Topics
Ra和Tez: 本集讲述了2011年发生在鲍伊州立大学的命案,Alexis Simpson被控谋杀室友Dominique Frazier,最终被判无罪。案件起因于两人在宿舍的冲突,最终演变成肢体冲突,Dominique被Alexis刺伤身亡。案件审理过程充满争议,控辩双方对案件事实和动机存在不同解读。陪审团最终采信了Alexis的自卫说法,认为她的行为是出于正当防卫。 控方:Alexis Simpson蓄意谋杀Dominique Frazier,其行为并非出于自卫。证据包括Alexis Simpson的社交媒体言论、证人证词以及法医鉴定结果等。 辩方:Alexis Simpson的行为是出于正当防卫,她长期遭受Dominique Frazier及其朋友的霸凌,在案发当晚被迫自卫。证据包括证人证词、Alexis Simpson的陈述以及学校在处理宿舍冲突方面的不足等。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The conflict between Alexis Simpson and Dominique Frazier began shortly after Alexis transferred to Bowie State University and was assigned to a suite with Dominique. Initial disagreements over shared spaces and personal belongings quickly escalated, leading to a strained relationship.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

It's summertime and it is officially self-care season. How are you taking care of yourself? Are you working out? Are you eating healthy using that sunscreen that you're supposed to use? Well, whether you're off to the pool, hiking, or traveling this summer, you can bring your microbiomes with you too. That's right.

Seeds DS01 Daily Symbiotic benefits your gut, skin, and heart health with just two capsules a day. I've been really trying to figure out my health journey. I've been telling you guys about this, especially since I'm 30. And one thing I've noticed is that my gut...

I have to make sure that sis is all the way together. And Seeds DS01 Daily Symbiotic has been so great for me. Your body is an entire ecosystem and your gut is the central hub for various pathways through your body. And a healthy gut microbiome means benefits for digestion, skin health, heart health, and immune system, and so much more. And trust me, this is backed by science.

A lot of science. So support your gut this summer with Seeds DS01 Daily Symbiotic. Go to seed.com slash sisters and use code 25 sisters to get 25% off your first month. That's 25% off your first month of Seeds DS01 Daily Symbiotic at seed.com slash sisters code 25.

25 sisters. I love being outside. And when I mean being outside, I mean going to events.

Concerts, baseball games, basketball games, anything that you can think of, I love being just in the mix. My family has a tradition of going to the Braves game every single year and I haven't missed a year yet. And this year, buying tickets is going to be easier than ever with the GameTime app. I'm using the GameTime app to buy Father's Day Braves tickets for my cousin and for the rest of my family and we'll all get together. And the deals that I see for these seats are amazing.

So much cheaper than they would have been going through any other app or the team website. I can customize my spot. They've got flash deals. And I am so excited about all the MLB games that I will be able to see this year because finally there's something in my budget. You can save up to 60% off when buying last minute tickets for sports, concerts,

comedy theaters, anything that you can get a ticket for. And trust me, it is the lowest price guaranteed. And you know that means a lot to me. And if you find a price that's lower, don't you worry your pretty little head. Game Time will credit you 110% of the difference. Now that is a guarantee that I can work for.

So take the guesswork of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code SISTAS to get $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem with the code SISTAS to get $20 off.

Download the GameTime app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. What's going on, everybody? I'm Ra. And I'm Tez. And welcome back to Sisters Who Kill.

It's homecoming season, y'all. A huge shout out to the HBCUs. As you all gear up for homecoming, please remember to have fun, make memories, and most of all, stay safe. Homecoming season is a time to make the memories that you can cherish for the rest of your lives. So make sure that you do all you can do so that you are alive to tell the tale.

If you're listening to this, you probably already know what I'm about to say. That today is the day for you to start your podcast. You have everything that you need. Your computer, a little microphone, and Spotify for podcasters. It is the all-in-one platform where you can host, edit, and record your podcast and distribute it everywhere. Where you're listening right now, you can have your podcast there. I promise, for real. And it's free. And you can make some money off of your podcast for free. For free.

Free money. Free money is out there. Just go get it by starting your podcast today. Our players this week are Dominique Frazier, our victim, Kiera Johnson, Dominique's friend, Nayla Tucker, Dominique's friend, and Alexis Simpson, our murderess.

Alexis Danielle Simpson was born sometime in 1992 near the Maryland area to her mother Katrina. As a child, she went to John Bain Elementary School in District Heights and later went to Ernest Just Middle School in Mitchellville. She graduated high school from Charles H. Flowers and most of her classmates said that the main thing that she was known for was that she was well-dressed. She was apparently misputted on. She wasn't in the modeling club, but she used to do like modeling outside of school or something like that.

She was an honor roll student and she looked good wherever she went.

When it was time for college, Alexis, she wanted to experience something new. And so that's exactly what she did. She decided that she was going to go all the way down south to Clark Atlanta University, shout out to the HBCUs, here in Atlanta. And she hoped that she would graduate from there. It's expensive living in Atlanta. It's expensive going to school outside of your state. And so after her first year, she moved back home and she transferred to Bowie State University. Hey,

I used to love when I used to say that. So also another HBCU. And now it wasn't clear why she transferred in the first place, but all of our sources were leading towards it was financial reasons. She transferred so randomly that one of her friends, Chloe from Clark, was like, I didn't even know that she wasn't coming back. Like we thought that she was going to be there. We just come back our sophomore year. She's not there. And that happens a lot.

