Episode 279

Summary

Sword and Scale - Episode 279 Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 15, 2024
Title: [Assumed to be relevant to the incident discussed]

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Introduction

Sword and Scale Episode 279 transports listeners to Wichita Falls, Texas, recounting a tragic school shooting that occurred on September 2, 2016. This episode meticulously explores the horrifying events, the community's response, the subsequent investigation, and the legal aftermath, weaving together witness testimonies, police investigations, and courtroom drama to present a comprehensive narrative of the incident.

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The Tragic Event: Shooting at McNeil Middle School

On an ordinary September afternoon, the tranquility of McNeil Middle School was shattered. As the school bell rang, releasing a flood of children into the streets, thirteen-year-old Mikayla Smith and her friends Mikayla Londovazo, Elijah, Hope, and Crystal began their walk home ([04:00]). The neighborhood, characterized by closely-knit single-family homes and common alleyways, set the stage for the impending tragedy.

Witness Account:

[05:41] Mikayla Smith: "I met Kyra first. It was in front of the school in Rennell and Alani didn't walk home that day..."

As the group neared an alley a mere block from the school, a gray, goldish Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up unexpectedly. Sospechoso, Cody Lott, a 20-year-old with a troubled past, emerged from the vehicle. Without warning, he opened fire, targeting Lauren Londovazo, a fellow student and close friend of Mikayla ([07:44]).

Host Commentary:

[08:28] Host: "Just as Lauren waved bye to her friends and turned to walk away, a vehicle pulled up abruptly."

Immediate Chaos and Witness Reactions

The sudden gunfire incited immediate panic. Some children froze in terror, while others fled for safety. Garrett, a young boy waiting to cross the street, recognized the danger due to his father's law enforcement background and quickly sought help ([09:40]).

Witness Account:

[09:07] Witness: "There was like a fence covering every other girl except her."

Michaela Smith, another student, was also wounded but managed to call 911, reporting the shooting while holding her chest ([10:28]).

Community Response and First Responders

As chaos unfolded, community members like John Lewis, a navy and army veteran, sprang into action. Hearing the gunshots from his backyard, John leaped into action, using his military training to assess the situation. Despite arriving too late to save Lauren, he provided crucial assistance to Michaela ([12:50], [16:10]).

John Lewis's Testimony:

[12:50] John Lewis: "I instantly dropped the cups and I knew the kids were getting out of school... I jumped over the fence and hit the ground so hard that my flip flops came off my feet."

Sarah Cervantes, another witness, arrived at the scene to help but was overwhelmed by the severity of the situation, ultimately making the first 911 call ([20:21]-[21:25]).

Investigation and Identification of Cody Lott

Police swiftly began their investigation, focusing on the description provided by Michaela. Cody Lott emerged as a suspect due to his physical description and his prior history, including an armed standoff and a diagnosis of bipolar and paranoid schizophrenia ([35:24], [44:01]).

Host Explains:

[35:24] "The shooter was a young white male with shaggy brown hair, acne, and a big nose, driving a gold-colored SUV, most likely a Chevrolet Tahoe or a black Dodge truck."

Despite Cody's initial denials, evidence such as a spent .22 shell casing found in his vehicle linked him to the shooting ([45:11]-[48:18]). Further pressures from law enforcement and inconsistencies in his story eventually led to his confession.

Trial and Conviction

The trial, commencing two years post-incident, saw Cody Lott facing multiple charges, including murder, aggravated assault, and possession of child pornography. His defense attempted to argue insanity, but the court found sufficient evidence of premeditation and intent ([60:13]-[62:56]).

Host's Observation:

[58:09] "Cody wasn't charged with capital murder, which meant the death penalty was off the table."

Sentencing and Aftermath

Cody Lott was sentenced to:

• 20 years for aggravated assault on Michaela.
• 10 years for each count of child pornography.
• Life in prison for the murder of Lauren.

Despite the severe sentence, Cody remains eligible for parole on September 3, 2046—a date symbolically set one day after the third anniversary of Lauren's death ([60:50]-[62:56]).

Legislative Response: Lauren's Law

In response to the tragedy, community leaders and officials advocated for stricter legal measures to protect children. Governor Abbott signed Lauren's Law, raising the age requirement for capital murder charges from 10 to 15 years old, ensuring that future offenders committed against minors could face harsher penalties ([62:56]-[63:26]).

Witness Statement:

[63:26] "There are going to be future victims that are children. This is for them."

Conclusion

Episode 279 of Sword and Scale not only recounts a tragic event but also highlights the ripple effects such incidents have on communities, legal systems, and legislation. The episode underscores themes of justice, accountability, and the enduring impact of violence on both victims and society.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Host ([00:42]): "Somebody that beautiful, that loving mankind wanted to be taken away. There's something wrong."

• John Lewis ([12:50]): "I instantly dropped the cups and I knew the kids were getting out of school."

• Cody Lott ([50:49]): "I was like, man, I'm the son of the devil. This was deep, man. This was spiritual."

• Witness Michaela Smith ([34:04]): "I got hit in the middle of my chest and I couldn't breathe."

• Host ([58:02]): "He wasn't charged with capital murder, which meant the death penalty was off the table."

• Witness ([35:24]): "A young white male with shaggy brown hair, acne, and a big nose, driving a gold colored SUV."

Key Insights and Discussions

1. Mental Health and Crime: The episode delves into Cody Lott's diagnosed mental illnesses, exploring how they may have influenced his actions and the legal implications of such diagnoses in criminal cases.

2. Community Resilience: The collective response of Wichita Falls' residents, from immediate first responders to legislative actions, showcases the community's resilience and determination to seek justice.

3. Legal Reforms: The enactment of Lauren's Law highlights the role of public demand in shaping legal frameworks, aiming to provide better protection for minors in future incidents.

4. Impact on Victims and Families: Through emotional testimonies, the episode emphasizes the profound and lasting impact of violent crimes on victims, their families, and the broader community.

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Sword and Scale Episode 279 serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of safety within communities and the ongoing struggle to balance justice with compassion in the face of tragedy. Through detailed storytelling and firsthand accounts, the episode provides listeners with a deep and engaging understanding of the incident and its far-reaching consequences.

