The Telltale SUV

Summary

Deadly Engagement: "The Telltale SUV"

Podcast: Deadly Engagement (Dateline/NBC News)
Host: Josh Mankiewicz
Episode Date: September 16, 2025
Summary of Episode 1:
Investigating the shocking 2007 murder of Denita Smith, a beloved grad student in Durham, North Carolina, this episode sets the scene for a twisted tale of love, jealousy, betrayal, and a mysterious vehicle that may have held the key to the case.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This first episode introduces listeners to the life and untimely death of Denita Smith. Through interviews with family, friends, and investigators, it reconstructs the hours leading up to her murder, the immediate aftermath, and the beginnings of an investigation mired in confused relationships and red herrings—most notably, a mysterious burgundy SUV.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Denita Smith: Her Life and Promise

[01:03-03:34]

• Denita was a driven, talented grad student at North Carolina Central University, described as "as disciplined as a Marine" and "a rising star" by acquaintances and investigators alike.
• She was balancing school, an internship, and wedding plans with her college sweetheart.
• Notable quote:

  "She was actually one of the more popular people on North Carolina Central's campus... a rising star." (Detective Sean Pate, 08:05 - 08:34)

2. The Crime and Discovery

[02:18–06:19]

• Denita was killed by a single bullet to the back of the head as she descended her apartment stairwell; robbery was quickly ruled out as a motive.
• For nearly two hours, her body was unnoticed, only discovered when another student found her belongings scattered.
• The case immediately drew skepticism over a simple fall, as her valuables were untouched and a small hole was found in her head.

3. Family and Friends in Shock

[13:36–16:37; 18:24–24:46]

• Danita’s mother, Sharon, recounted her shock and confusion after receiving the distressing, incomplete news ("Danita fell down the steps") and the harrowing drive to Durham only to learn of her daughter’s death.
• Best friend Edith Kearns remembered the previous night's joyful conversation about future wedding plans, highlighting how suddenly everything changed.
• Deafening grief and confusion set in for Danita's loved ones as the truth was revealed.
• Notable quote:

  “At that point, my life just changed completely. Everybody lost it, including Jamir. Jamir already knew once he got there because he's an officer... Jameer cried. We all cried, but he cried. He didn't really say a whole lot." (Sharon Smith, 23:51–24:46)

4. The Suspicious Roommate and Fissures in the Narrative

[09:20–12:18]

• Investigators began to sense "something off" with Danita’s roommate, who was oddly disengaged when discussing Danita.
  • The roommate was evasive about her boyfriend’s whereabouts and her relationship with Danita.
• Detectives placed a tracker on the roommate’s car as a precaution.

5. The Witness and The Telltale SUV

[25:20–29:13]

• Maintenance supervisor Michael Hedgepeth reported seeing a tall Black woman hastily leaving the scene and encountering a distraught woman in a burgundy SUV.
  • The witness noted her hands shaking, her distressed appearance, and a distinctive uniform.
• The SUV’s rear windows were tinted, obscuring whether she was alone; the witness failed to identify the vehicle’s make, model, or license plate.
• A call was made to 911 about the mysterious loud bang nearly two hours before Denita’s body was discovered, but attending police failed to find the body at Building 1100.
• The mysterious woman in the SUV vanished, and the clue initially led nowhere.
• Notable moment:

  “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.” (Detective Sean Pate, quoting Jermir Stroud, 30:14-30:30)

6. Early Suspicions and Grieving

[24:46–29:13]

• Even as detectives considered Danita’s roommate and her boyfriend as possible suspects, the discovery of the mysterious vehicle—and eventual mention to Danita’s fiancé, Jermir (a police officer himself)—created a sense of urgency.
• The early days following the murder are marked by confusion, unresolved emotions, and pressure on police to find the killer.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Danita’s Character:

  "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."
  —Edith Kearns, 04:24-04:38

• On the Investigation's Challenges:

  "One selfish act destroyed two families."
  —Detective Sean Pate, 04:21

• On the Witness and The SUV:

  “He saw a Black female, about 5:10, so I mean almost six feet, grabs his eyes, a thin building. She was walking very quickly away from the direction of the sound.”
  —Detective Sean Pate, 25:50–26:06

• On Suspect Leads:

  “That's kind of like make the hair in the back of our neck stand up.”
  —Detective Sean Pate, on the disappearance of the SUV, 28:50

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [01:03–03:56] — Introduction to Denita Smith’s life and character
• [03:56–06:19] — The crime: Discovery, initial crime scene observations
• [08:05–09:09] — Detective Pate establishes Danita’s popularity and promise
• [10:07–11:52] — Roommate's testimony, suspicions arise
• [13:36–17:29] — Sharon Smith (mother) recounts notification and journey to Durham
• [18:24–19:44] — Edith Kearns logs timeline and her suspicions
• [20:17–24:46] — The moment of learning the tragic news
• [25:20–29:13] — Michael Hedgepeth’s account and timeline of the burgundy SUV
• [30:14–30:30] — Police question Jermir Stroud about the SUV

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Tone & Style

The episode balances investigative rigor and deep compassion, with first-person memories, measured narration, and emotionally charged accounts from family and friends. Josh Mankiewicz’s narration is direct, grounding the drama in facts and clear storytelling ("This is the story of what happened to Denita Smith and the hunt for a killer. It's about love and hate. The trust and betrayal. It's about truth and lies and the deadliest of sins, lust, pride, envy and wrath.” —03:34–03:56).

