Original subtitles

♪♪

Demery: I was always taught,

If you do good in this world,

You'll be rewarded In the next --

The pearly gates,

The heavenly afterlife.

Thing is...

The path to righteousness Is rocky.

The seeds of doubt, They grow deep roots.

The things you do,

You can't undo.

And the things you see...

...You can't unsee.

Murder and me, we go way back.

When I was a child, Murder took my mother.

Years later, It came for my brother.

That's when I found My mission in life.

Every case I worked, I solved.

Every case I solved, I got a confession.

I'm detective rod demery.

I didn't choose murder.

Murder chose me.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Jones: there's a resident On ledbetter street --

She steps out on the porch

And hears kids walking, Some laughter.

[ indistinct talking ]

Washington: she's watching The group of kids.

Then, she sees an suv pull up.

It's moving pretty slowly.

[ gunshots ]

All of a sudden, She hears gunshots.

[ screaming ]

Everyone's running In different directions...

[ tires squeal ]

...But there are two kids On the ground --

A boy and a girl.

[ voice breaking ] There's been a shooting!

421 ledbetter street!

Come quick!

Demery: I love the high ceilings...

The mahogany...

The sweet, old ladies In their sunday finery...

♪♪

...That big, booming organ.

As a kid,

Church was The only place on earth

Where I felt truly at peace.

Look, I know, I know.

I-I'm trying to get to this As soon as I can!

So just let me get back to you In a bit, all right?

Great.

2007 was a pretty tough year. There was a lot going on.

I worked the homicides That I was assigned

And there were a few

That were assigned to others

That weren't closed or solved

For whatever reason And I worked those, as well.

[ cellphone rings ]

This is demery.

There was a shooting On ledbetter street --

Two people have been hit.

Kids?

Yeah, how old?

The call description was That there were some juveniles

That were involved, But they didn't say how.

♪♪

The scene was pretty chaotic.

Immediately getting there,

I realized that there were A lot of people milling around.

The first thing I noticed Was kids in uniform,

And I had a thought that,

You know, maybe these kids Were just watching.

I kind of pushed it Out of my mind that

One of them was Actually the victim.

[ sighs ]

Hey.

So what do we got?

Well, we got two victims.

We got one black male, Terrence washington, age 17.

And then we've got one Black female over here,

Latora wiley, age 16.

[ sighs ]

Police officers told me That both of them were

Being transported To the hospital.

The female was In grave condition,

And the male seemed to be Alert and conscious.

We know what happened?

Well, according to statements, We had a bunch of kids

That were walking down From school,

And they were shot at by Somebody in a moving vehicle.

Once I learned that the --

The victims were actually Part of that group

Of school kids in uniforms,

It changed the tone Of my disposition at that point.

It pissed me off.

It makes no sense that a kid can Be coming home from school

And gets shot and killed.

And we're gathering statements Right there,

But we're still uncertain Whether it was provoked or not.

Okay, let's get Those witnesses separated

And get them down To the station.

Okay. Can you take care of that?

Any evidence recovered?

Yeah, we've got one 9mm casing over here.

We know more shots Were fired,

But we're still looking For the others.

The search for a shell casing Or firearms evidence

Is kind of difficult because

There's no telling Where it could be.

Once it ejects from the firearm, It could be left in the vehicle,

Or it could be kicked out Of the vehicle,

Or it could be in the grass, It could be in the road,

So it's kind of difficult to --

To locate something that small In such a large area.

Ultimately, We found a shell casing

From a 9mm pistol,

And that's about it.

There's wasn't a whole lot Of other physical evidence.

This neighborhood have Any reported gang activity?

Not that I'm aware of.

All right, man. I got someone to talk to.

I'll catch up with you later. -all right.

[ car door closes ]

Demery: initially, My thought was that this was

A gang drive-by shooting

And both of them were caught In a random crossfire.

Hey, this is demery.

But...When it comes To gang violence,

It's difficult to find anybody That will talk about

Whoever the gang members Or gang suspects are.

In this particular case, I had an informant

That I can reach out to When things like this happen,

Kind of get a feel For what's going on,

To find out whether or not There was any gang violence

Or shootings That he may have known about.

So, what's the word With this shooting

Over on ledbetter, man?

