years in a california state prison. lisa smith has done her best to restart life. she lives in hawaii now, far from the wreckage of that california life that never was quite as perfect as it looked. >> it's painful to remain there. so it's starting fresh. it feels like sanctuary. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm injury a cannon. thank you for watching. texan who everybody seemed to ed love. >> caring, loving, compassionate. >> why did she have this remnant

-- premonition? the call came on black friday. >> cashe said the apartment is fire. >> when the coroner pulled up, my heart broke. >> the fire was no accident. >> they conducted surveillance at the apartment. >> going back to the place where she worked. >> the were going after tens of thousands of dollars. >> was money the only motive but was or something else? >> there were a lot of rumors going around. >> i can't believe somebody did> that to her. pure evil. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. ashlea harris had no shortage h of admirers. family, friends, coworkers, even her ex sung her praises. when she was found dead after a suspicious fire consumed her . apartment, police were baffled.p this was no accident but who killed ashlea no up in smoke?

it would take a determined detective and the discovery of a stolen key to unlock this mystery. here is keith morrison with black friday. >> a hot august night in texas 2014. the lone figure knew where to go.he knew where the store kept the cash, grabbed $18,000. and thwas gone. but, it was only money. no one got hurt. not that time, anyway. the story begins here in fort worth, texas. turned out to be the perfect growing up place for a rough- and-tumble free spirit named ashlea harris . >> i was around 10 when she was born. and so, perfect age to pretend she was my baby. >> melissa is her older sister. >> she march to the beat of a

different drum. she f would wear things that did not match. her hair didn't seemed combed. >> she was never the little princess type. >> no, >>evno. >> there were three girls and ashlea was the baby. their mom remembered how ashlea loved sports and music and bingo. >> it was our mother-daughter bonding time. she would get excited. >> by the time she got to high school, she had lots of friends. even hoa boyfriend. she was devoted to her two dads, her father tommy, and her stepfather chuck. did she talk about getting into your line of work? >> she was interested. i think she took an interest in and it. >> she ended inup working at blockbuster video and that is

where she met a customer named laura. >> i walked around the store for a little bit and kept looking at her because she was so beautiful. >> laura wanted to meet the girl behind the counter. they became friends and then something more. >> we hung out for a few months. before it ever really got there. >> by that she mean she and ashlea fell in love. >> it was a lot of growing up. she had to work through her feelings. being gay sent an easy thing and it was an easy 14 or 15 years ago. >> oh, no it wasn't. was a coming up here.? >> i believe it was 2004. she comes over to the house and she goes, i've got something to tell you. and i want you to know that i am

gay. i said, well, ashlea, you need to give me some space. i need some time. >> so monica took some time, prayed about it, came to this conclusion. >> i can't utimagine god giving me this child in living with her and raising her that he would want me to stop loving her. >> it didn't make sense at all. for a long while, monica wasn't comfortable with her relationship although laura said she and ashlea were good together. co >> she was always very giving and what else can i do to make you happy? >> the romance lasted more than three years then it was over. they remained friends and laura remembers how happy ashlea was when she started working at american eagle outfitters at the hulen mall in fort worth.

>> ashlea loved it. >> she was assistant manager good at it said her boss. >> just her personality. caring, loving, compassionate. she loved life. >> you have. >> and she loved taking videos of her life. lots of them at work. >> i am extremely tired and this is helping. it's horrible. >> she have anthis laugh. it was so infectious. >> employee lindsay greene set another assistant manager, carter, was very different from ashlea. ee >> she taught me how to love myself to a point. >> ashlea polar opposite and popular. >> this is what cold looks like. >> work was going well but her love life? not so much.

