Nov. 4, 2025

"TEACHER'S 'I THOUGHT I HAD DIED' TESTIMONY, 6-YEAR-OLD STRANGLED IN PULL-UPS RAGE & XBOX KILLERS BACK TO DEATH ROW"

Show Notes
Transcript

Reid Carter exposes day four testimony in Abby Zwerner's $40 million lawsuit where the shot teacher told jurors "I thought I was dying, I thought I had died" after her six-year-old student shot her—bullet still lodged near her heart. Former assistant principal ignored four warnings about gun. Colorado trial starts for Darin Thrailkill accused of strangling girlfriend's six-year-old son Martin Osinski after boy wet his pull-ups—defense claims pneumonia killed him. Xbox killers Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter resentenced to death Monday for beating six people to death with baseball bats in 2004—third time they've faced death row.

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WEBVTT

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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Tuesday, November fourth,

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twenty twenty five. Three trials, three different stages, all involving

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failures to protect children, Virginia. Day four in Abby's Werner's

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civil trial. The twenty eight year old teacher took the

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stand Thursday, described the moment her six year old student

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shot her in her first grade classroom. I thought I

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was dying. I thought I had died. She survived. The

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bullet is still in her chest. She can't fully use

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her left hand. Six surgeries later, she's suing former assistant

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principal Ebony Parker for forty million dollars. The lawsuit says

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Parker ignored four separate warnings that the boy had a gun,

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told teachers not to search him, said his mother was

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coming to pick him up. The boy shot z Werner

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ninety minutes later. Colorado trial begins for Darren Thrailkill, forty

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years old, accused of murdering his girlfriend's six year old son,

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Martin Osinski in July twenty sixteen. Prosecutors say Thrailkill strangled

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Martin after reaching his breaking point when the boy who

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wore pull ups had an accident defense says Martin died

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from aspiration, pneumonia, and asthma, natural causes. The case went

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cold for seven years, then investigators arrested thrailkill in Florida

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in twenty twenty three. Autopsy says strangulation. Jury deciding now

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and Florida. Monday morning, Troy Victorino and Jeron Hunter were

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resentenced to death third time they faced death row. Convicted

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in two thousand and six for the Deltona xbox murders

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beat six people to death with aluminum baseball bats, all

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because Victorino was evicted from a house and wanted his

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xbox back. Original death sentences overturned in twenty seventeen, jury

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wasn't unanimous. New jury recommended death in May. Judge Don

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Nichols confirmed it Monday. They're headed back to death row

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twenty one years after the murders. I'm reed, Carter today.

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Teachers who survive being shot by students, six year old

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boys murdered by their mother's boyfriends, and mass murderers who

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keep getting sent back to death row. This is celebrity trials.

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Let's start in Newport News, Virginia Circuit Court, Day four

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of testimony in Abigail's Werner versus Ebony Parker. January sixth,

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twenty twenty three, Richneck Elementary School, first grade classroom. Abby's Werner,

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twenty five years old at the time, was sitting at

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a reading table with several students late morning, just before lunch.

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A six year old boy in her class pulled out

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a handgun, a real gun, not a toy. Nine millimeter

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Taurus pistol loaded. Zerner saw him raise it instinctively put

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up her left hand. The boy fired. Bang. The bullet

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went through her left hand, kept going hid her in

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the chest, inches from her heart. She fell to the floor.

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I thought I was dying, Saverner testified Thursday. I thought

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I had died. I thought I was on my way

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to heaven or in heaven, but then it all got black,

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and so I then thought I wasn't going there. Then

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she opened her eyes. Two co workers were around her,

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applying pressure to her wounds. She realized she was hurt,

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realized she was still alive, realized a six year old

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had just shot her. The bullet is still in her

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chest nearly three years later, too close to vital organs

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to remove safely. Zverner will carry that bullet for the

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rest of her life. She spent two weeks in the hospital,

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had six surgeries. Her left hand was destroyed, bones shattered,

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nerves damaged. Doctors did what they could, reconstructed what they could,

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but Verner will never have full use of that hand again.

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Ver for all, I would say, I do struggle with things,

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doing things, She testified, simple things, opening a bag of chips,

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twisting the cap off a water bottle, tasks most people

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don't think twice about. Zverner also described the psychological damage

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post traumatic stress syndrome, nightmares. In her dreams, the boy

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finds her and shoots her again. She's back in the

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school trying to escape, and he tracks her down shoots

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her over and over her Forensic psychiatrist doctor Clarence Watson,

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testified that Verner has had suicidal thoughts, that she's afraid

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to go out in public with her mother and sister,

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that she feels distant from friends, that she's dealing with

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fears the shooter will follow her and come back to

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finish the job. She's impressed me with her devotion to

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working on her mental health, doctor Watson said, But the

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damage is done. Werner no longer teaches won't ever teach again.

