year and he's going to go into an interview with fbi agents, if you lie once it's perjury. >> thank you both for joining us. "the rachel maddow show" starts now.

>> in louisville in this brick house on wilson avenue. the two wild about dora the explorer. she lived here with her mom. on may 18th, 2006, police got a frantic 911 call. what was his state of hysterica. >> what was he saying? the detective now a retired officer rushed into the house and found a horrifying scene. a woman almost certainly dead on the floor. >> you see a big 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. >> was she doing anything? >> no. eventually i touched her and she said leave me alone. >> tell pe abome about the emot. >> she was laughing. >> barely. the officers could see the little girl had been shot in the head. dry blood was everywhere. they could tell she had been left there a long time. >> she had labored breathing. >> have you seen any one breathing like that who made it? >> no, i have not. >> there was no time to wait for an ambulance. an officer at the scene barked for a police car to take her to the hospital. first, officers had to get her to the car. >> from the house to the car, it seems like a long way.

what did it seem like? >> forever. >> you are holding her head and you holding her legs. >> just like that. >> when they finally reached the car, they handed her to two ems firefighters in the backseat and now retired officer steve kelsey jumped behind the wheel. >> i said go as fast as you can go. i said go. >> kelsey gunned it for the three-mile trip to the hospital in downtown louisville. >> i'm thinking of my kids. >> the nbc station wave tv captured the final moments of the high speed motorcade as it made the left turn to the traffic. the ride can take up to 15 minutes. >> how long did it take? >> two to three minutes. >> across town, another part of the story was unfold in the house. all day long, harold harper and

his wife judith were wondering why they could not reach erin and erica. they talked to their daughter nearly every day. so the silence was strange. then the tv news. >> said there had been a shooting on wilson avenue where she lived. and we thought oh, my god. >> he and judith picked up ebony and drove down to the house. >> there was a bunch of people standing outside. it was taped off. it was a mess. >> you knew that something was up. >> yeah. i just freaked out. >> it wasn't long before judith and harold's worst fears were confirmed. >> the jewelry she had on. they brought it to me. i knew it wass erin. >> their daughter, erin harper, 42, was dead in the doorway. >> you saw that jewelry, what

went through you? >> i lost a son in '78 in a car wreck. he was already gone when i got to hospital. i could have shed a few tears and went on about my business. this was different. my son was 21. he had no children. >> the loss of ierin, the mothe of four was devastating. now what happened to baby erica. >> i knew she was hurt and the police rushing her down the street. i saw on tv. >> 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. >> in your experience, how many times have there been babies victims? >> never a case where a baby has been shot. >> a life long local with a promising career at the university of louisville, now

retired rick arnold knew it would be a high profile case. he did not know it would be the case of a lifetime. >> this is detective rick arn d arnold. today is may 18th, 2006. >> the video camera rolled across the crime scene. >> this is where the victim's body was located. >> the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the images of young life. erin's body in a pool of brood near a red kid wagon. a shell casing in front of a box of diapers. and the bed where erica jumped for joy was 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 dora 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 rick arnold hard. on the spot, he made a promise to erica's grandmother. you said, we're going to find who did this. >> yes. >> that's lot to promise somebody, isn't it? >> yes. >> coming up, a glimmer of hope from baby erica. >> i was rubbing her hand and she opened her eyes.

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detective rick arnold admitted it made his blood boil. >> why did you make that promise? >> that was probably a little emotion spilling over. if we were expecting at that point, the baby to die. >> erica had practically flat lined as the police caravan delivered her to kosair children's hospital. she was rushed to the emergency room where doctor and nurses worked frantically to stabilize her. dr. thomas moriarty, seen here during a recent operation, performed surgery on the gun shot wounds to erica's head. these were cat scans of her skull and brain, preop. >> part of the bullets and broken bone.

>> the mission was to clean the fragments from erica's head, repair the wounds and preserve brain function, if possible. erica was lucky in one way. the angle of the bullet wasn't straight through the brain, but downward, exiting under her chin. >> what a blessing as opposed to the bullet damaging everything. >> and dr. moriarty was relieved that the bullet only struck the brain's frontal lobe. >> less than 3 years old, the brain's ability the repair is truly remarkable. >> after the delicate three and a half hour surgery, dr. moriarty was encouraged by comparison scans of erica's brain. the bullet and the bone fragment in the preop image were gone. but despite the repair, brian injuries are unpredictable and dr. moriarty urged caution. >> the next few days will be critical.

