[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[insects chirping]
♪ ♪
[line trilling]
[siren wailing]
[line trilling]
OK, who shot who?
Where? Where are they?
♪ ♪
[officer] Buddy, you OK?
[officer] OK. Did y'all see who shot?
[officer 2] K-9 unit en route.
[dog barking]
♪ ♪
[dog barks]
♪ ♪
[officer] They're two males, not alert, not breathing.
♪ ♪
[narrator] For homicide detectives,
their chance of solving a murder
is cut in half
if they don't get a lead
within the first 48 hours.
♪ ♪
[helicopter blades whirring]
[clock ticking]
♪ ♪
[Brian] Hey.
- What you got?
[officer] This is the crime scene here,
at the picnic bench pretty much.
[officer 2] Two people are deceased.
♪ ♪
Aiden Reynolds
[narrator] 19-year-old Aiden Reynolds
was born in Cartersville, Georgia.
He worked as a delivery driver and was an aspiring musician.
He leaves behind his mother, father, and a younger sister.
♪ ♪
[officer 2] The other guy is John Pendrak.
♪ ♪
[narrator] 17-year-old John Pendrak
was Aiden's best friend,
born 260 miles away in Villa Rica, Georgia.
John recently started a job as an oil technician.
He loved skateboarding, motorcycling, and camping.
He leaves behind his mother, stepfather,
and three siblings.
♪ ♪
- I'm going to see if there's anything crazy about the scene.
[officer] OK.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Hey. [person] Hey.
[officer 2] He's got one through the side
and two in the back.
[narrator] John was shot in the arm,
chest, back, and torso.
- I think when he fell, he must have fell into the table.
♪ ♪
I think this guy tried to run.
[Officer] They say where he got shot?
[narrator] Aiden was shot once in the chest,
once under the arm, and three times in the back.
♪ ♪
- Are these all shell casings? [officer 3] Yeah.
♪ ♪
[narrator] CSI locates 13 9-millimeter casings
on and around the table.
[detective] All those casings are pretty tight.
[Brian] It could be one shooter.
I mean, you can do that with one magazine.
[detective] Yeah.
This phone is all beat up.
[narrator] John and Aiden both have a cell phone
lying next to them.
[Brian] Yeah.
[detective] Stop any kind of deletions.
[narrator] Inside John's waistband...
[detective] Yeah.
It looks like a BB gun or a plastic gun.
♪ ♪
[narrator] John's girlfriend, Kayla, who called 911,
is waiting to speak with detectives.
[officer 2] She said was in the car when she heard shots.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Hey, Kayla.
[car door closes]
I'm Detective Pierson. This is Detective Araya.
Kayla, I'm very sorry this happened.
How tight are Aiden and John?
[Kayla] They were really tight, like, all three of us.
[Brian] Did you already talk to John's family?
[Kayla] I talked to his sister.
[Brian] So you did tell her what happened?
[Kayla] Yeah.
[Brian] So can you tell me what happened today,
what were you guys were doing?
[narrator] She says John and Aiden came to the park
to sell some marijuana.
[Brian] Do you know the guy's name?
[Brian] OK.
So how did Aiden get in contact with this guy?
[Brian] OK.
Do you know the Instagram handle?
[Kayla] Mm-mm.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Who brought it up to meet down here--Aiden?
[Kayla] Well, no, dude did.
♪ ♪
So we got in the car and just came over here.
♪ ♪
All I remember is them getting out the car.
As soon as they got out of the car,
I, like, completely just dozed off.
[Brian] OK.
[Kayla] And then the gunshots is what woke me up.
♪ ♪
I didn't see the gun being pulled.
Only thing I saw was them running off.
[narrator] She says she saw two men running away.
[Brian] OK.
Can you describe them?
[Kayla] They were in all black.
[Brian] Do you know the race?
[Kayla] I would say Black.
[Brian] Have you guys hung out here before?
[Kayla] Yeah. [Brian] So you knew the area?
[Kayla] We hang out here all the time.
[Brian] And I believe you said the dude named this
as the spot to meet-- the suspects.
Quite a coincidence, you know what I'm saying?
♪ ♪
Is there anything that you're not telling me
that you think I should know?
[Kayla] Mm-mm.
♪ ♪
[Brian] OK.
We'll get you out of here in just a few minutes, all right?
♪ ♪
[Jason] She tell you anything? - Yes.
Looks like it's going to be a drug rip.
[Jason] We went over here and checked this residence.
The K-9 lost the track.
The suspects could have ran to that location,
because it was an open gate.
[narrator] No one would answer the door
after repeated attempts to make contact.
[Jason] We just probably need to do some due diligence
to try to figure out who's living in that house.
[Brian] OK.
[officer 4] Homeowner right here has got video.
[narrator] Patrol finds a nearby home
with security cameras pointing at the park.
[officer 5] OK.
[narrator] Detectives will have to wait
until their internet is restored
to download the video.
- If we can get the suspects walking to or from,
that will definitely help.
She said the suspects' idea was to meet here at this park.
And you don't know this park unless you live here.
I feel like they knew these guys.
[Michael] So we're pretty sure
that there was direct conversation between these guys
and the suspect. - Yes.
