A young mother is ambushed outside her home by a woman who has been threatening her online for months. A verbal assault quickly turns physical and, in the heat of the moment, the young mother stabs and kills the woman. Facing more than 30 years in prison for Second-Degree Murder, is this young mother a justified cyberbully victim or a vengeful killer?
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00:00I.911, sir I need an ambulance immediately tell me what a girl showed up to my house
00:23with two of her friends began to attack me I defended myself with a knife these are girls
00:34that have been bullying me on the internet now you will get harassed until you find me what
00:40happened the beginning nobody could predict what was going to happen in the end is she too breathing
00:49no I don't think she is I did what I felt was going to save my life come hit me so I can cut you bitch
00:56my sister was a victim of bullying and harassment the state is going to argue that she's excessive
01:07force I got it on camera have fun in jail
01:19my name is Georgia Nixon and I'm in High Point North Carolina where I've been practicing for over
01:3433 years I represent Bianca Perez Bianca is charged with second-degree murder and is facing 31 years
01:43in prison on the night of June 10th of 2021 Bianca and her boyfriend take their vehicle out for a drive
01:54according to Bianca as they start to head back home and pull into their driveway they hear some noise on
02:02the street it turns out that there is a girl who's been harassing Bianca on social media for quite some
02:09time and two of her friends parked on the street
02:12they start shouting at the boyfriend and Bianca according to Bianca when her boyfriend exits the
02:23vehicle one girl reaches into the driver's side door and pulls Bianca's hair her boyfriend tells them to
02:31leave they will not leave she comes around the vehicle Bianca reaches in her purse and grabs a knife
02:39and says I've got a knife I'll cut you Bianca told me the girl does approach her and they enter into this
02:48big scuffle and the girl collapses she was stabbed Bianca and one of the girl's friends called 911 Bianca she's
03:03run into the house to gather cloth and instructed her boyfriend to help the girl out and then the police
03:10arrived put her in the patrol car and they take her downtown for questioning she's later charged with
03:20second-degree murder
03:27a young girl has died but I do believe it is a case of self defense Bianca and tells me that this girl has been harassing her for about a year on social media
03:38they've threatened her they've wanted to fight her so there's a lot of social media evidence in this case we need to make sure we get every detail in that shows how fearful Bianca was of this girl
03:56if I don't get this right Bianca who has never had any criminal history in her life is looking at 31 years in prison
04:11okay come on slow you go and now just jump you got it okay I've been accused of second-degree murder
04:41it's hard to get out it's it's like hard to accept
04:49step down where my feet are you're good my kids are everything to me
05:04they don't fully understand the gravity of the situation just stand up baby
05:10my daughter's 13 so she knows a little bit about what happened my son's only nine he doesn't know anything
05:19why the water
05:20there'll help me out I'm gonna rip you down here with me
05:30I come from a underprivileged background but I've never been in trouble in my life
05:42I have a lot of regrets it's just you at the meaning of self-preservation and nobody knows what that feels
05:52like until this happens to them bring the ball dude I will be going to trial and
06:01the worst thing is to be found guilty and have to go to jail
06:05so I am completely terrified no matter how much support you have from your family the scariest part is
06:13doing it alone
06:22I'm meeting with Bianca today she's facing a lot of time in prison and I need to get her side of the story and
06:40exactly what happened in her words
06:44so thank you for coming in today you are charged with second-degree murder
06:48and you're facing 31 years in prison
06:52so let's go ahead and talk about what happened
06:55okay so this was an ongoing situation between Gabby and I
07:01she was upset that I reached out to her on social media
07:05and asked her to stop talking about someone that was close to me
07:23she was like threatening and talking about coming to beat the out of me
07:26especially when I least expect it and then she shows up to my house
07:39in my mind she had a weapon
07:41I don't answer the door
07:43and then I'm thinking if I don't come outside it's over
07:45she's gonna leave me alone
07:46no she went back on the internet started talking about how she wanted to beat me up
07:51it was a very very scary time
07:56that carried on for a little while then in June
07:59is the night that everything happened
08:04all right I need you to walk me through exactly what happened that night in as much detail
08:08as you can remember okay
08:09okay
08:10so it's around eight or nine o'clock at night
