Original subtitles

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- I've only been in Homicide four months.

I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited.

- Pow, pow, pow!

- I worked as a police officer for over 27 years.

And no matter how many

investigations you have under your belt...

- I don't want to brag, man, but this is rock solid.

- The video is very important. That's the case.

- You always remember those first cases.

- This is gonna be the first time

I'm talking to a suspect.

- Let's move.

narrator: Tonight, on "The First 48: Critical Minutes."

- That's the mother[bleep] right there!

narrator: We look back at three rookies'

first time up as lead detectives.

[gunshot] - Get out of the way.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- As a rookie, when that first homicide phone rings,

you're probably excited.

"I finally got a call."

But even with that,

you're still trying to process things

and, you know, with homicide, it's different

than any other bureau because everybody's waiting

on you for guidance on how to proceed.

Crime Scene is already there.

Uniform Patrol is already there.

Members of your team probably are already there.

So there's a lot of pressure, but it empowers you.

narrator: Louisville, Kentucky, 2:30 a.m.,

a clerk at a local convenience store

calls 911 from his cell phone.

He says an armed robber just shot him in the chest.

♪ ♪

The clerk says he's fleeing out the back of the store,

hoping to escape the gunman.

♪ ♪

[police siren wailing]

Police and paramedics race to the scene

and find the caller unconscious.

He's rushed to the nearest trauma center,

where he is immediately taken to emergency surgery.

♪ ♪

- We're responding to a holdup of a convenience store.

The clerk was shot behind the counter.

Right now, it's touch and go whether or not he'll survive.

♪ ♪

- You got some evidence out front here.

And then you got a scene out back

where the victim ended up.

narrator: Rookie detective Holly Rogers

will be the lead investigator.

- Holly, you want me to walk you through?

- Yeah.

narrator: Rogers and Sergeant Kevin Thompson

head to the alley behind the store

where the victim collapsed.

♪ ♪

He is 30-year-old Chris Spears,

a father of two young children.

Chris was hired only recently at the convenience store.

♪ ♪

- When the officers finally found him,

he was pretty much out of it.

narrator: According to detectives at the hospital,

the victim is still in surgery

with a single gunshot to the chest.

- Right now, he's in bad, bad shape.

They say he's still bleeding around his heart, so...

♪ ♪

narrator: Before entering the store,

the team scans the entrance for any evidence.

- Hey, Holly.

- Yeah.

narrator: By the front door, detectives

find several freshly smoked Doral brand cigarette butts.

♪ ♪

Inside, they find one .22 caliber shell casing,

loose $1 bills near the cash register,

and a blood trail that leads to the emergency exit

at the rear of the store.

♪ ♪

- OK.

♪ ♪

narrator: They see the suspect enter the store.

He heads straight for the cash register.

Oh.

narrator: Sergeant Crowell prints out stills

that clearly show the face of the suspect.

- The video is-- it's disturbing.

It's hard to watch.

The clerk does exactly what he's trained to do.

He even puts his hands up in the air

and backs away from the counter.

Suspect gets the money and shoots him anyway.

It's a tragedy for this young man and his family.

♪ ♪

- We have no witnesses to this.

The video is very important.

That's the case.

♪ ♪

It shows our suspect.

It shows the incident as it is happening.

We get a very good shot of our suspect,

which is gonna help us identify him.

narrator: Three hours after the murder,

Kyle Willett learns from the store's manager

that another night clerk, John,

may recognize the suspect.

♪ ♪

- I'll be there in probably 15 minutes.

♪ ♪

- You're the normal late night guy, right?

- Yes, sir.

- So if there were any regulars,

you'd probably know them.

- Probably, yeah.

- We'll just keep this simple.

We got a here picture off the security cameras.

♪ ♪

- Yeah.

Actually, he was in here couple times last week.

narrator: John knows the man but not by name.

- Does he have a vehicle?

- Had a U-Haul attached to the back of a pickup.

- Older, kind of beat up.

- Last I heard, Chris was still alive

but in critical condition.

Makes you think, don't it?

♪ ♪

- They always say being a clerk is one

of the most dangerous jobs you can have.

♪ ♪

narrator: As the team wraps up near the crime scene...

[cell phone rings]

- He was driving a pickup with a U-Haul attached to it.

Said he thought it was maroon.

