Quatisha Maycock

Summary

True Crime All The Time – Episode 513: “Quatisha Maycock”

Hosts: Mike Ferguson & Mike “Gibby” Gibson
Release Date: July 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the harrowing murder of five-year-old Quatisha “Candy” Maycock in Miami-Dade County, Florida, in 1998. The hosts recount Quatisha’s short life, her mother’s struggles as a single parent, and the calculated betrayal and violence committed by Harold Brady—a trusted community member with a violent criminal past. The conversation examines not only the details of the crime and investigation but contemplates the failures in the criminal justice system and the lasting trauma on survivors.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: Quatisha and Her Mother Chandelle

• 1998 Miami-Dade County:
  • Chandelle Maycock, single mother, administrative assistant, deeply loved her five-year-old daughter Quatisha (“Candy”).
  • “Everything I did was for her. I just wanted a better life for her. I loved her with all my heart, and I know she loved me.” — Chandelle (05:00)
• Quatisha’s Life:
  • Excited to begin kindergarten, loved coloring, dolls, and playing dress-up.
  • Principal Patricia Zell: “She was sweet. She was beautiful. She was blossoming. Just wanting to learn.” (04:19)

2. Introduction of Harold Brady

• Community Standing:
  • Harold Brady, church-going husband and father of four. Presented himself as helpful and supportive.
  • Developed a friendship with Chandelle after meeting at church in late spring 1998.
• Boundary Violations:
  • Brady made romantic advances, despite his marital status and Chandelle’s objections.
  • “Does it change your mindset? … He’s doing all these nice things, but is it because he wants to pursue this romantic relationship with me?” — Ferg (07:55)

3. Warning Signs and Boundary Crossings

• Escalation:
  • Harold starts showing up uninvited and without purpose at Chandelle’s home.
  • An incident where Harold inappropriately touched Chandelle led her to threaten him with a knife—he apologized but continued to offer help.

4. Harold Brady’s Violent Criminal Past

• 1984 Attempted Murder and Escapes:
  • Shot a woman he had an affair with; she survived.
  • Multiple violent escapes from custody, including overpowering officers, stealing guns, and multiple successful getaways (10:13–14:24).
  • "At what point, how many escapes does it take before maybe we keep a really close eye on this?" — Ferg (11:55)
• Long Rap Sheet:
  • Ultimately sentenced to 30 years for attempted murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, etc.—but served only 13 years due to "gain time" (19:50).
  • "30 years is fair. 13 years is too low." — Ferg (19:14–20:44)

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5. Lead-Up to the Crime

• November 6, 1998:
  • Harold picks up Chandelle from work, leaves, then returns in his rental car around 10pm.
  • Offers a ride to help Chandelle pick up Quatisha; after returning, he insists on talking.
• Attack Commences:
  • Chandelle, wanting Harold to leave, makes up an excuse. Harold attacks, choking her into unconsciousness—twice.

6. Kidnapping & Attempts to Escape

• Chandelle’s Ordeal:

  • Chandelle wakes up in the back of Harold’s car with Quatisha in the front seat.
  • Harold drives the pair into the Everglades. Chandelle attempts to escape with Quatisha—Harold accelerates, causing them to fall from the moving car.
  • Chandelle is placed in the trunk; Quatisha is kept in the back seat.

• Desperate Circumstances:

  • “She was pleading for her life, saying, ‘Why are you doing this? I know you’re not this type of person. You don’t need to do this.’ … He just kept repeating, ‘You used me.’” — Ferg (31:09)
  • “If I heard those words, those would... scare me.” — Ferg (31:29) (referring to Harold’s statement: "I know I’m going to jail for the rest of my life anyway.")

7. Aftermath: Chandelle’s Survival, Quatisha's Disappearance

• Chandelle’s Escape & Rescue:

  • Chandelle regains consciousness in a remote area; attempts to flag down cars for help, eventually rescued by two men.
  • “I was staggering, so people probably thought I was drunk, but I don’t drink. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what would have happened.” — Chandelle (34:58)

• Police Investigation:

  • Harold acts calm, denies involvement, but his demeanor changes when confronted with Chandelle’s survival.
  • Physical evidence: Chandelle's blood found in the car; Harold consents to DNA and vehicle search.

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8. Investigation Intensifies

• Harold’s Evasive Cooperation:
  • After prolonged interrogations, Harold cryptically says, "I can’t tell you. Even if I’m found innocent, my family will not talk to me again.” (37:41)
• Search for Quatisha:
  • Harold initially leads police on a three-hour "wild goose chase" in the Everglades, then shifts location, eventually referencing Alligator Alley.
  • He speculates she may have fallen into water; admits he knew leaving her there equaled a death sentence.

9. Discovery of Quatisha’s Body

• Gruesome Findings:
  • Quatisha’s body found days later by fishermen, about 15 miles from main search area—mutilated by alligators.
  • “It was determined that Quatisha's death was primarily caused by blunt force trauma … but it is possible she could have survived with treatment.” — Ferg (46:29)
  • “Man, you hope that's the case.” — Gibby, hoping she was unconscious before alligator attack (47:18)
  • Also suffered severe injuries from being ejected from the car.

10. Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

• Prosecution and Defense Stance:
  • Prosecutors underscore brutality, Harold’s motive to eliminate a witness, and utter lack of remorse.
  • Defense attempts to blame Chandelle for instructing Quatisha to jump, and invokes Harold’s tough upbringing and good prison behavior.
  • “Adults are supposed to protect children from monsters. They're not supposed to be the monsters themselves.” — Judge (52:43)
• Sentencing:
  • 2007: Harold sentenced to death.
  • 2017: Death sentence overturned after changes in Florida law.
  • 2026: New penalty phase; jury recommends life in prison.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On The Emotional Impact of Crimes Against Children:

  • “Let’s face it, these cases are tough... You're talking about a very, very young child who's murdered. And you know, those evoke different types of emotions.” — Ferguson (01:54)

• On False Appearances:

  • “What they display on the outside... might not be who they really are.” — Ferguson (59:44)
  • “He was in with the church, he was helping our people... She never expected he was that kind of man.” — Michael Washington (49:14)

• On Justice and the System:

  • “30 years is fair. 13 years is too low... 85%, I’m a little better with that... but 13 years, I'm ticked off.” — Ferguson (20:14–20:44)

• On The Horror of Quatisha’s Final Moments:

  • “A medical examiner determined that she suffered alligator bites to her torso and head while she was still alive.” (46:08)
  • “There were teeth marks deep in her skull. Her left arm was bitten off after death.” (46:16)
  • “She also suffered brush burn injuries... from falling out of a car and sliding on the road.” (47:31)

