What happens when an ordinary night out turns into a tragedy, and a five-year-old child becomes one of the most important witnesses to a violent crime? This week on Pushing Up Lilies, I’m talking about the heartbreaking case of Jessica Antolini, a 30-year-old woman whose life was taken following a violent confrontation outside a bar in Safety Harbor, Florida. According to investigators, Jessica’s boyfriend, Christopher “Dodge” Smith, arrived at the bar looking for her. After an argument outside, he allegedly shot Jessica and then drove over her with his SUV as he left the scene. Even more disturbing, his five-year-old daughter was reportedly present and witnessed the violence. Jessica fought for her life in the hospital for two days before passing away from her injuries. As a forensic nurse and former death investigator, there are several aspects of this case that I want to examine. We’ll talk about how investigators evaluate gunshot wounds alongside injuries caused by a vehicle, why hospital records are so important in a death investigation, and how forensic evidence can help reconstruct the events leading to someone’s death. I also want to discuss something that deeply concerns me: the involvement of a young child in such a traumatic event. We’ll look at the importance of specialized forensic interviews, protecting child witnesses, and recognizing the emotional impact that witnessing violence can have long after the investigation ends. And because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’ll talk about intimate partner violence, the warning signs that sometimes go unnoticed, and the role healthcare professionals can play in helping people experiencing abuse. But before anything else, I want you to know who Jessica was. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a woman who cared deeply about people’s rights and animal welfare. Her family described her as kind and loving, and her life deserves to be remembered for so much more than the circumstances of her death. Join me as we examine the evidence, the unanswered questions, and the devastating loss of Jessica Antolini. Because behind every death investigation is a person whose life mattered. * Listener discretion is advised. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. 00:10 Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner. 00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey, guys. Welcome to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. Welcome back if you’re new. I’m so glad you’re here. 00:39 If you’re not, I’m also glad you’re here. But I wanna talk this week about a case that just happened a few days ago. It happened in Florida, and it has to do with domestic violence. 00:51 So, imagine being at a local bar, and it’s a Tuesday night, you’re talking to your friends, and you’re enjoying yourself, and you’re doing something that millions of people do without giving it a second thought. 01:04 And then somebody comes looking for you, and they’re not looking for you to have a friendly conversation. They don’t want to sit down and try to work something out. They’re angry. 01:14 Witnesses would later describe his behavior as though he was hunting someone, and the person he was looking for was thirty-year-old Jessica Antolini. 01:26 Now, within minutes, Jessica would be lying on the ground with a gunshot injury, and then investigators allege that the man responsible then got in his SUV and drove over her. 01:38 And here’s another part of this case that I find really disturbing. His five-year-old daughter was with him in the vehicle, and the dog. 01:47 She would later tell investigators something that no child should ever have to say, “Daddy shot Jess.” Jessica fought for her life in the hospital for two days, but on October fifteenth, she died from her injuries. 01:58 Now, her boyfriend, forty-year-old Christopher Dodge Smith, now faces a first-degree murder charge. 02:05 I’ve investigated deaths for years, and I’ve seen what happens when anger, violence, and access to a weapon come together. I’ve also seen what happens to the families left behind. 02:19 This almost happened to me, and I know we’ve talked about it. But this case raises several questions that I wanna talk about from an investigative standpoint. 02:28 What happened in the moments before this shooting? And I wanna share with y’all, like, how do you distinguish injuries caused by gunfire from those caused by a vehicle? 02:40 And what happens when a young child becomes one of the most important witnesses? I’m Julie Matson. 02:46 I’ve spent more than thirty years as a nurse, including years investigating deaths, and this is Pushing Up Lilies. 02:53 So, before we talk about the man accused of killing Jessica, I wanna talk about Jessica herself. 02:59 So, as you know, one of the things that bothers me about homicide coverage is how quickly a victim’s entire identity becomes connected to the person accused of taking their life. 03:10 Jessica Antolini was thirty. She had a family who loved her, friends who cared about her, and people who are now trying to understand how somebody they love so much was taken from them. 03:22 Now, after her death, her mom, Suzanne, shared a statement expressing the family’s heartbreak, and she said that Jessica was a beloved daughter, a cherished sister, and a treasured friend. 03:32 Her mother also talked about something that was very important to Jessica. She cared about people’s rights and animal welfare. 03:38 And those details matter because they tell us something about what Jessica believed in and what was important to her. 03:45 She obviously cared about others, and her life involved relationships and interests and causes beyond the circumstances of her death. 03:54 At thirty years old, she should have had decades of life ahead of her. 03:59 Now, we don’t know a lot about her childhood or