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She completed cosmetology school, hopes to work in the beauty industry.

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But a classroom. Now the forty million dollar question, could

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this have been prevented? Zwerner's lawsuit says yes, absolutely yes,

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and it's all on Ebony Parker. Doctor Ebenie Parker, forty

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years old, former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary. She's the

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sole remaining defendant in this lawsuit. The school board, the superintendent,

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the principal all dismissed by the judge earlier. Parker is

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the only one left holding the bag. Here's what the

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evidence shows. That morning, multiple teachers and staff members warned

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Parker that the six year old boy might have a gun.

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Not vague concerns, specific warnings, four separate reports. First warning,

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around eleven fifteen am, a teacher reported that a student

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said the boy showed him a gun in his backpack

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and threatened to shoot him if he told anyone. Parker's response,

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she told a guidance counselor to search the boy's backpack.

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The councilor did found nothing, but the boy had already

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moved the gun. Second warning, shortly after, another teacher reported

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that a different student saw the gun in the boy's

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backpack during recess. The boy was showing it off, bragging

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about it. Parker's response, told staff she would handle it.

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Did nothing. Third warning, Around twelve twenty PM, a teacher

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approached Parker again, said students had seen the boy remove

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something that looked like a firearm from his backpack before

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it was searched. The gun was somewhere on his person

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or nearby. Parker's response. According to testimony from Nina Farish,

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the director of human resources for Newport News Public Schools,

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Parker admitted two or three days after the shooting that

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this report came in around twelve twenty pm, ninety minutes

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before the shooting. Parker knew did nothing. Fourth warning. Around

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one PM, a teacher asked Parker if she could search

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the boy's person, not his backpack, his pockets, his clothing,

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physical search. Parker's response, according to testimony from education expert

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An shuffle Barger, she forbad teachers from searching the six

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year old for a firearm, saying his mother would pick

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him up soon. You don't need to check. At that time,

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Parker told him to wait. The boy's mother was coming,

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don't search him don't create a scene, just wait. Except

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the mother didn't come, and at one fifty pm, fifty

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minutes after Parker told teachers to wait, the boy pulled

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out his mother's gun and shot Abby's werner. In my mind,

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that's a failure to act, shuffle Barger testified. But wait,

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it gets worse. This six year old wasn't some quiet

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kid having a bad day. He had a documented history

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of violence at the school. During the previous school year

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twenty twenty one to twenty twenty two, the boy strangled

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and choked a teacher. Separate incident, he pulled up a

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female classmate's dress on the playground and touched her inappropriately.

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He was required to be accompanied by a parent at

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all times at school because of his violent tendencies, but

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on January sixth, twenty twenty three, school administrators allowed him

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to remain unaccompanied. No parent, no aid, Just a violent

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six year old wandering around with a gun in his

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pocket while teachers begged the assistant principle to do something.

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Parker's defense tried to argue she was busy overseeing state

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testing that day, had other responsibilities, couldn't drop everything to

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search one student. Shuffle Barger destroyed that argument. It's almost

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like a triage situation. You have to determine what is

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more important, what is more urgent at this time, and

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a report of a firearm stops everything. A report of

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a firearm stops everything. Not well, I'm busy with testing.

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Not let's wait for mom. Not I'm sure it's fine.

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A six year old with a gun stops everything. Parker

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didn't stop anything. Zerner was shot ninety minutes after the

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first warning. And here's the kicker. When police responded, they

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couldn't get in. Retired Corporal Thomas Blythe testified about arriving

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at the school. We immediately went to the front door

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of the school, hit the buzzer, knocked on the doors,

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couldn't get in, didn't see anybody moving around. Not what

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we expected to be responding to a situation like this.

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It seemed like an eternity for us. It was probably

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about a minute of banging on the door until I

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think a janitor or a security person opened the door

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for us a minute sixty seconds while Abby's Werner was

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bleeding on the floor of her classroom with a bullet

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in her chest. Police were locked outside banging on the

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door because nobody would let them in your tax dollars

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at work. Body camera footage shown to the jury captured

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the scene blood Swerner on the ground, paramedics performing life

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saving measures, a frenzied, chaotic nightmare. The footage was so

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graphic that the media outlet covering the trial chose not

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to release it publicly. Doctor James Stewart, an orthopedic surgeon,

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testified about z Werner's injuries. Her hand will never be normal.

