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00:00:01
E209: Zander Lyda
3.7k Plays1 year ago
This episode was a collaboration with Ashleigh and Brooke from Teachers Talk Crime Podcast.
Zander Lyda died in a heart-wrenching tragedy. His life was suddenly taken, leaving his family devastated. Zander was 9 years old and lost his life when his sister stabbed him to death in their Oklahoma home. This is an ongoing case; we will have updates as it unfolds.
Sources:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/girl-12-says-im-sorry-30130603
https://www.the-sun.com
https://lawandcrime.com
https://youtu.be/rFS4u856DHs?si=6STvQ3-1w5-CsFf6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5oOwjwDJw
https://www.gofundme.com/f/april-lyda-and-her-family
Case Written by: Ashleigh Brant
Sound and YouTube editing by: Wayfare Recording Co.
Music Mixed by: Ashleigh Brant
Podcast Graphic designed by: Brooke Ham
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Thursday, Sleuthhounds. I wanted to give a special short introduction to this week's episode. Both this week and next week are collaboration episodes I had the pleasure to record with Ashley and Brooke from the Teachers Talk Crime podcast. This week is in the Teachers Talk Crime episode style with Ashley telling Brooke and me about a recent case.
00:00:24
Speaker
If you like what you hear, make sure you check out their pod and a link is conveniently in the show notes for you. Then next week will be me telling Ashley and Brooke about an unsolved case in our traditional coffee and cases style. Now that you know what to expect, let's jump right in. I'm Ashley. And I'm Brooke. And I'm Allison.
00:00:53
Speaker
And you're here with us on a Teachers Who Talk Crime Podcast.
00:01:19
Speaker
Okay, so we have a guest.
Collaboration and True Crime Community
00:01:23
Speaker
We have Allison and I'm going to let her just kind of take over for a minute and give herself all the plugs because she's amazing. Take it away. Thank you. I'm Allison Williams. I am the co-host, currently the singular host because my co-host is on maternity leave. For Coffee and Cases podcast, we cover lesser known unsolved cases from
00:01:47
Speaker
primarily in the United States, but across the globe. We really make it our mission to talk to family, talk to law enforcement and cover the cases that don't get the coverage that they deserve to get for one reason or another. So that's kind of our mission. We do release episodes on your favorite podcasting platform every Thursday.
00:02:09
Speaker
So there we go. I like to do collabs. We're in a collab with you guys for Halloween. So we're going to have another one for New Year's, which I'm super pumped about. I love the collabs. Everybody was giving us really good feedback about the collab. They're like, that was so cool. The true crime podcasting world is very collaborative. It's not cutthroat. So I love that about it.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah. So everybody I've ever reached out to like from the beginning of our podcast days has been nothing but nice. Like no one has gate kept anything. Like everyone's been like, Oh, I do this. I use this. Try this. And I'm just like, this is like an amazing community to be a part of. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:56
Speaker
And they're still a little surreal that we're even part of it. Oh, yeah. Same. I know. I get the imposter syndrome sometimes, but there are actually a lot of teachers who are true crime podcasters as well. So I think there's just a connection. It just makes sense.
00:03:12
Speaker
Yeah. We love to talk. I mean, we stare at serial killers, you know? That's true. Probably. At least once a year, we probably have one amongst us. Yeah, I would have doubted. Yeah. I would have doubted. Well, especially, that's what you guys cover. So, yes. It's clearly there. Yeah. And that's kind of what Spark did, is like, I had a kid a few years ago, it was like right when I pitched the idea to Ashley, and me and another teacher were like, he doesn't blink.
00:03:39
Speaker
and he has no empathy and he doesn't have, we were like, I was like, this is weird. And then I was like, oh, I want to do a podcast. This would be really cool. And there's not really a lot of podcasts that do what you do, Alison, as well. You're doing the Unsolved ones, but you reach out to families. We've tried at least twice, I know of, and it's hard. So kudos to you. Thank you. Yeah.
00:04:07
Speaker
I feel like the ones in the beginning, I was like, oh, I'm going to get them. And then I would email them and I would get nothing. I'll be like, okay. Facebook stalk people. Kind of. Yeah, I know. But hey, they always respond. I've not had really anybody who hasn't responded.
00:04:25
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe I've just been lucky. I need to find some wood to knock on. Yeah. As you should. Yeah. No, that's really awesome. And you find that law enforcement is willing to talk to you as well?
