doesn't get hurt, or worse. >> detective breitigan says there were no winners in this case, he was only following evidence, he says that led to a very said conclusion about mark wenger. >> i think there was a lot of rage in him, although he wanted to live right, war he wanted to have a good marriage. i think he could not, so. >> do you think he didn't see a? way out. >> i don't think he saw way out. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning, thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ for watching. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the little girl who hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." won the heart of a big city. they call you the miracle baby. why do they call you that? hello i'm craig melvin in this

is dateline. >> she's the little girl that one hard in a big -- city >> they called you the miracle baby, why did they call you. that >> shot in the head at point blank range, a crime scene that shocked, even hardened police. >> dorothy explorer pillow and it had blood on it. as she fought to live, this detective vowed to catch whoever left her, soon he turned up a promising lead. >> bells and whistles go off in my head. in the hospital she battled back. >> to know that she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. >> not just her body, but her mind. >> they was the guy that came in the daycare, and erika said don't let him hurt me. >> she had handed investigators what could be a vital clue. but would it be enough to crack the case? ♪ ♪ ♪ .

>> hello and welcome to dateline. i'm craig melvin. it all started when the crime but not even police could believe. a little girl, just a toddler. shot in the head deliberately, left for dead by a killer who then disappeared but a, defective vowed to crack this case no matter how long it took. >> here is -- ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: one of the biggest attractions at the louisville zoo was a floppy ears baby name scottie. cute and kind of cuddly. at least for an elephant. >> he's got hair. >> he's got hair you're right. [laughter] >> but on this day he shared the spotlight with another media celebrity. a spunky girl named erica, who's infectious laugh and incredible story captivated a city. >> that girl's a miracle child. >> why do you think the call her? that. >> because she's been through a lot. >> we had a two year old it was

shot twice and lived. >> does she have an understanding of what happened to her. >> she knows that she was shot. >> if you could've seen her you would've said, there is no way that this child could possibly make it. >> louisville, the home of churchill downs. is famous for its big horse race, the kentucky derby. so it knows a thing or two about long shots. but, embedding parlance, the odds of this story ever finding a happy ending were off the board. virtually impossible. would a little girl ever gain the strength, not only to recover, but to come back hole, and what a dedicated defected not only crackers because. case but keep the emotional promise he made, erika's story began in a hardscrabble neighborhood in louisville in this brick house on wilson avenue. the two year old, wild about door of the explorer, erica lived here with her mom erin

harper. on may 18th 2006 police got a frank thick 9-1-1 call when they arrived at the house, the man that made the call flagged them down. >> what was his state of? mine >> he was really hysterical. >> what was he saying. >> there's a little girl, in their there's a little girl in. their >> detective tom barrack, the now retired officer larry riley rushed into the house and found a horrifying scene. a woman, almost certainly dead on the floor. >> you just saw a big like pool of blood, >> the officers had to step over the woman to get to the back room where on the bed they saw the little girl motionless >> when i first seen her i thought she was dead,. >> when she saying anything, doing anything? . >> no, and then i touched her and she pushed my hand, and said leave me. alone >> tell me about the emotion you felt at that moment. >> just, that she was alive. >> but barely >> the officers could see that the little girl had been shot in the head. dried blood was everywhere.

they could tell that she had been left there for a long time. >> she had very labored breathing, very labored breathing. >> have you ever seen anyone who is breathing like that who made? it. >> no, no i'm not. >> there was no time to wait for an ambulance, a sergeant at the scene barked the order for a police car to take her to the hospital. >> but first the officers had to get her to the car. >> i've got to tell, you from the house to the car it seems like a long way, what did it seem like when you guys were? sprinting. >> forever. >> i was holding her -- . you >> are holding her hand, in your holding her. legs were you like this. do you, remember >> yep. >> pretty much just like this. >> when they finally reached the, car they handed her the two ems firefighters in the backseat, and now retired officer steve kelce got behind the wheel. >> i got in my car and said go as fast as you could go. >> just hit. it >> i said go. >> kelsey gunned it for the three mile trip to the hospital in downtown louisville >> so i kept driving and i

