Original subtitles

-whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! -[ screams ]

Narrator: a big-hearted family Man is shot to death

For no apparent reason.

Responding to a homicide scene, Your mind is speedballing.

This shouldn't have Happened to him!

As the investigation unfolds, Detective rod demery is visited

By a ghost From investigations past.

You got to be kiddin' me!

He had gone a real dark road.

He was a gangster now.

Police! Drop that.

Get your hands up.

Narrator: to solve the case,

Demery must wrestle With a painful reality.

Why are you lying to me?

There's a humanistic side To everybody,

And, you know, My human instinct kicked in.

I think for the first time In my homicide career,

I wondered did I still Want to do this?

Not in my house!

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

It's just after dark in sunset Acres neighborhood.

Mike williams walked out Of his apartment

To take his trash To the dumpster.

♪♪

He notices a woman getting Into a car that's running.

He doesn't think anything About it.

He throws his trash In the dumpster,

When all of a sudden --

[ gunshots ]Tameka: [ screams ]

He hears a barrage of gunfire.

[ screaming ]

He sees the same car...

Ah! Ah!

...And it's careening Across the parking lot.

[ crashes ]

Ah! Oh, my god!

Redford: he runs over to the car To see what's going on,

See if he can help.

He sees the female passenger Who's seemingly unhurt.

Oh, my god! Ah! Ah!

I'm gonna go get some help.

But the driver is covered In blood,

And he's clearly been shot.

Oh, my god. Oh, my god!

♪♪

On this particular evening, I'm in my garage

Polishing the chrome on my bike.

Been riding motorcycles Since I was about 18.

My bike is an escape.

It takes you away From everything.

It's almost as if no one Can reach you.

[ cellphone buzzes ]

This is demery.

When my phone rings, I'm told that there's a victim

That's been shot In sunset acres.

I know what's going To happen next.

I'm going back to reality.

Yeah, sunset acres, I know it.

All right. I'm on my way.

See you later.

♪♪

I've been to sunset acres On numerous calls --

Violent crimes, drugs, Domestic-abuse-type calls.

Jackson: sunset acres has Certainly transitioned

To a more dangerous place.

The economic devastation That has happened is clear

When you drive through there.

[ indistinct talking ]

Demery: the first thing I see When I get to the crime scene

Is a vehicle that's collided Into a wall,

And there's some broken glass About 50 feet from the car.

The first question I have is,

What does this vehicle Have to do with this crime?

What's happening, guys? What are we looking at here?

We're not real sure yet, But we got two victims.

Both have been transported To the hospital.

Driver's in much Worse shape.

The responding officers tell me That the victim is

42-year-old rodney hill.

Mack: rodney was a hard worker.

He was helping support His sister

And his sister's children.

Hill has been shot Several times.

He's in critical condition.

The passenger is Tameka williams.

Williams Has superficial injuries.

Anybody take a look At the car yet?

No, sir.Let's go do that.

♪♪

♪♪

When I look at the vehicle,

I notice there's limited damage To the front of it.

Well, he must have not been Going very fast

When he hit this wall.

[ police radio chatter ]

So I'm guessing the glass we saw Down there is from this window.

Mack: When investigators look hard,

They can see a spent projectile Inside of the vehicle.

There's also a bullet hole On the seat back

Of the driver's side,

And there's blood All over the car.

Okay, so I'm thinking the first Shot shattered the window.

Second shot hits our victim.

Did you say The passenger was hit?

Negative.

Huh.

I don't want to jump The gun here,

But this is making me think this May have been a targeted attack.

Responding to a homicide scene, Your mind is speedballing.

You can't make any assumptions,

And you can't Hold anything as solid,

But it's a good idea to kind of Get a handle of what's going on.

I mean, otherwise the rest of The vehicle would have been hit.

The passenger Would have been hit,

Would have been more Randomness to this crime.

Yeah.Hey, detectives?

Yeah.

Got someone you want To speak to.

Okay.

Demery: as I'm surveying The crime scene,

The patrol officers tell me That there was a witness

That may have seen What happened.

How you doing, mr. Booker? I'm detective demery.

Listen, I know this is probably Not an easy time for you,

But if you could just take me Through what you witnessed?

