Wichita Falls Nightmare: The Lauren Landovazo Tragedy

The chilling reality of evil struck Wichita Falls, Texas, with a force that reverberated through every heart, tearing at the fabric of a community. We grapple with the harrowing story of Lauren Landovazo's murder and Makayla Smith's critical wounding at the hands of Cody Lott—a narrative that's as unfathomable as it is sorrowful. Listen as we unfold a tale riddled with meticulous planning, a confession to a conversation with the devil, and a motive poisoned by jealousy and misguided attraction. Special prosecutor Ron Poul joins us to offer a glimpse into the trial's emotional gravity and provide a powerful portrayal that no secondhand recount could capture.

Words seem inadequate to convey the depth of pain experienced by those who loved Lauren and Makayla, but in this episode, we strive to honor their stories with the respect and seriousness they deserve. Shamikia Smith's testimony stands as a heartrending beacon of a mother's love and loss, while Ron Poul's characterizations of the defendant paint a chilling picture of premeditated evil. We extend our deepest appreciation to our listeners, whose support sustains our mission to share these critical stories. As we conclude, we encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the profound implications of this tragedy and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of darkness.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

just after 3pm On Friday, september 2, 2016, lauren Landovazo and her friend Mock Haley Smith, both 13, were taking their usual route home from school. As they were passing through an alleyway in their hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas, a vehicle they had never seen before suddenly came to a stop in front of them. When a young man got out and eyed them up and down, the girl's, thinking he was pulling some sort of prank, had ignored him and kept walking. Within seconds, one of the middle schoolers would be lying mortally wounded on the pavement and the other would be fighting for her life. Welcome to another episode of Human Wreckage. My name is Thomas. This episode we will be talking about horrifying act that Cody Lott committed in taking the life of Lauren Landovazo and wounding Mock Haley Smith. Let's get into it. Investigators would later learn that, after staring Lauren and Mock Haley down, the driver had retrieved a rifle from his SUV and started shooting. In total, 16 shots were fired, 15 of which had struck Lauren. Mock Haley, who had been hit in the chest by the first round, had somehow found the strength to run to safety. After emptying his weapon. The shooter had fled the scene as dozens of witnesses, most of whom were also students on their way home from McNeil Middle School, looked on in horror as ambulances rushed to the scene.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Word of the shooting spread quickly. When an acquaintance of mine, gellandovazo, phoned to tell her that students had been shot nearby, she made a beeline to the site. Upon her arrival she observed paramedics working furiously over the broken form of her only daughter. Eyewitnesses who were interviewed after the fact stated that they would be forever haunted by the sound of the distraught woman's screams. Lauren's father, bern, who had left work as soon as he learned of the shooting, arrived a short time later. Unable to process what he was seeing, he convinced himself that his child would be all right. Bianca, who had seen the extent of the damage, knew different. At the hospital, the land of Oszols were informed that their daughter, who had just started the eighth grade, had succumbed to her injuries. The medical examiner would determine that she had sustained 15 bullet wounds from a 22 caliber rifle. Two of the shots had been to the head, either of which would have proved fatal.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Cody Lott, 20, confessed to shooting the two friends as they walked home from school together, admitting he was attracted to the girl he killed but was angry that she had a boyfriend. According to an arrest affidavit. He also said he planned and thought it out after talking to the devil about it. Lauren Landovazo, 13 to died after being shot more than a dozen times, while her 13 year old best friend, mockayla Smith, survived. Authorities said Mockayla told investigators she and Lauren were walking home in an alley near school when she spotted a man she didn't know in a parked car. According to the affidavit, she said the man made eye contact with her before whipping out a rifle and opening fire on them. Authorities found 15 shell casings at the scene of the crime. The affidavit says Police believe Lauren was shot 14 times and Mockayla once.

Speaker 1: 3:33

Cody Austin Lott watched Lauren Landovazo from the windows of his parents' apartment for a year before he decided the day had come to shoot the 13 year old with a semi-automatic rifle from his stepfather's gun safe. Lott told police in a videotaped interview shown to the jury during his murder trial Something charged me up and I just jumped in my car and I unloaded on them, lott said. During the interview, lott drove a gold taho to the end of an alley a short distance away, positioned the rifle with its clip of 30 rounds through the car window and fired until all the bullets were gone, he told police. Lot, 22, is on trial on a charge of murder in connection with Lauren Landovazo's death and on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the injury of Machhala Smith, now a 15-year-old Hursky High School student. A single bullet punched three entry wounds into Smith's upper body, where the piece of metal remains lodged. His detailed descriptions of the shooting on the videotape sent several observers fleeing the courtroom in tears and made Bianca Landovazo, lauren Landovazo's mother, weep softly.

Speaker 1: 4:38

That Friday afternoon Lot first trained the rifle on Lauren Landovazo, he said in the interview. She looked at him with a smirk like it was a joke. He said Lot swept the rifle's barrel across Lauren Landovazo's body and then turned the gun on Smith, who was still standing there. According to the police interview, it was like I was in a video game. Lot said he shot Smith too, even though his plan had been to kill only Lauren Landovazo. He told police he was surprised by Lauren Landovazo's shrieks because he thought she was going to die instantly. Lot told police she started just wailing and just screaming. Lot said it got my attention. He aimed the gun back at her and fired at her head. This time, he said in the interview. I didn't want her to suffer. Lot said Lauren Landovazo was shot 15 times, the life draining out of her in the alleyway. According to earlier testimony, lot drove away and was surprised when he wasn't caught right away. He told police Right after I shot them, I lit up a joint, he said. Lot tossed the gun into a field but then he went back twice to retrieve it, putting it back in the gun case, he told police.

