MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Lakesha Thompson

23:47Ashley Flowers:She better not be. She might not be left handed. Oh, we'd have some explaining to do. And guess what? You're kidding me. She's left handed? She is left handed. And so there is a lot of explaining to do since the gun is found in her right hand. And listen, even the way that she's positioned and the trajectory of the bullet, it's a little bit off from what Nathan seems to tell officers. Right. Nathan's saying that she's standing over him when she took her own life. And if you picture it, imagine like if you were Lakeisha. So you are facing Nathan. He's sitting on the couch. You're facing him. But you have to fall like straight back because she's on her back, like completely straight arms, straight legs.

24:35And the blood is pooled on the ground right underneath her head where she dropped. Behind her is the bullet in the doorframe. So she's standing over him. She shoots the side of her head, but the bullet goes to a doorframe directly across from the couch. That is like what would be behind her if she's facing him straight on. It would have to make like a right angle turn. Now, it's possible that she could have been standing like sideways, not directly facing him. And that's how she like fell that way. But it seems like a weird way to land, right? Like just straight like that. But how she fell or landed, like put that aside.

25:14When investigators track the trajectory of the bullet, it is a straight shot through the edge of the door, like in the middle of the frame, which would have been right around waist height. even though she supposedly shot herself in the head. And how tall is she? She's 5 '6". So the only way for the bullet to make a straight line from her head to where it is in the door frame... Way tight. She would have had to have been like sitting on the coffee table or kneeling on the floor, not standing over Nathan. And this is all in the police report? Yes. Investigators on the scene made note of it. Now, again, he's very intoxicated.

25:56He's sitting. She is, you know, looming over him in some way. You might say standing, right? If you're like crouched, whatever. The hard part about his statements are that we only have the ones where he's like so messed up. He, again, could have probably cleared all of this up if he would have like come in and spoke. But he refuses to talk to police. And then at some point he leaves the country. So is this definitely a homicide with just what we have? No. But I think this should at least introduce a critical question here. Did Lakeisha actually pull the trigger? I mean, did they do any gunshot residue testing?

26:40I was just about to get there.

26:42Ashley Flowers:OK, because that's like a pretty like. That would help, right? Yeah. Yes, they did. Or at least they did some. This is actually part of the file that really caught the PI's attention. Records show that officers did test Nathan for gunshot residue. And the results were positive. But there is nothing in the police records showing that Lakeisha was even tested for gunshot residue. Now, Walter tells us that he asked CCPD about this. And they told him that Lakeisha was tested and she didn't have any GSR on her hands. And interestingly, they also say or we got from him that they're like, oh, you know, anyone in a room, if you're in a room where a gun is shot, you could have GSR.

27:27So they're saying like that doesn't prove necessarily that Nathan was holding it. But if she doesn't have it, like that proves that she isn't. She's in the same room, too. Yeah. Right. Like, am I? So, like, it just, to me, the gunshot residue, who had it on their hands, who didn't, who was tested and who wasn't? It feels really important here. It's critical to this whole thing. Like, why wouldn't those results be in the files? So, we went back to CCPD and we were like, hey, is this real? Like, can you confirm, A, that you tested her? Yeah. And if you did, can you confirm that she didn't have it?

28:00What the results were, yeah. Well, not only did they decline our interview request, they said that they can't release any GSR analysis because it is part of the investigative file and not publicly disclosable. But you got the investigative file from the FOIA, right? Right, right. I don't know why they're holding that information back. Especially because this case is closed.

28:26Ashley Flowers:And Nathan's results are in there. Right, so it's not like there's no records of GSR. testing just his so why not just share if she was tested or not especially if this case is as like clear cut as they're saying yes why why but also you said you can for sure see her hand touching the gun in the body cam footage right yes but i can't like properly analyze the position or zoomed in yeah because i'm like pretty quickly officers take it out of her hand and put it on her side to like secure this scene. Like that's what they're saying in the footage. And here's the thing, like before they do that, I can hear people saying like, make sure you take pictures.

29:08They're talking about taking photos of her hand holding the gun. But those pictures don't exist anywhere in the file we were given. And mind you, we were given, I said, hundreds of photos, all the body cam footage. And these photos are graphic. I swear there are moments I could almost see them taking the photo on phones. I don't know why they're not included.

29:29Ashley Flowers:But yeah, anything to do with her holding the gun. Not in the file. Weirdly, just pictures of her holding the gun, not in the file, which again, and I can see it on body cam footage. I just can't see it up close. I'm not saying she was not holding the gun, but like those pictures gone, the GSR gone. It's just weird. There's something else that catches the PI's attention in the case file, though. Pretty early on in them responding to the scene. One of Nathan's sons pulls up. Now, how he knew to show up is a little unclear because he says that his dad didn't call him. He just heard from a neighbor that police were there and he lives close by.