think about my own kids it could've been any of our children, we are all farmers. >> the nba station wave tv, captured the dramatic final moments of the high-speed motorcade as it made the left turn towards the hospital, with traffic officer kelce said the ride can take up to 15 minutes. >> how long did it take. >> you about 2 to 3 minutes. >> across town another part of the story was unfolding inside this house, all day long herald harbor and his wife judith, were wondering why they could not reach their daughter aaron, and their two year old granddaughter erica. harold, a retired factory worker, and judith a homemaker. talk to their daughter nearly every day. so the silence was strange. then, the tv news flashed on. >> first period, seven some breaking -- news >> it said there had been a shooting down on wilson avenue where she lived. and, we thought oh my god. he and >> he and judith picked up erin's oldest daughter ebony and drove down to the house.

>> there were a whole bunch of people standing outside, and it was taped off, and it was a mess down there. >> so you knew that something was? up. >> yeah, and then i just,. >> freaked out. >> yeah. >> it wasn't long before judith and harold's worst fears were confirmed. >> the jewelry that she had, on they brought it to me, i knew it was air and then. >> their daughter, aaron harper, 42, was dead in the doorway. >> when you saw that jewelry he knew what was your daughter. what went through your duty? >> i lost a son in 78 in a car wreck. he was already gone when i got to the hospital. i could've shed a few tears and got about my business. but this was different. my son was 21, he had no children. >> the loss of aaron, a mother of four was devastating. but now, the family had to deal with what happened to baby erica. finding out in the most impersonal way. >> i knew she was heard, but

the police were rushing her down the street, that i saw on tv. >> and later they learned how badly hurt. she had been shot in the head. >> why in the name of god would somebody do that? . it >> was this man's job to find out. >> now, in your experience how many times have there been babies who were victims? . >> there is never been a case i've worked on where a baby's been shot. >> a lifelong local with the ones promising pitching career at the university of louisville. now retired defective rick arnold, knew this would be a high profile case. he just did not know it would be the case of a lifetime. >> this is detective rick arnold, the days dated may the 18th 2006. a video camera rolled as detective arnold process the crime scene. honing in on clues. >> all of this drip near the victims, body there's a shell casing. >> the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the everyday images of young life. aaron's body in a pool of

blood, near a red kitty wagon. >> a shell casing in front of a box of diapers. and the bed where erica once jumped for joy, was now covered in her own blood. >> suspect blood on the sheets, pillows, and pillow cases. >> detective arnold noticed something on the bed that would burn in his memory throughout the investigation. >> the first thing that immediately hit me was, the door of the explorer pillow. it had blood on it. >> what was the emotion when you saw? that. >> anger. >> with two young kids of his own, this case had already hit recounted hard. on the spot, he made a promise to erica's grandmother. >> you said, we are going to find who did this. >> yes. >> that's a lot to promise somebody isn't it. >> yes it is. >> coming up. a glimmer of hope for baby erica. >> i was rubbing her hand and she opened her eyes. >> when dateline continues.

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what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul.com. hoda kotb: detective rick arnold admitted it, little erica's shooting made his blood boil. detective rick arnold admitted it. little erica shooting made his blood boil. it's why he guaranteed joy harper that he'd find out who killed her daughter and shot her two-year-old granddaughter. >> why did you meet that promise? >> that was a motion spilling over. that was the night she'd been shot, and adult that had been

