[Jay Randolph] Chloe, she was always upbeat and happy,
and, you know, wanted to,
uh, make the environment around her a happy place.
[Kristie Randolph] She loved to make people laugh and smile, uh,
she constantly made videos of her own
and Snapchat videos.
[Cailyn Lien] They seemed happy, honestly
and they seemed like they were in love.
[Chloe Randolph]
But I didn't know things were going
bad like they were.
[police siren]
[Jake Isonhood] Uh, this case kinda stands out
versus other cases
as far as it being very brutal.
[Chloe]
[Mohamud Abdikadir]
I never wanted to be wrong about something
so much in my life.
[Richard Groves]
[narrator] It's Christmas, 1999,
in Henderson, Kentucky...
[lady]
[narrator] ... 36-year-old Richard Groves
videotapes the annual Randolph family gathering
at Grandma MiMi's house.
[Groves]
[narrator] This is 10-month-old Chloe Randolph
with her proud father, 29-year-old, Jay.
[Groves]
Of course, you can tell I'm already the protective father.
Those big blue eyes.
Christmas was a big event
because we would all get together
and all of my siblings and my mom
and their kids,
and then, of course, Chloe.
[narrator] Chloe was born February 10th, 1999.
She's Jay and his partner Renee's first child together
[Jay] She was definitely a daddy's girl.
If I left, she always wanted to go with me.
It was always, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy."
As your first child,
and ends up being your only daughter...
...she kind of spoiled me instead of me spoiling her
because she was very easy.
[narrator] Chloe's Uncle Richard
focuses on Grandma MiMi
as she hands out the present
[Jay] My mother loved Christmas,
I think that was probably her favorite holiday
because it was a chance
to get all of her children together
and all of her grandkids.
[Grandma MiMi]
[Jay] She would sit there regardless
of what was going on,
and patiently wait for her next gift.
[Groves]
[Jay] Chloe was more interested in the bows
than, you know, the different sizes
and the different colors.
[Groves]
[narrator] A year later...
...Renee gives birth to her second child, Jayson.
[Jay] Chloe was 14 months ol
when Jayson was born.
If he would start crying or anything,
she was always there to try to soothe him
and give him a toy.
[narrator] Despite the joy of a new arrival,
Renee and Jay's relationship is in trouble.
[Jay] Before Jayson was born
there was turmoil.
There was a rift in between us.
We went our separate ways.
I ended up having Chloe and Jayson with me.
[narrator] Jay and Renee separate in 2001.
Jay and the kids move into a duplex
right next door to Jay's mom, Grandma MiMi.
[Jay] I had to rely on her
to take care of Chloe and Jayson
and watch them while I was working.
[Grandma MiMi] Buster! [chuckling]
[narrator] Christmas Eve, 2002...
[Jay] He's looking for presents.
[narrator] ...once again, Uncle Richar
videotapes the action.
[Jay]
[narrator] Three-year-old Chloe
opens her gift from Grandma MiMi.
[Jay]
[Grandma MiMi]
[Jay] My mother would always try to encourage Chlo
to be more present.
She's trying to figure out turning on this thing, but...
...she doesn't want them staring at her...
...and now she's trying not to be the center of attention.
[Grandma MiMi]
[narrator] But Chloe's baby brother, Jayson,
enjoys the spotlight.
[mumbling]
[Jay] Uh, I think Jayson at that point in time,
he was probably more, uh, daring.
[narrator] Jay distracts his son,
so that Chloe can play with her present.
[Jay]
[Grandma MiMi]
[Jay]
[narrator] Five days later on December 29th,
Jay goes on a first date
with 29-year-old Kristie Sutton.
[Jay] We went to a place in Evansville, Indiana,
on the west side called Logan's Roadhouse...
...and it was nice, it was a good first date.
[Kristie] I just really enjoyed his company
and him being around,
and that was just something I wanted to pursue long-term.
He did have these two young children
that he was raising.
I just thought that was a good quality in a man
that even to this day I wil always admire him for.
[Jay] Chloe was a little standoffish.
I'm sure that there was that thought
in the back of her mind of, you know, uh,
"Who's this trying to take my dad from me?"
[Kristie] And then Jayson was just Jayson.
Jayson was your typical little boy
that was a little bit on the wild side.
The progression of mine and Kristie's relationship
was really good.
[Kristie] Couple months later...
...we were just kinda casually sitting there, and he says,
"Would you marry me?"
And I said, "I think I might
[narrator] Jay and Kristie tie the kno
on March 14, 2003.
[Kristie] We went and got married on our lunch hour,
and went back to work.
It was just, "Hey." We just did it.
