Transcript

Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death

From True Crime News · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 38 min · 6,395 words · 169 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death", an episode of True Crime News published December 28, 2025 (38 min, about 6,395 words). It mentions 10 people, works and ideas, including Danish Menhas, Crime Watch Daily, Nor Muhammad, Tbasam Khan, Brian Harris.

What this episode is about

A straight-A high school senior discovers his mother brutally murdered in their Texas home, leading to a shocking investigation that uncovers his involvement in hiring a classmate to commit the crime. As detectives reveal the gruesome details — including 48 stab wounds — the case raises intense questions about motive and the dark undercurrents in the seemingly perfect life of a promising young man.

Key takeaways

  • Straight-A students can hide dark secrets; Danish's promising future crumbled with his mother's tragic murder.
  • A bloody glove isn't just a fashion statement; it's a potential smoking gun in the search for justice.
  • Murder motives can be buried beneath layers of respectability; even the kindest can harbor chilling intentions.
  • In a burglary gone wrong, the real treasure may be closer than expected—hidden in plain sight.
  • Devotion doesn’t always guarantee safety; Tbasam's unwavering love led her to a horrific fate.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Crime Watch Daily, Tbasam Khan, Chris Hansen, Houston
  2. – 10:00: Brian Harris, Houston
  3. – 15:00: Danish Menhas, Brian Harris, Houston
  4. – 20:00: Nor Muhammad, Tbasam Khan, Brian Harris, Houston
  5. – 25:00: Nor Muhammad, Houston, Crime Watch Daily, Robert E. Lee High School
  6. – 30:00: Brian Harris, Crime Watch Daily, Ally Yman
  7. – 35:00: Ally Yman, Mike Lizaraga
  8. – 38:29: Crime Watch Daily, Mike Lizaraga

Notable quotes from "Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death"

  • I'm Chris Hansen. Right now on Crime Watch Daily from here in New York, a straight A high school senior and president [snorts] of his class, most likely to be attorney general, most.
    about Chris Hansen · at
  • Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hansen. We start today with another Crime Watch Daily exclusive. The key player in a high-profile murder case out of Texas is giving his first in-depth TV interview.
    about Crime Watch Daily · at
  • Tbasam Khan was a 43-year-old divorced mother of two who had immigrated from Pakistan to raise her kids on her own in suburban Houston.
    about Tbasam Khan · at
  • Harris says Danish then offers more unsolicited information to cover his tracks.
    about Brian Harris · at
  • Danish admits he had other arguments with his mother about her being overprotective and too strict in regards to his social life.
    about Danish Menhas · at
  • Nor says Danish drives him to his Houston apartment complex.
    about Nor Muhammad · at
  • A random act. It's Ally Yman's truck stuck in the mud. But where is Allied?
    about Ally Yman · at
  • Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Ally? I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Ally.
    about Mike Lizaraga · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Danish Menhas — Person · Primary subject (convicted mastermind in murder case) · 2 mentions · first at
    Central figure in the Texas case: a high-achieving student accused and later convicted of orchestrating his mother's robbery/murder; later interviewed from prison.
  • Nor Muhammad — Person · Perpetrator (hired killer) and key witness/confessor · 5 mentions · first at
    Classmate whose bloody handprint matches the scene; confesses to the stabbing and alleges Danish hired him, shaping the prosecution narrative.
  • Tbasam Khan — Person · Victim (murder case) · 4 mentions · first at
    Single mother murdered in her Houston-area apartment; her death is the focal crime that drives the investigation and interviews.
  • Brian Harris — Person · Referenced expert (lead homicide detective / investigator) · 7 mentions · first at
    Key law-enforcement voice interpreting evidence and behavior; describes forensic clues and interrogation impressions; claims to have put Danish behind bars.
  • Ally Yman — Person · Victim (missing person / death investigation) · 2 mentions · first at
    20-year-old college student whose disappearance after leaving Mike Lizaraga’s house becomes the second major case; later identified as deceased.
  • Chris Hansen — Person · Host / anchor · 2 mentions · first at
    Introduces and narrates the Crime Watch Daily segments, frames both the Texas murder case and the Ally Yman disappearance case.
  • Mike Lizaraga — Person · Interview subject / person of interest (last-known contact) · 2 mentions · first at
    37-year-old contractor identified as the last person believed to see Ally alive; interviewed and denies involvement; offers polygraph.

