Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
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Download the GameTime app today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. What's going on, everybody? I'm Marah. And I'm Taz. And welcome back to Sisters Who Kill. Tazzy, have you heard of the snowball effect?
Yes. Yes. It's kind of like a social law, but I've heard it in school. It's basically saying that one thing that may be small, you keep going. I wish I could have a more definition. But the snowball effect is basically you keep putting a lie on top of a lie. Something gets worse and it gets worse. And it's kind of the same illusion as a snowball running down a steep snow hill, getting in bigger and bigger until finally it is out of control. Mm-hmm.
All right, our players this week are Melissa Latham, our victim, Cal Martin, Tanika's cousin, Tanika Clement, Tanika's mom, and Tanika Jenkins, our murderess, almost. So Tanika Jenkins was born on May 20th, 1975. She was born to Tanika Clement, who their spelling is the same.
But I watched this video, Murdered by the Book, on prom, and they pronounced it differently. Don't know what that's about. Don't know if it's accurate, but we're going to roll with it. So Tanaka's mom was a housekeeper for this white family in Cleveland, Ohio. Tanaka was pretty smart growing up, right? In 1996, when Tanaka was 21, she went to Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, and completed one semester before dropping out.
Right.
in New Haven, Connecticut, and she was determined to go in the fall of 1997. Her dream was to apply for the graduate's master's degree program in neurobiology, and she met none of the qualifications needed to apply to this program. I mean, she only had one semester of community college, and you think you're going to go to Yale for neurobiology? No. She didn't think she knew.
So when she filled out her application, you know, you got to have your test scores and your recommendation letters and your essays. Tanika submitted two letters of recommendation, one from her former community college and one from Central State University. Absolutely. Somehow she's moved up in this world, right?
She also submitted... She's also submitted her SAT scores, her ACT scores, her GRE test scores, and she applied for many scholarships. And let me tell you, her scores were spectacular. So good that she received the scholarships, right? Everything stepped against her. She was accepted to the graduate program just as she planned, and she was awarded $16,000 in scholarship grants and stipend money. You know, getting a scholarship is a blessing because...
I would not have made it through undergrad or grad school. Thank you, scholarships. Thank you for having good grades, Mariah. Pat on my own back.
Girl. Yeah, you kept a scholarship. Because I wasn't going to. Because if I wouldn't have a scholarship, I was going to be on the streets. Okay, so during the first fall semester in 1997, Tonika moved from Cleveland to New Haven to have her bigger and better life to be a neurobiologist at the Yale University. And somehow she skated through her very first semester. And by the time that the December exams came around, she was not prepared. Right.
She wasn't showing up to class. She wasn't showing up to her exams. And she was giving her professors like excuses after excuses after excuses the entire semester. And she said she was sick. She said it was this. She said it was that. But the professors, they started getting real curious. Like, this girl is not going to work out in this program. We are Yale students.
And this is a graduate program in neurobiology. Like, this is a very serious degree study. And you are obviously showing that this program is too rigorous for you. So they decide that, listen, she can't grasp material. She's performing regularly. Who let her into this program?
So the professors go and they pull her records. They pull her application. They pull her letters of recommendation because there is just no, at this point, they're like, who recommended you for this? How did we let you into this program? That's how you know you're doing bad. That's how you know you're doing. I mean, like grad school was a struggle for me, but they at least knew why the fuck I was there. They knew my, they knew why the fuck I was there. I may have had to work hard, but you knew why I was there. They were like, why is she here? Turns out,
Those recommendations from Cuyahoga State University, the recommendation from Central State University, the transcript saying that she made straight A's, the test scores, they were all fake. Fake, fake, fake.
And somehow she was let into the program. She had forged her way into one of the most prestigious universities in the country. And she, obviously, we told you before, had never graduated from Cahuuga State. I mean, community. And she didn't even attend Central State University. I mean, and, you know, forgery because, you know, signing your name or signing up for something that is not true, that is a crime. It's not a big crime, but it's a crime. But you know what's a big crime?
grand larceny, stealing money. That's what she got in trouble for because remember all those scholarships and grant money that she had? Yeah. Now you got a little over $16,000 and you're going to have to give that back because you did that under false pretense. That means you were stealing.
Clearly, she was arrested and clearly she was expelled and she was arrested with the charges of first degree larceny and second degree fraud. Now, when she was leaving the university, they reported that she was leaving kicking and screaming while she was in the police car. She was cussing the police officers out. In December, when she was arraigned, she was released on bail.
While released, her defense attorney was like, OK, listen, these charges, they're pretty serious, but they're not too serious. I think that the best thing to do is to not take this to trial. Just go ahead and let's plead guilty. Let's throw yourself at the mercy of the court. And I think that we'll just get a nice little slap on the wrist for this. You know, there's bigger there's bigger fish to fry in the grand scheme of things than real.
grand larceny and fraud you know there really are and it's only sixteen thousand dollars and it kind of makes it puts a stain we can just figure this out right they agree and the court date comes in july of 1998 her lawyer standing there the judge is standing there everybody is waiting for her to plead her not guilty plea which her and her lawyer had talked about and sis doesn't show up no one knows where she's at and y'all know that's not gonna fly because uh ma'am
We're all here for you. Right. We don't work that up. We do. We came to an understanding and you got the nerve to not show up. What is wrong with you? So, of course, they go find her at her home. She's back in Ohio and she's just at home. And they're like, ma'am, where the fuck were you? Like your ass is supposed to be in court. And I didn't see anything saying that she had a bench warrant. But I'm sure since they showed up at her house, there was a bench warrant out for your arrest. Girl, come on now. Where are you supposed to be?
