Dec. 15, 2025

They Let Him Die — New Federal Lawsuit Names Arizona Governor in the Timothy Stone Case

They Let Him Die — New Federal Lawsuit Names Arizona Governor in the Timothy Stone Case
The player is loading ...
They Let Him Die — New Federal Lawsuit Names Arizona Governor in the Timothy Stone Case

When Timothy Paul Stone collapsed alone in a Phoenix motel bathroom, his three sons — Winston, Timothy Jr. and Marcel — had already been taken by police and handed to a woman their grandparents say was a stranger. Today, Timothy is dead and the boys are still missing.

In this update to our original Timothy Stone episode, we break down the Stones’ newly filed federal wrongful‑death and civil‑rights lawsuit. The complaint names the State of Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and multiple agencies and officers, and argues that officials “let him die to cover up a kidnapping” and could face liability under Arizona’s felony‑murder rule.

In this episode, we walk through:

  • The key allegations in the 1st Amended Complaint

  • How the felony‑murder rule works, and why the family believes it applies

  • The timeline from the motel welfare check to Timothy’s death

  • What we still don’t know about Winston, Timothy Jr., and Marcel’s whereabouts

If you have any information about the whereabouts of Winston Stone, Timothy Paul Stone Jr., or Marcel Orion Stone, please contact the FBI at 1‑800‑CALL‑FBI (1‑800‑225‑5324) or the/National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1‑800‑THE‑LOST (1‑800‑843‑5678).

Court documents and source links are available at NoTearsForBlackGirls.com (see the Resources section for the Timothy Stone case).

All individuals and agencies named in this episode are entitled to the presumption of innocence. The lawsuit described here contains allegations only.

CREDITS:

Created, Written, & Produced by John Reedburg

Hosted & Narrated by Samantha Paul

Production Company: John Reedburg Media

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

https://www.youtube.com/@NoTearsForBlacksGirls

facebook.com/notearsforblackgirls

instagram.com/notearsforblackgirls

tiktok.com/@notearsforblackgirls

1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,840
Before we begin, this episode
contains discussions of child

2
00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,680
abduction, wrongful death, and
ongoing harm to missing

3
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,600
children.
Listener discretion is advised.

4
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,120
On December 1st, 2025, I brought
you the story of a Black father

5
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,880
named Timothy Paul Stone.
For two hours and 24 minutes, we

6
00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,480
walked through the last 54 days
of his life. 54 days of waking

7
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,160
up every morning wondering if
his three boys were still alive.

8
00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,800
54 days of calling police,
judges and government officials.

9
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,000
54 days of begging.
A system that says it protects

10
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,040
children to actually protect
his.

11
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,760
When that episode ended, his
sons Winston, Timothy Junior and

12
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,640
little Marcel had been missing
for 692 days.

13
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,320
Tonight, they are still missing.
But in the days after that

14
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,520
episode dropped, something
shifted.

15
00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,560
A new document landed in a
federal courthouse in Phoenix,

16
00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,920
30 plus pages that don't read
like a dry filing, but like an

17
00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,080
indictment of an entire state.
And our producer, Jon Reedberg,

18
00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,200
picked up the phone earlier this
week.

19
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,960
John called Reverend John W
Stone, Timothy's father.

20
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,440
When Rev Stone answered, he was
in his car heading to a Staples

21
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,040
in Phoenix to print out that
document, an amended civil

22
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,680
complaint filed December 8th,
2025 in the United States

23
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,880
District Court for the District
of Arizona.

24
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,640
He tells John it's 35 pages
long, that he wrote it himself,

25
00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:36,240
that he's been studying law for
40 years, that this complaint

26
00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:41,240
is, in his words, first rate.
And then before he talks about

27
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,280
law, he talks about love.
He tells John that he and

28
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,760
Timothy were soul mates.
Not in the romantic way.

29
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,080
We usually use that word in the
way a parent sometimes locks in

30
00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,080
with one child.
The one who calls you first with

31
00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,880
good news and bad news, the one
who laughs at the same corny

32
00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,920
jokes, the one who shares your
brain.

33
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,160
Sometimes you have a lot of
stuff in common with a

34
00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,440
particular child, he says.
That doesn't mean you love your

35
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,440
other children less.
It just means you hit it off

36
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,440
with one of them because you're
compatible in a lot of areas.