then one night ashlea went out with friends and april was l there. >> i think i was the waitress. she was having a bad night, and i tried to pull her out of her e shell. she wasn't having it. so i was like, fine. >> april give up on her grumpy customer until months later they connected on social media. they metric a dog walk. ashlea brought her dog and april brock cooper. everyone clicked. what was it like when you first started going out with her? >> she has a magnetic force to her. it's hard to not instantly lovev her. >> by the summer of 2014, life was good for ashlea . her social life. her job although she did hit a bump of sorts in august when

someone still 18 grand from the store say. it was ashlea who realize the theft occurred and reported it to you. >> correct. >> she even helped i.d. the suspects. with her interest in police were, ashlea thought she might have a calling. >> she wanted to iggo on to wo for the home office at american eagle. >> she was 31 and had all kinds of plans. on the morning after thanksgiving, black friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, chris's phone ring at home. >> it was the manager saying, chris, ashlea's apartment is on fire and we can't get her on the phone. i threw my clothes on r and started driving over and followed the smoke trail and the llsirens. >> coming up. no one would have guessed where the trail would lead. >> we were asking if we could

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it was the morning after thanksgiving, black friday. laura had only one thing on her mind. >> my friday was the favorite day of the year. i love to shop and save money. >> laura's black friday was

about to turn dark and deep. >> i got a call from a friend of ours and she said ashlea's apartment is on fire. >> they arrived to something like chaos . >> there was multiple police cars and crime scene was there. >> the fort worth detectives spent over there too. >> there was a crowd starting together. we had about 40 to 50 family and friends and coworkers. then residents looking from balconies so we had quite a crowd. >> firefighters had -- the flames and i walked up the steps to ashlea store. what was that like? >> it was very disturbing. >> a woman's lifeless body was lying face down on the bedroom floor. >> we waited until she was turned over and we got a look at her face and she was identified by some of her tattoos.

>> the victim had her name tattooed on her cage, ashlea harris. outside ashlea's friends were in the dark. >> we were asking if we could talk to ashlea her where she was at. they said she was unavailable. >> her boss had just arrived and was trying to get answers. >> for a couple of hours, we just assumed she was being taken care of. >> while they waited for information, investigators were realizing this was no accident. >> it was obvious she was beaten due to the amount of blood and her arms were bound behind her back and her ankles were bound. >> it looked like she had been fighting back against a vicious attack. >> she had been beaten and possibly tortured. we discovered her neck had been slit. >> the fire looked suspicious. the veteran arson investigator wallace hood would called to the scene. >> i noticed fire damage on the

bed and noticed there was fire damage to the victim and i so looked like a bottle of alcohol. >> fire damage on the victim? someone set fire to her? >> it looked like there were burn marks on her. >> what did you determine about the fire? >> there were several points of origin and that's into cater of intentionally set fire. >> someone took that rubbing alcohol imported here and here? >> yes, sir. >> chris watched his worst fears roll up in front of the apartment. >> i think it hit me like a sack of bricks once i saw them start taping offer a crime scene. and when the coroner pulled up, my heart broke. i lost it. >> and then the detectives

looking very stern came outside to ask pointed questions. does someone know something? see something? >> the police start shuffling us into the office and they tell us even if we tried to leave, we could be arrested. >> that told you something bad had happened. >> one person not in the crowd was ashlea's girlfriend, april . 1:00 p.m., april got a text from one of ashlea's neighbors. >> have you checked on your girl? there was a fire in her apartment. and, immediately, i thought, ashlea's dog. >> april assumed ashlea was not at home. >> and then she got a message from another friend saying simply, call me. >> i called her, and i said, where is ashlea . she said nola is fine. i said where's ashlea and she was like, ashlea is gone.

and it didn't register. >> what do you mean gone? >> yeah. and i said is ashlea okay? she said, no, april. she is dead. i was sitting on my bed and i threw my phone on the ground like, that's not real. >> when reality settled in, april, all of ashlea's family and friends and even the police had to wonder, who would do such a thing to such a good, sweet person? ashlea harris had no enemies. did she? >> was someone stalking ashlea harris? coming up. >> a vehicle parked there that i've never seen before. >> but some on had seen it before. opzelura is the first and only fda-approved prescription treatment