I came out of my crib For a smoke

When I saw the girl Get into the car.

Okay. Did you see them pull off?

They didn't even get A chance to.

Dude came from up there,

And then he started Yelling at the driver.

And then he just started To light them up,

And then the car Just ran into the wall.

Did you see which way The shooter went?

He jumped into a wagon Right up there.

Booker said after the shooting,

The suspect ran back To a vehicle,

And that station wagon Sped away.

Now, they said that you heard The shooter

Say something Before he shot?

I mean, I wasn't close, And I'm not really sure,

But it sounded Something like,

"You thought you can Get away with that?"

Really? Yeah.

Okay.

That statement kind of starts To lean

Even further towards A targeted attack,

So it appears that somebody was Taking revenge upon the victim.

The question now is, What would the victim

Be trying to get away with?

To answer that question, I go straight to the source,

But with rodney in surgery, His passenger,

Tameka, is my best witness.

Hey, tameka? I'm detective demery.

I'm hoping you might be up to Answer a few questions for me?

About rodney? Yeah.

I'm hoping you can Take me through

And tell me What happened tonight.

It wasn't supposed To happen.

Oh, my god!

He was shooting, And he hit rodney...

Okay, tameka....In the car, and --

Listen, I need you To calm down.

Tameka is pretty shaken up About what happened.

The challenge now is to get her To focus

And try to give me a logical Explanation of what's happening.

Take a deep breath.

Now, what were you guys Planning on doing?

I-I-I-I was waiting for chester To come pick me up

And take me To the grocery store.

Tameka tells me That she's at home,

And she needs a ride To the store,

So she calls her friend Chester

To come pick her up And give her a ride.

Tameka doesn't have a vehicle, And she said

Chester is the person she calls When she needs transportation.

But when the car pulled up, Rodney was driving it.

Why was rodney driving Chester's car?

They're friends.

According to tameka, It's a close relationship.

She didn't think it would be odd For rodney to be driving

Chester's vehicle.

But before I could even, uh, Ask rodney where

Chester was, there was a guy At the window with a gun.

Okay. Now, the guy With the gun,

Do you know what He looked like?

No.

I mean, he had, like, A bandana on his face.

[ screams ][ gunshot ]

I thought I was gonna die!

Tameka says she ducked down And heard the gunfire,

And when it stopped And she looked up,

Rodney was slumped Over the steering wheel,

And the car was moving.

Did you hear him say Anything before he shot rodney?

[ sniffles ] Yeah.

Tameka corroborates booker.

She said that the suspect Did shout

Something prior to shooting.

You heard him say, "Rodney, You thought you were gonna

Get away with this?"

Now, what would rodney have been Trying to get away with?

Rodney?

That's not what The guy said.

Hmm, okay. What all did he say?

He said, "You thought you were Gonna get away with that,

Chester?"

Tameka confirms What the other witness said,

But adds the name chester.

Demery: at this stage, I still Don't know who chester is,

But I'm thinking that bullet Was meant for him.

So the shooter thought Rodney was chester?

[ sobs ]

I don't know.

The fact that tameka Added the name chester

Changes everything.

Now we know that whoever shot At rodney hill

Was actually trying To shoot someone else.

♪♪

Tameka: [ screams ]

[ glass shatters ]

I'm investigating the shooting Of 42-year-old rodney hill.

At first, I thought someone Wanted revenge on rodney,

But after talking To tameka williams,

This sounds like it may be A classic case

Of mistaken identity.

Tameka says the shooter said,

"You thought you were gonna get Away with that, chester?"

So potentially this means Rodney hill

Was a completely Unintended target.

[ siren chirps ]

Demery: and to make matters Worse, I've just learned

That rodney hill has died From his injuries.

Ms. Hill?

I'm detective demery.

Listen, before I go any further,

Let me just say I'm -- I'm Really sorry for your loss.

The first person I talk to From rodney's family

Is his sister, amanda.

Amanda is clearly devastated About what's happened.

Why did this Have to happen?

Oh, my gosh.

♪♪

Let me ask you, Is there anything or anyone

That he was involved in that Could have led to this?

No, rodney Wasn't like that.

He earned an honest living, Helped put food on the table.

According to amanda, Rodney was a hardworking man.