Places & events

  • Houston — Place · Setting · 7 mentions · first at
    The city where the murder of Tbasam Khan took place and where the subsequent investigation was conducted.
    Tbasam Khan was a 43-year-old divorced mother of two who had immigrated from Pakistan to raise her kids on her own in suburban Houston.
  • Robert E. Lee High School — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    The high school where Danish Minhos was a student and where he met his co-conspirator, Nor Muhammad.
    Once we were able to identify Noir and Donnish and put those two together, it was clear it was all captured on tape.

Media & podcasts

  • Crime Watch Daily — Media · Broadcast · 6 mentions · first at
    The primary media platform discussing the high-profile murder case and conducting interviews with key figures.

Full transcript with timestamps

I'm Chris Hansen. Right now on Crime Watch Daily from here in New York, a straight A high school senior and president [snorts] of his class,

most likely to be attorney general, most likely to be a millionaire, walks in his front door to a gruesome discovery.

I came home, she's got blood. His mother stabbed to death inside their apartment. Police suspect a burglary gone wrong.

The killer was looking for something. Her teenage son is called in for questioning.

Did you hurt your mom? Then a bloody clue leads detectives to another suspect. He's wearing one glove like Michael Jackson.

Today, the ticking time bomb that ended with 48 stab wounds. Over and over and over again, dozens and dozens of times. Plus, a pretty 20-year-old college student vanishes after partying at this man's house. Today, as police deliver grim news to her shattered family, he's on our hot seat with Melissa McCarti.

Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Ally? Right now, Andrea Iser with Crime Watch Daily.

Jason Mat with Crime Watch Daily. This I'm Elizabeth. I'm here with Crime Watch.

I'm Michelle from Crime Watch Daily. Anna Garcia from Crime Watch is Crime Watch Daily.

Stay off my property. We'll find you again. We always do. Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hansen. We start today with another Crime Watch Daily exclusive. The key player in a high-profile murder case out of Texas is giving his first in-depth TV interview to our Nerissa Knight. Hey, Nerissa.

Chris, a son walks into a nightmare of a scene. I came home. She's got little birds.

His mother stabbed to death inside their apartment. and drenched in blood from 48 vicious knife wounds.

She's gone. At first, it's a mystery why anyone would want to so savagely kill this much loved and admired single mom.

One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around was the motive in this case. But as cops investigate, they uncover a Texas-sized murder plot hatched at this high school by the most unexpected person caught hiding in plain sight. It

was all captured on tape. Tbasam Khan was a 43-year-old divorced mother of two who had immigrated from Pakistan to raise her kids on her own in suburban Houston.

Tbasam Khan was a mother first and foremost. Her whole world revolved around her children.

Tbasum had devoted her life to them. She worked in order to provide for them. All of her energy went to raising her children and providing them a safe home and a comfortable home. And the apple of her eye was 17-year-old son, Danish, Tosam's youngest child and the only one still living at home.

She gave him everything, every teenage luxury her modest income could buy. She gave him a car. She gave him a credit card. She took care of every one of his needs.

But Tbasam was a dedicated, hands-on mom who also made Danish earn his privileges. She wanted to make sure that his school work was done,

um, that he was at school. And Danish was living up to his mother's high expectations at Robert E. Lee High School, where he was a straight A senior who was immensely popular with his teachers and fellow students.

Danish was the class president. Danish was the high school principal student helper. Danish was perceived as the student leader in the school

with a bright future ahead of him. Danish menhos was the type of kid that was going to be a winner. He was going to be very successful in life.

Danish dressed immaculately, fingernails, you know, filed, just everything perfect. most likely to be president, most likely to become Houston police chief, most likely to be attorney general, most likely to be a millionaire. But Danish's world was about to suddenly and tragically come crashing down when he returns home to find his mother, the woman who lived for him, lying dead on the living room floor, her head and upper body covered with a blanket. And what lies beneath the blanket is like a scene from a horror movie.

