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00:00Oh, have mercy.
00:07Ooh, wee, Lord.
00:09The deadly Thanksgiving fire is classified as a homicide.
00:13The lighter fluid was placed into his mouth, and he burned to death.
00:18I've never witnessed something so horrific before.
00:22I ain't got time for these lies, okay?
00:24You think I'm posting damn gas on this mic?
00:26Do you want to rule out everything before you charge a personal?
00:30You need to start getting your story straight, and you need to be straight right now.
00:33You're just trying to get me out of here so you can move that bitch in here.
00:35If you could have trouble with half the murder, they would have killed you.
00:38She is evil, hateful, and lowdown, all of the above.
00:48Every suspect accused of a crime has the right to remain silent.
00:52Many agree to be interrogated anyway, but they can stop the interview at any moment,
00:57making it a race against time.
01:02Justice hangs in the balance.
01:04Oh, I have mercy.
01:17Ooh, wee, Lord.
01:18It was Thanksgiving Day.
01:22I remember vocaling in my son in his car seat, and next thing we know, that house right across
01:28the street from us is smoking a whole lot.
01:31So I immediately called 911.
01:35Is it for Riley House?
01:36Yeah.
01:36We arrived at the fire scene within minutes of 911 call.
01:43I witnessed two windows that had been breached, smoke coming out of them, smoke coming from
01:48the roof.
01:49The fire has got some air.
01:51It's really burning, and we got our work cut out for us.
01:53My family, they come outside, and I remember hearing that somebody was indeed in the house.
02:01So at this point, a harsh drive.
02:04The most important thing is to get the victims out.
02:07We looked for a point of entry into the house, which on this house was going to obviously be
02:11the front door.
02:12They went in searching for the victim, trying to search thoroughly each room and bedroom for
02:16occupants.
02:17They searched the house until they made it to a bedroom.
02:22They found the victim in the bed.
02:24He was in the room where the fire was breaching out of the windows.
02:26He was within 10 feet of those windows.
02:29The bed was heavily consumed with fire.
02:33It was clear that he had passed away.
02:34Me being from West Point, I just knew William Brownlee to be a respectful person.
02:48He was a church-going guy.
02:49He was 62 years of age.
02:51He had multiple sclerosis.
02:54William Brownlee Sr., he lived there with his daughter-in-law, Latoya, and his son, William
02:59Brownlee Jr.
03:00William Brownlee Sr. was bedridden, and they both were taking care of him because of some
03:06health issues he had going on at the time.
03:09I just hated that fact that, hey, there was somebody that was in the house.
03:14That was a very difficult moment, and it was horrific.
03:17I had never smelled someone burning.
03:27It is an indescribable smell, like you just couldn't even imagine.
03:32He was bedridden.
03:33He didn't even have a chance to get up or try to escape the room.
03:37He was just there to suffer.
03:40My gut was telling me something's really, really strange here.
03:43The fire was almost completely in William Sr.'s bedroom.
03:47The rest of the house was just heavily smoke-damaged.
03:51From the bed to where Mr. Brownlee laid and the wall right above his head, all of it was
03:58heavily burned, way worse from how it was on the other side of the room.
04:03And then I saw where the outlet, it was very heavily burned.
04:09That seems very suspicious because it was a very new house.
04:13It was built two years before or prior.
04:16They're built with modern wiring.
04:18And to really cause the damage that it did, electrical fires just alone would not make
04:24this fire angry like it did.
04:27You definitely want to get down to the bottom of what went wrong for this fire to become
04:32fully engulfed in this one particular room.
04:34I remember going to the back porch of the home.
04:38There where I found a lot of fluid bottle.
04:42And I took it into evidence.
04:44I believe the fire chief, he was pretty much confident that something went wrong in that
04:49room.
04:49He believed something was started for that fire to get so hot in certain areas that he wanted
04:54to go ahead and call the state fire marshal.
05:02LaToya, she showed up in her vehicle.
05:05She gets out of her car.
05:06She's crying.
05:08She's hysterical.
05:09What we learned from the initial contact with Ms. LaToya Brownlee was she had been visiting
05:14family for Thanksgiving before this incident took place.
05:18Then she left and was shopping with her auntie, Ms. Virgie Gardner.
05:21And that's when she got the call that the house was on fire.
05:26So she came back to the home.
05:32With it being Thanksgiving Day, you would think that everybody would have been together.
05:38And that left me wondering in my mind, okay, something else is going on here.