08:12Daryl's driving we pull back up into the driveway
08:14and then I keep hearing
08:15that bitch on Twitter that bitch on Twitter
08:18Daryl's outside arguing with the girls
08:21and that's when Gabby comes to the driver's side of my car
08:25and while I'm sitting in the passenger seat
08:28she like reaches through the car
08:30grabs me by my hair
08:31you know starts hitting me and stuff
08:32I opened the door
08:35I grabbed my knife
08:37and I gave her I guess what anybody would call a warning
08:44do you remember exactly what you said
08:46yeah I said if you hit me bitch I'm gonna cut you
08:59did you show her the knife
09:01I did I had it the whole time and holding it away from myself
09:03and then I just get punched in the face
09:05and we start fighting
09:08do you remember what happens after that
09:10I stopped
09:11and then she goes oh my god this bitch cut me
09:13and then
09:15she like
09:16collapsed on the ground
09:27I've never been in a situation where like
09:29it's me or you
09:30and everything in my body was like
09:31Bianca you're not gonna make it out of the situation alive
09:34and that's
09:35generally
09:36genuinely why I reacted the way that I did
09:41you warned her
09:42she's at your place of residence where you should feel safe
09:46so
09:47it sounds to me like you have a good self-defense
09:49and I'm gonna depend heavily on you to get me that social media thread
09:52but
09:53somebody died
09:54so we have an uphill battle
10:07I feel like during that time there's just so much that could have been done differently when you're
10:13you know just basing it off of fear and instinct
10:16and I wish I could just go back
10:18obviously I'm very scared
10:21when you never been in trouble before
10:2431 years sounds very real
10:26we never really know what's gonna happen
10:29the stakes are really high somebody has passed away
10:33Bianca has a knife in her purse
10:36and the jury were going to want to know why
10:39but that's how bad it had gotten with this girl and her friends
10:42but the jury wants to blame somebody
10:45and Bianca is the person that they're going to want to blame
10:47Bianca's facing 31 years
10:50and it puts a lot of pressure on me
10:52it's it's going to be a difficult case
11:04I represent Bianca Perez and she's charged with second-degree murder
11:07if she's convicted of she's facing over 30 years in prison
11:23this is the first officer that arrived to the scene
11:26and I'm looking to see what the first impressions are
11:28and what's going on here at the time
11:30all right
11:31where's the knife
11:32where's the knife
11:33she has to be
11:35who did it
11:36background right there
11:38what happened
11:39these three girls showed up to my house
11:42put your hands behind your back for me okay
11:44you're being detained right now
11:47she said immediately that the three girls came and jumped her
11:51eventually they end up interviewing her boyfriend Daryl a little bit
11:56Daryl was with her in the car
11:57so he's a very important witness
11:59no no no they like pulled up right behind us
12:02pulled up behind you okay
12:03I got with the car
12:04you got out with the car
12:05I tried to get them to sleep
12:06my girlfriend was still sitting in the car
12:08and she just kept on telling her to leave
12:10and she would not leave
12:11and the girl punched her in the freaking face
12:14I haven't been able to see the videos yet
12:25of the cell phone footage
12:27but it was very important that Daryl told the officer to preserve this video
12:31who was recording
12:33I recorded it
12:34okay
12:35let me see your phone
12:37I'm gonna have to take it okay
12:39I can't have you take my phone
12:40can I just send it to you please
12:41I need my phone
12:55Bianca's assertion has always been that
12:57this girl got in her vehicle and struck her
12:59so is paramount to the case that she was the aggressor
13:02not Bianca
13:03however I'm a little weary about what might be on the video
13:06because I'm told the video clips are fairly short
13:09and I don't know what's been recorded
13:11but I have to watch every single minute of them
13:14and see how it matches up with Bianca's story
13:16and see if it helps us or hurts us
13:24the entire case rides on what's on that footage
13:26so after the incident
13:43I was being harassed a lot
13:45you know across the street
13:47a whole bunch of people showed up
13:49I want to say like 12 cars
13:51that were drinking and smoking
13:53and throwing bottles at my house
13:55it's been tough
14:02it was my mug shot
14:03and it was just a long paragraph
14:06with fabricated events of what happened that night
14:12a lot of people don't understand
14:13like this isn't just about a 30-minute argument
14:15this is about a whole year and a half before then too
14:18it made me scared and terrified
14:21because it's like
14:22you're not done
14:24you're still harassing me
14:26whoever put up that poster
14:28whoever orchestrates people driving by my house
14:31they think I'm just someone who's living on with my life
14:33and completely just
14:34it's nothing off my chest
14:36when in reality this is
14:37a very hard weight to carry
