On the third day of the trial, prosecuting attorney Scott Rodham called Victoria to the witness stand.
Rodham and his team had interrogated everyone from Neal's best friend, Steele, to several dozen teens who met Neal at Victoria's pool party. Some of them testified to witnessing the hostile exchange between Neal and Drew.
After being sworn in, Victoria recounted the story she had shared with authorities in recent weeks, once her connection to Neal had been leaked to the media.
"He was cute, he was nice, and I was glad he came to my party," she said. "I hadn't told my parents about him because they knew I sort of liked Drew, and Drew had been coming around. My dad would not have liked me dating two guys at the same time."
She hesitated and looked toward Ian.
"Plus, he didn't know I had gone to Washington, D.C., and met Neal. I went with one of my girlfriends from school, on an afternoon that Daddy thought I had a modeling session. The day of my party, Neal and Drew argued; but when I left them in the pool house utility room, they were talking sports," Victoria continued, as Scott Rodham talked her through the sequence of events leading up to Drew’s disappearance. "I came back about twenty minutes later and they were gone. I thought they had decided to leave together because they were angry with me for dating both of them.
"Neal didn't call me for a couple of days, but I had expected him to snub me and play hard to get," Victoria said and shrugged. "When I heard Drew was missing, I didn't connect the two guys. I mean, we're teenagers; who would get mad enough over a girl to kill someone?"
Tawana gave Victoria credit: she was beautiful and convincing. When she left the witness stand, Ian and Bethany walked out of the courtroom with her, hugging her.
The prosecution informed the judge that Victoria was their final witness. They were resting their case on the strength of her testimony. After a lunch break, the Wallace, Jones, and Johns team would present its defense.
Ninety minutes later, Neal sat before the jury, trying to contain his nervousness. He continually brushed away a strand of hair that flopped over his forehead.
Tawana gave him a thumbs-up, then surveyed the courtroom. Victoria and Ian were nowhere in sight, but Bethany, still hiding behind her shades, had returned. Tawana passed a note to the bailiff in the rear of the courtroom.
Neal fixed his eyes on Kent, who led the questioning, and told his version of how he and Victoria met, why he kept sneaking to Richmond to visit her, and why he had been upset on the day of the party to find Drew there, claiming to be her date.
Then Neal dropped the bombshell.
Bethany leaned forward in her seat while he spoke, as if she were straining to hear.
"I pinned Drew down with one of my wrestling moves and held him there," Neal told Kent. "I guess I blanked out. The next thing I knew, Victoria was standing over me, trying to pull me off of him. She asked me what I had done."
Neal looked toward Bethany, who had risen from her seat and was pointing at him with a French-manicured nail.
"You stop lying on my daughter!" she screamed.
Judge Roberts pounded his gavel and ordered the bailiff to remove her from the courtroom. Arlen stood and requested permission to speak.
"Your Honor, if we could keep a deputy with her to make sure she doesn't leave the premises, that would be helpful. As you'll hear shortly, she may be an integral part of this case."
Clearly intrigued, Judge Roberts complied.
"Call Deputy Woodson and tell him to wait with her in the interview room next door."
Kent asked Neal to continue.
"Drew wasn't moving. He just lay there, with his eyes open, but fixed."
Neal's voice began to crack. "Victoria was about to run for help when her mother came in and saw Drew on the ground. Victoria told her she was going to call 911, but Mrs. Miller stopped her. She said she didn't want to ruin the party by calling an ambulance."
A low roar of gasps and murmuring filled the courtroom. Tawana sat back in her chair and folded her arms.
She had no doubt this boy was telling the truth; he had Bethany pegged.
"She said she didn't want to ruin the party?" Kent repeated.
Neal nodded. "She forced Victoria to go out and mingle with her friends and told Victoria that she and I would figure out what to do."
Neal shook his head at the memory. Tears filled his eyes, and he looked at jurors.
"Since I'm trained in CPR, I checked his pulse and tried to revive him," he said. "But Mrs. Miller stopped me. She said we couldn't have ambulances and police coming to her house. So . . ."
He bowed his head and lowered his voice.
"Speak up, son," Kent said gently.
"By the time I finished arguing with her about how crazy that was, there was no hope. I tried CPR for about five minutes and got no response."
Neal looked up again, but this time at his family and at Drew's.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, but I killed Drew Thomas, and I helped Mrs. Miller hide his body."