(suspenseful music playing)
(line trilling)
(dispatcher and woman speaking)
Everybody involved in this case knows,
Without question,
That the person that killed ryder
Was the mother's boyfriend, christopher trent.
Male reporter: Christopher trent ran away after johnson died.
Now prosecutors have filed first degree murder charges
Against the boy's mother rebecca hogue.
They say she should have reasonably known her son was at risk of child abuse
When she left him with trent.
Hogue: I don't know what went wrong that night,
I still don't know. I don't think I'll ever know what went wrong.
I know my son knows that I would never allow anyone to hurt him.
And I know he does not want to look down and see me in jail for the rest of my life.
(dramatic music playing)
My name is andrew casey. I'm an attorney in oklahoma city.
I represent rebecca hogue.
Rebecca's son, a two and a half-year-old named jeremiah ryder johnson,
Was killed by her boyfriend, christopher trent.
But rebecca's charged with a very small subset
Of oklahoma's murder law,
Which is based upon a failure to protect.
Which says that rebecca knew or should have known
That the boyfriend was a risk of child abuse to her child.
If she's convicted, rebecca would have to serve about 38 and a half years
Before she was eligible for parole.
Rebecca is a single mother
Who was working a lot
To make sure that she was providing for her son.
On December 31st, so it's new year's eve,
Rebecca went to work at her job
As a cocktail waitress at a local casino.
And she left the child in the care of her boyfriend.
She worked a double shift, came home in roughly the 4:00 a.M. Hours.
When she woke up the next day,
The boyfriend had left to go to work,
And upon her waking up, she felt that the child was cold and he was not breathing.
Ryder's death occurred because her boyfriend, christopher trent,
Had caused blunt force trauma to his head.
That produced what is called a subdural hematoma, which is a brain bleed.
I took rebecca's case without pay as a pro bono client
Because I truly believe that she did not know
That christopher trent was a risk of child abuse to ryder.
I feel absolutely saddened,
Heartbroken and, at the same time, disgusted
That this person is being subjected to this particular charge.
(melancholy music playing)
Hogue: This is what I sleep next to every night.
This is, most importantly, my son.
Right here in his urn.
I have his handprints, his feet prints.
These are my fingerprints and his father's fingerprints.
I named my son after his father,
And it broke my heart when he didn't wanna
Be in a home with us.
Hogue: So I was raising ryder by myself,
And I wasn't exactly looking,
But I was hoping that somebody would come along
And take me and my son
And want to be there for us.
I was raised without a father and I didn't want my son
To grow up without a father figure.
I feel like every child
Needs a father in their life.
And chris told me that he would adopt my son
And I didn't know a man would do that.
And I was just like,
"wow, I finally have someone that wants to stay in the home with me."
Chris was
Such a loving person and I don't know...
I don't know what went wrong that night.
We're going to spend today with rebecca,
Trying to figure out a little bit more detail about the timeline of events.
Because we've gotta come up with a strategy
To prove that she couldn't have known
That the person she'd left in charge of ryder
Was a risk of child abuse.
Casey: Thank you for being here with us today.
I want to go over just a few different things
About the day before and the day of. All right?
Hogue: Okay.
Casey: December 31st, 2019.
-You're working at riverwind casino, right? -Hogue: Mmm-hmm.
Casey: So you went to work. Did you talk to chris throughout the night?
I was very busy, but I did get a video call in at 9:00
And I got to speak to both of them,
And my son told me that he loved me.
He was smiling.
And I was like, "it was good to see you guys."
And then I got off the phone and I went right back to work.
And then when do you get home?
(sniffles) I get home around 3:00 a.M.
Chris and ryder are asleep in bed,
And I crawl in in between them.
And I give my son a kiss and I was asleep.
And then when did you wake up?
(sniffles) woke up, I think, around 11:00 a.M.
Do you know where chris is?
Yeah, he wasn't in bed with me.
He had an appointment that morning that he was going to go to work.
Walk me through what's happening.
