n't all that it seems i did you wrong i'll stay here with youne i've been sleepwalkinght this is "nightline." >> tonight -- >> my wife just shot herself in the head, please help me! >> a desperate 911 call.>> i didn't shoot my wife! >> a former correctional deputy now accused of shooting his wife to death. as the emotional trial unfolds,estimony and unanswered questions rock a community to its core. plus a family must let go. to a 6-year-old girl removed

>> bring back my daughter! >> tonight her foster father's emotional plea. but first the "nightline 5." cough if you can hear me. >> don't even think about it. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. >> what about mike? >> works on his cough too. >> mucinex s coughs for 12 hours. let's end this. n and do it come on let's go got to get move come on let's go >> number one in just 60

evening. thank you for joining us. when a young mother of three

year's eve party authorities ruled it suicide. her husband, a former sheriff's deputy, is on trial for murder. as the case unfolds there are as many questions as there are answers.e just shot herself in the head! please help me, please help me! >> reporter: a frantic 911 call on new year's eve 2012 from a husband who justhad been dancing with his wife. tom and ashley were welcoming in the new year at their home in evans, colorado, with family and friends.er andrea more given sen captured the moment. >> my perceptions of their relationship when i shot the video was that they were happy and in get this will too, mattie? okay. >> reporter: but shortly after midnight -- >> three,year! >> reporter: ashley was dead from a single gunshot wound to her head. at the time, five law

>> the forensic analysis done did not support any indication that tom was in proximity oft was fired. >> reporter: but today, four years later, ashley's husband is on trial for her murder. after new witness in 2014. those new accounts led to a grand jury investigation which determined that tom fallas pulled theou do not accept the possible bety that your daughter committed suicide? >> if that was the truth, then yes. >> but you don't accept and you've neverssiblity? >> i've never had anything indicate that it was a suicide to accept it. >> reporter: today in courttimony heard under oath for the first time. >> when i heard him saying, oh my god, what have i done. oh my god, what have i glover, the fallas' next-door neighbor, 15 at the time, said he heard through an open window tom eople that he

>> he proceeded to say, 80 shot my wife." >> how certain are you or are you not that the voice you're hearing is tom fallas' voiceeing standing in your driveway? >> i am 100%. you can't hear something like that and forget about it. i mean, that's going to bed for years to come. >> reporter: those two people tom was allegedly talking to? his parents. jim and anna fallas.t week they deny he confessed to them. >> at that point in time, did tom ever make a statement to you that he shot t that time, not at any time. >> reporter: tom's parents say they left the new year's eve party earlier that evening but came rushing back after getting l from their son saying, i need you now. in court last week, tom's mother anna said she comforted her son, who was distraught. >> and when you are running upriveway with your husband, you see your son? >> yes.

>> yes. >> crying? >> and what he said to you is, mom, i don't understand why she would do this, i love her, i love her?ou hugged your son? >> yes, and we cried. >> while you're standing there with tomdriveway, did you ever hear him say "i shot ashley"? >> never. mother jenna gave a different view of how tom was treating her daughter at that new year's party. >> the end of the night i think his behavior towards her was very threatening and and very scary. >> reporter: according to the indictment, tom fallas became irate at the end of the new year's eve party, stormed into the master bedroom, grabbed a 9ndgun, and shot ashley. the former colorado corrections deputy told police at the time he was innocent.

>> reporter: but didn't believe him. and worked with denver tv station kdvr to take a closer look at the case. >> my daughter had been shot. nobody had told me. >> i do do you solemnly swear -- >> reporter: one of the key witnesses unearthed in the news gation said she heard ashley fallas arguing the night she died. she called kathy glover, the mom of that fallas neighbor nick, to police. >> my first response was, what? no. and she said, please tell me you called the police. i said, no, i didn't, why? andour neighbor just shot his wife. and i said, what? and she said, i could hear her screaming "get off me, get off today the woman who told her that, chelsea arego, seemed to take it all back. >> did you recall telling kathy

