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00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:17,200
So, when I was a kid,
my grandfather brought home a shotgun.
2
00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,040
And I remember the first thought
that went through my head
3
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,800
was, "Damn, it would be
so much easier in life
4
00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,600
if I were to just kill her
and get this over with."
5
00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,040
But it was just a thought.
6
00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,120
You know, it was just...
It was just a thought.
7
00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,640
I wish I could go back
and tell me not to do it.
8
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,240
To literally do probably
just about anything else but that.
9
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,400
And I hate that it's ended up impacting
so many people in so many negative ways.
10
00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,040
Especially Ashley.
11
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,560
The loss of our victim's life
weighs heavy on me.
12
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,520
And I don't think I've gotten over
what happened to this day, fully.
13
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,560
But I'm not really a murderer.
14
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,320
And it's a... title I have to carry
for the rest of my life now.
15
00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,000
I think
we could all be dangerous people.
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00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,480
People say you're a monster.
17
00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,840
I'm not sitting here
saying I'm innocent.
18
00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,560
I just murdered
some guy in cold blood.
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00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,320
When someone
knocks on your door after midnight,
20
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something is not right.
21
00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,480
My wife was concerned.
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00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,120
{\an8}And thinking back on it,
she was probably correct.
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00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,880
When I opened the door,
I had a young couple standing there.
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00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,000
They were cold, and they were wet.
25
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,800
They told me that
they'd had some car problems.
26
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So I... I told them I'd drive them
a couple miles down the road
27
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to where they were going.
28
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What happened after that
was totally beyond my comprehension.
29
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,120
{\an8}I... I couldn't have imagined that, uh,
they were even capable of that.
30
00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:56,360
My name is Ashley Morrison,
and I was sentenced to 30 years.
31
00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,600
I was 17 when I got arrested.
32
00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,000
My name is Christian Sims.
33
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,720
I have a 35-year sentence
for first-degree murder.
34
00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:14,600
I was 16 when I was arrested.
35
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,360
{\an8}I've had a lot put on me in my life.
36
00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:29,560
{\an8}It was just too much.
37
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I just couldn't take it anymore.
38
00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,480
I me... Everybody has their breaking point,
and I think that was mine.
39
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,440
When I look back,
40
00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,800
{\an8}I feel, like,
this really big sense of loss.
41
00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,760
And always that question of just, like,
42
00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:53,840
"What if?"
43
00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,760
We moved to Texas when I was 11.
44
00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,840
It was a small town.
45
00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,560
They have generations
that have grown up there.
46
00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:33,400
At the school that we went to,
47
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,560
I was always really quiet and shy.
48
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,120
I was very insecure.
49
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,240
So, yeah, I guess I was kind of a nerd.
50
00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:46,760
I definitely had bullies.
51
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,440
But band gave my life a purpose.
52
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,360
I was actually able
to be a leader in my section.
53
00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,160
Almost all of my friends
were in band, yeah.
54
00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,040
Me and Christian met
'cause we both played the clarinet.
55
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,600
And at first, he was very standoffish.
56
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,760
He didn't talk to anybody,
he didn't have any friends.
57
00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:20,280
Um...
58
00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,800
And I remember liking the mystery of it,
59
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:30,080
where he gave off this impression
of being somebody that was not...
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00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,200
Like, almost untouchable because
nobody really knew anything about him.
61
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:37,840
It drew me more to him.
62
00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,560
As... As a teenager,
I mean, I... I was fairly introverted.
63
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,160
I was living with my grandparents,
64
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,560
and if I'm just being perfectly honest,
I hated it.
65
00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,440
It was not enjoyable.
66
00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,960
My grandmother was not very...
67
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:03,560
How do I put this?
68
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:06,280
She was very heavy-handed.
69
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,040
She, if I'm just being honest,
70
00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,120
went out of her way to, uh, destroy
quite a few friendships that I had formed.
71
00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,080
So I just never allowed myself
to get very close with people,
72
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,040
because I'd intentionally
always set myself apart.
73
00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,240
But with Ashley, you can say
that she finally made me feel accepted.
74
00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,400
I was in sixth grade
when I met Ashley Morrison.
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00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,640
She was in seventh grade.
76
00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:35,680
Uh...
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00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,480
I mean, she was a pretty girl.