One that will be seared into the teenager's memory for the rest of his life. I came home. She's got blood on her.

A distraught Danish calls 911. She's on the floor between the sofas. She's got blood on her.

Okay. Is she Is she breathing normally? No, she she's not doing anything now. She's gone. Danish can barely speak through his tears.

We have help coming for you. Okay. Thank you. Down the line with me though. Even veteran homicide detective Brian Harris is shocked when he arrives at the crime scene.

It was such a brutal crime. Tobasum Khan was stabbed repeatedly over and over and over again. Dozens and dozens of times. She had injuries all over her body. The majority were around the neck, the face area. She had some defensive wounds, clearly trying to prevent her death.

She had stab wounds on her forearm. She had stab wounds on her legs, gouges on her legs.

But her killer had left behind a telltale clue. It looked as though we had bloody fingerprints around her ankles, as if she was kicking and somebody was holding her legs down while they continued to stab.

Investigators initially think Tbasum may have been murdered during a burglary. And it was clear based on the evidence, the envelopes being moved, the killer was looking for something which was backed up by the blood spatter and transfer blood on several white envelopes. But cops couldn't find any sign of forced entry at the apartment.

The door frame was not damaged at all. There was no fresh wood as if somebody pried the door open.

That along with the particularly savage way Tbasam was murdered. And the fact that her head was covered by her killer makes investigators look in another direction.

That's an indication that perhaps there's a relationship, that the person knew who their victim was. It is also an indication that the person may be shameful.

Now cops try to figure out who that may be. Breaking down the life that she had led, who she was, who she was dating, who she knew, what she did for work, what was her relationship with her family.

Next, cops follow the trail of bloody clues on the front door. That wasn't Tabisonson's blood that we were looking at.

And even they can't believe where it leads them. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

A single mother of two is stabbed to death in her Houston area apartment. She's found by her distraught son, Dish, a popular high school senior. Our Nerissa Knight picks up the story from there.

Chris, who would want Texas mother Tobasum Kong dead? The killer's identity may have been a mystery to this day had he not made a huge mistake. He left his bloody handprint on the door handle.

That wasn't Tabisonson's blood that we were looking at. Cops pour over the forensic evidence and they go back to the 911 call to search for more clues.

There's blood over her face and her hair and like the sofa and the carpet. One of them is in the voice of 17-year-old Danish, who called for help after discovering his mother's body.

Okay. You don't know what happened? No. No. I just got I just got in from Gston. I just walked in this morning.

Right there. A clue that tips off homicide detective Brian Harris. Even before being asked where he was that night, Danish offers up an alibi. If the killer is actually the one calling 911, they will try to lay out their alibi. And on this 911 tape, he mentions he was in Galveastston.

Harris says Danish then offers more unsolicited information to cover his tracks.

He also mentions that the door was open. I came in and the door was unlocked. The door was unlocked. So either the victim opened up the door or the door was left open for the killer.

But even with all of that, this seasoned cop recoils when he comes to suspect that telltale bloody handprint on the door will turn out to belong to Tobasum's own 17-year-old son, Danish.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Harris says he noticed something else suspicious at the bloody crime scene. Danish's spotless clothing.

There was no blood stains. So he looked clean as a whistle. He was completely clean. He looked as if he could be in a magazine modeling for prep university.

But you knew there was something there. There was something there because you don't find your mom and not go to them, not hold them. There was no staining on his hands. Danish is the type of person that truly believes he's the smartest person in the room and that he has seen enough crime scene shows about blood evidence that if he didn't have any on him, he certainly [snorts] wouldn't be a suspect.

Investigators also learned that Danish had a fierce argument with his mother just the day before her murder. The argument, ironically, was over whether or not she would sign his paperwork to do an internship for the Houston Police Department. To Danish, it seemed that it was all about him wanting to be this man and that his mother was this obstacle for him to do what it is that he wanted to do with his life. and detectives ask Danish about it when he's brought in for questioning.

She wanted me to go into more of medical professional line and I wanted to do more law enforcement.

