00:00:00
[audio logo] [intriguing music] - Daisy De La O
was known for being loving, funny, creative, kind.
00:00:17
Daisy was 15 years
old when she met Victor Sosa on a dating app,
and he was 21 years old.
00:00:25
Sean Kipe: Family
and friends of Daisy's start seeing signs of violence,
of manipulation by Sosa.
00:00:32
Laura Richards:
Women, when they're being abused, when they've
had this relationship
00:00:36
and there's
coercive control, it would take them at least seven
times to leave successfully.
00:00:41
- When Daisy finally ended
the relationship with Victor, it took a turn, and no one
could have seen the tragic end
00:00:48
that was coming for Daisy. - The initial media response
was so disappointing, and it makes you wonder,
this Mexican-American girl,
00:00:57
was it not as important
to put this story out there and to have
the widespread media coverage?
00:01:02
- Justice for Daisy! crowd: Justice for Daisy! - Justice for Daisy! Laura Richards: The media don't
report on cases like Daisy's.
00:01:09
No one should be a footnote
in their own murder. Alisha Holland: Months went
by without any word of progress
00:01:16
being made in Daisy's case. Daisy's best friend
decided to take matters into her own hands.
00:01:21
I'm going to make a TikTok
and maybe this will help get some information out there.
00:01:26
- She laid everything out
and said, you know what, TikTok do your thing. Susana Salas: For me, I saw
how many views that video has.
00:01:34
I was shocking that
my daughter mattered. It changed my life. It changed the outcome
of my daughter's case.
00:01:43
[theme music] ♪ ♪ [calm music] ♪ ♪ [gentle music] Dr. Carlena Orosco: I
absolutely love Los Angeles.
00:02:20
There's so many
different cultures and we all come
together to coexist in this incredible space.
00:02:27
And it really is an incredibly
beautiful and diverse city. - Los Angeles is a sprawling
part of Southern California.
00:02:37
A lot of people think, oh,
LA, and it's just this city, but it is massive
and it has a lot
00:02:41
of connecting neighborhoods. And one of those is Compton,
which has its own reputation
00:02:48
because of some history there. But Compton is really
a close-knit community of people that have,
for the most part,
00:02:54
kind of grown up
in that area, and they look out for each other
and take care of each other
00:02:58
as a community. narrator: Living in Compton
is a teenage girl named Daisy De La O.
00:03:04
- Daisy De La O was known
for being loving, funny, creative, kind, and helpful. She loved to go camping.
00:03:12
She loved to cook
with her mother, and she was really
known for always finding a positive outlook,
no matter what was going on.
00:03:19
- Me as a young girl, I
grew up loving Barbies, loving dolls, loving all that. Daisy was the opposite.
00:03:27
Daisy was skateboarder,
skates, bikes. She wasn't like me. Maybe a little in the attitude
and stubbornness,
00:03:34
but the other part, no. Alisha Holland: When
her parents divorced, Daisy and her two
brothers and mother
00:03:41
moved from Huntington
Park, California, just a few miles South to Compton. And that's where
they were living.
00:03:47
Even though they had moved from
Huntington Park to Compton, it was close enough that
Daisy was still able to attend
00:03:52
Huntington Park High School. - So Daisy moved to Compton
with her mother and her grandparents
and her brother,
00:03:59
and she had a pretty
rough start, I would say. She was very close
to her father.
00:04:05
And so when this
divorce happened, it really cut deep with her. - She was too young
to carry a lot of stuff
00:04:12
that, sadly, her dad
left for her to carry. Yeah, we went from
living in a three-bedroom
00:04:20
to a tiny little studio. That was very rough. And Daisy, I remember
the first night I
00:04:25
was crying because I
felt like a failure, and she said, Mom, at least
we're not in the street.
00:04:31
That was tough. That was very tough. [intriguing music] narrator: In 2017,
15-year-old Daisy creates
00:04:38
a profile on a dating
app where she meets a man named Victor Sosa. - Daisy was 15
years old when she
00:04:46
met Victor Sosa on a dating
app, and he was 21 years old. Daisy kept the age
difference between herself
00:04:53
and Victor a secret,
and they soon started dating. Dr. Carlena Orosco:
If we think about dating
00:04:59
apps in a social media context,
it's kind of the same form. You are interacting
with different folks.
00:05:04
You see very
limited information. We don't even know if it's
factual information.
00:05:08
And so it leads
to these very brief interactions that
then transition into off-the-app interactions.
00:05:13
And so with that
there's immense risk. And there are
mechanisms in place on dating apps for any
type of interactions that
00:05:20
are completely inappropriate,
that can be flagged and individuals can be removed.
00:05:24
But short of that, there's
really this veil of anonymity that comes with the dating
app, where you don't really
00:05:28
have a good sense of who you're
interacting with at the time. - It wasn't until
Susana, Daisy's mother,
00:05:35
met Victor and saw his
tattoos that she realized he was not 15 or 16 years old. He was much older, and she
was pretty concerned.
00:05:44
Sean Kipe: Very quickly,
family and friends of Daisy's start seeing
signs of violence,
00:05:51
of manipulation, controlling
tendencies by Sosa. And it just gets
worse from there.