• On Societal Lessons:

  • “It just goes to show you that you can't trust meeting anybody. Right. What they display on the outside... might not be who they really are.” — Ferguson (59:44)

• On the Mother’s Statement After Sentencing:

  • “She was my world. This isn’t just about one family. It’s about protecting other children, about making sure monsters like this are never free again.” — Chandelle Maycock (57:17)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Background & Childhood – 01:01–05:42
• Meeting Harold & Boundaries Crossed – 05:42–09:58
• Harold’s Criminal Past & Release – 10:13–20:44
• Kidnapping & Attack – 22:20–31:09
• The Escape, Trunk, and Everglades – 31:09–34:58
• Police Investigation & Harold’s Interrogation – 35:10–37:41
• Search and Discovery of the Body – 40:07–48:06
• Legal Proceedings, Trial, & Sentencing – 50:01–57:17
• Reflections on Justice & Trust – 58:03–60:59

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Tone & Noteworthy Remarks

• The hosts maintain their signature blend of seriousness for the victim, outrage toward the perpetrator, and interspersed banter which lends levity when possible. They are heartfelt, direct, and sometimes darkly humorous about the absurdities of the legal process.
• Both hosts are sharply critical of policies that allow violent offenders to be released prematurely, candid about the pain inflicted on families, and reflective about how true crime research affects personal trust.
• Multiple asides reflect their frustration with systemic failures and the heartbreak of preventable tragedy.

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Conclusion

This deeply emotional episode scrutinizes the chilling murder of Quatisha Maycock and explores the aftermath for her family and community. The hosts emphasize the critical importance of vigilance, the devastating effects of misplaced trust, and the duty society has to protect its most vulnerable—children. Unflinching in their recounting of the facts and their condemnation of the perpetrator, Mike Ferguson and Gibby provide an engaging, informative, and somber discussion for any true crime listener.

Transcript

[Mike Ferguson]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Mike Gibson]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan. Required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.

[Mike Ferguson]

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 513 of the True Crime all the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me, as always, is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson.

[Mike Gibson]

Gibby, how are you, yo? I'm doing good, man.

[Mike Ferguson]

Did you throw a yo in front of that?

[Mike Gibson]

I did.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then do some kind of don't be flashing no gang signs up in here.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm just telling you old school here.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, you're old school, that's for sure. The key part of that phrase is old.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

All right, buddy, we're diving right in. Are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime all the Time? Of course we're talking about the murder of Quatisha Maycock. But we're starting in 1998. Right. 22 year old Chandelle Maycock was living in an unincorporated area of Miami Dade County. She was working as an administrative assistant at a Miami based consulting firm. She was a single mother to her daughter, five year old Quatisha. Quatisha was described as a sweet girl who went by the nickname Candy. And I could see having a nickname, the name Quatisha is actually very nice.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

But I could see maybe some people having trouble saying it. Candy is obviously much easier to say.

[Mike Gibson]

Candy's all easy. Rolls right off. It does.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, it was said Quatisha was excited when she started kindergarten in the fall of 1998. She'd only been in school for about nine weeks before she was killed. And let's face it, these cases are tough. They always are. You're talking about a very, very young child.

[Mike Gibson]

Yep.

[Mike Ferguson]

Who's murdered. And you know, those evoke different types of emotions. Yeah, right. All cases evoke emotions. But you know, when you talk about animals, you talk about young children. It can hit people harder.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sometimes than other types of cases.

[Mike Gibson]

I just don't know what is wrong with people that do anything Bad. Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with people that can hurt a child, a young child.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, we're going to get into it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She had just learned how to write her name, and she was practicing it every day. She liked coloring, playing with dolls, dressing up and going to school with her classmates.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm still trying to figure out how to write my name.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I know printing you're good at. It's the cursive.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

That kind of throws you.

[Mike Gibson]

I actually went through all that in school. I know they don't teach it today or they're. They didn't. Now they're bringing it back.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't know. My. My daughter. My oldest daughter is terrible with curses. Yeah, I. I don't think they did a lot with curses.

[Mike Gibson]

I know my kids, they didn't teach it. They said, no, we don't. Don't need to do that anymore. And now I thought recently I heard something, that they're going to bring it back at some level, just so there's some.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think there should be a cursory knowledge.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's kind of like telling time. I. I understand. Everybody's got a phone, right? Or a digital watch, but. But I feel like every adult should know how to tell time on a standard clock.

[Mike Gibson]

No, you're right. I told somebody the other day, I'll see a quarter till. And they're like, quarter till? Like, quarter till. You don't know what quarter till is?

[Mike Ferguson]

They're like, no, there's a lot of people that don't.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm like, oh, my gosh. Okay, I'll see you at whatever time.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. 5:45.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sometimes I'll just say, you know, half past the crack of your ass or something like that. Maybe that might get a.

[Mike Gibson]

Might get.

[Mike Ferguson]

Might get something might be more descriptive. I don't know. Couldn't be any less for some people.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Her school principal, Patricia Zell, recalled at her funeral, is quoted by the Miami Herald. She was sweet. She was beautiful. She was blossoming. Just wanting to learn.

[Mike Gibson]

She was a freaking kitten gardener. I mean, it's like they're so innocent.

[Mike Ferguson]

So innocent.

[Mike Gibson]

Like, what could anybody ever be upset with somebody? It's a kindergarten.

[Mike Ferguson]

And one of the things that came shining through in all of the research was that, you know, Quatisha came from a family who really loved her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Chandelle said about her daughter, she was a beautiful little girl. Everything I did was for her. I just wanted a better life for her. I loved her with all my heart, and I Know she loved me.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I get that. You know, we both have kids, and I think when my kids were born, it changed everything.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, me too.

[Mike Gibson]

On how I looked at what I wanted to do in my life, and what was more. What was more valuable, you know, was it. Did I still want to go do all this stuff I did as a. As a. You know, a guy that didn't have kids.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Like streaking through the quad or, you know, that was you ultimately ending up at kfc. I don't know. But I. I do think, you know, most good parents, they strive to want to provide a better life for their children.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know that it's that old saying, Right. You want to give your kids a better life than you had. And maybe it's not always possible. Maybe you had a great life, and maybe you can't duplicate what your parents were able to do for you. But I think for a lot of people, that's what they're striving for, I think so. In the late spring of 1998, Shandell met Harold Brady and his wife Satiria through their church group. Harold was a father of four. He and his wife befriended Shandell, and Harold offered to help her when she needed. He specifically told her, I'm here if you need me. Just like that. I am here.

