Good Neighbors

Summary

Deadly Engagement – Episode 5: “Good Neighbors”

Podcast: Deadly Engagement (Dateline/NBC News)
Host: Josh Mankiewicz
Date: September 30, 2025

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Overview

This episode delves into the aftermath of Denita Smith’s murder, focusing on the tangled lives of her fiancé, Jermir Stroud, and Shannon Crawley—his former lover and the woman charged with Denita’s murder. As the trial nears, host Josh Mankiewicz unravels a web of suspicion, police intrigue, and bitter accusations involving shifting relationships, contested evidence, and claims of sex and violence. With interviews from family, police, and prosecutors, the episode probes not only the events surrounding Denita Smith’s death but also the secondary drama that nearly derailed the prosecution: Shannon Crawley’s rape accusation against Jermir Stroud.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rape Accusation and its Aftermath

• Shannon’s Allegation (00:36–04:00):

  • On June 20, 2008, Shannon Crawley claimed to be the victim of a brutal four-hour sexual assault by Jermir Stroud, using a knife.
  • Shannon’s family supported her, recalling her pain and trauma immediately after the alleged attack ([02:01–02:21]).
  • A crucial interview moment:
    • Shannon recalls, “Use the knife to penetrate me.” (02:56, Shannon Crawley)

• Medical and Police Follow-Up (08:21–10:24):

  • Initial medical exams found little, but a later, more invasive exam revealed extensive bruising and injuries. Shannon was resistant to these exams, fearing disbelief.
  • Her family’s protective cocoon is portrayed poignantly:
    • “She just cried. That's all she did, just cry...she slept in my bed with her daughter. That made her feel better.” (10:01, Shannon’s mom, Ann)

2. The “Planted” Knife and Neighborhood Watchfulness

• The Neighbors’ Observations (05:12–07:03, 13:20–18:37):
  • Shortly before the alleged assault, neighbors observed a late-model Buick circling the cul-de-sac, a man dropping something in Jermir's trash can.
  • The knife matching Shannon’s story was later found in Stroud’s trash.
  • Jermir’s reaction:
    • “I lift up my trash can...Boom. I look down and I see this big a knife. And I'm like, okay...that’s just odd and weird.” (06:51, Jermir Stroud)
  • Multiple neighbors corroborate seeing someone (not Jermir) drop the knife, but their descriptions varied.

3. The Investigation and Breakdown of the Accusation

• Timeline and Forensic Evidence (13:20–24:03):

  • Police meticulously checked Jermir's alibi: cell tower data, McDonald's receipts, calls placing him in Greensboro, far from Charlotte, at the time of the alleged rape.
  • Detailed conversation with Detective Pam Zencon about the knife and events.
  • Investigators’ frustration with the complexity:
    • “From my end, I'm thinking, this is so ridiculously obvious. I didn't do it…” (19:09, Jermir Stroud)
    • Detective Zencon pushes back:
      • “Nothing’s that ridiculously obvious… Maybe you should go into investigations, okay?” (19:19, Detective Zencon)

• DNA and Medical Report Results (22:40–24:17):

  • The rape kit found no trace of Stroud’s DNA on Shannon, her clothes, or the knife.
  • Durham Prosecutor David Sachs:
    • “There's a little blood on one of the swabs, but nothing...as proof that the rape had occurred...It just wasn't there.” (23:31, David Sachs)
    • “All the medical personnel confirmed...they did not see that kind of injury to her...” (24:06, Sachs)

• Ultimate Conclusion (24:57–25:24):

  • Jermir Stroud was not charged with rape; Shannon was not charged with a false report. The fallout left everyone embittered.

4. Accusations of Police Coverup and “Blue Wall” Allegations

• Shannon and Her Family’s Belief in Conspiracy (27:17–29:44):

  • Shannon continues to insist Jermir attacked her, dismissing the DNA evidence:
    • “He’s a police officer. He made sure that his DNA would not be found.” (28:53, Shannon Crawley)
  • The Crawleys adopt a stance of institutional mistrust:
    • “To the Crawleys, it seemed a clear case of the blue wall. Police officers covering for another police officer.” (29:49, Narrator, Josh Mankiewicz)
  • Shannon's father, a former deputy, acknowledges some officers protect their own, but claims he never did ([30:09]).

