Homecoming

Summary

---

Deadly Engagement – “Homecoming” (NBC News / Dateline)

Air Date: September 23, 2025
Host/Narrator: Josh Mankiewicz

---

Episode Overview

“Homecoming” dives into the tragic murder of Denita Smith—an ambitious, soon-to-be college graduate and recently-engaged woman—whose life was ended by a single, mysterious gunshot. Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz methodically unwinds the intricate web of relationships, betrayals, and shifting accounts circling Denita’s death. The episode presents new insights from police interviews, family and friends, and, most strikingly, a detailed account from Shannon Crawley—the woman accused of murder. The result is a tense, emotionally charged exploration of love, jealousy, and suspicion.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Secret Affair: Jermier Stroud and Shannon Crawley

• Jermier Stroud, a Greensboro police officer, began a clandestine relationship with Shannon Crawley while dating Denita Smith in Durham. The affair was kept secret from most family and friends.
• Det. Sean Pate reflects:

  “Years ago we had a friendship and a sexual relationship… I had a girlfriend.” (02:27)

• Shannon Crawley recalls:

  “We were teasing her, saying, you know, what is he going to bring us to the house? We're going to meet your boyfriend. And she's like, it’s not even like that.” (02:45)

2. The Murder and Investigation

• Denita’s killing was recognized immediately as a murder, not an accident. Detectives zeroed in on romantic entanglements as motive.
• Josh Mankiewicz:

  “This was an obvious murder. It wasn't just a tragic accident.” (03:29)

• Det. Pate describes his impressionable first homicide case and tracking down Shannon.

  “This was actually my very first homicide, and everything was happening at a thousand miles an hour.” (05:15)

• Shannon’s misleading statements about gun ownership and her whereabouts in Durham increased suspicion.

  “She might have lied about never owning a gun. Maybe she’d also lied about never having been to Durham.” (05:28)

• During arrest, Shannon said to her family:

  “Raise them like they’re your own.” (06:34)

3. Interrogation and Revelations

• Shannon maintained she bought a gun only days before the murder, got nervous about it, and disposed of it at a mall—separating the gun and bullets in different trash cans.
  (09:06-09:29)
• When confronted with cell phone evidence placing her near the crime scene, Shannon had “no response. She simply lowered her head and said nothing.” (09:32)
• Pate pressed her about what happened:

  “Did you do this? She said, you need to worry about where Jamere was.” (09:50)

4. The Love Story: Denita and Jermier

• Through interviews with Denita’s family and friends, a picture emerges of a happy relationship, at least superficially.
• Sharon Smith (Denita’s Mother):

  “Try to find every reason not to like him… I failed because again, like I said, he was very polite, he was very respectful.” (14:17-14:44)

• Friends recalled Denita as being smitten:

  “She was like, he’s so handsome.” (13:57)

• The engagement at NCCU Homecoming was a high point:

  “He had a photographer and did this big, beautiful speech, and he proposed.” (16:21)

• After Denita’s murder, Jermier cried frequently at the family home. Sharon Smith reflects:

  “Now that I think back and look back on that, I know why he was crying.”
  “He knew a secret.” (17:12-17:51)

5. The Aftermath and Recriminations

• Public awareness of Jermier’s affair with Shannon, the accused killer, hit Danita’s circle at the funeral.
• Sharon Smith:

  “[He] rode in the family car with us. He cried the whole time… I felt I had to hold it together.” (20:40)

• Sharon later confronts Jermier, demanding answers:

  “Why Danita wasn’t enough woman for you?” (23:34)

• Jermier expresses shame and sorrow, but, as Sharon says, “That doesn’t bring Danita back.” (23:53)

6. Shannon’s Family’s Perspective & Building a Defense

• Shannon’s family firmly believed her innocence, sharing stories of perceived harassment by Jermier to her defense team.
• Shannon’s Mother:

  “He would call her all the time…constantly.” (25:42)

• Lisa Smith (Shannon’s Supervisor):

  “I even asked her point blank one time, are you afraid of him? … and she said no, no, I’m not afraid of that.” (26:58)

• Shannon claimed she did not know about Denita, nor that Jermier was engaged.

  “Shannon didn’t know Jermir had another woman. Didn’t know he was engaged and wouldn't have been with him if she had known.” (27:56-28:04)

7. Shannon Crawley’s Alternate Version of Events

• Shannon, after being released on bond, gives a detailed account:
  • She claims Jermier forced her, under threat to her children, to accompany him to Durham on the day of Denita’s murder.
  • She describes being outside Denita’s apartment as Jermier goes upstairs, followed by arguing, a gunshot, and Jermier fleeing the scene with her.
  • She insists she tried to alert a maintenance man to trouble by signaling with her eyes, but to no avail.

