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Vicki was always just a joy to be around.

Vicki Robinson, a loving friend.

She always seemed to have just that special joy about her.

And a loving mother to 15-year-old Velesha.

Just a happy-go-lucky kid on a skateboard.

My mom was the best person in the world.

Then one day, they both disappear.

Robinson and her daughter Valessa disappeared last week.

What is your emergency?

Authorities get a tip.

They send that they told her.

Vicki has been murdered.

But what happened to Valessa?

All points bulletins are out across the United States.

Two teenage boys are being tracked in the Robinsons van across five states.

They're in Moffehead, Florida.

Then they went into Alabama.

Over a thousand miles.

They're in Ozona, Texas.

They were just there 20 minutes ago.

All leading to a dangerous high-speed chase.

Finally, there's an arrest and a shocking discovery.

Vicki's daughter, Valessa, is with them.

Is she an innocent victim or an accomplice to her mother's murder?

Peter Van Sant investigates.

I wish with all my heart that she was alive.

The enemy within.

There are some crimes so heartless, so despicable, they cry out for justice.

But sometimes, even when justice is within reach, the whole truth remains elusive.

What could possibly happen within a family to turn a loving mother and daughter, the best of friends really, into seemingly mortal enemies?

One unsettling case, a mystery, not only as to what happened in a cold-blooded crime, but why.

How could two people, a mother and daughter, so close, grow so far apart to the point of no return?

The elusive truth lies somewhere between a mother's struggle to raise a daughter alone and a daughter's need to be loved.

Peter Van Sant reports on a once loving relationship that spun out of control down a road to destruction.

This is Interstate 10.

It goes from coast to coast, from Florida to California.

I think it's one of the most dangerous highways in the United States.

Far criminals going up and down.

Sheriff Bruce Wilson says most of the trouble he sees in Pecos County, Texas, drives off this stretch of highway.

If I can stop them out here on the highway, I will not let them get into my town and endanger the lives of other innocent people.

So back in July of 1998, when he heard car thieves were headed his way,

he made sure he was first on the welcoming committee.

He was on the lookout for two 19-year-olds who stole a van a few days earlier in Tampa, Florida.

They apparently were traveling west on Interstate 10.

The van's owner, 49-year-old Vicki Robinson, hadn't been seen since.

Foul play was feared

to be on the lookout for.

So I'm coming over that hill right there.

Once the teen spotted the sheriff,

they took off, as you can see on this police video.

The chase was off.

The missing woman, Vicki Robinson, was a real estate agent and active in her church.

By all accounts, Vicki didn't have an enemy in the world.

She was really one of the nicest women that I had ever met in my life.

Becky was such a dynamic individual, and she always seemed to have just that special joy about her.

And it was contagious.

Divorced, Vicki lived in this quiet Tampa neighborhood with her two teenage daughters.

The youngest, Velessa, was 15.

My mom was the best person in the world.

Nobody can replace her.

Nobody.

You can't replace a person like that.

Vicki's other daughter, 17-year-old Michelle.

We all had a special friendship that a lot of mothers and daughters don't have.

I wish that I could see her right now and give her a big hug and say, you know, I love you, mom.

I love you.

I wish I could do that, but I can't.

Vicki was always positive and cheerful and vivacious, just a joy to be around.

Vicki's boyfriend, Jim Englert, was the first to notice her missing

and persuaded police to break into Vicki's home.

Went into Vicki's bedroom, the bed was unmade.

I said, Vicki would not leave and leave the bed unmade.

She was very tidy and kept the house always in immaculate condition.

Then there was a far more disturbing discovery.

Major Gary Terry from the sheriff's office.

And then her van was determined to be missing, as was her daughter,

Valessa Robinson, who was age 15 at that time.

Police then realized they were dealing with a missing mother and daughter.

So all points bulletins are out across the United States.

A mother and daughter have been missing for several days now.

Tonight police are working on Vicki's credit union discovered that her bank card was being used

and security cameras had recorded the transactions.

We printed photographs.

The photographs did reflect that it was her van and there was a young male using the card.

Police were able to identify the young man who was using Vicki Robinson's ATM card.

Surprisingly, it was Adam Davis, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Vicki's daughter, Valessa.