And she's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You don't understand. Why do you sound like the teachers in the hallway? Where are you supposed to be? I mean, isn't that what police officers are anyways? Hall monitors. That's what they say. Where are you supposed to be? So she was like, no, no, listen, listen. I there is a reason that I miss court. Just just just just listen. Just just just listen.
So, Tanika appears in front of the judge in New Haven and she's here to explain why she could not make it to court. And she informs the court that she was kidnapped. She was taken at gunpoint and forced into the back of the car, into a trunk, and they tied her up and they only released her to sexually assault her.
She says they tied her up. They took Polaroid pictures of her. And she just kept telling the judge that the attackers, they just had this, they were racist and they wanted to kill or harm her because they were mad that she sullied the great Yale University's name. They put them through this scandal. They embarrassed Yale. You know what I'm saying? You got one over on us. We'll teach you a lesson. Right. And she's just like a victim and she couldn't help. Right. Exactly. She had every intention, every intention of showing up.
But, you know, when you're kidnapped, you're kidnapped. She says, I was only able to get away because I kicked out the taillight of a trunk and it popped open. She said after that, the drivers, they left the car, but they left the key inside and I drove away to safety. I was just happy to escape with my life, honestly. But again, I'm so sorry for missing your court date. The judge is like, bullshit, right? I'm not buying a single bit of it. Girl.
She was like, at this point, you're a flight risk. Your bill is set at $150,000, which she posted. Now, it is...
I want to confirm if it's true or untrue, but they said before pacing bail, she assaulted two police officers in the jail. On one hand, it's like, if you assaulted two police officers, are they really about to release you? But on the other hand, I hear that the judge was like, obviously this girl is psychotic and keeping her in jail is not going to help her. Like, just release her. She's mentally ill. Don't hold it against her. Yeah.
You just got to watch out for her. You know how she is. Mm-hmm. So, it's a couple months after telling the judge and the lawyers her story of how she got kidnapped, right? And all of a sudden, her lawyer's got a letter in the mail on a Yale stationary, right? And the letter has Polaroid pictures attached with Tonika bound and gagged. Like, it's proof of the kidnapping. Can y'all believe it, guys? These pictures...
They're giving, you know, you know, like when you're watching TV and they're doing a photo shoot and the photographer's like, give it to me. You're a puppy. You're sad. Now you're afraid, scared. Go eyes. Give it to me. Give it to me. Her eyes are wide the fuck open, mouth taped up. Like it reminded me of like those acting classes when I was in summer performing arts camp.
And they would be like, all right, now make your face really small. Now show me your angry face. Show me your happy face. Show me your surprise face. And that's what she looked like, the surprise face. Because you guys will see the picture. It's going to be on our Instagram. But if I was kidnapped and I have been... And we've seen pictures of people that were... Pictures were taken of them as evidence or as...
what is it called? Bribed material. They don't, their eyes aren't shocked and open. They're usually looking defeated. Or away. Or like terrified. Like you don't look these people right in the face. Like cowering and shit. Mm-hmm. And it just, it was, you guys have to see it, but you'll know when you see it. Her arms are also tied behind her back in here. And in this photo, a piece of clothing is in her mouth used to gag her, right? And a piece of like,
what the fuck is this shit? I ain't never seen no ransom photo look like this. Like, upon looking at it, they was like, this shit has got to be fake because who looks like this, right? Right, right. Y'all already like, listen, we got her here because she's a fucking liar. That's the reason she's here in the first place. So, she's not really getting much benefit of the doubt. But,
They needed concrete evidence, of course. So they go and they trace the Polaroid film, and it turns out that the Polaroid was bought at a store and developed in Ohio, not Connecticut, which is where she said she was kidnapped from, right? So they're like...
already you lying because what are they doing following you to ohio i just that lie just it doesn't even make sense what were you thinking to get away i guess she was expecting some type of empathy but like girl they also got the car that that tanaka said she was kidnapped in and that was like girl i know tell light kicked out of here like tell me again how you escaped
So now it's time for Tonica to go back to court. And they're like, listen, you don't have a criminal record. The forgery and the larceny are your first offense. You've already said you're going to plead guilty. We're just going to give you a suspended sentence. You're on two years probation and you need to pay back all that money. The whole $16,000. All right. Because that shit was crazy.
She's like, all right, fine. I'll take the fucking plea deal. So four months after she pled guilty to forgery and larceny, her very first crimes, well, at least her very first crimes on paper, because obviously these couldn't have been your first crimes ever, but first crimes on record, she was on to bigger and better things.
literally bigger and better things. So four months. So an informant tip comes off of customs in Tampa, Florida, that a Cleveland woman is looking to buy 10 kilos of cocaine ASAP. 10 kilos is like 22 pounds of Coke. After finding out that this Cleveland woman was Tonica,
Jenkins, the DEA begins a sting operation to catch her in the act. So they call her on the phone from Florida while she was in Cleveland and they're like scheduling, you know, the big drop, scheduling the deal. And the next week, she, alongside her mother, Mother T, so now we got Tanika and Tanika together going down to Florida with $70,000 in cash.
cash in a duffel with a rolling suitcase to meet their dealers, which actually were undercover agents. I bet they was feeling themselves. They had to have been. Could you imagine? No. Nothing about this situation I could imagine. Having $70,000, can't imagine. Having it in cash, can't imagine. Going to buy that much cocaine, can't imagine.
going on a, going to buy drugs with my mother. Can't imagine. So many things about the situation. Can't imagine. Don't even ask. Yeah.
