Crystal Sale: I walk into the hospital … saw my daughter there … And I watched them do CPR and … I'll never forget that.
On Oct. 7, 2022, as Crystal Sale arrived at the hospital bedside of her daughter, Katlyn Lyon Montgomery.
She knew the two people she needed most.
Erin Moriarty: And would you say your sisters have really stepped up for you?
Crystal Sale: Absolutely. … I don't know what I'd done without my sisters.
The oldest of the sisters, Sherry Cox, was taking care of Katlyn's then-4-year-old daughter, Milani, while periodically checking in on Katlyn in the hospital.
Sherry Cox: I knew it was bad.
Erin Moriarty: What did you think had happened to Katlyn?
Sherry Cox: I didn't know.
Tina Hopkins: I called Sherry. The first thing she said is … "something was wrong with Katlyn but they didn't know what."
Sherry told their youngest sister, Tina Hopkins, nearly 5,000 miles away in Hawaii, that 28-year-old Katlyn was unconscious and in grave condition.
Tina Hopkins: You know, Sherry told me, like, "you have to come home. It's not — It's not good."
Crystal Sale: I was just shocked that this was even happening and just confused.
A VIOLENT ASSAULTEspecially when doctors told her that Katlyn sustained injuries to her neck and head. While first responders had initially thought Katlyn had suffered a drug overdose, her physical injuries, and the lack of drugs found at the scene, indicated Katlyn was actually the victim of a violent assault.
"A tech came to me and walked me outside. … she said, 'It wasn't drugs. Someone hurt your baby,'" Crystal Sale said of her daughter Katlyn, pictured.
Crystal Sale
Crystal Sale: That she had been strangled.
Sherry Cox: We were all — we were speechless, we were baffled. Like. Who — who would've done this?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: I got a phone call … to take a strangulation report.
Lead investigator Robbie Burnette with the Bedford County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office focused on documenting Katlyn's injuries.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: I saw two distinctive marks … parallel to each other on her neck.
Since those marks weren't visible until after Katlyn had arrived at the hospital, Burnette says it helped timestamp the attack.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: It was very recent.
Erin Moriarty: Like when you say very recent —
Investigator Robbie Burnette: Within — an hour or so, most likely, of when the call came in.
Investigator Michelle Alderson: So her apartment's … on the second floor.
Erin Moriarty: Right on the end of the building?
Investigator Michelle Alderson: Yes.
Shortly after learning about Katlyn's injuries, investigator Michelle Alderson was sent to secure and process Katlyn's apartment — now a crime scene. It had been disturbed by first responders, EMTs and Katlyn and her roommate Jacob Piercy's dogs.
Investigator Michelle Alderson: So, my scene was not as exact as I would like my crime scenes to be.
Alderson set out to find what could have caused the injuries on Katlyn's neck. She found a huge clue wrapped up in Katlyn's comforter.
Investigator Michelle Alderson: It was a multiple charging cord adapter.
Erin Moriarty: Did they look like they match what had been described on her neck?
Investigator Michelle Alderson: I would call them consistent. Yes.
The charging cord found wrapped in Katlyn Lyon Montgomery's comforter.
Bedford County Sheriff's Office
With the cords found on the bed, Alderson suspected that Katlyn was attacked there. But she soon learned that first responders — not suspecting foul play at that time — had given the family permission to wash Katlyn's sheets and clean up.
Erin Moriarty: Doesn't that make it difficult to obtain DNA —
Investigator Michelle Alderson: Yes.
Erin Moriarty: … fingerprints?
Investigator Michelle Alderson: Yes. Yes.
Investigators were unable to recover any DNA or fingerprints at the scene, including any on those charging cords. As they searched for evidence identifying Katlyn's attacker, doctors struggled to revive her. After 29 hours, Katlyn was officially declared brain dead the next morning on October 8.