Your freshman year, you found your people. You know who's around. And sophomore year, it's like, oh, yeah.

seen Taz in a minute. It just, it happens. Life happens. Now, her friends that knew her said that she was the type of girl that was a girl's girl. Like, she was one of those people that you enjoy being around, but she also tried to put on, you know? She tried to act like she was from the hood. She tried to act like she was all extra gritty, but it was like she didn't have any bite with her bark, you know what I'm saying? They said that she would act like she was Miss Big and Bad and that she wasn't afraid of nobody, but like,

She was small, she was petite, she was well-dressed, and everybody knew that she was talking a big game, but she wasn't really like that. So anyways, Alexis transfers to Bowie State for her sophomore year. When she was transferred, she was randomly assigned to a suite. And in that suite, now she was randomly assigned to a dorm. She was randomly assigned to the Krista McAuliffe Residence Hall. It was like a suite. We're saying roommates, but they were suite-mates.

And it seemed like they also had a kitchen in there as well. That's what my sources I've inferred. So they're in their new suite. She's randomly assigned one of her roommate's suitemates. Her name is Dominique Frazier. Dominique Tierra Frazier was born on September 18th of 1992 in Bowie, Maryland. She was the only child to her parents, Denise Frazier Wilson and Joseph L. Wilson. She was nobody nicknamed baby cakes to her like family and stuff. And, uh,

Dama by her friends. Dominique graduated from Friendship Collegiate Academy, which is a pretty prestigious public charter school in D.C., and she graduated in 2010 with a 3.4 GPA. She enrolled in Bowie State, where she continued to excel academically, according to her mother. Now, in her free time...

Your girl had a YouTube page where she would share her poetry. And I think there was about four videos posted. And they're all broken hearted lesbian love points about how some girl broke her heart. Yes. On YouTube, she was the Bonnie Black. And it was very much a broken hearted lesbian love.

And even this is 2011. So even her tweets, if you go back to her tweets, it's very 2011 lesbian. I can't believe she playing. Why she playing with me like this? Because that was a wild place on Twitter at the time. You didn't even have to read her tweets to know. Like you look at her Twitter name. The first page is like, you know, you have like your Twitter handler. Then you have your Twitter name. So like her first name on a page is Abnormal Fag.

And then she was like, this one's going to be deactivated. Follow Miss Bonnie Black. And it says designated cat eater. So she's letting you know off rip what she's about. Right. It's 2011. Dominique's in her sophomore year. She's popular on campus. She's well liked. She's confiding with her mom. Like, I don't know, maybe this year I'll try and pledge or something. Like she really wants to get the full college experience.

And it was nice to see her coming around like this because just a year earlier, her father had died. She was it was definitely very nice to see her out here living her life again, going full out, doing the college things. Now, according to Dominique, before Alexis got there, Dominique and her other suitemates, they got along really well. But minutes after Alexis settled in, they were like, the energy in here has shifted and not changed.

in a positive way. And that's true. Every time that somebody enters into a space, at any point in time, the energy shifts. And it's either going to be for a positive or a negative. Alexis' mom bought her a whole bunch of stuff.

toilet paper, tissue, paper towels for the kitchen, things to help her stock up. And of course, Alexis is putting those in the bathroom. And so now that she done put everything in the bathroom, she feels like this is my shit and this is mine and y'all can't use the toilet paper. And according to Alexis, she was like, after I stocked everything up,

Dominique was acting like she was all upset. Like I was trying to take over, but it wasn't even like that. Like I'm trying to help out the house. And Dominique and Alexis, they clearly didn't like each other. You know, it's those people that you just don't like. There are people that you just don't like. It's fun fact, when Taz and I are out and we meet people, it is so quick that I will write somebody off. And Taz usually has to be like, I talked to them, they're nice. And I'm like, something about them I don't like.

It happens often. And it's just like, I don't know. I'm going to sit back and watch her. But I think with the energy shift... I'm a viber. But I am a viber. But, like, I'm going to take in your whole vibe, not just your initial vibe. Because I think first impressions can be misleading. Because...

You can base it off your first impression, but you also have your own biases that you carry with you. So I think you need to give it a chance to disprove your bias. Like, I'm going to watch and I'm going to keep watching and I'm going to see if you're proving my initial thought right or if maybe I might have been wrong about you. Because you do have to understand that, like you said, the vibe will always change. But it's also very hard to be a new person coming into an already established group.

Yes, that is hard. That is very difficult. It's extremely hard. And especially if that group is not welcoming, it can be seen as...

Like, you can... I'm not necessarily a welcoming person. And that doesn't mean that I don't like you. But you might get the vibe that I don't like you. I might not have any feelings towards you. But the way you feel about me not being welcoming is that I don't. And just even off of that little first impression could be, like, little things that lead to a bigger thing just from our own biases and assumption and perception. Yes, a lot of people think that Tassie's mean. I think you're sweet. Sweet as pie. But I have been... I have...

move schools a lot even before college in college I transferred schools in college I've lived in different dorms with different people if I had a whole host of roommates every time I tell Tassie a story and I'm talking about my roommate it's somebody different I understand what it's like to be with some people I've had some suitemates that were super welcoming and open but they were still like this is mine this is yours this is how I expect things and I've had suitemates that

were damn near non-existent. Like, they would be in their room, I would see them from time to time in the bathroom, or when they were coming to and from the bathroom. I had one suite mate that was never there. She came to get a bag once a week, and I don't know her name. I definitely had a suite mate whose name I did not know. Two, actually. There was only one that I knew, and I knew it 'cause she was right next to me and I had to share a bathroom with her, and I could smell her in the shower.

