Ep 23 | Jamya Norfleet Transcript

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised.

This was senior night, a night that students were supposed to be honored and now students are having to be escorted out of the parking lot under crime scene tape by police officers after one person was shot and killed. So you realized that, when you saw it on the news, that you're in deep s***, probably. Yeah. What was the discussion like after you fired the weapon and y'all was driving away? I started crying. I thought my hand was in the air, but I guess it wasn't in the air. My intentions was never to shoot anyone, okay? It was just to let off two shots in the air, but I guess the shots that I let off hit somebody. I never intended on hitting anybody.

You are now listening to the podcast Voices of a Killer. I'm bringing you the stories from the perspective of the people that have taken the life of another human and their current situation thereafter in prison. You will see that, although these are the folks that we have been programmed to hate, they all have something in common. They are all humans like us that admit that they made a mistake. Will you forgive them or will you condemn them?

They are currently serving time for their murders and they give us an inside glimpse of what took place when they killed and their feelings on the matter now. Here are the voices of those who have killed.

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Voices of a Killer. Our focus today is Jamya Norfleet, a young woman from Kansas City, Missouri who has had a life fraught with immense challenges, internal battles, and ultimately, a momentary decision that led to irreversible consequences. Raised in a single-parent household and haunted by internal and external demons, Jamya ended up in prison after a feud culminated in a tragic loss of life.

As always, we approach this story with sensitivity, looking to understand the series of events and decisions that led to the victim, 15-year-old An’Janique Wright, tragically losing her life. She was taken at such a young age, her life cut short by the actions of Jamya Norfleet. What happened on that fateful day of February 12 2019 that led to such a horrific event? How does Jamya reconcile her actions with her intent? Was she in self-defense mode or was this an act of aggression? And after the smoke cleared, how did Jamya react? Did she evade police or turn herself in? We'll be asking these questions and more as we unpack the story of Jamya Norfleet in this episode of Voices of a Killer.

Hey, Jamya, how are you doing? I'm good, how you are doing? Alright. So Jamya, tell me a little bit about your background as far as where you grew up. It was... Spent all your life in Kansas City? Yes. How was your childhood? It was rocky. Up and down. My dad passed when I was seven. I was jumping from school to school because I couldn't get my behavior together. My mom was a single mom until my stepdad came along, but it took years for him to come along. I had two sisters to grow up with.

Why did you jump around schools? My behavior wasn't that good. And I was always getting kicked out of schools for fighting. How old are you right now? 26. What's the worst thing you've done at school besides the crime that you're in prison for?

What did you do to get kicked out? What's the worst thing? The worst thing I ever did to get kicked out of school was set a fire in a bathroom. What made you do that? I was just tired of being bullied. Did you get bullied at school a lot? Yes. What do you think the reason you were bullied for? Because of my weight, my size, the way my hair was, because I was wearing my hair short. I prefer to be... I'm gay, I like girls, and I was quiet sometimes, and I was chubby, different reasons that they bullied me for.

What was your mom's reaction to your struggles at school? She didn't like it, so she tried to get me help, but I kept refusing help, but... What kind of help? Mental health help. A therapist to talk to, a case manager to talk to, but I always shut down. You've been to a therapist before? Yes.

Describe that to me. Like you sit down with a therapist, you're still a child at the time, is that correct? Yes. What does the therapist talk to you about? Just how school been going, how do I like my classes, but I just always shut down. I never really talked because I feel like I can't trust nobody because of when I was sexually assaulted when I was younger by a family friend, so I didn't really trust nobody, so I couldn't let nobody really in.

How was your grades in school? I had good grades. I was actually a B. I had one D, a lot of A's and B's. Do you feel like you got to a point to where the school changing and the bullying stuff that you just went ahead and started off with not being friendly with people or did you try? Did it ever turn to where you're like, "I give up on trying to be friends with people. I'm just going to be mean"? Yeah, I really gave up on trying to be nice to people, so I decided to just be mean.

Raised in a single-parent household after the death of her father at the young age of seven, Jamya had anything but a stable upbringing. School was a particularly challenging environment. She found herself frequently at odds with classmates, enduring bullying related to her appearance, her sexual orientation, and even her quiet demeanor.

