Deadly Engagement - Ep. 1: The Telltale SUV

Summary

Dateline Originals – Deadly Engagement

Episode 1: The Telltale SUV (November 13, 2025)

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Overview

The premiere episode of "Deadly Engagement" dives into the tragic murder of Danita Smith, a beloved graduate student just months from starting a bright future. As host Josh Mankiewicz and investigators piece together the hours leading up to her death, themes of love, jealousy, betrayal, and a community in shock emerge. The dark morning at Danita's apartment complex unspools into a chilling whodunit driven by a “telltale” burgundy SUV—a clue that may be the key to solving the case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Crime: Last Moments of Danita Smith

• A promising life cut short:
  • Danita, a 25-year-old overachiever with dreams of a PhD and a recent engagement, leaves her apartment early for a magazine internship.
  • [00:54] “At 25, Danita was as disciplined as a Marine. Maybe because she had a lot on her plate…” – Josh Mankiewicz
• The attack:
  • As she descends the stairs, a shot (“a bullet pierced the back of Danita’s head”) is fired, sending her tumbling ([02:09]).
  • For nearly two hours, her body lies undetected in front of Building 1100 until a student calls 911, thinking she fell ([02:43]).
• Early speculation:
  • Robbery is ruled out (valuables remain on her), suggesting targeted violence ([04:01], [04:29]).

The Investigation Begins

• Lead Detective Sean Pate’s first homicide case:
  • “I came from Special Victims Units. …The only difference is, in Special Victims, usually your victim can talk.” ([06:35])
• Canvassing for witnesses:
  • Few students present due to Christmas break.
  • Conflicting witness reports on gunshots—echoes cause confusion ([07:18]).
• Danita’s background:
  • Highly connected and admired, described as a “rising star” ([08:22]).
  • “Everybody kind of was jealous of her and her relationship…” ([09:11])
• Suspicion focuses on Danita’s roommate and her boyfriend:
  • Roommate seems disconnected, uncomfortable discussing her boyfriend or his relationship with Danita ([10:48]–[11:31]).
  • Police put a tracker on the roommate’s car, acting on a hunch ([11:59]).

The Ripple Effect on Loved Ones

• Danita’s mother, Sharon Smith, recounts the moment she heard the news:
  • “My son called me and said, Mom, Danita fell down the steps at her apartment…” ([14:10])
  • The family rushes to Durham, still hoping for the best ([14:49]–[16:25]).
• Danita’s passion for photography and journalism highlighted by her mother ([16:43]–[17:12]).
• Friends learn the truth:
  • Best friend Edith Kearns receives confusing calls and cannot reach Danita ([18:58], [19:46]).
  • She describes frantic efforts to connect with Danita and fiancé Jermere ([20:13]–[21:02]).
  • At the clubhouse, Edith learns “unfortunately, she’s not alive,” leading to a highly emotional scene ([23:18]–[24:12]).
• Fiancé Jermere Stroud’s reaction:
  • Appears “blank” and subdued, cries when the news is delivered ([24:28]–[26:09]).

A Breakthrough: The Telltale SUV

• Maintenance supervisor Michael Hedgepeth becomes a key witness:
  • Saw a tall Black woman leaving the scene quickly, got in his black truck, and encountered her in a burgundy SUV ([27:22]–[27:44]).
  • The woman in the SUV seemed distraught, wore a greenish uniform shirt with a patch ([28:13]).
• 911 call at 8:18 a.m.—two hours before Danita is found ([29:07]):
  • Call from the maintenance supervisor, reporting a possible gunshot.
  • Patrol car arrives but misses Building 1100, where Danita lay ([29:49]).
• Detective Pate’s frustration:
  • “There had to be thousands of Burgundy SUVs in the Raleigh Durham area. ...We didn’t even have a brand. It could have been anything, any year.” ([30:26], [30:45])

Aftermath and Next Steps

• Early the next morning, fiancé Jermere contacts police; discovers the homicide was by gunshot ([30:50]).
• Police ask, “Do you know anyone that drives a burgundy SUV?”—to which Jermere responds, “Oh my God,” and turns around ([31:46]–[32:03]).

