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This all began
when Patricia Harris

was unable to get in touch
with her son, Jonathan,

who lived on
the first floor of her home.

Work time, work hours started.

I saw his car outside
so I knew he was home.

I called him.

No answer.

Jonathan and
Patricia had an understanding,

in which there would always
be a text of communication

saying that they were okay.

But after not hearing from him
for a long period of time,

she decided to go check on him.

He had his own place.

I couldn't get in
without coming through

his front door.

The door was cracked.

Wide enough that
you could almost walk in

without pulling it any further.

Jonathan?

Jonathan, you --

Jon! Jon!

He was laying on his stomach,
right at the door.

Hard as a brick.

Heavier than
I've ever seen him in my life.

I was saying, "Jon, Jon,
Jon, Jon, get up, Jon.

Wake up, Jon."

And then I called 911.

It's just a chilling,
chilling recording

and you hear her heart
break on the tape,

it's just,
gut-wrenching recording.

Jonathan Harris grew up
in Montgomery county area,

lived with his mother
and his brother, Lloyd.

I think we struggled,
we knew what struggle was like.

You know, my mother going
through divorce,

and the money issues
that come along with that.

My mother wanted to give
us great opportunities.

You boys be careful.

I was always big brother,
he was always little brother.

But Jonathan was like
the king of the cul-de-sac.

I wasn't Lloyd, I was
Jonathan's brother, you know.

Hey, guys.

'Sup, Lloyd? Hey,
Jonathan, what's up man?

You're on my team.

He was a real
charismatic, fun, loving,

always kind of popping
from one house to the next.

We met in elementary school.

He was kind of the funny kid,
and I was the quiet one.

And, you know,
we started hanging out.

And then that's when
I got out of my shell.

Then he got
really, really sick one day.

Our whole lives just
completely changed overnight.

Jonathan, come on.
We're gonna be late.

Mom,
I don't feel well.

Baby,
you are burning up.

And I'm itchy again.

He was 12 years old.

He was having these attacks,
you know scratching

and what have you.

What was happening is,
the fluid in his body

was overpowering him.

Is everything okay?

We got to get him to the doctor.
Help me get him to the car.

I remember the car
ride to the hospital.

And he was sitting
in the back seat,

just slumped and fragile
and frail

and he couldn't move on his own.

I never forgot that.

And that's when
the doctor discovered

that he was born
with one kidney.

I got on my knees and I said,

"god, this is the worst thing
that'll ever happen to me.

It's way over my head.
Would you please take over?"

He was on the verge of dying.

His kidney had
completely failed him.

And my mother had been
trying to give him a kidney,

but she wasn't compatible.

And I was like could
I give him a kidney?

Mom.

I can do it.

I was scared, but, I knew
I was saving my brother's life.

The whole process of
preparing for the transplant

took over a year,
but they did it in 2002.

Can you imagine two sons

on the operating table
at the same time?

But that was all right,
'cause we came through it.

I got sent home after two days.

I was in pain, I was swollen,
and I couldn't move.

But he comes home,
and he just runs through

the house, ripping and running.

Goes outside and plays.

He was insane.

On your Mark,
get set, go!

He got to be normal again,

and I think he was just
the best version

of himself afterwards.

Jonathan wins.

Yeah, yeah!

Because realizing that
you're not promised tomorrow

can really change
your perspective.

And I think from that point on,

he just lived life
in such a amazing way.

I'm sorry.

What can we do?

There is something
you should consider.

It's called
a kidney swap.

This may help get Jonathan
a kidney sooner.

It's made up
of matching families

willing to donate
to other families in need.

Where do we sign up?

I told the doctor,
you can take my kidney.

So Patricia donated her
kidney to the exchange program,

and another donor
who was compatible with Jon,

agreed to give him
a kidney in return.

There was like 32 families.

So 16 were getting kidneys
and 16 were donating kidneys.

16 recipients, 16 donors,

giving 16 people second,

or in Jonathan's case,
third, chances at life.

I will move heaven
and earth for my son.

But more than that, I can
improve the quality of life

for someone else.

Gonna do this.

I'll see you on Sunday
at the house, okay?

Having that second kidney
just kind of gave him

the strength again.

And he was on his way.

I guess that just means
I was put on this earth

for bigger things,
better things.

When he got the second kidney,

he wanted to move
in his own place,

but the funny part about it was,

he didn't want to move
that far from me.

So my mother decided to make him

his own apartment or house.

And he loved it.

Wake up!