So the mother and daughter duo, they meet the agents and they go to their hotel and the undercover agents take them to a warehouse where the DEA was doing their surveillance. And they were going to they were ready to infiltrate the meeting as soon as money was exchanged. Because remember, it's not a crime until money is exchanged. Mm hmm. Y'all hear that? Them the rules.
Them new rules. So there's a recording of the meeting on July 10, 2000, when Tanika and Tanika meet with the two guys pretending to be drug dealers. The men present the 10 kilos deal.
22 pounds of cocaine. And Tanika and Tanika got their little rolling book bag with $70,000 in it. You know, keeping it by their side. When the cocaine was presented, you know, Tanika, mama, the mom, she opens it up. She kind of like puts her finger in, puts it in her mouth, you know, checks it, trying to make sure it's good quality. Like she knows what she's doing. And the undercover officers are like, so is it good? Is it good? Remember,
It's not a crime yet. Is it good? Is it straight? She's like, yeah, it's straight. Yeah, it's good. And then as soon as she hands over the bag of money, as soon as money happens, it's a crime. Boom. Everybody starts infiltrating. Get on the floor. Boom. Everybody, everybody. It's mayhem. I would have said, because now you out of $70,000 and...
So they were arraigned in court, which was crazy. They're facing 20 years, but they were transported back to Cleveland. They were able to post bail and now they were on house arrest, which house arrest is just like, I was reading an article about house arrest. And Tazzy, you have strong feelings. We both have strong feelings. They usually differ. What are your feelings towards house arrest? I think it depends on the person. I mean, or on the crime.
I get the purpose of it, but I feel like sometimes it can be very limiting with the things that you have to do. Like, you have to get to work, but you're on house arrest, and that shit will fucking die. I was watching... What's that fucking show I told you to watch? And it's created by... I watched this episode with you, and I thought you were going to bring it up. I don't know what it's about. Diggs. Daveed Diggs. That's his name, right?
Yeah, the V-Dig show. The V-Dig has a show. I think it's on HBO. It's a good fucking show. But this episode, or later in the season, there's this guy, he's on house arrest, and he literally is walking everywhere with a goddamn extension cord.
Because he can't. And he has this story where he had to go to work and he told his boss, I need to be back by this time because I'm on house arrest. And that's when my shit gonna kick in. And he was like, oh, it's fine. So he worked on a boat
And so the boat got stuck out there and he was like, you got to call my P.O. and tell him. And he's like, it'll be fine. Didn't tell the P.O. And so the guy, by the time he's rushing to get home, but like he's on public transportation, shit's slow as fuck. He had to wait for the ship to come back. By the time he gets home, he's well past his hours and the cops are like, bring that ass here. You're going to jail. And it's just, what can you do?
Yeah, and it's extremely limiting. I mean, I just think about myself, and Tazzy, you know, I can't even keep my cell phone charged. There's no way I would be able to keep an ankle monitor charged. I would say 50% of mine and Mariah's conversations, no, I'll give you more than that, 30% of mine and Mariah's conversations end with a just, doop.
I'm like, well, I'll talk to her later. Her phone is dead. I read in this article, this Vox article, they were talking about another podcast that was covering the topic of ankle monitors. And they're talking about a teenager that had an ankle monitor and was in school. And they're able to have the ankle monitor hooked up to your phone. And for some reason, and he had to have both of them to make sure that it was working. For some reason...
The app on his phone was just going off and it was beep, beep, beep. And the teacher got pissed, kicked him out of class. He didn't know what was happening because the equipment was faulty. And now this kid who's like, you know, he's gotten in trouble, but, you know, he's in class. Trying to do what the fuck he's supposed to do. Trying to do what he's supposed to do and then gets kicked out and is called a disturbance.
So it's and then some people I see that they have it after their if they're on probation. Some people that are out of prison have done their time now have to have an ankle monitor and BGPS monitored. And a lot of times the equipment just doesn't fucking work. It's not good technology. Like our iPhones are better. I really just couldn't imagine that.
Wearing that thick-ass bracelet all the time in the shower and stuff. Like, it's too thick to clean good, I feel. And then it's probably uncomfortable to sleep with. I just, I be seeing people with ankle monitors in person, and it shocks me every time. I'm like, oh, shit, somebody got an ankle monitor. And then they catch me staring because I just like, God. Right, you really be trying not to stare, but it's bulky-ass equipment. It literally says, hey, look at me. I'm on house arrest.
I'm a bad person. Like, why do you want to do that? So there's got to be a better way. So Miss Thing also thought that house arrest was not for her. Not happening. Done with it. Bogus bullshit. At this point, your girl Tonika is scheming.
She thinking of a master plan. And you know who was on her mind this time? Her good cousin, Kyle Martin. Now, Kyle, he used to be a drug dealer. He used to be a junkie. He spent some time in prison. And he had just moved back to Springfield, Ohio. You know, he was trying to straighten out his life. And he found a job working in construction. He told his family he was sober, he was clean. But, you know, she was like, what up, cuzzo?
