Original subtitles

[ telephone rings ]

Operator: 911. What's your emergency?

Woman: oh, my god![ beeps, dial tone ]

Narrator: A mysterious call for help

Leads police to a bizarre scene.[ sirens wailing ]

There's nobody around. There's no witnesses scrambling.

There's no cars Leaving the scene.

It just doesn't make sense

That she would leave him there To die.

[ gasps ]

He was shot in cold blood.

Narrator: To uncover the truth,

Detective rod demery Must break down a wall of lies.

I don't know if there's Anything I can believe.

So, tell me -- what do you know About 221 webster?

-come on. -oh, oh!

His story is different Than everybody else's.

Was this in self-defense, Or was this straight-up murder?

Narrator: the answer leads Demery and his men

Straight To a killer's doorstep.

We got a guy on the loose. Let's go.

He's armed. He's dangerous. He's out on the street.

They're preparing themselves For might be there.

We have no idea what's on The other side of the door.

Demery: all right, Let's do this on three...

Ready.

One...

Two...

Three.

[ door creaks ]

♪♪

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.

[ siren wailing ]

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

♪♪

♪♪

No! No! No!

No! Stop!

No! No!

[ telephone ringing ]

911. What's your emergency?

Yes, ma'am.[ keys clacking ]

And can you tell me What's happening?

She's telling 911 that

She is observing a woman Being beat by a man.

Man: shoot me. Come on.

Does he have a weapon?

She doesn't have A chance to answer.

You can hear in the background Several gunshots right in a row.

She's not answering.

[ sighs ] This is bad.

[ beeps ]

Mack: The phone disconnects.

[ siren wailing ]

♪♪

[ static crackles ]

So, patrol officers Of course respond

To this domestic disturbance.

It's shots fired.

You expect chaos When you show up.

Man, where everybody's at, man? This could to be a domestic.

But when they get there, There's nobody around.

There's No witnesses scrambling.

There's no cars Leaving the scene.

As they approach the scene,

They see something laying In the middle of the street.

Damn, I got one down.

Got a body.

[ beeps ]73 charlie.

I need an ambulance To 221 webster.

[ static crackles ]

♪♪

[ cellphone ringing ]

[ light switch clicks ]

Demery: [ sighs ]

[ ringing continues ]

[ beeps, ringing stops ]This is demery.

When I got this call, I was at home in bed, sleeping.

When you're A homicide detective

And you get a call At 3:00 in the morning,

You know what it is -- Somebody's been killed.

Yeah, webster street.

All right.

Yeah, I got it.

Dispatcher told me that A male black has been shot.

There wasn't A whole lot of details,

But it appeared to be a domestic Disturbance of some type.

♪♪

[ police radio chatter ]

♪♪

[ static crackles ]

[ car door creaks ]

♪♪

When I got to the crime scene,

There were A couple patrol officers there.

The crime scene unit Had gotten there.

They were setting up Their cameras and tripods.

Good morning.Good morning, sir.

-how are you? -good, sir. And you?

Good, man.

So, I understand We have a shooting?

Yes, sir, right here In the middle of the street,

Where the car is.

Don't know Who the victim is yet.

We're waiting For the coroner to get here

To get his wallet...

-okay. -...And get his I.D.

When we got here, The engine was still running

And the music was on.

Okay. Hey, guys.

♪♪

The crime scene Was kind of awkward

'cause there was a cellphone And a hat

And some money Scattered about.

There was a vehicle Near the body

And the doors are open On the driver's side.

Everything just seemed To be left where it was.

It looked like Something erupted,

And then, within a matter Of seconds, everybody left.

Have we run This plate yet?

No, sir. Not yet.

Can you do that?

And I'm gonna take A look at the body.

-yes, sir. -thank you.

♪♪

Looking at the victim, It's just a familiar scene.

It's not uncommon to find A male black at that age shot.

The question is, Is what the circumstances were.

What happened to you, My brother?

♪♪

Usually, we kind of figure out What a motive to a murder is,

And it's just evident In a crime scene.

This one -- There's money there,

So the robbery seems Kind of out of the question.

The vehicle is still there, So it wasn't a carjacking.

So right now, there's really Nothing to base it on.