A friend of Davis's, John Wispel, was seen with him.

A manhunt began for the two suspects.

But where were Vicki and Valessa Robinson?

We thought we'd be getting a ransom note, you know.

Vicki's parents figured they were being held hostage somewhere.

All I could think of was,

well, they...

They've got Vicki someplace tied up.

Who's they?

Adam and John.

It never dawned on me that they'd heard her.

But then, you have Hillsborough County Namela, what is your emergency?

Police heard from an anonymous caller.

I got a phone call from Adam.

Adam Davis.

It was a call that voiced everyone's worst fears.

And they hit her mom, she got knocked unconscious, and then they said that they killed her.

The caller said Vicki Robinson was dead, but Valessa was apparently alive.

He said that Valessa was with him

and that she's okay now.

Police didn't know what to believe.

Was Valessa a hostage or an accomplice?

All along, Vicki's credit union had been tracking the teens' whereabouts through her ATM card.

But the police kept missing them.

And now the teens were on the run.

They're no no longer in Tampa.

They're in Mossy Head, Florida.

Then they went into Alabama.

Five days after Vicki Robinson had vanished,

activity on the car showed Valessa, her boyfriend Adam, and John were in Texas traveling west.

They're in Ozona, Texas.

They were just there 20 minutes ago.

Sheriff Wilson knew they were headed his way.

Probably thought they were home-free.

So when the van came over the hill, he was ready.

Turned on the sirens.

It was apparent that they were going to run.

They tried to run us off the road.

I told my deputy to start shooting out their tires.

And when he'd done that, they lost control of the van.

Adam and John were in the van, as expected.

Well, we had to jerk them out of the car.

They wasn't getting out.

And so was Vicki Robinson's 15-year-old daughter, Valessa.

Within minutes, Sheriff Wilson realized Valessa was not a hostage victim.

I saw a girl that was very much there because she wanted to be, and probably a girl that took just as big a part or bigger part than the two boys.

What did Valessa do to her mother?

Next, statement will be made by Adam Davis.

Adam, John, and Valessa tell police what happened

to Vicki Robinson.

After a five-day spending spree

and a nine-mile police chase, Adam Davis and John Wispel,

both 19 years old, are behind bars in Fort Stockton, Texas.

Adam's girlfriend, 15-year-old Velessa Robinson, is sitting in a nearby juvenile detention center.

Adam, come on, why don't you talk, bud?

You messed up, didn't you, Adam?

And now, just hours after their arrest.

Hey, John, why'd you guys arrive?

Now's the time to talk.

Now's the time to talk.

John Wispel has agreed to talk.

It's a chance to say something

and answer the one question everyone wants answered.

I want you to tell us about your involvement.

What happened to Vicki Robinson?

A mother growing more and more distant from her daughter.

A daughter drawn closer to her boyfriend, Adam Davis.

and friend John Wispel.

Three teens spending hours together.

doing drugs,

videotaping themselves.

I'll take a tape statement from John Wispel.

John Wispel's confession starts at the beginning.

He describes how they came up with their gruesome plan, completely out of the blue.

I remember I was sitting in Denny's with Adam Evalesa, and

I heard something about killing mother.

I was like, there's another way we could actually do something like that.

Next, Whispel tells detectives it was Adam who came up with the bizarre plan

of how to kill Vicki Robinson.

We went back to the house, got the van, and tried to go down to get some heroin for an overdose.

Yes.

Yes.

But Whispel says he didn't really believe Adam was serious.

No, it looked like it was a joke or something.

Even after Adam tried to buy heroin and couldn't find any.

So even when you went back to the house, in your mind, you still thought they were sort of play acting, kidding around?

Shortly after midnight, they returned to Valessa's house.

Her mother was fast asleep.

When we got to the house, we went straight to Valessa's bedroom.

When we got in there, Velessa closed and locked the door, turned her light off, and turned the black light on.

We're just sitting around tripping.

I'm thinking, well, damn, you know, ain't nothing gonna happen.

We're actually gonna stay here and trip out of the black light.

The three teens had taken LSD earlier in the evening.

Are all three of you high?

We're starting to feel the effects of the acid, yes.