  “I kept motioning with my eyes toward the back seat in hopes the maintenance man would see Jermir back there.” (35:26)

• After the killing, she claims Jermier orchestrated the return, maintained threats, and left her to go to work as usual.
  (37:01-37:21)
• Her narrative neatly explains most of the physical evidence.

8. Detective’s Perspective – Doubt and Logic

• Det. Pate admits the story was plausible:

  “So when she’s telling this story, I’m thinking, wow, this actually sounds pretty decent so far.” (39:03)

• Yet ultimately he dismisses it:

  “None of it makes any sense. Even if this story...was true, why didn’t you tell it the first day?” (39:17)

• Shannon cites fear for her children as the reason for silence.
  (39:42)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• (04:34) Arrest Night
  Shannon to her family: “Raise them like they're your own.”
• (09:30) On disposing of the weapon:
  Det. Pate (sarcastically): “A model citizen.” / “Absolutely.”
• (17:51) Sharon Smith to Host:
  “He knew a secret.”
• (20:40) Funeral Tension:
  Sharon Smith: “Jameer rode in the family car with us. He cried the whole time.”
• (23:34) Sharon confronting Jermier:
  “Why Danita wasn't enough woman for you?”
• (35:26) Shannon’s attempted signal:
  “I kept motioning with my eyes toward the back seat in hopes the maintenance man would see Jermir.”
• (39:03) Det. Pate’s doubt:
  “Wow, this actually sounds pretty decent so far.”

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:02] – Introduction of Jermier and Shannon’s secret relationship
• [03:27] – Murder revealed and the beginning of multiple perspectives
• [05:15] – Detective Pate on his first homicide investigation
• [06:34] – Shannon’s “Raise them like they’re your own” moment during her arrest
• [11:54] – Denita’s college life and meeting Jermier
• [16:21] – The engagement at homecoming
• [17:12] – Jermier grieving and Sharon’s suspicion
• [20:40] – Tension at Denita’s funeral
• [23:30] – Sharon confronts Jermier about the affair and his feelings
• [25:09] – Shannon’s family recounts fears and harassment
• [29:22] – Shannon provides her timeline and alternate account
• [35:03] – The maintenance man’s crucial encounter
• [39:03] – Detective Pate on Shannon’s proffered story
• [39:42] – Shannon explains her silence out of fear for her children

---

Conclusion & Tone

This episode balances factual investigation with emotional testimony. The tone is somber, tense, and reflective, with moments of raw vulnerability, particularly from Denita’s mother. The storytelling weaves dueling narratives—one of calculated violence and another of helpless complicity—leaving the listener to wrestle with trust, doubt, and the lingering pain of unanswered questions. The accounts are delivered in a direct, conversational style typical of Dateline’s reporting, with careful attribution to keep the story grounded in participants’ authentic voices.

---

Transcript

[Amica Insurance Narrator]

They say if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. At Amica Insurance, we know what matters most to you and we work even harder to protect it together. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amica empathy is our best policy. Call 877-41-America for a free coverage review.

[TV Show Announcer]

The Golden Bachelor is back on Wednesday. This season our leading man is 66 year old Mel Owens, father of two and former NFL star looking for his second chance at love. And the women are in a league of their own. Ranging in age from 59 to 77, these fearless women are hoping to make a connection with Mel and prove that you're never too old to fall in love. The Golden Bachelor Season premiere Wednesday at 8, 7 Central on ABC and stream next day on Hulu.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

He'd had his eye on her for a while, ever since the day during academy when she'd helped new recruits like him learn the 10 codes and the 911 communications protocol. He definitely liked the sound of her voice on the radio. He'd liked her looks, all the guys did. He liked the graceful way she moved, like a long stemmed lily in a gentle breeze. He had not hit on her. No, back then he was just a boot, a fresh faced rookie recruit looking to make the Greensboro force. Besides, he already had a girlfriend back in Durham. Her name was Danita. Well, that was then. Now he was a veteran of the force, a guardian of the city, and at 24, handsome as all get out in his crisp blue uniform. So it was that on a beautiful spring day in 2004, Jermier Stroud asked Shannon Crawley for her phone number. It was the first step on the proverbial slippery slope, the start of a series of lies and half truths. All of it a long, sad tale Jermir would later tell many times about her.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Years ago we had a friendship and a sexual relationship I had a girlfriend.

[Interviewer/Host]

With 19 years later.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Now here's the thing about undercover lovers. Close friends, even family members must be kept at a distance.

