as always have a good weekend unless you have other plans. on behalf of all my colleagues here at the networks of nbc news, good night. she hugged me. and she said she was sorry. and i bursted in tears. i bursted in tears because that to me, is a true example of humanity. >> reporter: two families torn apart by one devastating crime. >> there's a woman, she's shot, she's laying on the floor in the garage. >> reporter: a young mom named crystal taylor, murdered on her way to work, five months pregnant. >> this is breaking me!

>> she pretty much gave her whole life just trying to raise me right. >> being a mom was who she was. who would shoot crystie? >> what's going on here? >> that was our question. >> reporter: police zeroed in on the men in her life. one, two, three of them. >> we're trying to find out who would have the motivation to do this to help find her killer. >> reporter: to help find her killer, her anguished sisters would turn amateur detectives. >> i couldn't even sleep. i needed an answer. >> that was my sister, my baby sister. >> reporter: the twist that stopped everyone cold? there had been another attack on another pregnant woman. >> she was assaulted. and her neck was cut. >> who was targeting moms-to-be? >> in this life or the next, you're gonna pay for what you've done wrong. >> i couldn't believe what i was hearing. how does this happen? >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's josh mankiewicz with, "one moment." >> reporter: in the mega-sprawl of los angeles county, the city of hawthorne occupies about six

square miles, none of them especially glamorous. for decades local pride centered on the beach boys. they grew up here, and quickly left. nowadays it's tech giants like spacex with headquarters at the local airport. but the heart and soul of hawthorne was and is working families. strivers who stay close and look out for each other. this is a story about one of those families. they faced ups and downs like everyone else and always worked through them, together. until one moment, one morning, one bullet, came to tear them apart. growing up, sisters crystal, michelle, and monica taylor were always there for each other. >> we have this tradition of having a family support group. >> reporter: it was their mother, known as momo, who set the tone.

>> i thought it was the most wonderful family there was. my mom and i were best friends and my little sister were best friends. and, you know, so, i thought life was great. >> i'm the oldest. michelle's the middle, and crystie was the baby. and she was every bit the baby. she's my mom's baby. >> reporter: crystal taylor was the youngest by six years. and both older sisters thought momo loved crystie a little extra. spoiled her too, say michelle and monica. >> they talked every day. and she would just immediately start whining as soon as she talked to my mom. she could be, like, being a grownup, and as soon as the phone rang, she went right back to 8-year-old. all the time. >> reporter: tia, her niece, remembers crystie as both a homebody and a romantic dreamer. >> she wasn't flashy. she wasn't someone who, like, shopped a lot. she was just a really down to earth, simple, just happy to be at home watching movies. >> she watched the same movies -- >> all the time.

>> all the time. over. and she loved love stories. "hope floats." "ever after." "love jones." >> reporter: those are all stories of women who find love in improbable ways and end up happy. >> right. >> reporter: is what she wanted? >> yes. >> i know she wanted love. i know that she -- she wanted a fairytale life. i know she always talked about it, but, you know, she was happy with the life that she had. >> reporter: the life she had, working, being with family, and raising a son who was born the very day she turned 17. >> i went in and she was singing "it never rains in southern california" in labor, like shaking the bed. it was like, hurry! >> reporter: crystal called her little boy javonte, against the wishes of the boy's father. >> he came in the room when we were in there, and he was like, "i want his name to be junior." she just like -- in labor stop labor, "no." she said, "well, oh, no. because i'm not marrying him. and if i get married to somebody else i don't wanna have two juniors, like no." >> reporter: so she already made the decision that she was having the baby, but she was not gonna be his wife? >> and she was not gonna be his wife. but that was crystie. she made a decision.

there's no changing her mind. >> reporter: wrapped in the blanket of her big family, crystal knew she and javonte would do just fine. >> we are some baby whisperers in the sense. we love babies. strangers' babies, anybody baby. >> reporter: anybody say that's too young to be having a baby? >> no, we all had babies young. >> we'd still said it. it would still be said, but it would also be followed by, "you're still gonna finish school. you know, life isn't over. you made your bed harder, but you're gonna lay in it. and we're gonna love this baby." >> reporter: those were rules set down by momo. >> everyone finished school, started a career, and raised their children on their own successfully. >> reporter: as javonte grew, crystie grew up. >> she just really took care of her baby, went to work, and, like, brought her lunch 'cause she was never spending any money. if she went to the movies with her son, no, he knew not to ask for snacks. she just wouldn't spend any money.

>> reporter: money was for the important things, like javonte's education. >> she always talked about, you know, his prom, or when he goes to college, or what she wanted him to do with his life and -- and, you know, how she wanted him to be different. so she took her job as a mother really seriously. >> reporter: by 2001 michelle and crystie and their kids were living in separate apartments in the the same apartment building in hawthorne. even momo lived there until her health began to fail and she moved to texas where her sister-in-law, a nurse, could take care of her. but soon came word, momo's in bad shape. come quick. that day was easy to remember. it was september 11, 2001. they couldn't fly. no one in the u.s. could. so they drove from hawthorne to texas. crystie wouldn't leave momo's side the entire time they were there. >> crystie's like, "i'm sorry, but i came here for -- just to see mom." she wasn't leaving her room. like, she was just focused on

her. >> if she can get next to my mom, she's gonna be on her like glue. >> reporter: and that worked. your mom kind of rallied. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: after two weeks, the family drove back to los angeles, arriving in the middle of the night on september 23rd. two days later, this family learned a difficult truth. no matter how much you love, and how much you care, sometimes you can't help your loved one when harm is headed their way. >> 911. >> yes. i'd like to report a gunshot. there's a woman. she's shot. she's laying in the floor in the garage. >> reporter: soon after, a neighbor of crystie's called tia with some brutal news. >> they just said that she was shot. i remember saying, "who would shoot crystie?" >> she screamed the most harrowing scream. >> reporter: a family in anguish. i broke down crying. i just cried myself to sleep that night. >> reporter: and the first clues to the mystery.

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911. >> yes. i'd like to report a gunshot. there's a woman. she's shot. she's laying in the floor in the garage. >> reporter: minutes after a 911 call, the hawthorne police arrived at crystal taylor's apartment building. detective robbie williams wasn't far behind. >> i was at my desk and received a call from my patrol units that they had a young lady who was unresponsive and appeared that she may have suffered a gunshot wound to the head. >> reporter: williams arrived and quickly sized up the scene. >> there's officers already trying to revive her. she's laying down in the lobby area of her apartment complex that leads from the upper stairs, which are their apartment, and to the garage area. and then we just started getting into the processing of a crime scene, making sure that we identify as many witnesses and

if there's also other victims. >> reporter: but the only obvious victim was crystal. she'd been shot in the head. paramedics took her to the hospital and detective williams got straight to work finding witnesses. >> because this is early morning. there's kids walking to school. there's people preparing themselves for their day of work so a lot of people were up. a lot of people reported hearing a gunshot. >> reporter: a father making breakfast for his kids looked out the kitchen window when he heard the shot. he saw a man running. an 11-year-old girl on the sidewalk in front of the building also heard it, and saw a man holding a shiny object. he jumped a fence and ran north. anybody actually see the shooting? >> no, and there was no surveillance cameras that captured it, either. >> reporter: but the crime scene was talking to detective williams. was she robbed? >> the evidence doesn't support a robbery. her purse was still intact. the amount of time between someone hearing a shot and

