happened to her dad. >> from my viewpoint, he gave his life for her. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie moralez. >> this is "dateline." she's the little girl who won the heart of a big city. >> they call you the miracle baby. why do they call you that? >> shot in the head at point-blank range, a crime scene that shocked even hardened police. >> the pillow had blood on it. >> as she fought to live, this detective vowed to catch whoever left her to die. soon, he turned up a promising lead. >> bells and whistles go off in my head. >> in the hospital, she battled

back. >> to know she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. >> not just her body, but her mind. >> it was the guy that come in the day care and erica said, don't let him hurt me. >> she handed investigators what could be a vital clue. would it be enough to crack the case? hello and welcome to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. it all started with a crime that 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. a detective vowed to crack this case, no matter how long it took. here is hoda kotb. >> one of the biggest attractions at the louisville

zoo was a floppy eared baby, scotty, cute and cuddly, at least for an elephant. >> he's got hair. >> he's got hair, right. on this day, he shared the spotlight with another media celebrity. a spunky girl named erica, whose infectious laugh and story captivated a city. >> that girl is a miracle child. >> why do you think they call her that? >> because she's been through a lot. >> a 2-year-old shot twice and lived. >> does she know what happened to her? >> she knows he was shotd. >> if you saw her, you would say there's no way 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. in betting, 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 come back whole? and would a dedicated detective not only crack his biggest case, but keep the emotional promise he made? erica's story began in a hard scrabble neighborhood in louisville, in this brick house on wilson avenue. a 2-year-old, wild about dora the explorer, erica lived here with her mom, aaron harper. on may 18, 2006, police got a frantic 911 call when they arrived at the house, the man who made the call flagged them down. >> what was his state of mind? >> he was hysterical. >> what was he saying? >> a little girl in there. >> reporter: they rush sbood the house and found a horrifying scene. a woman, almost certainly dead on the floor. >> just see a big pool of blood. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: was she saying anything, doing anything? >> no. then eventually, i touched her, she pushed my hand, said leave me alone. >> reporter: tell me about the emotion you felt at that moment. >> she was alive. >> reporter: barely. she had been shot in the head, dry blood was everywhere. she had been left there for a long time. >> she had very labored breathing. >> reporter: have you seen anyone breathing like that who made it? >> no. no, i have not. >> reporter: there was no time to wait for an ambulance. a sergeant barked for a police car to take her to the hospital. first, the officers had to get her to the car. i have to tell you, from the house to the car, it seems like a long way. what did it seem like when you were sprinting?

>> forever. >> reporter: you are holding her head and you are holding her legs. are you like this? >> like this. >> reporter: 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. >> 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 keep driving, thinking about my own kids. we are all fathers. >> reporter: the nbc station, wave tv captured the final moments as the motorcade made the turn to the hospital. the ride can take up to 15 minutes. how long did it take you? >> about two or three minutes. >> reporter: across town, another part of the story was unfolding inside this house. all day long, harold harper and his wife, judith, were wondering

why they couldn't reach their daughter, erin, and their 2-year-old granddaughter. they talked to their daughter nearly every day. the silence was strange. >> then the tv news flashed on. >> first here at 7:00 -- >> there had been a shooting on wilson avenue, where she lived. we thought, oh, my god. >> reporter: he and judith picked up erin's oldest daughter, ebony and drove to the house. >> a bunch of people outside. it was taped off. it was a mess down there. >> reporter: you knew that something was up? >> yeah. then i just -- >> reporter: freaked out? it wasn't long before their worst fears were confirmed. >> the jewelry she had on, they brought it to me. i knew it was erin then. >> reporter: their daughter, erin harper, 42, was dead in the doorway. when you saw the jewelry, you

knew it was your daughter. what went through you? >> i lost a son in '78 in a car wreck. he was gone when i got to the hospital. i shed a few tears. this was different. he was 21, had no children. >> the loss of erin was devastating. now the family had to deal with what happened to baby erica, finding out in the most impersonal way. >> i knew she was hurt. the police rushing her down the street, i saw on tv. >> reporter: later, they learned how badly hurt. she had been shot in the head. >> why, in the name of god, would somebody do that? >> reporter: it was this man's job to find out. in your experience, how many times have there been babies who have been victims? >> never a case i worked where a baby was shot. >> reporter: a pitching career at the university of louisville, now retired detective, rick