>> at the crime seen, detective arnold continued to sift through clues. more leads came into focus. a bloody footprint, three soda cans and two cigarette butts by the bed. >> the second had an ash about an inch long. >> detective arnold ordered dna testing on the cigarettes and can. the detective was also learning about earon and the more he found out, the more he was drawn in. earon was raising four children, incling erica, and ebony, the oldest. >> we were more like sisters. we did everything together. she was the best mom. >> and fun to be around with a boisterous, oversized personality.

>> she was outgoing. she would do anything. a daredevil. i just miss her so much. she was very good to me. >> she loved her kids. tried her best to take care of them. >> earon worked at churchill downs, meeting celebrities, but had to go on disability because of ms and a painful inflammatory condition. she often took prescription painkillers to manage her symptoms. >> she was a heck of a woman. as far as a fighting spirit was concerned. >> but her parents were concerned by the crowd she sometimes ran with. she was with some guys you weren't fond after? >> that's right. >> even so, they couldn't imagine who would have shot her and erica and why. that just ramped up their own fears that the shooter or shooters might come back. >> i was scared to death, i thought, my god, what if they don't catch these people.

>> at the crime scene, detective arnold was searching for answer, combing the house for more clues. >> pinging in on a closet that contains a taf save. >> the first thing that popped in my head, a robbery. one of the first things we do is check cell phone records. >> records show earon received two calls within an hour of the shooting from a family friend. james quisenberry had known earon for years. he called her aunty a. police brought him in to see if he had anything to help with the investigation. >> one of the last people to call her was you. >> was me? >> quisenberry provided some names and offered to assist

police in any way he could. back at children's hospital, erica was now in the icu, holding on for life. her heartbroken grandparents and big sister stood daily vigil. >> it was like a horror movie. i don't know who that was on that bed. that wasn't erica. >> ebony took it very hard. 14 years older, she had been like a second mother to erica. in fact, erica actually called her mommy. by day four, erica's family was seeing signs of hope. doctors believed erica was strong enough to remove her breathing tube. now, it was time to see how she'd do on her own. >> i was rubbing her hand and she opened her eyes a little bit and said, mommy, and everybody was like, oh, my goodness, she's speaking. >> there was a big sign of life in rick arnold's investigation.

it was a mystifying discovery that would turn out to be crucial. >> with all these personal effects of earon harper, didn't make sense. coming up, an unlikely car. a cadillac, lead to an unlikely clue. i accept i don't conquer the mountain like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but whatever trail i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... ...and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop.

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>> i was able to find stuff all four days after she was shot, erica woke up and started talking to her family. in the icu, erica was feisty and combative. her surgeon said that was a positive sign. her brain was rebooting. did you pray a lot? >> oh, yes. >> judith was the most religious one in the family an a week after surgery, her prayers and unshakable faith were answered. erica's condition was upgraded from critical to fair. now, the family had to turn its focus to the one who did not make it, erica's mom, earon. on may the 25th, 2006, a week after she was gunned down, earon's family gathered for her funeral and the man who delivered the eulogy was none other than the man who raced erica to the hospital, steve kelsey, who also served as a minister in a local church.

>> and it was so moving and personal because he had been on the scene. >> but for jesse halladay, crime reporter for the "louisville courier-journal," what elevated the story was simple. >> the concern from the very beginning was that there was a 2-year-old. >> after nearly two weeks in the hospital, erica was well enough to move to frazier rehabilitation institute. the injury has damaged her ability to walk and talk. what was second nature to her had to be relearned. erica's sister was worried. erica has lost sight in her right eye forever and ebony was afraid she'd never be her old self again. what was different? >> she didn't run and play and talk as much. she was kind of quiet.