To have his mother
come down and see this,

this was a devastating event.

Jonathan! Jon!

There was a belt
wrapped around his arm

that had no place
being around his arm.

I was so desperate
for him to be alive.

I couldn't give up my baby.

She helped me turn him over
and I heard him.

He gurgled.

That to me was, all right.
He's not dead.

No!

That to me was, all right.
He's not dead.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

you get a 911 call
that comes in.

It's an extremely frantic woman
who's screaming about her son.

26-year-old Jonathan Harris.

When she does turn
over his body,

his body makes a sound.

And she holds on to this hope
that her son is still alive.

At that point, your
mind goes and everything else.

Nothing really makes sense.

And when she's
waiting and they bring

the ambulance crew in,
she still has that hope

that her son's
gonna walk away from this.

I just kept saying
I need my baby.

It wasn't -- I didn't
have time to really

process it.

That's my baby.

When the gurney came out
without his body on it,

my first instinct was,
"my god. She was right.

He's dead."

But they said to me
they're working on him in there.

And I see how they said it
and why they would say it.

But I didn't think he was dead.

The sound Patricia heard
when they turned him over

was in fact,
just air escaping the body.

The truth of the matter
was Jonathan was deceased.

And Maryland
state police detectives

were called to the scene.

The victim was
lying near the door.

He didn't appear to have
any obvious fatal wounds to him.

Just some superficial
wounds to his face.

And just a small amount
of blood on the scene.

Right off the bat,
there was obviously

electronics missing,

you could literally see
where a TV used to be.

The belt around his
wrists indicates to me

that he was being restrained
at some point in time.

The door wasn't busted in,
there was no damage to it.

So he either let them in,
or they had access

to his apartment and he went in
and they were already in there.

The scene is processed by
our forensic services section.

It took all night.

Fingerprinting,
collecting swabs,

Jonathan's computer is gone.

His PlayStation's gone.

His cellphone's missing.

His wallet's missing.

His key's are missing.

So there's lots of stuff
that we can kind of

look into
to see if we can potentially

identify a suspect in this case.

Lets check out the pawn shops,
give them a list,

see if anything
pops up.

Lets also get someone tracking
the credit cards.

I'm gonna stay
on the scene,

you want to
check in with the mom,

see if she knows anything?

Yeah, got it.

We eventually made our way
over to the neighbor's house.

I was completely
under the impression

that Patricia knew he was dead.

Hello?

Detective kucsan, I'm here to
see Patricia Harris.

Yes, come on in.

Thanks.

Patricia?

There's a detective
here to see you.

Where's my boy?

Ms. Harris.
I'm sorry for your loss.

No.

And they said it like
I knew all the time.

And I just screamed out.

No.

No, that was my first reality.

Not my baby.

Not after
he got his second kidney

and he was born again.

When Patricia was
finally able to talk,

she explained
that she had spoken to Jonathan

the morning before,
and that everything was normal.

Nothing for
the rest of the day.

That was unusual.

This is a difficult question
to ask, but we need to know.

Did Jonathan have
any enemies?

My god, no, no, no.

Can we talk about
his financials?

Patricia explained,
she was joint owner

of Jonathan's bank accounts
and credit cards.

So if anyone tried
to use the credit cards

from his stolen wallet,
she'd be able to see it.

So we asked Patricia
to go to the bank,

because she can go right
away versus waiting

for the subpoena, that might
take a little bit of time.

Can you have your bank
and your credit card companies

call me
at this number?

You can call
any time, too.

Detective?

Who would do this
to my boy?

We're gonna find out.

We will.

I had to work
an event the night before

until 5:00 or 6:00
in the morning.

So I slept in.

By the time I had waken up,
I had just gotten 20 calls.

Text messages.

All very vague,
something's wrong with Jonathan.

And for whatever reason,
I knew that this was the one.

I called my mother,
"what? What's going on?"

With tears in my eyes already.

She told me
that Jonathan is dead.

My body just
completely went numb.

I was crying, couldn't move,
just the worst pain

I'd ever felt.

The one person I loved
the most in this world,

had just been murdered.

And that was the most
devastating, sad moment

of my entire life.

Of my entire life.

In silver spring, Maryland,

Jonathan Harris was found dead
in his apartment by his poor mom

who lived upstairs.

Jon, you here?

God!

Jon!

Judging by the belt that
was found around his wrists,

it appeared that he was tied up
as part of some sort of

robbery or home invasion
or something.

My god, there's a guy
laying dead in the door,

door is open,
maybe they knew him,

maybe they didn't.