Transcript

[Host]

Getting help for mental health shouldn't be.

[Guest]

As hard as it is.

[Host]

Thankfully, Mindful Therapy Group is here to make your mental health journey as painless as possible. Be seen in as little as 48 hours for in person or telehealth appointments. Mindful partners with thousands of licensed clinicians to find the perfect fit for you. Whether you need talk therapy, psychological testing, even medication management, Mindful has you covered. Mindful Therapy Group also accepts insurance so you can focus on you and not your wallet. Visit mindfultherapygroup.com to get started today. Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

[Guest]

Somebody that beautiful, that loving mankind wanted to be taken away. There's something wrong. I already knew the world was best. If you don't understand that or realize that you're not paying attention to being that.

[Host]

They say you build it and they will come. I don't know who said that. It's probably in a movie or something. Anyway, we built it about nine months ago. It's called Sword and Scale Television. There's nine episodes available right now and there's many, many more coming next year. We made it for true crime fans like you because we're true crime fans as well. So we wanted to make a TV show for the fans, by the fans, in a way that leaves out all the cheesiness of Hollywood, all bad actors, put it that way, and gives you just a solid true crime story. Right now it's once a month and I know we said we were gonna do two a month, but that's just on me. That's my fault.

[Guest]

I've.

[Host]

I've been crashing, I've been unable to keep pace and unfortunately there's only one of me and I can only do so many things. Unfortunately, when you get to a certain size, you spend most of your time running a business being a CEO rather than a podcaster. It's just the way it is. When you get to a certain size, you just have to hire people and you have to manage people and you have to manage people that manage people and so on and so forth. And then you become a CEO. And it sucks because I don't want to be a CEO, but there we are. We all do things we don't want to do in life. Anyway, what I was really trying to say is just go watch it. You know, you could try it and if you don't like it, it you can unsubscribe at any time. It's really easy. You don't need to contact support or anything, you just do it on your phone. So if you like true crime, the place to find it is swordandscale.com.

[Guest]

It'S.

[Host]

Usually a lesson you learn when you're young. Anything worth having is worth the effort to get it. You have to work hard to achieve the things you want in life. It won't just be handed to you. And this lesson is mostly true. Sure, there are people out there who never learn this lesson and everything is handed to them. But if you see one of these people come face to face with opposition, watch out. Anger and chaos will ensue. You see, the lesson isn't really about working hard. You can work hard and still fail. The lesson is really about learning the fact that sometimes you just can't have what you want. I know, I know, I know it's hard. It's hard to come to terms with such a reality. But it's true. So the quicker you accept it, the better off everyone will be. Because what happens is that with this eventual realization, though certain entitled few revert to the mentality of children. And children rarely act rationally or logically. Instead, they act out without regard for the calamity that they will cause. September 2, 2016 was a day like any other. By 3pm it was 84 degrees and cloudy in Wichita Falls, Texas on the south side of town. The school bell rings at McNeil Middle School and a flood of children pour into the sidewalk streets and alleyways. One such kid, 13 year old 8th grader Mikayla Smith, looks for her friends before starting her walk home.

[Witness]

I met Kyra first. It was in front of the school in Rennell and Alani didn't walk home that day. So we walked across the big field that we had and when we saw. I saw Lauren over there and I called her name to see if it was her and we met up with her. We caught up with her while she was walking.

[Host]

Many kids walked home in this city of around 100,000 people. This was the first year sixth grade was offered at McNeil and the neighborhood streets were filled with children more than normal. Mikayla caught up with her friend Lauren Londovazo to lament over the first few weeks of school.

[Witness]

We were talking about school and how like we don't have any classes to get to. That may be sad that you had classes before. Yeah, but I would see her in the hallways and stuff when you say hi to each other in passing.

[Host]

The neighborhood surrounding McNeil Middle School was full of single family homes very close together. There were sidewalks, but many kids chose to take the alley that separated backyards as their route home.

[Witness]

And we stopped, like, near the dumpsters. Okay. And Lauren, she started walking ahead of us so she could go meet up with her boyfriend, Calvin. So she was right. About 10 o'clock.

[Host]

A mere block from school, the girls stopped to part ways.

[Witness]

We told her bye, and she waved.

[Narrator]

And she was about to groove on.

[Host]

The next street over. A boy named Garrett had just made it to the intersection when a car flew by.

[Witness]

It was a gray goldish Tahoe.

[Host]

He was on the sidewalk waiting to cross the street when he saw the Tahoe stop in front of the alley. From his perspective, he only saw one person. Lauren.

[Guest]

Well, I was on the corner, like.

[Witness]

Where the concrete was. And then I could only stop right there. I was only right there. Okay, at the end.

[Host]

This is an alleyway, right?

[Witness]

There was like a fence covering every other girl except her.

[Host]

Just as Lauren waved bye to her friends and turned to walk away, a vehicle pulled up abruptly. Further down the alley were three other students. Elijah, Hope, and Crystal.

[Guest]

Well, at one point, we were walking.

[Narrator]

Lauren was at, like, Trinidad.

[Guest]

And then the car pulled up and stopped.

[Witness]

We just stood there because we thought Lauren and Raquel would get picked up.

[Host]

It wasn't uncommon for kids to get picked up on their route home, but something about this vehicle seemed strange. Garrett, on the next street over, noticed the window on the Tahoe was down. Then he noticed something else.

[Witness]

And then did you see anything unusual come out of that. That window that was down on the driver's side door closed on. Okay.

[Host]

Elijah, Hope, and Crystal saw the gun, too, but didn't immediately recognize the danger.

[Witness]

At first I thought it was a paintball gun or a BB gun because teenagers like to play pranks and all that.

[Host]

Then they heard the sound.

[Witness]

When I think back to it, it's all silent. I just thought there were firecrackers. We didn't really think anything of it at first.

[Host]

Garrett, the little boy on the street corner, recognized the sound immediately. His father was a cop.

[Witness]

I heard some about four, five, six, or seven gunshots. Did you see what happened to Lauren? She fell down all the room.

