Melissa McCarty’s (?) voice/narration is intolerable. Terrible editing. Terrible audio. A real missed opportunity.

TOO MUCH sympathy for the killer; not nearly enough respect for the biggest victim in this tragedy!

Poor audio quality and too many ads. Needs editing and better writers.

I’ve never heard of either cases in the two seasons they have so it was interesting to listen but it does feel like they stretch it out and have a lot of ads. I just skip them so it’s not that bothersome but I probably wouldn’t recommend. Sorry ladies

I loved the story and loved hearing the story coming from Crystal herself. Very unfortunate story and hoping to hear positive updates in the future.

The app crashes when you have a few seconds of it to the app to make sure you get the app and it is very easy to use it to the

Wow. Placement of the ads and the sheer number make this unwatchable.

Please stop saying “cowabbowation”. It is deeply offensive to Asian Americans. Thank you.

Just finished season one, after the first two episodes, I thought I knew where this was going. I was wrong. Great reporting, very sad story, so glad I listened, so much so that I signed the change.org petition for Crystal Howell.

I could barely hear the audio without ear buds.

Why do you not report about her and her behavior in prison? Why not mention her infractions? Why make it seem as though she made one mistake and now is a model prisoner?

I hope she can get resentenced. She 100% should have been punished, but her sentence is way too harsh. If anything she should receive some aggressive therapy. She was a child and not just that, a child that has been severely abused. Crystal keep your head up. We’re rooting for you!

I believe Crystal and am so sorry for her . I would love to know what the song that is played in the pod cast is! I love it and can not find it anywhere! I signed the petition and tell my friends about this podcast!

I 100% believe this story I actually went to the alternative school “Aspire” in 2010ish I remember she got hit by the car right before they sent her to aspire everyone called her roadkill. A lot of little details and correct time line really makes me believe the entire timeline. This story needed to be told Haywood was making her look like a monster but that’s what happened when something makes news. She was always goofy I never got an aggressive vibe from her once. Much luv Crystal keep ya head up…. -Mandy parks

Crystal’s sentence is way too harsh!! Can anything be done about it? Hope your podcast helps!

I am listening to the bonus episode and just heard about the ugly comment. Could not disagree more! You guys were amazing and told the story in a way that made me feel like i was personally getting to Know Crystal. I’ve never even left a comment on a podcast but after hearing about that..i had to come to your defense bc you did an amazing job on this!

What can we do to help this child? How can we contact her let her know we do care.

This is a heartbreaking story but there are rumblings of hope beneath it. It’s compelling. It’s dark. It’s honest. Best part - The listener is left with some options to generate hope at the end of this. Crystal, you have so much to give. I hope you’re given a chance to brighten our world on both sides of the prison gates.

The sound effects & crystal’s audio are AWFUL. The story is really stretched out to try to make an entire podcast out of, which makes it painful to listen to.

The gift of giving someone like Crystal a voice is something I respect and appreciate so much. I personally hope Crystal gets the opportunity to live a life she is proud of & I hope it happens soon.

Not “collaborating” evidence…which was said ad nauseam during the bonus episodes. Hosts are having a hard time disconnecting from their altruistic intentions, as others opine. Take peoples’ critical commentary as a lesson for the next podcast you do, and stop taking commentary personally—the pushback sounds like a couple whiny children

This story needs to be heard. I hope Crystal gets her justice and is released and receives the healing and care she deserves. Unfortunately the reporting comes across as sensationalizing Crystal’s story. Yes her story deserves amplifying and advocacy, but with the hosts having to mention they are “Emmy nominated investigative journalists” in the show’s intro, reminds the listener how they are profiting off of her trauma. Also, some of the questions they ask Crystal that requires her to relive her trauma only to go back to her jail cell without aftercare of that, is concerning as a listener to hear. The journalists do show they care but aren’t advocating for her release, just a “lessened sentence.” Crystal needs restorative Justice not punitive. I also hope they can reflect on the difference between amplifying her voice and sensationalizing it. Sending love to Crystal.

I’ve been living with that life when I was a teenager about 30 years ago, no one listened or believed in me even my own parents. For along time I have a nightmare almost every night but thank god with the help with therapy I am as I am today, happy mother with beautiful life. Listen to this podcast, it makes me angry, sad and brought me to tears knowing that Crystal had no one to talk or to support her. She needs her family but no one gives her.

Fantastic podcast. Thank you so much for sharing Crystal’s story. She will be in my thoughts and prayers forever going forward. ❤️🙏

Season one, episode one: “Michael loved Crystal to death” Didn’t know this was a comedy podcast because I LOL’d.

Great podcast! As a psychotherapist, I’m trained to recognize rational fear vs irrational fear. Her life was in jeopardy as her father demonstrated time and time again that he was capable of taking her life. This is a textbook example of PTSD and Crystal should not be in prison but instead at a psychiatric facility where she can get the care that she deserves. This story is another example of a corrupt system that failed to protect a victim who cried out for help but was ignored.

Most of us cannot understand what mental and physical abuse do to a vulnerable and impressionable child. Not to mention the trauma of watching a parent abuse those you love while being powerless. Crystal is a survivor -who did what not one adult in her life was able to: stop the abuse. To be failed by your parents, then teachers, then the police, then extended family members who even documented the abuse but never found a way to intervene effectively: it’s honestly horrific. Day after day to have your dad be basically your only loving family member AND horrifically abusive boggles the mind. Who would make “good” decisions given what she survived? What even IS a good decision in the context of so much abuse? Crystal deserves to get out soon-Crystal-trust me-you can learn how to pay bills, you can get a job, you can become a contribution member of society. You’ve been through the hardest things imaginable-you can do it!!!