killed. at that point -- >> erica had prophylactically flatlined as the place caravan delivered her to the hospital. she was rushed to the emergency room where doctors and nurses worked frantically to stabilizer. >> her vital signs were barely measurable. >> dr. tanya's moriarty, at neurosurgeon, perform surgery on the gunshot wounds to eric's head. these were caskets of her skull and brain, preoperative. >> you can see part of the bullets. >> you can -- the clean the fragments from eric's head, prepare the wounds and preserve brain function, if possible. >> erica actually was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasn't straight through the brain, but downward, exiting under her chin. >> as opposed to thaw bullock going there and damaging and destroying everything. >> dr. moriarty was relieved that the bullet only struck the brains frontal lobe, which can

absorb injury better, especially in the very young. >> less than three years old, the brain's ability to repair is truly remarkable. >> after a delicate three half hour surgery, dr. moriarty was encouraged by comparison scans of america's brain. the bullet and the bone fragments in the pre-of image were gone, but despite the repair, brain injuries are unpredictable and dr. moriarty urged caution. >> the next few days in the icu will be critical. >> a little shell casing. >> at the crime scene, detective arnold continued to sift through close. more at least came into focus. a bloodied footprint, three big sort of crowds and to cigarette butts by the bed. >> the second one had ash about an inch long. someone had left that cigarette ash and rushed out of their. >> detective arnold ordered dna testing on the cigarettes and cans. the detective was also learning

about aaron and the more he found out, the more he was drawn in. mostly by herself, aaron was raising four children including erica. the only one home the night of the shooting and ebony, the oldest, at 16. >> instead of mother daughter, we were more like sisters. >> like france? >> we did everything together. she was the best mom. >> fanta be around with a boisterous, oversize personality. >> she was outgoing. she would do anything. >> a daredevil. i just missed her so much. she was everything to me. >> she left her kids. she tried her best to take care of them. >> errant worked at churchill downs as a hostess, meeting celebrities like actor priestly. she had to go and disability because of ems and a painful inflammatory condition known as fibromyalgia. she often took prescription painkillers to manage her

symptoms. >> she was to put it bluntly, a heck of a woman. phillips fighting spirit and everything. it was hers. >> but her parents were concerned by the crowd she sometimes round with. she was with some guys you weren't fond of? >> even so, her parents could not imagine who would have shot her and little erica or why. that just ramped up their own fears that the shooter or shooters might come back. >> i was scared to death. i thought, you know, what if they don't catch these people? >> at the crime scene, detective arnold was searching for answers, coming a house for more close. >> a closet that contains the safe. >> some contents, apparently missing. >> first thing that popped in my head is a robbery. >> a sulfa. >> one of the first things we do is check self on records. >> phone records show aaron received two phone calls in the hours before the shooting.

both from a family friend. james cuisine very had known aaron for years. he called her anti-a. >> police brought him into see if he had any information that could help the investigation. >> the very last people to call her daughter by phone. probably going to talk to you. >> it was me? >> yes. >> he provided names for investigators to check out and repeatedly offered to assist police and anyway he could. >> help you find whoever did this. >> back at children's hospital, erica was now in the icu, holding on for life. her heartbroken grandparents and big sister stood daily vigil. >> like a horror movie, really. >> ebony took it very hard. 14 years older, she'd been like a second mother to erica. in fact, erica actually called

her mommy. by day for the icu, america's family was seeing signs of hope. doctors bleed erica was strong enough to remove her breathing tube. now, it was time to see how she would do on her own. >> i was rubbing her head. she opened her eyes a little bit. she said, mommy. then evans like, goodness, she speaking! >> well erica had taken the first small steps towards a recovery, there was a big sign of life and mcconnell's investigation. it was a mystifying discovery that would turn out to be crucial. >> with all of these personal effects? >> that makes sense, does? it >> made zero sense. >> coming -- up an unlikely call, a cadillac leads to an unlikely clue. when dateline continues. unlikely clue. when dateline continues.