Detective?

Hey. How are you?

Nice to see you, rod. What do we have here?

Deutsch: A lot of individuals think

That a death investigator Or coroner's office

Has to determine Why everyone died.

And, really, What we want to determine is,

Did a crime cause their death?

I'm not really sure.

I'm actually hoping You can help with that.

We have not been able To identify him.

Can you check his pockets For I.D.?

Sure.

We were hopeful that There would be

A driver's license, Some sort of I.D.

In the pockets.

[ police radio chatter ]

Nothing. Sorry.

♪♪

When I approach the body,

I like to start From the top of the head

And work my way down So that I don't miss any areas.

Woman: 10-4.[ static crackles ]

♪♪

Looks like we've got Some blood back here.

Okay.

It was so dark, So I'm uncertain at this point

If the injury on the back Of his head is a gunshot wound

Or if it's an injury From him having fallen down.

I notice that He has blood on his shirt,

But I'm not exactly sure Where the blood is coming from.

I lift the deceased's shirt up To look further.

Ohh. These definitely Aren't from falling.

That's for sure.

That's where I noticed The first gunshot wound.

Demery: there Are several gunshot wounds --

Two to the front,

And there were a couple To the back.

The immediate thought is, Is that someone started firing

And firing and firing Until he fell.

Looks like we're starting To get some company.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Yeah. You think it's better If you finish up at the morgue?

Yeah, I think That's a good idea.

Hey.

Do me a favor --

Will you make sure We keep these people back?

And let's Start questioning them

To see If they've seen anything.

Will do.Okay, thank you.

Hey, folks.

If you wouldn't mind to give us Just a little bit of room...

If you could step back A little bit, please.

Thank you.

Do you want me To run fingerprints?

Yeah, please.

And if you get a hit, Contact me right away.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Demery: Fingerprints take time.

I don't have patience.

I want to know who he is now.

We got to go through The formalities,

But I'm gonna try to Figure something else out.

Hey, how did we discover This body?

911 call.

Woman named nina.

Never got a last name.

The patrol officers said Nina describes

A man beating a woman And some gunshots.

I want to find out who this Woman is getting beat.

I don't think Her name is nina

Because that's the person Who called in,

So I need to find nina

So I can find out Who this other person is.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Hey, detective.

I got good news On that plate --

Comes back To a vasha grant.

The registration Comes back to a woman

That lives a couple blocks Away from there,

So my though now Is maybe vasha grant

Is the person being beat Or the suspect.

-thanks, man. Good job. -you're welcome, sir.

All right, fellas, I'll see you guys later.

Excuse me, sir?What's up?

Y'all find out Who killed scoop yet?

And I ask the kid, "Who is scoop?"

And he says, "The guy that's been shot."

You happen to know His real name?

No, sir, all I know is Everybody call him by "Scoop" --

That's it.

Okay.

Scoop...

Not much, but I'll take it.

Sometimes, the smallest clues Provide the biggest breaks.

I think I just got one.

♪♪

[ camera shutter clicking ]

Demery: I'm investigating A mysterious murder --

The dead man slain Next to a vehicle.

I have no idea who he is,

But I've now found out that The man just went by "Scoop."

♪♪

Mack: in an effort To identify the guy,

They run the plates On the vehicle,

And they learn that It's registered to vasha grant.

My hope is that she'll tell me Who my victim is,

What her car's doing there,

If she saw it, Or even if she killed him.

♪♪

Are you vasha grant?

Yeah.

I'm detective demery with the Shreveport police department.

Listen, to you own A gray, four-door corolla?

I do. I don't have it with me.

My boyfriend's driving it.

Mind if I come in?

Yeah.

Thank you.

[ door creaks ]

♪♪

As I walk into the home,

I immediately notice A picture of vasha

With her arm around a man --

A man that looks Exactly like the man

That I just saw dead A couple blocks away.

So, you said that your Boyfriend has your car?

-yeah. -what's his name?

Mcdaniel smith,

But everybody knows Him as "Scoop."

She said that she didn't know Where he was at that moment.

She said that their Relationship had just started,

Hadn't been together For a very long time.

Is everything all right?

Is scoop In some kind of trouble?

