13 Year Old Thinks He Got Away With Sister’s Murder | The Case of Ella Bennett
911 CALL DISTURBS TEXAS TOWN
This is 13-year old- Paris Bennett… he is refusing to perform CPR on his 4-year-old sister, Ella. The 911 operator pleads with him to try and save his sister’s life, but the real reason the older brother is not cooperating is because he is hiding the most disturbing secret.
5 hours before the 13-Year old called 911, Ella was living a peaceful happy life, with her older brother, and their single mother, Charity Bennett.
The two siblings were each other’s best friends, the big brother was always looking out for his little sister, often watching her while she slept, and protecting her with all of his love.
The little girl looked up to her big brother, and trusted him with all her heart. But on the night of February 4th, 2007, everything changed. That evening, the children’s babysitter left early while their mother was still at work, leaving the 4-year-old and the 13 year-old home alone. And, at 11:42 pm, 911 received the most disturbing call from the big brother.
As police and medical personnel rushed to the scene, the 911 Operator was able to convince the older brother to perform CPR on his sister.
But the problem is, Paris is lying to the operator, he is only pretending to give his little sister CPR.
A PERFECT FAMILY—OR SO IT SEEMED
The year is 1999. In the quiet town of Abilene, Texas, Charity Lee Bennett is raising her son, six-year-old Paris Bennett.From an early age, Paris shows signs of being gifted and highly intelligent–with an IQ of 141. He excels in school and is adored by his teachers and classmates. To Charity, he is the perfect child, and they are the perfect family.But life hasn’t always been easy. Before Paris was even born in 1993, his father suffered a severe psychological breakdown, leaving a young, pregnant Charity to raise a child on her own.Left without a partner by her side, and with little support from her own mother, Kyla, Charity stood alone. But instead of breaking, she found courage. She poured everything she had into raising her baby boy, determined to give him the love and stability she never had.In spite of their challenges, things were looking up. Charity and Paris developed a strong, beautiful bond, as a family of two.4 years go by, and now, an unexpected new chapter is about to begin: the family is about to grow, and this time, with a new baby sister for Paris. April 12th, 2002. Ella Bennett is born.
As her kids grow older, Charity can’t help but notice the stark differences between her two children. Ella is lively, spunky, social – the kind of child who can light up an entire room.Paris, on the other hand, is more quiet and introverted. He often keeps to himself, and enjoys his alone time, with reading and drawing as his hobbies. But beneath his calm and independent nature, Paris beautifully embraces his role as an older brother; he loves his little sister with his whole heart, and the 2 become inseparable. However, Charity, now being a single mom of two kids, has even more on her plate. She works 2 jobs waiting tables just to make ends meet. The pressure is high, but her one goal is to do everything she can to give Paris and Ella the best life they deserve. Even with her busy work schedule, she dedicates all of her free time to her kids… life is good for the small family.
THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
But things take a disturbing turn on February 4th, 2007.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, an exciting, and extremely busy night for sports fans. Charity, who works at a local sports bar, is scheduled to work a double shift to keep up with the large number of customers, so she hires a babysitter to look after the now 13-year-old Paris, and 4-year-old Ella.
The bar is completely packed, and Charity works hard throughout the evening – with just a few hours left until she can clock out and go back home to her kids. But, suddenly, cops walk into the bar, and start asking the staff about Charity.
Charity is in a state of shock. They quickly leave the bar, and police escort her home. Her mind is racing. She attempts to stay calm, still not knowing what happened to her children – and specifically Ella. Charity tries her best to not imagine the worst, but the cops’ serious looks, combined with their unsettling quietness, send a chill down her spine. As they finally arrive, Charity sees her house is blocked off with caution tape, and surrounded by dozens of people.
At that moment, Charity knows something terrible has happened. Unable to be left in the dark for any longer, she pleads with the cops, begging them to just tell her what they seem so afraid to reveal. And that’s when her entire world flips upside down. Ella is dead.
Charity is at a complete loss, as she watches Ella’s body being carried out of their family home. The sight is too much to bear.
After seeing Ella’s lifeless body, she finally musters up the courage to turn to the detectives, and ask: “Where is my son? What happened to Paris?” They tell her Paris is already at the police station, waiting for her. She lets out a sigh of relief hearing that Paris is alive and well, but as she gets into the police car to go and reunite with her son, something feels off. There’s a coldness in the air. Anxiously waiting to arrive, Charity’s mind is racing with questions.