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hoda kotb: four days after she was shot, join the millions of people taking back their privacy erica woke up and started talking to her family. four days after she was shot, erica woke up and started talking to her family. in the icu, erica was feisty and combative. hurt neurosurgeon, moretti, said that was a positive sign that her brain was rebooting. >> did you pray a lot? >> yes. >> judith was the most religious one in the family and a week after surgery, her prayers and unshakable faith were answered. erica's condition was upgraded from critical to fair.

>> she looked real bad. i never dwelled that she wasn't going to make it. >> now, the family had to turn its focus to the one who did not make it, erica's mom, erin. on may the 25th, 2006, a week after she was gunned down, aaron's family gathered for her funeral. and the man who delivered the eulogy was none other than the officer who had raced erica to the hospital, steve kelce, who also served as a minister in a local church. >> it was so moving and personal because he'd been on the scene. >> for jesse, a crime reporter for the korea journal, but elevated the story was simple. little erica. >> the public, concern for the very beginning, was always that there was a two year old involved. >> after nearly two weeks in hospital, erica was well enough to move to nearby fresher rehabilitation institute. but the hard work was just

beginning. the brain injury had damaged her ability to walk and talk. what had been second nature to her had to be re-learned. running, talking, back and forth, being a playful kit again. erica sister, who knew her best, was worried that erica had lost sight in her right eye forever and ebony was afraid she would never be her old self again. >> what was different? >> she didn't run and play. or talk as much. she was kind of quiet. >> with still no idea why her sister and mother were shot, ebony and her grandparents remained fearful. >> you must have been worried, like, put this? where are they? >> yeah. i was thinking about the safety of the kids. i mean, so, i didn't go out much. >> back in the police station, detective arnold was trying to figure out his next move when his investigation caught a lucky break.

a 75-year-old -- spotted in a ditch three miles from aaron south and called police. there were empty prescription pill bottles, credit card and i.d. cards, and personal papers. and something else that didn't belong. >> tell me about what this thing. is >> this the cadillac manual. >> a cadillac owners manual. missed it out because it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the mass. so, why was the car manual there? whose was? it ricardo tried coming through it, but the pages were so together. >> even the front and back cover where soggy to the point where when i started to look through this, the very first time, flip through, pages are sticking together. >> days later, rick could separate a few pages, but was still frustrated. >> it was a third time. it was really thinking, you know, this will be the last. and if i don't find something, i'll be out of luck. i put my thumb and forefinger, going to pitched by page. the third time was the charm. i was able to festive all the

way to the finding of the book. automobile insurance card. >> within a? >> with an eight, most importantly. >> by now, his working days had turned into working nights. detective arnold type the name, a man's name, into his computer and it's spit out 15 matches. one of the lived in southern indiana, just across the river from louisville. around 11 pm, wreck called the man. >> i said why was your manual on a drainage ditch? >> what did he tell you? >> he says, i don't know. but my car was broken and in warwick last week. >> his cadillac, it happened the night of may 17th, just a few hours before aired harper was found dead. >> i have, really work? he said, he's a pharmacist at bells whistles up ahead. he works at a drugstore. where they sell prescription drugs. it hit me immediately that there is reason that manual was of the stuff now.

>> detective arnold now had working theory and went like this -- someone broke into a shiny cadillac, parked outside and the walgreens, the car happened to happen to -- for no parent reason, the feet grab the owners metal from the compartment and tossed into his car. he then went in his house where she and erica were shot. areas prescription pills and credit cards were stolen. that, according to rick's theory, the person rushed away from the house, through the pill bottles and credit cards way into the getaway car, and drove off. a few miles away, whoever was in the car, got rid of the hot property, tossing errands empty pill bottles and credit cards out of the window along with the cadillac manual. that is how everything ended up together in the drainage ditch. >> i think they were describing stuff. i believe it is, that well, we don't have this, she's dead. >> rick ask if the pharmacist knew who broke into his car.