Crystal Sale: I remember going to her. One of the only things I remember is telling her, I'm sorry that I couldn't protect her. … I can say that there are no words that have been invented to describe how this feels. It's excruciating.
Sherry Cox: I just can't comprehend that she's gone forever, like, I can't — I can't go there.
Sisters Sherry Cox and Crystal Sale at Katlyn Lyon Montgomery's hospital bedside.
Crystal Sale
Tina arrived just in time to help say "goodbye."
Tina Hopkins: My instinct is just to take charge and fix whatever is wrong. … that affects me greatly that I couldn't fix it for my sister and our family.
Tina documented the moment Katlyn was escorted to fulfill her final wishes to be an organ donor. Tina shared the video on TikTok. She and the rest of her family started posting photos and videos memorializing Katlyn.
Erin Moriarty: She liked music, right?
Jake Lyon: Oh, loved music. … specifically … electronic dance music.
Music that Katlyn had discovered with her older brother, Jake Lyon.
Jake Lyon: And there was this, like, dance party-type thing. … And … at the end of the night, she, uh, ran up and like, bear hugged me, she's like, "I wanna do this all the time."
Erin Moriarty: Why? What is it? Tell me what is it that she took to?
Jake Lyon: I think just the, uh, the energy and the social element. … she would draw a crowd.
Katlyn Lyon Montgomery "expressed her individuality through her hair," said Crystal Sale. "She always had different colors and it was always so cute on her. I loved the purple on her."
Hannah McDowell/ Jake Lyon
Crystal Sale: She loved life. She absolutely loved life.
A life that had changed unexpectedly when Katlyn learned she was pregnant with Milani.
Crystal Sale: I mean, we were very supportive and was like, you know, we'll help anyway, we can.
But the always independent Katlyn didn't need much help, says Crystal, even with Milani's father out of the picture, and while working full time as a restaurant manager.
Crystal Sale: Katlyn was rocking it. She was rocking it.
Erin Moriarty: What do you mean rocking it?
Crystal Sale: She was providing for her child.
Katlyn's family now had to grapple with the reality that someone had intentionally taken her from her beloved child.
Crystal Sale: I still can't believe my daughter was murdered.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: She [Crystal Sale] said, "You're gonna find whoever did this to my daughter." I said, "There will be no stone left unturned."
Erin Moriarty: So, who's the first person you're looking at?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: We definitely looked at Jacob Piercy, the roommate.
With no sign of forced entry, and being the only other adult in the apartment, Katlyn's new roommate, Jacob Piercy — who had called 911 reporting her injured — was an obvious suspect.
Sherry Cox: Investigators told us that it was 99 percent sure he did it.
But Tina says she suspected Katlyn's ex-boyfriend, Trenton Frye, whom she had broken up with 10 days earlier.
Tina Hopkins: That was my first gut instinct.
Erin Moriarty: You first thought Trenton?
Tina Hopkins: I did.
Trenton Frye lived three hours away in North Carolina. So, investigators gave him a call.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: He said that he was in North Carolina working the entire time. He agreed to come up for an interview, uh, appeared to be cooperative.
So focus intensified on Jacob Piercy — especially when investigators learned what Milani said she witnessed that night: "my brother killed my mom." "Brother" was the nickname she used for Jacob Piercy.
Erin Moriarty: Did you have anything to do with hurting Katlyn?
Jacob Piercy: Absolutely not.
LOOKING FOR LOVE ONLINEFor Tina, Crystal, and Sherry, making TikTok videos started as a fun way to connect their family. That changed after Katlyn's death.
TINA HOPKINS (TikTok): … my niece was murdered. We don't have hardly any information.
Tina Hopkins: We felt wronged, and we weren't going to stop fighting.
In those agonizing early days, Crystal was too deep in her grief to speak publicly, so Tina stepped up to post updates on the case.
TINA HOPKINS (TikTok): There is an ongoing investigation …
POLICE OFFICER (bodycam): When did you last see her?
