Murder In The Black

Steph and M.D.
  • 4.5 (493)
  • True Crime
  • Updated Weekly

M.D. and STEPH are sisters who share a passion for true crime. ​They are committed to highlighting stories within the black community that often do not receive the attention they deserve. This has led them to create a platform where these stories can be shared on a weekly basis through their podcast. Drawing on her legal expertise, M.D. provides the legal context of each case, while Steph delves into the details concerning the victims and occasionally the perpetrators. By tuning in weekly, listeners can expect to learn about lesser-known crime cases and gain a deeper understanding of the cases

MURDER IN THE BLACK

Get exclusive episodes, early access, and more

$4.99/mo or $19.99/yr after trial

  1. 6h ago

    The Death They Called a Suicide: Keith Warren

    Keith Warren was 19 when he was found hanging in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1986. Authorities ruled his death a suicide without performing an autopsy. His mother, Mary Couey, spent decades questioning that conclusion—and the investigation behind it. Steph examines the scene photographs, the clothing questions, the anonymous envelope delivered on Keith’s birthday, and the reported warning involving Mark Finley. She also follows Sherri Warren’s fight for answers. Keith’s cause and manner of death were reclassified as undetermined in 2024, and police reopened the investigation in 2025. Neither development establishes that he was killed. At the end of the episode, True Crime in Current News features an update on Nolan Wells. Steph reflects on why his case brought Keith’s story back to mind while keeping the facts of each case distinct. Content warning: Discussion of a hanging death, possible suicide, racial violence, and crime-scene photographs. In The Episode: Why Keith’s family challenged the original ruling The missing autopsy and limits of later forensic testing Questions about the rope, tree, body position, and clothing Mary Couey’s advocacy and the photographs left at her home What is—and is not—known about Mark Finley The 2024 reclassification and 2025 reopening A True Crime in Current News update on Nolan Wells Timestamps: 00:00 — The photographs delivered on Keith’s birthday02:34 — Facts, family accounts, and unanswered questions03:04 — Why the history of lynching matters06:58 — Keith’s life and his family’s doubts08:19 — Keith goes missing and is found10:55 — The approximately 21-minute scene response12:21 — No autopsy and the limits of later testing13:57 — Body position and the rope16:30 — The clothing questions17:25 — Mary’s search for answers19:52 — The anonymous envelope21:29 — The reported warning and Mark Finley23:48 — The official ruling and the family’s concerns25:38 — Race, trust, and the power to classify a death28:55 — Uprooted and Sherri’s advocacy30:07 — Reclassified as undetermined30:49 — The investigation reopens33:24 — What remains unknown36:03 — Mary’s persistence and accountabilityAt the end — True Crime in Current News: Nolan Wells update What should justice look like when an original investigation may have made the truth harder to find? Instagram: @murderintheblackSteph’s Instagram: @stepher_Facebook: Murder in the Black PodcastEmail: murderintheblackpodcast36@gmail.com Follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. For more coverage, join the paid subscription and try it free for three days.

  2. 3d ago • Subscribers Only

    The House No One Entered: The Four Girls of Southeast D.C.

    **The Case of the Four Girls in Southeast D.C.** On January 9, 2008, deputy U.S. Marshals arrived at a Southeast Washington, D.C., row house to carry out an eviction. Inside, they discovered the remains of four sisters: Brittany Jacks, Tatiana Jacks, Nikaya Fogle, and Asia Fogle. This episode traces the warning signs preceding their deaths—from housing instability and school absences to unanswered welfare concerns and the family’s growing isolation following Nathaniel Fogle Jr.’s death. Schools, police, child welfare officials, housing agencies, and healthcare systems each held fragments of the story, but no one connected the full picture in time. We examine Benita Jacks’s trial and convictions, the District’s response, and how institutional fragmentation allowed four children to disappear in plain sight. **Timestamps** 00:00 – The eviction that uncovered four deaths 01:30 – Benita Jacks and the family’s history 05:14 – The first child-welfare warning 07:08 – Nathaniel Fogle Jr.’s death 08:07 – Brittany disappears from school 08:36 – Kathy Lopez attempts to verify her safety 10:19 – A closed investigation 11:17 – Brittany’s final months 12:12 – The house becomes increasingly isolated 13:08 – Medical findings and homicide rulings 14:18 – The discovery inside the home 15:22 – Benita’s statements and legal competency 16:45 – The forensic challenges 17:41 – The prosecution’s case 18:37 – The verdicts 20:22 – The 120-year sentence 21:21 – The breakdown across agencies 23:16 – Civil settlement and unanswered questions 24:14 – Mental illness and child safety 25:02 – Remembering the four girls 26:00 – The pattern of missed opportunities 26:56 – Closing reflection 31:33 – Outro and listener support

    The House No One Entered: The Four Girls of Southeast D.C.