[Mike Gibson]

It's always nice to hear.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sounds like a. A great guy, Right. Goes to church, father, a four husband. Okay. Does that mean you can trust everybody like that? No. But he also doesn't sound like the stereotypical loner who's sitting in his basement, you know, writing down names of people that he wants to hurt. Shandell initially thought Harold was a nice person and she would accept, you know, his offers to help her here and there. But at one point, he made it clear he was interested in a romantic relationship. But according to Shandell, I always told him, I don't see you and me. But all of a sudden, he started coming by, asking, do you need anything done? I said, yes. He'd take me to the laundromat grocery store, pick Quatisha up from daycare. I mean, these are all things that she needed done.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

She, you know, was a single parent. Here you have somebody offering an unbelievable amount of support. That would go a long way.

[Mike Gibson]

But she also made it clear that this was supposed to just be friends.

[Mike Ferguson]

But does it change your mindset a little bit about this person? Right. You go from thinking, oh, here's just a guy being nice. Yeah, he's married, a father of four. He goes to my church. To now. Well, he's got an agenda.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

He's doing all these nice things, but is it because he wants to pursue this romantic relationship with me?

[Mike Gibson]

And, I mean, it definitely would give you some questions.

[Mike Ferguson]

It would. There's no doubt about it. Harold began showing up at Shandell's home alone, unannounced, and stayed for short periods of time with seemingly no purpose.

[Mike Gibson]

To me, that's a little alarming. Right. Because now you're just coming out to hang out with me. You have a wife.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, I said I'm not interested, but still, you're showing up and just wanting to sit around and chill with me. I don't know.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, you come every week, right, to my house. It's because we tape a number of podcast episodes. If you just showed up at dinner time and said, hey, what's everybody doing? Doing.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You might be a little less welcome.

[Mike Gibson]

Probably.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't know.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, maybe the first time, be like, he just got the wrong day.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, that could be. But at a certain point, it's like somehow he knows how to win dinner, is he knows when to show up.

[Mike Gibson]

I just don't leave after tonight. I just, like, kick my shoes off and put my feet up on the.

[Mike Ferguson]

Just lay down on the couch and take a nap.

[Mike Gibson]

What kind of snacks you got in that fridge over there?

[Mike Ferguson]

Harold once inappropriately placed his hand between Chandelle's legs.

[Mike Gibson]

Okay. That's a big no.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, it is. When she became angry and threatened him with a knife, he left her apartment and apologized for his actions. Later, he never made a sexual advance towards her again.

[Mike Gibson]

You get a knife pushed up against you, you're probably going to think about twice before sliding that hand on someone's leg. Or in between.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, we. Which I think you should think about that before you do it.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

But it also sounded like she wasn't taking any crap.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And wasn't going to put up with it. To the point where, you know, she threatened him with a knife that, you know, you touch me, you grab me, things are not going to go well for you.

[Mike Gibson]

That's right. I got this K bar here.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I don't blame her at all. I mean, you got to protect yourself. No one should violate your personal boundary and your safety.

[Mike Gibson]

And the way they do that is to draw very hard line, very quick.

[Mike Ferguson]

That's a hard line.

[Mike Gibson]

Yes.

[Mike Ferguson]

Right. When you threaten somebody with a knife. The issue is, Gibbs, Chandell had no idea that Harold had a violent past. And he also had a pretty lengthy criminal record. In 1984, he shot the woman he was having an affair with and left her for dead, but she survived.

[Mike Gibson]

Okay, so this is wanting to be with other women? It's not something new to him?

[Mike Ferguson]

No. Sounds like that he had a history with as well. Yeah, I, I don't know. There wasn't a. A ton of information about it, but I don't know if she tried to end it or, or what happened. Luckily, she did survive. He was charged with attempted murder in Miami, Dade county in August of 1984. He attended court and was denied bail. On the way to a holding cell, he overpowered Officer Jose Bermudez. He beat Bermudez, choked him with a belt until he was unconscious and locked him in a cell before escaping.

[Mike Gibson]

So this is not a good guy.

[Mike Ferguson]

No. And it also sounds, it sounds like he's a very dangerous.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Individual. Eleven days later, he was arrested in Hollywood, Florida for breaking into an electronic store. He was bitten by a police dog and taken to the hospital for treatment. He attacked the officers watching him and escaped from the er.

[Mike Gibson]

I, at this point, I don't feel sorry for him because he's doing, he's causing, you know, all this himself.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, he is. I'm just wondering at what point, how many escapes does it take before maybe we, we keep a really close eye on this.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, I get it. It might be a little bit tougher in the hospital, but you could always cuff somebody to the bed, I believe.

[Mike Gibson]

I guess I love the. I love the fact that the dog bit him, you know?

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, it happened three days later when he was caught from this escape. Police dog bit him again.

[Mike Gibson]

Good.

[Mike Ferguson]

And he was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, here's the thing, right. I watch a lot of body cams, videos. It's no secret. There are a lot of people who asked to be taken to the hospital even when they have no visible, visible injuries. A lot of times I think it's because they don't want to go to jail.

[Mike Gibson]

Right. Trying to delay.

[Mike Ferguson]

And, and, and sometimes if they go to the hospital, they can just be released from the hospital.

[Mike Gibson]

They can.

[Mike Ferguson]

It. I. People even talk about how it happens.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But I also think maybe there's a thing here where he knows it's easier to escape from the hospital. So maybe that's why he's. He's wanting to go that route.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, every time he's caught, maybe it's.

[Mike Gibson]

Maybe he allows the dog to bite him, knowing it's going to get him maybe to the hospital.

[Mike Ferguson]

You can't put it past.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

These people that they'd be willing to, to do anything, even to let a dog bite you as, as bad as that might hurt. That's kind of one of those things I try to steer away from. Dog bites, specifically letting dogs bite me.

[Mike Gibson]

If your dogs bit you, I would laugh.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, one of them's got like four teeth.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She's older. And even the one that has all the teeth, they're super small. I mean, an eight pound Maltese not going to do too much damage.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

But man, they bark like they're badass.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, man. Yeah, they think they're something.

[Mike Ferguson]

They do. So then he got to the hospital again. Right. He's just the hospital. Every time Harold asked to use the bathroom, when his chains were unlocked, he lunged at the officer and grabbed the officer's gun. When another officer came into the room, somehow he managed to get a hold of that officer's gun too and forced both officers into the bathroom. And then he again escaped from the hospital.