Maybe somebody
knocked on the door

and he opened the door
and they killed him.

For what, a computer and
a PlayStation and his wallet?

We wanted to track
Jonathan's phone,

because his phone's missing.

We subpoena that.

We started trying to meet with

some of Jonathan's
family and friends.

We were just trying
to get a picture of

Jonathan's life actually.

Investigators are always
gonna ask the question

who would want to
hurt this person.

No one?

Seriously, the dude
was like, perfect.

Everyone loved him.

People at work, people
who went to his open Mikes.

Was he a singer?

Rapper.

Was pretty good, too.

No, he didn't have
any problems with anybody.

I need you to think.

Jonathan sounds
like a great guy.

But there must have been someone
he was having trouble with.

No one.

Well...

What?

He did have
an ex-girlfriend.

It didn't end well.

The only person
that Jonathan Harris

had any issue with
immediately before this event,

was an ex-girlfriend, by
the name of Samantha Parker.

She was a little,
I don't know.

Rough.

Not the type you'd expect
Jonathan to be with.

What else
can you tell me about her?

She described Samantha
as someone who wouldn't

necessarily be the best person
to be hanging around with.

She makes bad choices.
She uses drugs.

Well, Jonathan was
trying to help her out.

She didn't have
anywhere else to stay.

Samantha had been
in a little trouble.

I tried to trust my son.

To make the right decision.

He had been under
my thumb for so many years.

And I wanted him
to become a man.

He just wanted to
help his friend

get back on their feet.

He just wanted to give
a chance to someone

because he had been
given so many chances.

It didn't work out.
He asked her to leave.

Do you think Samantha
could have done this?

No, no, I just
don't see it.

Thanks for coming in.

I'd be shocked if I heard
Samantha was involved.

I wouldn't think
that his former girlfriend

could hurt him, because
I know she did like Jonathan.

Would you have Samantha's
number or her address

or have any idea
where she might be staying?

She's probably
on somebody's couch right now.

But I'll ask.

I'll ask around.

Nobody knew where
Samantha Parker was at.

Nobody's talked
to her for a bit of time.

The time of death
was determined to be

somewhere around 24 hours
before his mother found him.

So that would put
the murder happening

on the morning of December 5th.

He showed signs
of a strangulation event.

He had a fractured hyoid bone.

The cause
and manner of death were

ruled to be homicide
by asphyxia.

The level of force
we're talking about

here is a powerful person.

Mark came to me and he said,

"Ms. Harris," he said,

"we would like to have a
candlelight service in your yard

for Jonathan."

And they started coming.

And they started coming.
And they started coming.

And as you came up,
you took a candle,

and you lit it.

I heard a lot of stuff
about him that I didn't know.

It was so beautiful.

Well, that's just like
the kind of family we are.

Get hurt, come out stronger.

It just made me
love my brother even more.

Patricia got us those bank
and credit card records.

Yeah?

The detectives
focused on the charges

made the morning of the murder.

One online
from his apartment.

You know the killer wouldn't
have done that. That was him.

But then there were a few others
made away from the home.

Lets go check it out.

I want to know
if Jonathan's using that card.

Because we don't know,
so we have to go out

and view video.

At 8:04, he made a transaction
at a fast-food establishment

nearby his house and you could
see him on the video.

Detectives needed to go up
to the physical location

of that gas station
and pull that video.

We see a car drive up
to a gas pump,

and Jonathan's
credit card is used.

The transaction goes through
at 10:17 in the morning.

There is an
African-American
man in the video

using his cards.

Who is that person?

who is that person?

After Jonathan Harris was found

strangled to death
in his apartment,

Montgomery county, Maryland
police learned that someone

had used his stolen credit cards

on the morning of his murder
to put gas in a car

that wasn't his.

At that point in time,
they got surveillance tape

of a large African-American man
pumping gas into a silver car.

They didn't know who it was,

but that was the turning
point in the case.

And there's a woman there.

Lets take a look
at the camera footage

from inside the store.

That's definitely
not Jonathan.

He's big enough to have
done the strangulation.

And her.

You see a
African-American female

enter the convenience store

to utilize the bathroom.

What was kind of
distinctive about her,

she's carrying
a redskins handbag.

And she was wearing
tall black boots.

Maybe that's Samantha,
the ex-girlfriend?

Files on my desk.

That's not her.

All right,
push in on that angle.

There's the plate.

Dion sobotker, he has a
couple of run-in's with the law.

