Original subtitles

[ grunting ]

Narrator: a hard-working Grandfather is left for dead

By the side of the road.

The likelihood of this man Surviving was slim to none.

He literally had The hell beat out of him.

Narrator: Clues are scarce,

Until detectives learn Of a recent dispute

Over a beloved birthday gift.

Mack: I think that's what Pissed him off the most --

That his grandson Was that upset about it.

♪♪

If he was looking for somebody, It could have turned violent.

Narrator: To get to the truth,

Detective rod demery Must face off

With the unlikeliest of killers.

I actually couldn't believe it.

He knows the gig is up.

I told him I would not sleep Until I put him in prison.

♪♪

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

♪♪

Gables: It's 5:00 in the morning.

Linda alexander is Leaving for work.

She's driving down the street.

♪♪

And she sees a person laying On the side of the road,

So she stops her car.

♪♪

[ man groaning ]

♪♪

Sir?

Sir, are you okay?

Crow: as she approached him, She thought she heard snoring,

Which made her believe,

"Well, maybe this is just A drunk or a homeless person."

Are you all right?

Mack: as she gets closer And closer to him...

Sir? Do you need help?

Sir?

Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

...She realizes he's got Blood coming from his head.

[ groans ]

Yes, please.

Please, there's a man Laying here in the street,

And he's bleeding.

[ keyboard clacking ]

Demery: in the summer of 2010, I was doing a lot of writing.

I started to mature In my homicide career.

And a lot of the things That I had seen and observed --

I started to write about them As just an outlet.

[ cellphone buzzes ]

This is demery.

Demery: On this particular morning,

I got a call to come down To the local hospital.

Trauma center. Yeah, I know where it is.

All right, I'll be there. Thanks.

Demery: hospitals are mandatory Reporters for violent crimes...

...And if they suspect Or believe that's happened,

They're gonna call the police.

♪♪

-hey, detective demery. -yeah.

Demery: Once I get to the hospital,

The trauma doctor tells me That a older male black

Had been brought in.

He just went to surgery But I got to tell you,

It doesn't look good.

Somebody really Did a number on him.

When the man was brought in,

It was thought that He had minor injuries.

But as they looked closer,

They realized that he had Injuries to his brain

That were consistent with Some sort of bludgeoning,

Or blunt-force trauma

And that the man was Actually in a coma.

You got A name on him?

No, it's one of The reasons we called.

We were hoping you can Help us out with an I.D.

They didn't have any Identification on him,

So there was no way Of telling who he was.

When someone is Incapacitated or comatoses,

We have to take fingerprints

And try to get A positive identification.

He's gonna be in Surgery a while.

Not sure when you're gonna Be able to get prints, though.

I'll tell you what. I'm gonna leave one Of my guys here,

And as soon as he Comes out of surgery,

You let me know. We'll pull the prints.

Perfect. Thanks.

Hopefully He'll pull through.

Yeah, let's hope. Thanks.

It's always A pretty tense situation.

Because if the person recovers, You can get more information.

If the person dies, You obviously have a murder.

♪♪

Investigating a crime

When you don't have The identity of the victim

Is pretty difficult.

You don't know where to start.

It's gonna take Just police work.

With so little to go on,

I'm hoping the crime scene Can provide some answers.

♪♪

Hey, man. -hey detective. How you doing?

-eh. -how's our victim?

I'll tell you, man, It's touch-and-go.

He's not doing So great.

We'll have to see If he makes it.

Where'd you find him?

Right over here.

Woman found him, called The police on a welfare check.

A welfare call Can be as simple as

Someone passed out In the grass,

An elderly person Who hasn't been heard from,

Or it can be A very dangerous situation.

You have no idea, As a responding officer,

What this person Is involved in.

When we first got here, We thought he was drunk.

-okay. -the closer we got,

I saw he was bleeding Pretty badly.

I called for The ambulance.

Did you Find any weapon?

Maybe a bat Or a club?

No, nothing.

His pockets were Turned inside out.

The fact that his pockets Were turned inside out,

His wallet was missing -- It gives you a clearer picture.