I learned that I was pregnan the beginning of March,
uh, of 2003.
So, I went from single to being married
to having two children with a third on the way.
[Jay] Chloe and Jayson had taken to her very well.
She's an outstanding mother,
but she was also a very good friend to them.
[narrator] Kristie gives birth to baby Brecken
on October 2nd, 2003.
[Jay] Christmas, 2003,
it was a fun Christmas
because, you know, Brecken was just born.
[Grandma MiMi]
[Grandma MiMi] Right!
[Jay] I would say that Chloe was excited,
uh, you know, because it, she was older now,
and it would give her more of an opportunity
to "test" her protective mother skills.
It was definitely unforgettable.
You had Brecken, was a newborn,
uh, me and Kristie were married,
and Chloe and Jayson,
so, yeah, it was definitely a special Christmas.
It was just a really good moment in time.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought..
...that it would turn out the way it did.
[narrator] In the summer of 2014...
the Randolph family visit Holiday World
in Santa Claus, Indiana.
Kristie records a precious memory
of two of her family.
She captures 15-year-old Chl
as she straps into a ride.
In the seat beside her is her brother, John Michael
John Michael was born
on November 29th, 2006.
Chloe was very protective of John Michael
because he was the youngest.
Making sure they're locked i
In a second, she's gonna attempt to hold his hand.
Just to reassure him that
big sister is there to take care of him.
[Jay]
On this one they're on a rid called Liberty Launch.
Uh, he's actually the only one that would ever
do any of these rides with her.
[screaming]
[Jay laughing]
Daddy said they'd be fine,
but Mama was always worried.
[Jay]
[Kristie]
[Jay laughing]
They both loved that day.
I think John Michael was scared and he wouldn't admit it.
I was scared.
[narrator] One year later,
Chloe is all dressed up for her boyfriend's prom night.
[Jay] Uh, this is Chloe going to prom.
And, of course, you know, she has to throw her thumbs up,
"Hey, Dad!"
[Kristie] We had went to the hair salon that morning.
She got her hair colored,
had her makeup done, had her hair done.
Her boyfriend, he was two years older than her, so...
...they just kind grew apart.
Chloe was a very dedicated student,
and graduated, uh,
with an advance diploma a year-and-a-half early
above her graduating class.
[narrator] In August, 2016,
Chloe enrolls at Henderson Community College.
[Jay] She wanted to become a hospice nurse..
...and so, when she enrolled in college...
...she started working at Easterseals.
[Kristie] Easterseals is a rehabilitation center,
um, but they have a program for,
uh, mentally-challenged adul
and their households.
That kind went along with he
being a hospice nurse in a sense.
It's about caring and being an advocate
for people that can't be for themselves,
and that's why she just loved the job.
[narrator] In Spring, 2017,
someone new recognizes Chloe's caring nature.
I think he said all the right things.
He made her feel special.
I remember she had texted me
and told me that she had got a new boyfriend.
I remember her describing hi
as very, like, nice and giving.
It just looked picture perfect.
[narrator] 19-year-old Mohamud Abdikadir,
known to his friends as Gabriel,
was born in Somalia.
In 2016,
his family sent him and his two older siblings
to Owensboro, Kentucky, for a chance at a better lif
Gabriel is studying to be a phlebotomist,
a healthcare worker who specializes in blood draws.
They seemed happy, honestly,
and they seemed like they were in love.
[Jay] The first time that I met Gabriel...
...was about three weeks
after Chloe had told me about him.
[Kristie] Oh, of course, she was nervous.
She was afraid of what her dad was gonna say
'cause dad can be quite brutal at first meeting him.
[Jay] He was respectful to my daughter,
and, you know, as a parent,
that's what I expect, that's what I want.
[narrator] Chloe and Gabrie move into a duplex
in July, 2017.
[phone ringing]
[narrator] A few weeks later Chloe calls her father
to break some exciting news
[Jay] Chloe actually called me,
and, uh, said, "Dad, I'm getting married."
I didn't believe her.
An hour later or two hours later,
she actually texted me
a picture of the marriage certificate.
Was it a little shocking?
Yes, it was.
They just took two of her friends,
and got married at the courthouse.
[narrator] Just over one month later,
Chloe reveals another surprise...
...she's pregnant.
She was worried that I would say,
"You're too young," you know
"you're stupid, you're ruining your life."
But I was, like, extremely happy.
[Kristie] She says, "Are you excited?"
And I said, "Well, of course I'm excited."
You know, and I was 'cause they all knew I loved a baby.
[Jay] About the time
when Chloe found out she was pregnant...
...I started to see a change in Gabriel.
