First time, I went like this and I was like and I brought it back down and held it with me. And he kept yelling and screaming and I did it again and I was like, "No, he's not like that." from each other. I went to go grab Riley. I turned my head. She says, "Ow." And then the next thing I know, I can't feel face, dude. Okay. Like he he literally socked me as hard as he could in the face. I was seeing stars, officer. Riley and Austin thought they could outsmart everyone until the police uncovered their twisted plan. Dude, I What do you What do you do What do you do when the guy's eye's bulging out of his head and there's brain laying out Yeah, I don't know what to do with him, man. I don't either. He's It's to the head and he's bleeding out, man. There's nothing I can do. He's got blood everywhere, man. Just Just He's can't He can't hear. Yeah. some of the video um and showed me a little bit different picture of what happened. So, my dad partners just got back and there's video surveillance at the fuel trailers right along that parkway where you were at. Okay. This is the instant he understands he can't get away anymore. Officers were moments away from exposing a horrifying truth. The dark secret behind his best friend's murder. Raise the gun up. Boom. Right in the head Right in the face. Do you think that being shot in this situation is was the appropriate action to to handle here? Yeah. Maybe not in the face. But yeah. Well, why? Cuz he hit me. I'm not a fan of the any of that. I don't like I don't like violence. Yeah, I got him. When officers arrived on May 8th, 2021, they had no idea they were about to unravel a deeply twisted love triangle. 154 Century, we have a GSW to the head. He's breathing kind of not conscious. Clear. On the middle of the road were the remains of 26-year-old Michael Tripp. Matt, what do you need me to do? Nearby, police discovered a man identified as Austin Green, who would turn out to be the most crucial figure in the investigation. Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone, dude? So, my partner explained You're not in trouble, right? Okay. We just got a lot of stuff we got to do right now. So, uh even know what happened, man. He came and busted the window out and then Riley It's a long story. Like Riley and that guy were like messing around and stuff. But this is the father of her children's house. She's only been gone from here for not even 2 weeks. So, she came back. She wanted to come home and dude ran up and punched the window out. So, she came out here to come talk to him and then Austin walked out to make sure she was okay and I I I guess dude like hit Riley or something. The girl I guess dude hit Riley and then all I heard was Witness testimony led officers to another suspect, Riley Young, who had played a role in the series of events ending with Michael's death. We got a shell casing here. She made a statement when we we were putting her in the car that he hit her. Yeah, that's what he was telling me, too, that he was smashing out her windows. He knows girls, so he shot him. So, got shell casing here that was next to the body. It We got video from this camera right here. Mhm. Dude, she chases the victim down here. Starts beating on him. Suspect comes flying in. Gets into a great in front of the car there. Like gets into a shoving match. Meet you away right here. Pulls the gun out. Pops him right in the head. Jesus. She runs back and he calmly walks back. I don't know. that. We'll grab a splash of fuel, man, and then I'll get you over there and get those cuffs off you, all right? Can you grab me something to drink, baby? I believe you. Hey, I'm not I'm not here to judge, ma'am. We're all the same as you, man. Humans make mistakes, have emotions, we're no different. All right, man. Watch your stuff when you're at the curb right there. Just get across that grass and over the cement so you're We'll get you some shoes up there, too. So, you can just have a seat right here for now. Um Let me make a phone call. Try and explain this a little bit. Realistically, I thought the office right here would be open for you. From the outset, there were odd signs. Taken into custody for a murder investigation, Riley and Austin somehow managed to fall asleep in the interrogation room. But this was just the beginning. Riley? Riley, Detective Swartz. Is this your water here? Hey, Austin. Austin. Sorry to wake you up. My name's Detective Swartz with the Sheriff's Office. Are you I know you've been in here a little bit. Do you need Do you want something to drink, some water, coffee, anything like that while while we wait? We'll be with you here in a few, okay? I just want to go home and go to bed, boss. Okay. You sure you're sure you don't want any water? They said they were going to bring me some, but they never did. Okay. No, I'll go grab you some water right now. You sure coffee? I'm about to put a pot on. I need some. It's early. It's okay. Okay. All right, I'll get you some water here, okay? Of course, it was time for Miranda rights. Everything from this point until the very end is absolutely crucial in understanding the twisted dynamics. All right. So, obviously, we've got some stuff we're going to have to We got to talk about everything that happened last night. But before we talk, because right now you are a You're not free to leave. I do have to read you your rights before we can talk, okay? This is the the common stuff they do on TV. All right. So, read along here with me. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. So, Austin, again, my name's Sheriff Hooper. I'm a detective with the Sheriff's Office. This is Detective Blair. Okay. Um I'd like to sit down with you and talk to you about what transpired tonight, okay? Cuz there's two sides to every story and I want to get your side of the story. Okay? Fair enough? Yes, sir. Okay. Now, Austin, based on the circumstances here, obviously, you know, you got put in handcuffs and everything like that. There's certain rules that I have to follow. And in order to talk to you, okay, I have to read you your Miranda rights. Yes, sir. Okay. Those are the rules that I have to follow. All right? And I follow the rules. I don't break the rules. Okay? But the only thing that I ask is is that you be honest with me, okay? This is a This is a two-way street here, because you know what? You're going to have questions, I'm going to have questions. Okay? And so, it works by both of us talking together. Yes, sir. Okay? So, I'm going to go over these first. All right? Advise that you understand after each one, okay? You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. But before moving forward, the relationships need to be organized and understood. Tell me what's going on. Oh, so okay. So, Austin is my kids' dad. I broke up with Austin 2 weeks ago and now I'm with Michael. And how long have you and Austin been together? 3 years. 3 years? And I kind of being stupid, I never broke up with him 2 weeks ago. And I got with Michael. Well, I want to see if you're lying now. I just want to get all the relationships figured out and then we can go into everything that happened. So, you guys broke up 2 weeks ago? Yeah. Did you know Michael before or did you actually meet He was Austin's best friend. Okay. So, after Were you guys talking pre-breakup or was it after breakup that the relationship started up? Were you just talking to or going out with dating? Okay. Okay. Posted a few pictures of us on Facebook and then I was like So, talking or Yeah. Something Something more than going out, not quite dating relationship. I get it. At first glance, this case might remind you of another we've covered. The setup seems familiar. A jealous ex, a new relationship, and a girlfriend tangled between them. But as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this girlfriend might be the one masterminding the whole scheme. But two last night, earlier I picked my little brother up from Dixie Skate around 10:30. And I dropped Michael off at home and I got back. Then I talked to Austin and I came back and I told him that I didn't want to be with him anymore. He showed up at my mom's house. Okay, explain that a little bit My mom lives two streets over and I was watching my little brother with my mom cuz she wasn't home. Okay. So you were with Michael earlier though? Yeah, I was with him all morning. Um he stayed at my mom's with me the night before last night. I was with him all morning and then I was like, "Hey, I need to think about some stuff. I want to drop you off at home and I'll text you and I'll let you know what's going through my head about it right now. I just I need to think about my whole entire life." Um So you know, I go and get my little brother from skating. I go and talk to Austin. I get back to my mom's to go check on my brother. So you talked to Austin where? Yeah. At my mom's. Well, where did you drop Michael off? I dropped him off at his grandma's. Where's that at? Um I forgot. Yeah. Yeah. Um He showed up at my house. I was like, "What do you do?" He told you I really didn't want him here. He was like, "I want to go on a car ride. I don't like freaking out around my little brother." What's the time frame? Having sorted out the relationships, the detectives can now turn our attention to the series of events on the last day that led to Michael's death. Between 11:00 is when he showed up at my house. Like 11:00 and then I drove him off again at 11:30 cuz I was like, "Do you just want to go on a car ride so you can calm down?" And then I drove back to his grandma's house and he was like, "No." And then I was like, "Yeah, I just want you to get out of my car." Okay, so you after you dropped your Michael off, you went and picked your brother up? Yes. You went back to mom's? Yes. Okay. How you at mom's? And that was about 11:00? 