Transcript
Eden & Briana: What's up, bitches? I'm admiring this ring.
Eden & Briana: I like that. Timo? Oh, you ass. Those are cool. Yeah. I'm your mom. Give me. No. You're not supposed to that. haven't tried getting my shirt.
Eden & Briana: Well, I do like that, too, because it's got a dog on it. Yeah. But I do question why this dog has ears. That's all cartilage. He shouldn't have ears.
Eden & Briana: Just the concept. It's cute as shit. Not gonna lie. So guess what? What? After today's bad hair day, I'm absolutely over it. Why?
Eden & Briana: Mama's going back to dreads. Are you? Yeah, I've had enough. I cannot deal with this. So it takes me forever to dry it. Then you gotta put a heat protectant in it. And I have to use so many different tools to even put a bend in it.
Eden & Briana: It's like when I had my dreadlocks, all I had to do... Let's grab part of it, tie it in a knot, and then it's done. Yeah. So I'm over it, and you're going to help me put them in.
Eden & Briana: Oh, I am. Yeah. Interesting. I love you. So, anything good today? Anything good in your life?
Eden & Briana: I'm sorry if i sound a little, like, down in the dumps. I'm not. I've been suffering from a migraine since 3.30 morning.
Eden & Briana: Oh. Yeah. Do you think... my head is killing me.
Eden & Briana: Do you think that this has anything to do with what you're going through with your horse?
Eden & Briana: Probably. Because we spent a lot of time with him yesterday you seemed quite upset. I was. ah am.
Eden & Briana: and stress at work. I know that had some to do with it, but then they kind of went away, but at 3.30 this morning, it came on pretty strong. So I'm sure yesterday had something to do with it, but we're not going to talk about that.
Eden & Briana: on Yeah, so I apologize for not being my bubbly self. If anybody knows or has experienced a migraine, it's not fun.
Eden & Briana: And these lights are killing me. Do you want me to shut them off? No. We don't have to do video today. No, we we're trying video today. We are trying video today. And we're really hoping that it turns out good.
Eden & Briana: That way we can kind of get back up on the YouTube. YouTube-y. I've had Some people mentioned that they'd rather watch than listen. Oh, okay.
Eden & Briana: So that is why I pushed to see if this is going to work out like this. Okay. That makes sense. That's fine with me. I'm excited. um Yeah, I kind of miss doing video. I don't like seeing myself on video, but we had a lot of interaction with video. Yeah.
Eden & Briana: And since I've had people ask why we're not doing video, And I did explain that we're trying to get the audio perfect before we tried to tackle the video, but yeah whatever.
Eden & Briana: Let's give them what they want if we can here. Yeah. So what do you got in true crime news or did you have other things you want to talk about first? I was just going to say welcome back to another episode of Minors of Mayhem, a true crime podcast that deep dives into the stories of minors who commit murder.
Eden & Briana: I'm your co-host Brianna and this is my mother Eden. um So for true crime news, I am reading it off of truecrimenews.com.
Eden & Briana: In Oakland County, Michigan. I'll quote, Yes, all quoted. All quoted. um In Oakland. Land County, Michigan, a 34 year old woman is being charged with several counts of child abuse for allegedly leaving her son and two daughters to live in squalor and filth alone while resided elsewhere.
Eden & Briana: How old? Um, a 15 year old boy and his 12 and 13 year old sisters. Um,
Eden & Briana: It says the department shared photos of some of their findings and the trash around the house. A technician had to wear a hazmat suit to process the scene.
Eden & Briana: um There's the scene. Hold on. Blinder to bat. Hold on.
Eden & Briana: Oh my. For real? so um They deputies located 15 year old boy and his 12 and 13 year old sister who hid in the bathroom, but eventually came out when deputies asked them to.
Eden & Briana: And the teen brother reportedly told officers Their mother abandoned them in 2020 or 2021, and they, quote, survived on the prepared food their mother or a stranger would leave on the front porch each week, unquote.