[Shannon Crawley]

We were teasing her, saying, you know, what is he going to, what is going to bring us to the house? We're going to meet your boyfriend. And she's like, it's not even like that. So he never came to any family functions or anything.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

All info had to remain on a need to know basis. And most people did not need to know.

[Interviewer/Host]

I just remember her saying, my friend Jameer. But she never talked about him as a boyfriend. No, never.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Often those Kinds of affairs fade quite quietly with no one the wiser. Sometimes, if the drama becomes too intense, the passion's too hot, well, that's when secret lovers can become as public as the headlines on the front page.

[Shannon Crawley]

She knew what he was capable of.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

This was an obvious murder. It wasn't just a tragic accident.

[Interviewer/Host]

It was a murder.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

In this episode, you'll hear Shannon Crawley's version of what really happened in Durham on the day Danita Smith was murdered.

[Shannon Crawley]

And not even a minute later, he was running down the stairs, putting the gun down in his waistband.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

You'll also hear from those who thought Jermier Stroud was a threat to others.

[Lisa Smith (Shannon's Supervisor)]

I even asked her point blank one time, are you afraid of him? Are you afraid he's going to do something to you?

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

And you'll hear from the detective who, after interviewing Jermier Stroud multiple times, still was not completely convinced he had nothing to do with his fiance's death.

[Detective Sean Pate]

I didn't know him well enough to know if there was the eyes watering. I don't know how good of an actor he is.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Engagement, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 3 Homecoming it was late on a Tuesday night when cars carrying Detective Pate and a small contingent of U.S. marshals and police officers from both Durham and Greensboro rolled to a stop in front of Shannon Crawley's sister's home. The marshals had been tracking Shannon's movements for days. They knew exactly where she could be found once a judge signed a warrant for her arrest. As the detectives sat in the warm police car that frigid night, he likely felt as though he could finally exhale.

[Detective Sean Pate]

This was actually my very first homicide, and everything was happening at a thousand miles an hour. We're having to go 45 minutes to an hour from Durham to Greensboro. We had to get the marshals involved. I mean, it was. It was a lot going on.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

The detective had learned quite a bit since his chat with Shannon Crawley. First off, she might have lied about never owning a gun. Maybe she'd also lied about never having been to Durham. One point in her favor, though. The Campus Crossings maintenance man had not picked Shannon out of a photo array, meaning he could not identify her as the woman he talked with minutes after the murder. That did not keep Detective Pate from putting the arrest in motion.

[Detective Sean Pate]

I'm not in my jurisdiction. It's the marshals and Greensboro Police Department knocking on the door. There were some words exchanged. I guess they came to an agreement. And Shannon comes out. She comes out they cuff her. She walks out the door as though she's going to check the mail. There's no. No sad look or anything like that.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Frosty breaths rose into the night sky as the marshals handcuffed Shannon's hands behind her back.

[Detective Sean Pate]

She gets cuffed. She gets to the end of the driveway, and before she gets in the car, she looks at her family and says, raise them like they're your own. She gets in the car and we go to Durham.

[Interviewer/Host]

Raise them like they're your own.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Raise them like they're your own.

[Interviewer/Host]

Well, those are the words of a woman who does not expect to be raising her own children.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Exactly.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

On the ride back to Durham, Pate sat in the backseat with Shannon while two supervisors sat up front. Because state law required the reading of rights to be recorded, the detective kept the conversation light.

[Detective Sean Pate]

I remember even from commenting on it because of her height. I said, have you ever played any basketball and you're a Carolina Duke fan, or which one do you like? And she was Carolina and made a couple jokes and laughing and smiled and it was fine. We get back to headquarters, we put her in an interview and we uncuff her. We ask her if she wants anything to eat or drink or whatever. She gets read her rights. As I'm reading her rights, everything's fine. She's looking at me. Not. Not a whole lot of concern being expressed. The minute we start talking about the actual offense. You could see something like Showtime. Like she just got into a different mode.

[Interviewer/Host]

So more animated.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Not more animated, I'd say dialed in. Like I could tell that we're going to have wordplay.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

She did not ask for an attorney. And so for more than an hour, detective and suspect went round and round, mostly covering old ground. Her relationship with Jermir, the pregnancy, the abortion, and the bitter taste that would.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Not go away after the breakup. She says that Jameer was overbearing, intimidating, always carried a gun with him. She's come home from work sometimes and Jamero had been in her house. Something had been moved or he'd be waiting around back. Or basically he was stalking her is what she was saying.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

At times, the detective must have felt as if he were conducting two different interrogations simultaneously. One regarding a domestic stalking complaint in which Shannon Crawley was a potential victim. The other a homicide investigation in which Shannon Crawley was a cold blooded murderer.