00:04:39
Speaker
It depends on the case. There have been some cases where the detective in charge has been so hellbent on solving the crime that like I can think of one case where he said, I'm not going to retire until I solve this case. And he was willing to give any and every interview, but I've covered other cases where, you know, I walked in and they're like, I'm not answering questions about this. I'm not answering questions about this or about this.
00:05:08
Speaker
So, which I get it from both perspectives because they've got to kind of hold some details close to the vest. You know, so I get it. Yeah. That's amazing. Has any of your unsolved cases been solved because you cover them?
00:05:24
Speaker
So I don't know. We did have one where we had somebody reach out to us on Facebook and she said that she had some intimate knowledge about some people in the area.
00:05:39
Speaker
And so I basically said, either you can call law enforcement or I can call for you. And she was like, well, you call. So I called the detective and she had mentioned like five names. And I said, you know, I said, you've probably already vetted these people, but here's this name. And he was like, yeah, we've
00:05:58
Speaker
you know, looked into him. This name, yep. We've looked into that. This one, yep. This one, yep. And I said the fifth name and it's silent for a second. And he said, I need to know the name of your source.
00:06:12
Speaker
because that name is very interesting to
Tech Tools in Education
00:06:14
Speaker
this investigation. So I had to reach back out to the person on Facebook and I was like, Chills, you're gonna have to call. So I think the person did, but so I still have no idea if it led anywhere, but at least there have been leads that have come in. So that's exactly how. That is so cool. That is so cool. That gave me chills.
00:06:40
Speaker
Wow. That's amazing. I love that for you. Yeah. There's going to be a new true crime conference that starts in 2025, I believe, that is going to be about family advocacy. So instead of like,
00:07:06
Speaker
crime con, which is really about people, you know, showing up to meet the podcasters and the panels and different things. This will feature, there will be families who are invited of families of, you know, lesser known cases. So different podcasters can speak to these families because, you know, they're desperate to get their stories out there. And then, yeah, yeah. And then spread the word and get more people to cover it. Yeah.
00:07:30
Speaker
I'll send you the link. Now have you been to CrimeCon? Have you gone? Because that's next on our list as well. We would love to go to one of them. Yeah. I haven't gone. I've thought about the True Crime and Paranormal Podcast Festival. That's another big one other than CrimeCon and the tickets are a lot more affordable for podcasters and for attendees. So I'm thinking that's on my bucket list.
00:07:57
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. And then once we go to one of those, I'll feel like we really made it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited for this new one too. I actually... That's a list. Sponsored a family to go. So I think that'll be good because I want them to get their story out. So I know. That is so awesome. Stop. You're like a saint.
00:08:19
Speaker
You really are just out here fighting crime. That's right. You are. These stories out there. It's amazing. It's got teacher heart in us. You get it. It is. Yeah.
00:08:32
Speaker
Yeah, it is. So yeah, Allison is also part of the education community. How dare y'all not know that already? Seriously. She is no longer a classroom teacher, but her job is pretty cool. And I think that I'm going to bring it to my admin and see like if this is even a position. So Allison, do you want to tell them like what your position is? Because I think it's so interesting.
00:08:51
Speaker
So I'm the digital learning coach for Anderson County Schools, and I do our PR for the district. So I'm in charge of the Facebook page and writing news articles, just making sure that our story gets out there. But as a digital learning coach, I get to explore all the new technology that comes out and teach teachers about how they can use it best in their classroom.
00:09:16
Speaker
It's really fun. Dream job. Dream job. It really is a dream job. Dream job. What's a tech thing that you've come across that you would recommend for teachers to look more into? Oh my gosh. I get to do a whole list. Well, everybody knows Canva. There's so much you can do in Canva. But I love just all the things that you can do with, say, chat, GPT.
00:09:45
Speaker
Oh, I know magic. Oh, yeah. Brooke, I know you've done that. And I'm loving the new stuff because, you know, yeah, you get if you've got a parent who sends you a snarky email, you can go to chat GPT and you can say, I need to respond cordially.