05:44It was almost like you just knew like something just wasn't right.
05:51Biggest question was if this fire was actually intentionally set.
06:09And the next question was if it was, why?
06:13He gave me a rundown yesterday and what all took place.
06:16All my brothers met at my house and after that, we was going to my mom's house in Pontotoc
06:23in order to have Thanksgiving dinner.
06:26So my wife left home first before I did.
06:28She went to dinner in Yuna over her family's house.
06:32So I got a call about 426 is when I actually got the call that my house was fully engulfed
06:40in flames.
06:40Who gave you the call?
06:42Tony Harris.
06:42He asked me where I was and told me I need to get to my house as soon as possible.
06:47And my house was on fire.
06:49But did your wife ever call you at any time?
06:51No.
06:52Can you state your wife's name for the record?
06:54Latouria Janae Brownway.
06:56How long y'all been married?
06:5818 years.
06:59Actually, y'all was filing for divorce next week.
07:03Did she know about this?
07:04Yes.
07:05I had an eviction notice for her.
07:07Right.
07:07Still in the same room.
07:08Right.
07:08I moved on with my life and started, you know, seeing someone else.
07:11And she is pregnant.
07:13I said, now, by the time the child is born, yes, my child will be living on the same roof
07:16as me.
07:17The fact that now she was being evicted from the house by him and there would be an eviction
07:22hearing to have her removed from the house, very important piece in this investigation.
07:27I learned before living with Mr. Brownlee Senior, Junior Brownlee, his wife, Latouria, they stayed
07:54in an old trailer, Junior Brownlee, claimed she tried to burn an outlet to start a fire.
08:00He said she used a plant to put it by an electrical outlet and light it up.
08:06But she said that she didn't.
08:07I didn't actually call the police.
08:09But I would go in my grave believing that she done nothing.
08:14Mm-hmm.
08:16Her and your dad get along pretty well?
08:18I mean, yes.
08:19Yeah, she used to.
08:20But, I mean, since we've been going through our problems, she'll do anything to hurt me.
08:25Mm-hmm.
08:25So by hurting him, she knows it hurts me.
08:28If she got that angry before to try to start a house fire, she could have possibly got angry
08:33again to do the same.
08:34Your dad was owner of that house?
08:37Yes, my dad was owner.
08:38Your dad was?
08:39My dad was owner.
08:41Nine to my ten, if something was to happen to your dad, you was going to get the house?
08:45I was going to get the house.
08:46We are going to go over here to the house.
08:49Fire Marshal's going to be able to tell us where the fire started at.
08:54You'll know that today.
08:55Hopefully.
08:55Should, hopefully.
08:56The deputy fire marshal's ruled out that it was any kind of electrical problems with
09:07the home.
09:08He basically told me that the fire was started by somewhere.
09:13After going through the scene and examining like he did, he was also adamant that that
09:18fire started in that room.
09:21Now we have an intentional fire, and this is a murder investigation.
09:24So now we have a suspect that we need to find.
09:29We began to look into the insurance claim.
09:32It went even over the $20,000 policy.
09:35I didn't see enough there for that to be a motive coming from William Brown Lee Jr.
09:42But on Latoya's hand, I looked at the fact of, you got this divorce situation.
09:49Pretty sure she was very upset.
09:51At that moment, she most definitely was a suspect for me.
09:56I have Ms. Bargey.
10:11Garner?
10:11Garner, yes.
10:13You may run out how you and your niece came and contacted yesterday.
10:15We had Thanksgiving dinner, and after the dinner, we left coming to West Point to go to Wal-Warn.
10:26Right.
10:26But when we got in West Point, she said, take me by the house to drop off this food.
10:34We went to buy the house.
10:36This should have been like, what, around four?
10:41And she got out, went in, and she came back out less than five minutes, and we went to Wal-Mart.
10:50As soon as we got to Wal-Mart, she got a call saying, smoke coming out of your house.
10:57And I'm all upset now.
11:00I said, well, is your father-in-law in the house?
11:03She said, yes.
11:04So I really got nervous then.
11:06And then I could see smoke from Wal-Mart parking lot in the air.
11:09Right.
11:09We just left the house.
11:12The store that she went to was not even a mile, if that, from the actual home.
11:18She left at 405, a cell phone video that shows the fire fully engulfed at 409.
11:23That definitely raises suspicion about what took place at that house.
11:28A house fire does not go from zero to that in that time frame, naturally.
