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Speaker 1: Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is

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not intended for all audiences.

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Speaker 2: Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 3: If I weer nlessues do the sounds, and I would

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have let myself go stad before her.

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Speaker 1: At just twenty years old, Brianna Berozini could pass for

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a teenager, but today in the courtroom, she looks even younger.

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Her blonde hair falls straight down her back, framing a

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face strained of color. She stands motionless before an Ohio judge,

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a shadow of fear flickering behind her solemn eyes. The

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room is silent, racing for the words she's about to speak,

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words that seal her fate. Brianna is here to plead

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guilty to killing her former friend Aliah Culbertson.

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Speaker 4: You're now pleading guilty, or admitting that you committed this crime.

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When you plead guilty, you waive or give.

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Speaker 5: Up constitutional rights. Do you understand each and every right?

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Speaker 6: Yes? Sure?

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Speaker 5: Are you waiving those rights?

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Speaker 4: And are you pleading guilty knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily?

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Speaker 6: Yes? Sure.

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Speaker 1: Only a year has passed since Heliah was killed. It

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all happened so quickly on that March evening of twenty

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twenty three. It's been a year of legal battles, spawn hearings,

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and fear on both sides. But today Brianna is admitting

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to what she did and she will face consequences for

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Helia's death.

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Speaker 4: Prosecution's going to push for prison. Your lawyers asking for probation.

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I indicated I would likely send you to prison with

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the ability maybe to get out early.

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Speaker 5: Is that your understanding of the discussions?

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Speaker 7: Yes, sure, a right, but.

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Speaker 4: I've made no commitment. I get to review the pre

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sentence investigation.

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Speaker 5: I'm going to do that.

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Speaker 4: I'll listen to both sides, but I'm inclined to do

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what I've told you, and you understand that.

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Speaker 5: Yes.

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Speaker 6: Sure.

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Speaker 1: On the benches behind Brianna and her lawyer, the split

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is as old as the feud itself. Helia's family is

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on one side and Brianna is on the other. The

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bad blood didn't start with Helia's death, but it's curdled

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into something much colder now. Each side sits stiff waiting

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for what comes next.

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Speaker 5: When you plead guilty, it is a complete admission. You're guilty.

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Speaker 4: You're going to be convicted today, and you're going to

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be sentenced on July the eleventh, it'll be on your record.

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Speaker 5: It's a nonexpungable offense.

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Speaker 4: It carries up to three years in prison and a

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fine of up to ten thousand dollars. Do you understand

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the nature of the charge to which you're pleading guilty

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and what the maximum penalties are?

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Speaker 6: Yes?

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Speaker 8: Sure?

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Speaker 1: That is it a maximum sentence of maybe three years

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and ten thousand dollars for Jeliah Culbertson's life.

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Speaker 4: You have any questions for me about anything that we've

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gone over, because if you do, now is the time

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to ask me. Are you pleading guilty to this crime

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I've outlined for you because you did, in fact commit

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that crime.

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Speaker 6: Yes?

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Speaker 5: Sure, all right, have a seat, thank you.

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Speaker 1: Brianna has no questions. This plea deal is the best

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outcome she could have hoped for. Because Brianna killed Heliah Culbertson.

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That is a fact. But what that fact leaves out

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is everything that led up to it, what was said,

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what was seen, what was feared, and whether what Brianna

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did that night was premeditated or panicked intent. Brianna stole

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Helia's life, but now she gets to wait for her

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sentence from the comfort of her family's home in Westerville, Ohio.

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For the next month, Brianna will sleep in her own bed,

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eat her favorite meal, scroll through her phone, and take

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long hot showers. She's free for now. Helia, on the

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other hand, is dead and her family lives inside a

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grief that has no end. Even if Brianna gets the

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maximum sense she could be out by the age of

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twenty three. She will step into a future where most

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people will never know she's a murderer. So carry on

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with the very life she stole. No one in the

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courtroom is satisfied. No one truly understands how it came

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to this. If Brianna had stayed at home that night,

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maybe Helia would still be alive. Whatever happened between those

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two girls, it didn't start that night, but it did

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end in murder. Now, let's rewind to about a year

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before Brianna stood in the courtroom, March twenty sixth of

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twenty twenty three, the evening Helia died.

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Speaker 6: From her unc I'm going on, what's going on?

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Speaker 9: My friend sat down at once to two one c

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stop carry out.

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Speaker 5: So one one that's the tree once one carry out? Stop?

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Oh stop, okay, calm down.

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Speaker 10: So one one.

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Speaker 5: Carry out blow stop.

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Speaker 8: I'm a.

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Speaker 1: Night. It was almost midnight in Columbus, Ohio. Such a

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beautiful place, Ohio, is, I always say? In the desolate

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parking lot of a strip mall, Heliah Culbertson's best friend,

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Kenzie Adrian called nine one one, desperate for help. Helia

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was sitting in the front seat of a jeep that

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belonged to their other friend, Dalon Barritte. Heliah took labored

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breaths as blood spilled down her neck and onto her

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orange tank top and pants.

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Speaker 11: Sure I know who stabbed it.

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Speaker 12: I know, free of your.

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Speaker 11: Ergie, Brianna okay waiting.

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Speaker 8: She watched and I don't know if he had, but

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the closed.

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Speaker 1: Up Kenzie couldn't get the information out faster. She needed

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it to be known. Brianna Barrowzini stabbed Heliah. They all

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witnessed it.

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Speaker 5: Okay, this memory with me.

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Speaker 13: We're gonna get you well throughout and health you guys.

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Speaker 1: Dalen wrapped his shirt around Heliah's neck, pressing hard to

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stop the bleeding. Kenzie clutched her hand, whispering to Haliah.

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They waited, their ears straining for sirens, hearts pounding. Kenzie

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and Dalen were paralyzed by the helplessness of it all.

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Then the police swarmed it.

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Speaker 12: Get back, boss, get back, I know, I know, I

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need you to stay back.

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Speaker 10: All right.

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Speaker 11: Hey, you gotta let them do their work. Okay, come on, guys,

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let's get back back.

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Speaker 14: Let's get back.

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Speaker 11: Come on, come on, I understand.

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Speaker 8: Let's get back here.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm gonna get your information.

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Speaker 15: Did you see it?

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Speaker 7: Yes?

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Speaker 5: Who saw it?

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Speaker 7: Okay?

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Speaker 11: Okay in the red hoodie?

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Speaker 10: Yes, all right.

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Speaker 1: I need you to get in the cruiser for me.

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Speaker 16: Okay, I'm gonna have to get you off your phone.

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Speaker 3: All right, I.

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Speaker 12: Understand that, but I need you Okay, I need you

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to get in the cruiser.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm to the phone. The parking lot was utter

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chaos as police quickly assessed the situation amongst these crying,

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red faced teenagers. The paramedics scooped up Palia into a

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stretcher and whispered to the nearest hospital. Dalen and Kenzie

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were left in the parking lot, shaking from adrenaline and terror.

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The police officer guided Kenzie to his squad car, instructing

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her to hang up her cell phone and sit down.

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Speaker 11: I have a seat. Is that you said, that's your friend.

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Speaker 8: Yes, that's my best friend.

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Speaker 11: Okay, what's her name?

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Speaker 5: Jelia?

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Speaker 7: H A l I ah, I know it's hard.

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Speaker 1: Kenzie sat looking up at the cop her eyes wide

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and teary. She stroked the end of her long ponytail

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like a child with a security blanket.

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Speaker 11: Do you know where she lives?

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Speaker 17: Yes?

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Speaker 10: Okay, very Ohio, but I don't know exactly.

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Speaker 5: Go ahead, Actually, I need you here.

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Speaker 12: We need to have I need you get that guy

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in the red hoodie he saw it, and.

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Speaker 11: That's not I'm here.

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Speaker 5: I'm here, just sitting down.

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Speaker 1: We had to tell them what happened.

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Speaker 12: I need to separate you guys like that's fine, just

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for integrity of the story.

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Speaker 1: The parking lot pulsed with street lights and the flashing

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blue of cop cars. Dyalen storm towards Kenzie, begging to

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sit with his sister, but an officer blo locked him.

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No one knew exactly what had happened yet, and right

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now they needed call not a shirtless panic Dayalen tearing

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through the scene.

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Speaker 11: All right, what happened?

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Speaker 16: Brie Barzini stabbed her. They were getting into a fight,

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and I was sitting in the jeep because I cannot

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be around brie bar Zini, because her baby, her brothers

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and my baby, dad and me and her at issues.

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Speaker 8: I don't know b a r z z I n.

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Speaker 16: I I am I okay Pine Oak or at Western

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Ohiots where she lives. She lives in West you think, wes,

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I know she lives. Into a fight and Jelia walked

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to the front door of the jeep. I saw she

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had a gash on her. She got in the car

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and she goes, I'm getting aschers. I hopped out the car.

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I called hermong much because I didn't see the fucking fight.

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I was sitting in the jeep looking away.

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Speaker 1: Kenzie was in shock, scrambling with her words. But what

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she knew was that Brianna Berezini that stabbed Heliah. Kenzie

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had issues with Brianna from the past, so she stayed

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away from the fights between the girls. The next thing

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she knew, Alia was bleeding from the neck.

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Speaker 11: You didn't see the actual fight, No, but I.

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Speaker 6: Know who Briberzini is.

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Speaker 8: I know her mother, and I know her address.

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Speaker 1: Okay, okay, all right, hang out for me, okay, okay.

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As Kenzie nervously puffed on her nicotine vape. The officer

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marched towards another kid who had witnessed the fight.

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Speaker 5: I kind of fault.

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Speaker 12: I didn't see if her gets stabbed at all.

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Speaker 11: Okay, it just looked like they were throwing punches.

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Speaker 5: Do you know either of them?

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Speaker 12: I know her, that was a who.

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Speaker 11: Jaliah the one that got stabbed. You know her, But

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you don't know I barely, Like I know.

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Speaker 15: I worked with Danielen for a little bit and I

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was hanging out with them.

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Speaker 5: Deny it, I need, I need you. Where did it

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happen at?

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Speaker 7: Yeah?

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Speaker 11: You take that right here in the front.

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Speaker 12: Like in the front of the smoke shop, Yes, sir, okay.