- Our suspect is a regular in the store.

Somebody knows this guy.

It's just gonna be a matter of time to find out who he is.

♪ ♪

narrator: In an apartment complex two blocks

from the crime scene, detectives find a truck

matching the description.

Inside, they find loose $1 bills and Doral cigarettes.

♪ ♪

Detectives Keith Roberts, Kristen Downs,

and Chris Middleton enter the apartment building hallway

and knock on the first apartment door.

♪ ♪

[gunshot] - Get out of the way.

♪ ♪

- Shots fired on Millgate.

- I do remember my rookie days, and it's like,

you are not just on a new job, but you just got so much stuff

coming at you all at one time.

Part of her battle is proving that,

"Yeah, regardless of what comes my way,

I am gonna be able to handle it."

It's a kind of chaotic period.

It's a good time, but it can be a little stressful as well.

[police sirens wailing]

narrator: Detectives Kristen Downs

and Keith Roberts escaped,

but Detective Chris Middleton is still trapped

inside the apartment building hallway,

wary of crossing the suspect's closed front door.

- He probably saw us watching the truck.

narrator: Patrol officers and the Homicide Unit

must provide cover in order for Middleton to escape.

- Get a long gun if you got it.

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

narrator: Middleton exits the building safely.

- [sighs]

- I knock on the door. He goes, "Who is it?"

And Keith goes, "Police." Pop!

♪ ♪

- Got everything, perimeter wise, taken care of.

I have a whole list for you when you get here.

♪ ♪

- Once the bomb squad boys get here with the robot,

might as well go ahead and use it,

get it up there, they can poke that window,

get that camera, get a good view.

narrator: With SWAT on standby to make entry,

they send a remote control robot

to the window of the apartment hoping

to get eyes on the suspect.

- You should see at some point on your monitor--

that's the picture from 2:00 a.m. this morning

at the scene down the street.

♪ ♪

- Hang on, hang on, stop, stop.

- We're gonna pop one of those windows

and be able to video the inside,

and see what's going on in there.

There you go.

narrator: The robot removes the suspect's window

for a better view inside.

- Yeah.

- Wait a minute.

- Take it down.

- Take them over to-- - Left side.

- Left side, zoom in.

- He's on the left side. - Oh, look at that.

narrator: From the robot's video feed,

detectives can see that the gunshot

fired by the suspect was self-inflicted.

♪ ♪

- Do we want to definitely say this is our suspect yet?

narrator: The suspect made an apparent attempt

to change his appearance.

♪ ♪

On a coffee table inside, detectives find his photo ID.

Rickey Watson

was a 53-year-old former truck driver

who lived alone.

- I guess he knew it was coming.

Once they knocked on his door, he knew his gig was up.

♪ ♪

You hear the gunshot,

and you don't know what's on the other side.

You have no idea.

Now we know.

♪ ♪

narrator: Inside the apartment,

detectives also found what appeared to be a suicide note.

♪ ♪

- This note refers to him losing the job

that he had had for eight or nine years.

♪ ♪

Said he was broke,

felt like he was a failure his whole life,

just hit his breaking point.

♪ ♪

Can never explain why he decided

to shoot somebody unprovoked.

♪ ♪

narrator: After two days at the hospital,

Chris Spears passes away.

♪ ♪

- Initially, we were called to the scene

'cause this might turn into a homicide.

We had our fingers crossed, and we were hoping

he would pull through, but he didn't.

So it's pretty upsetting.

♪ ♪

[soft music]

- Homicide is unlike any other job out there.

I still will encourage somebody to do it.

No other department gives you a front row seat

to everything that it takes to solve

and to prepare a case for trial.

So it's just a different feel to it

than any other investigative bureau

that I've ever worked in.

[dramatic music]

- I've been a police officer a little over 13 years.

narrator: Lead detective Jarion Shephard

grew up in Decatur, Georgia.

He majored in criminal justice in college

before joining the Atlanta PD.

He's been in Homicide for seven months.

- When I was a kid, "Castle" was one of my favorite shows.

And also, I wanted to be a homicide detective.

It's just unlike any other job out there.

♪ ♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪ ♪

- What's going on?

- There were several males inside of the house.

One of the guys inside the house was shot.

Some of his friends drove him to the hospital,

where he subsequently died.

narrator: The victim, 41-year-old Marquis Stephens,

known to friends as Kiki, grew up in Atlanta.