No, that's what we're trying To determine right now.

Typically, I would tell Someone when I believe

That one of their Family members was dead.

In this case, I don't know the Relationship of vasha and scoop.

I certainly haven't told Anybody in his family

That he is deceased,

So I'm not gonna tell her

Until I can make A proper notification.

Listen, have you been Home all night?

She said she was home All night sleeping.

There was nothing that Indicated that she wasn't.

I promise -- I'm gonna have Somebody from the department

Contact you shortly.

Yeah, please.

Okay? I'll let myself out.

-okay. -thanks.

After talking To vasha grant,

It's clear she didn't have Anything to do with this

Or know anything about it.

[ cellphone ringing ]

[ cellphone beeps ]

This is demery.

Weaver: Rod, it's kimberly.

Kimberly? What's going on?

You sound upset.

After I leave, I get a call

From one of our patrol officers, Kimberly.

Kimberly's a friend of mine.

We've known each other For a good while.

Is it true About my cousin?

Your cousin? Who's your cousin?

Scoop.

Mcdaniel smith?

Apparently the word On the street

Is that her cousin Had been killed.

Look, rod, I need to know If this is true.

[ car beeping ]

So I'm asking you As a friend,

Please tell me If this is true or not.

Yeah, kimberly...

It's true.

Oh, god! No!

[ crying ] No! Oh! Oh, god.

I'm sorry.

I probably shouldn't Have told her,

But I would've wanted Her to tell me.

[ keys jingling ]

[ engine starts ]

So, she gathered her family up,

And I went to sit down And talk to them.

As I'm going To scoop's family's home,

I get a call from The crime scene investigators,

And they formally identified Scoop as mcdaniel smith.

Thank you.

For me, that's a big deal

Because I can confirm Everything with the family

And have A positive identification.

[ keys jingling ]

[ car beeping ]

[ beeping stops ]

♪♪

Kimberly was crying. She was upset.

Oh, rod.

I'm sorry.

I gave her a hug.

We walked inside.

We just don't understand What happened.

Everybody loves scoop.

If you never met scoop, He's gonna make you love him.

He can talk to anyone.

He was a great father, Great friend...

And he loved his babies.

♪♪

So, you guys were All close then, huh?

-oh, god, yes. -absolutely.

Very close.

Candace: we had a lot of Family gatherings for holidays,

Surrounded with love, Cooking,

And a lot Of a typical louisiana family.

What about the relationship That he had

With his children's mother?

Well, actually, rod, That would be mothers,plural.

Scoop had children With multiple women.

Candace: scoop has six kids Altogether,

And they're By four different woman.

Weaver: Scoop was a great dad.

I'll never forget -- When he had a baby,

He sat there And laid on the bed

And looked at this beautiful Baby just for hours.

He was just in love.

Well, look, I'm gonna get back To the crime scene.

Hopefully, they have located A witness by now.

But I'll definitely Keep you guys informed

If I hear anything.

Okay.

And you have my word -- I'll figure this out.

It's just a devastating thing For any family.

At that moment, There is no fixing it.

The only thing you can do Is to tell them

You're gonna find out Who did it.

♪♪

As I'm going To the crime scene,

I find out that the patrol Officers have found a witness.

♪♪

Detective demery learns That investigators

Have antonio pipkins As a potential individual

That has information about This shooting incident,

And that he was at His grandmother's home

On webster street.

The officer says that you might Have some information

About what happened Last night?

Yeah. I was asleep In that house right over there

Till somebody Woke my ass up.

Antonio pipkins told demery

That someone knocks on the door, And he wakes up.

It's a female he's never seen, And she asked to use his phone.

[ pounding on door ]

Can I please use Your phone?

Can I please just use Your phone?

-I just need to call 911! -yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

-please, please, please! -yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

Yeah.

Yes, we need an officer To 221 webster street.

My thought was, This had to be nina,

'cause that's the person Who made the 911 call.

The likelihood of two people

Having an emergency At the same time

Just is way too coincidental.

What'd she need to use Your phone for?

I don't know. She didn't say.

Hold on a second.

So, she wakes you up In the middle of the night,

Asks to use your phone, And you didn't even ask why?

Man, I don't know, All right?

