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Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.
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Listener discretion is advised. This man has came in and tore my foundation down, what I have built.
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I feel like it should be an eye for an eye, and a lot of things will change in this world.
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On Friday, December 11th, 2015, Kajavia Globe got up and immediately started getting ready for work.
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She was nervous, but confident. That day was her interview for a new position at work.
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She could barely hold in her anxiety, so she called her sister. Friday morning, around 7.20, she FaceTimed me.
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We were discussing her hair. She just got it done that night. It was fresh, new.
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They talked for a bit, and it helped. Then she headed to work. At the start of the interview, she was still a little nervous, but forced to smile.
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By the end, when her boss offered her the position, she couldn't have smiled any bigger.
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Her hard work had paid off. All of her co-workers threw her a going-away party and bought her balloons.
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At the end of the day, she wrote a little message to her work friends. On the desk, she wrote, goodbye.
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After work, Kajavia was dying to share the news, so she visited her aunt before going home.
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No one saw her again. About 12 a.m., her live-in work friend called me to let me know that she was missing.
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Now, is this rare that she would not return home for the night? No. She always comes home.
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Did you try calling her on the phone? Yes. Did Ms. Globe return the call? No. And is that unusual?
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Very. Kajavia lived with her boyfriend, John Black, in his house in Lakewood Village.
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When she didn't come home, he was worried and called her sister to let her know.
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It was the early morning hours of Saturday, December 12th. She hadn't been missing for long enough to report her.
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I got the call she was missing around 12 a.m. I knew I had to call the police about one o'clock in the morning, but it wasn't long enough.
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I knew you guys were going to turn me around because it wasn't long enough. The police station was going to turn me around because she wasn't gone long enough.
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In other words, they weren't going to act on it if she was only gone for an hour is what you said.
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Yes. And you knew that. Yes. Okay. Kajavia's sister walked into the Detroit Police Department at noon the very next day and reported Kajavia and her car missing.
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She'd been missing for less than 24 hours, but her family had already waited long enough.
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Kajavia's sister insisted that she wouldn't just leave. Someone must have done something to her.
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The police filed a report and even reached out to the news media to spread the word.
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The nightly news that Saturday was filled with pictures of Kajavia and her 2003 gold Chevy Impala.
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And if anybody has any information on missing Kajavia Globe, please call Detroit police.
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You can remain anonymous and we'll have much more on this family and their search coming up on Action News at 5 o'clock.
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After filling the missing person's report, her family sprang into action. They called relatives and friends.
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They went out to hand out flyers and search the streets for themselves. Because they feared that if they didn't look for her, no one else would.
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but they weren't the only ones looking early on december 14th two days after reporting kajavia
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missing someone called 9-1-1 Detroit 9-1-1 what is the address of the emergency well um i don't
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know i listened to the news they said young lady's missing there's been a car on my block a keeler
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and finkel it's been there for like all day yesterday and i'm the only one living on the
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block besides a guy on the corner he could have company but it looks kind of suspicious i don't
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know if this is suspicious or not, but I think the police should come and check this vehicle out.
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Okay, ma'am, is this an abandoned vehicle or have you seen the missing person that you saw on the
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news? I've seen a girl missing or something and I did notice this car just appeared from nowhere
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and I don't know if it's related or not, but I'm thinking maybe the police can find out.
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The caller couldn't have been any clearer. She saw a suspicious car resembling the one from all
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the news reports about the missing woman. It had been sitting at the end of her block for over a
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day. She just wanted the police to come and check it out. But the dispatcher acted like she didn't
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understand. Okay, I can't remember. It's on the corner of Keeler and Finkel. And I know this young
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lady came up missing off telegraph. I don't know what kind of car it is, but. Ma'am, ma'am. I
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understand that you said there's an abandoned vehicle at the corner of your block. My question
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to you is what does that have to do with the missing young lady i don't know it just looks
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suspicious to me that their car is there and i've never seen it before that's fine the abandoned
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vehicle we've requested for that but i'm trying to understand where does the young lady come in at
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i don't know you said because i didn't want to go up close to it but they say she has some kind of
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I mean talk about hating your job I get it A lot of people don like their job but you kind of doing something important lady
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Maybe a career in the DMV or the local post office would be more appropriate. Better suited for this black Karen than a job where actual human beings are physically at risk.
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Maybe only people who have actual empathy should be hired for these jobs, but who the hell am I to say?
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The caller had done the math. A gold car, an empty block, and a missing woman. You didn't have to be Elon Musk to figure it out.
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I mean, maybe these things are related, but maybe they're not. Either way, it's the cop's job to figure it out, not the person reporting it.
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but somehow the dispatcher couldn't or wouldn't connect the dots. Take a deep breath for me because you're talking really fast.
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You're speaking in fragments and I'm trying to understand what you're saying. Apparently that seems to be a challenge.