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Speaker 1: The off are continued collecting pieces of the story in

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fragments from the teenagers. The fight had happened in the

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strip mall, outside of a smoke shop that sold vapes, snacks, drinks,

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you know, all the things that keep teenagers alive. Next,

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the officer headed to the store, kicking oblivious customers off

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the property as he made his way inside.

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Speaker 5: Hey, guys, I have to shut this off.

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Speaker 12: Somebody just got stabbed and I need to basically close

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your doors.

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Speaker 5: I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: Okay, even better, just don't let anybody come out this way.

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Speaker 11: Okay, go out the bag.

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Speaker 1: The officer closed the smoke shop and patrolman started taping

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off the entire parking lot. Outside another police vehicle a

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few yards away from where Kenzie sat waiting, Dylan was

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pacing towards another officer.

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Speaker 5: You're staying it right there, All right, okay, all right?

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This is your sister they got.

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Speaker 11: Is not blood related, but I'm not. He was fucking twelve.

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Speaker 5: It's a good friend of yours. Yeah, what's your first name?

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Speaker 1: Dalen's bare chest was covered in Helia's blood. He cried

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as he walked with the officer giving him all the

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information without question. He kept calling Haliah his sister, even

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though they weren't actually related. It's the kind of thing

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that made sense in his world, where closeness didn't need

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blood to feel real. They'd been friends for half his life,

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which for some like Dalen felt like forever, long enough

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for him to believe he had a duty to protect her.

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Speaker 5: Right, What did you see what happened?

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Speaker 11: On video?

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Speaker 3: Man?

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Speaker 1: Dalen stood up and pulled out his cell phone, holding

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up the screen for the officer to see. He had

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the entire fight on video. Every brutal second. He even

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posted it on Snapchat. Dylan, her self proclaimed brother, thought

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he was protecting her, but what he didn't realize was

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that he may have helped to get her killed, because

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buried in the footage, beneath the shouting and the blood

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was something that no one had noticed, something that changed everything.

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Outside of a smoke shop in a strip mall in Columbus, Ohio,

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on opening that clearly tells you nothing goods coming, eighteen

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00:14:03,039 --> 00:14:07,279
year old Brianna Berezini had stabbed seventeen year old Haliah

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Culbertson during a fight. When police arrived on the scene,

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they found a group of distraught teenagers who had witnessed

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the brawl, and one boy, Dalon Barritge, had filmed the

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entire thing on his phone. Brianna had fled the scene

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after the fight, and as another troop of officers headed

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to her house to track her down, the ones on

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the scene continued talking to the witnesses, Alia's best friends,

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Daylon and Kenzie. After all, Dalen had the whole fight

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on his cell phone. Through tears, he passed his phone

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over and started playing. In the clip, you see Heliah,

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she towers over Brianna by about a foot. Aliya is

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walking towards Brianna with her arms out, shouting, you wake

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it up.

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Speaker 3: My sister.

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Speaker 7: Bro.

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Speaker 1: Alia charges towards brin on a yelling who's obsessed? Over

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and over. Brianna backs up. She's got two canned drinks

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in her hand, and her boyfriend is beside her. He

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holds her arms and tries to guard her, being cautious

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not to touch Haliah at all. In the background, Dalon

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starts to tell him to get off his sister.

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Speaker 15: Yay, if you touch my sister and I'll have to put.

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Speaker 5: My phone down.

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Speaker 15: Bro Heliah cuntra ass to get it over way, Bro

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contra ass to get it overway, Helia.

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Speaker 1: Oh great more thug culture. Helia keeps charging forward, screaming

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in Brianna's face as Dalen keeps yelling. That's when some

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say Brianna pulls out a knife from her pocket. Others

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insist it was already in her hand. Heliah keeps thundering

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towards her. That's when Heliah's open hand slaps Brianna across

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the face. The fight ignites.

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Speaker 15: Yeah, countra ass, Helia cuncherr ass, Helia, dress you better

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get your girl before she gets fucked up even more as.

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Speaker 1: The motion is lightning fast. But that's when Brianna swings

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the knife up and slashes Helia across the throat. But

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Heliah doesn't stop. She keeps yelling, She keeps swinging her

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fists and throwing her body towards Brianna as blood spills

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and can drinks go flying out of the pavement and explode,

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which raises a chilling possibility. Did Brianna even realize the

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knife connected? Did anyone? For a moment it seemed like

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no one had been hurt at all. The fight breaks

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up and Brianna's boyfriend pulls her away. Helia stumbles towards

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Dalan and the video cuts out. The fight is crystal clear,

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despite how short and frenzied the whole ordeal was. But

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what isn't clear is why it all started. But for

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that information and the officer's first turn to Dayalen.

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Speaker 5: What did all start over?

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Speaker 8: So?

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Speaker 11: All right?

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Speaker 12: So Kenzie, Kenzie's baby dad is Breeze older brother.

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Speaker 11: Right, who's Kenzie the one in that.

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Speaker 5: All right here? The blonde? The blonde?

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Speaker 12: So her brother, her baby dad is her brother and

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00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:28,000
her Okay, Kenzie's baby dad. Yes, Kenzie's baby dads here

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and she has a baby dad. And baby dad is

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Bree's older brother, older brother. Got they've had beef for

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00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:38,880
the The child's going to four years old, so they've

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had beat for almost five years.

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Speaker 1: Type shit, you know what I'm saying, Like Brianna's older

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brother is the father of Kenzie's child. This relationship went

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very sour. Helia, being Kenzie's best friend, sided with her

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and developed a hatred for the entire Berazini family, as

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did Dalen. After all, Heliah and Kenzie were his so

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called sisters.

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Speaker 12: I look at Kenzie's mother adopted me, like, not legally,

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but my mom teaching me out from the ages of

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fourteen to seventeen, and Kenzie's family took me the fuck

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00:18:11,839 --> 00:18:14,960
in Okay, So I'm very protective over Kenzie and whoever

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Kensey affiliates with.

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Speaker 1: Dalen was a classic latch key teen, untethered looking for

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something to hold on to after his own mother kicked

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him out. He found a sense of belonging in Kenzie's world.

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Her family became his anchor, and he clung to that

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feeling of home with everything he had fiercely loyal but

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emotionally adrift, Dalen absorbed every ripple of drama between Kenzie

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Aliyah and the Berezini family. To most adults, it would

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have seemed like none of his business, but to Dalen,

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it was everything. He didn't just insert himself. He dug in,

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rooted himself in the chaos, convinced that was where he

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was meant to be and wasn't just going along for

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the ride. That night, he was steering the ship and

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00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:07,160
when the fight broke out, he didn't step back. He

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00:19:07,279 --> 00:19:10,720
stepped in. He stepped up, I guess you would say,

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with his cell phone in one hand and vicarious vengeance

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in his heart.

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Speaker 12: But like, that's my little sister and I've I've always

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00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,640
been protective over her and ray bear Zini. She she

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00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,079
the girl who did this hit. She just always runs.

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She's assists here and she talks shit, She talks and

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I saw, I saw the knife fucking drop, but I

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00:19:32,079 --> 00:19:34,440
didn't did she not used bro Brie and Healia were

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supposed to be fighting while they were in the Columbus

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thing or what.

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Speaker 11: No, it was random as fucks. He came in while

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we came in.

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Speaker 1: The whole fight was spur of the moment. Aliah and

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Brianna had known beef for months. According to Kenzie, it

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was just a normal evening at the smoke shop, joking

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around with the store's owner that they all knew. Then

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Brianna and her boyfriend walked in.

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Speaker 10: Three walks in with her friend, and I didn't notice

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until Julia goes, that's brief, fucking Barrizini. I said, oh God.

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Speaker 6: I turned around, my saw her. She looked at me.

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I looked at her. I turned around.

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Speaker 10: I know Brie because she's my baby dad's sister. Okay,

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and I've known Brie since middle school, and I'm not

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allowed legally. I don't go around her or her brother

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or her family. I was fifteen and her brother was

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nineteen when I got pregnant.

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Speaker 6: Okay.

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Speaker 1: When Kenzie had a relationship with Brianna's older brother, she

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was a minor and he was legally an adult, which

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made the situation a problem, A big one.

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Speaker 10: Yeah, because I didn't know he was nineteen. He told

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me he was seventeen to figure out he was turning eighteen,

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and then he turned he was already eighteen. Then he

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turned nineteen, and I got pregnant when I was fifteen

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00:20:51,839 --> 00:20:53,960
in April when he was nineteen that year, so I

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was like.

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Speaker 6: Oh, this is great.

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Speaker 1: When Kenzie's family found out Brianna's brother was nineteen, they

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filed criminal charges against him. This caused a major rift

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between the two families. Still, Kenzie allowed Brianna and her

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parents to visit the child on one condition. The child's

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00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,799
father was not allowed to visit. Everything was going all

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right until they disrespected the rule and allowed Brianna's brother

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00:21:19,839 --> 00:21:20,799
to sneak a visit.

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Speaker 10: Because before noon they would be like yeah, and they'd

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00:21:23,839 --> 00:21:25,759
come over and I'd see her, or they would drop

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stuff off.

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Speaker 6: But they just obeyed everything.

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Speaker 10: And I caught them in a line and they saw

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them out in public with him, and I picked up

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00:21:32,079 --> 00:21:35,279
my daughter and I said, you are all fucked in mind,

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00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:36,519
and they.

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Speaker 6: Were like, you can't tell me what to do.

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Speaker 10: I said, this nineteen year old is going to tell

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your thirty five year old asked what I can do?

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Speaker 6: Put my daughter in my corn.

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Speaker 7: I left.

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Speaker 1: That's when Kenzie banned anyone from the Berezini family from

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seeing the child, including Brianna. Resentment grew between the two girls.

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Speaker 10: She isn't like because I don't let her, her family

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00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,519
see my daughter. I guess her brother's not a good person.

396
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I have a restraining order on him.

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Speaker 6: He's legally not allowed to be around me or my family.

398
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Speaker 1: This battle of custody, restraining orders, and accusations had been

399
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,920
going on for years. So when Kenzie saw Brianna enter

400
00:22:15,039 --> 00:22:18,880
the smoke shop on that March evening, she immediately wanted

401
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,720
to get as far away from her as possible, but

402
00:22:22,839 --> 00:22:24,880
Helia had other plans.

403
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,200
Speaker 10: Her and Brief start going at it because Brie gets

404
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,480
behind us in line and Julia goes, you're obsessed or what?