But I can't tell you who the other two were. Oh, man. And it was other little things that were getting on each other's nerves. Like, Alexis said that Dominique would have her hair everywhere. It would be clogging the drain. And don't nobody want to see nobody else's hair at the bottom of my shower. And don't nobody want to pull nobody's hair out the shower.

You know what I'm saying? I can pull my hair out the drain. I have a lot of hair. There you go. Say what I'm about to. Go ahead, Tazzy. Say it. I can pull my hair out the drain. No problem. I don't care if it's my sister, my twin sister. It's like, get your fucking hair out the drain. I don't want to touch that shit. Exactly. Exactly.

That's why you got to get you a suite mate that just don't be there and have her be on your side, on your side of the suite that has the shower. You'll be good to go. So other things were starting to mount. Alexis said that Dominique sent her like a really profane is the word that she used text. And I'm sure that the text was probably something like, you need to get your shit together. I'm sure maybe Dominique Custa out via text message about some shit in the suite.

Then Alexis says that one of Dominique's friends bumped her in the calf. And again, this goes back to perspective. If you feel like this girl don't like you, that friend could have very unknowingly touched you. But you're going to take it as such because of what you have in your head, right? I mean, even if she did, like even if she did shoulder check her for real. Why are you sending your little friends over here to talk to me? Mm-hmm.

It got to the point where the two, both of them were like, we need to figure out how to get a room change here. Now, Alexis tried to get a room change and they told her that there were no rooms left. And they're like, oh, but you can change rooms if you pay $600, which is wild. And also my freshman year, I tried to get a room change and they told me, no, I had to wait until I had to wait the full first semester to get a room change.

And luckily, we didn't have a horrible relationship. We just were like, I don't want to live with you. And so it got to the point where Alexis, since she couldn't change rooms, she was basically staying off campus. She was staying at her mama house. She had a boyfriend, so she would be staying with him at his place. On Dominique's end...

She's not enjoying Alexis either. They're bickering. They're fighting all the time. Dominique calls her mom and Dominique's mom is like, what do you want me to do, baby? Do you want me to call the school myself? Do you want me to act up? I think that's very mature of a mother to be like, and how do you want me to handle this situation for you? And Dominique told her mom, she was like, no, ma, like, I don't know, the girl staying with her mama or whatever. So it ain't even got to escalate like that. I'm just calling to vet. Allegedly, I couldn't find this tweet, but allegedly I heard it read, I read one place that

that Alexis tweeted out that she thought that somebody was stealing her shit, and she thought that Dominique was stealing her stuff. I read it somewhere. It's September 15, 2011, Thursday. Dominique and the other roommates, they getting ready. It's homecoming week. There's a comedy show going on campus. They got Lil Duval and Capone coming out there. And everybody ready to have a good time. It's fucking homecoming, okay? Alexis...

is apparently, like, bouncing back and forth between her moms and her boyfriends off campus. And this is all due to the tension that she's feeling with her roommate, specifically Dominique. But she's like, I definitely want to be here for homecoming. So she returns to her dorm this week to get ready for the show. To get ready for the show. So...

Alexis is like, for sure, I want to be on campus for homecoming week. Like, I deserve that. She goes back to her dorm room. She ends up laying down and taking a nap. Now into the dorm room walks Dominique and two of her friends, Kiara Johnson and Nayla Tucker. The girls in there having a good time. It is unstated as to whether or not they knew if Alexis was in her room napping because, again, I'm sure the door was shut.

While she was asleep. I'm sure that her door was shut. They're not used to her being there. When she was away. Right. And you not being there, right? You're sleeping. Alexis is sleeping in her room. Dominique comes in, plugs up her little iPod to the speaker, starts blasting music. This, of course, pisses Alexis off because, nigga, I'm in here trying to get a nap.

Her phone rings. She picks up the phone. She's on the phone. She goes to the bathroom. And Alexis says she's turned it down. But conflicting stories say she turned the music off. Which is two totally different energies. She turned that shit off.

Also, if you're messing with somebody's music, I don't care if I like you or not. I'm about to turn this down because I got to talk on the phone. I feel like it's common courtesy. Maybe that's the Southern in me. But at this point, there's so much energy between them, they're not even doing common courtesies to each other. Right. She cuts the music. She's on the phone, and she goes to—the speaker's in the bathroom, and she's trying to go use the bathroom. And that's when Dominique pushed the door open.

basically hitting Alexis with the door and took her iPod and her speakers out the bathroom. Alexis then says, next time, say excuse me. And from there, that's just the trigger for everything else. Like, that has set things off. So the girls is all... I don't think that she said it with that type of energy that you just said, that line. I'm sure she said it a little bit more, like, next time, say excuse me.

You know what I'm saying? It could be either one, but she go, I feel like regardless of how she said it, you only hear it one way. You know what I mean? Like that's all you fucking need. Next time say, excuse me. Or next time you need to say, excuse me. Like it don't matter. The tone is still there. Even in the words. Cause bitch, excuse me.

