them.
Josie was young when she was
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00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,680
raising Davina, barely older
than a girl herself in some of
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00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,320
those early years, and she was
navigating her own complicated
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survival while trying to give
her daughter something that felt
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00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,400
like stability.
She kept Davina fed.
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Her hair was always done, her
outfits were always cute.
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Josie made sure of that, even
when the money was tight and the
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00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,640
circumstances were not what they
should have been.
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00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,600
But Josie was also in a life
that pulled her in directions,
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that left her daughter in the
care of people she didn't know,
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00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,040
in environments that weren't
safe, inside patterns of men and
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00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,880
money and survival that Davina
grew up watching and normalizing
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00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,440
before she ever understood what
she was watching.
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The man who became Davina's
stepfather had been in her life
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00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,480
since she was five years old.
His name was Leonard Woods.
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00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,400
He came in as her mother's
boyfriend, assumed the role of
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00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,320
stepfather by virtue of never
leaving, and occupied that space
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in Davina's life for a decade.
He taught her practical things.
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He showed up in practical ways.
And he was also, as court
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records and Davina's own
testimony would later confirm, a
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00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,760
predator who had been watching
her in the most violating way
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00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,880
imaginable for years.
Hundreds of photographs were
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00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,840
recovered from Leonard Woods's
phone.
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00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,080
Davina photographed without her
knowledge or consent, through
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00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,600
windows and doors, in bathrooms,
in bedrooms, across multiple
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00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,080
homes, across multiple years.
He would position himself
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00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,600
outside wherever she was in the
house, under the pretense of
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00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,480
smoking, and he would watch her
and photograph her and she had
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00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,760
no idea.
There was one time she saw
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00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,040
something move past a window
while she was in the bathroom,
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and it scared her badly enough
that she ran to her mother.
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Woods was the one who dismissed
it.
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00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,000
He was there.
He was the thing that moved.
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00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,920
And she didn't know that until
she sat in a lawyer's office
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00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,640
years later and was shown a
computer screen full of images
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00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,760
that locked into place.
A decade of feeling like
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00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,560
something was wrong without
being able to name it.
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On July 18th, 2015, Leonard
Woods kept Davina home from work
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with her mother.
He was unusually warm that
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00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,160
morning.
He made breakfast.
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00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,640
He moved differently than he
normally moved.
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00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,840
She noticed it because you
notice when a cold person gets
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00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:04,520
warm, it means something is
coming.
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00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,400
He told her he had seen her
taking a photo of herself in a
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00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,400
sports bra through her bedroom
window.
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00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,040
He said he would tell her mother
unless she showed herself to
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00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,880
him.
She was 15 years old.
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00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,040
In the moment that followed,
Davina Layal did something that
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00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,320
most adults would not have been
able to do.
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00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,080
She calculated.
She understood that if she
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00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,240
fought him, if she showed fear,
if she gave him any reason to
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00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,240
feel threatened, this man who
had pushed her mother
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00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,160
downstairs, broken her mother's
toe, told her mother he would
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00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,920
kill her and burn the house down
if she ever left him.
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This man would not stop at
assault.
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00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,320
She knew that in her body,
before she could reason it in
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00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,600
her head.
So she went still.
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00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,160
She let him do what he did.
She took the money he handed her
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to buy her.
Silence.
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She went back to her room.
She left her door open so he
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00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,880
could hear her moving.
She texted her best friend
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Devin, one word at a time, and
deleted each message after she
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00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:08,200
sent it.
She waited.
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00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,840
She walked out to the car that
came for her without running,
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00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,440
without looking back, without
giving him a single signal that
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00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,200
she was leaving to report him.
She was 15.
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00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,080
When Davina reached Devon's
house, the police were called.
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00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,000
Officers eventually came, took
her statement, documented the
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assault, took photographs.
By the time they went to the
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home to arrest Leonard Woods, he
was at the end of the street, at
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00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,120
a stop sign in his car, ready to
flee.
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They caught him.
They booked him.
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00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,240
They found the guns and there
were several of them.
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00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,040
Sawed offs, weapons with
scratched off serial numbers,
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none of which Leonard Woods was
legally allowed to possess
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because he was a convicted
felon.
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They found them and they charged
him.
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00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,680
Leonard Woods was in custody for
approximately 3 days, Three
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00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,880
days, then the Clark County
District Attorney's Office let
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00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,760
him go.
Public reporting described it as
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00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,800
a paperwork error, an
administrative issue in the
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00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,560
processing of his case.
But Davina and her mother had
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00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,200
documented in those police
reports that Woods had made
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00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,320
explicit death threats, that he
had said he would kill Josie and
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her children, that he was
dangerous in a specific stated
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on record way that information
existed.
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00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,200
It was in writing, and someone
in the Clark County DA's office
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decided, through negligence or
indifference or bureaucratic
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failure that a man with illegal
weapons, felony possession
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charges, a sexual assault
allegation and documented death
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threats against the woman he had
been with for nearly a decade
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could walk back out into the
world.
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He did.
He called Josie, He threatened
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00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,080
her more.
She posted about her fear on
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Facebook.
She moved.
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She took Davina to a new
apartment on the other side of
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00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,640
town.
And for a brief stretch of days,
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00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,680
maybe 3 or 4, it was just the
two of them.
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No man in the house.
Just Davina and her mother
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painting her bedroom, going to
the movies, laughing in the car
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together, Josie doing everything
she could to make her daughter
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00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,320
feel something close to OK after
what had happened to her.
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00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,800
Davina has said those were the
best days of her life with her
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00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,800
mother.
They were also the last ones.
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00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,440
The one thread they kept from
their old life was Davina's
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school.
She was a cheerleader.
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00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,880
She did not want to lose that.
She asked her mother not to make
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00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,920
her change schools.
Josie said yes.
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00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,040
She drove Davina to cheer
practice.
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She sat in the gym and watched
her daughter practice, because
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00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,880
that is what Josie Kate Jones
did.
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She never missed a game, never
missed a practice if she could
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help it.
Leonard Woods was in the parking
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00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,320
lot.
He had followed them there.
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He watched them leave.
He followed them to the
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Walgreens at Tropicana Ave. and
Decatur Blvd. a shopping center
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a few blocks southwest of the
Las Vegas Strip.