He was very responsible, And he did what he could to help

Take care of his family.

Mack: rodney hill didn't have Any children of his own,

But he loved his nieces And nephews

Like they were His own children.

What's up, girl?Hey, rod!

What you doin' here?

Sis, for your rent.

You know I appreciate this, Right?

Don't worry about it. Where the kids at?

They're back there in the room.I'm-a go say hi.

All right.

Amanda told me that rodney Was a pretty good role model

For her children and a lot Of other youngsters around him.

Did rodney have a problem With anyone

That you're aware of? No.

According to amanda, Rodney had no enemies.

He was just a happy guy.

It's been reported that rodney Was driving a car

That belonged To somebody named chester.

Do you know who that is?

Chester. Yeah, that's family.

He is? Yeah.

Amanda hill identifies Chester as chester brown.

He's actually a relative Of the hill family.

That boy always Getting into trouble.

He got caught up with The wrong kind of people.

Amanda doesn't seem To be surprised to learn

That someone is after chester

Just from the lifestyle That he lives.

I promise you I'm gonna Find out

Who did this To your brother.

Thank you. [ sobs ]

Now that I've found out That rodney hill

Didn't live that type Of lifestyle and chester did,

I want to find out More about chester.

♪♪

Well, I'll be damned.

When I look up Chester's record,

I find out that he was into All kinds of stuff --

Robbery, drugs, Even kidnapping.

Okay, chester. Who did you piss off this time?

If I found out who Wants to kill chester,

I can find out Who killed rodney.

♪♪

So now I want to go back To tameka.

I don't know what her Relationship is with chester

Or how much She actually knows.

Hey.

Listen, I'm wondering if I can Ask you a few more questions.

Do you have a minute?

Um...

Okay.

Look, I'm pretty sure I told you

Everything I know From that night.

Okay.

Well, I want to ask you some Questions about your boy chester

And why you think somebody Might want him dead.

I have no idea.

Okay, you understand I'm just trying to investigate

Rodney's death, right?

So I need to know What chester was up to.

Nah. I mean, look, We friends and all,

But his business, That's his business.

Demery: tameka tells me that she Doesn't know anything about what

Chester is involved in And wouldn't have a clue

About what type of lifestyle He lived.

Okay, where can I find chester?

He's, um...

He's in between places Right now.

Really? Mm-hmm.

I asked tameka where chester Is now,

And there's a distinct Change in her voice.

Those subtle changes in tone And inflection

Show deception Or nervousness,

And I'm really Interested in that.

You know it would be In your best interest

To be honest with me And tell me.

Where's chester at?

He's at the inn On jewella street.

The inn on jewella? Mm-hmm.

You mean the one that Closed last month, right?

Why are you lying to me?

So now I'm getting into it With tameka.

Don't particularly care For people to bull[bleep] Me.

The success of my career Is my being able to see

Bull[bleep] And get To the truth.

Let me tell you something -- There's two ways

That this can go.

I can bring your ass down To the station

Right now and charge you With obstruction of justice,

Or you can stop Playing with me

And tell me where Is chester at.

I'm sorry. Look, I just --

I don't want to go to jail.

Then stop playing with me And tell me.

Where's chester?

At this point, tameka clearly Knows that it's not a game

And that I'm going To be relentless,

And I'm not going to stop.

He's at the motel On monkridge drive.

Tameka tells me that chester Has heard about the shooting,

And he thinks That he may be a target

And he's kind of laying low.

It's room 226...

And it's in my name.

Thank you.

You should have done this From the beginning.

♪♪

I'm feeling good about What tameka has told me,

So I head straight for the motel On monkridge drive.

When I go to chester's hotel, I take more officers with me.

I don't know what I'm going To walk into.

All right. We think he may be in room 226.

We're not sure if he's Gonna be in there,

So let's be careful.

♪♪

The fact that I'm going to Tameka's room with her key,

And I have her permission, I Don't have to knock on the door.

I can just walk in.

♪♪

Police! Drop that.

Get your hands up.

When I get inside the room,

I'm really shocked that There's actually someone there.

I'm even more shocked That the person in there

Is doing lines of cocaine.

Chester is straight 1980s Snorting a pile of cocaine

When demery walks in.