• Defense Attorneys Withdraw, Trial Delayed (30:22–31:50):

  • Shannon’s lawyers withdraw, citing an “ethical dilemma” (potentially related to the veracity of her claims); this postpones the murder trial.
  • The Crawleys attribute this to lack of money; others suspect deeper issues.

5. The Unhealed Grief of Denita Smith’s Family

• A Life Cut Short (32:00–33:31):
  • Sharon Smith, Denita's mother, reflects on lost dreams:
    • “She touched a lot of people in the 25 years that she was on this earth... She accomplished more in her 25 years than what some of us do in a lifetime.” (32:30, Sharon Smith)
    • “Unfortunately, I didn’t get to plan her wedding...or even see her go across the stage...for her masters.” (33:13, Sharon Smith)
  • Sharon is described as persistently involved in following up with prosecutors and detectives.

6. The Stakes of the Upcoming Murder Trial

• Prosecutor’s Worries (34:15–36:05):

  • The D.A. (David Sachs) is confident in his case but worried about Jermir’s demeanor on the stand:
    • “You would watch his interview and it just...strike you that he’s hiding something... Sometimes just comes across squirrely. There’s just something not right, you know.” (35:22 and 36:05, Sachs)

• Both Sides Dig In (36:19–36:54):

  • The upcoming trial’s atmosphere:
    • “The whole trial was us saying Shannon Crawley committed this murder and the defendant saying Jermir Stroud did this murder.” (36:20, Sachs)
    • “Tense is a good word for it. I do know that. My belief is that Jameer is going to pay for this one day.” (36:35, Shannon’s family)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Use the knife to penetrate me.” — Shannon Crawley (02:56)
• “I lift up my trash can, the east can. Boom. I look down and I see this big a knife.” — Jermir Stroud (06:51)
• “You can’t arrest people on feelings. You should know that.” — Detective Pam Zencon (21:20)
• “There’s just something not right, you know.” — Prosecutor David Sachs on Jermir Stroud’s demeanor (36:05)
• “[Danita] accomplished more in her 25 years than what some of us do in a lifetime.” — Sharon Smith (32:39)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Shannon describes alleged assault: 02:56
• Knife is found in trash: 06:51
• Neighbors report seeing someone plant the knife: 16:19
• Police discuss frustration with the tangle of accusations: 19:09–21:51
• Lab results clear Stroud: 23:28–24:17
• Shannon insists evidence is faked / blue wall: 27:17–29:49
• Lawyers withdraw citing ‘ethical dilemma’: 30:22
• Sharon Smith mourns her daughter: 32:30–33:13
• Prosecutor voices concern over trial dynamics: 35:22–36:05

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Tone and Style Notes

Josh Mankiewicz’s narration is journalistic, detailed, and empathetic, carefully delving into each character’s psychology while maintaining a sense of unresolved dramatic tension. The episode is a careful investigation into the fragility of trust—trust within families, among neighbors, in justice, and between the accused and accuser.

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Conclusion

“Good Neighbors” highlights the labyrinthine aftermath that follows a tragic crime: intersecting allegations, the unreliability of perception, and how a community’s trust is tested. As the trial approaches, the episode leaves listeners balanced between competing narratives and the deep, lingering grief of the victim’s family.

Transcript

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[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

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[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

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[Detective Pam Zencon]

I'm with the police department and I just want to talk to you about.

[Shannon Crawley]

A few things and it's going to.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Be a long day of trying to straighten this out and get them taken care of you.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

After she was released from the hospital, Shannon's mother and sisters hovered over her like bees on a tulip while out in the hall she likely heard the crawly men folk murmuring softly to one another, making sounds of sympathy and concern.

[Jermir Stroud]

She was really not talking much that night. She was just very sore.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's Shannon's brother in law, Chris Williams. He and his wife Brandy, Shannon's sister, had come down from New Jersey.