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00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:18,760
August 5th, 2015, eleven days
after Josie had reported his
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assault on her daughter, 11 days
after the DA's office handed him
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back his freedom, Josie and
Davina walked out of the
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00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,000
Walgreens.
He came from between the parked
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cars.
He stabbed Josie Kate Jones 16
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00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,960
times, in her chest, in her
neck, in her stomach.
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00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,720
Davina ran back into the store,
screaming for help.
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00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,520
She hit the automatic doors
before they could open.
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She begged the strangers at the
register to do something.
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She ran back outside and her
mother was on the ground, curled
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in on herself.
Blood soaked through her purple
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shirt so completely that the
fabric couldn't hold it anymore.
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Her eyes unfocused, her body
rigid, choking, Davina got down
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next to her mother and told her,
please don't leave me, you are
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all I have.
Josie Kate Jones was taken by
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00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,080
ambulance.
Her daughter was not allowed to
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00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,160
ride with her.
Davina found out her mother was
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00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,040
dead from a detective who opened
the car door and said it
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00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,640
plainly, right there at the
crime scene, sometime after two
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00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,760
in the morning.
Nobody held her.
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00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,040
Leonard Woods drove away from
the Walgreens and surrendered to
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00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,920
police just after midnight.
He told officers he had been
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00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,920
involved in an incident at the
store.
204
00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,480
In a recorded jailhouse phone
call that was later played at
205
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,080
his trial, He told someone on
the other end of the line that
206
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,360
he had done something to Josie
and did not think she was going
207
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,400
to make it.
He had told Josie Kate Jones he
208
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,200
would find her.
He found her that night.
209
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,920
A 15 year old girl who had
survived a sexual assault three
210
00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,200
weeks earlier and just watched
her mother be murdered, was
211
00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,800
transported to a state facility,
photographed for intake,
212
00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,080
stripped of her clothing,
stripped of her phone, handed
213
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,360
clothes from a shared bin,
placed in a room with strangers
214
00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,000
at 3:00 in the morning, and had
her photograph taped to the
215
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,560
door.
The door closed.
216
00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,440
No one hugged her.
No one told her she was going to
217
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,160
be OK.
No one sat with her.
218
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,320
Davina has described lying on
top of the blanket in that room,
219
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:31,080
not wanting to touch anything,
not knowing if she slept, just
220
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,040
staring in silence at a ceiling
she didn't recognize, in a
221
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,360
building she hadn't chosen,
carrying a weight that no child
222
00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,320
should ever have been asked to
carry alone.
223
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,080
This is where I want to stop and
name something.
224
00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:47,000
Clearly, the man who murdered
Josie Kate Jones was Leonard Ray
225
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,640
Woods.
He is currently serving life in
226
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,280
prison without the possibility
of parole following a March 2019
227
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,320
conviction.
The Las Vegas Review Journal
228
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,840
reported that the jury
deliberated less than 20 minutes
229
00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,040
before returning a guilty
verdict.
230
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,480
The evidence included
surveillance footage, the
231
00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,880
recorded jailhouse call, the
photographs recovered from his
232
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,720
phone and the testimony of
Davina Leal, who sat in that
233
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,360
courtroom on her mother's
birthday and told jurors she
234
00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,160
still had nightmares where she
could hear the knife going in
235
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,520
and out and hear her mother
screaming.
236
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,720
Justice was eventually served
for Josie Kate Jones, but
237
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,760
justice was not served.
In the 11 days between Leonard
238
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:35,320
Woods's release and that parking
lot, the Clark County District
239
00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,520
Attorney's Office made a
decision or failed to make one,
240
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,520
and Josie Kate Jones paid for it
with her life.
241
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,040
The man who held that office in
August of 2015 was Steve
242
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,440
Wolfson.
He has been the Clark County
243
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,640
District Attorney since 2012.
He is still the Clark County
244
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:57,280
District Attorney today.
As of early 2026, he is running
245
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,400
for a fourth term, unopposed,
with a campaign war chest of
246
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,240
over $1 million.
There is no record of any public
247
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,760
accountability statement from
his office specifically
248
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,880
addressing the early release of
Leonard Woods and the murder
249
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:16,240
that followed 11 days later.
Davina Leal was 15 years old
250
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,080
when she wrote in a police
report that Leonard Woods had
251
00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,440
threatened to kill her mother.
She was 15 when that report was
252
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,000
filed.
She was 15 when the DA's office
253
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,880
let him go anyway.
She was 15 when she watched him
254
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,520
make good on his promise.
She is still waiting for someone
255
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,880
in a position of power to say
plainly that what happened was
256
00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,280
wrong and that it will not
happen again.
257
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,680
That is the first murder that
bookends Davina's story.
258
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,840
The years between that August
night and what comes next were
259
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,400
not empty years.
They were years of loss,
260
00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,120
compounding on loss in a way
that should not be humanly
261
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,320
survivable.
The first love of her life, a
262
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,040
young man she had known since
they were both 14, was shot and
263
00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,360
killed during a drug transaction
he had nothing to do with.
264
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,120
He was trying to protect someone
else.
265
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,560
He died doing what he always
did, which was show up.
266
00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,760
His family, who had taken Davina
in and made her their own,
267
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,360
became the only family she had.
She grieved with them and they
268
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,640
held each other up.
He was the first person who had
269
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:29,000
known her whole story and loved
her anyway, and losing him meant
270
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,000
losing the only witness to who
she was before August 5th, 2015.
271
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,800
Then her aunt and uncle, the
first two people who showed up
272
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:40,600
for her the night her mother was
killed.
273
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,960
The people who functioned as her
second parents died in a murder
274
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,600
suicide.
Losing them meant losing the
275
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,920
last people who had chosen to
come for her that night, the
276
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,680
last living proof that someone
had seen her in her worst moment
277
00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,520
and decided she was worth
showing up for. 3 losses in less
278
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,360
than four years, each one
violent, each one sudden, each
279
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,320
one arriving before the last one
had finished breaking her.
280
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,400
She spiraled.
She used substances the way
281
00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,240
people in pain use them, not to
get high, but to get through.
282
00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,160
She was running toward broken
people because broken people
283
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,280
felt like home.
She knew what she was doing.
284
00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,080
She said so herself.
She called herself, painfully
285
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,280
self aware.
She knew it was wrong, and she
286
00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:32,840
did it anyway because the
alternative was feeling
287
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,280
everything and she was not ready
for that.
