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Chapter 1: What was lost when Alyssa Burkett was taken?
What was lost when Alyssa was taken? What was lost with her murder?
My daughter, Willow's mother, everything.
How do you keep Alyssa alive for her daughter, Willow?
Show her pictures. This is your mom. This is your mom. Every Mother's Day, we visit the grave, we take flowers, we take cards. You know, we talk about her all the time. What does this say? Mother of Willow Ann. I hope that when she learns what happened, she doesn't let it tear her apart. October 2nd, 2020.
Any crime scene is going to be inside that tape? It's inside that tape.
All right. I remember my phone was continuously ringing, ringing. And I finally answer it because it's my supervisor, and she's frantic, and she's telling me, you've got to get to Green Tree Apartments.
I heard that pop, and I turned around, I knew it was a gunshot.
And she says, something has happened to Alyssa. What? What happened to her?
We're going to start having family members show up here.
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Chapter 2: How do you keep Alyssa alive for her daughter, Willow?
She got shot in the car. OK. She can see her handprints.
Who are you?
I'm Detective Harding.
I remember asking that officer. I said, she didn't make it, did she? And he said, no, she didn't. And I just lost it at that point.
When you learned that your sister was dead, did you have a suspect in mind?
I knew immediately it was Andrew Beard. I knew that the only person I could think that would want her dead was Andrew Beard. She even said, I think he's the kind of person that's going to try to kill me. And he did. And he did. Oh, my God.
It was one of the most brutal scenes that I've been to in 32 years law enforcement. You could see the rage.
Don't touch anything, OK?
What does it tell you when it's this vicious about the killer?
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Chapter 3: What events led to Alyssa's tragic murder?
Yes, I was sitting at my desk.
Witnesses say the assailant exited his vehicle, a black Ford Expedition SUV with a gun in his hand. She had the window up, and he shot right through the window. Maintenance supervisor Darren Eichler, about 15 feet away... It's horrible. ...heard the gun blast and turned around. What do you see?
I see a black SUV starting to back out of the parking spot.
Investigators believe the shooter thought Alyssa was dead. The blast had destroyed her left eye and part of her face. But Alyssa Burkett was still alive.
She gets out of her car and she walks up to this landing to try to get help because she knows her co-workers are here.
The shooter, described by some as a black man, got out of the vehicle and began sprinting toward Alyssa, this time with a new weapon in his hand, something more personal, a large hunting knife.
Did you see him holding the knife? Yeah, in the hand.
After he starts to stab her, she's still fighting. On this window right here, there was a blood handprint smear where Alyssa was trying to get anyone to come out and help her. But fearing it was an active shooter situation, they stayed inside.
We're just getting our day started.
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Chapter 4: Who was the main suspect in Alyssa's murder?
And she hands me a pregnancy test that said positive. And I honestly had no words for her.
But as the pregnancy progressed, Alyssa's fears turned to excitement, says Shelby, especially when she learned it was a girl. On July 23rd, 2019, Alyssa gave birth to a baby girl she named Willow. And when you saw them together, Alyssa and Willow, What was that experience like?
Amazing. Motherhood looked great on her. Yes. Just looking at the two of them, you could tell that their relationship was, I mean, everything. I always love how she's looking at her in this picture.
Madison Grimes is Alyssa's younger sister.
Willow clung to her every second of every day, and I think that tells you a lot about the mother Alyssa was.
Alyssa went back to college and got a good job as an assistant property manager.
I think everything she did at that point in her life was for Willow. She wanted to be successful for Willow. She didn't want Willow to grow up and struggle. She just wanted Willow to have an easy life.
Andrew, who had joint custody, had Willow a few days every week. But he kept pushing for primary custody. dragging Alyssa in and out of court hearings, emptying her bank account.
She was terrified. Willow, at this point, was the most important thing in her life. And when she looked at the bigger picture, Andrew, he made more money than her. You know, he had a house. He had all the nice things that she didn't have. So she was afraid that, you know, he wanted Willow and he was going to get her.