[Jermir Stroud]

I think she had some issues with men being around her, so I just stayed back a little bit from Gates for letting me conversation with all the angel.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

With that in mind, through bits and snatches of conversation, the men had gotten a good idea of what Shannon said had happened.

[Jermir Stroud]

I just sort of asked how she felt and how she was doing.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

She had pain, if she needed anything.

[Jermir Stroud]

Those sorts of things.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That is Keith Crawley, Shannon's dad.

[Jermir Stroud]

I'd more or less let her spending time with his sisters and her mom. Just having a woman I think is more important than me being the way.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The story Shannon told was awful enough, but one detail Shannon seemed to recall most vividly was Horrific.

[Shannon Crawley]

Use the knife to penetrate me.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In this episode, you'll hear how the knife Shannon says was used to attack her was found at the home of the man she said raped her. Her former lover, Jermier Stroud, a man who'd been engaged to Danita Smith, the woman Shannon stood accused of murdering 18 months earlier.

[Shannon Crawley]

Both worked for the police department. I was a 911 dispatcher, and he's a police officer. We met there, we dated, we broke up.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

You'll hear how, within days of that knife's discovery, the sexual assault case against Jermir Stroud was suddenly in question. No one wants to be that officer that says, you know what, lady? You're lying.

[Shannon Crawley]

I. I just feel that this injustice is this. This pure injustice.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And you will hear how that knife helped strengthen the prosecution's case. As the date of Shannon Crawley's murder.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

Trial drew ever closer, it seemed obvious not only who was stalking whom, but who was trying to frame Rome at that point.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Engagement, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 5 Good Neighbors. Bluestem Court is a little suburban cul de sac on the north side of Greensboro. It's a quiet street with friendly neighbors and hedges that are almost never allowed to get out of control. In 2008, it was home to Jermier Stroud. Very little of note ever seemed to happen there. And then one steamy Thursday night in June, something did. Thursday is trash day on Bluestem Court. So there were a few empty bins still out by the curb. One of them belonged to jermir. At about 10:30 that night, one of his neighbors, out watering her flowers, heard a car enter the cul de sac.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Yeah, I went all the way to the end of the cul de sac.

[Shannon Crawley]

And did a little loop and came.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Back and stopped at his trash can and threw something else. I just figured that he was throwing out a bottle or something.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A guy who lived next to Stroud was outside transferring some guy stuff to the new car he and his wife had just bought that day. He saw the same thing.

[Jermir Stroud]

I was messing in the car, and I heard a C. And so I got out of the car and kind of peeked around the car. I saw the. The vehicle driving off from J's can. I was thinking to myself, well, you know, maybe they had a McDonald's bag or a drink or something they're just trying to get rid of.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The next day, an attentive neighbor on Bluestem Court might have noticed a Charlotte police car parked in front of Jermere. Stroud's house. And then later, seeing how Jermir's trash can was still in the street, some thoughtful soul dragged it back up the drive and parked it by his back door. Those are the kind of neighbors you want. And Jermier Stroud had them on Bluestem Court.

[Jermir Stroud]

I just assumed that it was just one of my neighbors being nice, putting my trash cans back up my house.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jermere did not give the question of who moved his trash can a second thought, maybe not even a first thought. At least not until Monday, when he happened to take out the garbage.

[Jermir Stroud]

I lift up my trash can, the east can. Boom. I look down and I see this big a knife. And I'm like, okay. And considering all the circumstances unfolded, I'm like, that's just odd and weird.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Odd and weird. Oh, yes. You see, days earlier, Jermir's former lover, Shannon Crawley, had accused him of raping her with a knife. That's not all. Shannon Crawley was at the time, out on bond awaiting trial for the murder of Jir's fiance, Danita Smith.

[Jermir Stroud]

Shannon wasn't diagnosed. In May of 2007, Shannon, she was released from jail, and she issued statements of the police department blaming me for being involved with the murders.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

On Saturday morning, the day after she said she'd been raped, Shannon Crawley said she was feeling a little better, well enough at least to talk a bit about her ordeal. Shannon was still complaining about continued discomfort and bleeding.

