Kevin is Next - Part I

Summary

Bone Valley Season 3 – Episode: Kevin is Next, Part I

Date: September 3, 2025
Host: Bone Valley production team; narration by Glenn Washington (of Snap Judgment)
Subject: The wrongful conviction of Kevin Herrick, Leo Schofield’s best friend, and the promise to exonerate him after decades in prison.

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Episode Overview

“Kevin is Next, Part I” marks the beginning of a new investigation in the Bone Valley podcast, shifting focus from Leo Schofield’s battle for exoneration (Season 1) to Kevin Herrick—his closest friend and a fellow long-term prisoner, also believed to be innocent. The episode intertwines present-day investigative work with flashbacks to Kevin’s arrest in 1989 and explores the enduring bond—and pact—between Leo and Kevin. The hosts and team introduce Amanda Lewis and Nick White, new investigators diving into the details of Kevin’s case in Largo, Florida.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introducing the Investigators and the Setting

• Present Day in Largo, Florida (01:55–03:29):

  • Amanda Lewis (lecturer and researcher) and Nick White (law student) are boots-on-the-ground, investigating a 1989 crime scene with the host.
  • They encounter a neighbor and reveal they are reinvestigating a decades-old sexual assault, where Kevin Herrick was convicted and has been imprisoned for 36 years.
  • “It was a sexual assault case, and then it was interrupted. Someone was kind of slash stabbed…they convicted the neighbor, who we believe had absolutely nothing to do with it.” — Narrator (03:29)

• Background on Kevin

  • Kevin Herrick, former cellmate and bandmate of Leo Schofield, is the focus; Leo and Kevin bonded over shared convictions of innocence and music within prison.
  • “He’s an incredible guy, and we’ve been best friends for almost the whole time we’ve been in prison… I don’t think Kevin’s innocent. I know he’s innocent like I know I’m innocent.” — Leo Schofield (04:54–05:10)

2. Leo and Kevin’s Pact & Musical Bond in Prison

• Formation of the Pact (06:22–07:21):

  • Leo and Kevin promised: One will not stop fighting until both are free.
  • Leo, after earning parole, walked out wearing a “Kevin is Next” shirt, making his promise public.
  • “We always knew one of us has to get out so the other can get out… if I make it out, I’m not gonna stop knocking on doors until somebody pays attention to Kevin.” — Leo Schofield (06:22)

• The Depth of Friendship

  • Leo struggles with the joy of freedom, feeling he left Kevin behind in “never ending war.”
  • “Sometimes I regret leaving him there… I left him in the heated battlefield. Every waking moment I’m trying to figure out, how are we going to get him proven innocent?” — Leo Schofield (07:58–08:51)
  • They formed a prison band, The Watchers, and support each other both legally and emotionally.

• Music Sample (10:17–10:33):

  • Original song lyrics sung by Kevin:
    • “Do you hear my madness?
      Laughter hides my fear
      Sorrow’s depths are endless
      In this valley of tears.” — Kevin Herrick (10:17–10:33)

3. Host’s Initial Skepticism, Then Belief

• The host explains skepticism about two cellmates both protesting their innocence, but Leo’s sincerity stood out.
  • “In all his decades inside, [Leo] could count on one hand the number of men who ever claimed they were truly innocent.” — Narrator (10:58–11:38)
• The decision is made to reach out directly to Kevin for his own account.

4. Kevin’s Own Story: The 1989 Events Leading to His Arrest

a) Setting Up the Narrative (13:11–16:17)

• Kevin returns to Largo after a failed relationship in Chicago.
• He reconnects with old friend Pat Pori and moves in with Pat and his mom Teresa (“Mrs. Pori”).
• “She’s typical Italian mother who… used to beat me and my brother with spatula when we’d be over there… but a beautiful heart… a neighborhood mom.” — Kevin (15:46)

b) Life at the Triplex & Meeting the Neighbors (17:04–20:44)

• Kevin rents a room, helps around the house, and starts meeting neighbors, including Scott Barfield and his girlfriend Cheryl.
• Neighbors occasionally socialize; Kevin describes friendly, almost family-like atmosphere with Pat, Teresa, Scott, and Cheryl.

c) The Night Everything Changed

• July 14, 1989 — Kevin stays in while Pat goes out.