Eden & Briana: And there's a lot more to it. I'm not going to read all of it. So if you want more information on this story, you can find it at truecrimenews.com.
Eden & Briana: And there she is.
Eden & Briana: That's disgusting.
Eden & Briana: Oh. Today's the 23rd, right? I don't know. Yes. Guess what tomorrow is.
Eden & Briana: The 24th? Yep.
Eden & Briana: What? That frickin' court case. That I want to follow. oh Starts tomorrow. Shit. I forgot.
Eden & Briana: I am going to be surfing court TV and every other court program to see if there's any feed. Hopefully you'll ah get back with us next week and with some updates or anything that happened.
Eden & Briana: Well, they've got it set for eight days, so I might know something by next Sunday. yeah. I'm sure. So the big question What are we doing to today?
Eden & Briana: Today i will be covering the Whitehead Sisters. Okay. So let's just, it's going to be a confusing start, but it'll kind of make sense.
Eden & Briana: I think I am familiar with this case, but I am not familiar enough to put my two cents in. I think you thought it was the Richards?
Eden & Briana: Okay, so there is another there is another Jasmine Richardson, and it's completely different. Oh, it is different? Yeah, so I might cover one. Oh,
Eden & Briana: I did check into it, because when you said you were covering this one, I'm like, why does that sound so familiar? But the last name was different. Yeah. Yeah, there is another one.
Eden & Briana: Okay. So there's that. So, Jarmeka... Yvonne Nikki Whitehead was born on April 18, 1975 to Linda Whitehead.
Eden & Briana: Linda was mostly raised by her aunt and uncle until about the age of 12 when Della Fraser would come back into the picture. There was also a period of time that Linda didn't raise Nikki, so Della took her in and raised her until adolescence.
Eden & Briana: So Linda is... um
Eden & Briana: Nikki's mom and Della is Linda's mom. Okay. Okay.
Eden & Briana: took her in and raised her until adolescence. It's a confusing start, like I said. um Nikki and Della didn't have a good relationship that went on for years. And it wasn't until about two to three years before Nikki's death that they were working on their relationship.
Eden & Briana: And I'll speak more on that later. Okay. So, on November 27, 1993, Nikki gave birth to identical twins, Jasmia Kanisha and Tasmia Janisha. Yeah, Janisha.
Eden & Briana: At one time, the twins had been straight-A students and... were even Girl Scouts. When the girls were 13 years old in 2007, Nikki decided to move to Conyers, Georgia to live with her boyfriend.
Eden & Briana: Nikki left the twins with their great grandmother, Della Fraser. okay This is when all the trouble between the girls and Nikki started. Of course, this brought a lot of tension and resentment with not only Jasmia and Tasmia, but with Della too.
Eden & Briana: Having your mother drop you off so you could go move in with your boyfriend would make me feel like the boyfriend was more important than your own flesh and blood. Absolutely. 100%. So can I ask, do you know why she didn't take the girls with her?
Eden & Briana: and don't. Okay. Cause I would never leave my kids for a man. I don't think she really wanted to take responsibility. Okay. And that kind of comes out later too.
Eden & Briana: in my own opinion. come So especially at that age, it must have been traumatizing. You know, they're 13.
Eden & Briana: They're coming going through ah puberty. and They're coming into a very time of their life that's really important. Their hormones are kicking in They needed their mom.
Eden & Briana: Yes. Okay. That's my opinion. Nikki would later accuse Della of turning her girls against her, so basically pointing fingers at everyone else instead of taking accountability for her actions.
Eden & Briana: She did that to herself. She did. By leaving them. Yep. I'm sure they had a sense of abandonment and resentment. Yeah, exactly. So once Nikki left the girls, obviously the behavior started.
Eden & Briana: The twins started being disruptive at school and would skip classes. They started dabbling in drugs, alcohol, and sex. Oh Nikki would scold the girls about their behavior and activities, and the girls would fire back, calling their mother a hypocrite since she was doing the exact same thing.
Eden & Briana: Drugs, alcohol, sex.