Now it's kind of clear why Tameka would not want me

To know where Chester is.

So looks like you having Quite the party, huh?

This ain't mine.

Right. Right.

Well, look, I'm not here About the drugs.

If I start focusing on drugs,

Chester is going to be concerned With self-preservation.

He's not going to want to do Anything except try to

Figure out how he can Get out of his drug charge.

What I am here about Is who killed your family

'cause I have a feeling That they were looking for you.

Am I right?

Yeah.

So as chester and I Begin talking,

I find out that, yeah, somebody Is actually gunning for him.

This dude p.J. Been after me For a minute.

P.J. Who?

P.J. Russell.

Chester tells me that he has An issue with a drug dealer

By the name of p.J. Russell.

He bought some drugs From p.J.

Using counterfeit money.

Once he figured it out, He started sending me texts

Sayin' he gonna kill me.

From what I gather about p.J.,

He's serious about his business

And finally decided that he had To take care of chester.

So let me get this right.

You know p.J. Is lookin' To kill you,

But you let rodney Drive your car

And take a bullet for you?

Nah, man, It wasn't like that.

I didn't think they'd shoot him Once they saw it wasn't me.

Right.

Chester is clearly in a place Where he has no respect,

No regard, or no concern For anyone but himself.

Where can I find p.J.?Man, I don't know.

He ain't the one you should Be looking for anyway.

Why's that?He too smart to pull

The trigger himself.

It's definitely One of his boys.

Chester says he doesn't know The name of the shooter,

But he believes that it's An individual that works for

Or is friends with russell.

Like who? If I knew,

I'd be after him myself.

You good? We done now?

I'm good, unfortunately, you, Not so much.

You want to come cuff This jerk, please?

Rodney dies as a result Of somebody after chester,

And he doesn't Go to the hospital.

He doesn't pay any respects.

He doesn't try to help In the investigation,

And it's just An animalistic way of living.

Now, you said you didn't care About the drugs!

I lied.

He's got 8 grams of cocaine...

Put your hands Behind your back.

...And it's not just Some amount you can ignore.

It's something that has To be dealt with.

It really makes my blood boil That someone like rodney hill

Is murdered Because of the lifestyle

That chester And his friends live.

Innocent people shouldn't Be hurt by people

Who choose to use, Sell, or trade in drugs,

So now I'm going to go out And get justice for rodney hill.

♪♪

Rodney hill took a bullet that Was intended for his relative,

Chester brown.

Chester says a dealer Named p.J. Russell

Has a bounty on his head.

Before I can verify Chester's claims,

I have to turn him in For drug possession

Hey, your next customer.

Demery, someone Said you had an early

Christmas present for me.

Yep.

Chester brown, I haven't heard That name in a while.

Figured you'd know This chump.

When I bring chester in, I take Him to the narcotics unit.

They are familiar with chester.

Chester has acted As an informant in the past.

You know what? We can use him.

Instead of booking him On those charges,

They're going to Put him to work.

Usually narcotics likes To catch a small fish

And send it back out To catch a bigger fish,

And that's the hope In this case.

Fine by me, He's your christmas present.

At this point, I'm going to go Back out on the streets.

I'm going to do some gumshoe Police work.

Mack: in a small neighborhood Like sunset acres,

Word travels fast, so you'll get A lot of street talk

About who committed the crime.

Hey, bro.

I was just wondering, man, What could you tell me

About the shooting That happened over on janey?

I don't know nothing About that.

You sure about that?

A lot of times, "I don't know Anything" means,

"I actually know something, but I don't want to be involved."

I can't help you.

How about this dude, You know him?

Could you just take a look, One second?

Redford: some parts of Shreveport, you talk to police,

Then you're talking To your maker the next day.

Demery: still, I need answers,

[ knocking ]

So I decide to do A little door-knocking.

Hey, I'm detective demery.

Listen, I'm hoping you can Give me some info

About that shooting Over on janey?

I'm sorry. I don't think I can --

Hey, hold on a second.

You got kids?

Yeah, I got two. Why?

When people are so dismissive,

It's difficult to break Through that barrier,

But there are some cases Where you have to find somebody.

It's a difficult balancing act, But it can be done.