00:05:58
Dr. Carlena Orosco:
Victor was kind of isolated, a little
bit to himself, kind of reclusive in a sense.
00:06:05
However, he was
incredibly controlling. He was verbally abusive,
incredibly insecure,
00:06:10
very jealous, and had this
kind of anger response or these outbursts that
would occur whenever there
00:06:16
were disagreements with Daisy. - It didn't take long
for people in Daisy's life to see signs of abuse,
such as bites and scratches
00:06:24
and bruising. If anyone confronted her about
it, she would brush it off and say, oh, it's nothing.
00:06:30
But for those who
really knew Daisy, it felt like maybe she
was covering for Victor.
00:06:35
The abuse actually
escalated to the point that Daisy's little brother
was a witness to some of it.
00:06:41
There was an occasion where
Daisy and Victor were just watching TV
in their apartment, and
00:06:46
suddenly, an argument escalated
into a physical altercation and Victor started
to strangle Daisy.
00:06:52
Her little brother had
to jump in and physically intervene to make him stop. Dr. Carlena Orosco: He
was incredibly possessive,
00:07:00
controlling, very
jealous and insecure, and had these
feelings of infidelity that were not
fact-based, but that he
00:07:06
kind of felt were occurring. And it led to a lot
of outbursts on his end. It led to violence,
as I mentioned,
00:07:13
and threats of violence, just
this really volatile situation that was very, very
difficult to step away from.
00:07:21
narrator: In 2019, two years
into their relationship, and with Daisy still
underage, Victor's abuse
00:07:28
escalates to a dangerous level. - One of the worst occasions
of abuse, Daisy and Victor
00:07:34
were outside of the apartment
talking on the sidewalk. Something happened and Victor
took his skateboard
00:07:39
and smashed it on Daisy's head. And then he took off on foot. Daisy had blood running
down her forehead.
00:07:45
There was nothing he could do
to have protected his sister. It was too late. Laura Richards: Susana knew
that things were not right,
00:07:53
and she saw that he had
split her head open. She needed stitches,
and Susana had said to her,
00:07:59
you know, you need
to go to the hospital. Let me take you. So she does go to the hospital.
00:08:03
A safeguarding does see
Daisy, and she was stitched up and Susana wanted her
to talk to the police.
00:08:09
[ominous music] narrator: Hoping
for police support, Susana is left
frustrated when they
00:08:14
insist the case cannot
move forward without a statement from Daisy. Laura Richards:
Women, when they're
00:08:20
being abused by men, when
they've had this relationship and there's
coercive control, it
00:08:26
will take them at least seven
times to leave successfully. So what you see, and I've seen
this in thousands of cases,
00:08:31
is a back and forth. He says, well, I love you, I'll
change, It won't happen again.
00:08:37
And oftentimes the woman
thinks, I want to be with him, I just want the violence
and abuse to stop.
00:08:42
And so they give them
the benefit of the doubt. And as I always say,
do not, do not do that.
00:08:47
But the problem is
the coercive controller is very manipulative,
and they will use every lever,
every manipulation
00:08:53
to get that victim back. - There's a number of reasons
why that may occur. I know it's hard
for some people
00:08:59
to kind of wrap
their heads around that, but ultimately there's this
fear of further victimization.
00:09:05
Perhaps there's,
you know, this fear that they will be
harmed if they report this incident or their family.
00:09:10
There also may be a sense
of shame associated with something like that. Perhaps there's a perception
that nothing will be done.
00:09:16
Sean Kipe: Daisy's mother
tried to protect her, and it becomes more and more
difficult for a parent
00:09:20
to protect their kid every day. They're not with
them all the time. But when she saw how this
relationship with Victor Sosa
00:09:28
was violent and abusive,
Daisy's mother went to three different
police stations to file restraining
orders against Sosa.
00:09:36
narrator: Despite being
unable to secure any support from the police, Daisy's
mother is determined
00:09:41
to protect her daughter. Alisha Holland:
Susana decided to go to the Huntington Park
High School admin,
00:09:47
and they brought
in Daisy's brother and interviewed him
about those incidents and asked him about
Victor's behavior.
00:09:53
They then brought in Daisy and
asked her the same questions, but she denied
anything was happening.
00:09:58
But when they pushed
and said, your own brother claimed to have
seen all of this,
00:10:02
are you saying he's a liar? She couldn't bring herself
to throw her brother under the bus, and she
broke down and admitted,
00:10:08
yes, Victor was being
abusive, and he was dangerous. This was a great first step
and he was not permitted
00:10:13
on the school campus. With that success,
Susana took that energy and went
to the property manager
00:10:20
of their apartment complex. And they were also
understanding, and they too said
that Victor was
00:10:25
not permitted on the property. There were steps in place
now to protect Daisy. narrator: Despite these
safeguards to protect her,
00:10:34
Daisy continues to see Victor
on and off until January 2021, when she finally ends
their relationship
00:10:41
after four years together. Alisha Holland: Daisy was
in the car with her mother and she casually
told her, oh, I'm
00:10:48
done seeing what's his name. Because by then she knew better
than to say Victor's name
00:10:52
in front of her mother. And Susana was elated
to hear this news because it sounded different.