This led to numerous school changes, fueled in part by an inability to keep her behavior in check, a struggle that escalated to the point of her setting a fire in a school bathroom. But Jamya's struggle wasn't just external, she grappled with internal demons too. Though her mother sought to intervene by providing access to mental health resources like therapists and case managers, Jamya couldn't bring herself to open up. This reluctance was rooted in a profound distrust of others, stemming from a traumatic event where she was sexually assaulted by a family friend at a young age.

Here we have a young woman shaped by both her environment and unaddressed psychological pain, factors that may have contributed to the tragic and violent event that eventually led her to prison.

To my understanding, you basically are in prison for shooting someone, and that person that you shot, how did you know them? Yeah, it was just somebody I knew from the streets, from the community center, on Facebook. Did you go to school with her? No. How much did you know her? I didn't know her well. We was associates. I basically put her like that. Associates. Yeah, this wasn't somebody you were in a relationship or anything, right? No, she was too young. Okay, it's my understanding she was 15 years old, the victim? Yes. And what's her name? An’Janique.

Take me back to that day that this happened, the very beginning of the day before it actually went down. You knew the victim through just being around, Facebook, things like that. Had you ever been in an argument with her prior to that day? Yes. So this is a heated thing that's going a little bit further than just the day it happened? It was a feud for a year and a half. It was a back-and-forth thing for a year and a half. Okay. So this is actually a really long-time feud between the two of you? Yes. And more people that's involved too.

Was most of this happening over social media or did you actually cross paths before and fight or argue? Yeah, we actually had a fight at a party. We actually was on social media. You had fought before physically with this girl? With her twin. Oh, not the girl that ended up passing away? No. Okay. She was involved with my sister, but not physically. I never had a fight with her, but I had a fight with her twin.

Okay, what is the creation of the friction between y'all? What caused you guys to not like each other? Okay in the 70s at the Mary Kelly Center, now it's a school, but it's like in the 50s, almost close to the 60s, down in Kansas City. What is it though? It was a community center, now it's a school. I was there with a group of my friends playing basketball. Her group came in. We all played against each other.

I guess something between somebody that I was with and somebody she was with, ball down, so we all got put out, okay? So we all goes outside. They start fighting. I'm like, "Man, this ain't even that." Because y'all fighting over a basketball game that wasn't even serious. So they started fighting, physically fighting? Yeah, because of the basketball game. So now the victim's what, 13 and a half years old? 14 at this time? Yeah.

So after that, I'm like, so we all just left. So they seen me by myself one time, me and one of my friends on a plaza one time. They jumped us. So that was the first time that I got jumped by somebody. So I guess after they jumped me on the plaza, somehow she came in contact with my sister.

Her and my sister became close, but they started going out. They was going together. I'm like, I put two and two together, like "Why are you hanging out with them? This is the ones that jumped me." My sister said, "Nah they didn't jump you." Just my sister is not knowing, but I'm trying to tell her, but she's naive. I tell my sister nothing, because she'd just wave it off.

So I just let it go, so I never was around them when my sister was around. I was never around my sister when they was around. Okay, I don't know what it involved, but all of them ended up going to jail behind stealing at a mall. The two twins, a boy, two, and my sister and her, some more people. So I guess they went to jail, went to court, did whatever they did.

So I guess, after that, they was arguing back and forth via text, via Facebook, just going back and forth. Okay. A month back in December '18, I seen the other twin, the one that's still alive, had a birthday party, and me and her ended up fighting just because they... just because we still had beef with each other, okay. And back in January, they had jumped my sister, both of the twins, their cousin, and some more people jumped my sister. Came back with a swollen black eye, busted lip, busted head. So that's when I got mad, but I then never did anything. I just held the grudge, so they, whenever, I would always try to meet up with them so we could squash the beef and everyone's beat up.

In the months leading up to the tragic event, Jamya Norfleet's relationship with the victim, 15-year-old An'Janique Wright, can be described as a pot nearing its boiling point. The two were locked in a feud that extended far beyond the tragic day of the shooting.

This feud became increasingly personal for Jamya, especially when her sister got involved. Despite her reservations, Jamya found that her sister had developed a friendship with An'Janique. Matters came to a head when her sister returned home one day with physical injuries, allegedly afflicted by An'Janique, and her twin sister among others. This led Jamya to harbor a grudge, a kind of ticking emotional time bomb, as it were.