Because I figure If you got kids,

You probably know That talking to me

Is gonna help make Your neighborhood safer

Than not talking to me.

Some other cop told a friend Of mine the same thing.

Next thing you know, She's getting called

Into court to testify.

Two guys end up Breaking into her house.

Listen to me, I'm not some other cop, okay?

I tell this woman that the Information that she gives me,

I'm going to keep it Confidential.

Look, you can ask about me On the streets.

Your name won't never Come out of my mouth.

All right?I heard of you before.

Come on.

Okay. Um, some people are saying This dude called hammer

Shot up That car the other night.

When I first hear The name hammer,

It sounds really Familiar to me.

I just can't place it.

Okay. Hammer got a real name?

No, but he's always rolling Around the neighborhood

In some white lady car.

In a white lady's car?

I don't know, some black Volvo station wagon.

She described the vehicle that She's known hammer to drive,

And that same vehicle Is the vehicle described

In the murder of rodney hill.

That's all I know.All right.

Thank you.

You've been helpful, And I promise you

Your name will never Come out of my mouth.

I hope so.

So the pieces are starting To fall together.

This woman has given me Some very important information.

She's given me the nickname Hammer.

Now I just need to find out Who hammer is.

Once I get back To the police station,

I start to research The nickname hammer.

Our police management system Allows you to put in a moniker,

And it can be matched To a particular name.

You got to be kiddin' me.

After I put in the name hammer,

It matches to a 25-year-old Sirdarren jackson.

When I pull up the mug shot,

I realize I know exactly Who hammer is.

Hammer has a pretty Significant and healthy record,

But I remember hammer When he didn't.

When I first met jackson, He was 19 years old.

He had gotten shot In the shoulder,

And I visited with him While he was in the hospital

To work this case.

He and another one Of his friends

Got into a shootout With some other guy.

You know you almost Got killed, right?

Yeah, I know.What are you doing, man?

Listen, you're too young For this.

This is not the way You want to go.

Yes, sir.

Crime is one of The magnetic components

In inner-city Communities.

When it's easier to get a gun Than it is to get fresh fruit,

Then you tend to gravitate Toward that kind of a lifestyle.

Now, I done had a lot of people Go down this same road.

I got friends And I got family,

And they went down this road, And they didn't come back.

I promise you, That gangster lifestyle

Is not what you think It's gonna be.

Yes, sir.Now, you're young.

You don't have to do this. You can do something else.

You can turn Your life around.

I'll do better.

I didn't feel like jackson Knew the gravity

Of what was going on At that point.

I'd hoped my words Meant something,

But I didn't feel like They went very far with him.

Over time, it became clear that Jackson didn't take my advice.

About a year ago, I was Investigating a drug kingpin

By the name of waco collins.

I ran into Sirdarren jackson again.

I realized that He wasn't involved

In the particular murder That I was working,

But he had gone down A real dark road.

He was definitely not the 19-year-old that I met.

He was a gangster now.

There was no innocence left.

You understand that waco, man, He don't care about you.

Waco don't care If you live or you die.

Do you understand that?

It is what it is, man.

I got to do What I got to do.

Listen, you don't have To do this.

You can still get out. Man, there's time.

I think the way that I talked To sirdarren

Was on a more personal level.

I showed a genuine concern.

I think I almost appeared Desperate

To try to stop him From doing what he was doing.

Look at me.

You mark my words --

If you keep going The way you going,

You gonna be Dead in a year.

And there's options for you.

I can help you get a ged.

I can help you get In the job program.

There's a lot of --

For whatever reason, He began to cry.

Then he gave me this hug Like he'd known me

Or we were friends.

Maybe if I had a father Like you,

I wouldn't turn out Like this.

When jackson hugged me, That was the oddest thing

I've ever felt in my career.

Now, I don't know if it was A premonition on his part

Or my part, But I absolutely saw his life

Taking a horrible turn, And I think he did, too.

Despite my personal connection With sirdarren jackson,

I still need to do my job.

The thing about police work Is that

I am very capable Of compartmentalizing.

While I can have a genuine Concern for someone,

I can take him out in 2 seconds, But I need more.

An anonymous tip and a few vague

Descriptions is not enough For me to go get him.

[ telephone rings ]

This is demery.