14:39you think I don't think about her every day
14:43I feel bad for her family
14:47I really do
14:48because I don't know what it's like to lose a child
14:51and that is probably the worst pain that anyone can ever experience
14:55it's just really hard thinking about having to face her family in court
15:02and the only way that I'm really coping with it
15:05is knowing that my family will be there for me too
15:08so I've gotten the cell phone footage from the friend of Gabby's that filmed at the incident
15:27so I've been provided with two clips and this is the first clip
15:42she said what the hell
15:45put your fires bitch put your fires
15:48these girls that have come to ambush Bianca think this is funny
15:53so that one was really short
16:04and clearly they cut it off at some point
16:07this clip seems to back up exactly what Bianca has been saying
16:11that they sort of ambushed them as soon as they got there
16:14okay so this is the second video
16:17it's pretty dark
16:19you can see the knife in her hand
16:34come here no I'm not putting no blade down
16:37because you got two bitches
16:38you'll be calling me by name on twitter
16:41you're the one who be calling me by name on twitter bitch
16:43come right here
16:44no you're already at my house
16:46come here if you're gonna hit me
16:48come hit me so I can cut you bitch
16:52let's do this
16:53let's do this
16:54you can really just stop talking on twitter
16:57it's that simple
16:58got my
16:59she is the one talking
17:00girl is always talking bro
17:10she stabbed me
17:13I got it on camera
17:14have fun in jail
17:18that's really hard to watch
17:19that's extremely hard to watch
17:23looks like Bianca's the aggressor
17:27in Bianca's version of the incident
17:29she tells that Gabby entered her vehicle
17:32and that's missing from this clip
17:37this video puts everything into question
17:39the actual fight is not that long
17:42but it's very damning
17:43the actual fight is not that long
17:44but it's very damning
17:46no you're already out of my house
17:49come here
17:49you're gonna hit me
17:50come hit me
17:51so I can cut you bitch
17:52when you see the video of the incident
17:54it looks like Bianca's the aggressor
17:57the state is going to argue that she is excessive force
18:00that's why we have to go through the social media
18:03so that I can understand what Bianca was going through during that time
18:07there are a ton of tweets and social media that's been provided
18:10now I kind of want to pare it down to what is important
18:12yes so the August 15th of 2020 it's from Gabby's Facebook that says Bianca thinking I won't beat her ass
18:15so that I can understand what Bianca was going through during that time
18:19there are a ton of tweets and social media that's been provided
18:25there are a ton of tweets and social media that's been provided
18:30now I kind of want to pare it down to what is important
18:33yes so the August 15th of 2020 it's from Gabby's Facebook that says Bianca thinking I won't beat her ass
18:41but it's coming boo boo
18:44and then another set of Facebook messengers from Gabby
18:49the decedent saying but when you want to fight she a
18:53so this is interesting because it looks to be
18:58the decedent talking to someone else about Bianca
19:02so she's telling everybody
19:04yeah
19:05and then I'm going to go ahead to the thread between
19:08um Bianca and Gabby off of Facebook Messenger
19:11okay now we're getting much closer to the incident
19:14okay this one is bad for us
19:17Bianca says you're sad and pathetic
19:21I don't have time for losers like yourself
19:23you can do this tough guy for the internet
19:25but that's who you're fooling not me
19:27if you was going to fight me you would have pulled up on me last March
19:31that's not particularly great
19:34okay let's go from there
19:37all right so this is from Gabby
19:40Gabby posted saying I'm at your house
19:43when they show up at her house at night with two other people
19:58and are taunting and begging her to come out of the house
20:01they've crossed the line
20:12so then we're jumping up three months until the date of the event
20:15so now Gabby's talking about having guns
20:18that's why the next one getting shot at
20:24anyone have any guns they want to sell me
20:27well there's more here
20:29she's posted about a Springfield and the emoji of a gun
20:33then we've got
20:35now you will get harassed day in and out
20:38until you actually fight me
20:40there's real talk about guns
20:43real actions with her coming to the house
20:46with other people
20:48and real antagonizing stuff on there
20:52so all this is going around
20:54and then she's showing up to Bianca's house
20:56of course that's in her mindset
20:58this girl's got a gun and she's going to kill me
21:10here you go babe
21:11I'll move my stuff
21:12thank you
21:16you can hide from on that corner of the deck
21:28Leteria
21:30she's like my second mom
21:32so then we're just going to bunch these two together
21:34she kind of like helped my mom raise me
21:36I'm so upset about that I'm sorry you guys
21:39My family, they mean everything to me.