arnold new this would be a high profile case. he didn't know it would be the case of a lifetime. >> today's date is may 18,2006. >> reporter: a video camera rolled as detective arnold processed the crime scene, honing in on clues. >> this drum, near the victim's body, a shell casing. >> reporter: the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the every day images of young life. erin's body in a pool of blood, near a red kiddy wagon. a shell casing in front of a box of diapers. and the bed where erica jumped for joy was covered in her own blood. >> suspected blood on the sheets, pillows and pillowcases. >> reporter: detective arnold noticed something on the bed. >> the first thing that immediately hit me was the dora the explorer pillow with blood

on it. >> reporter: what was the emotion when you saw that? >> anger. >> reporter: with two young kids of his own, this hit rick hard. on the spot, he made a promise to erica's grandmother. >> reporter: you said, we are going to find who did this. >> yes. >> reporter: 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. like you, your cells get hungry. feed them... with centrum micronutrients. restoring your awesome, daily. centrum. feed your cells.

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>> reporter: detective rick arnold admitted little erica's shooting made his blood boil. it's why he guaranteed judith harper he'd figure out who killed her daughter and shot her 2-year-old granddaughter. why did you make that promise? >> emotion spilling over. a baby had been shot as well as an adult who was killed. we were expecting the baby to die. >> reporter: erica practically flat lined as they delivered her to the children's hospital. she was rushed into the emergency room where doctors and nurses worked to stabilize her. >> her vital signs were barely measurable. >> reporter: they performed surgery on the gunshot wounds to erica's head. these were cat scans of her skull and brain preop. >> you can see the bullets.

>> reporter: the surgeon's life-saving mission was to clean the fragments from her 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 going through and damaging and destroying everything. >> reporter: the doctor was relieved the bullet only struck the brain's frontal lobe, which can absorb injury. >> less than 3-year-old, the brain's ability to able to repair remarkable. >> reporter: after a three-hour surgery, he was encouraged. the bones in the pre-op image were gone. despite the repair, brain injuries are unpredictable and he urged caution.

>> the next three days in icu are going to be critical. >> a shell casing. >> reporter: at the crime scene, direct arnold continues to sit through clues. more leads came into focus, a bloody footprint, red soda cans and cigarette butts by the bed. >> the second one had an ash about an inch long. someone left that cigarette and rushed out of there. >> reporter: detective arnold ordered dna on the cigarettes and cans. he was learning more about erin and the more he found out, he was drawn in. she was raising four children, including erica, the only one home the night of the shooting and ebony, the oldest at 16. >> instead of mother and daughter, we were like sisters. >> reporter: like friends? >> yeah, we did everything together. she was fun to be around. >> reporter: an oversizeed personality. >> she was outgoing.

she would do anything. a daredevil. i just miss her so much. she was everything to me. >> she loved her kids. she tried her best to take care of them. >> reporter: she worked at churchill downs and met actors like jason priestley. she often took prescription painkillers to manager her symptoms. >> she was a heck of a woman, you know? a fighting spirit and everything is concerned. >> reporter: her parents were concerned by the crowd she sometimes ran with. she was with guys you weren't fond of? >> that's right. >> reporter: at that, they can't imagine who would have shot her or erica and why. it ramped up their fears the shooter or shooters might come back. >> i was scared to death. i thought, my god, what if they

don't catch these people. >> reporter: at the crime scene, detective arnold was searching for answers, combing the house for more clues. >> a closet that contains a safe. >> reporter: contents, apparently missing. >> the first thing is a robbery. >> next to that is a cell phone. >> we check cell phone records. >> reporter: she received two phone calls in the hours before the shooting, both from a family friend. james had known erin for years. he called her. police brought him in to see if he had any information that could help the investigation. >> one of the very last people to call her or talk to her by phone, which is why we want to talk to you. >> me? >> reporter: he provided names for investigators to check out

and offered to assist police in any way he could. >> help you find whoever did this. >> reporter: back at children's hospital, erica was now in the icu holding on for life. her heart broken grandparents and big sister stood daily vigil. >> it was like a horror movie. >> reporter: 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 in the icu, 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 would do on her own. >> i was rubbing her hand. she opened her eyes a little bit and said, mommy. everybody was like, oh, my goodness, she's speaking. >> reporter: while erica took the first small steps toward recovery, 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 affects of erin harper. coming up, an unlikely call. a cadillac leads to an unlikely clue when "dateline" continues. so to breathe better, i go with anoro. ♪ go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way, with anoro." ♪ go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. anoro is not for asthma. it contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. the risk is unknown in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems.