405
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:36,440
Because breposts tiktoks about Alio all the time. I'm just

406
00:22:36,519 --> 00:22:38,759
saying like they were friends at one point. I don't

407
00:22:38,799 --> 00:22:42,440
really know what happened there together. I don't know what

408
00:22:42,599 --> 00:22:45,960
issues they have, but they have like like they hate

409
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:51,039
each other. Something Priest called Julia cocaid. Julia called Bria

410
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:55,640
cocade and was talking about her abusive brother and was

411
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,799
talking about her family being city, and then bri was

412
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talking about Julia's mom and then Helia was like, well,

413
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,480
I'll catch you outside then come outside, and is all right, bet,

414
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I'll be outside then. So I got into the cheap

415
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,599
in the front seat, and I was looking forward because

416
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:12,839
I'm not part of this fight.

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00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,319
Speaker 18: So that all happened in the store, yeah, where they

418
00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:17,759
were where Brief was like, come.

419
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Speaker 6: On outside, and Hellia was like, I'll be outside.

420
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Speaker 10: Brie said, she'll be outside. Julia to her to come outside.

421
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Speaker 1: I'll catch you outside, all right, bet? Why do kids

422
00:23:28,039 --> 00:23:31,799
sound like retards these days? We've already got a language.

423
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,039
You don't have to make up new definitions for existing

424
00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:38,519
words just to make yourself feel special. You're already plenty

425
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,079
plenty special. Trust me. Anyway, According to Kenzie, it was

426
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:47,160
that simple. Brianna and Helia started arguing, and the store

427
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:51,359
then agreed to continue things outside. Kenzie said that Brianna

428
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,079
had posted nasty things to TikTok about Heliah, that their

429
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,559
feud may have been fueled by Helia's loyalty to Kenzie

430
00:23:58,759 --> 00:24:01,440
and her situation, but that they had their own fight

431
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:06,079
independent of her problems with Brianna's family. This wasn't a

432
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,319
premeditated showdown. It was a chance encounter that spiraled fast.

433
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,079
But even in spontaneous fights, there's a history, and this

434
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,759
one had years of its simmering just below the surface.

435
00:24:19,559 --> 00:24:23,279
No one's saying Helia deserved what happened, but this wasn't

436
00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:27,640
a clean cut case of victim and villain. Both girls

437
00:24:27,759 --> 00:24:32,599
carried grudges and when the moment came, they each brought

438
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:36,799
their rage with them. Helia and her friends waited outside

439
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,160
in the dark, while Kenzie sat in the jeep to

440
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,279
distance herself from Brianna.

441
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Speaker 10: They were outside of the cheap and I was like,

442
00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:46,319
I'm not part of this shit because I'm going fucking car.

443
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:48,279
May can do another fuck you one, but I'm not

444
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,839
part of this shit. And then all I heard wasn't fighting.

445
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,480
I didn't really see anything. I didn't see anything at all.

446
00:24:57,519 --> 00:25:00,000
On te Kelly was walking up to the front door,

447
00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:04,279
thank to the driver door of the car, and all

448
00:25:04,319 --> 00:25:07,519
I can see is that she's bleeding. I'm holding her

449
00:25:07,519 --> 00:25:09,680
wrists and I'm trying to check for a pulse and

450
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,000
she peed her pants in her eyes.

451
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 6: She was non responsive. Did you see Hellia with any weapons?

452
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Speaker 10: No, she didn't have anything. I had all of her stuff.

453
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:23,640
I had her pepper sprare, I had her keys, I

454
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,680
had it all. She didn't have anything on her except hands.

455
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: Kenzie and Dalen told the same story. The fight wasn't planned.

456
00:25:31,759 --> 00:25:35,279
It started in the smoke shop, just another chance encounter

457
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,559
that got out of hand. Brianna agreed to meet Helia

458
00:25:38,599 --> 00:25:42,799
outside to finish what they had started. Brianna had a

459
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,680
hidden knife, Helia had nothing but her two hands. She

460
00:25:47,759 --> 00:25:51,559
looked like a victim of an unfair fight. But looks

461
00:25:51,599 --> 00:25:55,200
can lie because at the same moment, another group of

462
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,279
officers were at Brianna's door. They had found her and

463
00:25:59,319 --> 00:26:03,920
her boyfriend inside. Brianna had showered and her bloody clothes

464
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,880
were in the wash. The knife was hidden upstairs at

465
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,400
the station. Brianna his boyfriend sat down with the police

466
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to talk.

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00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 11: Or just started like, how did you get up there?

468
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:15,880
Who were you with?

469
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:16,799
Speaker 13: So?

470
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,799
Speaker 18: I was with Brite and we headed there just right

471
00:26:20,839 --> 00:26:21,640
after a car meet.

472
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:23,799
Speaker 11: We were there.

473
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,920
Speaker 18: We got there around eleven thirty eleven forty.

474
00:26:27,839 --> 00:26:29,640
Speaker 11: Since we got in, we noticed.

475
00:26:29,319 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 18: Heliah and a girl named Kenzie and some guy that'll

476
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:35,839
never seen before.

477
00:26:36,319 --> 00:26:38,039
Speaker 11: We tried to move out the way.

478
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 18: Because there's always been issues between us ever since.

479
00:26:41,839 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 11: November, between who specifically.

480
00:26:45,759 --> 00:26:49,599
Speaker 18: So it's always been issues between me, Brite and Helia.

481
00:26:50,079 --> 00:26:53,759
Speaker 11: Okay, Kenzie has had some you know, long term issues

482
00:26:53,759 --> 00:26:55,920
with with family.

483
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,880
Speaker 18: Have Yeah, Haliah said something pretty called or obsessed, and

484
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,720
then it started an argument. The guy over over the

485
00:27:05,759 --> 00:27:09,880
counter Ben He said he doesn't want anything to do

486
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,319
with this, so he got Haliah Kenzie and her friend.

487
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:19,119
Speaker 11: Outside, and then Halia was yelling a lot and then breathe.

488
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,880
The whole time was just you know, just trying to say,

489
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,160
I don't want to fight you, Brianna.

490
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: His boyfriend had a feeling there would be trouble when

491
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,039
he saw Heliah Kenzie and Dalon, so they tried their

492
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:34,880
best to avoid them, but Heliah started shouting at Brianna,

493
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:40,119
instigating a loud and vicious confrontation. The cashier kicked Heliah,

494
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,319
Kenzie and Dalon out of the store. When police spoke

495
00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,240
with him, he confirmed this. The cashier told police that

496
00:27:47,319 --> 00:27:50,000
when the altercation in the store heated up, he knew

497
00:27:50,039 --> 00:27:53,400
he had to take action and remove Jalia and her friends.

498
00:27:53,759 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 5: So I told my coworker like, I'm going to defuse this.

499
00:27:58,079 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 11: So I stepped outside and was talk from to her.

500
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,799
Speaker 12: She which.

501
00:28:06,279 --> 00:28:08,559
Speaker 11: And when I got sagged the one that got sad.

502
00:28:08,599 --> 00:28:09,440
You were talking to her.

503
00:28:09,839 --> 00:28:12,279
Speaker 19: I was trying to tell her like I got got

504
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,400
his business, but just go.

505
00:28:15,319 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: But they didn't go. Dylan started egging Haliah on, riling

506
00:28:20,519 --> 00:28:23,880
her anger into a frenzy. He pulled out his phone

507
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,279
and started filming.

508
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,720
Speaker 19: He's standing right there and he's recording everything. And so

509
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,279
she's getting upset thinking the two telling me to.

510
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:34,279
Speaker 11: Go out there to stop her.

511
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,279
Speaker 19: One really is I don't want no incident to have

512
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:38,079
her here, period.

513
00:28:38,119 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 5: Carly Blanking was recording.

514
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,559
Speaker 6: Was he with the girl that got staffed?

515
00:28:41,599 --> 00:28:43,799
Speaker 7: Yes, he was with her, Okay.

516
00:28:43,799 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 19: So he instigated it when I just calmed everything down.

517
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 11: Even though she was still upset.

518
00:28:50,119 --> 00:28:55,519
Speaker 19: Yeah, really yeah, and recording everything.

519
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,079
Speaker 1: So footage of the Smoke Shops outdoor camera showed Heliah, Dalon,

520
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:05,039
and Kenzie being escorted out of the store. They disappeared

521
00:29:05,119 --> 00:29:09,119
into the parking lot. Then about two minutes later, you

522
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,319
see Heliah come back to the front of the store.

523
00:29:12,079 --> 00:29:15,839
She's pacing like a bull, yelling and waving her arms,

524
00:29:16,079 --> 00:29:20,039
taunting Brianna. From outside. In the corner, you could see

525
00:29:20,119 --> 00:29:24,960
Dalen following her around with a cell phone filming. Here's

526
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,359
that recording, Halia, what you want to do?

527
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 5: Bro?

528
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:32,359
Speaker 1: Where's she at?

529
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:32,640
Speaker 3: Bro?

530
00:29:32,799 --> 00:29:33,759
Speaker 7: Where's she up?

531
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:34,079
Speaker 11: Bro?

532
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:44,519
Speaker 3: She's scared, Bro, She's scared. Alias should drag her at

533
00:29:44,519 --> 00:29:52,000
the store. Buzz, No, we waiting right here till you

534
00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:52,559
get your ones.

535
00:29:52,559 --> 00:29:53,519
Speaker 5: I've been waiting to see her.

536
00:29:53,519 --> 00:30:01,039
Speaker 1: Ask a beeper a minute, Bro, you should get arrested

537
00:30:01,079 --> 00:30:05,240
just for that laugh. That's when the cashier came outside again,

538
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,839
telling Heliah and Dalen to go home.

539
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 11: So he wasn't helping the situation.

540
00:30:10,519 --> 00:30:15,319
Speaker 19: Nobody was hoping, No one like it was a dead silence.

541
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:17,519
The two girls was talking to me, the other two

542
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:23,359
was shopping, and once they had their words exchanged, nobody

543
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,880
was trying to say, chill, calm down, no nothing. I'm

544
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,160
the only one telling nobody just just go chill out.

545
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:30,680
Go ahead, go leave a store.

546
00:30:31,559 --> 00:30:34,839
Speaker 1: According to the smoke shop cashier, it was Dalon who

547
00:30:34,839 --> 00:30:39,000
took the situation from bad to worse. The boy who

548
00:30:39,119 --> 00:30:42,519
was so hell bent on protecting his soul called sister

549
00:30:43,279 --> 00:30:45,680
was the one who egged on the needless fight that

550
00:30:45,839 --> 00:30:49,960
ended in murder. Breon his boyfriend said the same thing.