21:45I'm sure that some people would be very happy to see her behind bars,
21:50people who feel like that would be justice for her.
21:53But my sister was a victim of bullying and harassment.
21:57It's been a crazy couple of years not knowing what's going to happen.
22:16I replay in my head all the time the phone call that I got when she was arrested.
22:23And she was crying and she said, I was so scared, I just wanted them to leave me alone.
22:31And I was like, I know, I'm sorry.
22:35It's hard trying to motivate her when, you know, you're a little worried yourself.
22:42I hope that the jury will see things through our eyes.
22:46But I think there's a part of her that knows, you know, she may be going away for a long time.
22:53Tracy, do you have those pictures?
23:09Yes, ma'am.
23:17Let's see how they turn out.
23:18Which ones do you think are going to be more favorable for Bianca?
23:24So the crime scene photos here of the actual scene show how tight the space was.
23:29So those are good, but this is the knife she used.
23:37This is how they found it at the scene where she left it.
23:40Bianca said, it's a knife my dad gave me.
23:45It has to do with the comic world, superheroes.
23:48I'm into that geeky kind of stuff.
23:51But I think the prosecutions are going to hammer hard against us that this dual-bladed knife
23:57is just excessive.
23:59I'm Georgia Nixon.
24:12I represent Bianca Perez.
24:14Bianca is charged with second-degree murder and is facing 31 years in prison.
24:18When I got the videos from the prosecutors, I was missing the part where Bianca says that
24:28the girl got in her vehicle and grabbed her neck and hair.
24:31So I want Bianca to take me through that, and I want to determine exactly where the fight
24:35happened.
24:38Hey.
24:40So I'm trying to understand the sequence of events, and I want to make sure that the cars
24:44are sort of parked in a similar spot.
24:45Yeah, mine is basically in the same spot, kind of like right behind my car, but across
24:50the street.
24:51That's where she was parked.
24:54Can I get you two in the car the way you were?
24:57And you hear the yelling, so do you step out at that point?
25:00So actually, she kind of like approached on this side, and I was able to step out, and
25:05one of the girls were in front of me, and she was just continuously telling me to tell
25:11my girl to get out of the car or get out of the way.
25:13One of the girls ran back around me, and all I see is just her, you know, coming in here
25:19and trying to pull Bianca from the passenger seat out of the driver's seat of the car.
25:23Yeah, one of the problems I have is that this part is not on video, but both you and Bianca
25:28say that from the get-go.
25:29Did she hurt you when she was inside the car?
25:31Yeah, she scratched me and punched me in the face.
25:33And you saw that too?
25:34Yes, ma'am.
25:34Okay.
25:35That's when she came around this side, and I opened my door once I saw her coming that
25:39way, and that's when we started, like, just screaming at each other.
25:43I got to, like, right where Daryl's standing, and I told her, I was like, if you hit me,
25:46I'm going to cut you.
25:47And she punched me in my face when we started fighting, and I don't know how, but we ended
25:52up in this area right here, like, right here.
25:58Do you remember whether she hit you first or you hit her first?
26:01She punched me in my face.
26:02I remember that clearly.
26:05Thank you, guys.
26:06I think I got a better understanding of the scene.
26:09We've got about two weeks to trial.
26:11And try not to worry about it too much, okay?
26:13I'm glad I came out to the scene.
26:20Bianca has been nothing but consistent the entire time for her story.
26:25What happened with these girls and their focus on her really derailed her.
26:32She has lost her confidence, and she's just wanting it to be over with a positive outcome.
26:37But there's a lot of work to be done between now and then, and I just hope she can hold
26:41up to the pressures of it.
26:43It's beautiful out here today.