I feel like it's late in the day.
And usually, my son wakes me up a little bit earlier.
That was my first sign.
And I roll over and my son
Doesn't look like he's breathing.
And I call 911.
And then the paramedics come and I step away,
So they could do their work and...
Next thing I know, the police won't let me ride in the ambulance with ryder,
Which I thought was odd, 'cause I wanted to.
And me and a police officer get to the hospital before the ambulance.
I'm sitting down with the police and telling them everything that I know.
They're suspecting something, I guess.
Of who?
Of chris, since he wasn't answering the phone.
Casey: Were you calling a bunch?
Was it just going to voicemail or what?
Yeah.
I called him and told him that ryder wasn't breathing.
"I think we lost him. I think I lost him."
And then he hung up the phone and turned it off.
Casey: And then you never heard from him again?
No, his phone was off and he never showed up.
That was kind of when I put two and two together.
And then finally, I get taken back into a room
And like, it's just like in the movies,
A doctor comes out and says,
"we tried everything for your son and he's not alive."
So in this case, they know you did not cause any direct harm to ryder.
But you've been charged with the most serious crime
That the state of oklahoma has.
If we don't win at jury trial,
Our only options are life or life without parole.
Thirty eight and a half years.
And we have to fight every day between now and then
To make sure that we don't have to hear
Any of those words come out of a juror's mouth.
Night falls on the wichita mountains wildlife refuge
Without any luck finding the suspect
In the death of a norman two-year-old.
(tense music playing)
Casey: The manhunt continues until January 4th.
And they've tracked what they think is his location down to the wichita mountains,
But when they locate him, he is no longer alive.
He had concocted a noose for himself
And he hung himself to death.
Christopher trent left a note,
So to speak.
He made his own burial and he carved some messages into it.
You see an actual cross.
He spends time and whittles out
All of these different types of messages.
"I'm sorry, mom."
And then he has one final message.
"rebecca is innocent."
It's vital to the defense that a jury hear and understand
This is the guilty killer in this case
Accepting responsibility
For what he did
To cause this child's death.
There is no more important message
Than "rebecca is innocent" on this cross.
(suspenseful music playing)
Hogue: A lot of my family is out of state,
So I'm living with eileen and karen, my two aunts.
Eileen kropf: I'll make some cheesy eggs, scrambled eggs, how's that?
Hogue: Sounds good.
Hogue: It fits because I'm not alone right now,
Dealing with these emotions from the loss of my son.
After my son's death on January 1st,
I couldn't go back into that house at all.
So I immediately moved out.
Do you want fresh watermelon juice?
-Yum. -Yummy.
Hogue: Six to seven months later
I found out that they were going to indict me.
Then I turned myself in and I stayed in jail
For four months, almost five months.
My time in jail was really hard on me.
Mentally, emotionally, grieving for my son.
If he was out running around here, I'd be a lot different.
Oh, I know that, honey. I'm...
-I'd be out and about, you know, with him and... -Kropf: Uh-huh.
-It just feels so quiet and... -Uh-huh.
We want you to know we're here if you need us.
(kropf chuckles)
Hogue: I couldn't imagine going to prison and being...
And doing it all over again, but having years and years and years to count down.
-I want to offer up a little prayer. -Both: Okay.
Okay. I just want to say, thank you, lord, and...
Hogue: I want the life where I'm married, I have children,
We have a nice home,
And I don't want to give up and let the state take
My future away from me so I never get to experience those things that...
That I want so badly and have wanted so badly.
(intense music playing)
Casey: Today, austin and I are going over the evidence in the case
And we're trying to pinpoint some of the state's strongest evidence against rebecca.
The state's case here is not about rebecca doing the child abuse.
And so they can't just focus on January 1st when the child passes away.
They have to go back in time to somehow prove
That she knew that child abuse was going on
Or that she should have known.
The prosecution was able to find that rebecca had taken pictures
Of small bruises on ryder going back 12 days before the child dies.
