#CrimeTime with Alicia Dean
Frenemies, Season 1, Episode 11, “The Snitch”
Fort Worth, Texas, December 7, 2000
Murder in of itself is incomprehensible enough, but when a murder is committed by a family member or friend, it’s even more disturbing and unfathomable.
“The Snitch” is about two best friends Misti Mayo and Christine Smith, who were inseparable, as close as sisters. The two small-town girls began going to nearby Fort Worth to party and ended up connecting with some rather shady people. Misti and Christine eventually moved to Fort Worth and got an apartment together. By this time, Misti had given birth to a baby boy and she wanted to leave the wild life behind. Christine continued to hang out with the criminal element and often had her seedy friends over to the apartment. One evening, Christine and three others robbed a tire store. They brought the tires to the apartment to hide them. Misti was furious. She was worried she’d get blamed and go to jail, leaving her young son behind.
Shortly after the robbery, the cops came around asking questions and Misti told them who had committed the robbery. Christine and her cohorts learned that Misti snitched on them. One evening, they invited her to go out with them. Misti agreed, thinking they were going to dinner. The group drove her to a secluded area and began attacking her, stabbing, bludgeoning and basically torturing her—all with her son in the car. Misti begged Christine to stop them, but Christine participated. When Misti realized she was going to die, she requested that she be allowed to hold her baby one more time. They granted her wish, then took the baby away and headed to Shreveport. On the way, they wrapped Misti’s head in packaging tape to stifle her screams. She died en route. Oil was poured on her body, presumably to cover fingerprints, then Misti’s body was dumped. The group abandoned the baby in a van outside a Dallas restaurant, then went on with their evening. Ravenous, they went out to eat after the murder.
After Misti was reported missing, Christine at first told police that she had been raped in an alley and disappeared with her 4-month-old son, but she recanted her story and confessed. The episode included an interview with Christine and one of the other offenders. Christine didn’t appear remorseful in the least. She almost seemed to expect kudos for not murdering the baby as well.
Despicable…sick and twisted. I just don’t understand how the incident went so far. How do you progress from anger at your friend to savagely, painfully slaughtering her? Putting aside morals and conscience and basic human emotions, one thing that always baffles me about these types of cases is the thought process of the killers. You are afraid of getting in trouble for stealing tires, so you MURDER someone? Do they really think they’re not going to get caught? Sure, some do get by with their crimes, but the likelihood is very small.
All four of the perpetrators were found guilty, Christine and the two males were sentenced to life in prison, while the other female was sentence to 30 years in prison. Misti’s baby was given to a foster family. I was surprised there weren’t family members who would take the baby. Misti was only eighteen years old. What an all-around tragedy.
Author Alicia Dean 
What monsters. I hope they are enjoying their time in prison. For a long long long long time.
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Absolutely, it’s what they deserve.
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i just wanted to say that the baby was put up for adoption as dante was labelled abandoned and the family had no say.
thanks
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Which was ridiculous because his mother was dead and the people who abandoned him were not related to him and had never had custody of him. Just some do-gooder couple wanting to get their hands on somebody else’s kid.
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This is so disturbing. They got just what they deserve…
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I watched this episode also. I myself was wondering why nobody from her family or the father took custody of the child? Maybe they were deemed unfit? That’s the only explanation I could come up with. I understand the state said he was abandoned but after finding out the mother was dead wouldn’t that change? I watch a ton of these crime shows but these types of stories still baffle me!! How can you murder a close friend or family member? I can’t possibly begin to imagine what is going through these people’s minds. Just stop being friends!! And to think murder is a good idea so you don’t get arrested for burglary?! I would much rather do the 3 years max for burglary then the 30 to life for murdering someone! But obviously these people don’t think rationally. I guess I’ll never understand!
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Not condoning any actions made, but you have to think of how young these people are. How would you react in that situation at 17? They had no business being in the place they were in, rather than at home, and the police should’ve arrested the two girls at Mistis apartment when they confessed about the robbery. Christine was 17. She got herself into a situation that she did not know how to get herself out of and something horrible is what came of it.. The man her boyfriend brought around was not a good person at all, and in fact was charged with another murder that had taken place the week before Mistis. Had the police arrested the girls at Misti’s apartment, this wouldn’t have happened. There was a custody hearing regarding Dante and his father, you can find the public records online, from Tyler TX I believe. I pray for continued peace and comfort for Mistis family and I hope that Dante will seek out his biological family and that they will get to know him and he will learn about who his mother was.