00:10:59
It sounded like this
time she meant it, or maybe she was finally
out of love with Victor
00:11:05
and she really was
going to be done. - Daisy had made it very
clear that it was over.
00:11:10
She didn't want to be
with him anymore. Now, it takes a lot
to get to that point.
00:11:14
And she was serious about it. She deleted all her social
media with him in it. The challenge is that he
would have seen that too.
00:11:21
And so for his psychopathology,
his thinking, finality, she really means it this time.
00:11:26
All the times before he's
managed to get her back. But the deletion
of social media
00:11:31
means that he knows that's it. - There are a lot of risk
factors associated with, you know, when
we see intimate partner
00:11:39
homicide occurring. It typically is among
the most dangerous periods after dissolving a relationship
or leaving a relationship.
00:11:45
But ultimately it's a loss
of control for this person, and that can lead to really
volatile and violent responses
00:11:52
in an effort to regain
that as well. narrator: With
the relationship now over, Daisy begins
to rebuild her life.
00:12:00
But as Victor realizes he
is losing his grip on her, he resorts to drastic measures.
00:12:06
[audio logo] [intriguing music] narrator: Compton,
Los Angeles, 2021. 19-year-old Daisy De La O is
rebuilding her life after years
00:12:29
trapped in a violent
and abusive relationship with Victor Sosa, a man she
met on a dating app
00:12:34
when she was 15 and he was 21. She is finally free
and hopeful for the future. Alisha Holland: Daisy
was just 19 years old,
00:12:43
and she was taking
business admin courses at East LA College
in Monterey Park, California,
00:12:48
and she was really
excited about it. She had the goal of someday
opening up her own salon,
00:12:52
where she would do cosmetic
tattoos and other treatments, and she was really
looking forward
00:12:57
to being a businesswoman. narrator: But suddenly,
on February 22, everything changes.
00:13:03
- Daisy and her mother
are sitting watching TV in their apartment,
on February 22, 2021,
00:13:10
and she got a text on her
phone and stands up and says, you know, I'll be right back.
00:13:17
- Susana happened
to glance over and saw that it
was from Victor, and it said, I had
something for you.
00:13:23
She was devastated
to see that Victor was still in contact with Daisy. But Daisy assured her, I'm
going to go deal with this.
00:13:29
I'll be right
back, don't worry. And she left,
and Susana had no way of knowing that that would
be the last moment that she
00:13:36
saw her daughter alive. ♪ ♪ - I thought she was going
to come in, like, at 11:00,
00:13:46
like always, you know. And I woke up
and she wasn't there. I was like, oh my gosh,
she's back with him.
00:13:52
That's what I thought. And that's it. I went to work. I mean, your mind doesn't
think something like that
00:13:59
could happen, you know. So I left to work. It was like a normal day. - Then she received a phone
call from an LA County sheriff,
00:14:08
and they asked if she
knew where Daisy was, which was highly concerning. But even more alarming
was when they followed it
00:14:14
up by casually saying
that they needed to speak with her boyfriend, Victor. And that's when Susana's
heart dropped and
00:14:21
she realized Victor
may have done something horrible to Daisy. Susana Salas: I passed
my boss's office.
00:14:28
I said, I need to talk
to you right now, and I started crying. He did something to her.
00:14:32
He did something to her. He did something to her. That girl took me to my house.
00:14:37
And it's so crazy
because you don't even realize what's happening. There's so many cops.
00:14:43
My brain couldn't really
comprehend what was happening. This lady came with
the yellow tape up.
00:14:48
They didn't let my friend pass. It was just me. And she hugged me. I remember we kept walking
and we kept walking.
00:14:55
And suddenly, I turned
around like this and I saw the body
bag, and I lost it. Like, my legs got wobbly.
00:15:04
I had no strength. I started screaming and I
said, where's my baby? Where's my baby?
00:15:08
And nobody would answer. I knew where my baby was
because I knew it-- like, I knew that was
my kid right there.
00:15:15
He showed me a picture
of my daughter, only her face, that's all. I didn't see nothing else.
00:15:21
That's all he
showed me, the face. And her face seemed
like she was asleep. She seemed like-- like
every morning I was here
00:15:30
and I'm like, yep, that's her. And it's so crazy
because after that, my tears turn off because I
knew what I had to do.
00:15:38
I had to deliver
the news to my sons, I had to deliver the news to my
mom, to my dad, to everybody.
00:15:46
[somber music] narrator: While Susana
focuses on informing their family
of the devastating news,
00:15:54
police interview the property
manager who found the body. - Earlier that morning,
property manager Juan Tellez
00:16:00
had been walking the grounds
and walked through an alleyway in between two
apartment buildings,
00:16:05
and he saw a piece of carpet
that was rolled up, which was really out
of place and kind of bizarre.