30:08But then a little bit later, he said he was just talking to his dad. So like, I would love to see the phone records for who Nathan was calling that morning and when. So his phone data is not part of the record? No. They, I know, asked him for his pass code to his phone. Like, they collected it, asked him for his pass code. He wouldn't give it to them. And then I don't see anything else. I don't see a search warrant for his phone or any records related to his phone. But, like, they called this closed from, like, day one. This huge miss in my book. But I'm telling you the son story to tell you what one of the officers said when the son, like first pulled up.

30:43So police see this car pulling in. They stop it, tell them you can't park in the driveway or something. So the car like backs out and the officer is coming back and he's like, oh, I thought that was going to be the same woman who we had gotten called out here about before. And when the PI hears this, he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What? What is he talking about? Getting called out to Nathan's house to deal with a woman like What? So he does some more records requests. Because that's definitely nothing about this is included in Lakeisha's file anywhere. And it's probably not included in the file anywhere because the woman in this incident wasn't Lakeisha.

31:22But holy crap, when I tell you what this was all about, I don't know how you could say it's not related.

31:33Ashley Flowers:In 2024, a man was killed by the FBI. And to this day, the authorities have refused to say why. He was a father, an ex-husband, and a Russian-born American citizen. He just seemed like a lonely guy, and he needed a friend. And he kind of talked about death, didn't he? He talked about, you just never know when it's your time. I'm CNN investigative reporter Isabel Chapman, host of the new limited series, Civilian or Spy. They noticed that he was communicating with people that were of concern to the FBI. Oh my God, Jesus. Head over to the CNN Presents feed and listen to our three-part series, Civilian or Spy, available wherever you get your podcasts.

32:23The records request that Walter Reddick conducted for incidents that required a police response at Nathan's address returns a 911 call and report from just three months before Lakeisha was murdered. They're dated February 24th, 2023. We obtained the report and three 911 calls from that incident ourselves.

32:49Ashley Flowers:I just called for a police escort at my ex-boyfriend to get my stuff out of his house. He just walked outside the house. I'm on the street parked on the street. He walked outside, up the driveway, and pointed a gun at me. Okay. I told him he has a weapon, but it was on the nightstand, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And I told him to put it up and put it up. I didn't think he would pull it out and use it. But, you know, he has told me before that when he first bought the gun, I thought he was just playing. But he said he was going to shoot me, rape me, and watch me bleed to death. Shoot me in the head and watch me bleed to death.

33:26Ashley Flowers:We had an argument. He just came outside and aimed that gun at me. Dispatch asks if he'd gone back inside, and she says, yes, she was trying to get a video of him aiming the gun at her, but he went back inside. And she says that she's not leaving because she wants her stuff, so she waits outside for officers to arrive. Am I doing the math wrong? How long were Nathan and Lakeisha together? I don't think you are. Andrea told us that her mom and Nathan's relationship obviously wasn't always the best, but it was pretty consistent since they started dating in 2021. In the police report, this woman said that her relationship with Nathan was off and on, but it feels like there is overlap to me.

34:12Our reporter, Taylor Day, tried getting in touch with that woman, but she hasn't responded to our request, so I can't confirm that for sure.

34:20Ashley Flowers:And did Nathan get charged with anything in that case? No, because they never even talked to him or went inside the house that time. The responding officers wrote that they tried making contact with him. They knocked on the door, everything, whatever, but like no one answered. And he like couldn't hear anyone inside. But he's clearly in there, right? Right. Did the woman see him leave? Well, it's not that I see anywhere. The officer wrote that he tried calling the suspect, but there was no answer. and there weren't any like shell casings by the front doors. Because he aimed at her, but he didn't shoot at her.

34:56Right. And there was a ring doorbell, but they couldn't view the footage. Basically, they had no probable cause to get a warrant on him. So they just let this go. Now, we asked CCPD about this incident, and they only told us that there were no charges ever pressed against Nathan. But, by the way, Britt, that gun that she's referring to is black and red. the same gun that officers find in Lakeisha's hand three months after this incident. Now, we also tried getting in touch with Nathan for this, obviously, to ask him about both incidents. But he hasn't returned our calls or our text messages. And I know we have the right number, or at least we should have the right number, because it's the same one that he used to call Andrea just two years ago.

