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[Music] My name is Reggie Reed. Salonia Reed is my mother and Regginal Reed Senior is my father. My
00:00:18
mother, she was the love of my life, my first love. And I was her everything. It was very rare I wasn't by
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her side. Take me back and tell me what you remember about that day. That day we
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went to the mall. That's one of the things to do in Hammond. Just go to the mall. Even though if you're not buying
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anything, window shop, if you will. Went to the mall, came home, and my mom went out and she never
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came home. My beeper went off and it was regional. and he asked me, "Had I seen Salonia?"
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And I said, "No, not since yesterday." I was a patrol officer for the Ham Police Department. I was dispatched to a
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missing person's call on Apple Street in Hammond, Louisiana. The complainant, Reginal Reed, explained to me that his
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wife had left home the night before and had not returned and he was concerned and wanted to file a missing person's
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report. I had received a description of the car from regional. I started to drive a range
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road and I noticed the car, walked up to the car and noticed Salonia's body inside the car. It was
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very, very, very obvious that she was deceased. Salonia was 26 years old at the time. When I watched the crime scene
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video and saw Salon's body in that car, immediately I was sad. I was mad. It was
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pretty apparent to me right away that whoever did this homicide hated this woman.
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So I called Regina back. I says, "Regina, have you heard anything?" He told me, he said, "Yes." He said they
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found her in her car. And he said that she was dead. And that was I was interviewed after she was murdered
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as a six-year-old. Okay. Can you tell me your name? What's your name? When I watch that video over and over
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again. Okay. The day before Sunday, what did you do? What I see is a a six-year-old boy
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that that life has been ch changed. He doesn't understand the magnitude of it yet.
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[Music] And you're asking me, you trying to find out who killed my mother. Do you
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remember seeing her leave? You did. Anytime a young woman Salon's age is killed the way she's killed, I
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think most people right away would assume the husband did it, right? And that's the easy way. That's the
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stereotypical way. But it's also not out of the realm of possibility that this was some
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killing for another reason. From that day on, my life changed forever. It just begs a question why
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[Music] [Music] After my mother was murdered, things moved fast. couldn't really understand like why
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would somebody kill her? Like what did she do? It's been decades since Reggie Reed Jr. last saw his mother Salonia.
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I feel like I missed out on a huge part of life that I'll never get back. Reggie was only 6 years old on August
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22nd, 1987. One of the last things he remembers is his mother buying him a chocolate chip
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cookie here at the Hammond Square Mall in Louisiana. He told police his mother kissed him when she left the house later
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that night. But the rest, he says, is a blur. When you think about that, what does that feel like? When I think about
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how my mother's life was shortened and how my experience was shortened, I feel empty. If somebody says to you, "Who is
00:05:34
Salonia?" What do you say? Someone asked me, "Who is Salonia?" I would say, "You looking at
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her. Because based on the description, the memories and what things people have shared. When I look in the mirror, I see
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my mother. Reggie's memories are at the heart of the memoir he's written about his
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mother's murder. The day my mother never Came home. Within these pages, you will
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find the memories of a six-year-old boy whose mother was murdered. a 15-year-old
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young man searching for his place in the world without the guidance and encouragement of his mother. The night
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my mother went out and never came home, life for me and my father basically flipped
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upside down. Charles Muse, now retired, was the police officer who found Salonia's body
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after taking the initial missing person's report from her husband, Reginald Reed. Salonia's body was in between the
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bucket seats of the car with her torso over into the back seat of the car. She had 16 pinpoint like stab wounds in
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her upper torso, shoulder, and neck. Her blouse had been torn off. Her pants had
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been removed from her. She had been sexually assaulted as well. Louisiana State Police Lieutenant Barry Ward would
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eventually be assigned to the case years later. He was only 16 years old when Salonia was murdered. In 1987, I was a
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sophomore in Marshall County High School in Western Kentucky. When he eventually
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did pick up the case file, he took note of the lack of blood in the car. It would suggest that she was murdered in
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another location and then transported to where her body was later discovered at the John's Curb Market. That market was
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about 1 and 1/2 miles from the Reed House on Apple Street. At the scene, Officer Muse