[Host]

Suddenly, Elijah, Hope, and Crystal knew this was no prank.

[Witness]

So we didn't think any of it until Lauren fell and Mikayla ran.

[Host]

Chaos erupted in the alley and the surrounding streets as the Tahoe sped away. Some kids froze while others ran for their lives. Elijah, Hope, and Crystal ducked into Hope's backyard, but the back door to her house was locked. Garrett took off running and started banging on his neighbor's doors, frantically to find help.

[Witness]

So dude, were you knocking on the door trying to get help? Yes. Were you scared?

[Guest]

Yes, I was.

[Witness]

Had you ever seen anything like that before? Never.

[Host]

After the sound of gunshots stopped Elijah, Hope, and Crystal slowly ventured back into the alley.

[Guest]

Well, we went back outside into the alley to see what had happened. And we had. We saw Lauren on the ground where she had fallen. And we also saw Michaela. She looked like she was out with her phone trying to dial a number.

[Witness]

I asked her if she was okay and she said no. And like we had something, we saw the blood and so then it was like, call 911.

[Guest]

Like we were asking what was going on and we asked if it was like a real gun or what. She said yes. And she was on the. Trying to. She was having to hold her hand over where she had been shot. And so at that point then I, like, I kind of got over the shock of it and I was more frightened at that point. And so I pulled out my phone and I called my dad.

[Witness]

What did you do next? I looked back towards the other side of the alley, towards the apartments, and I thought I saw that car, but I wasn't sure. So I told Hope to get in her backyard and I ran past everything to the front of Hope's house to go get her mom to unlock the back door.

[Host]

In the aftermath, the kids were at a loss for what to do. Most called their parents, but Crystal risked herself to keep her friends safe. She had to run past her fallen classmate.

[Witness]

I just really didn't want to look at her cuz I was scared. Once her mother answered the door, what did you do? I hugged her and I cried a little bit. And then I told her Hope was in the backyard.

[Host]

Nearby, navy and army veteran John Lewis heard the shots from his backyard and sprang into action.

[Guest]

I was actually in my backyard on my patio and I was prepping for my daughter's 13th birthday party.

[Host]

His backyard was just on the other side of a privacy fence from the alley. Luckily, his daughter hadn't taken the alley that day.

[Guest]

Normally she walks down the alley, but she didn't on that day.

[Witness]

How'd she get combat?

[Guest]

She actually went down Kingston. She just bought her a bicycle and she didn't want to pop the tire. So she didn't drive down the alley because it was glass. So she took Kingston street and rode her bike down that way.

[Host]

He was about to head inside when he heard the shots as I went.

[Guest]

To open the door. Gunshots. Like I told the police, low caliber semi automatic, kind of a weapon. Was fired in. All military training I ever had kind of kicked in. The first one wasn't. It was shot. And then a second later maybe is when they all just let loose. They all got fired off in rapid succession. It was fast. It was real fast. Three to five seconds, maybe all of them.

[Host]

Maybe his military training kicked in. He even recognized the sound of the gunshots and was able to identify the caliber as a.22.

[Guest]

A.22 has kind of a short crack sound to it. The nine millimeter has. It's a little heavier and a little more chunkier of a sound.

[Host]

Knowing this was when kids started to get out of school, he was worried for the other children in the community.

[Guest]

I instantly dropped the cups and I knew the kids were getting out of school. I knew the direction which was the shots were coming from was the alley. I dropped the cups and I instantly ran to. I have a six foot privacy fence and I jumped over my six foot. I climbed up and jumped over my six foot five fence. Up over the fence. I hit the ground so hard that my flip flops came off my feet. And I didn't realize that until after the police had arrived.

[Host]

This man in the face of danger sprang into action, jumping his fence and landing in the alley so hard it blew his flip flops. With this experience in battle, both in the navy and the army, it didn't matter that he was barefoot in the alley. He looked for anyone that was hurt.

[Guest]

I saw Lauren. Well, I didn't know her name at the time. I thought I just saw a young girl laying there and I ran to her. As I ran to her after jumping the fence, I ran to her. I kind of got like a tunnel vision. When I did. When I ran, I didn't know. I didn't look at no cars. Everything was just kind of not there. I ran there. I didn't know if there was another shooter. I didn't know. I just knew there was kids. I saw a little girl laying there and when I approached Lauren, when I got to Lauren, the military train kicked in. Or I was supposed to, you know, assess the situation, see what's going on. Another active shooter. Are there other people wounded? Check the person that you come up on. And I noticed that I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nurse, I'm not an RN or anything. But my training, I know when someone's gone, there are signs. You look for one is their blood, like a massive amount of blood. So the heart stops. It's not gonna push blood around. I didn't see Much of any on her, the way she was laying, fibrocar lose her wrist was in a pinched position where anybody was conscious or was alive, they wouldn't want her to be in that kind of position.

[Host]

He wasn't a doctor or a nurse, but he could tell Lauren wasn't with us any longer. When he looked into her eyes, he was sure.

[Guest]

When I approached Lauren, I noticed it was hard.

[Witness]

I don't understand. Take your time.

[Guest]

I noticed that in what we refer to in the army when I was at the infantry as the death flames or the death stare. The feeling of the entrance, like when I got there, it just kind of felt like going into a bubble. A bubble. And it felt just like death. I didn't hear nothing, really. It was a flat feeling where, you know, something just died or something just happened.

[Host]

It was too late for Lauren, but John could still help Mikayla.

[Guest]

I heard a child off my left. So come down from the alley saying, another child was shot. And I looked up and that's when I saw Michaela. She was standing there, and I ran to her and I laid her down.

[Host]

By this time, John's daughter had arrived to witness the chaos.

[Guest]

When I laid her down, my daughter was there. And I yelled at her, give me something to pull your holes with. And so my daughter ran to the house, and it felt so fast. And I looked at Lauren or Michaela and I said, you're a champ. You're gonna be able to. You're gonna be fine. We're gonna get you fixed up. You're a champion. And by that time, I looked up and here came my daughter with the rag to, you know, stop the bleeding.