551
00:30:50,559 --> 00:30:53,799
Speaker 18: The male who was with her just kept instigating, just

552
00:30:53,799 --> 00:30:54,720
trying to make them fight.

553
00:30:55,519 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 11: I try to push.

554
00:30:56,519 --> 00:31:01,119
Speaker 18: Away Bertie and Julia because I'm sort of like, I

555
00:31:01,119 --> 00:31:03,200
don't have a person like Kalia, but I don't have

556
00:31:03,319 --> 00:31:06,319
the biggest problem with her. Yeah, just trying to basically

557
00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:09,720
end things without you know, getting anybody hurt.

558
00:31:10,319 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: You've heard the video anytime that Brianna's boyfriend tried to

559
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:19,039
pull the two girls apart, Dalen inserted himself and threatened violence.

560
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:21,359
If you touched my sister, gonna have to put my

561
00:31:21,359 --> 00:31:21,839
phone down.

562
00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:27,480
Speaker 15: Bro Heliah Contra asked to get it over waight, bro

563
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:29,440
Contra has to get it over with Heliah.

564
00:31:29,839 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 11: But he's basically saying don't don't touch her or yeah, and.

565
00:31:33,359 --> 00:31:35,359
Speaker 18: The whole time, I don't know if the video shows this,

566
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:36,640
that I was trying to back.

567
00:31:36,519 --> 00:31:38,599
Speaker 11: Them up, yeah, from each other.

568
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 18: It was polite, like the back of the hand, so

569
00:31:44,759 --> 00:31:47,920
obviously you didn't like it. So I tried to plumb

570
00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:52,160
breathe enough and everything escalated. Basically that if he didn't

571
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:57,200
instigate Helia start to fight, none.

572
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 11: Of this would have happened.

573
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: Brian, his boyfriend, said that the state happened so fast

574
00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:05,039
he barely realized it until he noticed a sticky liquid

575
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:09,000
on his own body. Still, the police needed to know

576
00:32:09,039 --> 00:32:13,279
why Brianna brandished that knife, Why was she even carrying

577
00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:14,839
one in the first place?

578
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,240
Speaker 11: When did you know that Brie had a knife. She's

579
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,759
been carrying knives she always carries. She always carries knives because.

580
00:32:23,359 --> 00:32:25,559
Speaker 18: Just a lot of people try to, you know, attack

581
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,440
her or just try to.

582
00:32:27,359 --> 00:32:30,880
Speaker 11: Come up to her. Because the issues with.

583
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,359
Speaker 18: Heliah and Brie has always been a thing since November.

584
00:32:34,759 --> 00:32:39,799
What happened in November, Haliah was just using me and brite,

585
00:32:40,559 --> 00:32:43,839
you know, saying she has a kid, she doesn't have

586
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,039
a kid, basically using that as it excuse to get

587
00:32:48,079 --> 00:32:52,880
money or anything, really to just get as much money

588
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,000
as she can. Uh, saying she needs to pay for

589
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,480
gas and she doesn't even drive.

590
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 11: It just became a whole mess. We just loved it

591
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:03,839
that and every.

592
00:33:03,599 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 18: Once in a while, either Helle would call me I

593
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:15,079
would typically ignore, or she would just message Brie on Instagram.

594
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:14,359
Speaker 11: Just talking crap.

595
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,319
Speaker 18: It just happens like every couple of months, just randomly

596
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:20,400
starts calling it again.

597
00:33:21,599 --> 00:33:23,960
Speaker 1: No one could really explain what had gone down between

598
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,519
Brianna and Heliah to make their friendship curdle into hatred

599
00:33:28,839 --> 00:33:36,200
and violence. But it was all petty, silly teenage stuff, lies, manipulation,

600
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,279
Instagram dms and TikTok gossip, bullshit.

601
00:33:41,359 --> 00:33:43,519
Speaker 17: Did Hell have any any weapons or anything, Does she

602
00:33:43,559 --> 00:33:44,599
have a knife out or anything.

603
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 18: I don't recall she had a knife out, but I

604
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,000
know she does carry typically typically carries a knife. And

605
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:55,039
then she always talks about carrying guns and all that.

606
00:33:55,039 --> 00:33:56,039
Speaker 11: That's why we take.

607
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,960
Speaker 18: Her threats to very seriously because she always talks about

608
00:33:59,079 --> 00:34:04,839
either how having guns, hanging out with people that have guns,

609
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:06,400
saying that she can kill us.

610
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,320
Speaker 11: Is it's been a home best.

611
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,079
Speaker 1: Pelia may have used big, bad threats about knowing friends

612
00:34:13,079 --> 00:34:17,000
with guns and saying she was going to kill Brianna,

613
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,800
but Brianna was the one who brandished the blade and

614
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:25,760
sliced it across Hillia's neck. But Brianna's boyfriend said there

615
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,519
were many reasons why Brianna always carried a knife.

616
00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:34,320
Speaker 18: Another reason is that her ex boyfriend is abusive, always

617
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,679
pulls up her own what's sixty one and just that

618
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,079
what sixty one is not the best area to be in.

619
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,800
So she always carries in her knife because first of all,

620
00:34:46,119 --> 00:34:49,320
she's small shoes and can't really protect herself in any

621
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:55,400
other way. And the way most of these people fight now,

622
00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:57,599
they fight to kill.

623
00:34:58,519 --> 00:35:01,639
Speaker 1: After the fight was over and her boyfriend left the scene,

624
00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:04,480
they drove back to brionn his house where her brother

625
00:35:04,679 --> 00:35:10,159
was waiting, the one who fathered Kenzie's child. Brion, his boyfriend,

626
00:35:10,199 --> 00:35:13,000
said that he washed the knife and gave it to

627
00:35:13,039 --> 00:35:13,519
her brother.

628
00:35:14,199 --> 00:35:16,960
Speaker 18: So I took to the bathroom because it was still

629
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,800
dripping blood, cleaning as much as possible.

630
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 11: Uh, and then I gave to Cameron in the living room.

631
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,599
He gave the knife to Cameron. Uh, so you mean

632
00:35:28,679 --> 00:35:29,559
actually cleaned it up.

633
00:35:29,599 --> 00:35:32,559
Speaker 18: So, yeah, cleaned it up some because it just kind

634
00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:34,840
of dripping off the acteley knife and they were godn't

635
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:36,400
want to get it all over the place.

636
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,320
Speaker 1: Brion, his boyfriend and brother had hidden a murder weapon,

637
00:35:41,199 --> 00:35:45,199
but no one knew Heliah was dying. After the stab,

638
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,599
she kept swinging and screaming. She didn't stop or surrender.

639
00:35:50,519 --> 00:35:53,840
Not until Brianna was gone and she sank into Dalon's

640
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:57,599
car did her friends realize how deep the damage went.

641
00:35:58,599 --> 00:36:01,760
Dalan's phone marked the fight at eleven forty eight pm.

642
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:06,840
By twelve twenty four, am Aliah was pronounced dead at

643
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,639
the hospital. According to the autopsy, the knife struck a

644
00:36:10,679 --> 00:36:15,840
critical zone and Heliah's clavigal, damaging a major artery, over

645
00:36:16,079 --> 00:36:20,719
half a gallon of blood poured into her chest. She

646
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:25,360
didn't stand a chance. Still, Brianna insisted her violence was

647
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:29,639
all a panicked reaction to Heliah's confrontation. It was all

648
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,639
just a blur. She premeditated nothing.

649
00:36:34,199 --> 00:36:35,519
Speaker 7: And they're screaming at me.

650
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,159
Speaker 2: And then the dude tells Helia to run up on me,

651
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,800
and she's walking up and I keep telling her, I'm

652
00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:46,599
not fighting you back up, so you're not worth it.

653
00:36:47,079 --> 00:36:49,480
Keep telling her to back up, and I get my

654
00:36:49,559 --> 00:36:52,639
knife out in my hand and I'm holding and I

655
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:58,039
said back up, and she attacks me. She first slapped me.

656
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:00,800
She was pushing me well before that.

657
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:00,960
Speaker 15: Ye.

658
00:37:01,039 --> 00:37:02,719
Speaker 7: I was trying to push her away from me.

659
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,280
Speaker 2: But the other guy said was stealing to end up

660
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,000
to touch her orse he was going to do something

661
00:37:07,039 --> 00:37:11,440
to him. I don't know what exactly had happened, but

662
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,800
I went like this and.

663
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,760
Speaker 7: Then she dragged me by my hair on the ground

664
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:19,519
and like there was just blood in my eyes. I

665
00:37:19,519 --> 00:37:20,880
couldn't see anything.

666
00:37:21,519 --> 00:37:27,280
Speaker 15: Contrast, Aeliah, fuck her up. You better get your girlfore

667
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:28,599
she gets fucked up even more.

668
00:37:29,639 --> 00:37:33,559
Speaker 2: H I don't think I hit her or anything, because

669
00:37:33,679 --> 00:37:35,559
I was on the ground getting blood out of my eyes.

670
00:37:36,639 --> 00:37:38,760
Speaker 7: I had no idea what was going on. I was

671
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:40,039
just in shock at that point.

672
00:37:40,639 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: It's chilling how clear it is on video. Heliah charges

673
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,599
at Brianna, who retreats, murmuring that she doesn't want to fight,

674
00:37:49,679 --> 00:37:54,360
but Helia keeps coming. Dalen records it all, his voice

675
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:58,800
rising with every shout, not warning them, not breaking it up,

676
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:03,400
just feeding the fire. Dylan wasn't a bystander, he was

677
00:38:03,599 --> 00:38:08,639
the catalyst. But then Brianna flashes the knife. Helia slaps her.

678
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:14,039
Brianna swings and blood splatters all over the paper. Still,

679
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,840
Heliah yanks her to the ground and Unlicia's brutal blows,

680
00:38:18,199 --> 00:38:22,360
dragging her like a rag doll. Had she survived, there's

681
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,400
no question Helia would have won that fight. She kicked

682
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,760
Brionna's ass, even with a hole in her neck. Now

683
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:29,599
I'm turning, Ghettu.

684
00:38:30,039 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 7: So during the.