  • “It’s kind of ironic that the one night in my life that I didn’t want to go party… If I would have went out and partied, I don’t see this ever happening to me.” — Kevin (20:44)

• Events Leading up to the Crime (25:12–27:00):

  • Kevin visits Cheryl; they play chess until Scott returns; after smoking together, Scott and Cheryl go to a drive-in movie.
  • Kevin eats with Mrs. Pori, reads, and goes to sleep.

• The Assault and Aftermath (27:10–31:43):

  • Kevin is woken by Mrs. Pori, who is panicked:
    • “Theresa wakes me up. She’s screaming in the room… the girl next door is being raped.” — Kevin Herrick (27:10–27:26)
  • Outside: Cheryl is screaming with her baby, Scott returns bleeding, repeats a license plate number.
  • Neighbors band together to call police and help as best they can.

• Arrest

  • Kevin gives his account to the police, but a few hours later, they return and arrest him on the front porch.
  • “They grab me, throw me on the ground, handcuff me… ‘We found your fingerprints on that door… You’re the one who did this.’” — Kevin Herrick (31:13–31:43)

5. Closing: The Stakes and What’s Next

• The host recaps that Kevin was convicted of aggravated battery, burglary, and sexual battery—sentenced to life with no parole.
• Present-day: new evidence might exist that could exonerate Kevin.
• “In our next bonus episode of Bone Valley, we’ll uncover what happened that night and why Nick and Amanda now believe they found evidence. Evidence that could finally prove Kevin Herrick is an innocent man.” — Narrator (34:52)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On their Pact:

  • “We always knew one of us has to get out so the other can get out… if I make it out, I’m not gonna stop knocking on doors until somebody pays attention to Kevin.” — Leo Schofield (06:22)

• On Friendship:

  • “The thing that binds Leo and I together the most… we knew exactly what it feels like to be each other… to sit there hopeless in a cell with life sentence for something you didn’t do.” — Kevin Herrick (12:25)

• On Regret and Motivation:

  • “Sometimes I regret leaving him there… Not the back of my mind, the forefront of my mind. My mostly. Every waking moment I’m trying to figure out, how are we going to get him proven innocent.” — Leo Schofield (08:38–08:51)

• Description of Arrest:

  • “They grab me, throw me on the ground, handcuff me, pick me up. And the cop says, we found your fingerprints on that door, pointing to Scott and Cheryl’s door. You’re the one who did this.” — Kevin Herrick (31:13–31:43)

• On Community and Small Town Justice:

  • “A half truth is a whole lie.” — Unnamed participant, Graves County (21:40)
  • “America, y’all better wake the hell up.” — Unnamed participant, Graves County (22:53)

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Important Timestamps & Segments

• Meet the Investigators & Introduction – 01:55–03:29
• Background on Kevin and Leo’s Friendship – 04:36–07:21
• The Pact and Leo’s Release – 06:22–07:58
• Leo’s Reflections: Regret and Motivation – 07:58–09:52
• Prison Band, “The Watchers,” music sample – 10:17–10:33
• Host’s skepticism, belief in Leo’s innocence – 10:58–11:38
• Kevin’s Story: Life before the crime – 13:11–16:17
• Events leading up to crime – 25:12–27:00
• Night of the Assault, aftermath, Kevin’s version – 27:10–31:43
• The arrest and charges – 31:13–31:43
• Closing: What’s Next, new evidence – 34:52

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Tone and Style

• Intimate, investigative, and empathetic—draws listeners into the perspectives of Kevin and Leo without sensationalism.
• Focused on details, building the emotional case for Kevin’s innocence through testimony, memory, and the human cost of years lost.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode launches a new wrongful conviction investigation by grounding it first in the powerful friendship and loyalty between Leo and Kevin—a loyalty forged by shared injustice and nurtured through 36 years of struggle, music, and hope. The narrative, carefully reconstructed from first-person accounts and the fresh eyes of new investigators, teases the tragic errors of 1989 and the determination to, finally, set Kevin free.

