Then I want an ambulance. Hi, is that Walmart? I want to report that my daughter’s been taken. What do you mean? Taken by a stranger. I can’t find her. I met a man today at Dollar General. He saw that I was struggling to buy them some clothes. He drove us here to buy us some clothes and the only reason I went with him was because he said his wife was going to be here.
Okay, and she was last seen with this man? Yes. He said he was going to McDonald’s and he hasn’t been there because the store is closed right now. I had a bad feeling about him. Jacksonville, Florida. June 21st, 2013. A mother walks into a store with her three little girls, worried about money, just trying to get her kids some clothes.
By the next morning, one of those little girls would be gone. This is the kind of case that leaves a lasting impact, not because it’s hard to follow, but because the circumstances are so difficult to process. And the most troubling part is that so many warning signs were missed. Cherish Lily Periwinkle was 8 years old.
Born on Christmas Eve in Orlando, she was, in every sense of the word, a gift. Her dad, Billy, said she was pure love walking around in a little person’s body. Her mom, Rain, called her the best thing that had ever happened to her. Cherish loved drawing animals, bossing her sisters around in pretend classroom games, and she had just just learned how to ride her bike.
She was that kid who made every room a little brighter just by walking into it. She lived in Jacksonville with her mom, Rain, her stepfather, Aaron, and her two younger sisters, Destiny and Noah. Her older sister, Lindsey, had already moved out. Life wasn’t easy for the family.
Finances were tight, and things have been stressful for a while. But on the morning of June 21st, there was something to look forward to. The very next day, Cherish was flying out to California to visit her dad, Billy. Rain wanted her to have a new dress for the trip. So, that evening, Rain loaded up the girls and headed to a Dollar General store nearby to look for something affordable.
She was already stressed before they even walked in, quietly telling a store employee she wasn’t sure how she was going to cover the cost. She had no idea someone nearby was paying close attention. As soon as Rain and her daughters stepped back outside, a man approached them. He was older, gray-haired, soft-spoken.
He introduced himself as Don. And Don had an offer that seemed almost too good to be true, and it would prove to be deceptive. He said his wife had a $150 gift card at Walmart, and they’d love to use it on the family. He said he had young kids of his own. He looked Rain in the eyes and told her she was safe. “You look like you have your hands full,” he said.
“I have a couple of little ones myself.” Rain hesitated. Of course, she did. But, he seemed genuine, kind, even grandfatherly. He mentioned his wife would meet them at Walmart. So, Rain made a decision that no parent should ever have to be judged for. She said yes. She and her three daughters climbed into his white van, and he drove them to Walmart.
She had no idea how dangerous that decision would become. If you’re new here, drop a comment and let us know where in the world you’re watching from. We have viewers tuning in from all across the US and beyond, and we love hearing from you. And if true crime documentaries like this one are your thing, hit that subscribe button.
We cover these cases every week. They walked into Walmart together, a man, a mother, and three little girls. And to anyone passing by, they probably looked like a perfectly normal family on a late-night shopping run. That ordinary appearance made the situation even harder to recognize in real time. For the next hour and a half, the five of them moved through the store.
Rain and the girls picked out a few clothing items, grateful for the help. Um but looking back, Rain would notice something she hadn’t paid much attention to in the moment. The only item Don placed in his car was a rope. By the time 10:00 p.m. rolled around, the kids were exhausted and hungry, and Don’s wife, the one who was supposedly meeting them there, had never shown up.
Rain was ready to wrap things up and head home. But Don wasn’t done. He suggested they all grab something to eat from the McDonald’s inside the store near the front entrance. Rain was hesitant, but the kids were hungry and it seemed harmless enough. The McDonald’s was right there. Inside the store, surrounded by cameras and people, Don looked over at Rain and mouthed, “I’m going to McDonald’s.
What do you want to eat?” Before she could even answer, Cherish came bounding over, eyes wide, asking if they could please, please get the food. Rain smiled at her daughter. “Cheeseburgers,” she told her. And she watched Cherish skip off, following Don toward the front of the store. That was the last time Rain saw her daughter.