Hey, what's up, ivy?

My phone rings, And it's sergeant craig ivy.

He tells me he has someone He's just arrested

That I need to talk to.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I'm on my way.

Thanks.

This could be what blows This case wide open.

♪♪

Demery: my search for Rodney hill's killer

Led me to a familiar suspect --

25-year-old sirdarren jackson, Nicknamed hammer.

A few years back, I'd met jackson,

And I tried to set him On the straight and narrow,

But he's fallen to A life of crime.

I need more evidence Before going after jackson,

And now a phone call From a fellow detective

May solve that problem for me.

♪♪

Hey, ivy. Hey, demery.

Thanks, man. This could Actually be really helpful.

No problem.

Ivy tells me that he's arrested An informant of his

For a misdemeanor theft,

And that informant Is telling ivy

That they have intimate Knowledge of a crime

In which the wrong person Was killed.

This is our guy here?Yes, sir.

All right.

Usually when an informant Has information,

They got a charge That they want to get rid of.

They can have a very, very Small misdemeanor charge

And break open a murder case.

So I hear you have some Information about a murder.

We're talking about The shooting

At the apartment On janey, right?

Yes, we are.

Yeah, that boy Hammer did that.

Huh.

Mack: the informant backs up What demery has already heard,

That sirdarren jackson Is responsible

For the murder Of rodney hill.

And how do you know that?

It's in my phone.

Demery: in addition to what The informant is telling me,

He's giving me Corresponding text messages

From sirdarren jackson to him.

One of the messages said, "Hey, I just shot up,"

Basically saying that they fired Shots and killed somebody.

Let me see The time and date.

What's important is the time Stamp on the text messages

Correspond with when Rodney hill was killed.

Okay.

Can you do me A favor, please?

Run this number to see Who it belongs to.

Yes, sir.Thank you.

Demery: The information is huge.

If I can show that it's Sirdarren jackson's phone...

It's definitely him, man.

If jackson is responsible For the murder of rodney hill,

I need to find out how he's Connected to chester brown

And p.J. Russell.

Why would hammer be doing Dirty work for p.J. Russell?

Because they were like family.

How so?

Mack: the informant tells demery That p.J. Russell

Has a baby With sirdarren jackson's cousin,

So the two run around In the same crowd.

Do you know if hammer Knows chester brown?

Yeah, them two Used to be tight.

"Used to be," What do you mean?

The informant also tells demery That sirdarren jackson

And chester brown Used to run together.

They would do home invasions For drugs and money,

And they were ripping Local dope dealers.

That all ended when Chester ripped off p.J.

So chester actually has A relationship with jackson,

And they have Committed crimes together.

Chester knows exactly Who jackson is.

He just didn't want To give me his name.

You know where Jackson's at?

Nah, but he be In cedar grove

A lot doing rips In that wagon of his.

He own a station wagon?Mm-hmm.

What color is it?

It's a black ugly thing.

His information is corroborated By everything else

That I've heard thus far, Giving me reason to believe

That this informant is Absolutely telling the truth.

[ door opens ]

Anything?

Goes back to A sirdarren jackson.

Perfect.

We good in here?

Yeah, your boy has been Very helpful.

Come on.[ door closes ]

♪♪

At this point, There's no denying

That jackson has become The savage killer

I feared he would.

This isn't enough information To arrest jackson,

But it's certainly Enough to go get him

And bring him in To interrogate him.

So I start going to people That know jackson,

Some of his hangouts

And some of the places That he's normally at.

I feel like I have to take him Off the streets

Before he brings harm To anybody else.

Hey, bro, you know where Sirdarren jackson stays?

Know it used to be Over on cooper road.

But he's not there anymore?Nah, man.

Hammer never stays In one place too long.

He don't like people Knowin' where he at.

Okay.

All right, brother, thank you. Have a good one, man.

Jackson is a little More difficult

Than the typical suspect.

Jackson Is not only hiding from me.

He's robbed several people,

So he's very careful About where he goes

And who knows where he is.

My search for sirdarren jackson Goes on for days,

But I wasn't ready For what would happen next.

One morning, I walk into the office,

And I hear some Of the guys talking.

Man: had an ak-47.

He friggin' blew The guy away.

