All language subtitles for Snapped.S36E11.Olivia.Moody.WEB-DL.x264-JiVE-CEsubs

Two ambitious women, one shot outside an
apartment building.

They both had overcome a lot to try to
be successful.

She was very loving.

Whatever you would need, she was more
than happy to give it to you.

Witness accounts describe an escalating
drama, but reports of what happened

depend on who's telling the story.

There was a brief.

Some disagreement.

A group of girls had jumped one female.

She pulled what seemed to be like a
small handgun and shot it.

She had no criminal record the first
time her name had came up in any

The aggression, the beatdown, if that
would make anybody afraid.

I was thinking to myself, this could be
what triggered everything.

She showed.

heard the small knife and said that she
would use it to protect herself.

And she claimed she had the gun for
protection.

You had supporters for both. I think it
created a divide in the city, but she

didn't deserve to die that way.

June 26, 2011.

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas, when a series of urgent

calls come in to the Jefferson County
911 Center.

911. The call

was coming in saying that they had a
shooter. They heard gunfire.

People was running.

It was a bunch of chaos.

And they knew that one person had been
shot.

First

responders

are dispatched to a location on the west
side of town.

When responding to those type calls,
it's always in the back of your mind. Is

the shooter still there?

The first officer on the scene sees an
older man administering CPR to the

apparent victim.

The man says he is a reverend at the
church across the street.

He saw the confrontation and heard the
shots.

Shots really got his attention.

Looked over and he basically sees
another woman with a gun and he sees a

lying on the ground.

So he goes over to render aid.

When I arrived, the scene was secure.

EMT was giving attention to the young
lady that was down.

You could see the blood coming out of
the shoulder area.

She was not conscious. She was not
talking.

They was rendering aid and getting ready
to load her up into the ambulance.

As the victim is rushed to the hospital,
police question bystanders to find out

who she is.

We identified her through witnesses that
had given her name as Vanessa Bearden.

They were able to determine that she
didn't live there, so part of their

inquiry was to determine why she was
there.

The average citizen in Pine Bluff is not
likely to be a victim of some random

act of violence.

We don't have home invasions with
killing drive -by. And when we do, it's

personal beef.

It's not random.

Vanessa Bearden had no criminal record,
no run -ins with the law.

So you want to know who, what, why, and
how. Just how all of this materialized.

Born May 15, 1990, in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, Vanessa Bearden has deep ties

to the community.

Growing up, Vanessa, she had a lot of
love. She was surrounded by all her

cousins and all her family.

They're a big family, and they're a Pine
Bluff family. They are known for their

church affiliations, singing group, the
Bearden Singers.

We were country kids.

So we like to ride four -wheelers. We're
outside picking eggs, getting the eggs

from the chickens, just running around.

Everybody knew Vanessa, and she just had
a really big personality.

Vanessa was very loving.

Whatever you would need, if you would
ask Vanessa, Vanessa was more than happy

to help you with it or give it to you.

She sought justice. She wanted to make
sure that everybody was treated the

way, treated fairly.

In 2008, around the time Vanessa turned
18, the Bearden family faced a major

challenge.

Vanessa's father had been sick for a
little bit, but when he passed away, it

still a very big shock to our family,
especially to Vanessa. It was part of

support system that was no longer there,
that was gone.

I think it caused her to kind of
reevaluate a little, take some things

seriously. She did grow. She became more
mature.

Vanessa did step up with helping me as
well.

So she would keep my children while I
worked.

That was about the same time where she
met the father of her children

and began a relationship with him.

And she had two kids.

Vanessa's mom is a nurse.

A lot of our family, they are nurses.

And she liked to care for people.

So Vanessa wanted to go on to become a
nurse.

I think it probably made her a little
bit sad her dad wasn't there to see

that happen.

Vanessa was the best mom ever.

Their hair, shoes, everything was
planned, everything was intentional,

she loved those babies, and that was the
way she showed her love.