>> he said, i don't know for sure. i have an idea. >> the pharmacist remembered the extra security -- amanda vase ball cap another had came into the walgreens at 9:30 pm on the 17th. just hours before errant was shot. >> he said, they did it look like they were regular shoppers at our walgreens. most are prescription customers. he went down to tell me that they had come back to the pharmacy and tried to obtain prescriptions using bogus names. >> on the security tape, rick looked closely and saw the man in the baseball cap leaning through that window of the enclosed pharmacy section, seemingly checking out names from pilates. over and over, detect arnold stared at the grainy walgreens tape. then in the baseball cap looked familiar. >> [inaudible] >> as and james, the family friend who phoned her minutes

before the murder. earlier, he told the detective how much he wanted to help the investigation. rick wasn't by any of it now. he had become a prime suspect, although rick wasn't ready to arrest him. not yet. not until he had the other man. that wouldn't be easy. although there were two suspects in his sights, that mistreatment was not in focus. >> how clear is the image of the second guy? >> it's not very clear. coming up, turned out it was an image that was all too clear to erica. >> the mistake, i think came in, and they had breaks in their hair. and he, said don't let him hurt me. when dateline continues. datel. e a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ ) emergen-c crystals. go to 1-800flowers.com, find the perfect gift and wow the people you love. these are the

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hi, i'm richard louis with your hours top stories. overnight, the united states conducting what it calls a strike in self-defense against a houthi anti ship cruise missile in yemen. this came just hours after the

u.s. and uk launch more strikes in the region, heading 36 who the targets across 13 locations. nbc news projected president biden has won south carolina's democratic primary with a resounding margin. he told 55 delegates were up for grabs and they were all proportionally based on the results to president biden. now, back to dateline. preside now, back to dateline. welcome back to "dateline," i'm craig melvin. detective rick arnold believed he >> welcome back to dateline i'm craig melville, detective rick arnold believe he identified one man now suspect for murder on security video, but there was another person in the picture too, would detectives track him down before was too late? once again, hoda cobb. >> just 27 days after being shot in the head erica was released from rehab and met officer and pastor steve kelsey, and her other rescuers. it was nothing short of a

miracle. >> that is beautiful. that is beautiful. >> to see the looks on those faces and know that she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. >> erica laughed, cried and acted like a two year old. reporter jesse holiday was amazed by her progress but also concerned about long term brain damage. >> i didn't feel at that point i could say for sure if she was going to be okay. >> but even getting this far beat the odds. erica was going home. >> just great to have her there, get her home from the hospital. >> it was a home she already knew. grandparents judith and herald harbor were waving good five to their carefree golden years, they were full-time parents again. >> i agreed from the first day that i would take care of her not to knowing what kind of shape she is going to be in, not knowing what mental state you would be in.

>> erica's father had never been a big part of her life, so court granted judith and harold full custody of erica and her baby sister. you worked your whole lives, this was supposed to be your time to kickback put your feet up, but that's not for you? >> that doesn't bother me a bit , me and my husband we're a little different. >> it didn't turn out like i thought it would because you know the reason with the killer and stuff. >> four years before the shootings, harold had retired from his long term meatpacking job expecting to ride his harley into the sunset. >> at a california trip, been to canada most everywhere, i had to stop. >> he knows that i couldn't maintain these children without him. >> i didn't want her to. i love those little kids. >> i love my grandparents, they are the best grandparents ever. >> do you think they sacrificed a lot to do this? >> yes, my grandpa loves his harley. >> you know, people do what they have to do, you know?