288
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,840
But she never let her life fall
apart entirely.
289
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,040
Whatever was burning on the
inside the surface stayed
290
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,520
functional.
She kept her money together, she
291
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,520
kept her commitments.
She showed up for what needed to
292
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,120
be shown up for, and slowly,
over time, she started pulling
293
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,760
herself back towards something.
And then she met Charles.
294
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,400
Charles Lovelady Junior was 28
years old.
295
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,400
He was a Detroit native who had
planted himself in Indianapolis
296
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,040
and built something real there.
He and his father, Charles
297
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,640
Lovelady Senior Co, owned a
restaurant called Chuck's Coney
298
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:18,280
Island at 29 to 32 E 20th St.
They had brought Detroit style
299
00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,880
and Detroit love to an
Indianapolis neighborhood.
300
00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,839
And the community responded.
The restaurant had gone viral.
301
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,560
People loved it.
Charles was the kind of man who
302
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,400
held community events just
because he wanted to, who passed
303
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,920
things out and never expected
anything in return, who his
304
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,560
sister Kendia described as a
gentle soul who was loved by
305
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,360
everyone in that neighborhood.
He was also deeply ambitious.
306
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,720
He owned rental properties.
He was in talks about purchasing
307
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,760
a daycare.
He had A to do list as his phone
308
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,400
screensaver every morning so he
could see exactly what he needed
309
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,320
to accomplish before the day was
done.
310
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,040
He was 28 years old and already
building a legacy.
311
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,480
He had pursued Davina for four
years before she said yes.
312
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:09,560
She wasn't ready.
She had buried love once and it
313
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,520
had nearly buried her.
But he never stopped.
314
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:18,400
He just kept being who he was.
Patient, consistent, present.
315
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,280
And one day she was scrolling
Facebook out of boredom and saw
316
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,200
that he was driving down her St.
and she messaged him and he
317
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:30,160
asked her out and she said yes.
Six months they were together.
318
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,560
Every single day.
They woke up together, cooked
319
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,640
together, prayed together, went
to the gym together.
320
00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,680
She described going to sleep,
thinking about him and waking up
321
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,320
still talking.
He was her best friend, her
322
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,000
protector.
The moon and the stars, she said
323
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,240
in her eyes.
On her 25th birthday, he told
324
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,360
her he loved her.
At the table in front of both
325
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,080
their families, his mother
thought he was about to propose.
326
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:02,480
Everyone was laughing and
crying, and it was, in Davina's
327
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,240
words, the most magical day of
her life.
328
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,640
She said if she could live any
single day on a loop for the
329
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,440
rest of her existence, it would
be that one, surrounded by
330
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,840
everyone who loved them both,
laughing, eating, just alive.
331
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,400
It was October 2024.
It was also the last month of
332
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,840
his life.
On October 12th, 2024, Davina
333
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,440
and Charles left Sunset, a bar
on West 16th St. in
334
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,040
Indianapolis, just after three
in the morning.
335
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,440
They had their food.
They were going home to watch
336
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,800
television.
They were happy.
337
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,440
According to Fox 59 News, they
were at a stoplight at Indiana
338
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,760
Ave. and University Ave. when a
vehicle pulled up alongside them
339
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,640
and opened fire.
Davina described it starting
340
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,760
like fireworks.
She was leaned over the center
341
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,960
console talking to him when she
felt something hit her in the
342
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,440
back and burn.
She told him she had been hit.
343
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,920
He wrapped his arm around her
and pushed her head down and he
344
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,720
drove.
He drove fast and they kept
345
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,280
shooting the car, taking hit
after hit.
346
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,400
Charles trying to get her to a
hospital with bullets still
347
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,880
coming and then she sat up for a
moment and they looked at each
348
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,360
other.
She said she had never seen a
349
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:23,320
grown man look so scared.
And then he was gone.
350
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,280
He was shot once.
The bullet entered his lower
351
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,240
right back and traveled up and
struck his heart.
352
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,080
He was 6 foot three.
He was 255 lbs.
353
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,000
He was everything, and he
slumped back over the seat and
354
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,600
he was looking at her and she
could hear the air leaving his
355
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,040
body.
And that sound has not left her
356
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,000
since.
She ran on a broken foot down a
357
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,120
dark Indianapolis street at 3:00
in the morning, screaming for
358
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:52,800
help.
She flagged down an ambulance.
359
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,680
She fought her way through the
hospital, trying to get them to
360
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,880
focus on him instead of her.
She called his mother before she
361
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,120
called her own.
His family confirmed publicly
362
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,400
that Charles Lovelady Junior's
firearm was in the car and had
363
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,320
never been fired.
This was not a gunfight.
364
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,760
This was an ambush.
His family believes it was a
365
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,840
case of mistaken identity.
A vehicle identical to his, same
366
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,560
black Cadillac Escalade, same
custom rims, same everything,
367
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,000
belonged to someone in the area
who had, according to family
368
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,800
accounts, a significant bounty
on his head.
369
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,240
The only differences between the
two vehicles were the length of
370
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,120
the truck bed and the license
plate.
371
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,160
They haunted the wrong man.
Charles Lovelady Junior was 28
372
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,520
years old.
He had a restaurant, and a
373
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,640
foundation now bears his name.
His sister painted his face on
374
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,600
the side of a building on the
east side of Indianapolis
375
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,720
because she said she wanted his
face Remembered forever.
376
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,840
His father has kept their
restaurant alive as a tribute,
377
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,920
his mother established the
Charles Lovelady Junior
378
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,000
Foundation.
His murder remains unsolved.
379
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,120
If you have any information
about the October 12th, 2024
380
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,720
murder of Charles Lovelady
Junior in Indianapolis, please
381
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:16,440
contact Crime Stoppers of
Central IN at 317-262-8477.
382
00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,320
A substantial reward has been
offered by his family for
383
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,120
information leading to an
arrest.
384
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,240
When Davina describes her life
right now, she does not dress it
385
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,680
up.
She says she is not good to
386
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,720
herself when no one is watching.
That she will go days without
387
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,000
eating, without showering,
without moving, just staring at
388
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,800
walls in the silence of a grief
that does not behave the way the
389
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,720
other griefs did.