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The nerve damage is permanent. She's had multiple surgeries. More

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may be needed. She'll deal with pain and limited function

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for the rest of her life. Z Werner's twin sister, Hannah,

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also testified, described how her sister has changed since the shooting.

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More reclusive, now doesn't want to go out, doesn't want

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to be in public spaces, afraid, traumatized, different person. During

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cross examination, Parker's defense team tried to undercut Swerner's claims

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of being severely damaged. Showed jurors that Swerner had reached

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out to Taylor Swift via social media after the shooting,

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attended an aristour show in Philadelphia in May twenty twenty three,

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four months after being shot. The implication if she he

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was so traumatized and physically damaged. How could she go

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to a concert? Let me explain something to the defense.

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Going to a tailor swift concert doesn't mean you're healed,

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doesn't mean the bullet in your chest disappeared, doesn't mean

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your hand works, doesn't mean the nightmare stopped. It means

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you tried to do something normal, tried to feel alive again,

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tried to reclaim a piece of your life that a

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six year old took from you when he pulled the trigger.

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Make it make sense. Zwerner's legal team rested their case

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Thursday afternoon. Parker's defense will begin presenting their case Monday.

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The trial is expected to last eight days total. Any

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verdict against Parker will be paid by the Virginia Risk

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Sharing Association, essentially an insurance pool for public entities. But

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Parker also faces separate criminal charges. A special grand jury

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indicted her earlier this year on eight counts of felony,

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child abuse and neglect, one count for each bullet in

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the six year old's loaded gun. Her criminal jury trial

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is set to begin November seventeenth, twenty twenty five, two

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weeks from now civil case first criminal case. Next. Parker

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is fighting on two fronts. As for the six year

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old boy, he was not charged with any wrongdoing. He

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was six below the age of criminal responsibility in Virginia,

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but his mother was. Deja Taylor pleaded guilty to child

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neglect and federal weapons charges, sentenced to nearly four years

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in prison. She left a loaded gun where her violent,

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troubled six year old could access it. He took it

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to school shot his teacher. Abby's werner should be teaching today,

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should be in her classroom, reading with first graders, helping

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them learn. Instead, she's testifying in court about the day

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she thought she died, About the bullet that's still in

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her chest, about the hand that doesn't work anymore, about

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the nightmares where a six year old finds her and

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shoots her again. Four warnings, ninety minutes. One assistant principal

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who told teachers to wait because mom was coming. Rest

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in peace to the teacher Abby's werner used to be.

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She survived the shooting, but the person she was before

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January sixth, twenty twenty three didn't. We'll be right back

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with the Colorado trial of Darren Thrailkill, accused of strangling

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his girlfriend's six year old son, to death after the

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boy wet his pull ups. Welcome back to celebrity trials.

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I'm reed, Carter, Grand Junction, Colorado, Mesa County District Court,

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State of Colorado versus. Darren Thrailkill. July second, twenty sixteen,

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early morning, Saint Mary's Hospital received a call a six

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year old boy unresponsive was being rushed to the emergency room.

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Martin Osinski, six years old, not breathing. Hospital staff tried everything,

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life saving measures, CPR, advanced interventions. Nothing worked. Martin was

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declared dead. Emergency room personnel noticed something immediately suspicious. Marks

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on Martin's body, bruising around his neck, injuries that didn't

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match the story they were being told. They called police.

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Grand Junction Police Department responded, began investigating, interviewed Martin's mother, Crystal,

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interviewed her boyfriend, Darren Thrailkill, thirty one years old at

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the time, he'd been living with Crystal and Martin. Thrailkill

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told police he'd checked on Martin before going to bed,

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found the boy not breathing, woke Crystal up. They rushed

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Martin to the emergency room. Simple story, straightforward, tragic accident,

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except it wasn't. July fourth, twenty sixteen autopsy performed by

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Mesa County Coroner Dean Halick. Cause of death asphyxia specifically

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consistent with strangulation, bruising on Martin's neck, partchial hemorrhaging in

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his eyes, classic signs of manual strangulation, manner of day

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death homicide. Martin Osinsky, six years old, was murdered and

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the prime suspect was the man who claimed to be

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his father, figure, Darren Thrailkill. Investigators dug deeper talked to witnesses.

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Two people told police that Thrailkill did bad things to

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Martin to discipline him. Wouldn't elaborate, scared, but it was

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clear Thrailkill had a history of abusing the boy. Police

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also discovered Thrailkill had been listed on two previous child

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abuse reports, both opened in March twenty twelve, four years

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before Martin's death. Red Flags documented concerns nothing was done.