The state's position is that the existence of those bruises
Should have let rebecca know
That the child was being abused,
And that because of that,
She should not leave the child in the hands of christopher trent.
The first thing that happens where there's anything noted
About something wrong with the child is December 19th.
Vance: What we have here
Is definitely a bruise
And it's pretty dark in color, but it's not particularly large.
If you see this picture,
Is there any way you would say beyond a reasonable doubt
You're alerted that this is child abuse?
Casey: I don't think you get close.
Not with this picture.
She does take ryder to the doctor
And he examines the ears,
And I believe that, from her recollection,
Nothing is stated to be wrong.
So this is, uh, another photograph taken by rebecca.
Casey: To me, this looks like a kid might have busted his lip.
Might have run into something face-first.
Ryder is the kind of boy who runs around, tumbles, gets bruises, gets cuts,
He's a "boys will be boys" kind of deal.
So far, we have two pieces of evidence
And there's not much here.
And on the 21st,
This is ten days before the child passes away.
So, you know, ten days ahead, we don't have very much.
The crux of the state's case is gonna come
From the photos taken on 12/29.
So...
Yeah, the December 29th pictures are definitely the ones
That start to bring larger questions about whether or not
Ryder has actually been hurt before the day that he dies.
This photo is the first where I think it's more definitive bruising,
Rather than the other pictures.
Casey: I've done enough child abuse cases
Where I'm comfortable looking at this
And having a high quality concern
That this is child abuse.
It's a little bit of a larger bruise
And it's a hairline bruise.
Vance: But do you think that the untrained eye
Would be able to pick up on these kinds of bruises being child abuse?
I don't think so.
It's not one giant trauma that occurred at once
That should've sent off, you know, alarms.
How is the state is going to explain
That rebecca is a negligent mother,
When their only evidence of abuse
Is photos taken by rebecca to record the incident?
That doesn't scream of negligence to me.
Casey: The state's case here
Is because she took the pictures,
She knew that he was being abused.
And they try to tie all of them together to say
The child was being abused over this period of time
And she should have known about it
Or she did know about it.
At the time, rebecca is not looking for answers about this,
She is just going piece by piece and minute by minute
Trying to get through work,
Trying to get through taking care of the baby,
And trying to move on to the next day.
(pensive music playing)
Hogue: I took the pictures of the bruises
Because I wasn't at home when they occurred,
And I wanted to ask chris what happened.
He told me that my son never left his sight
And I have nothing to worry about
And he loves my son and he loves me
And he would do anything to protect us.
So I never thought twice about the injuries on my son.
Being a first-time mom,
Chris kind of lessened my worries
And told me, "boys will be boys,"
And, you know, I was used to
Seeing nicks and bruises on my son
And I've seen him fall face down
Off his scooters and everything,
And so I really didn't think anything of it
When he told me not to worry.
Watching him interact with my son,
He would run and stop him from doing things that might get him hurt.
And so, I never thought twice of leaving my son in care...
In the care of chris.
(voice shaking) I guess they wonder,
How this could slip past me.
But it did because I didn't think I had
Someone like that in the home with us
That would end up doing what he did.
(intense music playing)
This recording was made by a domestic violence advocate for rebecca,
Who was also working at the police station.
This advocate had a hunch
That she wanted to start recording a conversation
Between her and one of the detectives on the case.
The recording is very unusual
Because you have the lead detective on the case
For the norman police department
Openly stating that he believes rebecca is innocent of the crime.
(detectives speaking indistinctly over recording)
Casey: This was a recording between multiple detectives who were assigned to the case.
It's a very unusual recording
Because law enforcement is openly disagreeing
With the choice by prosecutors
To charge the person
That is ultimately charged with the crime.
(tense music playing)
It starts to call into question the motives of the district attorney's office
Because the district attorney doesn't interview a single person.
I believe they have decided to charge rebecca
Because they wanted to put the blame on somebody
For the death of this sweet child.