Despite multiple attempts to meet up and squash the beef, the other side never showed a willingness to resolve the issues, adding more fuel to an already volatile relationship that would culminate in the loss of a life. But what actually transpired on that fateful day? What led Jamya to make the irreversible decision that would change multiple lives forever?

February 12th came. My best friend comes like, "You want to go to Snitch or go to this basketball game?" I'm like, "Nah, I'm cool. I'm chilling for the day. I'm about to just vibe, chill." So she called my co-defendant, and her and my co-defendant started talking, so she convinced me to go, so I was like, "Okay."

Now, whenever she's saying, "Let's go to this game", is it going to confront these people or going to just be at the game? Just going to be at the game. They just want to... because we knew somebody that was playing on the other team that was playing in their final game. Did y'all know the victim was going to be there? No, we did not.

So we went to go pick up my best friend around what, 6:30. 6:40 we go to the game. They seen... and then my sister was there. Okay, I didn't know, I didn't know that was going to happen, and I didn't even talk to my sister prior to the day. So she was there. We all sat together.

The victim and her party seen us before we seen them, and that's when they start pointing and stuff. I'm like, "What are they pointing at?" I wore glasses and I had my glasses on at the time, so I figured out who they were pointing at. And I'm like, "I'm about to go." So my party and their party came to meet at the Florida gym and start arguing, 'kay? So after they got done arguing and stuff we got put out. Boom. I go to the car.

Ya'll get kicked out by the authorities? Yeah by the security guards and officers, they kicked us out. So we go out. They go out first and we go out. The victim goes out first? Yeah. Then they came back in, so we had left. Okay. So at the back, I got in the car. They start fighting.

Then I just wasn't thinking. Somebody was like, somebody had a gun and at this time I have to protect my people. Then I heard the first shot, so boom. I'm like, "Okay, somebody just shot. I don't know if anybody's okay. What's going on?" So I just seen everybody running. The victim goes out first, then they come back, get you to go out.

Are y'all meeting in the parking lot? At this point, yeah. Okay, and you go to your car, who's with you, your co-defendant is with you? My co-defendant. And there's a third girl that's there with you too, but she's not a co-defendant? No. Okay, so you get to your car and you actually know that you've got a gun in your car, and you're saying that one of these other girls, the victim, or somebody else has a gun? Yes.

Did the authorities confirm that the victim or someone else on that side had a gun? I don't know. See, I don't know. They said they didn't. They said some people say they did. Okay. So you grabbed your gun for self-defense. Did the victim or anybody see that you had that weapon? No. How far were you from the victim when you shot? I was far. I was far. What's far, like a football field? Yeah, about like a football field, one end to the other end. Is your party that's with you, are they all next to you whenever you shot? Or were they, next to them? Everybody just started scattering. I don't even remember where everybody was but I know my co-defendant was in the driver's seat. I was in the passenger seat. Did you shoot out of the vehicle? Yes I did.

So you pull that gun, did your friend that's in the vehicle say anything like, "Put that down or chill out, or what are you doing"? Or you just... did they encourage you? No. No. Not at all. She was encouraging me the whole time. She said, "Shoot him". Yeah. So you pointed it out the window. What happened? I thought my hand was in the air, but I guess it wasn't in the air. My intentions was never to shoot anyone, okay? It was just to let off two shots in the air, but I guess the shots that I let off hit somebody. I never intended on hitting anybody.

Had you ever fired a weapon before? Yes, I had. That particular one? Yeah, it most wasn't. Where did you get that gun? I bought it. From a store or a person? A store. It was legally in my name. Yeah. How long did it take you to get that gun when you bought it? You got it that day? Not long. I bought it that day and then I had... I almost had it for a year. Had you ever used it before? No, it was just for protection, like at the house or something.

Whenever you fired that weapon, did your friend... was she driving the vehicle away or were y'all in park just sitting there? No, she had pulled away after I shot a couple times and then we just drove off.

Eventually, that pot of tension reached its boiling point at the basketball game on February 12 2019. When both parties spotted each other at the venue, confrontation was inevitable, and security ultimately forced them to leave the gymnasium. With claims of guns from the other party, Jamya ultimately went after her own gun in what she claims was self-defense. Tragically, what followed altered the course of several lives.