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Next Episode:
Part II promises to examine what evidence Nick and Amanda are uncovering and whether it could finally lead to Kevin’s exoneration after nearly four decades behind bars.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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[Gwen Washington]

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[Kevin Herrick]

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[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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[Gwen Washington]

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[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

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[Gwen Washington]

I'm Gwen Washington, the host of Snap Judgment from kqed. Every week, we don't just tell stories, we drop you inside them. Real people, real voices, real moments that split a life in two. What do you believe? What do you risk?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

What do you want?

[Gwen Washington]

Snap Judgment. New episodes every Thursday, wherever you get your podcast.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

So check this out. That is the house, right? So they run out here, tell me who's in there, which one? So, David, Nick White and Amanda Lewis don't look like academics. If you saw them on the street with their tattoos and their restless energy, you'd probably guess indie music bandmates. Before anything to do with the law.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

This is the direction you run.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

In fact, they're a young married couple working with Georgetown University's Prison and Justice initiative. Amanda as Dr. Amanda Lewis, a lecturer and research associate. Nick in his third year of law school.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

And then look at this little dog not bothering us.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

And they both have a weakness for dogs.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Hello, little dog. Oh, hello?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Hello? Who is this? Oh, hello.

[Kevin Herrick]

Okay, yeah, I'm not gonna just only.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Pet pet this one. Tim, hi. This afternoon I'm here with them in Largo, Florida, as they're doing some boots on the ground investigating on a case from 1989. We're walking around the neighborhood where this crime took place 36 years ago on Florida's Gulf Coast. It's hot as hell out here and we run into a Man walking two little lap dogs. He lives down the block, and he's curious about the microphone I'm holding. What do you guys want? We are reinvestigating a case from 1989. You did? Yeah. Yeah. Did you? Or I'm assuming you would have been way younger. Nick and Amanda waste no time talking to the neighbor, trying to find out more information. What house was it? 4017. It's the Airbnb.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

It's an Airbnb now?

[Gwen Washington]

Yeah, the Airbnb.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Turns out the case that they're investigating isn't just any case or even just any wrongful conviction.

[Gwen Washington]

What, somebody passed away there or something Murdered?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

No, it was a. It was a sexual assault case, and then it was interrupted. Someone was kind of slash stabbed. Everybody was, you know. Okay. But they convicted the neighbor, who we believe had absolutely nothing to do with it.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

That's sad.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

And he's been in prison for 36 years.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

The man in prison is Kevin Herrick. You might remember that name. And if you do, you might know why I'm here. Kevin is Leo Scofield's best friend. They were cellmates for more than two decades at Hardy Correctional Institution.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

So that's what we're doing now.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

That's why we're here. Good luck, detectives. Thank you. The first time I'd heard about Kevin's case, Leo was still in prison. He mentioned it to Kelsey while she was interviewing him.

[Gwen Washington]

Kevin Herrick, who is my best friend, who you know of. Kevin. Yeah, he's another one. Doesn't belong in prison.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

He has done the tape with him in the.

[Gwen Washington]

Yes, yes, yes, exactly. He's working on it.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

At the time, we just knew he was the other guitarist who made music with Leo.

[Gwen Washington]

He's an incredible guy, and we've been best friends for almost the whole time we've been in prison. You know, I'm not. I don't. I don't think Kevin's innocent. I know he's innocent like, I know I'm innocent.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Leo and Kevin met when they were both in their 20s. Soon after, they were. Were both convicted of serious crimes in the late 1980s. In prison, they both came to believe in the other's innocence as fiercely as his own. And their bond was forged in the long years of unjust incarceration. But they also discovered they shared a love of rock and roll and a drive to better themselves through education. Not long after they met, back in the early 1990s, they put in a request to share a cell together, and they studied each other's cases. Too. Talking evidence and strategy late into the night.