someone else seeing someone running away from the crime scene doesn't necessarily support a robbery. >> was she sexually assaulted? >> no evidence supported that she was sexually assaulted. her clothes appeared to be intact. >> so what's going on here? >> that was our question. >> reporter: it was the first of many questions detective williams would have. crystie's family was gathering at the hospital. later, they'd have questions too. but right now, they were all in shock. >> i got there first. they were like, go in that -- go in this room, that was off to the side. well, i had already been to the hospital a lot with my mom, so i knew that they took the family to a side room. so i told them, like, "no, no, no, i don't want to go in there, i just want to see about my sister." then the doctor came out and he told me, he was like, "well, she

didn't make it." >> and i'm driving on the freeway, and all of a sudden, i just felt like she wasn't here. >> reporter: the news that they lost their baby sister was unbearable. crystal taylor was just 27. >> when i got in, michelle was on the floor. i'm just, like, looking at her. i try to hug her. >> reporter: now they had to tell their ailing momo her baby was gone. >> when i had to call my mom to say, "somebody killed crystie," and she screamed the most harrowing just scream. i just knew this is gonna kill mom, too. >> yeah. >> there's nothing worse than burying your kids. i mean -- >> no. especially when you're already so sick. >> so sick. >> i -- i remember when -- i was talking to my -- my mom. i was like, "don't you leave me." >> reporter: telling crystal's 10-year-old son was even harder. >> and we kind of sat next to

like, "javonte, your mom died." and he crossed his arms like this -- >> and screamed. and kind of lai d'back and screamed, my boor little mommy. >> reporter: "your mom died." they didn't say how. you all kind of shielded javonte from what had happened. >> yes. >> yeah. >> we were older and couldn't grasp what had happened to her. so why give it to him? >> so in one day, his whole world goes away. >> goes away. >> no more mom. no more home. no more life as he knew it. >> yeah, and he taught himself to just be -- like, not even talk about it. >> you don't even know javonte's in a room. he learned to just -- i don't know. he just shut down. >> reporter: even now, javonte seems almost numb when talking about the worst day of his life. >> that night i pretty much -- i broke down crying. i just cried myself to sleep that night. >> you remember that? >> yes. >> you remember what she looked like? >> yes. >> i heard you can't remember the sound of her voice. >> i cannot remember what her -- she would sound like, no. >> that bother you?

>> a bit, yes. >> reporter: this family tragedy would only get worse. because crystal taylor wasn't the only one killed by that bullet. coming up, police drill down in the search for a suspect. >> we tend to focus on relatives or relationship partners. >> the men in crystal's life. one, two, three of them. >> we're trying to find out who would have the motivation to do this. >> when "dateline" continues.

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another life-changing technology from abbott, so you don't wait for life. you live it. as crystal taylor's family tried to figure out how to cope with her murder, detective robbie williams tried to figure out who might have wanted her dead. >> when we started recreating that person's life, you know, we're trying to find out who would have the motivation to do this. and oftentimes, you know, a civilian like she was, not involved in any criminal enterprise, we tend to focus on relatives or relationship partners.

>> reporter: the 11-year-old girl who'd seen the shooter running told cops just before the shot rang out, she heard a man and a woman arguing. was that a clue? detective williams learned crystal had a boyfriend named dino. >> just a hard-working guy. was in a relationship with crystal on and off. and this is coming from the family and friends that knew about dino. >> reporter: and there was kenneth woods, father of crystal's 10-year-old son javonte. >> javonte's father's got to be somebody you're gonna look at. >> most definitely, and we did. trying to identify if there was a ongoing conflict. >> kenneth wasn't helping with javonte and there had been conflict over child support in the past. crystal had obtained a court order requiring kenneth to pay. so two possible leads. a third surfaced when williams went to crystal's office. >> we get to her place of employment and we talk to

several young ladies that identified themselves as being her friend. and they're shocked that this has happened. >> they told him the day before she was killed, crystal received a phone call at work that seemed to upset her. and then they dropped a bombshell. >> that a, she was pregnant, and b, the person that she was pregnant by did not want her to be pregnant any longer. >> you couldn't tell crystal taylor was pregnant when you saw her lying on the ground? >> i couldn't tell. i couldn't tell. >> in fact, she was five months along. her unborn son died when she did. crystal had told friends the father of her child was a guy named derek smyer. so you want to find out where derek is. >> most definitely. we want to find everything about him right now. >> the detective learned crystal and derek had a quick fling. it only lasted a month or so. they'd met at anderson park, which is near both their jobs. by now, it was lunch time. derek wasn't in his office. so williams drove to the park. bringing crystal's work friends

with him. and one of them immediately noticed something. >> she points out a car that derek drives. >> reporter: his car was easy to spot. it had vanity plates that said "my whip" slang for a fancy car. then crystal's friend pointed out derek. and detectives brought him in for a talk. >> go ahead and compose yourself. what is your last name, sir? >> smyer. >> and your first name, sir? >> derek. >> do you have a middle name, derek? >> paul. >> he freely answered your questions? he didn't ask for an attorney? >> no. no, he -- he never requested an attorney during our interview time with him. >> when was the last time that you saw her at her apartment that you can recall? >> last time was not recently. >> okay. >> i haven't seen her physically in about -- let's see, a couple months. >> about two months? >> longer than that. >> he kind of discounted it as "yeah, we were on and off really quick."

>> does derek offer any theory of what he thinks might have happened to crystal? >> at some point in the interview, he talks about her being involved with other people. >> did she mention this other boyfriend at all? >> she mentioned that sometimes he'd pop up at her apartment. sometimes she'd say, i wish this guy stop calling me, or he's trying to get back with me. at least that's the impression from what i got. >> right. >> it might be true. she might have been trying to make me -- >> jealous or something? >> i don't know. you know what i mean? >> right. >> people say things, they're not always the truth, you know what i mean? >> did he acknowledge that crystal was pregnant with his child? >> he acknowledged that she was pregnant but came short of acknowledging that the child was his. >> you're the father of her child or she thinks you are? well, anyway. [ laughter ] >> you had a basic description of someone that witnesses saw running from the scene. >> yes. african-american male wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a scarf around his head, or handkerchief

around his head. small build. wearing dark clothing. with light facial hair. >> that description resemble derek smyer? >> it does. >> derek smyer had no criminal record. he had a white collar office job and he came from a close-knit, loving family, said his sister, danielle. >> i really -- i looked up to my brother growing up. i was really quiet in school. but everyone knew who derek smyer was. >> he had your back? >> he had my back. and there is no doubt that if anything happened, they would be there to take care of me. >> so when she heard police were interviewing her brother about a murder, she questioned him herself. >> and i asked derek, what is this? he said, i don't know. i said, what happened? he said, i don't know what happened.