00:10:03
Speaker
yet firmly of a parent who is saying these things and you hit submit and there's your email or you can be like, hey, I need a choice board activity for third grade. I want it to include the four C's. I want it to include poppets. I want it to include these things. And it has to meet these standards and it will just give you all of that. It's amazing. It really is. It's amazing. The possibilities are endless. They really are.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah. When I got diagnosed with PCOS, that was like the first thing that I did is I went to chat GPT and I was like, okay, I need the top supplements for PCOS. I need a one week meal plan where I get 20 to 30 grams of protein and breakfast, but it needs to be simple and easy. And like, it just was like the most basic meal plan ever. And I'm like, this is about to put so many trainers out of business because
00:10:57
Speaker
You know you're paying hundreds of dollars for them to write you a meal plan but the good thing about being like I know I just spoke at the ACTM conference in Alabama and you know I had an audience which the age range
00:11:12
Speaker
And I was like, look, if AI is something you're scared of because you think that it's going to take your job, like I'm here to tell you it's not because AI cannot build relationships with children. And that is ace number one. That is what you need to do. And what it can do is it can save you time and it can save you energy. And it can create things that have been put on our plates that maybe aren't as important.
00:11:36
Speaker
higher ups think that they are. Right. Well, there's so many to like accommodations that can be met through AI. Like there's an app called Seeing AI. And so someone who has a student who has visual impairment, they can download this app and they can point it. It will like there's different functions. One will tell you a description of a person's face who's near you. If you have them programmed into your phone, it would be like Ashley is five feet away.
00:12:03
Speaker
And so it will tell you like currency will tell you all these things or there's one called goblin tools and students who struggle with
00:12:13
Speaker
understanding their own tone that they use can copy and paste a paragraph in there and it will say, this tone seems very informal or aggressive or whatever. So there's all kinds of stuff that students could use too if teachers knew about it and could say, hey, try this out.
00:12:36
Speaker
I feel like I could prick your brain all day because my students are very low with reading, which makes centers very hard in my class because all of them need something read to them. So I keep trying to bring out new things to make it easier. Like, oh, some things I'm recording myself reading to them, but then they're still not being able to navigate. So I'm trying to find something out there that is similar to like you pointed in, but I want it, you like, because all my kids have iPads, they're one to one.
00:13:04
Speaker
But I want them to point to the assignment and for it to read it to them. Like, what does this question say? I need something like that because my center time is where I'm really going to see that growth in them. But I can't do it. Because even if I have a group, it's like,
00:13:20
Speaker
Ms. Brandt went away, Ms. Brandt, Ms. Brandt. And I'm just like, something has got to give. Yeah. There are some programs that can do that. There's even one that I can't remember what it's called right now, but you can choose whose voice is reading it. So there's like Gwyneth Paltrow, Snoop Dogg, like all these people and you can choose them and they read it. I'll send you some links. I'll find it. I would love that.
00:13:44
Speaker
I would seriously love that because it is a challenge for me right now and this is year nine and I'm pulling out all the stops. I'm trying to figure it out and I really need to start having more effective small groups for my kids because like I said, this is our first year state testing. A lot of them have difficulty reading and I need to prepare them as much as possible, but I don't really want to
00:14:08
Speaker
bog them down with third grade things when we need to go back. We got things to do. We need to learn our foundational skills, baby. We need to learn them. Spiral reviews. So that would be very helpful. Yeah. Well, Alison, we're going to go ahead and get into our episode and see how we do things. Also, before we start, Alison is our guest on Teachers Talk Crime today, but we are going to be one of her guests on her podcast, Culture and Cases.
00:14:35
Speaker
So please go check that out. She's going to tell us a case and we just kind of get to be the listeners. That's right. So excited. Yeah. It's going to be a good time. I feel like we've been doing a lot of like on people's podcast stuff lately. A lot of it. It's great. Are we famous? It's so surreal. It's so surreal. I just can't. So Ashley, you want to introduce our... Estudiante Estrella.
00:15:04
Speaker
Well, so I have the star student today and it is from SMS Cheer Star. And the title is Five Stars All Day Long. And of course it's a five star review. Yes. So SMS Cheer Star said, I found this podcast when it popped up in my TikTok over a year ago, the power of TikTok.
00:15:27
Speaker
I think there was only seven or eight episodes out at the time and now we're at a hundred. I have never looked forward to a Monday until I found this podcast and I love listening on my way home from work. I live 50 minutes from school on a good day. It definitely helps me decompress. I teach special education pre-K. Whoa.
00:15:46
Speaker
It's definitely nice to get my mind off everything. Thank y'all so much for bringing cases with not only a different perspective, but only ones that don't get enough coverage. Can't wait to hear the next hundred episodes. Love y'all so much. Wish I could meet you guys. I feel like y'all are my besties in the car.
00:16:05
Speaker
I feel like we just get the best reviews, man. I just truly can't believe it. When I read some of these reviews, I'm like, really?
