Page 2 - First Halee News Today

He will help her at break of day. >> its just so difficult to imagine why any human would do something that horrific to another human being. >> detective paul kruse looked for answers with grim determination. halees murder was not the only tough case weighing on him that april morning. a few weeks before, he and his partner were assigned to look into the suspicious death of a 10-month-old baby named jaxson. when detectives spoke to heather after her daughters death she revealed something that st...

Halee. >> theres so many pictures of her holding the babysitter and just taking care of them. she is always leading the way. >> my kids wanted to feed the bottle. can i change the diaper? >> she was the best diaper changer ever. >> reporter: with halee she says she felt safe. >> she was all definitely what you picture an older sister being like. the big, protective, dont mess with my sisters or ill come at you type. >> reporter: that protective streak continued to friends. anslee, you called her...

Kill halee, who did? the defense pointed to thaddious rice, the man investigators had now charged with the murder of 10-month-old jaxson. he was found guilty of reckless homicide. at the time of halees murder he was roaming free. had he been worried halee had evidence against him? >> she knew information about the suspicious circumstances of jaxson wheelers death. he and jordan were the last two people to see halee, other than isaiah, we believe based on the information that we were provided in ...

Was there to get her wallet, and we never saw halee and thad leave. >> it seemed like thaddeus had a good alibi. heather worried that investigators seemed no closer to making an arrest. >> i think that the fear was overwhelming. i kept saying, i hope that they make an arrest before her funeral. i dont know how i can stand there and wonder whos hugging me and whos coming through this line. you know, did they hurt her? >> but as heather prepared for her daughters funeral, investigators were alread...

>> just, how did we get here? how did we get here? i know this isnt right. i know this isnt right. >> their pain was compounded when isaiah was sentenced to 60 years in prison. on appeal the court ruled that three of his four convictions relied on the same evidence in what amounted to double jeopardy. his robbery conviction was reduced to theft, a misdemeanor. and one of his two murder convictions was thrown out. but on the remaining count, the jurys verdict stood, as did isaiahs sentence. >> we...

Grief stricken, halee agonized to tell police over the suspicions. >> she said what if they want to talk to me? im like, you talk. you know? >> reporter: the more she thought about it the more she thought about halee. thaddeus had a bad reputation around town. she could be poking a hornets nest? making accusations. now halee was dead and heather wondered if thaddeus killed halee to shut her up. >> i felt like he was looking at serious charges. if i had to look for people who had reasons to hurt ...

Halees friends knew that shed gone to see the babys mom jordan the night she died. >> theres these messages the night she was murdered where she was messaging back and forth with jordan, hey, im going to go pick up my wallet from your house, late at night the night she was killed. so then that was the theory. she went. she told jordan. thaddeus killed her over it. >> investigators decided it was time to find out what thaddeus and jordan knew. thaddious refused to talk to them. but jordan did. >>...

Like, i just remember just -- i didnt want to exist anymore. >> reporter: the family was horrified to learn that halee, just 20 years old, had been murdered with a shot to the back of the head. >> that was the most shocking part. never in a million years would i have thought that someone would shoot my child. like, why? >> as youre processing the most horrific news youve ever had in your life, that your daughter is gone, do you immediately ask these detectives who did this? >> they asked me. >> ...

As each day of trial passed, hegger collins became less hopeful. there was no direct evidence tying isaiah hagan to her daughters murder, no gun, no dna, no eye witnesses, nothing to prove isaiah was a killer. >> i was at the point where i was prepared for him to be walking the streets. >> prosecutor michael perry urged patience. >> we knew that we did not have enough evidence to convict at that point. but thats why you go to the end. >> there was one person in particular he wanted the jury to h...

Understand because there was testimony by the coroner that he could not determine a time of death. >> reporter: halees friend carley, who attended every day of the trial, watched with growing uneasiness as the defense poked holes in the prosecutions case again and again. >> every day, my dad texted me, would ask how the trial went. every single day i was, like, yeah, were not going to get this conviction. >> it was that bad? >> it was that bad. >> and then a bombshell. >> thats putting it mildly...