He didn't seem interested to be involved in a lot of i
He didn't go to a lot of appointments with her.
In the beginning, she would just say,
"Well, he didn't wanna go,"
and it was almost like she was making an excuse for hi
so her Dad wouldn't get upset.
[Jay] Kristie went with her
to all the gynecological appointments
and any check-ups, I would go with her.
Chloe was, you know, maybe feeling,
"Okay, you know, I'm going at this alone.
Even though my parents are with me,
it should be my husband."
[narrator] June 13th, 2018..
...Chloe arrives at Deacones Hospital in Henderson
to deliver her baby by C-section.
[Jay]
[Chloe]
[narrator] After being absent for months,
Gabriel suddenly wants to be involved
in the birth of his child.
It was actually intended for,
uh, Kristie to go into the labor
and delivery room with Chloe.
But before they took her back, uh, he...
...changed his mind,
and he wanted to go into the labor and delivery room.
You know, Gabriel hadn't participated in anything...
...but out of respect for my daughter,
I still handled myself
in a very professional manner.
[narrator] Chloe gives birt to Slimani Abdikadir
at 9:30 a.m. in the morning
June 14th, 2018.
They nickname him Slim.
[Jay] After Slim's arrival,
it was, uh, an overwhelming feeling of joy, you know?
Becoming a granddad, I was elated.
I was extremely happy.
[narrator] Within hours of Slim's birth,
Gabriel makes a surprising announcement.
[Kristie] The exact words Gabriel said to me was,
"I need you to take Chloe home with you to your house,
and get this baby under control
and on a sleeping schedule
because I don't wanna be disturbed and woke up,"
and I looked at him with the most ridiculous look
that you could possibly ever have.
It's a newborn baby, you're gonna lose sleep.
[Jay] Maybe a week after Slim was born,
he packed his stuff
and moved to Owensboro with his sister.
To walk away from your child, I just...
I don't care who you are, I just can't understand
how anyone could ever do that.
[narrator] Slim is less than five months old
when Gabriel files for divorce.
One month later...
...he demands full custody of the baby.
[Jay] After all of this time
Gabriel didn't wanna be a part of Slim's life,
and now all of a sudden,
the attorney gets in touch with Chloe and says,
"Just come sign this paperwork.
He wants full custody and $500 a week."
[Kristie] "It's either my way or no way."
That was Gabriel's attitude
It's all, "You're gonna do it my way,
and if you don't like it then you're gonna suffer the consequences."
[Lien] Once Chloe said that she was looking
for lawyers for a custody battle,
I knew that Chloe wouldn't back down
just because Slimani is, like, her whole world,
and she knew that he was
was safest with her. She was his mother.
[narrator] Chloe schedules a appointment with a divorce lawyer for Tuesday, March 26
Four days before this upcoming meeting...
...Chloe receives a visit from Gabriel.
[Jay] He wanted to take Sli
because he had family comin into town and he wanted the to see Slim.
So, reluctantly, she agreed to let him take Slim.
Within the, the first hour after he left with Slim...
[phone ringing]
...he called her.
And he said she would never see her son again.
That he was going to leave the country.
[narrator] When Gabriel hangs up, Chloe calls back a records their conversation.
[phone ringing]
[Chloe]
[Gabriel]
[Chloe]
[Gabriel]
[Chloe]
[Gabriel]
[Chloe]
[Gabriel]
[call ended tone]
Chloe's calling me and she's upset and she's crying.
And I told my son, Jason,
you know, we're gonna stop by Gabriel's apartment and see if anybody's there.
Main intention was to ask him where my grandson was at.
Within about 15 minutes, Gabriel pulls up.
I already knew that, uh, Gabriel had a gun.
And instead of rolling his window down,
his right hand reaches in-between the seat and the console.
And he's opening the door up while he's doing that, and he sticks his leg out.
So I take the door and slam it on his leg.
[narrator] Jason records the confrontation on his phone.
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[Jay] When I'm asking Gabriel where my grandson is, where Slim is,
he's giving me, like...
...four different answers.
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[narrator] Gabriel's friend Isaac is in the car with him
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
[Jay] Gabriel has another gu in the car with him.
And I, I said, uh, he can go with Jason, and I'll go with you,
and you can take me to where my grandson's at.
And, you know, he just, he kept saying no.
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
[Jay]
[Gabriel]
And I said, the only thing I wanna know is where's my grandson.
And he kinda went downhill from there.
[narrator] A bystander calls 911.
I left before the police got there.
You know, Jason, I could tell he was getting upset.
I went to the police station and I told the police office
I said, I physically assaulted this man.