[Gwen Washington]

Yeah, listen, you'll.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

You'll.

[Gwen Washington]

You'll drive yourself crazy. His is more insane than mine. Oh, I'm not kidding. He's his. His case is insane.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

They drafted pro se motions for themselves at a time when neither had a lawyer. But the courts gave them nothing. And the decades passed, spent shoulder to shoulder in the darkest places, fighting battles on paper that never seemed to reach the light of day. As they fought side by side to prove their innocence, they developed a pact.

[Gwen Washington]

We always knew one of us has to get out so the other can get out. So, you know, because if I make it out, I'm not gonna stop knocking on doors until somebody pays attention to Kevin. You know, that's just the way that it's gotta be. And I know he would do the same for me because it's right.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Four years after Leo told Kelsey about his pact with Kevin, he learned that freedom might finally be within reach. But as his release drew closer, a haunting question followed him. What if he walked out first, leaving Kevin behind? When Leo was released on parole in April 2024, he made his promise to Kevin unmistakable. He walked out wearing a shirt that read, Kevin is next. I was there. And in his first hours of freedom, he didn't dwell on his own story. Instead, he turned to the fight still ahead for Kevin.

[Gwen Washington]

And, you know, that's the reason why I have the Kevin is next. You know, I'm no different than he is. I'm no better than he is, you know, because his story is the same. And he counts. He counts.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

About six months after Leo's release, I met him once again in Florida, this time in a hotel room overlooking the water. We talked about everything he'd been doing since getting out. He told me about preaching in local churches and public speaking, but he always brought it back to Kevin and the fight to prove his best friend's innocence.

[Gwen Washington]

I will never, ever be happy with him in there. I can't be happy out here. I am very happy for my family, for myself. I'm not saying I want to go back and live in prison. I couldn't do it now. I couldn't go back once you got me here and I started assimilating back into free society. There's no way I can go back to that lifestyle. But it was very difficult to leave it. And sometimes I regret leaving him there. You know, I didn't just leave him in Vietnam. I left him in the heated battlefield. You know, and it's not just he's at bay somewhere you know, he's in the field and it's a never ending war at the forefront of my mind. Not the back of my mind, the forefront of my mind. My mostly. Every waking moment I'm trying to figure out, how are we going to get him proven innocent. The deal is one of us has to get out to get the other out in 92. When we met, I was playing in the rock band back then, that's inside the prison, and he had an interest in playing guitar. So he spent a lot of time watching us in the band and. And I remember him, you know, picking up the guitar one day and just holding it. And I said, you want to learn how to play that thing? And he kind of acted like, ah, you know, I know it's going to take some time. But I told him, I said, it's not as hard as you think if you put something in it. And so I remember putting his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar to form a D chord, one of the first chords you should learn. And he'd have his finger in the wrong place. Not here, fool. And I'd move it and put it there until he could get it right.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

They started playing together in a prison band called the Watchers. Leo and Kevin began writing songs side by side. Songs you might even recognize. Like this one.

[Kevin Herrick]

Do you hear my madness?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Laughter hides my fear Sorrow's depths are.

[Kevin Herrick]

Endless.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

In this valley of tears.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I wanna see your revel.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Bone Valley Kevin is next. Part one I'll be honest. When Leo first told me years ago that his best friend in prison was innocent, I was doubtful. Two men in the same cell, both serving life for crimes they swore they didn't commit. It sounded like the old jailhouse cliche. I carried that skepticism until Leo said something that made me stop and reconsider. In all his decades inside, he could count on one hand the number of men who ever claimed they were truly innocent. And if there's one thing I learned about Leo, it's that when he told me something was true, it was worth looking into. So I emailed Kevin my number and asked him to call me, an inmate.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

At a Florida Department of Corrections institution.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