[Mike Gibson]

I would think there should be like something when you pull up his name in the system, it says, hey, he will trick you at the hospital.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, do not let him out of the chain.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and I, you know, I don't want to laugh about it, but I have a feeling when these two guys got back, if they were guys, it just said officers. But whoever. When these two officers got back to the station, at a certain point, you know, they were going to be made fun of.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, for sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

So just let me get this right. This guy stole your gun.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then you come in and he steals your gun.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Okay. What are we doing, guys?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Can we not keep a, a firm grip on the gun or.

[Mike Gibson]

I feel like it's a scenario from that movie. Is it the other guys or.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, yeah, with the Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

I feel like it'd be something like that where the rock comes in making fun of those guys.

[Mike Ferguson]

You never done a desk pop?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Harold broke into the home of Joseph and Lorraine Cole, an elderly couple who lived in an affluent neighborhood. He hid in their closet for six hours.

[Mike Gibson]

That's a long time to hang out in the closet.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is. So Lorraine heard some scratching coming from the closet, so she called for her husband. Harold jumped out with a gun and, and told the care terrified couple he just wanted to get away. He stole their car and fled the area.

[Mike Gibson]

See, you know, he's really tough with these police and escaping, but here he's afraid and hangs out in the closet for six hours and then, you know.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, thankfully he, he didn't shoot and kill anyone.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, I'm glad he didn't.

[Mike Ferguson]

A few days later, he stole a car from a 22 year old in Hialeah. On October 14, 1984, Harold was pulled over in Georgia with the stolen car. He was almost let go, but the officer realized he had a fake driver's license when he gave the officer the wrong birthday.

[Mike Gibson]

See, that's the key. When you have a fake id, you have to memorize what it says on the front. Like your name, your address, your birth date.

[Mike Ferguson]

You got to know all the details. Yeah, right. You can't just put McLovin on your driver's license with a, a fake date and then not know any of the, the details.

[Mike Gibson]

It's like some of the first things we learn in spycraft, you know? I mean, memorize who you are going to tell people you are.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, well, when you're like Jason Bourne and you go to your bank deposit box and you pull out 23 different passports and various names, you got to keep all that stuff straight.

[Mike Gibson]

Not easy unless you're part of Mensa.

[Mike Ferguson]

In 1985, prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charge for Harold's girlfriend, and he pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of the jail guard, as well as kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. And I feel like, okay, that, that's a pretty fair sentence. Yeah, what he did, you know, attempted murder, armed robbery, kidnapping. Yeah, I, I could make a case that maybe they shouldn't have dropped the attempted murder charge for on his girlfriend. But at the time of sentencing, Harold told the judge, per the Miami Herald, I don't feel like I'm a threat to society. I don't consider myself a criminal.

[Mike Gibson]

What do you consider yourself? You're doing criminal action.

[Mike Ferguson]

But that's the thing, right? You have these criminals who are caught, they just pretty much do whatever they want.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then when they get in front of the judge, you're like, you know, I'm not a threat to anybody. I know I tried to kill my girlfriend. I stole, you know, officers guns. I kidnapped them, I forced them into another room. I couldn't, you know, held a elderly couple at gunpoint, stole their car, stole another person's car using a gun. But I'm really not a threat to society.

[Mike Gibson]

I really wasn't going to ever use the gun.

[Mike Ferguson]

But here's the problem, right? I said 30 years. Seems to me like a pretty fair sentence.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Here's the problem that always comes up. In 1997, he was released after serving just 13 years.

[Mike Gibson]

See, that's a bunch of malarkey.

[Mike Ferguson]

Malarkey. Wash your mouth out with lava, young man. Yes, it is. Right. 30 years is fair. 13 years is. Is too low. Now, I get it, people don't do their whole time, but this is less than half.

[Mike Gibson]

It's barely a third.

[Mike Ferguson]

You're right.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, technically, I don't want to, you know, jump over you as a

[Mike Ferguson]

genius, but yeah, it's actually closer to half than it is to being a third. But, you know, who's not to split hairs but you? But apparently he was one of hundreds of inmates who earned early release due to what was called game time. He was exempt from a state law passed in 1995 requiring inmates to serve at least 85% of their sins.

[Mike Gibson]

Wow.

[Mike Ferguson]

And this was a. A big problem. And we've talked about it in other cases as well. You know this. Whether you call it gain time or time off for good behavior, whatever it is, there have been states and. And at times where you could almost gain like two for one.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

As long as you were good and you weren't causing trouble, your sins would be reduced dramatically. Now 85%. Okay. I'm a little better with that. You know, 85% would be like 25 years.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or something somewhere around there. Yeah, I'd be fine with that. As long as you're a model inmate, you go through some programs, you do what you're supposed to do, I'd be okay with that. But 13 years, I'm ticked off.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, that's not right.

[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Ferguson]

So Chandell meets Harold.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

We talked about that.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She had no idea that he was a violent criminal when, you know, he befriended her. She thought, you know, here's a guy, he's respectable guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Married father, he's involved in the, the church community. I, I think when you're looking at people where, you know, you're asking the question, do I, how high do I have to have my guard up?

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

There are some people who, rightly or wrongly, it could be completely incorrect, but you view them as less of a risk than other people.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, he's a dad and he looks like he's good with his kids. There's a notch up, you know, oh, he's married. They seem happy. Another notch up and he goes to the same church.

[Mike Ferguson]

Right.

[Mike Gibson]

He's got to be a good person. Another notch up.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm right with you. Right. He just doesn't seem like on the surface and everything for us is right on the surface because nobody really knows what's under the surface all the time. On November 6, 1998, Harold picked Chandelle up from work and drove her home. He left her apartment at about 5:30pm she began making calls, looking for a ride to pick up Quatisha, who was being watched by a family member. She hadn't found a ride by 10pm at that time, Harold returned to her apartment in a car he rented earlier that day. He told Chandelle they needed to talk. But first he agreed to drive her to pick up her daughter. And you know, this is a tough position for Chandelle to be in.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure it is.

[Mike Ferguson]

You don't have a car, but you got to go pick your daughter up. You're calling around, you're calling around. No one can help you out. You might have to agree to let this guy help you.

[Mike Gibson]

Somebody that you don't really want to be alone in a car with.

[Commercial Announcer]

Maybe.