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noticed something else about Salonia's naked body. I did see a substance uh that had been placed on the
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body. It was a white liquid type substance on her torso and stomach area. Police believe the white lotion may have
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spelled out a word, but if there was a message, it had become illeible in the Louisiana heat. The windows were rolled
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up. It was August at the time. It was very hot out. Detectives bagged any potential
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evidence, including the butt of a cigarette. A Winston cigarette. Police canvased the area, but Ward says
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they didn't find any eyewitnesses or a murder weapon. The following day, on Monday the 24th, a
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neighbor went to his mailbox and discovered a crucifix and a screwdriver. Given the nature of Salonia's injuries,
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police at first believed the screwdriver might be the murder weapon, even though
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it had no visible blood on it. It was early in the investigation, and detectives looked at all the angles,
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including Salonia's job at Citizens National Bank. She was a teller in the commercial section. She was described as
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being polite, kind, had a nice smile. Here she is taking part in a community fashion show just one week before her
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murder. Salonia and Reginald, who was a Marine and later a car salesman, met during
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their high school years. Salonia was known for being devoted to little Reggie, as everyone called him. But the
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night she disappeared, she left the six-year-old at home with his father. According to what Reginald told police,
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he and his son uh Reginald Jr. were going to stay and play video games while she went out to a local bar with her
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girlfriend. Officer Muse interviewed that friend who denied she and Selonia had plans that
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night. Reginald told police he suspected Salonia had a boyfriend and admitted he
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and his wife had personal differences, but Ward says the police found no evidence of an affair. Based on the
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research that I had conducted, her co-workers, the people that knew her said that she just went to work and came
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home, that she was always seen with her little boy. The day after her body was found, investigators searched the family
00:10:33
home on Apple Street. The chief of police said that when he went in, it smelled like bleach in the house.
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Detectives looked for evidence that Salonia may have been killed there, but all they found was a freshly vacuumed
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carpet and the gold clasp of a necklace. Regginal gave investigators permission to interview little Reggie,
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the only other person in the home the night of the murder. In this police video, a detective questions Reggie as
00:11:00
his father fidgets with a bean bag intended for his son. Tell me what you remember about that knife. Reggie Jr.
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became his father's alibi. The boy said he and his father played video games and
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then slept together in the same sofa bed on that August night. Did anybody come over?
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Did anybody leave? Everybody stay home that night. When little Reggie agrees that everybody
00:11:29
stayed home, his father looks at him. Everybody, everybody stay home that night.
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Don't be afraid. Just, you know, she talking. Don't be Don't Don't be afraid. Just we just talking.
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I don't want to talk. She just She ask you just a few more questions. You What's the matter, baby?
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He said he want to talk no more. Oh, you don't want to talk no more? Just the emotional Yeah. part of it. Okay, that's
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all right. Look, didn't I tell you before that I'm I'm your friend? Oh, he's here, baby.
00:12:09
[Music] Okay, darling. I won't talk no more. You don't have to. I just can't imagine what
00:12:16
it's like as a six-year-old to have to sit there. And looking at that, it's still hard to
00:12:25
believe that that's me. Watching that video just brings back so so many questions
00:12:33
and and pain because I see me crying. In the aftermath of Salonia's murder, her family came forward with
00:12:44
more information. Some of it directed at one of Reginal's friends, Jimmy Ray Barnes. Turns out Barnes smoked Winston
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cigarettes, the same brand found in Salonia's car. And Salonia's sister, Gwen Smith, said that Salonia did not
00:13:01
like Jimmy Ray. Apparently, she knew Jimmy Ray's voice cuz she started screaming, "Come inside. I don't trust
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him." So, she was scared of him. In the days after Salonia's murder, there was one name police kept hearing.
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Jimmy Ray Barnes, a friend of Regginal Senior. Jimmy Ray Barnes was an acquaintance of Regginal Reed. He hung
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out with him. He worked with him. Lieutenant Ward learned about a disturbing incident at a local beach
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where Salonia was swimming with little Reggie just days before the murder. They were on inner
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tubes. Jimmy flipped Salonia over. She didn't feel that it was a playful thing. She felt that it was uh deliberate and
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intentional. Uh she was not a good swimmer and uh she said she struggled to make it to the bank. The next night, her
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sister Gwen said Salonia became frightened when a relative who was visiting Salonia spotted Jimmy Ray
00:14:13
Barnes near her home. And she said Salon went into hysterics like, "No, no, don't
00:14:21
go out there. Don't go out there." And within a few moments, Jimmy Ray Barnes walked around the corner of the house.