[Shannon Crawley]

She stayed on the cash. She wouldn't get in my bed. And we. Shannon's mom, we tried to leave her alone, and she said she was bleeding, and she said it wasn't normal.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The Crawleys thought it possible the medical team that had seen Shannon after the reported rape had missed something. Shannon had not allowed the medical staff to do more invasive diagnostic procedures because she'd said she was in too much pain. Now the Crawleys wanted doctors to take a closer look. It made sense. It was Shannon who resisted, because Shannon.

[Shannon Crawley]

Her concern was that people would think she did this to herself, and no one will believe that she was actually attacked.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In the end, the Crawley family prevailed.

[Shannon Crawley]

So we convinced her finally to go to the hospital, and I told her her sisters would take her.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's Shannon's mom again.

[Shannon Crawley]

They took her to the hospital and texted me and told me that she. That the doctor. The doctor's face didn't look good when she came out of the room.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

According to the Crawley sisters, a second and more thorough examination showed they were right. Shannon's bleeding had been caused by internal injuries that had Gone undetected the day.

[Jermir Stroud]

Before, they did an internal exam and she had a lot of bruising inside and a lot of cuts.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's Shannon's brother in law, Chris Williams.

[Jermir Stroud]

They were going to make a note and add it to, I guess, a previous report of the initial examination.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The Crawleys were not sure what the hospital staff did for Shannon that night other than give her something for the pain.

[Shannon Crawley]

She felt that everything was falling out. Shannon's mom, Ann, she just laid down. She cried, you know, she just. She cried. That's all she did, just cry? No, she was in a lot of pain and. And she just cried a lot, you know, so she slept in my bed with her daughter. That made her feel better. When our daughter's nearer.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In a strange way, that scene might well have reminded the Crawleys of some more innocent times. When Shannon was growing up, Shannon was thumb sucker.

[Shannon Crawley]

She was the. She's the second oldest, but she really is the baby of the family. Easy to cry, very sensitive, stubborn.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The overwhelming thing I think about her.

[Jermir Stroud]

Is just being very sensitive. I started dating. She tried to drop a hat.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

For several days, Shannon rested and recuperated in the comforting cocoon of family, surrounded by people who'd known her all her life, people who loved her, sheltered her, and who believed every word she'd told them about her former lover, Jermir Stroud. Well, that wasn't nearly enough. In the weeks and months to come, she would need to convince total strangers to believe her as well.

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[Shannon Crawley]

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[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

For Jermir Stroud, that knife was absolutely the last straw. For months, he'd heard how his former lover, Shannon Crawley, had been talking smack about him. That was unpleasant, but not unexpected. This was something else. And now Jermir had had enough.

[Jermir Stroud]

I have been accused of murdering my own fiance. And then two weeks after I was supposed to marry the woman that she murdered, she's now accusing me of rape. And I knew I wasn't there.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As he stared at the knife lying at the bottom of his trash can, his mind raced back and forth, switching between memories and scenarios like a teenager with a remote. Three days earlier, cops from Charlotte had come to Jermir's house and questioned him about that alleged rape. And Jermir said he had told them everything on duty till after midnight. Then McDonald's on the phone with a friend, then to bed. All of it checked out. Cops had the McDonald's receipt and phone records, a printout showing his cell hitting a tower in Greensboro right around the time he was allegedly raping Shannon, a hundred miles away. After asking Greensboro police to come collect the knife, Jermir called the Charlotte Police Department. He was put through to the sex Crimes Unit. Detective Pam Zencon was the lead detective on this case. And she picked up.

[Jermir Stroud]

It was a folding blade.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Right.

[Jermir Stroud]

Blade folds in, but it was, it was unfolded to the house.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

What kind of blade was it? Can you describe the blade?

[Jermir Stroud]

It was, I don't know. It was at least like a 4 inch blade, which when I say 4 inch blade, I'm talking at least minimum of 4 inches. Talking about the exposed part of the blade.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Right.

