Destiny McClain Replay

0:28We always recommend Shopify. Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney and this is Voices for Justice.

1:05Today I'm discussing the murder of Destiny McLean. At around 3.30am on July 18th, 2021, 23-year-old Destiny and a crowd of others stood in line at a Phoenix taco truck waiting to order food. Out of nowhere, shots were fired and Destiny was hit in the chest. Despite life-saving efforts from the people nearby, Destiny passed away. Her case remains unsolved. This is the case of Destiny McClain. It's a Saturday night in July in Phoenix, Arizona. 23-year-old Destiny McClain and her friends have long-standing plans to go out with a co-worker who was having some issues with their marriage. In an interview with Destiny's mom, Brenda, she told me that despite Destiny being more of a homebody and not really wanting to go out, This is something she'd been planning for close to a month.

1:56She says this is just who Destiny was, a very nurturing person with an extremely big heart, and they were really close. She'd been telling her mom all about this night out for weeks, but for one reason or another, Destiny and her friends couldn't meet up with a co-worker. But they'd been building up to this for so long, they decide just to go out to the Corumba nightclub. Destiny grabs an Uber, and as always, makes sure that her location is shared with her family. She comes from a big family with two older sisters and one younger. Unfortunately, Brenda had already lost her firstborn, her son Dominique, years prior.

2:32Brenda told me that in addition to just sharing their locations with each other, when her daughters plan to go out, they always make sure to check in with someone about where they're going and when and when they plan to be back. So in the Uber on the way to the Carumba nightclub, Destiny's on FaceTime with her oldest sister Brianna all the way until she meets her friends at the club. The plan was for Destiny to let her other sister know when she was on her way home, so Destiny and her friends go out and presumably have a good time without incident. At 2.30am, Brenda gets out of bed to let the family dog out to use the restroom, and realizes that she has a missed call from Destiny, so she calls her back.

3:10But it seems that Destiny actually called her by mistake, basically a butt dial, and Brenda says that she's so happy for this accident, because it would be the last time she ever spoke to her daughter. Now, when I reviewed Brenda's interview, I realized that summarizing what she told me could never do this story justice. It could never fully represent what she and her family went through that night. So here is Brenda. And I saw I had missed a call from Destiny, so I called her back. And she was out, and, you know, basically I was butt-dialed. And, you know, but I'm happy that I called her back because I had one last opportunity to say I love you.

3:49and um you know she sounded like she was having a good time and she's you know she's like i love you mommy and i'm telling her i love you be safe and you know i'll see you when you get home so maybe two hours later my daughter essence is looking from room to room looking for destiny and she comes in and wakes me up and she says mom have you talked to destiny and i said well i talked to her a couple of hours ago you know she had butt dialed me and i called her back and she said well mom she said she was going to send me her location and she hasn't sent me her location so I'm checking her location and I can see where she's at and it's a it looks like it's at a taco stand so my thought process is destiny worked nights so it's not unusual for her to be up this time of morning and considering they were out trying to you know take someone's mind off of something.

4:43Maybe they're having breakfast, you know, and maybe her phone is in a car. So I'm texting her and I'm calling her and she's not reading my text messages. So my daughter Essence is doing the same and my youngest daughter Faith is doing the same. We're all calling and texting and she's not responding. And I said, well, I feel like something's not right. I'm going to go look for her. And so my girl said, okay, well, we're coming with you. And as we were driving, right when I was getting off the I-10, I had this real eerie feeling just come over me. And a while back, there was another situation where somebody was attacked.

5:22And for some reason, that just came into my head as I was getting off the freeway. And so, you know, I kind of had a sense of dread. And then when I pulled up and see a crime scene, that just kind of solidified something was wrong. And the officer told me, well, ma 'am, you know, this is a crime scene. You can't be here. And I said, well, I'm not leaving. My daughter's phone is here. I've tracked it here. She's not responding to my text messages. She's not responding to my phone calls. Something's wrong and I'm not leaving. She's here somewhere. And so the officer said, well, you know, you can stay over here off to the side right here.

6:04so I'm sitting in my car, and I'm starting to panic, and I grab my phone, and I go back to the officer, and I said, look, this is my daughter. Is she hurt? And that's when they said, sorry, they said, ma 'am, we're sorry, this is a homicide, and it's a female victim, so that's when I knew, and at the time, like I said, I knew something had happened. I knew, but it was just like, you don't believe. So I spoke with the detective and they told me that Destiny had been shot. Um, because the investigation was open, they couldn't give me too many details. So, um, yeah, that was the day. And it was just trying to wrap our heads around it.