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Jimmy told her that he was checking on Stonia and she ran him off. Ward would learn that Jimmy Ray
00:14:36
along with Reginald came under even more scrutiny 2 days after the murder. A witness came forward to say she had seen
00:14:43
two men around John's Curb Market on the night Selonia was murdered. She became suspicious and later wrote down on a
00:14:50
piece of scrap paper the license plate. As it turns out, that was the vehicle that Reginal Reed was known to um
00:14:57
operate in. That was his car. Some 2 weeks later, police assembled this photo array and showed it to the witness. The
00:15:06
witness identified the driver as Reginal Reed and the passenger as Jimmy Ray Barnes. Jimmy Ray was given a polygraph
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test and police at the time said he passed. But it wasn't long before Jimmy Ray left
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Hammond. Reginald denied having anything to do with Salonia's murder. But neighbors told police the marriage was
00:15:28
trouble. Family members say Salonia had accused her husband of physical abuse and there was talk of divorce.
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The police continued investigating, but prosecutors never brought the case to a grand jury. There's a lot of
00:15:43
circumstantial evidence in 1987 that pointed to Reginal Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. Um, as far as a a smoking gun,
00:15:50
it it it was not there at that time. I started feeling like nothing was going to be done about her murder and we would
00:15:59
not get justice. Time passed and Reginal continued to live in Hammond. He even ran for mayor
00:16:08
in 1998. Ariel Reggie Reed, number eight. You can count on me. Thank you. He lost that race, but he and little
00:16:17
Reggie stayed in the family home, which today has fallen into disrepair. So, this is it. What's it like for you to
00:16:25
just come back here? I know you don't like to, but what does it feel like? I feel numb. Yeah, I feel numb. This is
00:16:34
where it all started. You know, this is the halls I used to run. This is the TV room. This was the TV room. When you
00:16:44
were playing Nintendo with your father the night that your mother was murdered, was that here? That was in this room.
00:16:52
Reggie went on to attend college and later got an MBA. He moved out of Hammond and began working for a
00:17:00
pharmaceutical company. There were no new developments on his mother's murder until 2011 when Lieutenant Barry Ward of
00:17:08
the Louisiana State Police got involved. After I started interacting with Selonia's family, her sisters, I
00:17:16
realized how important it was. Before Barry Ward came into the picture, I just felt like nobody cared about Salon's
00:17:24
case. This was just the last opportunity I felt before more witnesses passed away
00:17:30
that we would have a chance to find justice for this terrible crime that happened to Sloania.
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As far as Ward could determine, the crucifix and screwdriver found within days of the murder led nowhere. But the
00:17:43
detective was drawn to several life insurance policies Reginal had taken out on Salonia that paid out more than
00:17:51
$700,000. Some of those policies were taken out the same month that Selonia was murdered. Ward wanted to reinter Reggie
00:18:02
Jr. in 2012. Reggie was 31 years old and living in Texas. Ward sent a Texas Ranger to begin the questioning.