78
00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,600
I don't know
if you would call it chemistry.
79
00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,400
It was funny.
We had some sort of rivalry going on.
80
00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,040
She ended up texting me,
and it kind of just went from there.
81
00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,520
As I did get to know him,
Christian told me about
82
00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:00,880
how he had gotten adopted
by, um, his grandparents
83
00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,440
because of his home life not being okay,
84
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,640
his parents not being able
to take care of him.
85
00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,920
And that's why
he never felt like he belonged.
86
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:17,280
He told me about his grandparents
and how he wasn't really happy.
87
00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,840
Me and my mom
didn't have the best relationship either.
88
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,400
But he made me feel like I had finally
met somebody who understood me.
89
00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:36,360
And it was so nice to feel completely
just understood for once in my life.
90
00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,120
That, um, I think in that moment,
91
00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,040
is the moment
that I fell in love with him.
92
00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,360
We were obsessed with each other.
93
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,760
Looking back,
it wasn't even like I was myself.
94
00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,800
I was like an extension of him.
95
00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,360
Like, it didn't matter
what I wanted, what I thought.
96
00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,520
Like, everything and anything for him.
And I was okay with that.
97
00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,800
It ended up
sparking pretty quickly.
98
00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,720
I mean, we would see each other every day.
99
00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:11,960
I guess because I fell in love
100
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,600
or whatever it may have been,
I ended up letting her in,
101
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,200
ended up getting close to her,
talking with her about stuff
102
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,680
that I didn't talk with anybody about,
you know.
103
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,120
Most likely, that... that was
what was drawing us closer together.
104
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,400
We were trying
to find comfort in each other.
105
00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,920
So, one night, me and my mom
got into a really bad argument.
106
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,240
And, um, my very first instinct
was to tell Christian,
107
00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,520
because he'd protect me.
He'd be there for me.
108
00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,280
He and I got together,
and we fabricated a story
109
00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,680
for him to be able to move in with me,
110
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because I thought
that he'd be able to protect me.
111
00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,680
At first, it was great.
112
00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:20,480
But I didn't know about his mental health
until he moved in with me and my family.
113
00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,560
I don't really think
I fully comprehended it.
114
00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,840
Little things would make him so angry.
115
00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,960
He'd get angry around my sisters,
116
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especially the youngest one,
who was only three at the time.
117
00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:43,200
And he had guns in the house,
um, that he had brought with him.
118
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It made it scary.
119
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:50,760
At first, it was great.
120
00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:55,200
Uh, I obviously didn't have
my grandmother there making my life hell.
121
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But it just seemed like
the more time went on,
122
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the less smooth things started to go.
123
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And it just seemed like everything just
kept tumbling and getting worse and worse.
124
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And I just wanted to get away from it.
125
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,760
And suddenly just, like, you know,
it's, "Fuck it. I'm just gonna leave."
126
00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,720
I ended up telling Ashley, "Hey, uh,
I don't know if you wanna come with me,
127
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but I'm leaving."
128
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:22,840
And she said, "I wanna come with you."
129
00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:23,960
I told her...
130
00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:26,640
Well...
131
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,640
Anyway, she ended up
deciding to come with me.
132
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,440
We had one plan,
which was to run away together.
133
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:42,160
Typical teenager stuff.
134
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,520
But it transformed.
135
00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,320
He mentioned wanting
to kill his grandparents,
136
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:53,880
steal everything from them,
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00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,920
go start our own life.
No rules, no authorities.
138
00:11:58,040 --> 00:11:59,160
I wasn't okay with that.
139
00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,000
Did I believe him? Not really.
140
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:09,760
But I just remember at that point,
like, I wasn't really happy anymore
141
00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:11,080
being with him.
142
00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,560
But he brought my family
into it and threatened them.
143
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:24,120
When he said, "Well, if I just take away
the reason that you would not go with me,
144
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,280
then you're gonna go with me one way
or the other." Basically, regardless.
145
00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,760
At that point, it didn't matter
whether I believed it or not,
146
00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,480
because I wasn't gonna take the risk
147
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,560
of not believing he was capable
of something like that and being wrong.
148
00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,720
I honestly don't remember
how that day started.
149
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,160
I remember packing my bags...
150
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and my mom coming into the bedroom
and asking what was going on.