00:16:10
So he approached
it and looked, and that's when he saw that there
was a body in the carpet
00:16:15
and it was quite bloody. Police were
eventually called, and they arrived to find
the body of a young woman who
00:16:21
had a four to six-inch long
laceration on her neck, and she was deceased. There was also a knife
found with the body,
00:16:28
which was believed to have
been the murder weapon. An investigation
began immediately,
00:16:33
and it was found that there was
actually a 13-year-old resident of the apartment building
who was going to end
00:16:38
up being a vital witness. He actually
recognized Daisy and was able to positively
ID that it was
00:16:44
her body found in the carpet. And he also told authorities
that earlier the night
00:16:49
before, he had seen a young
man dragging a body, which was believed to have
been Daisy's,
00:16:54
through the apartment complex. Sean Kipe: Police
obtained security footage from the alleyway,
and in that footage
00:17:02
they can see a shadowy, blurry
figure dragging Daisy's body. It's really unfortunate
because you have this video,
00:17:11
seeing the crime
taking place, but it's too blurry to make
out who the perpetrator is.
00:17:18
- You know, with
any investigation, it's a slow-moving process
in terms of identifying what
00:17:23
happened, the crime
scene processing, trying to piece it together. You know, the family
and friends
00:17:27
knew right away
who she was last with, and also just
the history with Victor and had this feeling, we know
it's him, we know it's him.
00:17:36
- You also have
Daisy's grandfather, who comes out with an
eyewitness account from earlier
00:17:42
that evening, saying that
he saw Victor Sosa lurking around the apartment building.
00:17:47
So now you have
Victor Sosa placed at the scene in the same day. It's Victor Sosa who did this.
00:17:55
- This case is consistent with
the literature and the research and what we know about
intimate partner homicide,
00:18:01
the risks associated with past
threats or history of abuse. We see that victims who
have ended a relationship
00:18:07
or left the relationship are
very much at risk for homicide. It's also higher risk
for women of color,
00:18:13
in particular, to be victims
of intimate partner homicide. These experiences with
abuse and threats of abuse
00:18:19
are very serious
and incredibly important, and need to be acknowledged
not only by family members,
00:18:24
but also law enforcement. You know, it's incredibly
important that we take these threats seriously.
00:18:28
It really just showcases
how scary and volatile and tumultuous these
situations can be,
00:18:33
and how important it is
to have resources and awareness
and seriousness placed on these types of incidents.
00:18:40
narrator: With all signs
pointing to Victor, Daisy's family are left
frustrated that police
00:18:45
have not arrested him. - One of the biggest
issues was that this was LA County Sheriffs
working in Compton.
00:18:52
And for the community
members of Compton, they had no interest
in working with the police,
00:18:57
which was understandable. They had every right not to. They felt like their cases were
usually dismissed or ignored,
00:19:04
and they really didn't think
that working with the police would be a way
of helping Daisy.
00:19:10
They really kind
of didn't seem to be fully invested in the investigation. For Daisy's family, they all
knew right away this is Victor.
00:19:20
So for them, this was
an open-and-shut case, go pick up Victor, he's our guy. The police made it
sound more like,
00:19:26
well, maybe we
have other evidence and we're pursuing that. Or, yeah, it looks
like it's Victor,
00:19:31
but we can't just
go arrest him. We need to have more proof. But nothing happened.
00:19:35
He was not brought
in for questioning. He was not arrested. And hours quickly turned into
days and unbelievably, weeks
00:19:44
without any traction
on Daisy's case. [siren wailing] Sean Kipe: You can
make an argument
00:19:49
for police needing to have
all of the evidence that they feel they need
to take Sosa and actually
00:19:55
charge him with murder
and have enough to make it stick in court,
because you get one shot.
00:20:01
But either way, they didn't. And Sosa didn't hang around. narrator: After opting
not to arrest Victor Sosa,
00:20:07
he seemingly disappears. Daisy's family
feel abandoned and their daughter's
case is slipping
00:20:13
further from public view. - Some of the only
coverage of Daisy's murder was in the paper, and it
simply said "Latina Jane Doe."
00:20:21
Not really any
other information. And when you're trying
to solve a murder or you're trying
to even get people
00:20:27
to care about other people, you
can't be dismissive like that. Who's going to fight
to solve this case,
00:20:33
if we don't even know
who we're fighting for or what really happened? So by keeping her
kind of a mystery,
00:20:40
you're not helping the case. She wasn't just a Latina
that can be dismissed. This is a person who
lived in our community.
00:20:47
She was a young woman with
her whole life ahead of her. - The initial media
response to Daisy's death
00:20:53
was so disappointing
to her family and to the people around her. There was one article,
you know, in the paper
00:21:00
and it didn't even
mention her name. And it makes you wonder,
this Mexican-American girl,
00:21:04
was it not as important
to put her name out there and to put this
story out there and
00:21:08
to have the widespread
media coverage, you know, as it would be if she were
a different nationality
00:21:14
or ethnicity? Every victim like this,
especially a young girl, her face should have been
on the front of every paper
00:21:20
until Victor Sosa
was-- was caught. Dr. Carlena Orosco: Initially
with the investigation,
00:21:25
the investigators were
in contact with the family. They did their best
to keep them aware of,
00:21:30
you know, what was going
on with the investigation, what steps were being taken,
where they were in the process.
00:21:35
There was a lot of frustration
on the part of her family and friends because again,
they had this feeling of,
00:21:41
this is her abuser. We know he's responsible
for her death. What's happening with him?
00:21:45
Ultimately,
the family and friends felt as though
the investigators dropped the ball in this
case in terms of its pace.
