Original subtitles

Don was playing trumpet

ever since he was 12 years old.

It had the flavor of something criminal.

A person running and hiding from you

kind of puts your alert up a little bit higher.

My husband is gone, and I don't know why.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

a man is just reported

that his father, 65-year-old Donald Lewis,

is missing.

Officers were dispatched to that scene.

It was a business called the jazz caf�.

Donald Lewis is the owner.

That call was made by Mr. Lewis' son.

You kind of get a sixth sense of when something is wrong

and I kind of feared the worst.

Officers arrive and speak with the 911 caller,

Andre Lewis.

Andre Lewis said that his dad had been seen

at the business earlier in the morning

and the business was now open and empty

and his father couldn't be found.

The officer was checking the basement area to start,

but there was a locked door at the bottom of the stairway.

And Mr. Lewis had the set of keys

so we could not get into some locked areas of the caf�.

We've had landlords who collect rent

and carry large amounts of cash, abducted, robbed, and murdered,

and we thought this was something similar

where Mr. Lewis had been abducted from his business.

This had the flavor of something criminal.

Detectives arrive and begin processing the scene

for clues.

Detectives began re-interviewing all of the citizen witnesses

and the family members trying to find out about Mr. Lewis.

Don was from Tallulah, Louisiana.

He was playing trumpet ever since he was 12 years old.

Jazz was his passion.

We been together for 36 years.

He hadn't missed a day of practice.

Donald and I, we were very close

when we were together just about every day.

We were more like brothers than cousins.

Don was more of a trumpeter, but he could play

any of the instruments because he majored in music.

He was a great trumpet player, one of the most important

things to him besides his family was his trumpet.

But my dad was a great man. I mean, he had so many faces.

He was a teacher, he was a businessman, a landlord.

He did a lot for the community.

He did a lot.

My son dre called me

and he said there was nobody there at the jazz caf�.

So my heart just dropped.

I knew something was wrong because that's not like Don

just to walk away from his business,

but I had hope

that he would turn up somewhere.

Back at the scene,

officers speak with another one

of Donald's sons, Ronnell.

We were very interested in finding Jason Small,

an employee that could not be found at the time

because he was the last one to be seen with Mr. Lewis.

But we didn't know what had happened to him yet.

Donald's son is able to get Jason's friend

on the phone.

This person had a conversation with Mr. Small

and then the phone went dead.

So it was assumed that he was missing

as well along with Donald Lewis.

So once that happened,

then it was determined to be okay,

you may have another possible kidnapping here.

So we had to act as quick as we can

because if someone is actually hurt,

then the quicker we find that person,

the quicker that we can provide help.

Detectives have learned

that to find Donald Lewis,

they'll need to find Jason Small.

Jason was a guy that Don knew,

Don took him on his availability.

He started working for him.

He was kind of a quiet guy.

I was concerned for Don and Jason.

I didn't know what was going on.

My first thought was that someone walked in here

and forced the two of them out of the building.

Back at the scene,

investigators speak with another one of Donald's friends

who was at the club earlier that morning.

According to the woman,

ambrose said he saw someone else

earlier that morning at the club.

Police called me later

and they said something ain't right.

They said, Don is missing and Jason is missing.

I said, no, Jason was there early.

Jason and the young lady.

She was dark-skinned.

Young lady looks to be in her mid to late '20s.

So now we have to figure out who that person was

and get a statement from her.

With no way to identify the female,

detectives look into Jason's background

and find a current address.

They head to the house and speak with his roommates.

Jason, didn't seem to have a very stable place

that he lived.

It was always a few months here, a few months there.

Makes it very challenging.

So after getting that information,

they looked up family members and located his sister.

When the officers found the door open, they searched it,

not knowing if they were going to find somebody there

or find Mr. Lewis or Jason there.

As police clear the apartment,

there's no sign of Jason Small or his sister.

It was unoccupied, no one was there,

no clues as to where they may have gone.

All of this together started heightening suspicion.

Officers then speak with a next door neighbor.

It's frustrating when you're trying to locate people

that may be in danger and you're trying to locate them quickly,

you keep trying to develop new intelligence on people

that know Mr. Lewis that know Jason.

So far, detectives have come up

empty-handed in their search

for Jason Small and Donald Lewis.

As time went on, it became more real.

I was hoping it wouldn't be.

He's not just gonna disappear, you know.

So it was just a real moment of concern for everyone

I'm hoping for the best, you know.

I'm hoping it's not what it seems.

I was devastated, so I went home

hoping that he would, you know, walk in through the door

and, you know, everything is okay.

But that didn't happen. So, you know, I didn't sleep.

When the morning came in,

me and a group of friends got together,

went into the neighborhood

and started posting his pictures up.

Now, investigators are trying

to locate family members of Jason's

to see what information they can provide about his disappearance.

Officers ended up catching up to another one of his sisters

and talked to her.

Jason's brother then arrives at the apartment.

I can understand the family's reaction

when the officers are there.

Both family members wanted to be present

when they were talking to the police

to see what was going on with Jason.

usually when the police want to interview somebody,

they don't want to do it as a group.

Officers ask Jason's brother to step outside.

So at this point, with the family not knowing

what's going on and the officers being upset,

tensions on both sides are gonna be high.

There is a lot of distrust

between my community and police.

And it's been that way

and it's definitely has built up.

That's an issue that we run into quite frequently

on every investigation.

And there's just some people

that just do not want to have police contact.

He said, I haven't seen Jason, but check my sister over here.

She might have seen him recently.

So after getting that information,

they located another sister

and they responded to her location.