26:56We should come do this more often.
27:01The trial is about two weeks away, and just trying to prepare for any eventuality, any possibility
27:09that could happen.
27:10I just want to spend as much time with the people that I love as I can before the trial,
27:17because, you know, no matter what, I want them to have good memories of me, you know,
27:21and good things to think about.
27:22It has become so surreal within the past month or so that the date is coming up, and the time
27:33just keeps on counting down, the clock is ticking, and it's just getting more and more real, more
27:39stressful, frustrating, and more stressful, frustrating, everything.
27:45A day like this is massively important because we're together as a family.
27:51I just want my family to be okay at the end of the day, and I don't want to be away from
28:07them because this could be one of the last times we get to spend, like, a lot of time together.
28:13Trial starts next week.
28:26Trial starts next week.
28:29I have gone through all the evidence, and I think the prosecution's going to focus heavily on the knife.
28:34And they are going to play the videos over and over again because that's the best they have.
28:41Nobody's doing s*** to you!
28:43Nobody's doing s*** to you!
28:45The friend of Gabby's that videoed the incident, she's supremely important to our case.
28:57So the first video is them first arriving.
29:02She says...
29:03And then the second video jumps to Bianca already being out of the vehicle.
29:08You're the one who's calling me my name!
29:10In Bianca's version of the incident, Gabby came in through the car and clawed her and grabbed her hair.
29:17Of course, that's not on these two videos.
29:20But what's important to note is that there's a number missing in between the two.
29:33There is approximately 14 minutes between these two videos.
29:38Then what happened in between those 14 minutes?
29:43Exactly what Bianca and Daryl said went down is what I think.
29:46How did the police get these videos off of their phones?
29:49On the night of the incident, several police officers arrived.
29:53And while they're talking to Daryl and he points out the video, then the officer leaves and goes, hunts down the video.
30:00I'm gonna have to take it, okay?
30:02I can't have you take my phone. Can I just send it to you, please?
30:05So they don't immediately say, I'm taking your phone?
30:09No.
30:09There was a lot of time that lapsed. I don't know exactly how much time passed.
30:14Doesn't matter. You need 0.5 seconds to hit delete on your phone.
30:18You don't pull up, start videoing, then put it down when things are starting to happen.
30:24It's very evident that there is a missing clip.
30:27Probably all of Gabby going up to the car and being aggressive, like Bianca says.
30:32Going through the discovery that I was provided, you can see when each clip was created.
30:37And there's 14 minutes of gap time.
30:40And that's super important because the state will probably say that everything they caught on video is everything that happened.
30:46But I don't think it is.
30:53Today is Bianca's trial, and she is looking at 31 years in prison if convicted.
31:03I think the state is going to play the cell phone footage over and over again.
31:08But I think I have a good handle on proving that the friend that took the video altered it and deleted it.
31:16Bianca says that Gabby got in the vehicle, but that's not on these two videos.
31:21I'm just like, really stressed out. I'm really scared.
31:34I've just been thinking a lot about never seeing my family again.
31:39Here we go. You ready?
31:40So the prosecution did focus on the video, and I went a little bit further and said,
31:55these girls harassed her until the inevitable happened.
32:10The decedent's friend that filmed the incident, I couldn't get her to admit that she deleted the video.
32:17The best I could get her to do is say that she didn't know.
32:20How far to jail? How far to jail?
32:22Everything that you asked her, it was, I don't recall. I don't know.
32:27I don't think she was a reliable witness.
32:28I don't think the jury trusts her, and I think that's good for us.
32:32I'm going to have to take it, okay?
32:33I can't have you take my phone. Can I just send it to you, please?
32:35The state called their data analyst, and he just made my point.
33:03He looked at the material. He said to the jury that the second video had to have been modified
33:08and created 14 to 16 minutes after the first video, which is the shorter clip.
33:19We'll never know what's on that clip, but this analyst that the state called proves that she modified the video clip,
33:28the most important video clip. It's awesome, and now I don't have to call my own expert.
33:33Today was the lowest point. Those Facebook messages are bad.
33:50I just have to figure out a way to distance it, because they were from three months prior.
33:54I'm really scared.
34:00This is my life.
34:02This was a life-or-death situation that I've never been in, ever.
34:09So, I just don't want to be misunderstood.
