Home
cover of episode Custody Battle Turned FAILED Murder Attempt: The Survival Story of Nicki Lenway

Custody Battle Turned FAILED Murder Attempt: The Survival Story of Nicki Lenway

2024/1/18
logo of podcast True Crime with Kendall Rae

True Crime with Kendall Rae

Chapters

Shownotes Transcript

Stay farm and DJ Dramos from Life as a Gringo. No making smarter financial moves today secures a financial freedom for a successful tomorrow. Now we have a level of privilege that our parents never had. So what do we do with it, right? How do we utilize the opportunities that we have that they don't, right? And a lot of that is educating ourselves, educating ourselves on how to not make the same mistakes they did.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. State Farm, proud sponsor of My Cultura Podcast Network.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. I am so happy to have you joining me today as we discuss another case. And if you're new, then welcome. Today, I have a absolutely wild case to share with you all. We're going to be talking about Nicole Lenway, who was a crime scene investigator who survived a failed murder attempt. And it is just an insane story.

Nikki's story is a story of survival. It's a story of a woman who fought for years for her child. And I am just so inspired by Nicole Lenway. I think she is such a tough person and such a great role model. And I'm happy to share her story with you today. And I'm going to start off here by going back to 2012 when Nicole first met him.

Tim Omaker. Tim was an instructor and taekwondo master at World Taekwondo Academy in White Bear Lake, which is just north of St. Paul, Minnesota. And it was here at the studio that Tim and Nikki first met. And the way Nikki describes them meeting is that she was not super interested in him at first, but he really pursued her. He was very charming, very sweet, and

And eventually, they ended up in a relationship. And that relationship really developed quickly because a little over a year later in early 2014, they moved in together. And they continued dating for the next year or so. But things started to go south

pretty quickly. Their relationship, like I said, may have started out fine, but it didn't take long for Tim to start showing his true colors. Not only was he known to flirt and entertain the idea of other women, he also became aggressive and violent. And it got so bad that Nikki even says one time when they had a really big argument, Tim grabbed her by her neck,

and slammed her up against a wall. And friends also say that on top of that violence, Tim was also an incredibly jealous person and was almost always on the verge of fighting with Nikki. And I was listening to an interview with her and she talked a lot about feeling trapped. Like she knew she should have gotten out of the relationship, but...

As many of you out there unfortunately know, it can be really hard to get out of an abusive relationship. Tim just always had a way of getting inside her brain and it became extremely difficult for her to leave. And in 2015, she did get the courage to finally leave and Tim left.

literally dragged her back into the house by her ponytail. Thankfully, even after that, she managed to get up and leave the house, but sadly, that would not be the end of their relationship. It was the end of their romantic relationship, but not the end of their contact with each other. And that's because just after one month of moving out of the house and breaking up with Tim, Nikki found out that she was pregnant.

And when Tim found out that Nikki was pregnant with his child, he pressured her to terminate the pregnancy. Now, that is not what Nikki wanted to do. She had always wanted a child and she already felt a connection. She did not want to let Tim control her anymore and she wanted to move forward with her pregnancy. And so on June 20th, 2016, Callahan Omaker was born, Nikki's first son, and she was overjoyed.

Now, there has been a lot of discussion over why Nikki decided to give her son Tim's last name, but that's the decision that she made. And in the beginning, she was very hopeful that even though the two of them were no longer together, that they could co-parent peacefully. And I'm sure that was sort of wishful thinking, but when you've just had a baby, wishful thinking is the only way. ♪

COVID-19 viruses like me change to fool your immune system and make you sick. But updated vaccines help protect you. Stay up to date on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. Sponsored by Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity and Progress.

Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere. Play on the train, play at the store, play at home, play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play.

Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games, including online slots, bingo, slingo, and more. Live the Chumba life at chumbacasino.com. BGW group, no purchase necessary. Void web prohibited by law. See terms and conditions 18 plus.

