here's hoda kotb. hoda kotb: one of the biggest attractions at the louisville zoo was a floppy-eared baby named scotty. cute and kind of cuddly, at least for an elephant. he's got hair. he's got hair is right. hoda kotb: but on this day, he shared the spotlight with another media celebrity, a spunky girl named erica, whose infectious laugh and incredible 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. we had a two-year-old that was shot twice and lived. does she have an understanding of what happened to her? she knows that she was shot. if you could have seen her, you would have said there's no way that this child could possibly make it. hoda kotb: 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. but in betting parlance, the odds of this story ever finding a happy ending were off the board, virtually impossible. would a little girl ever

hoda kotb: and there's one other shared trait. and that's what kept erica alive in her darkest hours. her mom's fighting spirit. to battle with what she had to battle, i guess she did have earon's fighting spirit. you know, to pull through all that. so thank god for that. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." she was everything to me. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." she was so sweet to everybody. state troopers said bonnie had died in a hiking accident. craig melvin: they said she fell off a cliff. her mother said they were wrong. i'm screaming to them, these are defensive wounds. craig melvin: no witnesses. no weapon. nothing left behind but a stranger's dna. we no longer have some accidental death. this was a homicide. craig melvin: they had no suspect, but for years, her mother kept fighting to find bonnie's killer. reporter: bonnie's mother continues her own crusade. craig melvin: then, after more th