The evidence is very good for the defense
Because we want the jury to be confronted with detectives who get on the stand and say,
"we never thought that rebecca committed a crime."
(suspenseful music playing)
Casey: We know that the state of oklahoma
Is going to try to paint christopher trent
As malicious and bad of a guy as humanly possible.
They want to project an image into the juror's head of,
"why in the world would rebecca have dated this guy?"
And then a second question of,
"why would she ever let this person babysit her child?"
We need to meet it head on.
And I think the best way to do that
Is to get behind rebecca's mind
And find out everything that she went through
That may have informed her decision
That christopher trent was a good candidate for dating.
-Casey: Hey, how are you? -Good. How are you?
-Good, we can go right in here. -Okay.
We've been able to figure out from the prosecution
That they're going to be leaning in very heavily
On this one big theme in general, which is,
"why would you be dating christopher trent?"
And then later,
"why would you let christopher trent babysit ryder?"
And at this point, you know, ryder's dad, he's not in the picture.
Where's he at?
Hogue: He was in jail.
And that's partially because of stuff that he had done to you?
Right.
So you and chris started dating towards the end of July, 2019.
You all met online?
-Yes. -What were you seeing?
I saw someone with a good personality,
A big smile, someone easy to talk to.
At some point,
You decide to move forward with this relationship.
Mmm-hmm.
And you had kind of figured out,
"okay, I know now he's got a dui."
How is that affecting you?
Well, I know it's not ideal to date anyone that's had a dui.
But chris told me
About the steps he has been taking to better himself
And I... I believed him.
-'cause we know the end result now. -(sniffles)
And so it's so much easier for us to say,
This person had issues with violence.
Are you seeing any of that as you're dating?
No.
Had you been through domestic violence issues before?
Yes.
My mom was abused.
And then my first boyfriend, when I was 15, started abusing me.
And then I went to another man who abused me
And it just was a chain of...
Of men that...
I mean, it's...
I've had men choke me.
Hit me.
I've been thrown out of a moving car.
I've had my clothes bleached.
I've been beaten so bad that I thought I was going to die.
I've had guns pulled on me. I've...
So when we get, you know, back to 2019,
Is chris reminding you of anything like that?
No, he was a breath of fresh air.
Chris didn't raise his voice at me.
He told me he didn't put his hands on women.
Was he aware that you had been through all this different stuff before?
Yeah. And he told me I was safe with him.
Casey: This is a situation where it looks pretty clear
That christopher trent is manipulating her into believing,
"I'm the man of your dreams."
It had immense words for her.
And so that's why she couldn't see it,
Was because of everything he was representing himself to be.
And so, trying to make a jury understand that
Is the most important evidentiary thing.
(suspenseful music playing)
I think rebecca's case is going to come down
To whether or not the jury believes
That she should have been dating christopher trent.
So, as backwards as it seems,
We actually are really looking for witnesses who will tell us
About how great christopher trent appeared as a person
And say, "yeah, he really did, he put on the charm."
I understand that you know rebecca pretty well.
Yes. We were both cocktail waitresses.
So, when did you first meet chris trent?
Um, it was their first date.
She had mentioned that she had met a guy and we're like,
"well, let's all go out together for your first time."
He shook our hands, was very, you know, polite.
He was so respectful and he was easy to talk to,
Like, carried on a conversation
To where he was a very likable person.
-He didn't raise any eyebrows, suspicion or concern? -No, not at all.
I mean, he was just a really nice, genuine person.
Vance: So, through your friendship with rebecca,
You got to observe her as a mother.
Was there any indication that she was neglectful?
No, not at all.
If he went out, she was right there with him outside.
She was very protective of ryder.
Very, very protective of him.
Based on, you know, knowing rebecca for almost a decade,
Even with everything you know,
Would you trust her with your kids?
-I would trust her now. -Yeah.
I do. I trust her with my life.
I trust her with my babies' lives.
She's a wonderful person.
A wonderful person.