11:00. In the morning? Or at night? At night. 11:00 at night. Yeah. Okay. And then Michael shows back up. Yeah. So you know, I was like, "Do you want to get back in the car with me? We'll go on a drive. We'll figure this out." What's he saying when he shows up there? He's crying. Wants to be with you? Yeah. Alcohol related, drugs, or just in love? Wow. He's in love, I guess. I don't Mhm. Okay. I don't know if I would have let him go that quick, but I dropped him off back at his grandma's. You know, I texted him for a little while and then I told him probably around 2:00 2:15 in the morning that I didn't want to be with him anymore. He said, "That's it. I'm walking to your house." I said, "No, you're not. I'm going to go talk to Austin. I'd rather you not come over. I don't I don't want to deal with that. No one wants to deal with it right now." And I blocked him on everything. Where'd you text him at? Facebook? Um Snapchat, Snapchat, Facebook, text. Something. Okay. All of all of um I said a little bit to of leave me alone on all different apps. So So you texted him at 2:15 saying I didn't want to be with him. He was like, "Well, that's fine. I'm walking to your house. You're going to be with me." And I was like, "Dude, I'm not walking to my house. I won't. I'm not even going to be there. I'm going to Austin's. I don't want to be with you. Please don't make it any worse than it has to be." And I blocked him and then I went to Austin's. Want you to give me a run down of uh yesterday. Um you know, start yesterday. Um you know, in the morning. How I like to, you know, have people do it is, you know, it's easier to remember like when you first got up in the morning, what you did, and just go about your day. All right? Up until we're here right now. Uh I mean, I woke up. I started cleaning my house. Um Uh baby mama came over, dropped the kids off. We talked for a little bit and then she ended up leaving. What's her name? Uh Riley Young. Riley Young? Yes, that's my baby mama. Okay. My girlfriend for 3 years. She's now just my baby mama. Okay. She came over, dropped the kids off to me cuz she said she wanted to go to sleep cuz she didn't feel good. So I was like, "Okay." So she dropped the kids off. I had my mom come pick them up from my house so I could proceed to go to work for the night. Um my mom came and got them. I got ready for work. I went to work and everything was kosher. And Riley come around 9:30 10:00, right about right about the time I was going to go on break. Uh Riley messaged me and she was like, "Hey, um I want to come over when you come on break so we can talk things out. I want to put my home, you know, put this back. I don't want to get my family back together." I was like, "Okay. Um I'm going to stop at Taco Bell, get me something to eat cuz I'm hungry. And uh that was that. I got off probably about 2:31 is when I clocked out. And from there I took the Dixie Highway exit to 75, took 75 to Netto. Went to the Taco Bell on Netto Road, got my food. Actually fell asleep sitting down waiting for my food, but I was so tired. And then I went home. I ate my fire layer, my case burrito, got halfway through my crunch wrap, and then my front window gets smashed in. And I see Michael standing there yelling at me and Riley talking calling Riley all types of names and whatnot. So Uh who's Michael? Michael was my best friend for 5 years. Okay, so Michael's your best friend for 5 years. Um and then it's you and Riley. Is there anybody else there with you guys? Um as of right now, my buddy Brian, he's there on and off just to help with my dogs and stuff when I'm not there cuz like I said, me and my baby mama were going through a a rough time in our relationship. What's Uh what's Brian's last name? Do you know? Yager. Okay. So it's you, Riley, Brian. Window gets broken out. Yeah. We're We're all sitting there. No, it's at my house. Yeah. Yeah. And we're all sitting there on my couch and he smashes my window out. My first instinct is to grab my Okay, I grabbed my gun. I walked outside and I begged him to leave. I told him I did not want to fight him. I told him I wasn't going to do this at my house because this is where my kids stay. Honest to God, officer, if Riley wouldn't have came over that night, I would have had my kids there in the living room. He would have done that in front of my kids and it would have been even worse. And I begged him to leave. She begged him to leave. Brian begged him to leave, but he would not stop. He just kept going and kept running his mouth and kept popping off at the lid. And then he said something along the lines of, "I'm just going to burn the trailer down with you and your kids in it." And Riley got mad like any other mom would and started chasing him down the street. So I started chasing her down the street. I go to grab her. He hits her. He hits me. And next thing I know, he's on the ground. What's intriguing here is how these two approach the same question differently. When asked what happened yesterday, Riley zoomed in on the small details, almost appearing defensive, whereas Austin provided a larger, more comprehensive perspective on the events. Such contrasts between them would become more and more apparent as the interrogation progresses. Who's at Austin's? Me, Austin, Brian, and my dog. So I was sitting on the love seat with Austin. And he was eating Taco Bell. I was talking to him. Brian was sitting on the big couch and all of a sudden I hear a crash. All of my front window got busted and he's like, "What the are you doing here?" Michael said that? So it's So you hear a a crash. Yeah, I hear the window get broken and you know, we all jump cuz who's breaking windows at 2:30 in the morning? And he's standing there. He's yelling and screaming. Um What's he saying? You're going to talk to me or I'm going to catch this house on fire. Austin walked outside and he's always got his gun on his hip. I want to I want to catch up here. So you hear the window crash. Yes. And he says, "What the are you doing here?" Yes. And then I just ignored him. I like I was I'm not good with drama or yelling. Or so I just ignored him. And then he kept saying And he kept I don't know exactly what he was saying, but he kept going and going and going. I don't A few times I heard him look straight at Austin and say, "Kill me, Kill me right now." And this is while he's still outside and you guys are That's while he's still outside and Austin and Brian are at the doorway of the house now cuz they got up when they first heard the glass, they stand up. What's So what else is he screaming? If you remember any specific things that he said. He was saying a lot. Um put your gun down and let me beat your ass, Austin. Um, I'm taking your girlfriend back. She's mine. She's not going anywhere. Countless times he said, "Put your gun down and fight me and let me beat your ass." Regardless of the nature of Riley's relationship with Michael or whether her feelings for him had faded, her emotional response seems completely out of place given the circumstances. Especially since Michael is dead and he was her friend and love interest just days ago. Austin, on the other hand, appears to show genuine emotion for his deceased best friend. I get that as much as I hate him to death. I did not mean to do it. I just wanted him to stop. He wouldn't stop. I was just trying to go home to go to bed so I could get my kids. He just kept going. He kept screaming. He kept yelling. He just wouldn't stop. Man, he was like a like an animal. Just He sat on cage and he was just going for everybody's head. It's like something inside of him switched because when it first happened, he wouldn't fight me. He wouldn't get out of the car. He wouldn't say a word to me. And then he comes over last night acting like honestly like he was on some type of drugs or something. I've known him for 5 years and I've never seen him act like that. And he just kept going and kept going and kept going. Now I'm here. Well, I about had a panic attack. So, I walked in between Austin and Brian. I walked outside cuz I was getting claustrophobic and my dog was jumping and he was like in the open window staring at me, yelling at me. What was he Did he throw something through the window? Did he punch it? That I don't know. I couldn't I wasn't paying attention. Okay. So, like