Because this time she says she
390
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,920
never came back from that scene,
that she does not know who she
391
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,880
is anymore, that she is living
in a kind of delusion where she
392
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,200
keeps him alive in her mind
because she cannot bring herself
393
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,920
to fully release him.
She is on five medications, 2
394
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:03,440
antipsychotics, an
antidepressant, an anxiety
395
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,840
medication, a mood stabilizer,
prescription sedatives, every
396
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,760
single night, because she has
not fallen asleep naturally
397
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,520
since October 12th, 2024.
She is not suicidal.
398
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:21,040
She said that clearly she is
tired, bone tired in a way that
399
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280
only people who have carried
this much for this long can
400
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,320
understand.
She is also still here.
401
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,400
And the fact that she is still
here after everything that tried
402
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,000
to take her out is not a small
thing.
403
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,240
It is not a detail, it is the
whole point.
404
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,280
The domestic violence system
failed.
405
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,160
Josie Kate Jones, when the Clark
County D AS office released the
406
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,840
man she had reported, the man
who had threatened her life, the
407
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,440
man who was armed and dangerous
and on the record as such.
408
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,480
Steve Wolfson's office made a
decision and Josie died 11 days
409
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,320
later.
He has held that office for over
410
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,160
a decade since he is running
again.
411
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,080
And the question that nobody in
Las Vegas seems to be asking
412
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,520
loudly enough is what
accountability looks like when a
413
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,640
paperwork error costs a 41 year
old woman her life in front of
414
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,800
her 15 year old daughter.
The child welfare system failed
415
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,120
Davina Leal the night her mother
died, when the state's response
416
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:27,080
to a traumatized child was
intake a photograph, a borrowed
417
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,480
blanket and a closed door.
The homicide investigation
418
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,520
system is failing Charles
Lovelady Junior right now.
419
00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:39,480
Every day his murder goes
unsolved is a day a family waits
420
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,600
and a community grieves and a
young man's legacy hangs in the
421
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,360
unresolved air of an unanswered
question.
422
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,280
These are not separate failures.
They are the same failure,
423
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,840
wearing different faces in
different decades, in different
424
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,200
cities.
The failure to treat Black women
425
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,600
and the people they love as
urgent, as protected, as worth
426
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,720
the full weight of whatever the
system has to offer.
427
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,240
Davina Layal survived a sexual
assault at 15.
428
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,600
She buried her mother at 15.
She was processed by the state
429
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,440
like a case number at 15.
She buried the first love of her
430
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,800
life.
She buried her aunt and her
431
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,200
uncle.
She survived being shot.
432
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,440
She watched the man she was
building a life with die in the
433
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,440
seat next to her.
And she got up the next morning
434
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,200
and the morning after that, and
she is still here, still
435
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,800
talking, still refusing to
disappear quietly into the
436
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,400
losses that tried to take her.
Her mother's name was Josie Kate
437
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,880
Jones.
She was 41 years old.
438
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,080
She was a dog groomer who loved
her clients and never missed her
439
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,120
daughter's games.
She was someone's best friend
440
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,320
before she was anyone's
cautionary tale.
441
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,560
She deserved to be protected by
a system that had the
442
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,800
information and the legal
authority to protect her.
443
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,440
His name was Charles Lovelady
Junior, He was 28 years old.
444
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,520
He was a businessman and a
community pillar and a son and a
445
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,400
brother and the love of a woman
who had already lost everything
446
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,760
and found something worth living
for again.
447
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,920
He deserved to come home that
night.
448
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,600
Say their names.
If this episode brought anything
449
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,480
up for you, please reach out.
The Crisis Text Line is
450
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,440
available by texting HOME to
741741.
451
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,200
The National Domestic Violence
Hotline is available at
452
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,360
1-800-799-7233.
You do not have to carry it
453
00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:39,480
alone.
This is no tears for black
454
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,200
girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
455
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:46,960
Stay loved, stay safe, and
remember whenever you're trapped
456
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,680
in a World of Darkness, never
allow fear to overwhelm you.
457
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,120
Believe in your inner spirit and
remind yourself of God's first
458
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,400
words.
Let there be light.
00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,400
Imagine this.
You are five years old, and you
2
00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,840
already know how to read a room.
Not because someone taught you.
3
00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,560
Because you had to.
Because the house you grew up in
4
00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,120
was the kind of house where the
energy could shift without
5
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,520
warning, where loud meant
something specific, where quiet
6
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,000
meant something else entirely,
and where you learned, before
7
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,200
you could spell your own name,
that your safety depended on
8
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,000
your ability to feel the
difference.
9
00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,240
You grew up in Las Vegas.
Not the Las Vegas people see in
10
00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,960
movies.
Not the Strip, not the lights,
11
00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,960
not the spectacle.
The Las Vegas behind all of
12
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,880
that.
The neighborhoods where people
13
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,160
are working double shifts and
the lights get cut off anyway.
14
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,200
Where you do your homework by
candlelight and wash your
15
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,520
clothes in the bathtub with
shampoo.
16
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,160
And you don't tell anyone at
school because that is just how
17
00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,840
it is.
And you already know that some
18
00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,280
things stay inside the house.
Your mother is everything to
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00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,680
you.
She is young and beautiful and
20
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,000
magnetic and she is your best
friend in the real estate sense
21
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,760
of the word.
She takes you everywhere.
22
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,160
You are her Rd. dog.
You go where she goes.
23
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,680
And that means you see things
that children were not built to
24
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,680
process.
Men coming and going trips that
25
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,680
were explained one way and meant
something else entirely.
26
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,640
A candy apple green car with the
words CANDY girl written across
27
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,720
the back window in cursive that
you thought was just because
28
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,600
your Mama loved her car until
you were old enough to
29
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:32,880
understand it wasn't about the
car at all.
30
00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,160
You absorb all of it.
You file it away.
31
00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,440
You build your normal out of
what you have.
32
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,720
And then a man comes into your
life.
33
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,440
He has been there since you were
five.
34
00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:45,960
He braids your hair before
school.
35
00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,760
He teaches you to cook.
He puts his gun in your hand
36
00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,240
when he goes out and tells you
that you know what to do with
37
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,240
it.
He is cold in a way that is hard
38
00:01:55,240 --> 00:02:00,880
to name but impossible to miss,
quiet in a way that makes a room
39
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,200
feel smaller.