685
00:38:32,639 --> 00:38:36,280
Speaker 11: Fire, when she was hitting you, what happened with a knife?

686
00:38:36,519 --> 00:38:37,280
During that time?

687
00:38:37,639 --> 00:38:39,800
Speaker 2: It had dropped on the ground. Okay, it wasn't no

688
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:40,679
longer in my hand.

689
00:38:41,199 --> 00:38:42,599
Speaker 5: Did you know she had been cut?

690
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,039
Speaker 13: At that point, I didn't know if it was many

691
00:38:46,199 --> 00:38:50,000
or heard because they were yelling, saying that, they were laughing,

692
00:38:50,079 --> 00:38:52,599
saying that she maybe bleed, so I was like, maybe

693
00:38:52,599 --> 00:38:55,559
there's a cut on me, But then I was looking

694
00:38:55,599 --> 00:38:57,599
all over myself when we got in the car, it

695
00:38:57,679 --> 00:38:59,599
was like, it's I don't think it's me.

696
00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:00,840
Speaker 5: What is this?

697
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:06,039
Speaker 7: All stuffs animosity? Heliah used to.

698
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:09,360
Speaker 2: Be a really good friend of mine, and then I

699
00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,039
found out a lot that she's just a really bad person.

700
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,360
So I stopped being friends with her, and my friend

701
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,719
Yed stopped talking with and then after that she pretty

702
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:22,360
much just went crazy, like saying she was going to

703
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:26,639
kill us and slash his tires and do all these things.

704
00:39:26,679 --> 00:39:29,800
Speaker 1: And like she does to most people, to her friends,

705
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,280
Heliah was fearless, the kind of girl who would never

706
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:38,559
back down. To Brianna, she was dangerous and unhinged, two

707
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:42,119
versions of the same Helia told by people who loved

708
00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:45,559
her and people who feared her. Was Brianna the victim

709
00:39:45,639 --> 00:39:51,639
of Heliah's rabid aggression. Was this simply self defense? But

710
00:39:51,679 --> 00:39:55,000
there was one thing no one had seen yet, not

711
00:39:55,079 --> 00:39:58,760
even the police. It was something buried in the digital

712
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,760
noise from two weeks before the fight. A text message

713
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:06,320
from Brianna to her friend tossed off like a joke,

714
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,119
maybe even forgotten After a long rant with her friend

715
00:40:10,159 --> 00:40:14,119
about Halia's behavior, Brianna signed off with this message, I

716
00:40:14,159 --> 00:40:17,960
would sooner slice Halia's throat if he comes near me again.

717
00:40:19,079 --> 00:40:23,719
Just words, just teenage anger. But now with Haliah dead

718
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:27,000
from a single stab to the neck, these didn't feel

719
00:40:27,000 --> 00:41:04,280
like just words anymore. Seventeen year old Heliah Culbertson had

720
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,119
died from his single stab wound to the neck during

721
00:41:07,119 --> 00:41:10,840
an impromptu street fight with her former friend, eighteen year

722
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:16,079
old Brianna Brenzini. The two girls had been feuding for months,

723
00:41:16,119 --> 00:41:19,840
each claiming the other was just a bad person, but

724
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:24,079
Helia's friend Kenzie also had big problems with her and

725
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:28,320
her family. Kenzie had become pregnant when she was fifteen

726
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,599
with Brianna's older brother, who lied to her and told

727
00:41:32,599 --> 00:41:36,159
her he was a miner two when he was not.

728
00:41:37,519 --> 00:41:41,000
Drama ran through that friend group like a river, a

729
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:45,199
big river, and on the night of Helia's murder, it

730
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,840
finally overflowed. Brianna was arrested on March twenty seventh for

731
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,039
the murder of Helia. She was taken to the county

732
00:41:53,119 --> 00:41:57,719
jail immediately following her police interview. The Baronzini family quickly

733
00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,039
took action and obtained a lawyer named Craypants.

734
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:04,719
Speaker 20: For the last twenty years, I bet at criminal defense attorney,

735
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:09,000
practicing out of Columbus, Ohio, trying cases in state court,

736
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:14,039
federal court, and representing people charged with really everything from

737
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,480
speeding tickets to aggravated death penalty murder.

738
00:42:19,039 --> 00:42:22,039
Speaker 1: Brionna's bond was set at seven hundred and fifty grand,

739
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,519
but she only spent two days in jail. Her family

740
00:42:26,559 --> 00:42:29,840
bonded her out as fast as they could, and she

741
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,320
went home under strict conditions from the court. That's when

742
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,199
Bob stepped into the picture and got to know her

743
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:37,519
side of the story.

744
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:41,480
Speaker 20: When the family came in and then Brionn had a

745
00:42:41,559 --> 00:42:46,000
chance to explain what happened in her from her viewpoint.

746
00:42:46,639 --> 00:42:48,519
You know, there's a lot of thoughts to kind of

747
00:42:48,559 --> 00:42:51,039
go through your head, first one being you know, how

748
00:42:51,079 --> 00:42:53,760
accurate is this account and what other evidence is he

749
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,320
going to be out there. I never really believe I

750
00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,920
think that a client comes in and tells me one

751
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,239
hundred percent of the accurately, not because they're lied, but

752
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:06,760
they remember it a certain way. But my initial thought was, Wow,

753
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:09,760
this sounds to me like it was a self defense

754
00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:14,679
and more of an accident and unintentional, but also just

755
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,559
a tragedy. Just a young girl sitting in front of me,

756
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:24,960
very very young, and another young woman dead. So it

757
00:43:25,039 --> 00:43:27,679
was just I hate to say senseless, but even at

758
00:43:27,679 --> 00:43:29,880
the first moment, I thought, this is just tragic.

759
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:33,920
Speaker 1: It was tragic the fight that never should have happened.

760
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,280
Brianna may have been fortunate enough to have been bonded out,

761
00:43:39,039 --> 00:43:41,960
but when she met her lawyer the first time, the

762
00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:43,760
prospect of going to prison for the rest of her

763
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:45,719
life wait on her heavily.

764
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:49,559
Speaker 20: My memories, it was a Saturday morning in my office

765
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,559
and she was there with her family, very quiet, very timid.

766
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:56,119
You know, she didn't just gush out with the account.

767
00:43:56,159 --> 00:43:59,320
I had to kind of, you know, ask specific questions

768
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:04,880
and she would get to it, but very quiet, very scared,

769
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:09,599
very concerned, very you know, overwhelmed. I mean, she had

770
00:44:09,639 --> 00:44:12,000
just been released from the jail I suspect within a

771
00:44:12,079 --> 00:44:15,639
day of coming to my office, and her whole family

772
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:20,519
just supportive, was scared and appreciative of just how serious

773
00:44:20,559 --> 00:44:21,000
this was.

774
00:44:21,639 --> 00:44:24,800
Speaker 1: And what about that text message, the one where Brianna

775
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,679
said she would slice Helia's throat if she came after

776
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:31,679
her previous tests showed that Brianna was upset because Helia

777
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:35,760
had allegedly been driving past her house and making threats

778
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,800
against her. Bob argues that the text had nothing to

779
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:41,159
do with what happened that.

780
00:44:41,239 --> 00:44:44,039
Speaker 20: Night, and would argue to the jury that's irrelevant to

781
00:44:44,079 --> 00:44:47,800
what happened that night. It would be relevant if my

782
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:50,280
client went looking for It would be relevant if my

783
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:52,039
client said, there she is, I'm going to do what

784
00:44:52,119 --> 00:44:54,280
I said I'm going to do in that text, But

785
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:55,039
she didn't.

786
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:55,360
Speaker 11: Go looking for.

787
00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:59,360
Speaker 20: They ran into each other purely by accident, bad luck,

788
00:44:59,559 --> 00:45:05,840
just by answer. So despite the text, those words, her

789
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,400
actions that I spoke louder, she backed up, She said

790
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:11,239
I didn't want to fight.

791
00:45:11,679 --> 00:45:12,679
Speaker 11: She tried to avoid it.

792
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:17,119
Speaker 1: Brianna may have been backing away as Helia charged, screaming,

793
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:22,360
but according to Lee Detective Timothy Pribe, Brianna made one

794
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:27,440
move that raised questions. She had a weapon. Aliah didn't,

795
00:45:27,599 --> 00:45:30,559
and what Brianna did with that weapon gave the police

796
00:45:30,679 --> 00:45:33,639
pause when it came to her innocence.

797
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:40,840
Speaker 17: Haliah was unarmed. She was clearly unarmed. She did assault

798
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:44,920
Brianna one time open handed smack, and then she turned

799
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,440
and she walked away. I believe it was Brianna pulled

800
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:53,920
out her knife ten to fifteen seconds prior to the smack,

801
00:45:55,039 --> 00:45:59,039
so there's there's more of an intent to harm on

802
00:45:59,159 --> 00:46:02,559
her part. And if she's pulling out a knife with

803
00:46:02,639 --> 00:46:05,760
an intent to do harm, that's a felonious assault, and

804
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:08,159
then that harm causes a death, that's a murder.

805
00:46:08,679 --> 00:46:11,760
Speaker 1: Detective Pribe says that when they watched that video of

806
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:15,880
the fight relentlessly, and not just their investigative team, but

807
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:20,920
Pribe's boss and his boss's boss analyzing every millisecond to

808
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:24,559
make sure they weren't seeing things the wrong way. He

809
00:46:24,599 --> 00:46:27,599
says that Brianna pulled the knife out prior to being

810
00:46:27,639 --> 00:46:31,360
slapped by Heliah. She holds it close to the side

811
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:34,840
of her thigh and the blade is out of the switch.

812
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,719
That made all the difference in his eyes.

813
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,360
Speaker 17: Well, she keeps it concealed down at her leg mostly,

814
00:46:43,039 --> 00:46:48,840
she pulls it out in a very comfortable manner and

815
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:56,760
holds it down, and then after she slapped and Heliah

816
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,039
is walking away, that's when.

817
00:46:59,199 --> 00:47:00,159
Speaker 11: She charges her.

818
00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:05,119
Speaker 17: The key portion of this incident or this altercation, is

819
00:47:05,159 --> 00:47:10,280
that Afterjlia slaps her, she turns and starts to walk away,

820
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:15,679
and that's when Brianna then you know, starts to swing

821
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:18,960
her knife, and she swings and misses, and then then

822
00:47:19,079 --> 00:47:22,320
you see her come over the top and you know

823
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,960
hit her right, you know, right at the top of

824
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:25,440
the chest.