11:33A gas leak would have more of an explosion-type situation.
11:36There's not a real natural cause that's going to allow it to burn that fast, that quick.
11:43Basically what you're telling me, y'all left from the residence around 405.
11:49Now, a person called 911 at 14 saying the house was in flames.
11:53And I got a video showing her the house in flames at that time.
11:56That room was burning before she left.
11:58Really?
12:01She had to sit down.
12:02They're going through this divorce.
12:06And I told her just last week, I said, Tora, I said, don't do nothing stupid.
12:11She said, yeah, because I was gone.
12:13I thought about going there and putting a knife in her.
12:16So, if I was asked, do I think she capable of doing this?
12:23I would say, yes.
12:25She is evil, hateful, and no doubt.
12:29All of them are good.
12:30The Brownlee family, they live directly across the street from my family.
12:45I've never witnessed something so horrific before.
12:49This is a small community, and the love of each other and the respect of each other pull us together.
12:59You hate to see a community hurt.
13:01You hate to see the families hurt.
13:03My heart just hit me because I just hated that fact that, hey, there was somebody that was in the house.
13:09Oh, I have mercy.
13:12So, after she went to the house and came back out to go to Walmart, what did she say?
13:34She was talking about him, and when you see him, you just go ahead and tell him he's wrong for what he's doing.
13:40I said, you just do what's right.
13:44If an uncle or auntie say something about their niece and nephew, you can take it to the bank and cash it.
13:51The missing situations can cause people to do some crazy things because, you know, hurt people hurt people.
13:58At that point, I was pretty much sold on it being hurt.
14:02But I still had to prove it.
14:04I had to get more than just word of mouth.
14:13So, I received a video that was on Facebook Live at the time that the fire started.
14:19And this was at, like, 4.09.
14:22The 9-1-1 call came in around 4.10, 4.11.
14:28At 4.11, Latoya makes a post on Facebook about the Black Friday sale.
14:32You look at the time span, and it was very odd to me.
14:36I think she made that post to try to create an alibi or try to, you know, just say, hey, I didn't set a house on fire.
14:43All right.
14:44All right.
15:01What's up?
15:02How you doing?
15:03Fine, and you?
15:04Good.
15:09All right, you do understand you're still up on a Miranda,
15:11so you're scared we're gonna speak?
15:12Yeah.
15:15Everything's pointing to her.
15:19You know, this house was set on fire.
15:21The situation going on between her and her husband.
15:24She's the only one that went in the house.
15:28Now is the time we gotta get her to break.
15:32And tell us the truth.
15:33As of right now, just tell me your thoughts.
15:36Just let me know what's going on.
15:37I hate it happened, and I love my father-in-law.
15:40I hate it happened.
15:41And I just want to know what this stemmed from.
15:46What started this fire?
15:48All right, you left you on Thursday around what time again?
15:51Stay around 3.20, 3.30.
15:54You left around 3.20, 3.30.
15:57What time you make it to town?
16:02All right, and when you got to town, would you...
16:07Before you left Union, would you headed home, or would you headed to Walmart?
16:11Headed to Walmart.
16:12All right, what made you go by the house?
16:14They take my plate, and I had to use the bathroom.
16:17And then I got in the house, took my plate to the kitchen, went to the bedroom to see him.
16:22He was in the bedroom, and then I was headed out, and then he asked for a piece of candy.
16:27And I gave it to him, and he said, I smell some smoke.
16:30I said, I smell something, too.
16:31And I looked into the room, and I ain't seen nothing burning or no smoke.
16:35And I went to the kitchen, make sure that went on the eye, and I didn't see anything.
16:38And I came to the kitchen, and I said, I don't know what it is.
16:41And that was it, and I left.
16:45You actually smell smoke in the home, and you still left?
16:50Common sense would have been like, I need to call somebody.
16:53I need to get somebody over here and see what's going on.
16:56It didn't sit well with me during that interview with her.
17:01How long was you at Walmart?
17:03We was there in no time.
17:06We pulled up in the parking lot, and we was in the park, and we pulled back out.
17:11Mm-hmm.
17:12What was the reason for that?
17:14Somebody called.
17:15Did they call on Facebook or on the phone?
17:18Facebook.
17:19It should still be on Facebook.
17:21Think you got time to take a look and see.
17:23She called you at 4-11.
17:26Okay.
17:27Yeah, I stayed on the phone in about a minute and three seconds, right?