Eden & Briana: So. Children learn what they live. yes Yes. There's that. Okay. In 2008, the twins were back with their mom, Nikki.
Eden & Briana: And let me tell you, the circumstances were not good. So they were apart for a year? Was it 2007, did you say? Yeah. So they were apart from their mom for a year? Correct.
Eden & Briana: Okay. Not to jump the gun, but did mom move back to where they were or did she take them to where she was?
Eden & Briana: she moved back. Because I'm assuming that the boyfriend didn't come with. Correct. Oh.
Eden & Briana: So she ditched her daughters for a man that... Okay. Got it. Yeah. Got it. So they were constantly fighting.
Eden & Briana: In June of that year, Nikki actually called the police on her daughters, stating that they attacked her. When police arrived, they were able to calm the situation down, so the police were getting ready to leave the residence, and Nikki came barreling out and told the officers that the twins assaulted her again.
Eden & Briana: Well, the police were still in the yard? Correct. Okay. They were getting ready to leave. Okay. Officers noticed that Nikki had scratch marks and welts that weren't there before when they first arrived. Okay.
Eden & Briana: So of the police officers arrested the twins where they would sit in front of a judge. And at the hearing, the judge called the twins as quote unquote ungovernable.
Eden & Briana: Ungovernable. Okay. I don't know. So with that being said, the judge put them back into custody with Zella, their great grandmother.
Eden & Briana: So there's a lot of back and forth in this case. Okay. So a lot of instability. yeah instant and Instability. Instability. Sorry, guys, my brain.
Eden & Briana: You get a spy today for the migraine. Somewhere. I don't know. um And the judge even ordered the family to do family counseling sessions. Okay.
Eden & Briana: So that's where that's two to three years before Nikki's death. They were trying to work on their relationship. The family did attend the sessions.
Eden & Briana: However, it wouldn't do much good. Now I'm not exactly sure as to what transpired, but Nikki was found in contempt of court for swearing at the twins and Della. Um, and so I'm assuming since it was a court ordered family session therapy, that that's why she was in contempt.
Eden & Briana: Um, In 2009, the twins decided to run away from home, which landed them back in the hands of juvenile authorities.
Eden & Briana: The judge then reversed his prior ruling and put them back into custody of their mother, Nikki. And when Jasmia heard this ruling, she yelled at her mother, quote,
Eden & Briana: If I have to go live with you again, I'm going to kill you." Oh, and she did that right in the courtroom? Correct. And boy, did those words come true.
Eden & Briana: Okay. On the first the day of being back with their mom, she tried enrolling them at their previous school, Rockdale High. Now the twins thought this was just the worst thing to happen, so they acted out and they were eventually ordered to leave the school building.
Eden & Briana: Nikki was hoping to buy the girls love and respect by throwing them a welcome home party.
Eden & Briana: Now I can say myself that buying your child's love does not work. It does some not work. So however, with the girl's temper, it of course ended badly with the police being called because Tasnia got in a physical art altercation with one of her aunts.
Eden & Briana: So for this, so for this family,
Eden & Briana: i don't know what I meant there, but this family is just full of toxicity. It sounds that way, truly. It sounds like a freaking hot mess.
Eden & Briana: Very toxic. Okay. So, on January 13th, 2010, Tasmia returned from school and found her mom dead.
Eden & Briana: whoa, whoa, what?
Eden & Briana: On January 13th, 2010, Tasmia returned home from school and found her mom dead, so she ran outside and flagged down a police officer that just happened to be driving by.
Eden & Briana: When the police officer was led into the home and to the bathroom where Nikki was laying in the bathtub, not moving and soaked in blood. Okay.
Eden & Briana: In Nikki's autopsy report, it would be... It's all right, migraine.
Eden & Briana: It would reveal that she had multiple stab wounds, both of her lungs collapsed by puncture wounds, and there were injuries to her jugular vein and spinal cord.
Eden & Briana: <unk> So Nikki was brutalized and mutilated and just a very tragic death. The medical examiner called the murder a crime of passion and not likely to have been a stranger.