825
00:47:26,199 --> 00:47:29,679
Speaker 1: Detective Pride says that it wasn't the fact that she

826
00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:33,119
had a knife that showed intent, but the manner in

827
00:47:33,159 --> 00:47:34,320
which Brianna used it.

828
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:36,719
Speaker 17: She doesn't want people to see that she has a

829
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,920
weapon out and ready to go. That's how I'm looking

830
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:42,599
at it, because she's not threatening her with it. She's

831
00:47:42,599 --> 00:47:45,079
not trying to back her off with it. You know,

832
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:50,840
she's not protecting herself with it. She's initiating the assault

833
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:51,519
with a weapon.

834
00:47:52,159 --> 00:47:54,760
Speaker 1: You can watch the whole video in our bonus content,

835
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:58,400
and we encourage it to. The footage of Helia's death

836
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:03,800
is hunting, but it also brought clarity. Every second of

837
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:09,400
the raw, unfiltered truth was captured for both sides to examine.

838
00:48:09,559 --> 00:48:13,559
The state indicted Brianna on three charges murder, murder committed

839
00:48:13,639 --> 00:48:19,000
during a felonious assault, in voluntary manslaughter. She was looking

840
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,760
at fifteen years to life for the murder charges and

841
00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:25,800
another three to eleven years for the manslaughter. As the

842
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:29,840
media grabbed hold of this sensational girl fight and did

843
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:33,880
what they always do, Bob worked on his defense, preparing

844
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,800
for an intense and very public trial.

845
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,239
Speaker 20: When I first look at it, I say, this is

846
00:48:40,079 --> 00:48:46,840
pretty classic self defense. Now, Ohio law changed somewhat recently.

847
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:51,440
It used to be that to claim self defense, the

848
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:55,920
defense would then have the burden of proving that the

849
00:48:56,039 --> 00:49:00,679
person was in fear of imminent serious, farbly harm or

850
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:05,920
death and that you know, they did not use disproportional

851
00:49:06,079 --> 00:49:09,679
force to repel the attack, and that was the burden

852
00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:13,639
of the defense. That changed Back in twenty and nineteen

853
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:18,400
there was a hospital that passed and signed by the governor,

854
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:22,719
and as a result of that, the prosecution now has

855
00:49:22,719 --> 00:49:25,440
the burden of proving that it is not self defense.

856
00:49:26,199 --> 00:49:29,199
Speaker 1: Ohio was the thirty seventh state to pass this law,

857
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:32,599
switching the burden of proof in a self defense claim

858
00:49:33,079 --> 00:49:37,559
from the defense to the prosecution. To compound matters legally,

859
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:41,199
Ohio passed another law in twenty twenty one concerning self

860
00:49:41,199 --> 00:49:42,519
defense cases.

861
00:49:42,679 --> 00:49:48,199
Speaker 20: And that was a change in the law regarding your

862
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:52,039
duty to retreat. It used to be that if you

863
00:49:52,119 --> 00:49:54,880
had at you had a duty to retreat, unless, of course,

864
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:56,880
you're in your home or your vehicle, then you did

865
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:59,960
not have a duty. But otherwise you had the responsible

866
00:50:00,679 --> 00:50:03,400
if you could safely get away from the situation, you

867
00:50:03,519 --> 00:50:06,920
had to get away from the situation. And if a

868
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:11,599
jury determined that, yes, you were in fear of imminent

869
00:50:11,679 --> 00:50:15,199
serious bodily harm or death, yes you used reasonable force

870
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:18,519
to repel the attack. Yes, you did not cause the

871
00:50:18,599 --> 00:50:21,960
situation that gave rise to the affray, but you had

872
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,519
an out. You could have left out the back door

873
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:26,679
of the bar you were in, or you could have

874
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:28,840
run across the street from the field you were in.

875
00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:32,320
If they found that you had the opportunity and ability

876
00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:36,000
to escape without exposing yourself to more harm, you could

877
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:41,199
not claim self defense. Between those two changes again fairly recently,

878
00:50:42,239 --> 00:50:46,000
you know, it's a It changes the dynamic a little

879
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:49,400
bit about how you look at self defense cases because

880
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:52,079
now a jury is going to be instructed they are

881
00:50:52,159 --> 00:50:57,159
not even to consider whether or not the person could

882
00:50:57,159 --> 00:51:00,239
have escaped, could could have left, could have fled the situation.

883
00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:04,360
It's nothing for them to consider. They don't get to determine. Well,

884
00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,280
cheese that didn't have to happen. She could have left. Nope,

885
00:51:07,679 --> 00:51:09,119
she doesn't have a duty anymore.

886
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,320
Speaker 1: These changes to Ohio law were a clear win for

887
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:17,440
the defense. Now it was the state's burden to prove

888
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:21,679
that Brianna wasn't acting in legal self defense, and the

889
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:24,719
jury couldn't fault her for staying in the parking lot

890
00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:28,719
before Helia struck first. With the video of the fight

891
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:32,360
and the cascade of witnesses who all told the same story,

892
00:51:33,199 --> 00:51:37,000
it was looking like Brianna had a solid self defense case.

893
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:41,079
Tensions were high as Bob worked on his defense and

894
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:45,599
the prosecution prepared their arguments. Aliah may have started the fight,

895
00:51:45,679 --> 00:51:49,800
but she didn't walk into it expecting to die. No

896
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:53,599
one ever does. I guess she didn't think Brianna would

897
00:51:53,599 --> 00:51:56,800
swing a knife. Who knows what was running through her

898
00:51:56,800 --> 00:52:00,280
mind when she slapped Brianna across the face, but I'd

899
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,760
bet the last thing she imagined was dying in a

900
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:07,199
hospital less than an hour later, Because, like Brianna's boyfriend

901
00:52:07,239 --> 00:52:10,639
told the detective, a fight isn't just a fight anymore,

902
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:13,679
not these days, that is, And.

903
00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:18,519
Speaker 18: The way most of these people fight now, they fight

904
00:52:18,599 --> 00:52:19,039
to kill.

905
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:24,599
Speaker 1: Helia's family was grief stricken, giving very few interviews to

906
00:52:24,639 --> 00:52:28,519
the media. Kenzie posted videos on TikTok about how much

907
00:52:28,519 --> 00:52:32,400
she missed her best friend. The guilt must have weighed

908
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:35,840
so heavily on her. Could she have done something to

909
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:39,199
stop this? Maybe if she'd been the only friend with

910
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:42,760
Helia that night, none of this would have happened. As

911
00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:47,159
for Dalen, he was quiet all of a sudden, but

912
00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:52,039
Brianna's lawyer, Bob was zeroing in on him because Bob

913
00:52:52,079 --> 00:52:54,840
had reviewed the case inside and out, and according to him,

914
00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:59,960
Dalen held as much responsibility in Helia's death as Brianna did.

915
00:53:00,559 --> 00:53:04,440
Speaker 20: But I recognize right away that this dayling kid who's

916
00:53:04,519 --> 00:53:10,000
recording this and encouraging it, it may not have happened

917
00:53:10,639 --> 00:53:12,840
had he not been doing what he was doing. People

918
00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:16,400
don't act the same when they know they're being videoed.

919
00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:21,239
They perform okay. And you know, this young man was

920
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:25,679
the oldest of anybody there, and he could have stopped

921
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:28,920
us so easily, But he egged it on while they

922
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,199
were waiting for Breonn to leave the store. He egged

923
00:53:31,199 --> 00:53:35,480
it on while it was happening. This process of events,

924
00:53:35,559 --> 00:53:38,679
all of these little decisions that were made in the

925
00:53:38,719 --> 00:53:42,079
span of call it ten minutes that evening. At any

926
00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:46,079
given point, one different decision, and this doesn't happen. Aliah

927
00:53:46,119 --> 00:53:46,840
is alive today.

928
00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:49,719
Speaker 1: If Aleah had been alone in the store that night,

929
00:53:50,239 --> 00:53:53,000
she might have just flipped Brianna off and gone home

930
00:53:53,079 --> 00:53:57,440
the rant about it on social media. But she wasn't alone.

931
00:53:58,159 --> 00:54:05,719
She had Dayalen, self proclaimed brother, her hype man, her

932
00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:10,239
fierce defender, her peanut gallery. I could go on and on,

933
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:15,639
and with him by her side, everything changed. Dalen, with

934
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:20,440
his tears and loyalty, his dramatic storytelling and ride er

935
00:54:20,559 --> 00:54:25,880
Die energy. He was the one who hit record. Heleia

936
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,480
wasn't just showing off for Dalen and his phone. She

937
00:54:28,599 --> 00:54:32,360
was performing for the entire internet. That's a lot of people.

938
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:35,400
She knew this clip would hit social media. She knew

939
00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:37,840
this would be on sortain scale. Now she didn't, but

940
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:41,679
you get my draft. She wasn't just in a fight.

941
00:54:41,800 --> 00:54:46,119
She was on a stage with an invisible crowd ready

942
00:54:46,119 --> 00:54:50,440
to judge her, mock her, and meme her. Y'all motherfuckers

943
00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:55,719
are vicious. That kind of pressure warps everything in anything.

944
00:54:56,679 --> 00:55:00,400
Maybe that's why she didn't back down, even when knife

945
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:03,960
was flashed inches from her face. Maybe that's why she

946
00:55:04,039 --> 00:55:08,880
kept threatening Brianna, acting harder than she felt, because fear

947
00:55:09,519 --> 00:55:13,960
in a viral video looks like weakness, and nobody wants

948
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:18,159
to be weak. And Brianna, maybe you shouldn't pull that

949
00:55:18,239 --> 00:55:20,480
knife out to win the fight. Maybe she pulled it

950
00:55:20,519 --> 00:55:24,639
out because she knew losing would be captured, replayed, and

951
00:55:24,760 --> 00:55:29,480
ridiculed endlessly. Maybe the blade wasn't about fear of Helia.

952
00:55:29,559 --> 00:55:32,360
Maybe it was about fear of becoming a joke on

953
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:36,599
the internet, the girl who got wrecked and went viral

954
00:55:36,679 --> 00:55:41,440
for all the wrong reasons, that sort of thing, and

955
00:55:41,519 --> 00:55:47,039
it still happened anyway. But by hitting record, Dalen changed

956
00:55:47,039 --> 00:55:50,519
the entire course of these girls' lives.