It's a strong-arm robbery.

Any witnesses?

Just the lady That found him.

But she didn't See what happened.

We talked to The neighbors.

Everybody was asleep.

Wonderful.

He was found really early In the morning,

So there wouldn't have been A lot of traffic.

Finding witnesses is Gonna be a real challenge.

Demery: all right, man, I'm gonna have a look around.

Let's get this area Roped off.

-yes, sir. -thank you.

Demery: The crime-scene search Is a little different

Than a typical Crime-scene search

Because there's no need for A search of shell casings

Or even a cutting instrument.

I'm looking for something That caused blunt-force.

Hey, man, you find Anything down there?

No, sir. Came up empty.

Keep your eyes open.

-yes, sir. -thank you.

Demery: I'm not real optimistic About the crime scene.

There's no sign of anything

That may have been left By the suspects.

♪♪

But just beyond the crime scene, I saw something.

♪♪

♪♪

Hey, guys.

♪♪

Check this out.

So much for locking The gate, huh?

Looks like an Escape route, If you ask me.

Demery: The hole in the fence Made me think that

The person Who attacked the victim

Came through the fence

Or they fled through The fence after it.

Right at that location, There's an apartment complex,

And there were Surveillance cameras

Throughout The apartment complex,

But they didn't face Where the victim was laying.

They faced the other direction.

But I wanted to get The surveillance video

Of the day before.

So what are You thinking?

I'm thinking that Maybe our suspect used

That apartment complex Over there

As an escape route,

Either before or after Attacking our john doe.

[ cellphone buzzes ]

Hold on a second.

Yeah, this is demery.

Hold tight.

You know what?

Get ahold Of that manager

And get me the security Footage from there.

-you got it. -thanks.

Hey, man, What do you got?

[ sighs ] Damn.

All right, I'm on my way.

♪♪

Demery: I was hoping that They were gonna give me

An identification on the victim,

But the phone call was that

The victim had died From the injuries.

That changes the stakes.

I need to find out Who this person is.

Crow: Now it's not just a matter

Of somebody getting mad And punching somebody.

Now it's a homicide.

Demery: When I get back to the hospital,

I learn that he's been taken From the intensive-care unit

Downstairs into the morgue.

-hey, rod. -what's happening, doc?

Eh, just finishing up.

Demery: The autopsy's probably one Of the most important parts

Of a homicide investigation.

You can learn a little bit More about the crime.

You view most bodies As evidence.

Now, one of your guys Pulled a print.

But so far we haven't found Any indicators who he is.

All right, I'll follow up When I'm done here.

It's common for a detective To attend an autopsy

Anytime there's a possibility

That a crime was involved In that death,

Or if there is a death in which The cause is just unknown.

So what's happening With our friend here?

Well, you can see By the contusions Down his side here,

And the linear bruising,

He took A number of hits.

But I got to tell you,

This is the worst case Of head trauma

I've ever seen.

♪♪

He was beaten so severely That he has fractures

On multiple areas of his skull.

He has bleeding Inside the brain.

He literally had The hell beat out of him.

Well, clearly this was No ordinary fist fight.

No, our john doe Was beaten

With a blunt object.

Demery: one of The bigger challenges is that

There are no serial numbers To blunt instruments --

Rocks and bats.

You're not gonna Find any.

Yeah.

The weapon was A weapon of opportunity.

♪♪

When I got back to my office,

I realized that I was Pretty helpless at that point

Because I had no way Of knowing who the person was

Or why or how He got beat and killed,

So it was pretty challenging,

And the anxiety Was starting to build up.

-hey, detective. -hey, man.

Any luck with A witness?

Not yet, but I might Have something better.

Got a hit From those prints

On your john doe Yesterday.

Ronnie robinson, 47.

Been able to trace His employment back To the liquor store

At the corner of Hollywood and union.

Cool, man. Let me take a run over.

Thanks.

Now that I know Who the victim is,

I need to find out who Ronnie robinson really is.

♪♪

Some people spend more time At work than they do at home.