He had two daughters and three sons

and was looking forward to sending

his middle son to college.

♪ ♪

One shell casing.

Two, three.

And one back there underneath the table.

- I want to talk to the owner.

- Absolutely.

♪ ♪

- So you opened the door and let him come in.

narrator: He says an older man from the neighborhood

came in with a younger man.

- All right, so do you recognize him?

He came--he'd been over to your house before?

- Yes, sir. - OK.

narrator: He knows the older man's face but not his name.

- Right, right, right, right.

- OK.

narrator: While the younger man watched the door,

the older man approached the table

where they were gambling.

- 4136 radio.

- Go ahead.

- Notify Atlanta if anybody shows up

with a gunshot wound, please.

♪ ♪

Here, they're sitting, playing dominoes, all right.

Guy pulls, "[bleep], you know what it is."

Pow, pow, pow.

Corresponds with what they said.

♪ ♪

narrator: As the team wraps up the scene...

- Hey, Young. How you doing?

You talked with the guy at the hospital?

narrator: Detective Mike Young returns

from the hospital with a lead.

- Mm-hmm.

And the young boy was at the door.

He looked at the young dude, was like,

"I know this [bleep]."

narrator: A witness who drove the victim to the hospital

says he recognized the younger suspect.

- Then he's like, "Where do I know him from?"

He went through his Instagram. He says, "That's him."

♪ ♪

- I'm gonna get this guy identified.

♪ ♪

Without a name, it's gonna be difficult,

but at least we got a picture.

♪ ♪

narrator: The next morning, Shephard

enlists the help of Detective Kyle Kleinhenz

in tracking down a name.

- Department of Driver Services

have facial recognition software.

It can take an image and run it

against the driver's license photos in the state

to see if he has an identification.

♪ ♪

This may be our only shot of finding his identity.

♪ ♪

narrator: Six hours later.

- We just got a response here from the contact

at the Department of Driver Services.

Here are the top matches.

♪ ♪

Same moustache, same lip, same nose.

You can tell that's the same person.

So we'll get this over to Shephard.

narrator: 19-year-old Kevin Reeves has no convictions.

- We'll put Kevin Reeves follow on Atlanta.

Goal is to get a positive ID.

♪ ♪

I'll be back soon.

narrator: Shephard heads out to show

his eyewitness the lineup.

♪ ♪

- [indistinct], how you doing?

- Hey, I'm hanging in there.

- You want to go inside, or you want to stay out here?

- Right here.

- Now the second guy, the younger guy,

think you'll be able to identify him?

- Yes, sir.

- Go ahead and take a look at it.

♪ ♪

- You pretty sure that's him?

- 99.99999999!

- All right, don't mess it up.

- That's the mother[bleep] right there.

- People ask, you know, how do you

prepare yourself for a transition

from one investigative bureau to Homicide.

I don't know if you can.

It's almost like a baptism by fire.

The hours are different.

The level of responsibility is different.

You're dealing with people that have been traumatized

in the absolute worst way.

Just dealing with the emotions of a homicide

was the biggest transition that I had to make.

♪ ♪

- I know you're upset... I know it bothers you.

- I know.

- I'll get him.

All right?

♪ ♪

narrator: With the positive ID,

Detective Shephard types up a warrant for Reeves' arrest.

- One count of murder,

six counts of aggravated assault,

and criminal trespass.

narrator: Fugitive Recovery begins

the search for Kevin Reeves.

♪ ♪

But as the clock runs out, he's nowhere to be found.

♪ ♪

Two days later... [phone rings]

- This is Detective Shephard from Homicide.

narrator: Shephard gets a tip that the alleged shooter

is 46-year-old Rodney Gibbs.

♪ ♪

- He got a violent criminal history,

multiple aggravated assaults, family violence.

narrator: Gibbs' convictions include battery,

false imprisonment, and cruelty to children.

- I want to get this guy off the street

as soon as possible.

♪ ♪

- With a possible second suspect,

Shephard heads out to show a lineup to his witness.

- All I need is one ID.

That'd be enough to get the warrants.

♪ ♪

- How you doing? - All right.

- We gonna do this like we did last time, OK?

- I know the drill.

♪ ♪

- That's your choice? - Right there.

- Out of ten, how do you feel about that?