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Memorable Quotes

• “One selfish act destroyed two families.”
  — Detective Sean Pate ([04:13])
• “She was a happy person. Everybody loved her. She loved everybody.”
  — Sharon Smith, Danita’s mother ([16:25])
• “The shame in his eyes … was there for everyone to see.”
  — Detective Sean Pate, foreshadowing later developments ([32:06])
• “Investigators started to get a sense that the roommate's relationship with Danita was off.”
  — Josh Mankiewicz ([10:48])
• “As soon as she rolls down the window he looks and can tell she looks distraught….”
  — Detective Sean Pate ([27:44])

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Important Timestamps

• [00:54] – Introduction to Danita Smith and the last morning of her life.
• [02:09 & 2:43] – The shooting and discovery of Danita.
• [06:10–07:56] – Detective Pate takes over, initial crime scene analysis.
• [08:19–09:11] – Danita’s background as a rising star.
• [10:26–11:43] – Roommate’s account and first hints of tension.
• [14:10–16:43] – Danita’s family grapples with the news and shares memories.
• [19:13–21:09] – Best friend Edith tries to piece together what happened.
• [23:18–25:13] – Friends and fiancé gather at the clubhouse and learn the truth.
• [27:22–29:07] – Maintenance man’s pivotal account of a “tall Black woman” and the burgundy SUV.
• [30:22–30:50] – Realization that the SUV is a critical but elusive clue.
• [31:46–32:03] – Police inquiry about the SUV triggers a significant reaction from Jermere.

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Notable Moments

• Police’s critical miss: The patrol car responds but never checks the building with Danita’s body ([29:49]).
• Roommate’s potential connection: Her evasiveness and connection to a boyfriend are flagged early ([11:31]).
• The emotional gut-punch: The moment family and friends are told confirms the devastating reality ([23:18], [25:13]).

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Episode Tone

Narrated with the classic Dateline blend of suspense, poignancy, and relentless search for truth. The voices of family, friends, and law enforcement are interwoven with deep empathy and an eye for detail, pulling listeners into both the human tragedy and the procedural mystery.

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Listen On

This episode ends with the stage set: a complex web of relationships, a mysterious SUV, and the first major clues in the hunt for Danita’s killer. The investigation continues in future episodes of "Deadly Engagement."

Transcript

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

It was early, too early for most college students, especially during Christmas break. Then again, Danita SM was not one for sleeping in. At 25, Danita was as disciplined as a Marine. Maybe because she had a lot on her plate. As a grad student at North Carolina Central University in Durham, Danita was just months away from finishing her master's degree in English, schoolwork, volunteer work, a magazine internship, and a wedding to plan. Anyway, it was the internship that had her up at that hour. The bosses liked her to be at her desk by 8:15am it was eight minutes after eight when Danita opened her door on the third floor and started down the stairs. Did Danita see someone waiting on the second floor landing? We'll never know. We do know that as she turned to take the last set of 16 steps down to the parking lot.

[Sharon Smith]

A.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Bullet pierced the back of Danita's head and sent her tumbling down the stairs. For nearly two hours, Danita Smith lay in motionless repose on the sidewalk in front of her apartment building, building 1100, completely unnoticed until another student stepped out of his apartment and saw the contents of Danita's pocketbook scattered on the stairs. He dialed 911-DOME-911.

[911 Operator / Caller]

Where's your emergency? I think this girl just fell down the stairs. I just walked down my apartment. She's at the bottom of the stairs, head busted up in blood everywhere. Okay. And is she breathing? I can't tell. I don't want to touch her. Do you want me to touch it? If you can look at her or if you can just observe. Is that the girl? Hello? Okay. She responded to you at all? Oh, she's not even Moving. Okay. All right, just so you know, the ambulance is already on the way. Do you want me to get her ID out? If you can. If you feel comfortable doing that. Her name is Danita Monique Smith. Oh, she moving, man. Okay.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

This is the story of what happened to Danita Smith and the hunt for a killer. It's about love and hate, trust and betrayal. It's about truth and lies and the deadliest of sins, lust, pride, envy and wrath.