[Interviewer/Host]

When you say to Shannon, what about that gun? Why'd you say to us, you don't own a gun, you don't like guns, when in fact you just bought a.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Gun her response was that I only owned it about two days. It made me nervous. I didn't like it in the house with my kids, so I got rid of it. I asked her where she got rid of it. She said she got rid of it at the Four Seasons Mall in Greensboro. She took the gun, unloaded it, threw it in one trash can, and she took the bullets and threw it into another one because she didn't want to be so irresponsible as to throw them in the same dumpster.

[Interviewer/Host]

A model citizen.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Absolutely.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

And when that same citizen was asked about cell phone evidence that put her in Durham near Danita Smith's apartment the day before the murder, Shannon had no response. She simply lowered her head and said nothing.

[Detective Sean Pate]

She just kept stating that I need to worry less about her and worry about more where Jameer was. Where was Jamir when this happened? I asked her. I said, did you do this? She said, you need to worry about where Jamere was. That's what you need to worry about. Where was he when this happened?

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

As he sat there with Shannon Crawley on the night of her arrest, the detective had the feeling there was something she wasn't saying.

[Detective Sean Pate]

I don't think she knew where things were gonna land, whether Jameer was gonna be on her side or against her. So I think it was a little too early to start pointing a finger. But she did ask me, where was Jameer that day.

[Amica Insurance Narrator]

They say, if you wanna go fast, go alone. But if you wanna go far, go together. At Amica Insurance, we know what matter, and we work even harder to protect it. Together. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amica empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Imagine a scene straight from a university brochure. A crisp fall day. Woolly clouds, clear blue sky. A flawless day for college football. It's homecoming weekend at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. Everywhere are signs of joyful reunion. Alumni who haven't seen each other in years are squealing with delight. Parents are hugging kids they haven't seen since. Move in Day. It was on a day like that 2000, that Sharon Smith visited her daughter Danita, a freshman at nccu.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

We went to homecoming because she played in the band, so we wanted to see her perform.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Danita played the saxophone and looked splendid in her band uniform. And after a quick hug, one can imagine her turning to the tuba player beside her and saying something like, this is Jermir, the guy I told you about. Sharon had been anticipating that moment.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

I knew that I would get to meet him.

[Interviewer/Host]

And I'm guessing you're looking him up and down like taking his measure.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

And he gave a very good presentation, very polite, very respectful.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Though Sharon was not exactly wild about the idea of Danita having a serious boyfriend at college, she had to admit Danita and Jermir made a handsome couple. Months later, though, when the relationship was still going strong, Sharon says she tried in her own motherly way to cool things down.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Deneen and I had a conversation and I said to her, why don't you date other people? If it's meant to be, it'll be. And she told me, no, I don't want to do that. I'm happy with him. We're getting along fine.

[Shannon Crawley]

So I said, okay.

[Interviewer/Host]

What was so great about him?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

I don't really know. She never really said he would make her laugh a lot, but other than that, I don't know.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Edith Kearns knew the two had roomed together during Danita's senior year. Edith says Danita was quite simply head over heels for Jermir.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

He was already an officer at the time in Greensboro. They had been dating for a few years, and Danita spoke very highly of him.

[Interviewer/Host]

What'd she say?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

He's a gentleman, he's intelligent, he's active, involved, well rounded.

[Shannon Crawley]

He's kind.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

He respects me, he protects me. He's loving that sort of thing.

[Interviewer/Host]

The perfect guy.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

The perfect guy. The perfect guy. She was like, he's so handsome.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

By the time Danita graduated in 2004, Sharon Smith says she'd come to accept the inevitable. Her daughter was likely going to marry Jermier Stroud.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Try to find every reason not to like him because, well, you know, as a parent, we want our children to have the right person. I wanted him to prove himself to me, that you are worthy of my daughter. I knew what he would be getting, but I didn't know what she would be getting. So I tried to find every reason to not like him.

[Interviewer/Host]

How'd you do?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

I failed because again, like I said, he was very polite, he was very respectful.

[Interviewer/Host]

And you're thinking, damn right. Couldn't you be ruder or say some four letter words?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Exactly. You know, he carried on conversation, and then that turned from trying not to like him to start to like him.

[Interviewer/Host]

He won you over, right?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

And I seen how happy Danita was. And that's what was most important, is that she was happy. If she was happy, she was okay with him. Okay.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Jermir told Sharon he Did not expect to be a cop all his life. Maybe after Danita was out of school and established in a career, he thought he'd like to become a lawyer.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

I thought, good. That he wanted to have a good life. He wanted to give her a good life.