17:28I guess.
17:29Okay.
17:30Uh, was you going on Facebook around that time?
17:31Was I on Facebook?
17:32Mm-hmm.
17:33I was at Walmart, so I'm not.
17:34You are aware that there's a Facebook post on your page that made it for you.
17:35Okay.
17:36I'm not.
17:37I'm not.
17:38I'm not.
17:39I'm not.
17:40I'm not.
17:41I'm not.
17:42I'm not.
17:43I'm not.
17:44I'm not.
17:45I'm not.
17:46I'm not.
17:47I'm not.
17:48I'm not.
17:49I'm not.
17:50I'm not.
17:51I am.
17:52The Facebook post on your page that made it at 4-11, said you was in the Walmart parking
17:54lot.
17:55Okay.
17:56Yeah, my desk.
17:57You don't remember that?
17:58I can't remember the post, but.
18:07You don't remember making that post?
18:11I don't remember.
18:12You can remember what you did inside of the house for over five minutes.
18:16But all of a sudden, now you don't remember.
18:19I think she kind of felt like we was closing in on her.
18:23I had to go in a little harder.
18:24From what I'm looking at and from what the fire marks report is saying, either you wasn't
18:33at home at 4 o'clock or you was there when the fire started.
18:36Well, I wasn't there when the fire started.
18:38Did you go in the room?
18:40I went in his bedroom.
18:41All right, did you go in the bedroom when you first got to the house or was it right
18:45before you left?
18:46No, I went to the kitchen.
18:47Then I went to his bedroom.
18:48Mm-hmm.
18:49Then we talked and he wanted.
18:50Hasn't you used the bathroom yet, like you said?
18:52No, I hadn't used the bathroom.
18:53But you told me you went to the bathroom.
18:56That's the reason why I said you went to the bathroom.
18:58You never said you didn't use the bathroom.
18:59I didn't use it.
19:00I didn't use it.
19:01I didn't use it.
19:02So you lied to me.
19:03You told you like you used the bathroom?
19:04Well, I went to the bathroom and I didn't have to go.
19:07I didn't go.
19:08But I did.
19:09But I did.
19:10But I did.
19:11Listen, you need to start getting your story straight and you need to be straight right
19:14now.
19:15Okay.
19:16Because I ain't got time for these lies, okay?
19:21I went to the bathroom.
19:23I didn't go.
19:24And I left out there.
19:25I went back to his room.
19:26About how long was you in the house?
19:27About five minutes.
19:28I did not see no fire, no smoke, no nothing.
19:29So you're not going to make me say that.
19:30I did not see that.
19:31But I smelled it.
19:32I smelled it in the utility room.
19:33Right from the area on the utility room and the bedroom.
19:34I smelled it.
19:35I thought it wasn't nothing because I ain't seen nothing.
19:40I did.
19:41I left.
19:42I did.
19:43I left.
19:44She continued to stick with her story over and over again.
19:58I'm still seeing the crime scene.
19:59I'm still seeing the remains of Mr. Brownlee.
20:00I'm still seeing how hot this room got.
20:01I want confessions.
20:02You still want to see if you can get her to go ahead and break.
20:24You got a lot of lying going on.
20:30You better start being straight.
20:34You pretty, you pretty expert in them outlets, ain't you?
20:37No, I'm not.
20:39You ever fooled around one bullet?
20:41No, I did not.
20:42You haven't?
20:43I haven't.
20:44Never?
20:45Never.
20:46Spoke with your husband.
20:50You told me three years ago, back in the trailer, when y'all got into it,
20:55you went and tanked with it, it started to fire on the trailer.
20:57It was right there, I didn't mess with it, I didn't mess with the outlet itself per se.
21:01It was a plant right by the outlet, and I put the plant on fire.
21:05That's what I tampered with.
21:07The plant right there by the outlet, that would make the thing right there, but I didn't,
21:11I'd be a fool to go in and mess with this outlet and get shot.
21:14It's crazy.
21:15So how you say the plant on fire?
21:21It was a mattress.
21:23A plant, a real live plant?
21:25No, it was an artificial plant.
21:28And you said it was a fire with a mattress?
21:29Mm-hmm.
21:31We all had learned that Latoya Brownlee tried to set a previous house on fire because she
21:36got mad at Junior.
21:37And now, you know, the possibility of her doing this again after getting angry with her husband
21:44could be the very thing that started this fire.
21:46I did not mess with stuff, so not messing with a plant.