[Sharon Smith]

It just shows you that, man, our actions have consequences.

[Detective Sean Pate]

And it may seem as though as.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Hey, you know, we're all grown ups here.

[Sharon Smith]

But stuff happens. And in this situation, some pretty bad stuff happened.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Oh, yes, this is a story about bad stuff, all right. It's about revenge. And the reckoning that eventually comes for anyone with a conscience.

[Detective Sean Pate]

One selfish act destroyed two families.

[Edith Kearns]

I want her remembered for her intelligence, for her beauty, for her class. Someone who just entered your life and made it even more spectacular than before. Just a bright light in this world.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Engagement, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 1 the Telltale SUV. When the EMTs arrived, they rolled Danita Smith's body onto her back and methodically set out to confirm the obvious. Lips blue, no pulse. Her pupils fixed and dilated. Danita Smith was gone. At first glance, it looked as if her death could have been caused by a slip and fall, maybe even a tumble down the stairs during a snatch and grab robbery. Attempt. Robbery, however, seemed an unlikely motive. Her cash and credit cards were still in her wallet, and Danita was still wearing a gold necklace, earrings, and a diamond engagement ring. No, this felt like murder. Those suspicions were confirmed when the forensic team located a small hole about the size of a pencil eraser in the back of Danita's head. It was around 11:45 when a detective in his mid-30s ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and walked up to the sheet covered body on the sidewalk. He looked as if he just stepped onto the set of a TV crime drama. Salt and pepper hair, black leather coat, black shoes and pants, white shirt, gray tie, and a badge.

[Detective Sean Pate]

So by the time we get there, the scene is pretty well established, and we're immediately briefed as far as what injuries and what witnesses, who the caller is, the whole nine yards.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

That's the voice of lead detective Sean Pate. Though Pate had been with the department for 13 years, he was still new to being murder police. This one would be his first homicide case.

[Detective Sean Pate]

I wasn't really nervous because it was the first murder I investigated, but it Wasn't the first crime before that. I came from Special Victims Units. And the only difference is, in Special Victims, usually your victim can talk.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

His first step running the investigation was to look for witnesses. The Campus Crossings apartment complex is about two miles from the NCCU campus. Although a lot of college students live there during the school year, most had not yet returned from their Christmas break. Those who said they'd heard a loud bang that morning had actually seen nothing and had little of value to tell the detective.

[Detective Sean Pate]

One person told me that they remember hearing one shot. A couple people said that it was more than one. It was probably the echo bouncing off.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

The buildings because Danita was killed with one bullet.

[Detective Sean Pate]

One bullet.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

And you didn't find any other slugs anywhere?

[Detective Sean Pate]

No, that's it.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

By early afternoon, the Campus Crossings apartment building where Danita Smith had died was crawling with cops and investigators. Agents from the State Bureau of Investigation helped canvas the complex and the campus, looking for witnesses and also anyone who could tell them something about the murder victim.

[Detective Sean Pate]

After we started asking around, we realized that Danita was getting ready to graduate in a couple of months. She was actually looking to go to possibly Ohio State to get her PhD. We learned that she was actually one of the more popular people on North Carolina Central's campus. And a lot of people in the apartment complex and at North Carolina Central University were really devastated.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

So this wasn't somebody who was going through life unnoticed.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Oh, no. This was a rising star.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

A talented photographer for the campus newspaper, Danita had done a summer fellowship with the New York Times. A gifted writer, she'd volunteered at the campus writing lab mentoring underclassmen. She was an editorial intern at qrs, a fast food industry magazine based in Durham. And on top of that, she'd recently gotten engaged to a man who'd been a couple of years ahead of her at nccu. They'd been dating since her freshman days.