34:15They're all judging me based off of one mistake.
34:18And it's heavy. It's real heavy.
34:22The judge pulled us in chambers and asked if we would consider a plea offer.
34:45I think the judge maybe just thinks she doesn't deserve 31 years, but he does think she deserves time.
34:52My job is not to tell you what to do. I don't know.
35:09Talk to your loved ones and tell me what you want to do.
35:12And I'm here for you either way.
35:13If Bianca considers this deal, this doesn't affect 13 months of her life.
35:39This affects her entire life, her career goals, her travel goals.
35:47I haven't decided. I'm leaning more towards no.
35:50The unknown is always going to be a gamble, you know.
35:53Dealing with a decision this huge, do I accept something in finality, like right now?
36:00Or do I leave it to chance?
36:05Not anything I would wish, like, even on my worst enemy.
36:16Last night we ended with a plea offer that was given to Bianca.
36:19I have not heard whether she's considering it or not.
36:26Huge difference, and it's a huge gamble.
36:28She's 27 years old and facing the decision of her lifetime.
36:34She feels like she acted in self-defense, but if the jury doesn't agree with her, she's going to prison for 31 years.
36:52Bianca turned down 13 to 16 months.
36:54I understand where Bianca's coming from.
36:57I just don't know if I'd have the courage to do what she's doing.
37:02I was tough, but, um, super confident in Georgia.
37:07Every time I'm around her, I just feel reassured by her.
37:11It's all about letting everybody know my side of the story.
37:14We've had four days of testimony from the state.
37:34It's my turn now.
37:35So my goal is to humanize Bianca, to get her to tell her side of the facts.
37:41The idea of having to testify is terrifying, but it's the only way that I get my voice heard to the jury.
37:52The tweets were hugely important for the purpose of showing that the decedent was the aggressor.
38:04Bianca did really well.
38:25She was worried she was going to say the wrong thing, and we just assured her, just tell the truth, and it'll be fine, and she did.
38:31Everybody feels like, you know, testimony was good.
38:35I feel like it kind of sucked.
38:37I just don't...
38:39I don't know what's going to happen next.
38:40You'll be calling me by name on Twitter.
39:01You're the one who be calling me by name on Twitter, bitch.
39:03No, you're already at my house.
39:06Come here, if you're going to hit me, come hit me so I can touch you, bitch.
39:10Basically, his closing argument was playing the video over and over and over again.
39:35We'll come back tomorrow at 9, and I'm really worried.
39:45It's not cut and dry, but hopefully some of the jurors can relate to her.
39:50I'm not at this person.
39:52When the judge got them to offer 16 months, maybe she should have taken that.
39:56I don't know.
39:57Bianca upset me so much.
40:03She was like, I just need to give you a hug.
40:05Everything, you know, I'm just so thankful for you, and that just tore me up.
40:12This could be Bianca's last night of freedom.
40:14There are 12 strangers who don't know me, and who are deciding my life for me.
40:25They don't know anything about me other than this one moment of my life.
40:30Last night, we all closed, and this morning, we just sit and wait.
40:49I'm just waiting for the jury to make their decisions.
41:07She's come to your house.
41:09She's trying to drag you out of your car.
41:13You got this, Bianca.
41:14Yesterday was a hard day because they replayed the video of the incident over and over in court,
41:24and it depends on people's perceptions of things.
41:44They just found me not guilty.
42:04Not guilty.
42:06Not guilty.
42:07Clap it up. Clap it up. Clap it up.
42:10Clap the mountain.
42:11Clap it up. Clap it up. Clap it up.
42:13Clap it up. Clap it up.
42:14Clap it up. Clap it up.
42:15The jury just came back, and you're just waiting there with your heart beating,
42:18and when they said not guilty, it was just the best feeling ever.
42:22Give me a hug.
42:23Give me a hug.
42:24Give me a hug.
42:25Give me a hug.
42:26Bianca has been through hell, and I'm glad to enable her to move on,
42:30be a good mom to her kids, and put her life back together.
42:34All right, Bianca, you can get some sleep for the first time in about two years.
42:37A couple years, I swear, I'm going home.
42:40It feels unreal.
42:41I was so scared, and then just having my whole family here is just...
42:46I can't believe it.
42:48I love you.