6:54You know, my husband was there, my stepson, my daughters were all there and it's just trying to wrap our head around it because it just made no sense to us you know how does she a person who never goes anywhere the one time she goes somewhere this is what happens and then just to have to find out on our own you know because we weren't notified and you know we're calling and calling and calling and calling around and nobody can give us any answers so you know to have to figure it out ourselves it was hard and then to have to start seeing it unravel on social media. That was hard as well. Destiny was killed at 3.23 a.m.

7:33According to a witness who was there that night, the shots caused immediate panic and chaos. People screamed and fled the area. When the gunfire stopped, multiple people realized that Destiny had been shot in the chest. They rushed to her side and tried life-saving measures to keep her alive until help got there. They performed CPR, applied pressure to her injury, and wiped blood from her nose and mouth. As soon as paramedics arrived, they did quickly take her to a nearby hospital, but she didn't make it. Shortly after the shots were fired, police arrived to the scene. Witnesses said they heard around five gunshots and saw a car drive away east on McDowell Road from 17th Street.

8:17Unfortunately, no one could recall a description of the people in the car. Based on witness testimony, detectives concluded that the gunshots did come from that car. But still, the suspects were not able to be identified. Initially, the police weren't sure whether Destiny was targeted or if the shooting was random. It's also important to note that Carumba Nightclub is a gay nightclub, and it was right across the street from the taco truck. So police aren't sure if it was completely at random or if this was a targeted hate crime. But later, Brenda found out that multiple people tried to save Destiny's life.

8:53And some of the people trying to help her shared a video to social media in an attempt to identify her. What happened was there were some guys that were there when she was struck that tried to help resuscitate and save her life. And so they had gone on social media about it, talking about it. And my daughters started seeing that stuff. You know, because they were basically, they were trying to find out who she was, you know, and stating what they had witnessed. So, like, seeing, you know, people, everybody has cameras these days. So, even in some of the, you know, footage from the silent witness, having to see my daughter's body laying there, you know, on social media, that was hard.

9:44In an interview with Terrence from the Arizona Baddies Club, Brenda said it brought her comfort knowing Destiny wasn't alone during her final moments. But of course, it was still tough for her to accept that she wasn't by Destiny's side during her last moments, which were filled with fear and uncertainty. I don't know how to feel. I don't know what to think. I'm just confused because it just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't want my baby to just be a statistic. I want people to know who my child was, and she didn't deserve this. On July 21st, a vigil took place at Friendship Park. Friends and family dressed in green, Destiny's favorite color.

10:21Together, they released green balloons into the sky and took turns sharing memories. At the vigil, Destiny's sister Brianna told Fox 10 Phoenix, quote, It feels so nice to know that my sister touched so many lives, and so many people came out to support us. It makes me happy to know that so many people cried about my sister, because I don't want her to be forgotten, or just be known as the girl shot at the food truck, because she was more than that. Almost a week later, on July 27th, the Phoenix Police Department held a press conference. They shared that they didn't think Destiny was targeted, quote, for who she was, but they were still trying to figure out why she was killed.

11:00The police also revealed surveillance footage of the suspected vehicle connected to the murder. It was a newer, dark-colored sedan with four doors, but the police didn't know the exact make and model. They asked the public to call if they recognized the car. They also urged anyone who was in the area on that night to get in touch with the police, because they might have seen something important. During the press conference, Destiny's mom Brenda also spoke. She shared what it was like to have no answers during this time. It's been hard, you know, because we wake up every day not understanding why.

11:35Because, like I said, Destiny didn't go anywhere. So it's hard for us. Just, for example, the night she left, when she left, she caught an Uber to meet up with friends. She, you know, gave her sister her location, was on the phone with her sister until she met with her friends. So it's just, it's unreal to us. It's to us, it's like Destiny's still going to walk through the door, but we know she's not because there's no way she'd go this long not speaking to us or, you know, us seeing her or hearing from her.

12:09Brianna talked about how hard it was not hearing from her sister, who she usually talked to multiple times a day. Like, I wake up every day and it's just like, oh, okay. And then reality sets in that I'm not going to see my sister again. It's just been really hard.

12:29Before the conference wrapped up, Brenda shared a message for the people in the car. I mean, if you know anything, just please come forward. Destiny didn't deserve this. You know, she lit up a room. You know, she was just, you couldn't embarrass her. She was just a happy person, you know, and she would embarrass herself to make you laugh. You know, it didn't matter where she was. And this is just unreal to us that this would happen to that type of person. You know, she never had a negative word to say about anybody. If somebody came to her with anything negative, the first thing out of her mouth was, that's not my business.

13:05You know, she wasn't one to talk about people. She was one to help people. You know, she saw the beauty in everything and everyone. So for us to lose her like this, we don't understand. We just need to understand. We just need answers. We need some form of closure, you know, because it's just we're lost. By the day of the press conference, Destiny's family already raised$2 ,000 to put towards a reward fund. They also started a Facebook group called Justice for Destiny as an avenue to share updates on the case. To this day, Brenda still posts in the group, often sharing photos and memories. Through this page, you can learn a lot about Destiny.