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dray, when he was younger, he loved to smile; and we knew he would need braces because his teeth were coming in funny. that's when he had the bunny rabbits. we called him the bunny rabbit. now, those are the same two front teeth, there, that they are now. then dray ended up having to wear braces for 5 years because he never made it to appointments, because he was busy playing basketball. if he missed practice, he don't get to play in the game. this is the picture that was on the front page of the newspaper. all you can notice is the braces! then, once he got to michigan state, he broke the retainer! my bottom teeth, they were really crooked, and i just wasn't getting braces again. smile direct club fits into my lifestyle so well. the liner is so great. it's easy to just grab it and go and then i can change on the road. i did photoshoots with my aligners in

and you can't see them. i wish smile direct club would have been around when i was paying for them. i wouldn't have to take him out of school. i wouldn't have had missed work. it's like a great feeling to have good teeth. a smile is a first impression, that's why i think having a great smile is so important. four days after she was

shot, erica woke up and started talking to her family. in the icu, erica was feisty and combative. her neurosurgeon said that was a positive sign, her brain was rebooting. did you pray a lot? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: judith was the moat religious one in the family. a week after surgery, her prayers and unshakable faith were answered. her condition from critical to fair. >> she looked real bad. i never dwelled on she wasn't going to make it. >> reporter: now, the family had to turn their focus to the one who did not make it, erica's mom, erin. on may 25, 2006, a week after she was gunned down, erin's family gathered for her funeral. the man who delivered the eulogy was none other than the officer who raced erica to the hospital, steve kelsey, who also served as a minister in a local church.

>> it was so moving and personal because he had been on the scene. >> reporter: for jesse, a crime reporter for the louisville journal, what elevated the story was simple, little erica. >> the public concern from the very beginning was there was a 2-year-old involved. >> reporter: after nearly two weeks in the hospital, erica was well enough to move to nearby frazier rehabilitation institute. the hard work was just beginning. the brain jury damaged her ability to walk and talk. what had been second nature to her had to be relearned, running, talking back and forth and being a playful kid again. erica's sister, who knew her best was worried. erica lost sight in her right eye forever. ebony was afraid she would never be her old self again. what was different? >> she didn't run and play and

talk as much. she was quiet. >> reporter: with no idea why her sister and mother were shot, ebony and her grandparents remained fearful. you must have been worried like, who did this and where are they? >> yeah, i was thinking about the safety of the other kids and me. i didn't go out much. >> reporter: back at the police station, detective arnold was trying to find out his next move when he got a break. a 75-year-old spotted some of erin's things in a ditch three miles from erin's house and phoned police. there were empty prescription pill bottles, credit cards and id cards and personal papers and something else that did not belong. >> what is this thing? >> a cadillac manual. >> a cadillac owner's manual. it stood out because it didn't fit with the rest of the mess. why was the car manual there and whose was it? rick arnold tried thumbing

through it, but the pages were soaked together. >> the front and back cover were soggy to the point where when i started to look through it the first time, the pages were still sticking together. >> reporter: days later, he could separate pages, but frustrated. >> the third time. i was thinking, this would be the last time. if i don't find something now, i'm going lick my thumb and forefinger and went through it page by page. >> reporter: the third time was the charm. >> stuck in the binding of the book, an automobile insurance card. >> reporter: with a name? >> with a name, most importantly. >> reporter: by now, working days turned into working nights. he typed the name, a man's name, into his computer and it spit out 15 matches, one of them lived in southern indiana, just across the river from louisville. around 11:00 p.m., rick called the man. >> i asked him why his manual

would be in a drainage ditch in louisville, kentucky. he said i don't know, but my car was broken into at work last week. >> reporter: his cadillac. the break-in happened the night of may 17th, a few hours before erin harper was found dead. >> i asked him, where does he work? a pharmacist at walgreens. bells and whistles go off. he works at a drugstore. there's a reason the manual was with the stuff. >> reporter: he had a working theory and it went like this. someone broke into a shiny cadillac parked outside an indiana walgreens. it happened to belong to the pharmacist. the thief grabbed the owner's manual and tossed it into his own car. he then went to erin's house where she and erica were shot and erin's prescription pills were stolen. then, according to rick's theory, the person rushed away