Danish admits he had had other arguments with his mother about her being overprotective and too strict in regards to his social life.

She was scared losing her son. The things that he wanted were things like to go out with his friends at night. And Danish says he and his mother also clashed over that the day before she was murdered when he told her he wanted to stay out late that night.

She treats me as if, you know, I was like the only son in the whole entire world.

Detectives asked Danish straight out if he might have killed his mother in a rage. Did you hurt your mom?

As in her feelings? I think I hurt his feelings. Are you talking about physically hurt?

Yeah. No. Can't even do that. I can't I can't do that. That's my mother. And Danish offers an alibi, saying he took a girlfriend to the movies in nearby Galveastston, dropped her home at 4:30 a.m., and stayed out all night just like he wanted before returning to his own home nearly 4 hours later to find his mother stabbed to death.

I came home. She's got blood over her. She's unconscious. Detectives don't buy his story.

You saw a little little creature walk in here. And again, they suggest Danish killed his mother.

And it had a big bill on it and it went quack quack quack quack. What would that creature be called?

There's no duck here. Okay. But you would call it a duck if you saw a little creature like that, right? You said that, right?

I call it a duck. A duck, right? If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it's what?

Duck. And now they try to get him to crack. This is the duck. Okay. And with your mom's death, screaming that it's somebody very close to her. Screaming [snorts] that it's the one time her son goes out all night long.

Why don't you go home at 4:30 in the morning? Well, I was with with a friend and after we dropped her off, I drove around.

Why? That was just too late already. And I was like, I'll just deal with my mom in the morning when I see her. Detectives now feel sure Danish is lying.

This is a kid that his mom would say, "You're not allowed to drive at the freeway, and you're not allowed to be out after 8:00 at night, and suddenly on a Tuesday during a school night, he's going to be allowed out all night." It just didn't make any sense.

They accuse him of killing his mom. The fact of the matter is that it happened and you're never going to be free of it until you let it go. It happened. My mom's dead, but I didn't do it.

But he sticks with his story. I didn't kill my mother. I can't I can't even go there. Why would I kill my mother when she's done so much for me? That only makes Brian Harris even more certain Danish is their man.

He was accused of killing his mother or hiring somebody to kill his mother and he continued to take it. An innocent person. They're only going to take just so much of accusations like that. But Menhas, he would have stayed there all night if if he was allowed to. So we now have potential evidence. Next, the fingerprint report leads investigators straight to the beast who stabbed Tobosam to death. And guess what?

You want a ginger snap? It's not Danish. We return to today's murder mystery. A hardworking single mother stabbed to death inside her home. At first, police zero in on a very unlikely suspect, her son, Damage, the well-liked class president of his high school. Our Nurissa Knight is back with more. Detectives know this bloody handprint on the front door handle of the apartment was left by the beast who stabbed loving mom Tosam Khan to death.

That wasn't Tabisonson's blood that we were looking at. And even when forensic tests find it doesn't belong to her son Danish, they still won't believe he's innocent.

He definitely was involved in this crime up to his eyeballs. But they have no evidence to link Danish to his mother's murder until one of his classmates is arrested on an unrelated drug charge.

Norma Muhammad was a crook. He was a criminal. He was a gang member. He's been involved in robberies and other types of crimes.

But Nor, as he was known, would never have been connected to the killing of Tbasam Khan had the arresting officer not noticed something odd. while he was being arrested and walked to the car. He kept on shouting to fellow schoolmates, "Tell Donnish, tell Donnish, tell Donnish, give me a call. Tell Donnish I'm going to jail." And the officer snapped to that.

Alerting homicide detective Brian Harris, who observes something else a little strange about No.

He's wearing one glove like Michael Jackson on his hand, and he takes it off, and I see the stitches. I asked him to explain how'd you get that cut and he says he was cutting turkey.

But Harris claims Nure really did it while cutting Tbasam Khan and his blood is found to match that on the door handle of her apartment

and it was a huge home run for says it was a positive match. Confronted with that and other forensic evidence against him, Noir confesses that he murdered Tobasum. But then the biggest shocker, no claims Danish paid him to do it.