And of course, Nikki was a working single mom, so she felt that not only would it be great for Callahan to have his father active in his life, but it would also be helpful to her. Like I said in the beginning of the episode, Nikki worked as a crime scene investigator for the Minneapolis Police Department, which first of all is so cool, and second of all, I'm sure you can imagine that it kept her very busy with work.

unpredictable working hours. Now, to be clear, Nikki was definitely her son's primary caretaker, but she did allow for Tim to come and be involved in his life as much as he wanted to. But the thing is, Tim didn't seem to have much of an interest.

in being involved in his son's life, which, God, is just heartbreaking. I can't imagine. And so, Tim often passed on the responsibility of watching Callahan to his new roommate slash girlfriend, Colleen Larson. Back in 2015, when Nikki moved out of Tim's place, Colleen had just turned 18, and she moved in with Tim right away. And at first, it was said that she was just his roommate, but eventually,

eventually the two of them did end up dating. And when it came to Tim and women in general, many people describe him as

as a womanizer. And how do I say this? He sort of had a revolving door of women in his life all the time. A neighbor of his actually said that Tim used to have a purple porch light on his house. And when that light was on, women knew they could come into his house, which I think speaks for itself. So putting the pieces together, Colleen is living with Tim and

and Tim and Nikki are supposed to be co-parenting. But like I said, Tim didn't seem to have much interest in being a dad to his son Callahan, so oftentimes Colleen would step up and take care of Callahan for him.

And quite frankly, Nikki wasn't too concerned about this at first. She did feel like Colleen genuinely loved Callahan, that she took good care of him. So if she ended up being the one to babysit every once in a while, it wasn't the end of the world.

But that all changed in the summer of 2017 when Nikki met her new boyfriend, Donovan Ford. Donovan was a fellow MPD officer and once they began dating, they quickly fell in love. And he seemed to be everything that Tim wasn't and everything that Nikki wanted in a partner. He loved her and he loved Callahan and treated him as his own.

And after years of Tim not being interested in his own son's life, this was a breath of fresh air. Nikki now had someone who actually cared. He was a kind, good-looking guy. He had it all together. And I...

And I bet you can guess how that made Tim feel. He was pissed. He felt threatened. And quite frankly, he was a rage-filled, jealous person. And seeing Nikki happy with someone who could give her all the things that he never could turned him into a monster.

And so from 2017 to 2022, Tim made it his personal mission to destroy Nikki, to destroy her life, and he didn't care who it hurt along the way. In fact, I would argue that he wanted to hurt people. And get this, in the span of those five years, Tim reported Nikki to her job and to Child Protective Services regularly.

over 10 times. He reported that Nikki and Donovan were physically and sexually assaulting Callahan, which resulted in several visits...

from social workers over the years. On several occasions, he reported Donovan to the Minneapolis Police Department, his own employers, about these abuse allegations, these false abuse allegations. And Tim would harass Donovan. He would text him. He would call him and leave voicemails saying that he was destroying his family. Bro, what family?

I mean, you abused Nicky, you didn't seem to want your child before he was born, and then after he was born, you didn't seem to want to spend much time with him. And then you have the nerve to make up all these false allegations of abuse, and now you're calling them your family? If you really think that they're your family after all that, then, dude, you're just a Lulu. And I'm sure it's obvious, but I want to be clear here, CPS found no evidence to suggest that Callahan was being abused.

But that didn't stop Tim, of course. He eventually decided to file for custody of Callahan, even though he seemed to have no interest in him until after Nikki began dating somebody else. In fact, Nikki ended up filing an order of protection against him because she was afraid of him and afraid of what he was capable of. And I don't blame her. Oh, and also back in May of 2018, Tim ended up filing a police report saying

saying that Nikki had run over his foot with a car and he pressed charges against her for domestic assault. And they even took the dispute to court and...

No surprise here, but within a matter of minutes, the jury found her not guilty because she wasn't guilty of any of this. Not the domestic assault, not the abuse, none of it. And luckily, the judge agreed. And in fall of 2020, the custody case for Callahan went to trial and the judge awarded Nikki sole legal and physical custody. And Tim was granted one supervised visit a week and that was it.

So Nikki and Donovan continued to raise Callahan and did their best to move on from Tim's bullshit. But it didn't last long, and I'm not sure exactly what changed, but in January of 2022, Tim's custody agreement changed. Instead of supervised visits once a week, he was now granted unsupervised parenting time. Okay, round two. Name something that's not boring. A laundry? Ooh, a book club. Computer solitaire, huh?