35:45And this would have been a year after her mom died. Now, mind you, Nathan fully ghosted Andrea after her mom died. Didn't even tell her that her mom died. She learned that through detectives. And by the time that the P.I. got involved, Nathan was already like lawyered up and refusing to cooperate. So the P.I. didn't even reach out to him. So it's not like Nathan like went off the grid and like people couldn't find him or anything. But still, he's just been like radio silent. until, out of the blue, a year after her mom died, Andrea gets this call that she recorded and shared with us. Now, it's not super long, but I have cut it down to just what I think are the most important parts.

36:30Ashley Flowers:I'm getting back in the country. They told me that the investigation was over and I could pick up my stuff. I got my stuff, my phone. and my daughter my daughter told me that she's saying something online saying that that you guys said that I killed your mom and I'm like what? You did. What? How would I kill you? I didn't kill your mom. Your mom me and your mom had a good night and everything her friend called her her friend called her and told her because she didn't want to go to the wedding I remember this too friend called her and told her if she didn't come to her wedding she was never going to see her again then your mom starts drinking drinking drinking so he got that to us stop drinking and then I called she went out she went outside went out left and I called you I said I don't know what's wrong with your mom don't remember that yeah what all did you say I said we was both drinking you know so I don't I don't kind of remember everything that I told you would happen at night but because she was out of control.

37:38Ashley Flowers:Then she came back. My gun was on the dresser. We grabbed the gun, and she put it to my hand. So I'm thinking that there's nothing in the gun anyway. So I begged her. I said, go ahead and kill me. I said, I'm ready to go see my mom and dad anyway. So then she took the gun off of me, went back in the bedroom. So the gun didn't have no bullets in it anyway. They only had two bullets. It was in my jewelry box. So every 29 times she was in the room, I'm still in the living room. I hear the gun go off shooting in the ceiling. So I'm like, there's no bullets in that gun. And then she said, I put warning, Doc.

38:24I put the toe.

38:25Ashley Flowers:So I was like, well, that must have been the one that was in the chamber. But when she came out with the gun, I was in the living room. She came out with it, put it to her head. pointed to her head. Thank you. So, doctor, no, you ain't going to do this. Stop doing it. She kept walking in front of me and she kind of tripped and the gun went off. I was there. So there is a lot to unpack there. For the most part, his story isn't that different from what he told police the day of Lakeisha's death. But there are some glaring inconsistencies. Like the fact that she tripped? Where did that come from?

39:06Yeah. I scoured the records and I couldn't find anywhere that Nathan told police Lakeisha tripped and the gun went off.

39:15Ashley Flowers:I mean, her tripping would kind of make more sense, at least to me, then if... With like the bullet trajectory? The bullet trajectory, yeah. But that's not what he said happened before. He said that she turned the gun on herself because of their argument because he was going to break up with her. An argument which is now about something else. That too, right? Like at the scene, he's saying that she did it because he was going to break up with her. They had fought about him not going to her mom's funeral. Right. The fight escalated. He threatened to break up with her. Now there's this whole other thing before this, like where she starts drinking because her friend threatened to cut ties with her if she didn't come to her wedding.

39:57I mean, maybe both are true.

39:59Ashley Flowers:Like, if that's what started her drinking that night and then she got upset over other stuff, he could have just found out about the fight in, like, the fight with a friend in a year or so, like, since or something? Except, no. I mean, first of all, like, I don't think he's talking to anyone again in— He's ghosting everybody. Everybody. And he didn't find out about anything because none of that is true, at least according to the friend. There's nothing to find out. The friend that he's referring to is Lakeisha's best friend of over 30 years, Tanya Malone, who was willing to talk to us and answer my biggest questions.

40:38Did you tell Lakeisha that you wouldn't see her again if she didn't come to your wedding? And she says, no. More than that, she's like, Lakeisha didn't tell me anything about not even being able to make it. She's like, the last I heard from her was that she was like printing out her travel plans. And earlier, Lakeisha had told her that the only thing that could keep her from Tanya's wedding was nothing but death. So let me play a little more of Nathan's call to Andrea for you.

41:08Ashley Flowers:So what are you calling me for right now? I mean, I just got my phone back. So I said, well, let me call her and let her know because I couldn't call you. I couldn't call. I couldn't call nobody before. So I just wanted to straighten it out, that you know what happened. Because they told me, do not call y 'all. They would tell y 'all what happened. But apparently, they didn't tell y 'all what happened. You didn't tell them what happened either. I told them everything what happened. I told the investigator what happened the first time. I told her, she kept wanting me to come down there and tell her what happened again and again and again.