her screaming "get off me, get off me"? >>r: still, ashley fallas' family maintains that law enforcement purposely omitted information from their reports on her death in order to protect tom fallas, one of >> -- accuse the evans police department of covering up the murder of ashley fallas? >> yes.they never pursued her death as a homicide. >> reporter: evans police have publicly denied any wrongdoing and say there was never a cifically the allegations say the officer omitted material statements from witnesses and that he changed at least one statement of a key witness in the case to support a conclusion of suicide.ntain this case was thoroughly investigated in 2012.d with any kind of preferential treatment regardless of their position in the community or anywhere else when we're conducting a investigation. >> the victim's family typically aligns with the police who aree a case.

family essentially saying the original police department who is investigating this wasn't investigating it properly, a fellow law enforcement official. >> reporter: two of tom and ashley's three young children may have witnessed something. one of them drew this pictureng interviewed by the police. and reportedly said in questioning at the time that she heard an argument. >> the fact that one of their daughters is saying that dadomes very important here and fits in with the prosecution's theory of the case, that he was enraged, and that he killed r: the kids said they did not see their father shoot their mother. >> this is not an easy case for prosecutors. people like to think that s the best kind of evidence you can have in a case. when in reality, the best kind of evidence you can have is dna.s of the outcome, ashley's mother jenna has a pending civil suit against several law enforcement agencies that were responsible for her

she's still not sure what happened on new year's eve four years ago. >> so sweet.ould have shot herself, but i'm not going to judge tom if he says he didn't. next, acustody battle spurring two communities to take a stand. while one family fights to keep a foster daughter they've grown to love. but first the sexistslam that has superstar serena williams firing back. >> if i was a lady player i'd go down every, every night on my knees anda roger federer and a rafe nadal were born because they've carried this sport. >> raymond moore, former director of the open. igniting a firestorm when asked about the state of women's tennis.

wta. because they ride on the coattails of the men. >> williams, who holds the most grand slam titles of any active or female, blasting moore. >> we as women have come a long way. and we shouldn't have to drop to our knees >> reporter: the backlash extending to social media. one person tweeting, raymond moore should be on his knees begging to keep his job. and tennis greatng writing, he is wrong on so many levels. moore quickly apologized, calling his comments in poor taste and news that he has stepped down as ceo and tournament director. maybe someone should have told him that at last year's u.s. sold out before the men's. so i' m gonna take this opportunity to direct. l you. evening, film noir, smoke, atmosphere... bob...

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alifornia family was left reeling when their 6-year-old foster daughter was removed from their home. all due to the enforcement of a controversial law t of her native american blood, she must be placed with relatives who happen to live hundreds of miles away.ight a family devastated after a dramatic custody battle comes to a head. her image blurred to protect her identity, in the arms of her foster father. >> love you, lexie, we're fighting for you! >> reporter: as she has been fors.

services.e you, lexie! we love you! >> about want you! >> rusty paige then breaking down in tears. >> i'm lexie's superman.superman -- bring back my daughter. do not let the world go please. this is not right for anyone. this is not right for lexie more than his santa clarita community rallying around the family, their hearts also broken. >> how long are you going to stay here? >> >> as long as you can? >> yeah. >> reporter: emotions have been running high here for days. >> keep fighting for her. keep fight all this. and know that we're thankful. >> reporter: lexie had been in two foster homes before she came to summer and rusty paige. they've been her foster parents 2 years old.