[Detective Sean Pate]

They were like the it couple.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Those first minutes of police work revealed to Detective Pate one clear truth. Danita Smith had a lot of friends in Durham.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Everybody kind of was jealous of her and her relationship, that she had a well educated boyfriend that was fairly successful at his job, and she seemed to be going places. And I guess that that's why she had so many people that she mentored, because they wanted to go in that same direction.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

One woman who heard the commotion that morning stepped outside her apartment and spoke with an officer who happened to be standing nearby.

[Detective Sean Pate]

And she said, that's my roommate. And then the reporting officer said, well, how do you know that's your roommate? And she said, well, one, I'm looking at her. Secondly, that's the purse she carries. She recognized her key ring and all the stuff that were strewn down the steps.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Danita's roommate told investigators she was in bed when Danita left the apartment that morning. She said she remembered hearing the apartment door close, and right after that, a loud bang. The sound was so loud, she said, she rolled over and looked out the window beside her bed. She saw a man in a black truck pull to a stop alongside someone in a burgundy suv.

[Detective Sean Pate]

She doesn't see anything else out of place. And she lays back down after that. And she did glance at the clock and see that it was, I think, 8:18. 8:19. And that's all she knew until she woke up later on and all the commotion was out. Because Danita was not actually found until after 10.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

As the roommate told her story, the investigators started to get a sense that the roommate's relationship with Danita was off. She didn't seem as emotionally connected as others who'd known Danita well. She just didn't speak of her recently murdered roommate with the same tone of admiration. Oh, she talked about herself freely enough. Her family, at her hometown. No problem there. It was when the detective asked the roommate how Danita had gotten on with the roommate's boyfriend. Well, that seemed to be a sensitive subject. And the roommate clammed up, and something.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Just didn't feel right there. I mean, you're telling me about yourself, you're telling me about your mother, but you won't talk to me about your boyfriend. So that kind of drew my attention that day.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Eventually, the roommate did tell the detective her boyfriend and Danita had recently had words over what she didn't remember. So you start looking at the boyfriend.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Looking at the boyfriend and looking at her also.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

What'd you do to do that?

[Detective Sean Pate]

First thing we did is we put a tracker on her car. She wouldn't tell us where her boyfriend was. So during one point in the investigation, we put a tracker on her car.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

It was just a hunch. The kind detectives get when they've got nothing else. No evidence, no witnesses, no suspects. Sometimes it comes on them like an unscratchable itch between the shoulder blades. The detective wondered if perhaps Danita Smith was not as universally loved as he first thought. And Doug, here we have the Limu Imu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Detective Sean Pate]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Danita'S mom, Sharon Smith, was at work that Thursday morning when her phone rang.

[Sharon Smith]

My son called me and said, mom, Danita film down the steps at her apartment. You need to call. Gave me the guy's name. So I did. And he told me. He said, Ms. Smith, Danita fell. She's unconscious, but they're trying to revive her.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

This was somebody who worked at the college. Mm.

[Sharon Smith]

Mm. And so he said, are you coming to Durham? And I'm. I'm still trying to wrap my head around. You fell unconscious, revived. I said, yes, I'm coming.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

How far away is that?

[Sharon Smith]

Two hours.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

So you get in the car.

[Sharon Smith]

Mm. So I went to school. My youngest, she. She was a senior in high school. Picked her up, went home, got my son, and we hit the road going north on 85.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

It's possible the person Sharon spoke with didn't know Danita was already in the next life. It's also possible that person didn't want to be the one to break that kind of news to a mother who was about to get behind the wheel. And Sharon Smith had a lot of people she needed to reach out to. One of the first was Danita's fiance, Jermere Stroud, who was a police officer in Greensboro.