I said, but, what you don't know is that he had a gun.
So, officer went and called Gabriel,
to then which he said, I don't wanna press charges.
[narrator] Gabriel's choice means that the police need not find out
if Gabriel did reach for a g during the incident.
Chloe arrives at Henderson Police Department.
She files an EPO, an Emergen Protective Order, to preven Gabriel fleeing with Slim.
A Henderson judge denies Chloe's request.
[Jay] There was pertinent information that Chloe did not put in there,
such as the phone call threatening to leave the country.
[Jay] That next morning...
[phone ringing]
...Chloe called me at 9:24 AM...
...and told me that Gabriel called her
and said that if she wanted Slim, she had to come right then.
And I told her, you know, I'll be done in about 30 minutes where I'm at,
and I'll come there,
and she said no, uh, he said you couldn't come because of what happened last night.
She said, I'm getting ready to go up to the door. And I said okay.
I said, uh, just remember I love you.
Call me when you get Slim, and, and, you know, let me know everything's okay.
And she said, uh, I love you too, Dad.
And, you know, that, uh, that is the last time I ever talked to my daughter.
[phone ringing]
[911 dispatch] 911 emergency
[narrator] West Memphis Police Department in Arkansa receives a 911 call
from the welcome center on the Arkansas-Tennessee state border.
[Lieutenant Harvey Taylor] I think the original call
was someone walking in the roadway.
Uh, this was a very unusual call.
Our dispatch sent the patrolmen to that area.
Uh, once they arrived there, there was no one in the road.
Dispatch advised our officer that the caller had moved to the welcome center.
[narrator] The caller gives his name as Mohamud Gabriel Abdikadir
He's 300 miles from his hom in Henderson, Kentucky.
Also with him was his son, Slim, and a friend named Isaac.
Uh, our patrol officer spoke with Mr. Mohamud about why he called.
That aroused some more tension and their supervisor notified me at that point.
Mr. Mohamud told our officer that he believed
that his spouse may have killed herself back in Kentucky.
My first reaction is, why didn't you call the local police department?
Um, how did you end up here?
We didn't know if he was having some kind of mental issues at the time,
or if there was actually a real issue in Henderson, Kentucky at the time.
So we asked him to come to the station until we could find out more.
And he agreed to do that.
West Memphis dispatch called Henderson, Kentucky
to try and do a welfare chec on the residents
and to see if there was any truth to what Mr. Mohamu was saying.
At that point, I think it wa very important to speak to Isaac,
because Isaac was the only person at that time that could possibly speak for Chloe.
[sighing] Speaking with Isaa was, was very tricky.
I don't know any Swahili.
Uh, we actually had to call in a translator from the Sheriff Department
Once Isaac was read his Miranda rights, um, he agreed.
He seemed very open about it
[Lt. Taylor] He stated that uh, he was at the residence.
...when, um, Mr. Mohamud and Chloe had some kind of an argument in the other room.
[Lt. Taylor] He said he didn't really... He didn't ask any questions
but on his way out of the residence, he saw blood,
and saw what he thought was Chloe's feet.
I got the sense that Isaac was afraid of Mr. Mohamud.
[narrator] 300 miles away, back in Henderson...
...police officers carry ou a welfare check at Gabriel's apartment.
At first, the patrol officers went out to that apartment complex.
They knocked on the door, they could not get an answer
At that time, they called a detective to the scene,
uh, we did the search warrant and they made entry to the apartment.
The first thing that I notic was blood on the floor.
Uh, there was also what looked like handprints on the walls.
As we made our way through the hallway...
...there was blood spatter on the wall.
Uh, there was a closet to the right.
Uh, once we opened up that closet...
...uh, Chloe's body was inside there.
There was a wound, uh, that went, uh, round the entiret of her neck, almost.
And you actually see all the impacts on her head
Uh, also on scene, in, uh, a closet, we located a bloody hammer.
Uh, we located some bloody clothing,
and, uh, eventually, after Chloe's body was moved...
...we located a bloody knif in that closet.
Whenever we initially got the call, we were told that it was, uh, a suicide.
Suicides are normally, when police arrive,
the body is how it was whenever someone found them
People normally don't drag the body, hide it in a closet, and then leave.
One of my top priorities was to get a warrant issued on Gabriel
for tampering with physical evidence.
[narrator] Lieutenant Taylo reads Gabriel his Miranda rights at 8:10 P
Slim is with him, safe and sound.
[narrator] Two hours later, a patrol officer arrests Gabriel
for tampering with physical evidence.
[Slim mumbling]
Child services takes temporary custody of baby Slim.