>> he didn't say that he knew anything about crystal taylor's death? >> nothing about crystal taylor's death. >> it sounds to me like you were pretty fixated on derek pretty early. >> well, he was -- he was one of our -- our top three. because remember, we're looking at the son's father, we're looking at her love interest on and off guy. dino. and we're looking at now derek. >> how did javonte's father react when you told him crystal had been murdered? >> his reaction was shock. he was shocked. >> and her boyfriend dino was devastated, police said. more important, both men had alibis. witnesses put them no where near crystal's apartment at the time of the murder. the same was true for derek smyer. his neighbors saw him at home at 7:30 that morning, meaning he couldn't have shot crystal. doesn't sound like there's enough to hold anybody on at that point. >> no. >> but soon enough there would be another person police would be looking at. coming up --

>> it was a guy. he was sitting on the stairs and he startled me a little bit. i kind of got this instinct that said, remember what he looked like. >> sisters turned investigators? >> we had been watching "cold case" and "criminal files." so we thought we were real detectives. he wasn't going to get away with killing our sister. when "dateline" continues. u. (upbeat music) -[narrator] we are boomer natur. our neck gaiters, face masks, and one-piece shield masks are certified 99.99% anti-microl with nano-silver technology. boomer naturals, you and your family deserve the best. available at boomernaturals.com, cvs stores, and cvs.com.

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hello, here's what is happening. after a hand recount of 5 million ballots georgia's top official have declared georgia for joe biden and other states are going to certify their had results on friday. emergency use authorization has been asked for pfizer. the vaccine could be available as early as mid december. now, back to "dateline."

sometimes, the things people have to deal with after a loved one is murdered only intensify the agony. there was the bloody mess left at the crime scene. crystal's pastor and a family friend stepped in to clean it so the family wouldn't have to. the sisters were asked to donate crystal's organs. that proved too difficult a question to answer quickly. and there was one more thing. somebody told you you had to name the baby? >> she was already going to name him jeremiah, so we just stuck with it. >> reporter: jeremiah taylor wasn't supposed to be born for 20 more weeks. he never got a birth certificate. only a death certificate. then the coroner released his body along with his mother's, so their family could say goodbye. >> it was an open casket. i remember i wanted to reach out and touch her. i just kind of sat in the chair looking down at the floor, waiting for it to be over.

>> reporter: in the days after crystie died, everyone in the family spoke with police. hoping they could help in some way. any way. michelle had a story about the day before crystie died. as she left with the kids that morning, there was a man in the lobby of their building. >> and i came around the corner, and -- it was a guy. he was sitting on the stairs. and when i came around he startled me a little bit, so i stopped to ask him what was he doing there, and then he told me he was waiting for someone. >> reporter: michelle had a bad feeling about him. >> i kind of got this instinct that said, remember what he looked like. and then i froze on what he looked like, and went on about my business. >> reporter: and she warned crystie about the man. >> i called her to tell her that it was a strange guy that was on the stairs, just be careful when she came out. >> reporter: so was the man michelle saw on monday the same man witnesses saw on tuesday,

running from the scene after the murder? >> what i'd like to do chavonna is know a little bit about -- >> reporter: police brought in chavonna hall, the 11-year-old schoolgirl who saw the running man. >> did he have anything on his head? >> yeah. >> reporter: with her mom at her side, she worked with a forensic artist from the los angeles sheriff's department on a sketch of the suspect. >> what can you tell me about his nose, his eyes his mouth? >> reporter: michelle worked with the same artist. >> does the description of the guy crystal's sister says was waiting on the staircase, does that match the description of the guy people say were running away after the shooting? >> almost identical. >> reporter: here's the sketch drawn from both their descriptions. >> were you happy with the final sketch? it looked like the guy? >> oh, yeah. it looked like him. >> reporter: but he didn't look like any of the men in crystal taylor's life. not derek. not dino. and not javonte's father

kenneth. cops would have to figure out who he was, and where to find him. monica and michelle didn't want to wait for that. >> we had been watching "cold case", and "criminal files" and all that, so we thought we were real detectives. >> reporter: too much tv can be a dangerous thing. or maybe this was the dynamic of the taylor family. the sisters who were going to together help crystal raise her son were now helping solve her murder. so, sketch in hand, they canvassed the neighborhood. >> you? not the police? >> she became so obsessed. it worried me how obsessed she was with -- and she would say, "he's not gonna get away with doing this to my baby sister." >> reporter: tia was afraid her mom and her aunt were putting their own lives in danger. >> i threatened to tell the police. like, "you guys are not supposed to be doing that. like, you guys don't have weapons. what are you going to do if --

what are you looking for, and then what are you gonna do if you find it?" >> reporter: but there's no arguing with success. michelle and monica's amateur detective work paid off. after showing the sketch around, they got a tip. the guy in the sketch was a gangbanger who went by the street name c-styles. now the sisters wanted to find him. if you're right, if this is the guy, he's a killer and a gangbanger, and you're just going to, what, walk up on him and say -- >> he wasn't going to get away with killing our sister. >> i wanted to be able to tell the police where he was and like, "come. come. let's go get him." >> reporter: they didn't find him. but they did tell detective williams, who ran the name through a gang database and discovered, unfortunately, there was more than one c-styles. >> there's big c-styles, there's a little c-styles. >> reporter: eventually williams found a c-styles who'd been on probation at the time of the murder. >> our first goal was to identify the connection between the c-styles and crystal taylor. any gang affiliation, any relatives, was he a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend? the sisters say no. her friends say no.

there's no evidence to support that they even knew each other. >> although maybe they knew each other and she didn't tell anybody. >> exactly. and we have to also keep that as a card on the table. okay. so how can we start proving this up? i start examining where their lines may have crossed. crystal taylor works in carson. oh, she goes to anderson park. oh, there's information that c-styles hangs out at anderson park. okay. >> they brought in c-styles. legal name skyler moore. you say to him, "what do you have to do with the murder of crystal taylor?" and he says? >> "i don't know her. i did not do this." but he's studying her photo. >> reporter: and then, c-styles continued to talk. >> he's coming up with an analysis of the person who would have done this. and he refers to the person as, "this person had a lot of rage. this person has a lot of rage in

them to do that." >> as opposed to just saying, "i didn't do any murder. i don't know who this is. i don't know what you're talking about." >> exactly. exactly. >> reporter: that seemed rather strange. but who did this -- there was no obvious reason for c-styles to kill crystal taylor. true that if you're worried about becoming a victim of gang violence, you're probably safest in the morning because these guys stay up very late and don't roll out of bed until late morning or noon? >> now i'm not going to say that that's a fact, but it's more true than not. >> if somebody is up and working at 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning, they -- >> their paths just wouldn't cross. not normally. not a hardcore serious type of person like a c-style. >> reporter: so, was he the man in the parking garage? on that question, c-styles wasn't terribly helpful. but then he did something surprising. after staring at crystal's photo