That ain't exactly Gang territory.

Yeah, I heard about,

But I ain't heard nothing About no crew being involved.

So you didn't hear if This shooting was accidental?

You didn't hear if This shooting was on purpose?

Brother, I ain't heard no talk about it.

My informant, He doesn't have any information.

He's telling me that There's no gang wars or...

Or any beefs going on,

So I'm pretty sure This isn't gang-related.

Keep your ear To the ground, man.

If you hear something, You let me know.

All right.

My next move is to go To the hospital.

I want to find the victims And gather whatever information

I can from them.

♪♪

[ police siren in distance ]

Hey, doc?

Hey, I'm looking For those kids

That were brought in With the gunshot wounds.

Terrence washington And latora wiley?

How they doing? -washington's gonna be okay.

He's alert and recovering Up on the third floor

If you want To speak with him.

Okay, and latora?

She didn't make it.

Demery: when you deal With youthful victims,

It's always difficult,

But a 16-year-old little girl

Was just not something I was prepared for that day.

When a young child or a juvenile Has been the victim of a crime,

As an investigator, It's very difficult.

Latora wiley absolutely did Not deserve her fate.

Gabriel: latora was Very outgoing.

She was the manager Of the cheerleading squad

At woodlawn high school.

Liked to have fun, Always smiling.

Just wanted to enjoy life, Basically.

I never thought latora Would be gone today,

But she is, you know.

And it happened In the matter of a second.

Latora's family is On the way to the hospital,

If you want to speak With them, too.

Yeah, but I need to speak With washington first.

What room is he in?

I wanted to find out What I could

From terrence On what exactly happened,

So when I did talk To her family,

I wanted to be able to give them Some solid information.

Hey, terrence.

I'm detective demery With the shreveport p.D.

Are you up For a few questions?

Yeah.

You want to know What happened, right?

I do.

[ sighs ]

Well... Me and a bunch of friends

Were walking home From school

And this car almost hit us.

[ indistinct talking ]

♪♪

[ screaming ]

Washington: Come on, man! What you doing?!

Yo, be careful! You almost hit us!

Yo, Why you in the road, man?!

We just walking!

Why don't you watch Where you going?

Watch where you going!

[ tires squeal ]

Terrence said that There was a heated exchange

Between the children And the passenger in the vehicle

And the vehicle left the area.

And we get to the park, So we hang out a little bit.

And then we started Walking back home again.

Mm-hmm.

That's when we saw The same suv.

♪♪

Hey, yo! There go that car from earlier!

Hey!

[ gunshots ]

[ screaming ]

[ tires squeal ]

I kind of fell down.

Okay.

And I guess that's When they got latora, too.

What'd the people Inside the suv do next?

They -- They just took off, you know?

It's obvious that this isn't A gang-related shooting,

It's just a --

A group of kids getting In an argument

And a person In the vehicle shooting them.

Did you get a look At the shooter?

No.

Everything Was happening so fast.

I do know that the two guys In the car were black, though.

The guy with the gun, He...

He looked younger Than the driver.

Okay.

Terrence gave me A vague description

Of the driver and the shooter.

He also provided The reason for the shooting --

Some sort of altercation Or near-collision.

So that's a starting point.

I appreciate it, terrance. Thank you.

How's latora?

I'm gonna have somebody Come back

And talk to you About latora, okay?

But in the meantime, You get some rest

And you take care Of yourself.

Okay?

Yes, sir.

The next step is To go view latora's body.

Hopefully, There's some sort of evidence.

I'm not sure what, But anything can work.

The smallest piece Of evidence can be huge.

This is her.

[ sighs deeply ]

As I view latora's body,

I'm realizing that This is just bull [bleep].

I mean, There's a kid here that's dead

For no [bleep] Reason.

I can't make Any sense of it

And the frustration Then starts to kick in.

And I had pretty much Resolved in my mind

That I wasn't going home Till I found out who did it.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Demery: I responded to a drive-by, Where two teenagers were shot.

One's killed, one's injured.

I need to find out now who The driver and the shooter are.

Where was she hit?

In the chest.

I learned the bullet Pierced her lung,

And I didn't gather Any more evidence

That related directly To who the suspects may be.

Her mom's here. I'm gonna go talk to them.