As happy as 19 -year -old Vanessa was to
be a mother, the hardships continued

when her relationship with the father of
her children ended.

She did try to make that relationship
work, but when she realized that it was

not salvageable, that's when she kind of
decided to explore other options

outside of him.

Within the same year, her mother was
diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Vanessa took that very hard because her
mom is her idol.

She was modeling her life, her adult
life, after her mother's life.

Her mother's battle inspired Vanessa to
complete her training to become a

certified nursing assistant as she
raised her nearly two -year -old

six -month -old son.

She was just starting her job so that
she could continue taking care of her

family. And, you know, she had a lot of
positive things working out for her

right then.

But just as 21 -year -old Vanessa's hard
work is paying off...

A tragic shooting has left her gravely
wounded, and Pine Bluff police are

to determine what happened.

They were able to piece together the
approximate area in which the shooting

place, and that was based on them
locating a spent 9mm cartridge.

We also retrieved the knife that was on
Vanessa Bearden's person.

The reverend had taken it and given it
to us.

There wasn't any blood on it. I was
wondering to myself, did she bring this

knife to this thing with the intention
of using it?

And it went bad?

As they begin to talk to people, they
start getting into more specific

questions.

According to some, It might have been
related to a fight that took place 45

minutes earlier at a different apartment
complex a few blocks away.

There was a group of college -age girls
that jumped one female.

And then you had a crowd of onlookers
watching the fight.

They say Vanessa Bearden was one of the
girls in that group and one of several

people who recorded the fight.

I was thinking to myself,

Okay, she was involved in this fight.
This could be what triggered everything.

You want to know who, what, why, and
how.

So I want to know, did they know each
other?

What was the cause of the shooting?

Was this a planned attack, or was she
just in the wrong place at the wrong

Coming up, an eyewitness shares her
version of the story.

She wrote her money down and told us,
you bitches come see me.

And the suspect tells her own.

She had been jumped and she was just
trying to protect herself when it was

girls.

Detectives in Pine Bluff, Arkansas are
investigating the shooting of 21 -year

-old Vanessa Bearden.

And news of the tragedy has started to
spread through the community.

Another cousin called me and he asked
me, did I hear anything about

Vanessa being shot?

And I told him no.

So we all went to the hospital. We all
met at the hospital.

I remember sitting in the family room
and the

clergyman coming to pray with us.

She's the baby cousin, and it's just not
how it's supposed to go.

Investigators have just learned about a
fight between a group of women about 45

minutes before the shooting at another
complex nearby.

A young woman named Colby steps forward
and tells them she knows who shot

Vanessa.

She identified herself and that Vanessa
was a friend of hers.

She said they witnessed the fight and
what took in it.

Colby agrees to come to the police
station and give a formal statement.

Could you tell me what happened today?

Before that incident happened, Vanessa
Bearden was involved in an incident

with Olivia Moody.

Colby says Olivia isn't someone she and
Vanessa knew well.

But she was involved in an argument with
their friend named Alicia, who lived

nearby.

She said that early in the day she was
hanging out with Vanessa, and they

noticed another friend of theirs, Alicia
Jeffries, was involved in a fight with

another young lady.

There was a brief, some disagreement
between Alicia and Olivia.

There were witnesses who tried to break
up the fight.

But it had almost that gang element of
multiple girls jumping on one.

I have been knowing Olivia for probably
four months, but I haven't known her

well as friends.

I've always known her to stay in touch
with people, say something smart just to

see if someone would come bother her.

And today she got to fight one girl, and
Vanessa jumped in that fight.

So Vanessa jumped in the fight.

I'm against Olivia.

Yes, which doesn't make sense to me
because they don't even know each other.

A young man that they called Casey, he
pulled Olivia from the fight.

That fight was broken up by a black
male, and the black male dropped Olivia

in the sunset.

As he's removing Olivia, she is
screaming affinities. She is screaming

at the group.

After the incident, Colby says Alicia
went home, and she and Vanessa continued

on with their day.