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So what you're saying is that you heard this on the news, you looked outside yesterday, you saw this vehicle,
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and it matches the vehicle that you heard on the news. I didn't look outside. I mean, it's just like I was outside in the morning, like I'm outside every Sunday,
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and I noticed this car that's been there all day, and I just looked out the window today,
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and it's still there, and I have no idea. You looked outside, and you saw the vehicle that you believe has something to do with what you heard on the news.
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Is that what I'm understanding you to say, ma'am? It could be because it's in front of an abandoned house, and it's all abandoned homes with my block,
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and there's only one resident, and I know that's not his car. so that's what i'm saying it's like this is there and there's no homes here occupied other than mine
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and the guy who's down on the corner unless he has company ma'am you're going a mile a minute again
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okay i'm sorry for wasting your time you're not wasting my time but that's all right lady whatever
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happens happen at this point ma'am that's why people don't like to call i'm trying to understand
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you don't have to understand it don't matter now okay what happens happen we in detroit and shit
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happens all the time. In Detroit, shit does happen all the time. That is true. In 2015,
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Detroit citizens had been battling urban decay for decades. It was a vicious cycle where fewer
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people meant less money. Less money meant fewer businesses invested in the neighborhood.
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With fewer businesses, there were fewer jobs, so more people would move away, taking their money with them, so on and so forth.
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Abandoned buildings and homes were everywhere, especially on the west side. There were whole streets of empty homes with sagging porches and boarded up windows.
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With over 100,000 abandoned structures, the city couldn't keep up. And those that remained in these neighborhoods paid the price.
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Brightmoor, where the car was found, was one of the hardest hit, with something like 30% of all structures abandoned.
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Vacant lots became illegal dumping grounds, and unoccupied homes became hubs for criminal activity.
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Two years earlier, the city filed for bankruptcy and lost nearly 40% of the police force.
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Now, neighborhoods on the west side had high poverty and crime rates, with little police presence and slow response times.
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This led to rampant crime, of course. the good people left in the community rarely talked to the cops because of distrust for
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authorities and fear of criminal retaliation and even when they did even when someone tried to help
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the system was stretched so thin that the police didn't realize they had already gotten a 911 call
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about Kajavia's car the day before i just saw that news report about the young pardon me what
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What's the street name? Chatham. C-H-A-T-H-A-M. Chatham? Yeah. And Finco? Yeah, one block north of Flint, Finco.
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The young lady that was missing. Okay. There's a 03 Golden Pella. You said the young lady that was missing?
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Yeah, I just saw a news report. I pulled a car earlier today. I'm doing a job on that street.
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and it parked on the, that would be the west side of Chattel. And, you know, everything is vacant on that side.
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So it was odd, and then I just saw the news report, so I rode by to check the license plate on the car,
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and that's the car, AFF 926. Okay, now I'm not familiar with what's going on, so.
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No, no, no, no. I get what you're talking about. What is this incident about? A young lady's missing. They're looking for her.
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What's this car got to do with it? This was the car she was last seen driving. Okay, so I need to know the exact location of it there.
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Okay, Chatham, one block north of Finkle. It's right there, like near the corner.
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All right, anyway, I'm going to put this request there. Okay. All right, thank you, though.
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The caller had to explain it three times. Is it me or do you not need a basic GED to get a job as a dispatcher in Detroit?
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Is every dispatcher in Detroit completely fucking retarded? Seems like that's the case.
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Then the dispatcher submits a request? This is a report about finding a missing woman's car.
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This shouldn't be a request. It should be a priority. You should get off your ass.
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This call wasn't being taken seriously at all. it's unclear why this call didn't get any attention
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maybe it was a shift change maybe it somehow just got lost in the shuffle maybe they didn have an officer to send or maybe they just didn give a fuck Kajavia family didn know a call had already been ignored but they didn have to
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In their neighborhood, they learned not to count on help that may never come. Their loved one had
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been gone for too long, and they weren't going to wait for police to find her. We're going to be out
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here every day until we find her and whoever got our sister your best bet if you believe in god or
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if you love yourself send our sister home send our sister home because god ain't sleep and please
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believe it ain't none of us got no sleep either and we ain't getting none till she come home
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The End just gotten a promotion at work, celebrated with balloons and goodbyes. After work, she visited her
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aunt to share the news. That night, she never came home. Her car was spotted two days later on Sunday
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night, but police never responded. Monday morning, another call came in. This time, officers were
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dispatched, but weren't prepared for what they would find. Officers finally arrived at the corner
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of Chatham and Fenkel on the morning of Monday, December 14th, with no real sense of urgency.
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It was an hour after the 911 call. Put it that way. Dispatch never even mentioned the possible connection to a missing woman.
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The area where this vehicle was located, what kind of area is it? It's a large field, a lot of vacant homes.
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There's probably a handful of occupied homes in that area. The gold car was parked at the end of the block in front of a vacant house.
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The street was filled with empty lots and unoccupied homes in disrepair. Only a couple of families actually lived on the street.
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The officer arrived and followed procedure, running the plate number through the system.
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The license plate was Adam Frank Frank 926. AFF 926. Kajavia's plate number. just like the ignored 911 call said.
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The first caller had already given them the plate number. They'd had a chance to find her and missed it.