151
00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:05,680
And I... I remember crying
and telling her, like,
152
00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:10,000
"I have to get out of the house. Like,
we're moving out. Like, we're leaving."
153
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And as I went to go out the door,
my mom shoved me out.
154
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She took my keys. She took my phone.
155
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,480
I wasn't coming back. I was...
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00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,320
I was done
in that family.
157
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So, we started walking.
158
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It was nighttime.
159
00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,040
We walked for a long time.
160
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We eventually got to a house...
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00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:51,960
where... we knocked on the door
and asked for a ride.
162
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This man gave us a ride
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00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,720
to somewhere in the vicinity
of Christian's grandparents' house.
164
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We go to my aunt's house.
165
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Uh, the door was locked.
166
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,480
I end up popping the screen off,
opening the window. We go inside.
167
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,400
So I go looking through the house.
I end up finding the gun.
168
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,600
I check all the rounds, load it back up.
169
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,240
Tell Ashley, "Hey, I'm going to be back
in, like, 15 minutes. Just wait here."
170
00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:45,280
And I leave.
171
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,480
I go up to my grandparents' house.
172
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,120
I can see my grandmother in the house.
173
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I grab some rocks
out of the gravel driveway.
174
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,000
And, uh,
175
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,080
I threw the rocks at the washtub on
the back, trying to get her to come out.
176
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I don't know, man. This is...
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So,
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she came out.
As soon as she looked at me, I shot.
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00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:40,480
I ended up walking up to her.
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She was still shaking.
181
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,840
So, I was thinking,
"Well, she may still be alive."
182
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So, I put another one
in the back of her head.
183
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"I fucked up."
184
00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:59,160
That was the first thing
that went through my head. "I fucked up."
185
00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:00,600
"What have I done?"
186
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,640
He came back and was... manic.
187
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,680
I mean, I knew something wasn't right,
that something was wrong in that moment.
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00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:26,720
He was waving the gun around,
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00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,200
talking about,
"Hurry, get our stuff, get in the car,"
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00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,760
screaming at me because
I wasn't moving fast enough.
191
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,480
I was confused.
192
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,600
He told me that he had killed his grandma.
193
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,680
I don't really think I fully
comprehended it in that very first moment
194
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or even the moment after that.
195
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:56,160
He had told me, but, like I said,
I didn't really believe him.
196
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,600
I don't really know which moment
my brain decided to shut down
197
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,880
in the process of everything.
198
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,320
It was like a reality I wasn't gonna face.
199
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:12,240
What he said to do,
I did without hesitation.
200
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,240
I never thought to save myself.
201
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:16,760
Um...
202
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,920
And I... I just... I don't know why
I never thought to do that.
203
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,000
I told an officer immediately
it was all me. She had nothing to do.
204
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:15,240
You know, if I'm just being honest,
she's an innocent bystander in all this.
205
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:17,520
Like, she...
206
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,840
She definitely doesn't... doesn't deserve
to be locked up for some...
207
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,920
for my mistake, you know?
208
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,320
There's no real words to describe
209
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,640
what it feels like to wake up one morning
210
00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,760
knowing you've sat next to a murderer
on the school bus.
211
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,200
To this day, it's still difficult
to wrap my head around.
212
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:07,560
But I think that,
213
00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,160
had Ashley not been in the picture,
this wouldn't have happened to begin with.
214
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:14,120
{\an8}My name is Eric Shelton,
215
00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:18,440
{\an8}and I went to school
with Ashley Morrison and Christian Sims.
216
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,840
I've known Christian
for probably 12, 13 years.
217
00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,840
I would describe Christian
as... a private person.
218
00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,920
You could tell that
he was a very intelligent kid.
219
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,320
Um, smart, he was studious.
220
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,080
Um... He just wasn't the most outgoing.
221
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,800
There is no question that Christian was
dealing with some demons from his past.
222
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,320
But he made good grades in school,
223
00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,400
and you could tell just by
talking to him that he had a future,
224
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,680
he had a plan, he was going somewhere.
225
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,560
Ashley was a year older
than Christian and I.
226
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,720
And when you're in high school,
a one-year age difference is huge.
227
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,560
The power dynamic between them was,
228
00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,360
if she walked,
he kissed the ground she walked on.