>> with no idea why her sister and mother were shot, ebony and her grandparents remained fearful. >> i was thinking about the safety of the kids and me, so i didn't go out much. >> back at the police station, detective arnold was trying to figure out his next move when the invest caught a lucky break. a neatnick spotted some of earon's things in a ditch and phoned police. there were prescription bottles, papers and something else that did not belong. a cadillac owner's manual. it stood out because it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the mess. why was it there and who's was it? rick arnold tried thumbing

through it, but the pages for soaked together. >> it's just soggy to the point where i tried to look through it, pages were still sticking together. >> days later, rick could separate a few pages, but was still frustrated. >> it was the third time and i was thinking, if i don't find something now, i'm out of luck. >> the third time was the charm. >> i was able to find stuck all the way down in the binding of the book, an automobile insurance card with a name. >> by now, his working days had turned into working nights. he typed the name, a man's name, into his computer and it spit out 15 matches. one lived in southern iindiana. around 11:00, rick called the man. >> asked him why his manual was in a ditch in louisville, kentucky.

he said, i don't know, but my car was broken into. >> it happened on the night of may the 17th, just a few hours before earon harper was found dead. >> i asked him, where do you work. he said he's a pharmacist at walgreens and bells and whistles go off. he works in a drugstore where they sell prescription drugs. it hit me immediately. >> he now had a working theory that went like this. someone broke into a shiny cadillac parked outside an indiana walgreens. the car happened to belong to the store's pharmacist. for now apparent reason, the thief grabbed the owner's manual from the glove department and tossed it into his car. he then went to earon's house where she and erica were shot and her prescription pills were stolen. then the person rushed away from

the house, through the pill bottles into the get away car and drove off. a few miles away, whoever was in the car got rid of the hot property, tossing earon's empty pill bottles out of the window along with the cadillac manual and that's how everything ended up together in the drainage ditch. >> i think they were just grabbing stuff and thought, we don't want this, she's dead. >> he said, i don't know for shoe, but i have a goodyed. >> the pharmacist remembered and cameras confirmed that a man in a baseball cap and another man came into the walgreens at 9:30 p.m. on may the 17th, just hours before earon was shot. >> and he said they didn't like like they were regular shoppers at our walgreens. he said most of my customers are regular customers. he told me they had come back to the pharmacy and tried to obtain

prescriptions using bogus names. >> on the tape, rick looked closely and saw the man in the baseball cap leaning throu the window of the enclosed pharmacy section, seemingly check out names from pill bottles. over and over, detective arnold stared at the grainy tape. the man in the baseball cap looked familiar. >> one person looks like quisenberry. >> as in james quisenberry, the family friend who phoned her minutes before the murder. earlier, he told the detective how much he wanted to help. rick wasn't buying any of it now. quisenberry had become a prime suspect, though rick wasn't ready to arrest him, not yet. not until he had the other man. that wouldn't be easy.

the mystery man was not in focus. how clear is the image of the second guy? >> not very clear. >> turned out, it was an image all too clear to little erica. >> the guy that come in the day care and had braids in their hair and erica said, don't let him hurt me. ta say, i love the new place. oh thanks. yeah, i took your advice and had geico help with renters insurance- it was really easy. easy. that'd be nice. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." phone: for help with bookcases, say "bookcase." bookcase. i thought this was the dresser? isn't that the bed? phone: i'm sorry, i didn't understand. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." does this mean we're not going out? book-case. see how easy renters insurance can be at geico.com. be right there baby. unlike ordinary diapers pampers is the first and only diaper that distributes wetness evenly

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just 27 days after being

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. >> head 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 2-year-old. reporter jesse halladay was amazed by her progress, but concerned about long-term brain damage. >> i didn't feel at that point i could say for sure she was going to be okay. >> but even getting this far had beaten the odds. erica was going home. >> great to have her there. >> it was a home she already

knew. grandparents judith and harold harper, both 69, were waving good-bye to their carefree golden years. they were full time parents again. >> i dream frd the first day that i would take care of her, not knowing what kind of state she would be in. >> erica's father had never been a big part of her life, so a court granted judith and harold custody of erica and her baby sister. you've worked your whole life, so it's your time to kick back. >> that doesn't bother me. my husband was a little different. >> it didn't turn out the way the thought. >> four years before the shooting, harold had retired from his long-time meat packing job expecting to ride his harley into the sunset. >> i had a california trip, been into canada. that had to stop.