If someone that He works for may have

Some personal knowledge Or some intimate knowledge,

That could be really valuable.

I may be able to find His current address,

If there are any Immediate family members.

Excuse me. -yeah.

Detective demery

With the shreveport Police department.

Uh-huh.

Do you have a Ronnie robinson That works here?

Yeah, he works here,

But he hasn't shown up For his shift today.

Is everything all right?

At this point, I haven't Located ronnie's family,

So revealing Mr. Robinson's death

To someone That wasn't immediate family

Was just not what I was gonna do.

You happen to have A home address for him?

Oh, yeah, I've got it Up here at the counter.

And if he's not there,

His girlfriend, Bobbi atkins,

Will be there With their boy.

Okay.

He explained that ronnie And his girlfriend

Were raising Their 13-year-old grandson,

And ronnie had been working Quite a bit to make ends meet.

Tell me this.

Ronnie have any problems With anybody here?

[ laughs ] Ronnie? No way.

Everybody likes ronnie.

He's a great guy, Hard worker.

That's why I was kind of surprised

When he didn't Show up today.

It's just unlike him.

Gables: He was a well-loved colleague.

He had a reputation for having Extremely good work ethic

And had a reputation For having compassion.

Did ronnie mention Having problems

With anyone Outside of work?

Now that you mention it,

He has Complained recently

About some people In his neighborhood.

Did he ever Say who that was?

No.

What was even more curious

Was the fact That he never identified them.

My thought at that point is

Whoever robinson Was having this problem with

May be the person Who killed him.

♪♪

Demery: I've just learned the identity

Of 47-year-old ronnie robinson,

A grandfather Who was savagely beaten

And left on The side of the road.

After speaking to Robinson's employer,

I learned that He was having problems

With someone In the neighborhood.

Tell me, when was The last time You saw ronnie?

Well, last night, 10:00 p.M.,

When I paid him.

You paid him Last night?

Oh, yeah.

He left here with $200 in his pocket.

Ah. Interesting.

Obviously that $200 Is no longer on ronnie robinson,

Along with no wallet.

So it's likely that Ronnie robinson was a victim

Of quite a brutal armed robbery.

Demery: maybe robinson Found himself on a dark road,

And he was robbed And beaten to death.

But I'm still hung up On the beating

Because it seems to be A bit much for a robbery.

Seems like overkill.

After I get robinson's address, I go to his house.

♪♪

[ sighs ]

The absolute worst part Of homicide investigation

Is the death notification.

The fact that Robinson has a family

And a grandson he's raising

Is even that much more difficult

Because that impact is Gonna be pretty devastating.

[ knocking ]

Grandpa.

Demery: The door's answered By a small boy...

Oh, who are you?

...Robinson's grandson.

And he looked as if though His whole world's gonna change.

He was expecting His grandfather.

-can I help you? -mrs. Atkins?

-yes. -I'm detective demery.

May I come inside And talk to you, please?

Sure. Hey, johnny,

Why don't you go out back And play for awhile, okay?

Okay.

It was important for me To speak to ms. Atkins alone.

I didn't want Her grandson to hear

What I had to tell her At that moment.

Crow: It's a tragic part of the job,

But the sooner you're Able to let them know,

The sooner you're able To find out information

That can help you find The person who did it.

[ wailing ]

Ronnie robertson loved And cared about his family

And wanted to provide A good life for them.

[ crying ]

I'm gonna find out Whoever did this,

But I'm gonna need Your help.

Was mr. Robinson having Problems with anyone?

No, but he'd been Very upset

Ever since our grandson's Bicycle was stolen.

He saved up for weeks

To buy the perfect Birthday present,

And we just had the party A few days ago.

Robinson was not rich, By any means.

This was a man who lived Paycheck to paycheck,

And he had been Working extremely hard,

Saving every last cent

So he could buy his 13-year-old grandson a bicycle.

Okay, now, No peeking.

On three, All right?

One, two, three!

A bike?! [ laughs ]

Is this for me? -it's all yours.

When johnny came home

And he saw that The bike was gone,

He was devastated.