[Sharon Smith]

And I said, jermaine, I need you to get to Durham now. Danita has failed. She's unconsciously trying to revive because I knew from Greensboro to Durham, he would be there before I would. He said, well, I'm getting ready to go to work. No, you're getting ready to go to Durham. I need you to go to Durham. I'm on my way. I'm on the highway. I need you to get there. He said, okay. He said, well, let me call and see what I can find out. And so he did.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

There was a lot for Sharon and her two younger children to think about between phone calls on that long ride to Durham. Each no doubt, said silent prayers while they watched the gray highway roll by, each desperately hoping for Danita's full recovery.

[Sharon Smith]

She was a happy person. Everybody loved her. She loved everybody.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Danita was Sharon's firstborn, and to her mind, the girl had been blessed at birth with both beauty and brains, the drive to excel, and the talent to.

[Sharon Smith]

Succeed as a child. Danita either wanted to take the picture or she wanted to be in the picture. She's always loved the camera. The camera was her friend. The camera was her way of expressing herself, and she would see things that probably the average person wouldn't see.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Whatever it is that makes a good photographer, Danita had it. She had a way of anticipating the telling moment and capturing its essence. It didn't matter if that was a news conference, a sporting event, or a birthday party. Sharon recalled conversations, particularly after Danita's summer fellowship with the New York Times, in which her daughter spoke about having an exciting career in journalism. Now she was within months of getting her master's in English, and lately Danita seemed to be thinking about extending her education. She was talking about getting a PhD. Sharon was about halfway to Durham when her phone rang again. This time it was the NCCU campus police.

[Sharon Smith]

He said, Ms. Smith, where you at? At that time, we were just on this side of Greensboro. He said, okay. He said, well, when you get here, come to the clubhouse, not the apartment. He said, no, come to the clubhouse.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

That's when Sharon Smith pressed the gas pedal a little harder as her car sped toward Durham. She half expected another call from someone telling her to go directly to the hospital where her daughter was being treated. That call never came. It was about 10:15 that morning when Danita's best friend, Edith Kearns, got her first hint of trouble over at the Campus Crossings apartment. It came in a phone call from someone who lived in the apartment directly below Danita Smith.

[Edith Kearns]

And they were like, by any chance, have you spoken to Danita this morning? I said, well, no. I said, but it'll probably be in a little while. You know, she'll call or something on my break and we'll talk like we normally do. And they were saying, it's like something going on out here, like somebody heard some Strange noises early in the morning.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Edith and Danita had been close since their undergrad days at nccu. They had shared an apartment Danita's senior year. And the night before, they talked on the phone, laughing and joking about money, movies, and wedding plans.

[Edith Kearns]

And she was like, well, yeah, we're gonna make an appointment soon to start looking at, like, bridesmaid dresses or, you know, figure out how we're gonna do this.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

As soon as Edith got word there was police activity outside Danita's apartment building that morning, Edith dialed Danita's number.

[Edith Kearns]

I want to make sure she's safe. So I was calling her phone and she wasn't answering, which was, you know, after I call your phone several times as a best friend, you know, somebody's going to call you back. So I was like, that's strange. So my instincts just said, call Jamir really quick just to touch bases with him.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Danita and Jermir were already the it couple on campus when Edith met Danita. And over the years, Edith had come to think of Jermir as a big brother.

[Edith Kearns]

And so I spoke to Jamir, and I'm like, have you made contact with her? But I felt like I didn't get a definite answer.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

What do you mean?

[Edith Kearns]

When I said, did you speak with her? He didn't really give me a yes or a no. He was kind of asking me, are you trying to get in contact with her? And I'm like, yes. I heard there may be some concerns at the complex. So, you know, I just want to check, make sure everything's okay.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

And what'd Jamir say?

[Edith Kearns]

He was like, well, sit tight and give me a little while and I'll try to call you back if I hear anything.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

What Jermir did not say was that he'd already heard from Sharon Smith, Danita's mom. And he also did not mention that at that very moment, he was on the highway headed for Durham.