00:21:53
Why is this not reaching
major news media outlets? Where is the outrage
or the urgency
00:21:58
associated with this case? [intriguing music] Alisha Holland:
As time went on and
00:22:06
months went by without any
word of progress being made in Daisy's case, her friends
and family went from grieving
00:22:13
to being really upset. Why is Victor still out and
free living who knows where? - Daisy's family, seeing
the inaction from the police,
00:22:23
seeing the fact that they're
not out there investigating, seeing the fact they're not
even talking to the family
00:22:29
and telling them
what's going on, Daisy's case could
have just disappeared. And I think you have
to talk to communities.
00:22:35
You have to be
in the coffee shops, you have to be in the parks. You have to actually
make the effort.
00:22:42
- So Daisy's best
friend, Rebecca Fuentes, decided to take matters
into her own hands.
00:22:47
She decided, given
the success of TikTok and how viral videos really
can change the world,
00:22:54
she realized, I'm
going to make a TikTok and maybe this will help get
some information out there
00:22:59
and bring some tips in for us. So utilizing photos,
videos, text messages, voiceover, she created
a video, My Friend Daisy,
00:23:08
where she explained who
Daisy was, who Victor was, and what had happened,
and that there
00:23:14
hadn't been any arrests made. ♪ ♪ - There's this great
saying on social media where people now will just
say, internet, do your thing.
00:23:27
It means everybody
jumped behind a cause and let's just attack it
together and share it.
00:23:33
Rebecca Fuentes, that's
what she said when she posted a TikTok video. Just expressing such
disgust and frustration
00:23:42
with Victor Sosa
and with how police were handling the case at the time. And she laid everything out
and said, you know what?
00:23:49
TikTok, do your thing. Let's find this asshole. narrator: Hoping to generate
leads on Victor's whereabouts,
00:23:56
Daisy's friend posts
about the case online. The response is far
greater than she
00:24:02
could ever have expected. [audio logo] narrator: In Compton,
Los Angeles on February 22,
2021, 19-year-old
00:24:22
Daisy De La O was murdered. Her body was discovered wrapped
in a carpet the next day.
00:24:28
Daisy's friends
and family knew it was her violent ex-boyfriend,
Victor Sosa, who killed her,
00:24:33
but police felt
they did not have enough evidence to charge him. Now, Victor has disappeared.
00:24:39
Desperate to get
justice for Daisy, her friend posts
a TikTok about the case and urges users
to help find him.
00:24:46
Dr. Carlena Orosco:
Digital activism gives a voice to those
victims or missing persons,
00:24:51
raises awareness about a case. And as I said before, if we're
thinking about traditional news
00:24:55
media, while we do see
homicides featured and things like that, it's
not all homicide cases
00:25:00
that we see featured
in popular news media. And so with that, this gives
us another avenue to raise
00:25:05
awareness about cases. They really help
to raise awareness about folks who
maybe would otherwise
00:25:10
be excluded from
popular news media or not highlighted
in a way that they deserve.
00:25:15
- On May 26, 2021,
Rebecca posted her TikTok ♪ and she used the hashtag
♪ justiceforDaisy,
00:25:22
because she wanted
to be able to track the information that was
coming in about Daisy's case.
00:25:27
And she captioned the video,
come on, TikTok, do your thing. Let's blow this thing up--
meaning for it to go viral--
00:25:33
and let's find this asshole. [calm music] ♪ ♪ To her surprise, the next
morning after she posted it,
00:25:46
it was really starting
to get some momentum, and people were starting
to share the video,
00:25:50
and Daisy's information
was getting out there. It really started to bring
attention to Daisy's case.
00:25:56
Sean Kipe: After
the TikTok video is posted, there's an Instagram account
created, Justicefordaisy.
00:26:02
There's a Facebook page. You know, all of these
are promoting the video and promoting
justice for Daisy,
00:26:08
and people start
standing behind that. The likes and the clicks
and the shares and the views
00:26:13
are coming in. ♪ People are sharing
♪ justicefordaisy. You know, people
who never met her.
00:26:19
And it takes you from
a place of law enforcement, with a department
with 20 people in it.
00:26:25
Now you have tens
of thousands of sets of eyes and ears out there 24/7. And they're looking
for this guy.
00:26:31
So it was really important. - So it reached so many
folks and so many comments, not only expressions
of sympathy,
00:26:37
but also "I've seen him,"
and "I think I've seen him by the metro line
or near encampments"
00:26:43
and things like that. And so there was a lot of leads
that came up with this. Sean Kipe: I think the other
aspect is people just lending
00:26:50
their support, just
commenting, giving support to the family of Daisy saying,
hey, we hear you, we see you,
00:26:57
we're thinking of you,
we're sharing this. We want justice for you
and your family and for Daisy.
00:27:02
You don't feel quite
as alone when you know you have some support out there. - For me, I saw how many
views that video has.
00:27:11
I was shocking that
my daughter mattered. All the nice comments,
all the people saying,
00:27:17
we're going to find them. Before, I didn't
believe in that. Oh, what's so good about--
about social media, right?
00:27:24
It changed my life. It changed the outcome
of my daughter's case. It changed because the
spotlight was on that case.