I just -- I just figured she had Car trouble or something.

You know, somebody got Murdered out here last night.

Did you hear any gunshots?

No.

Antonio was feet away from The shooting and this body,

And for him to say He didn't hear any gunshots

Kind of struck me odd.

You know what? Step out the car, please.

And may I see your phone?

Yeah. I guess so.

Thank you.

After antonio had told me that The woman borrowed his phone,

I went to check his call log.

Mack: demery sees There's an incoming call,

Which is 911 calling Antonio's phone back.

So he uses antonio's phone

And actually calls The 911 center back

And speaks to the dispatcher That took the call.

So she confirms the girl, nina, Called from antonio's phone.

Demery: the thing That struck me odd is that,

As I looked through The call log,

I realized that there is That incoming call,

But I don't see an outgoing call To the 911 center.

My thought, for whatever reason, Antonio deleted this number.

He felt the need to tamper With the phone

And remove some evidence.

You been on your phone A lot tonight?

No. Why? No reason.

Look, man, how much longer Is this gonna take, all right?

I got somewhere else to be.

Antonio tells me that He's leaving town

In just a few hours.

He's originally from atlanta.

He's just home visiting His grandmother.

This is A murder investigation.

You really can't go anywhere, Especially not to a-t-l,

So you're gonna Have to hold tight.

Wait. What?Yeah, you don't understand.

You got trying to leave town

While I'm in the middle Of doing this,

You're gonna find yourself In a world of trouble.

Are we clear?Man, whatever, man.

Here you go.

Because he's being real shady About answering questions,

I want to make sure that I keep a close tab on him

Until I can figure out What's going on.

Have a seat.

[ siren wailing ]

[ police radio chatter ]

Hey, man, what did we find Over at 221 webster?

What do you mean?

The 911 caller said that's where The disturbance happened at?

We found the body In front of this house.

I don't think anyone's Been to 221.

The biggest part Of the case

Is actually Going to the complaint.

It seemed that They never even went.

I got to Get over there, man.

As we approach the home,

We decide that We're gonna go to the door

And we're gonna Have guns drawn.

We're not in a position To take any chances.

♪♪

All right, you guys ready? Come on.

As we get closer, All the lights were off,

So my thought at that point

Is that somebody's Inside the house.

♪♪

Why don't you Go around the back?

♪♪

As we get closer To the house,

I realize that the front door Is not quite closed.

We have no idea what's on The other side of the door.

We could be walking Into a firefight,

But we're gonna Have to go in.

He get around back yet?Yeah.

All right, Let's do this on three...

Ready.

One...

Two...

Three.

[ door creaks ]

♪♪

Why don't you Go around the back?

♪♪

Me and my team were outside 221 webster.

The 911 call For the domestic disturbance

Mentioned that address.

♪♪

There's someone Inside the house,

Or at least We think there is.

We're gonna do this On three...

Ready.

One...

Two...

Three.

Police! Open up!

♪♪

Inside the house, we peel off --

One to the right, One to the left.

As we go through the house, I walk towards the bathroom...

♪♪

...And there's something In the sink...

And it's immediately Recognizable.

It's a lock that she used To lock a firearm.

Most guns that are legally Purchased come with a lock.

It's a rule that firearms Companies have to do.

So the thought is,

Is that Somebody has a gun somewhere,

And they're pretty close.

Hey, guys. We got a gun in here.

Everybody's on higher alert At that point,

Because we don't know where This person or this gun is.

Turns out there was No one in the house.

All clear.

They're gone, Whoever they were.

All right, well, I want to get This place thoroughly searched.

Let's get out of here, And let's get a warrant.

All right.

Thompson: it's important to have A judge validate your search.

The thing that investigators Do not want

Is to have any evidence items Suppressed at the trial.

Demery: antonio. Slide your ass over.

♪♪

[ sighs ]

I'm gonna talk To antonio again.

Maybe he knows who lives In this house.

So, tell me -- what do you know About 221 webster?

Who lives there? Huh?

Speak up, man. Who lives there?

My cousin, all right? My cousin damien.

So, now I'm really interested In his cousin damien.

Any idea Where he is now?

Nope.

When was the last time You saw damien?