It's hitting us real good now.

At that point, John says Adam Davis came up with another idea of how to overdose Vicki Robinson.

After a few minutes, he jumps up, turns to Adam, and says, I need some bleach.

That's right, bleach.

Valessa's like, what do you mean?

And I look at him and say, what for?

He says, so I can do this.

So Adam takes a syringe, uncaps it, fills it up.

Around that time, Valessa's mother woke up and came into her bedroom.

Miss Robinson's like, well, what are you guys still doing here?

So she's like, Valessa, get your sleeping bag.

You're going to sleep in my room.

Miss Robinson turned around from the doorway and walked into the kitchen.

Adam followed her out there.

You knew a murder was about to be committed, and you kept your mouth shut.

I didn't know if he was going to turn on me, if I would have said something.

John Wispel then describes the last few moments of Vicki Robinson's life.

All of a sudden, it was quiet.

I mean, you could hear a pin drop.

And in chilling detail, he blames most of the murder on Velessa's boyfriend, Adam Davis.

And the next thing we hear is choking, struggling noises.

Me and Velessa, we look at each other, and then we went down to the kitchen.

We seen Miss Robinson sitting on the ground, and Adam had it like this, a chokehold.

She was coughing and, you know, struggling, trying to get away from it.

Adam's trying to take the syringe and stick it in her neck.

John, why didn't you do something?

I don't know.

If you had tackled Adam, if you had done anything, you might have saved Vicki's life.

Yes.

But you didn't.

In fact, John says he handed Adam a knife,

then returned to Valessa's bedroom.

Valessa came in, sat down next to me, and all of a sudden I hear this like escaping of air or breath, something like that type of noise from the kitchen.

49-year-old Vicki Robinson was dead.

Once Whispel confessed, statement will be made by Adam Davis.

Adam Davis agrees to give his own numbing description of what he did to Vicki Robinson.

And I started raging because I was tripping so hard.

And John brought out the knife.

He said, here, use this.

And I don't know how I did it.

I don't remember what was going through my mind when I did it, but I just sliced.

I said, look, we need to clean this up.

And we put her body in the trash can

and then started cleaning up the blood.

Adams says they then loaded Vicki's body into her van and drove to a wooded area behind John's house.

We put her down a trail, covered her up with some dried-up palm trees.

What's Velessa doing?

She's just sitting in the van.

She watched what we was doing.

What they did next disturbs investigators almost as much as the crime itself.

After stealing Vicki Robinson's van and her money,

they went on a five-day spending spree, buying clothes, drugs, and

tattoos.

Adam got a tattoo and then I had gotten this tattoo right here.

It's the skull.

So Vicki Robinson is, her body is inside a garbage can you guys are partying.

Basically, yes.

They say you confessed.

After their confessions, Adam and John are charged with first-degree murder.

15-year-old Valessa Robinson is being held at this juvenile detention center in Odessa, Texas.

When Velessa tells her version of what happened, detectives are stunned.

Valessa claims Adam and John didn't kill her mother, she did.

And she tells them she did it alone.

I had pinned her down before I like stabbed her.

I had to pin her down.

I had stabbed her in her throat and she wasn't dead yet.

And so I stabbed her again twice in her back.

It is a horrifying confession.

And now police don't know what to believe.

We felt like she was absolutely involved in it, but she seemed to be protecting the other two individuals, individuals, especially Adam Davis.

Valessa, did you actually take part in killing your mom?

I'm not answering any questions.

That day, Valessa is also charged with first-degree murder.

What about Adam?

I love Adam.

What happened in Valessa's life

to turn a once-loving daughter into a teenager apparently involved in her own mother's murder?

Do you wonder how did I get here?

How did this happen?

Valessa's story when we come back.

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Adam, come around, one of your cocks, huh?

Here's your chance, buddy.

If I took the blame for everything...

You messed up, didn't you, Adam?

When he got out and continue on with his life, that was fine with me.

Did you do it?

Did you do it, Adam?

How do you feel about Valector?

Because

I was more concerned about his happiness than my own.

What about Adam?

I love Adam.

Although Valessa Robinson originally took the blame for her mother's murder.

I stabbed her in her throat throat and stabbed her again twice in her back.