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While waiting for the license plate search to come back, he walked up to the car and looked inside.
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I looked in through the window. I observed a purse on the front passenger seat. Balloons were in the back seat.
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I observed red, dry smears that appeared to be blotted in the center council cup.
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Her purse was still on the seat. The balloons from her promotion party hovered silently in the back. It was Kajavia's car, and there was no sign of her. But the blood in the car made the situation a much higher priority.
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As we recovered the vehicle, there was evidence of foul play. It proved something had happened to her.
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Kajavia could be somewhere hurt or worse. This was no longer just a missing persons case.
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So many loved ones out here for Kajavia, who again, many call Nussie, including her sister here, Tracy.
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Tracy, let me ask you, first of all, what are police telling you at this point? Pretty much they're telling us that they're searching for, you know, we all came out to do our search, but they have the state police coming out.
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They have other Detroit police coming out. They also have the canine unit coming out as well.
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So we don't want to, you know, mess up their investigation. So they want to get theirs done first.
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And then they said we're more than welcome to, you know, begin our search. And that's what you guys are going to do.
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You see, we waiting. This is a really rough area and somewhere we must be on. so we'll never come.
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It's a lot of wooded areas. It's a lot of outside areas. We just want to look and make sure nothing,
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no blood, no stone unturned. The police started searching the immediate area. They searched in all directions for blocks.
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They even searched the banks of the Rouge River. Meanwhile, a sanitation manager
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got an unusual report a few miles away. Now, were you alerted to something by one of your drivers?
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Yes, ma'am. Okay. And do you know about what time that was? Maybe about 9.30 a.m.
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And what were you allured to, sir? That there was a body in one of the containers that we searched.
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He'd never gotten a report like that before. He immediately drove over to Fielding Street between Kipford and Seven Mile.
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I went and researched the information I got, checked all the cans to make sure there was no body.
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He walked up and down the street, checking every trash can on the curb. He didn't find anything.
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But as a city employee, he wasn't allowed on private property. So if the trash can was next to the house, he couldn't check it.
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You know, it kind of stuck with me. And a few hours later, one of my drivers got sick and went home.
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So I got on his truck and finished his route. And with it still on my mind I saw the police over on Chatham and I happened to stop and talk to one of the officers and tell them about the ordeal I had just went through
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The sanitation manager stumbled upon a large police presence and relayed the report of a body in a trash can.
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With evidence of foul play in Kajavia's car, officers and detectives were sent to Fielding Street to look around.
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Fielding Street looked a lot like Chatham. The few homes on the block were run down and most were unfit to live in.
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Yards were full of rotting leaves and fallen branches. There were only a handful of families left on the block.
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There was one house in particular that stood out. 18541 Fielding Street was an abandoned home long since boarded up,
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but behind it was a city-issued trash can. We got directed to the backyard by Detective Shea, works in Homicide Section.
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We get back there, as I indicated earlier, the backyard is heavily laden with fallow leaves, debris.
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Behind the little yellow house was a one-car garage that somehow seemed in better shape than the house.
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Next to the garage was a large pine tree. At the foot of that tree, covered in branches, was a trash can.
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We got pointed to a city of Detroit Corvill dumpster, which is the dumpster that you put in front of your house with your weekly trash.
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In front of the dumpster, there was a pile of branches, three branches that did not fall there.
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They were placed there. He called it a dumpster, but really it was your typical 55-gallon trash can
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with a lid, a handle, and wheels. Inside the dumpster was the body of a black female.
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She appeared to have on a red or orange type sweater. Around her neck was a red or orange, different color red or orange rope.
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And she appeared to be nude from the waist down. There was a pair of tan boots inside the dumpster.
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I couldn't tell if they were on her feet or just next to her feet. Inside the trash can was the body of a young woman.
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She was nude from the waist down. She was put in the trash can, knees first, with her legs folded behind her.
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On top of her was a bag of trash. Top of the body, there was a plastic bag, which appeared to contain some fiber-filled material.
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On the outside of the lip of the dumpster, there was a small quantity of what appeared to be human hair.
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The missing person's case became a homicide investigation, and detectives quickly drew some connections between Kajavia's history
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and the location where her body was found. When her family reported her missing, they gave the police a list of names.
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Some were friends, some were family, but one was her ex, and his name was Maxwell Brack.
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The police interviewed him early on, and he answered all their questions. he wasn't evasive
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he never asked for a lawyer and he seemed to be helpful he admitted to having sex with Kajavia
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just days before she disappeared he even helped her family hand out missing flyers
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he seemed genuinely concerned about her that is until the police found a body across the street
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from his current girlfriend's house so they got permission from her to search it
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well there was plastic bags clear plastic bags similar to what was in the dumpster.
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In the basement, there was, I guess, a fiber material that was similar to what appeared to be in a plastic bag inside the dumpster.
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There was some article of clothing that we collected. We collected plastic bags, fiber material that we saw in the basement,
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latex gloves, some clothing. In the trash can on top of Kajavia, detectives found fibrous material, like the stuffing of a pillow.