From there, the two go back at it, bickering, arguing back and forth. Dominique says, do you want to get choked again? Now, Alexis has stated that Dominique has never choked her, okay? So, don't know what again means. Maybe she's referring to an incident where somebody else has possibly choked Alexis. Don't know. But...

They're going back and forth, probably saying some shit like, bitch, wish you would put some hands on me. They be like, girl, don't make me show you, yada, yada, yada. So Alexis is walking towards, like, walking up on Dominique. Dominique is backing towards her room. And that's when Dominique slams the door in Alexis' face. And Alexis, like, she slammed that whole door. I had to jerk my head back, like, to just keep from being hit. Alexis says, then Dominique opens the door, steps out, and she says, what's up? And starts to swing.

And she uppercut her while holding her hair. Again, stories conflict because Kiera says Alexis threw the first punch. So it very well could have been Dominique said, what's up? And Alexis said, this was up. So regardless, the fight started and the girls are fighting, pulling hair, punching each other, hitting each other.

Eventually things settle down in the midst of the tussle and Alexa goes back to her room, takes her shoes off, and she leaves and finds Dominique standing outside her door. Nayla and Kiera join in on the fight. And at some point, Dominique goes to her room where she kept a knife and she grabbed it. But Kiera ended up putting it inside the dresser drawer and says, what you're not about to do is stab her. The two start fighting again.

Now the fight stops again. Alexis goes to her room and grabs her inhaler and she grabs a pocket knife that she kept in there because she's like, I was scared. She said she tried to walk to the bathroom. She said, I wanted to cool down, splash some water on my face. And she says, but at this point, Kiera then pulls me into Dominique's room.

She says, Kiera began to attack, pulling me by my hair. I was so scared. I didn't know what they were going to do next. And they just continued to hit me. She said, so I swung the knife. She said she was just flailing her arms wild. And then all of a sudden, Dominique stopped swinging. And she's grabbing her neck. And she's stumbling out of her room into the hallway. And at this point, everybody has stopped. And they realize somebody is really hurt.

And it's Dominique. Alexis, it's like after I saw her grip her neck, I stopped swinging. I start to panic. I call 911. Her call to 911 fails. She's following Dominique down the hallway. Dominique's stumbling. She says, I laid down next to her. I put my hand on her neck so blood wouldn't come out. She was like, I'm really starting to panic. There was foam coming out of her mouth. I didn't know what to do, which...

I know they're like that escalated quickly to the point where not only you're bleeding, but there's foam coming out of your mouth. Like maybe if it was a little blood, we'd be like, okay, we could talk this out or whatever. Maybe even holding the neck and trying to save her while we call the police. Okay, there's foam coming out of your mouth. She's gone.

And Alexis, Kiera, and Nyla had to watch Dominique die. They did call 911, and the call went through. And the dispatcher was like, Prince George County 911, what's the location of your emergency? And Alexis is screaming, Bowie! Bowie State! Bowie State University! And they're screaming in chaos in the background. Everybody in there is on 10. Like, high alert, on 10. Panic has broken out. And the operator's like,

I can't hear you. Tell me where are you? Tell you, where are you? Hello? She's like, Bowie State University. She's trying to get the phone off. Can you talk to them, please? And you can hear her say, she was like, why did y'all jump me? Why did y'all jump me? And Dominique Ferring gets on the phone and she's like, she got stabbed. She's dying. Please somebody get here. We're at Bowie State. She's dying. Y'all, Alexis then leaves.

She's like, I didn't mean to do it. Y'all don't know what I've been through. She leaves. She calls her mom. Her mom is like, I'm sure her mom is like, oh my God. She tells, her mom tells her to come meet her in Mitchellville at her boyfriend's house. They get there and basically her mom jumped into mom mode, was like, okay, we need to call an attorney. Everything that you told me, there's going to be witnesses. You're about to get arrested and we need to plan to turn yourself in.

When emergency services arrived to Dominique, she is lying in the hallway unconscious. She was already gone, but they transferred her to a hospital where she was officially pronounced dead and her next of kin was contacted. So this was about the fight broke out around eight. She was at the hospital about nine o'clock.

This is Twitter 2011. Like, when people found out about this, everybody just could not believe it. They were in total shock that this could even happen. Some of Alexis's friends that went to different schools, like Howard and some other schools whatsoever, they were like, she's not even this type of person. This is not, like, completely out of character. Arrested?

Stabbing? Someone's dead by her hands? No way. And of course, Dominique, her family cannot even believe that this has happened. Her friends were like, I was right there. I was with her. We were getting ready to have a good night. This is homecoming.

We supposed to be having fun. How could this possibly happen? During the course of the investigation, everybody's being cooperative. Alexis has already turned herself in. The eyewitnesses are giving an account of what they feel have happened. It's not this big of a struggle for the police to put things together. Dominique's friends told the police exactly who did what. Alexis admits that she did leave the campus, but she turned herself in. They didn't have to search for her. It was nothing crazy. Alexis

How you getting two second degree murders and you only kill one person? So the answer to this question is...

Multiple counts of murder can be charged based on alternative theories of murder. There is intentional murder through actions that one knows will result in death. Felony murder where they commit a felony during the act. So if she's committed more than one of these, probably like...

Also, multiple theories, that just means they're racking up the charges. So if one thing gets knocked off during trial, we'll at least get her on something. Now, after Alexis was booked, she tells the police what happened in her own words.