- I can't tell you if you picked

the right guy now, but I do--

- You too.

♪ ♪

narrator: Two weeks later,

Kevin Reeves is still at large,

but U.S. Marshals track down Rodney Gibbs

at his girlfriend's house.

♪ ♪

- He got a bandage on his hand.

It's kind of suspicious.

He might have been shot.

♪ ♪

- What's up, brother? How you doing, man?

- Why I'm here?

- Why you here? - Yeah.

- Murder.

♪ ♪

You wish to speak with me now?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- I mean, your hand OK, man? You need something for that?

- Nah, I'm all right. - What happened?

- Really?

♪ ♪

- He admitted, said he was shot in the hand,

which is consistent with the statements

from the witnesses.

- If I was accused of murder,

I'ma make it known I'm not the person you're looking for.

He never say, "Hey, you got the wrong guy."

He never said anything like that.

♪ ♪

I got one arrested, but I need one more.

♪ ♪

narrator: Four days later, the Fugitive Recovery team

finally tracks down Kevin Reeves

at the home of a relative.

♪ ♪

- What's up, bro? I'm Detective Shephard.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

All right?

♪ ♪

- I don't think he understand how serious this is.

But I think he will.

He thinks just because he's not the actual triggerman

that he can get away with it.

But that's yet to be determined.

♪ ♪

- This case, I don't want to brag, man,

but this is rock solid.

It's gonna be good to get a family some closure.

It's gonna be good to get them off the street.

[soft music]

- You know, one of the biggest part of the learning curves

for rookies is to understand that everything you be doing

in Homicide is as a team.

It doesn't matter who get the confession.

It doesn't matter who recovers a key piece of evidence.

It's just getting it done.

It's tough for some Homicide investigators to ask for help

because they look at it as a sign of weakness.

They have to understand, again,

everything we do in Homicide is a team.

[dramatic music]

- It's 11:00 at night,

and it's about five degrees outside,

which is pretty cold for Louisville.

I really hate working in the cold.

narrator: Detective Kristen Downs

has been in homicide for four months.

This will be her second case as lead detective.

- We've got a single victim,

multiple shell casings on the scene.

There's multiple shots fired.

- His hat has a bullet hole through it.

♪ ♪

We're waiting for the coroner to get here

to see if he was hit somewhere else

or if he's got an ID on him.

♪ ♪

- It's really cold out here.

Our victim's blood is already freezing on the sidewalk.

And I think mine's freezing in my body.

♪ ♪

- There we go.

James Allen.

narrator: 21-year-old James Allen

was known to friends and family as J-Mo.

He was the father of a one-year-old girl.

- Looks like we found bullet holes in his hoodie

and another hole through his jacket,

so probably shot at least five times.

narrator: Sergeant Kevin Thompson

briefs Downs on a witness's account of the shooting.

Your victim turns around, starts walking that way,

suspect pulls a gun out and starts popping him.

He drops, walks up on him, pops him a few more times.

narrator: The witness describes the suspect

as a young Black male.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

See how it comes out right out here, boom, boom,

then turns this way.

narrator: The team finds several 9-millimeter

shell casings that lead to the front door

of the townhouse where the argument took place.

- Somebody came out and, it looks like,

chased this guy down, and that's

where he ended up landing.

We're going in.

narrator: Downs heads in to talk to a young woman

who lives in the townhouse with her baby.

- Anybody else over here with you?

- You know who that was?

narrator: The woman says the victim,

J-Mo, is her ex-boyfriend.

- When was the last time you saw him?

narrator: She says she was arguing

with J-Mo earlier in the night before she asked him to leave.

narrator: The ex-girlfriend says she looked out her window

and saw James lying on the sidewalk, shot.

Downs asks if anyone else stays at her place.

- Fred? And where's Fred at right now?

- And how long have you been talking to Fred?

- What's his last name?

♪ ♪

- We need to make sure that there's no guns in here.

We need for you to give us consent

to search your apartment.

Is that gonna be OK?

- Mm-hmm. - OK.

♪ ♪

narrator: The team makes a discovery.

- There's a magazine.

narrator: They find a 9-millimeter magazine.

- OK.

♪ ♪

narrator: They decided to take in the ex-girlfriend

down to Homicide for further questioning.