And what’s even more disturbing is that deep down, something about this moment feels oddly familiar to Charity. An unnerving feeling history is repeating itself. And that’s because 30 years ago, when Charity was only a child, her family was torn apart by murder.
A COMPLICATED FAMILY LEGACY
Cobb County, Georgia, 1980. Charity was just 6 years old, when her father and mother, James and Kyla, ran a booming trucking empire. They dealt with national shipping and cargo, an industry bringing in billions per year.
But behind their seemingly perfect life and success, their marriage was deteriorating. After years of chaos, their volatile relationship ended in divorce, leaving their only child, Charity, caught in the middle of their battles.
However, Charity’s parents surprisingly reconnected on March 9th 1980 and decided to fly to Las Vegas, remarrying in a whirlwind ceremony. For a second, Charity hoped their life would find stability once again, but on March 11, 1980, less than 3 days after they exchanged their vows, her father, James was found dead in their family home. When authorities arrived on the scene, they noted 3 gunshot wounds to his head, heart, and back.
James’ murder was clearly a targeted attack and suspicions immediately fell on the newly wed: Charity’s own mother, Kyla. Speculation grew when Kyla's name was put back in James’ will after their sudden remarriage – because this meant that if anything happened to him, Kyla would inherit control of the entire company, along with his fortune.
Investigators also considered whether his murder was maybe a professional hit tied to organized crime, and from there, the whispers grew louder—rumours swirled that Kyla had allegedly paid $50,000 to have him executed.
Detectives were quick to question her about the murder contract, and Kyla admitted she had asked about it… but claimed it was only “out of curiosity.”
Without any other leads, Kyla quickly became their main suspect–and prosecution spent the next four months building a case against her, before finally taking her to trial.
For 11 days, jurors listened to all the allegations and the evidence – or lack thereof – and the verdict came back as… not guilty. Kyla walked out of court a free woman. In the eyes of many… she had beaten the odds. The killer was never officially found, and the weapon, never recovered.
Kyla returned to her life of luxury—now in complete control of their business empire, she began raising Charity on her own.
After her mother’s acquittal, Charity grew up haunted by the loss of her father. Everyone around her believed that her own mother was her father’s killer, and as much as everyone tried to shield Charity from that possibility, it followed her. Her classmates would taunt her over and over again.
Meanwhile, at home, Charity felt neglected by her mother. With her father’s absence, her mother, Kyla, fell into a lavish and reckless lifestyle – drinking and doing drugs, all while running the family business – leaving no time for little Charity.
Kyla continues insisting that she did not murder her husband, Charity’s father, and that she had been framed–but it didn’t matter what the truth was, because the relationship between mother and daughter remained strained.
As the years went by, Charity focused on her education, eventually graduating from high school with honors, but in spite of her achievements, the love she craved from her mother was still missing.
Beneath her calm exterior, she was hiding a secret. The pressure, the loss of her father, and years of loneliness finally caught up to her– and she desperately looked for a way to silence the noise around her.
For the next 4 years, Charity would struggle with an addiction to drugs– but, at age 18, she decided to start fighting back, and got clean.
With a new lease on life, Charity got back on her feet and obtained a university degree in family development psychology. Her quest for purpose grew even stronger when she found out she was pregnant with a baby boy. Then and there, a new chapter had begun. Paris was born–and later, her baby girl, Ella.
Even though motherhood gave Charity a second chance, she was never able to fully move on and heal from the trauma she went through as a young girl. The relationship between Charity and her own mom, Kyla, remained complicated, and the pain caused by her fathers death echoed throughout the years.
Now, the same pain is back and stronger than ever, decades later, on the night of February 4th 2007, as she kisses Ella’s forehead for the last time, before the little girl gets taken away in a body bag.
THE SON WHO RETURNED AS A STRANGER
Hours after Ella’s body is taken away for examination, Charity sits in the back of the cop car, and waits anxiously as they pull up to the police station. The tension is palpable-and she doesn’t know what to expect. Once they arrive– she is led into an interrogation room. And now, the first time since Ella’s death, she sees her son, Paris, standing at the far end of the room.