00:27:32
Dr. Carlena Orosco:
What we see, and the research supports this,
is that some victims are not
00:27:37
highlighted in news media
outlets as much as others, particularly when
we look at women
00:27:41
victims of color,
who are not primarily highlighted in news media. And so this is a way
to bring awareness
00:27:47
to this victim, who otherwise
would not have a voice in a major news media outlet.
00:27:53
It also holds the suspect
accountable by putting his face out there as well. And I believe that it
adds a sense of urgency
00:28:01
to the investigation. We're taking it upon
ourselves to try and find this individual.
00:28:05
We understand you have
to go through the process of the investigation, but we
know who this is and we're
00:28:09
taking it upon ourselves. And that's ultimately
what happened. - Well, TikTok is
like the Wild West.
00:28:14
You never know which
things will go viral. But I think what it
shows is the spirit
00:28:19
of people wanting to help. And this is the guy who
we need your help to find. There were so many
different images of him
00:28:27
and information about
him, and who you can call. Perfect posts in terms
of capturing people's attention
00:28:35
and it going viral
and raising awareness. Susana Salas: So many people
have reached out to me
00:28:41
from all over the world,
all over Mexico, all over US, England. It's-- it's crazy.
00:28:49
It's crazy, you know,
and-- and it even makes me more think that even
Daisy lived only 19 years,
00:28:58
her life made a difference,
and that's incredible. narrator: With multiple
social media pages set up
00:29:07
in the search for Victor Sosa,
a single tip from the public emerges, and it could
change everything.
00:29:13
Alisha Holland: Even though
they'd been receiving tips all that time, the tip that
came in the morning of July 1
00:29:18
was different. It included a video, and the
video had a man in it that very much resembled Victor.
00:29:26
In a panic and her excitement,
Rebecca started to take screenshots of the video.
00:29:30
She then sent those
screenshots to Susana, asking, is this Victor? You know, did we find him?
00:29:36
Did it happen? - She sends it
through to Susana to say, this is
what's happened.
00:29:42
I've got this
video, and Susana is very nervous about seeing it. And as soon as she sees it, the
screenshot, she knows it's him.
00:29:48
And he's sat in a bar. He's got the middle part
of his hair, is bleached. He's quite distinctive
looking, and
00:29:54
he's just smoking
a cigarette, incredibly casual in this very busy
bar club in Baja.
00:29:59
So nonchalant, just living his
life after he murdered Daisy. [ominous music] Alisha Holland: He was actually
just enjoying his life,
00:30:08
living in Rosarito, Mexico. And in the video, he's
just sitting at a table, having some cigarettes,
enjoying some beers,
00:30:15
listening to live
music, overlooking the beautiful ocean. And it was such
a juxtaposition of what
00:30:21
everyone knew him to be. He was this monster that had
hurt Daisy and most likely
00:30:26
killed her. Yet here he is, just
living the high life, fully relaxed
on a Mexico vacation.
00:30:33
narrator: Daisy's friend
passes the information about Victor's whereabouts
onto law enforcement.
00:30:38
Alisha Holland: Hopeful,
Susana sent those images to the detectives, saying,
this looks like it's Victor
00:30:44
and he's in Mexico. She had his exact location,
his newest appearance, and the detectives'
response was
00:30:51
kind of interesting because
the way they tell the story, it's that they were
already working
00:30:55
with Mexican authorities
and that they already had Victor's location
at this bar, which
00:31:01
still didn't make
sense, because why wouldn't you arrest him? You wouldn't be staking
him out or following him.
00:31:07
It didn't matter, because all
that mattered now was they had Victor's location. And all of the work
on TikTok, on Instagram,
00:31:14
on all the social medias
to get the word out ♪ and using #justicefordaisy,
it had worked
00:31:20
and it brought Victor
to the mainstream. They were able to find
him and track him down.
00:31:25
The following day,
Mexican authorities went and arrested Victor
at that same bar on the spot.
00:31:30
He didn't put up
any kind of fight and the extradition
process began. So he was sent back
to Los Angeles County,
00:31:37
where he was then charged
with first-degree murder. narrator: The legal
process can now begin,
00:31:43
all thanks to social media. Susana Salas: For me,
it's crazy because him smoking and all that,
somebody sent us that.
00:31:51
You were here enjoying yourself
while you destroyed my family. In my life I imagined
I was going to go
00:31:58
through something like that. In my life I imagined
that TikTok social media had a lot to do with everything
in my daughter's case.
00:32:06
That's-- that's
incredible for me. I had my doubts. I was like, what
if it doesn't-- what
00:32:12
if people don't care? But no, thank God, there's
a lot of good people that put their effort to find
him, and they found him.
00:32:21
Sean Kipe: The fact that
this all came together through social media, the viral
aspect of Daisy's case being
00:32:28
shared and shared and shared
and people rallying behind it, and people going out there
and keeping their eyes open and
00:32:35
looking for this
guy and looking for him online to see
if he's tracked any-- he's made any movements.
00:32:41
The fact that that happened in
that way through social media is amazing, and it shows the
power of social media today.