I didn't even have time to really I didn't even look. I started freaking out. I went outside. I was going to walk to my mom's. My mom lives two streets over from Austin. It's a 4-minute walk. Yeah. So, I was just going to walk to my mom's. I start walking and he's walking. He's arguing with me. Austin's walking behind us because I keep walking and he's threatening me while we're walking. If I don't stop, um Okay. What did he say? So, before we get to the walking away, do you guys go outside at one point and talk to him or do you guys stay inside? Austin and Brian were like on the porch kind of with both doors, the screen door open, the big door open. They were like kind of half in and half outside. And what are they saying? Are they Um, they were just telling him to leave. And like you know, he was like, "Come on, Austin. If you're really big and bad, just shoot me." He's like, "Dude, I'm not shooting you. Just get off of my property." He goes, "If I wanted to shoot you, I would have shot you when you busted out my window. Just leave us alone." Okay. So, that's about the time that I left, that I wanted to go. I was freaking the out. I just wanted to go to my mom's to calm down and just not deal with any of the guys. As you might expect, things didn't go as planned. Right now on my Patreon, you can watch the most jaw-dropping encounter ever captured. This intense footage showcases an intense incident involving a man who, wielding a leather katana, aggressively charged towards the police. What unfolded within that crucial moment is way too intense and explicit for YouTube. Head over to patreon.com/strangerstoriesplus to access this gripping video and a ton of other Patreon exclusive content. So, you you said that um the window got broke. And you said the first thing you did was grab your gun. Yes. Okay. What type of gun was it? It's a Glock 19 Gen 3. Okay. 30-round clip. It's legal. It's on my name. Okay. Where was that at inside the trailer? It was sitting on my uh that little TV table right next to my couch. Okay. So, it's sitting on on a table or on your counter near near your couch. Okay. You hear that, you grab your gun. You go to the door. What are What are Riley and Brian doing at this time? At this time, they're still stuck trying to figure out what happened because he's just standing there yelling. Okay. So, basically I I I saw the trailer. So, he's like yelling in through the open window. Yes. Yes. And so then you go to the door. I go to the door and I get I try to get him to leave because like I said, it was 3:00 in the morning. I have neighbors who have kids, too, man. I I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to fight him. I didn't want So, let let let me So, you're standing what? In the doorway in your house? Okay. Like just shouting through the screen? Yes. And uh where is he at? He was down by the foot of my porch. Okay. So, he's down on the concrete. All right. And you two are shouting back and forth. Yes, he got in my face multiple times and I begged him to please go. So, you're you're telling him you need to leave. You need to leave. I did. Now, is the gun in your hand? Is it in your waistband? The gun was up in my hand. I don't have my CPL, so I don't I don't hide it. Everybody knows that. Okay. So, did he know that you had a gun? Yes. What did he say about that? He told me to shoot him. He told me put a bullet in his head. I told him I didn't want to do that. I told him I I didn't want to multiple times. Okay. And so then when he's outside Let me take you back a little bit. So, you said you and Michael have been friends for 5 years. You've been best friends. Yeah. Okay. Um, and so does Michael own any guns? No. No? Okay. Does Brian own any guns? Riley? No. But you have three. Okay. You got the Ruger. Yes, I have the Ruger, a AR VMR-9, which is a AR-15 style type style pistol rifle. Currently, I have my Glock 19. Okay. All right. Um, so Michael shows up. He is John with you telling you to put a bullet in his head. The detective then posed one of the most crucial questions of the case. Why? Why would someone shoot their best friend? What's Why are you all this anger? I mean, what's what's I mean, if you guys were friends He uh Okay. Well, it wasn't even him. My baby mama has a problem with drugs, you know, in the past with drugs. And uh she ended up relapsing and going and sleeping with him. And uh Like you say sleeping like having sex? Yeah. Okay. And you know, I As any guy would be, I was heated. I was I was beyond pissed. But I didn't take it anything further than that because I have my kids. And I know that if I were to up, they wouldn't have me and they're I am the only stability that they have in their life. What uh so, Riley relapse. What What drugs does she use? I I can't tell you exactly because I don't know. I wasn't there. I wasn't around when she did it. So, it's honestly it's just kind of hearsay, I guess, in that sense. But she came home and um she was supposed to be over at her mom's when it was like two streets down from me. And I guess Michael either walked or had someone bring him. He showed up to her her mom's house and didn't answer. When was this? It had to have been last night before he showed up at my house. Okay. Cuz there was no other place that she would have gone. And he only lives in Frenchtown Villas, so I guarantee you he either walked there or got a ride there. But I don't I don't know exactly how he got there. All I know is that I begged him to stop and I begged him to leave. I told him I didn't want to fight him. I told him I didn't want any problems. Told him I just wanted him to go away. I don't I'm not like one of these kids out here just flashing all their guns and like that. I got it for protection because all the shootings that happened in downtown Monroe. I know how people in this town are. I've lived in this town my entire life and seems like everybody's just getting stupider and stupider. So, I got it for my own personal protection for my family. Because I'm not going to go out like a I'm not just going to go out like a like a No, sorry. I'm not. But I'm not going to let my family my family's life be in jeopardy if somebody else has a gun and I don't, you know. I wasn't pointing the gun in his face. I wasn't waving it out and making it known that I had it. I walked outside with it and I asked him to leave and that was it. And he kept going and he kept going and he kept going. I wasn't sitting here saying, "Oh, I'm going to shoot you and dah dah dah dah." I wasn't I was asking him to leave my premises. I was asking to drop the situation and leave and he would not. But at some point, he does leave. Yes. So, he walked off and then Riley chased after him. Why is she chasing after him? Because he said he was going to burn down the trailer with my kids in it. Okay. Did you call 911? I Right after I did, yeah. Okay. Right after I I That was my first reaction, dude. I I pulled the trigger and I grabbed my phone and I called 911 and nobody answered, so I called my mom. I told her that I'm sorry and then the bigger cop who was across the the was the first one there. I put my Glock on my porch and I walked to him with my hands up and I got down on the ground and I applied as applied as I could. Cuz I I'm not trying to go to jail, man. I'm trying to go home to my kids. I really am. All right. So, um Kayla or um I'm sorry. Um Her name's Riley. Riley. Riley. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. So, Riley ends up chasing after him. Um does she have anything I didn't have Did I shoot him? Did she have a gun? No. I don't let anybody touch my stuff. Okay. Like I am I am so anal about my guns because you know, anything can happen. Guns are not toys. Accidents can happen. Guns can go off. My Glock doesn't have a safety and I have kids. So, like I I take care of my stuff. I keep it put up. I keep it safe where it needs to be when I'm not using it. It's put up. And you know, it's it's put up. Well, you know, they they don't accidentally go off. There's you know, be some sort of you know, manipulation of the firearm to make it go off. That just doesn't Accidents do happen. So, I tried my best to prevent that from happening by keeping them put up and And not pointing them at anybody, right? Yeah. I mean, cuz you don't want an accident to happen. Yeah, no, I don't. Like And that's And that's the number one rule of gun safety, you know, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. If you see the inside of my house, man, it looks like I own a daycare. I'm not I'm not a killer. I'm not I'm not a violent man. I'm a family man. I got two babies that I want to watch grow up. So, I go to walk and Michael follows me. So, what He busts out the wood he's saying Put your gun down and fight me. Put your gun down and fight me. Um just shoot me. Kill me. Put a bullet in me already. I've been waiting my whole life to die. Just repeatedly And that's when That's when Austin says, "If I wanted to shoot you, I would have shot you when you busted out the he first busted out my window. So, that's