00:16:21
Speaker
Oh, that's so nice that we can relate to people. And we got a really nice review that we're going to read one of these days, but it was the sweetest thing I've ever read in my entire life. And we just appreciate y'all reviews. So keep sending them because we're going to keep reading them and keep smiling. You know, you see this difference coming out over here. See? SMS Cheer Star.
00:16:44
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, SMS to your star. I thank you so much for your review. This gold stars for you. That was beautiful. That was beautiful. Thank you so much. I don't know how she's not writing jingles for a living. I need to figure that out. If anyone knows who to point me to that direction. That's your next career. Yeah. I would love that. That's what you do.
00:17:11
Speaker
Oh my gosh, send me the info, someone. Yeah, yeah. If anyone listening knows how I could get into jingles, send them my way, because I'm a jingle, please. You are. Love me a good jingle. Yep. I tried last week with the senorita and... No. ...didn't work. That's all right, girl. You tried. You tried. I did. I tried. Effort. I did.
00:17:31
Speaker
It was. It's just so funny thinking back because all the jingles I've made for Teachers Talk Crime, I still have all the old ones in my voice notes on my phone. So I always go back once in a while and I'm like, oh, imagine if that was the... Some of them are crazy. I might try and do one one day and see what this could have been. Right. Yup. That's right. Exactly. Oh my gosh. That's crazy.
00:17:57
Speaker
Well, we're going to go ahead and jump into it. So Ashley's going to have our case today. So sit down, shut up. The murder is about to begin.
00:18:18
Speaker
Um, so I remember seeing clips of the body cam footage on this case
Tulsa Case Introduction
00:18:23
Speaker
on TikTok. And I feel like that's where I get a lot of my cases from. Like when I'm scrolling, I have a whole separate folder titled possible TTC cases. And I was just at a loss for words just by the captions alone, because I was reading the caption underneath and I was like, oh my goodness, for real? Like it was nuts.
00:18:41
Speaker
So this case is pretty recent and I've been waiting for more information to come out about it because it is really quite fascinating. And while there is more information now than there was when it was initially reported, there's not a crazy amount of information out about it. And I honestly don't think much more information about this case is going to be released unless it actually goes to trial. And that is just like up in the air right now as well. So we're just going to jump right in. Okay. Yeah.
00:19:08
Speaker
Trigger warnings for this lesson are murder of a minor and mentions of self-harm. We'll begin today's lesson on January 5th, 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Officers arrived on scene to the apartment of April Lyta at around 2.30 a.m., and this is what the body cam footage caught. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Come here. Come here. I'm so sorry.
00:19:36
Speaker
I'm so sorry. We're just going to put handcuffs on just for now. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
00:20:00
Speaker
So, for those of you not watching on YouTube, the footage shows a young girl being arrested by the police. Now, first reactions, what are we thinking? Well, I just... Okay. She's 12, and there is empathy there, so I'm just...
00:20:18
Speaker
confused. And obviously, we've heard different cases where the moms still almost have sympathy for their other child that's killed one of their siblings. And this mom is not having that.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, she's like, he better live. I think she said something around those lines of, you better hope he lives. Her apology sounds extremely genuine to me. It does not sound like somebody who's like, oops. There's definitely regret or
00:20:58
Speaker
So I don't know what details you're going to tell us if it was in any way accidental or purposeful, but there is regret there. I agree. I agree.
00:21:12
Speaker
So due to the age of the young girl, her identity has not been released to the public. So I will be referring to her as the 12-year-old girl throughout most of the case. I don't want y'all to think I'm being rude, but I was gonna call her Jane Doe, but I thought that would be weird. So I'm just gonna refer to her as a 12-year-old. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
00:21:33
Speaker
So according to April Lyda, she was sleeping when her 12-year-old daughter woke her up to tell her that she had stabbed her nine-year-old brother Zander Lyda in the chest, okay? So the police body cam goes on to show the 12-year-old saying the following things. Are the handcuffs necessary? I'm a good child. I have ruined my life. I ruined my whole future. And I just want to wake up from this nightmare. I already know I'm going to jail for the rest of my life. What I did was super illegal.
00:22:03
Speaker
So if you continue to watch the footage, you could hear her saying those things on the footage. And in what demeanor is she saying these on the footage? Like, just as in the same way as that she was talking when you heard her. Okay. Like, she calms down a little bit, but she's still like, I don't want to say frantic. Because she's fully aware of her consequences that are about to come.
Mental Health and Medication Discussion
00:22:22
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But it's weird because her age obviously comes out. Because even though she's aware of the consequences, still the comments like, is it really necessary that I'm handcuffed?