Rain, Destiny, and Noah continued browsing for a few more minutes before Rain started looking around. Something felt off. Cherish and Don were nowhere in sight. She walked toward the front. The McDonald’s counter was dark. It had been closed for hours. She immediately sensed something was wrong. Then the announcement came over the intercom. Walmart was closing.
Rain’s concern turned into immediate panic. She grabbed her phone to call 911, but it wasn’t working. So, she rushed through the store calling for help and telling employees her daughter was missing. But the store was winding down. Employees were distracted, and for reasons that are still hard to understand, no one immediately responded the way you’d expect.
Whether people thought Don was a relative, a grandfather maybe, or simply didn’t register the urgency. No alarm was raised in time. It took roughly 40 minutes before a Walmart employee finally handed Rain a working phone, and she was able to reach 911. 911, Robinson. Hi, 911. I’m in Terrace City. My daughter’s been taken.
What do you mean? Taken by a stranger. I can’t find her. I met a man today at Dollar General. He saw that I was struggling to buy them some clothes. He drove us here to buy us some clothes, and the only reason I went with him because he said his wife was going to be here. Okay, and she was last seen with this man? Yes.
He went to He said he was going to McDonald’s, and he He hasn’t been there. Because the store is closed right now. I had a bad feeling about him. Okay, how long have you been looking for her? When was the last time you saw your daughter? How long ago? About half an hour ago. Okay, ma’am. What’s your daughter’s name? Her name’s Cherish.
And her her last name? Cheri with a P Winkle with a P. I had a strange feeling about him when I first met him. He took her to the He took her to the to the to the dressing room twice. And I was hoping that she would be okay, and I was looking at the shoes. And I didn’t want him to think that I was overly protective.
I had a bad feeling. I thought, “Well, I feel like pinching myself because this is too good to be true.” He was giving my 8-year-old too much attention. He wanted her to buy these really tall shoes that were women’s shoes, and I told him no. I [clears throat] don’t want him to kill her. I should have told him no. She described what she could remember.
An older man, gray hair, a large white van with curtains covering the back windows. She couldn’t recall what he was wearing or the license plate, but she gave them everything she had. 10 minutes after that call ended, the first officers arrived on scene. Walmart’s camera system was extensive and investigators wasted no time pulling the footage.
The footage immediately raised serious concern. He appeared to stay on the edges of the group watching their movements and following closely. The footage then showed the moment that sealed it. Dawn and Cherish walking out through the front doors together, climbing into his van, and pulling out of the parking lot.
Investigators concluded that Cherish had left the store with him. And despite everything Raine had told police from the very beginning, despite the footage, despite the urgency, authorities initially treated it as a missing person’s case rather than an abduction. The alert would not go out until hours later.
At 11:36 p.m., police put out a broadcast. Be on the lookout for Cherish and a 1998 white Dodge van. By midnight, that alert had spread into Nassau County. Air units were in the sky. Officers flooded the areas around the Dollar General and Walmart. Motels and hotels were being checked. Authorities were being sent to the addresses of known offenders in the surrounding area.
Law enforcement understood the urgency. By 3:30 in the morning, they had a name. 56-year-old Donald J. Smith, a registered offender with a criminal history investigators considered serious. Homicide detectives were brought onto the case immediately because his history increased investigators’ concern about Cherish’s safety.
At 4:00 a.m., the Florida Department of Law Enforcement finally pushed out the Amber Alert. And just before 7:00 a.m., the Child Abduction Response Team was activated and the Offender Tracking Unit was called in. Then came the break they needed. Hi, we was calling about a suspicious van over here.
A white Someone watching the news recognized the van and called it in. Officers tracked it down. And how long ago did you see it? At 7:20. At 7:20. It was like that. We didn’t say nothing. We didn’t We didn’t know anything until just now. It’s not there anymore, but we don’t know if he dumped think cuz we heard a girl just got to go to different Walmart.
All right, and you said it’s now gone? Yes. Yes, ma’am. But you think he may have just in case he might have dumped something? Right. We don’t know, but just in case it looked it suspicious cuz it was all the way to the back. And at 9:00 a.m., less than 12 hours after Cherish had walked out of that Walmart, they located Donald Smith.