Last night, Before we left some club.

Antonio is being guarded.

I think his only good reason For talking in the first place

Is that he was actually In a police car,

And he knew he had to say Something to get out of the car.

We went over to 221, And it's empty.

Lights on, Doors unlocked.

What you know about that?

Okay. I have no idea. I'm not his babysitter.

Yeah, okay. Hey, jones?

Let me out, please?

Sit tight.

Hey, wait. Again? Come on, man.

Hey, get used to Sitting back there.

Are you ser--

♪♪

I'm not really satisfied With what antonio's telling me.

I need to make sure Damien actually lives there.

[ floorboard creaks ]

Hey.

The judge sign off On the warrant?

Yeah, we're good to go.

All right. Let's see what we can find.

We all go back in the house.

Now it can be A more meticulous search.

We can kind of examine Some of the things that we find.

My priority is to find out Who lives in that house.

I want to verify his name.

Once I do that, I can find out If damien's a gun owner.

I can find out if damien has Some sort of relationship

Or dispute With our victim.

♪♪

Perfect.

I find a lease.

The lessee Is damien pipkins,

So at least that part Of antonio's story is verified.

We've got Some drugs and stuff

Back here In the back bedroom.

Really?

♪♪

We found a substantial amount Of cocaine,

And that, too, is a big deal.

Damien's Gonna have to explain that

And be held responsible For it.

You know what?

Let's get a bolo put out On damien pipkins, please.

-okay. -thank you.

[ beeps ]145 to dispatch.

[ static crackles ]

Damien's My number-one suspect.

He is now officially wanted For murder.

We want to make sure that,

If he is caught by police Or police run up on him,

Then they're aware that He is armed and dangerous.

Hey, antonio.

You want out the back Of that police car?

Huh?

Now that I've issued A bolo for damien,

I'm not gonna wait To find him --

I'm gonna still Actively search for him.

The closest thing to me Is antonio,

So I'm gonna talk to antonio

And try to pump him For more information.

You got a number To reach your cousin at?

Yeah.

Get him on the phone.

♪♪

[ cellphone dialing ]

♪♪

So, antonio makes the phone call And gives me the phone.

Damien: yo, antonio. What's good?

Actually, This is not antonio.

This is detective demery

With the shreveport Police department.

Listen, There was an incident

Near your house On webster street,

And I'm curious to talk to you To get your version of events.

I'm just walking around, so I'll Be there in a few minutes.

Okay. Good. I'll be waiting.

Mack: demery waits.[ cellphone beeps ]

About an hour passes, And no damien pipkins.

He calls him again.

He gives him another story.

Damien, you got me out here Waiting for you, man.

Where are you?Yeah, man, I'm sorry.

I'll be there In about 10 minutes.

Okay.

When I talked to damien The second time,

I'm not so discouraged That he's not gonna come back,

Because he answered The phone the second time.

It gives me some sort of An indication of comfort

That he actually wanted To talk.

Unfortunately, I'll wait another 30 minutes,

And there's still No sign of damien.

Damien doesn't show again.

At this point, demery knows --

Damien pipkins is not going to Come turn himself in.

[ cellphone dialing ]

I call damien A couple other times.

There's no answer.

[ siren wailing in distance ]

He's definitely on the run now.

Damien, What are you doing, man?

Now damien is very certain That I know what's happened.

A pretty Dangerous situation

Because I don't know How desperate he is.

He's got nothing to lose.

There are a lot of things That could happen right now

That I'm just not Real comfortable with.

Hey, guys, you know what?

We got a guy on the loose.

Let's go.

He's armed. He's dangerous. He's out on the street.

We got to find damien.

♪♪

[ camera shutter clicks ]

♪♪

I'm investigating the murder Of mcdaniel smith,

35-year-old father of six.

My prime suspect Damien pipkins

Knows that We're looking for him

And is on the run now.

He's nowhere to be found.

♪♪

Once I'm back in my office,

I'm trying to find Any information I can on damien.

I look for his criminal history, Known associates --

Anything that I can To give me an idea

Of where he is Or what he may be doing.

I'm looking, and I find out That he's been arrested before.

As I look further, I realize He's been arrested for murder.