♪♪

Hey.

♪♪

Johnny, what's wrong? What's going on?

Hey. What's going on?

What happened?

It's my... [ cries ]

What?

My bike.

Somebody stole my bike.

♪♪

Don't worry.

I'm a get Your bike back.

[ voice breaking ] I'm sorry.

Ronnie: everything's Gonna be all right.

Don't worry, okay?

Mack: I think that's what Pissed him off the most --

That his 13-year-old grandson Was that upset about it.

You have any idea Who stole the bike?

No, but ronnie swore He'd go out and find it.

Crow: Mr. Robinson made it his mission

To track this bicycle down.

He told his grandson, Told his girlfriend,

"I will find The people who took it,

And I will get it back."

[ crying ] He loved his grandson

More than anything In this world.

Do you think the bike

Had anything to do With what happened?

Mrs. Robinson, I don't know,

But I'm gonna find out.

Thank you.

I'm sorry For your loss.

♪♪

Demery: I'm wondering at that point,

Did he actually confront Somebody to get a bicycle back?

If he was looking for somebody, It could have turned violent.

The challenge now is to Find out who that person is.

♪♪

[ cellphone buzzes ]

This is demery.

Man: Hey, detective.

We managed to track down A surveillance footage for you,

But there's a catch.

A catch? What kind a catch?

Demery: at the King's manor apartment complex,

They have a video Surveillance system,

And they're really guarded About it.

You actually have to Stand there or sit there

And watch the complete video.

And if there's a point where you Find something that you need,

They'll burn it To a disk for you.

Man: Head back here.

All right, There you go.

You go ahead and Have a seat right there.

Okay. [ sighs ]

Like I said, If you see anything

You need a copy of, You just let me know.

Thank you, man. Appreciate your help.

Yeah. Good luck.

I'm gonna need it.

This looks like A long night.

Demery: If the body's found at 4:50 a.M.

And ronnie left work At 10:00 p.M.,

It's a good five hours Of video surveillance

That I'm gonna Have to go through.

I'm looking particularly For somebody who has came from

The direction where The hole in the fence is,

Because that's The side of the complex

Where the crime occurred.

♪♪

Also, I'm looking for Someone on a bicycle.

Because now there's This element of a bike.

I watched the video from, I think, 8:00 at night

Until 2:00 or 3:00 In the morning.

I didn't see anything.

♪♪

There's nothing on The video surveillance

That helps In this investigation.

♪♪

Good morning, Detective.

Not that good.

Any luck With the tape?

Nada.

Well, if it makes You feel any better,

Narcotics made a pretty Big arrest last night.

-really. -yes, sir.

Demery: That's when I realize

I have a completely untapped Resource I'm not using.

Hey, do you know any of The guys over there?

Yeah, absolutely.

Could you see If scott's around?

-absolutely. -thank you.

Crow: one of the best resources For a homicide investigator

Is narcotics.

Narcotics agents use so many Confidential informants.

They keep their ears open For any piece of information

That they think Might be worthy.

Okay, thank you.

Hey, scott's on four for you. -thanks.

Demery: so my thought is Contact agent scott,

Who is finger-on-the-pulse Of cedar grove,

And find out if Any of their informants

Have told them anything.

Scott, what's going on? It's demery.

Hey, what's up, rod? How are you?

Listen, man, I was wondering --

Can you do me a favor?

Run a name By your guys.

Ronnie robinson.

Oh, yeah, robinson.

Scene over on Webster ave.?

Yeah, that's the one.

He immediately tells me that A confidential informant

Heard about a fight from Someone named nathaniel wilkins.

At this point, I want witness,

Or I want somebody that can Give me some more information.

Brother, you're the best. Thank you, man.

Nathaniel, I have a lot Of questions for you.

♪♪

I'm investigating the death Of ronnie robinson.

I've learned that robinson May have had a run-in

With someone In the neighborhood

Over his grandson's Stolen bicycle.

I've just learned Of a witness --

Nathaniel wilkins.

I'm hoping wilkins Can shed some light.

♪♪

Demery: why don't you Have a seat?