when I was like, "Okay, I got to go." Yeah, just Go to your mom. So, as I'm walking, he saw me. He's trying to grab at my hoodie. I'm trying to pull away from him. Well, once we get to the entrance, he grabbed at my hoodie and I turned around and I I screamed, "Let me the go." Did he only grab your hoodie once? He grabbed my hoodie twice. Like once while I was walking and I just like jerked away from him and kept walking and then he did it again. We can take a moment here to categorize different kinds of manipulators based on their approach and intelligence. The first kind is linked to narcissistic personality disorder, NPD, which is a catch-all for manipulative behaviors, especially in situation smart category, who use charm or control tactics to meet their own needs. The next one is psychopathy or sociopathy. These individuals may manipulate others without empathy or remorse, often exploiting weaknesses for personal gain. The last is dependent personality disorder or DPD. These individuals may manipulate others to maintain dependence or avoid rejection, particularly in vulnerable or weaker targets, but they might not function properly in the presence of higher authority. So, I turned around and screamed at him and like he went to swing. Where at? I was right up at the entrance area. At the entrance that's when he grabbed Austin, yeah. Mhm. Okay. It's like right over a car. We actually like kind of almost fell over that car. That was Okay. I don't even know what kind of car it was or what color it was, but I know it was a car. Yeah. Um we kind of almost fell over the car and he went to swing at me and I moved and he like merely just his hand kind of just like grazed my neck. He swung at me. Austin grabbed him and he hit Austin. And when he hit Austin, I Did you get hit? I kind of not really. His hand just kind of like went like this. It didn't hurt me, but it sure enough did scare me because he swung at me and his hand did like It hit, just not as hard as he wanted it to. He grazed you. Yeah. He swung and missed or almost grazed you. Yeah. Um so, Austin grabs him when he saw him hit me. And he hit Austin in the mouth. When he hit Austin in the mouth, I turned my head away. So, Austin grabs him. Austin grabbed him off of me and then he hit Austin in the face. And then I turned my head and then I just kind of heard the gunshot and I ran back to his house and told Brian to call 911 while screaming. Okay. Did you see the shooting happen? I was It was like I didn't necessarily see it cuz as soon as I saw him hit Austin, I turned away. Yeah. Cuz I was like I I know he has his gun on him. I know he always keeps it on him. That's what it's there for. I'm not a fan of the any of that. I don't like You're not a big gun person. No, and I'm not I don't like violence. You know, I'm okay with the gun in the house. It's okay. You have it to protect me and the family. Yeah. I get that's what you were doing was protecting me and yourself, but I I'm okay. So, that matters to me is that I'm okay. My family's okay. My boyfriend's okay. You can see the oddness, right? Someone's life is gone and it's not a random stranger. It's a best friend. But ahead, there's an even stranger story waiting. All right. So, Riley's chasing after him down the street. Um And you go after Riley. Is there some sort of interaction down there? What what transpires? All I know is that I went to go grab her and then he started swinging. That's all I know. Okay. Was Was she Was she trying to assault him? I don't know. Riley has a temper and likes to do that type of stuff. That's why I went down there to grab her to stop that from happening. And as soon as my hands touched her, he started swinging. Okay. There There wasn't any hesitation. There wasn't any second guesses soon as I grabbed her. He hit her and then he hit me. Okay. So, he hits you. What I mean, you guys are I guess standing close close Yeah, like we were we were probably about this far away from each other. I went to go grab Riley. I turned my head. She says, "Ow." And then the next thing I know, I can't feel face, dude. Okay. Like he he literally socked me as hard as he could in the face. I was seeing stars, officer. Okay. Like it I So, he he he punches you in the face. Yes, he hit me first. He broke through my window. He assaulted me. Okay. So, he hits you in the face. And then at this point you said that you had the gun in your hand. Yes. And what do you do from there? Austin's next move is peculiar. It's crucial to remember that as far as Austin and Riley know, Michael is in the hospital being treated for his injuries. They are unaware that he is actually dead or at least they haven't received confirmation from the detectives. After he he struck you once in the face with his with his fist. Yeah, he hit me. I stumbled back, regained my consciousness as much as I could. Did he say anything? No. He didn't It wasn't him. It was It was something else, man. He wasn't I've known him for 5 years. I've never seen him like that, man. It scared me. I'm not going to lie. I was scared for my life, dude. Cuz he wouldn't stop. Okay. So, um As When you When you go down there, all right, you're trying to break him and Riley up. Yes, I was trying to de-escalate the situation as much as I could. Okay. And so, then he socks you once. All right. Um Austin seemed like a gentleman who's been, you know, around the block a little bit. Um Have you ever been in trouble before? I mean, been in minor little scrapes before? I've been in fights, but nothing like this. No, this was This is something completely different. Yeah. And And so, um you know, in in in those previous fights I wasn't scared for my life, officer. I wasn't scared for me and somebody else's well-being at the time. When I was in school, those were just school fights. I was legitimately scared for me and Riley's life because he looked like he was ready to kill both of us. Okay. Now, I from gathering statements from people, I understand that um you know, I've heard that Riley and him had a a sexual relationship a sexual relationship recently and that kind of put a rift between you and him and you and Riley. Yes, but I wasn't taking it any farther than that. Okay. I was worried about my kids. and and and you know, I I'm trying to get like the whole story here, Austin. And I hope you understand that. I do. I'm And and and so, you know, I know, you know, uh a lot of people your age are on social media and stuff like that. Did he make any threats beforehand that you know, "I'm going to beat your ass. I'm going to show up at your house." No? Anything like When was the last time you communicated with him prior to The day everything happened, I told him that since he didn't want to fight me, all of his new girlfriend was outside my house, he could come pick it up, and he could never speak to me again. And that was the last thing I said to him. So, When When was that? That was about 2 weeks ago. Okay. You said he didn't want to fight you. No, he was sitting in Riley's car. He wouldn't get out of her car. He wouldn't do anything. He just sat there. And I mean, this is right after the fact that you that I found out she was sleeping with him, yes. Okay. So, I mean, at that point, 2 weeks ago, you basically called him out and said, "Hey, let's let's do this." you're man enough to screw somebody you call your screw somebody's girlfriend you call your brother, you should be man enough to throw the ones. I've been raised like that my entire life, man. And that was the last time you saw him. Yeah. That was the last time I saw him. That was the last time I saw no communication between No, sir. What about between him and Riley? They They talked all the time. From From what I know, they were together. But as of last night, she told me she was done with him. She told me she blocked him on everything. And uh What's everything? I mean, there's so many social media platforms out there. Either Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok. I don't know, man. She has so many things on her phone. It's You might be able to point out where the problem lies. It's all about Riley. I barely have You don't even know what he said or not. Okay. And I've tried to I thought I would have tried to sleep in here like four different times, and I just can't. Yeah. I told him he wouldn't put it on his porch at the house. And Brian called 911. I think he called 911. And then me and him both walked I walked with him from the house down where the cops were. Okay. Cuz he wanted to make sure that he put his gun like up and out on the porch before the cops got there. Cuz he heard a lot of stories. He freaked out. I was his best friend. Are Are they close right now, or are they obviously since this relationship they They were literally best friends having for years, and I kind of I guess I that up. Well, but it's kind of my fault. All right. So, this is this this none of this is your my family back. Yeah. But they still hated each other. That's hard. And it was never going to get fixed. Yeah. And then he knew I told him, "Don't