Florida TikToker Gunned Down by ‘Toxic’ Boyfriend: Police

Hello, someone. Girl, la, la, la. It's my say. Mhm. Listen. Hello, bro. Bro, do you need help? Do. you need any help? A young, vibrant. TikTok influencer is dead, allegedly at. the hands of her own boyfriend, and now. he's behind bars as her family and. friends are preparing to hold memorial. services. They want to spread the word. about the dangers of domestic violence. We are going [music] to get into. everything in this case, the. surveillance footage and the audio from. the 911 call the suspect allegedly made.

to police [music] on that fateful night. that gives us new insight into this. purported crime. Welcome [music] to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. On Friday, November 14th, 21-year-old. Maurice Harrison was gunned down in. Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. Now, Harrison, a transgender woman who used. the name Girl La La La or just La La on. social media, had thousands of. followers. Her videos on TikTok and. Instagram, they not only included these. glam shots of elaborate wigs and nails,

but also of her day-to-day life. Often. featured in La La's videos was her. boyfriend of several years. We're. talking about 25-year-old Shinoid White, Jr. The former defensive lineman on the. football team at Bethune-Cookman. University sometimes referred to online. as Shaba or Wig Snatcher. And while some. of the videos showed the two of them in. this, you know, loving relationship, there were several posts where La La. talked about getting into physical. fights with White. She posted videos and. photos at one point showing bruises,

cuts, a swollen eye. We're going to get. back to that in a minute. But based on. social media posts, we know that La La. tried to play it off as no big deal in. some of the posts, joking about how. White would react to behavior that he. didn't like. There were other posts that. showed her acting more fearful, posting. things like, "I'm scared." And in some. of his own videos, White seemed. frustrated that a lot of his followers. were only paying attention to him. because he was dating La La. Check this. out. If you follow me, right? If you. follow me, and you you watch my TikTok. only because I date La La, get the fuck.

off my page. Get off my page. I don't. want nobody who me cuz you with them. I. want people who me cuz they fuck with. me. Now, according to Broward County. authorities, things came to a head on. November 14th just before 7:00 p.m. when. White allegedly shot La La multiple. times, killing her. Investigators say a. video provided them with critical. evidence that led to White. So, to talk. about what that video apparently showed, what is next for the alleged killer, what evidence is going to be presented.

in this case, I want to welcome on a. criminal defense attorney who's first. time in studio, John Day. John, thanks. for so much for taking the time to come. on here. I really appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me. It's a really sad. story, familiar story when you talk. about alleged domestic violence here, because it's getting a lot of attention. from people who knew La La, had been. observing this relationship. with White, at least virtually, for. years. A person allegedly killing their. partner, it's unfortunate, but it's. something we see time and time again,

right? What is there a common pattern. you see? We see it time and time again. because it is the most dangerous type of. domestic violence situation. This is the. kind of situation you see, sadly, where. one partner, there's some clues, there's. some evidence ahead of time that. indicates there's a violent. relationship, there's something that. eventually could happen. But in this. case, sadly, the clues pointed in the. direction of one of those people getting. murdered, and the police have the. partner in as the suspect. So, domestic. violence so dangerous, especially when. there are hints that there's violence in. the relationship, and that no one has.

intervened, no one stepped in, there's. been no way to stop it, and it leads to. tragedy. >> Do you see a common motive or common. theme? >> It's, you know, it's anger, it's it's. jealousy, it's things that. bubble up in relationships, and most. people can deal with them on a level. that's appropriate. In this case, sadly, there was no. stopping this train, this train wreck of. a domestic violence situation, and then ended in death. But there's so. many resources available, and the sad. thing is that a lot of people just don't. take advantage of that. And and I want. to be clear about the law here, whether.

or not this is first-degree murder. So, as we go through it, let's talk about. this. I want to talk about this key. piece of evidence that Broward County. investigators got their hands on. It is. a camera on a Tesla that appears to have. captured the moments right after White. allegedly fired a gun at La La. So, the. Tesla was parked on Northwest 37th. Street, and a Chevrolet Malibu pulled up. and parked nearby. Now, White can. allegedly be seen getting out of the. driver's seat, walking to the passenger. side, holding something in his hand. The.