We had to go out and talk to Jay and Kristie and tell them that we found Chloe.
[Kristie] That look in his eyes told that whole story.
I knew she was gone.
I was about to just crumble
'Cause what do you do?
Your child's dead.
[Jay] Finding out for sure that it's Chloe, um, it was gut-wrenching.
The job as a father is to protect your family. And.
...I failed my daughter.
I couldn't protect her.
One of the first things that I told Kristie was we have to find out where Slim is.
So immediately, I call the West Memphis, Arkansas Police Department.
But then, Gabriel had said, I'm not releasing him to her family.
[Kristie] Oh, it was awful. Um, Chloe wanted her son to be safe,
and we didn't have him yet.
And we didn't wanna let Chloe down.
Monday morning, first thing
we immediately filed the petition to get emergency custody of Slim.
And we had to get Slim from the court at 9:00 AM the next morning.
The minute he seen Jay, he just lit up and started smiling and giggling,
and at this point, on the wa back, was the first time that Slim said "Mama".
[narrator] Four days after Chloe's death in Henderson...
...Detective Isonhood makes the journey to Arkansa to interview Gabriel.
[Det. Isonhood] West Memphi did tell us that, uh, Gabriel said
that she had hit herself, uh in the head with a hammer, and she cut her throat.
The statements whenever we talked to Gabriel, uh,
did not include suicide of any kind.
It was indicating that she was murdered.
The story that he gave us was that he put the homicide on Isaac,
uh, claiming that Isaac was the one that murdered he
Well, I had them came to my apartment...
[Det. Isonhood] Gabriel tells us the, uh, night before Chloe's murder,
Gabriel and, uh, Jay kind o got into a little bit of an altercation.
Gabriel told us that that was the reason, uh, why Isaac was scared,
and why he killed Chloe.
Whenever he told us that, uh Isaac was the one that murdered her,
and the way that he described it just did not match the crime scene,
we immediately just shut him down.
[narrator] Investigators established that Isaac had n involvement in Chloe's murde
They charged him with no cri in relation to her death.
[Det. Isonhood] Once we call Gabriel out on that story,
he started to come off of i extremely fast.
And at that point, we went down a couple series of different stories.
His next step is that Chloe attacks him, and that he wa just fighting back.
Uh, we moved from him accidentally hitting her with the hammer,
to him saying that he thought she was gonna hit him with the hammer,
and that's why he grabs it.
The knife wound to Chloe was one single cut.
Falling down on the knife isn't gonna cause that kind of wound.
Eventually, what we got was, gonna be close enough to the truth that we were gonna get.
Uh, where the attack starts is right at Slim's door.
After Chloe's been moved, and he's showered...
...uh, he gets Isaac, he get Slim, he loads 'em in their car, and they start driving
[narrator] Henderson Police Department extradites Gabrie to Kentucky on March 29.
At that time, he was additionally charged with murder.
[narrator] Kentucky law prevents Chloe's family
from determining what happen to her body.
[Jay] In the State of Kentucky, the slayer statute
stated that in a result of a death of a spouse,
that the next of kin has the right to disposition of human remains.
And they had five days from the date of notification of death...
...to dispose of these remai however they saw fit.
Gabriel didn't exercise his rights, but he didn't waive his rights.
So we had to wait out the five days.
You've confessed to killing my daughter.
Now, you want to exercise more control over her dead body?
[Jay] So, after these five days were over,
it allowed me the ability to make sure that I could bring Chloe home
and nobody could ever hurt her again.
[narrator] The Randolph fami successfully petitions the State of Kentucky
to disqualify a person charged with murder of a spouse or relative
as their victim's next of ki
The Chloe Randolph Bill passes into law on April 24, 2020.
[Jay] It states, now, the chain of command
goes to adult children, parents, or siblings.
So no other family in the State of Kentucky
will have to go through that process that we went through.
[narrator] On September 23, 2021,
Mohamud Gabriel Abdikadir pleads guilty to the second degree murder of Chloe.
The judge sentences him to 20 years in prison.
[Jay] He got 20 years for murdering a 20-year-old mother of a nine-month-old.
It's an injustice.
[narrator] Jay and Kristie become Suleimani's legal parents in November, 2021.
The Randolph family now run the Chloe Randolph Organization
to offer support to victims of domestic violence.
[Kristie] That's what Chloe was about, helping people.
I hope she's proud.
I'm just proud to have been part of her life.
[Jay] Hey, Chloe, Chloe.
[Jay] You know, I miss all of the, uh, the times that I had with her.
Hey, Dad!
[Jay] It's nice to remember
It's also painful, because you don't have her here anymore.