229
00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,640
If Ashley asked Christian
to jump off of a cliff,
230
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:30,160
not only would he do it, but he would ask
her what he should wear when he does it.
231
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,760
It's hard to speak on
what happens behind closed doors,
232
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,040
'cause obviously I don't know 100%.
233
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,840
But I saw
what their relationship was like.
234
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,240
What she wanted, went.
235
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,080
But all of a sudden,
when something bad happens,
236
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:48,280
of this nature,
237
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,080
that is punishable,
238
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,360
she says she has
no participation at all whatsoever.
239
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,640
That's what sticks out to me.
240
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,680
From the beginning,
we looked at this as a case
241
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,480
that there were two individuals involved.
242
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:24,080
But one of the difficult things for me is,
you know, why did this happen?
243
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,560
To me, there was no clear motive.
244
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:31,840
{\an8}My name is Jill Drake,
245
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,520
{\an8}and I was an assistant district attorney
here in Lamar County, Texas,
246
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,680
when this murder was committed.
247
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,320
I was involved with the case
from the beginning.
248
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:50,800
When the call came in and
we learned that it was the Sims family,
249
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,640
we all said,
"Oh my goodness, Christian Sims,
250
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,080
he was a victim in a case previously."
251
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,760
And, kind of,
the memories started flooding back.
252
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:08,160
Christian had been a victim of a child
physical abuse case way back in '06.
253
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,520
It was quite a horrific case.
254
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:19,240
His mother's boyfriend had physically and
potentially sexually abused Christian Sims
255
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,600
when Christian was eight years old.
256
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,400
My mother
ended up getting with some guy.
257
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,280
His name was Anthony Trenton Barbour.
I remember his name.
258
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,200
I don't know. It's kind...
It's kind of difficult to talk about.
259
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,200
He was just what you would call demented.
260
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,000
There's quite a few different things
that ended up happening.
261
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,960
I mean, there's beatings,
diff... different things like that.
262
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,600
I was scared, I would piss the bed.
263
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,200
And one of his remedies for that
is that he would take a clothespin
264
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,480
and he would put it on,
you know, my privates.
265
00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,760
I... I guess you could call it
sexual in nature.
266
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,280
As a child abuse prosecutor,
it's very difficult for me to hear
267
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,920
the things that Christian says happened
to him, some of which I know are true.
268
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,920
And it hurts me
to hear that.
269
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:23,520
It was just a horrible situation
for this child to be in.
270
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,200
His grandparents, they were a very
well-known and well-respected family.
271
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,000
And, you know, did the best they could
and gave him a home.
272
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,960
But this child was going to have PTSD.
273
00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:03,320
He was going to have
to work through these issues
274
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,200
throughout the rest of his adolescence.
275
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,120
And we hoped that
being in the loving home with the Sims,
276
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:11,840
um, that he would get that help.
277
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,760
I move in
with my grandparents.
278
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,080
And, uh, pardon my French, but fuck it.
279
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,440
I might as well
just go ahead and talk about it. Uh...
280
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,160
You're not supposed
to speak ill of the dead,
281
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,720
but my grandmother
was definitely the worst,
282
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,760
most poisonous person that I've ever met.
283
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,160
My grandmother mentally,
physically, and sexually abused me.
284
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,680
Uh, she would come in late at night.
285
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,400
She'd do pretty much the same thing
Trent would do, except
286
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,920
instead of beating me and stuff, she's
trying to cause me pain in other ways.
287
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,600
She would, uh, grab my privates and twist.
288
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:56,560
I don't know, she was just real... sadistic
with the things that she would do.
289
00:24:58,160 --> 00:24:59,400
Far worse than Trent.
290
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,760
Well, that was
very interesting.
291
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,960
It's the first time I've heard
any allegations of this nature.
292
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,680
I hate to discount when I hear
a person say that they were abused.
293
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,800
I can tell you,
I'm... I'm not sure I believe it.
294
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:29,640
If his grandmother had done
something to him to make him kill her,
295
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:34,320
then it sure would've been important for
him to tell his lawyer that at a trial.
296
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:57,600
It's shocking to me to hear
Christian say his grandmother abused him.
297
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,520
If... If that had come out,
298
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:05,280
we certainly would've investigated that
further and taken that into consideration.
299
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,080
That's what we do.
Prosecutors seek justice.