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Recap

This opening episode reconstructs the shock, confusion, and complex web of relationships surrounding Denita Smith’s tragic murder. It introduces essential players—her loving family, faithful friends, suspicious roommates, and alert witnesses—while deeply entangling the listener in the personal devastation and tantalizing enigma of “the telltale SUV.” The stage is set for further revelations about betrayal and the painstaking quest for justice.

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For the next episode:
Expect deeper dives into the relationships shadowing Denita’s life, police pursuit of the mysterious SUV’s owner, and the eventual unraveling of a plot driven by jealousy—and, perhaps, more than one broken heart.

Transcript

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Detective Sean Pate]

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty. Liberty Savings Ferry Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

It was early. Too early for most college students, especially during Christmas break. Then again, Danita Smith 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 (Danita's mother)]

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.

[911 Operator]

Dial 911. Where's your emergency? I take this girl to straight down the stairs. I just walked down my apartment. She's at the bottom of the stairs, head busted up and 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. Hey, baby girl. Hello. Thank you, sir. Okay. She responded to you at all? She's not even moving. Okay. All right. Just so you know, the ambulance is already on the way. Or do you want me to get her ID out? If you can. If you feel comfortable doing that. Her name is Danita Monita Smith. I was here 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. The trust and betrayal. It's about truth and lies and the deadliest of sins, lust, pride, envy and wrath.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

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

[Detective Sean Pate]

And it may seem as though as.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

A, you know, we're all grown ups.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

Here, but stuff happens. And in this situation, some pretty bad stuff happens.

[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 (Danita's best friend)]

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, 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 and 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 lived 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 the native 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 was 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 10am as the roommate told her.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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.

[Detective Sean Pate]

Something 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 her 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. Those 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. On Deck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow, gaps on Deck's loans up to $250,000. Help make it happen fast. Rated A by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five star trust pilot reviews, Ondeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in [e-mail] depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic Bank. Ondeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Danita's mom, Sharon Smith, was at work that Thursday morning when her phone rang.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

My son called me and said, mom, Danita fail down the steps at her apartment. You need to call. She 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 (Danita's mother)]

Mm. And so he said, are you coming to Durham? And 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 (Danita's mother)]

Two hours.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

So you get in the car.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

Mm. So I went to school. My youngest, 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, Jermir Stroud, who was a police officer in Greensboro.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

And I said, jameer, I need you to get to Durham now. Danita has failed. She's unconsciously trying to revive her 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 get 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 (Danita's mother)]

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.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

The.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

The drive to excel, and the talent to succeed.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

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 (Danita's mother)]

He said, Ms. Smith, where you at? At that time, we were just on this side of Greensboro. And 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. 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 Apartments. It came in a phone call from someone who lived in the apartment directly below Danita Smith.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

And they were like, by any chance, have you spoken to Danita this morning? I said, well, no, I said, but it'll probably 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 (Danita's best friend)]

And she's like, well, yeah, we're going to make an appointment soon to start looking at, like, bridesmaid dresses or, you know, figure out how we're going to 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 (Danita's best friend)]

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 called 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 Jamere 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 Jirmier as a big brother.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

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 (Danita's best friend)]

I said, did you speak with her? And 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? 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 did Jeremiah say?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

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 (Danita's best friend)]

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 (Danita's best friend)]

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. Here we have the Limu Emu 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]

Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty. Liberty Savings Ferry Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates Excludes Massachusetts. When Edith Kearns entered the large, high ceilinged clubhouse at the Campus Crossings apartments, 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 (Danita's best friend)]

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 (Danita's best friend)]

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

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

How'd Jameer look?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

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 gonna 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 (Danita's mother)]

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 Jamir, they 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 Jamir. Jamir already knew once he got there because he's an officer. Do you remember what Jameer said Jamir 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 super 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 six feet, 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 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.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

Time.

[911 Operator]

911, where is your Argentine canvas crossing apartment?

[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]

From somewhere around here. You know, I don't know exactly what it's at, but you can hear it. How many shots did you hear? About like, two. Do you know if anybody's injured or. No, I. The young lady that stays over, she heard too. She like, upset and shaking and stuff like that. So we'll have to go out as soon as possible. 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 (Danita's mother)]

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. I will get information from you if you want to give it, but I'm not going to give you any information.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

The hardest thing for me is that.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

Knowing my child and knowing that no.

[Detective Sean Pate]

One believes her.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

What does possibility mean to you?

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

That's a hard question.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Something that you can strive for.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

I'm able to do anything I set my mind to. You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

Stuff that you could achieve.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

I feel it's Sarah Anything is possible when you're more confident.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Shoes are a huge part of that. They are the most important part of my style.

[Edith Kearns (Danita's best friend)]

You can express yourself in the right shoes. Anything is possible.

[Sharon Smith (Danita's mother)]

DSW Countless shoes at bragworthy prices. Imagine the possibilities.