Thanks for coming down, Mr. Wilkins.

I appreciate it. -it's no problem.

So what can you tell Me about what you saw?

Wilkins is A 22-year-old man,

And he's very polite, Very cooperative,

And he seems Genuinely concerned about

The people in his community.

That was refreshing.

He would spend the night At his grandmother's house

Who lived in The apartment complex

Near the location Robinson was found.

So it was Around midnight.

I'm just hanging Around the house.

And I notice some commotion In the distance.

What kind of commotion We talking about?

There was a fight.

Some guy was Getting wailed on.

I'm pretty confident that What he's telling me is true

Because it matches. It fits.

Could you see what The fight was about?

Like, could you hear If it was about money

Or a bike, or...?

I couldn't hear Anything.

I just saw three guys Beating up a old man.

Once wilkins tells me That there was a group,

That accounted for all The bumps and bruises

And abrasions That the man received.

There were numerous people Hitting him.

I now have three suspects, But I want to know who they are.

Could you identify The guys?

Yeah.

One of the guys -- His name is denzel.

Okay.

I seen him around the Neighborhood a few times.

He lives On harrison street.

Appreciate it, man. Thank you so much For your help.

If I need anything else, I'll be in contact.

-all right. -you can come out this way.

Demery: Thanks to nathaniel wilkins,

I've got my first concrete lead,

But I'm still curious How the stolen bicycle

Fits into all of this.

He gave me a name of denzel

And the street denzel lived on.

I'm feeling Pretty good about it

Because I have At least one of the three

Involved in the murder Of mr. Robinson.

♪♪

Agent scott works That neighborhood.

This information Got me the witness,

And we'll share in the arrest.

What's going on?

All right, let's get started Knocking on some doors

And see what we can Come up with.

I'll start Down on this end.

All right, thanks.

♪♪

Hey, how are you? -hi.

Demery: I ran into a young girl That lives on the street.

If there's a denzel That lives on that street,

The most likely source would Be a kid playing on the street.

♪♪

You look like You're really smart.

I am real smart, Actually.

I bet.

Do you know denzel And where he lives?

Oh, yeah, he's nice.

He lives Right over there.

-right over there? -mm-hmm.

Thank you. I love your picture.

-thank you. -have a good day.

Demery: I have to keep in mind that I'm dealing with someone

Who's just brutally beat And killed somebody.

So there's a certain level Of safety and security

That you have to practice.

♪♪

Let's be careful With these windows.

♪♪

[ knocking ]

I'm knocking on the door, But there's no answer.

I knock again.

[ knocking ]

Demery: Still no answer.

[ engine starts ]

Demery: then I hear the sound of A lawn mower starting up

At the back of the house, So I walk around to the back...

♪♪

...And I see a man In the backyard.

Excuse me!

Demery: sir!

Hey!

Excuse me.

Can I help You gentlemen?

Denzel taylor, You're gonna need To come with us.

Actually, uh, This is denzel.

I'm his father.

The big-shot, at this point, Is, "Do I have the right denzel?

Because we're talking about A 13-year-old kid.

When you're investigating A crime such as this one,

That had such violence,

It's kind of Really hard to fathom

That this child Could be involved

In something so brutal.

-are you denzel taylor? -yeah, that's me.

You're gonna need To come with us.

You want to Go cuff him, please?

Where are you Taking my son?

Sir, we need to take Your son to the station.

You can follow In your vehicle Behind us, please.

After the father tells me That that's his young son,

I realize he's a juvenile.

I asked them to come To the police station.

It was a pretty good feeling,

Because now I have Something solid.

I actually have something That I can dig into.

♪♪

So denzel's down at The police station.

Gonna take him into The interview room -- the box.

The box is where I do my best police work,

And I'm confident that's where I'm gonna solve this case.

♪♪

Demery: I finally got my first lead

And break in this case.

It's a 13-year-old -- Denzel taylor.

The question now is only His level of involvement.

Is denzel a murderer?

So I ask denzel and his father

To come with me To the police station,

Where I immediately take them Into an interview room.