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ashlea's mother and stepfather were out of town when the news began arriving. awful j good bits. first they heard about the fire and monica prayed ashlea was not heard. then ashlea's father called. >> i saw -- i saw him wiping his tears. i knew that my prayer wasn't

answered. >> chuck couldn't reach ashlea's sister so he left a message. >> two minutes later my husband called me and he said where are you? i need to come to you. what is wrong with my mom? what happened to my mom? he said it's not your mom. it's ashlea. it was like a blow. >> back in fort worth, police were rounding up people gathered outside ashlea's apartment. among them, april hadn't seen ashlea for a few days . the romans had hit a bit of a bump. >> that night, we talked briefly about me coming over after i got off of work. but then, i went home. >> her name was alexis. >> she was the last person to see ashlea alive in the last

person to leave her apartment. >> it's certainly someone you want to talk to. >> yes, sir. >> she and ashlea had gone to an early thanksgiving dinner. >> you had thanksgiving dinner. >> it was around 12. >> then hung around for the afternoon. >> yes. >> ashlea had to work that night. >> it was supposed to be from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. and she agreed to come over to take care of ashlea's dog. >> she told police and then us she went back one more time after ashlea got home from work. how long did you stay? >> i stayed for an hour. >> that would make a 4:00 a.m. she was telling the truth, but before they could check her story or anyone else's for that matter, a neighbor gave the more to work with. an ex-cop named steve lee had noticed something about 6:30 a.m. you were on the deck and what

did you see? >> a vehicle parked there i'd never seen before. >> what was the? >> a black infiniti. >> to the observant ex-cop, that seemed worth noting. did it stay there for a long time? >> it was there when i left for work at 7:40. >> detectives talk to a neighbor who lived directly below ashlea. he had heard noises, heavy breathing coming from ashlea's apartment. >> a few minutes later, the fire alarms started going off . water started coming down into his apartment. >> that's when the neighbor side black infiniti driving away. armed with this new information, is they went back to alexis. >> i asked her if she knew anyone or if ashlea knew anyone who drove an infiniti. i never gave her the color. >> alexis said no.

>> he was asking questions and i walked outside and sat down. i think it was chris was there? >> that would be chris, ashlea's boss at american eagle. alexis told him police were asking about an infinity sedan and chris made a beeline for detective jerry cedillo. >> i approached him and said i know who's car you're asking about. >> he said i want to make you aware that i have a former employee who drives an infiniti g 35. >> her name he said was carter, carter cervantez . assistant manager who worked with ashlea. >> i asked color is the car she drove? he mentioned it is a black one. >> what was that like to hear that? >> it beats hearing red or white. >> and by the way he said, carter left american eagle

because she was fired. jerry cedillo filed that is when sorted through the crime scene talk to witnesses. the day that began at 8:30 a.m. didn't end until 1:00 a.m. >> did you get any sleep? >> i didn't. >> the story of carter cervantez and her black infiniti was bugging him. >> i'm thinking where do i go from here? >> he tossed and turned all night thinking about that. something inside him said nope. >> if i'm not going to get sleep, i should go out and see what i could find. >> it wouldn't be his first wild goose case -- goose chase. he drove over there and what do you know? >> a soft black infiniti backed in the front of the apartment. >> he didn't knock on her door. >> i was going to sit here and watch the vehicle. >> for more than four hours he sat in his car, cold but patient. then about 8:00 a.m.

saturday, he saw the light of the infiniti flashed as if somebody was unlocking it. >> i see the mail in the driver seat and then i see a female entered the passenger side of the black infiniti. >> they drove off and the detective followed. after a few minutes, the infiniti pulled into, of all places, the hulen mall. going back to the place where ashlea worked with the american eagle was. >> yes, sir. >> what would they be doing their? >> that was the million dollar question. >> i asked what are you doing here at the mall? he said he dropped his girlfriend up to pick up some things. >> a routine hereunder something else? something else? st because these were signs of attr-cm, a rare and serious disease... ...that gets worse over time. if you see any of the warning signs, don't wait,