[Host]

Michaela was bleeding, but she seemed to be okay. She was conscious and coherent despite the shocking events. That's when the enormity of the situation dawned on John.

[Guest]

That's when I kind of came to a little bit more and realized that all hell is breaking loose. There was just people everywhere. Kids crying, you know, women crying, men crying. There's everybody's crying. They're all over the place. And I tried to stop everybody, tried to get them away from Lauren. People were trying to come down the alley. I tried to stop them.

[Host]

I just have to say, this guy is a hero. He was on scene long before the first responders or the police. And thank God he was. But there was nothing that could be done for Lauren. As the chaos of the scene peaked, classmates and citizens alike looked on in horror as the once vibrant Lauren, the girl they all knew, lie lifeless at the end of an alley. A regular warm afternoon in Wichita Falls, Texas became a nightmare McNeil Middle School students would never forget. 13 year old 8th grader Lauren Londovazo had been gunned down just a block away from school. Her close friend Michaela Smith was also shot, but would recover. The havoc on that street corner though, was still unfolding on the next street. Sarah Cervantes saw Garrett running for his life and immediately knew something was wrong.

[Witness]

As I was driving down the tower, there was a young male riding down tower towards my vehicle. And once I pulled up to the stop sign, I mentioned to my son, there's something wrong. There's a reason why he's running is just strange. And I close both legs. I see that more.

[Host]

When she first saw Garrett running, her mind went to the more likely scenario that he was running from school bullies. But when she got to the stop sign and saw someone lying in the alley, she knew it was more serious.

[Witness]

And what did you think had happened to Lauren? Initially I thought maybe she was hit by a vehicle. That was my first thought. And then I kind of went through other scenarios and maybe someone attacked her because there were a lot of kids screaming. I just kind of ran through a lot of things that may have happened.

[Host]

Regardless of the reason, she knew she had to try and help. She pulled up to the alley, told her children to stay in the car and approached Lauren to see if she was okay.

[Witness]

I asked her if she was okay. Did you think she was going to respond? I believe her aria passed at that point. Her eyes burst of open and there was a large wound to her head. She, she's still dead. Her binding her back to her arms.

[Host]

Everything happened so fast. In a matter of a few seconds, the shots were fired and Garrett ran. John jumped the fence and Sarah saw Garrett fleeing as she approached the intersection. At the same time, Elijah and Hope were ducking into her backyard while Crystal ran around to the front. By the time Sara Cervantes approached Lauren, it had been barely more than a minute since the shots were fired. Right behind her was Jamie Lopez.

[Witness]

When I turned on Eternidad, I saw first noticed a lady standing at the corner, kind of hysterical, waving, prayings. And I saw a girl playing in the alley in the opening of the alley. So, you know, immediately I pulled over to see, you know, what had happened and if I could help and do anything.

[Host]

Jamie was a home health nurse and had medical training.

[Witness]

I knelt down to try to help her, to see if she was okay. She was not moving and started trying to look over and I got her turned over. She was laying on her stomach, so I turned her over to start looking and I was texting to start cpr. I remember seeing there was a boil right about where her heart would have been and thinking, I'm, I don't know if I'm going to do more damage or not if I start this on this girl set up and where it went. And about that time is when Metayla started running from the. Coming down from the alley yelling that she, she could also be shocked that she needed help.

[Host]

Realizing Lauren's condition, she decided to focus on Mikayla.

[Witness]

There really wasn't much to do with Lauren because, I mean, I could tell when I first walked up. Do you remember if her eyes were open or closed? They were open. Some pretty blue eyes. Once she was gone, there were so many people and everyone was staring and I just felt bad that everyone was just staring. They're like, I want that first. So I got a blanket and tried to cover up a little bit as best I could.

[Host]

Jamie had some first aid supplies in her car and began helping Michaela. Sarah Cervantes was unable to help and placed the first 911 call.

[Witness]

I need an ambulance to 5133 Houston. There is a young lady. We don't know what happened to her.

[Host]

Sarah was barely holding it together, but she knew how important it was to relay as much information as possible to first responders.

[Witness]

Not appear to be any lights or blood in her. Guns not fired ever. Ma'am, can you tell where she's bleeding from? I can't really tell. Is she breathing right now? Okay. Do you know how long she's been laying there, man? No. Can you touch her? And let me tell you, she's pulled it. That's where she's warm.

[Host]

In this tight knit community. It wasn't long before the news spread through the neighborhood. Michaela, wounded and dazed, called her mother.

[Witness]

I hear her phone tussling, so I'm thinking that maybe she had butt down. And so I'm yelling her name to pick up and she finally answered. She was just yelling my name from that first woman. I thought maybe she was getting into an altercation with another student and I know that's not her. And so I kept telling her calm down, I can't understand what you're saying. And I asked her to do that same time and I was like what's going on? And that's when she got out. Someone shot my. And I asked her what? And she said someone shot me. And I was like what? It just went Registered. And I didn't ask her, you know, she said, mommy, I was shot in the chest. And she said, martin is not moving.

[Host]

Mommy, I got shot in the chest. Imagine hearing that from your child. Michaela's mother dropped everything and left her job as an elementary school teacher to rush to her daughter. Michaela's mother had already made it to the scene when the Londovazos got word that something had happened.

[Guest]

And I heard a commotion outside.

[Host]

I heard that.

[Guest]

I'm not sure I heard neighbors and something about kids being down. And then as I was sitting there trying to process that, I heard Bianca. And just the way she said it, something about kids. And there was just something in her voice saying something. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. And as I was coming out of the room to try to find out what was going on, I heard the front door close. And by the time I got to it, Bianca wasn't there. So when I went outside, she was already running down the street, and I was kind of calling after her, where you going? What are you doing?

[Host]

Vern London didn't know what was going on or where his wife was running. The only clue he had was something about kids being down and the sound of fear in his wife's voice. Before she bolted out the front door, he hopped into his truck and started driving.