footage is grainy, but authorities posit. that that was a gun, and La La can. arguably be seen leaning out of the. passenger side door, and White appears. to push her back into the car, setting. her upright in the seat. Now, the arrest. affidavit states that White pulled La La. up by her hair. The affidavit reads, quote, "White's vehicle pulled into the. driveway, and both doors opened. momentarily before closing. The driver's. door then reopened, and a black male, later identified as White, was seen. removing what appeared to be a firearm.

from his waistband with his right hand. and firing into the vehicle toward the. front passenger seat where the victim. was seated. A visible muzzle flash was. captured on the video. The front. passenger door then opened, and the. victim was observed slumped over. Immediately afterward, White walked. around the vehicle holding what appeared. to be a black firearm, then pulled the. victim upright by her hair." Quick. detour from this for a second. Can we be. real about something that affects. Americans all across this country? Credit card debt. Okay, this isn't an. accident. Every call, every fee, every.

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Don't let this system decide for you. You're 30 seconds away from being. debt-free. Get your free assessment and. find the best option for you right now. at pdsdebt.com/sidebar. That's pdsdebt.com/sidebar. pdsdebt.com/sidebar. Now, the warrant states that when. emergency crews arrived, this victim was. sitting in a pool of blood, and again, authorities say she was shot multiple. times. How often do you have video. footage of an alleged crime like this? Video footage of an alleged murder like.

this? You know, what we're seeing is. more and more, not just surveillance. video from. homes and businesses, but cars that. actually have the video recording. capability like Teslas, and it's a brand. new area. But it does capture, there've. been a number of cases where the Tesla. video has been used in court to. establish what prosecutors need. And. it's it's remarkable that in this case. we had so much evidence, so much video. taken by a vehicle. that ultimately is going to be used by. the prosecution. Is there any way a. defense attorney can make sure that. evidence doesn't make its way into.

trial? Is there chain of custody issues, anything like that? >> can always try. They can always try to. keep it out. But at the end of the day, this is, I mean, you know, the video. doesn't lie, and that's what prosecutors. love about that. And when you're getting. cars that are actually recording crimes. as they happen, I mean, that's gold for. a prosecutor. >> We're still in the beginning stages of. this, but it does make me wonder if you. have something that clear, right? Would. a defense attorney say, "Listen, we can't argue what it shows, but we can. argue the context of it." In other. words, maybe it's not first-degree.

murder, maybe it's manslaughter, maybe. it's something, maybe it's heat of. passion. Am I totally outside the realm. of thinking that could be a possibility? >> exactly right, and that's what the. defense has to do. They have to try to. knock down a first-degree murder. First-degree premeditation can take. place in an instant, essentially. >> Can you explain that? Because people. always think it's planning, and then, you know, there's a setup, and it takes. hours and days. Most jurisdictions allow. first-degree premeditation can be. instantaneous, it can be just a very. short amount of time that leads to a. decision to commit that murder. Of. course, defense attorneys want to knock. that down as much as they can, down to.

manslaughter if possible, and that's why. they're going to be using this video to. argue the polar opposite of what the. prosecution says. But premeditation. usually means it can be a split-second. decision ahead of time to differentiate. it from second-degree murder. The number of shots that are fired. If. we're talking about a victim like. La La who was shot multiple times, is. that, you know, from the prosecution's. point of view, I could see how that. could be beneficial, but I also wonder. if it could be used by the defense. The. number of shots fired, the amount of. times she was shot, what does that tell. you?