Right, so around mid-April, she finally met up with her cousin Kyle to see if he could help her with something. So according to Kyle, Tanaka calls her up and he was like, and she was like, can you find her a girl? He's like, I'm like, for what? And she told me, don't worry about it, just find somebody decent about her size, weight, and who smokes dope. Kyle's like, I mean, okay, I guess. So they start the search in Springfield where, uh,
Cal lives, and it was like, there's dead out here. Ain't no girls out here who look like me. We need to keep it pushing. So Cal was like, I told her I'd ride back to Cleveland with her and see if we could find some old women out there to kick it with. On July 19, 2001, kind of late night, early morning situation,
Tonica and her cousin Kyle are driving through the streets of East Cleveland looking for a woman that looks like Tonica. They look in, they search it, and they come across this woman on the street named Melissa Latham. She's walking down Yusa Avenue, and they was like, hey, you interested in making some quick, easy money? She's like, yeah, doing what?
It was like an insurance scam. I get $100 for every dentist appointment you go to, right? Melissa lived on the streets. She was a crack addict. And this sounded like easy money for food, clothes, drugs, whatever she needed, right? $100 an appointment. And you paying for the... To go to the dentist? You know what I mean? I mean, it's hard out here for non-junkies to get to the dentist. You know? So she was having herself a win-win situation, right? So...
Melissa hops in the car with these two strangers and heads on with them. Red flags. So Melissa, Tonica, and Cal ride back to a friendly friend's house who lived on Delmont Avenue, like in East Cleveland. She goes to the house that they're staying at, and she enters through the side door. When they get there, it was late. So Tonica's like, listen, Melissa, get some sleep. Here's some weed.
Um, we're going to stay in this basement and then tomorrow we're going to hit the streets, get a little skimmy skim and, uh, you know, we're going to get into this. So let's go. Hi. Spent the night. Nice warm basement. Got up the next morning, April 20th, 2001. And Kyle and Tonica and Melissa drive to Pearl Dental Practice.
Before they get out the car, Tanika's like, listen, Melissa, you're going to put on these black gloves and you need to tell them you hurt your hand or some shit. And so you can't take them off. Right. And put this hoodie on, too. The problem is, it's April. So she's got on winter gloves. She's got on a hoodie. We see you. OK, you've officially drawn attention to yourself.
Do you know how hot it is? I mean, I'm not in Ohio right now, but do you know how hot it is in Georgia? It's not even early April. It's late April. Do you know how hot it is? It's fucking 91 degrees this weekend. She didn't tell Melissa why she needed to hide her hands and shit. Melissa was like, look, $100, I'll do what you want, baby. You know what I mean?
So they walk into the dentist's office and they get the intake paperwork from the receptionist. And when they get to their seat, but Tonica fills out the paperwork in her own name. So her whole reasoning of making her wear these gloves is to say her hands are injured and she can't write. So I have to write because she didn't want her scam to be blown by them comparing handwritings and seeing it was Melissa's handwriting. She fills out the paperwork and
She pays for the appointment in cash, doesn't use insurance when this is supposed to be an insurance scam. And the nurse calls out Tanika's name and Melissa goes to the back and proceeds to get a regular teeth cleaning. They leave the appointment. Kyle goes by the ATM. They give Melissa, Tanika gives Melissa $100, you know, for doing her part, warming up her words, you know.
So the original plan was that Melissa would just help out with this one thing, this one little insurance scam. But Tanika asked her if she wanted to, you know, come back to the house, chill, come have fun with us, you know, you good company. And Melissa's like, you know, this is cool. I'm getting high for free. I'm getting $100. Y'all seem like pretty good company. Why not? So on the way back to the house, they stop by the grocery store. Tanika, she goes into the grocery store alone. And in the grocery store, she purchases candy.
disposable gloves, sanitary pads, and bleach. The three musketeers get back into their little basement trap and they do what they do, get high all the time. And we're not just talking about weed. So Melissa, she gets so high, you know, woo, she's out of it. She passes out.
When she wakes up on Saturday afternoon, she assumed that they were about to go to another dental office. You know, that was the plan, that they were going to go to these offices and do this scam over and over and over again. She reached to turn on the light in the basement, but the light was, like, burned out. And so she was like, you know, you can't see. It's a basement. And Melissa, she goes into the bathroom and she washes her face. Like, she's...
It's morning time. She's just trying to wash her face, clear her mind. And she hears Tonika say, oh, don't come out of the bathroom. We're about to be, you know, we're going to get everything together. Hold on. Don't come out the bathroom. As soon as she does come out of the bathroom, she was just like, don't come out of the bathroom until we tell you to. So as soon as she does come out of the bathroom, she walks out of the bathroom in the dark and someone just punches her right in the face.
when she's down from that one punch, the lights come on. Kyle grabs her by the neck and pushes her to the floor. Tanaka and Kyle, they just start beating her, kicking her, stumping her. She's trying to fight back, but they were like, she
She said it. She was like, they were just stomping on me everywhere. Like, they were really just laying it on. A-Town stomp on that ass. Like, Melissa said that Kyle was holding her down by putting his knee on her neck and holding her arms down. I mean, she was struggling. She was struggling. But, I mean, Kyle, you know, he's a strong dude, right?
Tonica, she bites Melissa multiple times. She's like calling her all types of names, all types of bitches, all types of junkies, all types of crackheads, all types of hoes. And she starts just screaming at her, oh, I wish you would die. Like Melissa is being held down. And at the time, Tonica goes and she gets a syringe. She fills that syringe with insulin.