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He told me why he was here and it was to discuss my mother's murder. And the ranger then told Reggie something. He
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said he'd never heard before. He was not aware that his father was a suspect in the murder of his mother. I was like,
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"Where is this coming from?" Like, it's been over three decades. You talking about my dad like killed my mom. Like,
00:18:36
seriously. I remember asking, is there any new evidence that was surfaced? And it was nothing new. It's true that
00:18:46
the insurance policies had been discovered by the original detectives, but Lieutenant Ward had organized them
00:18:52
in a way that he felt was damning. The Texas Ranger asked Reggie about those policies. He showed me a graph, a
00:19:00
timeline that showed these insurance policies that were taken out close to her death. Did you all of a sudden say,
00:19:08
"I need to get to the bottom of this or what?" It was eye opening cuz I'm like, well, that doesn't look good. I got to
00:19:16
learn more like what's all this. Reggie struggled to make sense of it all. I did talk to my dad about it
00:19:25
over the phone and his response was he he took our policies on everyone. Reggie said he finds it hard to square what the
00:19:35
investigation revealed with the loving father who raised him. I look back, I'm like, man, he really he really did do
00:19:43
some great stuff for me. He was a great provider. Ward took a deep dive into the case file
00:19:50
and focused on that Winston cigarette butt found in Salonia's car. He sent it out for DNA testing, something that was
00:19:58
not widely available in 1987. There was a match in the National Crime DNA database, COTUS, but not to
00:20:07
Jimmy Ray. It came back to a man by the name of Billy Ray Barnes. Billy Ray was Jimmy
00:20:14
Ray's identical twin brother. And the DNA supervisor had another surprise. He let me know that identical twins share
00:20:23
identical DNA. Lieutenant Ward decided he had to interview Jimmy Ray. And it turned out
00:20:30
that Jimmy Ray had been holding on to some key information all these years. Jimmy Ray Barnes did tell me that Regin
00:20:39
offered him $50,000 to quote unquote knock off his [Music] wife. In July 2012, Lieutenant Barry
00:21:02
Ward went on the hunt for Jimmy Ray Barnes, who had become a prime suspect in the Salonia Reed murder case after
00:21:09
his DNA was linked to the crime scene. Ward found Barnes in the Atlanta area, where he said Barnes told him he'd
00:21:18
fled Hammond because he was afraid of Reginal Reed. Barnes said back then he'd been shot at three times and hit once in
00:21:25
the neck. Barnes suspected the shooter was Reginal, but had no proof. Jimmy said he was known to carry a gun, but
00:21:34
you fast forward 25 now 30 years, Reginald Reed was now an old man. We are. Barnes was ready to talk about
00:21:44
Reed without a lawyer. I ain't got nothing to Barnes told Ward that a few days before Selonia was killed, Reed
00:21:52
asked him if he would quote, "Knock off his wife. Reginald asked you if you would quote by
00:21:59
your term knock off his wife and that that mean you took that to mean to kill her to murder right what was your
00:22:05
response to that? Hell no. Did he discuss any money with you? Yeah, he had he discussed money. Ward pressed
00:22:13
Barnes to tell him how much money. More than 5,000. Yeah. More than 10,000? Yeah. More than 50,000. 50,000. He
00:22:21
offered you $50,000. Is is that is that a guess or is that the amount he offered? That was the amount he offered.
00:22:27
But Barnes told Ward that he would not repeat the story in court. I don't trust the law no more. Ward confronted Barnes
00:22:36
about that polygraph test from the original case file. Barnes allegedly had passed that polygraph, but Ward
00:22:42
suspected Jimmy Ray secretly had asked his identical twin, Billy Ray, to take that test.
00:22:49
I talked to Billy and he said he took that polygraph test and if Billy looked like you and
00:22:57
was questioned over a murder that you took part in and he doesn't know anything about it, he's probably going
00:23:03
to pass that polygraph test. Would that be fair to say? I don't know. I'm not going to answer
00:23:08
that cuz I know I'm the one who took the polygraph test. Ward believed he had a solid case to
00:23:15
finally bring charges. He had Jimmy Ray's DNA connected to the crime scene and his videotape statement about Reggie
00:23:23
offering him $50,000 to kill Selonia. But Ward said prosecutors always wanted more. I would get phone calls through
00:23:32
the years from prosecutors who had asked me to rein family members, find out additional information, test more
00:23:39
evidence. It was busy work. Then in 2018, a newly hired prosecutor, Taylor Anthony, got assigned the case.