How much money was he promising you with this whole deal with his mom? At first he was promising 5gs and then that's when I did it and then he saw my thumb when I hopped back in the car and I was like, "Man, what the He's all like, man, for 5gs," he was like, "Man, I got you. I got you. Don't worry, man. I'll throw in some extra, man. I'll give you another 5gs this and that." And I was like, "Okay." I looked at him like, "Okay okay then."

So 10,000. Yes. No tells detectives the money was to come from robbing Danish's mother.

But did he pay you any money up front? I guess he paid me 1,000 up front. Nor says Danish drives him to his Houston apartment complex.

When he dropped me off, he said he opened the trunk, gave me the gloves. What else did he give you?

There was a knife in the trunk I picked up. According to Nure Danish then goes to the apartment ahead of him. Listen, he explained to me that uh once I get inside the house, he he'll open the door for me.

And when Danish returns to his car, Nor says he goes in to rob Tobasum. I kind of panicked cuz I was like I thought for a second I'm not I shouldn't do this. But they already seen me and so I just jumped and I I just attacked and I started I grabbed her.

Okay. Started stabbing her in the stomach. that thing in the stomach and then she pull me closer, biting me and

Okay, I'm going to be her. Okay, I'm sitting on the couch. Okay, I'm sitting on the couch.

Like, let's say you you grab me with your left. You pull me close. I'm just stabbing you right here, but you're like just choke me, trying to choke me,

and I'm I start moving and I put my my mouth right here and start stabbing you in the neck. He continues stabbing Tobasum a total of 48 times until she's dead.

I saw her eyes rolled over. I'm like, "Oh," tells detectives he then started looking for the cash that Danish said he would find in a white envelope.

Would you start going through all the envelopes? Like I started looking around. I was like, "Where the heck is it?" I saw a white envelope, but I didn't think there was no money in it. But then after that, I just uh I just like I didn't want to be in there no more. Blood on envelopes would be found to be his from that cut he got on his hand while stabbing Tobasum. And detectives had no reason to doubt Nor's confession was the truth.

Nor's a sociopath, a Ted Ted Bundy kind of person, very likable guy, but he knew he was caught. And he said once he gave us our fingerprints, if we ever came back to him again, he knew he was done. And he said he knew that we had too much evidence on him. But when confronted with Nor's confession, Danish still denies he had anything to do with his mother's murder and even denies knowing No, until he's presented with this security video showing the two walking and talking together at Robert E. Lee High School, not long before Tobasum was stabbed to death.

Once we were able to identify Noir and Donnish and put those two together, it was clear it was all captured on tape. Still, Danish blames it all on Noir,

trying to claim that Nor Muhammad was a big bad man who held him at knife point, kidnapped him, and said, "You're going to help me rob somebody today." And so Danish led him to his mother and said, "Please don't hurt her."

But Danish finally comes clean, confessing to cops. I mean, you may have not have done the act, but you see, do you see how your actions were? I mean, do you take responsibility for that?

That was part of it. I think what is hard for me to grasp is that this is a 17-year-old who planned out the execution of his mother. And that is just chilling. Another shocker in this case, according to investigators, seven other people at this high school knew about the murder and didn't step forward. What I find interesting about the people who knew about this is that none of them knew of it from Danish Minhas.

They say the leaker was Danish's hired killer who told seven school pals what he did but still managed to keep his dark secret from school officials.

Everyone who knew about it, it came from Nur Muhammad who actually was openly struggling with the act that he did. Nor Muhammad pleads guilty and gets 40 years. Danish Minhos fesses up to being the mastermind behind the murder of his mother and is sentenced to 50 years behind bars. And this twisted story is not over yet.

The whole plan was I go in, hey, you know, this this this is going to happen. Next, from behind bars, in his first ever TV interview, Danish Menhos tells Crime Watch Daily that he never intended for his mother to be killed or even harmed.

So, you're saying that your plan wasn't to kill your mother, but to rob her and you come in as the savior?

Yes, ma'am. She was never supposed to die. Now to the conclusion of today's murder mystery. Let's head back to Houston and our Nerissa Knight.