And she just starts jabbing Melissa everywhere, just injecting the insulin in with her like 15, 16 times. Now, listen, Melissa is not a diabetic. And if anybody is aware of diabetes, like...
Having, taking insulin when you are not prescribed insulin is extremely dangerous and in many cases fatal. That is what Tonica wanted. But Melissa, she was like, ah, she, I mean, this was happening really fast. Melissa pretended to be dead. She stopped moving. Now at this point, Tonica tells Kyle the master plan. She's like, I'm gonna take the ankle monitor off of me. I'm gonna put it on this bitch right here. We're gonna wrap her up in a rug. We're gonna burn her fucking body.
And it was all starting to make sense. I mean, Melissa is there in pain. I mean, I just... We hear about the victims that are laying in pain and that they're just groaning, but Melissa is in so much pain while trying to play dead. Mm-hmm. I'm so dramatic that I can't imagine that as well. Like, she... She'd have been hit with a brick three times at this point. He's had his knee on your neck, which we all know is fatal. Yeah.
And Tanaka is just, like, beating her ass. I mean, I know when people, like, get shot, they'll play dead. Or, like, usually in heightened situations, they'll play dead to hope that they won't stop. They'll stop being attacked. But it's just, like, all that pain that you're actively in. I don't know. Melissa, while she was playing dead, was like, damn, this ain't no insurance scam at all. Because, no, it wasn't. The scam was to make the police think that you were her. Which I have to admit was...
Pretty smart with the dental. Actually, I'm going to save that for OJ. Okay. Because I'm a remote. I was going to save it for OJ. Oh, okay. So there was no insurance scam whatsoever. I mean, a light bulb went off in her head. She was like, oh my gosh.
She wants to burn me, so she had me go to the dentist under her name so when they find my dental records, they'll think that Tonika is dead. After Tonika is telling Kyle this plan, she goes upstairs and she gets the rug and Kyle realizes that, oh, shit,
This is not what the fuck I signed up for. I told everybody I was clean. Tonica got me doing this crazy shit. I'm supposed to be having my life back together and shit is just acting all types of, is going all types of left. This is horrible. He leaves. He says, gotta go. He leaves. And Tonica is left alone. Remember, Tonica is upstairs and Melissa is left alone.
Melissa is full of insulin at this point. I mean, almost damn near lethal injections, damn near lethal amounts of insulin in her body right now. But she manages to find a spoon, pry the door open because there was no no doorknob on the door. And then when she goes upstairs and she opens the door.
There's a pit bull. Girl got a dog upstairs. And I mean, I love pit bulls. I think they're the sweetest dogs. My dog is not a pit bull. He's probably the meanest dog I've ever met. But I'm sure in that heightened state, you're like, oh, fuck a dog. She had to. I mean, this is not the way you want to go out. Like, no, I don't want this to be my fucking story. So she darts out of the house. She goes across the street. There's a KFC across the street. And she is like.
panic and she's trying to tell people what happened luckily there are people there that are listening to her they call 911 and within minutes police sergeant Terry Wheeler arrives and Melissa starts talking to the police so Melissa is talking to the police she's telling them everything that happens and all of a sudden this well dressed woman runs up out of nowhere and she says you fucking bitch you fucking bitch and she turns to the police and she says that is the bitch that took my money
The well-dressed woman you asked? You got it. Tanaka. 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 anything.
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. Free money. Free money is out there. Just go get it by starting your podcast today. Streaming October 6th on Paramount+. First place I learned about death was a pet cemetery. Dead things buried in that land would come back.
There's 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 Cemetery. Bloodlines. Rated R. Streaming only on Paramount+. So, Tanaka had came back downstairs and she sees that the rug that Melissa was once in, she's not in anymore. She also realizes that Cal's gone too. So, she gets herself together. She goes outside and I guess she sees the cop car is already starting to congregate at the KFC. So, she's like...
There she go. Got to take control of this situation, right? She goes to the KFC, and she's telling the cops, listen, my cousin Cal picked this girl up or whatever, and she stole $1,000 from him. And the cops are like, mm, is that what's happening here? But Melissa's, like, not really in a talking state. So Tanika was detained but not arrested, and Melissa was transported to the hospital. And just before they took her, Melissa says...
to look in the basement of the house on Delmont for a pool of blood. So the cops are on the hunt. One goes to find Cal and the other goes to the house, right? So the one who goes to Cal, he sees Cal with a kid. Some sources say it's his daughter. Some people say it's his nephew. But they see a kid and they're like, hey, Cal, let me talk to you for a minute.
They was like, this nigga was real evasive. He didn't really want to answer questions. He was sweating profusely. And then they start to notice he's got scratches on his head, his face, his neck, his hands, and maybe even like could possibly be some blood on his hands. And there's like, how you get so scratched up? He was like, playing with this kid, man. You know, they don't know their own strength. So the cops are like, no, I don't believe you.
So Kyle's like, all right, here's what happened. He says he and Melissa was getting high, and then they decided to go to a hotel, get a little higher, have a little sex. But when he fell asleep, he woke up and...
Melissa was stealing his money, $1,000, and his drugs. So he beat her ass and hit her over the head with a radio. Oh, it was me. I'm the one responsible. Leave Tonica out of it. She had nothing to do with it. There's another cop at the hospital with Melissa, and he's telling him what Cal said. And the cop goes, Melissa, and he's, like, shocked. Like, she arrived there awake, but she fell into a coma, and the cops, I mean, the...