Louisiana law tells you that You can't talk to juveniles

Without a parent present.

Children can't actually process What their rights are.

They deserve a certain level Of protection

And parental involvement.

The realization is that I'm Talking to a 13-year-old child

About a very adult crime.

It's difficult To actually conceptualize

If the child understands What's going on.

Immediately after The questioning began,

Denzel dropped his head.

And in an interrogation,

That's something That precedes a confession.

What he's gonna say, I don't know.

I don't know That denzel realized

How valuable That information was.

I know he was there. Now my question is,

Is whether or not He was involved in the murder,

Or he was just there And watched it.

Denzel tells me that he was Leaving a friend's house,

And he came across A few of his friends

Having a fight or an altercation With an older man.

And he decides that He's gonna try to break it up.

I didn't buy for a minute That he just happened upon them

And decided he was gonna try To break up a fight,

But you don't want to Shut down the interview

By contradicting and judging.

The object at this point Is to gather information.

I knew I had video surveillance,

But I knew I didn't have An image of anyone

On the video surveillance.

So I just casually mentioned Video surveillance,

And it makes him think.

Denzel said that He took part in the assault.

Whether it was with His hands, feet, or fists,

He was guilty of the murder.

Denzel told me that There were two others there

That were fighting the man.

He named his two friends By their nicknames --

One as coonie, and one as wodie.

So denzel's done.

He doesn't have Their real names.

Denzel, I'm charging you With second-degree murder,

So I need you to Stand up, please.

Put your hands Behind your back.

When I put the handcuffs on him, They almost don't fit.

They don't make them For children.

Denzel's father Became a victim, as well.

There's got to be A sense of failure.

There's got to be A sense of guilt --

A sense of anger, Concern, and worry.

There's not a parent That wants to see their child

Taken into custody And put in handcuffs.

They certainly don't Want to believe that

Their child is being Arrested for murder.

I'm feeling really good.

A case that started off With absolutely nothing

But a body at a hospital

Is now turned into Reconstructing a crime scene

And finding suspects.

But I'm still unclear On the motive.

It's a question I'm hoping Denzel's buddies,

Coonie and wodie, Can answer for me.

The trick now is finding out Their real names

And where they live.

The first nickname I'm looking up is coonie.

We index people by nicknames Or street names,

So the object was putting In search parameters

For a coonie That lived in cedar grove.

Coons, you say?

Coon, yes. C-o-o-n-I-e.

Bingo. Aka calvin giones.

♪♪

Jesus, man, This kid's 12 years old.

-yeah. -unbelievable.

Mack: when he put his alias In the system,

I'm sure he certainly Wasn't expecting to find

A fifth-grader At the other end of that name.

Thank you.

Hey, scott, you want To take a ride?

Yeah, let's do it.

-thanks, bro. -no problem.

Demery: coonie had a record of Violence, battery, assaults,

So I know now that I'm dealing With a pretty tough kid.

The next order of business Is to go find him

And bring him in For questioning.

♪♪

So agent scott and I And a couple patrol officers

Go to the residence.

[ knocking ]

Demery: we knock on the door. There's a woman that answers.

Yes?

Ma'am, we're with Shreveport police department,

Does calvin giones Live here?

He's inside.

We're gonna need To see him.

-okay, I'll get him. -thank you.

-calvin! Boy, get out here. -for what?

-what did you do? -nothing! I didn't do nothing.

-boy, get out of here. -man, get off me.

Calvin: man you always starting Stuff. I didn't do nothing.

Woman: I'm starting stuff?

You're always doing something. Come on here.

Get your butt out here. Get out here.

Get out here. -what the hell y'all pigs want?

This little boy Comes to the door

With an incredible attitude.

Unlike denzel, Coonie is a badass.

There is no doubt in my mind That this is the right guy.

All right, son, You need to come with us.

Let's go. -for what?

Boy, get your ass Out that house.

Man, I didn't do [bleep].

Get your ass Out the house.

Man, I'm out of here.

Get off me, man. Get off me.

-calvin. -put me down, man.