Eden & Briana: Now, Tasmania and Jasmia were absolutely devastated about their mother's death. I mean, genuinely hysterical when they were talking to police. They told them that the night before, Nikki had been drinking late and was arguing with her boyfriend on the phone.
Eden & Briana: When Nikki had passed out, the girls carried her to bed, and the next morning, the girls were getting ready for school when they found their mom's bedroom door locked.
Eden & Briana: They tried knocking on the door, but they never got an answer. So they chalked it up Nikki being hung over and still sleeping. So they went off to school. Okay. Their story was pretty convincing, right?
Eden & Briana: Right. Except police couldn't help notice that the twins had fresh scratches, cuts, and even bite marks on them. Of course, when asked about their wounds,
Eden & Briana: They gave up multiple explanations as to how they got them, but they were not convincing at all. Okay. At first, the investigation was focused on her love life, and two males were the primary suspects.
Eden & Briana: However, DNA and GPS tracking on their phones proved that neither male were at the crime scene, so both were cleared as suspects.
Eden & Briana: Okay. Investigators' focus now shifted to the twins. Police received video footage that showed the twins getting into a gas into a car at a gas station that was near their home at around 10.15 a.m.
Eden & Briana: This made police question their story because the timeline wasn't adding up. Okay. In fact, there was a two-to-three-hour time gap in their story and video footage from the school confirmed that time gap.
Eden & Briana: With the time gap in the girl's story and the fresh wound marks, the police believe they found the killers of Nikki. When a forensic dentist was brought in to look at Tasmia's left arm with the bite mark, he believed with high certainty that it was a match to Nikki's teeth.
Eden & Briana: I don't know what that was. It sounded like my car.
Eden & Briana: Like the railings coming down. Do you want me to pee? Because that would be awful weird.
Eden & Briana: I can go take a gander. You don't have to pause it. It just takes me a second. Okay, and we're back. So, go he believed with high certainty that it was a match to Nikki's teeth.
Eden & Briana: Okay. Police had also found blood on a broken vase, but since DNA matching cannot decipher between identical twins... Oh, shit.
Eden & Briana: Police couldn't tell who it was from. Okay. Okay.
Eden & Briana: Therefore, both Tasmia and Jasmia were taken into custody and charged for their mother, Nikki's murder. Now, when they were being questioned...
Eden & Briana: Both girls denied any involvement in their mother's murder. They even begged police to look into Nikki's many boyfriends. Police knew they were lying because of the time gap, the forensic evidence, and because of all the previous phone calls made to a police.
Eden & Briana: Eventually, Tasnia finally broke and spilled the tea.
Eden & Briana: According to Tasnia, They got in a fight with Nikki because they woke up late, resulting them to be late for school. Like almost all of the other fights they previously had, it escalated to the point of yelling and name-calling and eventually turned into a physical fight.
Eden & Briana: It was then that Nikki threw a pot at Jasmia, which resulted in Jasmia to grab a steak knife. Oof. Nikki got cut from the knife, So she ran to a neighbor's house to get help, but they were, they either weren't home or didn't want to get involved.
Eden & Briana: Okay. Because imagine having a neighbor that the police are constantly going to their house.
Eden & Briana: You'd probably not want to be involved. Yeah. I get that. Um, Little did Nikki know that her decision to return home would be fatal because she returned home after the neighbors not answering and she decided to go back home and the fight resumed.
Eden & Briana: After brutally stabbing their mother, they dragged her body to the bathroom and put her in the tub. The girls then decided to clean up and go to school. while Nikki was left to die all by herself, creating that alibi that they told police of their story, their convincing story.
Eden & Briana: Yeah.
Eden & Briana: This is where ah heartbreak the heartbreak truly comes in. If the girls would have decided to call 911,
Eden & Briana: their mother most likely would have survived. oh With that... There it does it again.