  3. Sep 17

    The Atlanta Child Murders: A City Afraid, a Case Unsettled

    Between 1979 and 1981, Black children, teenagers and young adults disappeared across Atlanta. As fear spread, grieving families organized searches, challenged city leaders and demanded that the cases be treated as a coordinated emergency. In this special episode, Steph examines the victims, the community’s fight for answers and the controversial case against Wayne Williams. Williams was convicted of murdering two adult men, Jimmy Ray Payne and Nathaniel Cater. He was never tried for the children’s murders, yet authorities attributed more than twenty additional deaths to him and closed those cases. We examine the Jackson Parkway bridge encounter, fiber and dog-hair evidence, disputed witnesses, Williams’s changing explanations, racial and political pressure, possible Klan involvement, and the differences among the victims that continue to raise questions. Was Wayne Williams responsible for every murder attributed to him, only some of them, or was one conviction used to provide Atlanta with an ending it desperately needed? Content warning: This episode discusses the murders of children and young adults, racial violence and disputed allegations. Remember the victims as individuals—not simply as evidence for or against Wayne Williams.

  4. Sep 14 • Subscribers Only

    Raven Joy Campbell: The body found inside the wall

    Steph tells the haunting story of Raven Joy Campbell, a 31-year-old mother and sister who vanished from her apartment in 2009 and was not found until 2015, hidden inside a wall behind a closet. The episode follows the six-year search, the anonymous tip that led investigators to her remains, and the conflicting accounts that complicated the case all the way through a mistrial and plea deal.In this episode, Steph focuses on Raven’s life, the family detail that first raised alarm, and the disturbing question of how someone could remain concealed in the same home for so long. The case also raises bigger issues around vulnerability, delayed justice, and the gap between what prosecutors can prove and what a family believes is justice. TimeStamps: 0:00- Six years later, an anonymous call points to the wall 02:28 - Raven Joy Campbell’s age, background, and vulnerability 03:54 - The move to Harbour Hills and the apartment living arrangement 05:21 - The purse left behind and why Raven’s family knew something was wrong 07:18 - Why the public record leaves major investigative gaps 08:41 - Nicholas grows up during 2,197 days of uncertainty 09:34 - The bad smell, the missing person case, and the 2015 tip 10:32 - Cadaver dogs, patched drywall, and the discovery in the wall 11:28 - Cause of death and the case shifts to homicide 12:25 - Randolph Garbut becomes the focus of investigators 13:22 - Garbut’s explanation of an accident, then choking Raven 16:26 - Myesha Smith’s testimony about the hammer attack 17:59 - Hiding the body, masking the smell, and moving her twice 18:56 - Smith’s immunity and the defense strategy 21:09 - The mistrial and the unresolved trial complications 22:18 - The no contest plea to voluntary manslaughter 24:12 - Raven’s family speaks at sentencing 25:08 - Three questions the episode keeps returning to 27:10 - Remembering Raven as a person, not just the wallNotable quotesCopy“Her family knew she would not have left it behind, and they were right.Somebody knew something.Whatever else we remember about this case, the wall, the anonymous phone call, the conflicting stories, the mistrial, the plea deal, I think we should remember her name first.”

    Raven Joy Campbell: The body found inside the wall

  5. Sep 10

    What They Came Back For: The Murder of Ashlea Harris

    On the morning after Thanksgiving in 2014, firefighters responded to a blaze inside a Fort Worth apartment. There, they discovered 31-year-old Ashlea Harris bound and murdered. Ashlea was a hardworking store manager who had recently helped police identify two former employees suspected of robbing the American Eagle store where she worked. Months later, those same former employees—Carter Cervantez and Clarence “David” Mallory—were accused of entering Ashlea’s home and carrying out a brutal act of revenge. But what were they looking for inside her apartment—and why did they believe Ashlea had it? In this episode of Murder in the Black, Steph examines the events leading to Ashlea’s murder, the evidence connecting Cervantez and Mallory to the crime, and the investigation that uncovered what they came back for. Follow Murder in the Black: Instagram: @murderintheblack Facebook: Murder in the Black Podcast Steph’s Instagram: @stepher_ Email: murderintheblackpodcast36@gmail.com Follow the podcast wherever you listen, leave a five-star review, and share this episode with someone who loves true crime. You can also become a paid subscriber and start your three-day free trial for access to weekly bonus episodes.