It was only a matter of a few months alone in prison away from her 19-year-old boyfriend Adam Davis

before she had an abrupt change of heart.

Describe Adam today.

I think he's the devil.

And a change in her story.

Valessa,

did you murder your mother?

No, I did not.

I did not do this.

Valessa now claims her boyfriend, Adam Davis, killed her mother while she was high on LSD in her bedroom.

I could have been a hero if I wanted to have been,

but I didn't.

In fact, the only thing Valessa says she's guilty of is not rescuing her mother.

I didn't save her.

And the one chance that I had to bail her out, I didn't.

And it really sucks because I wish wish I had.

And for that,

she has no explanation.

What makes it even worse in a lot of people's minds is just the fact that you were there and you didn't do anything.

How do you explain yourself?

I can't explain myself.

I really.

I hate myself for that.

I hate myself that I didn't save my mom.

As a child, she was full of laughter, full of love.

Everyone who knows Valessa, she always loved animals, not a malicious or vicious bone in her body, wonders how a child so innocent, just a happy-go-lucky kid on a skateboard, could turn into an out-of-control teenager, somehow involved in her own mother's murder.

For Michelle, her sister's troubles started at age 11 when her parents divorced.

My sister took the divorce very hard.

She changed a lot when that happened.

After the divorce, Valessa didn't see much of her father, Chuck Robinson.

He moved out of state in search of a new sales job.

I think when Vicki and I separated, she lost her father, you know, as far as she was concerned.

Her mother also wasn't around much, according to Valessa's friend, Christy Collins.

I'd get over there in the afternoon.

Her mom wouldn't get home until late at night, and she'd leave early in the morning.

Vicki had a new job as a real estate broker and a busy social life.

You know, I could call Valessa and her mom wasn't home and she didn't have to ask her mom if she wanted to go anywhere.

She just went places because her mom wasn't there to ask.

When Valessa was just 12 years old, she was even allowed to join a rock band with men in their 20s.

That's when Valessa says she first started experimenting with drugs.

In eighth grade, things only got worse.

Valessa started skipping school and doing more drugs.

Acid was the main thing that we did.

We also did ecstasy.

Valessa even started staying out all night.

She was out of control pretty much.

And I don't know what Vicki could have done differently.

Vicki's new boyfriend, Jim Englert, says Valessa was beyond discipline.

And Vicki was tired of it.

I mean, over and over and over over again.

No matter what you said to her, she was going to do what she wanted to do.

Then something happened during the summer after Valessa's eighth grade that Valessa's father says may have been a turning point.

Vicki and Jim took a two-week family vacation to Michigan, and when Valessa refused to go, Vicki just left her young daughter behind, alone.

I thought it was unconsciable.

I thought it was nuts.

Of course,

not having Valessa

was a concern, and she was safe, but

we did try to minimize that to some extent and enjoy our trip.

For two whole weeks, Vicki Robinson never once called to check on her daughter.

Valessa was just 14 years old.

What do you think it said to Valessa when she was left behind?

I think it said, hey, no one cares.

No one gives a damn.

Shortly after that vacation, when Valessa started ninth grade, she met 18-year-old Adam Davis.

She started acting really weird.

She always wanted to be around him, and she kind of like separated from us.

Adam was living on the streets.

His father was dead, and his mother had abandoned him when he was two.

He was a high school dropout.

and a drug dealer.

Valessa, why on earth would you be attracted to a guy like that?

He acted like he cared about me.

I mean,

that's why I

started dating him in the first place, is he acted like he really cared.

By the time Vicki realized things were out of control, Adam and Valessa had a devotion that bordered on obsession.

Looking back, I realized that he had this overwhelming control over me.

He definitely had an obvious influence over her.

Some kind of a power.

power.

A sick power.

Sick person.

Why didn't your mother look you in the eye and just say, Valessa, it's over between you and Adam.

I don't ever want you to see him again.

I think she was afraid that if she stepped in, put her foot down and said, you're not seeing this guy anymore.

I think she was afraid that I'd leave.

And I probably would have.

I probably would have.

Thank you, girl.

Finally, Vicki Robinson took took action.