According to Jamya, she had no intention of hitting anyone and believed she was firing warning shots into the air. However, An’Janique was fatally struck. After the shooting, Jamya was in the passenger seat and her co-defendant drove away from the scene.

Although it is clear that Jamya pulled the trigger, the role of co-defendant remains somewhat murky. She allegedly encouraged Jamya to fire the weapon, but drove away immediately afterward. This raises questions about collective responsibility and how the pressure of the moment may have impacted Jamya's decision to resort to deadly force. What did Jamya do following the shooting? Did she try to surrender herself or make amends in any way? How does she reconcile her intentions of firing a "warning shot" with the devastating reality that ended a young life? These pressing questions and more after the break.

What was the discussion like after you fired the weapon and y'all was driving away? I started crying. You started crying? Yeah. How come? Cause I didn't know, I didn't know what I just did and I didn't know if anybody was hurt. So I was just crying. Like I was just saying, I hope... I was just praying to God something, didn't nothing go bad. And you had the two other people with you still, right? No, it was just one cause the other one stayed inside the gym. The one that was with you is obviously your co-defendant, right? Yeah. What was she saying after y'all drove off and you're crying? She was just like, "It'll be okay. We just gonna... It'll be okay."

Did you think that you'd hit somebody after you'd fired it? I didn't think I did. So you'd actually, when you drove off, you weren't even aware that you'd hurt or killed anybody yet? Yes, until I seen the news that night. So y'all went directly to your house? We went to somebody else's house.

Later on that evening, are you looking to see what happened? Are you looking for the news or did it just come on and you're like, "Holy s***"? I was looking for the news. I was looking on Facebook. I was watching every local news channel, making sure everything was good and I seen it and I just broke. I was like, "This can't be." So you realized that, when you saw it on the news, that you're in deep s*** probably?

Yeah. What was your reaction after you realized this? Did you start to try to come up with a plan, hide the gun? What did you do? I hid for a couple of days. Where did you hide? At a friend's house. Did that friend know that you had done that? She seen it, but she didn't know it was me. What did that feel like, hiding out? Did you feel like your days were numbered and... or did you think like Mexico or Canada or what were your thoughts those three days? Just tell me about it.

Nah, what I was thinking was I need to turn myself in. I can't do this no more. I'm not living with this guilt. Then another part of me was like, "Nah, just hide for a little bit longer. It might blow over." And I just gave myself up. I literally just gave myself up. I couldn't take the guilt no more. You gave yourself up? Yeah. Did you call someone or did you drive yourself to the police station? I called somebody to tell them where I was at.

On top of that, my co-defendant's mom already told them where we was at because I guess my co-defendant ended up telling her mom where we was at. Then I ended up calling somebody after, before I found out that mom knew where we was at and I told them like, "Just tell them where I'm at."

Where was your co-defendant while you were hiding out for the few days? She was with me. What was her demeanor like? Was she pretty scared? No, not at all. She was chill. I'm the one that was scared. She was chill. She got in trouble too. What was her charges? She only got five years and I don't know what her charges was. She's out. She's out on the streets right now.

There is some evidence that was presented at Jamya's trial that was contradictory to her claim of firing warning shots. According to a probable cause statement from one of the detectives on Jamya's case, security footage revealed Jamya exiting the van she was in, taking a shooting stance approximately 30 feet from the entrance of the venue. Arms extended, she fired five shots towards the victim and their associates, who were seen running alongside the building. As she aimed and fired, Jamya can be seen repositioning herself, her actions directly targeting multiple individuals, not just the victim.

After the gunfire, Jamya re-entered the vehicle, emotionally breaking down as she and her co-defendant drove off. Unaware that she had hit anyone, she found solace in her co-defendant's calm demeanor, even as she herself was overwhelmed with dread and regret.

Faced with the horrifying aftermath, Jamya opted to hide at a friend's house. Torn between her guilt and the fleeting thought of escaping the repercussions of that terrible night, it wasn't until she saw a news report that she truly understood the depth of the tragedy she had caused. This news report from KMBC highlights the confusion and chaos that stemmed from Jamya's actions.