00:23:50
Why reopen a 35year-old case? What was the trigger? Well, why reopen it? It's an interesting question. This was a case
00:23:58
to me right away when I looked at it that there was a story to be told. Anthony was impressed by all the
00:24:05
investigative work done by Lieutenant Ward. So, he reached out. But Ward told Anthony he was too busy and that he felt
00:24:13
he'd been let down by other prosecutors. My initial response was to just get this
00:24:18
guy off the phone. He said, "Look, I've already poured hundreds of man hours into that case and y'all didn't do
00:24:23
anything." And he said, "You're wasting your time, kid. Have a nice life, basically." But Anthony was undeterred
00:24:30
and promised war that this time things would be different. I think he saw what I saw. I think that made all the
00:24:38
difference in the world. Like Ward, Anthony was sure Jimmy Ray Barnes knew a lot more. So he and Ward
00:24:45
took a road trip to Atlanta. We're able to locate Jimmy. He was staying in a camper at his employer's place. We
00:24:52
pulled up early in the morning when the sun was coming up and he was coming out of this camper putting a belt in his
00:24:59
pants and he said, "Uh, hey, who y'all looking for?" I said, "You, Jimmy." And he goes, "Oh, you again." But this time,
00:25:06
the new prosecutor had with him an agreement approved by a judge giving Barnes complete immunity if he testified
00:25:14
to everything he knew about Salonia's murder. So to the lay person, you offered him a deal. So I offered him
00:25:21
what I would say would be the golden ticket. But Barnes rejected the offer. He did not trust me. He did not believe
00:25:27
me. He did not want to talk to us. Ward and Anthony were about to drive back to Louisiana when Barnes said
00:25:34
something that took them by surprise. As Barry and I were getting back at the car, Jim Ray Barnes came over to us and
00:25:40
he said, "I want you boys to know that I'm the key to it all." And he said, "If you think you can indict me for murder,
00:25:47
then do it." Anthony was quick to take him up on that challenge. A couple of weeks later, grand jury in Tensville
00:25:54
Parish returned seconddegree murder indictments for both Regginald Reed and Jimmy Ray
00:26:00
Barnes. Immediately, we went to Reginald's home. I knocked on the door, identified who I was, and that I had an
00:26:08
arrest warrant for him for the murder of his wife. He really had no emotion. The date was June 21st,
00:26:18
2019, more than 30 years after Salonia's murder. When Reginal was arrested, it was
00:26:29
like it's like a burden just got my chest like a burden was lifted off. I got a call that my father was indicted
00:26:40
for seconddegree murder and conspiracy along with a codefendant for my mother's murder.
00:26:49
Reggie Jr. put up his father's $250,000 bail bond. My dad being my rock for so many years, I felt the need to
00:26:59
try to help him. Now that you are both adults, did you ever ask him those questions that you have that you're
00:27:05
questioning even now as we sit here? Yeah, I asked him. I asked him and he he he maintains his innocence.
00:27:13
Sitting in another Hammond jail cell was Jimmy Ray Barnes. He now had a lawyer and asked to speak with Detective Barry
00:27:20
Ward and Taylor Anthony. So Barry and I went and met with him again, and in exchange for him telling us everything
00:27:27
he knew, he was offered a deal to plead to accessory after the fact to murder and was given a 5-year prison sentence.
00:27:33
The homicide trial of Reginal Reed was scheduled for November 2022, and Jimmy Ray had agreed to testify. Reggie Jr.
00:27:42
hoped to hear never before revealed details of what had happened to his mother. I want to know what happened.
00:27:52
[Music] In November 2022, the murder trial of Regginal Reed began in Ameat, [Music]
00:28:11
Louisiana. Reed was represented by the mother and daughter defense team of Vanessa Williams and Latoya William
00:28:18
Simon. What makes you think that he did not murder Salonia? Their entire case is
00:28:24
circumstantial. William Simon says the state's case was weak. There was no murder weapon. No fingerprints or DNA
00:28:32
tying Reed to Salonia's homicide. I was confused as to how they were really going to prove their case. There's no
00:28:38
direct evidence. But prosecutor Taylor Anthony believed his prosecution would deliver justice to
00:28:46
Salonia. The reason I became a prosecutor is to fight for people like this. I see a
00:28:52
woman whose body has been desecrated, violated, mutilated, and nobody spoke up for her and fought for her. And there's
00:28:58
a quote that I love, and it goes, "The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for
00:29:05
them. And that's my job." Anthony told jurors about the $700,000 from the insurance policies on
00:29:13
Salonia's life. So, what was your theory once you put all these pieces together? My theory was
00:29:19
that Salon and Regginald were in a marriage that was about to come to an end. There was a history of abuse and
00:29:26
that Selonia was tired of it and she was ready to leave Reginald. I think he was
00:29:32
angry and he saw an opportunity for some money. I think that's why he killed this
00:29:36
woman. the case that they're presenting, which is this man takes out all these life insurance policies on a young,
00:29:43
healthy 26-year-old woman. What is his rationale for having done that? But they're missing the biggest part of it.
