Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

I said, you're not going to be successful to kill them.

I'll take you out.

And then I'm going to have to explain to people that I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6.

If you follow true crime and have for a while, then there's a place in Florida you might be familiar with.

It's right in the heart of Florida, and it's far from the beaches and then there's a place in Florida you might be familiar with.

It's right in the heart of Florida, and it's far from the beaches and tourist traps.

It's a little place called Polk County.

It's mostly farmland, chain restaurants, and retirement communities, like the rest of Florida.

But you may be familiar with the tough-on-crime press conferences that the sheriff loves to hold,

many of which have gone viral over the last couple of years.

In Polk County is the small city of Auburndale, nestled between Lakeland and Winterhaven, two shitholes by the way, it takes pride in being quiet, friendly, and the kind of place where neighbors

recognize each other.

Inside the gates of the Hamptons, a 55-plus country club-style retirement community, are golf carts, manicured

lawns, and rows of tiny pre-manufactured homes. At sunset, neighbors wave from their

front porches as golf carts hummed down the street. It's quiet, safe, or, well, it should be.

But on September 8, 2024, just after 6 in the evening, that calm was shattered.

Behind the white siding of 77 Hewlett Drive, a boy's frantic voice reached a 911 operator.

My mom is happening at EMS now.

She's bleeding out.

Please help.

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