In 2004, damien pipkins Was actually present

When another woman and man Were arguing.

-shut up! -[ crying ]

I told you, shut up!

[ sobbing ]

Now! [ sobbing continues ]

Hey!

Hey, man!

Hey! Let her go! Hey, le--

[ gunshots ] Oh!

[ crying ]

And he stepped Into that situation

And shot the individual dead.

Demery: I want to listen To that 911 call now.

I want to get more information

On what the circumstances were At the time.

[ clicks ]

[ telephone rings]

So, I sit and I listen,

And the woman Identifies herself as nina.

Nina is saying Somebody's being beaten,

And you can hear a lot of Commotion in the background.

[ man speaking indistinctly]

You can hear one male saying, "Shoot me. Kill me."

You hear another male say,

"Go ahead. Kill him now. Let's go."

And then you hear A succession of gunfire.

Listening to the 911 tape, It's amazing.

I mean, You can hear what's happening.

It's not something That's readily available

On any other case.

♪♪

The only questions now are -- Who exactly is nina?

Who is the woman That was being beat?

And was damien the trigger man?

But before I can make My next move,

I get An unexpected visitor.

-hey, rod? -yeah?

We got a lady in the lobby

Who says her name Is brandy dennis.

Might know something about The mcdaniel smith murder?

-mm-hmm. -you want to talk to her?

Yeah, for sure. Let me make a call first.

I'll be right there.I'll let her know.

I call kimberly.

Kimberly's not only A police officer,

She is a cousin of scoop,

So she not only has Professional knowledge,

But personal knowledge.

Hey. Kimberly. It's demery.

Kimberly explains That brandy is the mother

Of mcdaniel smith's Children...

So she's the mother Of two of his kids?

...And that brandy didn't live In shreveport anymore,

But she was in town

Because she and mcdaniel Have some custody issues.

Right.

Scoop had a court date Coming up

For the two boys that he was Taking care of at the time,

Which were brandy's children.

And the court was Gonna determine

Where they were gonna Be permanently placed.

Things were very tense With brandy.

All you do is nag me. All right?

Get your priorities Together, man.

My priorities Aretogether.

And I'm tired of arguing With you all the time with you

Over my children, All right?

Every time with you, Brandy.

♪♪

Have a seat.

Thank you.

Before we get into What happened last night,

I think you should know

That scoop and me have been Having some serious problems

For quite a while.

Okay.

See, I don't live In shreveport anymore.

Right, you're here Because you're having

A custody hearing For you kids, right?

Yeah. Yeah, that -- that's right.

That was An interrogation tactic.

I wanted her to know That I knew something,

And she didn't have any idea Of the depth of my knowledge.

So, I get into town, And I go to a night club

With some friends of mine.

Who were you with?

My girlfriend nina

And this guy damien And his cousin antonio.

Okay.

So, finally, I have a real Connection to the elusive nina.

And it seems that antonio Was involved

A lot more than he says.

So, we're at the club, and That's when I ran into scoop.

[ indistinct conversations ][ mid-tempo music plays]

Girl, I see nothing's changed.

I've been gone A good five months,

-and he's still actin' a fool. -girl.

[ laughter ]

[bleep]

Smith: let me talk to you For a second, brandy.

No.

Why you doing this, Brandy?

You know I love them kids With all my heart.

Leave me alone, scoop.Leave you alone?

I'm done talking About this with you.

We're gonna let the judge Decide tomorrow.

Leave me alone. Come talk.

That's it. No.

It's all right. We'll go.

Let's go. Let's go.

Man: thank you.

♪♪

Demery: she said that They left the night club,

And once they got To webster street,

Where damien lived,

That they noticed That scoop was there.

He had followed them.

And scoop and me get into it In the middle of the street.

She said that scoop tried To force her into his vehicle

And started to assault her.

She believed nina Called the police,

And she didn't know What happened after that.

So what You're telling me is,

You weren't there When scoop got shot,

And you don't know Who shot him?

Yeah. You know, we all left.

I didn't even know he had died Until earlier today.

I know that what She's telling me is not true,

And it defies all logic

That she'd be there With this guy beating her up

And not see what happened After that.

What'd she do -- close her eyes When the shooting took place?