Eden & Briana: What the hell? I'm scared. I'm joking. So anyways, with that information alone, one could assume that Nikki's death was pretty slow,
Eden & Briana: since the injuries weren't extreme enough to kill her immediately.
Eden & Briana: What? So...
Eden & Briana: Was she unconscious? I mean, why didn't she call 911? Yeah, she was unconscious. They drug her body up to the bathroom.
Eden & Briana: And she didn't come to in time? She bled out before she came to? Mm-hmm. I'm assuming? Okay.
Eden & Briana: The twins were tried separately and in January of 2014, Tasnia pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter along with other charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Eden & Briana: So like before they pleaded not guilty, but to get a lesser sentence, a plea deal, here they were, on they pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Okay.
Eden & Briana: And in February, 2014, Jasmia also pleaded guilty to the same charges and received the same sentence. They are incarcerated at different facilities with over three years in jail before sentence sentencing.
Eden & Briana: The sisters were eligible for parole in 2017. What? But as October, 2024, but as of october twenty twenty four Tasmia had a tentative parole month of March, 2026, and Jasmia had a tentative parole month of September, 2027. So they're still incarcerated.
Eden & Briana: They should probably stay there.
Eden & Briana: Yes. Before we start talking about it, my resources for this case were Wikipedia, Murder, P, Murderpedia, Killer Kids.
Eden & Briana: And there was another article that I found and used. However, somebody closed it and i could not find it again. So i do that once in a while if I don't bookmark it.
Eden & Briana: i apologize for that one.
Eden & Briana: Yeah. Wow. Thoughts? Just wow. i don't believe that...
Eden & Briana: the I don't think the judge should have been passing them around like between Della and well it kind of sounds to me that everything started when she blew off her kids for a man yeah because she they were straight a students women there's and no girl man in the world that is worth abandoning your children. Even if it's with grandma or great grandma, children need their parents.
Eden & Briana: ye
Eden & Briana: So I feel like the trouble probably started brewing there because they probably felt abandoned, rejected. Why doesn't my mom love me enough to take me with?
Eden & Briana: And then all of a sudden one wanted to be a parent, so she got custody of them again. Well, did she want to be a parent because it didn't work out with this man? So now all of a sudden the kids are still feeling like they are second fiddle, right?
Eden & Briana: Because obviously she didn't bring the man back with her. Not that I'm aware of.
Eden & Briana: So the kids only became important again. when he wasn't in the picture. convenient for her When it was convenient for her. So I see the frustration in those girls, but to murder their mother was not the correct answer.
Eden & Briana: Correct. But I do see the frustration. I do too. And it shouldn't have gotten to that point.
Eden & Briana: I feel like there could have been a an easier solution. Well, what about the judge?
Eden & Briana: I'm not throwing stones at anybody. But that girl belligerently said in front of the world or in front of everybody in that courtroom that if I have to go back to live with her, I'm going to kill her.
Eden & Briana: Yeah. ah Red flag. That's exactly it. Red flag. And she did exactly what she said she was going to do. Yep.
Eden & Briana: So there's that. I mean, I'm not trying to place blame on anybody. Obviously, the girls decided to kill their mother. That's on them. But there's so many things that led up to that point that could have been handled completely different in so many different ways.
Eden & Briana: And what if you know what if they decided to call 911? I mean, they could have switched it right then and there. They could have not gotten manslaughter.
Eden & Briana: They probably would have got attempted murder. Attempted murder and assault all that shit. But she would have survived. Exactly. They would have served time. And maybe it could have been repaired at some point. with But there are different different living situations. Oh, absolutely.
Eden & Briana: They obviously aren't good with each other. But if they would have called... She would have survived. They would have served time. Maybe they could have gotten rehabilitated in jail during that time.
Eden & Briana: Right. There's a lot of what ifs. There's a lot of could haves. Should have, could have, would have. Doesn't change the outcome, obviously. Correct. That sucks. It should have never got to that point.
Eden & Briana: No. It sounds like those girls were doing wonderful and until until she abandoned them. Yep.