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I wouldn’t say it’s true that Christine “didn’t appear remorseful in the least” during that interview. To me she appeared remorseful. Her remorse does not excuse what she did, so the only point I see in denying it is to make everyone hate her just a little bit more than they already do.
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I knew misti and her family if I remember correctly her family was not given a chance to get the baby we all loved in a trailer park in Reno tx she was amazing I was 12 when this happened .
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Amber..my heat breaks for this family. I’m sure you remember correctly. State to state DSS issues are difficult to fight unless you have the financial means to do so. I hope Donte was at least raised by a loving supportive family and he knows his mother loved him and did not abandon him.
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What can I watch h this episode on
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I saw this story on I killed my BFF. Really sad, she was so young. What did they expect her to do? Why not get the stuff out of her apt. Her BFF deserves whatever comes her way. I hope she has a real hard time in jail
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Christine Smith isn’t in jail anymore. I can’t find when and why she was released.
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I just watched this episode…sick to my stomach. What POS to beat a mother to death with her child right there. And her BFF lied and said Misti turned them in then acts like Misti brought this on herself. She’s not even one bit remorseful and acts like dumping Donte in a van should negate killing his mother. My heart breaks for that beautiful child. Then…What she say…..???? You don’t know what you’d do. How dare you try to justify what you did!! I hope you rot in jail till u’re 100 y.o. The death penalty is too good for you.
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Some of this is untrue. Misti, Christine & the other lady involved in the robbery all talked to the police and told the same things, but it was Christine who named everyone and even lied, saying mistis baby father was involved when he wasn’t. When Christine took misti and the other lady to go warn the 2 men who were in charge of the whole robbery that the police were talking to them, every one was kind of suspicious of misti so she left. Once she left, Christine told the men, that misti was the one who told the police EVERYTHING when she in fact wasn’t, the 3rd female heard the lies but did not interject, as misti was not her friend. The 2 men and 3rd lady then had Christie devise a plan to get misti to go out with them the night of December 7. Christine then invited her out to dinner with the other 3 assailants, and unfortunately, misti decided to join them, along with her son D.D.M. They told her they had a movie planned after dinner, which was a lie. All of them, in Misti’s Own car with the two men in the front seats and misti in the back sitting between Christine(whom is holding Mistis Baby Boy) and the 3rd woman, ride to a park(Echo Lake, South Fort Worth, Tx) misti not questioning a single thing because in her mind, she was sitting next to her best friend in the world. Suddenly, the all 4 assailants, (including bestfriend Christine), start attacking her, punching her with their fists, phones, knife handles, they been force her onto the floor board and beat her more, squishing her hard with the front seat by the driver reclining the seat forcefully with his body weight over and over, even as far as Her head and body being stomped on. This went on for hours as one of the attackers, her best friend, held her son. Misti begged Christine to explain why this was happening, she begged Christine to stop. Once she realized she would die that night, she asked misti to please don’t let anyone hurt her son and to take care of him. She then pleaded to hold him in which she was told no, mocked and bested harder for. She was then allowed to hold her son for a quick 2 minueted before they returned to beating her. They then, (while she’s still alive and conscious) wrapped her whole entire head with electrical tape, eyes mouth, and nose included. When Misti licked off the tape around her Mouth and partially around her nose, her bestfirend Christine notices this. And what does she then do? She places her hand over Mistis mouth, presses down on the tape, and holds it there until misti finally dies. They then strip her and dump her where they were located, which was now in Shreveport Louisiana, right off of highway 20. Christine then lied to police telling them that misti had been raped in an alleyway and then taken by that man.
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Not to mention how she was repeatedly stabbed.
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Christine is beyond horrible. Saying how Misti was pretty selfish amd everything was about her. And then literally says “I basically did everything for Misti except die for her.” Are you freaking kidding me?? 🤮
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is the christine chick still in jail or not cuz she should be
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