Don't show up here. Don't Don't cause a bunch of unnecessary problems." Sure, calling Riley the mastermind who manipulated two grown men into turning on each other might be an exaggeration. She does, however, show classic signs of being a manipulator and a narcissist. But our judgment of her isn't just based on context. It's the whole package. No remorse, relaxed body language, no surprise, and constant lying. Do you think you would have been able to get Michael to leave? Calm him down after I mean, sitting there talking to him or Do you think I I Like he didn't even say anything before he broke the window. Like he just smashed the window and started screaming. I don't want to be around anything like that. I was yelled at by my dad when I was younger all the time, and I cannot handle yelling. Yeah. How many times did Michael hit Austin? I think he only hit him once. Did it connect, or were they in each other's faces No, they connect. He He hit him. Austin's mouth was all bloody. Okay. hit him right in the mouth. I watched that. But as soon as he hit him, I was like Get away. I didn't want to see what happened. before? Is Austin a fighter? Like fighter or Michael? Yeah. Now, let's ask the next crucial question. Could this situation have been handled differently? Was there anything that could have prevented the death? And you didn't communicate with him via text message, phone calls, anything along those lines? No, sir. I cut ties because my family was more important. I wasn't going to sit here and and work myself up over it. two weeks ago, I mean, round about When When was that? I mean, you said it was Was it in the evening time? Did the police get called or anything like that? I mean, for a disturbance or No, the police didn't get called. Me and Me and Me and Riley fight a lot. We've both been through a lot of stuff in our lives. We're both very hard-headed. So, like when we butt heads, we butt heads. But we've always come back together harder and stronger than than we did before. So, my neighbors don't really call the cops. And then her mom was there, and my kids were there, and you know, there was just my mom was there. There was a lot of people there just trying to de-escalate the situation because everything was crazy. She was trying to get her I was throwing her It was It was all wild, man. All right. And you guys have been friends, you said, 5 years? He was the first one to hold my daughter, you know. We We lived under the same roommate out in French Quarter. He He did the roof on our roommate's house. Okay. And then after I moved out, I got my own place. And you know, me and him we were friends. I loved him like a brother, man. I fed him, clothed him, got him a job. Anytime he needed anything, I let him do it. He needed to come over to my house, take a shower, I let him do it. He needed some of my clothes to wear, I let him wear them. I had nothing for love nothing but love for him. That's why I was trying to de-escalate the situation. And now you said Riley's a little hot-headed. Yes. And And so, was she not trying to de-escalate the situation? No, I was. I was just trying to get her to go home. But you know how a mom gets when somebody threatens her kids. They're going to do what they can to protect them. I was just trying to grab her away, and then I touched her, and next thing I know, I'm seeing stars. Remember in the beginning when Austin mentioned that Riley got riled up after Michael threatened to burn down the house with the kids inside? Oddly, throughout this recap, Riley never once brings up that reason. Clearly, it wasn't as significant as it was made out to be. On the surface, it seems like Riley was either using Michael to get back at Austin, or using Austin to deal with Michael. But let's not forget, Austin isn't just an innocent bystander in all this. And I'm just curious this in your I kind of want your opinion here. Um take out the the relationships and the all of that. Does this Do you think that being shot in this situation is was the appropriate action to to handle here? Yeah. Maybe not in the face, but yeah. Well, why? Cuz he hit me. Okay. Guys don't hit females. Females don't hit guys. But that was was Michael armed? Does he carry a knife normally? Was there a gun on him? does carry knives. Um not actually He has scared the out of me with his knives, and I took one of his knives and threw it away because he was scaring me. Okay. Um He carries knives. He used to carry brass knuckles. Okay. But he didn't have any of those? I don't know. I didn't pay attention. But you did There was no clear I mean, No, not in his I mean, you said he was He punched him. So, there was nothing in his hands, nothing out. So, I watched some of the video. Um it showed a little bit different picture of what happened. Mhm. Um I want you to I want you to think back. Take a second and think back because what the accounts of what happened are different than what you're telling me. And and right now is probably is our one chance to talk about this and get this all figured out. And right now is your benefit being honest and cooperative. No matter Yeah. is the only thing in your favor right now is telling me the truth about what happened. Don't Don't even think about Austin, and don't even think about Michael right now. Think about you. Little did the detective know, Riley had been looking out for herself this entire time. And if something if something was going on with you and Michael before where you guys were arguing or whatever, doesn't involve the shooting part. I just need to know what happened up until then cuz everything's not completely matching up there. I wanted to hit him with a bong and I missed. What? Uh while we were up at the front, when he grabbed me, I went to I went to swing before he took off. Cuz I didn't hit him. So I mean, if I would have connected with him, I would have said something, but I didn't hit him. It hit the ground. were taking your bong What kind of bong? Water bong? Yeah. Big, little, that size? right about this big. It was in my hand when I walked out. I'm walking and he's gone and I was mad and he's yelling and he said he was going to burn my kids' house down. It was in my hand. Did you throw it? I went to throw it. And I didn't hit him. I just swung. Did you throw it or just try to hit with it? One time I went to hit him and I like stopped myself. And put put it back down. And he kept walking and I went to hit him again and I put it back down. And then like the last time I went to and I just kind of like tossed it cuz I I'm not violent. No, I don't think so at all. I'm not a violent person. I never have been. I don't like violence, but So that was Did that happen right when you exited? When you got went outside? Or as you guys walked or like He said he was going to burn my kids' house down and that hit a whole 'nother level of uh madness. Cuz Yeah. You can break the windows and you can tell me anything you want about me. He shouldn't bring my kids up. You bring your kids into it. I have a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old. They didn't do anything. Don't tell me you're going to burn my house down when they're inside cuz that's where I lost it for a few minutes. I just Did Did you just try to hit him with it or did you like throw it. I didn't throw it. Like the first time I went like this and I was like and I brought it back down and held it with me. And he kept yelling and screaming. I did it again and I was like, "No, you don't like that." I don't do that. What was he yelling and screaming? Um "You're coming home with me. You're mine. You're always going to be my girlfriend. This and this and this. If you're not coming home with me, I'm going to kill Austin. I'll burn your house down. You'll have no choice but to come back to me." So I went to grab it again. Like I went to swing it and I got like right here by him and I just dropped it. And then I went ahead. So you just dropped it somewhere. Dropped it. I think it broke. Okay. Cuz I I heard it. And then that's when he went to swing on me. That was towards the entrance. Yeah. So what was As you guys were walking and then a second time Yeah. Okay. But I never hit him. That I did make sure I never hit him. I wanted to scare him. Yeah. him to leave. I didn't hit him. I wanted to. I really wanted to. I'm not going to lie. On everything inside of me, I wanted to hit him. I tried. And I couldn't bring myself to do it cuz I'm not a mean person. What were your positions when you got towards the entrance? Where were you guys standing? Where was he? Where were you? It's interesting that they're talking about Riley chasing Michael. But in the entire 30-minute interrogation so far, she hasn't once brought it up. And yet, she claims she's not a mean person. At first, after like hitting and hitting me, I did like throw him a little bit just to We did That's when I said we did like go over the car a little bit. Yeah. Cuz I During a little scuffle. Get off of me. Yeah. And we like went over the car a little bit. I slapped him. Not hard. On the shoulder. Okay. And