00:29:49
It wasn't just on her. It was on himself. It was on the child. It was family policies. So, it's not like he
00:29:56
just went and took out policies on Salonia only. Prosecutor Anthony was frank with jurors, telling them that the
00:30:03
state would not produce a murder weapon or the exact location where Salonia was stabbed. He focused on what the
00:30:09
prosecution did have, including that white lotion found on Salonia's body. Later, police were able to find a bottle
00:30:16
of lotion in the Reed household that matched that type of lotion that was on her body. The prosecutor also showed
00:30:22
jurors a photograph of some scratches on Reed's neck taken on the day Salonia's body was found. They wanted to take
00:30:29
photographs of his neck, and he was very hesitant. Anthony said Reed told police
00:30:34
two different stories about how he got those scratches, but after forensic testing, it was determined that none of
00:30:41
Reed's DNA was found under Salonia's fingernails. They believe that the killer is Mr. Regginal Reed. Anything
00:30:48
that goes to contradict that, they're going to completely block out. William Simon pointed to Jimmy Ray's long
00:30:55
criminal record of arrests. It couldn't be introduced at trial. And the reason why his criminal rap sheet couldn't be
00:31:00
introduced at trial is because these aren't convictions. But William Simon says Jimmy Ray's arrests were for
00:31:06
violent crimes. False imprisonment and aggravated assault, aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, murder. These
00:31:13
are things that the jury had a right to know, but because of the law, they didn't find out.
00:31:19
Jimmy Ray Barnes ultimately took the stand as part of his plea agreement. Jimmy, will you please tell me there
00:31:26
were no cameras in the courtroom. So, this recording is taken from Barnes's police interview conducted by Ward
00:31:33
before the trial. He told the same story when he testified. On the night of the murder, Barnes said
00:31:40
he promised to meet Reed in the parking area outside John's Curb Market where Salonia's body had been found. Oh, when
00:31:47
I got there, he was getting out the little blue car. The blue car was parked there. Barn said Reginald asked for his
00:31:54
help in moving Salonia's body. I said, "No, I I wasn't getting involved in that. He wanted me to move the body and
00:32:00
I didn't want to move and I didn't move the body." Barnes says that Salonia was fully clothed when he saw her and
00:32:06
sitting in the passenger seat. I did see the body in there and uh I paned. My understanding after the fact is that
00:32:14
Jimmy Ray Barnes talked to Reggie and said, "Where's the money? You told me $50,000." He says he never got a penny
00:32:20
of it. Prosecutor Anthony contends that after the men drove away, Reed returned and
00:32:27
staged the crime scene, stripping off Salonia's clothes, covering her with that white lotion, and leaving other
00:32:34
evidence to make it appear as a sex crime. And what does your dad say to that? He say it's completely
00:32:42
BS. You say it's it's no way we were at home playing Nintendo. William Simon had her own theory of what
00:32:51
happened that night. All of the information that we've received about Jimmy Ray Barnes is that he was
00:32:55
borderline obsessed with Salonia. I believe that maybe he encountered her, tried to make a pass at her, that was
00:33:01
rejected, and that's where you see that anger, that rage, that hatred. Sitting through the trial, Reggie
00:33:09
admitted that the relentless focus on his mother's murder was upsetting, especially as he watched that crime
00:33:16
scene video, which he had never seen before. And it really struck a card by just seeing my mother there
00:33:25
um lifeless and just alone and dead. Regginal Reed never took the stand and after less than a week of testimony, the
00:33:40
case went to the jury. Reggie Jr. braced for the verdict. [Music] As a prosecutor, when the jury
00:34:03
deliberates, it's painstaking. You're just waiting and waiting and waiting. Some of Reginal Reed's brothers and
00:34:10
sisters were waiting as well. Kennedy Reed, Belinda Reed Cox, and Claude Reed. Claude, you don't believe your brother
00:34:18
murdered Salonia? No, I don't. I don't believe Reggie did that. My brother is not a murderer. He's
00:34:26
not. But on this day, November 18th, 2022, Reginal Reed was found guilty of seconddegree murder after the jury
00:34:36
deliberated for just over 3 hours. When he was found guilty, I feel like he died
00:34:42
without dying. And I saw myself at that same six-year-old crying out for my dad as I did in that
00:34:54
video. [Music] And I just wanted to end. Reggie tried to recapture the moment his father was
00:35:04
found guilty in his book. My father grabbed me up into a big hug. I wanted to stay there forever. He pulled back
00:35:12
for a moment, looked me in the eyes, and kissed me on the forehead. We embraced once more and then they took him away
00:35:20
from me. I wanted to tell him, "I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. I'm sorry for your
00:35:28
father going to prison." I can't even imagine the grieving process that he's got to gone through. Reggie says sitting
00:35:34
through the trial was excruciating. But when it was over, he still wanted answers.