21:47I did not mess with an outlet.
21:48I did not mess with no outlet in this new house.
21:49I did not do nothing, and you ain't gonna make me say I did something.
21:50I did not do nothing.
21:51You did if I did with the outlet in the trailer though, is that what you're telling me?
21:52I started right there by the outlet.
21:53The outlet probably caught on fire, but I'm not gonna put no fire to this outlet like this.
22:07At that point, I was just like, all right, we're done.
22:12She didn't admit, yes, I set the house fire, but she attached herself to the timeline that
22:20we had.
22:21So after that interview, I could have arrested her, but I didn't want to do it just yet
22:28because I knew I needed more evidence for it to stick.
22:32It was just like a lemon.
22:33We were just trying to get all the juice as we, you know, we could get out of that
22:37lemon.
22:38And so that's why we opted to continue this investigation.
22:48The fire was intentionally set.
22:51So you start looking for accelerants that may have been poured there.
22:55What he saw was something was poured on the glove seat, the flooring and the bed.
23:02He had a hydrocarbon detector.
23:04The hydrocarbon detector is going to pick up a petroleum product of some type that detected
23:10some type of petroleum product was poured.
23:13It could have been lighter fluid.
23:14It could have been gasoline.
23:16He added an interesting fact that there was also an accelerant on a outlet across the
23:23room from the bed.
23:24There was no accident at the electrical outlet.
23:28There was no faulty electrical outlet.
23:30There was an accelerant.
23:31Somebody poured liquid on the outlet trying to make it look like the outlet had started
23:36the fire.
23:37But it doesn't go from her being in the house at 4 0 7 closing door, walking out to what
23:42you had two minutes later from a naturally occurring electrical fire in a wall.
23:46It doesn't happen.
23:47Another specific detail that he gave us that was important that there was charring on the
23:52inside of the door of the door of the room, but there were none on the outside.
23:57We determined that the door had been closed during the fire.
23:59And at some point in time, it was opened by my guys when they were fighting the fire.
24:05When I looked over the log, we found out there was entry at 4 0 2 PM of that day.
24:16And then there was an exit at 4 0 7 PM.
24:20Victoria had already told us she went in the house alone within that time span.
24:27You got a Facebook video at 4 0 9 of the fire already coming out of the home.
24:33It was on a two minute window there.
24:36No one else could have went in this house, but Ms. Brownlee to start this fire.
24:41Everything's pointing to her.
24:50Even though we had all the evidence that we had, I still wanted to talk to her because
25:02I still wanted that confession from her as to why she done what she done.
25:07This is a murder investigation.
25:10Somebody lost their life.
25:12So as much as we possibly can get from her, if she was willing to talk,
25:17it's what we were going to continue to get.
25:19Fire Marshal Mike Ivey and Detective Johnson were interviewing her.
25:28Of course, Mike, he would take the lead.
25:31This is a tragedy.
25:35And it's up to us to figure out what happened.
25:39And when the investigators looked at the scene yesterday,
25:46they determined that somebody purposely set the fire.
25:51So where we're at right now is to try to figure out what happened.
25:57When they set the fire?
25:59Where?
26:00Yes.
26:01In the bedroom where he was.
26:03The problem we've got is somebody set the fire.
26:07And we can't find anybody that was in that house other than you.
26:16I didn't set no fire.
26:17I wouldn't harm that man.
26:18I seen him just like my daddy.
26:19And I wouldn't harm him at all.
26:20I ain't seen no smoke and no fire in this room.
26:21At all.
26:22Okay.
26:23Did you keep any flammable liquids in the house, like paint thinner, gasoline?
26:30He's lighted fluid and gasoline out there, but this stuff he can keep out there.
26:31Had you used any other gluttony?
26:32No.
26:33No.
26:34No.
26:35No.
26:36No.
26:37No.
26:38No.
26:39No.
26:40No.
26:41No.
26:42No.
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26:55No.
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27:00No.
27:01No.
27:02No.
27:03No.
27:04No.
27:05No.
27:06No.
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27:24No.
27:25No.
27:26No.
27:27No.
27:28No.
27:29Why not? Just go ahead and lay it all out here. It was worth a shot.
27:34Are you aware that ATT logs down the time that whenever somebody come in, whenever they leave out?
27:41They what?
27:42Are you aware that they log down whenever the door is open?
27:46Yeah.
27:47Are you aware that nobody else entered the house in between 12, 30, and 4 o'clock?