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Thrailkill also had a misdemeanor assault conviction on his record

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from twenty fifteen, one year before Martin's death. Per the

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terms of his probation, Thrailkill had to abstain from alcohol.

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He told authorities that alcohol played a major role in

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the assorts but evidence showed Thrailkill had been drinking in

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the home where Martin lived, empty bud light cans, empty

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four Loco cans, high alcohol energy drinks. Thrailkill was violating

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his probation drinking in a house with a six year

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old he'd already been reported for abusing. Thrail Kill himself

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confirmed in a statement to police that he'd been drinking

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the day Martin died. Phone records revealed something damning. After

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Martin was taken to the hospital, Thrailkill stayed home, didn't

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go with Crystal and Martin. Instead, he used someone else's

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phone at the residence to make six calls to his father.

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Then he texted his dad, I think he's gone. Another text,

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I'm sure they're going to pin me because I'm the

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only one with a record. Consciousness of guilt. He knew

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Martin was dead, new police would investigate, knew his record

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made him the obvious suspect, and instead of grieving or

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trying to help, he was strategizing, figuring out how to

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deflect blame. Police also noticed slight variations in the stories

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Thrailkill gave to different officers, small inconsistencies, details that didn't

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match up the hallmark of someone lying. Despite all of

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this evidence, autopsy showing strangulation, prior abuse reports, assault conviction,

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alcohol violations, suspicious text messages, the case sat for seven years,

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no arrest, no charges, cold case. Why because proving what

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didn't happen is harder than proving what did. Investigators knew

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Martin was murdered, new Thrailkill was responsible, but they needed more,

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so they kept working, kept building the case. October twenty

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twenty three, seven years after Martin's death, Grand Junction Police

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finally obtained an arrest warrant for Darren Thrailkill. He was

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located in Northport, Florida, arrested, extradided back to Mesa County

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in November twenty twenty three, charged with first degree murder

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and second degree murder, first degree for knowingly causing the

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death of a child under twelve while being in a

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position of trust, second degree for knowingly causing the death

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of another person. October thirty first, twenty twenty five, twenty

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one years after Martin's death, trial finally begins. Opening statements

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laid out two completely different narratives. Prosecution's theory Darren Thrailkill

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was Martin's mother's boyfriend The boy viewed Thrailkill as a

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father figure, looked up to him, trusted him. On the

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night of July first, twenty sixteen, Thrailkill was home with Martin, Crystal,

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and Thrailkill's two biological children, who were visiting from out

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of town. Martin, who wore pull ups because he still

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had accidents, wet himself. Thrailkill reached his breaking point, became enraged,

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strangled Martin to death, then blamed his own eight year

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old son for the boy's death. Woke Crystal up, pretended

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to be shocked, let Cristel rush Martin to the hospital

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while he stayed behind, and called his father to strategize

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defense theory. Martin Osinski was sick. Medical evidence shows he

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died from a combination of aspiration, pneumonia, and asthma, natural causes.

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Thrailkill went to check on Martin and found him unresponsive.

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Immediately woke Crystal, who rushed Martin to the hospital. Thrailkill's

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son Sean, made inconsistent statements to police. The boy was

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eight years old. Traumatized pressured by investigators, Thrailkill was the

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easy person to blame because of his record, Authorities structured

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their entire case around that theory. The twenty twelve child

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abuse reports were determined to be accidents, not evidence of

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motive to murder. The investigation took years because investigators couldn't

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prove what didn't happen that Thrailkill killed Martin because he didn't.

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Two completely opposite stories, both sides presenting evidence, both sides

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calling experts. The jury has to decide. Here's what we

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know for certain. Martin Osinski was six years old, living

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with his mother and her boyfriend. Had a history of

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being in Thrailkill's care when injuries occurred, was on child

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abuse reports that named Thrailkill. Then died with strangulation marks

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on his neck. The autopsy is clear. Dean havlik mesa

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county coroner, has performed over four thousand examinations. He determined

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Martin died from asphyxia consistent with strangulation. That's not aspiration pneumonia.

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That's not asthma. That's someone putting their hands around a

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six year old's throat and squeezing until he stopped breathing.

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The defense is trying to argue natural causes. But natural

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causes don't leave bruising on the neck, don't cause petchial

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hemorrhaging don't look like manual strangulation. And here's the other

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problem with the defense theory. If Martin was just sick

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and died from pneumonia and asthma, why did thrailkill immediately

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text his father they're going to pin me. Why was

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he worried about being blamed if it was natural causes,

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because he knew what he'd done and he knew the

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evidence would point to him. The trial is expected to

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continue until November fourteenth. Fifty nine witnesses listed as part

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of the case, dozens of people with knowledge about Martin's life,

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Thrailkills history, the knight Martin died, the investigation that followed.