Without telling Valessa, she made plans to send her daughter to a year-long program for troubled teens

called Stepping Stone.

I had no idea.

She never talked to you about it.

She never talked to me about sending me anywhere except for my dad's.

But just 10 days before Valessa was scheduled to start the Stepping Stone program, Happy Birthday Jewel!

Vicki Robinson was murdered.

I wish with all my heart that she was alive.

And now it's up to a jury to decide the fates of Adam Davis and Valessa Robinson.

State of Florida versus Adam William Davis.

That's next.

49-year-old Vicki Robinson, divorced mother of two teenage girls, is found viciously murdered in her Tampa, Florida home.

Nearly two years later, there is so much about the case that remains a mystery.

But especially, what role, if any, her 15-year-old daughter, Valessa, played in the crime.

Valessa and her mother had an increasingly strained relationship.

Valessa admits that she probably would have run away if her mother tried to get between her and her boyfriend, Adam Davis.

For the jurors, the truth about Vicki Robinson's murder is being sought in a maze of shifting stories and conflicting confessions from three teenage friends.

Peter Van Sant picks up the story.

Two minutes past the top of the hour at Nottaged Rock, the Bubble Love Sponge Show.

What kind of psycho 15-year-old would ever want to kill your mom?

I think they ought to fight the tomorrow.

I know that what they did is horrible, wrong, and they deserve whatever the law gives them.

Velessa Robinson,

having celebrated her past two birthdays behind bars,

has had plenty of time to hear what most people think of her.

They think I'm like some horrible person that hurt her mom, doesn't care.

But it's the jury she's about to face on charges of killing her own mother that 17-year-old Valessa is most worried about.

Valessa is relying on this woman, her defense lawyer, to convince a jury she's not a monster.

Did Valessa kill her mother?

No, she did not.

Did she participate in any way in her mother's murder?

She did not.

As a mother of three girls...

Hey, how about a kiss for your mother?

Deanne Athan has taken a special interest in Valessa beyond her call of duty as a public defender.

What is it about Valessa that's touched your heart?

She's a child.

She could be my child.

Win the case.

When I look at my children's faces, you can do it.

I see her, and I want to protect her.

Deanne Athan's defense strategy is simple.

To paint 18-year-old Adam Davis as a manipulative, dangerous drug dealer.

And Valessa as the young, vulnerable child who is under his spell.

And that's Deanne's answer to the question she knows jurors will be asking.

How could Valessa willingly go on the run with her mother's killers?

In search of answers, Deanne retraces the wild road trip that ended in Texas with Valessa's capture.

I'm heading down the highway here, I'm listening to Shania Twang.

She's singing, I'm holding on to love to save my life.

And I'm thinking that's what Valessa was doing.

She was holding on to love to save her life.

I'm holding on to love to save my life.

The words of that song totally describe her dependence on Adam.

She would have done anything for him.

They went down over there on that embankment.

She was so in denial about what he had done to her mother,

traveling all those days with Adam and fearing him, wanting to love him, depending on him, and then ending up here.

And the hope is that the jury can understand all of that and decide what's the truth here.

Now you're approaching the scene where we made the arrest.

And Sheriff, who was the driver of that van?

Adam Davis.

On November 3rd, 1999, a year and a half after Vicki Robinson was murdered, the young man who says he cut her throat goes on trial.

Adam Davis grabs the knife again and says the

won't die.

The evidence against Adam Davis is overwhelming.

Not only do prosecutors have Davis's confession to the murder.

I don't know how I did it, but I just sliced.

They also have John Wispel.

Then what happened?

Oh,

Adam's still trying to get the kneel in him, but he couldn't.

Whispel agrees to testify against his best friend in exchange for a plea bargain.

And how much time were you sentenced to, total?

25 years.

Whispel implicates Davis in each and every step of the murder.

The idea of overdosing with heroin came up.

And whose idea was that?

Adams.

And when I handed him the knife, he used it and cut her right here on the left-hand side.

He stabbed her here and here and tried to break her neck.

May step down to the principal.

The defense rests without calling a single witness.

In less than two hours, there's a verdict.

He will publish the verdict.

State of Florida versus Adam William Davis.

The defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree as charged.

Six weeks later, Adam Davis, abandoned as a child, is sentenced to death.