00:32:49
Laura Richards: The US Marshals
went and picked him up, brought him back to LA,
and Detective Sanchez
00:32:54
was thinking about
the interview and what he would
ask, and he said he was quite surprised
because he just
00:33:00
seemed to be this scared--
he called him a kid, but we have to remember
he was 25 years old.
00:33:05
He was a man. For me, the important
thing to say, we're not talking
about a child here,
00:33:10
we're talking about a man
who made decisions and then disappeared
himself and was
00:33:13
thinking through
post-offense behavior, putting distance
between him and Daisy. Sean Kipe: When
Sosa was arrested,
00:33:21
there was a-- celebration is
not the right word because it's not something to celebrate.
00:33:26
But social media
banded together and helped to get this guy. I mean, he could have
been in any pocket
00:33:32
of the world, off the grid. Decades could have gone
by while this guy remained free
00:33:36
and on the run. But because of the way
this played out with social media coming
together, it happened quickly.
00:33:43
So I think there
was a celebration and there was a sense of,
like, look what we did.
00:33:48
We can do this. Like, you can make change,
positive change in the world just by banding together
with people you've never met.
00:33:56
narrator: With Victor Sosa
now in police custody, the original question
remains-- is there
00:34:01
enough evidence to convict him
of the murder of Daisy De La O? [audio logo] narrator: On February 23, 2021,
19-year-old Daisy De La O was
00:34:24
found murdered in Los Angeles. The prime suspect is her
ex-boyfriend Victor Sosa,
00:34:29
who has fled the city. Fearing he would also evade
justice, Daisy's friends and
00:34:34
family launch a social
media campaign, which goes viral and results in
Sosa being located in Mexico.
00:34:41
In July 2021, he is arrested
and extradited to California. Dr. Carlena Orosco:
I think tips
00:34:46
that come from
social media, leads that come from social
media, or perhaps the use
00:34:50
of social media
as a case tool, I think it needs to be prioritized. It needs to be incorporated
into investigations.
00:34:57
It's a very innovative
tool that we perhaps didn't have 20 years ago. And to the same extent,
there's this possibility
00:35:03
that something stemming
from social media could lead
to the resolution of a case.
00:35:07
And I think it needs
to be prioritized in law enforcement agencies
as an investigative tool.
00:35:12
- Because of the social
media impact, there really was
a strong community, and everyone was able
to lean on each other
00:35:19
on those hard days and to get
through the emotional roller coaster of a murder trial.
00:35:26
narrator: On April
18, 2022, the trial of Victor Sosa for the murder
of Daisy De La O begins.
00:35:35
- So after Victor is
accused, he goes to trial and he pleads not guilty. The cards are
stacked against you,
00:35:44
man, because your DNA is
at the scene of the crime. You're caught on video. You have eyewitnesses
that saw you.
00:35:51
It's an uphill climb for him,
but he says he's not guilty. Alisha Holland: When
it came to the defense,
00:35:58
they really didn't
have a leg to stand on. They just argued that there
wasn't quite enough evidence
00:36:04
and there still was
reasonable doubt. They didn't have a defense
of their own to speak of.
00:36:10
Laura Richards:
So the defense tried to argue that there was
insufficient physical evidence.
00:36:14
I mean, which is really
unbelievable in this case because there was direct
physical evidence,
00:36:19
the forensic evidence on
multiple points-- the carpet. So that was as conclusive
as forensics can be.
00:36:26
There was also
the digital evidence. He had texted her. There's the fact that he was
the last to see her alive.
00:36:31
But there are also witnesses. There was Daisy's
grandfather, who saw a shadow, who then realized
that it was Victor
00:36:37
Sosa's just before Daisy left,
the 13-year-old who saw him. The evidence was actually
overwhelming and compelling.
00:36:44
If you add
in the post-offense behavior, he then distanced himself. He disappears and he
goes to Mexico
00:36:50
and he changes his appearance. You add in those
things, it doesn't get more compelling than that.
00:36:55
narrator: In a shocking twist,
one of Sosa's family members takes the stand. Alisha Holland: Perhaps
the most damning moment
00:37:02
of all in the trial was
that Victor's own mother testified against him. And what happened was word got
out that Victor had probably
00:37:13
been involved
in Daisy's murder, and his mother confronted
him straight up and asked him if he had
something to do with her death.
00:37:35
- She begged for him
to do the right thing, to turn himself in, to face the
consequences of his actions.
00:37:40
Instead, he ran off to Mexico. So she actually ended up
testifying against her own son.
00:37:46
- I tried to put myself
in the position of his mother and what that must
have felt like,
00:37:51
to testify against
your son in court, knowing that he
did this, and how that must feel
for a mother that
00:37:58
loves her child regardless. You know, I think
that was so incredibly powerful for the case.
00:38:03
From what I heard, is
still just incredibly sorry and devastated for what
happened to Daisy.
00:38:09
And so I think
that was very, very significant that she did that. narrator: As the trial
concludes,
00:38:14
all eyes turn to the jury
for their final verdict. - At the end of the trial, the
jury found Victor Sosa guilty
00:38:22
for first-degree murder
of Daisy De La O and sentenced to 26 years to life. Susana Salas: Once I
heard so, so, so, and
00:38:31
he's guilty for first
degree murder, wow. It's like-- this
weight came off me. The weight came off me.