Ah, sorry. We were looking for Chumba Casino. That's right. ChumbaCasino.com has over 100 casino-style games. Join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. ChumbaCasino.com. No purchases necessary. Full rent prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply. See website for details.

Get ready to twist and shout! From now to September 28th, MGM National Harbor invites you to journey through time with our latest kiosk game series, Retro Riches! Sign up for MGM rewards to play and explore iconic games, settings, and prizes straight out of the jukebox diner era. Win up to $25,000 in free play daily and entries into our Pops legendary card drawing on September 28th.

Learn more at mgmnationalharbor.com. Must be 21. Please play responsibly. For help, visit mdgamblinghelp.org or 1-800-GAMBLER. But of course, he didn't take this opportunity to build a relationship with his son. Tim only had one single unsupervised visit with Callahan because during that one visit, he coached his son to lie to a social worker and say that Donovan was abusing him.

Callahan was five years old at this point and straight up told the social worker that his dad told him to lie. And with that, Tim lost his privileges to be alone with his son. And on top of that, his supervised visits now required to take place at a legally monitored family center called FamilyWise. Now, FamilyWise is a center located in Minneapolis that offers supervised parenting services where parents and children can safely connect.

They also make it so that the parents have the choice not to interact with one another. There are separate exits and entrances as well as separate parking lots if parents wish to not see each other during the exchange process. And I think this is pretty amazing. And I really appreciate that they, you know, focus on the well-being of not only the child,

but also the parents. But sadly, in April of 2022, there was nothing that they could do to protect Nikki. On that day, around 7.30 p.m., Nikki parked her car in one of the parenting parking lots and started walking towards the entrance. And meanwhile, inside the center, Tim was having one of his supervised visits with Callahan.

And before she could even make it to the door, someone dressed in all black ran up behind her, pointed their gun, and shot her two times in the neck and the arm. And within just a matter of seconds, the adrenaline from having just been shot hit her. And miraculously, Nikki managed to pull out her phone and dial 911. But when the dispatcher picked up, she could barely speak. She was trying to say that she had just been shot, but no words were coming out.

However, Nikki wasn't alone for long, and the help of a Good Samaritan quite literally saved her life. Emily Clancy was just driving home from dinner with friends when she reached the intersection across from Family Wise and

And while she was waiting at the light, she looked up and witnessed the entire thing. She saw the assailant running up behind Nikki, pointing the gun and shooting. And she watched as this person ran away in the direction that they came from. Emily immediately sped through the intersection and luckily was able to reach Nikki right on time.

She immediately took over the 911 call and explained everything that she had witnessed and got Nikki inside of her car where she applied pressure to her wounds with a piece of clothing. Emily says that she remembers telling Nikki that everything was going to be okay and she did her best to keep her calm and reassure her until emergency services arrived.

And because of how quickly and calmly she reacted, she quite literally saved Nikki's life. And I think she is just amazing for jumping into action that quick. Now, as for Nikki, she was able to maintain consciousness until EMS arrived and even walked hand in hand with first responders to the ambulance where she was then put on a stretcher.

I was just totally blown away by this. The fact that with such severe injuries, she was still able to walk to the ambulance. She's just such a badass. But once she was finally in the care of EMS and laid out on the stretcher, she did eventually lose consciousness. Nikki was, of course, rushed to the nearest hospital and was in critical condition immediately.

for the next several hours. And she suffered a perforated lung, had severe damage to her vocal cords, and had one of the bullets lodged between two of her ribs. And the bullet that struck her neck was found to be only one millimeter away from a major artery. So she got really, really lucky. And so doctors worked through the rest of the night to try and save her life. And meanwhile, officers and investigators got to work right away at the scene. ♪

With Luckyland Slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. This is your captain speaking. We've got clear runway and the weather's fine, but we're just going to circle up here a while and get lucky. No, no, nothing like that. It's just these cash prizes add up quick. So I suggest you sit back, keep your tray table upright, and start getting lucky.

Play for free at LuckyLandSluts.com. Are you feeling lucky? No purchase necessary. VGW grip. Void where prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

We all want to see our loved ones living their best lives, but it's hard when they're struggling with drugs and alcohol. For nearly 70 years, Karen has made it possible for so many to imagine a life beyond addiction. We combine advanced neuroscience with life-changing care. Visit caron.org. Karen, where the science of treatment meets the heart of care. Now in network with most insurances. That's caron.org.