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Jury's not sequestered. They'll go home every night, think about

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the evidence. Think about a six year old boy who

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wet his pull ups and paid for it with his life.

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Martin Osinsky was six years old, should be sixteen today,

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should be in high school, should be playing sports, learning

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to drive, figuring out who he wants to be. Instead,

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he's been dead for nine years, buried because the man

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his mother trusted, the man he viewed as a father figure,

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allegedly strangled him in a fit of rage. Make it

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make sense. A six year old has an accident, wets himself,

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and the response is not patients, not understanding, not helping

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him get cleaned up, murder. Some people just can't be

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trusted around children. Some people reach their breaking point over

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things that don't matter, and some people think a six

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year old wedding himself is worth killing. Over Rest in peace, Martin,

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someone has to say your name. August sixth, two thousand

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and four, Deltona, Florida, small city between Daytona Beach and Orlando.

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Quiet neighborhood, Telford Lane. Around one am, four men armed

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with aluminum baseball bats broke into a house. They knew

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people were inside. They went in planning to kill. Over

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the next hour, they beat six people to death. Aaron

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Belaney twenty two, Michelle Nathan nineteen, Jonathan Gleeson seventeen, Francisco Flacco,

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Io Roman thirty, Roberto go Zalez twenty eight, Anthony Vega

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thirty four. They also killed a dog, beat them with bats,

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stabbed them, brutalized them, left them in different rooms throughout

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the house, blood everywhere, skull fractures, defensive wounds. Victims tried

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to fight back, tried to escape, didn't matter, The attackers

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kept swinging until everyone was dead. Then they left, drove away,

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went home, took showers, read the Bible, went to sleep.

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Why what could possibly justify murdering six people? An Xbox?

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Troy Victorino, twenty nine years old in two thousand and

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four had been squatting in Aaron Belange's house, staying there

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without permission. Bolange found out kicked him out. Victorino left

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some belongings behind, including an Xbox video game system, some clothes,

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personal items. He wanted them back. Belange and her friends

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were using them, refused to return them immediately, said he

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could come get them later standard ofiction property dispute. Victorino

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decided murder was the solution. He recruited three other men,

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Jerome Hunter eighteen years old, Michael Sallis eighteen, Robert Cannon nineteen,

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told them what they were going to do, armed them

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with baseball bats, drove them to Telford Lane in the

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middle of the night. At every turn, Troy Victorino planned this,

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told everybody what to do. Hunter's defense attorney would later

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say Victorino was the mastermind, six feet seven inches tall, intimidating, violent.

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He'd met Hunter when Hunter was seventeen, took him in

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groomed him. By the time Hunter turned eighteen, he was

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willing to follow Victorino into a house to beat six

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people to death. The case became known as the Xbox

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murders national attention, one of the deadliest mass killings in

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Central Florida history. The brutality shocked investigators. This wasn't a shooting,

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wasn't quick. It was prolonged per personal violence, beating people

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with bats until their skulls fractured, stabbing them, making sure

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they were dead. A coworker found the bodies later that day,

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called nine one one. Police arrived to a nightmare. Six victims,

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all young, all murdered in the most violent way imaginable.

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Investigation moved fast. Witnesses placed Victorino at the scene, cell

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phone records, physical evidence. Within days, all four suspects were

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in custody. July two thousand and six, trial, Victorino and

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Hunter convicted of first degree murder, six counts each. Salas

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also convicted. Cannon pleaded guilty, all four going to prison.

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The jury recommended death for Victorino and Hunter, not Sallus,

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not Canon, just the two who were most culpable. The

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mastermind and his right hand man. September two thousand and six,

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Judge sentenced both to death, six death sentences each, one

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for every victim. Victorino and Hunter went to death row.

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Twenty seventeen, Florida Supreme Court ruling jury must be unanimous

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for the death penalty. Victorino and Hunter's original sentences came

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from non unanimous juries sentences overturned sent back for resentancing.

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Twenty twenty three. Resentancing begins, but mid trial, Governor Ron

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DeSantis signs a new death penalty law eliminates the requirement

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for unanimous jury recommendations. Death sentences can now be imposed

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after eight to four jury votes. Judge declares mistrial resentancing

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has to start over. April twenty twenty five, second resentancing

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trial begins, new jury testimony from survivors, expert witnesses. The

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defense argues life in prison without parole is a tougher

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punishment than death, that Victorino and Hunter, now forty nine

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and thirty nine years old, will suffer more if they

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spend the r rest of their lives locked up. May

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