Just moments ago, after we got that update from police, we spoke to a parent who was inside the basketball game tonight, her daughter getting honored for senior night. And she said this all started with a brawl in the stands, and some kids rushed outside, and then a few minutes later, another set of kids rushed outside. And nobody knew exactly what happened, just that there was a fight. And she said she's frustrated because she believed that as soon as that happened, more school resource officers, more police should have followed out behind. She was just distraught.

More parents had been walking up here, talking to police, explaining how frustrated they are by this whole situation because, again, this was senior night, a night that students were supposed to be honored and now students are having to be escorted out of the parking lot under crime scene tape by police officers after one person was shot and killed.

Again, as I mentioned earlier, we do not know yet if the person who was shot and killed is a student. We're, again, waiting on updates from police. There are more officials continuing to arrive every moment. This is a very large scene, the entire parking lot taped off with crime scene tape and more police continuing to arrive. As we get more updates, we'll share them with you right here.

This realization became the tipping point for Jamya who ultimately chose to surrender to the police. Interestingly, her co-defendant's mother had already informed authorities about her whereabouts, shedding light on the stark contrast between Jamya's mounting guilt and her co-defendant's apparent indifference to the situation.

So you finally get apprehended that they come and get you. What was that ride like being handcuffed, knowing that you killed somebody? It was hard. I was praying to God, telling and asking him to forgive me. I was just praying.

So once they arrested you and they sit you down and talk to you, did they have a video showing you doing it? Nah, they just had pictures of me in the area. Yeah. And you didn't try to lie? You just said, "Yeah, this is what happened"? Yeah. I'm not going to lie because I know I'm in a deep s*** of trouble. I wasn't going to lie to them. I wasn't. And did you get a public defender or a paid attorney? I had a public defender.

What was the experience like waiting in jail for you to be sentenced? My first two months in county, I had to be transferred to a different county. How come? Because they had me on PC status, protected custody status, cause I had a lot of enemies there that want to fight me and try to hurt me because of the victim's family. Yeah. Was that pretty difficult also because, not only did you kill somebody, but it was a 15-year-old girl at an underage, basically a child. Yeah. And does that give you a lot of trouble still to this day? Yes it does. Still to this day. You don't PC in there, do you? You don't get protective custody? No, not at all.

Once you get arrested, you're sitting in there, they come up with a deal and they tell you, "Hey, we've got a plea deal. You plead guilty. You should get 20 years" basically is what they told you? If I plead guilty to two charges, they'll drop the third charge and they will cap it off 20, no more than 20.

And that's what they asked the judge to do? That's what my lawyer talked about. And then when we went to sentencing, it didn't go as planned. Did the prosecutor say at sentencing what they recommended, or how did that go? It basically was like, they just recommended what they think I should get, and the judge went along with it.

And they recommended more than what you talked about? Yes. What was your reaction when you heard them go against what the deal was? I just broke. I just didn't know what else to say and what else to do. Did you have an outburst? Nah. I just, after I got off of the court thing, I just went back and cried.

Represented by a public defender, Jamya experienced an agonizing wait for her sentencing. Initially housed in a county jail, she was swiftly transferred to a different facility due to her PC, or protective custody, status.

In the penal system, this status is generally reserved for inmates who are considered at high risk for victimization or harm from other inmates. In Jamya's case, her presence in the original facility was a powder keg. She was a marked woman, targeted by the family of the victim.

When the plea deal was finally presented, it was framed as a merciful resolution. Plead guilty to two charges, and the third would be dropped. Moreover, her sentence would be capped at no more than 20 years. This was the arrangement discussed with her public defender, but what transpired in the courtroom was a different story altogether. As the prosecutor made their recommendation, the atmosphere in the courtroom shifted. The judge went along with the prosecutor's suggestion, which went beyond the parameters of the initially discussed 20-year cap. Perhaps the punitive nature of this sentence highlights the interpretation of Jamya's actions by the judge. Was she indeed firing warning shots in self-defense, or was this seen as a premeditated move to finally put an end to her feud with An’Janique?

Whatever the truth of the situation, one thing is for sure, An’Janique Wright's life was tragically cut short with actions that could have been avoided. Her loss is felt by her family and friends and her community and she will be remembered by them. I wanted to know what Jamya's thoughts were about her victim and if she felt she got the sentence she deserved.