In the Family Wise parking lot, three spent bullet casings were found as well as splotches of Nikki's blood that led from where she got shot to where she got into Emily's car. And while some officers were working to preserve the scene, other officers went into Family Wise to speak with Tim.

inside the center. Tim was told about the shooting and, of course, denied having any connection to it. And quite frankly, the spotlight wasn't completely on him that night. I mean, first of all, Tim was inside the center. That was confirmed during the shooting. So it couldn't have possibly been him. And second of all, there were two other possibilities. Nikki could have been the victim of an armed robbery gone wrong or, as

As Tim suggested, she could have been shot by the person who he claimed was stalking her. Remember how I said that Nikki was a crime scene investigator? Well, according to Tim, she had recently worked on a case and soon after she started feeling like someone was watching her. He says she stopped using social media, changed her last name to her middle name, and even had him bring his shotgun over to her house. And based on this story he was telling...

He told officers that he thinks it's possible that whoever was stalking her may have been the person who shot her. Now, investigators weren't completely sold on this story, of course, but...

They did decide to consider it in the grand scheme of their investigation, but they were also going to keep Tim in mind. In fact, right before they were done speaking with him, they decided to ask Tim one final question. They wanted to know if the Jeep that he was driving was his only car. And he said no. He had two cars. He had his Jeep, and then he also had a Dodge Challenger. And this becomes important later on.

Now, thankfully, by the next morning, Nikki regained consciousness. And she was by no means in good condition, but she was able to communicate with investigators and tell them that she did not think this was a random attack. And even though Tim obviously had a rock-solid alibi for where he was during the shooting, we know he was in the child care center with Callahan,

She just couldn't shake the idea that he was somehow involved. And investigators soon believed her and had the evidence to prove it. Surveillance footage from Family Wise and the bank across the street from Family Wise captured the entire attack.

And even though it didn't show the attacker's face, it showed their getaway car. Whoever shot Nikki was driving a black Dodge Ram truck. And the truck was then captured on several additional surveillance cameras throughout the area. There was no license plate on the car and you couldn't see who was driving it, but that didn't seem to matter to investigators all that much. Because even though the truck was seemingly unrecognizable, investigators quickly learned that Tim, drumroll please,

had a black Dodge Ram truck. And I'm sure this doesn't surprise you much that Tim lied because clearly he's a liar and has made up many lies before. And he had lied about only owning two cars, his Jeep and a Dodge Challenger. When in reality, he owned a third car, a black Dodge Ram truck. And of course, it was an exact match to the car driven by the shooter. ♪

I'm Victoria Cash. Thanks for calling the Lucky Land Hotline. If you feel like you do the same thing every day, press 1. If you're ready to have some serious fun for the chance to redeem some serious prizes, press 2. We heard you loud and clear. So go to LuckyLandSlots.com right now and play over 100 social casino-style games for free. Get lucky today.

What?

Welcome to another round of Drawing Board or Miro Board. Today, we talk brainstorms with UX designer Brian. Let's go. First question. You thought you'd see everyone's idea in the team brainstorm, but you've got a grand total of one. Drawing Board or Miro Board? Drawing Board. In Miro, the team can add ideas now or later. And with Privacy Mode, we can keep them anonymous until they're good to share. Correct.

And

And he's wild. For a limited time, visit miro.com slash brainstorm now and get a free business plan trial to unlock even more brainstorming tools like private mode and voting. That's miro.com slash brainstorm now.

And so, not surprisingly, he was brought in for questioning once again. And all of this is honestly hilarious to me. But when he's brought in and he's shown the still images of the getaway vehicle, the black Dodge Ram truck, he says, sure, yeah, I do own a black Dodge Ram truck, but that is not my black Dodge Ram truck. He says that it can't be because homie has Superman decals on all the doors and he had his license plate on. So that's

that car doesn't have those things. So it couldn't have possibly been his. And he must have really thought these investigators were stupid or something because he thought it was so obvious that it couldn't have possibly been in his car without the decals and without the license plate as if someone couldn't have just removed them. And so investigators then asked if anyone else had access to the truck. And Tim said, yes.

his girlfriend Colleen. Well, according to Tim, she was the only other person with access to his truck, but...

made it clear to investigators that she is incapable of violence and never would have shot Nikki. They're not going to just take his word for this. So obviously their next step is to bring in Colleen for questioning. And when she was brought in, she not so surprisingly denied involvement in the shooting. She said she got home from work on the 20th, showered, and didn't leave home for the rest of the night. But did investigators believe her?