I'll send them your way When I'm done.

Good luck.

Yeah.

♪♪

It's that time again --

Hardest part of the job.

Got to tell this lady That the world she knows

No longer exists.

Her baby's gone, And she's not coming back.

Miss mitchell, I'm detective demery

With shreveport police.

Yes?

Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you.

[ sobbing ] Oh, no!

Miss mitchell Was clearly upset.

She had learned Of latora being shot,

And I confirmed She was deceased.

I knew When I saw her laying there,

I knew She wasn't gonna make it.

Mitchell: I was About two blocks away,

And I heard the shots,

And I jumped up...

And I ran around there Where she was...

[ sobbing ] No! Latora!

...And she was laying On the ground.

Oh, my god!

To see your child Laying on the ground

With a gunshot wound To the chest,

Struggling to take Her last breath,

It's just surreal.

It was like I was in a bad movie Or a bad dream.

Oh, my god!

Oh, god!

Demery: When you work cases like this,

It's so random how, you know, One minute everything is calm,

The next minute, it's chaos.

You have no idea why -- Why it happened the way it did.

I couldn't give her, Miss mitchell,

Any explanation, 'cause I didn't have one.

I just thought It was just [bleep] Up.

Listen to me.

I'm going to do everything I can To catch who did this,

But I'm gonna need Your help.

So I'm going to need the names Of everyone who was there

When the shooting Took place.

My other daughters -- Mikena and angela,

But, I mean, they were there When latora was shot.

They should already be At the police station.

Okay, Well, I'm headed there now,

So I'll make sure I speak to them.

Okay.

[ sniffles ]

I'm really sorry For your loss.

♪♪

After my mother was murdered,

I could feel Two sides of me battling

Against each other --

Good versus evil,

Angels versus devils.

Maybe that's why I chose To work homicide...

So I could stare down Those demons,

Drag myself into the light.

I think that my spirituality Is what kept me sane.

Once I realized that I didn't have to come up

With a reason Why things happen

And why god chooses A certain path to take,

And I'm able To kind of shake back

And get back in the game.

Back at the station, I need to talk to the other kids

Who saw latora get shot.

But this rookie officer's

Got them herded together Like cattle.

How many shots did y'all hear?

I thought I heard six Or seven shots.

I didn't hear any gunshots, Just screaming.

Demery: but the more witnesses You question at the same time,

The more muddled The truth becomes.

I'm pretty sure that I Left specific instructions

That these kids should be Separated

And questioned individually.

Would you please do that?All right, all right.

Thank you.

One of the greatest challenges Police officers face

When they're interviewing A number of witnesses,

As in this case,

Everyone sees things And remembers things differently

And everyone will give you Descriptions

Of what they think they saw, When in reality,

It may be something Totally different.

Excuse me, I'm looking For an angela or mikena?

We've got them waiting Outside your office.

Thank you.

Y'all come with me, Please.

There's always that element Of dealing

With younger witnesses,

But in this case,

I have to talk To the sister of the victim.

So in addition to her Being so young,

I have to deal with the fact That she has a personal,

Close connection With the victim.

The question is, How do I approach her,

And how do I talk to her?

Have a seat.

I'm detective demery With the shreveport Police department.

First, let me say, I'm really sorry

About what happened To your sister.

Now, your mom said

That you might've witnessed What happened?

So why don't you take me through And tell me what happened?

A bunch of us was walking After school let out.

[ indistinct talking ]

Man: hey?!

We were runnin' from gunshots.

I seen terrence, He ran across the street

And then I seen He got hit in the back,

'cause he had a white tee on,

Then I just seen blood Everywhere.

After the shots stopped...

Latora?

...I turned around And seen latora on the ground.

I was like, what's going on?

You know, at first,

I thought she was in shock,

Because we didn't see any blood,

'cause she bled out In the inside.

And then I can just tell...

Her life was leaving her.

Did you see The shooter or the driver?

Yeah, I saw the guy with the gun.

What we noticed About the shooter

Was he had two gold teeth And a tongue ring,

Which is very unusual.

I'm going to send you back out To outside,

And I'm going to try And find your sister

And talk to her, okay? Okay.

All right, thank you.

Demery: despite mikena

Having watched her sister Be murdered,

She's incredibly resilient.