[Mike Gibson]

But this time you're like, yeah, I'll do what I have to.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, at the Very least, I think her. Her thoughts had changed to a some degree from guard the time she first met him. He wasn't exactly who she thought he was. So they picked up Quatisha and returned to Shandell's apartment. Harold again told her they needed to talk. Shandell agreed, but then the phone rang. So she answered the phone, had a brief conversation, and after hanging up, told Harold he needed to leave because she was expecting someone. Now, this is a lie, but she wanted him to leave because it was late and she was tired.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I mean, I get it. She just wanted him to go, but didn't want to really hurt his feelings. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because he had already said, right, we need the talk. You know, a certain point, you get tired, you're like, I don't want to sit and talk for an hour or whatever it's going to be. But Harold immediately attacked her and choked Chandelle until she lost consciousness. She woke up, and then Harold choked her again until she passed out. So, I mean, you talk about, you know, going from. It might not be zero, because I think she had her suspicions. Yeah, but really, you know, driving to help you pick your daughter up, it kind of is zero to 60.

[Mike Gibson]

It really is. I mean, and you think about the whole relationship. I mean, at one point, she trusted him enough just to go get his. Get her daughter without her.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, I mean, that's a lot of trust.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is.

[Mike Gibson]

And now all of a sudden, you know, this guy is choking you, making

[Mike Ferguson]

you pass out multiple times.

[Mike Gibson]

Multiple times.

[Mike Ferguson]

In November 1998, Chandelle did an interview with the Miami Heralds, recounting her harrowing experience. She said about the attack, he just jumped me. He was choking me. I was fighting him. I fell to the floor. That's when I fell out. I woke up in his car. My daughter was in the front seat. So undoubtedly an extremely scary situation for Shando.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I would think for Quatisha, too, because how much of this is she witnessing?

[Mike Gibson]

She's got to be nervous. I mean, even at a, you know, kindergarten's age, it's got to be scary.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I would think so. Absolutely. Shandell's landlord, who occupied the house that her apartment was attached to, later testified that he heard shouting coming from the apartment. When he looked outside a short time later, he saw Harold standing at the driver's side door of a car and Quatisha standing by the passenger door. He did not see Shandell. As Chandelle recounted, when she woke up the second time, she was in the backseat of Harold's vehicle parked in the driveway. Quatisha was in the front seat, and Harold was in the driver's seat. He began driving towards the Everglades. Okay, now let's. Let's talk about it.

[Mike Gibson]

Right? Florida.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, the Everglades. I'm sure there's a lot of things you can do right, at. In and around the Everglades.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But the alligators just scare me to no end. Yeah, I am deathly afraid of alligators.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, I don't know if it's still that way today, but back in the day, if you wanted to go from east coast to west coast, down in south part of Florida, you would go across Alligator Alley. Right. And then both sides of you in the. I call them the berms, whatever you want to call them, the ditches. There was always, you know, the. The backish water that had the alligators in it. So if you wanted a.

[Mike Ferguson]

Did you call it backish water?

[Mike Gibson]

Is it backish or blackish water?

[Mike Ferguson]

I think it's brackish.

[Mike Gibson]

Brackish. That's what it is. Blackish. It's nasty water.

[Mike Ferguson]

You're gonna get. Just keep replacing the second letter. Yeah, another consonant. You'll get there eventually.

[Mike Gibson]

But it's that water where the sea water, ocean water, mixes with the river water and it's just.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, we're going to talk about Alligator Alley, are we? Yeah. Factors into this case.

[Mike Gibson]

Interesting.

[Mike Ferguson]

So you probably didn't see that part.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know me, you know, I'm just thinking ahead and remember days of being down in Florida, and that was always a scary trip to take from one close the other coast.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't do alligators at all. As Harold was driving, Chandelle told Quatisha they were going to jump out. Harold warned her not to jump, but still pulled Quatish into the back seat, and she opened the door. When Harold saw they were about to jump, he accelerated and turned a corner, causing them to fall out of the car. He stopped, and he put Chandelle in the trunk and Quatisha in the backseat. Chandelle remained in the trunk for 30 to 45 minutes while Harold continued driving.

[Mike Gibson]

You ever been stuck in a trunk before?

[Mike Ferguson]

I have not.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Why?

[Mike Gibson]

It would be not fun.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, I can imagine it's not fun in Florida especially.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, no.

[Mike Ferguson]

With the sun beating down on you. So, I mean, this situation continues to get worse and worse.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think, you know, if you're Chandell, okay, You're looking to escape this situation by jumping out of the car with your daughter. It's not A bad idea doing anything

[Mike Gibson]

at this point that you can.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Because we don't know where this is going, but it doesn't seem like it's going to end. Well. No, but now she's in the trunk, and I can only imagine, you know, the thoughts that were running through her mind when the car stopped. Harold pulled her out of the trunk, threw her to the ground, and choked her until she lost consciousness. He threatened. Threatened to kill her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And accused her of using him.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, I mean, he offered up his services.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, technically, she did use him.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But it was because he offered to help her out.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

And.

[Mike Gibson]

And who.

[Mike Ferguson]

What single mother is going to turn down that kind of unbelievable help from a guy she thought was a standup person?

[Mike Gibson]

Right. And then she made it clear, I can't offer you, you know what? You.

[Mike Ferguson]

The other part.

[Mike Gibson]

The other part.

[Mike Ferguson]

The romantic part.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. But, you know, if you want to help out, I could use the help and thank you.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. So she was pleading for her life, saying, why are you doing this? I know you're not this type of person. You don't need to do this.

[Mike Gibson]

You.

[Mike Ferguson]

He just kept repeating, you used me. And he said, I know I'm going to jail for the rest of my life anyway. And if I heard those words, those would. That would scare me.

[Mike Gibson]

That would.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because that sounds like a person who doesn't. Is not worried about the consequences because to them, they're already thinking they're going to jail for the rest of their life.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. That's a hard place to de. Escalate them from if they already. If they're already there, how do you back them out of that saying, no, no, you're not going to go away for the rest of your life.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, I'm not going to tell anybody. We'll just sweep this under the rug. It's going to be hard. After Shandell lost consciousness, Harold left her in a remote area along US 27 near the Broward Palm beach county line, likely thinking he had killed her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

He returned home between 1:30 and 2:30am on Nov. 7. His wife, Sateria, testified that he woke her up when he returned. She went to the door to meet him and saw him wiping down the interior of his claw car with a cloth. The washing machine was running, and when she looked inside, she saw the clothes he had been wearing earlier.

[Mike Gibson]

Not a good sign.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, I mean, come on now. You know every wife, girlfriend listening to this, if that's the scene that you woke up to.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, what are you thinking?

[Mike Gibson]

It's troublesome.