No, of course they didn't. So their next step was to bring in an FBI technology specialist. And he very quickly was able to disprove what Tim and Colleen were saying. Because here's the thing. Tim's truck had Wi-Fi. And like a cell phone, its location could be tracked. And when it was tracked, do you know where it was the night of the shooting? It was outside the FamilyWise Center.

Yeah. Yeah, it was. Data showed that Tim's truck left the Taekwondo studio on the afternoon of April 20th and went back to his home. And then, just after 7pm, the truck left his home and headed directly to Family Wise. And knowing that Tim had a rock-solid alibi and Colleen was the only other person with access to the car, well, one plus one equals two. And on April 28th, Colleen was arrested on charges of first-degree attempted murder. Their

Their house was also raided and bullet casings found at the home, of course, were a match to bullet casings found at the scene. But of course, her arrest wasn't the end of the investigation because they had to find out if Tim was involved. And I'll just get right to the point because I know you guys know, Tim was involved. Surveillance footage was taken just hours before the shooting that showed Tim driving his truck through the KFC drive-thru. And what do you know? That's

That surveillance footage showed the truck without the Superman decals and without the license plate, showing that Tim was aware that they weren't there. And so they would argue that Tim was the one who altered the appearance of the truck. So just like his girlfriend, Tim was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder and aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact. And once they were both behind bars...

Colleen just came clean. She admitted that they conspired to murder Nikki and that Tim was behind the whole thing. Shocker. She said that Tim convinced her that Nikki was abusing their son and the only way to save him was to get her out of the picture completely. And Colleen also said that Tim had disposed of the gun after the shooting, but she said she didn't know what exactly he did with it.

Two people are now facing first-degree attempted murder charges in an alleged plot targeting a Minneapolis police crime scene investigator. The victim is 33-year-old Nikki Lenway. The suspects are her 41-year-old ex-boyfriend, Tim Amaker, and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Colleen Larson. Carol Evans, Lou Raguse joins us now from the newsroom to break down the new details. Hi, Lou.

Irene and Julie, police believe the 24 year old woman was the one who pulled the trigger while Tim Amaker hatched the scheme to murder Lenway, the mother of his child. Well, Lenway survived and she's still in the hospital. So Tim Amaker's trial began on November 3rd, 2022, and his defense hinged on the fact that there was no direct evidence of his involvement. Unlike Colleen, there was quite literally no smoking gun in his hands.

And even though cases of circumstantial evidence are harder to get a conviction, it's not impossible. And during the trial, Nikki took the stand and testified to the years of abuse that she faced at the hands of Tim and how he had the motive and capability to do what he did. She bravely sat in court and faced the man who tried to get her killed

And I cannot commend her enough for that strength, because that would just be so incredibly difficult. And luckily, in the end, the jury believed her, and Tim was found guilty on all charges. We have some breaking news tonight on a story we've been following since the beginning. In the past 20 minutes, we've received the verdict in the trial of Timothy Amaker. He's accused of ordering a hit on his ex-girlfriend, MPD forensic scientist Nicole Lenway.

Diva Raming joins us from the courthouse with more on this story. Diva?

Well guys, this trial has been underway for the last three weeks, but the jury wasted no time deliberating this afternoon, taking just over an hour to reach that unanimous guilty verdict. Now Timothy Amaker is guilty of aiding and abetting an attempted murder in the first degree, as well as aiding an offender. The judge ordered that he be returned to jail without bail, and his sentencing date is set for January 18th with these two guilty verdicts. And now he is looking at about 18 years

in prison. And as for his girlfriend, Colleen Larson, she also has a trial set for January. Guys, back to you. All right. Thanks so much, Devon. Him sentencing hearing took place in January of 2023. And only then did he speak out for the first time. And my God, my eyes could not roll back harder when I first heard what he had to say. Not only did he reiterate his innocence,

But he also tried to make it seem like he was the victim in all of this. At no point did he take accountability or express remorse for his actions. And that was clear to everyone. And Nikki was also able to speak during his sentencing hearing. And she explained that Tim needed to be put away for a long time, not just for her safety, but also for the safety of others. I fear for anyone who stands in his way.

as he has the unlimited capacity to cause chaos and destruction to those he deems as adversaries. I ask that the court protect not only me, my son, and my family, but all of the others that could suffer from his past and future fury. And I'm happy to share that the judge agreed with Nikki and recognized that Tim was a danger to society. And in the end, the judge sentenced Tim to 18 years in prison, which...