[Edith Kearns]

He just sounded a little rushed, like, edith, sit tight, stay calm. I'm sure, you know, we'll get to her. So just let me talk to her first. You go back to your work morning and we'll go from there.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Well, Edith was not about to sit tight and wait, not when the well being of her best friend was in question.

[Edith Kearns]

So pretty much my family gets off work and they come get me and they escort me to Campus Crossings.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Like Danita's mom, Sharon, Edith was directed to the Campus crossings clubhouse about 100 yards from Danita's apartment. It was there that some of the most important Important people in Danita's life would learn the brutal, undeniable truth. Hi, it's Eva Longoria. And let's be real.

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

When Edith Kearns entered the large, high ceilinged clubhouse at the Campus Crossings apartment, she saw several people standing around in conversational clusters. Most had grim faces, and a few looked as if they'd been crying.

[Edith Kearns]

I saw my professors from my program when I graduated, and he's like, edith, what are you doing here? And I'm like, I'm here to kind of see what's going on. I'm like, I'm here to check on my friend Danita. Actually, like, I've been calling her. I was like, what are you all doing here? They were like, unfortunately, she's not alive. And everything in me, you know, just went into shock. Of course. I was like, are you sure? I'm like, maybe it's a mistaken identity. This can't be. And they were like, sweetheart, you know, the ID and, you know, just things to identify her by. We're there and nearby and they Said, we're sure.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

For a few minutes, the world stopped turning. All Edith could do was sob and gasp for breath. And then across the room, she caught sight of the one person she thought might need a comforting hug even more than she did.

[Edith Kearns]

The family had not arrived there yet. Jamir was there already.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

How'd Jameer look?

[Edith Kearns]

Like a blank expression. He was calm. I think he was a little concerned about me because I was just in full blown tears by then. And I walked over to him and I'm just like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. And he was just kind of quiet and he was like, you know, it's going to be okay. Calm down. And I'm like, what happened? Where did this come from? I just spoke to her last night and everything sounded fine, seemed fine. And I'm just so sorry. I was like, my heart is breaking right now, and it's breaking for you, too, because this is your future wife. And that was pretty much how that conversation went.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Right around then is when Sharon Smith and the rest of her family walked through the glass doors to the clubhouse and into the worst news of their lives.

[Sharon Smith]

So they took us in a room and I told them, I said, well, is Jameer here? And they said, yes, he's here. They said, well, do you want him in here? I said, yeah, because I didn't know what they was getting ready to say. And so, because I'm thinking, okay, you need to say this so I can get to the hospital. And so Jamere went and got him. And so that's when they explained that Danita was found and she was dead. And at that point, my life just changed completely. Everybody lost it, including Jameer. Jameer already knew once he got there because he's an officer.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Do you remember what Jameer said?

[Sharon Smith]

Japir didn't say anything. Jameer cried. We all cried, but he cried. He didn't really say a whole lot.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Investigators weren't saying much either. Even though a bullet hole had been found in the back of Danita's skull earlier in the day, police did not tell the family they suspected homicide. As far as family and friends gathered at the clubhouse were concerned, Danita Smith's death had been the result of a bad fall. Detective Pate was still thinking about Danita's uncooperative roommate when a veteran sergeant in plain clothes walked up and told him there was someone he needed to interview.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Sergeant Cates told me that Michael Hedgebeth was the maintenance of the supervisor, and he had a description of a person that left the area that day and was near the sound. So obviously I wanted to speak to that person.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective found Michael Hedgepath at the apartment complex office. He told the detective that sometime between 8 and 8:30 that morning he'd been outside smoking a cigarette when he heard a loud bang coming from the direction of Building 600.

[Detective Sean Pate]

When he heard the sound he looked to the left and he saw a Black female, about 5:10, so I mean almost 6ft. Grabs his eyes, a thin building. She was walking very quickly away from the direction of the sound.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Hedgepeth said he got into his black pickup and headed in that direction.