[Mike Ferguson]

First of all, your man's washing his clothes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

That should be red flag number one.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, and he's only washing the clothes that he had on that day.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Okay. And you're wiping down the interior of your car. Not, not to say that people don't wash their clothes, don't clean their car. It's also like 2:30 in the morning.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, this is more like Pulp Fiction wiped down.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yes. Something has happened and I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, you know, so Chandelle did regain consciousness, but when she did, it was daylight and she was in a remote area surrounded by foliage. Her daughter was nowhere to be found.

[Mike Gibson]

It's a scary moment. Right then.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, just panic. Right. Number one, this guy has essentially tried to kill you like three or four times. He's choked you to the point where you lost consciousness. At one point this last time, he might have even thought he killed her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She managed to get to the side of the road and tried to flag down a passing driver. She said about 10 to 20 cars passed by before two men stopped to help her. She could hardly walk without falling. She was barefoot, weak and bleeding from her injuries.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm surprised that dozen plus cars went by her. Like, does nobody want to help anybody anymore or did they that scared? Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, you and I talk about it, right? The difference between wanting to stop and help people, but the, the notion that, okay, this could be a trick. This doesn't sound like that to me. You have a woman who is obviously in distress. She's bleeding, she can hardly walk. Not to say that it couldn't be a ruse to get you to stop. And then a guy jumps out of the woods. We don't know, but it doesn't seem the, the same right here to me. I would have a hard time passing this person and not stopping because they obviously appear to be in need.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

She told the Miami Herald I was staggering, so people probably thought I was drunk, but I don't drink. If it wasn't for them, the two men, I don't know what would have happened.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, well, thank goodness they stopped.

[Mike Ferguson]

So police obtained a statement from Chandelle at the hospital and detectives went to Harold's home to determine Quatisha's whereabouts. And again, going back to Shandell. Yeah, you're a mess. Right. You went through a lot of stuff. But I can guarantee you the biggest thing on her mind is where is my five year old daughter?

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely. It's the only Thing she cares about.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Shortly after the detectives arrived, Harold drove off. They followed him to a gas station. They approached him. When they asked him about Quatisha, he seemed calm and denied having any knowledge of the situation. When detectives informed him that Chandelle was alive and had implicated him and her daughter's disappearance, he went pale and began to sweat, shake and cry.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Because he's that type of person.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, it's also kind of a dead giveaway that you are involved.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, hey, I didn't have anything to do with that. You find out one piece of information and then you're sweating, shaking and crying.

[Mike Gibson]

He thought he was going to be free and clear of any problems.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Well, I think he thought Chandelle was dead. He was taken to the police department and his car was sent for processing. Harold was read his rights and consented to provide DNA samples and to have his car searched on. Although he hesitated before signing the consent form.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm sure he was like, if I don't sign it, they know something's up. If I do sign it, it's probably going to be the end of me.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. He's probably maybe also thinking, how well did I wipe down the interior right of the car? Chandelle Mock's blood was later found on the liner of the trunk of the car. And that's. We always go back and say, right. You can be a whiz at cleaning stuff up.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But to get rid of every single drop of blood, I think in a lot of situations is very, very tough.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. That's why you burn the car.

[Mike Ferguson]

Okay.

[Mike Gibson]

But don't do that. We want you to get caught.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. You're just saying you burn cars, I burn cars.

[Mike Gibson]

Okay.

[Mike Ferguson]

During his interview, Harold gave no information regarding Quatisha's whereabouts. As the interview continued, the detectives accused him of lying. Harold said, per Brady vs. State, I can't tell you. Even if I'm found innocent, my family will not talk to me again. And I feel like that's a bad, bad omen.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because you are hinting at the fact that you've done something so horrific that your family will never speak to you.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

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[Mike Ferguson]

The interview lasted into the early morning hours of November 8th. At one point, detectives lied to Harold and told him his mother suffered a heart attack. He said he was tired of talking and if they didn't believe him, they could take him to jail. Now, he was visibly upset about this remark about his mother. Yeah, but even that didn't cause him to give up any information about Quatisha. He was basically sticking to his story and saying, hey, you don't believe me, take me to jail. I got nothing to say.

[Mike Gibson]

He was holding strong on that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, he was. The interview ended, but Harold remained in the interview room. A few hours later, detectives returned to bring him breakfast. They found him standing on a chair in the corner of the room with his shoes off, and Harold said, I'll take you to where I left her, okay? Detectives drove north from Miami dade County on U.S. highway 27, through Broward county and into Palm beach county to the site where Shandell was found. Other officers were already at this site conducting a search. Detectives drove with Harold along dirt roads and through fields off the highway for about three hours, but found no trace of Quatisha.

[Mike Gibson]

Probably felt like they were on a wild goose chase.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yes. Yeah, I knew I Knew that's probably what you were thinking of. After Harold had led them in a vain search for several hours, a detective pulled him out of the car, pinned him against the side of the vehicle by placing a forearm across his throat. The detective held this position for about 15 seconds and demanded to know where Harold left Quatisha. But Harold didn't respond.

[Mike Gibson]

You know what? I can see myself getting frustrated like that. Yeah. Like, look, I've been driving you around for three hours. You have just been wasting our time. Where is this little girl at? Where is she?

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, you know, I. How many body camp police body cam videos I watch?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't think I have the patience to be any type of law enforcement officer.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

The shit that they have to deal with.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I have a feeling I would snap on somebody.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. It'd be difficult for sure to remain

[Mike Ferguson]

orderly, professional during, you know, all the type of verbal and abuse that they take.

[Mike Gibson]

Because there are people that will try to go you into doing something.

[Mike Ferguson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, so.

[Mike Ferguson]

And they know they can get away with saying certain stuff.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because of freedom of speech. But, you know, a person can only take so much of that. I mean, yeah, when your job's on the line, yeah, you got to take it. But. But I. I don't know if I'd be able to be like, I could always get another job.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So, you know. Yeah, I get it. They have to be, you know, upset about this or getting POed at him. After this incident, the foot search continued. At one point during the search, Harold asked out how long it would take a body in the water to surface. Speculating that although Quetisha was alive when he left her, she might have fallen into the water. At 4pm Harrell admitted he left Quatisha in a different location. He directed detectives to a section of Interstate 75 in Broward county known as Alligator Alley. He claimed he left Quatisha alive on the other side of the road at a bridge crossing over a canal.

[Mike Gibson]

Either way, it's a really shitty thing to do.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, it is because we're talking about a five year old here.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

In Alligator Alley, you know, what is the survival rate for a five year old that's left anywhere?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

In any type of remote area. It's. It's probably not great. But now we add in vicious alligators. Yeah, it's not good at all. So he directed detectives to three bridges in the area because he wasn't sure exactly where he left her. He gave different reasonings for leaving the child on the side of the road in the Everglades in the middle of the night. He was angry with Shandell and he was worried that Quetisha would tell others what he did. He admitted that when he left her, he. He knew she would probably die.