and floating theories about her killer, c-styles suddenly confessed to a different murder of a rival gang member. i don't do this for a living, but he wasn't even being charged with that, and you weren't even asking him about that. >> i didn't even know there was a murder. >> why would he blurt that out? >> you have to understand c-styles' mentality. c-styles' mentality is that there's nobility in killing the enemy. there is no nobility or honor in killing a lady who's pregnant. >> someone who is innocent. >> yes. >> reporter: detective williams was convinced c-styles was only copping to the other murder to distance himself from crystal's. and then all the witnesses in crystal's murder picked him out

of a lineup. yeah, i killed him, but i would not kill her. detective williams was convince said that he was only -- two months after crystal taylor's death, skyler moore, aka c-styles, was charged with murdering her and her unborn baby jeremiah. justice seemed close at hand. it was not. >> i'm looking for this guy, day

and night. >> andyou see him in court, and he is in front of you. face to face with a confessed killer. >> you weren't afraid to testify? >> oh yes i was. >> i was praying and asking god to make us strong enough. but i was really scared. >> when "dateline" continues. up at 2:00am again? tonight, try pure zzzs all night. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep.

♪ when someone you love dies violently, there are so many emotions.

anger, loss, even sometimes the fear that you'll be next. >> i was afraid opening the door in the morning. like -- like, there's a blind spot when i first walk out. like, i'm literally looking out like this every morning. >> reporter: you all looking over your shoulders? >> oh, yeah. >> looking over our shoulders. really bad. >> i was in almost a post-traumatic stress syndrome kind of thing. just nervous all the time. >> reporter: with skyler moore, aka c-styles, charged in the murder, there was some sense of relief. >> to know that this guy was off the street was some comfort, 'cause he was the one that could show and up and kill anybody. >> reporter: even so, the sisters were still afraid to face him at the preliminary hearing. tough to be in the courtroom and see him? >> oh, yeah. we were crying, as soon as we walked through the door in court, but we thought like, "oh, i don't know what i'm gonna do when i see him," you know, the shooter. >> i'm looking for this guy day and night. >> reporter: and then you see him -- >> i'm obsessed -- >> reporter: finally. >> -- with him. >> reporter: and he's in court right in front of you.

>> and then he's in court right in front of me, and i'm expecting to have this visceral reaction to him, and i felt like -- >> like he had some remorse. 'cause i remember we told the -- the detective, i was like, "he -- he look like he has some -- he has some remorse." >> reporter: the detective didn't buy it for a minute. >> she was like, "no, he's -- he's a straight-up killer. he don't have no remorse." >> reporter: whatever the taylors saw, that hint of humanity in a cold-blooded killer, c-styles still scared them. you weren't afraid to testify? >> oh, yes, i was. >> reporter: but you went ahead and did it. >> i went ahead and did it, because i was praying and asking god to make us strong enough to be able to do it, whatever it is we needed to do. i -- but i was really scared. >> reporter: michelle testified she saw c-styles at crystal's building the day before the shooting. it was up to other witnesses to place him there the day crystal was killed, and there were several who could. the man making his kids breakfast.

a neighbor who saw a man who looked like c-styles around one that same morning, watching the building. another neighbor who actually knew c-styles and thought he saw him loitering in the area. except, all those witnesses were afraid to testify in open court, against a known gang member. all except one. the schoolgirl, who may not have known enough to be afraid. miss hall, who was a child, essentially, when she saw someone running away from the scene of crystal taylor's murder, she was willing to continue testifying. >> yes, she was. >> reporter: but her family was pretty worried, her mother in particular. >> yes, her mother was really, really concerned about that. >> reporter: the d.a had his own concerns. the testimony of a schoolgirl, and the sister of the victim, didn't seem enough to convict. and that's about all the evidence they had. police never found any dna, fingerprints, or forensic evidence that linked c-styles to the garage of crystal taylor's apartment. and while they found a .38-caliber bullet lodged in crystal's brain, they never found the gun that fired it, let alone linked that gun to

c-styles or anyone else. if c-styles went to trial and was acquitted, that would be the end of it. and so, rather than take that chance the d.a. dropped the charges. >> when the prosecutor said, "we don't want to try this case now because we don't have the evidence right now, and the witnesses are skittish. we want to wait." and you think that's gonna be a couple of months. >> couple of months. >> maybe a year. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: instead, many months passed. and nothing happened. the nation grew obsessed with the murder of a 27-year-old pregnant woman, but it wasn't crystal taylor. >> laci peterson's case is showing on the news every night, and crystie's the same beautiful, young lady, pregnant, and there's no coverage. you're offended that everybody was going on with life. like, the world kept going. just one person's gone, and people go to work the next morning. the birds are still chirping.

and it -- it all offends you. and it's just weird. >> reporter: and you're thinking, "when's our turn?" >> yeah, then i'm like, "when is our turn?" >> reporter: momo died six months after her daughter crystal. her family says the cause was as much heartbreak as heart disease. and all of that took a huge toll on the taylors. >> everyone was hurting so -- no one really wanted to be around what would bring up that sadness again. and that was us and being together, so we separated for a while. >> reporter: and so what had been a big, happy, close family kind of splintered? >> yeah. >> reporter: c-styles was convicted of the gang murder he had admitted to. his sentence -- life in prison. and crystal taylor's murder remained officially unsolved. the sisters were sure c-styles had pulled the trigger. but they were sure of something else, too. c-styles had no reason to kill their sister. someone put him up to it.

and they thought they knew who that someone was. coming up -- >> he did this to crystie. he did this to all of us. >> the chilling clue that crystal had given her family. >> you're all kind of beating yourself up for not listening to crystie's warning. >> exactly. >> right. >> i whispered, "that's the guy. that's the guy who had crystal taylor killed." muscle pain. give up, the couch is calling. i say, it's me, the couch, i'm calling. pain says you can't. advil says you can.

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because you want me to go back to what life? this is my life. i don't have a life to go back to. >> reporter: they couldn't move forward. they couldn't go back. but they kept going over the last days of crystal's life. rewinding to that trip when they visited their ailing mother in texas. they arrived back in los angeles in the middle of the night, saturday into sunday. yet crystal still woke up very early the next morning. >> she insisted on going to church. we were all thinking to sleep in, but she got up, and she prayed, and then she cried. >> she was going through something. she just wasn't sharing it with us. >> reporter: the next day was monday, the morning michelle saw a suspicious man on the stairs of the apartment building. she warned crystal who went a different way to the garage which might have saved her life for 24 hours. what they didn't learn until much later was that crystal left work crying on that last day of her life. she didn't say anything to her family that night, but she did act differently. >> she went around the room and she hugged everyone.