You love him when you are little
40
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,440
because that is what children do
with the adults who show up for
41
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,919
them.
And as you get older, something
42
00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,800
shifts and you can feel it, and
you do not have the language for
43
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,240
it yet, but your body already
knows.
44
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,160
You are 15 years old.
And one morning you are home
45
00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,000
alone with him, and your mother
is at work, and he has kept you
46
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,560
home for a reason.
And when you understand what
47
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,120
that reason is, something in you
goes completely still.
48
00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,400
Not frozen with fear, still with
survival.
49
00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,840
This is no tears for black
girls.
50
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,800
I'm Samantha Paul.
Before we go any further, this
51
00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,760
episode contains detailed
accounts of child sexual
52
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600
assault, domestic violence,
murder witnessed at close range,
53
00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,720
and compounded loss that spans
nearly a decade.
54
00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,880
There is no gentle way to carry
this story, but there is a right
55
00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,040
way and that is the only way we
are going to do it.
56
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,640
Please take care of yourself
while you listen.
57
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,360
Her name is Davina Layal.
She is alive.
58
00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,560
She chose to let her story be
told, and we are going to honor
59
00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,720
that by telling it with the full
weight it deserves.
60
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,360
Not sanitized, not
sensationalized, but true.
61
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,760
Davina grew up in Las Vegas.
Her childhood was built on love
62
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,000
and chaos in equal measure.
Her mother, Josie Kate Jones,
63
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,720
was her person, the one constant
in a life that had very few of
64
00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,280
them.
Josie was young when she was
65
00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,680
raising Davina, barely older
than a girl herself in some of
66
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,320
those early years, and she was
navigating her own complicated
67
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,360
survival while trying to give
her daughter something that felt
68
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,400
like stability.
She kept Davina fed.
69
00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,440
Her hair was always done, her
outfits were always cute.
70
00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,520
Josie made sure of that, even
when the money was tight and the
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00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,640
circumstances were not what they
should have been.
72
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,600
But Josie was also in a life
that pulled her in directions,
73
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,680
that left her daughter in the
care of people she didn't know,
74
00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,040
in environments that weren't
safe, inside patterns of men and
75
00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,880
money and survival that Davina
grew up watching and normalizing
76
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,440
before she ever understood what
she was watching.
77
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,880
The man who became Davina's
stepfather had been in her life
78
00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,480
since she was five years old.
His name was Leonard Woods.
79
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,400
He came in as her mother's
boyfriend, assumed the role of
80
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,320
stepfather by virtue of never
leaving, and occupied that space
81
00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,520
in Davina's life for a decade.
He taught her practical things.
82
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,520
He showed up in practical ways.
And he was also, as court
83
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,280
records and Davina's own
testimony would later confirm, a
84
00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,760
predator who had been watching
her in the most violating way
85
00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,880
imaginable for years.
Hundreds of photographs were
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00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,840
recovered from Leonard Woods's
phone.
87
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,080
Davina photographed without her
knowledge or consent, through
88
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,600
windows and doors, in bathrooms,
in bedrooms, across multiple
89
00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:08,080
homes, across multiple years.
He would position himself
90
00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,600
outside wherever she was in the
house, under the pretense of
91
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,480
smoking, and he would watch her
and photograph her and she had
92
00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,760
no idea.
There was one time she saw
93
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,040
something move past a window
while she was in the bathroom,
94
00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,400
and it scared her badly enough
that she ran to her mother.
95
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,240
Woods was the one who dismissed
it.
96
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,000
He was there.
He was the thing that moved.
97
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,920
And she didn't know that until
she sat in a lawyer's office
98
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,640
years later and was shown a
computer screen full of images
99
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,760
that locked into place.
A decade of feeling like
100
00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,560
something was wrong without
being able to name it.
101
00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:51,440
On July 18th, 2015, Leonard
Woods kept Davina home from work
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00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,200
with her mother.
He was unusually warm that
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00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,160
morning.
He made breakfast.
104
00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,640
He moved differently than he
normally moved.
105
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,840
She noticed it because you
notice when a cold person gets
106
00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:04,520
warm, it means something is
coming.
107
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,400
He told her he had seen her
taking a photo of herself in a
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00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,400
sports bra through her bedroom
window.
109
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,040
He said he would tell her mother
unless she showed herself to
110
00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,880
him.
She was 15 years old.
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00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,040
In the moment that followed,
Davina Layal did something that
112
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,320
most adults would not have been
able to do.
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00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,080
She calculated.
She understood that if she
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00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,240
fought him, if she showed fear,
if she gave him any reason to
115
00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,240
feel threatened, this man who
had pushed her mother
116
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,160
downstairs, broken her mother's
toe, told her mother he would
117
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,920
kill her and burn the house down
if she ever left him.
118
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,680
This man would not stop at
assault.
119
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,320
She knew that in her body,
before she could reason it in
120
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,600
her head.
So she went still.
121
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,160
She let him do what he did.
She took the money he handed her
122
00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:55,360
to buy her.
Silence.
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00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,680
She went back to her room.
She left her door open so he
124
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,880
could hear her moving.
She texted her best friend
125
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,120
Devin, one word at a time, and
deleted each message after she
126
00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:08,200
sent it.
She waited.
127
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,840
She walked out to the car that
came for her without running,
128
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,440
without looking back, without
giving him a single signal that
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00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,200
she was leaving to report him.
She was 15.
130
00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,080
When Davina reached Devon's
house, the police were called.
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00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,000
Officers eventually came, took
her statement, documented the
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00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,720
assault, took photographs.
By the time they went to the
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00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,400
home to arrest Leonard Woods, he
was at the end of the street, at
134
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,120
a stop sign in his car, ready to
flee.
135
00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,040
They caught him.
They booked him.
136
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,240
They found the guns and there
were several of them.
137
00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,040
Sawed offs, weapons with
scratched off serial numbers,
138
00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,320
none of which Leonard Woods was
legally allowed to possess
139
00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,000
because he was a convicted
felon.
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00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,360
They found them and they charged
him.
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00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,680
Leonard Woods was in custody for
approximately 3 days, Three
142
00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,880
days, then the Clark County
District Attorney's Office let
143
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,760
him go.
Public reporting described it as
144
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,800
a paperwork error, an
administrative issue in the
145
00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,560
processing of his case.