>> Well, the defense is going to be saying. this is more of a heat heat of passion. type crime. This is not a premeditated. crime. This is something that was. generated by some triggering effect. There was something that caused this to. happen that knocks it down from. first-degree. So, they've got their work. cut out for them trying to establish for. the defense that this was not a planned. homicide, that this was something that. happened instantaneously. If they can. actually the defense if the prosecution. can actually pinpoint that this is the. person who who shot the poor victim. And. it's really graphic, but how many times. at a criminal trial do you have a.

medical examiner come in and talk about. the trajectory of the shots and where. the shots landed and the impact they had. on the body? That has an effect on a. jury, right? When you have to cuz. prosecutors have to establish a death. occurred, but I think it's very. important defense attorneys might not. love this evidence where they the jury. is told in explicit detail where those. bullets ended up, right? And cause of. the death. >> Well, remember, jurors have seen all the. CSI shows, all the all the medical. investigation shows. They know that. there's going to be an expert who comes. in there and says, and it's usually it's.

an expert who's not. testifying for one side or the other, even though it's a prosecution expert. And jurors like these experts because. they're not seen as owned by one side or. the other. They're doing very clinical. testimony. They're giving they've got. charts, they've got photographs, they've. got even sometimes videos. And so, the. medical examiner testimony is something. that jurors love because it helps them. put the pieces together. I want to go to. what the affidavit says about White. because they say that he was seen pacing. back and forth near the car before. calling 911. We have the audio, okay? The audio from that phone call may give.

us an idea of White's mindset and may. give us an idea of how both sides will. use this to their advantage. Hello, hello. 911, sir. What happened? What. happened? What's your emergency? Hello, brother. I need help. Please, I need. help. 911, what is the address to your. emergency? Hello? Hello, can you hear me? Yes, I don't. know the address, bro. Just check. Just. check, please. Okay, are you at a house, apartment, or business? >> Yes, I'm at a house.

What happened? Okay, tell me exactly. what happened. Tell me exactly what. happened. Please. Okay, we have a call incident for. service. Who's Come on. All right, thank. you. Stay on the line with me. Hello? Yes, 911. Stay on the phone with me, okay? Yes, hello. This is 911. This is 911. >> Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can. you hear me? CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN you. hear me? Can you hear me? CAN YOU HEAR. ME? STAY ON THE LINE with me. I need you. to stay on the line with me, okay? Stay. on the line with me. I need help. Stay. on the line with me. I need you to stay. on the line with me, okay? Stay on the.

line. All right. Do not disconnect. Are. you able to give me a good address? Stay. on the line with me, okay? All right. They're coming as quickly as. they can, okay? They're coming. They're. on the way. Me and you talking is not. delaying them. Stay on the phone with. me. Stay on the line with me. John, what's your reaction to that call? Well, you know, if you're trying to. defend this person, you are going to. argue that this is a a response of. someone who wasn't planning a homicide, wasn't planning a murder, that this is a. natural human reaction to something that.

happened in a split second. And of. course, if you're the prosecution, you're saying there's nothing in there. about any triggering event. There's. nothing in there that would let the. defense say, you know, this is not. first-degree murder, this is not. second-degree murder, this gets down. into the manslaughter area. But it's. someone who is reacting humanly to an. incredibly traumatic event, and it's. going to be up to both sides to take. that video take that audio and make it. what they can to convince the jury one. way or the other. Legally though, a. defendant wouldn't be able to argue. defense counsel wouldn't be able to. argue.

if someone calls 911 immediately after. allegedly shooting somebody and asking. for help to come immediately, oh, that. shows there was no intent to kill. That. doesn't work, right? It doesn't work. well, but it's what they've got, and. they've got to argue that at this point. the person called because. I think I'm defending it. They say, why. did they call? What was triggering in. their mind that led them to call? And we. don't have a lot of information from it. So it actually is a blank slate in a lot. of ways because both sides are going to. ask the jury to interpret what they want. out of it, but there's not a lot of. information in that call. So there's.

this affidavit that was seen by the Sun. Sentinel, and it reportedly says that. White told investigators he and La La. had several arguments that day, that. they got into another fight in the car. after La La pulled his hair. And the. affidavit, again according to the Sun. Sentinel, reads, quote, White advised. that he then pulled his firearm but. declined to provide any further details, stating he did not want to incriminate. himself. Now, John, you're an attorney. Doesn't necessarily mean someone's. guilty if they don't want to provide. more information to police. They're just.