JACOB PIERCY: We were hanging out … we were out here watching TV.
That investigation centered on Katlyn's roommate, Jacob Piercy.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: So we were looking at him pretty — pretty heavy at first.
Erin Moriarty: What do you mean?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: Meaning he was our number one suspect at that point.
Jacob Piercy: In my mind … I'm just here to tell 'em what I can tell 'em. … Help 'em figure out what could have happened, what couldn't have happened … I was in full denial.
Bodycam video of Jacob Piercy, Katlyn Lyon Montgomery's roommate, in the apartment they shared following the Oct. 7, 2022, attack. Piercy called 911 and performed CPR.
Bedford County Sheriff's Office
But after being interviewed several times, having his body photographed for possible defensive wounds and his cellphone confiscated, Jacob Piercy knew he was in serious trouble.
Erin Moriarty: Were you scared you'd be blamed for whatever happened to her?
Jacob Piercy: Absolutely. … you know, I'm the main suspect of something so terrible.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: We're still at a loss at that point, 'cause he's fully cooperating and we haven't caught him in a lie yet.
What troubled investigators was 4-year-old Milani's statement. She said she had seen Jacob killing her mother, but Burnette soon discovered that she had actually witnessed Jacob performing CPR.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: She actually did the motions of her -- with her hands of what Jacob was doing to her.
Erin Moriarty (motioning chest compressions): Going like this.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: Yep. Yeah. That's the motions she made.
To be sure, Burnette reviewed the 911 call. Jacob can be heard doing CPR.
JACOB PIERCY (911 call): One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: You could tell he was definitely putting effort in.
Jacob Piercy
CBS News
Jacob Piercy (emotional): I thought I had done enough, but I think that's what tears me up the most. It's just, I wasn't able to save her. You know?
At that point, investigators began to look closer at Katlyn's ex-boyfriend, Trenton Frye. They tried calling him in North Carolina a couple of days after their initial conversation but learned he was unable to talk to them.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: He checked himself into a mental health facility …
Erin Moriarty: And what did that say to you?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: He had some kinda break. Something happened to him, apparently.
Investigators turned to Katlyn's friends to learn more about the relationship.
Erin Moriarty: Do you think he was the person he presented himself to Katlyn?
Hannah McDowell: Absolutely not.
Hannah McDowell met Katlyn two years earlier when she landed a job at the restaurant Katlyn managed. Sharing a love for music and dancing, they became fast friends and eventually roommates. They also shared their frustrations about the local dating scene in Bedford County, Virginia, which prompted them to look for love online.
Erin Moriarty: What was she looking for?
Hannah McDowell: Well, she wanted someone that was supportive … and be a father to Milani as well. … and possibly … get married.
In January 2022, when Katlyn connected with Trenton on a dating app, the tall, fitness obsessed, and apparently successful North Carolina native seemed to be marriage material.
Erin Moriarty: How did she describe him to you?
Crystal Sale: Well, he had his stuff together. … she was excited … to have a relationship with him.
When Katlyn's Aunt Sherry met Trenton, she admits she was impressed.
Sherry Cox: He told me that he … owned a security company, and he owned his own construction company … we had talked about him doing my floors because he had me thinking he was, you know, this awesome builder.
Hannah McDowell: Then eventually he was at the apartment all the time.
Katlyn Lyon Montgomery met Trenton Frye on a dating app in January 2022.
Crystal Sale
Which made Hannah wonder how Trenton — who lived three hours away — could spend weeks on end at their apartment, while also running two businesses.
Hannah McDowell: And when I would leave in the morning, when I would come home from lunch, when I would get home from work, he would always just be on the couch.
And she says over time, it seemed Katlyn wasn't leaving the apartment much either.
Hannah McDowell: She was quiet. She didn't hang out with friends. … she was just very isolated.
Erin Moriarty: Did you get the feeling that it was because of him that she wasn't going out as much, dancing as much?