Doctors think it's because her blood sugar was too low. I mean, it had to have been. She was injected with insulin. Like, it's a miracle, really, that she survived that. You know what I mean? Like, both of them. So he's like, yeah. Cal saying that she was hit over the head with a radio, ain't no fucking way. A radio don't do. I'm looking at this girl. This ain't the work of a radio, right? Mm-mm.
But they was like, arrest that nigga. Regardless of if it was a radio or not, you just admitted to assaulting her, so we can lock you up, right? Now, the cops that are at the house, they search the house on Delmont, and they find a bloodstained brick in the backyard. And they said that Tanika allowed them to look in the house.
She was like, oh, I don't have any keys. We got to wait a few minutes for my elderly parents to come open the door. Tanika enters the house at first and she puts a little pit bull up. She leads them to the basement where they find Tanika's mother, Tanika. And she's at the bottom of the stairs holding a rag.
One officer testifies, and then one officer enters the basement, and he says, like, he smells a really strong odor of bleach. And then when he asked Tanika what she's doing, she was like, oh, I'm just cleaning up a mess that one of the dogs made. And they looked, and they didn't find any evidence of dog feces, but they did notice that there were bloodstains on the floor and the wooden table. So...
Later, they go to get a search warrant and they seize a file cabinet, a rug from the basement, both of which had bud stains on them. And then they also find two syringes, a crack pipe, a spoon, and documents that contain Tanika's name and social security number. That's...
That's where the spoon came from. That's why she opened the door with a spoon. I was like, how'd she get a spoon? That's why I said, you know they have a spoon. Listen, that's why I said, you know they have a spoon. Girl, it just hit. I know, I know it did. Because when you said, yeah, just imagine that, a spoon. And I was like, she don't get it.
Listen, I only smoke weed. I mean, same. They also had the documents with Tanaka's name and social security number. You know, Cal's been locked up. He's had a little moment to think. And he's got some little things to tell the cops.
He's like, listen, here's what happened. And he tells him really what happened. He says, the thing is, I had no idea about the insulin. He was like, I never wanted Melissa to die. And that's why I left. He pinned it all on Tanika, which I mean, it was her, but he told the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Right. OK. But I mean, technically, he did. She didn't tell him what happened.
He thought he was getting into a fraud charge. Yeah, everybody did. He didn't know he was getting into kidnapping and murder. Yeah. And murder. Escalated quickly, right? So... Right. After hearing this, they're like, okay, we need to wait for Melissa to wake up and corroborate this story. But also, we've got to find...
Tonica, right? So they go to her mama house and look for her. So originally when the cops went to Tonica's house to look for Tonica, she was no help at all.
To the point where they charged her with obstruction of justice and withholding evidence because it was like, listen, you know we need your daughter. We know that you know where she's at. And you're just getting in the way of everything. So it's over with. The cops, they reach out to, they find out that she has another case. And they reach out and they're informed that
that Tanika and Tanika are down in Florida because they have to face their drug charge on April 23rd. When they found Tanika, she was arrested and charged with one count of kidnapping, one count of complicit aggravated murder, one count of attempted aggravated murder, and two counts of tampering with evidence. Six months later, Kyle went to trial and he pointed the finger all at Tanika. He said...
Give it to her. It was all her. It was not me. He even claimed that he had feared for his own life.
He said, I was like, damn, Tonica, why you do this shit? And he said that she said, are you going to help me kill her or not? And he was like, I said, nah, Tonica, I don't want anything to do with this shit. You know, you by yourself. Five days later, Tonica was arraigned and indicted in Cleveland, Ohio, and she was transported to Tampa, Florida for court for those drug charges. Remember, Tazi said we were going to the drug charges. So we found out what she was going to be charged with with this kidnapping thing, convicts.
Kyle had his trial. She has to go back and do the drug with her mama trial. That's where we are. She hasn't faced for kidnapping yet. Keep up. We're back in Florida. We're back in Florida for the cocaine trial. During the trial, there was a point in time during the trial that there was a recess at the court. You know, that's when they take the break.
Tonika took her dad downstairs to the lobby of the courthouse to get a soda, something to drink. But instead of getting a soda, Tonika, her mama Tanika, and her daddy just walked their happy jackasses right out of the courtroom to their getaway car because her brother was waiting out front. But her escape was unsuccessful and Tonika and Tanika were arrested again.
Now, they were in Florida when they got those drug charges. They were tried. They got their sentences. Tonica received 24 years for the drug charges. Mother Tanika got 12 years for the drug charges. And they both were extradited back to Cleveland, Ohio. You know, Tonica had other business and Mama T was also involved in that other business. And the two ladies got ready to go to trial.
So now we're back in Ohio, everybody, for our attempted murder, kidnapping, all of those charges. Everything that happened again.
Everything that happened against Melissa. Tonika and her mother had the same defense attorney. His name was James Jenkins. And he recommended that they take a plea deal. But they refused a plea deal, even though there was so much evidence stacked up against them. They said, absolutely not. We're taking this to trial.
So it's February 2003. The trial lasted six days and it was televised on court TV. I mean, Melissa Latham, she really was kind of the one that was on trial. The prosecutors, they made her testify. I mean, she did a really great job. She was strong. She looked nice. She gave a very heart-wrenching testimony. And Tanika, she was sitting there stone cold. I mean, she wouldn't
take her eyes off of Melissa at all. I don't know if she thought she had some telepathy, but she sure was trying. They also had ATM records, the dental records. I mean...