37
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,360
That was the story with Timothy.
He talks about how Timothy

38
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,200
became one of the first black
men to serve as a sales engineer

39
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,960
at Cox Communications, leading a
team.

40
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,000
How he balanced that work with a
body that had been managing type

41
00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,200
1 diabetes since he was two
years old.

42
00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,160
How he did all of that while
raising three boys, two of them

43
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,080
on the autism spectrum.
He tells John that Timothy was

44
00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,000
born on February 28th, 1990.
That he died three days after

45
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,560
his 34th birthday in a leap
year.

46
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,400
I've been preaching for 40
years, he says.

47
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,840
I've done funerals.
I've been at hospital beds.

48
00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,960
I thought I had seen and felt
everything, but when I was told

49
00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,360
he had been deceased, it
literally took my breath away.

50
00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,160
I fell out.
He pauses, and you can almost

51
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,320
feel the weight of those words
pressing against the inside of

52
00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,880
the car windshield as he drives.
When the kids were abducted, he

53
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:20,400
says, he and I worked day and
night together for him to, 54

54
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,200
days after they were taken,
suddenly die.

55
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,040
It just crashed my world.
I really didn't want to be here

56
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,240
anymore.
He is 69.

57
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,640
His wife, Reverend Shirley
Stone, is 75.

58
00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,720
This is something we will take
with us to the grave.

59
00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,280
He says.
We think about it every day.

60
00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:42,800
You don't see the world the same
anymore.

61
00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,760
If you're new to this story,
here is what happened.

62
00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:52,440
January 9th, 2024, El Mirage,
AZ.

63
00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,360
In the early hours of that
morning, Timothy is rushed to

64
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,840
the ICU at Boswell Hospital in a
diabetic emergency.

65
00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,440
His insulin has been tampered
with or hidden.

66
00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:04,880
His blood sugar is in the 8
hundreds.

67
00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,400
He survives.
He is discharged.

68
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,040
That afternoon.
He gets a ride home from his

69
00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,280
father.
When he walks into his

70
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,440
apartment, his three boys are
gone. 12 year old Winston, 10

71
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,279
year old Timothy Paul Stone
Junior, three-year old Marcel

72
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,720
the live in babysitter.
A woman named Brittany Houston

73
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,840
has taken them without
permission, without notice.

74
00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,480
She has already loaded them into
Timothy's own car and driven

75
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,440
them across town.
She does not take them to a

76
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,840
relative with joint custody.
She delivers them to their

77
00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:43,760
mother, Saraya Laurent Mccree,
Timothy's estranged wife, at a

78
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,200
Cube Smart storage facility in
Mesa.

79
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,560
This is not a misunderstanding.
Months earlier, Timothy had

80
00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,480
secured valid Protection Orders
from a judge listing himself and

81
00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,080
the boys as plaintiffs and
Saraya and her sister Eris

82
00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,440
Dupree as defendants.
The court found there was a

83
00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,600
credible risk of kidnapping and
abuse.

84
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,840
Saraya had abandoned the boys
for 10 months, No visits, no

85
00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,000
calls, no support.
She was ordered to stay away

86
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,920
from them.
Timothy comes home from the

87
00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,400
hospital, finds the apartment
empty and does what you are

88
00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,800
supposed to do when you have the
law on your side.

89
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,520
He calls 911.
El Mirage Police Sergeant

90
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,280
Matthew Jacobs responds.
Timothy shows him the Protection

91
00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:34,800
Orders, the file numbers, the
dates, the judge's signature.

92
00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,680
He makes it clear Brittany had
no permission to give the

93
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,240
children to anyone, especially
Saraya or Harris.

94
00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:47,120
Jacobs acknowledges the orders,
acknowledges that Saraya is

95
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,760
under court order to stay away,
then leaves the children where

96
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,320
they are.
Over the next 54 days, Timothy

97
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,000
does everything a person is told
to do to get help.

98
00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,960
He calls El Mirage police over
and over.

99
00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,040
He calls Mesa police because
that's where the storage

100
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,840
facility is.
He calls Child Protective

101
00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:10,600
Services with his father.
He drafts a certified criminal

102
00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,280
complaint, notarized and sent to
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and

103
00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,560
Attorney General Kristen Mays.
He emails El Mirage Police Chief

104
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,640
Paul Marzaca.
He writes to El Mirage Mayor

105
00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,480
Alexis Hermosillo.
On January 29th, the governor's

106
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,840
office replies and promises to
review their complaint.