957
00:55:51,119 --> 00:55:52,920
Speaker 20: All it takes is for a friend to say, hey,

958
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,119
you know what, let her go, let's get in the car,

959
00:55:56,199 --> 00:55:58,119
or I'm gonna put my phone away, I'm not gonna

960
00:55:58,159 --> 00:56:01,679
do this, or you know what, Halih, let's go. You

961
00:56:01,719 --> 00:56:05,199
know whatever, She's not worth it. One person says that,

962
00:56:05,599 --> 00:56:09,280
and maybe it derails the whole thing. Maybe the decision

963
00:56:09,519 --> 00:56:11,519
by mind client preant to stay in this store longer.

964
00:56:11,639 --> 00:56:11,719
Speaker 10: Now.

965
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:13,480
Speaker 20: I don't know if she even knew Hilia was waiting

966
00:56:13,519 --> 00:56:16,920
for or when she did see her, maybe retreat back

967
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:20,199
into the store, or don't pull the knife out of

968
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:23,960
my pocket, or don't open the knife. Okay, I mean

969
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:27,039
there's many, many decisions that were made by multiple people,

970
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:30,719
and any one of them a different decision. I think

971
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:31,960
this thing goes a different direction.

972
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:34,800
Speaker 11: Look at the Brian, his boyfriend.

973
00:56:34,920 --> 00:56:36,800
Speaker 17: I mean, yeah, he was standing next to her the

974
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:40,559
whole time, and he was kind of sort of trying

975
00:56:40,639 --> 00:56:43,480
to stop it. But if he was the biggest dude

976
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:46,239
out there, I mean, if he could have just walked

977
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:47,719
her to the car and put her in the car,

978
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:51,840
that was always an option, you know, But they stood

979
00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:55,159
out there, and I get it. It's it's a situation

980
00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:58,559
that you can't you know, you necessarily don't know what

981
00:56:58,639 --> 00:57:00,480
you're going to do when you're in that situation. But

982
00:57:01,599 --> 00:57:05,159
so many things that people could have just made decisions

983
00:57:05,199 --> 00:57:07,800
to step in and de escalate it.

984
00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:12,320
Speaker 1: Many people could have stepped in, but they didn't. It

985
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:15,800
really came down to Haliah, Dalen, and Brianna, who each

986
00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:20,159
played a part in how this night unraveled. They all

987
00:57:20,239 --> 00:57:23,719
had choices, and they all made the wrong ones, feeding

988
00:57:23,760 --> 00:57:28,719
off of each other's fear, ego and adrenaline idiots wilden

989
00:57:29,039 --> 00:57:32,519
on TikTok so much. Should really do a study on

990
00:57:32,639 --> 00:57:36,559
how much harm and literal death social media has inadvertently caused.

991
00:57:37,639 --> 00:57:40,679
The results are probably terrifying, which is why we'll never

992
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:43,960
get one. That and the fact that morons love to

993
00:57:44,039 --> 00:57:46,599
change the meaning of words, kind of like these kids

994
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:51,119
often to suit their own narrative. So harm, what harm?

995
00:57:51,719 --> 00:57:53,800
What do you mean by harm? Never heard of it?

996
00:57:54,760 --> 00:57:59,480
What's your definition of harm? That sort of thing? Utter bullshit.

997
00:58:00,599 --> 00:58:03,920
The whole mess was a chain reaction. Aliah paid with

998
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:09,400
her life, Brianna faced prison, and Dalen Well, that innocent,

999
00:58:09,559 --> 00:58:12,880
doe eyed stoner boy with a magical cackle that resonates

1000
00:58:13,039 --> 00:58:15,719
throughout the vape store, strip mall parking lot and a

1001
00:58:15,880 --> 00:58:20,280
heart of gold. Well he walked away scott free, like

1002
00:58:20,599 --> 00:58:25,719
just another witness. When Bob said, he was so much more.

1003
00:58:26,119 --> 00:58:29,159
Speaker 20: So when I look at who's responsible or who played

1004
00:58:29,159 --> 00:58:32,559
a part in his death, I look at him and say,

1005
00:58:32,639 --> 00:58:35,719
you know what you had? You had such a role

1006
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:38,360
in this thing, and it was so unnecessary, and it

1007
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:41,400
was so childish, and it's so dangerous, and it's just

1008
00:58:41,480 --> 00:58:45,320
so maddening that right away I'm thinking you know. I

1009
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:50,119
can understand Alia, I can understand Brianna. I can't understand Dalen.

1010
00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:54,199
Speaker 1: We looked up Dalen's record. Of course, by twenty one,

1011
00:58:54,519 --> 00:58:59,280
he'd racked up nine arrests drunk driving, assault and firearm charges.

1012
00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:03,880
You know, like a gangster. Half came before Helia's death

1013
00:59:03,920 --> 00:59:08,199
and the other half came after, like clockwork. Dalen was astray,

1014
00:59:08,679 --> 00:59:11,800
cut loose by his own family, absorbed into Kenzie and

1015
00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:16,119
Helia's orbit like a ticking time bomb. Maybe he knew

1016
00:59:16,119 --> 00:59:20,519
what he did. Maybe the arrests, the violence, the reckless spiral,

1017
00:59:21,400 --> 00:59:27,639
they weren't just all accidents. They were confessions written and chaos.

1018
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,360
Speaker 20: I'll be honest. When I first met with the prosecutor,

1019
00:59:30,519 --> 00:59:33,280
my first suggestion was to charge that guy. But they

1020
00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:36,559
felt that, Yeah, after interviewing all the other windowses, they

1021
00:59:36,599 --> 00:59:38,199
felt that, you know, Halia was going to do what

1022
00:59:38,239 --> 00:59:41,159
Halia was going to do, and he did really spill

1023
00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:45,760
the blame over to Dalen. I see it differently, but

1024
00:59:46,719 --> 00:59:51,440
you know, that's that's not unusual to me. There's some responsibility.

1025
00:59:51,480 --> 00:59:54,480
This should have been placed at his feet, but.

1026
00:59:54,599 --> 00:59:58,880
Speaker 1: That wasn't going to happen. Still, Brianna was the killer,

1027
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:03,280
not Dylan. She was on trial for murder, and Bob

1028
01:00:03,400 --> 01:00:05,840
had a big task ahead of him. Despite the law

1029
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:10,679
changes that swayed in his direction, Brianna made the choice

1030
01:00:10,719 --> 01:00:15,159
to pull out that knife and swing it. She killed Aliyah.

1031
01:00:16,119 --> 01:00:16,760
End of story.

1032
01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:21,159
Speaker 20: You know, I thought we had a problem with the weapon,

1033
01:00:21,480 --> 01:00:23,800
and I also thought that we had a problem or

1034
01:00:23,840 --> 01:00:28,760
difficulty with just the sadness of the thing. There is

1035
01:00:28,840 --> 01:00:32,159
a there is a family who is grieving, and rightfully so.

1036
01:00:33,199 --> 01:00:37,039
There's a girl there who is young and dead, and

1037
01:00:37,199 --> 01:00:41,679
it's it's horrible, and juris feel that they see sympathy,

1038
01:00:41,800 --> 01:00:45,079
and it's it's normal as humans, we want somebody to

1039
01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:48,800
answer for this tragedy. We want somebody to be responsible

1040
01:00:49,199 --> 01:00:55,400
for this tragedy, and the only person on trial is Brionna.

1041
01:00:56,079 --> 01:00:58,599
My whole approach was my client didn't want to fight,

1042
01:00:58,920 --> 01:00:59,880
She wanted to back up.

1043
01:01:00,159 --> 01:01:01,119
Speaker 11: She kept backing up.

1044
01:01:01,320 --> 01:01:04,000
Speaker 20: She wanted to get out of there, and that you know,

1045
01:01:04,199 --> 01:01:07,119
at some point I would have argued to the jury

1046
01:01:07,159 --> 01:01:09,800
that you know, the most timid of animals, when you

1047
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:12,960
corner it, it has no choice what to lunch forward,

1048
01:01:13,320 --> 01:01:15,519
to do something to try to get out of that situation.

1049
01:01:16,280 --> 01:01:20,480
Speaker 1: But the trial would never come because in early June

1050
01:01:20,559 --> 01:01:23,480
of twenty twenty four, just before Brionna's murder trial was

1051
01:01:23,519 --> 01:01:27,039
set to start, the prosecution suddenly dropped the charges and

1052
01:01:27,079 --> 01:01:31,159
offered Brianna the chance to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

1053
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:34,519
That was the plea you heard her accepting in the

1054
01:01:34,559 --> 01:01:38,199
beginning of this episode. The evidence was too strong for

1055
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:42,800
the defense to argue that this was intentional murder. It

1056
01:01:42,920 --> 01:01:45,039
was very clear that no one went to the smoke

1057
01:01:45,079 --> 01:01:48,760
shop that evening with the intent of Helia losing her life.

1058
01:01:49,840 --> 01:01:53,719
When that fateful sentencing day came, Helia's family huddled on

1059
01:01:53,840 --> 01:01:57,000
one side of the courtroom while the baron Zenies were

1060
01:01:57,039 --> 01:01:59,800
on the other. Brianna stood in front of the judge

1061
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:03,880
and accepted her guilt for Helia's death. Before the judge

1062
01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:07,519
relayed her punishment, Helia's family had a chance to speak.

1063
01:02:08,599 --> 01:02:11,159
Kenzie stood up first, barely able to get her words

1064
01:02:11,519 --> 01:02:16,280
out between sobs. After describing what a tough yet sensitive

1065
01:02:16,320 --> 01:02:19,840
girl Heliah was, she got into how this had all

1066
01:02:20,760 --> 01:02:21,599
changed her life.

1067
01:02:22,440 --> 01:02:24,480
Speaker 8: I'd rather be standing at her wedding and giving a

1068
01:02:24,599 --> 01:02:31,599
speech or her graduation, but I'm here and I know Julia,

1069
01:02:33,199 --> 01:02:36,440
and I know her killer. The best six years of

1070
01:02:36,519 --> 01:02:42,159
my life, I've dealt with her killer, her family. And

1071
01:02:42,280 --> 01:02:44,719
when I finally thought I was getting away away from

1072
01:02:44,800 --> 01:02:48,400
these people, and I finally got my family away from

1073
01:02:48,440 --> 01:02:55,559
these people, Helia's killer did this to the most important

1074
01:02:55,599 --> 01:02:59,119
person in my life. That night, I felt a part

1075
01:02:59,199 --> 01:03:02,320
of my soul, more like all of it left when

1076
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:07,559
Helia left. I hope that her killer gets the maximum sentence.