00:35:42
That's where I passed from. Lieutenant Ward has told you that one of his theories is that your mother may have
00:35:51
been killed in this room. In this room? I just go back thinking of the manner and the way which she was killed.
00:36:00
If she was killed here, how is it possible that they couldn't find anything? I mean, it's
00:36:08
Where was I? Did you leave the house after I fell asleep? questions Reggie cannot answer because
00:36:17
he simply cannot remember. On January 30th, 2023, everyone piled back into the same
00:36:26
courtroom where Reginal Reed was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
00:36:32
parole. He did not offer any kind of explanation or statement and said nothing. You know, I want justice, but I didn't
00:36:41
think justice was going to come at the price of my dad going to prison for life.
00:36:49
So, my question is, do you believe that your father murdered your mother? I don't
00:36:59
know. Another question. Do I think my dad had some involvement? Maybe. I don't know though. I don't know. So
00:37:11
that's where I'm just It's like a tugof-war game. Just knowing the type of father he
00:37:19
is. I can't just turn a page and just look at my father as a complete monster. Salonia's sister, Gwen Smith, always
00:37:32
believe Reginal was Salonia's killer. Although she and Reggie Jr. are estranged. She still worries about him.
00:37:40
I just kind of feel bad for him, you know, because his mom was taken away from him when he was a little boy. What
00:37:49
do you want people to know about this case? If you could sum it up for me. I know one thing. My brother did not
00:37:58
commit this murder. For Barry Ward, who worked on the Salonia Reed case for a decade, the
00:38:05
conviction was just, and he appreciates that Jimmy Ray Barnes agreed to testify.
00:38:10
Jimmy Ray Barnes was the key. Barnes served his sentence for being an accessory after the fact to murder. He
00:38:17
was freed from prison and shortly after on January 27th, 2024, he was killed in a car accident. He was in Hammond to
00:38:27
attend the funeral of his identical twin. There are several cases throughout my career that stick out to me and this
00:38:42
is probably the the main one. Charles Muse, the Hammond police officer who found Salonia's body, is pleased he
00:38:50
got to see the outcome of the case. I mean, her death, you know, didn't just go and vain. I find some peace in
00:39:01
that. You say that you wish you would have gotten to know her better, but then you realize too, you must, that she's
00:39:11
living through you, that she's here because you're here. Absolutely. And I think about that she's in a place
00:39:21
where she's consistently watching over me. As for Reggie's father, he calls Reggie
00:39:31
from a Louisiana state prison once or twice a week. This call is not private. It will be recorded and may be
00:39:38
monitored. Hey Re. Hey. How you doing, man? Good. How are you? A 48 hours producer was present during a
00:39:47
recent call. Do you think you got a fair trial? No, of course not. Of course not. Was no
00:39:54
evidence. What you got to tell us about your son? Oh, remarkable. I thank the Lord for him
00:40:03
every day that he was able to understand some something that was going on, but that I would never leave him.
00:40:13
These days, Reggie has his own family. His son, Lean, is nearly the age he was when Selonia was killed, and they often
00:40:21
play games just as Reggie did with his [Applause] father. And in January 2024, Reggie and
00:40:31
his wife Paula were blessed with a baby girl. When our daughter was born, we both agreed
00:40:39
there's no other name that we should name her except Salonia. You know, give that name an opportunity to live life
00:40:50
and be recognized in a positive way. Wow. It's beautiful. [Music] Something happened at the house. We are
00:41:11
very worried about your dad. A daughter's forbidden love. There's blood everywhere. Turns deadly. We found
00:41:18
several murder plans. Who's the mastermind of all of this? Where were you? 48 hours is all new CBS next
00:41:25
Saturday, 10:9 central and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]