But Davina and her mother had
146
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,200
documented in those police
reports that Woods had made
147
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,320
explicit death threats, that he
had said he would kill Josie and
148
00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,400
her children, that he was
dangerous in a specific stated
149
00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,600
on record way that information
existed.
150
00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,200
It was in writing, and someone
in the Clark County DA's office
151
00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,440
decided, through negligence or
indifference or bureaucratic
152
00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,520
failure that a man with illegal
weapons, felony possession
153
00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,400
charges, a sexual assault
allegation and documented death
154
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,520
threats against the woman he had
been with for nearly a decade
155
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,200
could walk back out into the
world.
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00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,120
He did.
He called Josie, He threatened
157
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,080
her more.
She posted about her fear on
158
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:57,920
Facebook.
She moved.
159
00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,000
She took Davina to a new
apartment on the other side of
160
00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,640
town.
And for a brief stretch of days,
161
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,680
maybe 3 or 4, it was just the
two of them.
162
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,760
No man in the house.
Just Davina and her mother
163
00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,360
painting her bedroom, going to
the movies, laughing in the car
164
00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,800
together, Josie doing everything
she could to make her daughter
165
00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,320
feel something close to OK after
what had happened to her.
166
00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,800
Davina has said those were the
best days of her life with her
167
00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,800
mother.
They were also the last ones.
168
00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,440
The one thread they kept from
their old life was Davina's
169
00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,960
school.
She was a cheerleader.
170
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,880
She did not want to lose that.
She asked her mother not to make
171
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,920
her change schools.
Josie said yes.
172
00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,040
She drove Davina to cheer
practice.
173
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,840
She sat in the gym and watched
her daughter practice, because
174
00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,880
that is what Josie Kate Jones
did.
175
00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,680
She never missed a game, never
missed a practice if she could
176
00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:59,120
help it.
Leonard Woods was in the parking
177
00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,320
lot.
He had followed them there.
178
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,920
He watched them leave.
He followed them to the
179
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,840
Walgreens at Tropicana Ave. and
Decatur Blvd. a shopping center
180
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,480
a few blocks southwest of the
Las Vegas Strip.
181
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:18,760
August 5th, 2015, eleven days
after Josie had reported his
182
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,600
assault on her daughter, 11 days
after the DA's office handed him
183
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,200
back his freedom, Josie and
Davina walked out of the
184
00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,000
Walgreens.
He came from between the parked
185
00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,640
cars.
He stabbed Josie Kate Jones 16
186
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,960
times, in her chest, in her
neck, in her stomach.
187
00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,720
Davina ran back into the store,
screaming for help.
188
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,520
She hit the automatic doors
before they could open.
189
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,480
She begged the strangers at the
register to do something.
190
00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,560
She ran back outside and her
mother was on the ground, curled
191
00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:54,280
in on herself.
Blood soaked through her purple
192
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,960
shirt so completely that the
fabric couldn't hold it anymore.
193
00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:04,480
Her eyes unfocused, her body
rigid, choking, Davina got down
194
00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,920
next to her mother and told her,
please don't leave me, you are
195
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,720
all I have.
Josie Kate Jones was taken by
196
00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,080
ambulance.
Her daughter was not allowed to
197
00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,160
ride with her.
Davina found out her mother was
198
00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,040
dead from a detective who opened
the car door and said it
199
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,640
plainly, right there at the
crime scene, sometime after two
200
00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,760
in the morning.
Nobody held her.
201
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,040
Leonard Woods drove away from
the Walgreens and surrendered to
202
00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,920
police just after midnight.
He told officers he had been
203
00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,920
involved in an incident at the
store.
204
00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,480
In a recorded jailhouse phone
call that was later played at
205
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,080
his trial, He told someone on
the other end of the line that
206
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,360
he had done something to Josie
and did not think she was going
207
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,400
to make it.
He had told Josie Kate Jones he
208
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,200
would find her.
He found her that night.
209
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,920
A 15 year old girl who had
survived a sexual assault three
210
00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,200
weeks earlier and just watched
her mother be murdered, was
211
00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,800
transported to a state facility,
photographed for intake,
212
00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,080
stripped of her clothing,
stripped of her phone, handed
213
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,360
clothes from a shared bin,
placed in a room with strangers
214
00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,000
at 3:00 in the morning, and had
her photograph taped to the
215
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,560
door.
The door closed.
216
00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,440
No one hugged her.
No one told her she was going to
217
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,160
be OK.
No one sat with her.
218
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,320
Davina has described lying on
top of the blanket in that room,
219
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:31,080
not wanting to touch anything,
not knowing if she slept, just
220
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,040
staring in silence at a ceiling
she didn't recognize, in a
221
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,360
building she hadn't chosen,
carrying a weight that no child
222
00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,320
should ever have been asked to
carry alone.
223
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,080
This is where I want to stop and
name something.
224
00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:47,000
Clearly, the man who murdered
Josie Kate Jones was Leonard Ray
225
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,640
Woods.
He is currently serving life in
226
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,280
prison without the possibility
of parole following a March 2019
227
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,320
conviction.
The Las Vegas Review Journal
228
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,840
reported that the jury
deliberated less than 20 minutes
229
00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,040
before returning a guilty
verdict.
230
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,480
The evidence included
surveillance footage, the
231
00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,880
recorded jailhouse call, the
photographs recovered from his
232
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,720
phone and the testimony of
Davina Leal, who sat in that
233
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,360
courtroom on her mother's
birthday and told jurors she
234
00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,160
still had nightmares where she
could hear the knife going in
235
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,520
and out and hear her mother
screaming.
236
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,720
Justice was eventually served
for Josie Kate Jones, but
237
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,760
justice was not served.
In the 11 days between Leonard
238
00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:35,320
Woods's release and that parking
lot, the Clark County District
239
00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,520
Attorney's Office made a
decision or failed to make one,
240
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,520
and Josie Kate Jones paid for it
with her life.
241
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,040
The man who held that office in
August of 2015 was Steve
242
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,440
Wolfson.
He has been the Clark County
243
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,640
District Attorney since 2012.
He is still the Clark County
244
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:57,280
District Attorney today.
As of early 2026, he is running
245
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,400
for a fourth term, unopposed,
with a campaign war chest of
246
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,240
over $1 million.
There is no record of any public
247
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,760
accountability statement from
his office specifically
248
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,880
addressing the early release of
Leonard Woods and the murder
249
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:16,240
that followed 11 days later.