[Jermir Stroud]

And it was kind of like a real fast.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jermere told Detective Zencon he had never seen that knife before. He knew for certain he had not put it there. Jermere says once he saw it, he just shut the lid and started checking with his neighbors.

[Jermir Stroud]

So first thing I did was I called my Neighbor that was most likely would be, you know, guy kind of takes care of mail for my mail and stuff when I'm out of town, all right? I said, you have to put my trash keys up. I made my house shit and I want to leave.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So Jermeer asked his neighbor who lived on the other side, a guy named Brandon.

[Jermir Stroud]

I said, hey, man, put my trash keys up by my house. I said, no, I didn't touch trash cans. He said, but you know what? I did see something weird. I saw a guy, you know, pull. I saw somebody pull up. I saw you see some late night models with Buick come down to the other end of my cul de sac, circle around, pull up to my house, stop, slow down, and somebody got out, put something in my trash can, and drove off.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

I said, what time of night was this?

[Jermir Stroud]

He didn't recall the time directly. And I told him, I said, don't worry about telling it to me. I'll make sure. He called the officers later.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jir says he asked one more neighbor, a woman named Jessica, if she had been the one who moved his trash can. And bingo.

[Jermir Stroud]

She said, I was trashing on the job. I said, okay, thank you. She said, yeah, they were out there, trash days over. So I just figured out, know, get them out the street and pull them up there for you. I said, great. I said, did you happen to leave a knife in there or anything? She goes, oh, gosh, no. A knife? I said, no. She said, no, I didn't leave anything in there. She said, but you know what was weird though? I did see somebody pull up. It was kind of weird. Somebody just kind of pulled up, got out, dropped something in there, and I just thought it was kind of strange that they would do that. And they pulled off.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The neighbors described the person they saw as either a white male or. Or a light skinned black male. The car he drove they described as being greenish gray or possibly blue. A late model vehicle, kind of rounded and bubbly. Jessica said Brandon said it looked like a Buick. JR could not think of anyone he knew who matched that description and who drove a car like that. However, the timing was suspicious. Jessica and Brandon had seen the man drop something into Jermir's empty trash can on Thursday night. That was four or five hours before Shannon had claimed her rapist grabbed her in the backyard of her mother's home in Charlotte.

[Jermir Stroud]

One neighbor, Jessica, who said she saw the white male, number one, any white males that would be involved in there. So she has somebody else working with her. Number two, somebody is providing her with my schedule. Somehow, when she killed my fiance, she knew that I would be home alone in bed by myself. When she called me back in January, she knew I would be home alone in bed by myself. When this knife got dropped, somebody knew that I would be at work. And when this alleged rape thing happened, she knew that I was home alone in bed by myself. You know what I mean? That's not a pattern that an idiot couldn't pick up on. You know what I mean?

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Right.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The detective and Jermir spoke several times over the next few days.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Hi, Jameer. Hey. This is Detective Zencon. Pam Zencon. How you doing? Hey. I got a quick question for you. I spoke to your neighbors. The one thing I do need to ask you just to say I did. When you located the knife in the trash, you lifted the lid, and then what happened? What'd you do?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In those calls, Jermir sometimes vented his frustrations over the slow pace of the investigation.

[Jermir Stroud]

All I can do is think from my end, and from my end, I'm thinking, and I don't know what you all have. From my end, I'm thinking, this is so ridiculously obvious. I didn't do it. Well, you understand what I'm saying?

[Detective Pam Zencon]

You know what? If it was that ridiculous, obvious, then I wouldn't have been working on this case for almost over two weeks, okay? So you know what? Maybe you should go into investigations, okay? Because nothing's that ridiculously obvious, all right? I'm just on the ground.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Jermir told the detective that after all he'd been through, what he most wanted was Shannon Crawley to be arrested for falsely accusing him of rape.