>> he knows that i can't maintain these children without him. >> i love those little kids. >> i love my grandparents. they're the best grandparents ever. >> do you think they sacrificed a lot to do this? >> yeah, by grandpa loves his harley. >> people do what they have to do. what's 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, the popping, and she was afraid of fire crackers. >> loud noises and everything. she's like this. >> she was scared when it rained, when it thundered outside. >> but there was something else that terrified erica, and it was harder to understand. >> they was a guy that come in the day care to pick his child up and had braids in his hair

and erica 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 it out. he circled a freeze frame of the man and hoped someone could identify him. then he waited. eight months later, he got some promising news. someone thought they recognized the walgreens guy from another shooting. his name, kenneth williams. >> i think it's him, but then again, the picture on the video isn't real good, but i start focusing in on him at that point. >> then, rick's investigation got lucky again. an unlikely witness came forward

with information about that same kenneth williams and the night erica and her mom were shot. but the witness, rashon turner, was questionable. he was charged with murder himself and he was also greyly wounded in a shooting. >> he's on his death bed. he thinks he's going to hell and he has something to say. >> weeks later, his health improved enough to talk to rick arnold. >> they hit a lick on some lady. >> what does that mean? >> slang term for a robbery. >> robbery that escalated to murder. >> he knew things he couldt have known. there's no way he could have known some of this stuff. >> what kind of things? >> like there were pills involved. >> it was a long, frustrating, 15-month investigation, but rick

was foonlly close to the answers he had promised erica's grandmother. what kept you going during some of those times? >> the 2-year-old baby. >> five days after interviewing turner, he was ready to bring in quisenberry. actually, rick had enough on quisenberry to arrest him earlier, but he wasn't ready yet. he wanted more. both men from the video, so he could play them off of each other in dualing interrogations. and now, he hall had them. you had been waiting and waiting patiently, now, it's time to do your thing. heartburn. no one burns on my watch! try alka seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews.

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i'm pretty cynical, so i was not really sure what the long-term effect was going to be. >> one year after erica was left for dead, reporter jesse halladay made a house call to the grand party parents house.

>> with erica being so young and her grandparents raising her and there was so much interest to begin with, we wanted to go back and see how she was doing. >> erica had jesse at hello. that's all it took to win over the cynical reporter. >> erica was in it from the very beginning. she was trying to write with my pen, trying to color on my notebook. >> she lost all sight in her right eye and had a small scar. >> i think people wonder how she survived. >> louisville and erica's 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 is going to see that these people found, if this had just been earon, it would have been

just another death, but since erica was involved in that, they wasn't going to let up on it. >> judith didn't know it yet, but at headquarters, he was close to getting answers. james quisenberry, the family friend, who'd 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. >> i was a little an rehence sieve, but not nervous. it's something i had planned on for a long time. >> you were ready? >> i was ready. >> 15 months after the shootings, quisenberry and williams voluntarily came to headquarters. each knew the other was there.

>> i wanted them to understand they didn't tell us the truth, the other guy may be. >> detective arnold even walked williams past a close circuit monitor where he could see quisenberry in an interview room. >> now, he's got time to think, what's he telling them about. >> detective arnold needed both suspects to tell them they were in the house. 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. but as it wore on, he started blaming the man in the other room. but detective arnold knew something quisenberry did not. after quisenberry's first interview, rick had scooped up his smoked down marlboro's and the results were back. they matched a cigarette butt. >> i collect those and one has your dna on it. see, that's what i'm saying.

you were in the house and that's what i want to know about. >> how does he react to being caught? >> he was scared. >> i never told you i wasn't. >> now, quisenberry was admitting he had visits earon that day, but he insisted he left before anyone was shot. rick said quisenberry and his story were crumbling, so he went for the jugular and it worked. >> 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 now over, quisenberry had a request, one of the strangest rick had ever heard. a blunt is a king sized marijuana cigarette. >> i've never been asked that before.

>> now, it was time to interrogate williams and he proved to be a tougher nut to crack. first impressions of him? >> he's hard core to the max. >> i did not shoot the lady. did not do nothing to her. or the baby. >> he also denied everything and blamed the man in the other room, quisenberry. >> did he have a gun? >> yes. >> what color? >> black. >> williams kept insisting he was not in the house, but rick needed to get him inside as he did with quisenberry. >> i wanted him in the house, not outside by a car or down the

street by a stop sign. >> and he needed it fast, although he didn't realize how fast at the time. detective arnold saw an opening and pounced. first, you'll hear williams admit to coming inside. then listen closely as rick asked asks a rapid fire follow-up about his location in the house, giving him no chance to think or change his story. >> as i heard the gun shot, i ran in there -- >> what room were you in. >> in the back room. >> that was music to my ears, hearing him say, i'm in the back room. >> rick had him right where he wanted. inside the house. and none to soon. an attorney who immediately stopped the interview. >> just under the wire and in the nick of time. detective arnold placed williams and quisenberry under arrest and then wasted no time making the one phone call he had waited 15 months to make, to erica's grandmother. >> i made the phone call from