then that's when him and Austin did the thing. I didn't give him the middle finger on my left hand. That's normal. So The video is still not necessarily as That's That's all I remember. I'll be honest with you. That's what I'm telling you completely 100% is that's all I remember. Yeah. The video shows you Michael walking away from the house. You kind of following him and he's kind of backing up from you as you're swinging the bong at him. Then he takes off running. You take off following him. Okay. In this exact moment, she realizes her secret was caught on camera. When you guys get over video? Did it continue on the video? Okay. You guys get up against the car and you're swinging on him quite a bit. I don't remember that. Not him swinging on you at all. I don't remember that. Not him grabbing you. Nothing. I do remember him grabbing me, though. Okay. I do I do know when I get Was that while you were I mean, cuz you were Your arms are like swinging at him. I mean, that's when he grabs you. Yeah, I think so. No, I don't remember I don't like Yeah. So My concern here is violence. I black out. I get It's totally natural. I don't even care about us tonight now. Here's where you need to worry about you and your kids. Michael's dead. Um I guess. That's why we need to take a minute and really think about this. And right now, like I said, I I I want to We'll go over this again. I'll give you a second to think about it and process. I know I just told you a lot. And that's why I want to know I I really need to know the the truth about everything that was said, everything that happened because this could have been an argument between you and Michael that went too far, went off the hinges and over that. Yeah, if you were even even if you were just punching or hitting him, then I could understand that. That happens, but I don't The way it looks on the video with what you're telling me is not the same thing, which makes it look like you're lying. I'm I'm I'm not trying to Oh, I know. I know. I'm trying to think but I've been so confused all night. I don't even know what 100% happened. That's why I need to hear hear it sober. I'm completely sober. There was a gun involved and even if death seemed unlikely, there should have been at least some concern for seriously injuring someone close to her. Like in many cases, her tears could be more for herself, mourning the luxury and freedom she's about to lose. This is Riley's reality. Now, let's take a look at Austin's reaction. Austin, so some of my partners just got back from over there and they were uh they were collecting a little different evidence of the video and stuff like that. And so But uh coming back a little bit, um the phone that you had on you, uh you called 911 on? Yes, sir. Okay. And did it dial? I'm pretty sure it did. Yeah, my phone works. Okay. Okay. Um can I get the passcode to that so that I can verify the 911 call, if you don't mind? Some of my pa- partners just got back and there's video surveillance at the few of those trailers right along that parkway where you were at. Okay. Specifically, there's one a video surveillance system right in front where you guys were at. And your neighbor also has video surveillance. All right. This is the exact moment Austin realizes he's been caught on camera, no less. Up till now, he had no idea that his actions were being recorded. At this point, any attempt to modify or alter his story would be futile as the footage presents undeniable evidence. Lying now would only make matters worse. So in watching the video surveillance, some of this video surveillance has audio with it, too. Mhm. Okay. Um and you know, I'm watching this video surveillance and and the things that you're telling me, a lot of it adds up. All right. But there are a few things that aren't. Okay. Okay. Like um Michael was leaving leaving. I didn't know he was leaving. Michael was walking away from in the direction of Riley's mom's house where her little brother was. So he's he's walking away um and passes that area and Riley chases him down. Okay? All right. So Riley's chasing him down and she starts swinging on him something fierce. And she's she's going to town. All right. And at this point, I see you coming up. Okay? You got the gun in your hand. All right. But he's backed up against the car. He can't go anywhere. He was in the middle of the street, officer. I at that point or at a at a bit later point. But, he's backing up. All right. And then, all right. You know, she breaks away a little bit. And you come toe-to-toe with him. And you guys are in in the middle of the street, not by the car, in the middle of the street. You guys are toe-to-toe. Almost like chest bumping. Uh what was it? Squawking at each other. Yeah, we were yelling at each other, but I wasn't getting in his face. I was trying to get Riley to leave him alone and go home, man. All right. And I I'm I'm going off of I know. You You know what I'm saying? And And I'm interpreting And like I said, you know, a lot of the stuff you're telling me adds up, but what I see stuff like that it's I have to interpret it a different way. Um and so, I mean, you guys come toe-to-toe and you're squawking at each other. All right. And you know, he takes a pop at you. All right. And then, raise the gun up. Boom. Right in the head Right in the face. All right. And see, here Here's what I'm thinking. Just, you know, uh watching that video, Austin. Okay, here here's the thing, all right? Um At at at that point, okay? Why did you decide to use your firearm? It just didn't register at the time. I was scared and I acted. I mean, because you you told me that you've been in fights before, okay? And And And And here's the thing, we've all been in fights before. Okay? That you know, Detective Blair, myself, you we've all been in fistfights before. All right. But, at this point, all right? You know, it rose to a level of you you where where you introduced a firearm to, you know, a a basic fight. I know. And And let me And hear me out because I I have seen this quite a bit. I sat down with quite a few people, you know, who've been in your situation. I talked to them. All right. And I know that there are good people out there and you seem like a good family man. That's just what I wanted to my kids to have, honestly. All right. And I think at at that point, there was a a a a level that had risen up in you, okay? That you just wanted this to stop. You just, you know what? Michael, you know what? He had sex with your your your girlfriend. I didn't kill him, man. I didn't All right. And you just wanted him to stop and be out of your life. All right. But, when you raise the gun up, it's it's You You said you know gun safety, right? Yeah, I do. And so, you can agree with me that I mean, by by you and Riley chasing down the street after him as he's trying to flee, all right? That's there's the That's right at that point, there's no threat to you or Riley or your family or your home. There's no threat at that point. There's no immediate and imminent threat there. And so, there's only one thing that I can think of is that it's just And you you've been dealing with this for 2 weeks. All right. He slept with your wife and now he's coming back around to, you know, bother you and your wife. Just wanted to be Listen. Be done with it. All right. It's just something in that momentary 1 second. Because afterwards, you stand over him. Look at him. Several seconds. Did you say anything? No, I I didn't know what to do. And then you slowly walk away. I went to go call 911. While Austin's initial story was riddled with inconsistencies, at least he's now facing the truth, unlike his partner, Riley. My biggest concern is that I don't want this looking like you're covering something up and like this is a murder. I'm not I'm not trying So, you need to really take a second and think about what happened. And be completely honest with me because everything I'm asking you, I already pretty much have the answers. So, I just need to hear your accounts of it. He kept screaming and yelling and then he screamed and yelled at Austin, telling Austin to shoot him. Telling Austin to shoot him, to kill him. Then a few times he said, "Put the gun down and just fight me. Come get these ones." Um What does that mean? Come get these ones? Come get these ones. Oh, fight. Okay. Um Yelling that. He came back to the window, started yelling at me and swearing and that's when I walked outside. Like when I walked outside is when he started walking away. And in that time I was just going to my mom's. I was just I just wanted to go I wanted to go to my mom's and I didn't realize at first that he was gone. That way until he started yelling at me. He's yelling about burning the house down, the kids and yelling at me and all that. I don't remember some things. He's going to burn my kids's house down. And I swung at him. I stopped myself from hitting him. All right. And at the time I loved him as a boyfriend. I should have said loved me as my best friend. All right. So, I didn't hit him then. So, now that we agree