what is in their heart to do. >> together they gave erica a secure home, day-by-day she was gaining strength. but things were not normal. >> erica was so afraid of balloons -- >> balloons? >> balloons popping, and she was afraid of firecrackers. >> loud noises and everything, she is like this. >> she is scared when it rains and thunders outside. >> because it sounds like gunshots? >> yes. >> there was something else that terrified erica, and it was harder to understand. >> there was the guy that would come in the daycare to get his child and he had braids in his hair and erika started running and crying to the teacher and said don't let him hurt me. >> judith told detective arnold about erica's new fear, men with braids. and there, on the walgreens video, detective arnold saw it, the man coming in with james quisenberry, the mystery man had braids. but the image was still too fuzzy to figure out. rick circulated a freeze frame

of the man and hoped someone could identify him. then, he waited. eight months later, rick got some promising news, a detective thought he recognized the walgreens guy from another shooting. >> i might want to check him out. >> his name, kenneth williams. rick compared several williams mugshot with the walgreens video. you think, boom, we have our guy? >> i think it's him but the pictures and videos are not real good. but i focus in on him at this point. >> rick's investigation got lucky again, and unlikely witness came forward with information about that same kenneth williams and the night erica and her mom were shot. but the witness was questionable, he was charged with murder himself for which he later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and he was also gravely wounded in a shooting. prosecutor john heck. >> he's on his deathbed, he thinks he is going to hell and he has something that he needs

to say. >> weeks later turner's health improved enough to talk to rick arnold. >> james and kenneth williams, they had supposedly hit a lick on a woman. >> they hit a lick on some lady. >> what does that mean? >> that's slang term for a robbery. >> robbery that quickly escalated to murder. >> he knew things he couldn't have known, he knew things that weren't in the media. >> no way he could've known these things. >> what kind of things? >> could've known there were pills involved. >> it was a long, frustrating 15 month investigation, but rick was finally close to the answers he had promised erika's grandmother. >> what kept you going during some of those times when you thought i'm hitting dead ends. >> the two year old baby, erika hughes. >> five days after interviewing him he was ready to bring in quisenberry and williams for questioning, rick had enough on quisenberry to arrest him earlier but he wasn't ready yet, he wanted more. both men from the walgreens video so he could play them off

of each other, in dueling interrogations. and now, he had them. you've been waiting and waiting, patiently, so it's time to do your thing. right? >> now it's time to move. >> the detective moved to get each suspect to implicate the other, not knowing it was nearly out of time. coming up -- >> you didn't know you were playing with the clock? >> no idea at all. >> when dateline continues. dat discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

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i'm pretty cynical, so i was not relation with a long term effect was going to be. >> one year after erica was left for dead, reporter jesse holiday made a house call to erika's grandparents house. a checkup of sorts. >> with erika being so young and with her grandparents raising her there was so much interest to begin with, we wanted to go back to see how she was doing. >> erica had jessie at hello. that's all it took for the high- spirited then debris-year-old to win over the cynical reporter. >> erica was in it from the very beginning, she was trying to write with my pen, she wanted to color on my notebook. i was struck by her curiosity. >> jessie reported that eric a loss all sight in her right eye, she also had a small scar on her chin where the bullet hit her head and exited. >> people wonder how she survived. i still wonder how she survived. >> louisville and americas family were still consumed by two questions at the heart of it all. who could commit such a

horrifying crime, and would the shooter ever be caught? but judith harper had faith all along that justice would be done. most of all, faith in detective arnold. after all, the promise he made to solve the case was to her. >> he was going to see that these people were found, if it had just been earon it would have been maybe another death. but since erica was involved in that, he wasn't gonna let up on it. >> judith didn't know it yet but down at police headquarters detective arnold was close to getting answers from the man he had been pursuing since their starring roles in the walgreens video. james quisenberry, the family friend who had made the last phone call to earon and kenneth williams, who admitted to a witness that he was part of a robbery that turned deadly. now, it was time to bring in both men in and interrogate

them. >> i was apprehensive but not nervous, no butterflies just because it is something that i had planned on and prepared for for a long time. >> you are ready? >> i was ready. >> 15 months after the shootings, quisenberry and williams, came to the headquarters, each knew the other was there. >> i wanted them to understand that if they didn't tell us the truth the other guy maybe. >> as attacked of detective arnold even walked williams passed a closed circuit monitor where he could see quisenberry in an interview room. >> now he has time to think, hey, what is quisenberry telling the detectives. what is he talking about? >> detective arnold needed both suspects to admit they were in the house when the shootings went down. that would back up murder charges against both of them no matter who pulled the trigger. >> quisenberry was interviewed first, he said he knew nothing about the crime. as the interrogation straw he started blaming the man in the other room. >> i want you to tell me why he killed her, how he did it.