Eden & Briana: That is a sad fricking case. I don't like you right now, but I'm going to give you a buy since you got a fricking migraine. Yeah. Wow. Wow.
Eden & Briana: If you guys have any questions, comments, concerns,
Eden & Briana: case recommendations, any moms need help to be, we, we can definitely point you in the right direction. Don't, uh, Abandon your children. Yes, we're here to help in every which way we possibly can.
Eden & Briana: You can email us at minersonmayhem at gmail.com. Yes. You can Facebook message us on Facebook. Just type in Miners of Mayhem in the search bar and we should pop up. Make sure you hit that follow button. um We try to keep Most of our updates on there and pictures of the victims and the perps.
Eden & Briana: We might lack a little every once in a while. Like, I don't have last week's up yet. So tonight I'll try to put everything up. Okay. I got busy. Yeah. Life happened. We had basketball tournaments and life happened. Barrier. Barrier yesterday.
Eden & Briana: So, oh my gosh. Gosh. one What are you doing? I don't know. I don't know my brain. So yesterday, this is so hilarious. Oh, for the those of you that don't want to stick around for us bantering.
Eden & Briana: Exit. Yesterday, after after spending all day with the horses and then I went with our farrier to the next stop because the owner wasn't there. So I went to help.
Eden & Briana: After working with eight horses from... Noon until I got home at, I don't remember what time I got home. I was out in that fresh air all day long.
Eden & Briana: Dad went to the neighbors to pick up wood for the wood burning stove. And we were going to go to the fish house after that and spend last night in the fish house. He got home about 8.30.
Eden & Briana: He tried to wake me up several times.
Eden & Briana: Out.
Eden & Briana: That is unmedicated. i didn't take my regular meds. I didn't take any gummies. I didn't take any melatonin. I passed out before 8.30 and no matter what dad did, i was not waking up.
Eden & Briana: Dang. I was done. But we've had such crap weather that yesterday just felt it so good to be outside. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. i What was it, 20 something degrees?
Eden & Briana: Like 30. Was it 30? Yeah, today's like 44. No wonder I just want to be outside. Because we've been holed up for, gosh a long time. Three, four weeks? weeks?
Eden & Briana: Because it's been like negative 30 and... Negative 60 at one point. Yeah. So nobody really goes outside in that? No.
Eden & Briana: I did ride snowmobile, however, but I don't think it wasn't that cold that day. Well, and when you're riding a slide, that it doesn't matter how cold it is. You're always, you're sweating anyway. Yeah, because you're working.
Eden & Briana: I had to extra work riding Eli's machine. Oh, I bet. It tried to kill me. Oh, I'm so sorry. Your head hurts. We can get off. Are you sure?
Eden & Briana: Yeah, I'm good. I feel bad.
Eden & Briana: It is what it is. So what's your plan this week? You got anything fun going on? Our basketball tournaments? Are you done with that yet? Yeah, you're done. We're done. Her season's over? Yep. Okay.
Eden & Briana: I don't know about ours yet. We had a tournament Friday and Saturday.
Eden & Briana: And I don't know if we're done or if we're still going on. For some reason, I think our last game is in March. and I think. I'm not positive, though. But that's boys.
Eden & Briana: Yeah, that's boys. Boys go longer than girls. Okay, so she's probably still cheerleading in March. Yep. And then she's going try out for football.
Eden & Briana: Not football, football cheer. Oh, okay. She wants to do That'll be nice. Yep. And then they had an archery tournament yesterday, which she couldn't partake in because the tournament.
Eden & Briana: Hmm. She caught the tail end of it, but she wasn't there. You know, she couldn't compete. She was back in time to catch part of it, but not enough time to compete. Yeah, I don't really have anything going on this week.
Eden & Briana: Just work.
Eden & Briana: Just work.
Eden & Briana: Hey, guys. Well, hopefully video turns out good. and We love you, and we'll see you next week. Stay safe out there. Bye. See something, say something.
Eden & Briana: Don't forget. byee Bye. Bye.