Hey, guys. What's happenin'?

Oh, you haven't heard?Heard what?

Your guy jackson, He was killed last night.

What?

Apparently the night before,

Jackson had committed A home invasion robbery

And was shot in the head.

Was he armed?

Yeah, cleared As self-defense.

The fact that jackson Was committing

A home invasion robbery armed, That murder is justified.

No one is going to be charged With killing sirdarren jackson.

What's the problem, Demery?

You should be happy, Less work for you.

Yeah, man, whatever.

When I found out sirdarren Jackson had been killed,

I was bothered by it.

I was very comfortable With putting sirdarren jackson

In prison.

I don't know that I was prepared To hear that he was murdered.

Hey, I'm not feeling well, man.

Tell the lieutenant I went home sick.

Yeah, sure thing.

There's a humanistic side To everybody,

And, you know, My human instinct kicked in.

The fact that I had some sort Of a knowledge of this kid

From his teen years up Until now was disturbing.

I went home, took the rest Of the day off.

Sirdarren's death Is a reflection

Of a vicious cycle Of violence that has continued

And seems to not have An end in sight.

For a kid to be 19, Barely make it to 25

And be killed Is all too commonplace.

Mack: you get emotionally Invested in people

You see over A long period of time,

And sirdarren was somebody that Demery thought might make it.

It's kind of heartbreaking Because you can't save them all,

And you want to.

Demery: I felt like my efforts Were in vain.

I think for the first time In my homicide career,

I wondered did I still want to do this?

I'm watching people die.

I'm watching young kids Go to prison forever,

And after a while, You start questioning

Whether or not what You're doing is effective.

[ cellphone rings ]

Just as I'm thinking about All this stuff, my phone rings.

This is demery.

Oh, hey, amanda.

And it's amanda hill, Rodney hill's sister.

Really? Wow. Okay.

And she tells me That she believes

Jackson's murder was a setup,

And she thinks She knows who did it.

Yeah, yeah. I'll head over now.

When I get this phone call, It reminds me of what it is

About this job That I love to do.

You want to get all the answers.

That phone call brings you Back to reality.

♪♪

I'm now confident that sirdarren Jackson killed rodney hill,

But before I'm able To make an arrest,

Jackson was killed during A home invasion robbery.

Jackson's death has me Questioning whether or not

This is even the career that I want to continue with.

I'm on my way. Bye.

But I get a call from amanda Hill, rodney hill's sister,

And it pulls me Right back into the case.

Quitting homicide Is not an option,

And it never really was.

It's what I'm supposed To be doing.

This is what I wanted To show you.

What is this?

Chester's facebook page.

Amanda hill shows him A facebook post

That chester brown made.

"Justice for rodney Has been served"?

Demery: The last time I saw chester

Was when I handed him Off to narcotics,

Who planned to send him back out On the streets as an informant,

But it looks like chester May have had other plans.

The message on chester brown's Facebook page

Kind of made me feel, And I think it did amanda,

That he was The person responsible

For sirdarren jackson Getting killed.

When was this posted?

Late last night.

Okay.

When I look at it now, I realize that chester

Was never telling me The whole truth,

And I think he always knew who It was that killed rodney hill,

And he wanted to exact His own revenge.

Okay, look, thank you For your help.

I'll see myself out.

After I speak with amanda,

I call narcotics to find out Where chester is,

And they tell me that Chester failed.

He didn't do what he said He was going to do,

And they were currently Looking for him

Because they wanted To charge him with the narcotics

He originally Was found with.

Within the hour, the narcotics Team locates chester

And bring him Back to the station.

I want to talk to chester.

I want to find out If he actually set

Jackson up to be killed.

♪♪

[ sighs ]

I hear things didn't work out So well for you with narcotics.

Well, they weren't gonna Let me walk either way.

It is what it is.Uh-huh.

When I sit down with chester, He seems very calm.

He seems very accepting Of what's going on.

So you want to tell me What happened to rodney?

What you want to know?

I want to know who killed Your boy.

I heard it was this dude, Hammer.

So why didn't you say that In the first place?

I told you it was one Of p.J.'s boys, didn't I?

But you did not tell me That it was hammer.

I must have Forgot his name.