>> a. i wasn't there, but i know he did it. >> detective arnold knew something quisenberry did not. >> after quisenberry's first interview he had scooped up his mall boris for dna testing, the results were now back, and bingo, they matched a cigarette butt from the crime scene. he claims he wasn't there but you have dna that puts him there. >> and i collected those cigarette butts and one of them has your dna on it. >> the one has my dna on it? >> the 100 dna. that's what i'm saying, you are in that house, and that's what i want to know. >> how does he react to being cornered, connolly? >> he was backtracking, he was getting scared. >> i mean, i never told you that i wasn't. i'm saying -- >> that's not the point. >> i be over there all the time. that's what i'm saying. >> now quisenberry was admitting that he had visited his friend erin that day, he insisted he left before anyone was shot. >> rick sensed that quisenberry and his story were crumbling so he went for the jugular, demanding he come clean.

>> i want to know what you saw inside the house. >> and, it worked. >> i saw him go in, and i was, i was behind him. i hear more gunshots. >> him saying he was in the house was critical. that becomes the most important thing he says in the whole statement. >> detective arnold now had admission number one. the interview nearly over, quisenberry had a request. one of the strangest rick had ever heard. >> i know this is hard to ask police this [bleep] for, i need to smoke a blunt. >> a blunt is a king size marijuana cigarette. >> i've never been asked that in an interview before. >> we can't do that. >> now it was time to interrogate williams, and he proved to be a tougher nut to crack. >> first impression of him? >> he's hard-core. he's hard-core to the max. >> i did not shoot the lady, i did not do nothing to her or her baby. >> he also denied everything

and blamed the man in the other room. quisenberry. >> did you have a gun? >> yes. >> what color was it? >> black. >> williams kept insisting he was not even in the house. but rick needed to get him inside as he had with quisenberry. >> i wanted him in the house, not outside by a car, not down the street. >> he needed it fast, although he didn't realize how fast at the time. you didn't know you were playing with the clock? >> no, no idea at all. >> detective arnold saw an opening, and pounced, first you will hear williams finally admit to coming inside. then, listen closely as rick asks a rapid fire follow-up about his location in the house giving him no chance to think or change his story. >> after i heard a gunshot, i ran in to see what was going on. >> more room where you and when that happened? >> what was the room? >> i was in the backroom. >> that was music to my ears, hearing him say i was in the back room. >> rick had him right where he wanted him, inside the house.

and none too soon. >> you've got an attorney now. >> an attorney who immediately stopped the interview. >> just under the wire, just in the nick of time. detective arnold placed williams and quisenberry under arrest, and then, he wasted no time making the one phone call he had waited 15 months to make. to erica's grandmother. >> i literally went to the bathroom and made the phone call, to the bathroom. >> what was it like? >> it was echo because i wasn't a bathroom, but it was relief, i promise judy harper on may 18th of 2006 and i would get those answers. now we have them. >> what did you think when they told you? >> well, i was relieved. i had confidence that they would find them sooner or later because they couldn't get away with it forever. >> williams and quisenberry would stand trial for the murder of earon and the attempted murder of erica.

and eye for an eye, the death penalty hung over both of them. >> coming up -- an emotional trial, and a little girl who not only survived, but thrived. when dateline continues. datel. [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪

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how you doin'? >> how are you doing? on the carousel of life in louisville, it was what everyone had been asking how was erica the miracle baby

doing. how you doing? but through it all other questions swirled to, what happened in the house on wilson avenue? with the man involved in the shootings pay for their crimes? >> we are on the record. >> those answers would come three years later april 2009 and a louisville court room, where james quisenberry and kenneth williams stood trial for the murder of earon harper and the attempted murder of little erika. whatever the verdict, one man would not be there to hear it, for harold harper, facing the defendant, was simply too much to bear. >> i couldn't look them in the eye without rage, i was just afraid that i would mess everything up. >> it was an emotional trial, co-prosecutor mark baker with two young daughters himself cried in his opening statement. >> once you determine that there was a life and the little body you can imagine, the officers at the scene.