He just completely, Flat-out resisted

And said he wasn't gonna go.

Clearly, His mother has no control

Over this little boy, either.

Ma'am, You're gonna need to

Get your bag And come with us.

Calvin: put me down, man! I didn't do crap, man.

Demery: the problem with him Was he was tiny,

So an officer handcuffed him, Grabbed him by the arm,

And literally carried him To the police department.

[bleep] You guys. I didn't do [bleep].

Get the [bleep] Off me.

I'm a [bleep] [bleep]. I didn't do [bleep].

Come on, man!

Get these cuffs Off me, man.

[bleep] Off.

Demery: we got him to The police station

And kicked, screamed, and cussed All the way there.

Once we get coonie in the box,

His attitude goes From bad to worse.

Calvin, you know Why you're here?

Man, I didn't do [bleep],

And you best let me Out these cuffs.

Want to meet me outside, Old man?

Sit your ass down Before I embarrass you

In front of your mama. Sit down.

Whatever, man.

Demery: and that has An effect, I guess --

Maybe psychologically.

I think he realized that

I wasn't impressed By his tantrum.

So what do you want To tell me about

What you and your buddies Denzel and wodie

Were up to?

I already said I didn't do anything.

We were just hanging out By the apartment complex.

Okay, So you were there?

Yeah.

Demery: initially, He flat-out denied everything,

But he acknowledged being there.

All right, So what do you know

About an old man Getting beat up?

Yeah, well? What about What happened to me?

He tried to Take my bike.

It's pretty common In interrogations.

People want to minimize Their knowledge or involvement,

But it was pretty clear that

That fight was Over that bicycle.

He said that his other Two friends were with him --

Denzel taylor And a friend he called wodie.

My first thought was he's Gonna be 12, 13 years old,

But he was 17 years old.

[ kids talking indistinctly ]

Hey!

-what's up? -this is my grandson's bike.

You stole that bike. Give me this bike!

Calvin: get off, man. That's mine.

Man, I told you To give it.

I told you...

I said Give me this bike.

It's mine now! Get off.

Look, you better Give me that --

Ahhhh! Ahhh!

Demery: He explained that he was Trying to defend himself

And that his friends Jumped in and helped him.

He said that wodie had a bat And struck the man,

And denzel Physically hit the man.

That contradicted What denzel said.

Taylor put him as an aggressor.

Up to now, both of them

Have been pointing The finger at each other.

It's not a real clear-cut case Of who did what,

But I know they both Were involved,

And they both assaulted the man.

Okay, stand up.

For what?

-man, stand up. -I didn't do anything!

-get your ass up. -try me.

-get your ass up. -get off me, man!

For what? He attacked me. -yeah.

So coonie was arrested, As well.

Calvin: mama!

The look of shock On the face of a parent

When you talk to a child about A murder or any serious crime

Is always the same.

They just didn't expect that.

Parents are always The last to know.

I have two out out of the three In custody

For the murder of Ronnie robinson.

Now I have one left to find -- Wodie.

I'm getting closer To closing this case.

I just need the final piece Of the puzzle.

♪♪

Demery: I'm investigating The homicide of ronnie robinson.

I have two out of the three Suspects in custody.

To everyone's surprise,

They're both Under the age of 13.

Get off me, man! Get off me!

The third and final suspect Is who I need now,

But all I have is The nickname wodie.

After searching the system, We came up with nothing,

But agent scott had resources,

And we were able to find A person by the name of wodie

That lived in cedar grove.

His name was Quintravious holloway.

We were able to locate A phone number

For the residence Where quintravious lived.

To my surprise, when I called The number, he answered.

Hey, quintravious, This is detective demery

With the shreveport Police department.

I was hoping you might be able To come down to the station.

I want to ask you A few questions.

Oh, you can? Awesome.

All right, well, I'll tell you what --

We'll see you in a little bit.

Great.

Wodie was 17,

So there was No parental consent needed

Or a parent to accompany,

So we began to interview him.

Demery: have a seat Right there.

-right here? -yeah.

Yes, sir. No problem.