41:47Ashley Flowers:I was like, no, I don't want to relive this over and over again. It wouldn't have happened, period, because she didn't do that. She don't even know how to use a gun. Are you kidding me? Your mom used to be in a gang. So you just went out the country and been gone ever since? I mean, I was devastated. I mean, I'm moving out of the country, you know what I'm saying? So now life just gets to go on for you after this. and it's been a whole year later and you just now reaching out? I was told I could contact you. That's just crazy to me. That's not what I was told. I don't know what you was told, but I know what I was told.

42:31Ashley Flowers:I mean, I'm just devastated as you are. I have no reason to lie about it. I love your mom. I mean, why would I call your mom? Same question I want to know. Remember when I called you, I said something wrong with your mom. I told you, I left my house and went walking. I hung up. And you hung up on me because you said that she was at the doorbell and I never heard the doorbell. I said she was at the door. Came in the door. That's not what you said. You said that she was ringing the doorbell. I never locked the door. No, I don't think she was ringing the doorbell. I never even locked the door. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.

43:11Ashley Flowers:It's me that's traumatized, not you. I'm traumatized myself. I was traumatized myself. I mean, I noticed your mom and I'm trying to see everything, but some things when you see something, you can't, I'm seeing. That's pretty much the end of their conversation. Nathan trying to explain why he is more traumatized than Andrea and that her mom would have been comfortable with guns because she was in a gang, which Andrea said is a total lie. So while we had Tanya on the phone, I also wanted to ask her about this. Was Lakeisha ever in a gang? And Tanya literally just laughed. She told our reporter that the only gang Lakeisha was in was a mama gang.

43:56She was busy raising her kids, getting her degree. She said that Lakeisha did not have time to be in a gang. She also said that Lakeisha didn't go looking for violence, but if it came to her, she was going to put up a fight. And Andrea helped clarify what that meant. She said that if Lakeisha was wronged, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for things to get physical. But she never used weapons, guns, knives, none of that.

44:26Ashley Flowers:Also, why is Nathan trying to gaslight her into thinking that he never mentioned the doorbell or Lakeisha banging on the door that night? And so that 4 a.m. call to Andrea wasn't recorded. So no one but her and Nathan know what was said on that call. But you know what could tell us the absolute truth of whether or not Lakeisha was outside banging on the door, ringing the bell, or if she came out of Nathan's bedroom with the gun in her hand? How about the cameras that were at Nathan's place? Except there is just one problem.

45:08Ashley Flowers:In 2024, a man was killed by the FBI. And to this day, the authorities have refused to say why. He was a father, an ex-husband, and a Russian-born American citizen. He just seemed like a lonely guy, and he needed a friend. And he kind of talked about death, didn't he? He talked about, you just never know when it's your time. I'm CNN investigative reporter Isabel Chapman. host of the new limited series, Civilian or Spy. They noticed that he was communicating with people that were of concern to the FBI. Oh my God, Jesus. Head over to the CNN Presents feed and listen to our three-part series, Civilian or Spy, available wherever you get your podcasts.

45:58In the police records, detectives got a search warrant to collect both the ring doorbell camera that Nathan had at his front door and the camera that he had inside that covered the hallway of his house. The one that went from the bedroom to the living room. But if footage was pulled, stored, reviewed, can't tell you. Because there isn't anything else about the cameras in the file. And none of the footage was released to us. Was the PI able to get it? No. Now, he's saying that they never reviewed any footage from any camera. Like they being the police. So I don't know where he got that information.

46:49And we're just getting that from him. So I was like, listen, if this is legit, we need to verify that with the department, right? So we reached out to them. Our reporter, Taylor, had actually emailed Major Francisco Romero, who is the commander of the Criminal Investigations Division at CCPD. But it was so weird. So we're like, ask about these cameras in this email. And his response back was like, I can't talk to you about the cameras because this is an open and active case. What? Which, the first that I'm hearing of this. Yeah. So I was like, go back to him and be like, actually, is it? So we went back and was like, hey, we've been told.

47:30We had this email of you telling the family, like, everyone believes that this case is closed. Is that, is there new information? Is that not true? Yeah. Yeah. Is someone working this case? Is it reopened? And so he replies and he was like, you know, he didn't say this. He was like, oopsie daisy. He was basically like, I misspoke. It is closed. Which leads me back to my first question. So like now that we're on the same page about this being a closed case, talk to me about the cameras. Yeah. Well, he is saying that he is still not going to disclose anything about that, at least as of this recording.