Unfortunately, was the maximum sentence he could be given for his charges. I wish it could have been more. Well, the man convicted of trying to arrange the murder of his son's mother will spend more than a decade in prison. A jury found Timothy Amaker guilty of two crimes related to the shooting of a 33-year-old MPD forensic scientist. She survived and spoke in court today. WCCO's Jonah Kaplan was there.

You are hereby committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections for a total of 216 months. At least two thirds of that sentence shall be served in prison. 18 years, the maximum penalty sought and granted by a Hennepin County judge on Monday to Timothy Amaker, who was convicted of aiding and abetting an attempted murder. And then just four days later, Colleen Larson pleaded guilty. And just like Tim, she showed absolutely

absolutely no remorse for what she did. And in fact, since the shooting, she has only expressed love and admiration for him, even though he coerced her into killing someone. And I think Nikki's victim impact statement from Colleen's hearing is...

really powerful and says it all. So instead of telling you about her feelings on it, I'm going to let her do the talking. April 20th, 2022, a day that will change my life forever. A day that she, without hesitation, without a second thought, wanted to end my life despite the fact that she doesn't even know me. I'm a stranger to her who happens to be the mother of the child she wanted to claim and an ex-girlfriend of a partner she wants a future with.

She has admitted her intent and her eagerness to follow through with such violent and traumatizing actions that fateful day. She stood over me, which felt like only inches away, continuing in her attempts to end my life, even pursuing me after I fled from her. She has even admitted she had every intention of killing me. She was less than forthcoming, uninformative, and unhelpful in the investigation, prolonging our pain,

and our little sense of justice we might be able to receive in knowing the truth, the entire truth. Admitting guilt and showing remorse are two entirely different things. There has been no indication of remorse, only an admission of her actions. Given the evidence and being caught on camera, admitting guilt was essentially her only option. In her own words, she wasn't manipulated into such actions and wanted to do this on her own volition.

In either instance, manipulation or her own initiative is terrifying. She's either easily coerced into taking a stranger's life based on a false reality and lies, or she truly wanted to. This is scary for us and scary for society as a whole. Had she been successful, she would have taken a mother from her son, a wife from her husband, a daughter from her parents, a granddaughter, a friend, a coworker.

How callous and cold can someone be to claim to love a child and willingly try to take their mother from them? That isn't love. Because of her actions, my child has suffered trauma, fear, and heartbreak. The continued need for therapy is ever present in our lives as we try to pick up the pieces. We live in fear every day as she remains a threat. Her delusional fantasy and skewed sense of reality holds us hostage.

Her blind devotion and infatuation with Tim are sure signs of danger for myself or anyone standing in the way of their relationship or future. So what does this mean for our future? I have been informed that she is still in contact with Tim's inner circle, still communicating her love for him, even expressing she wants a future with him. Even today, almost a year later, she remains steadfast in her love for Tim.

She has supposedly been receiving therapy and uses this as an indication that she should be trusted and as a measure of trust for the court to imply she's bettering herself and shouldn't have to suffer sufficient consequences for her actions. It is my understanding she was in therapy at the time of this incident and yet she still made the decisions she did. I don't know what's worse, a vindictive ex who manipulates someone else to kill someone

or a vulnerable stranger who blindly agrees to take someone's life without a second thought and zero remorse. Both are incredibly dangerous, both are equally culpable, and I think their sentencing should reflect that.

