>> reporter: the details surrounding the rape and murder of 8-year-old cherish perriwinkle are so disturbing, even the medical examiner today was fighting tears in court. >> i'm sorry. i have to take a break. can i just have, like, five minutes? >> reporter: the girl's mother says she was shopping at a dollar general in 2013 when she and her three girls were approached by 61-year-old donald smith. rayne perriwinkle says he was promising to help them buy clothes, so, she agreed to pile her family into his van and ride with him to a walmart. >> he looked into my face and told me i was safe. >> reporter: what she didn't know was that smith was a registered sex offender. he is seen on this surveillance camera walking out of the walmart with her 8-year-old daughter. the girl was found dead in a creek the next day. >> i was yelling, "call 911, my daughter's been taken." >> reporter: this was that call for help. >> he wanted her to buy these really tall shoes that were women's shoes, and i told him no, i said, they're too high for