[Guest]

As I was driving down there, and it's right around the corner, I remember at one point stopping the truck and pulling over, thinking, there's a thousand kids at that school. It's not her. It can't be her. So I stopped and I called her cell phone. And I don't know if it rang. It maybe rang all at one time, but somebody answered the phone, and instantly what I heard was screaming. Didn't know at the time that it was Bianca screaming, but I heard somebody screaming her name. And the way she was screaming, I knew. I knew of. I instantly went cold, and I just knew. I got another truck, and I walked out to the corner. And as soon as I got to the corner, I could see the crime scene tape. And as I turned the corner, what I almost said, my tunnel vision. Everything seems kind of like there was a white fog around everything except for Lauren. I saw Lauren lying there, and she wasn't covered. There was no one around her. And I just remember standing at the crime scene tape. They wouldn't let me go to her. And I could hear Deandra screaming in the background, but that was about all I could hear. And just looking at her and wondering, how come they're not doing Anything.

[Host]

How come she was just laying there powerless. Vernacular watched from a distance as first responders finally started to treat Lauren. Quickly, the two girls were put into an ambulance, headed for the hospital.

[Guest]

So they let me into the ambulance and as we were sitting there and they were working on her and I was looking back at them and that was the first time I had noticed the blood. I didn't notice blood while she was lying there, but when I looked back, I could see her in her hair and it was blowing her hair, thinking, oh my God, that's not, that's not good blood in her hair. But also what I heard was, we have a heartbeat.

[Host]

Lauren's parents, Vern and Bianca, held onto a thread of hope as they rode with their daughter to the hospital. But when they got there, they were led into a family waiting room. Bianca feared it was because their daughter was gone.

[Guest]

When he did come in, came in Bianca, he spoke to her and started screaming. I was trying to tell her it's not that they're just here to tell us what they're going to do. And that's when they told us that she was gone.

[Host]

Most people who knew Lauren knew how special she was.

[Guest]

There's always something about Lauren and I know all parents have that tent about their children. There's something special about that child. But even in comparison to my sons, that there was just something about Lauren. I don't, it's hard to explain just that she seems, seemed so much wiser than her years. She always said. I remember even being two or three years old and looking over and seeing her look at me and not the way she was looking at me, that there was something going on behind there and it just seemed she was just so much more advanced than you would think a child would be. As far as her compassion for people, her kindness, just how tender she was.

[Witness]

Was other people very kind and open minded. She was, she was very positive about everything.

[Guest]

You couldn't help but love her and not just us, not just the family, but she made friends so easily, you know, and we heard the kids at school would just almost idolize her that.

[Host]

She was so popular.

[Guest]

I think probably what made me the proudest, it was just how she interacted with people, especially younger children, how kind she was to them. I never saw her once being to somebody, say a mean thing. Quite the opposite. She went out of her way if she knew that somebody was troubled, she went out of her way to reach out to that person.

[Witness]

Definitely a happy, beautiful girl.

[Guest]

She had a big heart. She's always helping her friends, if you're.

[Witness]

Having a bad day, she was the uplifter.

[Guest]

She was very well loved.

[Host]

Lauren made a positive impact on anyone who knew her. She always wore a smile when she looked at you with her beautiful blue eyes and you just knew she genuinely cared. With the loss of a community, sweetheart. The police were pressed to solve this attack. They needed to speak with Michaela and hear her recollection of events.

[Witness]

I remember he stopped and I was. We all kind of just like stopped walking and I was paying attention to him and I was looking at him and like, he looked up at me and he made eye contact for a few seconds and then he turned and like he got his weapon and he pointed it at me. And as I was moving, I got hit and like, I thought I got hit in the middle of my chest and I couldn't breathe and Kyra was asking if I was okay and like, I couldn't speak and I was waving at her to go and kind of like motion for everybody else to move.

[Host]

Michaela heard the deluge of shots after she was hit. After she motioned for the other children in the alley to run. She wondered why no one else was being hit. Little did she know that Lauren took the brunt of those shots. She relayed to the police what she remembered about the man or boy who did it.

[Witness]

I'd say he looked between like 20s or like 17, 18. He had brown hair. It was like shaggy kind of shaggy things. And he had acne and he had a big nose.

[Host]

She said she locked eyes with the killer and he was a white male between the ages of 17 and 20 with unkempt long brown hair, acne and a big nose. But where her memory failed her was the vehicle he was driving.

[Witness]

And can you just drive the vehicle that you. It was a black truck and it had silver, those silver bars that you would step on to get in.

[Host]

As the police addressed the public about the shooting, they initially released the description that Michaela gave them.

[Narrator]

Just right before 3:30pm we received a 911 call in reference to check welfare.

[Host]

In reference to shots fired fired call.

[Narrator]

In the 5100 block of Kingston. Actually in the alleyway when we arrived on scene, we located one subject that had suffered what we believe right now.

[Guest]

Keep in mind this is all still.

[Narrator]

New, it's still just occurring. We saw we have two individuals that were suffered from apparent gunshot wounds.

[Guest]

From what I was told right now.

[Narrator]

Both victims are female. Suspect information.

[Guest]

The only thing that we have at.

[Narrator]

This point is a possible suspect driving a black suv Black truck type vehicle. White male, shaggy brown hair.

[Host]

Mikayla recalled the killer was driving a black truck, but her memory was flawed. Everyone else saw a gold suv, except for John, the guy who jumped the fence. He saw both the gold SUV and the black truck. Not knowing which description was accurate or if maybe there were two shooters, they released both vehicle descriptions to the public. The shooter was a young white male with shaggy brown hair, acne, and a big nose, driving a gold colored suv, most likely a Chevrolet Tahoe or a black Dodge truck. In the couple of days that followed the shooting, there wasn't a person in Wichita Falls who didn't know of the tragedy and the description of the killer. The community banded together to memorialize Lauren at the site of her death with her favorite color. Purple happens to be my favorite color, too. People who didn't even know her came to pay their respects. Like Joanne and Faustino Ramirez.

[Witness]

Yes. We heard it on the radio and the news, who they were looking for. It was pretty widely spread throughout news media and social media, was it not? Yes, ma'am. Faustina wanted to go look at a memorial where they had started putting memorials up for Lauren. I did not. It was a sad situation, and I didn't. We didn't really know her or we didn't know her at all, but he wanted to go just take a try and find her.