[Jermir Stroud]

One of the worst things you could ever accuse a man of Israel. That's just nasty, okay? And not being prosecuted is good enough for everybody else, but clear, it is what I want.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Cops have a slang term for evidence. Like that knife that seems to conveniently fall from the sky and implicate a suspect. They call it snowflaking. To Jermeer, this felt like a blizzard. It was then that Jermere suggested speaking cop to cop, that Shannon Crawley would likely get away with this slander because he said, everyone knows cops are not in the business of arresting women who say they are rape victims.

[Jermir Stroud]

I understand you all's position as to why y' all can't do that, but I kind of feel like it's a political thing keeping you off from doing that.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That suggestion was a step too far for Detective Zen Khan.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Well, Jameer, let me tell you something right now, I don't Appreciate that. Okay. Law enforcement. Law enforcement. I don't appreciate what you just said to me, okay? I have worked very hard on this case, and I'm still working hard on this case. And if I find fact enough to. To say that it didn't happen, I will do that. Okay? If we can find out that she is lying, then we'll make an arrest. But you just can't decide. You just can't get a feeling or one of those officer senses that someone's lying. How long have you been in the business? You said you've been a cop? Five years. And I've got to explain this to you? No, I'm.

[Jermir Stroud]

No, ma', am, I didn't found one.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

That's your feeling? You can't arrest people on feelings. You should know that.

[Jermir Stroud]

Well, I know that and I'm okay.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Then why are you thinking I need to right now?

[Jermir Stroud]

Ma', am, if you notice. If you notice. I didn't say that. I. I think that one of the things that makes y' all have to be so careful about doing that is you guys have to make sure y' all have a model of evidence, which means if I can have. If I can produce any kind of information that can help y' all come to that determination, I will. Which lets you know that I know that y' all don't have enough to be able to find that fact.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

You know nothing, because I am telling you nothing.

[Jermir Stroud]

Just.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Just like I'm not telling her anything. Okay? You are the suspect in this case, and so I am not sharing information with you. Now, I will get information from you if you want to give it, but I'm not going to give you any information. Okay? And you did make a comment about me not making an arrest for political reasons, and that is incorrect. I am doing my investigation, and you will know the result of that investigation when it's done. I don't appreciate that comment.

[Jermir Stroud]

Well, I apologize for offending you, because my intention was definitely not to offend you.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Well, apology accepted. But just know, because we have done nothing but work on this case and try to figure out what we can do to the fullest. And I'm not whining about how much I've been working on this case because it is my job. Okay? But I can assure you that I have been doing my job.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A few days after that phone call, Detective Zencon got her hands on a critical piece of information. Information she'd been waiting for. The results of the rape kit were in. The one performed after Shannon said Jermir had Raped her repeatedly. The lab reported finding not a trace of Jermere Stroud's DNA. Not on Shannon, not on Shannon's clothes, and not on the knife found in Jermir's trash bin. It is likely an audible sigh of relief was heard miles away in Durham, where the District Attorney had been eagerly waiting to hear whether the key witness in his murder case would be charged with raping the defendant.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

There was no semen on the. The vaginal swabs.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That's Durham County Prosecutor David Sachs.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

There's a little blood on one of the swabs, but nothing that would be conclusive proof that the rape had occurred. She indicated that there should have been Jameer's DNA on her, and it wasn't there. It just wasn't there. They tested her clothes, they tested her the underwear, every. Everything they could, and it just was not there.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And the damage which you would think would be caused by his using a knife.

[Jermir Stroud]

Correct.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That wasn't really there either.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

Clearly not seen. All the medical personnel confirmed for both the Charlotte police and for us that they did not see that kind of injury to her that would have occurred.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Durham County Detective Sean Pate, who had spent hours interviewing Shannon and then later arrested her for the murder of Danita Smith, was not surprised to hear that her latest accusation against Jermir Street Stroud had turned to vapor again. That was with the Charlotte Police Department. I know it took them, if I remember correctly, about 10 days to figure out this never occurred. And which, be honest with you, is very, very fast for a.

[Jermir Stroud]

For a rape.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Because no, no one wants to be that officer that says, you know what, lady, you're lying. No one wants to be that person. I mean, you're supposed to start, you know, start by being.