[Mike Gibson]

No. Crap.

[Mike Ferguson]

In the Everglades in the middle of the nights. Pitch black.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I can't. A five year old, I don't even know how an adult person would make it through the night. And some stretches of Alligator alley, at least back in the day when I would drive through there, there's no way I would want to walk that stretch because they're everywhere.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Let alone a five year old man.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So the search continued until dark. Harold was escorted back to the police department and taken back to the interrogation room, which had not been touched since he was in it that morning. Upon entering the room, detectives noticed the metal ceiling grate in the corner of the room was bent on both ends. They suspected he was trying to escape.

[Mike Gibson]

That's why he was up on the chair.

[Mike Ferguson]

So again, to your point, do you not check this guy's record and see that he's escaped multiple times?

[Mike Gibson]

You would think, no wonder he's. He's like. He knew he was going to get caught, so he shifted immediately, saying, I, I'll tell you where she's at, you know, to get out of there.

[Mike Ferguson]

Buying time for something. He was questioned again, but never admitted to killing Quatisha. On the morning of November 9, two fishermen found Quatisha's floating body in a canal running parallel to Alligator Alley. At first the fisherman thought the body was a pajama clad doll.

[Mike Gibson]

I bet. So tiny.

[Mike Ferguson]

And we've heard that a lot. Right. Whether somebody says, I thought it was a mannequin in this case, you know, she's smaller, so they think maybe it's a doll. She was found about 15 miles from where officers focused the their search efforts. A medical examiner determined that she suffered alligator bites to her torso and head while she was still alive.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Ferguson]

There were teeth marks deep in her skull. Her left arm was bitten off after death.

[Mike Gibson]

I can't even fathom what that little girl went through. To be bitten and still remain alive for however long.

[Mike Ferguson]

No.

[Mike Gibson]

And knowing the fear of knowing what was about to come.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and there's more. They determined that the fall from the car caused her to suffer a broken skull, a damaged liver and other blunt trauma. But it is possible she could have survived with treatment.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So for me, that goes back to his saying, I knew she would probably die.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, first of all, she was badly injured. And second of all, you're leaving her in alligator alley in the middle of the night Purposely.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, is what I would believe. Right. Because he was hoping that there would be no evidence left.

[Mike Ferguson]

I believe so. Because of these injuries, she was likely not conscious at the time she was bitten by alligators.

[Mike Gibson]

Man, you hope. You hope that's.

[Mike Ferguson]

You hope that's the case. She also suffered brush burn injuries while she was alive, consistent with her having grazed a hard, flat surface from falling out of a car and sliding on the road.

[Mike Gibson]

And that stuff hurts. I've. I've done that. When. When I was younger, I was on a moped, and I went off the road and came back on. It caught the lip, and it. I went sliding down the road, just my shorts on and, you know.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. They called it brush burn. We've always called it road rash.

[Mike Gibson]

Rash. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But I think it's. It's pretty much the same thing. She suffered several injuries after she died or while she was close to death, including more brush burns and alligator bites. And injuries to her lips consistent with fish feeding on her remain.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Poor girl, man. It's just. I'm heartbroken for her. It was determined that Quetisha's death was primarily caused by blunt force trauma to the left side of her head, consistent with her either having fallen from a great distance or having been thrown onto a prominent protruding object, such as the jutting rocks along the canal where her body was found.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, that's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, if that's the case, though, does it change your way of thinking in regards to his story? I just left her out there, even though I knew she was probably going to die, versus maybe he had even more of a hand in it than he was willing to admit.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I mean, to me, none of this would have happened if he wouldn't have kidnapped him.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Well, either way, however it went down, in my view, he's responsible for her death.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah. 100%.

[Mike Ferguson]

100%. Chandelle was released from the hospital on the day that her daughter's body was found.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, man. How rough on her.

[Mike Ferguson]

Chandelle's brother, Michael Washington, told the Miami Herald that she was still shocked and confused. He said, from the way Shandell explained it to me, she said she never expected he was that kind of man. He was in with the church, he was helping our people, that kind of

[Mike Gibson]

stuff, like we said earlier, you know, I mean, why would you think anything different? He was, you know, showing the good. The good card. Right. Like, look at me. I'm a good father, good husband, a good church going guy. And I'm going to be here to help you out because that's just who I am. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

On November 10, 1998, Harold was charged with first degree murder and felony child neglect. He was already being held on kidnapping, burglary, attempted first degree murder, and attempted escape charges.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

His murder trial didn't start until July 9, 2007.

[Mike Gibson]

Wow.

[Mike Ferguson]

That's nine years.

[Mike Gibson]

That's a heck of a delay.

[Mike Ferguson]

Almost nine years after he was charged, the prosecutor described the horrific details of Quatisha's last moments. And Shandell bravely testified about surviving the attack and losing her daughter. And you would have to call that brave.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, for sure.

[Mike Ferguson]

First of all, it'd be very difficult.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

To get up on their. On the stand and. And talk about that. But you also want this guy to go away.

[Mike Gibson]

You do.

[Mike Ferguson]

In their closing argument, the defense tried to blame Shandell for Quatisha's death, saying Quatisha Maycock suffered an injury and died as a result of flying out of a car and hitting her head. It's up to you to decide whether Mr. Brady is responsible for that.

[Mike Gibson]

They were in the car because they were kidnapped.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

And he wouldn't let them out of the car. And middle of the Everglades. They had no other choice but try to get out of the car.

[Mike Ferguson]

I get it. Right. You know, Chandell is the one who tried to, you know, to get them to jump out. Ultimately did jump out. But it's the reason behind it.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

That's important. It's not because she wanted to hurt her daughter. It's because she thought this guy was going to kill them both.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. And he did speed up knowing they were trying to jump out. Yeah. And driving a radical.

[Mike Ferguson]

Early in the closing argument, the prosecution asked the jury, how desperate would you have to be to jump out of a moving car with your child?

[Mike Gibson]

Pretty desperate.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think so. And I think a jury would see it that way as well. On July 17, Harrell was found guilty of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, burglary of a structure with an assault or battery therein, child neglect, causing great bodily harm and attempted escape. On August 31st, the jury voted for the death penalty 11 to 1. And it was during the penalty phase that the jury got to hear about his very long criminal history.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And we detailed out a lot of it. In October, the judge upheld the death penalty and told Harold, as quoted by the Miami Herald, the defendant caused this five year old to die. Alone in the wilderness and to be mutilated by monsters of the swamp. Adults are supposed to protect children from monsters. They're not supposed to be the monsters themselves.