>> and she never did that. >> i think she just didn't wanna worry anyone, and i think she kind of just hoped that everything would work out. what was the matter with crystal taylor? they rewound their mental tape a little further, and there it was. a moment. it happened during their car trip back from texas. >> she was on her phone listening to something. and she put her phone down, and she said, "if anything happens to me, it was derek." >> reporter: derek smyer, the father of her unborn child. did she go into any detail about what he had said to her to make her say that? >> no, she didn't. the conversation chan -- turned into "don't worry about him." "don't worry about him helping with the baby." >> reporter: they thought that's all it was, derek didn't want to help raise his child. now they replayed that moment over and over. >> we should've said, "wait, what did he sa -- what did he say to you?" but instead of that we were like, "we don't need him. like, just hang up. don't even talk to him." you know, that kind of just -- >> yeah, that's exactly what we said. >> showing her the kind of support.

'cause we're so used to just going. >> she brought on it up that she was worried, but you didn't hear it or it didn't sound bad enough. you're all kind of beating yourself up for not listening to crystie's warning. >> exactly. >> right. >> even though it sounds to me like you'd almost have to be a mind reader to know that she was really concerned. >> yeah. >> reporter: the years started to pass. and this family thought a lot about derek smyer. crystal had said if something happened to her, it was derek. they believed he was the only one who had something to gain from her death. as they had done with c-styles, michelle and monica now tried to find derek. >> i didn't know derek's name. i thought his name was myers. >> and i was spelling derek the wrong way. and looking for him, like, i mean, just forever. >> reporter: if they had managed to tail derek they would have found a guy who didn't seem to fit the profile of a killer. he was doing well, says his sister danielle. >> he had gotten his bachelor's degree in business, he had went on to start his own company. he was doing great.

he was always happy, he was always in good spirits, he was driven. >> reporter: he still had that silver mustang convertible with the custom plates "my whip." although monica and michelle never spotted the car, tia did. >> i stopped at a light, and derek pulled up next to me in a car. with the top down, listening to music. i just felt like this was so unfair that it's a nice, sunny day, and he's going on with life. it just, like, tripped me out. like, this guy really just did this to my family. he did this to crystie. he did this to momo. he did this to my mom and michelle, to javonte, to all of us, and -- >> and he got away with it. >> and he got away with it. >> reporter: even detective robbie williams saw derek one day at the airport. >> my wife and i were on our way to a vacation. and i look up and i see derek walk right past us. >> reporter: williams had never forgotten crystal taylor. he'd had taken her case file with him as he moved up the promotional ladder from

detective to lieutenant. he'd always shared the family's suspicions that derek was somehow behind crystal's murder. but he also knew he didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. >> i whispered to my wife, "that's the guy. that's the guy who had crystal taylor killed." >> that's got to be like a knife in you. i mean, if that's what you think, if you think that's the guy who had crystal taylor killed, well here he is, out free, breathing the same air you are. maybe going on vacation just like you are. having a great time. he got away with it. or so it seemed. help was about to come from the last place anybody expected. on the day she was murdered and from the day ythat detective first saw him at the park. he was not alone. >> there was a group of men

talking. he thought the gang banger looked familiar. >> you think the first time you saw derek smyer, you think he was with c-styles at that point? >> yes, i think he was in the company of c-styles. >> so if you are right, they were hanging out a couple of hours after the murder. >> yes. mr. if only you had known. >> if only i had known. >> now a decade later, there's no way to prove who the man in the park might have been. chr crystal is dead and nothing is happening to derek. >> nothing that i can see. i'm a believer of karma, in this life or the next. you will pay for what he have done wrong. >> i'm guessing you are preferring it is this life. >> yes. >> maybe it was karma, maybe it was luck. maybe it was good police work. >> but whatever it was, on june

15th, 2011. l.a. sheriff's detective, lopez and had his partner beth smith found themselves in a northern california prison with a few hours to kill. >> she mentioned that skyler moore is here and i wanted to talk to him about a murder. >> she knew derek smyer would never spill but would c-styles. >> i said we have three hours until the plane ride. let's pull him. >> we are looking for help on cases. >> a conversation with the convict. >> if you tell us something that you remember, truthfully remember, then we can corroborate it, we can get you moved down to california. >> is c-styles about to come clean? when "dateline" continues. up at 2:00am again?

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fire a bullet in a secretary and the speed of justice is not as fast. crystal taylor was killed, and ten years later her unsolved myrrh ke murder was still a case, and the police thought the father of crystal's unborn child, smyer might have been involved as well, and now l.a. sheriff detectives, richard lopez and beth smith were at a california northern prison sitting right across from c-styles. >> remember when we arrested you on a case of a woman killed in

hawthorne? >> i need a little more detail. >> you don't remember -- >> c-styles was saying even less than he did back in 2001, so detective lopez gave it a try. he questioned a lot of gang members and he knew c-styles has enemies in prison. >> you might be tired looking over your back, and that's why you are in the hole because you can't go on the main yard, right? we need help with some cases. if you tell us something you remember, truthfully remember, and we can get it cooperated and we can get you moved out of california. >> like where, though? >> arizona, illinois, tennessee. >> detective lopez assured c-styles this was not your

typical police interrogation. >> i will read you your miranda rights, right, anything you say cannot be used against you, and we are not trying to put a case on you but just get the truth. >> and then detectives showed c-styles photos of crystal taylor and derick smyer. >> everybody talks to the police, and everybody does, dude, you know that. >> you are told when you are kids snitches get stitches, and when they break that barrier and they have a tendency to talk then and everything that bothered them while in the life everything comes out. >> bit by bit, things started to

come out, and turns out he was in that park where derick met crystal. c-styles said back in the summer of 2001, derek began complaining because of a girl name crystal. >> he called her a gold digger, and by getting rid of her that takes care of the problem of child support. >> smyer would owe him a favor if he pulled the trigger. >> that's how this works? i always thought when you wanted

somebody killed you wanted to pay money for that? >> everybody glamorizes it and thinks of it that way, but in skyler's mind, he could do this and then derek would be indebted to him. >> he was there waiting for the victim to come down the stairs, and in fact i believe he runs into his sister the day before. >> the day before. >> exactly. the day he goes and lies and waits for her and she comes down and he shoots her and he runs out of the garage area. >> you have a guy is that a hardened gang banger, and why should he confess -- >> well, he felt bad about this and wanted to make it right. >> killing a pregnant woman bothered him, and the others did

not. >> didn't seem to, no. >> it was a story police could not tell in court. not yet, anyway. coming up, that dynamic duo of sister detectives wasn't done yet. >> cagney and lacey shift their focus on derek. >> we never thought he should get away with it, when "dateline" continues. and get back to your rhythm. feel the power. beat the symptoms fast. i'm craving something we're! missing. the ceramides in cerave. they help restore my natural barrier, so i can lock in moisture. we've got to have each other's backs... cerave. now the #1 dermatologist recommended skincare brand. -[narrator] we are boomer natur. our neck gaiters, face masks, and one-piece shield masks