[Host]

It was hard for any citizen of Wichita Falls to not be moved by the tragedy, even if they had no connection to Lauren at all.

[Witness]

We drove through the neighborhood trying to find where the memorial was. We kind of got lost, took some streets we didn't know, and we ended up on Trinidad, where the memorial site is.

[Host]

When they found the memorial, there were crying people everywhere, not wanting to get in the way of those who likely had a personal connection with Lauren. They waited in the truck, and we.

[Witness]

Just didn't want to get out of the truck and, you know, be in the way. So we just kind of pulled over to the side to, you know, just wait maybe to clear and then we could see. But we never got that chance. Okay, and why did you not get that chance? Because while we were waiting, Faustino, you know, we just said, well, look out for a vehicle. You know, just make sure we don't see a vehicle going by. And we saw a vehicle drive by us. That was the description of the suv. It was a gold suv. We saw that it was a young white male that they were possibly looking for. We kind of just follow them. He turned into uncle, tried, turned into. Right into the apartment complex and of course we followed.

[Host]

They didn't even know Lauren. But when they saw a vehicle and driver matching the description of the news, they decided to follow him. He drove past the memorial and stopped at an apartment complex mere feet away from the alley.

[Witness]

He went to the back passenger door. He opened the door and he proceeded to get what looked like a rifle or something. He tucked it up under his arm. Like he put the butt of the gun underneath with the blanket, something to wrap it up. And he, like, took it towards the apartment complex.

[Host]

They had the SUV, the driver, and now the rifle. Joanne called 911 immediately.

[Witness]

I grabbed a pen that was in Faustino's truck and just scribbled it on the palm of my hand so that I could, while we were calling, let the police know the license plate number. What color ink was that? It was a purple ink.

[Host]

She wrote down the license plate number in purple ink. Lauren's favorite color. What a coincidence. Perhaps her spirit lives on.

[Narrator]

What was your emergency?

[Witness]

We were driving by the accident that happened at Trinidad in Kingston, and we pulled into a certain road and it goes to the Salt Lake apartment. And there's a kid that just drove.

[Host]

Up in a Tahoe with shaggy hair.

[Witness]

And hat, and he thought it looked like a lesson. He had it wrapped in clothes and blankets, and he was trying to get it off in a hurry, and he just went into a park.

[Host]

They were parked a little ways away and watched while they waited for police to arrive. The suspect exited the apartment. Now without the rifle, he got back in his suv.

[Witness]

Yeah, he's leaving.

[Host]

Every time he was going. They expected him to exit the complex the way he entered, but they lost him when he used an exit on the other side. Almost like an episode of Keystone Cops. Or perhaps a more modern version would be Reno911. Still, police knew his approximate location and they had his license plate number. So why put in the work when you have surveillance? After all, it was only a matter of time before he would be caught. And if you're on the government payroll, then what's the rush? Moments later, the police made a traffic stop of the gold SUV with the shaggy driver. He pulled over and cooperated with the officers. They asked him to step out of the vehicle and they patted him down. Then they searched his suv, but there was no gun. But they did find a belt buckle in the shape of brass knuckles, and there was enough to arrest him on misdemeanor charges of weapon possession and bring him in for questioning. 20 year old Cody Lott didn't work and wasn't in school, he lived in Seymour, Texas, about a 50 to 60 minute drive southwest of Wichita Falls. He did have shaggy hair, acne, and a big nose. He was thin and kind of looked like an evil Timothee Chalamet, if that helps. Actually, I'm not sure if the real Timothee Chalamet is good or evil, so too many Timothy Chalamet's walking around these days. If you ask me, I don't even know what that means. Anyway, don't take my word for it. Just Google the two people. Cody Lott is his name, with two T's. At the end. He claimed the only reason he was in town was to feed his mother's dog while she was on vacation. That and pick up some money she'd left for him. After all, you know, like I said, he didn't work at all. He denied that anything related to guns would be in his vehicle and explained that since an incident last year, his family kept guns away from him.

[Narrator]

But I. Like I said, like, I used to be able. I kind of get away with guns. But like, there was an incident that happened my summer where I had to go to a side my grandma's kept a gun to instead of the weight room. Like nobody let have access to their country or nothing like that.

[Host]

The incident he so casually refers to was an armed standoff with deputies in Seymour, Texas. His parents reported that he was at his grandmother's threatening to shoot folks. That's a quote. The event warranted the Texas Rangers and three officers from the Department of Public Safety, Criminal Investigation Division. One of the CID officers was a hostage negotiator and quickly talked Cody out of the house. He was later ordered to get treatment and diagnosed as bipolar and paranoid schizophrenic. But yeah, yeah, yeah, there's no connection between crazy people and murder. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. Oh, let's not stigmatize. He knew about murder. He fit the description of the suspect, and he was driving an SUV that also matched the description, but he was adamant that it wasn't him. The police, though, knew something Cody didn't, and it had to do with what else they found in his Tahoe.

[Narrator]

Do you know if they found anything else? No. Well, they found a spent.22 shell casing.

[Host]

Hmm. It only took a moment for Cody to explain away the shell casing. He had been shooting a year ago. He was being cooperative, just not very helpful training.

[Narrator]

And whoever did this, we don't want that to happen to anybody else. Probably. I mean, from my experience, whoever did this probably needs some help now. What happened to the girls, terrible. But whoever did this definitely needs some help, man. And I'm talking about some serious psychological help. And how are they going to get that unless we can find out who get that and help them.

[Host]

Does anyone else get the feeling that they are talking about him? He claimed to be a loner and only his mother cared about him. He claimed his father molested him and beat his mother. He had a long list of run ins with the law and seemed to be spiraling into a life of drugs and crime. To the police, in addition to everything else, he seemed to fit the profile of someone who would randomly shoot two little girls. Of course, he continued to deny having anything to do with Lauren's death.

[Narrator]

The only thing I was going to say is that my son, brother, he's got long brown hair and like they can say something about he might come by and get it done.

[Witness]

I.

[Host]

You can.