And they ended up sentencing you to 18 for the murder and then 10 additional years for something else, right? Yeah. For the unlawful use of a weapon. Unlawful use of a weapon, correct. So which gave you 28 years total and you're gonna do 85% of that. What does that feel like, knowing that you're so young, and you're being put in prison where you're going to spend a very long time, that's a really long time, what does that feel like to you?

It's hard. It's not easy. Do you ever just break down and cry? Yes, I do. How does your family feel about you being sentenced to 28 years? It's hard on my mom, with her being a single mom since I've been young, and struggling out there.

Do you think that you could have handled that a different way? Yes, I do. Why do you think you did what you did? You know that a weapon is very dangerous. It's a big point of contention in our country, weapons, because so many people have them, and then there's people that have them and do wrong things with them, and you used a gun in an inappropriate way.

What was going on in my mind is I had mental health problems. I've been on mental health meds since I was young. My mental health state... I was not in my right state of mind and I'm not going to blame that on my actions because I'm never going to blame my mental health on my actions because I did what I did. But that still falls in the category because I wasn't on my medication and I feel like if I was on my medication and I was in a right level size head, I would have handled that situation a whole different way. I would have did a whole 360 and handled it the right way instead of the wrong way. I went the wrong way about the whole situation.

Jamya, do you have any children? No, I do not. If you did have a child, let's just say you did have a child, that child is 15 years old, and someone shoots your child just the same way that you shot your victim, what do you think that sentence should be for that person?

I'm not even gonna lie. They should get the same thing I got. Do you think you should have less than what you have? I should, but it's just... with it being the circumstances of where it was at, it was at a school zone... It was unfair, but it was fair all at the same time.

What kind of person do you think you're going to be when you finally get out of prison? I have my struggles. I want to go back to school for heating and cooling. I have a welding job. I have a welding certificate. I did go to graduate from college for welding. I want to go to a union for welding and I just want to just work and go to school. Try stay away from everybody. Just move and go do what I gotta do to take care of my mom. I have three nieces – two nieces and one on the way that I want to take care of with my mom and my baby brother. I'm ready to take care of all 5 of them.

And you said, "stay away from others". Do you think that you could find yourself doing the same exact thing? No, I don't feel like I could. I just don't want to be around certain people no more because I feel like they show their true colors.

Yeah. Have you ever gotten any kind of hate mail from your family or friends? No, but people in here that know her are giving me problems. So you've had some of the victim's friends, you're locked up with them and they giving you some shit in there. Yeah. Describe that to me. I've been in a couple of fights because of it and been threatened. Just the usual.

Yeah. Do you generally get along in there for the most part? Yeah. I really like staying to myself. I have a TV. I'll be watching TV on my tablet, playing cards, trying to stay out of trouble. Do you have support on the outside? Yes. So the victim's friends that you're locked up with, you've actually been in fights with them? Or just close? Yes.

Oh, you have? Yeah. Take me back to one of those fights, what happened? I was in a room with the victim's cousin and she said she wouldn't feel comfortable with me in there, and one of us will have to either going to have to fire the PC. And I'm like, "I'm not about the PC because I'm not scared." So she... we just started fighting.

Yeah, is it pretty safe to say you're going to get in another fight in the future in prison? I'm trying to stay out of trouble. I've been doing everything I'm supposed to do to stay out of trouble, so I can't even say yeah, I can't even say no. Yeah. What do you think about prison? I don't like it. It's not... I won't wish this on my worst enemy. It's not for nobody. The way these guards treat us is inhumane. The medical staff is not right.

If you could change one thing about the prison aspect, what would it be? The way the guards treat us. How do they treat you? You got good guards. You got okay guards. You got the guards that treat you like you're an animal.

Yeah. What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get out? Go meet my two nieces that I ain't never met before and hug my mom.

The United States is a country marked by its relationship with firearms. With nearly 120 guns per every 100 residents, it has the highest per capita gun ownership rate in the world. But along with the constitutional right to bear arms comes an unsettling reality, increased rates of gun violence. In a system where firearms are readily accessible, with anyone being able to buy a gun for self-defense, the outcomes can be devastating, as exemplified by cases like Jamya's.

Serving a 28-year sentence, 18 for murder and an additional 10 for unlawful use of a weapon, Jamya's story serves as a harrowing cautionary tale.

