Tiki the dog helps Illinois man survive gunshot to the head

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Sneak peek: Fatal First Date

On Thanksgiving day successful 2021, exigency aesculapian technician Dennis Hobson was summoned to a location successful the tiny colony of Farmersville, Illinois. It was the location wherever his person Chris Smith lived with his canine Tiki.

What helium encountered is the taxable of "Fatal First Date," reported by "48 Hours" analogous Erin Moriarty. An encore of the occurrence airs Saturday May, 17, 2025 astatine 9/8c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount+.

A 911 telephone had been placed to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office by idiosyncratic checking connected Smith, and Hobson walked into a bloody scene.

The broadside doorway of Smith's location had been broken, and Hobson recovered his person — hardly live — lying connected the level of the blood-soaked kitchen. Smith had a gunshot coiled to the caput and a woman, aboriginal identified arsenic Leslie Reeves from adjacent Troy, Illinois, was lying dormant connected the surviving country level with a azygous slug coiled to her head, according to a sheriff's report.

Friends aboriginal told sheriff's deputies that the mates had gone connected their archetypal day the erstwhile nighttime aft gathering online. In the archetypal hours of the investigation, nary 1 knew what happened, but investigators believed a 3rd idiosyncratic was progressive due to the fact that nary weapon was recovered astatine the scene.

Couple's archetypal day ends with deadly ambush the nighttime earlier Thanksgiving 04:18

Smith survived the shooting but doesn't retrieve thing from that Thanksgiving Day. Hobson aboriginal told him immoderate details. "He said I had nary pulse," Smith told Moriarty. "He screamed my sanction 3 times, and I took a gasp and I said, 'Denny, I'm f***ing freezing.'"

Hobson aboriginal told Smith that Tiki apt helped to prevention his life. The somesthesia wrong the location connected that Thanksgiving Day was overmuch colder than mean due to the fact that the fishy had breached the solid connected the broadside door.

"But idiosyncratic was keeping you warm," Moriarty said. "I had Tiki there," Smith replied. "My small girl, my small four-legged daughter."

Smith had owned Tiki, a beagle-terrier mix, for 3 years. He says helium recovered her successful a Craigslist advertisement and adopted her erstwhile she was a pup. Tiki seemingly was Smith's lifesaver erstwhile she huddled with him, and provided overmuch needed warmth, successful the 12 hours earlier helium was rescued.

"Tell maine astir [Tiki]," Moriarty asked Smith.

"Well … she seemingly — erstwhile Denny walked successful and saw her laying by maine … I was … successful the fetal presumption … and she was cuddled up adjacent to me," helium replied.

The melodramatic communicative of Smith and Reeves' "Fatal First Date" and Smith's singular betterment is being told for the archetypal clip connected "48 Hours." The broadcast volition see an exclusive interrogation with Reeves' convicted killer, a erstwhile fellow of hers named Robert Tarr, who denies that helium was the shooter.

A Montgomery County Sheriff's study aboriginal pieced unneurotic what happened that night. Smith and Reeves, aft a nighttime of barhopping and getting to cognize 1 another, had returned to his rented location successful Farmersville.

Sometime astir 1 a.m. connected Thanksgiving greeting 2021, authorities judge an assailant broke into a broadside doorway portion Smith and Reeves were successful the crushed level room warming up a late-night frozen pizza.

A lawman sheriff told a person of Reeves' that she died instantly and "did not suffer."

Investigators aboriginal concluded that the assailant that nighttime was Robert (Bobby) Tarr, an ex-boyfriend of Reeves who had secretly followed her to Smith's house, according to Andrew Affrunti, the authoritative successful the case.

Tarr was convicted of execution and attempted execution successful April 2024 and was sentenced to 85 years successful prison.

Smith, who had 3 strokes successful the infirmary and was enactment into a medically induced coma, has been recovering since the shooting and making progress. He inactive uses a wheelchair and a cane but has returned to singing successful his stone and rotation set and is looking for work.

He has been incapable to attraction for Tiki himself arsenic helium recovers, but she lives nearby, and they spot each different often. Smith besides has started a concern arsenic a motivational talker and has created a website: ChrisSmithmotivatingyou.com. He besides bought a caller location and conscionable projected to his girlfriend, present fiancée, Michelle Albrecht.