00:38:41
I wanted to scream
and cry and everything. I just cry and I
remember I was, like, squishing my--
my cousin's hand
00:38:49
and my friend's hand. And it was-- even though it's
obviously what we all wanted,
00:38:55
you don't know what
the judge is going to say. You don't know what
the jury's going to decide.
00:39:01
It was incredible to hear. [somber music] Sean Kipe: Daisy's family was
there through the whole trial,
00:39:09
and they were very
active in every aspect of the investigation
from start to finish,
00:39:15
going and asking for help
online to strangers. I mean, it was such a roller
coaster for them emotionally.
00:39:21
Once that finally
came to a close and-- and Sosa was convicted,
it was like a chance
00:39:27
to-- to take a breath. It's the beginning
of the next phase of their life, which is to try
to move forward without Daisy
00:39:37
and begin to heal. - Sadly, we will never be
able to bring her back. Can never bring a victim back.
00:39:44
You know, it's
bittersweet in the sense that we have a loss of life. But I think the fact that he
was identified and brought
00:39:52
to trial and is serving
his sentence, in this case, I think he was held
accountable for his crime.
00:39:57
And I hope that
moving forward, we will have the same
sense of urgency and the same level
of importance
00:40:03
placed on victims
of intimate partner violence. Laura Richards: I think the
fact that I didn't know about
00:40:09
Daisy's case until
recently, talks to the fact that
the media don't report on cases like Daisy's.
00:40:15
I just feel shame about that. - Justice for Daisy!
crowd: Justice for Daisy! - Justice for Daisy!
crowd: Justice for Daisy!
00:40:21
- Justice for Daisy! crowd: Justice for Daisy. man: Justice for Daisy! Laura Richards:
And what's more,
00:40:27
there are so many lessons with
her case about intervention and prevention. And if we really want to ensure
that victims are not murdered
00:40:33
in vain and don't
become footnotes, then it's incumbent
upon all of us, the media, the legacy
media, but also podcasters,
00:40:40
to talk about the Daisies. Just because they're
not white, and I think that that is
a real part of this,
00:40:46
it doesn't mean that they
are any less valuable. Alisha Holland: The biggest
piece to Daisy's case
00:40:52
was the social media. And we do hear often how
bad social media can be, that it's bad
for your mental health
00:40:59
or, you know, it's
a negative space. But when it's
utilized for good, it is such a huge platform.
00:41:05
Her friends and family
stepped up, got the word out, and Victor was caught
within a couple of weeks
00:41:10
of that video being posted. In this case, it at least
shows there are people out there who are
willing to help,
00:41:16
who want to try to solve
these cases for you, and will work together
to bring you those answers.
00:41:23
Dr. Carlena Orosco: My hope is
that, if we can take anything away from this case, it's
that community is powerful,
00:41:28
our voice is powerful,
especially in a digital space. And my hope is
that it will lead
00:41:33
to more innovation
in terms of embracing the role of social
media in investigations.
00:41:40
If a case is cold, if we
can't locate someone. I think it also
illuminates the fact
00:41:44
that we need
to give families and communities a voice
in terms of who knows the victim better but them?
00:41:51
Take those methods that we've
used for years and years and try to incorporate this
more innovative approach
00:41:55
with social media,
and what can we learn from folks who are
advocating in the community
00:42:00
and on social media that
have been, in this case, incredibly successful
in raising awareness.
00:42:05
How can we take
both of those and put them together
to quickly, swiftly and effectively bring justice?
00:42:13
Alisha Holland:
In 2021, a CDC study found that one
in 12 young people had been in a physically
abusive relationship.
00:42:21
But what's important
to see in that is that we are lacking
education for adults to know
00:42:27
how to help young people
in a dangerous relationship, and we haven't
taught young people
00:42:32
how to protect
themselves or what an abusive relationship is. Susana Salas: Whether I like
it or not, it's my story.
00:42:40
And denying it,
what happened or acting like it didn't happen,
I think it's an insult
00:42:46
to my daughter's memory. Of course, she
wants me to remember her how she is, but not
to forget what happened to her.
00:42:52
Now, not to forget. Maybe one, maybe two,
maybe a few people will listen and be, like, whoa.
00:43:01
Whatever this individual did
to Daisy is happening to me. I think it's time to pack
my bags and, bye-bye, you know.
00:43:09
Daisy was a very
caring individual. She was a beautiful soul. She looked tough
in the exterior,
00:43:17
but she was the sweetest
person, kind and caring. She was so faithful
to her friends.
00:43:25
[emotional music] Laura Richards: I
think there's a lot to learn from Daisy's case.
00:43:29
The fact that there wasn't any
coverage in the media, the fact there wasn't really
an investigation.
00:43:33
I mean, that is
just unconscionable. We have to ensure that
everyone matters, particularly
00:43:39
when you've got a case
that's unsolved, unresolved, and there is a very
clear suspect.
00:43:45
There has to be a priority
and urgency there. And women have to matter
and women of color,
00:43:49
especially, because they
don't get the visibility, they don't get
the amplification.
00:43:54
No one should be a footnote
in their own murder. ♪ ♪ [theme music] ♪ ♪