from the house, threw the pill bottles and credit cards into the get away car and drove off. a few miles away, whoever was in the car got rid of the hot property, tossing the empty pill bottles and credit cards out the window, along with the cadillac manual. that's how everything ended up together in the drainage ditch. >> i think they were just grabbing stuff. they thought, we don't want this, she's dead. >> reporter: rick asked the pharmacist if he knew who broke into his car. he said i don't know for sure, but i have a good idea. >> reporter: the pharmacist remembered and cameras confirmed a man in a baseball cap and another man came into the walgreens at 9:30 p.m. on may 17th, hours before erin was shot. >> he said they didn't look like they were regular shoppers at our walgreens. most of our prescription customers are regulars. they came back to the pharmacy and tried to obtain

prescriptions using bogus names. >> reporter: on the security tape, rick looked closely and saw the man leaning through the window of the enclosed pharmacy section, checking out names from pill bottles. over and over, detective arnold stared at the grainy wall greens tape. the man in the baseball cap looked familiar. as in james, erin's family friend who phoned her minutes before the murder. earlier, he told the detective how much he wanted to help the investigation. >> find whoever did this. >> reporter: rick wasn't buying any of it now. he 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. there were two suspects in his sights, the mystery man 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 little erica. >> the guy that came in the day care and breathed in her hair. erica said, don't let him hurt me. >> when "dateline" continues. more? they've been saving folks money for over 75 years. a company you can trust. geico even helped us with homeowners insurance. more sounds great. gotta love more... right, honey? yeah! geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. party's over, 'six legs', she's got simparica now. simpari-what? simparica is what kills tick and fleas, like us. kills? kills! studies show at the end of the month, it kills more ticks in less time than frontline plus and nexgard. guess we should mosey on. see ya never, roxy!

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hello, here is what's happening. president trump is in canada for the g7 summit. the president will head to singapore for next week's nuclear summit with north korea's, kim jong-un. the golden state warriors are celebrating their win over the cleveland cavaliers to complete a four-game sweep. that's what's happening. now, back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. detective rick arnold identified

one man on security video. there was another person, too. could detectives track him down before it's too late? once again, hoda kotb. >> reporter: 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 she survived was a powerful moment. >> reporter: erica laughed, cried and acted like a 2-year-old. the reporter was amazed by her progress, but concerned about long-term brain damage. >> at that point, i couldn't say for sure she would be okay. >> reporter: erica was going home. >> just great to have her there, you know, and get her home from the hospital. >> reporter: it was a home she

already knew. grandparents, judith and harold harper were waving good-bye to their care-free golden years. they were full-time parents again. >> i agreed from the first day that i would take care of her, not know whing what kind of sta she was going to be in or mental state. >> reporter: erica's father had never been a part of her life, so a court granted them full custody of erica and her baby sister. >> reporter: you worked your whole lives to kick back and put your feet up? that's not for you? >> it doesn't bother me in the least. >> it didn't turn out like i thought because of the children and stuff. >> reporter: four years before the shootings, harold retired from his long-time meatpacking job, expecting to ride his harley into the sunset. >> i had a california trip. i had been into canada, most

everywhere. well, that had to stop. >> he knows i couldn't maintain these children without him. >> i don't want her to. i love those little kids. >> i love my grandparents, they are the best, ever. >> reporter: do you think they sacrificed a lot to do this? >> yeah, my grandpa loves his harley. >> but, you know, people do what they have to do, you know? what's in their heart to do. >> reporter: together, they gave erica a secure home. day by day, she was gaining strength, but things were not normal. >> she was afraid of balloons. >> reporter: balloons? >> to pop them and fire crackers. >> loud noises and everything. >> she was scared when it rained and thundered outside. >> reporter: it sounded like gunshots? >> yeah. >> reporter: there was something else that terrified erica. it was harder to understand. >> the guy that came in the day care to pick his child up with braids in his hair.

erica started running and crying to the teacher and said don't let him hurt me. >> reporter: judith told detective arnold about her fear of men with braids. there it was, the mystery man had braids. the image was 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 promising news. a detective thought he recognized the walgreen's guy from another shooting. >> i might want to check him out. >> reporter: his name, kenneth williams. he compared several mug shots and you think you have the guy? >> i think it's him, but the picture in the video is not good. i start focusing in on him. >> reporter: his investigation got lucky a again.