♪ ♪

- It's about 1:00 a.m. now, and this case is moving,

so my adrenaline's kicked in, and we're gonna go in there

and just try the soft approach with her

and then just build up on her.

♪ ♪

So tell me about you guys.

J-Mo's at the door, and you guys are arguing.

He's wanting to come in inside.

♪ ♪

You shut the door, and then what?

♪ ♪

narrator: She says James was angry

because she had ended their relationship

and started dating another man, Fred.

- You don't have a gun, do you?

- OK.

♪ ♪

- Don't get mixed up in this.

You know, think about your son.

♪ ♪

We've already found a clip

to a gun inside your apartment.

♪ ♪

What's gonna happen when those bullets come back

to the ones that are in J-Mo?

♪ ♪

What's gonna happen to you and your little boy?

♪ ♪

- Help me fix this as best we can.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Hang on just a sec.

♪ ♪

- I can't understand if that kid angle doesn't work.

Somebody else can go in and maybe try with her.

♪ ♪

- Who's that?

♪ ♪

- If I had a picture of you,

I'd put you right in the middle.

Does that makes sense?

Who shot him?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Do you love him?

♪ ♪

- She's absolutely stuck in the middle.

She's got two boyfriends, one's dead,

and if the other one did it, then he goes away too.

♪ ♪

narrator: Four hours in, Butler reaches out

to the witness's mother,

hoping she will get her daughter to talk.

- She's done nothing wrong.

She's gonna help everybody involved

if she'd just tell us the truth.

Would you have a problem if I take you in there with her,

and you can talk to her?

♪ ♪

- All right, bye-bye.

♪ ♪

- OK.

narrator: She said she was alone in the house,

and James was pounding on the door.

She called Fred and asked him to come over.

♪ ♪

narrator: She says she saw James on the ground

with Fred standing over him holding a gun.

Fred then shot James two more times.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- I'll be right back, OK?

♪ ♪

- I think she was really scared.

She called Fred. Fred came over, lost control,

and so she's kind of a victim in this too.

♪ ♪

[knocking on door]

- Police.

♪ ♪

Ma'am, how are you doing?

Ma'am, is your son home? - Yeah

♪ ♪

narrator: Detectives find Fred in his bedroom asleep.

♪ ♪

- It's murder, Eastside.

- Have a seat.

♪ ♪

[keyboard clacking]

♪ ♪

- I've only been in Homicide four months.

So I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited.

This is gonna be the first time I'm talking to a suspect,

trying to get him to confess to murder.

- Just lay out everything you got on him.

- Which just--let him know what we got and--

- And then let him make his lies.

- Hello.

How are you?

- Right now, you're under arrest.

- You don't know?

What did you do yesterday?

Just go through your day with me.

- OK, didn't go anywhere else?

- What would you say if I told you

that I've got witnesses that say you were

on 10th Street tonight?

♪ ♪

- They're lying?

What I'm trying to do is give you

an opportunity right now to tell me

your side of what happened.

♪ ♪

- Fred...

narrator: Downs asks Fred about his girlfriend.

- When was the last time you saw her?

- I've talked to her for a while, right, hours.

♪ ♪

She told me what she saw. She told me what she heard.

She told me she watched her boy lay there on the ground

after you shot him.

- Yes.

I don't want to [bleep] with you.

- Mm-hmm. - I don't.

I don't have time for it. I've been up since yesterday.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- How did he hit the ground?

♪ ♪

- How many times did you shoot him?

- About seven? - Yeah.

♪ ♪

- All right, hang on.

From everything we've got right now,

all the statements, all the physical evidence,

we're gonna charge him with murder.

- Stand right up against that wall, facing me.

Look straight forward.

♪ ♪

Turn and face that wall.

♪ ♪

- It was a win for us,

but it wasn't a win for anyone, really.

This was just all so over nothing.

And now all three of them are gonna be affected forever.

James is dead.

He's going to jail.

And the girlfriend's lost both the men she cared about.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- A lot of investigators are intimidated

about going into a room with a suspect

and trying to extract a confession from them.

You know, for a rookie detective,

you have to make yourself vulnerable.

It's a give and take.

You're wanting this person to open up

and communicate with you.

And sometimes, if that person is saying,

"All I need is a cigarette," sometimes,

that's all they need to give you a confession

that's gonna end up putting them in prison.

That in itself is an art.

♪ ♪