She was focused and she was able To tell me things

That other people Weren't able to tell me.

But I need something More specific.

I need to narrow down who these People in the vehicle were.

Angela, have a seat.

Angela: when we got To the police station,

It was still surreal.

It never really dawned on me

That I was at a police station

Getting questioned About a drive-by shooting

At 14 years old.

First, let me say,

I know That you're going through a lot,

So I promise,

I'm going to keep my questions To a few, okay?

Okay.

So let's talk about the people Inside that car.

Yeah, I saw the shooter, Clear as day.

And when I asked her, Do she know who this person is,

To my surprise, She says she does.

♪♪

Demery: so, we're working A drive-by shooting.

While speaking to witnesses,

I've got a description Of the vehicle,

Description of the suspects.

And I'm hoping to get The identity of the shooter.

You saw the shooter?

So you recognize him?

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know his name, But I know his sister.

She lives over On sassafras street.

His sister is someone That latora and I

Went to high school with

And she was actually On the basketball team

And latora was On the cheerleading team.

So that caused me To see her quite often

And able to recognize Her brother.

Demery: She's not able to give me The name of the suspect,

But she gives the address On sassafras.

With that information,

I go into Our records management system

And look for calls

That the police Or the fire department

Have been on at the residence.

Do me a favor.

Run this address through r.M.S., Please.

Officer: yes, sir.

I'm hoping the description I got from angela and mikena

Will match someone living At that address.

According to the report, It looks like the officers

Describes a black male, About 25 years old,

With gold teeth Living there.

Sounds like my shooter. What's his name?

It says "Charles evans" Was his name.

Perfect. Thanks, brother.

I take charles evans' name And the information

And pull up a photo database

And five other random people.

I put those six people Who look alike

Into that lineup And present it to the witnesses.

Take a look At these photos

And tell me If you recognize the shooter.

Mikena: when detective demery Showed me the rap pictures,

I recognized the shooter Very quickly,

'cause I remembered his face Very well.

Are you sure that's him?

Positive?

Yeah.

Everyone that was there

And with us Picked the same person.

Hey, looks like We got our shooter.

I'm gonna Take a couple of units,

Go see If mr. Evans is home.

♪♪

There's a couple Of patrol officers

That are going To accompany me,

Just in case this guy's there And he's armed,

And he may want to shoot.

[ dogs bark in distance ]

Shreveport p.D. -- We're looking for charles evans!

I go to the address And a young girl,

15, 16 years old, Answers the door,

Identifies herself As stephanie.

I was relieved that she was A young high school girl

And not someone That was a girlfriend

Or someone that had Any vested interest

In protecting him Or concealing evidence.

Younger sister's not involved In any of this stuff

Are going to be pretty truthful.

You know where he is?No.

He was here earlier today, But not for long.

Hey, charles, can you help me With something right quick?

Look, stephanie, I can't talk right now.

It's really quick. I just --

Stop! Not right now!

What's wrong?

[ panting ]

Look, I'm in trouble, All right?

I got to go.

What's going on?

Her mother comes To the door,

And I let her know That I'm looking for her son.

I tell her that he's suspected In a drive-by shooting.

What?!

Can we come inside, Please?

-sure, come on. -thank you.

We think your son charles is Involved in a murder.

My son charles?! Shh!

Does charles have A cell phone?

He does.

Okay, you need to call him On the phone

And you need to get him To surrender.

Because if he doesn't Surrender peacefully,

There is the possibility That he can get hurt.

It's important to tell Family members of suspects

That we're looking for them.

If this person has just Killed someone

And he's armed,

He's not only placing Himself in danger,

He's placing other People in danger.

It can be a very, very Volatile situation.

Don't tell him We're here.

Charles? Hey.

Yes, it's mom.

Um...Yes, I --

I need you to come home, Please.

Oh, yeah, Everything's okay.

I just need you To come home.

Come home now.

All right, baby, Goodbye.

Jones: in my experience,

People who have Committed homicides

Are just waiting to get that Off their conscious.

It weighs on them heavily

And most people want To tell what happened.

[ door opens ]

Demery: 20 minutes later...

Our man, charles evans, Walks in the front door.

Charles evans?

Yeah.