[Detective Sean Pate]

And as he's driving he encounters a female and a black, a burgundy suv. He stops her and he weighs her down. And as soon as she rolls down the window he looks and can tell she looks distraught. So he asks her, did you hear what sounded like a gunshot? She has her hands over her mouth and she's shaking her head up and down indicating yes, this woman looked frightened or I think he said, like she was distraught.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

The SUV's rear windows were tinted, so Hedgepeth said he couldn't tell if the young woman was in the vehicle alone. He did notice she was wearing some kind of greenish colored uniform shirt with a patch on the sleeve that had some red in it.

[Detective Sean Pate]

He says wait right here. So he drives around the building to see if you know if there's anyone down or anything. But he goes in the direction of Building 600. Building 611 hundred aren't as far apart as the numbers would indicate.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Hedgepeth told the detective that as he was circling around the complex in the area where he thought the loud bang had come from, he again encountered the woman driving the burgundy suv.

[Detective Sean Pate]

She's still sitting there with her hands over her face and he says, you know what, just stay right here. I'm going to call the police.

[911 Operator / Caller]

Time. 911, where is your emergency? At campus Cross department.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

This is that call to 91 1. It was placed at 8:18, nearly two hours before Danita Smith's body was found.

[911 Operator / Caller]

From somewhere around here? Yeah, I don't know exactly where is it but you can hear it. How many shots did you hear? About like two. Do you know if anybody's injured or. No, I. Later, the Staso is here too. If he's like upset and shaking and stuff like that.

[Sharon Smith]

So we'll have to not as soon as possible.

[911 Operator / Caller]

All right, thank you.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Within minutes of that call, a Durham Police department squad car had arrived at the Campus Crossings apartments. Although the patrol car cruised around the buildings where the maintenance man said he thought the loud bang had come from. They never drove past Building 1100. If they had, they would have seen Danita's body on the sidewalk. As for that woman in the burgundy suv, well, she had evaporated like the morning dew. What do you make of that?

[Detective Sean Pate]

That's kind of like make the hair in the back of our neck stand up.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

It was a tantalizing tidbit, to be sure. Unfortunately, it was nothing the detective could really follow up. After all, there had to be Thousands of Burgundy SUVs in the Raleigh Durham area. And the maintenance man had failed to get the license plate of the only one that mattered.

[Detective Sean Pate]

We didn't even have a brand. It could have been anything, any year.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Early the next morning, Jermere Stroud checked out of his hotel room and headed home to Greensboro. He hadn't been on the road long. When curiosity got the better of him. Jermeer called the Durham Police Department to ask if they knew the cause of Danita's death. It wasn't long before a supervisor from Homicide came on the phone. Hours earlier, the coroner had made it official. Danita Smith had been killed by a bullet to the brain. The slug was too mangled to determine the kind of gun used. The coroner said it likely came from a.38 caliber handgun fired from at least 2ft away from the back of Danita's head. When that supervisor came on the line, Jermir quickly discovered the cop had more questions than he did, beginning with this one.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Do you know anyone that drives a burgundy suv? And he said, oh, my God. Those were his exact words. He said, oh, my God. I'm turning around now.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Later in this series, the shame in.

[Detective Sean Pate]

His eyes was it was there for everyone to see. Everyone to see.

[Sharon Smith]

I heard a shot not even a minute later. He was running down the stairs, and he was putting the gun down in his waistband.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

You are the suspect in this case, and so I am not sharing information with you. You know, I will get information from you if you want to give it, but I'm not going to give you any information.

[Edith Kearns]

The hardest thing for me is that knowing my child and knowing that no one believes her.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

This podcast is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beacham is the producer. Marshall Hausfeld, Brian Drew, Deb Brown, John Koster and Billy Ray are audio editors. Kimberly Flores Gaynor is associate producer. Adam Gorfayne is co executive producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer from NBC News. Audio. Sound mixing by Rich Cutler Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.

[Detective Sean Pate]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

More time online and more personal info.

[Detective Sean Pate]

In more places that could expose you.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Detective Sean Pate]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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