But Cherish was not with him. Donald Smith, step out of the vehicle. Face away from us. Keep your hands in the air. Stop. Donald was soaking wet. Around him were items purchased from Walmart the night before. He said nothing useful. But veteran K9 officer Charlie Wilkie took one look at the state of Donald’s clothing and said quietly, “I think I know where she might be.
” His reaction increased officers’ concern about what they might find. Officers retraced his steps back to the area where the witness had spotted the van, behind a local church. And there, just 20 minutes after Donald had been placed in handcuffs, they located Cherish in a nearby area behind the church. The bright, flowery dress she had been so excited to wear that evening was found close by.
Cherish was found deceased. Officials say the little girl’s body was found in an unnamed church. A sheriff’s office spokesperson says Smith was taken into custody Saturday morning after officers surrounded his van. Smith was recently released from jail in late May. He reportedly has several previous arrests dating back to 1977 when he was convicted of assaulting a child under the age of 16.
WLTV reports investigators are now transitioning the way they’re handling the case from an abduction investigation to a murder investigation. For Newsy, I’m Logan Tittle. Back at the station, Donald was placed in an interrogation room and left alone for nearly an hour. At one point, he appeared to fall asleep.
Have a seat. We’ll be with you in a little bit. What’s your name? Donald Smith. Donald Smith? When investigators finally entered and read him his rights, he declined to speak. He offered no explanation and showed no visible remorse. If you do answer questions, you have the right to stop answering questions at any time and consult with a lawyer.
Do you understand that? This is an investigation of an the abduction and murder of a a Irish period week old. Yeah. 8-year-old female. Uh we’d like to ask you questions about it. Do you want to talk to us? No. Okay. Officer Wilkie, who came face-to-face with him that morning, later said Donald never once showed emotion.
No guilt, no fear, just an emotionless stillness. Officers later said he appeared focused only on the fact that he had been caught. Medical findings later confirmed that Cherish had been seriously harmed. When Rain was informed, she was overwhelmed and required medical attention. Yes, I need a I need a to call the rescue.
The mom of the the mom of the baby who just was killed, or she needs some emergency assistance right now. Donald Smith was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and additional serious charges. And as investigators began pulling apart his background, what they found painted a picture of a long pattern of behavior that authorities had repeatedly failed to contain.
And a system that had failed over and over again to address it. Donald James Smith’s criminal record spanned nearly four decades, 19 pages long, arrests and convictions for serious predatory offenses going all the way back to 1977. He had been on Florida’s registry since the day it was created. And the more investigators dug into his background, the more one question kept surfacing.
How had this man remained free for so long? In 1992, he was convicted of attempted kidnapping after trying to lure two teenage girls into his van. This was not the first time he had used that kind of approach. In 2009, he was charged with making inappropriate contact with a child named Christina and impersonating a social worker with Florida’s Department of Children and Families in an attempt to gain access to the family.
He pleaded down to misdemeanor charges and served just 14 months. Because it wasn’t classified as a felony, it didn’t trigger a mandatory reevaluation of the level of a risky posed. Christina’s mother, Stephanie, spoke plainly about it. She said he was deeply dangerous and that they needed to give him the highest penalty.
Within 3 weeks of getting out of jail, he was accused again. 3 weeks. That’s how long Donald had been out of jail before Cherish was taken. And in the days just before it happened, he had actually met with police to verify his address. Standard procedure under Florida law for registered offenders. He stood in front of officers, confirmed where he lived, and walked right back out.
What makes this even harder to process is that the system had actually flagged him before. As far back as 1999, as he was preparing to leave prison, both state officials and psychiatrists identified Donald as presenting a high risk of reoffending. He was recommended for civil commitment. A process that keeps the highest-risk offenders in a treatment facility even after their sentence ends.
Only about 1% of all offenders ever receive that recommendation. Donald was one of them. He was sent to a facility near Tampa. But somehow, the jury that was supposed to approve keeping him there never heard the full picture. Never heard what the state and its own psychiatrist had concluded about him. And so he was released back into the community.