Vance: The thought that the jury are going to come together,
Hear this whole story that's been humanized,
That I don't think the prosecutors care about,
And then say conclusively,
Beyond a reasonable doubt, she knew there was abuse,
She willingly ignored it and that this is murder,
Is just, I think, ridiculous.
(dramatic music playing)
Casey: We brought rebecca in to deal with some prosecution evidence
Because they found some pdf documents on her phone
About "what are signs of child abuse."
So, they're going to treat it as
One of their biggest pieces of evidence and say,
"see, she was looking for signs of child abuse on the internet
"at the same time this was happening."
It's probably one of the only big problems in the case
As far as what this piece of evidence is.
Now, I don't see it as fatal,
And I do see it as something that there is a reasonable explanation for.
But we gotta figure that out with rebecca.
It's christmas eve and you download this document.
I'm just always on high alert
In any relationship for myself and for my son.
It was just something that I researched just for peace of mind.
Casey: The state's going to make a big deal out of this document.
Did you read this first section?
Hogue: Well, looking at this document,
It would say my child would show sudden changes in behavior,
Which he had not.
No learning problems. My son was very inquisitive and very curious.
And so, let's just walk through these signs of physical abuse.
No burns. No bites, no broken bones, no black eyes on my son.
Did he have any points where he seemed frightened
Whenever he had to stay with chris?
No. Never did that. If anything, he was running towards chris.
What was your conclusion at the end of reading that document?
That there was no child abuse going on in my home.
Casey: The state's stretching with this piece of evidence.
The narrative that they're trying to promote
Is that she should have immediately known
That child abuse was at risk from these two injuries.
That is such a very lofty thing to expect of somebody in the general public.
For her to look for all the signs is one thing,
And then for her to make a conclusion is a totally different thing.
And they have to prove that she knew,
And that's totally different than suspected.
If you're searching, "what is child abuse?"
Then it leads to the idea that you didn't know something was child abuse.
But they're still going to try to run this one up the flagpole as many times as they can.
So part of our strategy is really simple,
We're here to show that the conclusions they reached
About you were wrong.
(dramatic music playing)
Hogue: Today, we're going to my storage unit.
I have to just think of the worst possibility
And that would be they do convict me,
And me being sent to prison for the rest of my life.
And so, I have to get all my belongings in one spot.
It definitely feels like every materialistic thing I have is here,
But it's also everything in here
I worked for, I bought, I paid for.
Um...
So it's... It's very insulting to me
To have lost my son, my home.
And now
It comes to this.
All my stuff in a unit.
I'm facing life in prison.
So it's... It's either...
It's all or nothing right now.
(ominous music playing)
Casey: They're going to come in there
And try to say everything negative
And I've gotta punch 'em in the mouth real fast.
I've really got to be able to go in there
And start throwing haymakers.
It's not a time to be meek.
The fight starts now.
We get a jury and the fight starts now.
(pensive music playing)
Casey: Hearing the state's opening,
And I'll be honest, there was a lot of the opening
That was just devoid of accuracy.
The prosecution is 100% trying to say that rebecca just knew
He was being abused and just tried to hide it.
As far as what their strategy goes,
I assumed it would be a little bit more reasonable.
So we'll see what else they have as we kind of get closer to it.
(intense music playing)
Shelby montgomery: Today, we heard testimony from a medical examiner
Who revealed the extent of the injuries.
They revealed that the cause of the death was a homicide by blunt force trauma.
(suspenseful music playing)
Hogue: Definitely the roughest so far.
No mother should have to hear
Or see or be around what the state presented today.
It was awful.
Casey: The question is what she knew or should have known,
And nothing that we looked at today helped us get to that answer.
The reason that you show a jury,
"see all these gruesome horror show pictures
"and have an emotional response to it,"
Where they want to do justice for somebody.
The only person they can do anything to is rebecca,
And you're hoping to motivate them to do that.
It's...
It's very difficult right now. It's just unbearable for her.
(suspenseful music playing)
Casey: Today started taking a turn for the worse around the lunchtime hour.