300
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,040
But he pointed a gun at her
and shot her in the cheek,
301
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,880
shot her right in the face.
302
00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:16,000
And, to me,
303
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:21,400
that is... his way
of making himself feel better
304
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,600
that he's in prison for killing her.
305
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,200
My mom was the best mom
that you could ever have.
306
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,840
Just very giving and loving.
307
00:26:54,920 --> 00:27:00,240
For Christian to even say that
my mom would've ever mistreated him
308
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,240
is a complete outrage.
309
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,520
{\an8}It's just another stab in the heart,
310
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,040
a stab in the back, that
311
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:15,560
my parents did all this for you,
and then this is how you react.
312
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,040
I'm Laurie Geer,
313
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,200
and my mom was Annie Lois Sims.
314
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,440
Um, here's a photo of my mom and dad,
315
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,000
and this would have been
probably right after church.
316
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,080
There's my mom in the kitchen.
317
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:39,600
Yeah.
318
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,080
I wish I could call her today
and ask her some cooking questions.
319
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,840
When my parents first took Christian in,
320
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,320
it was 100%, you know,
"This is what we need to do."
321
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,400
And there's no way in hell that
my mom would have ever mistreated him.
322
00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:00,880
That's not who she was, and that's never
anything she would have ever done.
323
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,640
They, um, raised him
like they did my brother and I.
324
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,720
But he had been through a horrific thing,
325
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:13,000
and so they tried to get him the help
that he needed and the counseling,
326
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,120
and then provide a stable,
you know, loving home
327
00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:20,240
to help support from that side of things.
328
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,880
So, there was nothing that... that
he would've needed that he didn't get.
329
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:37,840
The first time I found out about Ashley
was when they went to prom together,
330
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,800
and I saw the pictures.
331
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:47,080
You know, you could tell from the picture
that he was, you know, really into her.
332
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:54,040
But once Ashley came along, uh,
Christian, you know, totally changed.
333
00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,320
He became, you know,
rebellious and argumentative, and,
334
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,440
you know, th... that kind of stuff.
335
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:09,680
I just don't believe that Christian
would've done anything like this
336
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:14,040
if it weren't for meeting
and being in a relationship with Ashley.
337
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,240
I hate Ashley Morrison.
338
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,800
You're not supposed
to hate people, but I do.
339
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:30,160
Uh, I believe Ashley is
just as guilty as Christian, 100%.
340
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,120
She just thought
she could do whatever she wanted,
341
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,400
and that she wasn't gonna have to,
you know, pay the consequence.
342
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,600
I knew Ashley had changed her story.
343
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,320
I think she's very manipulative.
344
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,800
When you go into an
interview, you hope for the best outcome.
345
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,080
And when I was going to interview Ashley,
I was hoping that she would tell me
346
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,800
100% the truth
about everything that happened
347
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,640
and answer every possible question I had.
348
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,400
But do I ever get what I want? No.
349
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:36,960
{\an8}My name is Stacy McNeal.
350
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,120
{\an8}I'm a Texas Ranger
assigned to Paris, Texas.
351
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:45,320
{\an8}When I first met Ashley,
352
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,520
my initial impression of her was
353
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:53,760
she looked like a typical
17-year-old high school student,
354
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,320
maybe a little bit on the immature side.
355
00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,800
She spoke very freely and openly,
356
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,600
and she chose to go ahead
and speak with me
357
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,920
outside the presence of her attorney.
358
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,640
She denied having any knowledge,
at that time,
359
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,120
of Christian's grandmother
even being dead.
360
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,200
And she made a statement
361
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,680
that Christian did not have a rifle
when he'd left the house.
362
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,000
Ashley was saying,
363
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,760
"I'm just a poor, frightened girlfriend
364
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,440
that was afraid that Christian
was gonna do something to my family
365
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,080
if I didn't just go along with him."
366
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:40,480
In the second interview,
367
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,360
she's trying to keep from implicating
herself in a criminal offense.
368
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,040
But what she actually ends up doing
369
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,280
is implicating herself more thoroughly.
370
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,040
In the second interview,
she's changed a lot of vital information.
371
00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,920
She admitted to
helping Christian load a rifle.
372
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:08,360
This was the first time that she admitted
that Christian had a weapon when he left.