Chris, it was a shocking headline. A Texas teen hires his high school classmate to murder his mother. Today, that teen, Danish Minhos, is talking to me from inside prison walls here for his first ever TV interview. Now Danish Minhos shuffles through the prison halls in shame serving 50 years for his role in the murder of his mom Tobasum and he would tell me her death was a crazy teenage plan gone tragically wrong.

She was never supposed to die. Danish says his classmate, Nor Muhammad, who confessed to doing the killing and is serving a sentence of 40 years behind bars, was only supposed to rob Tbasam to make him look like a hero.

We were supposed to make stage robbery. Basically, I was supposed to come home, noting shiny on, hey, mom, what happened? I'm here for you. Hey, you know what? This is my time to be your adult son. I'm going to take care of you. Danish tells me his hope was that his mother would then treat him like a man instead of a child.

She doesn't realize I'm senior in high school. I'm going to college. I'm be a cop. I'm I'm I'm being the man of the house.

Instead, Danish claims he walked into their Houston apartment to find Tobasum dead and drenched in blood from 48 stab wounds.

What did you think when you saw your mother lying there motionless? What was going on in your head

at that time? I thought she might still be alive. That's why when I touched her, there was no response. To me, that was that was the end of everything that I knew.

I came home, she's got blood over her. Is she breathing normally? No, she she's not doing anything bad. She's gone.

I listened to your 911 call. Was it an act? Was that sincere? I knew what happened and I knew that I was the cause of that. So that was the only one I was really able to let go of my emotions.

He said he hid those emotions when he was questioned by detectives, but then vented them privately.

I sit in my car in the driveway and I'm crying or I'm in the shower, I'm crying because I wouldn't cry in front of them.

Danish, now 24, says that looking back, he sees how foolish he was to hatch such a plot against his own mother. I don't think I understood the consequences of if you do this and things are supposed to go according to plan, Murphy's law comes into play and that's what happened. You can't control what the next person might do and that happens.

You didn't understand the consequences of life actions of what you were doing, right? Because according to me, since I orchestrated this and no one's supposed to get hurt, you know, everything's supposed to go down this way and then I guess turn events happen.

You understand that now? Yes, ma'am. Most definitely. Unfortunately, too late for her.

Yeah. Do you consider yourself a murderer? Do you consider her blood on your hands? Yes, I've wrestled with that a few times, but yes,

you feel like you're a better person now. To be honest, I don't think I was a bad person in the beginning. In the letter of the law, I committed a crime, but I don't have the criminal mindset. I don't believe that.

But Danish admits there have been times when he's thought of killing himself out of guilt over what he did to his mother.

And I think to myself at times about that, and that's when I get depressed. I've contemplated hurting myself.

I asked Brian Harris, the homicide detective who put Danish behind bars, for his reaction.

That doesn't surprise me that Danish would talk about taking his own life, but Danish would never do anything to harm himself because Danish still believes in his own head that he's the best looking and smartest guy in that prison.

He also scoffed at Danish's claim that he never intended for his mother to get hurt. Danish is still trying to manipulate you. He's still trying to be the author of his own story. And the story of the murder of his mom, it's already been written. The book is closed on who Dennis Menhas is. Yet, he keeps on trying to reopen it and rewrite his own story, and he just can't get it right.

Danish has plenty of time to work on it. His first chance at parole won't come until 2035.

How old will you be? between 42 and 43. The age your mother was when she was murdered.

Yes. Are you remorseful for what you did? Are you shameful for the hand you played in this?

Yes, most definitely. I'm not the only one that's actually doing time. My family's doing time with me, but they were essentially robbed of my mom's presence.

Brian Harris offers Danish some final words of advice. Until Danish unlocks and grapples with what he did to his own mother, uh, he'll forever be in prison and then at least his soul can be free.

All right. Now, a story we follow very closely here at Crime Watch Daily. Mystery on a moonless night. Headlights from a truck pierce the dark California sky. Driving into a walnut orchard.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. A random act. It's Ally Yman's truck stuck in the mud. But where is Allied?