According to Colby, about 45 minutes
after the fight, her and Vanessa was

hanging out actually at the apartment
complex where Olivia Moody lived.

They were sitting on a fence post in
front of the building, and they noticed

white towel riding through, and Olivia
Moody was actually in that towel.

They came past us as me, Vanessa, and a
group of other girls and males were

standing along a ledge.

And Olivia wrote her one down and told
us, you bitches come see me.

Colby says they shrugged it off, but a
little while later, Olivia sent them

another message directed specifically at
Vanessa.

A young, young boy, probably eight or
nine, he came through the hallway of one

apartment complex and said that Olivia
said she wanted the girl in the red

shorts.

Vanessa was the only one in red shorts.

I stated to Vanessa, don't go, because I
knew she had a gun.

How did you know she had a gun?

I was just...

saying because the type of person she
seems to be, she wouldn't just call you

out of a fight.

So Vanessa reached to her side and
tapped on her side and showed me a knife

said she's not playing with her.

Colby said that she showed her the small
knife that she had and said that she

would use it to protect herself if she
needed to.

Colby says Vanessa went to find Olivia
and the rest of the group followed her.

Vanessa started to go through the same
apartment building hall that the boy

out of.

She got within four or five feet of the
apartment, and I saw Olivia

reach out from behind her pants and pull
what seemed to be like a small

handgun. It was silver.

And she pointed up her gun and shot.

When I saw that, I ran.

And when I ran, I didn't know Vanessa
had been hit until I heard her yell,

COVID, I'm hit.

I turned around, and I started running
back.

I saw a man, an older man, bent over,
giving Vanessa CPR.

Okay. But did Vanessa have the knife out
at the time she was shot?

No, sir. The knife was never drawn.

In my opinion, Colby was believable.

I believe the way she painted the
picture and how everything went down.

The young man that Olivia Moody sent
through that breezeway to try to make

contact with those three young ladies
was never identified, not able to

determine who it was.

Once law enforcement spoke with Colby,
they had additional investigative steps.

Wanted to see if they could find
additional witnesses that could support

story that Colby just told them. And
they want to find Olivia Moody.

Before investigators can follow up with
anyone else, they receive devastating

news about Vanessa.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

After hearing that she had to come to
the womb, this changed the whole dynamic

of the crime scene.

So now we don't just have a first
-degree battery.

Now we have a homicide.

of the fatal shooting of 21 -year -old
Vanessa Bearden has shaken the community

of Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Family members gather at the hospital in
mourning.

When I found out she died, it hurt me.
It hurt me deeply.

And I hurt for my aunt, and I hurt for
my cousin, because she played an

part in their life.

I was shocked.

when it happened because she's the baby
cousin, I knew how much we were losing.

And to us, she was not just another

girl that got shot.

When we went back to see her, they asked
us not to touch her because

it was a crime scene.

And I think that had to be the hardest
part for her mom and her sister.

As Vanessa's loved ones try to make
sense of the loss, detectives are

up on a suspect in the shooting, 20
-year -old Olivia Moody.

We come into the knowledge that she
lives in Sunset Village, so we were able

track her down there.

We found no weapon at the scene, so...

We wasn't ruling out the fact that she
may still be armed.

We knock on the door and she answers.

They obtained consent from Olivia to
search her apartment.

During the course of that search, they
were not able to locate or did not

the firearm that Olivia used to shoot
Vanessa Beard.

We take Olivia back to the detective
office, back to the station where she's

Mirandized, and we talk to her father
from there.

Her demeanor was, I would say, calm,
nonchalant.

She admitted to the shooting, but she's
saying that it was self -defense.

Olivia confirms what Vanessa's friend
Colby told police.

that she was involved in an argument
earlier that day with Alicia Jeffrey.

We find out this revolved around the
fact that Alicia was now dating a young

that Olivia Moody used to date.

And apparently that caused some friction
between Olivia Moody and Alicia.

They had come in contact as Olivia Moody
was walking down the street.