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black men have been an american way of death across centuries. t. . family, crystal's murder was an ugly scar that was never going to heal. >> we almost being as obsessed. >> but you still wanted answers. >> but we still want answers. >> and then the phone rang and detectives shared information

about the interview with c-styles, and he said derek put him up to it. >> reporter: he said he saw another woman on the stairs and thought maybe it was crystie? >> uh-huh. he said he considered killing me. >> reporter: you were that close to getting killed. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: they had to make an on the record case against eric. so her sisters could not resist going back to the streets. >> when the police said come in, we will reopen the case we have a note now, and i wrote it down and i found, like, businesses

they had. >> reporter: they also figured out where derek lived. >> reporter: did you regularly drive by his house? >> no, we were back on the job, and they had enough evidence by then. >> reporter: by then, the detectives read everything, interview notes, forensic notes, and what he read lined up with what c-styles had told him. >> the description of the place, the description of meeting the victim's sister the day prior, the way he ran out of the place, all of those things matched what he was telling us and we were able to cooperate. >> reporter: with all that information, lopez decided to take a chance and arrest derek, apply some pressure and see if he would crack, so nine years and ten months after crystal taylor's murder, derek smyer was

there with the interview. lopez pushed him and told derek c-styles confessed and implicated derek and derek denied everything, and lopez thought he was lying, but what he was not doing was cracking. >> i said, you know, you are not a likeable person. i don't know if anybody is going to believe you. he just didn't seem to mind. >> of course it's possible derek was not worried because he was not guilty. during those ten years from 2001 to 2011, what is derek doing and how is he? does he seem like a guy with a cloud over his head? >> no, he seems like a man is that flourishing. >> derek's sister was shocked by the arrest, and she said growing up was a world away from crimes

like murder. >> we played sports, and we had two active parents that were taking us on summer camps. >> she said derek did go off track in high school and he was just 16 when his girlfriend, tracy, got pregnant, and it was news their parents were not happy to hear. >> they were in shock, and my dad is very traditional, and believes children should be born in wedlock like we were. >> derek smyer had to be an adult. >> he dropped out of high school so he could get a full time job, and even though he was not making much, he was still doing what he could to support that baby. >> reporter: that changes your life? >> absolutely. absolutely. but derek, he was a hard-working guy. >> reporter: in 2002, the year after crystal died, derek smyer

had another daughter. for the most part he was not a full-time dad, but danielle said he was in his children's lives, as was the whole smyer family. danielle insists this father of two would not commission a murder over an unplanned pregnancy, if in fact he was the father of crystal's child. >> did derek tell you he was dating a crystal taylor? >> no, i never heard of a crystal taylor before he was arrested if 2011. >> did derek mention he got a girl pregnant and was concerned about that. >> no. >> and she was a-- >> derek friends with any gang members? >> my parents are extremely

traditional. they were not into gang raoviole or anything of that nonsense, and furthermore, nobody ever seen derek, ever, with any gang member. >> reporter: she said c-styles is a liar. >> he was known as a jailhouse snitch, and he is harassed and beaten up by people where he is currently housed at. the deal for him is that he gets relocated out of state to a place where nobody knows him. >> she says the cops simply took the path of least resistance. >> they had it out for derek from the start? >> because? >> because he seemed like the probable person, and my brother is not a perfect man but him being pulled in and harassed by the police and his children being taken from him, that's not my brother's fault.

my brother is an innocent man. >> and maybe she was right. just days after derek was arrested, the d.a. said there was not enough evidence to prosecute him. >> we had to let him go. we had to let him go, and, yeah, it was tough getting him go. >> derek smyer was once again a free man. >> i bet you thought he was done. i bet you thought he was never going to see us again. >> if that's true, he was wrong. coming up, somebody steps forward with a stunning new lead. >> she was assaulted and her neck was cut. >> another attack on another pregnant woman, when "dateline" continues. thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/her2- metastatic breast cancer,

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hello, i am dara brown. here's what is happening. the u.s. hit a new single record of coronavirus cases and close to 1,900 deaths. the cdc is urging americans to restrict thanksgiving plans to

their immediate family. the new record comes as hospitals across the country are overwhelmed by covid patients. and donald jr. has tested positive. now back to "dateline." derek smyer was out of jail. he insisted he was an innocent man, a father of two who had no reason to commission a murder just because he got someone pregnant. but detectives were still investigating, and what they heard made them more convinced than ever that derek had crystal cleared. they spoke with tracy, the mother of derek's children. at first she avoided the cops,

but now she was eager to tell them what happened in 1998 when she was pregnant with derek's first child. >> she got lured to the back of her apartment on the promise of being taken to a doctor's appointment by smyer, and she was assaulted and her neck was cut. >> by some other person? >> by some other person. and she was rushed to the hospital, and she said she was very leery because tkderek neve offered to take her to the doctor before. >> according to tracy, that was just the beginning. that was not the last time she was assaulted while pregnant? >> no, it wasn't. >> tracy told police in 2002, when she was pregnant with their second child, she was attacked again. >> she was knocked to the ground and the assailant tried to kick her in the stomach. >> that person was never caught?

>> right. >> and the person that cut her in the throat in the previous incident was never caught? >> correct. >> and tracy told detectives she thought derek was behind the attacks. >> after you are pregnant by one guy, and you get lured to the back of your apartment building and somebody tries to kill you, why do you continue a relationship with that guy? >> you have to understand mr. derek smyer, and one thing he is, he's a manipulator of women. >> cops saw a pattern, one that was reinforced by something else they learned. >> as the investigation continued, we discovered derek had been to prison for a federal offense, scamming money from a federal bank. >> it happened in 2004, and here's derek in this fuzzy bank photo, stealing money from other peoples' bank accounts.

he had a girlfriend that worked at a bank and he got account numbers from her. >> what happened to the money they scammed. >> we never found it. >> you heard about derek serving federal time on that bank charge? >> yes, i was not surprised. and i was not surprised as who he used as an acocomplice. >> his girlfriend. >> yes. >> and why were you not surprised that? >> because he has a what can you do for me type of mentality? >> manipulative. >> manipulative, self centered and arrogant. >> maybe that's why derek shyed away from talk to the cops and never asked for a lawyer, or maybe he was just not guilty. >> definitely he thought he was smarter than us, anyway. >> when derek was briefly arrested, detectives asked him

who he was with at anderson park on the day crystal was murdered. remember, the detectives thought it was probably c-styles but cops had no way to prove it, and then under questioning derek gave him one. >> he said i saw a woman in the backseat. >> the backseat of the police car, one of crystal's friend from work. >> the look on her face was she was totally distraught. that's what he said. >> which gave detective lopez an idea. >> if he is that close to see that she is totally distraught, then she should have a good look at who he was talking to. >> at the time, nobody thought to show her a photo of c-styles, but now they did, and she said -- >> that is who he was talk to in

the park. >> and that's the witness that could connect derek to c-styles. and then one last piece, detectives wanted to interview c-styles again. >> this time they made sure what he said could be used in court. >> you have the right to remain silent, do you understand? >> c-styles told the same story with the same details, how he met derek and how derek wanted help with crystal taylor. >> you talk about when you are going to kill her? >> i told him asap. >> police once again arrested derek smyer for the murder of crystal taylor, and this time they thought they had the goods. a jury, though, would have other ideas. coming up, a bombshell from the defense. did somebody else kill crystal?