Hannah McDowell: Yes. … and he would track her location on her phone … I feel like she was chained to him almost.
Crystal Sale: I can't say that I liked him, but I can't say that I didn't like him.
While Crystal had her concerns about the relationship with Trenton, Katlyn never confided that anything was wrong.
Crystal Sale: She's always been so strong. … so I knew my daughter could handle herself.
But Katlyn did express some frustration with the relationship to her Aunt Sherry.
Sherry Cox: And … she said, I'm so tired of paying for everything. … She said, if he's got all this money, I mean, uh, these businesses, why doesn't he have money? … And I said, well, Katlyn, that's a red flag right there.
More red flags appeared when he tried to convince her to move with him to North Carolina, where he said he would find them an apartment.
Hannah McDowell: In reality … he was not reliable and wasn't fulfilling what she thought he was going to do.
In early September 2022, Trenton admitted the truth; he couldn't find an apartment because he lacked the credit and source of income to qualify.
Sherry Cox: Katlyn called me from work, and she was screaming and cry — I mean, just like bawling cryin'. … And she was like, "he's a liar, he lied about everything, he doesn't have a job."
Days later, Katlyn announced she was breaking up with him.
Erin Moriarty: She was done?
Sherry Cox: She was done.
Erin Moriarty: So she cut him off.
Crystal Sale: She did. She blocked him.
Erin Moriarty: Oh, she actually blocked him, too.
Crystal Sale: She blocked him, yeah.
And that's when Katlyn learned her friend Jacob Piercy was also looking for a place and asked if he wanted to find an apartment with her and Milani.
Crystal Sale: They finally found this one apartment, and we were so excited, um, that they were going to be so close to us.
While Kaitlyn was making a fresh start, it seemed Trenton Fyre did not want to let her go.
TINA HOPKINS (TikTok): He was actually sitting in the parking lot of her apartment, watching everything Katlyn was doing.
FOLLOWING TRENTON FRYE'S DIGITAL TRAILErin Moriarty: Have you seen a big change in your sister?
Sherry Cox: Mm-hmm. … She's just sad all the time. … she has bags under her eyes now where she didn't have 'em before 'cause she don't sleep, she's not sleeping.
CRYSTAL SALE (TikTok): I woke up this morning in sheer panic.
In the days following Katlyn's death, Crystal began sharing her grief with others on TikTok.
CRYSTAL SALE (TikTok): I'll get a text message. And for an instant, I'll think that it's Katlyn.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: I ended up seeing some of her TikToks by accident. … She was completely innocent; she didn't do anything wrong.
Investigator Burnette was convinced that Trenton Frye had somehow gotten into Katlyn's apartment and strangled her.
Erin Moriarty: Why did Trenton Frye kill the woman he said he loved?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: I think it's 'cause she told him "No." … And he couldn't — he couldn't take the rejection from her.
Burnette now needed to prove it.
Investigator Robbie Burnette: We started looking at … obviously more of his cellphone records, um, tracking that history.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: … we found that his phone pings were in the area of Forest, Virginia.
Commonwealth attorney Wes Nance was assigned the case. He says investigators were able to obtain Trenton Frye's cellphone after he checked himself into that mental health facility in North Carolina. And that's how they learned that the device had started pinging off a cell tower in Virginia on October 4 — three days before Katlyn's attack.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: He wasn't just in Virginia. He was in at least the area of Katlyn's new apartment complex .
Investigators canvassed the apartment complex and found two of Katlyn's neighbors who remembered seeing an unfamiliar man sitting at a picnic table for hours. One snapped a photo of the stranger on the afternoon of October 6 — the day before Katlyn's attack.
A photo taken by a neighbor the day before the attack on Katlyn Lyon Montgomery. Investigators later determined the man sitting at picnic table on a hill near her apartment complex was Trenton Frye.
Bedford County Sheriff's Office
Erin Moriarty: Who do you believe that is?
