Directed by Jace Alexander
Written by Barry Schindel & Wendy Battles
Dina Meredith, a banker, is found shot and severely wounded in the trunk of a stolen car. She is heavily pregnant and dies shortly after an emergency delivery. The investigation leads to the car's owner, pro basketball player Chris Cody; and his friend Henry Williams. It emerges that the victim wrote Cody hundreds of thousands of dollars of business loans, which were used to set up companies that Williams (a drug dealer) could use for money laundering. When the murder weapon is found in possession of another of Cody's associates, he claims Cody paid him to kill Meredith. Williams corroborates this and says Cody did it because he was the father of Meredith's baby, but refused to pay child support.
A DNA test confirms the paternity, so Cody is charged with murder. In court, McCoy recounts Cody's history of using his athletic talent to get out of his responsibilities, including having his basketball team cover up his drug addiction and subsequent stint in rehab. Cody denies everything and says Williams had Meredith killed over drug money - but can't keep his story straight under cross-examination, and is convicted of murder.
This episode contains examples of:
- Driven to Suicide: Cody attempts suicide when the police show up, although they talk him out of it.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Much is made of Cody's rise to stardom from a poverty-stricken background. In reality, he also became a crook, drug trafficker and murderer along the way.
- Nice Guys Finish Last: Miles Hawthorne. He's the manager of the bank Meredith works at, beloved by her mother, and her fiancée to boot. She was repeatedly cheating on him with Cody and her best friend tells him he needs to understand her motivations, as Cody was famous. Ouch. Then Cody had her killed, which left Miles without the love of his life and looking after the baby (which was never his) without child support as the real dad is spending the rest of his life in prison. Tough break kiddo, tough break.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Meredith's mother survives the episode; Meredith dies in the middle.
- Raised by Grandparents: Meredith's baby will be raised by her mother.
- Ripped from the Headlines: From the case of Rae Carruth, a professional football player convicted of conspiracy to murder his pregnant girlfriend.
- Someone to Remember Her By: Meredith's baby becomes this for her family.
- Title Drop
- With Friends Like These...: Cody repeatedly betrays or takes advantage of his friends, including Williams and his basketball teammates.