trying to protect their rights, right? They're trying to protect their argument. at a trial, right? But but it also could. look bad. Well, again, the jury is not. going to hear anything about him. exercising uh fifth amendment rights in. terms of not being able to, you know, the jury can't use that to say, well, this is an indication of guilt. The. judge is not going to allow that. It's. unconstitutional. He has a right to say, I don't want to talk anymore, I want a. lawyer. Of course, this is protected by. the fifth amendment in every state in. the country. But it is going to. everything he says up to that point to.

the police, to a dispatcher, all that is. evidence that the prosecution is going. to use to build this case. Now, White. was arrested at the scene. The gun was. taken into evidence. As I mentioned, La. La had multiple gunshot wounds, was. taken to Broward Health Medical Center. in Fort Lauderdale, but that is where. she died. And White was charged with. first-degree murder with a firearm. He's. been locked up in the Broward County. Jail no bond since Friday. Not surprised. by that, right? Not surprised, no bond. That that's about right for this kind of. a crime. Not a surprising move by the. judge. Because of the dangerous aspect.

of this? >> The dangerous aspect of it, the police. are still gathering information about. it. They don't know what when it was it. a flight risk, is it a danger to the. community, is there a history here? But. at the end of the day, this is not. surprising that the judge is keeping. this defendant in custody. And by the. way, if he's convicted, he could face. life in prison or potentially the death. penalty. How do prosecutors weigh. whether to go capital punishment on. something like this? You know, it's a. tough call, and I've had cases when I. was in a state that had the death. penalty where you had to make those. determinations. What you've got to do is. look at the history, you've got to look. at the circumstances of the crime. I.

mean, these are really hard decisions. for prosecutors in the states that have. that capital punishment, and it's one of. the toughest decisions a prosecutor can. make. I want to ask about a potential. piece of evidence that may come in. because NBC 6 is reporting that after. this happened, there were those online, obviously I said La La has a ton of. followers. There were those online, I. mentioned this kind before, who have. found these old videos allegedly showing. potential domestic violence in the. relationship. An example of La La with. an apparent cut on her nose and eye. Do. prosecutors do a full deep dive into the.

relationship? Do they go through all of. the social media to potentially find. prior alleged instances of domestic. violence? And can they use that at. trial? Well, it's a valuable tool. Investigators want to know what's the. history here, what were the signs that. pointed to this being something other. than just a a random moment in time. If. there was an ability for prosecutors to. build a case that there were a number of. domestic violence incidents, that's. going to certainly help them. Whether it. comes in or not, it's going to be up to. a judge and whether the defense can keep. that out as as conduct that's not.

relevant to the jury's decision-making. So but if you're investigating this. case, you want to know every single. incident that came up because you've got. to be able to build a case against this. defendant to argue that this was not. just an. aberrational moment in time, that this. was something that was leading up to a. tragic result ultimately. Anything I've. said so far about the case that would. indicate to you there is a potential. argument for self-defense, or does it. not make sense? Well, that's where I. went first when we heard about this. because you have to wonder, is the. defendant going to say, I had to react.

this way because I felt like my life was. in danger or that I was in danger of. great bodily harm. We haven't seen. anything like that yet, but we don't. know all the facts, and the history. doesn't indicate that there was any. violence the other direction by the. victim toward the defendant, but we. don't know yet. And that may be. something that the defense is going to. have to try to investigate and build to. try to get this person the best possible. result. >> Actually, you mentioned that now I'm. thinking about it. If White can find. evidence that he was abused and he had,

you know, markings and wants to. introduce that evidence, then the. prosecution I imagine would have the. opportunity to put in everything that I. just mentioned from social media, right? If you can't if the defense wants to go. that route, then the prosecution would. be able to counter. Exactly. Defense has. to be very careful about opening the. door to things that are not going to. help them in the end. Yeah, and it's a. really um it's a tragic situation. It's. a really unsettling situation. Um and. before we get into the human aspect of. it cuz sometimes it gets lost when we. talk about all the law. Um think about a. human life that was lost here. Um.