[Jermir Stroud]

Believing.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

In the end, Jermir was not charged with rape, and Shannon was not charged with filing a false report. However, that was not the end of the finger pointing. Oh, no. Soon the fingers were pointing at police.

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[Shannon Crawley]

Felt like this before. It's like you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous? Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me. I mean, you can't find shoes this good just anywhere. Find a shoe for every you from brands you love, like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As far as Shannon Crawley was concerned, the evidence meant nothing. Not the rape kit results, not the medical reports, none of it. Jermir Stroud, she said, had raped her with a knife. And if the cops couldn't find evidence to support that, well, then that proved what she and her family had long believed. The cops were covering up for Jermir, one of their own. She knew what she knew, and that was that.

[Shannon Crawley]

I believe that after, for whatever reason, they contacted the Durham police, I feel that it was completely inappropriate for them to even involve Durham. It had nothing to do with that case. But when they did, their whole story changed. Every the way they treated me. Everything changed after that. And they made me feel like I made this up. And I know that I didn't.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

I mean, clearly it's got something to do with that case. I mean, it's the. It's the guy that you say is the actual killer.

[Shannon Crawley]

No one changed their position on what happened to me. How they treated me initially is not how they ended up treating me after they talked to the Durham police.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

You think the Durham police sort of, what, convinced them that you're a liar?

[Shannon Crawley]

Yes. Yes, because everything changed after that.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

But why would the rape kit come back inconclusive? Why wouldn't Jermir's DNA be found?

[Shannon Crawley]

I'm sure he did that on purpose. How was he gonna explain why he had attacked me?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

When you say he, you mean Jermir?

[Shannon Crawley]

Yes.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So What? He did what on purpose?

[Shannon Crawley]

He's a police officer. He made sure that his DNA would not be found. But when they found the knife. They found the knife in his trash can. He. He had an excuse for that. Oh, someone must have put it there. He's got a neighbor that says, oh, well, I saw someone drive by and put the knife in his trash can.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Okay, well, his cell phone records put him on the phone at the time that you say this assault was going.

[Shannon Crawley]

On, and I don't believe that he was ever talking to anyone on the phone.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Okay.

[Shannon Crawley]

I know where he was that night.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

As for Shannon's parents, the Crawleys, well, they trusted Shannon, and they believed the fix was in.

[Shannon Crawley]

After they talked to prosecutor.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Yeah.

[Shannon Crawley]

Yeah, he called down there and. And.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And changed her story.

[Shannon Crawley]

Everything changed. Everything changed. Everything changed.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This is what, one big conspiracy sounds like It.

[Shannon Crawley]

It sounds like it, but we got.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

To look at the way it is.

[Detective Pam Zencon]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

So many things that just don't hold together.

[Shannon Crawley]

Yeah.

[Jermir Stroud]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

To the Crawleys, it seemed a clear case of the blue wall. Police officers covering for another police officer. Cop will protect other cops.

[Jermir Stroud]

No, it's what department they're in.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Shannon's father, Keith Crawley senior, was himself once a sheriff's deputy in another state.

[Jermir Stroud]

There are always that few, not many. There's always that few that will cover up. For a copy of the only knowing.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

You were in law enforcement? Yes. You cover up crimes by other officers?

[Jermir Stroud]

No, I never did.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The Crawleys absolutely believe their daughter, but it seems her lawyers may have had their doubts. Six months after Shannon accused Jermir of rape, and just a month before her murder trial was set to begin, Shannon's attorneys withdrew from her case. In their court filing, they cited a, quote, ethical dilemma, unquote, stemming from the bar association's candor toward the tribunal rule. Essentially, that's an ethics rule that says lawyers can't knowingly lie to the court or allow their client or one of their witnesses to present testimony which the attorney knows is false. What was the precise nature of this ethical dilemma? We don't know. We do know the late withdrawal of Shannon's attorneys caused her murder trial to be postponed. The Crawleys did not mention an ethical issue when I spoke with them years later. In their telling, it all boiled down to money. The first attorneys, one in particular, kept.