It was clear that chester Didn't want to give me

Sirdarren jackson's name.

Now that sirdarren is dead, He's comfortable telling me.

You heard what happened To hammer?

Yeah, but I swear I had Nothing to do with that.

I never said you did.

Without prompt, He just blurts out,

"I didn't have anything to do With jackson being killed."

People have just been Saying that I did,

So I just want To let you know.

Yeah, okay.

The fact that chester Just starts talking

About his possible involvement In jackson's death

Shows sort of a consciousness Of his own guilt.

Maybe people are saying that Because of your facebook post.

Man, I just said that Because my family

Didn't deserve To die like that.

So you're saying you didn't Have anything to do

With hammer's death.

Nah, man. Okay.

I don't believe chester even For a second.

But the truth is, It's not possible to prove

That he set jackson up.

In fact, investigators Have already

Deemed the shooting justified,

So there's nothing else That can be done.

At this point, all I can do Is speculate

About what really happened.

On the night rodney hill Was murdered,

I believe that chester brown Knew he was being stalked,

And he didn't feel safe Going to give tameka a ride.

[ cellphone buzzes ]

What up?

Hey, rodney. Uh, it's chester.

Sup, fam? Headed to your place now.

Hey, man. You mind giving tameka A ride to the store for me

Before you come through?

Yeah, I can do that. She still at her place on janey?

Uh-huh.Yeah, I got you.

So he let rodney hill Go in his place.

Rodney hill drove his vehicle.

When hill got to Tameka's house...

...Jackson was waiting, Thinking it was chester.

P.J. Russell had already Put in motion his hit

On chester brown.

♪♪

Tameka: rodney?What's up, girl?

What you doing here? Where's chester?

He told me To come pick you up.

All right.

[ gun cocks ][ screams ]

You thought you would get away With this, chester?

What he meant was getting away

With using counterfeit money To buy drugs.

Rodney: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[ screams ] Oh, my god!

[ screaming ]

Demery: After jackson shot him,

Jackson jumped in his vehicle And took off.

[ tires screech ]

[ screams ]

Rodney hill was slumped Over the steering wheel.

His foot accidentally Hits the gas pedal...

[ glass shatters ]

Ah!

...And he runs into a wall.

Once chester found out About the murder of rodney hill,

He kind of laid low And began to plot his revenge.

Police! Drop that.

When I talked to chester,

He refused to give me The name of jackson,

Even though he knew his name, And he held off

Until he could set things up To have jackson killed.

Tell him there's a trap house in Cedar grove that he should hit.

Tell him the house is full Of cash and dope.

Word.

At some point, he was able To have someone convince

Jackson that this Particular house

Was packed With drugs and money.

Then he tells those Potential victims

That they're targets Of a home invasion.

And when sirdarren jackson comes To rip the drugs and money...

...He's met with an ak-47.

[ gun cocks ]Not in my house!

Demery: they shot him in the Head with an assault rifle.

He died at the scene.

Based on what I know,

I believe that sirdarren jackson Killed rodney hill.

The fact that sirdarren jackson Is dead,

There's no way To possibly prosecute him.

Chester brown is charged with His original cocaine possession

And sentenced to 5 years In prison.

Watch your step. Watch your head.

As for his involvement In jackson's death,

That's purely my speculation, And it hasn't been proven.

Though I'm upset I couldn't find Sirdarren jackson

Before he was gunned down, I'm even more upset

That I couldn't deliver Justice to rodney hill.

This case is reflective Of the vicious cycle of crime.

Violent crime Doesn't encase itself.

It bleeds into the community.

It touches innocent people.

Rodney hill doesn't fit In any of this.

He's not taking part In any of this crime

That's happening around him.

The way rodney hill was killed Is heartbreaking.

He shows up to take a friend To the store,

And he's gunned down For doing the friend a favor.

The reason that Sirdarren jackson

Ended up the way he ended

Is because He was playing that game,

And it was russian roulette.

Sooner or later, that bullet Was going to go off.

Sirdarren jackson Is the poster boy

Of what's going on In these communities.

We can't ever stop crime, But we don't have to contribute

To the breeding grounds Of criminals...

[ engine revs ]

...And when we start To remove that environment,

Then we'll see some progress.

It's that simple.