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Chapter 5: What evidence linked Andrew Beard to the crime?
When he had Willow, She was constantly strapped to the front of him. He was reading to her. He wanted her to see the whole world every day. He just felt that he could provide her more stability.
In March 2020, when Willow was eight months old, things seemed to change for the better. The feuding parents found common ground, finally reaching an agreement on visitation and child support. And so things seemed to calm down.
Things calmed down, yeah.
but a gathering storm was about to come barreling in.
Charleston Police Department, search warrant. If you're in there, come out with your hands up.
In the spring of 2020, it looked like the bitter custody battle between Alyssa and Andrew had finally come to an end. Alyssa had a new guy named Ben, and Andrew fell hard for a woman named Holly Elkins, someone his mom, Lizette, was thrilled about.
I adored her from minute one. She just has this charm and energy. I warmed to her very quickly. Alyssa was happy that he started dating someone else. I guess hopeful that Holly would help this situation, that Holly would be supportive of the mother that's involved.
Holly sent this text to Alyssa. Look forward to having a super healthy relationship with you and Ben. Alyssa responded, I hope your influence helps because I'd love nothing more for us all to have a healthy relationship. Despite Holly's message, Andrew suddenly became hostile with Alyssa. He was once again demanding primary custody of Willow, dragging Alyssa back into court.
He was always very short, very rude, very hateful. It just totally changed the way that they communicated together.
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Chapter 6: How did the police investigate the murder scene?
Inside, they discovered drugs, a pistol, and some cash, exactly where the caller said they would be. So your daughter suddenly now looks like a drug dealer and a dangerous one as well. She's armed.
Yes.
I mean, is Alyssa worried that she's going to get arrested, lose her job?
Yes, all of the above. She's worried about her job. She thinks, yeah, she's going to be arrested. Now he's going to use this in court. So she's for sure going to lose Willow.
After questioning Alyssa, it was clear to police that she knew nothing about the drugs and pistol in the trunk of her car. They concluded those items had been planted. The caller had tried to frame her. Alyssa knew in her gut that caller was Andrew Beard. Later that day, she texted her roommate, Shelby.
Alyssa messaged me and said, he is going to try to get someone to kill me next.
And when you read those words?
My heart dropped. That wasn't who she was.
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Chapter 7: What role did Holly Elkins play in the conspiracy?
She wasn't a fearful person. Showing and asking for help shows me that she was genuinely scared. She knew that, you know, whatever was coming next was going to be serious.
The once fearless young woman had become scared for her life. These are some of the texts she sent to her sister Madison. Come over while I walk inside. Lock the door behind you. Do you see anyone around you? And Alyssa wasn't the only one who was terrified.
Chapter 8: What was the outcome of the trial and sentencing?
It kept progressing. Each thing that he would do just kept getting worse. And after this point, framing her and she didn't get arrested, I thought, well, what else is there to do besides kill her?
Tonight's 48 Hours will continue.
One month after the drugs and gun were planted in Alyssa Burkett's car, she was dead.
I knew that it was him when the drugs didn't work in the car for him to get the baby.
Once we talked to Alyssa's mom, we had an idea who we were looking for. And who was that person? That person was Andrew Beard.
Oh, my God. And to Teresa's horror, he had visitation with Willow that day. The baby was with him.
Yes, I want my grandbaby away from him. My first thoughts were, he's going to kill Willow.
Within hours of the murder, the police pulled over Andrew Beard's F-150 pickup truck for an alleged traffic violation. Andrew and his fiancee, Holly Elkins, were asked to get out of the vehicle. The daughter's in a car seat in the backseat. Much of the body cam footage in this program has been resized so you can see it better. They've been pretty cooperative.
Andrew seemed unfazed by the whole thing, says Detective Harding. He was very calm. He wasn't amped up. He didn't seem nervous.
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