Paris’ coldness towards his own mother and his sister’s death, feels deeply unnerving to Charity. Something is not right at all. As detectives take over and begin investigating the tragic murder, they have no idea how disturbing the crime – and Paris – really are.
That night, at around 10:30pm, about 2 hours before the 911 call, the children were at home, when Paris suddenly pulled the babysitter aside, and convinced her to go home early – claiming that their mom was coming home sooner than what was planned, and that at 13 years old, he was responsible enough to take care of Ella until she arrived.
Both of these things (pause) were untrue.
A few minutes later, the 2 children were left alone in the house. Things quickly escalated.
Seemingly frantic and in between tears, Paris appeared helpless to the operator. On the other end of the line, she urged the teen boy to perform CPR, a suggestion he initially resisted, insisting it was too late. The operator is forced to plead with him, as she believed time was running out for the little girl. But unbeknownst to her, it was already too late.
The operator continued to guide him through the procedure while waiting for the officers to arrive, but once they did, they found Ella lying face down: meaning, there were no signs that anyone performed CPR on her. The entire time Paris had been on the phone… he had only been pretending. He never actually tried to save his sister’s life.
Growing up, Paris always seemed like a gifted, quiet boy, and good mannered child–caring for and looking out for his sister.
But now, Charity looks back in horror, and wonders if there was more than met the eye with Paris–hints of strange behavior or clues that he could have been capable of something like this.
But despite any issues she had with Paris, she never thought that he could ever harm his little sister, let alone carry out a brutal murder.
A MOTHER’S WORST NIGHTMARE
February 10th, 2007. Ella’s funeral is being held at a local church, family, friends, and members of the community gather to say goodbye – to remember a beautiful little girl, gone far too soon.
The small town of Abilene, Texas is in complete shock. 4-year-old Ella Bennett’s horrific murder made no sense. Charity doesn’t know what to do– not only did she lose her daughter, but her son is the one incarcerated for the murder. While struggling with her grief, all eyes are on her. To the community, it was Charity’s fault anything like this had ever happened. It was her fault for creating a monster.
In the midst of the community’s criticism, Charity was broken. Her first love, Paris, just took the life of her second love, Ella. She feels as though she’s lost both her children, but the reality is, Paris is still alive, and she is still his mother, despite the cruel betrayal. But just like everyone in the town, Charity never saw this coming. Charity needs answers–she needs to know what’s wrong with her son– to ensure she gets justice for her daughter.
But everything only gets harder once Charity starts preparing for the trial. With her 4-year-old Ella dead and her only living child being the one to take her life, she has to face the fact that by being there for each of her children, she risks failing the other.
The trial begins nearly a month after the tragic event. The messiness only worsens once she finds herself standing in the middle of the court room.
Deep inside, Charity faces the reality that there’s nothing she can do to bring Ella back. She realizes that she must make one of the most difficult choices she could as a mother–and in that moment, she chooses to stand by Paris’ side, refusing to abandon him. But now, she doesn’t see him as the innocent boy she once raised, but as the murderer he has become. He needs to be accountable for his actions, & she decides to love him in a new way – not trying to save him from justice, but making sure he faces it, and gets psychiatric help.
On August 15th, 2007, After months of trial, Paris pleads guilty to capital murder in juvenile court. He’s given the maximum sentence for a juvenile: 40 years.
A NEW BEGINNING
With Paris now spending most of his adult life in prison, Charity makes a promise.
For as long as Charity could remember, her life had been marked by tragedy but now, she chooses a different path–she chooses to heal by facing the truth.
Now, Charity is determined to support other families going through trauma.
Charity is an advocate for children’s mental illness rehabilitation, speaking loudly about getting proper help and support for kids that might be heading down the wrong path due to an unmanaged mental illness.
She does everything in her power to make sure that what happened to her family never happens to anyone ever again.
Ella’s memory continues to heal the wounds of tragedy that defined the Bennetts for nearly half a century, and through Charity’s voice, Ella continues to offer a second chance to families who have lost hope in healing.
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Written, directed & edited by Matthew Rice
Researched by Bianca Yzabelle Tan
Voiceover by William Akana
Produced by Alexandra Salois & Salim Sader
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Sources:
Getty Images
The Family I Had, Motto Pictures, 2017
Inside Evil with Chris Cuomo: Murder in the Family, CNN, 2019
Charity Lee Interview, Solminod, 2012