107
00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,760
That same day, Chief Marzoka
emails back saying I have my

108
00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,920
investigations Bureau looking
into this matter and then hours

109
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,480
later tells Timothy he will not
be rescuing the children or

110
00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,880
arresting the kidnappers.
He claims Timothy was

111
00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:48,880
incapacitated when they were
taken.

112
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,680
As if that excuses everything.
Timothy and his father lay out

113
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,640
the law.
They quote kidnapping statutes,

114
00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,760
child abuse statutes.
They warn police that refusing

115
00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,120
to arrest the kidnappers and
blocking the boys rescue could

116
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,560
make the city an accomplice.
No one comes.

117
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,840
On February 1st, under
unbearable stress, Timothy calls

118
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,480
Saraya.
He threatens her if she doesn't

119
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,760
return the children.
She calls 911.

120
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,600
Mesa Police officer Damien Ryden
responds to Cube Smart, calls

121
00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,680
Timothy, and, according to the
lawsuit, threatens him with

122
00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,640
physical harm if he tries to get
his own children back.

123
00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,600
Shortly afterward, an El Mirage
officer calls Timothy with the

124
00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,680
same threat.
On February 21st, a process

125
00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,960
server finally manages to get
inside the locked Cube Smart

126
00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,400
facility and physically hands
Syria the protection order she

127
00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,280
had been dodging in Nevada.
She reads it.

128
00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,120
She ignores it.
She keeps the children.

129
00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,640
On February 29th, Timothy and
his father file an emergency

130
00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,080
motion with Judge Michael
Parascondola, the same judge who

131
00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,440
had issued the Protection Orders
the year before.

132
00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,160
They beg him to order the
children rescued.

133
00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,240
He sets a hearing for March 4th.
Timothy believes, truly

134
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,480
believes, that if he can just
survive until that hearing,

135
00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:15,720
someone will finally have to
act.

136
00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,560
On March 2nd, 2 days before that
hearing, El Mirage police call

137
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,200
his parents.
Officers have gone to his

138
00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,360
apartment and found him on the
floor.

139
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,320
He is dead.
On paper.

140
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,720
The death certificate calls it
natural causes to Reverend

141
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,960
Stone.
There is nothing natural about

142
00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,360
it.
In the call with John, he tells

143
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,080
our producer.
My take on it is they didn't let

144
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,520
him die, they actually killed
him.

145
00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,160
He describes how, according to
Timothy's roommate, the same

146
00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,680
three officers they've been
trying to sue over the

147
00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:55,680
kidnapping went into Timothy's
room, closed the door, locked

148
00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:59,200
the roommate out and emerged 5
minutes later to pronounce him

149
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,720
dead.
We don't know exactly how it

150
00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:07,480
came down, he says, but we know
this because they allowed the

151
00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,400
kidnapping to go on.
The officials ended up

152
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,960
torturously murdering Tim.
According to John and Shirley's

153
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,840
amended federal complaint, after
Timothy died, his body was

154
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,480
signed over to a so-called
Research for Life program and

155
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,320
then cremated.
The Stones say they were never

156
00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,800
asked for their consent, never
given a chance to view their

157
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,840
son's body before the cremation,
and that in the end, all they

158
00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,280
received was a small cardboard
box of ashes they had to fight

159
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,280
for.
Up to this point, you've mostly

160
00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,960
heard from Timothy's parents
what they were told, what they

161
00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,000
saw, what they allege in this
federal complaint.

162
00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,720
Saraya Mccree, the boy's mother,
hasn't sat down for any

163
00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,280
interview about Timothy's death
or about these lawsuits.

164
00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:59,000
She hasn't answered questions
from reporters, but she has

165
00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,960
spoken in the comments section
on Facebook under Timothy's

166
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,760
GoFundMe post under her own
name.

167
00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,960
Saraya writes, quote, complete
lies.

168
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,840
His body has been donated to
research for life and the

169
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,080
cremation is free.
I have all the proof and

170
00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:20,480
paperwork and quote.
In another comment on that same

171
00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,880
thread she says quote all this
for money.

172
00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:25,880
Y'all can't even mourn his
death.

173
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:30,600
So sad and quote and replying
directly to another user.

174
00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,840
She writes quote he knew where
the kids were.

175
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,960
I'm their mother lol so I know
the real situation.