an unlikely witness came forward about information of kenneth williams. the witness for shawn turner was questionable. he was charged with murder, himself, for which he pled guilty to manslaughter and he was gravely wounded in a shooting. >> he's on his death bed. he thinks he's going hell and has something he needs to say. >> reporter: weeks later, his health improved enough to talk to rick arnold. >> they hit a lick on some lady. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> slang for a robbery. >> reporter: robbery that quickly escalated to murder. >> he knew things he couldn't have known. he knew things that weren't in the media. >> there's no way he could have known these things. >> reporter: what kind of things? >> pills were involved. >> reporter: it was a long,

frustrating investigation. rick was close to the answers he promised erica's grandmother. >> reporter: what kept you going during those times you felt you were hitting dead ends? >> a 2-year-old baby, erica hughes. >> reporter: the detective was ready to bring them in for tough questioning. rick had enough to arrest him, but wasn't ready, yet. he wanted more. both men from the walgreen's video to play them off each other in dualing interrogations. now, he had them. you have been waiting and waiting patiently. it's time to do your thing, right? >> the detective moves to get each suspect to implicate the other, not knowing he was nearly out of time. coming up -- >> reporter: you didn't know you were playing with the clock? >> no. no idea. >> when "dateline" continues. lasts through heat. through sweat.

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do ynever thought i'dirst tsee one in real life.r? [ dinosaur screeches ] the park is in the past.

run! we're not on an island anymore. there is a town five miles from here. am i dead? not yet, kid. change was inevitable and it's happening now. welcome to jurassic world. rated pg-13. i'm pretty cynical, so i was not really sure what the long-term effect was going to be. >> reporter: one year after erica was left for dead, the reporter made a house call to erica's grandparents house, a check-up, of sorts. >> with erica being so young and grandparents raising her and so much interest to begin with, we wanted to go back and see how she was doing. >> reporter: erica had jesse at

hello. that's all it took to win over this cynical reporter. >> erica was in it from the beginning. she was trying to write with my pen and trying to color on my notebook. >> reporter: she lost all sight in her right eye and had a small scar on her chin where the bullet exited. >> i think people still wonder how she survived. i wonder how she survived. >> reporter: louisville and erica's family were 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 erin, it would have been just, maybe

another death. but, since erica was involved in that, they wasn't going to let up on it. >> reporter: judith didn't know it, yet, but at police headquarters, detective arnold was close to getting clues. james, the family friend, who made the last phone call to erin and kenneth williams who recollects admitted to a witness that he was part of a robbery that turned deadly. now, it was time to bring both men in and interrogate them. >> i was apprehensive, but not nervous. no butterflies, just because it's something i had planned on and prepared for for such a long time. >> reporter: you were ready? >> i was ready. >> reporter: 15 months after the shootings, they came to headquarters. each knew the other was there. >> i wanted them to understand if they didn't tell us the truth, the other guy may be. >> reporter: as a tactic, he walked williams past a closed

circuit monitor where she was see the other in a room. >> he's got time to think, what is he telling detectives? what is he talking about? >> reporter: he needed both suspects to admit they were in the house when the shootings went down. that would back-up murder charges. he said he knew nothing about the crime. as the interrogation wore on, he started blaming the man in the other room. >> i want you to tell me why you killed her. >> i wasn't there. >> reporter: but, detective arnold new something he did not. after his first interview, rick scooped up the smoked down marlboros 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. >> one has your dna on it. >> it has my dna?

>> that's what i'm saying. you were in the house. that's what i want to know about. >> reporter: how does he react to being cornered, caught in a lie. >> backtracking. getting scared. >> i never told you -- i used to be over all the time. that's what i'm saying. >> reporter: now, he was admitting he visited his friend, erin, that day. he insisted he left before anyone was shot. >> rick sensed that the story was crumbling, so he went for the jugular, demanding he come clean. and it worked. >> i saw him go in there and i was behind him. pow, pow, pow. i heard gunshots. >> him saying he was in that house was critical. that is the most important thing he said. >> he now had admission number one. the interview near le over, he had a request, one of the

strangest rick ever heard. >> i know this is hard to ask i need to smoke a blunt. >> reporter: a blunt is a king-sized marijuana cigarette. >> i have never been asked that before. >> we can't do that. >> reporter: now, it was time to interrogate williams. he proved to be a tougher nut to crack. first impressions of him? >> he's hard core. hard core to the max. >> i did not shoot the lady. i did not do nothing to her. >> reporter: he also denied everything and blamed the man in the other room. >> did he have a gun? >> yes. >> what color was it? >> black. >> reporter: williams kept insisting he was not in the house. rick needed to get him inside as he had with the other. >> i wanted him in the house, not down the street or by the car. >> reporter: he needed it fast. he didn't realize how fast, at the time. you didn't know you were playing with the clock?