Prosecutor Wes Nance: Well, we later determined it to be Trenton Frye.
Erin Moriarty: How close to Katlyn's apartment is that? Why there?
Prosecutor Wes Nance: So this is an elevated vantage point … it looks directly down on her building.
Erin Moriarty: Did Katlyn Montgomery have any idea that somebody had been watching her for days?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: No. No, ma'am.
Erin Moriarty: And does it appear that she wasn't just being watched? She was being followed and stalked?
Investigator Robbie Burnette: Absolutely. Yeah.
Investigators learned two hours after that photo was taken, Trenton Frye's SUV was recorded by a surveillance camera pulling into a gas station near the apartment complex. He was seen inside the store, now wearing all black.
Trenton Frye is seen on surveillance video from a gas station near the Virginia apartment complex where Katlyn Lyon Montgomery lived on Oct. 6, 2022 – a day before her murder.
Bedford County Sheriff's Office
It was around that time that Trenton Frye texted Aunt Sherry.
Sherry Cox: He wanted to know if I still wanted my floors finished … And I didn't respond back to him. I immediately called Katlyn. … Well, she unblocked the number … and tells him, "do not call my aunt anymore."
The texts between Katlyn and Trenton, says Nance, became heated. Trenton made it clear he knew she was living with Jacob Piercy, and he didn't like it.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: So there's an anger and jealousy underlying those text messages. He starts to call her a "piece of s***" and tell her that "karma is a bitch"
Jacob Piercy says that Katlyn called him, sounding frightened.
Jacob Piercy: At one point she told me that she wanted to go to her mom's house and pick up her self-defense weapon that she has … her pistol.
Katlyn didn't go through with that plan. Later Jacob, Katlyn and Milani had dinner together and watched TV. Around midnight, Jacob says he heard a noise near their second-floor balcony.
Jacob Piercy: I spread open the curtains real quick to look. … I didn't see anything.
Erin Moriarty: Did you lock or unlock the sliding door?
Jacob Piercy: Yeah, I believe I locked it.
But investigators later learned the lock on the sliding glass door was broken, and they suspected that's how Trenton Frye gained entry. His Google searches revealed that he had looked up the layout of the unit, which they believe helped him find Katlyn's bedroom.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: I think it was absolute brutal, sudden sneak attack on a then-sleeping Katlyn.
Frye strangled Katlyn, investigators say, with those charging cords while her daughter Milani slept nearby.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: With her child laying beside her, I don't think it gets much worse.
After Frye left, says Nance, Milani alerted Jacob Piercy that something was wrong with her mother.
Trenton Frye's digital footprint from that morning, says Nance, gives him away.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: Mr. Frye … started to Google breaking news … And specifically, he looked to see if he had any arrest warrants out for himself.
There weren't any warrants for him at the time, but 13 days later investigators had one in hand as they traveled to the mental health facility in North Carolina.
TRENTON FRYE (to investigators): I'm not stupid. I know you guys are here to take me in.
Trenton Frye agreed to talk to investigators and denied any involvement in Katlyn death. He said he had checked himself into the hospital because the only person he had ever considered harming was himself.
Investigators question Trenton Frye at a mental health facility in North Carolina.
Bedford County Sheriff's Office
TRENTON FRYE (to investigators): Knowing who I am, I could never hurt her on how much I care about her.
He did finally admit he had been in Virginia but claimed he was only looking for a job and apartment, hoping that he could eventually convince Katlyn to get back together.
TRENTON FRYE (to investigators): I was trying to give her space, um, while I figured everything out.
But when challenged with evidence that he was at her apartment complex –
TRENTON FRYE (to investigators): I'm missing pieces of time for like the last month.
—Trenton Frye claimed he had no memory of it — that he sometimes blacked out for long periods of time, including the hours around Katlyn's attack.
INVESTIGATOR: Is there anything else that could contribute to your memory loss? Drugs?