27:54And I wasn't aware that...
27:56And you're correct that you got home around 4 o'clock.
28:00Uh-huh.
28:01You went in and, matter of fact, 4 o'clock.
28:03You got the door closed behind you. I guess they do it within like a many time frame.
28:07The door closed behind you at 4 o'clock. The door opens at 4 o'clock. They got you leaving out at 4 o'clock.
28:15Okay.
28:16You leave the house at 4 o'clock.
28:18Uh-huh.
28:19We got a video recorded at 4 o'clock.
28:224 o'clock.
28:234 o'clock.
28:244 o'clock.
28:254 o'clock.
28:26With the house.
28:27Lay stuff.
28:28I'm talking about flames.
28:29I already bust through the window where the old man was playing.
28:32There's two windows right there.
28:34Your phone call that you got on Facebook, that was at 4 o'clock.
28:38You showed it to me yesterday.
28:40Mm-hmm.
28:41Okay.
28:42From 4 o'clock to 4 o'clock, ain't no way a fire is going to build up that much pressure
28:50and wait four minutes to blow one out and then fire it soon through the roof.
28:55I'm getting fed up about it because it seems like y'all harassing me.
28:59But you're not answering my question.
29:01Can you see if I started that fast from 4 o'clock to 4 o'clock?
29:06I don't know how fast they started or whatever.
29:09I don't know.
29:10I can't answer that.
29:11I don't know how fast the fire started or whatever.
29:13But I know I did not start no fire.
29:15I did not kill no innocent person, a handicapped person.
29:18I did not do that.
29:19And I will say that to the end.
29:21I did not do that.
29:23Well, and I'm going to be honest with you.
29:26Uh-huh.
29:27We think you did.
29:31When I took him, when I gave him that candy, I was in the room with him.
29:34I didn't see no smoke.
29:36I didn't see no sound, no smoke.
29:37But I slept smoke.
29:38I said, well, we'll get Junior to check in when he get here.
29:41He said, okay.
29:42All right.
29:43And you closed the door and walked out?
29:45No.
29:46I don't close the door.
29:47I don't close the door.
29:49You don't close the door?
29:50No.
29:51All right.
29:52Now we got another problem.
29:53What?
29:54Because I knew he didn't get out the bed and going to close the door.
29:59That door was not closed.
30:01If I was the last one there, I knew I did not close that door.
30:04Oh.
30:05And I knew he didn't get out the bed and walked out the door.
30:07Right.
30:08So you ought to feel like me.
30:10There's a problem somewhere where someone closed that door.
30:13And that ought to be something you're concerned about.
30:16Who closed the door?
30:18You should also be concerned about who was in the house to set this fire.
30:23And for it to go that fast, it had to have been some kind of accelerant or something poor
30:27to make it just blaze that face.
30:30I've been doing this a long time.
30:32He's been around this a long time.
30:35This doesn't happen in two minutes.
30:38I just know I didn't do it.
30:40What I'm saying is forget about the fire being set.
30:44Right.
30:45There was a fire in that room at that time.
30:48And you're putting yourself in the room.
30:51You're saying I gave him the candy.
30:53I stood by the bed.
30:54I didn't want no fire in the room.
30:56There was.
30:57I didn't see no fire in the room.
30:58There was.
30:59There was.
31:00I didn't see now.
31:01There's no way you could have.
31:02I didn't see a fire in the room.
31:03And there ain't no way I'd leave a person right there, a handicapped person, see a fire
31:08and can't get out.
31:10I mean, that was her story.
31:11I felt like she was going to stick to it.
31:13So I got to dealing with just her personal life as far as her and her husband.
31:20I figured if I could play on that side of her emotions, that she would maybe get upset
31:25and actually like tell me what it was as to the reason why she did it.
31:32But listen to me.
31:33I understand what you're going through.
31:37I understand your husband, you made you mad.
31:42Past month or so, I understand there's a lot going on.
31:46It's a lot you're dealing with.
31:48It's a lot on you.
31:49It's got nothing to do with the situation at hand.
31:51You knew this divorce was coming up.
31:53You knew all of this.
31:54I understand that.
31:55Me and his situation ain't got nothing to do with this situation at hand.
31:58I wouldn't have took no innocent life over my situation.
32:01Listen.
32:02I understand that you wanted to hurt your husband.
32:04Don't hurt that situation.
32:05I understand that.
32:06You wanted to hurt him.