>> not at all. >> reporter: he saw an opening and pounced. williams admits to coming inside. listen closely as he 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 there to see what's going on. >> what room were you in? >> i was in the back room. >> music to my rooms hearing him say, i'm in the back room. >> reporter: rick had him where he wanted, inside the house. and none too soon. >> you got an attorney now. >> an attorney who immediately stopped the interview. >> just under the wire and in the nick of time. >> reporter: he placed them under arrest and then he wasted no time making the one phone call he waited 15 months to make. to erica's grandmother. >> i made the phone call from

the bathroom. >> reporter: what was that like? >> it wauz relief. i promised judy harper on may 18, 2006 that i would get those answers. now we have them. >> reporter: what did you think when they told you? >> well, just relieved. i had confidence they would find them u'll ask... what bad shoulder? what headache? advil is relief that's fast strength that lasts you'll ask... what pain? with advil liqui-gels

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

harper and the attempted murder of little erika. for harold harper facing the defendants was simply 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 he determined that there's still life in that little body, you can imagine what the officers did there at the scene. >> prosecutors maintain that the defendants came to steal erin's pills and money but then williams changed the plan after williams fought back. >> he told me he snatched the purse from her, but she wouldn't let go of her purse and he shot her. >> turner's testimony also helped fill in another piece of the puzzle. why they were in the house that night. it appears that after erin

became too ill to work she found a way to supplement her income selling her prescription medicine. she had invited her friend 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 just one week and there was little doubt that quizen berry would be convicted of some crime. he got manslaughter and a maximum 45 years in prison. as for williams. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty. >> guilty of murder. and then a life sentence with no possibility of parole. spare the death penalty only because one holdout juror would not vote for it. >> did you think that he should have 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're going to be thinking it's all right for them to do it. >> rick was grat dpied that he could make good on his promise to erika's grandmother but he also got something back from her. >> i drew a lot from judy's strength. out of the tragedy the harper family had pulled together with her grandparents erika's futur looked bright. she was a playful six-year-old. we won't to theooherehe 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 just a 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? >> her struggles in the brink of death came block buster news. and the miracle baby became the media celebrity as the familiar face for a community leader's campaign to keep the children of louisville safe. >> please help us fight crimes against children. >> 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. >> and why a nurse? >> you get to help people. >> erika, come here. >> like the nurses and doctors from the children's hospital who saved her life. >> we're so glad to see you. >> more than three years later they celebrated her recovery with a red carpet reunion. taking it all in, the surgeon proud and pleased that he could give his miracle patient a clean

bill of health. no brain damage whatsoever. >> she's wonderful. she's perfect. she is the little flower that has grown. >> he left her with a good brain and that's very important. >> she's going to need it throughout life. >> when you look at erika, do you see any of your mom in erika? >> yes. >> what parts? >> the main thing i see is her loud mouth. >> is that right? >> yes, she's loud and she's got the ras pi 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 do you think about? >> i think about her coming down. >> and what happens when she comes down. >> she would still be my mama. >> so it's a constant reminder that your mom is with you. >> and there's one other shared trait and that's what kept her alive in her darkest hours. her mom's fighting spirit. >> to battle what she had to

battle, i guess she did have erin's fighting spirit, you know, to pull through all that. you know, so thank gotd for tha. >> that's all for this edition of "date line." i'm grag melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and this is "dateline." >> i can't believe that your baby is lying there lifeless. >> she was everything to me. she was so sweet to everybody. >> state troopers said bonnie had died in a hiking accident. >> they said she fell off a cliff. her mother said they were wrong. >> i'm screaming to them, these are defensive wounds. >> no witnesses, no weapon, nothing left behind but a stranger's dna. >> we no longe