Speaker 1: 5:45

Lot was arrested September 4th 2016 on a tip from a 911 caller. According to testimony, he had thought he might get away with the shooting. He said in the interview it was all fun and games until they came on TV and said they had a description of the vehicle and I said I'mLot said using foul language. The first reason he gave Killingsworth for the shooting was that jealousy sparked in him of Lauren Landovazzo and her boyfriend, who he said was just a punk looking kid. But over the course of hours, lot produced a jumble of reasons that didn't always make sense for Killingsworth and WFPD detective Charles Casillas, who took over the last part of the interview. The two detectives built up a rapport with Lot. He laughed and seemed to enjoy the conversation at times, but Lot also rambled about how the devil had helped him, that an unnamed bunch of people were after him because he knew about their religion and how his birth date had some sort of special meaning.

Speaker 2: 6:42

I'd seen that girl in multiple times with her boyfriend and her boyfriend was just a little punk looking kid, that wasn't no man. So it kind of just sparked a jumble seeing me in and I felt that was the way I was going to handle it. Well, the day before I got an article and I was going to just go approach the girl and not go, I tried to be respectful to the men they said I run to them and said it's great, the definition of crazy is just repeating the same thing. So I think the obvious thing that I guess is me being looking how I did it would ever. Me being nice is something that that wasn't going to be a no-go. I had to try something out of the stage of my life Because I was sitting on the foot gun and I was watching them. I was watching out the window and waiting for them to come. I was cheating on you by yourself every day. So I was just it was cheating. Lord was the only target in the area and I saw her live with her friends and you know I'll tell you right now. When I saw her walking to the bathroom, I said, oh hell, we're not going to go down this path. I felt something charging me up and I jumped in my car and I just went and mapped that into the album man, and I went and mowed it on. That was the person who had been breaking me. Man, it wasn't Lord, it was the boy friend. He had his computer growing up on the foot gun. He had his hand, just not given a shit, and he just looked like some bum off the street and I said you know what I've done? Lots of good girls. She's some bum piece of shit. I'm going to be doing it, man. I put my heart in. I got a ton of it. I have one shit to do with it. I'm not going to. I'm going to wait, as long enough is what I said and I'm going to do it. I got inpatient. I'm a plastic guy. You know how that works out. Well, I'm going to go right because I knew this girl was going to be a truck dude in a couple of years and there's all kinds of people going on there. So I'm not lying.

Speaker 2: 8:39

I saved her from the people of this world and also it's kind of a sacrifice to the devil. I wanted a girl like this rockhead. That was more than a shit. And I said you know, I'm just sitting in all these pieces of shit. Here's a gift to you. You know, here's how I worked out for you.

Speaker 2: 8:52

I was trying to tell God this is who I would have sent you. Look, look how generous I am, man. You couldn't. You got to send me all these pieces of shit. I don't know if you can believe what I'm saying. That's not how I was.

Speaker 2: 9:04

I'm not bad at everything, man. I've had brain. I've had every troll you can think of, but I'm glad that I'm in. I can't even explain to you. I broke my phone but I still feel so happy, like like a father. I'm so happy as I can't explain all that. I didn't feel happy until I got in here, just how it was sacrificed to the devil, because I've been talking to the devil a lot and he's the one that totally didn't do that. My birth date is 1796.

Speaker 2: 9:28

And if you flip our albums like the 6 and the 9, the 6 represents the sun. People just color the sun. It's red. It's representing the color red. The 9 color blue. People close the door like purple.

Speaker 2: 9:41

I've been burning purple incense in my house and talking to the devil and postsograms and pangrans and other kinds that also carry symbols. So burning purple when I knew it was purple the thing that her favorite color was purple I knew that that was something that was meant to be. It was not something that was my sign or anything. Because I think of myself as the 8th, because when I went down to Houston club I was satanic and they were talking like I was the ancient Christ and I was telepathic. I had all this stuff that, like my bloodline just matched me with you, god.

Speaker 2: 10:12

I had no, I had only looked up Charles Manson and the radio stateless and I got blown and I had to go up into the woods in Houston for 4 days. There was God out there changing the worlds. They had trailers in there. I was exposed to some pretty serious shit man. So that is what I mean. I didn't know anything about the thing about the thing about the together of Charles Manson's scapegoat. This is what sacrificed. That was a sacrifice. When you sacrifice it, it sounds twisted. I can say what those people sacrificed a person for their benefit. I was kind of sacrificing myself for her benefit. That was a thing called purple from all that.

Speaker 1: 10:52

A jury gave Cody Austin lot the maximum punishment for the murder of Lauren Landobazo, 13, and the aggravated assault of Mock Hale Smith after about 18 minutes of deliberation. Lot is to serve life in prison for the murder and 20 years for the aggravated assault, as well as pay total fines of 20,000. He will receive credit for nearly 750 days served by state law. Lot will be eligible for parole after he has served 30 calendar years. No newspaper or television can bring you the odor of fresh blood. Special prosecutor Ron Poul said in the first of the state's closing statements you've got to be at the crime scene.

Speaker 1: 11:32

Poul's voice broke at times while discussing what the witnesses experienced in that Wichita Falls alleyway. Poul said he needed a tissue, as did others during the testimony of Shamikia Smith, mock Hale Smith's mother. But lot didn't need one because he doesn't have a conscience, he's violent, he's vicious and he is a predator. Poul said Thanks for joining me on this episode. If you like what we do, please like and subscribe. We thank you for the support. Please take care of yourselves Till next time.