Handcuff him, please.

Evans isn't uncooperative Or anything of the sort.

He agrees to come to The police station voluntarily

And he waived his rights And agreed to talk to me.

♪♪

I'm gonna talk to you, All right?

And I need you to be honest With me.

Okay?

Why don't you start off By telling me

What happened On ledbetter street

With those kids?

Evans: These kids was out there,

Jawing off, Saying that we almost hit them,

Not admitting That it was their fault.

You know what I'm saying?

I mean...

There was one That really pissed me off.

Why you in the road, Man?!

We just walking! Who are you?!

You walking?! Why you walking in the street?!

Why don't you open your eyes, You little bitch?!

What'd you call me?! Bitch!

[ tires screech ]

He calls me A little bitch.

I mean, where does he got off Talking to me that way?!

It was pretty clear that

When washington called him A little bitch,

Was the point that drove evans To -- to anger.

That was a -- a button

That terrence washington pushed That just pissed him off.

They were All disrespectful!

The deeper Into the story he goes,

The angrier and angrier My man charles is getting.

It's just the opening I've been looking for.

I'm going To exploit that anger.

So I'm guessing You felt disrespected,

For sure, right? Damn right!

Nobody is gonna Say what he said to me

And walk away!

Evans is giving me What I need.

I appreciate you being honest, 'cause I know it's not easy.

What I need you to do now Is take a deep breath, okay?

I want to ask him next is,

Was he the one Who shot those two children?

'cause I'm gonna Ask you something, charles,

And I need you To be honest with me.

♪♪

So, now this drive-by shooting Has developed a suspect.

Charles evans --

He's told me that He got into an argument

With a bunch of school kids.

Now I'm at the point

Where I want charles To tell me

That he actually shot them.

That little kid Called you a bitch, right?

And that's why You started shooting.

You damn right!

I wasn't gonna let him get away With what he said!

Washington: this all stemmed From a disagreement.

Charles evans was aiming For terrence,

But he hit latora, as well.

I'm surprised that More people weren't hit.

Demery: After evans told me that,

It was just a matter Of getting details

That would help Seal the deal on this case.

Now I need a firearm And the vehicle

And whoever else was there.

What'd you do with that gun, Charles?

[ scoffs ]

I threw it In the red river.

You sure? Yeah.

Charles, Who was driving that suv?

One of your boys?

At first, Charles doesn't respond,

But I keep plugging away.

Who was driving That suv?

It was my uncle james.

When evans told me That his uncle james

Was driving the vehicle,

I was a little shocked.

What's his last name?

Mason.

You know I'm gonna Have to talk to him, right?

Yeah.

I get mason's phone number From evans,

And I call mason And ask him

To come down To the police station

And talk to me.

He seemed very cooperative And very eager

And happy to come down.

Mr. Mason?

Detective demery, Nice to meet you.

Nice meeting you, As well.

When mason arrives At the police station,

He's dressed nicely. He was very polite.

And he wanted to be Very helpful,

To the point where He wanted to be too helpful,

And it kind of Raised red flags.

Where would you like For me to start?

I guess you want me To tell you

About the fight that charles had With those kids, right?

I can do that.

You know, Why don't you start

By telling me A little bit about you?

Mason, from the onset, Had a salesman's personality.

Absolutely.

Well, I'm very involved In the church, yes.

I don't know If charles told you,

But I'm a youth pastor.

See, I like to instill religion Into our young people.

Maybe he thought that was going To be something to make me

Have a different opinion of him,

But I knew he was Full of [bleep]

And I knew he was A manipulator.

So what happened Out there?

I mean, You were driving, right?

Yeah, They were in the street,

Not watching What they were doing.

Mason confirmed that Terrence washington

Called evans a little bitch.

He said, at that point, They went to a store

That was around the corner From where they were.

See, I told charles,

They have to understand Each other.

Mason: You need to go back there,

Reason with that kid, Help him understand his anger.

Listen, charles.

We have enough problems In this world

For us to be fighting With each other.

All right.

See, I want to help Reduce black-on-black crime.

You understand?

Mm-hmm.

I think mason believed that He could tell me anything

And I would just buy it.

I don't think he estimated At any point,

That I had gotten All the information

I had gotten From his nephew

And the witnesses On the scene.