and dad. >> she's going todaddy didn't fight for her, why she's not at home. she's going to question our love. she's going to question if she can trust any reporter: according to court documents lexie had been removed from the custody of her birth mother when she was 17 months old because of substance abuse problems and her birth father who has a criminal hist friday, a court ruled lexie should be taken to live with her extended family in utah where an attorney representing the little girl tells abc news, we are relieved thatll finally be reunited with her siblings and her extended family. >> it's also the federal law, so we have to comply. >> we've had people ask usng to the media. and why we're dragging lexie through this. but at the end of the day it's about lexie. and she's got to know if they take her, in five, ten got to know we fought for her. >> reporter: the legal fight began four years ago after relatives of the girl's

american, petitioned his indiand the l.a. department of children and family for custody, challenging the paiges' temporary custody by invoking a law meant to protect the rights of indian families. >> the ind the icwa is to make sure that native american children are kept not only within the family but and within the culture. >> reporter: lexie is just 1/64 choctaw indian but is enough to meet the legal definition of an but this law is not without controversy. in 2013 the supreme court heard the complex custody case of little veronica.egal battle beginning when veronica's birth mother put her baby up for adoption. >> we were praying for a child to love and raise when christie came into our lives.s to be the parents to her daughter. >> reporter: matthew and melanie raised veronica for first two

child's brown, a member of the cherokee nation, learned she had been adopted, he sued for custody. south carolina supreme court initially gave the child to brown. citing thataw designed to keep native american families together. >> we tucked veronica into bed from the time she was 2 days up until they took her away from us. >> reporter: they fought back, taking their case to the u.s. supreme court, which reversed the state court, ruling that brown had relinquished his parental cleared the way for veronica to stay with her adoptive parents. the same law is being applied here in lexie's case. but there are some significant s. although the paiges say they want to adopt lexie, right now, they are foster parents and they do not have permanent parental rights. >> foster supposed to be a temporary family.

and so oftentimes, more often than not, you want to placewith a family member. even if that family member is an extended family. >> reporter: according to court documents, lexie's extended family has been a part of her life for a number of years.frequently. and has intended to get her back. >> california law requires us to place that child, if at all possible, with a s a native american individual or not. >> reporter: in a statement, the choctaw nation said it wants what's best for lexie. the tribe's values of mily and culture are what make our tribal identity so important to us. >> you're going to fight for her to the end? >> till i die. >> this is our worst his family's worst nightmare. >> reporter: the paiges and their supporters, even a former social worker on lexie's case,e's blood line or background that should matter. >> it's about the child.

personally recognizes as her parents, as her family, as her her teachers and her neighbors. and that's what it's about. and they're not thinking about that at all. they haven't ight the family angry, saying that the child they raised is being used to make a political point. >> this outrageous abuse of let me speak directly to the people who took our daughter. and you have her now. i'm begging within the sound of my voice to help us bring lexie back home. to all herou are true angels on earth. from the bottom of our hearts and from our entire familyr: in a custody case with so much at stake, the sides may disagree on the best path forward.

lexie. and next, an abc news david muir joins president obama for his historic visit to cuba. what the president has to say about cuban leader raul castro. let's get these but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast-max. it's the same difference. this one is max strength and fights mucus. the only branded cold and

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finally tonight, the last time a sitting president of the united states traveled to cuba was in 1928. president obama arrived on sunday and he spoke our david muir. >> reporter: president obama

david muir was right there to talk with the >> you have said that you would speak candidly with president castro about the serious differences you have with the cuban government. >> what i indicated to him is we can't force changes on cuba.what we can do and will continue to do is to stand up for the rights that we consider to be universal. >> with so many americans back which, is what's the bottom line on tourism in cuba? >> i think it's going to be happening very soon. but we now have an agreement with cruise lines can travel from they to havana. we have now direct u.s. flights to cuba which will make it much easier to travel. >> i wanted to ask you about thek home because it's back in the news again today. you're aware that donald trump has predicted riots if the republican party tries to stop him, if there's a contestedying, i think you'd have riots. i'm representing many millions of people. >> well -- this is an issue thats going to

there's an expectation that our leaders will not trumpetustify it. there's an expectation that those who run for the highest office seek to represent everyone and, or appeal to an "us" versus a "them." >> our thanks to david. thank you for watching abc "good morning america" tomorrow. and as always we're online at abcnews.com and our "nightline" facebook page.

it's "comics unleashed" with your host byron allen.