[Interviewer/Host]

And you thought, okay.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Okay. And he loved her.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Fast Forward now to November 2006, another homecoming weekend at NCCU. On this one, the reunited alumni still serves squeal with delight. And the new crop of freshmen are still proudly welcoming their parents to campus. What's different this year is Jermir Stroud standing close to his longtime sweetie, Danita Smith. He drops to one knee.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

He had a photographer and did this big, beautiful speech, and he proposed.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That's Danita's friend Edith again, if memory serves correctly.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I think he had two engagement shirts made for them as well. Up at the moment, down on his knee.

[Interviewer/Host]

Aw, you mean with the photo on it?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

Yeah, with the photo on it. Like he had a. Yeah, a T shirt done.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Mm.

[Interviewer/Host]

Romantic.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

Yes. She was ecstatic. She was like, finally.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Those were the happy memories, the ones eclipsed months later by the pain of Danita's murder. Now the days were filled with. With the rituals of loss. Attending to funeral plans, organizing travel, the logistics of grief. Danita's funeral was set for January 11, 2007, a week to the day after her murder.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Jamir came to Charlotte two times during that week before the funeral. And both times, he was crying very bad, very hard. And again, I wasn't crying. And I started thinking, there's something wrong with me. But I had to be the strength. I had to get through this. I had to make plans for my baby's funeral. And now that I think back and look back on that, I know why he was crying.

[Interviewer/Host]

Because he knew a secret.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

He knew a secret.

[Interviewer/Host]

He knew you were eventually going to find out.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

News of Danita's death and the hunt for her killer were widely reported in the local press. For those closest to Danita, those reports were little more than background noise.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I received a phone call from someone at church telling me they had a.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Young lady in custody, Edith Kearns, again.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

And then I did, you know, see things on the news.

[Interviewer/Host]

That was when you first heard the name Shannon Crawley?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

Absolutely. I had no idea who this woman was.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon Crawley had been arrested late on Tuesday night. By Thursday, the day of Danita's funeral, it was clear to anyone who'd been watching the news that Jermir Stroud was the link connecting Shannon and Danita.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

The morning of Danita's funeral. Before the funeral, I got a phone call at my house from Jameer's father. He said to me, Ms. Smith, the young lady that they took into custody was a friend of Jamere.

[Interviewer/Host]

A friend?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

A friend. That's how he said a friend. He didn't say what kind of friend. He just said, a friend. I said, okay, and do you have any questions? So I informed him, no, not right now, because I'm getting ready to celebrate my baby's homegoing service. But I'm sure after that I will have some questions. He said, okay. He said, well, we'll be down in a couple hours.

[Shannon Crawley]

I said, okay.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Jermir's parents, who were driving down to Charlotte from Greensboro for the funeral, had already heard Jermir's version of the story. No one on Danita's side of the relationship had. Danita's friend Edith was one of the few who made the effort and called Jermir.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

It was a very brief conversation. To be honest. He did not stay on the phone long.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

But what did he say?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I was just talking about the coverage and, you know, trying to connect the dots of, you know, what happened and who this person was. He was just like, give it some time to calm down and let the truth come out. Pretty much. I mean, it wasn't much to the conversation. And then he had to get off.

[Interviewer/Host]

The phone, let the truth come out. So Jermir's telling you what? Don't believe everything you read.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I suppose that's what he was saying.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

By the time Jermier Stroud and his parents arrived in Charlotte for Danita's funeral service, most of those present knew, or at least believed he had likely cheated on Danita with the woman suspected of killing her. For Jamere Stroud, it was the most agonizing public outing imaginable.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Jameer rode in the family car with us. He cried the whole time. I was in shock, and I felt I had to hold it together or my family for my son and my daughter. So we went to the funeral.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

How do you do that?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

How do you hold it together? Yeah, by the grace of God. God was there with me the whole time. He's my strength. And of course, I had family, I had friends. But all the honor go to him, to God.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

There were no words of recrimination said in that car. That was not the time. And when Jameer entered the church, well, there were likely some looks cast in his direction that would have frozen a baked potato.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

Jameer was sad and he was crying, and he appeared. Clearly he was devastated.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Edith Kearns.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I think reality was starting to sink in and that it hit him that the love of his life was no longer with us. I think, you know, when you walk around to the casket and everything, it becomes very final. It was very difficult to see her body laying there.

[Interviewer/Host]

You already knew that the person accused of Dania's murder was Jermir's other girlfriend. Must have made it hard to speak to Jermir at the funeral.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

We didn't have much contact that day.