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On the rim of the trash can were what looked like human hairs. Across the street, they found what seemed to be the same kind of stuffing, along with dog's hair.
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They also found some similar trash bags and suspicious latex gloves. In the time since Kajavia had gone missing, Maxwell appeared helpful and concerned,
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But just the day before the police found her body, he moved out of his girlfriend's house.
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Other detectives were digging into Kajavia's financial records now that it was a homicide case.
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Her debit card was used at an ATM after her last known sighting. When detectives viewed the camera footage from the ATM, the case took a bizarre turn.
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It's a mask of a skeleton, basically. but it's very unique and we're hoping that someone in the public can identify
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or know someone who has that mask. This is a heinous crime and we want to get this suspect in custody.
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A man driving Kajavia's car and wearing a Halloween mask of a skull used her debit card and pinned to withdraw $500 the night she went missing.
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In the ATM photo released to the public, you can see the Mylar balloon still in the back of her car.
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There's something eerie and haunting about that. The body and the evidence found in Maxwell's girlfriend's house pointed directly to him.
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But the police didn't name him a suspect just yet. It didn't matter to Kajavia's family.
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They were already convinced he did it. He was destruction from the jump. And I told my daughter this.
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And that bank transaction, everything just had its name written all over it. The death penalty, I don't want it. I'm going to ask for it.
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Because if you go to prison, you're going to eat every day. You're going to breathe every day.
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You're going to still live your life. And you shouldn't live anymore. It should be an eye for an eye.
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Gajavia's family could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, justice would be served.
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But the police still had to prove Maxwell Brack was responsible for her death. They processed the scene throughout the night.
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and the next day they brought in Emily Shepard, Maxwell's current girlfriend, for questioning.
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It was the morning of December 15th, just a day after Kadavia's body was found. She sat at a table in a well-lit room at police headquarters.
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I found a building earlier today and I'm following up on a investigation. A person that was living at your house, this Maxwell guy, that's your boyfriend, right?
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could possibly be involved in that. How long y'all been dating? October, last year, November.
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You and him have had fights. Is it usually him or is it usually you? Initiate him.
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We got a high temper or something? Yeah. From 1 to 10, what would you say? It's like a 10.
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Maxwell Brack met Kajavia in high school in 2005. He wasn't very tall, only about 5'7",
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But he had an undeniable charm. They started dating on and off for the next six years
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until Maxwell was arrested for weapons charges and sent to prison for two years.
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As soon as he got out in 2013, he and Kajavia rekindled their relationship. Emily had been dating Maxwell for about a year,
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since October 2014. He lived with her for most of 2015, staying over at least a few nights a week.
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But Emily didn't know that Maxwell was dating multiple women. Five women, in fact, including Emily and Kajavia.
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Well, she didn't know until recently. So she texts you that she's inside your house.
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And where were you at the time? I was at work. The date was Monday. So that would have been a week from now.
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The Monday before her disappearance on December 7th, Kajavia sent Emily a text. The text read, I'm in your house.
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Then she sent a picture of her living room with a caption. When Kajavia sent Emily the picture of her living room while she was at work,
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She didn't let it get to her. Her response was the exact opposite reaction that Kajavia was looking for.
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So then she sent Emily a video. A video of Kajavia and Maxwell having sex in Emily's bed.
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Emily played it cool. She wasn't about to give Maxwell's ex-girlfriend the satisfaction of pissing her off.
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She was just like, bitch, this, and, you know, I guess she got mad because I didn't give her the reaction that she was hoping.
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So she was texting me, miscellaneous bullcrap. Like, that's why he eating my pussy.
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You know, lose, have fun. And that was that. Was she trying to break y'all up or something?
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I don't know. Who was the whole? Yo guess it's as good as mine. But they wouldn't break up.
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Stupidly. What kind of a woman dates a man that goes around philandering like that?
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Have a little bit of self-respect, ladies. When Emily went home on her lunch break and confronted Maxwell about the video,
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he said he knew he was being recorded, but he had no idea the video had been sent to her.
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He apologized and explained he was just being petty because he and Emily hadn't had sex in a while.
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He promised her that it would be the last time and that he would never see her again, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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She was still upset, but somehow she forgave him and went back to work. I don't get that.
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Anyway, that night, she stayed out rather than going home. Probably to get even.
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Probably spread it out a little bit, you know? She wouldn't see Maxwell again until early Saturday morning,
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after Kajavia's sister started looking for her and reached out to him. Emily was as casual as could be during her interview.
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Only when the detective left the room did she whisper to herself that this whole situation was fucked up.
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It didn't look good. Her interview cast more suspicion on Maxwell, but also on her.
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The love hexagon aside, the police knew the murder had to have happened in her home.
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I mean, the body was found across the street. So I guess there was only one question left to ask.
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Even after all the information Emily provided, there were still no charges against Maxwell.
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Kajavia went missing on December 11th. Her family filed a report on the 12th. The first 911 call came in late on the 13th.
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The 911 call that actually got a police response was early on the 14th. By the evening of the 14th, the police had found her body across from the home of one of Maxwell's girlfriends.