Davina Leal was 15 years old
250
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,080
when she wrote in a police
report that Leonard Woods had
251
00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,440
threatened to kill her mother.
She was 15 when that report was
252
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,000
filed.
She was 15 when the DA's office
253
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,880
let him go anyway.
She was 15 when she watched him
254
00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,520
make good on his promise.
She is still waiting for someone
255
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,880
in a position of power to say
plainly that what happened was
256
00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,280
wrong and that it will not
happen again.
257
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,680
That is the first murder that
bookends Davina's story.
258
00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,840
The years between that August
night and what comes next were
259
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,400
not empty years.
They were years of loss,
260
00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,120
compounding on loss in a way
that should not be humanly
261
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,320
survivable.
The first love of her life, a
262
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,040
young man she had known since
they were both 14, was shot and
263
00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,360
killed during a drug transaction
he had nothing to do with.
264
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,120
He was trying to protect someone
else.
265
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,560
He died doing what he always
did, which was show up.
266
00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,760
His family, who had taken Davina
in and made her their own,
267
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,360
became the only family she had.
She grieved with them and they
268
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,640
held each other up.
He was the first person who had
269
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:29,000
known her whole story and loved
her anyway, and losing him meant
270
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,000
losing the only witness to who
she was before August 5th, 2015.
271
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,800
Then her aunt and uncle, the
first two people who showed up
272
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:40,600
for her the night her mother was
killed.
273
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,960
The people who functioned as her
second parents died in a murder
274
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,600
suicide.
Losing them meant losing the
275
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,920
last people who had chosen to
come for her that night, the
276
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,680
last living proof that someone
had seen her in her worst moment
277
00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,520
and decided she was worth
showing up for. 3 losses in less
278
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,360
than four years, each one
violent, each one sudden, each
279
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,320
one arriving before the last one
had finished breaking her.
280
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,400
She spiraled.
She used substances the way
281
00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,240
people in pain use them, not to
get high, but to get through.
282
00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,160
She was running toward broken
people because broken people
283
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,280
felt like home.
She knew what she was doing.
284
00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,080
She said so herself.
She called herself, painfully
285
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,280
self aware.
She knew it was wrong, and she
286
00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:32,840
did it anyway because the
alternative was feeling
287
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,280
everything and she was not ready
for that.
288
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,840
But she never let her life fall
apart entirely.
289
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,040
Whatever was burning on the
inside the surface stayed
290
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,520
functional.
She kept her money together, she
291
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,520
kept her commitments.
She showed up for what needed to
292
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,120
be shown up for, and slowly,
over time, she started pulling
293
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,760
herself back towards something.
And then she met Charles.
294
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,400
Charles Lovelady Junior was 28
years old.
295
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,400
He was a Detroit native who had
planted himself in Indianapolis
296
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,040
and built something real there.
He and his father, Charles
297
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,640
Lovelady Senior Co, owned a
restaurant called Chuck's Coney
298
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:18,280
Island at 29 to 32 E 20th St.
They had brought Detroit style
299
00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,880
and Detroit love to an
Indianapolis neighborhood.
300
00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,839
And the community responded.
The restaurant had gone viral.
301
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,560
People loved it.
Charles was the kind of man who
302
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,400
held community events just
because he wanted to, who passed
303
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,920
things out and never expected
anything in return, who his
304
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,560
sister Kendia described as a
gentle soul who was loved by
305
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,360
everyone in that neighborhood.
He was also deeply ambitious.
306
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,720
He owned rental properties.
He was in talks about purchasing
307
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,760
a daycare.
He had A to do list as his phone
308
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,400
screensaver every morning so he
could see exactly what he needed
309
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,320
to accomplish before the day was
done.
310
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,040
He was 28 years old and already
building a legacy.
311
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,480
He had pursued Davina for four
years before she said yes.
312
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:09,560
She wasn't ready.
She had buried love once and it
313
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,520
had nearly buried her.
But he never stopped.
314
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:18,400
He just kept being who he was.
Patient, consistent, present.
315
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,280
And one day she was scrolling
Facebook out of boredom and saw
316
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,200
that he was driving down her St.
and she messaged him and he
317
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:30,160
asked her out and she said yes.
Six months they were together.
318
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,560
Every single day.
They woke up together, cooked
319
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,640
together, prayed together, went
to the gym together.
320
00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,680
She described going to sleep,
thinking about him and waking up
321
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,320
still talking.
He was her best friend, her
322
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,000
protector.
The moon and the stars, she said
323
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,240
in her eyes.
On her 25th birthday, he told
324
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,360
her he loved her.
At the table in front of both
325
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,080
their families, his mother
thought he was about to propose.
326
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:02,480
Everyone was laughing and
crying, and it was, in Davina's
327
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,240
words, the most magical day of
her life.
328
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,640
She said if she could live any
single day on a loop for the
329
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,440
rest of her existence, it would
be that one, surrounded by
330
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,840
everyone who loved them both,
laughing, eating, just alive.
331
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,400
It was October 2024.
It was also the last month of
332
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,840
his life.
On October 12th, 2024, Davina
333
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,440
and Charles left Sunset, a bar
on West 16th St. in
334
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,040
Indianapolis, just after three
in the morning.
335
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,440
They had their food.
They were going home to watch
336
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,800
television.
They were happy.
337
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,440
According to Fox 59 News, they
were at a stoplight at Indiana
338
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,760
Ave. and University Ave. when a
vehicle pulled up alongside them
339
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,640
and opened fire.
Davina described it starting
340
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,760
like fireworks.
She was leaned over the center
341
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,960
console talking to him when she
felt something hit her in the
342
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,440
back and burn.
She told him she had been hit.
343
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,920
He wrapped his arm around her
and pushed her head down and he
344
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,720
drove.
He drove fast and they kept
345
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,280
shooting the car, taking hit
after hit.
346
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,400
Charles trying to get her to a
hospital with bullets still
347
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,880
coming and then she sat up for a
moment and they looked at each
348
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,360
other.
She said she had never seen a
349
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:23,320
grown man look so scared.
And then he was gone.
350
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,280
He was shot once.
The bullet entered his lower
351
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,240
right back and traveled up and
struck his heart.
352
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,080
He was 6 foot three.
He was 255 lbs.