Colleen Larson was ultimately sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison for the attempted murder of Nicole Lenway. Now, I am super happy to share that Nikki has made an incredible physical recovery. And not only that, she and Donovan have gotten married and they are expecting their first child together, a baby girl. And I've got to say that covering a case where the victim survives and justice is served is

is just the best. Of course, there is no happy ending in a case where someone was shot and went through so much trauma and abuse along the way, especially when a child was dragged into it. But at least this is a happier ending. She, Callahan, and of course, Donovan as well, are still recovering in a lot of ways from all of the trauma that they went through. But if anyone can get through this and come out better on the other side, it's them. And

And after learning about Nikki's story and all the effort she put into protecting her son above all else, I wanted to make an additional donation this week to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. So you will see that appear on our campaign page. And with that being said, I wanted to let you guys know that we have restocked our NECMEC hoodies.

I am loving this collection. I'm so glad you guys are too. I think this might be our last restock on this particular item. So if you're interested in grabbing that hoodie, it's available at kendallray.shop. And of course, as always, 100% of the proceeds from that item and from the neck mech collection will be donated directly to neck mech. I love this hoodie. I love the color. It's so warm. I've been wearing it so much since it first came out. This

This is the first hoodie that we have done for NECMEC and we did a print on the back, which is something we've never done. But it was really Nikki's strength as a mother that inspired me to give even more to NECMEC this week. And you all know how passionate I am about children and what NECMEC does for children and

And so I wanted to highlight a few statistics before we go about what NECMEC does. In 2022, NECMEC assisted law enforcement, families, and child welfare with 27,644 cases of missing children. And the overall recovery of NECMEC cases was 88%.

in 2022. The call center for NECMEC opened their toll-free line on October 19th, 1984, and since then, their hotline 1-800-THE-LOST has received more than 5 million calls. NECMEC provides a wide range of support services to victims and their families, and they have trained advocates that speak with thousands of individuals every year.

In 2022, NECMEC responded to 2,042 requests for mental health assistance and crisis support. And I forgot to mention this last week, but I wanted to thank you all for your donations that came into our campaign page towards the end of 2023. Thank you.

That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then stay safe out there.

Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino-style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So sign up now at chumbacasino.com.

That's ChumbaCasino.com. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to another round of Drawing Board or Miro Board. Today we discuss technical diagramming with systems architect Maya. Let's go. First question. You've spent 10 hours slogging over a sequence diagram that should have taken five. Drawing Board or Miro Board? Drawing Board.

And if I'm being honest, Miro would probably cut that time down by half. You know, with its AI tools and ready-to-go templates. Next, your diagrams become so bulky, it's more complex than the solar system. But all it takes is a few clicks and... It's Miro. I've used those technical shape packs way too many times. Now, the final question. Everyone's brought in, but you have to make all these tasks all the time.

We'll be right back.

Welcome to another round of Boardroom or Miro Board. Today we talk retrospectives with Agile coach Maria. Let's go. First question. You've spent two hours in a team retro, but the only input you've heard is Dave's. Boardroom or Miro Board? Boardroom. In Miro, Dave can't hog the space because everyone can add thoughts anonymously, online at the same time. Correct.

Next, you need the team to act on feedback fast. So you turn all those retro notes into Jira tasks. Miro all the way. And I can assign those tasks to teammates. You're nailing this. Now, you see hundreds of sticky notes from the retro. A real mess. But you organize them into five themes in just seconds. Miro, I basically get back an entire hour when I use its AI tools for clustering.

And she's done it. For a limited time, visit miro.com slash retro now for a free business plan trial to unlock advanced retro tools like private mode, voting, and two-way jira syncing. That's miro.com slash retro now. Welcome to another round of Drawing Board or Miro Board. Today, we talk brainstorms with UX designer Brian. Let's go. First question.

You thought you'd see everyone's idea in the team brainstorm, but you've got a grand total of one. Drawing board or Miro board? Drawing board. In Miro, the team can add ideas now or later. And with privacy mode, we can keep them anonymous until they're good to share. Correct. Next, you need the best way to explain your idea, but all you have is a few sticky notes. Drawing board or Miro board? Drawing board. In Miro, I could record videos, add text, images, links, and digital sticky notes, of course. Right again!

Now, you're looking for a past idea you thought was just genius. Only you could find... Oh, there it is. Drawing board or Miro. All our finished and unfinished work lives in one place. And he's one. For a limited time, visit Miro.com slash brainstorm now and get a free business plan trial to unlock even more brainstorming tools like private mode and voting. That's M-I-R-O dot com slash brainstorm now.