TRENTON FRYE: No. No.
INVESTIGATOR: Alcohol?
TRENTON FRYE: No, you guys can test me.
Investigators had heard enough and took Trenton Frye into custody.
Erin Moriarty: And how did you feel that he had been arrested?
Crystal Sale: Relieved that somebody was going to be, you know, held accountable.
Trenton Frye was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: There's no evidence, no hard evidence, nothing you can point to, to prove that Trenton was ever in that apartment.
Trenton Frye's defense attorney, Joseph Sanzone, insists his client didn't kill Katlyn. He prepared to argue at trial that there wasn't a murder at all.
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: I don't think anybody tried to kill Katlyn. I think it was purely an accident.
THE TRIAL OF TRENTON FRYEAs the months dragged on awaiting trial, Crystal and her family demanded "Justice for Katlyn" on billboards purchased around town.
CRYSTAL SALE (TikTok) We now have a new court date. … This one should be it, and I pray to God that it is.
Trenton Frye entered the courtroom in March 2025, two-and-a-half years after Katlyn's death.
Leila Mitchell: Her family was there, her brothers were there, her aunts were there.
CBS Roanoke reporter Leila Mitchell covered the trial.
LEILA MITCHELL (News report): Prosecutors argue that Trenton Frye stalked, obsessed over and ultimately strangled Katlyn Lyon.
Mitchell reported on TV and Katlyn's family updated their growing community of supporters on TikTok while prosecutor Wes Nance made his case to the most important audience of all: the jury.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court): Law enforcement called him later that afternoon. Mister Frye told them, "I wasn't in Virginia. I was working in North Carolina. I didn't even know where Katlyn lived."
Prosecutor Wes Nance: Mr. Frye had given a number of inconsistent statements. What I would absolutely characterize as lies because they were all in conflict with one another.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court): And so, they approached him again, and this time, he relied on an excuse out of a bad soap opera and claimed he had amnesia
TRENTON FRYE (with investigators): I don't remember any of it. My whole head is messed up.
But Nance didn't have to rely on Frye's memory. Not only did he have the digital data from Frye's phone placing him in the area, investigators had also discovered that his device made one very important connection after Katlyn and her daughter went to bed.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court): At 4:15, right after they go to bed, Trenton Frye's cellphone connects to the iPad, and the iPad shows the connection.
Frye's phone had automatically connected to Katlyn's iPad via Bluetooth, providing the only evidence, says Nance, that placed Frye inside Katlyn's apartment.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: Now … we have … the two of them within feet of each other during the window of the injuries.
And what about that sound Jacob Piercy heard earlier that evening? Nance believes that it was Trenton Frye positioning a metal bench that belonged to their downstairs neighbor on the brick wall under their balcony.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court): The perfect extra step or two that Mr. Frye would've needed to get to that second floor.
Trenton Frye and Katlyn Lyon Montgomery.
Crystal Sale
Trenton Frye's defense attorney, Joseph Sanzone, concedes that Frye — devastated after the breakup — was in the area, and admits that Frye was at Katlyn's apartment complex, but says he was only outside.
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: I agree with the billboards in this case, "Justice for Katlyn" … But it should happen after a review of all the evidence.
He points to the lack of DNA evidence at the scene and disputes the prosecution's iPad Bluetooth connection theory.
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: We don't know where the iPad was.
And that's because the iPad was recovered by investigators at Aunt Sherry's house. She told them she grabbed it from Katlyn's apartment when she picked up Milani after the attack.
Erin Moriarty: But it was in the apartment, right?
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: Well, no, we don't know that. We just know it connected.
Erin Moriarty: Would you admit though … that he's a pretty unlucky guy that he happens to be outside the apartment when someone else kills his ex-girlfriend?
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: Yeah. … and — and whoever did it in that circumstance is the luckiest guy.
LEILA MITCHELL (News report): Jacob Piercy, the man who found Katlyn Lyon unresponsive, took the stand to testify today.