the bathroom. >> what was that like? >> an echo because i was in the bathroom, but a relief. i promised judy harper in 2006 that i would get those answers and now, we have them. >> what did you think when they told you? >> just relieved. i had confidence they would find them sooner or later. >> williams and quisenberry would stand trial for the murder of earon and attempted murder of erica. an eye for an eye, the death penalty hung over both of them. coming up, an emotional trial and the little girl who not only survived, but thrived. they call you the miracle baby. the miracle baby. why do they call you that? when "against all odds" continues. how you doing? even pet care services. and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service

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how you doing? >> on the carousel of life in louisville, it's what everyone's been asking. how's erica, the miracle baby doing? but through it all, other questions swirl, too. what happened in the house on wilson avenue and would the men involved in the shootings pay for their crimes? >> we are on the record. >> those answers would come three years later, april, 2009, in a louisville courtroom where james quisenberry and kenneth williams stood trial for the murder of earon harper and attempted murder of erica.

for harper, facing the defendant was too much to bear. >> i couldn't look him in the eye without rage. and i was just afraid that i'd mess everything up. >> it was an emotional trial. coprosecutor mark baker with two young daughters himself, cried in his opening statement. >> once you determined there was still life in that little body, you could imagine what the ulcers -- >> prosecutors maintained that the defendants came to still earon's pills and money, but then changed the plan after earon fought back, according to key witness, rashon turner. >> told me he snatched the purse and shot her. >> turner's testimony also helped fill in another piece of the puzzle. why quisenberry and williams were in the house that night. it appears that after earon was too ill to work, she found a way

to sup lement her income. selling her prescription medicine. she had invited them to buy pills before, but this time, it turned into robbery and ultimately murder when williams came along with his gun. >> i had no idea they would go into a house and kill you over a bottle of pills. >> there was little doubt quisenberry would be convicted of a crime. he got manslaughter and williams, guilty of murder and a life sentence with no possibility of parole. spared the death penalty because one jury yor would not go for it. >> i can't go around talking or

acting with hate in my heart because if do that, then my children, they're going to be thinking it's all right for them to do it. >> rick was gratified that he could make good on his promise to erica's grandmother, but also got something back from her. >> 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 her grant parents as her guiding light, erica's future looks bright. we caught up with the playoff 6 yale playful 6-year-old at the zoo. they call you the miracle baby. why? >> special girl. >> why are you special? >> i know everything. >> you know everything. what do you know? >> i know about like when bananas are rotten, i don't eat them.

>> you don't eat rotten bananas. what else do you know? since 2006, erica's struggles have been blockbuster news in her town. and the miracle baby has now become the media celebrity. she's a familiar face for a community leader's campaign to keep the children of louisville safe. >> she is still the miracle baby, but she is also a great advocate for fighting crimes against children. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? >> a nurse and a teacher. >> why a nurse? >> you get to help people. >> erica, come here! >> like the nurses and doctors from kosair children's hospital who saved her life. >> we're so glad to see you. >> more than three years later, they celebrated erica's recovery with a red carpet reunion. taking it all in, surgeon thomas moriarty, proud and pleased he could give his miracle patient a

clean bill of health. no brain damage whatsoever. >> she's wonderful. she's perfect. this little flower that has grown. >> he left her with a good brain and that's very important. >> smart cookie. >> she's going to need it throughout life. >> their prayers answered, judith and harold are raising a happy girl. when you look at erica, do you see any of your mom in erica? >> yes. main thing is her loud mouth. >> is that right? >> yes. erica's loud and has the raspy voice. >> where is your mom? >> in heaven. >> do you think about her a lot? >> yes. >> what kind of things do you think about? >> her coming down. >> what happens when she comes down? >> she's still my mama. >> and there's one other shared trait and that's what kept erica alive in her darkest hours. her mom's fighting spirit.

>> to battle what she had to battle, she had earon's fighting spirit to pull through that. >> and that's all for this edition of "dateline". dateline i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. it was just chaos. >> a day at the mall descends into mayhem. armed men turn shoppers in pray. >> a lot of screaming. a lot of fgunfire. they had a demeanor like they owned the place. >> panicked moms protecting their kids. >> i told them to be quiet like a mouse. >> i couldn't let him cry. this is it