But he's not someone
with a violent past.

According to dmv records,
Dion's last known

place of residence
was about an hour south

of Jonathan's home town
of silver spring.

We wanted his
phone records, we want to know

who he's calling,
who he's associated with,

if we can identify
the female in the video.

We want to know if he was
in the area at the time

that we believe
the murder happened.

While investigators
awaited the cellphone records,

they kept sobotker
under surveillance

to make sure he didn't
disappear or hurt anyone else.

Fortunately, he did neither.

And about that time,
they got the GPS information

on Jonathan's
missing cellphone.

They did track it
and it went northbound and died.

It could have
gotten disposed of.

They looked in the area and
were unable to find that phone.

Start on the morning
of the murder.

One number stands out because
it it called 50 times

following the murder.

The detective was able
to back track that number

and determine that
that number, in fact,

belongs to latoya Morgan.

She's the one
from the store.

The girl in the boots.

So, latoya Morgan also
had a criminal history.

Petty theft, drug use,
nothing significant.

When the police
are able to get back the

court order information
regarding GPS locations

of both Dion sobotker
and latoya Morgan's phone.

Both of them are
in the exact area of the murder

when it occurred.

But then we're,
at least immediately, not able

to link them to Jonathan.

But when detectives
checked every number

sobotker called,
and the names associated

with those numbers,
they finally uncovered

the connection
they'd been looking for.

They go through
Dion sobotker's call logs

on the date of the murder.

They see about 37 phone calls
made to the person of interest

in this investigation.

Samantha Parker.
Dion's been calling her.

A lot.

The victim's former girlfriend.

Samantha was incarcerated
for a series of

thefts, shopliftings,
a litany

of misdemeanor offenses
here locally.

Thanks for speaking
with us, Mark.

We need more information
about Samantha Parker.

You know how Jon was rapping
at different clubs, right?

Right.

They met there,
and they seemed to

hit it off right away.

From a family of angels
and a miracle saved me

thanks to my brother
and the woman who raised me

defying death twice when
the physical failed me

so I live life right
and feelin' lyrical lately

Yo!

You did so good.

I mean, you had
the crowd going crazy.

They loved you.

Nah, it was
just my friends.

When I perform,
they come out to support me.

Make me feel like
a big deal.

I mean, you look like
a big deal to me.

I'm Samantha.

I'm Jonathan.

Why don't you come meet
my friends?

She was, kind of, Jonathan's
first real girlfriend.

Jonathan asked me
is she pretty.

I said,
"yeah, she's pretty.

You know, hopefully
she's a good person, too."

Jonathan was just trying to
help her make a fresh start.

How was that
working out?

Not so good.

What went on?

Right after they started dating,
she got arrested.

When she got out of jail,
Jonathan let her come

live with him
because she had no place to go

and no place to stay.

I think a big trait
that my brother had,

because he was in such
a needy position for so long,

that he gravitated towards
people that he could help.

Once Samantha's
living with Jonathan,

I think in the
beginning it was fine.

But maybe after two weeks,
it started going down hill.

Thank god!
Where were you?

I was just
out chillin'.

So I call, I text.
You ain't pickin' up the phone?

I was worried about you.

Nobody asked you
to do all that, man.

You ain't my dad!

You're dad?
For real?

I'm tired.
You right. You right.

Thank you so much
for checking on me.

I'm going to bed, man.

I ain't done talkin'
with you.

I'm done
talkin' with you.

And how'd it go from there?

Jon finally had enough,

and he put her
stuff on the curb.

I know he did not put my
stuff out on the curb.

Jonathan had kicked her out
about end of September.

Jon! Jonathan!

Yo, you mind telling
me why my stuff

is out on the curb
right now?

It's time
for you to move on.

Jon, what are you
saying to me right now?

I'm done
with this relationship.

I'm done
with you using me.

Just leave.

Ain't nobody use --
what are you talkin' about?

Can you
just please leave?

There was a fight
between Jonathan and Samantha.

And then Samantha made some
threats back toward Jonathan.

Leave?
All right.

You'll be good and sorry by
the time I'm done with you, Jon.

You're gonna be
sorry about this!

You'll be good and sorry by
the time I'm done with you, Jon.

Investigators knew
all three suspects' phones

were near Jonathan's house
at the time of the murder.

And they had video of
Dion sobotker and latoya Morgan

using Jonathan's
stolen credit cards

roughly two hours
after his time of death.

After bringing all three
suspects into custody,

the detectives attempted
to interview Dion sobotker.