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. much of the northeast is recovering after heavy rains on sunday. flash flood warnings across the region and it comes as the

hurricane ernesto brought strong rip currents to the coast. about 100 people were sickened by extreme heat at the regional airshow saturday. temperatures reaching 100 degrees and it sent 10 to the hospital and authorities say serious injuries were avoided. welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning. after celebrating thanksgiving with friends, ashlea harris headed to her job at the mall to get ready for black friday. nothing could have prepared her for the horror she faced when she returned home. ashlea was brutally murdered and her apartment was set on fire. a neighbor told police he noticed a car around the time of the killing, a black infiniti. they later learned it was the same model a former coworker drove. coincidence? detective jerry cedillo was about to find out. here is keith morrison with

black friday. >> on the saturday morning after black friday 2014, homicide detective jerry cedillo followed the black infiniti into the parking lot of the hulen mall. he watched as a woman dressed in dark clothes headed inside. she fit the description of 25- year-old carter cervantez, a former coworker of ashlea harris. them man stayed in the car. so cedillo called his partner and asked him to check up on the guy. >> when i approached the car, the person identified themselves as david mallory. >> david mallory was carter in live-in boyfriend and he was a former employee of american eagle. >> i asked him what are you doing here? he said he dropped his girlfriend off to pick up -- where she was a manager. >> so, perhaps it was just that. david giving carter a ride to pick up paperwork at her new job.

cedillo decided to go inside. the mall was open but the stores were still closed. >> i went up there and there was a manager working. i was able to confirm that carter cervantez did not work for him and he doesn't know who she is. >> so much for that story. cedillo turned his attention to finding carter cervantez. nola. you didn't see her at all? >> no, sir. >> did anyone see her? >> no, sir. >> her boyfriend was telling lies about a job she did not have. a car that looked like hers had been spotted at the scene of a murder. the detective still had david mallory in the parking lot and was looking for a reason to hold him. >> he said he had a drivers license but didn't have it with him. >> recent and up. he arrested mallory and brought him in for questioning.

but carter? seemed to have vanished. wasn't anywhere in the mall. but then police went to her apartment complex and there she was. we where she in the apartment complex? >> she initially was in the laundry room. >> call mischa please, she agreed to answer questions without a lawyer down at the station. >> do you go by carter or carolyn? >> carter. >> she switched her clothes to break -- bright pink scrubs. >> i had a job opportunity with american eagle outfitters. >> her american eagle connection. the detective had heard a thing about that. carter worked at the fort worth store for about four months and was businesslike but unlike ashlea, she wasn't a very friendly assistant manager. she did make an impression on some younger clerks. >> carter was very smart, very deep. she was good at reading people

and knowing how to converse with them. you could tell she was well- educated. she had a lot more to her than most retail managers do. >> the detective knew something else about carter. and david mallory. something very important. remember the burglary at american eagle three months earlier? carter and david mallory were the primary suspects and ashlea harris was the one who discovered the money missing. >> when ashlea came in to open the store she found the state -- safe open. >> ashlea new carter clothes the night before and when she showed her boss the security video at the burglary? >> she pointed at the monitor and she said that's david mallory. i said whose david mallory? she said it's carter's boyfriend. >> ashlea figured carter set up the burglary and david carried

it out. carter got fired and david sort of disappeared. they hadn't been charged, not yet. but? >> the case was being investigated when this happened. >> three months later here was carter talking to the police who were growing suspicious that she and her boyfriend were connected to ashlea's murder. >> why am i here? >> cedillo started off easy. >> i am originally from lubbock. >> is your family there? >> yes. >> i have two sisters. >> have you seen her mom and dad in a while? >> no. i talked to them every day but i haven't been home. >> more friendly questions. >> where did you go to school? >> cedillo asked about thanksgiving. small talk. >> i made turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and green bean crescent roll.

cabbage, bacon salad that my mom really likes to make but i don't think david liked it that much. >> this wasn't really small talk. the detective was paying close attention. >> let's start with this morning. all right? what time do you get up? >> about 7:30. >> what happened then? >> we talked and i went back to sleep and when i woke up he was not there. >> he heard enough. >> i know that's a lie. >> no, it's not. >> do you know i i know it's a lie? i saw you get out of your apartment and get in the passenger side and he drove out of there. >> cedillo was tough but carter was not giving an inch. >> coming up. >> there was a human grave. >> fresh grave.