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There was a lot of circumstantial evidence already pointing to Maxwell but when they talked to Emily she provided a potential motive On the 7th so four days before Kajavia went missing she had sex with Maxwell in Emily house and recorded it
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Kajavia, in an act of defiant jealousy, sent a clip to Emily. Maybe Maxwell killed Kajavia because she upset his delicate balance of multiple girlfriends
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and grifting off of them. Something which seems to be celebrated in black culture.
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At least that's what the police were thinking. Kajavia's family and the community could only feel let down.
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A week would go by after Kajavia's body was found, and still no charges were filed, no arrests were made.
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It seemed all too obvious who killed their loved one. And they just couldn't understand what was taking so long.
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So they took to the streets again, this time in protest. Stand up! Stand up! Speak up! Speak up!
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You're not going to forget about us. You're not just going to leave us here to fend for ourselves.
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If we have to, we're going to get out here and do it ourselves. You can run with your k-ha! You can run with your k-ha!
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I've lost brothers in the city of Detroit, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of it.
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I have children. How could I not do something about this? They marched, not just for Kajavia, but for all the missing and murdered women across the country.
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The community was frustrated. They felt betrayed, let down by the system once again.
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To them, there could be no justice without an arrest. By far, Kajavia's mother, Lashonda, was the angriest person in the room.
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I feel like life is damn near doomed for me and my family. This man has came in and tore my foundation down, what I have built.
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I feel like it should be an eye for an eye. And a lot of things will change in this world.
00:31:56
This wasn't just Kajavia's family. This was a community. Over 100 Detroit citizens from the west side and a city councilwoman marched and chanted.
00:32:07
Kajavia had been murdered, and everyone knew Maxwell Brack was responsible. They just couldn't understand why he hadn't been held accountable yet.
00:32:17
Why wasn't Maxwell in jail? Well, that's where the story of the death of Kajavia Globe takes yet another turn.
00:32:26
The medical examiner couldn't tell exactly how she died. Ms. Globe's body was brought into our office within or inside a garbage bin.
00:32:37
she was placed knees first into the bin. That was how she was placed in because that's how her body was removed from within the bin.
00:32:48
To conserve any forensic evidence, the police took the entire trash can to the medical examiner.
00:32:55
Other than the fact she was dead, there were no other substantial injuries. There was a laceration or a tear in the skin
00:33:02
on the left outer surface of the eye and also there was bruising to the labia minora.
00:33:08
The cut on her left eye was small and superficial. It obviously happened post-mortem because it didn't bleed at all.
00:33:16
And her bruised labia minora most likely came from consensual sex. She did have broken fingernails indicating a struggle,
00:33:25
and her freshly stitched-in weave had been ripped half off. There were no injuries to any of the organs within the body.
00:33:33
What about the toxicology? Did you find anything of note in the toxicology? There was nothing that contributed to her death.
00:33:40
Were you able to determine a cause of death? No. Kajavia appeared totally normal inside and out.
00:33:48
All the medical examiner could do was say what didn't kill her. Yes, I was able to rule out any injury to the body.
00:33:57
I ruled out any natural disease processes within her body. And were you able to determine a manner of death?
00:34:04
Yes. And what was that? The manner is classified as homicide. But how can you rule a death a homicide if you can't tell how they died?
00:34:12
First, there was objective, suspicious nature of the death. In this case, the body was hidden from view.
00:34:20
Second, there was no anatomic causes of death. Third, there were no toxicologic causes of death.
00:34:26
Fourth, there was no reported environmental causes that would have resulted in death, such as toxic gases or extreme temperature changes.
00:34:37
And then the last or fifth criteria is that there is no other reasonable cause of death.
00:34:43
I guess that answers that question. You can't put yourself in a trash can after your death.
00:34:48
But with no gunshot or stab wounds, no blunt force trauma, drugs or toxins, and no ligature marks, prosecutors couldn't point to Maxwell and say, hey, he shot her, he strangled her, etc.
00:35:04
And without that, they couldn't prove anything at all. They needed more than motive, opportunity, and suspicious behavior.
00:35:12
Charging Maxwell with open murder with a case built entirely on circumstantial evidence was a big ask.
00:35:19
So while the police tried to strengthen their case, the public only saw inaction.
00:35:26
The case would stall for weeks. As Kajavia's family waited for news, details of the autopsy reached the media.
00:35:34
There's no doubt. I know she was murdered. We're getting calls about her toxicology report.
00:35:40
We didn't even know anything about it. It's on the news. It's on Facebook. And we just sitting here like sitting ducks.
00:35:48
We've never was notified by the medical examiner office or homicide. No one called me.
00:35:54
No one ever said this is where we at with this case Nothing from nothing has been nothing I been on their head I went down there and filed a complaint on gifts to service LaShonda was demanding answers
00:36:06
She filed a complaint about the lack of transparency and communication from the police department.
00:36:12
Still, she waited. It took a month for the medical examiner to release a final autopsy report.