[Narrator]

Step brother. Yeah. You can confirm that with my mom. My mom, she told me over text message, she said Jordan might come by and get. Get brides. But that's like, I don't. I'm not trying to like throw myself in the bus or my dad because I'm not that type of person that you. But it's just like I, I've tried to seek out loyalty, come in and I kind of got screwed over.

[Host]

I'm not trying to throw my stepbrother under the bus or anything, but you should definitely look at him. Wow. The police didn't believe it for a second. Remember, they had a witness who saw Cody with the rifle. They started to press harder.

[Narrator]

So if you were driving down Trinidad and at the same time all this happened, then right now is what you need to tell me about seriously, because.

[Host]

Yeah, he finally admitted he was on Trinidad Drive the day of the shooting, but he was still claiming innocence. Cody wanted to talk first, but he needed to be assured that he would be in solitary confinement. He didn't think he could handle being in prison with real men. So when officers guaranteed they would make that happen, he began a new story.

[Narrator]

This is a story, okay? So have patience. Let me finish if you don't want. I'm not gonna fucking interrupt you, but God. Ordeal, that has nothing to do with it, but like, I don't know, I've had a problem, you know, females for a while now. You can ask anybody on them that tell you, absolutely, that's something Cody would do. They would say absolutely. He is, he has. Hey miss tell you though I talk about you and like that all the time. And like I seen that girl about him multiple times with her boyfriend. And her boyfriend was just a little chunk looking kid that wasn't no man. So it kind of just started jealousy in me, man. And I felt that was the way I was going to handle it.

[Host]

He had seen Lauren walking with her boyfriend. He described the boy as a little punk looking kid that wasn't no man. Those are his words. Remember that? We're talking about two 13 year olds. Their relationship sparked off a fit of jealousy in them and he decided to shoot her. What a romantic. If you think this doesn't make any sense yet, just wait. It's only gonna get worse. 20 year old Cody Lott only tried to lie for a little while before the excitement of sharing his story got the better of him and he confessed. That's what simple people do. They just offer up everything all at once. They can't keep their stupid little mouths shut. So they blab and blab and blab. Cody Lott admitted he was the only one who shot Lauren and Michaela. But his reasoning for why he did it was even more baffling than the act itself.

[Narrator]

Tell me more specifically, what did you do and what happened? Well, on the day before, I got all dressed up and I was going to just go approach the girl and I thought, man, I rocked it from the Ben. It was fucking grilled with y'all. So I mean that in pissed me off, you know, I was in restaurant win from nothing. I try to be respectful, to be nice to men. They say Renaissance says crazy. The definition of crazy is just repeating the same thing. So it's like obvious thing that I guess just, you know, me being. Looking how I do or whatever, me being nice is something that makes me think of, you know, might have to try something else too because it's like, it's just all these girls were just ignoring me and disrespecting me and all I ever wanted was an opportunity to be respectful and treated.

[Host]

He tried to explain that he first thought about introducing himself to her, but then remembered how young she was. This too pissed him off. This is where his rationale begins to get a little twisted. It's important to remind everyone that a sign of schizophrenia is disorganized thinking. Somehow he went from the thought of her being too young to the idea that trying to be nice to her or any girl wasn't going to get him anywhere either. So he had to change tactics. Sure, if being nice to a girl doesn't get her attention, the next logical step is to kill her.

[Narrator]

This was something I thought about doing. This ain't something that just popped in my head. And I said, you know what? I'm gonna go and just do this just to get something off my chance. But I slaughter. I throw my car like a couple days before. I made eye contact with eyes look like Jens or something to me like that. I was like, how could someone have such beautiful eyes? So you. You pretty much knew what were around me for about a year, man. For a year I had seen her boyfriend. I had access to a g. He.

[Host]

Watched her for a year from his mother's apartment every day, building on his infatuation with her.

[Narrator]

I never even spoken to her. I mean, I saw a beautiful girl. I thought, man, she matches my. Absolutely matched my description of who I wanted to give a friend. Yes. And she was too young, I know, but she was attractive. I never had the opportunity to even be in the present of a girl that's that beautiful. Like I've seen girls only. Like, I hate the don't mean the crust is no way that I ever have lustful thoughts about this girl. The only kind of girl I've ever seen out of that gorgeous or in porn videos.

[Host]

He pined for a woman. And when the women his age wouldn't have anything to do with him, Lauren got caught in the crosshairs. He found the barely pubescent girl beautiful. But he equated Lauren's beauty to the women in porn videos. If you're thinking this guy couldn't get any more out of touch, think again.

[Narrator]

I was like, man, I'm the son of the devil. This was deep, man. This was spiritual. This was. I wanted God to know. Hey, man, I've had enough. You love me. Like, this is awesome. I love the patient about impatient, you know, like, it's nothing but hell here. And I don't care what people say. She, you know, people said, oh my. She.

[Witness]

She.

[Narrator]

Reason not a chance in life is what I read. Like, trust me, I'm sure she saw that. That her innocence was going to slowly start being punished. You know, that would say no good deed goes unpunished. It's like she would have ended up going like a party and being raped or she. There would have been something a lot worse than what I did. So I thought I was just going to go ahead and save her from the eagles of the world.

[Host]

If he couldn't have her, the only thing he could do to save her from the evils that he knew would eventually befall her. He had to, you know, Sacrifice her to the devil. Because all of that makes sense.

[Narrator]

I didn't know how else to go about it, you know. I'm glad I went ahead and went about it. About it, you know. You know what? I finally got to show how I feel. If I finally got to show the pain that's been going on with me. And now it's love.

[Host]

He was glad he did it so people could feel his pain. What a little bitch. Boy, would I love a couple minutes with this kid in a locked room with no cameras. Yeah, that's a fantasy. Eventually, he would express some regret. Regret that he didn't kill her instantly so he didn't have to hear her scream.

[Narrator]

But her scream was. It was distinct. And yeah, I'll think about that till the day I know.

[Host]

He said he never intended for her to suffer. He only wanted for her to die. He didn't regret what he did, only that he should have done it differently. Think about that.

[Narrator]

I certainly wish I already has killed myself as I should have went out people and shot myself back.

