You're listening to an Ono Media podcast.

Good morning, and thanks for joining me for Rise in Crime. Your morning caffeine hit,

all about crime. I'm Mama Jules. And the South, or at least what I call the South, came in big

with youth crime this week,

two horrific teen violence cases, one ending in death and one ending in community outrage.

And then we can look at the case that several of you asked me to cover,

the disappearance and eventual murder of another young woman with a bright future in Philadelphia that was snuffed out

following some flirty text exchanges. All right, let's start in Jefferson County, Alabama.

That's about 15 miles east of Birmingham in the smaller town of Pinson.

That's a city with about 7,000 residents of Southern Rural Charm.

And how many of these small rural towns center their Friday nights around football?

Friday night lights, the frenetic energy, pulsing with cheering crowds and thumpings of school

bands.

In Pinson, Cleveland High School serves 1,200 students ages 14 to 18 years old.

On the weekend of October 18th, several Panther students were gathered in a secluded wooded spot

that the locals call the pit. That's a rural area just off Highway 75. Friends, or so-called friends, were gathered

around those crackling flames. They were laughing, partying, music was booming from a car stereo.

That night, 18-year-old Kimber Mills, with her bright smile, was hanging out with her high school friends.

Big plans to attend the bonfire with her other cheer friends because Kimber's a star cheerleader

and a track star. Her dreams weren't ending in high school because she had already applied

and been accepted to the University of Alabama. She had a goal to study nursing. And she also had the

infrastructure to be successful, parents and siblings, aunts and uncles, all cheering on her future.

...