Former prosecutor Rick Alexander put it plainly. He looks like he’s never stopped. Anybody in law enforcement would look at this record and recognize the risk. He also said he was stunned by how little time Donald had actually served over the years, given the nature and volume of his offenses. A psychological assessment was conducted, and doctors described significant psychological and impulse control problems that they believed were linked to a long pattern of serious compulsive behavior.
One doctor noted these patterns had persisted over many years, though he was careful to clarify that wasn’t the same as having absolutely no control at all. In a secretly recorded jail call with his mother after his arrest, parts of his account began to change. Donald spent a long stretch of the call insisting he was innocent, pointing out that Walmart had cameras everywhere and that he wasn’t stupid enough to try something there.
[snorts] But then the story started to shift. He admitted he had been under the influence that evening when he spotted Rain struggling to afford clothes for her girls. He described getting them into his van and the ride to Walmart. The kid was gone. to California. And that’s what I
I think you do that to her. We don’t want her. He acknowledged leaving the store with Cherish before police had been alerted. He said he knew immediately that the situation would ruin his life. And then he said something that would echo throughout the entire case. My mind just left me. He said it over and over.
He never admitted responsibility, but investigators said the evidence was clear. At one point during the call, he began discussing his legal strategy with his mother, suggesting his best chance was to pursue a mental health-based legal defense. He even asked her to buy him a book on psychiatric disorders. You got I want to I want I’m not going to say anything about this thing.
Can you tell me why you didn’t go home with Cherish and go home with your with your I got back. She’s in the back of the car and she’s kicking and kicking and kicking and kicking. And I’m going to die. I’m going to get away with this because they’ll have no one to identify me. I’m going to get away with this because they’ll have I’m sure they Can you tell me anyway? I’m going I’m going to kill Cherish.
I’m walking out. She comes up. And she says, “No, no, no, no, go back there with your mom.” She says, “I’m not going with you.” And I tell her, “Let me know.” Go ask your mom if she wants something. And you cry and I’m trying to get away. She comes running up. And I’m panicking again. And I’m panicking. And I look up and I see my mom.
And all of a sudden my mom was security right there. Her mother was inside. Her mother says, “You’re weak.” weak. I’m shaking because now this is a kidnapping. Here you go. monster. [ __ ] I’m afraid of this girl. I’m panicking. She’s going to tell me I’m okay. Okay. Okay, I’m going to start my video. I’m going to start my video.
She’s pulling up in the door. I don’t think it. Holy [ __ ] I don’t know what to do. My mind My mind it just went He never admitted to assaulting her saying he wasn’t attracted to young children. I don’t do children sexual acts. sexual acts with young children. Oh, no. Yes, dad. I just snapped. I just snapped. All of you are You got to go.
You got to go. I don’t care how. You got to go. It happened. It couldn’t have happened the way they said? Yes, it could have. It could have. I’M SO SORRY. I DON’T THINK SO. I DON’T KNOW. SHE hurt the girl. I don’t think so. She hurt the girl. That’s my wife. The same wife. SHE TOLD ME. YOU GOT to go. I don’t think so.
Wait. Never be able to work through all this. Never. I’ll never be okay. So, rather than spend the rest of my life being humiliated by myself, telling all this crap in my head, I might as well just die with it. Easier to just die with it cuz I’ll probably never get through it anyway. That’s what my brain’s telling me.
I need a very simple book. Donald pleaded not guilty. His defense team pushed for a change of venue, arguing the media coverage had made a fair trial impossible. That request was denied. The case moved slowly over the following years due to complications with Florida’s death penalty laws, but in early 2018, the trial finally began.
The trial was emotionally heavy from the beginning. The prosecution opened with the words that silenced the courtroom. Cherish Perrywinkle was 8 years old. She weighed 67 lb. Separated from her mother, from her little sisters, from all she knew as safe in this world, she was separated from her family and remained in his custody for the final hours of her life.