>> witnesses testify to hearing an argument. she was confronting her killer. >> that's when she was shot? >> absolutely. >> was this a murder at all, when "dateline" continues. telin. over 10 years. olay's hydration was unbeaten every time. face anything. find out more at olay.com

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it took police ten years to arrest derek smyer for the murder of crystal taylor. it took another five years to bring him to trial, and detective, robby williams, knew the case was not airtight. >> dna? >> blood trial and money transfer, and the lack of cell phone records attaching the two defendants together. >> the only thing connecting derek together was the word of

the trigger man, moore, aka, c-styles. so they filed into the courthouse on july 11th, 2016. >> the facts and the law and your common sense will lead you to one conclusion, crystal taylor died at the hands of skyler moore and derek smyer. >> prosecutor, danette meyers, told jurors crystal's murder and the attacks on derek's other girlfriend, tracy williamson, were no coincidence. >> he doesn't want to have kids or pay child support. >> the prosecution reports while derek may have not been able to stop tracy from having her

children, he found the right guy in c-styles. >> he knew who to go to when he wanted crystal taken care of. >> they showed the hitman's confession. >> it was still kind of dark, and that's when i killed her. >> how did you do that? what did you do? >> just shot her. >> when you left the area, did you go back and tell derek what you had done? >> after that i seen him not immediately after that -- >> then they called c-styles to testify. but instead of tieing a bow on the case, he lobbed a grenade and blew it to pieces. c-styles told the jury everything he said on that tape was a lie. >> people have false confessions

all the time. it happens all the time. >> calvin snyder was smyer's defense attorney. he said he was hoping to get better treatment in prison. >> he came in and admitted that they made these offers to him and that's why he did it. >> you think police rushed to judgment here? >> absolutely. because they had a hunch and they went with my client and excluded others. >> snyder told the jury that without c-styles' confession, there was no evidence linking derek to the murder? >> they were planning without any proof of where, when, how, and there's no e-mails between moore and smyer, there's no text messages, there's no phone calls. >> the defense portrayed derek has a man that loved his children, not one that would try and have them murdered. >> there's mr. smyer again in the hospital holding his baby.

i think it's important, when you are looking at this case that you evaluate his expression on his face in these photos, proud father or killer? >> not only was derek smyer innocent of crystal's murder, maybe c-styles was, too. maybe they said this was not a hit after all. >> several of the witnesses testify to hearing an argument and then all of a sudden the argument ended. there was a pause and a gunshot. it's inconsistent with a hired hit. >> if not a hit, then what happened? the defense had a theory, it involves this photo of crystal's son javonte near her body. >> it's obvious she was toldiho

that picture when she got shot. >> he could not smell out -- >> i think she was confronting her killer, saying the only thing you would see is a picture of your child -- >> never mind police cleared javonte early on. >> this tragedy, it will be compounded if you convict a person is that not involved. >> i am asking for a not guilty verdict on all counts. thank you very much. >> crystal's family was worried. they could only hope the jury believed c-styles' video confession and not his recan taeugs of it. >> it was painful. >> one day passed, then two, and

three days in. >> i am nervous. i don't want to do this again. i can't do this again. it's not easy. >> then it was a week, then one week turned into two. >> i am, like, i am just praying, i keep praying no matter what i see or hear, i keep praying. >> every day the waiting was harder. that was true for derek's family, too. >> i started getting nervous. i was there every day anxiously waiting so we could hear that verdict, hear that derek was not guilty, and i would see the jurors come out red in the face like they had been arguing. >> like they had been yelling. >> like they had been yelling. >> after 21 days the jury reassembles in the courtroom. >> the jury has not been able to reach a verdict and i do declare a mistrial. >> this is breaking me. i hope by the time it's time to

do it again, i will pull it back together, but today i don't want to do it again. coming up, trial number two. this time new evidence and a new witness. >> derek's own daughter. what would she reveal, when "dateline" continues. fading and fuzzing that happens throughout the wash process. protect your clothes, with downy defy damage

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it was like their own nightmare yish "groundhog day," nearly nine months after the trial, crystal's family once again entered a courthouse wondering if this time justice would be served. were you feeling better at the beginning of the second trial than the first trial? >> i did. we knew what to expect and what they were going to say, and we were hoping whatever mistakes learned from the first trial and they would do better. >> two big differences this time around. first, skyler moore, aka

c-styles was on trial with derek, and the confession was ruled inadmissible, so prosecutors focussed on derek's motive. here's a man, they told the jury, that would do almost anything to avoid paying child support. >> crystal and her five month unborn son were killed with one gunshot to the back of the head. >> that's where they called derek's old girlfriend, tracy williamson, that repeated her story that the first time she was pregnant with derek's child, she was attacked to a man she didn't know. >> he put a knife to my throat. >> did he cut you with a knife? >> yes. >> and then during her second pregnancy, a second attack. >> somebody came and socked me in the face, and i went on the side of the car and somebody

stomped me on my stomach and face. >> then derek's own daughter took the stand against him. she didn't testify in the first trial, but she told this jury that derek seemed to hate being a father. >> he would come during major occasions, birthdays and things like that. he was very ill tempered. he didn't spend much time with me, and when he did it just seemed like it was kind of with show. if people were around he would behave a certain way and when those people left he would go back to his ill temperedness and his kind of monstrous ways. >> to help explain how derek had crystal killed prosecutors again called her sister, michelle, who had been through the emotional ringer when she testified in the first trial. >> i was afraid of what it was going to do to me mentally the

second time. i was afraid for myself. >> nevertheless, michelle mustered the courage to take the stand and testify to seeing the alleged gunman, c-styles n. their apartment complex the day before her sister's murder. >> what did you say to the defendant, moore? >> i asked him what was he doing there? >> the jury heard from jahvon hall. >> what did you hear? >> it was like a gunshot, like a big noise, basically. >> what next occurred? >> we seen somebody running past us. >> prosecutors then had to connect c-styles with derek smyer, and for that they relied on two eyewitnesses.

>> it wasn't until you actually saw him in person that you were able to remember that he resembled the person you saw at the park? >> objection, leading. >> overruled. >> yes. >> as before, crystal's friend and co-worker left no doubt with her definitive testimony. >> as you sit here today, did you see both of those individuals in the park? >> yes. >> she also told the jurors that while crystal was excited to have another son, she was afraid to tell derek she was pregnant, so janna told him for her. >> after you sent the e-mail to derek smyer, did you get a phone call? >> yes, i did. >> it was derek smyer, she said, and he was not happy. >> he just didn't want no kids. he didn't want her to have the baby about th

baby. >> did he say anything to you about crystal? >> yeah, he said if i could get her to get rid of the kid, he didn't want to have the baby. >> and then her first day back to work after her trip to texas, derek called her again. >> could you hear anything with respect to the conversation she was having? >> no, the only thing i heard was before she hung up the phone, she was crying, and she was like, whatever, and she got up from her desk. >> when she got up from her desk, did you see where she went? >> to the bathroom. >> when you followed her to the bathroom, what was she doing? >> crying. >> then detective beth smith testified about the two key pieces of evidence the jury never found. first a photo of derek on his basketball team, proving he did play basketball, an important detail because police believe derek met skyler moore on the

basketball court, and then the second piece was security footage at a 7-eleven near crystal taylor's home and skyler moore's, and it proves derek lied about his whereabouts back in 2001 when he told police he was miles away from crystal's hawthorne home that night? >> did he ever tell you he went to the 7-eleven? >> no. >> he then portrayed his children's mother as a liar. >> you have lied to your sister, or aunt, about things about mr. smyer? >> depends on what you are talking about. >> you have ever lied to them? >> lied to them, period? people lie all the time, you lie. >> tracy was a liar and untruthful so you couldn't believe what she said.