[Interviewer/Host]

Because you didn't want to.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

My thoughts in my head was more in grief by that point. I was just thinking more about getting through the day and speaking there was.

[Interviewer/Host]

Were you angry at him?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's Friend)]

I wasn't happy. But my focus was more on getting through the day and being there to support Danita's family.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

After the funeral, Sharon Smith went home and spent the rest of the day mourning the daughter who'd been taken from her and the world. The next day, she called Jermir. It was not a condolence call.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

And I said, we need to talk. And I said, but I can't do it right now because you were too angry. He said, okay. I said, well, rest assure, I'm going to call you. So I had to get myself together mentally, physically, and spiritually to be able to take on that conversation. And of course, there's nothing that he could say be the words I want to hear. But I needed him to say something.

[Interviewer/Host]

Well, I'm guessing Jermir said to you, I had nothing to do with this. I never saw this coming. And I'm terribly sorry. And I'm ashamed of myself. I got that about right.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

Mm.

[Interviewer/Host]

And I'm guessing that didn't do it for you.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

No. Because I asked him to tell me when he met Shannon and why. Why Danita wasn't enough woman for you. Why? You know, you knew what Danita was all about. You knew where Danita was going.

[Interviewer/Host]

He have an answer?

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

He just said that he did love Danita. He was ashamed of what he did. He was sorry. That doesn't bring Danita back. I kept talking to him and talking to him, but the answers wasn't changing.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

No. On that day, in that conversation with his dead fiance's mother, Jermier Stroud admitted to little that was not already known. Months later, Shannon Crawley would come forward with a more detailed account of what she said really happened on the day Danita Smith was murdered.

[Amica Insurance Narrator]

They say, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. At Amica Insurance, we know what matters most to you, and we work even harder to protect it. Together, as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amica. Empathy is our best policy. Call 877-41-America and get a quote today.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

In the weeks after Shannon Crawley's arrest, her family set about the task of assembling a defense team to A1. Her family was convinced Shannon was no murderer, and they told their new lawyers everything they knew about Jermier Stroud. One incident from March 2006 stood out. A family had gathered in New York for a funeral. By then, Shannon had told them she had recently broken up with Stroud.

[Shannon Crawley]

She didn't want to see him anymore.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

But he was insistent.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That's Shannon's mother, Ann.

[Shannon Crawley]

He would call her all the time. You know, at my mother in law's funeral, he called her constantly.

[Interviewer/Host]

These calls kept coming in over and over and over and over again. It would always be him.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

And that's Shannon's father, Keith Crawley Senior.

[Interviewer/Host]

He would threaten her. He'd ask her questions, what are you doing up there? And just. He got to the point where she didn't want to answer the phone.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Because the relationship had largely been kept under wraps, there were few independent voices to back up Shannon's allegations. But here is one of them.

[Lisa Smith (Shannon's Supervisor)]

I knew that she had gotten pregnant, and so she ended up having an abortion. And he was upset about things. And that's where all the problems started.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That is Lisa Smith, one of Shannon's supervisors at the 911 Communications Center. Smith told police she had seen Jermir hanging out at the 911 center when Shannon was working. She'd heard Shannon complain about his frequent phone calls.

[Lisa Smith (Shannon's Supervisor)]

I even asked her point blank one time, are you afraid of him? Are you afraid he's going to do something to you? And she said, no, no, I'm not afraid of that.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

No. Shannon did not tell Lisa. She feared Jermere not then. Those comments to investigators came later. After Danita Smith's murder. It was in phone calls and visits with her family in the county lockup that Shannon made chilling accusations about Jermaine Stroud's behavior toward her. Threatening behavior, she says began after their breakup.

[Interviewer/Host]

He would. Would appear in the neighborhood, just sit there in his car and watch the house. So, yeah, follow her to work.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon told her folks she had no idea Jmeer had another girlfriend in Durham during the time she was seeing him in Grand Greensboro.

[Interviewer/Host]

So to be clear, Shannon didn't know Jermir had another woman. Didn't know he was engaged and wouldn't have been with him if she had known.

[Shannon Crawley]

Exactly.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

In May 2007, Shannon's defense team asked the court to release Shannon from jail on a bond of $175,000. Weeks after the court approved her release, Detective Pate received a phone call from one of Shannon's lawyers. Shannon, he said, had something she wanted to tell the detective.

[Detective Sean Pate]

At this point, we had turned over all discovery against her.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That's Detective Pate.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Generally, this is what they call a proffer. You have time to look at the evidence against you, and you can either come tell the truth or you could get a story that answers every piece of evidence against you.

[Interviewer/Host]

And that's what you did, and that's what we got.