this feels like a case, if this does go. to trial, where White is going to have. to testify and explain what happened. I. would think if the defense decides that. this is the only way to has the only. avenue that they have. Yes, that's true, and there may be some kind of. self-defense argument. There may be some. claim that I reacted this way because of. something that happened in the car. that's not on that video. That's the. problem with that video is it doesn't. show us what was happening directly. inside that vehicle at the time. So if. you're the defense, you're going to try. to make what you can of that. Now, La. La's loved ones told WPLG, quote, As a.

family, we appreciate every prayer, kind. thought, and gesture during our time of. bereavement. Now, we are just praying. that justice is served to the fullest. degree. And maybe in a cruel and. heartbreaking twist, I should tell you. that La La's family members are no. strangers to gun violence. Her brother. was also reportedly shot and killed just. over a year ago. This is according to. outlet WPLJ. And La La's story is making. waves all over the internet. Yeah, Florida rapper Jatavia Johnson, better. known as JT, rose to fame in a rap duo.

opposite Young Miami before launching a. solo career. She posted about La La's. story on her Instagram, encouraging. people to donate to a GoFundMe that was. set up to cover funeral costs. Johnson. wrote, Rest beautiful, girl La La. We. love you, and heaven will never be. boring now that you were there. Your. boldness, energy, humor, and beauty will. be missed. You never missed a chance to. show me love, and for that I'm forever. grateful. I'm sorry this happened to. you. And she also encouraged people to. take domestic violence seriously, saying, quote, If you ever see content. about DV, don't laugh because it's a.

trans or black woman. We have a way of. laughing through our pain because we. have been shaped to be taken as jokes. #protecttranswomen, #protectblackwomen, protect feminism as a whole. And that. GoFundMe has raised more than $28,000 so. far. We're going to put a link to it in. the show notes if you want to. contribute. Two points about this. Number one, you were talking about it. before, you were a former prosecutor. How do you. console those families? How do you walk. them through the process because the. criminal process can be very.

frustrating, upsetting, emotional. How. do you. work with them through that? You've got. to have so much sympathy for what the. family is going through. You've got to. say, I've I've got to explain how the. justice system works. It's going to be. frustrating for you. It's not. necessarily clean, it's not quick. If. you're a good prosecutor, you're saying, I'll be here, my office will be here for. you the entire way. We're going to do. what we can, but at the same time, there's always a difference between what. the families of domestic violence. victims expect and what the reality is. in a court setting because the. prosecutors, while they're there for the. victims' families, they also represent.

the state of whatever the Florida, for. example. And so their job is to do. what's best for the community, and that. doesn't always coincide, sadly, with. what victims' families want. And trials, cases are unpredictable, too. If they. can't make certain guarantees. Um I want. to go to this final point, and I'm I. want to be clear, I'm not blaming. anybody. I'm not blaming anybody. But that statement kind of hit something. um. where people post things on social media. and if people are reporting and showing. signs of domestic violence and no one. steps in, no one reports it, they think.

it's funny, they you know, maybe it's a. member of a certain community, they. don't take it seriously. That's a real. thing, right? And the way I think about. it also is like I've seen so many videos. where someone's like dying on the street. or someone's being attacked on the. street and people are just like you. know, videotaping, they're not calling. Are you seeing this more and more? Are. you seeing a problem with social media. and phones that there is a detachment. from ex- really. accepting what's going on? Well, that's. the danger, isn't it? Is the idea that. now in our world of social media that. it's more important to record the moment.

than to actually intervene as a human. being and try to make some kind of a. difference. And that's the concern. Maybe that this incident with so many. followers in social media, with so many. people paying attention to this, maybe. the idea that there are sometimes clues. about domestic violence that people need. to pay attention to more closely before. something like this happens. John Day, thanks so much for coming on. Appreciate. it. Of course. And that's all we have. for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining. us and as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify,

wherever you should get your podcast. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm. Jesse Weber. [music]. I'll speak to you next time.