13:46For example, one post includes pictures from Destiny's burn book, a special diary with thoughtful prompts. Here are just a few. When asked about her favorite things, Destiny put family, pets, friends, food, and music. For her guilty pleasure, she put down potatoes. On a question about who she loved the most, she answered her mom. Another prompt asked her about a secret skill. and she wrote, making people feel better. When prompted about the most important moment in her life, Destiny wrote about the time she saw her sister buying groceries for an unhoused person. Another question asked if she could change one current event in the world, what would it be?

14:26And she answered, murder. By early August, police were still investigating Destiny's murder, and they hadn't gotten very far. They hadn't been able to identify the shooters or what kind of car they were driving, but Destiny's family was hard at work in the background. In order to gain more awareness about the shooting and raise money for the reward, they held a car wash fundraiser. And it was successful. They raised$4 ,000. About a month later in early September, police released pictures of two potential witnesses, a man and a woman both with dark brown hair. Police say they need help in identifying the two people who are not suspects in the case.

15:05As of recording this episode, that image, that post, is still on the Phoenix Police Department's Facebook page. I asked Brenda if these two people have been identified, and she said she didn't know. So I reached out to the current detective on her case, and after weeks of going back and forth, the department still hasn't been able to tell me if those two potential witnesses were ever found. So this could be something huge, or this could be nothing. In mid-September, journalist Melissa Chan wrote a Time magazine article about gun violence and how it's increasing all over the US. As a part of the article, Chan highlighted victims of gun violence, including Destiny.

15:44She interviewed Brenda and talked about Destiny's death and how her loss affected the family. Brenda described being desperate to cling on to every video of Destiny. She went through two months of footage from her doorbell camera and saved every single video that she was in. In some clips, Brenda could only briefly hear Destiny's voice, but she saved all those videos as well, because it was, quote, all she had left of her. Months later, in June 2022, the Phoenix Police Department announced that they were working with county and federal law enforcement agencies to roll out Operation Gun Crime Crackdown, a pilot program to reduce gun violence in Phoenix.

16:24The department said that they would work with other agencies to streamline the shooting investigation process. They also created a new tip line for the public to report gunfire and the illegal possession of guns. At a news conference announcing the program, the department displayed photos of multiple victims of gun violence, including Destiny. In late November, Destiny's family marked her 25th birthday with a special celebration. Brenda decorated Destiny's favorite tree in the yard with glowing lights. Beneath the tree, she put a stone with the inscription, A light remains where a beautiful soul has passed.

16:59Destiny C. McLean, 1997-2021 Brenda and her husband Jermell both spoke with 12 News. They said that Destiny's case was still under investigation and asked anyone with information to come forward. Jermell said, Help us as a family get the closure that we need. As the months passed with no information about who killed Destiny, her family continued grieving her loss. While Brenda struggled to come to terms with her death, she was also motivated by Destiny's kindness and love. She decided to honor Destiny's memory by spreading positivity, just like Destiny used to do. Brenda also aimed to make sure people remembered her daughter for who she truly was, and the positive influence she had on others.

17:44So, Brenda teamed up with her friends and family to establish the Our Destiny, Our Future Foundation. Together, they came up with a special scholarship in Destiny's honor. Every year, multiple scholarships are awarded to students who are compassionate, selfless, and community service-oriented, just like Destiny. Brenda explained to Terrence with the Arizona Baddies Club that she created a scholarship because Destiny didn't have the chance to go back to school. Through this, her name and memory lives on, and as people pursue their dreams, they take a piece of destiny with them. In addition to scholarships, the foundation recently provided backpacks filled with essential supplies to multiple locations around Phoenix.

18:25Brenda also makes it a priority to be there for other mothers who have experienced the loss of a child. She told 12 News that creating the foundation has helped her heal, and while she hopes that her and her family will get closure, she's going to focus her attention on serving others and honoring destiny. Destiny is four or five, and she's actually the second child that I've lost. I lost my firstborn at two and a half months. And when I lost him, I just really went into an extremely deep depression. And then I had my other children. So when I lost Destiny, I know how hard I struggled with depression when I lost my first one.

19:03And looking back, I could see how I wasn't the best mother that I could have been to my other children. because emotionally I wasn't available to them because emotionally I hadn't really grieved my son. I just kind of tried to push everything in, you know, in the back of my head. And so after losing Destiny, I recognized where I was, you know, when I lost him and I couldn't allow myself to go back into that because it wouldn't be fair to my other children and it wouldn't be fair to Destiny. So I was just trying to figure out a way that I could honor Destiny. and because Destiny was such a giving person.