00:36:19
Manner of death? Homicide. Cause of death? Undetermined. That didn't answer the question about the hair.
00:36:28
How does your hair come off your head if it's sewn completely down? Or the broken fingernails.
00:36:35
It was all like she was fighting. It was all black cut, chipped, like you fighting.
00:36:41
You got somebody out here thinking they done got away with murder. Is there any doubt in your mind who's behind that mask?
00:36:47
No, it's none. Not at all. The End Maxwell Brack's current girlfriend's house, the case of her disappearance and murder seemed all
00:37:31
but solved. Maxwell had motive, opportunity, and a disturbing pattern for using women.
00:37:38
All the circumstantial evidence pointed directly to him, but it wasn't enough. The medical examiner
00:37:45
couldn't say exactly how Kajavia died. She had no wounds, no toxins or drugs in her system,
00:37:52
just a dead body hidden in a trash can. But investigators knew that some methods,
00:37:59
like asphyxiation or smothering, couldn't take a life without leaving any signs.
00:38:05
Because there was no clear cause of death, prosecutors hesitated, and the police were forced to press on.
00:38:13
To the family and the community, the case stalled and weeks passed as the family waited for justice.
00:38:19
But then, a woman spoke up. And we've done a lot. We kind of got an idea, the direction that we're going with everything, but we just need
00:38:58
a little bit of help. And the fact is, we just haven't been getting it. That's why we came back out today, just to kind of see if there's anything that we missed.
00:39:10
And when we talked to your husband, he expressed that there was some information that you may
00:39:15
have. Do you think you can help us? I might be able to help you guys. Tina Morrell was one of the few residents living on Fielding Street.
00:39:24
She had seen the neighborhood in its heyday and watched its entire decline. Let me just tell you about my neighbors.
00:39:31
I hate my neighbors. Which ones? I don't even know them. I know the ones on the right.
00:39:37
I know I hate the ones on the right. I hate the ones on the left. I deal with the ones across the street.
00:39:43
People are just strange to me these days. It's not like the old days. I like the old days.
00:39:52
We just had a family get-together and we were sitting there talking how we used to know
00:39:57
every family on the block, how many kids they had. We went to school where they don't know everybody.
00:40:05
Now, it doesn't happen. It's a shame. I'm scared of young people. Just, you know.
00:40:16
It's terrible. Yeah, young people. Yeah, especially when they don't have the same values you do.
00:40:21
You don't know what they're thinking. They don't think and they don't care. And this is a shame.
00:40:27
It's something I tell my husband. I say, well, I need to look at the news because I need to know where criminals are.
00:40:35
That's terrible. I mean, it's like you have to know where they are. Beyond the book, like I said, I have nieces and nephews,
00:40:45
nieces especially in our families mostly girl and I'm always telling you have to be on your p's and
00:40:51
q's you got to know what's going on in your neighborhood you need to know where this rapist
00:40:55
is or what's going on here you have to know these things because you guys going to have to look out
00:41:00
because you're young young girls and your victims it's almost like if if everybody had your values
00:41:08
or you work your husband work you're raising a family there when everyone around you has that
00:41:13
same mentality, you find yourself it's a little easier to be social with people.
00:41:21
But when you don't know what people's motives are, or you do know because you see what's
00:41:26
going on, it makes you just want to disconnect. You know what I mean? As she watched her neighborhood deteriorate, she became more isolated.
00:41:37
She didn't socialize with most of her neighbors because she disapproved of their lifestyles.
00:41:41
she feared the younger generations because they didn't act right and didn't seem to care about
00:41:47
anything she sat on her porch in front of her picture window and just watched her once great
00:41:54
neighborhood become overrun with crime and violence that is until she saw something that she could not keep quiet about Around what time was it that something that drew your attention
00:42:08
It was during the day, about 1, 2 o'clock in the afternoon. What was it that drew your attention?
00:42:15
Well, it was this guy taking this garbage can across to a vacant house. And he sat in front of the house.
00:42:22
Some people take their garbage, put it on. the opposite side of the street. Right.
00:42:27
But he kept going back and forth. And that's what drew your team. Was he dragging the garbage can over there with it?
00:42:34
What did you say he was going back and forth? Yeah, he was, because whatever house he was coming out of,
00:42:40
I didn't see what house he came out of. And he took the garbage can and he dragged it across the street.
00:42:46
Which, you know, the first time, you know, like I said, this is garbage can pick up day.
00:42:51
Sunday he takes garbage out because they come Monday. But, and I sit on my couch right there because I got a picture window there and I sit there
00:43:00
and I was sick. So I'm sitting on the couch and I'm just looking out. And he came back out and he stood there on the phone.
00:43:10
And usually if he go on the phone, you just kind of notice people be on their phones and
00:43:14
stuff. When he came back out, did he go back to the can? Yeah, and he stood there.
00:43:19
Next to the can? Yeah. Okay. Then, you know, I started doing something else, and I was doing something in the house.
00:43:25
A little bit later, maybe an hour or so later, she took the garbage can to the backyard.