Now you see these my teeth and not your teeth. There was evidence of the insulin and testimony from Melissa herself. They also had the doctors testify that once Melissa's condition was stabilized, Melissa told Dr. Stevens that she was not diabetic.
and received the injections of insulin. So the doctor knew right offhand before she was even questioned by detectives. Dr. Stevens also explained that the insulin is produced naturally. Many of us, I mean, we Black, most people got somebody that's diabetic in their family, at least in my family. Mm-hmm.
Most people, the average healthy body will produce its own insulin. And many times your body will need help to produce its own insulin. Either it is something that you are born with or it is something that develops over time. There's a level of C-peptide that you have in your body and that is produced naturally. It is not found in the insulin itself.
that someone would take to keep their sugar levels correct. They did a test and her peptide, her C-peptide levels were absolutely normal, which shows that she should not ever come in contact with insulin. And there's no reason for her to be around insulin or have any insulin injected in her body whatsoever. The elevated insulin levels were not caused by any disease, naturally occurring condition. And it only had to be in the only reason that there would be insulin in her body was
is if she did it herself, which is not a drug of her choice, or if someone did it to her. The defense continues to try and make Melissa seem unreliable. They kept saying, don't believe her over and over throughout the trial. And they said...
They went into background about Melissa's extensive criminal record. She had felony convictions. And, you know, they highlighted the fact that she was a crackhead. It was like, she's a drug addict. She's unreliable. How are you going to believe what she says? You know, they definitely didn't focus on the fact that she was the victim and just made her seem like an unreliable person, like a liar. Yeah.
The prosecution also submitted evidence, though, that showed they had the lady who was the receptionist point out who Tonica was, and she pointed to Melissa. But then they also had the paperwork that she filled out that had all of Tonica's name. And even if it was supposed to be a fraud, like an insurance scam, the box is checked to pay in cash, right?
Melissa testified to that. The receptionist testified to that. So they're like, if it was an insurance scam, where's the insurance? You know, on Tuesday, February 11th, the jury sided with the prosecution. They only took four and a half hours to deliberate. The court sentenced Tanaka to 10 years in prison for attempted aggravated murder, four years for felonious assault.
Four years for kidnapping, six years for complicity to commit aggravated murder, and two years for each count of tampering with evidence to run concurrently with each other for a total of 20 years. Not to mention, after she finishes up in Ohio, she's got to go and serve her 24 consecutive years in Florida. Her mom, Tanika... What a way to go. I know, right? Her mom, Tanika... 44 years. I keep cutting you off on 44 long years.
Her mom, Tanika, was sentenced to one year and she got time served for this, for her obstruction of justice. And then she had to go to Florida to serve her 16 years.
At the end of Kyle's trial, you know, he was... He got his 10 years. And when sentencing Tanika, she was... The judge told her she was a narcissistic predator preying on vulnerable people to save yourself. And you have no regard for the suffering. So, I guess she didn't mind in 44 years. No, she didn't. Now...
After all things are said and done, Melissa, she is completely off drugs and believes that this was her second chance at life. I can only imagine being like, I know there are times where I'm like, God, please let me through this. And I promise I will never do X, Y, and Z again. But like, that's a real like, if you just make me, help me through this moment, I promise I will never do this again. Right.
Right. I got to keep this one because I saw almost saw the light and she's been clean and sober ever since. However, she is now and forever will be a diabetic because of the amount of insulin that injured her body that day at the hands of Tonica. Kyle, you know, Kyle, he's just grateful to be alive because he honestly believes that if he would have continued to help Tonica kill Melissa, that Tonica would have turned on him and killed him, too.
Now, we couldn't figure out if he was in prison still yet, but we did see a couple of appeal documents and his tenure has passed. So it's very likely that he's a free man and is living a very quiet life. Mama Tanika, she's about 74 years old today. And wherever she is, I hope she's keeping her nose clean and not breaking the law. Tanika...
Tonica Girl is in the Ohio Reformery for Women, and she will be released from there on February 2nd, 2023. But don't get too shocked, y'all. She's still got to go to Florida and do her 24 years down there. So she has not seen the end of federal prison. She has been filing appeals for her conviction in Florida, and she's challenging the identification process. Girl, we will just see how that goes.
She's filing an appeal for the conviction in Ohio, challenging the identification process of the receptionist. She was like, you showed her a picture of me and my mama and she pointed out me. And then you asked her to say who it was like you you've already told her who we were.
But, girl... And then she was like, and because her lawyer... She said because her lawyer didn't say that, then that's ineffective counsel. And then she said she wasn't able to properly cross-examine the receptionist about this identification process. But it all circled around the identification process. 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. I mean, which crime do you want to take? We've got so many. We've got so many crimes. Let's start with Yale. I ain't do it, but if I did, I'm at least need to know what I need to know for undergrad to try and survive in grad school. Bitch, you were trying to be Dr. Death, neurobiology, a master's program, and you have only had a semester left.
Of community college. Dude, like... And if you were going to go there, you finessed your way in. You finessed your way in!
If I finesse my way into any type of prestigious thing, I'm going to work my fucking ass off. You finessed your way in. You did it. Right. You got away with it and you blew it. How bad could you be for professors to question who the fuck recommended her? Like my word. And also, yeah, like neurobiology, I would have got a degree in like literacy or, you know, you know, got an easier. Why would you choose neurobiology? You don't know nothing about that.