00:22:33
Speaker
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00:26:03
Speaker
Xander was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors performed emergency surgery in order to attempt to save his life. Unfortunately, it was not enough to save his life, and he passed away due to his injuries. According to one source, a family friend by the name of Jennifer A wrote the following on the GoFundMe that she created for April and her family. Her son Xander was the sweetest boy who had the biggest smile. He loved to ride his bike, play Fortnite, hang out with his best friend, or just run errands with his mom.
00:26:32
Speaker
He loved spending time with his dad and grandma, going on trips with his family, and his favorite places was Skyzone Incredible Pizza and the Children's Museum. His favorite foods were cheese pizza, tacos, and chocolate ice cream. He was an amazing son who would always do what he was told without hesitation. He was an amazing son who would always do what he was told without hesitation. He wanted to make his mom proud.
00:26:57
Speaker
And from the sounds of it, he was just like really sweet and adorable. And so he's nine. So it's like all of those things are like things that a nine-year-old boy is like into like Fortnite. Fortnite. Things like ice cream. Yeah. Yeah. And so were their parents married? Not that it matters, but you know. No. April was a single mother.
00:27:19
Speaker
Okay, and she had these two kids, the daughter, the 12-year-old. She has three, actually. Three, okay. So, Xander, the daughter that was the 12-year-old and another child. Yup, and a three-year-old son. Okay. Three-year-old, okay. The 12-year-old was taken down to the police station. There, she confessed to stabbing her little brother. April was also interviewed at the station and disclosed to police that her daughter has never shown any type of aggression in the past.
00:27:46
Speaker
Although there is still no motive or explanation for the stabbing, April believes that her daughter was going through some type of mental break. She disclosed that her daughter had been having thoughts of stabbing her brother two weeks prior before his stabbing. And that to me is just like...
00:28:04
Speaker
So she, and there was no elaboration on this. It just was lightly dropped in one of the sources that she'd have. And I don't know how she became aware. Well, I mean, if she, I mean, we just did the Daniel Marsh case. If she told a counselor that, you know, they're legally.
00:28:19
Speaker
they're legally required to tell whoever you confess to wanting to harm, they legally have to tell them that. So him being a minor at nine, if she said this to a school counselor or just a regular counselor, then they have to go and inform the mother because that's the guardian of the nine-year-old. But she could have been really close with her mom and just confided in her mom.
00:28:44
Speaker
At what point do you just as a parent, do you say you're just acting out aggressions or anger in this imagery that you're creating versus there being a real desire? Because I'm sure you guys have covered cases as well. I can think of one. There was a serial killer, Charlie Brandt, and he had a psychotic break and killed his parents.
00:29:10
Speaker
and ran into his sister's room and was about to stab her before she kind of like broke his trance. It was almost in a trance-like state. And so, you know, I've read about cases like that. And so it's really, it's dark, but it's interesting and I believe that it can happen.
00:29:31
Speaker
Oh, yeah. It can. And I'll get into it later, like, you know, the specifics. Like, I'm not really too sure this was the case. Also, I'm not a medical professional. Right. So, like, don't take what I'm saying. Like, take it with a brain assault, because, baby, I'm a teacher. That's what I'm... That's right. I'm proficient in not medical things, okay?
00:29:50
Speaker
So, she went on to say that her daughter had actually reached out to her friends about these thoughts, but they were afraid to share this with April or their own parents. So, the 12-year-old had reached out to her friends and was like, hey, I'm having these thoughts. And then her friends were just like, okay. See something, say something. Right. Yeah. I mean, putting no blame on them because, you know, I'm thinking of myself as a child. And if somebody was to tell me that I...
00:30:17
Speaker
I can't say that I would go, you know what I mean? Right. As an adult, 100%. Yeah, especially if your friend had never said anything like that before. So this is completely out of character. Yes.
00:30:33
Speaker
So April believed that all of this was due to a medication issue. Her daughter had been on ADHD medication for five years, but it stopped taking them when she began being homeschooled. April began giving her daughter the medication again when she went back to public school and her grades began to fall. April states that she put her daughter back on the meds due to the advice from not only her daughter's school, but also doctors.
00:30:57
Speaker
April then stopped giving her daughter the medication again when she began self harming herself. It's important to note that the medication that the 12 year old was on was never disclosed, but it was not a psychiatric drug.