[ sighs ]

Demery: Wodie was very mild-mannered.

He was compliant. He wasn't aggressive.

He was almost polite,

But he immediately starts saying

That he didn't know anything About what was going on.

He wasn't there.

The interrogation with wodie Was different.

It got to be very intense

Because wodie didn't have Any sense of remorse.

I expected wodie to lie.

I think that wodie Was under the impression

That he could tell me anything, And I would buy it.

Wodie was more of A cunning type.

He was a con man.

I told him I would not sleep Until I put him in prison.

So as I'm starting to increase The pressure on him,

He finally just broke.

When he told me the pipe Was in his backyard,

I put together a search warrant

And went to go get it signed.

♪♪

Okay, boys, it Should be someplace Close to the house,

So let's look everywhere. -yes, sir.

I didn't have any doubt When I got to his house

That I was gonna find the pipe.

♪♪

I made him be descriptive,

And he gave me A pretty good location,

So going to the backyard And opening the gate

And following his Instructions...

Hey, sir, I think I've got it over here.

♪♪

...There was a bloody pipe Laying in the grass,

Just as he said.

Good job, man.

♪♪

With the discovery Of that evidence

And each of their statements,

That's a wrap. Case is closed.

♪♪

Mack: so what investigators Pieced together

Was basically ronnie robinson Left his job that night

At the corner liquor store With $200 cash.

♪♪

Demery: He's on his way home,

And he comes across This little kid

That's got his bike.

[ kids talking indistinctly ]

And I think that the only thing That robinson wanted to do

Was recover his bicycle For his grandson.

[ kids talking indistinctly ]

Hey!

-what's up? -that's my grandson's bike.

You stole that bike. -you calling me a thief?

Yeah, you're a thief. Now, give me that bike.

Get off me, man!

[ all shouting indistinctly ]

Demery: that fight May have started because

He physically tried To take the bike.

I'm telling you...

Calvin: You get your old ass Out of here, man!

...Get your ass off Of that bike.

I think the pipe was A weapon of opportunity.

It was just something That was near.

-run! -this is my grandson's bike.

Mack: He's approaching children.

Nobody expects To get beat to death

By a 12-, a 13-, And a 17-year-old.

Calvin: That's mine, man. That's mine now.

Get your hands Off of this bike.

Run, bitch. Run, man.

You are giving up this Bike, I'm telling you.

[ all shouting indistinctly ]

Oh, agh! Aghhhhh.

Yeah, bitch, get up! Get up!

Mack: One of them picks up a pipe And beats ronnie robinson...

[ ronnie grunts ]

♪♪

...And they punch and kick him

'til he's completely Unconscious.

Yeah, get up, bitch. Get up!

[ ronnie grunts ]

Visconte: even though They were taking on a man

Much older than they And much larger than they...

-[ ronnie grunts ] -what's up? What's up?

Get up!

...They're going to Feel invincible, powerful,

Because there's a band of them.

[bleep], we got to Get out of here.

No, man. Check his pockets.

Let's go!

Come on, hurry up.

We got to Get out of here, man.

-I got it, I got it. -hurry up! Let's go.

-get the bike! Come on, come on. -[ ronnie groans ]

The fact that this man Is convulsing

And having a seizure,

And these kids Went into his pockets

Would show that they had No idea what was going on.

Gables: You have three teenagers

That put the value Of a stolen bicycle

Over a human life.

They were just acting Completely off impulse.

I don't think that they thought In a million years

They were gonna kill anybody.

The fact is Is that they did,

And they needed to be charged And arrested for it.

Mack: in the end, Holloway was tried as an adult

And received a sentence Of 10 years hard labor.

Denzel and coonie Were given juvenile life,

Which means incarceration To the age of 21.

Visconte: This case is tragic,

Not only because of The loss of mr. Robinson

And the impact that it had On his family,

But also the loss Of these young men

And the impact that has On their family.

Demery: I can't imagine being beat By 12- and 13-year-olds

When you have one at home.

It's not something That's easily processed.

This man's life was taken For a bicycle.