Ally has just vanished into thin air. The beautiful 20-year-old college student gone.

Where is she? Her family desperate to find her. In my heart of hearts, I think she's out there somewhere.

Her father Daniel too distraught to talk. He's taking it extremely. Does this surveillance video hold clues to her disappearance? And who is the mystery man seen with her just before she vanished? A man her mother, Paula, never heard of until now.

I didn't know about him. Um, and I didn't even know that he even existed. He's old enough to be her father. She was named Alicia, but everyone called her Ally, as her aunt Martin tells our Melissa McCarti.

What kind of girl is Ally? Ally is a 20-year-old that really looks 16 and wears makeup to look 20 years old. A very sweet, gullible, beautiful girl and stubborn. Ally works two jobs at both Starbucks and McDonald's all while attending college.

She wanted to be a nurse. What about nursing is uh her passion. She loves making sure people are happy and I think she wants to put that effort into doing that for others.

And her other passion riding quad bikes on her grandfather's farm. We're the dynamic duo of the Omens. The farm in Gridley, California, about 60 miles north of Sacramento, was a playground for Ally and her cousin Melanie. And

I remember Ally would just go way too fast. It would freak me out and I'd find her doing donuts everywhere. And I don't know, it's it's really tough to talk about past tense, you know, cuz you just want

You want answers. Yeah. Answers that could be found by tracing Alli's last steps. On the night she disappeared, Ally met a man for dinner, a 37year-old man.

Do you know of the person she was last seen with? I do not personally know of him, but I

Not your crowd. Wasn't your friends? No. Oh god. No. No. No. No. I He came out of nowhere. I feel like it just seems so random that night.

Mhm. You mean random that she would be having dinner with him? Random. I mean, yes. Just that everything that happened that night was very strange.

Ellie and the man were seen eating at this Indian restaurant in Yuba City. Then they reportedly went to his house and joined by other parters she drank some wine and then later headed home. But Ally apparently took the back roads to get there. Her ex-boyfriend Leo Alamante tells our Sacramento affiliate KTXL she often does that when she's been drinking. She didn't want to get caught by the cops and have put on more problems than she already has probably. So, she wanted to take the back roads to be safe.

When she doesn't show up for work the next morning, a frantic search is underway. They find her truck stuck in the mud in the middle of this walnut orchard. Investigators see a single set of footprints leaving a trail from her truck.

There were items left in the vehicle that you would think someone would take with them. I'll say that. Surveillance video from a nearby farm shows Alli's truck driving up to and around a gate leading into the orchard.

Ally or [snorts] someone in her truck. We just know her truck was driving down this way. Right. It ended up here.

That's correct. Sar County Sheriff's Lieutenant Dan Butler took us to the exact spot where Allie's truck was found.

How did it get to this location? Well, that's a matter of speculation. We can tell up into uh the levey here at approximately 22 55 hours she's seen approaching the levy in surveillance at a high rate of speed and then she drives around a gate or whomever is in the truck drives around a gate.

But at this location it wasn't enough water for her to say fall in and get swept away.

No, absolutely not. Okay, so that's ruled out. Look at this aerial view shot by KTXL's drone. You can see tire tracks where Ally got stuck in the mud. And just a few feet away on the levey, Allie's cell phone.

It was probably right where we're standing. Her cell phone was here. Her cell phone was here on the levey. I don't know if it was placed for us to find or if it was dropped by her. I don't know.

Okay. It's It runs with all the other mysteries in this case. It's a mystery Alli's family want solved.

She's a d a daredevil. Oh yeah, girl. She always takes risks. Remembering the good times, her father, Daniel, too upset to speak, gets up and walks away in tears.

He's taking it in a extremely. Yeah. Understandably, emotions are still raw. This is not a celebration right here.

No, we just need to bring a home. Next, we track down the mystery man believed to be the last person to see Ally before she vanished.

Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Ally? Ally Yman has been missing for 5 weeks, and no one is more upset than her father Daniel.

Every night he goes in a room, he says, "Good night, Ally." It's tough. The family is rallying around Daniel.