00:31:10
Speaker
So here's my thoughts on that. Does it not speak? Granted, I want to I want to stay for the record. Y'all know I am a public educator. Like the state signs my checks. Okay. But does it not speak volumes that she only needed this medicine when she was back in a
00:31:31
Speaker
eight to three environments school and like she didn't need it when she was being homeschooled and I think there's I think that goes back to there being a lot of debate on the internet like now they like well currently about homeschooling your children and how it allows their minds to grow and develop and not put them in this box of what public education wants them to be in and it creates employees so I think that that's worth noting but also
00:31:58
Speaker
if she is taking ADHD medicine, no, that would not be a psychotic or a psychiatric drug that would be ritalin, Adderall, biving it. So this would be your typical, I mean, we all have students that take these drugs. I mean, I can tell you which kids did not take their medicine on Monday and take it on Tuesday. It is some, I don't know. I've never seen those type of effects, but
00:32:23
Speaker
Well, there's clearly some underlying issue and it cannot be good for the chemical balance in your body to go on medication and go off of it and go on it and go off of it. And that has to mess with, I mean, chemicals in your brain because that's what those medications do. They affect your brain function.
00:32:45
Speaker
I'm just wondering how the conversation came up with like, Hey, you should probably put your daughter back on meds. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know how that came around. But also like, I mean, my husband has ADD ADHD and like, if our child, you know, whenever we have a child, if they have ADD ADHD, he is
00:33:03
Speaker
hell bent and determined we will not be medicating our child. Because he was medicated heavily as a child and he doesn't remember most of his elementary years at all. And he doesn't agree with that. And he's unmedicated now as a grown adult and he has to work extra hard every single day. He is mentally exhausted by the end of the day on how hard it is
00:33:27
Speaker
for the wiring of his brain, but he's like, no, we're not. There's other ways. He takes vitamins. He eats right. He makes sure, you know, he gets sleep, all of this holistic things. So that's interesting that people were suggesting that her daughter go back on medication. And like you said, one, it's a 12 year old female. She's about to have her cycle. If she doesn't already have her cycle, then you're adding hormones into it. You're adding in taking her off medicine, putting her on medicine, taking her off medicine, putting her on medicine. It's
00:33:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I've talked to James about this because I'm going through the process with my own, my youngest twin. We're getting her tested for ADHD because I think she may have it. And James is like, please.
00:34:08
Speaker
If it comes back that she has ADHD, let me write something up for you." I'm like, Jamesy poo, you got it. Because I'm a firm believer. I love who my daughter is. And I don't want the medicine to change who she is, because she's great. You know what I mean? I want to find things that work for her, that help her, that don't necessarily need medication. So I'm all ears. I'm ready. I mean, I know she's going to eat food, because she's a very picky little girl.
00:34:35
Speaker
Fish sticks, corn dogs is her life. So that's going to be hard for her. April noticed a significant change in her daughter's behavior weeks before the murder. She began being in her room for long periods of time, which was out of the ordinary. April stated that her daughter just wanted her own space weeks prior, but April attested it to typical teenage behavior.
00:34:58
Speaker
I think that'd be so easy to do. I don't have a teenage daughter. I don't have a daughter at all. But I do teach teenagers. And when they don't want to talk to you, they don't want to talk to you. How recent was this case? You said it was very recent. January of this year. Did she have a cell phone? I'm just curious because... I didn't find anything in my research about anything, any cell phone data or evidence. I feel like with cell phones, especially in that tween
00:35:28
Speaker
early teen age, they can self isolate. There are all kinds of problems that come with cell phone usage. But if they're on, you know, some social media, then they can be swayed by it. There's just, I don't know, I was just curious if she was kind of isolating and not being social because she was, you know. Yeah, that I'm unsure of. It might come out later, I'm not sure though.
00:35:53
Speaker
The night prior to the stabbing, the 12-year-old had self-harmed. April stated that her daughter had only done that once before.
00:36:05
Speaker
Dr. Darcy Sterling, a licensed clinical social worker gave her professional opinion on the situation. She stated the following, I have never heard of a situation where a child just inadvertently does something like this with zero warning signs. And the meds are not going to make somebody homicidal like that, which- But we just talked about that too. Those medicines are what kids are on every single day. I'm not saying they can't. I am not saying that. Again, not a doctor.
00:36:35
Speaker
But I would, I would guess that the chances are very low given how many children are on these medications. And, you know, he has a point, there's always some underlying, no, there's always a deeper something there for this, for this action to take place. Yeah.
00:37:00
Speaker
I, I, I just, I don't, I've never woken up and just been like, I want to kill James like, or I want to, you know, I, I just, yeah. Hmm. Yeah. I mean, I don't know.