176
00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,960
End Quote.
Those are Surreya's words on a

177
00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,600
public GoFundMe post about
Timothy's death.

178
00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,400
The stones tell a very different
story.

179
00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,760
They say they have never been
shown any of this supposed proof

180
00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,200
and paperwork about body
donation.

181
00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,280
In their amended federal
complaint, they allege that

182
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,320
Timothy did not consent to
donation, that his body was

183
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,240
cremated against the family's
wishes, and that when they tried

184
00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,960
to claim his remains, they were
blocked by the Funeral Home and

185
00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,560
by law enforcement.
And when it comes to the boys,

186
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,200
they say no one from the police,
the Funeral Home or from Saraya

187
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,120
ever called to say, here is
where your grandsons are, Here

188
00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,280
is who has them.
Even though by her own comment,

189
00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:29,160
Surya is saying she knew exactly
where the kids were because,

190
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,080
quote, I'm their mother.
Set against Surya Mccree's

191
00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,480
Facebook comments, this is how
Timothy's father understands

192
00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,840
what happened to his son.
Those are Reverend Stone's words

193
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,080
about his boy's death.
That is the truth He is asking a

194
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,360
court to recognize.
The amended complaint he was

195
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,400
printing at Staples that morning
takes that grief and turns it

196
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,680
into legal language.
It names in black ink.

197
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:57,280
Arizona Governor Kathleen Marie
Hobbs sued in her official and

198
00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:01,040
individual capacity, a former
social worker and state

199
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,920
legislator who ran publicly on
her record of protecting women

200
00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,240
and children.
Arizona Attorney General Kristen

201
00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:12,560
Mays sued in her official and
individual capacity, the state's

202
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,400
top law enforcement officer, A
former regulator and journalist

203
00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,360
now branding herself as a
defender of consumers and

204
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,000
democracy.
El Mirage Mayor Alexis

205
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:28,240
Hermosillo, El Mirage Police
Chief Paul Marzocca Sergeant

206
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,760
Matthew Jacobs of El Mirage
Police, Mesa Police Officer

207
00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:37,440
Damien K Ryden, El Mirage
Municipal Court Judge Michael

208
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,880
Parascandola, Maricopa County
Superior Court Judges Melissa

209
00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,120
Zabor, Jennifer Ryan Touhill and
Michael Herod.

210
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,720
CubeSmart, the storage company
whose Mesa facility became, in

211
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,560
effect, a holding Center for
kidnapped children.

212
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,040
MetLife, the insurance giant
that, after months of

213
00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:00,640
documentation, refused to
disqualify Soraya as the

214
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,400
beneficiary of Timothy's life
insurance, even as it sat on

215
00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,920
proof of abandonment threats and
recorded admissions.

216
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,080
And the three women who
according to the complaint,

217
00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:16,240
started it all, Soraya Laurent
Mccree, the estranged wife,

218
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:21,320
Heiress Dupree, her sister, and
Brittany Houston, the non

219
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,280
relative babysitter who out on
bond for crimes against her own

220
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,080
children, used Timothy's medical
crisis to clear him out of the

221
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,920
apartment, then took his boys
and delivered them into danger.

222
00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,080
The complaint alleges a
coordinated scheme that these

223
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,760
individuals, from babysitter to
governor, entered into an

224
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:45,080
agreement by what they did and
by what they refused to do that

225
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,920
resulted in the ongoing
kidnapping of three children and

226
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:50,760
the torturous death of their
father.

227
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,440
Those are allegations in a civil
lawsuit, not findings in a

228
00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,480
criminal trial.
Every person named in that

229
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,520
complaint is entitled to defend
themselves, to deny wrongdoing

230
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,800
and to be presumed innocent of
any crime unless and until a

231
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,600
Criminal Court says otherwise.
But if you read what Reverend

232
00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,920
Stone has filed, what you cannot
call this is a custody dispute

233
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,840
that got out of hand.
At one point in that car ride,

234
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,880
as he talks to John, you can
hear him shift from grieving

235
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,600
father to the man who has been
reading statutes for 40 years.

236
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,160
He asks John, you know how
felony murder works, right?

237
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,520
He gives him an example.
Let's say you have a Bar and

238
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,840
Grill.
He says 3 or 4 guys come in with

239
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,840
guns and stick you up.
During that time, one of your

240
00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,520
customers has a heart attack or
trips over a can and dies.