Behind bars, she faces the constant threat of violence from other inmates who were friends or family of her young victim. She describes the experience as something she "wouldn't wish on her worst enemy" yet, in the face of these harsh conditions, she holds on to hope. While Jamya blames part of her actions on not being in the right state of mind due to her untreated mental health issues, she also accepts full responsibility for her crime. She regrets the irreversible damage she caused and acknowledges that she deserves the lengthy sentence she received. Upon her eventual release, she aims to not only rebuild her life but to also stay far away from the people and conditions that led her down this perilous path in the first place.

Before we hung up our call, I wanted to know if Jamya could send a message to someone teetering on the edge, contemplating an act of violence like the one she committed. What would she say? Would she warn them about the inevitable regret, the lives destroyed, including their own? As someone who's living through the consequences of her own actions, her words could serve as a poignant deterrent to others on the same troubling path.

What would you say to someone out there that's struggling with being bullied in school, and obviously it creates a certain person with a certain mindset that wants to defend themselves and fight and be mean. What would you tell to some young person out there listening that's getting bullied and that may be turning into a certain person that could easily do the same thing you did? What would you say to them?

I would say, speak up. Tell your parents. Tell a sibling because what these people are doing to you is not right. And you need to speak up so you won't go around and take that lying down. You don't need to be in jail. You don't need to be in prison. It's not for you. You need to be with your family. You need to be having an education. Do something with your life. Just speak up. Tell somebody.

And, Jamya, the last thing I want to ask you is, if the victim's family was listening to this, what would you tell them? Okay, I've been thinking about this for years since I've been locked up. I just apologize to them. I apologize for everything I did, everything I put your family through, the way the whole situation went. And I just want to say, I know you lost somebody, and it's not right. And I just want, I just really can't stress this enough. I'm sorry, and I apologize.

And what would that make you feel like if they didn't accept your apology? I don't know how to feel. I did take their sister. I did take their daughter. I did take their niece away, so I wouldn't know how to feel. I just feel like they have a right to feel the way they feel.

So not only that, Jamya, but there's school shootings, I know that wasn't like the typical mass school shooting, nothing like that, but it being at a school where there's children, there's people's children that aren't adults yet growing up, it really disrupts a community. I would say that anybody that hears your story and is furious... they automatically, they don't care the circumstances, they don't care anything, they automatically will hate you. How does that make you feel? It makes me feel real bad because I'm really not a bad person. See, yes, my childhood, my teenage years was a struggle, but my personality and my attitude is... I'm really not a bad person. I'm a kind-hearted sweetheart. I would give you my life if that's what you needed. I would give you the shirt off my back if I have to. I'm not that evil person that these people are making me out to be. I'm really not.

Jamya, I appreciate you opening up to me. I think that what you did was simply a mistake. I don't think you're an evil person and I don't mind saying that to millions of listeners. It just sucks that one little thing can change the course of many people's lives, but that's exactly what happened and the more unfortunate thing is not being able to take it back. I appreciate you talking with me. I hope that you can accomplish what you want when you get out. There's definitely a need for those jobs you listed. So keep at it. Thank you so much. Alright, Jamya, bye bye. You have a nice day. You too.

On the next episode of Voices of a Killer. And you haven't contacted anybody yet? No. I'm standing here thinking about... I'm going to prison. I'm gone. I'm going to jail. My kids. What about my daughters? No, I was thinking of them. So what I did was I went in there and I took like a dog leash. And I tied it around her neck, and she had a few gurgling noises.

How far did you drive from where the murder scene was to where you buried her? Three, four counties away, I don't know, 45 minutes, maybe at that. Did you pack up a shovel and everything with you? Yes, packed up a shovel. I threw a fishing pole in, because if anybody come by, I figured they would just think that I was fishing.

And she'd be like, "Terry, why did this happen? Why did you do this?" That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. I want to thank Jamya for sharing her story with us today. Her ability to be open and honest is what makes this podcast so special. If you would like to listen to the raw recordings of these interviews, you can visit www.patreon.com/VoicesofaKiller. By becoming a patron. You can access not only this, but hours of bonus recordings, correspondence, and you can contribute to the way the show is produced. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handle the production, audio editing, music, licensing, and promotion of this podcast.

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