00:37:14
Speaker
April posted an update about her daughter in May stating the following, she has been very well behaved the entire six months she has been gone. And yes, I'm very supportive of her and love her very much. Obviously, there's a lot of healing that we both need before we can ever live together again. And she needs mental and emotional help after this. She could have permanent damage we don't know yet, but she has not had any issues.
00:37:39
Speaker
So I'm not like, I'm also not sure where exactly she is. Like, I feel like she's in some type of facility because she's not like, I'm going to mention this later, but like no charges has been filed. Like, so. Oh, yeah. She hasn't been charged with anything? No, ma'am. So she wouldn't be in juvie then?
00:38:02
Speaker
No, I assume she's in some type of like, well, not inpatient. She's in some type of inpatient. So they could have said that they believe it was some sort of psychotic break. And so that's why she wasn't charged. So clearly there's something going on. And then for the mom to say she might have
00:38:23
Speaker
Trauma because I mean clearly she will it she's cool. Yeah clearly Yeah, because all the things say that they loved each other very much and they like I have every good relationship her and her brother so Like for you to just come out and just like yeah, you know what I mean? Like, yeah But it could also be an agreement like, you know how a lot of times they
00:38:44
Speaker
have to be declared sane to even go to trial. She could be under some type of observation right now and they might charge her later if they deem her fit or if they say actually this was premeditated and so that could happen. Well, especially if she made the comments, like you were saying, Ashley, to her friends.
00:39:06
Speaker
you know, beforehand, but... But she's never had those thoughts before and it could have been like with the medicine, like her coming off of it, you know, it could have been, you know, there's a lot of gears at work here. Yeah. A video posted on YouTube by Law and Crime Network on June 2nd showed April expressing her continued support for her daughter. And I'm going to play that clip for you
Family Perspectives and Community Support
00:39:30
Speaker
now. Was she able to tell you what led to her stabbing him?
00:39:37
Speaker
She has no idea why she did it. She's heartbroken and she feels very guilty, but she still doesn't understand why she did it. She said it was like it wasn't her. And the team of specialists working with her, they believe her after working with her for the last six months every day. And I believe her too, because I know my child and I know that was her. Thoughts?
00:40:01
Speaker
I think it sounds a lot like a psychotic break. I mean, that whole out of body experience, and she's 12, so I don't think that she would know, you know, here are the symptoms of, you know, if I've had some sort of psychotic break. So I don't know. But then it makes you wonder,
00:40:22
Speaker
What triggered the psychotic break? Like you just said, you're 12. Is there family trauma that's not being brought up? Are there things that we don't know?
00:40:35
Speaker
What was happening at school? Did she have a boyfriend? What is the backstory to trigger a psychotic break in a 12-year-old other than this medication? So that makes me wonder, is there something else going on that we don't know about that she could have been dealing with? That's possible.
00:41:00
Speaker
Again, don't understand a psychotic break. I haven't never had one. I hope I never do. I'm very sympathetic to those who have had one. I do know somebody who has recently had one and I get it. And it was triggered by different medications all mixed together. But that's just interesting that she's saying that it was an outer body experience. Yeah.
00:41:27
Speaker
As of right now, no charges have been filed against the 12-year-old, but according to April, later on down the road, there might be. And that goes back to, I think, they're evaluating her and they're seeing if she's competent to stay in trial. It seems like she is.
00:41:49
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like she's in some type of like inpatient program because she's been there the past six months. She's been there the whole time. So I think that's really the situation happening. And they're really just trying to get to the bottom of everything. I feel like so. Wow.
00:42:07
Speaker
April stated the following in regards to her daughter. She's going to have a lot of hard time grieving and feeling guilty, so she's going to need a lot of help in that aspect. I eventually want her to come home when she is done with her treatment.
00:42:24
Speaker
So as I stated earlier, there is a GoFundMe for April. April is a single parent and is still raising her three-year-old son on her own. This tragedy has caused her to have a multitude of unexpected expenses. A direct quote from the GoFundMe page states the following. The funds will be used for moving expenses to relocate her and her son to a new home. Because I'm under the impression that she is still living in the home. Where her son died. That would be hard.
00:42:53
Speaker
We got to get out of there. You lost two kids that night. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Yeah.
00:43:01
Speaker
Yeah. Legal attorney fees and unexpected car repair as well as some monthly bills and living expenses until she is able to return to work full time. As of right now, $18,004 of the $25,000 goal has been raised. If you'd like to donate to help April and her family, please use the link to her GoFundMe in our show notes. And that's all I got.