Wish there had been input from other parties for a balanced story. Also Crystal’s audio was difficult and I’d have appreciated that it was professionally mixed for a better listener experience.

I made it part way through Ep 2. The ridiculous sounds effects, unnecessary background music and abrupt cuts to ads did me in. Cannot tolerate and unfollowed.

Thank you for sharing this story! Crystal’s story is not over - there is a purpose for this beautiful young woman! Her story line is the same as so many other young girls who are trapped in abusive relationships. When the pod cast was over - all I can think about is Jelly Roll, the country singer. According to his bio story on Hulu, he visits prisons to tell his own story. He and Crystal would have a beautiful conversation! I pray that Crystal is finally heard and that she knows she has people out here supporting her. Again - ignore the negative posts and thank you for sharing this story!!

These short episodes feel stilted by the the multiple commercials I need to skip. Perhaps put them all at once so you can tell a more cohesive story.

Nothing investigative about this. Not impartial at all. Sooooo dramatic when it’s not a dramatic story.

I couldn’t even get through the first episode with the unnecessary, awful background music. Why?? I hope another podcast covers this story because it sounds interesting, but this is simply intolerable.

It’s an interesting story, but the podcast is 90% just Crystal talking on the phone from jail. It feels lazy. Very little extra reporting or investigating, just Crystal telling her side of things. And just badly edited overall. The narration is very cliche TV news reporter.

I listened to all episodes in 1-2 days. Such a devastating story. The system and her family failed Crystal as a child. Thanks for sharing her story.

A very great listen. Pray all goes well for her now and in the future!

The telephone recordings of Crystal are horrible to the point of being unintelligible. Maybe that’s the best they could but it sounds like it was recorded on a potato. I had to stop listening which is a shame because the story seemed interesting.

I thought this was done really well. Quick question. What is the name of the song at the end of episode 10?

I couldn’t listen to one of the hosts’ voice. It was too dramatic and felt inauthentic, so I won’t be continuing.

Tragic story of abuse, mental health and the failure of society to help abd protect a child. Well done respectful reporting.

The most chilling aspect of this show is the interview with the woman from Georgia’s prosecutors office. That woman is intelligent and articulate but wow: heartlessness incarnate.

Well done! I am so glad that some people have advocates like you to help tell their story. Parents can really eff their children up.

I just listened to a segment about this story from True Crime Daily via YouTube (May also be called Crime Watch Daily), hosted by Chris Hansen and reported by Melissa McCarty. This episode was one month ago from today, June 13, 2023. Nothing on that episode reflects or is reported the same as what was said in this podcast. Only that Crystal killed her father and there was a big party at her house. So which is true? Crystal has been in prison for eight years, she knows how to lie. These two women reporting this must be gullible or desperate for a story. All we hear in this podcast is Crystal’s side after “holding it in” for eight years. I have serious doubts about any of it. It’s obvious people incarcerated are bored and will do anything to break up the mundane and she sure wheeled these two in. I find it hard to believe Crystal was going to kill herself that night and that “Lancy” showed up right afterwards, how convenient. I believe she asked for his help days or weeks before it happened. That’s why he showed up asking for money. She even admits she had older friends her other school friends didn’t know about. After the murder, Crystal’s love interest was her scapegoat. She manipulated him and I believe she wanted to frame him for the murder after failing to frame one of her friends. She knows how to spin a story for her benefit. My opinion is, she wanted to live a wild life and her father wasn’t having any of it so she plotted to kill him. She may have had a rough childhood (no actual proof) but she sure grew up fast and wanted to live the way she wanted to.

This show is very much stuck in the “Serial” model of things. Crystal is interesting and while the hosts of the show are sort of over the top and pushing too hard on pathos and purple prose, I enjoyed the ride. It became significantly less fun, however, as the bias of the hosts turned the podcast into a “we must exonerate Crystal Howell” soapbox. Crystal shot a sleeping man in the face. End of sentence. Even if she’s as innocent and traumatized and naive as the hosts want her to be, she STILL shot a sleeping person in the face. She’ll get out of prison with decades of life still ahead of her. I don’t doubt that she had a rough life, but the lack of objectivity is a little weird, bordering on propaganda. It’s really obvious in the most recent episodes that the hosts aren’t journalists on this story anymore; they’ve crossed the line into sort of surrogate parents who insist on Crystal’s innocence.

Melissa and Kelly, Thank you for giving Crystal a voice. Every adult in her life failed her. If one person heard her and helped, this ending could have been prevented.

This podcast is nothing but hours of rambling self-victimization. The “Emmy-nominated journalists” throw out impartially and pours out emotional reactions that are truly cringeworthy. If you have nothing but one sided story, maybe not publish it pretending to be investigative journalism. This is like listening to high school gossip.

Tells Crystals story just as it is intended to do.

My heart goes out to Crystal! I can’t imagine growing up the way she did…. She did the best she could with the cards she was given! thank you for covering her story ❤️

I just finished the 10th and final episode and want to say that this podcast was captivating, heartbreaking, and engrossing. The two journalists have put together an exceptional story of human pain and tragedy, much of it told by way of prison interviews of the now 25 year old woman convicted of killing her father. I was struck with the ownership and understanding the prisoner has of her life, her choices, and the consequences. The journalists should be congratulated for putting together a remarkable learning experience for listeners and for the opportunity given the incarcerated to tell her important story. I was moved in many ways. Don N

Would be better if someone else told the story. Recordings have bad tones that wear on you by episode 2.