letting it go. I didn't almost hit him. I was scared. And so, I let go and it dropped and it broke. And I think after that, like after I did that, my hands kept going after I dropped it. I think I hit him then on accident. But, I'm 100% sure cuz everything's not All of it's foggy. And it felt like he hit me. So, I hit him. I tried to hit him. I don't hit him hard. Okay. I tried and then he told I thought I felt him hit me again and I stopped and I turned around. I turned back and I saw him hit Austin in the face and I just turned around again. I heard the gunshot and I screamed. Like as soon as I heard it, I screamed. I felt like that. I just screamed. I ran back to the house, screaming. I told Riley to call 911. At first, I started my car and then I I didn't think I could go anywhere. There's no way I could go anywhere. Mhm. Didn't even My keys were still in the ignition of my car. No. Just auto paperwork. Got out of my car, said to Austin, "Put your gun down on the porch." And I walked out there with him. He's crying the whole time. And I got scared. I didn't even thought he would do something something like that, but as soon as he hit him, he had to. In this single clip, you'll witness the Riley's emotional range in real calculated acts and a disturbing sense of self-importance. Why do you think he had to? Why didn't he just hit him back? Shove him away. Why did he go down there in the first place? Cuz I told him to go. Have you ever hit someone? Me? Yeah. Yeah. I've I've Which No, and the reason I'm asking this a few fights. Um So, if you were to get in a fight with somebody and then someone shot you because you hit somebody, is that I mean, if it's okay if I If I was not fighting this girl and she just walked up to me and hit me in the face and I had a gun, I'm not going to lie, I probably wouldn't shoot her cuz I don't even like to hold guns cuz that's not Yeah. my skill set. Um I am very clumsy. It's not all right. Probably not right for me to even have a gun in my hands. That's probably not even right for me to have a BB gun in my hands. Tell me about Austin and his gun. He It sounds like he's got the gun with him all the time. He does. Does he shoot Does he shoot a lot? Okay. He's taken it to the range twice. Okay. Does he always have it with him? No. When he goes out there and sometimes when he like When he goes out, um like If we go out to the park with the kids, he has it open carry. That's what I said he can do. Yeah. Walking out with the kids, he has it. And does he I didn't know if he was a felon. Is he Is he enabled to get it or He's not a felon. His All of his guns are legal. They're all in his name. Okay. But, um open carry or something like that. Yeah. Open carry, you're allowed to I don't know about gun laws. But, um I mean, honestly, if if I had big enough balls to even put my gun in my hand along with it, if some girl that was okay, I mean, if I was a dude and I saw my kids' mother hit dude, saw him hit her back, I probably would have wanted to shoot him right then. But that's just An anger thing. That's just uh that's my kids' mom. Yeah, a respect. Now You don't hit a girl. Right. Now as soon as he would have hit me, I probably would have done the same thing. that's why I just wanted to ask I just wanted to get a feel for her. guns. Um Yeah. Like I like them for the fact of okay, you have it. So if someone breaks in, you have it to protect me and my kids. If we're out and someone tries to do something, you have it to protect me and my kids. Yeah. That's what I tell myself cuz I don't like guns. Yeah, I'm not a racist dog person. How long have you and Michael been friends? I've met him Did you meet Austin Did you meet Michael through Austin cuz they were friends? Okay, and then you guys got really close as well. He was over at our house every single day. Oh, so you guys are all just pretty much he's best friends with both of you guys. We were all best friends but Until 2 weeks ago. Austin cheated on me and his girlfriend hit him in the face. Who is that? Michael's girlfriend hit him. So he broke up with her. I broke up with Austin and we kind of just clicked cuz we were best friends and we knew everything about each 2 weeks ago. Yeah, we'd be there for each other and everything. Were you I mean, is are you Do you ever feel afraid of Michael? I mean, did he ever make If he ever put you in a position where you worried that he's going to hurt you? a few times like I have life. Yeah, I'm only 28. I have friends. I don't know I don't like to be up on specific things and others but all the time so that I can't. Yeah. Cuz he would do it last night. I went with him and I literally called my mom every day cuz I can't get out. Yeah. Well, I tried to text him back like that. His girlfriend got Austin at my house and freaked out on me. I was at my mom's. Yeah. After an hour of him saying I'm sorry, please stop yelling at me, it was all good. That's what makes me nervous cuz I'm not a fan like I told you earlier I'm not a fan of yelling. Yeah. Has he ever hit you, Michael? No. Never hit me. Has he ever hit Austin? That I don't know. Okay, but you've never seen him. You've been around him sounds like quite a bit. mad enough he was in my car and I watched my one of my friends and he he didn't like her cuz I thought she was actually you know, I sometimes like girls. I don't like this girl. I don't really like her. She was one of my friends. And he started freaking out. He started head butting my dash in my car. But never you. Hit me? No. Okay. Acted like it. Told me he really wanted to hit me. But did he? No. Never hit me. So you've never I mean, you you were more concerned So what I Correct me if I'm wrong. You're concerned more just his behavior not violence towards you. towards me just his behavior in general. He has issues like Sounds like he has some control maybe. freak out on his grandma. Um when he was with his ex Savannah, I actually Savannah called me and me and Savannah never got along. But she called me and said Michael's freaking out. Scared. I don't want to call the cops on him but he won't let me leave his house. Can you come get him? Can you go help me out? I drove over there, you know. He's beating up on the hood of her car trying to break her windows, trying to get her out of her car, screaming at her, yelling at her. She just wanted to leave. He wouldn't let leave. It took me an hour and a half to be able to get him to get off of her car to let her leave and not argue at my house. I didn't like him. Yeah. I get it. So But I knew that he was making me very uneasy so I know he had his girlfriend even though you were mad. Absolutely. So While Austin is acutely aware of the gravity of the situation, Riley doesn't seem to realize just how serious it is. And so I'm just saying what we got what we see in the video and I'm trying to enhance the audio right now. It looks like I'm a killer. I know what it looks like. But here here's the here's the thing, Austin. All right. Uh you know, to Why not Why didn't you leave the gun at home? Did you want to scare him? That was the main thing. Yeah, I just wanted him to go. I wanted him to stop. I wanted Riley to stop. I don't have my guns to hurt people. I got them to protect and keep away from my family. That's it. I I'm not a killer, dude. I'm not. I'm a family man. I got two God, I up. I'm sorry, kids. I'm going to jail, aren't I? Yeah, I'm going I'm going to jail, aren't I? Yes. Is there anything I can do? How long am I going to go to jail? How long am I going to miss my kids' lives if I go to jail? That's that's not for us to determine, okay? And so that's why you know what it This isn't like you didn't lure him over there, did you? No. You didn't call him. You didn't have you know, so you didn't lure him over there. No, dude. I literally got off work and went home. He just showed up. Yes. All right. And and what I'm taking from it is you know, I I take everything and I put it into one basket and I I analyze it. And I'm going through this. I'm looking at Listen, you're a good family man, okay? However, this guy had sex with your wife, all right? You cut him off 2 weeks ago and then he shows back up. All right. You're still pissed at him but you're just trying to chase him off. Yes. You're trying to chase him off. Yes. Okay. And then when he hits you, in that moment you're it's just this guy has been a problem, all right? And not even thinking about it. It's just a reaction. Boom. I mean, is it Is that honest and fair to say? Yeah. Because I mean It was not my intention to cause him any harm. But you didn't lure you didn't lure him there but in that in that minute or in that second right there after he hits you, okay? I I get it. I get pissed. I'm I get pissed when you know, somebody hits me. All right. I get it. You can really see the difference in how Austin and Riley are reacting to the situation. Austin, despite everything, shows some remorse. It's clear in his body language and tone. But Riley is on a different tangent. Instead of showing remorse and giving herself a chance to get out