00:43:28
Speaker
Wow. I hope people donate. I do. Gosh. My heart goes out to April. It was. I mean, can you imagine like, you lost two children in one night, essentially.
00:43:48
Speaker
And then you're expected to continue living because you have a child you still have to feed and provide for. And the last thing you want to do is go to a nine to five job. How has she even had time to grieve? Because you're actually grieving two totally separate losses. You're grieving the loss of a child that's still alive. Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah. And it has to be the case, as sad as this is, that every time she sees her daughter, those other images come flooding back. And so that is a process. I mean, I get, I think she's very honest when she says it's going to take time.
00:44:29
Speaker
to get past it for both of them. And the fact that she's even willing to like, I can't even speak for myself in a situation like that. I don't know what I would do. I truly don't because that's hard. So the fact that she, I can't say I'd be as strong, even as a mother of twins.
00:44:48
Speaker
I would want to hope that I would be. But we've seen it so much. I mean, look at the Paris Lee Bennett case. He drug his mother through the mud and she still went to visit him all the time. She stepped beside him. She sure did. She sure did. Yeah. So that's all I got on the Zandra Lida case. Yeah.
00:45:15
Speaker
Wow. It's a lot to unpack. No. Yeah. I just remember seeing, because the footage I think came out around like May or June. That was disturbing. And I was... Yeah. And I only showed y'all a little snippet. The rest of it is in the show notes if you guys want to watch the whole footage, but she's like talking about how she threw the knife out the window and how she didn't mean to do it and all this stuff. And it's really sad to watch because like you said, Alison, I feel like she really was remorseful. Like I...
00:45:42
Speaker
genuinely get that from her that she didn't want to do this and it was something that was out of her control in a way. So yeah, I'm curious to see how this unfolds if we get anything because like I said, she's 12. So I don't even know if anything more is going to come from this. You know what I mean? So yeah, you have to give us enough. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll let you know if I'm doing anything. But yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
00:46:10
Speaker
Wow. Thanks for bringing that to us. Yeah. You're welcome. I guess if you have any information, let us know. If you see an update, let us know. Mm-hmm.
Future Collaborations
00:46:20
Speaker
And next, we're going to be on Allison's podcast, Coffee and Cases. Yes. So make sure to go and check that out. I know. Yeah. It's going to be a fun time. I'm excited. That's right. Yeah. She's already sent me the case, and she was like, y'all haven't covered this one yet. Right. I had to make sure. I had to make sure. OK. Yeah. OK.
00:46:43
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks for being here with us. We appreciate you. Absolutely. Yeah. We will be doing a New Year collab with her and some other podcasts, just like we did the Halloween one. We have even more podcasters who are going to be in the New Year's one. So, I'm excited. Wow. New year, new binge. That's what it's called. Okay. You can find all your new binge worthy podcasts. I like that. That's right. I like that a lot. Now you just got to run a jingle for it, Ashley.
00:47:02
Speaker
It's going to be a surprise for me. I'm excited.
00:47:13
Speaker
That's what I need. Okay. There you go. Your first gig. That's right. Okay. Oh my gosh, I got to do one. I'm going to practice. New year, new binge. Okay. That's right. Okay. Let me write this down. Come up with some really good, yo. Okay. Don't tell me what it's all about. You're going to get all the voice notes at like midnight because that's what she did to me. I do my best thinking at night. That's right. Yeah. I thrive in the nighttime. Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:40
Speaker
I'm in a deep sleep. Me too. I'm usually asleep at like 9.30. Wow. That's unheard of for me. I only go to bed that time if I'm sick. Oh, okay. I get up at like five. Oh, I'm in a deep sleep then. See, I get up at five as well. That's not fun for me. No. I get up at 6.45 on a good day. Yeah.
00:48:04
Speaker
You were not up at 6.45 this morning. Um, sounds like you're judging me. I'm not. I wish I was still in bed. Absolutely not. I mean, I did get home at like 11 o'clock last night. Um, from New York. So yeah, my family's in New York. So we spent Thanksgiving down there, which was nice. And then I was in denial when I woke up this morning and my family wasn't here. So it took me a little longer to get out of bed this morning. Understandable. Yeah. It was a good time.
00:48:34
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that's really, that's it. It's a wrap. That's a wrap. As always, the bell don't dismiss you. We do. So we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.
00:48:58
Speaker
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Speaker
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