241
00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:47,520
The people robbing you get
felony murder charges.

242
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,400
They don't have a separate trial
on felony murder.

243
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,800
They get it automatically
because of the underlying crime.

244
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,640
But once they leave, he says, if
nobody dies, once they leave,

245
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:01,840
the Commission of the crime is
complete.

246
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,160
There's no more Commission of
the crime.

247
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,360
Then he turns to kidnapping.
Kidnapping is one of the only

248
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,640
crimes.
He says that when you kidnap

249
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,320
someone, if somebody dies during
that kidnapping, the entire time

250
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,760
counts.
If you kidnap that person and

251
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,240
you keep them for three months,
every single day you keep them

252
00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,840
is a new charge.
The Commission of the crime is

253
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,960
ongoing.
It doesn't stop until you

254
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,280
release the victim and then he
applies it to his son.

255
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,440
In this particular situation, he
tells John the way it works is

256
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,520
when they kidnap the kids and
Timothy died trying to rescue

257
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,160
them, they all face felony
murder.

258
00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,760
When we talk about felony murder
here, we're not talking about a

259
00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,280
feeling.
We're talking about a rule in

260
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,720
criminal law.
In many states, including

261
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,040
Arizona, if someone dies while
you are committing certain

262
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,560
serious felonies, everyone
committing that felony can be

263
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,040
held responsible for murder,
even if no one meant to kill,

264
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,360
and even if the death looks
natural on paper.

265
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,800
Robbery, burglary, rape, and in
Arizona, kidnapping.

266
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,000
Arizona's law also treats
kidnapping as a continuing

267
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,840
crime.
The felony doesn't end until the

268
00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,000
victim is safely released.
So if a death happens while that

269
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,040
kidnapping is still in motion,
the clock hasn't stopped.

270
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,080
In Reverend Stone's mind,
Timothy's heart didn't just give

271
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,760
out, it failed under the weight
of an ongoing felony that never

272
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:38,360
should have been allowed to
happen.

273
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:43,040
In his words, this case is not
about officials letting Timothy

274
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,920
die, it's about them killing him
by keeping the kidnapping going,

275
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,240
he tells John.
You have the opportunity to be

276
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,560
the first media person to post
the fact that for the first time

277
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,080
in the history of the United
States, a sitting governor and a

278
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,600
sitting attorney general are
facing felony murder level

279
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,280
charges.
And it's not hypothetical.

280
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,480
This is as per the law.
Legally today, what exists is a

281
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,640
civil wrongful death and civil
rights lawsuit, not a criminal

282
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,200
indictment.
No prosecutor has yet walked

283
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,839
into a courtroom and read out
state of Arizona versus Governor

284
00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:26,160
Hobbs on a felony murder count.
What he's saying is this, if

285
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,760
ordinary people can be charged
with felony murder when someone

286
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,200
dies during a corner store
robbery, then the facts he has

287
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:38,280
alleged an ongoing kidnapping.
A man who dies under that stress

288
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,640
and officials who in his view,
kept that kidnapping alive

289
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,360
should expose the people at the
top to the same rule they've

290
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:50,800
used on everyone else.
And if any prosecutor ever had

291
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,320
the courage to file those
charges against a sitting

292
00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,200
governor and attorney general,
it would be something this

293
00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,400
country has never seen before.
When our producer asks him

294
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,320
whether this was simply a case
of officials letting Timothy

295
00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,280
die, Reverend Stone cuts that
phrase off.

296
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,680
My take on it, he says, is they
didn't let him die.

297
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,840
They actually killed him.
He talks about officers who, in

298
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:20,560
his words, refused to go get the
kids, obstructed justice on so

299
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,240
many occasions and then showed
up at Timothy's apartment the

300
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,720
night he died.
To me he says this isn't

301
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,080
neglect.
They kidnapped the kids and

302
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:35,160
caused purposely, intentionally,
his torturous death.

303
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,520
That is how he sees it.
That is what he is asking a

304
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,480
federal judge and one day a jury
to see.

305
00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:47,400
But in all of this, in law and
procedure and unprecedented

306
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,040
allegations, there are three
boys.

307
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,560
I want you to picture them not
as names in a caption, but as

308
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:59,720
people. 13 year old Winston, the
oldest, the one who sits up a

309
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,160
little too straight when adults
are talking, trying to be a man

310
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:04,760
before he's finished being a
boy.