[Jermir Stroud]

Asking for more and more and more and more money.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And when he realized there wasn't any more to give, that's how he wanted.

[Jermir Stroud]

To back out of the case.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The court ended up appointing Shannon a new attorney.

[Jermir Stroud]

He was appointed by the state after we had already spending all there was to spend.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Two years after her daughter's death, Sharon Smith was emotionally spent. It had taken months for the sharp pain of losing Danita to dissipate into a constant dull throb. It was an ache that never went away. It took longer still for her thoughts to turn from the horror of Danita's death to wistful memories of her short but exceptional life.

[Shannon Crawley]

She touched a lot of people in the 25 years that she was on this earth.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

That is Sharon Smith, Danita's mom.

[Shannon Crawley]

I did not realize it, but she did. And she accomplished more in her 25 years than what some of us do in a lifetime.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

And although the family has marked Danita's birthdays with photos of her posted on social media, Danita has never aged. She is forever 25. There are no new pictures of her celebrating life's achievements, no photos of Danita proudly holding her own children.

[Shannon Crawley]

Unfortunately, I didn't get to plan her wedding or see her come down the aisle or the excitement of her having her children or even see her go across the stage for the second time to get her masters.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Danita was gone, but far from forgotten. In the years since Danita's death, her mother turned her attention to the case being built against Danita's accused killer, frequently calling both the detective who had arrested Shannon Crawley and the prosecutor she hoped would put Shannon away for life.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

Denise's mother was in constant contact with our office and with me personally, Durham.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

County prosecutor David Sachs.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

She would call me up and we would talk, and I would let her know where things stood and what we were doing and what the next steps were and things of that nature. And this took a long time to get to trial. And so there were a lot of conversations with Ms. Smith early on.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

A lot of those discussions centered on Sharon's would be son in law, Jermere Stroud, and Danita's accused killer, Shannon Crawley. Do you ever worry they had the wrong person?

[Shannon Crawley]

Shannon versus Jameer?

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Well, Shannon versus anyone. Anybody.

[Shannon Crawley]

Adverse I did. Adverse I did.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

When Sharon learned Shannon had said it was Jermir who killed Danita, Sharon says she initially believed her.

[Shannon Crawley]

I was very angry. I was very angry because I had gotten to know Jameer, welcomed him in my home. And if he. If he'd have went down. If the evidence supported it. Evidence supported it.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

By January 2010, the prosecutor was ready to take his case against Shannon Crawley to trial. He was confident he had the evidence to get a conviction. What he was not sure about was how his key witness, Jir Stroud, would come off in front of a jury.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

What became very hard was to deal with his mannerisms. I have a very specific memory of sitting down with Denita's mother. And we actually watched together Jameer's videotaped interview because I wanted her to see what I was dealing with. Because you would watch his interview and it just. It would just strike you that he's hiding something or something. And she had the same impression. And she was like, that's not. That's just not the Jimmy here I know.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

It was an odd position to be in. After three years of investigation, the D A was plainly worried that if this approaching day of reckoning became yet another round of he said, she said, the prosecution could still lose.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

Comes across squirrely. Sometimes just comes across squirrely. There's just something not right, you know.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Next time.

[Legal Expert / Prosecutor (David Sachs)]

The whole trial was basically us saying that Shannon Crawley committed this murder and the defendants saying Jamir Stroud did this murder.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

The tone was definitely, you know, somber.

[Shannon Crawley]

Shannon's family here, and, you know, you.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

Got Danita's people on the other side.

[Shannon Crawley]

You know, tense is a good word for it. I do know that. My belief is that Jameer is going to pay for this one day.

[Narrator (Josh Mankiewicz)]

This podcast is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beacham is the producer. Marshall Hausfeld, Brian Drew, Deb Brown, and Billy Ray are audio editors. Kimberly Flores Gaynor is associate producer. Adam Gorfin is co executive producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer. And Liz Cole is senior executive producer. From NBC News, audio sound mixing by Richard Cutler. Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.

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