To accept this call, press 0. To refuse this call. This call is from a corrections facility and is subject to monitoring and recording. Thank you for using Global Tel Link. Hello?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Hey, Kevin. Good, good. I'm sorry I missed you. I was setting up and you called and I was like, oh, boy, I hope he calls back. As I talk to Kevin on the phone, he talks to me about Leo and their friendship.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

GILBERT I've known Leo for 35 years, or 30 since 92, wherever that is, 33 years. When somebody tells you that they're innocent and you're innocent, and it is with Leo, it just automatically connected. And you meet a guy who is actually innocent, like Leo, and then you do anything to try to help them because you know what? You know, the thing that binds Leo and I together the most, I think, is that we knew exactly what it feels like to be each other. I don't know what it's like to lose my wife, but I know what it's like to sit there hopeless in a cell with life sentence for something you didn't do.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

But eventually I ask him about the details of his case, and he gets right into it. He takes me back to the late 1980s, when he was 22. Kevin was living with a girlfriend in Chicago, but the relationship was falling apart, so Kevin returned to Florida, where he grew up, and checked into a hotel.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

You know, money really tight. Figured I needed to find some friends and get back on my feet, get established. So I was flipping through a phone book.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

It's 1989. No Facebook, no Google, no cell phone. Kevin can't afford to keep staying in a hotel, so he looks for someone familiar to reach out to. Flipping through the phone book, he spots a name he recognizes. Pori, the mother of a childhood friend, Pat. Kevin had grown up just down the street from the Pori family. As a kid, Kevin used to have sleepovers with Pat and his brothers.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

You know, all the kids would come over to Pat's house and play when we were younger.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

So he calls the house and Pat answers.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

He happened to be there, picked up the phone. He says, hey, man, how's it going? I said, no, he just came back from Chicago, staying up here.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Kevin tells him he's back in town, and Pat says, I'll be there in 10 minutes to pick you up. Kevin had grown up with Pat but hadn't seen him in years. And the man who pulled up wasn't the one he remembered from childhood.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

The. The best description I can give you of Pat is he was a male stripper. Great shape, very ripped up, six pack, dark black hair, chiseled jaw. You throw on a bandana around his head or something or a headband. And he was a spinning image of Rambo, except extremely shorter and small. When I first seen him, I was like, holy cow, man, look at you. Deep, deeper voice than I remember, but the same path, you know, same Pat I met as a kid.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

The two friends grab lunch and catch up on lost time.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

And he says, why are you staying in a hotel? He says, why don't you come see mom and I got a room, you can stay there.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Pat brings Kevin back to the same triplex where he'd had sleepovers as a kid. A one floor U shaped building with three connected apartments. Pat and his mom, Mrs. Pori, still lived in the biggest of the three apartments at the bottom of the U. Two young couples lived in the other units. Mrs. Pori was the landlord. She owned the whole building.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Yeah, Teresa was at that time a little older, I would guess in her 60s. She was very short, maybe, maybe 5:1. She was typical Italian mother who, you know, she used to beat me and my brother with spatula when we'd be over there playing hyper woman, you know, I mean she, when she'd scream at you, you knew she was, I'll get you, you know, but a, a beautiful heart, just a, a great mom, a neighborhood mom. She was, she was.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

But she'd aged quite a bit since Kevin had last seen her at that.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

When, when we came there, she was on oxygen. She had a severe emphysema. She had like 200ft of hose and, and surprisingly she could get everywhere. She would go everywhere and do everything, you know, and you know how Italians are. You walk in the door and the first thing, have you eaten? Sit down, you're going to get something to eat. So that's kind of how she was, especially with me. So she was very open and very welcoming for me to come stay there and get on there.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Pat and Mrs. Pori invite Kevin to stay in their extra bedroom.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I was in the back bedroom. Pat said, here, you stay here.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

It's July of 1989. Kevin had been at the Poris for a few weeks and he'd wanted to show his gratitude to Mrs. Pory for allowing him to live with them.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I didn't want to just freeload off Teresa, so I'd go day labor, get a little bit of money, buy some cigarettes and food and whatnot, and give her 20 bucks. So it wasn't a mooch, didn't want to be a moch or anything.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