Daniel's having a tough time. How's he doing? He He tends to keep things in. Um it's hard for him. It's really hard for him. That's his baby girl. He's used to seeing her running out of the door going, "Okay, I'm going to be back or I'll see you later, Dad." Or, "I love you." You could talk about a person and tell them you love him so much and when you don't hear it back it's it's terrifying. Um so yeah, he's having a tough time. The night Ally vanished, she met a mystery man for dinner. He's the last person believed to have seen her alive.

Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Ally? I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Ally.

We tracked down 37year-old Mike Lizaraga, a contractor in Yuba City, California. He agreed to speak with Crime Watch Daily, telling us he met 20-year-old Ally only once before when she was on a date with his nephew.

So, did she actually reach out to you? She said, "I'm coming to Yuba City. um you know what are you going to be doing either Wednesday or Thursday.

Why do you think she reached out to you only meeting you once? I asked her. I said, "Hey, why out of nowhere you just hit me up and like, hey, I'm coming to town. You know, you want to hang out?" She's like, "Well, I just really like the way that you talk to people. You seem like you listen pretty well."

Mike says all she wanted from him was some dating advice. She did talk about how she had a crush on somebody and she's just like, "I just want to know, you know, am I trying too hard?"

Mike says after dinner at this Indian restaurant in Yuba City, she invited herself to his house. He says his son and one other couple were there, too.

She's like, "Okay." She's like, "Well, I got a bottle of wine." I was like, "I got some wine, too." She's like, "Well, I'mma come by." I'm like, "Yeah." She was chugging, you know, my bottle of wine. I was like, "Okay, maybe she's in party mode right now. You probably should just pass out on the couch for a while. Get some sleep." No, I can't. I got to wake up at 5:00 in the morning, get ready. I got to be at work by 6:00. So, I was like, "Okay, I get it. I get it." And I said, "But you have been drinking." Oh, I know. You know, but I know the back roads really well.

But when Ally took the back road, somehow her truck ended up stuck in the mud at this order. That's when she vanished.

And you actually offered a polygraph. When I was at sheriff's department, I said, "I don't care. Whatever it takes. You guys can do whatever whatever you guys want. You polygraph, you guys want, you know, what do you want?

Do you believe anyone at that house or Mike Lizaraga himself had anything to do with her disappearance at at this point based on the interviews we've done and the surveillance and phone records that we've obtained? I don't think so. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. So, was Ally kidnapped or was she the victim of an unforeseen accident?

There's not a second that I will don't go by that I don't think about Ally and wonder what the heck happened. You know, maybe if I just would have hit her keys, but who's to say she wasn't going to get picked up by somebody?

She wanted to go home, he said, and sleep in her own bed, wash her face, and he let her go. She's 20. Take her keys. The questions still linger, but an unfortunate development might now bring the answers, even if they're tragic. Just days ago, a fisherman spotted a body in the Feather River, less than a half a mile from where Alli's truck was found in the orchard. The body was taken to the coroner's office in Sacramento for an autopsy, and authorities now reveal tragically it's the body of the 20-year-old beauty. But exactly what happened is still unknown. An autopsy will determine exactly how she died, and detectives will find out whether this was foul play or an unfortunate accident.

This family has never felt this kind of pain.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death"?

Chris Hansen (Host), Danish Menhas (Guest), Nerissa Knight (Guest), Brian Harris (Guest), Tbasam Khan (Guest), Nor Muhammad (Guest), Ally Yman (Guest), Mike Lizaraga (Guest).

What is "Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death" about?

A straight-A high school senior discovers his mother brutally murdered in their Texas home, leading to a shocking investigation that uncovers his involvement in hiring a classmate to commit the crime. As detectives reveal the gruesome details — including 48 stab wounds — the case raises intense questions about motive and the dark undercurrents in the seemingly perfect life of a promising young…

What is mentioned in this True Crime News episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Danish Menhas, Crime Watch Daily, Nor Muhammad, Tbasam Khan, Brian Harris, Ally Yman. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Teen hires classmate to brutally stab his mother to death"?

The episode runs 38 min; the transcript is about 6,395 words in 169 timestamped sections.

More from True Crime News

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.