She knew that he had been associating

with a black female.

We knew that Jason Small at last been seen

leaving the caf� with a black female.

But we still haven't located Jason

and we haven't located Mr. Lewis.

So there was a ticking clock at that time.

As the search for Jason Small continues,

investigators returned to the jazz club

to conduct a more detailed examination of the premises.

We waited for the family to come back to their father's caf�

with a set of keys

so we could get into some locked areas of the caf�.

There was a locked storage area at the rear of the caf�

that we need to get into because we believe

that no one had checked that area the night before.

Looking through the glass,

you could see boxes piled on top of an object.

Investigators have just discovered a body

in the basement of the jazz club

where Donald Lewis and Jason Small

went missing.

The person had been deceased for at least a day.

He had been shot once to the front

and then twice to the back.

The scene appeared that it had been cleaned up

because there were bottles of cleaning supplies

around the basement.

In the person's pants pocket was a wallet

containing ID cards and credit cards for Donald Lewis.

When I heard the news,

my world paused.

I would just, like, I had a meltdown.

My husband is gone.

And I don't know what happened and why.

I never heard my mom cry like that before.

It just... it broke me down.

You know, you start thinking like, I can't believe it's real.

The funeral had lots of people there.

Don was well-known, his music was loved.

He was a lovable person.

Guys, that he taught music to were there.

It was very hard

not to do a lot of crying,

but you can't... You can't do that

when you're trying to make the families strong.

Now investigators need to find Jason Small.

Jason Small had last been seen with a black female.

Jason's sister told the investigators

he had been hanging out with a new girlfriend.

It became imperative that we find Jason

to make sure he was okay himself.

Based on the information

Jason's sister provided,

investigators are able to identify Jason's female friend.

Police are dispatched to the address

and when they arrive,

spot Jason outside.

He ran inside of the residence and hid,

which is something that's, you know, would be odd,

considering that we're looking at him as a missing person.

Why is he, you know, hiding?

A person running and hiding from you kind of

puts your alert up a little bit higher.

It's a lot more dangerous.

The officers then somebody running throughout the house.

He hid in an attic in a crawl space.

Ultimately, he came out

and just based on his actions, he was arrested for obstructing.

It's then that the owner

of the house arrives at the residence.

She was more confused about why we were there,

and who we were looking for.

I don't think she was familiar with who Jason was.

So myself and a partner of mine were sent to the location

to gain consent, to search the residence

for any possible evidence.

After a lengthy discussion,

detectives finally get permission

to complete their search.

I look to my left and I observed a garbage cart.

As I opened it, there was a black garbage bag.

So we removed the large black garbage bag

to take a closer look at what else was inside the bag.

There was a Swann dvr surveillance system

and a very strong smell of a cleaner

emanating from the inside of the bag.

Just the sheer amount of evidence

that was found in that bag, it was a surprise.

To this day, I haven't had anything like that happen yet.

Officers also locate a woman outside the residence

who claims to be Jason's friend.

They identify her as Michelle

and take her back to the station for questioning.

Juarez: I felt that she was telling us the truth.

She didn't seem to be nervous

and she was really telling us about the facts.

On the day of the homicide,

she thought he was acting strange.

She was frustrated with him

because she sat at the caf� for about another hour.

It's obvious to her that they did not get along

and tensions were building between them.

When she described it

as Jason felt that he needed more money,

my immediate thought was motive.

Police are zeroing in

on Jason Small for the murder of Donald Lewis.

He was trying to say that they were kidnapped,

meaning him and Donald Lewis,

but he couldn't provide any further information.

Where were you kidnapped from? Who are these guys?

How many? What were they wearing?

He couldn't provide any information like that.

Once we confronted him with that,

he wanted an advocate,

so we just terminated the interview at that time.

Without a confession, detectives know

they don't have enough to charge Jason

until they review the recovered security footage.

Video surveillance showed Mr. Small and Donald Lewis

inside of the jazz caf� that morning.

Conversation milling around the establishment.

You can see Mr. Small walking behind the counter

where this gun was kept.

You can see him get a white apron.

And once he turns around, you can see that it's wrapped up

and he's carrying it as if it could possibly be a gun,

and then he walks off camera.

He has another conversation with Donald Lewis

and then they both walk to the kitchen

off camera down the stairwell

where the basement was located.

That was the last time that we saw Mr. Lewis on camera.

You'll see Jason Small come back in the camera view

and then you'll finally see him leaving, carrying a black bag,

which was later determined to be the surveillance system,

which was later found where he was arrested.

Jason Small is arrested

and charged with the murder of Donald Lewis.

It's unfortunate 'cause this man was killed

over a dispute over some money.

Mr. Small felt that he wasn't being paid properly

and he went to great lengths to try to,

you know, to get away with it.

On July 9, 2018,

Jason Small is convicted

and sentenced to life in prison

without the possibility of parole.

What's always important is being able

to provide families with closure.

I mean, you can't bring your loved one back,

but at least you know the person is responsible

is in prison where they belong.

When I hear certain songs that he used to play,

it reminds me of him, you know,

it brings some sadness to me.

Man, this is... I keep this shirt with me

everywhere I go, I got to take it with me.

I don't care if it had holes in it.

This is like a piece of my dad, so I keep it with me as well.

I won't go anywhere.

Every state I go to, I take it with me.

Even if I don't wear it, I take it with me.

You know, he's here with me

when I'm listening to the cd.

It's almost like having him, you know,

'cause that's something he loved.

I think about Don every time I drive by that neighborhood,

the jazz oasis and the great Don Lewis,

The great trumpeter.