Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
The upcoming episode of Investigation Discovery‘s Lethally Blonde aired on Monday, April 8, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. Titled “Dirty Dancing,” it revolved around an exotic dancer, Crystal Mangum, and her role in Reginald Daye’s murder.
Crystal Mangum was reportedly asked to perform at a team party in a house near the Duke University campus in March 2006. Per CBS News, she then accused three Duke Lacrosse students of sexually assaulting her during the party. However, the court found the accusations baseless and dropped all charges against the players. In 2011, she was charged with the stabbing death of her then-boyfriend, Reginald Daye. Later, she was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013.
The outlet reported that Reginald Daye died at the Duke University Hospital ten days after he was stabbed. Mangum claimed he physically assaulted her in a rage-filled violent attack, following which she alleged to have stabbed him in self-defense. However, Daye claimed that he asked Crystal Mangum to leave his apartment because he did not want her to bring other men over to their place. He alleged to have kicked open the bathroom door and dragged her by the hair before she stabbed him.
Prior to this incident, police charged her with attempted murder of a different boyfriend, arson, and child abuse. The children allegedly watched when she assaulted her boyfriend and lit his clothes on fire. She was then charged with three counts of child abuse, resisting a public officer, and injury to personal property. However, authorities dismissed the arson charge. According to ABC News, she was sentenced to 88 days in jail, which she served while waiting for her trial.
Where is Crystal Mangum now?
After she was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Reginald Daye, Crystal Mangum was sentenced to 14 to 18 years in prison. According to state records, she is currently incarcerated at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, North Carolina. BBC reported that in court, she admitted to having “poked” Reginald Daye in the chest with a steak knife. However, she maintained that she did it in self-defense after he got violent.
Crystal Mangum had been in the limelight ever since she made accusations against three white boys at Duke Lacrosse. As per her account, the boys—Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans—had trapped her in a bathroom and raped her. The accusations reportedly garnered national attention and incited polarized opinions on the position of university male athletes. Narratives around race, gender, and privilege became common, according to BBC.
However, the accusations were proved baseless when there was no evidence was found in favor of Crystal Mangum’s claims. She then reportedly shied away from the public attention and graduated from NCCU with a degree in police psychology. Moreover, she published her memoir, The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story, soon after graduation.
The Lethally Blonde episode “Dirty Dancing” aired on ID on April 8, 2024. The episode revolved around the 2006 incident, the false accusations made by Crystal Mangum, and the downward spiral that followed.