The prosecution stood up and said that they wanted to object to a bunch of our witnesses.
And one by one, we lost several different motions that the state raised at the very last minute.
Casey: And all that the jury is left with at this point
Is, "well, the cops didn't do a thorough investigation."
It just didn't have an impact to it
For what the detective was able to talk about
Because we didn't get to ask him any of the "why" questions.
(intense music playing)
The carvings basically, in this case, were a suicide note.
A dying declaration from christopher trent
Saying that he was guilty and saying rebecca is innocent.
We couldn't present it to a jury.
Casey: Because the abuse wasn't "physical,"
It led to a situation where we got ruled out
On getting to introduce our domestic violence expert
To talk about why rebecca was acting in certain ways that she was acting.
And that's kind of the point of the defense.
She was being abused. She just didn't see it.
That left us in a moment where we had to scramble
And re-put together what our defense case was.
Then we proceeded with about five witnesses that got up there to talk,
But we were all hamstrung with every witness that we had
Because some of them couldn't get into certain topics
And some of them couldn't give their full opinion on things.
We had very strong witnesses that we were planning on using
Without rebecca testifying.
And now we've gotta make decisions tonight
About whether rebecca will or will not testify.
These are "heat of the moment" questions sometimes,
And so sometimes you can make a wrong decision.
Ultimately, it's not my decision.
It's rebecca's decision.
Rebecca has to make that choice.
(suspenseful music playing)
Hogue: Last night, my attorney called me
And asked me if I wanted to testify,
And I couldn't sleep.
I want to testify because I'm fighting for my life.
It's a hard decision.
I'm afraid they're going to twist me up on dates
(voice breaking) and times and things that I've...
(sniffles)
I haven't focused on
'cause I don't really walk myself
Through my son's death every day
And how everything happened.
(sobs)
If they convict me,
Then that man's taken
My son's life and my life.
(dramatic music playing)
Casey: If you think you can get up there and do a good job,
Then get up there and do a good job.
But make that decision from a place of freedom
Because you think, "I need to do it. I want to do it."
Hogue: I want to.
Casey: Are you sure?
We have to let the judge know at 8:30.
-We've got to get over there. -Vance: We do.
Casey: It was clear how just petrified she was.
She was not able to answer questions, to even form full sentences.
And that was something where I felt like
This is a very real risk for her
That if she's not in a mental place
Where she can stand up and fight for herself,
That they might get her to admit
To any number of different things.
Not because she's actually guilty or actually thinks it,
But because she is in real pushover mode at this point.
Casey: Twelve people are going to make a decision.
And that decision will determine
Whether or not rebecca gets to go home and sleep in her bed
And continue her life and her dreams
Or whether she loses her freedom for the rest of her life.
Hogue: I have to have faith in the justice system
That they're going to figure this out.
(suspenseful music playing)
Brya berry: Rebecca hogue found guilty on first degree murder charges.
(speaking indistinctly)
Berry: Hogue's attorney emotional
As they watch rebecca being carried away in handcuffs.
Very emotional day in court today.
We're live in norman.
Brya berry oklahoma's news 4.
Casey: It's a "pit in your stomach" feeling where it just drops out
Whenever you hear the verdict go against her.
They took this tragedy, this death of a child
And got the jury angry enough where they would go with it.
Everything right now is still focused on rebecca
And trying to make sure that we do the best that we can ahead of her sentencing.
Ultimately, it's a judge that has to enter a sentence in this case,
And so we have a lot of fight that we have to go through.
(melancholy music playing)
(suspenseful music playing)
Reporter: At Friday's sentencing, hogue saying...
(reading)
Reporter: Judge michael tupper overruling the jury's decision
For her to spend life behind bars, saying...
(reading)
Unmitigated tragedy
About what she went through and what her child went through
And there's parts of it where I would wake up vomiting
During this trial
Just knowing what happened to that poor soul.
I am thrilled that we get her back in our life in about 13 months.