We need to ask you
a few questions Dion.

Lawyer.

Come on, we want to hear
your side of the story.

Could be
your only chance.

I said I want my lawyer.

All right,
have it your way, Dion.

What?
I don't get no coffee?

With Dion refusing
to talk, the detectives

then tried to talk
to Samantha Parker.

She told them she knew
Dion from mutual friends.

He had a side job of giving
people rides for cash.

And she met latoya through Dion.

Samantha, we need to
know what happened

at Jonathan's house.

I mean, I was there,
but it wasn't my idea.

I didn't even see
Jonathan that day.

She said Dion wanted to
get some Christmas gifts.

Cheap.

And she said Jonathan
would sell things.

They pulled up
to Jonathan's house,

but she never got out.

And she says that latoya
and Dion are the ones

who went in the house.

You're looking at a murder
charge, and that's your story?

For some reason,
you stayed in the car

when you're the only one
that actually knew Jonathan?

Yeah.

Sit tight.

So, the investigator's
last chance of obtaining

any truthful information in
this case was latoya Morgan.

The woman at the
convenience store with Dion

the day of the murder.

And finally, they had a
suspect who was willing to talk

although latoya only knew some
of what happened that day.

We have
your phone records.

Your phone was near
the house while

the murder was going down.

Tell us what happened.
Start from the beginning.

Your right.

I was in the car outside.

I called Dion
'cause I needed a ride

to get to a funeral.

Hey, who's she?

Samantha

what's up?

She needs to make a stop first.
Pick up something from her ex.

It's on the way
to the funeral.

Don't make me late.
I'm serious.

You'll be all right.

So, what happened
in the house?

I have no idea.

But, I do know,
I see the two of them

coming out with some bags
and a big flat screen TV.

You done?

So done.

What happened next?

Stopped for gas.

Samantha pulls out a card
out of a man's wallet.

Use this to get the gas,
courtesy of my ex.

And it's that point that
Ms. Morgan knew that

some kind of theft,
at a minimum, had taken place.

I got to use the restroom.

There is nothing
that latoya Morgan tells us

that is refuted in any way
by the physical evidence,

which gave her
a lot of credibility

from our perspective.

We served a search
warrant at Dion's place,

and what we found there is

a pair of black and white
sneakers.

Which are determined to
have blood DNA evidence on them.

Our DNA lab determined
that Mr. Harris' blood

is the blood that's recovered
on Dion sobotker's shoes.

Also recovered
at Dion sobotker's house

is a PlayStation.

It's later determined
that PlayStation was

owned by Jonathan Harris.

Jonathan's wallet and credit
cards were never recovered.

And police figured the suspects
just tossed them somewhere.

On the morning of
December 5th,

Jonathan went to
a fast food place.

So, while Jonathan was away,
Samantha and Dion

entered his apartment
using the key Samantha kept

after Jonathan kicked her out.

Jonathan?

I'm confident
that Samantha Parker's intent

in putting this together, was
that she was there

to steal those things,

whether or not Jonathan Harris
was behind that door.

That she was gonna
get that stuff.

And he wasn't gonna stop her.

Samantha brought muscle
with her, Dion's muscle.

I think Jonathan came
home and they were already

in his house
and he surprised them.

Ay, go get him!

Get off! Get off!

Give me something
to tie him up with.

Get his hands!
Get his hands!

Get off me!

I can't get --

hurry up!

You mix the right
chemicals together,

you get an explosion, man.

And you mix these together,
very caustic people,

and what happened?
Someone dies.

Calm your ass down, boy!

I told you
you'd be sorry.

All right, get the door!
Get the door!

After we give our
closing arguments,

the jury deliberates
for about two hours

before they return
a guilty verdict on

first-degree murder
against Mr. Sobotker.

Unfortunately,
Samantha Parker passed away

prior to our trial date
in this case.

By the time she in,
she had cancer, hepatitis,

and she went downhill
very quickly.

We were not able
to bring her to trial

to seek the justice
for the Harris family

that we felt that they deserved.

My brother has
a pretty awesome legacy.

People can only wish
to have half the life

and touched half
the people that he has.

And that helps me
sleep at night.

I could break down any day.

I hurt real bad.

But I also stand.

This is what he said
to me once --

I said, "Jonathan, what are you
gonna do when I'm not here?"

He said, "well, mom, I'll
think about what mom would do,

and then I'll do it."

So that's what I'm gonna
do, I'll think about

what Jon would do,
and then I'll do it.