311
00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,400
I imagine him on a hard bench
outside a courtroom, swinging

312
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,960
his feet in the space between
floor and seat, listening to

313
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,920
raised voices behind a closed
door, wondering if this time

314
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,480
someone will actually fix it. 11
year old Timothy Junior,

315
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,920
autistic, sensitive to sudden
noise, to changes in routine.

316
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,320
I see him lining up toy cars in
perfect rows along the edge of a

317
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,360
coffee table while his dad
measures out insulin at the

318
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:37,080
kitchen counter.
The soft click of the pen and

319
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,400
the rhythm of tiny wheels
tapping, wood beating in time. 4

320
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,800
year old Marcel, still baby soft
in the cheeks, falling asleep on

321
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:51,080
Timothy's chest during cartoons,
one small hand hooked in the

322
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,800
collar of his work shirt as if
gripping tight enough means

323
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,840
Daddy can never leave.
Those are the boys who were

324
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,280
turned into leverage in a legal
chess game.

325
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,560
Those are the boys this lawsuit
is really about.

326
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,120
We know from the complaint and
from Reverend Stone's calls that

327
00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:11,640
for a time they were being held
at a Cube Smart storage facility

328
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,200
in Mesa where Saraya was
employed.

329
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,640
We know that when process
servers and police knocked on

330
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,520
her door in Las Vegas, she
refused to open it, dodging

331
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,000
service until they could no
longer find her.

332
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,880
We know that when she was
finally served at Cube Smart on

333
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,040
February 21st, she read the
order and kept the children

334
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,720
anyway.
We know that on April 10th,

335
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:38,760
2024, Reverend Stone received 2
phone calls from Aris Dupree and

336
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,560
one from Saraya in one
voicemail.

337
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,680
Aris says she was present when
she and Saraya told Brittany to

338
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,160
kidnap the kids and bring them
to Nevada.

339
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,840
She says Timothy deserved his
torturous death and that she is

340
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,800
happy he is dead.
In another voicemail, Surya says

341
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,880
she knew that the decedent was
going to die.

342
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,560
Those recordings now sit in an
evidence file.

343
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,400
No one has been arrested on
those admissions.

344
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:08,760
We know that MetLife spent
months corresponding with

345
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,480
Reverend Stone asking him to
send every document he had.

346
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,680
Protection Orders, police
reports, certified complaints,

347
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,720
Facebook posts where Surya
admits she was kept from the

348
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,680
children for 10 months, the
exact span of time she was under

349
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,440
a protection order.
MetLife encouraged him to keep

350
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,720
sending evidence, told him they
would hold the death benefits in

351
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,240
a liability account while they
reviewed.

352
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,560
On September 11th, 2024, MetLife
sent him a letter.

353
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,520
It said that because the El
Mirage police report did not

354
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,400
list the allegations he had
raised, they would not be

355
00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,880
disqualifying Soraya as the
beneficiary.

356
00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,960
The same Police Department that
refused to rescue the children

357
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,920
wrote the report MetLife decided
to trust.

358
00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,640
We know that after all of this,
three Maricopa County Judges

359
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,880
Zabor, Ryan, Tuhill and Herod
held a private meeting where

360
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,320
they decided how to handle the
emergency motions Reverend Stone

361
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,080
had filed in his first wrongful
death case.

362
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:16,120
We know that on September 12th,
2024, Judge Zabor, who wasn't

363
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:19,360
even assigned to the case, held
what the complaint calls an

364
00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:23,080
illegal negotiation with the
kidnappers, spoke to Saraya on

365
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,120
the phone and, in Reverend
Stone's words, encouraged her to

366
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:30,120
keep herself and the children
concealed in Nevada.

367
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:34,760
We know she then, according to
the complaint, tried to charge

368
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,760
the Stones more than $300 in
fees just to be allowed to see

369
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,880
the children.
We know that after that hearing,

370
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,800
the first wrongful death case
fell apart.

371
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,720
Reverend Stone withdrew it only
to refile in federal court.

372
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,400
And we know that as of the
filing of this amended complaint

373
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:59,720
in December 2025, the children
remain kidnapped and endangered.

374
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,840
Those are the words on the page
somewhere right now.