  6. Sep 7 • Subscribers Only

    They Searched—His Family Found Him: The Murder of Alonzo Brooks

    Twenty-three-year-old Alonzo Brooks attended a crowded farmhouse party outside La Cygne, Kansas, on April 3, 2004. He depended on his friends for a ride home—but as the night went on, they left in separate vehicles, each reportedly believing someone else would bring Alonzo back. The following morning, Alonzo was missing. Local, state, and federal authorities searched the area surrounding the farmhouse without finding him. Twenty-seven days later, Alonzo’s family organized its own search. In less than one hour, they discovered his body in Middle Creek, only a short distance from the house. For years, Alonzo’s cause of death remained undetermined. Then, following a renewed federal investigation and the exhumation of his remains, a second forensic examination concluded that his death was a homicide. In this paid episode of Murder in the Black, Steph examines the failed ride home, allegations of racial hostility at the party, the troubling search history, the second autopsy, and the silence that has surrounded Alonzo’s murder for more than two decades. Someone at that party knows what happened. Why has no one been held responsible? The FBI continues to offer a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest, prosecution, and conviction. Anyone with information can contact the FBI’s Kansas City Field Office at 816-512-8200 or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. Please do not contact or harass anyone discussed in connection with this case. Send credible information directly to law enforcement. Follow Murder in the Black, leave a five-star review, share the podcast, and follow us on social media.

    They Searched—His Family Found Him: The Murder of Alonzo Brooks

  7. Sep 3

    The Diggs Family Murders: Five Dead, No Arrests, Fifty Years of Silence

    On December 6, 1975, Wesley Diggs returned to his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, and discovered his wife, Jean, and their four children—Audrey, Allison, Wesley Jr., and five-year-old Roger—shot to death. There was no obvious forced entry. Nothing appeared to have been stolen. Neighbors reportedly heard nothing, despite more than twenty shots being fired. In this episode, Steph examines the crime scene, Wesley’s business connections, the Harlem leads, three potential suspects, an informant’s account, and the controversial theory that Jean may have killed the children. We also consider whether race affected the investigation and why, after fifty years, no one has been held responsible. Someone entered—or was allowed into—the Diggs home that night. The question is: who, and why? Content warning: This episode discusses the murder of children, family homicide, gun violence, and descriptions of a crime scene. Follow Murder in the Black, leave a five-star review, and share the episode. Paid subscribers receive additional cases and exclusive episodes, with a three-day free trial available. Follow the podcast on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

  8. Aug 31 • Subscribers Only

    Roberta Elder: The Atlanta arsenic case that became legend

    This episode examines the death of Reverend William Elder and the disturbing suspicions that followed inside his family’s Atlanta home. It also tracks the line between what was proven in court and what was only alleged in newspapers and police suspicion, especially around the deaths of Annie Pearl Elder and Fannie Mae Elder.We discuss the evidence, the limits of the record, and how race shaped both the investigation and the way this case was remembered. The result is part true crime, part historical correction, and part warning about how quickly sensational headlines can flatten real victims.

    Roberta Elder: The Atlanta arsenic case that became legend
See All (338)

Trailer

4.5
out of 5
493 Ratings

About

M.D. and STEPH are sisters who share a passion for true crime. ​They are committed to highlighting stories within the black community that often do not receive the attention they deserve. This has led them to create a platform where these stories can be shared on a weekly basis through their podcast. Drawing on her legal expertise, M.D. provides the legal context of each case, while Steph delves into the details concerning the victims and occasionally the perpetrators. By tuning in weekly, listeners can expect to learn about lesser-known crime cases and gain a deeper understanding of the cases

Information

  • Creator
    Steph and M.D.
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    338
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Steph and M.D.
  • Show Website
    Murder In The Black
  • Provider
    Stephenie Broden-Weaver

You Might Also Like