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it was late saturday morning, the day after black friday. 25-year-old carter cervantez was talking to detectives and lying through her teeth. >> i know what i did this morning. i know where i was and where i went. >> detective cedillo know where she went. hulen mall but she kept

insisting she had been at home all morning. >> you are about to make the biggest mistake in your life. >> she still wouldn't confess? >> she would not budge. >> i got up and put the laundry in and checked my email. >> when the detective stepped out of the room, she did something interesting. maybe incriminating? >> took a drink and put the bottle down and picks it up again and she stops midair and spills water on herself and puts a bottle down and stares at it for about 10, 15 seconds then reaches over and grabs a tissue from the table and starts wiping down the bottle. then wipes down the mouthpiece. >> what did that say to you? >> she was afraid we would obtain her dna from the bottle. >> police letter go. david mallory too. detectives had at the re- cooking that carter and david killed ashlea out of revenge

for being fired for the burglary, but, they also wanted ashlea's keys to the american eagle because they were planning to rob the store again. those keys were the only thing missing from the murder scene, and when the store manager chris looked at his surveillance video from earlier that morning, he told police what they wanted to hear. describe what you saw? >> somebody dressed in dark clothes with their face wrapped walked up to the store and tried to get in with keys. >> that, he said, was carter trying to pull off a bigger burglary. police just knew. one day after killing ashlea and taking her keys, carter was trying to break into american eagle, but this time, tens of thousands of dollars, black friday profits, were in the safe. the key did not fit because after ashlea was murder, chris changed the locks. >> i wasn't going to take a

chance on whether it was a deposit of them harming someone else in the store. we needed to lock them up. >> detectives pulled the surveillance video and look at this? carter slipping away having already changed her sweat clothes into pink scrubs. had to be trying to pull potential trackers. she would've spotted police talking to david in the parking lot. then she walked all the way home. over the next few days, police got a warrant for carter and david's cell phones. that camera app, so useful. >> we learned they had conducted surveillance at ashlea's apartment weeks before that. they had a picture of her apartment. the door to her apartment, and they had pictures of her vehicle . >> in early december 2014, carter and david mallory were arrested and charged with the murder of ashlea harris. cold comfort for ashlea's

sister. >> it's such a loss, and it is so pointless. i don't understand how people could do that. >> they were tried separately and the cases were virtually -- assistant da kevin rousseau led the prosecution. her assistant. from the witness stand, cedillo helped lay out the case. >> the sales receipt showed odd purchases on carter's credit card. >> she purchased two shovels. she purchased a tarp and purchased gloves. >> why was that significant? because of a discovery out in

the texas scrub. a discovery worthy of a horror movie. the key to finding it was right there, carter and david's cell phones. >> they would check longitude and latitude coordinates and it led us to a remote area in abilene. >> what was there? >> we looked up and there was an actual human grave they had been dug. >> fresh grave? >> fresh grave. >> they believed the original plan was to kidnap ashlea, kill her, and put her body in the grave. she was killed in her apartment , the prosecutors thought, because she fought so hard. investigators believed ashlea harris was pistol-whipped. when this glock 19 was found in the black infinity, the prosecutor tested it and the results were conclusive. >> it came back positive with ashlea's dna on the gun so

that was significant. >> hearing all of this was so hard on ashlea's mother and loved ones. >> nope. i went back into the room and she was consoling me. she shouldn't be consoling me. >> the brutality of the murder was never far from the prosecutor's mind. >> i thought how painful and awful the last minutes of her life. it was terrifying. absolutely terrifying. >> even that, they said, even that appeared to be part of the plan. this wasn't just about robbery or even revenge said the prosecutor. >> discussions that carter cervantez had with people where she expressed certain, guess