375
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,240
There are three black boys who
have been gone from their

376
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:13,040
grandparents for nearly two
years, two of them on the autism

377
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,800
spectrum, all three of them
growing up in an alternate

378
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,240
reality.
Maybe they've been told their

379
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,280
father didn't want them.
Maybe they've been told he chose

380
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,000
another family.
Maybe they know only that

381
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,480
something broke, that the air
around the adults hummed with

382
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,320
fear, and then their world
shrank to a new set of walls and

383
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,720
new rules that never made sense.
Maybe they're sitting in a Las

384
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,800
Vegas apartment, curtains
permanently drawn.

385
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,280
Maybe they're in a small town in
another state, enrolled under

386
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,400
new names, told not to talk
about before.

387
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,000
Maybe they are not in school at
all, kept off the grid so no one

388
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,040
can notice three boys who don't
fit.

389
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,960
They do not know that their
names are in a federal

390
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,080
complaint.
They do not know that their

391
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,520
names sit on a website that has
been quietly accusing Arizona's

392
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,760
leadership of felony murder
level conduct for more than a

393
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,600
year.
They do not know that a 69 year

394
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,400
old pastor and a 75 year old
grandmother are spending their

395
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,640
last years in front of computer
screens instead of in rocking

396
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,960
chairs, drafting motions instead
of knitting because they refuse

397
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,600
to let their grandchildren
vanish.

398
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,840
When John asks Reverend Stone
what he wants people listening

399
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,200
to do, he doesn't talk about
money.

400
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:34,120
He doesn't talk about politics.
First thing he says is you don't

401
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,880
let this die.
You keep saying their names.

402
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,800
You keep this on the front page.
Then he gets specific.

403
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,080
If you live in Nevada,
especially in Las Vegas, he says

404
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,240
pay attention.
You see three boys who look like

405
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:53,920
mine around 1311 and four with a
woman who seems nervous, who

406
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,040
doesn't let them talk.
You see kids who say they used

407
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,200
to live in Arizona or who flinch
when someone mentions the

408
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,800
police.
Don't just brush that off.

409
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,760
If you have any information
about the whereabouts of Winston

410
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:12,000
Stone, Timothy Paul Stone Junior
or Marcel Orion Stone, you can

411
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,240
contact the FBI.
The number for tips is

412
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:31,440
800-225-5324.
Again, 800-225-5324.

413
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:35,120
You can also contact the
National Center for Missing and

414
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:39,520
Exploited Children at
800-843-5678.

415
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:45,440
That's 800-843-5678.
If you work in a school, a

416
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,080
clinic, or a social service
agency and you think you've seen

417
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,000
these children, you do not have
to be certain to make a report.

418
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,760
You can give what you know and
let investigators do their job.

419
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,360
If you work inside one of the
institutions named in this

420
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,720
complaint, the governor's
office, the Attorney General's

421
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:10,600
office, El Mirage police, Mesa
police, MetLife Cube, smart, and

422
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,320
you know something that has not
yet come out, you have a choice.

423
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:17,200
You can keep your head down and
hope this never touches your

424
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,760
desk.
Or you can decide that three

425
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,640
boys and the truth about what
was done to their father matter

426
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:28,080
more than your comfort.
The amended complaint in Stone

427
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,080
versus Mccree is a public
record.

428
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,240
We've put a copy of it, along
with key documents in this case,

429
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,920
on our website.
You can find it at No Tears for

430
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,360
blackgirls.com.
Click on the Resources tab and

431
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:45,800
look for Timothy Stone updates.
You will see Reverend John and

432
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,280
Reverend Shirley Stone's
signatures at the bottom.

433
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,640
No law firm letterhead, no
partner names.

434
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,200
Just two elderly parents
representing themselves, asking

435
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,280
a federal court to say that what
happened to their family was not

436
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:04,760
just sad, it was unlawful.
A black father loved his sons

437
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,000
enough to burn himself out
fighting for them.

438
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,560
Two black grandparents love
their grandsons enough to spend

439
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,880
their last years fighting a
government that, in their view,

440
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,400
chose convenience over children.
And now you know their names.

441
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:23,760
Winston, Timothy.
Junior Marcel Timothy's story is

442
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,560
not over.
His children's story is not

443
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,120
over.
And as long as this microphone

444
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,360
is in front of me, this story
will not be silenced.

445
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,520
Stay loved, stay blessed, stay
safe.

446
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,880
I'm Samantha Paul.
This is no tears for black

447
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:39,320
girls.