[Mike Gibson]

Spot on there, you know? And this guy deserves what he's going to get.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think it's very well said by the judge. In 2017, a decade after his conviction, Harold's death sentence was overturned. After the Supreme Court found Florida's death penalty law to be unconstitutional, he was granted a new penalty phase before a jury. So Florida changed the law in 2023. Now, a jury can recommend death by a majority of eight to four, but the final sentence is determined by a judge. Harold's resentencing trial began on January 20, 2026. So just this year.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Prosecutor A.B. rifkin told the jurors that Quetisha was smart. She was loving. She was sweet, like candy. Harold, an avid hunter, drove to a remote part of the Everglades known as Alligator Alley and left Quatisha to be eaten alive by alligators.

[Mike Gibson]

He knew what he was doing. He absolutely knew it.

[Mike Ferguson]

He did. Prosecutors still aren't fully sure whether he abandoned her on the side of the road or threw her into the water.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I think he probably tossed her in the water.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think so, too. And maybe even onto the rocks which caused some of the head injuries. His motive for murdering the child was that he didn't want her to be able to identify him after he brutally attacked her mother. Once again, jurors heard testimony from Quatisha's mother, Shandell Maycock. She said, every day I wake up and I remember what happened to Quatisha. There's no justice that can bring her back, but I have to speak for her now, because she cannot. Prosecutors argued that Harold's history of violence, his calculated actions, and his lack of remorse warranted the harshest penalty.

[Mike Gibson]

This is a guy that thought he wasn't even a criminal.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I'm not a criminal. I'm not dangerous. State Attorney Rifkin, in closing statement, said, a child at the beginning of her life is dead because Harold Brady wanted her dead. This is the fate he chose for a child whose only crime was having witnessed what he had done. The defense presented mitigating evidence such as Harold's troubled upbringing in a segregated neighborhood in Miami, his mental health problems, and his attempts at rehabilitation while incarcerated. Before he was incarcerated in 1998, he. He was a church leader and a loving father who was affected by the loss of several close family members. Harold and his wife were still married, and he was A model prisoner with only two disciplinary reports. And that's great, but it doesn't change what you did. No, I understand they're trying to mitigate.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it's up to the judge or the jury or whoever to make of that evidence. You know, what they. What they will. But to me, I just don't put a lot into it.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, you don't get a pass because you did something bad, but because you're going to say that the reason you did something bad was because of things in your past. No. You're an adult. You know what you're doing is wrong. Don't do it. Just don't do it.

[Mike Ferguson]

And also how you've acted in prison since you've been incarcerated. That doesn't. That doesn't mean anything to me. Because you shouldn't be allowed to get away with anything in prison. That's. You're in prison.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

You don't have a lot of choices. He's dealt with throat cancer and brain damage after being attacked by inmates in 2019.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know, you chose to do what you did that put you in prison, so that's unfortunate. But that's what happens in some prisons, you know?

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and I do wonder how much of that had to do with him hurting a child. Because we know from other cases that inmates don't look kindly on people who hurt kids.

[Mike Gibson]

They don't.

[Mike Ferguson]

They could have killed 20 people. But they think you're the scum of the earth because you hurt or killed a. A child.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

The defense argued that Harold would be punished by dying behind bars. But the question was whether he would die of natural causes or be executed on January 30, 2026. After four hours of deliberations, the jury recommended life in prison.

[Mike Gibson]

Good.

[Mike Ferguson]

Outside the courthouse, Chandelle Maycock said to reporters, she was my world. This isn't just about one family. It's about protecting other children, about making sure monsters like this are never free again. So Harold is currently 76 years old. Meaning I don't think there's any doubt he is going to die behind bars.

[Mike Gibson]

Yes.

[Mike Ferguson]

And he should.

[Mike Gibson]

It may be natural causes or maybe somebody will take him out, whatever.

[Mike Ferguson]

Either way, he's never going to see freedom.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

Again. And some people could argue that, okay, he should have been executed. I don't really have a preference either way. My big thing is I just don't want these people back out on the street.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, if you're a guy like this who has such a long criminal history of doing really terrible things. You just can't be trusted in society.

[Mike Gibson]

No, you don't. Look, they could do the method, you know, go down the pike and execute them. I'm fine. I don't problem with that.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I'm fine with it too.

[Mike Gibson]

But the fact is, is that if he has to wake up in a small cell every day, with or without a roommate, depends on the. Where he's, where he's located. And he doesn't have all the freedoms and he's not going to be looked upon as a good person even in prison.

[Mike Ferguson]

No.

[Mike Gibson]

Right. I mean, he'll be watching his back every place he goes in there. Yeah, I'm good with that too. Because, you know, what he did was unexcusable.

[Mike Ferguson]

It was absolutely is. But he's just a terrible guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yes.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, you've already, you know, kind of shown the world and the courts that, okay, you got off early.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

They let you go 13 years into a 30 year sentence.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And all you did was commit crime after crime, after.

[Mike Gibson]

In crime, tried to escape. It just proves that that was a mistake.

[Mike Ferguson]

It was.

[Mike Gibson]

He should have stayed in the whole freaking time.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Now it's easy to see it, you know, in hindsight, but if you get caught again, I think all that should be factored in.

[Mike Gibson]

It should be. The other thing is, is it just goes to show you that you can't trust meeting anybody. Right. What they, what they display on the outside is. Might not be who they really are.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's really tough. Which makes it hard to date, you know, for sure. Those, those of you out on the, in the dating world, I feel bad for you in a way because I. I don't know if I could do it now. I'm glad that I found someone and I've been married 30 years.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because I have a lot less trust in people, which I hate to say, but I think podcasting true crime will do that to you.

[Mike Gibson]

Sure will. Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is hard to keep the same level of trust in people when you're doing these types of stories day in and day out.

[Mike Gibson]

But I can see people dating today going, all right, I need a blood sample to run some DNA tests on you. I need to run a few background checks, need your fingerprints. And I guess while you're at her, go ahead and get your credit.

[Mike Ferguson]

Credit check genetic genealogy just to make sure there's no big time serial killers in your family. But that's it for our episode on Quetisha Macaque. It's a sad one because she was so young. What happened to her was absolutely horrific. She never got to really start living her life. And those are always tough.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

No doubt about it. But that's it for another episode of True Crime all the Time. So for Mike, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.

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