This case would leave a lasting impact on everyone in the courtroom. Raine took the stand as the state’s first witness. Donald’s defense attorney had planned to cross-examine her to suggest that Raine’s decision to get into the van had contributed to what happened. But after Raine finished testifying, Donald personally instructed his attorneys to stand down.
No cross-examination. The state called multiple witnesses, including the civilian who had tipped off police about the van, Officer Charles Wilkie, and Dr. Valerie Rao, who had conducted the postmortem examination. As Dr. Rao described the medical findings, she became overwhelmed and had to pause.
Several jurors appeared visibly emotional. I’m going to direct your attention now to state’s 84 and ask you to explain to the jury what is reflected here. Um on the left side of her scalp right there. Right. And what’s How is that caused, Dr. Rao? Um blunt trauma. I’m going to show you two more photographs of the dissection taken of Cherish Perrywinkle’s throat.
Will you first tell the jury what you saw when you um um dissected her throat? Yes, so what we do is it’s uh I’m sorry, I have to take a break. Can I just have like 5 minutes? You want a 5-minute break? [clears throat] I think we’ll all take a break for 10 minutes. Thank you. Multiple evidentiary photographs were entered into the record.
Donald’s defense team called no witnesses. They did not deliver a closing argument. Nothing. After just 19 minutes of deliberations, the jury came back unanimous. Guilty on all counts, kidnapping of a victim under 13, additional serious charges, and first-degree murder. By special verdict, they found him guilty of both premeditated and felony murder.
You may be seated. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It’s my understanding the jury has reached a verdict. Is that correct? I’m the secretary of the Palm Beach County Circuit and I’m reporting the verdict for the order case number 16, 2013. State of Florida versus Donald James Smith.
Verdict count one, we the jury find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder as charged in the indictment. We further find the killing was premeditated. We further find the killing was done during the commission or attempted commission of a felony, which is kidnapping and sexual battery. Verdict count two, we the jury find the defendant guilty of kidnapping as charged in the indictment.
Verdict count three, we the jury find the defendant guilty of sexual battery upon a person less than 12 years of age as charged in the indictment. Signed we all done at Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. A woman named Karan took the stand and told the jury about the day Donald had attempted to take her when she was just 13 years old.
She had managed to get away. But the experience had left a mark that never fully faded. It was slipping and I was so afraid I was going to fall out and he WAS GOING TO FIND ME. He said, “I know you’re in there, you little [ __ ] and you I’m going to find Her testimony made clear that this was not an isolated event, but part of a pattern authorities had seen for decades. The jury recommended death.
And the judge agreed. The judge imposed the death sentence in emphatic terms, telling Donald Smith he had not only forfeited his right to live among others, but the judge said he had forfeited his right to remain among society entirely. Reviewing the aggravating factors that we unanimously found to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, we the jury unanimously find that the defendant, Donald James Smith, should be sentenced to death.
The moment that sentence was handed down, the emotion that had been building for nearly 5 years finally broke through. For Rain and Billy, it was relief, but it was incomplete and deeply painful. No verdict, no sentence, no amount of justice handed down in a courtroom was ever going to bring Cherish home.
It’s overwhelming. It’s It’s like I never thought this day would come, and now it’s here. And now I’m just [clears throat] stumped for words. I just wish Cherish was here to see it. I want to strengthen laws keeping predators locked up where they should be, so they don’t have chance to keep getting out to murder children, to lure parents such as myself that were naive that day did that I wasn’t thinking straight. I had three little children.
I was by myself. I had no clue he was a predator. He was let out for 21 days before he did this. The police knew who he was. We as a community did not know who he was. No, it’s not justice. You know, um the legal system works the way it works, but uh he’s been living for 5 years after the death of my daughter, and he’s going to be living till the the death penalty is either done or whatever the case may be, and that’s not justice.
Uh she didn’t get that option to live those many years. Outside the courthouse, the atmosphere was charged. Anti-death penalty protesters had gathered, and when Rain came out, the confrontation was immediate and emotional. Difficult case for all of us here. An innocent child lost her life, but taking Donald Smith’s life or anybody else’s life will not bring Cherish back.