>> and as for crystal's friend, janna, that said she saw c-styles and derek together. derek's sister, danielle, said the idea that derek met a gang banger on the basketball court is absurd. >> didn't he play basketball in high school? >> he played basketball up until his junior year, and i never touched a basketball since. derek doesn't play basketball anymore. >> in this court everything was on the line. that's when derek smyer, who never shied away from explaining himself in the past took the stand. coming up, derek smyer, a dutiful dad-to-be? when "dateline" continues. having the wrong plan may cost you thousands of dollars out of pocket.

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it is a calculated risk for a defendant to testify at a trial. derek smyer was willing to take it. prosecutors painted him as a child-hating cold-blooded killer. derek and his attorney were determined to show he was anything but. >> do you recall the birth of your daughter, sidney? >> yes, i do. >> what was the date? >> it was today, actually. april 26th, 1998. >> and you were there for the birth, correct? >> of course. >> derek told the jury he was a loving and devoted father to his two girls. >> how would you describe your relationship -- >> while they were growing up it was strong, in my opinion. >> and he was adamant he had nothing to do with the attacks on tracy while she was pregnant. >> did you have her attacked because you wanted the kid killed, you wanted her to have an abortion? >> no, i did not. at that time i dropped out of school and was working and very

much invested in the well-being of my daughter. >> derek told the jury he was a good dad to his children with tracy. >> wasn't this going to ruin your life? >> no, sir. >> weren't you worried about paying child support for 18 years? >> no, sir. >> why not? >> because i was prepared to take care of my responsibility. >> derek said it was to check in on her, as any good soon-to-be father would? >> i asked how she was feeling? >> why? >> i know before she went to texas, she was having morning sickness. >> derek let jurors know, that like crystal's family, marked time in relation to her death. >> how long did you work -- >> well, until about two weeks after we lost crystal. >> crystal's family heard that and seethed. >> it bothered me so much to

hear him say that, because he never called and never cared. he doesn't care. >> as for the prosecution theory that he hatched a plot out on the basketball court with skyler moore to kill crystal. impossible. first. >> did you ever play basketball? >> no. >> prior to this case, had you ever seen skyler moore before? >> no. >> and then he had an explanation, he said he stopped for cash after being at his aunt's house nearby. >> my mother asked me to run an errand for her, to take a cooking device. >> derek forcefully denied any involvement in crystal's murder. >> did you have anything to do in the bedeath of crystal taylo? >> no.

>> did you have her shot in the head so she could not give birth to your baby? >> no. >> but derek was not done on the stand. now came the risky part. cross-examination by the prosecutor to show the other side. >> why didn't you ask her to get a paternity test? >> because i was being responsible, man? >> wouldn't responsible be putting on a condom, sir. >> objection. >> the prosecution got derek to submit he had tried to get tracy to terminate the pregnancy. >> for all his talk about losing crystal, the prosecutor pointed out he never once tried to console her family. >> did you send flowers to the family when she died?

>> no, ma'am. >> did you send the family a sympathy card when she was murdered? >> no. >> all of this was in an attempt to show the jury the soft-spoken derek on the stand was a con. >> i didn't get my cut. >> you think that's funny? >> no, i was embarrassed, that's why i paused. >> yet, that smile on your face, i think, wouldn't you agree said it all? >> as to his story about going to his aunt's the night before, the prosecution let derek and the jury know they thought it was a crock of something else. >> you didn't tell detective smith about a trip to your aunt, did you? >> no, ma'am. >> maybe he was confident and smug and maybe he was too familiar with the rules of criminal law. >> you didn't want another child. if crystal taylor had had that baby you would have supported

two kids in 2001. right? >> i'm sorry, i believe that's compound. >> i don't know which one is the lawyer, your honor, what do i do? >> he tried to con the jury over with knowing the law. >> he was very impressed with himself. >> then, once again, derek's fate was in the hands of the jury. which derek would they believe was the real one? this time crystal's family did not have to wait nearly as long for a decision. >> it was less than a day. >> how did he look? >> cocky, like he thinks it's a not guilty. >> we find the defendant guilty of the crime of murder. >> i got to run out of there because i can't even hold in

emotion, and i wanted to scream. i was so happy. i was more happy than i ever had been in my life. >> across the aisle, a different emotion. >> they read that guilty verdict and it's like time froze. i was in shock. how does this happen? >> outside the courtroom, a gesture from the opposing side caught danielle off guard. >> michelle came up to me in that hallway, i had not shed any tears because i was trying to contain my emotion, and she hugged me, and she said she was sorry. and i bursts into tears. i bursted in tears because that, to me, is a true example of

humanity. regardless of what we had gone through, and our families have both gone through a lot, lost a lot, continuing to grieve, but i appreciated the humanity that she showed. >> derek smyer was sentenced to life without parole. c-styles was also convicted in crystal's murder and received two life sentences also without parole to be served consecutively. crystal's son, javonte has reconnected with his dad, but still hurts from the loss of his mom. >> i will always miss her, but, you know, i don't think she would want me to linger, you know, just let it hold me back, everything that has happened. >> she would not want you to be miserable. >> yes. >> easier said than done at times? >> that's true, but i had lot of people to help me, good family, good friends. >> crystal's family once

splintered now feel they are coming together again. it's not the same, they say, as when crystal was with them, but it is slowly getting better, and they have a plea for other potential crystal taylor's out there. >> nothing can bring crystie back, but somebody if they know they are in a relationship like this, tell somebody. if it can happen to chrissy, tell somebody. >> if you are in a relationship that is threatening, tell somebody now, and if you know somebody, speak up and don't let a cry go by. >> i am craig melvin. >> i am natalie morales, and this is "dateline." she was so alive, to hear that news and realizing it's amber.

how could that be? her life was just beginning. >> amber made friends for life. >> there was just no trying with our long. >> amber is on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. >> the till's open. the door's open. most people that rob a store don't kill anybody. >> my whole world just died right there. >> for months the murder stayed cold. >> didn't have witnesses, didn't have video, didn't have dna. we had everything going against us. >> we would go down and talk to the detective. we wouldn't let it go. >> then a break, another victim. >> he would duct tape me, duct tape my mouth. >> and she knew a secret. could she risk revealing it? >> something is going to happen tonight. >> a killer ready to run, face-to-face with the on