Olivia stated that Alicia and some of
her friends, me and Vanessa Bearden,

they colluded together to jump her and
beat her until she

was able to get out of their grasp.

We took photographs of Olivia's face, of
her hands.

She did sustain some evidence of
physical injury.

Abrasions, cuts.

Olivia says it might have been worse if
her friend Casey hadn't stepped in to

save her.

Brian Gaddy was a friend of Olivia's.
They called him Casey.

He was the guy that got her out of the
fight. He was trying to break the fight

up and get her out of harm's way.

After leaving the apartment,

Olivia says she obtained a gun in case
she had any more run -ins with the

Olivia claimed she had this gun for
protection, and she was headed back to

apartment. And on the way there, she
sees a group of girls sitting on a fence

post by her apartment.

Although Alicia had already left the
apartment complex, that group did

Vanessa and Colby.

Near them was a group of young men, and
Olivia says one of them approached her,

a man known as G -Rel.

G -Rel had some prior minimal
association with Olivia Moody. In other

they knew each other, but they weren't
friends.

Olivia says G -Rel asked her about the
fight.

And as they talked, she decided it might
be worth trying to de -escalate the

tension through some of her friends.

She decided, according to her, to go
talk to Vanessa and Colby to see if she

could. I believe the phrase she used was
squash the situation.

Olivia admits she brought a gun with her
just in case.

Olivia says she had been jumped, she'd
been harassed, and she'd been bullied.

She was just trying to protect herself
from this group of girls.

As Vanessa and Colby got closer, Olivia
claimed she heard Colby say, get her.

So she pulled out the gun, according to
Olivia, to scare him.

She admits that she shot the gun in the
direction of Vanessa Bearden.

But Olivia claimed that she was trying
to shoot a warning shot.

When she realized she'd actually shot
Vanessa, she was in shock.

She just stood there near the body, and
someone took the gun from her.

She didn't notice who took it.

Then she went to her apartment, closed
the door, and waited for the

After hearing Olivia's version, I didn't
buy the warning shot based

on witnesses' statement that it was
pointed at Vanessa.

After her interview, the decision is
made to arrest Olivia.

Ms. Moody was initially charged with
capital murder.

As I was filling out paperwork and the
ticket to let Ms. Moody know she was

being charged with capital murder, she
made the statement, no, actually it was

second -degree murder.

It caught me by surprise because I'd
never heard anyone make a statement like

that.

While Olivia's comment reveals
unexpected knowledge of the legal

It has no effect on the outcome.

When there is a criminal charge, an
arrest charge is called.

That's made by the police.

But the police aren't authorized to file
an official criminal charge, an

indictment. And in court, she was
charged with murder one.

At this point, you want to find more
witnesses to either...

debunk or solidify her statement.

We was trying to collaborate the story
that Olivia told us about G -Rail being

at the scene, but we was unable to
locate him.

I was beginning to wonder if there was a
G -Rail.

Coming up, investigators question their
assumptions about Olivia.

She does not...

fit the profile of a cold -blooded
killer.

And the residents of Pine Bluff begin to
take sides.

The community stood by Olivia, believed
in her.

It kind of felt like being victimized
all over again.

Just a few hours after the death of
Vanessa Bearden, the young woman who

her, Olivia Moody, is in police custody.

Investigators suspect her claim of self
-defense is a smokescreen for her true

motive.

I think to a large degree that Olivia
Moody had been embarrassed and

she had been punked down and that she
was going to take action.

to make sure that everybody in that area
knew she was not to be messed with.

Colby had told us that the fight earlier
during the day was between

Alicia Jeffries and Olivia Moody.

So now we need to talk to Alicia to find
out what the fight was about.

When detectives speak with Alicia, She
confirms she and Olivia are at odds over

a guy, but she does not agree to a
formal interview.

To learn more about their issues,
detectives dig into their social media.

They did not like each other.

They had a pretty significant Facebook
war in which they both said very

things about the other person.

And that all...

surrounded by what was then Olivia
Moody's ex -boyfriend and Alicia's

boyfriend.