Don’t keep him alive, so he can keep getting out. It ends now. Thank you, everyone, for your support. We couldn’t have done it all without you. This is for Cherish and other victims. Other victims out there. Jury members who spoke to the media afterward described the toll the trial had taken on them. The emotions were just you know, it was thick in the room.
We all need to vent here pretty quick, cuz you know, a lot of us were just ready to explode. As me being a mother and a grandmother, and having grandkids that age when that happened, you know, I I could imagine if anything like that happened to one of mine. You know, a white van, or you see somebody walking down the road that’s, you know, with a kid, you know, you’re going to look twice.
Could that be the next Donald Smith? When they first went into deliberations, however, about four jurors were leaning towards a life sentence. A couple people were on the fence line of saying, you know, life in prison. Should be sentenced to death. There’s sick people in the world, and and that’s what that’s why they have the death penalty, because they don’t need to be on this planet anymore.
They don’t plan or ask to see these things, and I knew how that me, and I’ve seen these things. So, I absolutely we wanted to prepare them for what they were about to see. The evidence and testimony stayed with them long after the trial ended. This case left a deep impact on everyone involved. But Donald wasn’t finished fighting.
In 2021, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld his conviction, stating that the evidence was overwhelming. Almost exactly 1 decade after 8-year-old Cherish Periwinkle was kidnapped from a Jacksonville Walmart and murdered, her killer’s death penalty case is returning to a Duval County courtroom.
The Donald Smith was not in court today, but his legal team told a judge that his original attorneys made mistakes that his 20 Most people assumed that was the end of it. Then in 2023, nearly a decade after Cherish’s passing, the case was back in a courtroom. Donald’s new legal team argued that his original attorneys had been ineffective, claiming they failed to properly screen a potentially biased juror and didn’t follow correct procedures during jury selection.
Ryne Periwinkle watched as her daughter’s killer, Donald Smith, entered the courtroom. One of Smith’s original lawyers, Julie Slat, spent the most time on the stand taking questions on jury selection and why she did not advise Smith to take a plea deal instead of going to trial. We certainly knew, as Mr.
Smith did, that we were not going to be successful in being He didn’t feel safe. He didn’t feel safe. Correct. But But it was all about Rather than expressing remorse and trying to take responsibility, his decision is go to trial. Yes. Smith’s defense argued that the original jury members were not thoroughly vetted.
This because during jury selection, one candidate in a questionnaire had answered yes to if she formed her own opinion about Smith’s guilt, but she later crossed out the answers and put no. Just looked like a simple mistake and she came across as a decent juror and we went with it. So, you never asked? I don’t believe we did ask.
During the initial trial, Slats and Fletcher did not cross-examine Cherish Periwinkle’s mother. Today, they defended that decision saying it was Smith who made that request. This was definitely a case if we were going to be successful, we were going to have to get hopefully one or more jurors to believe in Mr. Smith.
Me fighting with Ms. Periwinkle was not going to move [snorts] that in our direction at all. It was also revealed in court today Smith wanted the court process to last as long as possible. The prosecution fired back reminding the court that the conviction rested on DNA evidence, surveillance footage, witness testimony, and cell phone data.
It was by any measure an extremely strong case. They also pointed out that Donald himself had never once raised concerns about his attorneys, had actually complimented them after the trial. In May 2024, a judge denied him a new trial. Donald Smith remains on death row. Back at home, the aftermath for Rain was devastating in ways that extended far beyond grief.
Just weeks after Cherish’s passing, the state removed 6-year-old Destiny and 5-year-old Neveah from her care and from their father Aaron’s as well. Almost immediately, advocates began pushing for the girls to be adopted out. Rain pushed back hard and publicly. “Regardless of what I say, people will have their own assumptions about me anyway,” she said.
“But I choose to speak right now because there are so many people trying to take Destiny and Neveah away from me.” Destiny and Neveah Periwinkle are now living in Australia and these are her new parents. Going to Australia, starting a new life with family. That that’s the best thing for them. Patricia Parker says after Rain Periwinkle didn’t complete a case plan to get her kids back, the state had no choice but to place the kids up for adoption.