19:42And then Destiny, she had a learning disability and she worked hard and she overcame that. So for me, helping other people reach their dreams because Destiny didn't get to finish school. Because one thing about Destiny, she was just very talented in so many different things. So her struggle was which direction to go to. You know, I was trying to get her into fashion because she could sew by hand like nobody's business But she could also do hair she could do makeup She I mean the girl was dramatic so, you know, she could act So there were so many different paths that she could take and she just wasn't sure which direction she wanted to go So that's where she was that's the stage that she was in her life where she was trying to figure out Okay, i'm gonna go back to school, but which you know, what do I want to go to school for?

20:33and so because she didn't get to you know fulfill her destiny I felt that it would be amazing if she could help others pursue theirs in her name because it's right up her alley because she was such a giving person and she loved to help people so if she can continue to help people her spirit continues to live on and I initially started the foundation which is our destiny our future Foundation to award scholarships. And I was able to raise the money and do that. So from there, I've kind of ventured on into other initiatives, such as doing a backpack drive. And now I'm currently working on a Christmas drive for two foster care programs.

21:20So for me, it feels amazing to be able to give back in her name. And, you know, that's just, you know, more people that her know Destiny's story and, you know, know who she is because I don't want her to be known for what happened to her. I want her to be known for the type of person she was. And she was a loving and giving and amazing person. And so just to be able to award our first four scholarships this year, that was just an amazing feeling because that's for young people that are carrying on her legacy and, you know, her legacy and continue to go with them. So who shot Destiny? How did they determine that it wasn't because of who she was?

21:59How did they determine that this wasn't a hate crime? They haven't identified the car, they haven't identified the shooters, yet they have surveillance. This is one of those cases where there is truly just no information, but that doesn't mean that Destiny doesn't deserve our attention. Which brings me right to our call to action. Please share Destiny's case, and if you're interested in helping the Foundation, you can go to ourdestinyourfuturefoundation.org. You can also follow the Foundation's Facebook and Instagram pages, and of course, join the Justice for Destiny Facebook group. There is always hope.

22:45As a reminder, Destiny McLean was shot and killed outside the Caramba nightclub at 17th Street in McDowell in Phoenix, Arizona. A car was seen leaving the area eastbound on McDowell Road from 17th Street. In 2021, the car was described as being a newer, dark-colored sedan with four doors. Anyone with information is asked to contact Phoenix Police at 602-262-6151 or Silent Witness at 480-948-6377. But, as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

23:28Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice Media original. This episode contains writing and research by Haley Gray, audio editing assistance by Keith Murray. If you love what we do here, please take a moment to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It helps us and helps more people find these cases in need of justice.

23:55Thank you.

24:36Welcome to the Secret After Show. I know that this case was pretty different than most of the ones that I cover, and that's because there's almost no information about what happened to Destiny or any investigation that happened after. Now, obviously, I was born and raised in Phoenix, and one, I just wanted to help. But two, I wanted to pick it up because I knew that a lot of other podcasts probably won't. As much as I don't love this fact about true crime, there are definitely certain cases that get covered and certain cases that just don't. And let's be real, a random shooting or seemingly random, we still don't know.

25:18I still have my concerns there. But a random shooting in Phoenix doesn't really cut the bill. Fit the bill? I am tired, you guys. yeah, I actually saw this case on my local news a few months ago. Gosh, it feels like forever ago now. I reached out to Brenda, and I've been working with her for some time, and unfortunately, there's just not a lot of information there. They haven't told her much. They haven't released anything to me, and I couldn't get that answer about those potential witnesses. I reached out to them very frankly and said, I don't want to publish these people's pictures if we don't know if they're potential suspects or not.

26:04If you've already talked to them, I don't want to, you know, post this out there and potentially, you know, cause more chaos in their lives or impede with the investigation or whatever. And after many emails going back and forth, I still have not gotten an answer. So yeah, I don't know quite what to think of that. And of course, I always thank the Phoenix PD for whatever information they can give me. But that is a big question mark still in the case. And yeah, I mean, it's hard to tell, right? There's really a divide in Arizona, at least from my perspective. I have no data to back this up. But, you know, there's a lot of younger people or I don't know, I'm 35.

26:48Am I still young? I feel young. I feel like 35 is young. But I feel like when I was growing up, you know, Arizona felt like it was filled with all these older people who weren't accepting of lifestyles. And, you know, that that still remains in Arizona. We are very much divided, especially Phoenix. You know, it's very there's a lot of hate out there versus a lot of acceptance. And I will say that the area that Destiny was in, of course, it was a gay nightclub. But that whole area is pretty accepting. You know, we have a place down there, Roosevelt Row, that's like their arts district. And, you know, it's a cool place to be.