00:43:31
Across the street? Mm-hmm. But then the garbage can was back on the curb. And like I said, the next day, that's when everything kind of came together.
00:43:41
And it was like, wow. Tina didn't realize what the man with the trash can was doing until the police swarmed the next day.
00:43:49
Still, she said nothing. Her first reaction was to mind her own business. She didn't want to get involved.
00:43:57
She had seen the others testify in court, only to be retaliated against later. She held her tongue, hoping someone else would speak up, or the police would just solve the case without her.
00:44:09
But when the police re-canvassed the neighborhood over five weeks later, her husband convinced her otherwise.
00:44:18
He said, look, you have four sisters. If it was your family member, I said, it is terrible.
00:44:25
We've been talking and I was like, I can't sleep. But that was awful. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you came here and talked to us because, you know, this is, like you said,
00:44:38
this could be anybody's family member and people should step up. People should want to step up and do the right thing when something like this happens to someone.
00:44:45
She didn't deserve what she got. Mm-hmm. People are now so scared to say anything, and he's like,
00:44:52
but you can't be scared. This is supposed to be your neighborhood. How are you going to take your neighborhood back?
00:44:58
You can't be scared if you want to take your neighborhood back. Tina Morell's reluctance to come forward nearly let Maxwell escape justice.
00:45:08
But in the end, she found the courage, the kind that communities depend on when the system fails.
00:45:16
They asked her to look at this photo lineup, and she picked out Maxwell in seconds.
00:45:22
Her testimony transformed the case, taking it from circumstantial evidence to direct evidence.
00:45:29
In a city worn down by neglect, it was the people who stepped up, one neighbor at a time,
00:45:36
with enormous courage to bring the truth to light. On February 6, 2016, Wayne County prosecutors finally charged Maxwell with open murder.
00:45:48
Under the Michigan law, the jury could consider first or second degree murder or manslaughter, depending on what the evidence showed.
00:45:56
They also charged him with felony murder tied to the killing happening during the commission of another felony, specifically larceny, since he stole Kajavia's debit card.
00:46:07
Additional charges included use of a financial transaction device without consent for withdrawing the money from an ATM
00:46:14
and mutilation of a dead body because of how he disposed of Kajavia in the trash can.
00:46:22
When the news broke that an arrest had been made, Lashonda was, well, I'll let her tell you.
00:46:32
So much right now. I'm just so happy. I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.
00:46:39
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Detroit. Thank you, everybody that's helping. Thank you so much.
00:46:47
Thank you. And they got the right person. He didn't have no way to do with that body.
00:46:52
He wanted that garbage truck to pick up my baby. And she would have been missing forever.
00:46:57
You will pay every day, baby. Of course, she said she always knew it was him from the very start.
00:47:07
When I went in and did the missing report from the jump, he was the number one suspect, baby.
00:47:14
I knew this straight up from the jump. When I did a missing, his name was the first name.
00:47:21
LaShonda was relieved she would see justice for her daughter, Kajavia. But she would still have to sit through a trial.
00:47:29
the case against Maxwell Brack was strong now thanks to months of investigation and crucial testimony from Tina Murrell
00:47:37
they had all the circumstantial evidence the body was found across the street from his girlfriend's house
00:47:44
the same girlfriend that Kajavia was battling for his affection but the forensic lab would provide even more evidence
00:47:52
in the time it would take to get to trial turns out the smeared red substance on her car
00:47:58
wasn't blood at all. But that didn't matter because both the fibers material and hair found in and on the trash can matched the fibers and dog hair at Emily's house.
00:48:10
But most damning of all was the DNA found under Kajavia's fingernails. And just in case you were still suspicious about John Black or Emily, their DNA was not a match.
00:48:22
Only Maxwell Brack was. Then there was the digital evidence. like when Maxwell's cell phone went dark right after Kajavia's body was found.
00:48:32
The trial of Maxwell Brack started in late August 2016. For over a week, prosecutors laid out the evidence.
00:48:41
Kajavia's last known movements, the tangled web of relationships, the surveillance footage at the ATM, the DNA under her fingernails, etc.
00:48:50
The defense pushed back, of course, arguing the case was built on assumptions and circumstantial threats.
00:48:56
They pointed to the lack of clear cause of death, suggested alternative explanations for the DNA, and questioned the credibility of witnesses like Emily, implying jealousy and chaos in the relationships.
00:49:11
Maxwell even took the stand, but he just came off as trying to win sympathy. On August 31, 2016, after less than a full day of deliberation, the jury returned their verdict.
00:49:24
guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. We as a jury find him guilty of the lesser offense of second-degree murder.
00:49:36
Okay, all members of the jury, please rise and raise your right hand. Listen to your verdict as reported by the court.
00:49:45
You say upon your oath that you find the defendant guilty of the lesser offense of second-degree murder.