of this mess smoothly, she's making things difficult for her by endorsing her anger. This raises a bigger question. Was she really a smart manipulator? If she was, why she making choices that only tighten the noose around her neck? So when this happened that night, I mean, were you worried when he showed up to your house that When he broke the window, I completely like almost went into a full anxiety attack. Cuz I'm not used to that. It's like the look on his face scared me. Like I was I'm not good with silence, not good with yelling. I haven't been in my whole life. He scared me. I was scared. That's why I wanted to go to my mom's cuz I was scared. Why didn't you wait for him to leave before you went in there? Cuz I didn't know if he was leaving or not and I kind of just tried to stop paying attention to it. I didn't want to hear it cuz it was making me worse. It was like I couldn't breathe and I mean, you were not afraid of him enough to where you I mean, you chased him down the street. hit him. I had a glass thing in my hand and I was very mad. He said he was going to burn my kids' house down. So you were Yeah, so you weren't in fear of him. You were just more mad at the words he was saying. At then at that point, yeah. But then I kind of was afraid myself cuz I'm not like that. Okay. And that's not me. Yeah. That's not you. He made you He brought out a bad side of you that you don't I hadn't seen that side of me. I was like 10 years old. Yeah. I tried, you know. I was like He said really bad things to me and that's why I didn't hit him. I tried. Try to keep that in mind. I'm not a mean person. I don't I don't think you are at all. I think you were just put in a hard situation that night. Did Were you worried Were you I mean, while you and Michael were when you were chasing him down the street and when you guys were fighting at the in front of that car there at the entrance, were you worried that he was going to kill you? Or were you just that he was going to hurt me, not that he was going to I I'm not afraid of death. Okay. I've never worried that anyone was going to kill me because I know at some point in my life I'm going to die and I know that's just that time. My heart is an internal clock that's going to stop when it wants to. Well, I'm going to focus on his actions. Was he doing anything that made you feel like you were going to be killed? he was looking at me like he was he was just looking at his wedding cut like biting on his lip doing like this like his hands were going and I just don't know what to do. Were you injured at all? Um my leg hurt a little bit, but I already have a bad knee. From what? Um I used to play football. No, I for what it hurt from but I think Um it popped out of place I think when I hit the car. Okay. It just popped out I think. But it wasn't anything from when he you said he swung and it hit your cheek, there wasn't anything like that? Okay. I don't I have gotten hit in the face So none of his No, what he other than his look, he wasn't doing anything that was Cuz I'll be honest one he went to hit me But you didn't think the hit was going to kill you. But I didn't know. Okay. You can see that this isn't the first time Riley has been involved in a conflict. While accidents happen is a common excuse, the more important observation would be why these incidents seem to occur around Riley. Do you have Are you I mean, are you on probation, parole, any wants, warrants right now? I'm on probation. Okay. I have a bench warrant. For what? We got in a fight at work. Okay. A girl hit me with a box. So I picked her up on her head. Picked her up. Threw her on the ground. Okay. So you got a warrant right now though? Where at? Federal The cop The cop that I was in the car with said that they weren't picking anyone on bench warrant. Okay. Said that they weren't going to take me. Okay, I'm going to check on that. I don't want to promise you that. I yeah. But I'm going to check on it for you. Um cuz I don't want to lie to you. You've been I've We've been honest. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm trying to just get you My head's just going Yeah, absolutely. miles But like I said, that's why right now you are you're not free to leave right now. You are in our custody. So that's why I want to make sure you you understood your rights and that everything is There's just a lot lot that happened tonight that I really you really needed to work out. It's important to note that while Riley may have been the catalyst or mastermind behind the situation, she didn't pull the trigger. Austin did. So despite Riley's manipulative role, the blame largely falls on Austin. Now, pay attention to Austin and Riley's behaviors when they're left alone in the room. Their reaction in isolation might reveal more about their true feelings than any words they've said so far. Ben. God damn it, Ben. I was loving the color. Damn. Woohoo. Woohoo. Woohoo. Oh, no buddy. Benny. Oh. Oh. Oh. Now everything boils down to one crucial question. Did Austin plan this on his own or was he just a puppet in Riley's game? It's not even that he just hit you or that he came over and broke your window, but this is your your best friend for 5 years. You said brother. Yeah. This is a betrayal beyond any comparison that he would do this to you. That he would sleep with your girlfriend. I wasn't even worried about that. Riley told me if I touched him, if I did anything, that I would go about losing my kids and I wasn't going to do that. So I stood my ground, took that to the chin like a man and held my for 2 weeks. I didn't say I didn't talk to him. I didn't do nothing. I had zero interaction with him. And and and that's good. Like my partner said, you didn't lure him in, but those emotions they bottled up and they festered. And I don't blame you one bit for being angry with him. And you chose not to do anything. But I think that just the cork popped on that bottle and it came up. And and so sometimes our emotions get the best of us and we make snap decisions based off of those emotions. And we say that that's what happened here, a snap decision not well thought out and just a snap decision like that of anger and this happened. Yes, you would agree with me there. It was not premeditated in any way, shape or form, no sir. But you let your anger get the best of you. Like my partner said, those bottled up actions, bottled up thoughts. Right? Yes. At this point, Austin seems to have bottled everything up. He's not responding, showing signs of inner turmoil. While he isn't directly blaming Riley, it's clear that her involvement has placed her in serious trouble nonetheless. The truth about his role in this might be more complicated than it seems. Um well, what's going to happen is I they just wanted to confirm you are going to have to go to jail for your warrant, okay? Um So Why didn't the cop tell me I wasn't then? Uh I don't I don't know who told you that or what, but that I was in the car with told me I wasn't going to jail. That they don't that they weren't taking people for Well taking So what he was probably telling you is that typically they don't take people to jail on a bench They weren't taking me to jail on a bench warrant. But They weren't taking me to jail on a bench warrant. Yeah. But with the circumstances of this, might as well get it taken care of. You'll just go you'll go back in front of a judge for it. Tomorrow? Probably. Uh it's still morning. I don't want to guarantee when. Um but you'll have to appear in front of a judge for All right. Um and then what else will probably end up happening um just because of what happened um between you and Michael you're probably going to be charged with assault and battery, which is just kind of like what's happening on probation right now. Okay. Um and the reason I'm telling you all this is cuz you've been honest with me and I want you to me to be honest with you. I'm not here to There's no secrets here. Any questions you have I'll answer. That's why I'm being up front with you about having to go to jail on your probation violation. Um Do you know what Austin can turn We don't know yet. Like I've been in here, my partners have been talking to him and there's a lot of work to do on this. I mean, this is a very very serious matter. And someone lost their life. No matter the reason, someone the loss of life is is a devastating In the end, both Austin and Riley were arrested for the murder of their friend, Michael Tripp. Austin Green, 23, pled guilty to second-degree murder in February 2023 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Riley Young, 20, pled no contest to felonious assault and received a much lighter sentence, 1 year in jail and 3 years on probation. Thank you for watching. If you like this type of content and want to support the channel, there's a Patreon link in the description below. You'll be able to watch videos with zero ads and some that are too controversial for YouTube and you'll be supporting the channel at the same time. Thanks again for sticking around and I'll see you in the next video.