He'd also do chores around the house for Mrs. Pori, like mowing the lawn.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Through, cutting the grass. I came across the other side and I meet Scott Barfield.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Scott Barfield is renting one of the other units of the triplex. He's around the same age as Kevin.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Pat and I, we would be more cut off sleeve T shirt guys. Scott's more of a dress shirt guy. We probably looked a little more rugged than he would.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

As Kevin mows the lawn, he sees Scott working in his yard.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

He's out there working on a little pond that he has out behind his sliding glass doors. A little ditch, not ditch, but a hole he dug. And he's got a turtle pond, you know, go figure. But so we started talking and, you know, one thing leads to another. He says, you smoke pot? Yeah, sure.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

They hang out, smoke some pot. Scott tells Kevin that he lives with his girlfriend and their two and a half month old son. And not long after, Kevin's standing in the courtyard with Teresa Pori when he meets Scott's girlfriend Cheryl.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Teresa and I are standing there. For whatever reason, I'm sure I'm smoking because that's what I'd go outside for. And out comes Cheryl. Blondro comes out of the apartment where Scott lives. So I realized this is, you know, his girlfriend or wife or whatever. But she's got her little, little baby in her arms, you know, and which is automatic magnet for, for Teresa. She sees the baby, oh, you know, runs over. And so I meet her. She was going to check her mail and I was like, you know, she's got the little, little baby bundled up, got the little hat on him or whatever. I said, no, I'll go out there and get it. I go check your mail for you, no problem. So that's what I did. We talked a few minutes and then we went about our business.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

While Kevin is living with the Poris, he often goes out partying at the strip club where Pat's girlfriend works. Other nights were quieter and they'd cross paths with the neighbors. It's the late 1980s. Watching a movie meant driving to the video store, renting a cassette and hoping your VCR didn't eat the tape. One night, Pat and Kevin brought a video rental home but couldn't get it to play. Kevin knocked on Scott and Cheryl's door to ask for a video VCR cleaner instead. Cheryl invited them in to watch the movie at her place.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

And she tells us that Scott's at a bachelor party, going to be gone all night long, and she's home by herself, glad to have company.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Cheryl puts the baby to bed and makes popcorn. They smoke a little weed and watch Cocoon, a movie about elderly people who discover the fountain of youth. It's set in the same Gulf coast area of Florida where Kevin is living with the Poris. After the movie, Pat and Kevin head back to their apartment and go to sleep. The next night, Pat invites Kevin to go out to the strip club. For once, Kevin says no.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

It's kind of ironic that the one night in my life that I didn't want to go party. If I would have went out and partied, I don't see this ever happening to me.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

Hey y', all, it's Maggie. I'm here to tell you about a new show I've been working on for the past two years. It's called Graves county and it's an investigative series about the murder of a young mom in Kentucky and just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame. Here is the trailer for Graves County.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

All I know is what I've been told, and that's a half truth is a whole lie.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Gwen Washington]

I did not know her and I.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Did not kill her or rape or.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Burn or any of that other stuff.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

That y' all said.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

They literally made me say that I took a match and struck and threw it on her. They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

From Lava for good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

America, y' all better wake the hell up.

[Gwen Washington]

Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley. Feed south starting September 17th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

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[Gwen Washington]

You think you know snap judgment. Yes, it's on NPR.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

It's a podcast.

[Gwen Washington]

It's storytelling. But Snap has gone deeper, stranger, wilder. We've taken you places that the New York Times, the Rolling Stones, the Ambies.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

The Webbies, the Gracies all stood up for.

[Gwen Washington]

Welcome to the podcast hall of fame.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Glenn Washington.