Literacy would fuck me up. Just reading them old-ass books, I can't. I can't. I heard you.
Or like, you know, something annotated bibliographies. That's when you lose me. But I mean, something that isn't neurobiology. Do you know how many prerequisites you have to do to just be in that program? And you don't learn them in high school biology or high school chemistry or high school AP human anatomy. Like you got to learn that shit in a specialized program. They give general degrees. Yeah.
Could a... I mean, maybe not a master's program, but yeah, business is a good general thing. Maybe you would figure out how to do some business. I don't know. Um...
Okay, what's the next crime? Florida. Florida. Why would you need coke? Why are you need... I need cocaine ASAP. Why would you start so high? Like, because obviously they're not coke dealers, right? Right, they have no experience. And you went for 10 kilos? You was like, if I'm going to do this shit, I'm going to be a kingpin. That's the only way it's happening. Ambitious, but...
And I'm also trying to figure out, like, does her mama not have sense? I mean, clearly not. Her mom was cleaning up bloodstains. I mean, and some of those people, like, her mom is clearly supporting the bad behavior that she has. And this is clearly somebody that has never heard the word no before in her life. And your mom is still supporting this. Like, both of y'all need to be under—y'all mama got off easy. They should have, like, a bad parent sentence. Yeah.
Like, you just fucked up. What's the next one? And they had a lot of money. Right. $70,000 in cash. You know what I would do with that? Not drugs. I'd buy some land and just live by myself. And if I want to do drugs, I'd do drugs in my own damn house that I own. See, it's these people not understanding how to build generational wealth.
Nah, she was going to get that, and she was trying to flip that bag. Somebody told her, you know, the $70,000 can make you $100,000. Fast money ain't good money, period. What's the next crime? The assault. Okay. That shit. That was, first of all, you know what I felt like? I felt like... That she didn't even look like her? Yes, but I felt like...
Throughout this whole story, she was just singing, Sierra, level up, level up. Like, it just went from... None of these crimes match, you know what I mean? It went from scamming university to drug pen charges to attempted murder, you know what I mean? Like, no relation. No relation. She just...
She was just trying to, she was throwing paint at the wall and throwing noodles at the wall to see what would stick. What else can I do? One of these scams has got to work out in my favor. Her and this ankle monitor. There are so many resources that I have read and people that I have seen interviewed that say, like, an ankle monitor, of course, we've talked about it being an ineffective system, but also, I mean, and then the argument, of course, is that it is an alternative to mass incarceration. There's a big debate we could get in on that, but...
We also know that this is faulty equipment that can come off. Bitch, throw that shit out and just be on about your merry way. Take your... They clearly have money. Don't know where it comes from. But they clearly have money. What shit they got away with? That's got to be why they're so cocky. They must have gotten away with something. Because the things that they're doing is bold. Had to have. Had to have gotten away with a few things. But you've got the money. Why don't you just...
Start a new life. Why you got to kill somebody or try to kill somebody to do it? And but what I will give her, what I will give her, it was pretty clever to, you know, get her to go to the dentist and do the dental records so that, you know, if she if they did find the body, they would have thought that that was Tanika. I mean, Tanika. I think that that was.
I wouldn't have thought of that. I think I would have thought of that. I think it was short sighted. I think. Are you telling me you've never been to the dentist in your life? They're going to look at the most recent records. And if she hasn't been to the dentist in a long while, it could happen. She doesn't seem like the type that keeps up with her dental appointments. You don't think that they would find it suspicious that on April 20th, she went to the dentist and
and on April 21st the only thing left remaining was her teeth it could have been a coincidence I feel like it really could have been a coincidence I just they probably should have waited a little bit longer to try and do it because and then the thought was right there the follow through just wasn't all the way the follow through is always where the issue is and then you bit the girl so you left your actual teeth prints on her
I forgot about that part. So, when they try and compare those teeth prints, just short-sighted, girl. Parole or no parole? No parole. Yeah, that was easy. Yeah, girl. You got to say yeah, and your mama should be put back. She's only getting worse and worse, so, no.
You're not even getting better at your crime. I'm surprised she kept making bail. Like, just the shit that she did while on bail. You know what I was going to say? You only need a percentage to make bail. A percentage of $150,000 is $15,000. And her and her mama had to make that. I mean, I guess you can put a house up, but... They made their percentage of bail. Her and her mama. Yeah.
And that's how I know they have money. Go ahead. I was going to say that she needs to be paying for all of Melissa's drugs, but I was like, oh, she can't. She's in jail. But even outside of jail, that bitch still owe Yale $16,000. Yeah, she owe a lot of money. She owe a lot of money to a lot of people.
She's going to be paying restitution for the rest of her life. Her little $2.50 job is not going to cover. Do they take restitution while you're in jail? I know they do for child support. I ain't got no kids, so. But I know they do for child support. So I'm assuming that they will for that. All right, y'all. It is time for some reviews.
This review comes from Audible. Remember, those that are listening on Audible, you can leave a review on Audible, not just on Apple Podcasts.
This one is from Katrina. Katrina says, I love this podcast. I like all the aspects and it's addictive. Okay. This one says, love this podcast. I love this podcast. I love how you guys give all sides of the story and advice to those outside of the crime. I love how it's discussed that if there should be parole or not. And also how you guys give advice to your listeners. And most important, covering the stories of people who are voiceless.
Talk to us when we talk back.