So I knew he was lying to me.

And I asked him Where evans got a gun from,

And he said That it was evans' gun.

Not long Before that happened,

I had just taken the gun Away from charles,

Because he tends to have A bit of a temper.

Okay, But if charles has a bad temper

And there's a gun In the car,

Why drive back over To find the kids?

Well, I wanted to teach my nephew

A lesson In conflict resolution

And how to handle things The right way...

For the lord.

And when I realized What he had done,

I took him home, Looked him in the eye,

And scolded him For his sins.

I asked him, Why didn't he call the police?

He didn't have An explanation for that,

Other than his phone Wasn't working.

Then I asked him, Why didn't he call the police

When he got home?

He said, he just fell on His knees and started praying.

After I talked to mason, I realized

That he was more responsible For the crime

Than he wanted to admit.

His story about preaching

And teaching black-on-black

Crime reduction And conflict resolution,

Just wasn't what I believed happened.

What's even more incredible Is that he thinks

That he can somehow Jump behind jesus

And everything is Gonna be all right,

And I'm going to think He's a wonderful person.

You know, it --

It amazed me that he decided He was gonna take that route.

Stand up.

Why? What? I haven't done anything.

Please, stand up. Stand up.

Put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest.

What are you doing?

Mason admitted To being responsible

For taking evans To the scene,

Arming him with the firearm That killed latora wiley.

The driver In a drive-by shooting

Is just as culpable As the shooter

And if you've got A problem with that,

Talk to your lawyer.

That's all I need To charge mason

With second-degree murder.

Let's go.

♪♪

At this point, I've got evans and mason

Both generally telling me What happened.

And most of it fits with What the children are saying.

The thing that I need Is something physical,

Tangible that I can match To this murder.

Charles... Tell me where that gun is at.

I already told you.

Charles, come on, man.

Listen to me. You can't lie to me, bro.

What I need at this point is To find that firearm.

It's gonna lock the case down.

♪♪

Demery: I still go to church From time to time.

It centers me...

Clears my head...

...Brings me closer to god.

But to be honest, I've got another sanctuary...

...A place where I know Exactly who I am

And why I was put On this earth.

Now you know...

I'm going to find That weapon, brother,

So I need you To be honest with me.

So this drive-by shooting Has turned

Into two suspects Being identified.

What I need at this point Is physical evidence, proof.

I need the firearm.

Listen to me. This is not going anywhere.

I'm not going anywhere.

I need to know, Where is that weapon?

♪♪

It's near my house, man.

Some abandoned shed Down the street.

For whatever reason, He decided to come clean.

If this firearm is Where evans says it is,

Then this case Is going to be closed.

Officer?!

Take him back to holding and Then meet me down by the car.

We're gonna take a ride.

♪♪

I grab another detective

And a short distance From where evans lives,

And we start the search, Looking for the firearm.

It's a dusty building,

Dusty place.

Hey?

Over here.

But there's this Pristine-looking towel

That's sitting inside This building.

Demery: Damn right, 9mm.

Matches the casing We found at the scene.

Let's get that Bagged up.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I got the right firearm.

I'm going back To talk to evans.

I want to clear up A few things.

I'm sure he's pretty truthful And straightforward,

Because he's told me Where the firearm is.

So I want to kind of clarify

What exactly mason's role was

And the specifics On how it happened.

Have a seat.

Guess what, charles?

I just came from talking To your uncle james

And you want to know What he said?

Said he was driving you over To ledbetter street to try

And get a peaceful resolution To that issue with those kids.

Wait, what?

Said that he had no idea

That you were Gonna start shooting.

No, no, no, no! That's not right.

That's not right.

He the one That gave me the gun

And told me to go back Over there to get the kid.

That's why we went back.

Mason: damn, boy!

You going to let him Talk to you like that?!

You a little bitch, for real, If you let him do it!

That's what he called you!

Evans: I ain't no bitch, I ain't no bitch.

You a punk, if you do.

Here.

You get over there And you handle that.

That's right.

You gonna do that.

Be a man!

You understand me?!

In reality, there was No conflict resolution.

Mason, for whatever reason, Thought that the situation

Could be resolved with a gun.

He armed evans And took evans there.

Hey!

