The 22-Year-Old Mother Who Confessed to a Drive-By That Killed a 14-Year-Old

A 22-year-old mother of four sits in an interrogation room, having just been read her rights. She's accused of a drive-by shooting that left a 14-year-old boy dead. The detectives across the table are trying to understand what happened—and whether she pulled the trigger herself.

The young woman explains that her family had been dealing with repeated break-ins. People kept stealing from them, breaking into their cars, taking their belongings. "Every time we moved over here still in our stuff, money we don't have all that money," she says. That morning, she and others got into a car to try to scare off the people she believed were responsible.

What began as an attempt to chase down thieves turned into something far worse. She describes how they drove around looking for the group, initially couldn't find them, then circled back. When they did, the group started running. "And they just start running and you should start shooting," she says, her language fragmented and difficult to follow. She fired a gun—her mother's gun, kept on top of the refrigerator for protection—out of the back window of the car.

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