353
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,000
He was everything, and he
slumped back over the seat and
354
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,600
he was looking at her and she
could hear the air leaving his
355
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,040
body.
And that sound has not left her
356
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,000
since.
She ran on a broken foot down a
357
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,120
dark Indianapolis street at 3:00
in the morning, screaming for
358
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:52,800
help.
She flagged down an ambulance.
359
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,680
She fought her way through the
hospital, trying to get them to
360
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,880
focus on him instead of her.
She called his mother before she
361
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,120
called her own.
His family confirmed publicly
362
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,400
that Charles Lovelady Junior's
firearm was in the car and had
363
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,320
never been fired.
This was not a gunfight.
364
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,760
This was an ambush.
His family believes it was a
365
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,840
case of mistaken identity.
A vehicle identical to his, same
366
00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,560
black Cadillac Escalade, same
custom rims, same everything,
367
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,000
belonged to someone in the area
who had, according to family
368
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,800
accounts, a significant bounty
on his head.
369
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,240
The only differences between the
two vehicles were the length of
370
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,120
the truck bed and the license
plate.
371
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,160
They haunted the wrong man.
Charles Lovelady Junior was 28
372
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,520
years old.
He had a restaurant, and a
373
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,640
foundation now bears his name.
His sister painted his face on
374
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,600
the side of a building on the
east side of Indianapolis
375
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,720
because she said she wanted his
face Remembered forever.
376
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,840
His father has kept their
restaurant alive as a tribute,
377
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,920
his mother established the
Charles Lovelady Junior
378
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,000
Foundation.
His murder remains unsolved.
379
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,120
If you have any information
about the October 12th, 2024
380
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,720
murder of Charles Lovelady
Junior in Indianapolis, please
381
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:16,440
contact Crime Stoppers of
Central IN at 317-262-8477.
382
00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,320
A substantial reward has been
offered by his family for
383
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,120
information leading to an
arrest.
384
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,240
When Davina describes her life
right now, she does not dress it
385
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,680
up.
She says she is not good to
386
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,720
herself when no one is watching.
That she will go days without
387
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,000
eating, without showering,
without moving, just staring at
388
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,800
walls in the silence of a grief
that does not behave the way the
389
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,720
other griefs did.
Because this time she says she
390
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,920
never came back from that scene,
that she does not know who she
391
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,880
is anymore, that she is living
in a kind of delusion where she
392
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,200
keeps him alive in her mind
because she cannot bring herself
393
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,920
to fully release him.
She is on five medications, 2
394
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:03,440
antipsychotics, an
antidepressant, an anxiety
395
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,840
medication, a mood stabilizer,
prescription sedatives, every
396
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,760
single night, because she has
not fallen asleep naturally
397
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,520
since October 12th, 2024.
She is not suicidal.
398
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:21,040
She said that clearly she is
tired, bone tired in a way that
399
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280
only people who have carried
this much for this long can
400
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,320
understand.
She is also still here.
401
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,400
And the fact that she is still
here after everything that tried
402
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,000
to take her out is not a small
thing.
403
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,240
It is not a detail, it is the
whole point.
404
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,280
The domestic violence system
failed.
405
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,160
Josie Kate Jones, when the Clark
County D AS office released the
406
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,840
man she had reported, the man
who had threatened her life, the
407
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,440
man who was armed and dangerous
and on the record as such.
408
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,480
Steve Wolfson's office made a
decision and Josie died 11 days
409
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,320
later.
He has held that office for over
410
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,160
a decade since he is running
again.
411
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,080
And the question that nobody in
Las Vegas seems to be asking
412
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,520
loudly enough is what
accountability looks like when a
413
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,640
paperwork error costs a 41 year
old woman her life in front of
414
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,800
her 15 year old daughter.
The child welfare system failed
415
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,120
Davina Leal the night her mother
died, when the state's response
416
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:27,080
to a traumatized child was
intake a photograph, a borrowed
417
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,480
blanket and a closed door.
The homicide investigation
418
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,520
system is failing Charles
Lovelady Junior right now.
419
00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:39,480
Every day his murder goes
unsolved is a day a family waits
420
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,600
and a community grieves and a
young man's legacy hangs in the
421
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,360
unresolved air of an unanswered
question.
422
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,280
These are not separate failures.
They are the same failure,
423
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,840
wearing different faces in
different decades, in different
424
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,200
cities.
The failure to treat Black women
425
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,600
and the people they love as
urgent, as protected, as worth
426
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,720
the full weight of whatever the
system has to offer.
427
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,240
Davina Layal survived a sexual
assault at 15.
428
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,600
She buried her mother at 15.
She was processed by the state
429
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,440
like a case number at 15.
She buried the first love of her
430
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,800
life.
She buried her aunt and her
431
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,200
uncle.
She survived being shot.
432
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,440
She watched the man she was
building a life with die in the
433
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,440
seat next to her.
And she got up the next morning
434
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,200
and the morning after that, and
she is still here, still
435
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,800
talking, still refusing to
disappear quietly into the
436
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,400
losses that tried to take her.
Her mother's name was Josie Kate
437
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,880
Jones.
She was 41 years old.
438
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,080
She was a dog groomer who loved
her clients and never missed her
439
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,120
daughter's games.
She was someone's best friend
440
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,320
before she was anyone's
cautionary tale.
441
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,560
She deserved to be protected by
a system that had the
442
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,800
information and the legal
authority to protect her.
443
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,440
His name was Charles Lovelady
Junior, He was 28 years old.
444
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,520
He was a businessman and a
community pillar and a son and a
445
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,400
brother and the love of a woman
who had already lost everything
446
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,760
and found something worth living
for again.
447
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,920
He deserved to come home that
night.
448
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,600
Say their names.
If this episode brought anything
449
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,480
up for you, please reach out.
The Crisis Text Line is
450
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,440
available by texting HOME to
741741.
451
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,200
The National Domestic Violence
Hotline is available at
452
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,360
1-800-799-7233.
You do not have to carry it
453
00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:39,480
alone.
This is no tears for black
454
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,200
girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
455
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:46,960
Stay loved, stay safe, and
remember whenever you're trapped
456
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,680
in a World of Darkness, never
allow fear to overwhelm you.
457
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,120
Believe in your inner spirit and
remind yourself of God's first
458
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,400
words.
Let there be light.