32:07I wouldn't need him to be dead.
32:08I understand.
32:09I want to hurt him.
32:10I hurt him.
32:11Not hurt his dad.
32:12I understand that.
32:13You already said you wanted to hurt him before.
32:17I understand all of that.
32:19But why?
32:20Just tell me why.
32:21Oh, they want to arrest me.
32:22Tell me why you did that trailer and he made you so mad that you wanted to burn the trailer
32:26down in.
32:27Why?
32:28Why did you do it?
32:29Just tell me why.
32:30That's all I want to know.
32:33I
32:37had
32:41set that
32:45plant
32:47on the wall
32:49exactly
32:51okay
32:53don't tell me
32:55what I did
32:57I know
32:59what I did
33:01I know what I did
33:03okay well arrest me
33:05I know what I did
33:07and I know I didn't harm
33:09no innocent man, crippled man
33:11that can't do nothing for themselves
33:13I would never do nothing like this, young or old
33:17well ho ho ho ho
33:19the only thing I can say
33:21is what you're saying
33:23this is your last opportunity
33:25if you want to make this right
33:27and talk about
33:29I mean
33:31there was a fire
33:33forget about it
33:35I didn't see no fire
33:37no, there was a fire right here
33:39because I did not do it
33:41let me and him go ahead and speak for a second
33:43we're going to let you go
33:45we wanted to arrest her but that would become risky
33:47because then she would probably lower you up
33:49we were still waiting on an autopsy
33:51and a lab report
33:53we wanted to make sure that when it was time to make that arrest
33:55we had everything set in stone to move forward
33:59Hi Victoria
34:01you ain't got nothing else to talk to us about
34:03and then I just want to tell us
34:05bring it up
34:07okay
34:09I really want you to tear it up more
34:11that's the part that is
34:13that is what it is, that's what happened
34:15alright
34:17at the end of that interview
34:19she looked back at us
34:21and it was like
34:22dang
34:23y'all still ain't gonna arrest me
34:24and just walked on out
34:25like it was nothing
34:27I felt like
34:28it was just a waiting game
34:30like I knew
34:31next time I see you
34:33I'm gonna have you on handcuffs
34:35it was lighter fluid that was used on the bed
34:52the love seat
34:53and to the wall outlet in the house
34:56we also get the preliminary optopsy report from the Medicare examiner's office
35:01Mr. Brownlee died of thermal injuries meaning he burned to death
35:05the manner of death was a homicide
35:09accelerant was poured all over his body as well as in his mouth
35:14and I thought back to my conversation with Latoya about how I gave him a piece of candy
35:22I'm getting asked for a piece of candy and I gave it to him
35:25there's something about this piece of candy that she claims she gave him that's not registering
35:30and that left me wondering in my mind
35:33okay something else is going on here
35:35could it be a lot of fluid that she had put in his mouth
35:38and um he said I smell some smoke
35:40I said I smell something too
35:41it's one thing to burn
35:44but to burn from your mouth
35:46and your body like that was just
35:49what I would say just low down
35:52exactly the words that her aunt said about her in that interview
35:56so she is evil, hateful, and low down
35:59all of the above
36:01she was just a low down individual
36:04that'll do anything she had to do to get back at her husband
36:14she didn't put up a fight
36:16didn't argue, didn't fuss
36:18she just put the handcuffs on and got in the car
36:21capital murder is a very serious charge in the state of Mississippi
36:25capital murder means that you know
36:27you can be sentenced to death
36:29and she was facing it
36:31she was facing those consequences for her actions
36:35we were working hand in hand with the district attorney's office
36:44this case was potentially going to trial
36:47but I still wanted her to go ahead and give the confession
36:51the family deserved it
36:52you know the family deserved the truth about what happened to their father
36:56so we do have the camera on
37:14okay
37:15your name is Latoya Browning
37:17yes it is
37:18all right
37:19do you understand the charges that you have right now?
37:20yes
37:21what you charged with right now?
37:22capital
37:23capital murder
37:26I know I'm not a lawyer
37:28I told you
37:29if there's anything
37:31that might help you
37:32it's better for you to say it now
37:34than to wait on to go to court
37:36but if you get charged with capital murder
37:39and that's the only statute in the state of Mississippi
37:41where they will kill you
37:43it might be five years after you go to jail
37:45it might be ten
37:46but they will kill you
37:56that's all
37:57that's all
37:58that's all you freaking time
37:59what did I have to gain
38:03by killing him?