00:49:52
so say you, Mr. Four Person so say you all members of the jury after the verdict was read
00:50:01
Maxwell smiled at sentencing LaShonda was finally able to address the court and Maxwell
00:50:08
he was abusive he broke her nose, he was taking her down he was destroying her life
00:50:15
when she decided to say goodbye to Maxwell, he took her life because she was on a road
00:50:23
to success. She was gonna drop that zero because she hadn found her a hero He took advantage He don care He ain show no remorse He don care He killed my baby and she was so dumb
00:50:37
She loved this monster. You took my baby from me, Max. And I have told you and Kajagan, leave each other alone.
00:50:47
Because one day one of y'all could hurt each other. He was jealous. I told Kajagan, he's jealous of you.
00:50:53
Ma, you just don't like him. I said, baby, he don't like you. And look where we at today.
00:51:00
This man has destroyed my family. My daughter was finna go to the Navy August the 3rd.
00:51:08
Her mind ain't even right. He just destroyed him. Do you understand? Don't care.
00:51:14
He don't care. That was him at the bank. I said it from day one because he had on that mask.
00:51:19
I didn't care. Her newsy phone was sitting right in his lap. A lot of stuff at the trial was not mentioned, and I am highly pissed.
00:51:27
I'm highly upset about that, too. Some facts that I felt should have been brought out, and I thank you,
00:51:33
because you caught it a couple of times. Well, I was like, I couldn't say it, but you felt it.
00:51:37
Like, let's get serious with this, because a lot of people got on that stand was a joke.
00:51:41
They didn't bring nothing to the table for this, because he would have got first degree.
00:51:46
Do you understand? If it would have been ran right, he would have gotten first degree murder,
00:51:51
because Max know he did it. That's why he got some flies that didn't pass him out.
00:51:55
I hate this man. This man has destroyed my family. This man has took something from me
00:52:00
that he can never give it back. Never. And I ask you, Marcy, get this man alive.
00:52:07
What was he doing out here in society? Nothing. He was doing nothing. Nothing. LaShonda was still so angry
00:52:16
that she wanted to go on and on. but the judge made her stop even with maxwell convicted she hadn't let go of the bitterness
00:52:27
not just at him but at the system that had failed her daughter so many times before the
00:52:33
courtroom doors ever opened she had wanted the police to act sooner the community to protect
00:52:39
her better and the whole process to work faster for lashonda no sentence could erase that feeling
00:52:46
that they had been left to fight alone. The judge then addressed Maxwell. There were all kinds of demands that you were making demands that at times I found really just despicable during this trial
00:53:07
I didn't like a lot of the things that your defense attorney was saying. I didn't like a lot of the interaction between the two of you at that table.
00:53:16
I thought it was disrespectful. but I knew that that defense attorney was doing exactly what you were asking him to do
00:53:26
and that was put on a shelf. She went on to sentence Maxwell to a minimum of 70 years in prison
00:53:32
with a maximum of 100 years and she made sure to let him know that she tacked on the last 10 years of that 70
00:53:40
just for that smile just to let him know he's a piece of shit for that smugness he showed in the courtroom.
00:53:47
Kajavia Globe's family erupted in applause, and LaShonda raised her arms and thanked God,
00:53:54
and Justice finally served. In Detroit, they had learned the hard way. Help doesn't always come.
00:54:03
And when it does, it can take a while. The system stalls. The police miss calls.
00:54:10
Somebody doesn't get the memo. And sometimes Justice just stays locked behind closed doors.
00:54:17
But not this time. It wasn't the detectives who found Kajavia's car. It wasn't the police who brought her home.
00:54:26
It was a sister who refused to wait. A sanitation worker who wouldn't ignore a report.
00:54:33
A neighbor who stopped watching from behind the glass and spoke up. Justice didn't arrive with sirens.
00:54:41
It was dragged forward by a community that refused to be ignored. by people who made noise when the system stayed quiet,
00:54:51
by a mother who vowed her daughter's name would never be forgotten. And in that courtroom, when LaShonda raised her arms,
00:55:01
it wasn't just her family's victory. It was a triumph for everyone who refused to look away.
00:55:09
It was a triumph for justice. you Before I leave you here, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone that's reached out.
00:55:42
Some of you have sent me private messages saying, Hey Mike, you seem a little angry lately. You okay?
00:55:50
And, you know, 12 years of dealing with the worst of the worst on the planet. we'll do that to you.
00:55:56
But yeah, I'm fine. Thank you very much, guys. I really appreciate it. It's really nice of you.
00:56:01
It's really nice of some of you to just reach out and, you know, know that there's a human behind
00:56:05
this whole apparatus. At least the human that you do see. Thanks again to my team
00:56:13
of very talented producers and writers. This one was written by Evan Zegelman, one of our longtime senior producers
00:56:21
here at Sword and Scale. So we hope you liked it. And we'll see you next time. Stay safe.
00:56:54
A reminder that if you do like true crime, there's a whole lot more of it on our website,
00:57:10
sort and scale.com or our app available on iOS and Android devices. Go get it and check out the latest episode named wreckage about a 19 year old
00:57:22
farmer from Utah named Dylan Rounds. It's going to make you cry. I'll put it that way.
00:57:28
It's going to make you cry a lot, if you like that sort of thing. Thank you.