Alicia started taunting and harassing
Olivia and

tensions became high and it escalated
into the fight.

A background check on Olivia Moody
underscores the tragedy of the shooting.

Olivia Moody, she was born in Chicago,
Illinois, came up poor.

Her mother was addicted to drugs.

Olivia's mother let her family members
raise her children as she worked on her

recovery.

Olivia's mother is my sister, and in the
beginning, me and my mom, we

were taking care of my sister's five
kids, and Olivia was one of them.

Eventually, my mom... Lost her eyesight.

So I ended up getting all the kids
through DCSF and my mom.

And it wasn't easy, but we made it. You
know, we made it.

Despite the hardships of her early
childhood, Olivia managed to rise above

circumstances.

Olivia was very bright. She was an honor
roll student in elementary school. She

was always studious, and she was very
giving.

She was basically just a good kid. She
didn't get in trouble.

She went to school every day. She made
good grades.

She ended up coming to Pine Bluff,
attending University of Arkansas at Pine

Bluff, and majoring in criminal justice.

She would have been the first person in
my immediate family that would have

graduated with a college degree. So,
yeah, we was all proud of Olivia.

At the time, she was actually a clerk
for a local circuit judge.

Knowing Olivia's background, she does
not fit the profile of a cold -blooded

killer.

Detectives consider the possibility that
Olivia has been telling them the truth

about being harassed.

But they need to determine why Vanessa
was the one who ended up dead.

Searching for clarity, they revisit the
witness statements and discover a

pivotal piece of evidence.

Vanessa and Olivia didn't have any type
of relationship. They didn't even know

each other prior to that day.

Vanessa did, however, video that
altercation with her cell phone.

The video of the fight shows all the
people that was around watching it, and

shows Olivia getting jumped on.

She's pretty much helpless, and it's
hard to fight against that many

I believe that Vanessa was at the wrong
place at the wrong time.

Vanessa wasn't the one that Olivia was
into it with. She just happened to be

there.

But I think seeing those girls that had
jumped on her, I think it triggered

something in Olivia.

But I feel like there was other avenues
that Olivia could have taken before

taking Madison to her own hands.

Although Olivia Moody has been charged
with the first -degree murder of Vanessa

Bearden, investigators now question
whether the evidence supports her claim

self -defense.

They hope the results of an autopsy will
provide some definitive answers.

Vanessa's autopsy revealed that she was
struck in her back left shoulder and it

actually exited through the front out of
her right shoulder.

She was shot in the back.

There was not a close -range gunfire,
somewhere between 6 to 10 feet maybe.

I'm thinking, it's not self -defense if
you hit in the back and you're also

sleeping.

If Vanessa had to pull the knife on her
or try to cut her or stab her,

then you would have had an argument for
self -defense.

It's important to note that there's no
evidence that Vanessa Bearden ever

brandished the knife, much less
threatened Olivia Mooney with the knife.

As the story of Vanessa's murder and
Olivia's arrest spreads through the

community, not everyone agrees about
Olivia's guilt.

I think it created a divide in the city.

You know, you had supporters for both,
and you had a lot of anti -bullying

sentiments that was brought about for
Olivia and had people that felt like

Vanessa didn't deserve to die that way.

Olivia got to be the person that they
looked at and said, oh, well, just

she went to college, it couldn't have
been Olivia that did it.

Vanessa had to have done something in
order for Olivia to react like that.

And it kind of felt like being
victimized all over again.

Olivia returns to college while
investigators continue to build their

against her.

Then, three months after Vanessa
Bearden's death, a new witness emerges.

An individual by the name of Gurel Allen
or Gerald Allen goes by the street name

G -Rail.

Olivia claimed this man witnessed the
shooting firsthand, but police had never

been able to find him.

G -Rail, the one we was looking for, he
surfaced.

He's locked up in jail on drug charges.

While he's incarcerated awaiting trial,
he writes a letter to...

the prosecutor's office indicating that
he has information.