1077
01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:11,280
I hope you realize or understand somewhat.

1078
01:03:11,599 --> 01:03:13,880
Speaker 6: Who Helia what was really was in this world.

1079
01:03:14,760 --> 01:03:17,320
Speaker 8: A daughter or sister, a cousin, a friend, a student,

1080
01:03:17,400 --> 01:03:21,719
a coworker, a granddaughter and niece aunt. She was someone's

1081
01:03:21,840 --> 01:03:24,800
child that got taken too soon, and she's now forever

1082
01:03:24,920 --> 01:03:25,840
seventeen years old.

1083
01:03:26,679 --> 01:03:29,320
Speaker 1: The blame that Heleia and her supporters placed on the

1084
01:03:29,599 --> 01:03:35,239
entire Baronzini family was palpable, especially when Helia's mother got

1085
01:03:35,320 --> 01:03:35,920
up to speak.

1086
01:03:36,639 --> 01:03:41,320
Speaker 9: In most scenarios, bringing a knife to a fistfight is

1087
01:03:41,400 --> 01:03:47,400
considered unethical, illegal, dangerous. It's crucial to approach conflicts with

1088
01:03:47,480 --> 01:03:51,280
a mindset of de escalation and consider the potential consequences

1089
01:03:51,679 --> 01:03:56,360
of introducing a weapon into a physical altercation. The right

1090
01:03:56,440 --> 01:04:01,360
course of action usually involved seeking a nonviolent resolution to

1091
01:04:01,559 --> 01:04:05,760
ensure your safety through legal and ethical means. Here we

1092
01:04:05,880 --> 01:04:10,480
have a smart, college educated four point zero student with

1093
01:04:10,719 --> 01:04:14,280
so many recommendations from friends and family for the pre

1094
01:04:14,440 --> 01:04:18,440
sentencing investigation. That sounds like someone that should know the

1095
01:04:18,519 --> 01:04:22,079
difference between right and wrong. Maybe she's just smart enough

1096
01:04:22,119 --> 01:04:22,880
to play us all.

1097
01:04:23,760 --> 01:04:27,280
Speaker 1: Like Bob said, in a senseless tragedy like this, everyone

1098
01:04:27,440 --> 01:04:31,920
is searching for someone to blame. Eliah's family blamed Brianna,

1099
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:36,199
and Brianna's family blamed he Leah, but both girls for

1100
01:04:36,599 --> 01:04:40,559
some responsibility for the way that that night transpired. That

1101
01:04:40,679 --> 01:04:44,400
didn't make it fair, but it was the cold, harsh truth.

1102
01:04:45,599 --> 01:04:49,519
Before the judge relayed his decision, the prosecution made one

1103
01:04:49,639 --> 01:04:53,079
last plea to the courtroom, arguing that Brianna reacted with

1104
01:04:53,280 --> 01:04:56,920
disproportionate rage and intent not fear.

1105
01:04:57,559 --> 01:05:03,159
Speaker 14: It is reasonable that those actions would anger Brianna Barzini. However,

1106
01:05:04,239 --> 01:05:08,559
none of those actions justified Brianna Barzee taking a knife

1107
01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:13,079
and plunging it into Holi as clavigal. Rather, that is

1108
01:05:13,119 --> 01:05:19,159
an act of unjustifiable rage, as stabbing is a disproportionate

1109
01:05:19,280 --> 01:05:21,159
response to a slap.

1110
01:05:21,960 --> 01:05:25,800
Speaker 1: The prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence. Brianna stood up

1111
01:05:25,840 --> 01:05:29,360
and apologized for what she did, saying that she will

1112
01:05:29,440 --> 01:05:31,079
live with the guilt for the rest of her life.

1113
01:05:32,280 --> 01:05:35,440
Then the judge reminded the court that she was facing

1114
01:05:35,559 --> 01:05:38,159
three years in prison and a ten thousand dollars fine.

1115
01:05:39,159 --> 01:05:43,239
That was the maximum. Then he gave it to her,

1116
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:48,440
reminding her to stay out of trouble. Behind bars. Brianna

1117
01:05:48,559 --> 01:05:50,599
was taken away to prison.

1118
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:54,519
Speaker 17: When it comes down to it, all in reality should

1119
01:05:54,519 --> 01:05:57,760
have been was just a fight, just you know, if

1120
01:05:57,800 --> 01:06:00,679
his fight of some sorts, and then the guys would

1121
01:06:00,719 --> 01:06:02,599
have stepped in, hopefully and just broke it up, and

1122
01:06:02,639 --> 01:06:04,199
they would have yelled each other, they would have went

1123
01:06:04,239 --> 01:06:06,840
on their way, you know, and there you know, nobody

1124
01:06:06,840 --> 01:06:08,719
would have lost their life out of it. Cops probably

1125
01:06:08,719 --> 01:06:11,559
wouldn't even have been called for it. But you know,

1126
01:06:11,719 --> 01:06:15,519
Brianna chose to bring out a weapon and then to

1127
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:20,079
use that weapon in the course of that assault, so

1128
01:06:20,360 --> 01:06:23,159
she escalated it, and that's that's how I look at it.

1129
01:06:23,960 --> 01:06:28,800
Speaker 1: The video Dalen captured still haunts Holiah's family. These were

1130
01:06:28,880 --> 01:06:32,519
her final moments and they were nothing like the Heliah

1131
01:06:32,599 --> 01:06:38,599
they knew and loved. And then she was gone. Brianna

1132
01:06:38,719 --> 01:06:42,599
currently sits in jail. She filed a motion of early

1133
01:06:42,679 --> 01:06:46,119
release and it's been granted this August, which means she

1134
01:06:46,239 --> 01:06:49,320
will have only served one year for the death of

1135
01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:57,239
Heliah Culbertson one year. Detective Pride knows that what happened

1136
01:06:57,280 --> 01:06:59,840
that night was a series of bad choices by every

1137
01:07:00,039 --> 01:07:04,280
person in that parking lot, but he believes Brianna got

1138
01:07:04,320 --> 01:07:05,079
away with murder.

1139
01:07:05,760 --> 01:07:07,599
Speaker 17: She's the one who brought a weapon into the fight.

1140
01:07:07,719 --> 01:07:10,039
She brought a knife into a fistfight, and I think

1141
01:07:10,079 --> 01:07:11,880
that there should have been more consequences for that.

1142
01:07:12,639 --> 01:07:15,360
Speaker 1: There were a lot of bad decisions made that night.

1143
01:07:16,320 --> 01:07:19,360
Aliah made one when she escalated the argument with a slap,

1144
01:07:20,199 --> 01:07:22,519
Brianna made one when she pulled out a knife in

1145
01:07:22,519 --> 01:07:27,719
the middle of a fist fight. And Dalen, well, Dalen

1146
01:07:28,079 --> 01:07:30,400
made his when he chose to hype up Palia and

1147
01:07:30,519 --> 01:07:35,239
film the fight instead of stopping it. Because Dalen is

1148
01:07:35,280 --> 01:07:41,079
an asshole. Once that camera comes out, everything changes. This

1149
01:07:41,239 --> 01:07:44,320
wasn't just a fight anymore. It was a show, and

1150
01:07:44,440 --> 01:07:47,559
all three of them knew it. They weren't just teenagers

1151
01:07:47,599 --> 01:07:50,199
in a parking lot, finally forced to face their internet

1152
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:54,280
fights in the real world. Now they were performers playing

1153
01:07:54,360 --> 01:07:58,159
to an invisible audience on social media, a bunch of

1154
01:07:58,280 --> 01:08:02,840
board assholes that are taking a shit. That's what raised

1155
01:08:02,880 --> 01:08:08,039
the stakes. Social Media didn't kill Heliah, That's not what

1156
01:08:08,119 --> 01:08:12,079
I'm saying. But it created the environment for her to die,

1157
01:08:13,199 --> 01:08:17,640
a changed behavior. It added pressure, It made everything feel

1158
01:08:17,760 --> 01:08:22,039
dramatic and impossible to walk away from. A modern teenager's

1159
01:08:22,079 --> 01:08:27,359
world is already so insular, impulsive, and emotional, trapped behind

1160
01:08:27,399 --> 01:08:31,840
a screen where reality is half baked. But when performance

1161
01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:36,960
becomes instinct, and every reaction is subconsciously shaped for an audience,

1162
01:08:37,960 --> 01:08:40,760
even real danger can feel like just another scene to

1163
01:08:40,880 --> 01:08:46,000
play out. And in the end, Helia died, Brianna went

1164
01:08:46,079 --> 01:08:49,760
to prison, and Dalen walked away with no charges whatsoever,

1165
01:08:51,119 --> 01:08:54,319
just a ghost in the margins of a murder. He

1166
01:08:54,479 --> 01:08:58,479
helped set an emotion. No one wins in a story

1167
01:08:58,600 --> 01:09:02,039
like this, because the truth is it didn't have to happen.

1168
01:09:03,079 --> 01:09:06,199
But when teenagers are raised in a world where everything

1169
01:09:06,319 --> 01:09:10,720
is filmed, where attention is currency, and where the pressure

1170
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:14,399
to show off never shuts off, even a fistfight can

1171
01:09:14,439 --> 01:09:19,840
turn into a performance. This time that performance ended in death.

1172
01:09:21,039 --> 01:09:24,640
It's not just tragic. That's the cost of a culture

1173
01:09:24,760 --> 01:09:48,840
that values footage more than the fallout. Speaking of footage,

1174
01:09:49,239 --> 01:09:52,680
we got a lot of it. Sword and Scale Television

1175
01:09:52,680 --> 01:09:54,079
available at swordscale dot com.

1176
01:09:54,159 --> 01:09:57,600
Speaker 5: I know you want it, you cheap fuck go get it.

1177
01:09:57,680 --> 01:09:59,800
Speaker 1: It's only twenty bucks and you can get twenty episodes

1178
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:02,600
right now. They're an hour long each. That's a lot

1179
01:10:02,640 --> 01:10:03,199
of true cry