373
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,600
And then Ashley admitted
that Christian had told her
374
00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,200
it was his intent
to go out to the residence
375
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,400
and kill both Mike and Annie Lois Sims.
376
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,760
{\an8}She told no one, she took no action.
377
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,160
{\an8}She didn't do anything
to try to prevent this.
378
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:32,160
They were working together,
in concert, to commit this offense.
379
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:37,040
No doubt you're a party to this.
You're a defendant. You're a murderer.
380
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,600
You might think, "Okay. Well,
you can't charge me with murder
381
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,960
unless I was the person
who was the shooter."
382
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,280
Well, in Texas, if you help in any manner
in the commission of a crime,
383
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:12,880
you are a principal.
384
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,040
You are the one who did it,
whether you pulled the trigger or not.
385
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,800
And we believed
Ashley Morrison aided Christian
386
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,000
before, during, and after the crime.
387
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,240
One of the key pieces
of evidence at trial
388
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,400
were the text messages between
Ashley Morrison and Christian Sims.
389
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:53,200
These are text messages
that were on December 16th, 2014,
390
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,320
which would be two days before the murder.
391
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,120
Christian, "I'm going to my grandparents'
and robbing them blind."
392
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:01,280
"I guess we will have to start early."
393
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,800
Ashley, "Yeah, without a car or money."
394
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,600
"Or yeah, all of those
with my grandparents."
395
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,880
Ashley, "Yeah, I guess so."
396
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,120
Christian, "We could do it tonight."
397
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,240
Ashley, "I don't know
if she's gonna let me go or not."
398
00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:17,360
"Especially if Dad gets involved."
399
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,880
"Well, they can fuck off.
I will kill your dad."
400
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:21,120
"Okey dokey."
401
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:25,920
As a result of these text messages,
402
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,920
it was very clear for us
that they planned to leave,
403
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,080
they were gonna rob grandparents blind,
404
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,680
they were gonna kill whomever they needed.
405
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,240
It's all right there.
406
00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:40,160
"I'm gonna kill your dad." "Okey dokey."
407
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:41,400
What was that?
408
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,200
She's... She's a participant.
409
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,720
I pled not guilty,
'cause I didn't feel that I was.
410
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,440
I thought that the truth
was gonna get put out there,
411
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,360
and they were gonna see...
412
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,040
Like, they were
just gonna see me.
413
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:09,400
And, um,
414
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,560
that just everything was gonna be okay,
and I was gonna be able to go home.
415
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:20,520
But they said, because I never
reported him before it happened,
416
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:22,480
after he told me what he wanted to do,
417
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,320
I was just as guilty
as if I had pulled the trigger,
418
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,840
even though I wasn't
the one that pulled the trigger.
419
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:35,200
I didn't know that he was
actually able to kill his grandmother.
420
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,960
I mean, he had told me,
421
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:43,320
but, like I said,
I didn't really believe him.
422
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,920
I understand the things
that we had talked about and whatnot,
423
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:53,560
but those are just the ravings of somebody
who was angry and hurt, you know?
424
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:58,280
I mean, just, what kind of... what kind
of 17-year-old girl is gonna think
425
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:02,320
that her 16-year-old boyfriend's
actually gonna do that, you know?
426
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,080
I mean, who could...
who could reasonably expect that?
427
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,400
Honestly, I feel like it's a bit unjust.
428
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,520
Because in my mind,
when I look back,
429
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,600
I don't think there was anything
I could have done to have saved her.
430
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,520
I hear Ashley saying
that she feels like it's unjust.
431
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,240
But we charged her, and she was convicted.
432
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,400
That's all there is to it.
433
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,440
This is just Ashley Morrison
rewriting what happened in her own mind
434
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,560
so she can live with herself.
435
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,080
To me, it's an excuse.
436
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,800
It's just something
for her to say at this point
437
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:07,360
to make her feel better about the fact
that she willingly went with him.
438
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,280
At the trial, the prosecutors said
439
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:25,360
that Ashley Morrison was a party
to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
440
00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:31,680
But the key piece of evidence
that I'm concerned with
441
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,480
is Christian Sims' statement.
442
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,160
"It was all me.
She didn't have anything to do with it."
443
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,080
My name is Roland Mosher,
444
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,840
and I am an attorney
in the state of Texas.
445
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:58,720
I practice criminal defense, and I did
most of the work on Ashley's appeal.