[Gwen Washington]

Award winning stories, original beats, soundscapes that drop you into the heart of the story. Find Snap Touch from KQED every Thursday, wherever you get your podcast.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

On the evening of July 14, Kevin decides not to go out partying with Pat. He talked to his girlfriend earlier that day and promised her things would be different. He was going to sober up and get his act together. So while Pat, dressed up looking like Rambo as usual, heads to the strip club, Kevin drops by his neighbor's place.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

So knocked on the door, Cheryl answers. You know, how's it going? Scott home? She said, no, Scott's not here. I said, okay. Well, she said, you can come on in. He'll be home anytime, you know, come on in. So she invited me in. We sit down. I see they have a chess board set up. We ended up playing a couple games of chess.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

When Scott gets home, he's got a couple of friends with him.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

So Scott says, you know, hey, let's, let's smoke. Pulls out a bag of pot, rolls up a couple joints. We all smoke.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

After a while, Cheryl and Scott say they're heading out to a drive in movie with their baby. Everyone leaves and Kevin goes back to his apartment. Pat's still out at the strip club, but Teresa Pori is there, hooked up to her oxygen tank. Kevin makes some hamburger helper and offers Mrs. Pori, a great Italian cook, a plate.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Hamburger helper. And she's like, this is not food.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Kevin watches some television, but he's going to call it a night. It's about 11pm Theresa was sitting in.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

The kitchen, went and told her I'm gonna go. I'm gonna crash. I wouldn't say burnt out from smoking with Scott and Cheryl, but, you know, a few hours later, kind of mellowed out, relaxed. I went in, laid down, grabbed my book the Rest of Our Lives and read for about 20 minutes, and I went to sleep.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

What happens next would change Kevin's life forever. He told this part of the story to Georgetown's Nick White, who visited Kevin in prison.

[Kevin Herrick]

Next thing I know, Theresa wakes me up. She's screaming in the room. Screaming. I don't know how to describe her other than it's just this little Italian woman who is going berserk that the girl next door is being raped. She's shaking me. I wake up, I look at her, I hear what she's saying. I jump up, I pull on my shorts and I run to the front of the pool. And I come out Theresa's door. Cheryl's standing to my right, holding her baby, and she's screaming over and over. When I say screaming, she is screaming. She's not just saying, don't leave me, don't leave me. But she is screaming, don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Kevin says that at this point, it's just him, Mrs. Pori and Cheryl with the baby standing outside in the middle of the night.

[Kevin Herrick]

It's gotta be within a minute. Can't be more than a minute. Two minutes if that. Scott's coming down the walkway towards me.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Scott, his neighbor, who usually looks put together, is running up the sidewalk towards the Triplex. He's frantic, yelling a series of numbers and letters, a license plate he's just seen.

[Kevin Herrick]

He's screaming it over and over and over, and he's. Adam, write it down. He might even be.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Kevin says. That's when the neighbor in the third unit, David, comes outside.

[Kevin Herrick]

Write it down, I tell David, get a piece of paper. He runs back in his door, grabs a piece of paper, comes out, writes down the license plate number.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

David says he'll call the police. Kevin turns to Scott. He's out of breath, his shirt unbuttoned.

[Kevin Herrick]

I'm looking at him. I can see his chest. He's got two puncture marks and he's bleeding. He's breathing hard. His chest is in and out.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Scott tells Kevin what happened, that he'd walked into his apartment and interrupted a man sexually assaulting Cheryl in their bedroom. The man slashed Scott twice with a knife or a scalpel, ran out the door, and Scott chased him down the street. But the assailant escaped over a backyard fence to a parking lot. That's where Scott said he thought he saw the assailant getting into a car. So Scott memorized the plate, then ran back home.

[Kevin Herrick]

He says, man, I chased the guy to a car. The guy got away in the car. This is the license plate number. I said, don't worry. David's got that. He's giving it to the police. I said, you're okay. You're okay. I'm looking at him. He's looking.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Kevin says he told Scott the police were on their way and that he should probably deal with the weed in his apartment.