Now, back at campus, a lot of students are feeling unsafe, uneasy. Somebody just died, and not even just on campus, in the dorm rooms where they live, at their home. It's causing an unrest amongst the campus. People are not feeling safe. People, they want answers. They want justice. They want clarity. And one of the students, Jasmine Harvey, who was a sophomore as well, she said people didn't even want to go to the bathroom by themselves.

They canceled classes the following day and the school encouraged the students to attend a community gathering for consolation. Now,

Remember, this is all happening during homecoming week. So a fashion show was planned as part of the activities, but it was canceled in memory and out of respect for the slaying of Dominique. The university president, Mickey L. Burnham, said, quote, Dominique Frazier, a precious life, a valued member of our university community, has been taken from us. Our community and our family has permanently changed. On September 20th, Alexis has her initial hearing in court.

And her family and her church members were there while she arrived in court via TV from the jail, begging to be released on bond. Now, there's a rule in Maryland that the bond is not given to violent crimes. Now, two days before this incident happened, they look at her Twitter and they see that she tweeted about some, we don't know who this was about, but the tweet said, I should have stabbed his ass. Now, the prosecutors are like, look, she's on a violent street. She's not safe for the community.

We can't release her on bond. The court decides to uphold the state law and Alexis is denied bond. On September 21st of 2011, a memorial was held for Dominique on campus. Chinel Azica, a senior, said, Tonight was about letting the Frazier family know we are with you. This community is not about violence.

And they did it in a very HBCU way. They had an assembly of song and praise dancers, statements, candlelight visual, the works, right? Our next hearing was held on October 14th at 8.45 a.m. And this is the day that she was officially indicted. Alexis continues to sit in jail while the police are building this case. But her lawyers are working hard for her on the other side.

And I don't know what they did, but they eventually were able to get her bond reversed. And she was released on a $250,000 bond the week of April 19th of 2012. Now the conditions of her release was that she could not have any visitors. ♪

I bet you're wondering, what am I going to feed everybody in this house for dinner? Well, I'm not having that problem because I have a HelloFresh box. HelloFresh is a meal kit subscription that takes the guesswork out of the question, what's for dinner? Taz and I were both talking about our HelloFresh meals, and with our busy schedules, it was so easy to know that groceries were at the house and you were going to have a healthy, happy meal. You can customize your meals based off of your eating needs, and everything is prepackaged and fresh.

And it's ready to cook like you know what you're doing. And if you don't know what you're doing in the kitchen, there are step-by-step instructions for each and every meal. So as long as you can just somewhat pay attention and somewhat follow instructions, you're going to have a great dinner. So go to HelloFresh.com slash 50SWK to get a little something something off from your girls. And save yourself from being asked for the hundredth time always.

What's for dinner? That's HelloFresh.com slash 50SWK.

So her trial begins in November 2012 and it only lasted three days. Now the state argued that Alexis initiated the fight and that her actions were premeditated. She said that the knife that was used to kill Dominique was never found, which is suspicious.

And that's culpable of premeditation. And since Alexis did not stay in the dorm, like she wasn't living there full time like we already know, she had the option to leave. And we clearly know that she has some place to go instead of trying to fight. They then bring up some of Alexis's tweets and they say, look, Alexis tweeted here alluding to the fact that she doesn't like the fact that Dominique is gay. That was one of her main beefs that she had with Dominique in the first place.

Next, they bring up Kiera Johnson to testify. Now, Kiera was the suite mate of Dominique and Alexis. And when Kiera got on the stand, she said that she didn't think that Alexis intended to kill Dominique that night. Kiera actually testified to the fact that Dominique had a knife and she took the knife away from her and said, listen, that's not what we about to do.

Now, the medical examiner did testify that Dominique died from multiple sharp force injuries, including a cut to the jugular, which is most likely the reason why she bled out as quickly as she did.

Now, Alexis's defense, they had their Wheaties. They were ready to come to trial. And they said that Dominique and the other roommates, they were all bullying Alexis. Alexis came into this place. They already knew each other. They were established. Maybe they liked the roommate from before. But the energy was just not there. And she felt like threatened by all of them, to be honest. They say that she only grabbed the knife in self-defense. And

The defense gets their chance to talk to Kiara as well. And when they talked to Kiara, that's when they got her to admit that it seemed like it could have been an accident and not really intentional. The defense also brought up some BSU juniors, Elliott Stiles and Unique Arnold. They both testified that, you know, when they were in the CAF, they did see Kiara.

Some people glaring at Alexis, that she got into an argument with some of these other girls that were in the CAF, and a couple of the girls that she was going back and forth with had words with were friends of Dominique's. And Unique came up and said that Alexis had plans to change her dorm. She was miserable, and that she requested a room change, and that the RA told her there were no rooms available, and that they gave her an option of $600. Don't nobody just have $600 to give an institution $600?

Because all you got to do is transfer my keys. Mm-hmm. What's the big deal? I'll be tripping. Because my freshman year, it was hell to transfer. And it seems to always be the case. And it's like, what I don't understand is...

me paying all this money to not have peace like if this is gonna be my home then give me a place that i can call home if i feel unsafe if i feel unwelcome here like the dorm is supposed to be a transitional state so help these girls work it out or provide them a solution don't just tell them they have to deal with it you know what i mean and they're paying all this money exactly

You need an open dorm room? Then refund them their money and they can live back. Why would they pay you for a dorm room that they do not feel safe in just to go stay with their mama anyways or go stay with somebody else anyways? Right. Wasting everybody money. Capital. And I also get like there should be some type of conflict resolution in the dorms. The RA is supposed to be that, but how involved is your RA? Do you feel comfortable bringing this to your RA? It's RA hearing these things and saying, there's nothing I can do about it.