48:03So I don't know what was on those cameras. I know they collected them, but did they actually review the footage, store the footage, collect the footage? And Walter thinks cameras or no cameras, they, the police, should see what he sees, even without all of that. He thinks there's at least enough to get them to reopen the case. He says between what he's been told about the gunshot residue test, what we know is in the file about Nathan's positive test, what we know about the bullet trajectory, how the gun was found in her right hand when she was left handed. And now, by the way, when he's got this recorded call where Nathan is saying that Lakeisha tripped and the gun went off.

48:46So Walter thinks like with all of this, there's enough for police to at least take a second look. So he goes to them with all of this and he asks, but they say no. Now, by this point, Walter and Andrea are working with an attorney named Chelsea Golding. And she requests a meeting with the medical examiner at the GBI. Right. Like if we're going back, Clayton County relied heavily on the GBI's death ruling to close the case. So they're like, maybe if we can get that change, then they'll reconsider. So in November 2024, Walter and Chelsea get on a Zoom call with Dr. Keith Lehman. He's the GBI ME who performed Lakeisha's autopsy.

49:32And they walk him through what they found, even explain that the police have pretty much all of this information. It's not like this is like new or hearsay. And I have to imagine that Walter was shocked when Dr. Lehman tells him he didn't have any of this information when he made his ruling. He wasn't given photos of the death scene. He didn't have the investigative context. Now, in the official autopsy report, it says that the only evidence they received was the decedent. Nothing else is listed. CCPD gave us a blanket statement that they, quote, provide all legally required and relevant investigative summaries to the GBI to assist in their findings, end quote.

50:16And I understand wanting to get an unbiased opinion, right? But the context clearly matters.

50:23Ashley Flowers:Yeah. Because, I know it does here, because Dr. Lehman takes some time to review the additional materials that Walter gave him. And a couple of weeks after their meeting, the GBI officially changes Lakeisha's manner of death from suicide to undetermined. And this feels like the second big win Andrea and the family get. Finally, someone is listening to their pleas and seeing the things that don't add up. Now that the GBI has changed their ruling, Chelsea and Walter go back to CCPD, have a sit down with Major Romero and some other brass, as Walter called them. But there was one person missing, someone they specifically requested to speak with, and that was Detective Rosas, who was the primary detective on this case.

51:13Now, Major Romero still listens as Walter walks them through his findings, and they seem receptive to wanting to find the truth. But they like take this in. They're not going to make the decision in the room. Months go by. And then in February of 2026, Major Romero comes back with a decision. In an email to Chelsea, who is the lawyer, he says that they looked at the original investigation and they are not reopening Lakeisha's case. He also says that the GBI only changed their ruling because of pressure from the family. He says the information that they gave him didn't turn up any new leads. He says they're heartbroken for Ms.

51:54Thompson's family and will keep them in his thoughts and prayers. Andrea and team gets pretty much the same response when they try to take all of this to the DA. They could call a grand jury, but the DA tells Andrea's attorney that they're deferring to CCPD, who is refusing to reopen the case at all. Which is why Andrea came to us to help share her mom's story. Clayton County stands by their decision. Major Romero responded to our request for comment and said that the case is closed. Now we're all on the same page. But if new credible and verifiable evidence becomes available, they'll review it.

52:36But here is what the point of this episode is for me. I'm not saying Nathan has to be arrested and tried. I don't know what happened in that home. But there should be evidence that tells us. So this is the ask. This is the pressure I want to apply. If it is so black and white and the answers are all right there in the case files, then release everything. Then show us. Why are you holding back certain information like GSR results for Lakeisha or any kind of digital evidence? The technology in the house could very well show what happened in those early hours that day. What could phone data show?

53:21The gaps in evidence being released is what leaves all of this room for doubt. And like, forget me, who cares if I have questions? Andrea should not have to live with these kinds of questions. Show her. Show Walter. If you can't show them proof that Lakeisha took her own life, well, then that's when we have a bigger problem on our hands, don't we? If a full and thorough investigation was done, show us. And for anyone out there, if you have relevant information about Lakeisha Thompson or Nathan Fitton, you can send that to Clayton County PD. They still classify this case as closed. So also feel free to send information to us.

54:08Our email is tips at audiochuck.com.

54:12Ashley Flowers:And in light of our discussion of suicide today, I want to remind people that if you or anyone you know is thinking about suicide, please know that emotional support can be reached by calling or texting the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. I think Chuck would approve.

54:36It starts with something small. A light in the sky moving in a way it shouldn't. A sound no one can place. A story someone swears is true, even if no one else believes them. And the more you hear, the harder it gets to explain away. On So Supernatural, we dig into the mysteries that live somewhere between fact, folklore, and the unknown. We follow the stories that make you wonder what else is out there. Listen to So Supernatural wherever you get your podcasts.