you could call them, fantasies involving killing people. >> she remembers one discussion at work. >> it was just us and we were folding clothes and she mentioned she had thought about killing someone before and whether or not she could watch them die. >> is if the murder wasn't shocking enough. prosecutors were pretty sure that ashlea's murder was a thrill kill planned by a sadistic young woman who thought she was smarter than everyone else. but, tiny, me, carter cervantez emitted none of that. she still had a plan. concocted by herself to explain why she too was the victim. >> coming up. a vicious killer?

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when people talk about the trial of carter cervantez, this is what they remember . against the advice of her attorneys, carter cervantez took the

stand. gone was a criminal mastermind. here sat a helpless victim. >> she gets up on the stand and it was insane. >> carter said it was her boyfriend, david mallory, controlling every aspect of her life. >> this is where her defense truly began. she told the jury she was a woman enslaved by her sadistic lover. he had that gun, the clock, she said. used it like a threat and it scared her. she told the jury she was to sleep at home on ashlea was

being murdered. she didn't know where david had gone but somehow he wound up with a said of american eagle keys. and then, she said, he pulled out the clock. >> that's why she tried to rob the store. she said it was that or be killed. a couple of hours before she showed up on security video she said, david made it clear just how far he would go to make

sure, absolutely sure, that she would do what he demanded. during the night before the break in a tent, she said, david brought strange men into their apartment. g heard an angry voice. and then her story got even more harrowing. >> twice she said, stopping by to two different men. prosecutors kevin rousseau and ashlea were taken aback as the rest of the courtroom. >> i know what i think. it's not true. >> they needed to regroup fast.

it's the biggest lie she told. >> carter had an explanation for just about everything, even the moment during her interrogation when she wiped the bottle. she wasn't wiping off her dna. no. she said the smell of the bottle reminded her of being raped. >> she said she was overcome with the smell of in the air and drinking out of this bottle of water. i thought, that took some work. that's one heck of a live. >> it was at that point i put my pen down and said, i am not writing this. i am not going to write this down. >>'s voice dripping with sarcasm, the prosecutor took her story apart. he showed the jury a picture.

>> then, he drilled down into the heart of carter's story. just to were those mysterious rapists? >> but, said the prosecutor, that is what she was suggesting. >> she was going to play that card then i would maker spell that out. >> if she was hoping to play to some random jurors bias, she

guessed wrong. they didn't believe it. not for a second. they found her guilty and less than two hours. as for david mallory, his attorneys argued he had nothing to do. he was involved with carter but not with any killing. the jury didn't buy that either, rendering a guilty verdict in no time at all. the vertex were some consolation. those who loved ashlea harris. >> she saw the best and everybody even when you couldn't see it, she could see it. she had such a big heart. this world is worse off, at least mine is. >> david mallory and carter cervantez received mandatory

sentences of life in prison with no possibility of parole. it was not enough for ashlea's mom and stepdad. you wanted to see the death penalty? >> death penalty is what i wanted. it wasn't to be. >> now they cling to memories of their rashly. tell me about the last time you saw your daughter? physically, in person? >> it was november. >> about a week before she died, ashlea invited monica to play bingo. monaco was busy and, said no but something told her to stop and go. she is glad she did. >> i walk into the bingo hall and oh, my god, there sat that little girl of mine. i smiled at her and i walk over and i kiss the side of her neck. >> you remember every moment of

that day, don't you? >> yes. >> these days monica is making new memories at the bingo parlor. remember how skittish she was around ashlea's girlfriend? no longer. now they are family. >> when monica going get our nails done, they always say, your daughter is so pretty. she never corrects them. as far as she is concerned, she gained several daughters. >> when there altogether, ashlea is there too. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. ndrea cann. >> hello. >> hello. i am andrea this is dateline. >> i got a phone call. something is wrong with brandy. she's not vi