[Detective Sean Pate]

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be and may be used against you is of the ends of court. Do you understand each of these rights as I've explained?

[Shannon Crawley]

Yes.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Having these rights in mind, can you know which to answer questions?

[Shannon Crawley]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

With her lawyers seated beside her in the small police interview room, Shannon Crawley began telling a story that neatly accounted for new nearly all of the known facts. Shannon began by talking about the day before Danita's killing.

[Shannon Crawley]

January 3rd. I woke up maybe 6:15. I was preparing breakfast and my daughter wanted a juice that we didn't have in the house. We went to the store.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon told the detective that when she returned from the store, she went upstairs to her bedroom, where she found Jermir Stroud waiting for her.

[Shannon Crawley]

Jermair was in the bedroom, coming from the bathroom into the bedroom. I started to ask him what he was doing. He put his hand up to his mouth and told me to be quiet and lifted his shirt, showing his gun. I continued to ask him what he was doing there, why he was there, what the problem was, and he said he wanted to talk.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

The the topic, Shannon said, was their relationship. What went wrong? The usual, though. Shannon says she asked Jermir to leave, he insisted she take a ride with him.

[Shannon Crawley]

I asked him where we're going, and he said, I just need you to go with me. I told him I couldn't because I didn't have a babysitter for the kids and I couldn't leave them alone. He continued to insist I go with him. I realized that he wasn't going to give up and I needed to go with them.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That Wednesday happened to be Shannon's day off. So after telling her kids, ages 10 and 8, that she had to run out for a bit and leaving a number for them to call in an emergency. Shannon says she went to the garage where Jermir was waiting.

[Shannon Crawley]

We left the house and he drove my car. We got on 85 and headed towards dark. I did not know where we were going at the time. We stopped in an apartment complex. He said he would be right back. He took the keys and my phone. He went upstairs. He was gone maybe five, five to seven minutes. He came back down. I asked him what happened, where we were while we were there. He wouldn't answer me. We then drove to office. Start of some. Some sort. He circled through just one time and then we left. We got back on 85 and we headed towards Greensboro, I believe. I called my children on the trip back to check on them. They were fine.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon told the detective. J never told her why he wanted her on that little jaunt or what it was he'd hoped to accomplish. She just chalked it up to Jermere being Jermir. Then later that night, close to midnight, Shannon said Jermir returned to her house.

[Shannon Crawley]

Junior knocked on my front door. I went to the door, opened the door and he was standing there and said again he wanted to talk to me. I told him I didn't want to talk to him. He then stepped inside. I backed up. He was all invited in, but he just walking forward. He started yelling, telling me that he wanted to talk and didn't understand why I was refusing to talk to him. I was worried at that point that my children would hear him. So I did invite him upstairs to my bedroom so we could talk. So if the kids wouldn't hear, we talked all in. Neither one of us went to sleep.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

According to Shannon, it was more hours of the same old thing, A tedious rehash of their bad romance. Periods of calm interspersed with angry outbursts.

[Shannon Crawley]

And I would try and calm him down. He would get upset and just continue to ask him what the problem was, why. Why he was so upset, why he wanted to talk. Never really gave him his drill answer, just angry. About five in the morning or so, he said that he again wanted me to go with him. And I told him I couldn't, that I had to work that day. And he argued with me and said, no, you don't have to work. And I said, yes, I do.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon said that argument lasted several minutes. Then she said Jermir made her an offer she couldn't refuse.

[Shannon Crawley]

He said, I'll make it real simple. Either your children die or you die for your children. You knew at that point it wasn't a question.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

So Shannon Said she called work and told them her son had a doctor's appointment that morning.

[Interviewer/Host]

Morning.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

And that she'd be late. After telling the kids she had to run out for a bit and giving them an emergency number, Shannon says she and Jermir hit the road again heading back to Durham.

[Shannon Crawley]

We got on 85 again, drove to the same complex, parked the car. He got out, took my keys and my cell phone. He went up the stairs. I sat there. A few more minutes passed and I heard him arguing, him yelling at someone. Then I heard a woman arguing back. I got out of the car, started up the sidewalk to the breezeway and already gunshot. I stopped. I looked around. It echoed. Seconds later he was running out past me from the breezeway. I never saw him go down the stairs. That he came through the breeze flight towards me and was shoving the gun down in his waist. I asked him what had happened and he yelled at me to get in the car. He got in the driver's seat. I started to get in the back seat and the door was locked and I told him I can't get in the door, it's locked.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Rather than simply unlocking the door, Shannon said Jermir crawled over the console into the back seat of her SUV and told her to drive. Shannon said she was just pulling out when she was stopped by a man driving a black pickup.