446
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:05,760
{\an8}I think that there is a sense
447
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:09,520
{\an8}in which Ashley was associated
with Christian Sims' actions.
448
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,480
She didn't call the police.
449
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,280
She didn't refuse
to get in the car with him.
450
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:15,760
She went with him.
451
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:23,640
But there's enough of a case to be made
that Ashley was coerced.
452
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,560
It's critical to the assumption
of the law of parties
453
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:29,600
that you be a willing participant.
454
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,720
And if you're being coerced,
you're not a willing participant.
455
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:39,440
The state's case, essentially,
is that Ashley, a 17-year-old girl,
456
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:46,160
didn't go out of her way
to... disagree with or interfere with
457
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:51,440
her demonstrably emotionally
unstable and homicidal boyfriend.
458
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,120
But if your crazy boyfriend
comes to your front door and says,
459
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:02,360
"I'm gonna leave and you're coming with me
and I'm gonna murder people today,"
460
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:07,240
it's very reasonable to conclude
that, if you do something to offend him
461
00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:09,560
or if your family
does something to upset him,
462
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,920
that... they'll be next.
463
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,160
The person who's
responsible for this matter is Chris,
464
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:40,080
not Ashley.
465
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,280
I think when people vilify Ashley,
466
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,680
it's partially because
there's intent that's attributed to her
467
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:55,080
that I don't believe is at all accurate.
468
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:02,120
{\an8}My name is Rycke Marshall.
I'm a clinical psychologist.
469
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:07,040
I did an evaluation with Ashley Morrison.
470
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:12,400
And I have Ashley's full permission
to discuss this case.
471
00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:19,760
I met with Ashley on four separate
occasions for a total of 12 hours.
472
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,240
She was friendly, but she was traumatized.
473
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,120
Almost childlike, in some respects.
474
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:34,280
And she's someone
who could be easily manipulated.
475
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:44,920
{\an8}For an adolescent to be interviewed
by police, without an attorney present,
476
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:47,160
would be terrifying.
477
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,840
It's not a level playing field.
478
00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:56,920
And I don't think it's surprising at all
if her story changed.
479
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:02,240
Chris said,
480
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:04,960
"I could kill both your parents,
481
00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:08,160
and I could make it
look like a murder-suicide."
482
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,800
It seemed like a very real threat to her,
483
00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,960
so she had no choice but to go.
484
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,080
You know, it was Chris's plan.
485
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,960
It was his actions. It was his thoughts.
486
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,800
It wasn't what she wanted.
487
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,720
I just hate it when I think
somebody's being treated unfairly.
488
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:40,080
And I think she would have
a good chance of a different result
489
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:41,720
if she were tried again.
490
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:46,600
But, unfortunately,
that's not what happened.
491
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:13,200
So I changed my plea to guilty
during my second trial
492
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,040
because... I was guilty.
493
00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:18,440
And I am guilty.
494
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,000
Regardless of my frame of mind,
495
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:30,280
regardless of the fact
that my family was threatened,
496
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:33,680
regardless
of those things, like, I had a choice.
497
00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:35,840
I could've made the choice
to try to stop him.
498
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,600
I could have made the choice to get help.
499
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,560
And I do take responsibility
for my choices.
500
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,600
I don't know if I could have stopped it,
501
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,240
but a really big part of me
wishes that I had just tried.
502
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:11,200
I was given 30 years all over again.
503
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:19,600
Honestly, it feels unjust,
when I did not commit the murder.
504
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,240
That's me speaking from my point of view.
505
00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:29,920
That's me speaking... from watching
my life slip through my fingers.
506
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,800
But now it's my opportunity
to tell the truth.
507
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,640
My interviews with police,
I was terrified.
508
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:46,320
But I remember very distinctly
thinking to myself,
509
00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:50,960
"They'd never believe me if I tell them
the truth of what really happened."
510
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:53,800
I wanted to paint things
in a better light.
511
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,720
But I just wished that
I had told the truth from the beginning,
512
00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:03,440
because now it will always be a question
of, "Well, what really was the truth?"
513
00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:08,800
When I was gonna interview Ashley,
514
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:11,000
between the first
and the second interview,
515
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,960
she'd changed a lot of vital information.
516
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:19,800
She admitted to
helping Christian load a rifle.