Remember me?!

[ gunshots ]

I think evans and mason Are both to blame,

Because evens fired the gun,

Mason is to blame,

Because he introduced The firearm

And evans back Into a situation

That was already volatile.

Evans and mason are both looking At serious prison time,

But one of them Is refusing to go down

Without a fight.

The prosecution would like To call detective rod demery

To the stand.

From the onset, When I met mason,

I knew what his game was.

I mean, I was offended by him From the moment

I spoke with him.

But I was pretty confident

That the case was pretty strong.

And, you know, At the end of the day,

All the smoke and mirrors Would go away.

Bailiff: Please, be seated.

Detective demery,

Could you tell us what happened On ledbetter street

On november 27, 2007?

Yes.

A group of children,

Including latora wiley And terrence washington,

Were walking to a park After school.

Demery: I explained to the jury The confrontation

Between terrence washington And charles evans,

But it was james mason

Who pushed it To a whole new level.

You understand me?!

Mason decided that he was Going to slow the vehicle down

And he had given evans The confidence

To fire the shots.

Hey!

Remember me?!

Under the law, I considered mr. Mason

Equally responsible For the murder of latora wiley,

So I placed him Under arrest.

Thank you, Detective demery.

That is all, your honor.

Okay, thank you.

Defense, did you wish To cross witness?

Yes, honor, we do.

Demery: waiting for the defense Attorney to start grilling me,

My eyes meet james mason's

And just like that,

My blood begins to boil.

To be in a room with somebody

That I have Complete contempt for

Is not a good place for me.

The fact that mason Called himself

A youth pastor pissed me off.

They're responsibility Is to guide 16-,

17-year-old children.

Not [bleep] Shoot them.

Now, detective demery,

We both know that it's Unfortunate someone has died,

But that doesn't mean That my client

Is responsible For that death.

Mason's attorney was A different kind of guy.

He was just as animated And fake as mason was.

So, mr. Demery, I guess you see yourself

As somewhat of A hot-shot detective.

Am I right?

No.

I'm just trying To seek justice.

He tried to be condescending

And I guess He was trying to shift

The focus as, you know,

Here's this detective

And where this whole case Is relying on this detective.

He clearly didn't care For me very much.

Angela: james mason's Defense team

Were almost on the cocky side.

They were defending him like,

These children had done

So much to him and his nephew

That it was only right for him

To put a gun in his hand

And make him come back and shoot At a group of children.

I mean, who would do that?

Demery: but for all mr. Defense Attorney's posturing,

Nothing could undo The facts of the case.

Charles evans shot And killed latora wiley

And his uncle james Helped him do it.

I would see James mason at court...

And I would want to tear him From limb to limb.

But I prayed about it, I try to forgive him,

And I put it In the lord's hands.

Judge: jury, Have you reached a verdict?

We have, your honor.

Mitchell: I just couldn't breathe Until they read the verdict.

I was about to pass out, maybe.

We, the jury,

Find the defendant, James mason,

Guilty Of second-degree murder.

When they read The guilty verdict...

I was ecstatic.

I'd gotten justice For my daughter.

Demery: mason was found Guilty of murder

And sentenced to life Without the benefit of parole.

Evans, the actual shooter, Gets wind of this

And refuses to go to trial, And he pleads to 40 years.

I don't think there's a case That I've ever worked

That I didn't have some Sort of connection

To on some level.

And my daughter Was 16 at the time.

Latora's family Lost everything.

I mean, they lost A beautiful, little girl.

They lost all the hopes, The dreams,

Of what she could have been.

Mikena: I was very pleased With the outcome,

But it's hard,

'cause I wish she was here, You know, to see my baby.

I know she here in spirit, But, you know,

You just want them in the flesh Sometimes, you know.

My granddaughter latora was

The piece that was missing In my life,

And she was my everything.

But I realize that god

Has something planned for her.

I rationalize that god gave her To me for a little while

And he wanted her back.

So...I have my guardian angel

Looking over me and my family.

I think homicide brought me Closer to my spirituality.

I expect people to kill people,

But I don't expect people To kill people

And somehow say That they're men of god.

Maintaining my spirituality Required me

To always still Have faith in god

And the word,

Not necessarily the people Who are bringing it to me.