[Shannon Crawley]

I stopped at the black truck and the man asked me if I was alright. I said shook my head no. He said did you hear a gunshot? I said yes. He said where does it sound like it was coming from? And I pointed to the building it just come from. And he said well it sounded like he was coming from over this way and he pointed in another direction. I didn't say anything. When he said that he again asked seagogs all right? I shook my head no.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

According to Shannon, Jermir was crouched in the back the whole time she was talking and kicking the back of her seat to get her to shut up. Shannon says she kept motioning with her eyes toward the back seat in hopes the maintenance man would see Jermir back there. But as we later learned, he couldn't see into the back at all.

[Shannon Crawley]

Like I'm looking at him and he would ask me something. I'm trying to glance the backseat but still trying to look at him, getting him to realize that he was in the back seat. He asked me several times if I was all right and every time I said no. He asked me if I had the number for canvas police and I said I didn't Live there. And he said, okay, calm down. I'm going to go and see what happened.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon said she encountered the black pickup truck a second time as she was trying to find her way out of the complex. And once again, she stopped.

[Shannon Crawley]

Jameer's asking, whispering, you know, what's going on? Why'd you stop? We need to leave. We need to leave. I didn't say anything back to him. I just kept watching the guy in the truck. Then he drove away. Jameer sat up and said, we need to leave. Go that way, indicating to make a left out of the complex. I went out of the complex, that back on 85, and came back towards Greensboro.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

It was an hour's drive, plenty of time for Jermir to explain what exactly had happened at the apartment complex that morning. But Shannon told the detective, Jermir explained nothing.

[Shannon Crawley]

I'd ask him what happened. My problem was what happened. I was crying. He was yelling at me. When we got back to Greensboro, we went to his house. He took the keys, went inside. He came out a few minutes later, went back to my house, walked me in the garage. He asked me where I was going. I said, I have to go to work. You know, I have to go to work.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon said she changed into her work uniform and went to her job, where she clocked in at about 10. At 11:15, she said, Jermir called the 911 setter and asked for her.

[Shannon Crawley]

One of the girls I worked with answered the phone. No one was on the line. I asked her who it was, and she said, I don't know. That guy that always calls for you. I walked over to her and had her play the phone call back. I recognized his voice asking for me.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

The story Shannon Crawley had just recounted was hair raising. In her version, Jermir was furious Shannon had broken up with him. That anger apparently made him not just unstable, but violent.

[Shannon Crawley]

He's threatened me on numerous, numerous agents. He knows I'm afraid of him. He knows what to say.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

And so she said, Jermir Stroud killed Danita. Then, in an act of revenge against Shannon for rejecting him, he framed her for Danita. His murder. When it was over, Detective Sean Pate was impressed. Shannon had run back and forth across the state's case and touched all the bases. She had explained why her phone hit cell towers near Danita's apartment the day before the murder. She'd explained why her car had been spotted at the scene of the crime by the maintenance man. She put the gun in Jer Stroud's hand, and she had explained why gunshot residue was found on her car's steering wheel.

[Detective Sean Pate]

So when she's telling this story, I'm thinking, wow, this actually sounds pretty decent so far.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Did anything Shannon said in that three.

[Interviewer/Host]

Hour interview make you think maybe we were wrong about your mirror?

[Detective Sean Pate]

She did put a doubt in my mind about Jamira again. But then I went back and I just said it, and none of it makes any sense. Even if this story you were telling was. Was true, why didn't you tell it the first day?

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

Shannon's response was that she had feared Jermir might harm her kids or her family if he learned she was cooperating with police.

[Shannon Crawley]

Again, my children were my main concern. I was not going to say anything or do anything until they were safe.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

That might have seemed a reasonable concern, except for one thing. Shannon's children were living with her. And as for Jermier Stroud, well, it would only be a matter of time before he knew Shannon was talking to police. What would happen then it.

[Shannon Crawley]

Next time she's hysterical and I'm like, what's, you know, what's the matter? And, and, and she's, she's telling. She said, jamir, he was here. You know, he hurt me.

[Detective Sean Pate]

You know how police work goes.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

You understand that we have to follow up on.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's Mother)]

On everything. Anything you want to add?

[Detective Sean Pate]

Recent blatantly over. I mean, I just want to be left alone.

[Josh Mankiewicz (Dateline Narrator)]

This podcast is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beacham is the producer. Marshall Housefeld, Brian Drew and Deb Brown 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.

[Amica Insurance Narrator]

They say if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. At Amica Insurance, we know what matters most to you, and we work even harder to protect it. Together, as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amica empathy is our best policy. Call 877-41-America for a free coverage review.