That letter's turned over to the
Pinewood Police Department investigators

they go interview Gurrell Allen.

Gurrell was a material witness for the
government.

This case was heavily dependent on
eyewitness testimony as to what

Gurrell said that he sees Olivia shortly
after the fight.

Olivia entices G -Rail to try to talk to
those three girls and get them to come

have some type of interaction with her.

Later on, GSA sees Olivia fire the shot
from about six to ten feet away,

striking Vanessa.

He also mentioned that Vanessa never
made any type of threatening moves

Olivia.

G -Rail did confirm that Olivia Moody
shot Vanessa Bearden in the back, not

in the back, but as Vanessa Bearden was
running away from Olivia Moody.

However, he seems just as conflicted
about the shooting as the community at

large.

G. Will still believes that despite all
that information, despite how everything

played out, that Olivia still acted in
self -defense.

He maintained that, but he was
incorrect.

For prosecutors, the statement makes one
thing abundantly clear.

I have never believed that... Olivia
Moody was an inherently bad person. I

believe Olivia Moody did an inherently
bad thing.

I honestly believe she got the gun for
protection, but I think just seeing them

at her place where she was at triggered
something in her.

I think she tried to bait them into that
situation.

I don't believe she fired a warning
shot.

I think she just pointed and fired.

But they know the outcome of any trial,
especially one this controversial, is

uncertain.

Going into trial, I had my concerns
about the public opinion because you

know how that would affect the jury.

Nearly one year after Vanessa Bearden's
death, the young woman who shot her,

Olivia Moody, goes on trial for murder.

The trial began May 16, 2012, and the
courtroom is packed.

There's a lot of supporters there for
Olivia.

There's some supporters there for
Vanessa.

Our defense was self -defense.

The aggression, the beatdown, that that
would make anybody afraid.

She was protecting herself against
further beatdown.

The general argument by the

prosecution is that it can't be self
-defense if the victim is fleeing and is

no longer a threat to you.

You have to prove state of mind.

In order to save you fearfully of your
life, the only way we could establish

that was to put her on the stand.

But any time you put a criminal
defendant on the stand, it is just high

Before Olivia takes the stand,
prosecutors attempt to negotiate a plea

reducing the charges from first -degree
murder to manslaughter.

But Olivia refuses the deal.

She would have gotten four years
probation, reduced to manslaughter with

right of expungement of record.

Had that happened, she would have been
placed in the car that day with her

family going back to Chicago.

Olivia Moody took the stand. She was
faced with tough questions that she did

have an answer for.

Why she got a gun, why she went to them.

And then the defense was done presenting
their evidence.

And we gave closing statements.

But the jury deliberated and came back
with a verdict of guilty on

one count of second -degree murder.

I believe it was very clear to the jury
that this was not a case of self

-defense.

Not at all. This was an extreme
manifestation.

or indifference to the value of human
life, which is what second -degree

is.

The verdict was very hard.

It was very hard.

Olivia was very strong. She didn't cry,
you know. She was trying to comfort us,

matter of fact.

The guilty verdict felt like not what we
believed she deserved, but...

There was some kind of justice.

She received 30 years and was eligible
for parole and seven and a half years

with good behavior.

I felt like justice was served, but in
the end, she had two families destroyed.

Vanessa and Olivia, they both come from
rough backgrounds.

They both had overcome a lot to try to
be successful.

They both had bright futures ahead of
them. And this situation just

changed the projector of both futures.

We talk about Vanessa pretty often.

Remembering the good things, laughing
about the things that were funny.

and telling the stories, making sure
that her children are brought up in an

environment of love.

Vanessa was a person that never got to
live up to her potential.

A lot of times when I have seen
interviews or even while I was in court,

always referred to as that girl. But
she's Vanessa to us.

She's a mom.

She's a sister.

She's a daughter. She belongs to
somebody.

She's still here with us. She's still a
person. We still believe that

Vanessa should have been able to live
her life peacefully.