Right. And I know, all right, I know some, I have had some great RAs, but I've also had some shitty RAs. It's all about the programming that they put together and making sure that you're actually doing something and you're choosing people to be in these leadership positions, giving them the funds and the resources that they need to put in programming so that none of this happens. Because if it was they need to change, they need to change. But if it was we can actually sit down and have a conversation, right?

Then let's sit down and have a conversation. It seemed like it got to the point where things just needed to change. Your friends glaring at me all this sideways when I'm out. Like, I don't need any of that. Switch the damn keys.

Next, the defense brings up Janae Ruffin, who lived across the hall. And of course, she runs out when she hears all the chaos. And she said that Alexis seemed really scared. She said that Alexis seemed really concerned. She was breathing heavy. She couldn't put sentences together. She was trying to ask her what happened, but she couldn't get it out.

And Alexis did stand up and testify in her own trial. Most of the time while she was testifying, she was bawling. She was crying. She said that she had to defend herself. She said that she was scared of Dominique. And she described it as like, from the moment that I moved in, it was awkward.

And I don't know where it came from because we didn't know each other. And from that moment that we met, it never got better. Now, one reporter says that

Alexis painted herself as a victim, a small, petite girl who's constantly being bullied by the taller, larger Dominique and her friends. She said that Alexis was saying, I thought if I would get the knife, they'd leave me alone. Like, oh shit, she's got a knife. Back the fuck up. No, it didn't work. So at the end of questioning Alexis, they ask her, did you want Dominique to die this way? And she replies, no. She admits that, I guess I could have just walked out of the apartment, but

It didn't occur to me to do that. At the end of the day, I didn't think turning off her iPod would lead to a fistfight that ended in a stabbing and a death. Like, that's not at all the way I saw this going down. But why were you even touching her shit? I rest my case, Your Honor. Because she was napping and disturbing her.

Honestly, could you turn that down? Would it suffice, though? I'm in here trying to sleep. Could you keep it down? But they're past this point because nobody's teaching them conflict resolution. Now, several other witnesses, including those who were not involved in the brawl, gave testimony and things were contradicting on both sides. Some are saying that Alexis was never even jumped.

When Sisters Who Kill began, an online store was the furthest thing from our minds. I mean, we didn't even know if this podcast was good or not. Now we're selling hats, we're selling sweatshirts, we're selling t-shirts, we're selling rolling papers, and it is so easy. All because we at ShopSistersWhoKill.com use Shopify.

Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your store online stage to the first real life store stage, all the way to, did we just hit a million dollars stage? Shopify is there to help you grow. So whether you're selling sleuthing supplies or marketing mystery merch,

Shopify helps you sell everywhere from their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their in-person POS system. Wherever or whatever you're selling, Shopify has got you covered. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with its internet's best converting checkout, up to 36% better compared to other leading commerce platforms. And now you can sell more with less effort thanks to Shopify Magic, your AI-powered all-in-one.

all-star one thing that we really love about shopify is that the analytics are absolutely amazing we love looking at the numbers love seeing who's coming to our page love to see who's purchasing and it just makes us feel like we're really growing as a brand and shopify has everything that we need so that we can make it to the next level shopify powers 10 of all e-commerce in the u.s

and Shopify is the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries.

Plus, Shopify's extensive help resources are there to support your success every step of the way. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash SISTAS, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash SISTAS now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash SISTAS.

If it is one thing that I really love, it is shopping for jewelry. If I'm buying jewelry for myself or if I'm buying jewelry as a gift for somebody else, I really enjoy the process, but sometimes it can be a little bit of a hassle.

it can be a bit overwhelming. You don't know the cut, the style, and buying jewelry is a very serious purchase. That's why I love shopping with BlueNile.com. Blue Nile offers thousands of independently graded diamonds and fine jewelry at prices significantly lower than retail.

So whether you like a classic bracelet or need a new earring to make your outfit pop, you should try BlueNile.com. And if you have any questions about anything that they have on their website, Blue Nile's jewelry experts are on hand 24-7. They're available via phone and via chat. So if you have technical questions about the jewelry, if you're trying to figure out something within your budget, you can know that somebody is on your side to answer everything, making the process easy and enjoyable.

So experience the ease and convenience of shopping Blue Nile, the original online jeweler. Go to BlueNile.com today. That's BlueNile.com. Now that I'm a real adult, I've been really thinking about getting myself together financially. I have subscribed myself to a lot of things, started subscriptions on a free trial, and then I just started paying for things that I haven't been using. I found myself paying for subscriptions sometimes twice, and

I didn't know any of this until I downloaded Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions. It monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so that you can grow your savings. I love Rocket Money because I can see all my subscriptions in one place and if I see something that I don't want to see, I can get Rocket Money to help me cancel it with just a few clicks.

Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved members a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions. That's up to $740 per year when using all of the app's features. Stop wasting your money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash sistas. That's rocketmoney.com slash S-I-S-T-A-S, rocketmoney.com.

rocketmoney.com slash sisters but the defense attorney says that these witnesses were quote stretching the truth the defense said that due to the emotion of watching Dominique die these people feel guilty they didn't stop it they just watch and were bar standards and now she's dead so now they're here pushing for justice like

Trying to make amends in the end. So lean in the story out of abortion, which could possibly be the truth. Alexis' lawyer continues to say she's not the aggressor here. They're pushing her around. They're abusing her. What would you do? What would you want your daughter to do? During the trial, the jury never hears the 911 call. But after just a few days, I think only three days the trial lasted, the jury goes in for deliberation. And after two and a half hours, they have a verdict.

The jury has found Alexis not guilty of all seven charges brought against her. They truly believed that she was acting in self-defense and that her actions were justified. Now, as the jury is reading this not guilty verdict, you can see Alexis licking her lips and shaking her head. After she gets acquitted of all the charges, she just begins to cry like this nightmare is finally over.

The prosecutor, Angela D. Osselbrook, said she was surprised by the verdict. She said, quote, This was a very sad case. Dominique's family was visibly upset at the verdict because Alexis would face no punishment, no probation, nothing. They all cried when the verdict was read.

And a lot of people were torn, especially looking into Alexis's tweets and stuff. They said she had a my way or the highway type of attitude, it felt like.

And she finally met her match with Dominique, somebody who wasn't going to deal with it or just roll over to it. There was even people who said that Alexis was the aggressor in this situation. And the claim that so much bullying could have happened in the first few months of the school year was outrageous. Like, how could you suffer so much, girl, in September? And it's like, how long do I have to take it, first of all? Right. People even looked into what her friends at Clark Atlanta had to say about her.

And they said that there was rumors that she left there because she was, quote, bullied. But none of this has actually been confirmed. The campus, of course, probably had the most shocked people there. What? So was she bullied or did she think she was better than everybody? There's a lot of questions in the air. A lot of people on campus were shocked, too.

It's not like people were pushing for her to get life in prison, but they felt like some action should have came to this, some type of punishment. Calvin Crawley, the junior, said, I think she should have gotten some jail time because she did kill a person. It's just a sad case. A freshman, Kelsey Hobson, says, I feel like all the evidence was there. What do you mean not guilty?

I think there's a lot of sides to this story. Like you said, was she bullied or did she just think she was better than everybody else? Or did everybody think that she thought she was better than everybody else? And she was just chilling. You know what I mean? Everybody thinks that? No. I don't think it's everybody. She was still a popular girl.

She had friends. Was she popular or was she up in everybody's face? Like what is popular in college? Up in everybody's face? She had friends. People described her as likable. But I think everybody is not everybody's cup of tea. And I think that's another reason. There's living with people who have differences and there's living with people who truly just don't get along. And some people just don't get along. You know what I mean?

That's true. And I feel like

There's this clash, and especially when somebody ends in death, you want to hold somebody responsible. And when you break down the facts of the story, it really is stupid, right? Like, it all started when I turned off her iPad because she was playing music too loud. And it's like, it all started over what? You know what I mean? Like, these girls could have talked it out. Somebody could have walked away. You could have just turned the iPod back on and locked the door. Like, there's so many other things that could have happened, but...

I think once it's done, they want somebody to hold accountable. They want somebody to suffer consequences. And it's like she legit got away with it. And I don't necessarily feel like if somebody is sitting there saying the friend of the victim is saying, I truly don't think she meant to do it. Is it necessarily fair? What if she actually was scared?

This girl may have never been in a fight in her life and thought that this girl who was standing over her was about to beat her fucking ass. What is she to do? And she got two friends back her up. I'm here alone. It's all those people. It's always the people that talk really loud. I ain't never been in a fight. You would know. I think people are just looking for somebody to blame. But honestly, I think...

Being that she lived in a dorm, being that this issue was brought up, the parents heard about it. She tried to get a request. I think the instance somebody sits there and puts out a roommate request, your last interaction with them should not be there's nothing we could do. There's something you can do. Let's do a mediation. Let's figure out. Let's have check-ins and temperature checks and see how we can resolve things better. You know what I'm saying? Like, let's talk it out until we can come to a resolution. Let's get involved in this situation so that it does not escalate.

These dorm rooms are supposed to be a transition. You are teaching these girls colleges for you to learn how to be an adult. It's so much more than just the education that you get there. It's the experience that you get there, and you are learning and transitioning into being adult, and there are so many things that you learn there. But as an institution, I feel like that's their responsibility to make sure that these are being learned. You're responsible for these students. These parents have left their kids in your care.

So take care of them. Streaming October 6th on Paramount+. First place I learned about death was the Pet Sematary. Dead things buried in that land would come back for something else. Something's wrong with Timmy. He needs time to adjust. That's not Timmy. Something's talking to him. Sometimes dead is better. Pet Sematary. Bloodlines. Rated R. Streaming only on Paramount+.

Add life to cart.

All right, y'all, it's time for... Well, I'm not black. I'm OG. I ain't do it, but if I did, this is how I would have got away with it. Damn, the girl got away with it. I will speak on the things that I think she did right. I think it was good that she immediately tried to save the girl, put her hand on her neck, call 911. You can hear her in the back, like...

Call him, tell him to get here, tell him to get here. Like she wants this girl to make it. She wants this girl to live. At no point did she want this girl to die. I think that's good that she continued to try and help this girl until she passed. I think she did good in calling her mom. And I think her mom did good in having herself turn herself in. Because how many cases have we seen these mamas trying to cover it up? And now y'all both in there doing time looking stupid.