517
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:25,080
And then Ashley admitted
that Christian had told her
518
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:28,560
it was his intent to kill
both Mike and Annie Lois Sims.
519
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:34,480
I did not go
to his grandparents' house.
520
00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:37,600
I did not commit the murder.
521
00:44:38,720 --> 00:44:42,080
And, in my mind,
I was never helping him load the rifle.
522
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:45,320
There was a bunch of bullets
on the ground,
523
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,400
and he wanted me to pick the bullets up
and count them back to him.
524
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,440
And that's simply all I did.
525
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:53,680
I mean, obviously, looking back now,
526
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:57,560
there's no way I couldn't think that
he was gonna go harm somebody, right?
527
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:01,800
That's what everybody thinks.
But at the same time,
528
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:04,640
you don't believe somebody
is capable of something like that,
529
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:08,080
especially somebody you love,
somebody that you're in love with.
530
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:15,120
It was
very clear Ashley Morrison aided Christian
531
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:18,160
before, during, and after the crime.
532
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,600
They were gonna kill whoever they needed.
533
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,160
Christian, "I will kill your dad."
534
00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:26,840
Ashley, "Okey dokey."
535
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,320
"I'm going to kill your dad."
"Okey dokey."
536
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:31,680
What was that?
537
00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:33,400
She's a participant.
538
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:38,160
Those texts, that looks horrible.
Like, I understand that.
539
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:41,080
I understand, from the outside
looking in, how bad that is
540
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:42,880
and how bad that looks.
541
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:47,200
But I know for me
that I was brushing Christian off.
542
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,960
Any time I said "okay" or "okey dokey,"
543
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:53,480
that was my "whatever" to him.
544
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:57,920
I didn't take him seriously.
545
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,920
But it became serious.
546
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,560
I definitely regret
547
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:10,400
not trying to stop what happened.
548
00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:18,960
And if I could say something
to the Sims family, I would tell them,
549
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,680
even though it makes up for nothing,
that I'm genuinely sorry.
550
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:31,080
But, at the same time, I cannot
take responsibility for what he did.
551
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:37,480
I do believe
I should be... in prison for my involvement.
552
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:39,000
Yes.
553
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,640
Do I believe that I should've gotten
30 years for my involvement, though?
554
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:44,840
No.
555
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,760
Because the man who pulled the trigger
556
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,080
and concocted the plan only got 35.
557
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:14,560
I shot my grandmother because
she had beaten and molested me as a child.
558
00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:18,360
I would not have done it
for any other reason.
559
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,360
But, from the outset,
there was no, like, plan.
560
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:27,320
If I'm just being honest, uh,
I'm an incredibly intelligent individual.
561
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:31,960
Uh, and I don't mean to say this to sound
uh, like an asshole or anything like that,
562
00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:36,280
but had I planned this out, it would have
happened in a completely different way.
563
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:42,200
The reason why
I didn't mention the... the prior abuse
564
00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:45,760
is because I didn't think
that I would be believed.
565
00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:50,520
For Christian to even
566
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:53,960
say that my mom
would have ever mistreated him
567
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:56,360
is a complete outrage.
568
00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,240
And that's never anything
she would have ever done.
569
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,280
It's just another stab in the heart,
570
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:05,920
a stab in the back,
571
00:48:05,920 --> 00:48:09,320
that... [sighs] ...my parents
did all this for you,
572
00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:13,080
and then this is how you react.
573
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,920
Nothing I can do
or say's gonna convince anybody.
574
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:20,520
They weren't there.
They didn't have to experience it.
575
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,040
And, if I'm just being honest,
576
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:25,760
I don't have remorse
for her being dead as a person.
577
00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:27,720
Uh, I think that...
578
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,760
I think that she deserved
a lot worse than what she got.
579
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:35,400
I just hate that it was...
...my dumb ass who did it.
580
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,400
I honestly couldn't say
what Ashley thought.
581
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:44,800
What I think that
she's probably told y'all
582
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:49,120
is probably some truth
with a bunch of bullshit mixed in.
583
00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:54,480
Like, she's talking about how she's
scared of me and other shit like that.
584
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:56,640
I treated the girl like a princess.
585
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:02,640
Like, I never did anything to...
to hurt her.
586
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,080
Uh, I didn't force her to do anything.