It just didn't make sense.

Brandy, I'm having A really hard time

Believing what you're Telling me.

And what's happening is, Is you're putting yourself

In the middle Of this murder,

And I will let you Go down for it.

I explain to brandy that

It would be very easy for her To go to prison for murder.

I wanted her to know that she Had to be completely honest

About what was going on.

I...

I can't...

I don't -- I don't know.

[ sighs ]

There is a tense moment

After you explain to someone What's happening.

There's that second That you don't know

Which way they're gonna go.

They can stonewall you. They can ask for a lawyer.

They can do All kinds of things.

But in this case, She started crying.

[ crying ] I can't.

♪♪

It was damien.

Damien did it.

Okay.

She tells me straight up -- Damien shot scoop.

Tell me something -- Did scoop have a gun?

No. [ sighs ] I don't think so.

♪♪

My problem with scoop Not being armed

Is that self-defense Is even a farther reach for me.

Anyone who wanted To rescue brandy

Or anybody else from The clutches of a violent man

Would just jump in.

Listen, it shouldn't matter Whether or not scoop had a gun.

He was rough with me.

Look. Look what he did to me.

♪♪

She pointed out all her bruises Around her neck and her arms,

And it explained the 911 call.

There was a woman In the background being beat.

I wasn't doubting the fact That she was assaulted.

It just still didn't sit right.

I wanted to find out more.

♪♪

Okay.

Listen to me --

If what damien did Was self-defense,

Then he needs To tell me that,

And I need you to agree To have him talk to me.

Can you do that?

♪♪

I guess so.

Okay. Why don't you try?

♪♪

[ cellphone dialing ]

♪♪

[ breathes deeply ]

Damien?

So, she calls him.

He answers her call.

You need to come and talk To the police.

You didn't do nothing Wrong.

And he agreed to come down To see me and talk to me.

[ sniffles ] Please. For me.

Thank you.

He's coming.

Okay.

So, I reached the point

Where I'm waiting For my main suspect

To walk through the front door Of the police station.

I'm just not sure He's coming in yet,

So I'm sitting there, Waiting and hoping.

♪♪

♪♪

Demery: brandy, the mother Of mcdaniel smith's children,

Has told me that Damien pipkins

Is the one who shot And killed him.

She said it was self-defense And he was protecting her.

She's called him. He said he's coming in.

[ sighs ]

And I'm waiting.

While I was waiting For damien to come in,

I go locate Detective hinderberger,

Who worked the previous case Of damien's self-defense,

Coming to the aid Of a damsel in distress.

Hey! Let her go! Hey, le--

[ crying ]

Yeah, yeah, just let me know. Okay. Thank you.

Hey, man. Hey, bro.

What's happening?

Remember this guy?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, he shot this guy

'cause he thought that guy Was gonna shoot this lady.

Mm-hmm. That was the story.

Did you buy it?I didn't really buy it.

Yeah, yeah. Just something didn't add up.

Talking to hinderberger,

That whole superhero [bleep] Just didn't sit right.

Is he in trouble again?

Yeah, unfortunately, under Pretty similar circumstances.

Hey, rod? Yeah?

Fred rossberg's In the lobby.

He says He needs to talk to you.

Rossberg? The attorney?

-yes, sir. -what the hell does he want?

He got some guy named Damien pipkins with him.

[ breathes deeply ] Okay.

I haven't met very many Defense attorneys

That allow their client

To talk To homicide investigators.

♪♪

So as I head into The interrogation room,

I'm not sure what to expect.

Gentlemen, thanks For coming down.

My client Would like to talk with you

Regarding the incident Involving mcdaniel smith.

Oh? Really?

Okay.

I was completely shocked.

The fact that his attorney Was gonna allow him

To make a statement...

Pipkins had to have satisfied His attorney's concern

About him being charged With murder.

Damien confirms

That he and antonio And nina and brandy

Went to the club

And that They did run into scoop.

He confirms All of brandy's information

About the altercation And him following them back.

Pipkins said that brandy Was afraid to get out of the car

Because scoop was Threatening violence.

Eventually, Scoop got brandy out of the car

And started to assault her.

Pipkins says that, As he was beating her,

He was telling scoop, "Just leave. Just go home."