And they want to be like, oh, it's self-defense. If it's self-defense, then step forward. And I know that's a tricky thing to do because it's like, it's still a jury that's got to decide for you. You know what I mean? But I think had she played that any other way or like waited and hit out, it wouldn't have turned this way. But throughout the whole steps of the process, it was remorse. I ain't do it, but if I did...

I, if I'm not there, if I'm not at the suite, I would have just gotten ready at my mama's house like everybody else. Or I went to my friend's suite and got ready there like they were doing in your suite. Especially if I'm never there, why be there? I get it's homecoming weekend, you have a place to check in, you have a place to make sure that you can use the restroom. But as far as my initial get ready to go to the comedy show? Maybe the outfit that she wanted was in her dorm room. You knew this was homecoming. Yeah.

I ain't do it, but if I did... It's always a bad idea when you guys try and pick up a weapon and then say, I didn't mean to use the weapon. Put that shit down. Yeah, it's... And knives are very dangerous. Especially if they're sharp. There's some dull knives, but there are some sharp ones.

Right. And I don't think people really realize how dangerous knives are when they pick them up to use them as a weapon. Like, I cut my finger yesterday. And boy, it was a very slight cut. It didn't even take no pressure. It'd be like, damn, I did all that just because. So think about a slash, like when you're slashing a sharp knife. Y'all have cut.

fruit before. Come on. Knives are dangerous. She did a good job crying through her entire testimony. So you don't believe her? I think that Dominique probably scared her. Sure. But I don't think that she's all as innocent as she seems. I think both of them

got on each other's nerves. I think both of them was nitpicking at each other. I think everybody could have done better. I think it's petty as hell. But I also see this being a reality at 18, 19 in the dorms. Which is why I just lean on the other people. They've been taught their whole life if you have an issue, bringing it to an adult. And now they're bringing it to adults and adults are like, oh well. And it's like, what do you do? You go into defense mode. At this point, it's like all I got is me. I just gotta look out for me.

I think that's all I got. Yeah, same. Okay. Parole or no parole, she got out. But I think she could have got a little manslaughter. A little 10 years or something. Whew. That's how I feel. 10 years? I say if anything. She'll be out at 28. She'll be out at 29. Yeah, but she'll have a record. I'm 29, still ain't married, still ain't got no kids. I'm good. That's still a felony. I hope she know how to sell lip gloss. Girl.

I'd say if she had to receive any punishment, I would do, like, maybe get her, like, on having the knife, right? And, like, maybe an assault or something that she could maybe probation for. I don't think she should do no real jail time. And since she didn't have a felony, I'm sure that she could go to school and still get financial aid. Mm-hmm. Ain't that about a bitch? I think she should. But if you have a drug charge, you will no longer get to go to college. Mm-hmm.

And I think that should be reversed. So you think that a couple of years for the weapons charges, probation, probation for the weapons charges. Yeah. Cause she didn't even get probation. No. Um, uh, reckless homicide. Wow. You guys let us know. Okay. Tweet us at sisters who kill, or you can talk about it in the discussion group. Sisters who kill podcast discussion group. Let's read some reviews. Let's wrap this show up and let's go on about our day.

Is that your review opening today? This one I actually found on Twitter. It says, I'm a father of two girls, and let me just say your podcast allows me to go home and hug my girls a little tighter because these stories hit deeper than you know. You guys are exceptional storytellers, helping us visualize what happened like we were there watching it.

From your reviews, seems like I'm the only guy listening, but I hope plenty more take note. If there are girl dads out there, please listen to these stories and help save our women from mental illness from birth onwards. Side note, that national news story about Precious Doe took me out. I went home and cried holding my four-year-old after that traumatic episode. Thank you for your passion and empathy for these women. Hashtag lead the babies along.

Thank you. Thank you. Which is so crazy because I have a male reviewer as well. I already had it picked out. This one is from Country Boy, and he gave us four stars. That's the beef. He said, Oh, my God.

No one show is perfect. I love listening to the two of you. I love Taz's laugh and Mariah. You keep up the singing whenever the mood hits you because you will start singing out of nowhere. I do see not too many men leave reviews or y'all don't read them. This man loves listening to y'all and will continue to listen to you. Coming at you from East Texas. Country boy signing off. Love y'all. I had a professor who would not give A's because he said nothing is perfect.

So like the highest grade you could get was like an 89 or something. I was not allowed to get nines, like a 99, an 89. I don't think I've ever seen a 79. But like if I would have got something that had a nine on it, why is there a nine? So you couldn't do what it needed to take to get the one point over. Ooh, chills. Thanks for bringing up my trauma, country boy. I'm never good enough to.

Okay, that's it. That's the end of our show. If you want to keep up with us, you can. You can email us at sisterswhokillpodcast at gmail.com. If you're a male listener, leave us a review anywhere that you can. We'll read yours too. Maybe. You can tweet us.

Sisters Who Kill, we will definitely retweet you if you tweet us, as long as you're not saying nothing crazy. You can follow us on Instagram, Sisters Who Kill Podcast. I still think our Instagram is hidden and people can't find it for real. So if you enjoyed this episode, post it to your Instagram story, share it to some of your friends so they can follow us. And you can join the private discussion group, Sisters Who Kill Podcast Discussion Group on Facebook.

It's pretty fun in there. It was fun this week. Everybody got their stuff together. And when they act up, we act up too. Anything else from you, friend? Talk to us. We talk back.