Adam, do you have anything to say to Mrs.

Robinson?

Adam, are you afraid to die?

And now, it's Valessa's turn to face a jury.

It's scary.

It's made me really nervous.

Valessa will claim she was not in the room while her mother was murdered.

I could never hurt my mother.

Never.

But the state's star witness is about to say something entirely different.

When I came out of the bedroom, I seen Ms.

Robinson.

laying on the ground and Valessa sitting on top of her straddle.

And there is no question in your mind.

No.

No.

You absolutely saw that.

That's what I saw.

What exactly did Valessa do that night?

And who is the jury to believe?

Valessa, on your mother's memory, on everything you hold precious, are you telling me you are innocent?

I am.

When we come back.

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I'm Investigator Slater, host of the Psychopedia True Crime Podcast.

Spooky Spooky season is officially here, and for the entire month of October, we are transforming into Spookompedia.

All episodes, including bonus content, will delve into true crime with a dark twist, blending the spooky, creepy, gory, and the haunted.

No matter the story we cover by the end of each episode, you are going to feel it.

Make sure to follow and listen to Psychopedia everywhere you get your podcasts.

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I I didn't have a part in this.

I would never do anything to hurt my mom.

As Valessa Robinson's trial gets underway.

Well, can we believe Valessa?

I don't know.

The sides are quickly drawn.

I believe she needs to be punished for what she did.

On one side, Vicki's parents, Valessa's grandparents.

Because I don't feel she should be able to walk the street again.

We're afraid if she gets out, she'll come into Michigan and try to kill us.

You know, I mean, she's just a killer.

On the other, her father...

One thing my child is not.

She's not a murderer.

And sister.

I looked her in the eye and I said, did you, did you do it?

Did you kill my mom?

Did you kill our mom?

And she said, no.

And she looked me right in the eye.

And only a sister knows that look.

To influence the jury, the defense presents a made-over Valessa for court.

I am very nervous.

I want her to look like the young, sweet, charming, engaging teenager that she is.

Deanne Athen hopes to prove that Valessa was in another room, drugged on LSD when Adam Davis and John Wispel killed her mother.

The evidence will show that Adam Davis

murdered her mother,

Sexed her, drugged her, and dragged her halfway across the country.

If the jury believes her, Valessa could be acquitted and walk free.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's real simple.

These men, these men murdered her mother,

and she

is not guilty.

But if they believe that Valessa did participate in the murder of Vicki Robinson in any way, 17-year-old Valessa could spend the rest of her life behind bars.

That's my life.

My life is going to be in their hands.

We have no doubt you will convict Velessa Robinson of this murder.

There is no physical evidence against Velessa.

No fingerprints.

No DNA.

I'm taking a tape statement from Velessa Robinson.

So the prosecution builds its case on Valessa's confession.

I stabbed her in her throat.

And the eyewitness account of their star witness, John Whispel.

What was it like to see Velessa again?

Harder?

I couldn't look at her.

Whispel opens with a bombshell.

All of a sudden, she gets happy, smiles, jumps up and down, says, let's kill my mom.

Me and Adam, we're shot.

We're like, what?

She's like, let's kill my mom.

Whispel tells the courtroom, Valessa not only wanted her mother dead, she also helped kill her.

And what was Velessa doing?

She was sitting on her mom's legs, like, you know,

straddled, around the knees.

John, I gotta ask you.

Are you absolutely certain that you saw Valessa holding her own mother down?

Yes, I did.

And did you ever see her striking her mom?

Uh, after Adam got the needle in, took it out or whatever.

About a minute after she was, you know, hitting her mom's stomach.

Wispel's testimony is overwhelming.

Your attorneys were able to get you a deal, right?

You are not facing the death penalty, right?

Valessa doesn't take the stand.

So DNA builds her defense by attacking Whispel's credibility.

Do you want this jury to believe that

Adam Davis called for this little girl, this little thing here, to sit on her mother and he didn't call you?

That's right.

You've looked at your transcript of your statement, right?

That's right.

Deanne reminds Whispel that his story has changed since he first confessed to police.

You didn't tell the officers that Velessa was jumping up and down and saying, let's kill my mom, did you?