[Host]

Hey, Cody. I'm sure that there's plenty of people in Wichita Falls that feel the same way. It's not surprising that after Cody admitted to finding the 13 year old Lauren attractive, they found several images of child pornography on his phone. One of the images was confirmed by the national center for Missing and Exploited Children as being that of an eight year old engaged in a sexually explicit act. Cody was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a prohibited weapon, and three counts of possession of child pornography. This guy is going to have a lot of fun in prison when the inmates find out not only that he killed a kid, but that he's also, you know, interested in them sexually. You hear that? Inmates at the Skyview unit in Ruskin, a correctional institution that's part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. You hear that, guys? His name is Cody Lott with two T's. Anyway, Cody wasn't charged with capital murder, which meant the death penalty was off the table. At the time, the law in Texas only allowed capital murder charges to be applied under a few circumstances, including causing the death of a child under the age of 10. But Lauren was 13.

[Guest]

I hope that Cody Lott gets the fullest sentence he can.

[Host]

And it's a shame that the death.

[Guest]

Penalty.

[Witness]

Can'T be instated.

[Guest]

I don't want him to get insanity.

[Host]

Because he clearly thought it out probably.

[Guest]

For a long time.

[Host]

Two years after the murder, the trial finally began. Cody's hair was longer and somehow he was even thinner. He Looked kind of like white Jesus on meth or Jared Leto. Of course, his defense tried to play the insanity card, but Cody wasn't as crazy as he sounded. While he did suffer from a mental illness, and maybe it played a part in his plan. He thought about committing this crime for a year. Surely there were moments of lucidity within that year. A year of opportunities to decide, nah, I'm not going to kill her. Maybe I'll just play some Xbox instead. And after he fired his gun into an alley full of middle schoolers, he tried to get away with it. He ditched the gun and then went back to retrieve it when he thought he was home free. The bottom line, he knew at the time of the murder that it was morally and legally wrong. In court, he sat still, seemingly detached, as the terrified children recalled the events of that day.

[Guest]

I just hope he has a long, miserable life in prison. I hope he never sees a free.

[Host]

Moment, and I hope he lives a long time.

[Guest]

And maybe someday when he's old and gray, and maybe then he'll show some remorse. We've not seen any signs of that so far. You know, watching him in court, he's not. He's just emotionless. And I think that's indicative of how he committed such a heinous crime and shows no remorse for it.

[Host]

After five days of trial and less than an hour of deliberation, the verdict was guilty, and he was sentenced to 20 years for the aggravated assault on Michaela, 10 years for each count of child pornography, and a life in prison for the murder of Lauren. He is, though, eligible for parole on September 3, 2046, a day that's quite fitting because it's one day after the 30th anniversary of Lauren's death.

[Guest]

He robbed so many people, so many kids out there that day of their innocence. And, yeah, it feels two years sometimes. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday. Sometimes it feels like it was a million years ago. But we've had this day in our sights since that happened, hoping that the person responsible for so much suffering would finally face justice for that and have to do some suffering of his own. The result of today, it doesn't bring Warren back. It doesn't make us. It doesn't make her death any less tragic. There is a kind of a closure that you get when you know that the person responsible is going to suffer.

[Host]

But that wasn't good enough for the land of Vasos. They sought to change the law that governed capital murder charges. They wanted to raise the age requirement from 10 to 15. So that killers like Cody Lottie in the future would be able to be sentenced to death. It's something that keeps coming up over and over again. But I don't think anyone can truly understand the importance of the death penalty unless you've had someone taken from you like this. The need for revenge, the need for justice, for accountability is overwhelming. Even though you may not agree with the government killing citizens, this is a case where the citizens themselves demand it. And they did it too. The following year, on the day before the third anniversary of her death, Governor Abbott signed Lauren's law into effect, raising the age limit to 15 years of age. I'm going to be signing Senate Bill 719, which is known as Lauren's Law.

[Guest]

We all agree that there nothing more vulnerable, nothing more precious than our children. And we have to be able to change the law to reflect that.

[Witness]

There are going to be future victims that are children.

[Guest]

This is for.

[Witness]

This is for them. And I know our daughter would approve.

[Host]

Hopefully, Kody Lott will never get out of prison. Why should he? The effects of what he did linger in the minds of her family and friends. It will until their dying day. So why shouldn't he have to suffer until his crystal suffered panic attacks after the event, many kids were no longer allowed to walk home from school. Michaela will always be reminded of the violent end of her beloved friend every time she feels the bullet fragment still inside her chest. The devil didn't make Cody Lott kill Lauren. That's silly. Stop believing in fairy tales. You're an adult. That was just how his drug riddled brain, which wasn't too great to begin with, rationalized the guilt he felt for doing such a thing. He didn't hear voices, shouting commands. He didn't talk to the devil. He certainly didn't talk to God, that's for sure. He was just a leech to his mother. A parasite to his community. He was an uneducated, unemployed, lazy piece of shit who thought the world owed him something. Does this sound familiar yet? Because it describes everyone we've ever talked about over the last 11 years now. And when the world didn't hand him a girlfriend, he didn't wonder what he was doing wrong? Of course not. No. Why would you? Why would you do that? Why not just blame everyone else instead? Blame the world around? It's not me. It's everybody. It's everything, right?

[Narrator]

Right.

[Host]

You know how this pattern of thinking perpetuates and wiggles its way into our brains? Every one of us, not just idiots like Cody this entitlement, this sense that somebody owes you something. It's cancer. This is the result of cancer. Cody Lott never learned the lesson that sometimes you just can't have what you want. You just can't. It doesn't work that way. But then again, it's not like he even tried to work hard and make a life for himself. No, no, that'd be. That'd be too hard. Instead, why not take it out on poor Lauren? To which a good life just seemed to come naturally. A senseless act committed randomly that only made sense in one man's mind, but affected those kids and their families for the rest of their lives. Why blame yourself when you can blame the world instead?

[Guest]

Sa.

[Host]

Speaking of being disappointed, this is our last regular episode before I take a much needed break, which I promise you is very necessary. We'll have one more plus episode before we go. We'll see you right back here next year for season 12. Stay safe.