Jacob Piercy, Sanzone argued, was the more likely killer.
Erin Moriarty: What would be Jacob Piercy's motive for killing Katlyn?
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: I don't think anybody tried to kill Katlyn. I think it was purely an accident.
Sanzone suggests that Jacob Piercy strangled Katlyn in a consensual sex act — one that went too far.
Crystal Sale: I was furious … He degraded. He humiliated my daughter … oh, I was so mad.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: The medical examiner found no evidence of any sexual assault or even recent sexual activity. … This is not sex gone wrong. This is a murder.
A murder Sanzone says Trenton Frye couldn't have committed, saying it was impossible for Frye to get into Katlyn's apartment, kill her and get away without waking anyone — especially the dogs.
Erin Moriarty: Isn't it possible … that someone slipped into the apartment quietly, strangles her and left, and not alarm the dogs?
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: Only Tom Cruise can do that as far as I know. I just can't imagine in — in real life
Sanzone has a witness whom he believes can help make his case: Trenton Frye himself.
JUSTICE FOR KATLYNErin Moriarty: Did you expect Trent to take the stand?
Crystal Sale: I didn't. I was shocked.
When Trenton Frye took the stand to tell the jury his story, he appeared to have regained his memory of his actions that night.
ATTORNEY JOSEPH SANZONE (in court): Did you do anything except watch?
TRENTON FRYE: No…. that's all I did, was watch and walk around.
Attorney Joseph Sanzone: If they don't hear from your client, they're not gonna believe what you say. They need to hear from the person.
TRENTON FRYE (in court): I don't ever remember being in that apartment 'cause I never was.
Trenton Frye takes the stand in his trial for the murder of Katlyn Lyon Montgomery.
WDBJ7
Prosecutor Wes Nance challenged Frye's story.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court): You were spying on her.
TRENTON FRYE: Yes.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE: You were gathering intel on her.
TRENTON FRYE: Yes.
But Frye remained adamant that he could not have killed Katlyn.
TRENTON FRYE (in court): And, I could not have climbed that balcony without making a sound. I would have to be a ninja of some sort.
But Nance says that gas station surveillance photo of Frye, taken hours before the murder, proves that he dressed the part.
Prosecutor Wes Nance: A ninja is known for being in stealth mode. And I think changing his outfit to black is him going into stealth mode.
PROSECUTOR WES NANCE (in court) Don't let the excuses, don't let the word play, don't let the memory lapse confuse you. Trenton Frye is guilty of first-degree murder.
But would that add up to reasonable doubt for the jury?
ATTORNEY JOSEPH SANZONE (in court): Until they have some proof that my client was inside that apartment, nothing in this case can be proven … not one thing.
LEILA MITCHELL | (TikTok): Today the jury will be told that they can either find Trenton Frye guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder. Or they can find him not guilty at all.
SHERRY COX (TikTok): All of our nerves are on edge … So, wish us all luck today. It's gonna be rough.
Crystal Sale: We weren't going to leave. Whether it was an hour or 20 hours.
Erin Moriarty: But, you didn't have to wait very long. Did you?
Crystal Sale: No
LEILA MITCHELL (news report): The jury wasted no time today. Deliberating for just about an hour.
Crystal Sale: Because it came back so … quick, I was very concerned that it didn't go the way that we wanted.
Moments later, Crystal heard the three words she had been praying for.
Crystal Sale: Guilty, first degree.
Trenton Fyre was found guilty of first-degree murder in Katlyn's death.
Leila Mitchell: I was staring at his face the entire time and he had no reaction when the verdict was read. Katlyn's family burst into tears.
Tina, flanked by her sisters and Katlyn's brothers, announced the verdict to their supporters.
"This entire process has been brutal for our family," Tina Hopkins, center, surrounded by members of Katlyn Lyon Mongomery's family, addressed reporters following the verdict.