[Kevin Herrick]

You got your stuff sitting in the living room. You need to go put away your pot. It's got a bong. He's got all kinds of crap. I said, cops are coming. They're gonna come. You don't need to get, you know, busted for. For possession of weed. So he says, yeah, yeah, yeah. He goes in there. Cheryl stays out there. She didn't necessarily go, and she probably went in and out a couple times before, but she stayed there with me and Teresa David standing there. Yes.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

The neighbors stand out front, shaken, unsettled, trying to make sense of what just happened. Then police cars and an ambulance pull up. Kevin says he waved them in, directed them where to go, and then stayed outside with the other neighbors as officers began their investigation.

[Kevin Herrick]

Officer Crosby comes over, asks me who I am, what's my birthday? So Social Security number, and what do I know about what happened? Those are the four things this man asked me. He didn't ask me.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

He tells police he doesn't know what happened, that Mrs. Pori woke him up, and he ran outside to find Cheryl screaming and Scott rushing up the sidewalk with blood on his chest. Scott is taken to the hospital by ambulance. Kevin goes back inside to sit with Mrs. Pori, who is upset by everything that's happened that night. A few hours later, there's a knock.

[Kevin Herrick]

On the door I don't think nothing of. I open the door, there's the cops. They actually say, kevin, can we talk to you? I say, absolutely. I step. Go to step out. They grab me, throw me on the ground, handcuff me, pick me up. And the cop says, we found your fingerprints on that door, pointing to Scott and Cheryl's door. You're the one who did this.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

I'm Glenn Washington, the host.

[Gwen Washington]

Of KQED's Snap Judgment podcast. And it's Snap. We don't just tell stories, we live them. Every week, a different journey, like on.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

A plane with Rihanna.

[Gwen Washington]

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[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Hi.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Two girls.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

That's the best. This one's on a leash. Because if I take her off the.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Leash, she'll be a broken tree somewhere. I can tell. The sun is beginning to set over the Gulf, and we're walking on the sidewalk outside the Triplex. Three decades ago, in this very apartment, Kevin was reading a book called the Rest of Our Lives. A quiet night, turning pages until it ended in chaos. Police bursting in handcuffs. County jail next door. Something had happened in Scott and Cheryl's apartment, something that would change Kevin's life forever. He was convicted of aggravated battery, burglary, and sexual battery. Sentenced to life in prison without parole, where he remains today.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I'll let.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

If y' all want to stay. I don't know. Kevin's on the phone, too, also.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

You're. You're now here with Gilbert.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

And a microphone is shoved up to the speakerphone. Hi, Kevin.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

What's up, Gilbert? How are you, man?

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

I'm doing good, man.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

Unfortunately. I'm thinking they just called count time. They did. I can't believe I've been waiting an hour and a half to get on the phone, man. Just great talking to you guys. Obviously, big weekend, but I'm definitely going to have to go. This sucks. You have one minute remaining. God bless. Bye.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

In our next bonus episode of Bone Valley, we'll uncover what happened that night and why Nick and Amanda now believe they found evidence. Evidence that could finally prove Kevin Herrick is an innocent man. Can small acts make a real impact in the world? Sometimes a small thing has the power to become more something big and meaningful. And when it comes to helping children, no act is too small. When you fill up at the Purple Giving Pump at Shell, a portion of your purchase will be donated to support charities in your community. The Giving Pump Easy to Stop, Easy to donate from 9125 to 1031255 participating Shell stations will donate a minimum of $0.01 per gallon of the fuel pump from the Giving Pump or a minimum donation of $300. Song stans about an obsessed fan who's taking me too literal from Eminem and.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

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[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

Anything like Eminem fans.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

This is the story of a fan base.

[Gilbert (Kevin's friend)]

I had to look in the mirror and be like, am I one of.

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

These crazy Stans that created a culture? I do have an addiction to Eminem.

[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

I travel the world without Eminem, I wouldn't have the life I have right now. What's your first question?

[Maggie Freeling / Cindy Crawford (advertisement voices)]

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[Narrator/Host (possibly Glenn Washington)]

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