No.

And you didn't tell them that she sat on her mom's legs, did you?

No.

In fact, you didn't tell him that she was doing anything, did you?

No.

How would you describe John Whispel's testimony?

I think it's a pack of lies.

I don't know why he's saying what he's saying.

Velessa says you're a bold-faced liar.

Well, if I'm a bold-faced liar, then I swear to let God strike me down now, you know, because everything I said was all the truth.

Velessa, did you suggest to Adam Davis and John Whispel, let's kill my mom?

No, I didn't.

Did you hold hold down

your mother's body?

I didn't want my mom to be gone.

I didn't want to lose my mom.

Who is to be believed?

John Wispel?

John Wispel is a liar and not to be believed.

Or Valessa Robinson.

It was no one's idea but hers, and she could have stopped it at any time.

When we come back,

now we just wait and wait and wait and see what happens.

The surprise verdict.

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Jury's deliberating and they're trying to find a verdict.

Getting really intense, scary.

With her fate in the hands of a jury, Velessa Robinson can only wait.

Please, Lord, just let that jury come back with a not guilty.

Please, Lord.

She's a kid, she's scared to death.

I'm a big kid, I'm scared to death.

The panel of six men and six women will decide if the 17-year-old is guilty or not guilty of first-degree murder.

It's an agonizing wait for her father, her sister, and her attorney.

Oh, boy.

The hope for Velessa is that she gets out and that we can give her the help that she needs.

But as the hours turn to days, they prepare for the worst.

After deliberating for almost 18 hours, over three days, the jury finally reaches a verdict.

There's nothing else in the jury.

State of Florida v.

Valessa Lynn Robinson.

We, the jury, fed as follows as to count one of the indictment.

The defendant is guilty of murder in the third degree.

If she had been convicted of first-degree murder, 17-year-old Valessa Robinson would have been sentenced to life.

But instead, she gets 20 years.

I want her serving every bit of it.

Everyone will see her.

Get out on parole.

She's got to pay for her sin.

In the end, jurors weren't convinced that Valessa planned or participated in the murder of her mother.

Honestly, you couldn't ask for anything better.

Other than an acquittal.

A mother murdered her daughter behind bars.

Are there any lessons to be learned from a tragedy that makes so little sense?

What do you wish your mother had done differently in raising you?

I wish that she had

disciplined me more.

I wish she had laid down the rules, told me, you know, this is what you can do, this is what you can't do.

I needed that discipline.

It's kind of like assurance.

I think Vicki just got tired of disciplining her because she was very willful.

And Vicki just said, you know, I give up, do what you want to do.

And basically, Velessa did whatever she wanted to do.

Do you feel as though you let Valessa down?

Sure.

I think had that divorce not happened,

Vicki would still be alive,

and Valessa wouldn't be in jail,

and Adam Davis wouldn't be anywhere near my family.

What if someone has a teen that is that is doing drugs and may even have a boyfriend like Adam?

What should they do?

What should their parents do?

They need to be there for them, see that there's something wrong going on.

And if it's possible, get them away from the crowd that they're around.

That, of course, was Vicki Robinson's intention.

But it was too little, too late.

Just 10 days before Valessa was to enter a program that may have saved her, Vicki Robinson was murdered.

I wish to God that I could just bring her back.

Away from drugs, away from Adam Davis, would Valessa's story have had a different ending?

In this whole tragic case, where three teenagers retreated into their own destructive, murderous world, one thing is clear: the courts may satisfy our need for justice, but they're not designed to solve a family's problems.

Vicki Robinson, a mother going it alone, aware she had lost control.

Velessa, a daughter with more and more control, but ill-equipped to handle it.

Both were desperate, both in need of help.

In the end, everyone lost.

The family and friends of the victim, Vicki Robinson, have set up a foundation in her memory to help parents who are struggling with troubled children to find residential treatment programs, counseling, and parental support groups.

Justice has been served in this case, but for all of us, there is so much more to do.

In 2013, Velessa Robinson was released from prison after serving 13 years of her 20-year sentence.

John Wispel was released from prison in 2019.

In 2021, Adam Davis' death sentence was reduced to life in prison.

This is the story of the one.

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