And at some point, mcdaniel Told him that he had a gun.

Then scoop went towards The trunk of his car.

I asked him where the firearm Was and what he did with it.

I didn't necessarily buy that.

If you're acting In self-defense legitimately,

Why would you get rid Of a firearm?

Would you guys excuse me For a second?

Hold tight.

I was hoping that, If I left him alone,

Damien's lawyer Would have a chance

To convince him To be more honest.

[ sighs ]

That's part of the Interrogation strategy.

Sometimes, You leave somebody

With somebody that has Their best interests at heart.

[ door closes ]

[ sighs][ clears throat ]

So, now, where were we?

When I go back Into the interrogation room,

Pipkins tells me that he has Something he wants to clear up.

Actually, My friend brought the gun

From in the house to me.

Okay.

At first, damien told me The gun was in the car,

But his lawyer seems to Have jogged his memory,

And now damien tells me

That it came from inside The house at 221 webster.

He said chris was a friend -- He didn't know his last name,

But he could tell me Where he hung out.

Now, my decision was To determine

Whether or not I thought He killed him intentionally,

And I absolutely felt like He had other options,

So I charged him with murder.

Do me a favor. Stand up, please.

Stand up. You're under arrest.

♪♪

As for damien's cousin antonio And his friend chris,

It's clear they play some sort Of role in scoop's death,

But given The extenuating circumstances,

I don't think There's enough evidence

To charge them As accomplices.

What I do know is that

There was some sort Of a domestic dispute

At a night club Between scoop and brandy.

They had a court date.

There was some tense stuff Going on there.

Brandy.

-what are the hell are you -- -come here. Let me talk to you.

Scoop, what the hell, scoop?! What the hell are you --

-please talk to me, all right? -leave me alone.

Come on. [ grunts ]

No! Wait! Wait a minute!

No! Stop!

No, no! [ grunts ]

Stop! Oh! Oh, my god, scoop!

Oh! You -- Hey!

Oh! No!

-hey, what you doing, man? -let go!

Hey, what You doing here, man?

Yes, we need an officer To 221 webster street.

Demery: I know scoop Assaulted her again...

The guy Is beating the girl.

...And attempted to put her Or drag her into a car.

You mind your business, All right?

Oh, mind my business?Let me talk to her.

Mind my business?

I'm not going anywhere With you.

-hey. -wait.

-didn't I tell you? -wait!

Damien.Oh, you not hard now, huh?

Wait, wait, wait, Wait, wait!

I know that, at some point, Damien came in and interceded.

Wait. Damien. Wait!

Hold on.

[ gunshots ]

[ thuds ]

The fact that damien lied,

The fact that antonio lied,

And that the fact That brandy lied --

You can't take anything they say At its word.

But what you can take is The evidence at its word,

And the evidence Is pretty clear.

There was A domestic disturbance,

And he interceded And fired and killed him.

Oh, my god. Oh, my god![ gunshots continue ]

Oh, my god! Oh!Let's go.

Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!

-let's move! -oh, my god! Oh, my god!

-oh, my god! -let's go.

-oh, my god! -let's go.

Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!

[ crying ]

Quit at all that crying And get in the car.

[ crying ]

[ tires screech ]Oh! [ crying ]

♪♪

[ insects chirping ]

[ siren wails in distance ]

[ dog barks in distance ]

Eventually, the case Goes to grand jury,

And the grand jury believed That,

Because of The domestic incident,

That this was Justifiable homicide,

That scoop was killed In self-defense.

He never stood trial for The second-degree-murder charge.

He was, however, Indicted on drugs

With intent to deliver cocaine

And obstruction of justice

For his throwing away The firearm.

He still got 20 years In prison.

But I think That whole self-defense story

Kind of saved him from A second-degree-murder charge.

When you have that uncertainty Of what actually happened here,

You run into issues of whether You can prove your charge

Beyond a reasonable doubt,

And that was the unfortunate Difficulty of this case.

Demery: I think this case Is really unique.

The fact that he killed Two people

And it was considered Self-defense --

None of it Makes any sense to me.

But I think It really doesn't matter.

At least, in this instance, He's in prison.

♪♪