>> prosecutors maintained that the defendants came to steal earon's pills in money but then williams change the plan after earon fought back according to rashawn turner. >> he snatched the purse from her because she wouldn't let go of the purse, he shot her. >> his testimony helpful in another piece of the puzzle, why quisenberry and williams were in the house that night. it appears that after aaron became too ill to work, she found a way to supplement her income selling her prescription medicine. she had invited her friend quisenberry to buy pills before, but this time the deal deteriorated into robbery and ultimately murder when williams came along with his gun. >> i had no idea that they would go in the house and kill you over a bottle of pills. >> the trial took one week and there was little doubt that

quisenberry would be convicted of some crime, he got manslaughter and a maximum 45 years in prison. as for williams guilty-- >> we the jury find the defendant williams guilty. >> guilty of murder and then a life sentence of no possibility for parole, spare the death penalty only because one holdout juror would not vote for it. did you think fat he should've gotten the death penalty? >> no, i can't go around talking or acting with hate in my heart because if i do that then my children, they are going to be thinking it is all right for them to do it. >> rick was gratified that he could make good on his promise to erica's grandmother. but he also got something back from her. >> i drew a lot from judy's strength she told me from the get-go that things would work out and that's a sign of her faith. >> out of the tragedy, the harper family had pulled together with the grandparents as her guiding light, erica's future looks bright. when i caught up with her she was a playful six-year-old, we

went to the zoo where she briefly stopped her fun and games to talk. they call you the miracle baby, the miracle baby. why do they call you that? >> i'm a special girl. >> you're special girl, why are you a special girl? >> i know everything. >> you know everything. what do you know? >> i know about, like when bananas are rotten to not eat them. >> you don't you run bananas, what else do you know? >> erica struggles from the brink of death, became blockbuster news in her hometown, -- >> hi, i'm erica hughes. >> the miracle baby became the media celebrity as the familiar face for our community leaders campaign to keep the children of louisville safe. >> you need to help us fight crimes against children. >> she is the miracle baby but she is also a great advocate for fighting crimes against children.

>> erica, would you want to be when you grew up? >> a nurse and a teacher. >> why a nurse, because they help people. >> erica! come here! >> like the nurses and doctor from the hospital who saved her life. >> we are so glad to see you. >> more than three years later, they celebrated erika's recovery with a red carpet reunion. >> taking it all, insurgent thomas moriarty, proud and pleased that he could give his miracle patient a clean bill of health. no brain damage, whatsoever. >> she's wonderful, perfect. she's a little flower that has grown. >> he left her with a good brain, and that is very important. >> smart cookie. >> yes, she will need it throughout life. >> when you look at erica, do you see any of your mom in erica? >> yes. >> what part? >> main thing is her mouth. >> is that right? >> erica's loud, she has the raspy voice just like my mom had. >> where is your mom right now?

>> up in heaven. >> do you think about her a lot? what kind of things you think about? >> her coming down. >> what happens when she comes down? >> she'll start being my mom. >> it's a reminder that your mom is with you. >> yes. >> one other shared treat, and that's what kept erica alive in the darkest hours, her mom's fighting spirit. >> what you had to battle, i guess she did have her earon's fighting spirit to pull through all of that. you know. so, thank god for that. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. for watching. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, stigincredible that. and this is dateline. >> wanted the fs1 cares