Episode Details

Five-year-old Zoey Felix was murdered in Topeka, Kansas, on October 2, 2023, after she was left alone with Mickel Cherry, a family acquaintance who had been living with Zoey, her father and her sister in a homeless encampment near a Dillons gas station. Prosecutors said Cherry raped Zoey inside a tent and then suffocated her with a pillow. Around 5:55 p.m., Zoey was found unresponsive near the gas station where her father was working, and emergency crews were unable to save her. Medical personnel documented severe injuries consistent with sexual assault, and later testing found biological evidence linking Cherry to the attack. Cherry initially gave investigators false stories about what had happened, but he eventually admitted responsibility. In December 2024, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder committed during a felony and rape of a child under 14.

The case also became a major scandal over the warning signs that preceded Zoey’s death. Neighbors, police, teachers and child-welfare officials had repeatedly raised concerns about neglect, domestic instability, a lack of utilities and Zoey’s living conditions, and Kansas authorities had investigated the family multiple times before she was killed. Despite those interventions, Zoey ultimately wound up living in the encampment where the murder occurred. In July 2025, Cherry was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and must serve at least 50 years before becoming eligible for parole. The murder prompted intense scrutiny of the Kansas Department for Children and Families and renewed questions about how a five-year-old who had already generated so many welfare concerns remained in such an unstable and dangerous environment.