She says they typically seek family members, which worked out in this case, but Rain is furious and hurt. I’m their mother. I would die for them. I don’t care what anyone says. I’d go without for my children. And there’s just so much that’s not being said right now. Rain says she hasn’t spoken to her sister in years and believes the only reason her sister and husband got married was to take the kids away from her.
If you can’t take care of your children, would you rather your children be in foster care or with family? Periwinkle says she wasn’t given a fair opportunity to prove her ability to take care of the girls. She says the last time she saw them was during visitation last March. She says she told them she would continue fighting to get them back and feels she was shut out of the process when she lost her parental rights.
I wish they would just feel for one day what they’ve done to me. It’s not all about myself. Cherish is the biggest victim in this, okay? She’s the biggest victim. But because I’m her mother and I’m the adult, I’m the one that has to do these interviews. I’m the one that has to go to court hearings. But Destiny and Naveah Periwinkle, they’re victims in this, too.
She briefly lost visitation rights before they were restored, allowing her 2 supervised hours with her daughters every Monday. She made clear she had no intention of walking away from them. But by 2017, a former guardian of the girls stated that Rain had been given the opportunity to meet the criteria to get her daughters back and had not done so, leaving the state little choice but to move toward adoption.
Destiny and Naveah were eventually adopted by their aunt and moved to Australia. For Billy, Cherish’s father, the grief reached him in the most devastating way imaginable. He had woken up that morning in California excited, counting down the hours until he could get to the airport. Instead, his phone rang with news that no parent should ever receive.
His attorney, who had spent years fighting for Billy and to have more time with Cherish, said it plainly. The helplessness of watching that fight in the way it did was something he couldn’t put into words. Rain, for her part, struggled to rebuild any sense of a normal life. She faced intense public scrutiny while trying to survive profound grief.
She was blamed by many people, and that burden stayed with her. And that is perhaps one of the most complicated layers of this entire case. Because the conversation around Rain has never been simple. Some people feel strongly that she made a decision that many people later questioned. That the warning signs were there. Others argue that Donald was a calculated individual who deliberately targeted a mother he could see was struggling, used apparent kindness to gain the family’s trust, and took advantage of the family’s vulnerable situation. Both things can be true
simultaneously. And neither changes the fact that the person responsible for what happened to Cherish Perrywinkle is Donald James Smith. And no one else. This case also forced a much bigger and much harder conversation about the system itself. The failures in this case were not isolated. They built on one another.
A man psychiatrist had identified as presenting a high risk of reoffending. A civil commitment process that was supposed to catch exactly this kind of individual, but failed before it could stop him. A jury that never heard the full picture. A 2009 charge that was pleaded down to a misdemeanor, resetting the clock on accountability.
An Amber Alert that took more than 6 hours to go out. The question of whether an earlier alert could have changed the outcome is one that investigators and advocates have sat with ever since. And likely always will. Officer Wilkie said it as clearly as anyone could. If Donald Smith were ever free again, he would have remained an ongoing risk to others.
The system had to stop him. And it took far too long to do so. Hundreds of people attended Cherish’s funeral. Nearly 2,000 signed the guest book at her viewing. Strangers showed up at the family’s door with groceries. The community wrapped itself around the Periwinkles the best it could, because sometimes that’s all anyone can do.
And Billy, her father, who had expected to see her that morning, wrote something in his victim impact statement that says everything that words can barely hold. In his statement, Billy described how the case changed the way he saw the world. He wrote about how precious every moment with Cherish had been.
How he had woken up that morning excited to see her, and how instead of the reunion he had looked forward to, he received the most devastating news any parent can receive. He wrote that Cherish was the light of his life. That she would never again laugh or dream. And that as her father, he would never hear her voice, know her thoughts, or see her grow into the incredible person he knew she could have become.
Cherish Lily Periwinkle was 8 years old. She was supposed to be on a plane the next morning. She never boarded that flight. Her memory remains deeply felt by those who loved her, and by many who learned her story. If you believe stories like Cherish’s should continue to be remembered, consider sharing this documentary. And if you haven’t already, subscribe so you never miss another true crime documentary.
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Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