WDBJ7
Tina Hopkins (to reporters): Having Trenton Frye be accountable for his actions does bring our family a little bit of peace.
Four months later, they returned to court for Trenton Frye's sentencing. Katlyn's brother, Jake Lyon, spoke about the impact on Milani.
JAKE LYON (in court): This man didn't just take a life; he destroyed a family. He left my niece to wake up to her mother's lifeless body. She now lives in fear of the dark and the monsters that come into your home while you're sleeping.
CRYSTAL SALE (in court): I beg God too many times to count to please take me, let me die because the pain is unbearable.
Crystal was clear what she hoped for her daughter's killer.
Crystal Sale: I was sentenced to a lifetime without my daughter. … Melani was sentenced to a lifetime without her mama. So, he needs life.
JUDGE JAMES UPDIKE JR. (in court): Mr. Frye if you would stand, please. Sir, is there anything you wish to say …
TRENTON FRYE: Yes. Um.
Trenton Frye turned to Katlyn's family.
TRENTON FRYE (in court): I probably have not felt it on the level that you all have, but I have felt it for her loss. And I truly am sorry for the loss that you have experienced.
But he never took responsibility for Katlyn's murder.
JUDGE JAMES UPDIKE JR. (in court): The amount of terror, the amount of horror inflicted upon this young innocent woman is unimaginable.
Responsibility that Judge James Updike reminded him was his alone.
JUDGE JAMES UPDIKE JR. (in court): Unimaginable to anyone, to everybody except you 'cause you were there, you saw it, you caused it. I hereby sentence you to imprisonment for life
Life in prison.
Crystal Sale: Even though we got the verdict we wanted, my daughter's still not here. … If I could walked outta that courtroom and hugged her (sobbing) then I would've won. Nobody won.
CRYSTAL SALE (TikTok): I think everyone that has lost their lives to domestic violence, their names need to be said.
Crystal's TikTok videos are now focused on sharing Katlyn's experience and hoping her story could help save someone else.
CRYSTAL SALE (TikTok): I don't want another mother, another family to go through what we're going through. I have to be my daughter's voice and I have to help save other women.
She and her family have embraced the man who did all he could to save Katlyn, Jacob Piercy
Crystal Sale: He's a hero. … she needed him, and he was doing everything he could to help her.
Jacob Piercy: They opened up and welcomed me to Christmases and Thanksgivings and hangouts and birthdays and cookouts. And they've really made me feel like part of the family.
A family still adapting in Katlyn's absence. Crystal enjoys a familiar role as Milani's grandmother while Aunt Sherry, who always shared a special bond with Katlyn and her little girl, has become Milani's guardian.
Erin Moriarty: What does she call you?
Sherry Cox: She calls me mama now. Mommy.
Erin Moriarty: Was that hard for you at first?
Sherry Cox: Yes, because … I didn't want my sister to be upset because I didn't want her to think I was taking Milani from Katlyn … and erasing Katlyn.
Crystal Sale: I was like, absolutely not, you know. You are her mommy now. She knows she's got mommy number one that had her, Katlyn, but you're her mommy now.
Milani will get to know her first mom through the journals she left.
Katlyn "loved life. She absolutely loved life," said Crystal Sale.
Crystal Sale
Crystal Sale (reading): "Your younger self would be so envious of where you are now. You're such a hard worker and such an amazing mother."
Katlyn — as she saw herself.
Crystal Sale (reading): "You're beautiful, powerful and so strong."
Her final entry focused on one subject: love.
Crystal Sale (reading): "I am loved. I deserve to be loved. I am worthy of love. "
Crystal Sale: She knew that she was loved.
Erin Moriarty: She still is.
Crystal Sale: Very much so.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233
Produced by Richard Fetzer. Lauren A. White is a producer. Michelle Sigona is the development producer. Megan Kelly Brown is the field producer. Richard Barber and Phil Tangel are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
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