38:04that's what I want to know
38:06I don't know what you tell me
38:09that's the reason why
38:10my parents got a lawyer
38:12you want to know something about this?
38:14about the lawyer?
38:15they ain't give me just one
38:17they got me five paid lawyers
38:20you feel me?
38:21put that on your recorder
38:23you can go and get
38:25ten different lawyers
38:27okay
38:28but it don't change facts of a case
38:31and I'm telling you Tori
38:33I'm telling you
38:34it ain't looking good
38:36on your end
38:37and I would tell you something else
38:39regarding that situation
38:40but
38:41I'm gonna let it all be a surprise
38:42when I go to court
38:44the world gonna know
38:47and I'm telling you
38:48you don't want to wait
38:49on court
38:51to decide to
38:53why?
38:54because at that point
38:55it's gonna be pretty much too late
38:56no I'm not
38:57I'm telling you
38:58what do you think can happen?
39:00I'm just telling you Tori
39:01you got a long road to travel
39:04you feel better getting it off your chest
39:06you really
39:08really
39:09really
39:10really want to get this off your chest
39:12okay
39:13first of all
39:14first and foremost
39:15when I first entered that house
39:16I didn't smell no smoke
39:18that's the first thing
39:19I didn't smell no smoke
39:20until he told me to go
39:21and get his towel
39:22which was by the chair
39:23by the window
39:24that's when I noticed some smoke
39:25and then I went and checked the stove
39:27I came back
39:28it wasn't no smoke back there
39:30it was over by his window
39:31so whatever started
39:32it was on the outside of that house
39:34it wasn't nothing in that house burning
39:37you never told us about a fire
39:39or smoke outside of the window
39:41but here we are now
39:42why you just not telling me about this window?
39:45I said that before
39:47absolutely
39:48well I thought I did
39:52if I knew who did this
39:54I would say
39:55who did it
39:56I'm not going to go down for somebody
39:57you know what I'm saying
39:58I don't have no idea
40:01I went and checked the kitchen
40:02my bedroom
40:03kids bedroom
40:04bathroom
40:05nothing
40:06you think I'd pour some damn gas on this man?
40:07I'd be a crazy damn fool
40:09to do some stuff like that
40:10and furthermore this man ain't never did nothing to me
40:12for me to take his life
40:18Tory, I wish you the best outcome
40:25life itself is too short
40:29you might not tell me today
40:31you might not tell me
40:33when I come down to your court day
40:34and I might be old and great
40:36by the time you decide to tell what really happened that day
40:40but like I told you
40:41whether he got one lawyer
40:43or five lawyers
40:45he don't change facts of the case
40:47okay?
40:48like I said
40:49I didn't commit this crime
40:51so I already know
40:52I'm not finna go down for something I didn't do
40:54one thing about it
40:55God didn't already show me
40:56I'm lying up with God
40:57he didn't already show me
40:59I'm gonna walk
41:00I'm gonna walk
41:01when I get through
41:02please my case
41:03I'm gonna walk
41:04believe that
41:05you said you're a Christian
41:06so I believe I can go there
41:07mm-hmm
41:09God always gives you
41:12but you can keep living in the night
41:15that's between God
41:16but you and God
41:18but I can tell you
41:19on that day
41:21when you go to court
41:22I hope God is with you that day
41:25cause it ain't gonna work out
41:26the way you think
41:27it's gonna work out
41:30we gave her so many chances
41:32to go ahead and present the facts
41:33but then
41:34she went back to the snoring
41:37and so after the final interview with her
41:39we were prepared to go to court
41:41with her and the five lawyers that she had
41:49I remember when the judge
42:04he asked her
42:05why are you pleading guilty
42:06and she finally said
42:08because I did it
42:10it wasn't a confession we dreamed of
42:11but we got a confession
42:14and took going in front of the judge
42:16for her to finally admit
42:18what she had to hear
42:19and
42:22that was the confession
42:23that we were wanting
42:33I feel like her motive
42:35was to get back at her husband
42:37and she done that by taking his dad
42:39from him
42:42it was such a hard situation
42:43that affected so many different people
42:46so many different lives
42:47were changed behind this
42:52he was a great guy
42:53he was a church going man
42:54and a great family man
42:56so that's how the city of West Point
42:58can remember Mr. William Brownlee Sr.
43:00and Mr. William Brownlee Sr.
43:01and Mr. William Brownlee Sr.
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