True Crime Vault: Gone Before the Storm

March 24, 2026·1 hr 24 min·5 clips

Police chief invoked racial resentment to pressure 12-year-old Anthony into confessing to a murder with no physical evidence.

A child is gone. Devin Donover was five when her body was found in brush near her home, and the episode stays close to the adults who still carry that loss. Then another child is accused. Anthony Harris is 12 when he is about to be charged with murder, leaving investigators, journalists, and the community stuck on the age of everyone involved. The tape changes the room. The excerpt centers on a confession, though Anthony is also heard saying plainly that he did not kill Devin. Reporters remember the trial with unusual clarity. One says it was unlike any other trial covered because both the victim and the defendant were children. The community shows up in public. Seventy people gather in New Philadelphia to support Anthony, while the case becomes page-one news and something harder for the town to absorb. Devin's mother wants punishment, and her words hit hard: her daughter got a death sentence for playing outside. The defense goes after the confession. Public defender Taryn Hale files a motion to suppress the interrogation, arguing that without the confession the state may not have a case. The questions are plain and uncomfortable. Was Anthony alone? Did he have an attorney? Were Miranda rights used? Was a 12 year old coerced? The motion is denied. Once the taped confession is admitted, the defense is no longer fighting only an accusation. There is no jury. Because Anthony is a juvenile in Ohio, Judge Kate decides the case. What looked to some like a simple proceeding turns into something much messier and much sadder. More than 20 years pass. The closing beat finds Anthony grown, once accused and even convicted, now joining the search for answers. Closure is still out of reach. One person says they stood near Devin to tell her they had not quit on her, and the program notes that only one of three people involved in the search from the beginning said law enforcement interviewed them.

As heard by us

A cold case that stays human while the evidence catches up.

This episode takes a suburban D.C. murder and treats it as a case shaped by time, delay, and the slow work of new technology. It is strongest when it stays with the reporting, the interviews, and the long stretch before answers arrive.

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Why you'd press play

A cold case, a taped confession, and the long work of making the record speak.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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