If we can get into Aiden's phone, it's on his Instagram
and possibly on his phone call log.
[Brian] Yeah.
I'm going to go back up to headquarters.
♪ ♪
[Brian] How are you guys?
[Brian] You got into the phone?
[narrator] Forensics is able to gain access
to John's phone.
But Aiden's fails to download.
[Brian] A partial part of the call log--
you can't even see any of that?
[narrator] They will need to repair the phone
before they can retrieve any data.
[Brian] All right.
I appreciate it, guys. Thanks.
♪ ♪
- Aiden was talking to them on Instagram,
so I'm going to do the Instagram court order.
This is John's phone.
So Aiden texted John around 11:30,
says, what if I was thinking about robbing him?
So that's going to be an hour before the homicide.
If that was the case, the people that he tried to rob
obviously wanted to have a different way about it.
Kayla did not mention any of that.
♪ ♪
I'm going to try to go at Kayla again.
I just think she's holding back on something.
♪ ♪
[indistinct radio chatter]
[car door opens, closes]
[dogs barking]
[Brian] Hey, how are you? [dog barks]
If you want to have a seat.
I'll lay out everything for you.
You're my star witness, OK?
You knew everything up until what happened.
And you saw everything after.
So I want to go back over with you.
Tell me everything you know, OK?
♪ ♪
- Aiden literally called John.
And he was like, I have a play for us.
♪ ♪
[Brian] I do believe John and Aiden probably knew them.
♪ ♪
So you have no idea who could have been involved with this?
♪ ♪
- He was trying to sell her weed
and just took off with her money.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Out of how much money?
[Brian] Do you know her?
- No. I mean, I know her,
but I don't know her.
[Brian] Can you give me her address?
[Kayla] Yeah.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Kayla, we're gonna do whatever we can to figure out
who did this, all right? [Kayla] All right.
[Ricks] All right, thanks for talking to us, Kayla.
[Kayla] Thanks y'all.
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter over police radio]
- It could be a retaliation
against something that Aiden did a couple months ago,
where he kind of stiffed somebody on some money.
I mean, it could definitely be a good lead.
♪ ♪
I'm going to go back down to Norris Lake.
[narrator] Pierson heads out to speak with a young woman
Aiden allegedly robbed.
♪ ♪
[Brian] That house right there
is going to be where the K-9 units tracked to.
I don't know if it's going to be the suspect house.
The report said that the dog alerted
near or around the house.
That really doesn't give me probable cause
to get into the house right now,
but that's a house of interest.
A quarter mile from the shooting--it's not far.
♪ ♪
[Stevens] It looks like somebody's home--
female on the front porch. - Oh, good.
[car door closes]
Hey. How are you guys?
My name is Detective Pierson. This is Investigator Stevens.
Did you guys hear about what happened a couple days ago?
OK. And...
I heard your name from Kayla.
- OK. [person] Yeah.
[Brian] So what Kayla said--
a couple months ago, Aiden ripped you off.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Kayla told me that you paid Aiden or somewhat,
and then he just ran off with your money.
That never happened?
[Brian] OK.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Can you think of anything else
that you think we should know?
[Brian] All right, thank you. Take care of yourself.
[car doors open]
[car door closes]
[Brian sighs]
I'm nowhere different now
than I was 20 minutes ago.
Aiden's phone was going to be the gold mine for the evidence,
but we can't get into it right now.
I have a feeling I'm not going to get any information
unless it's from a court order or a search warrant,
which is unfortunate,
because that's going to take some time.
The longer we go, obviously, the more opportunity
is for these guys to scatter, destroy evidence,
or get tipped off.
♪ ♪
[narrator] Four days later...
[Brian] I got the video.
[narrator] The video from the home next to the park
comes in.
♪ ♪
[Brian] This is the parking lot on the other side of the park.
It's motion activated, so when you'll see it,
it'll come up, and then it'll skip over to a different time.
♪ ♪
Looks like Aiden's car.
♪ ♪
And it's 12:04 a.m.
♪ ♪
Looks like they're on their phones right here--
12:13 a.m.
♪ ♪
I think they're communicating with somebody
with the headlights-- 12:25 a.m.
♪ ♪
That's Aiden, and that's John.
♪ ♪
John has a backpack on,
which was taken, 'cause that was gone.
♪ ♪
You can see someone right here.
So this is going to be
one or the suspect in the park waiting.
♪ ♪
This is the last video of John and Aiden alive.
♪ ♪
This is probably the best evidence that I've got so far.
♪ ♪
So right now I'm just going to wait on those court orders
and see what else I can get.
♪ ♪
[narrator] 13 days since Aiden and John were murdered...
- Forensic lab was able to finally get into Aiden's phone.
From what Kayla said on the night,
Aiden was talking to the suspect on Instagram.
Let's see...
♪ ♪
This would be the conversation right here.
♪ ♪
They're talking about how much marijuana
and 56 grams.
They're talking about $400.
He's talking to popshots-ej.
♪ ♪
11:48, the suspect says, "Sunset."
♪ ♪
Aiden texted him at 12:05 a.m.
He's saying, I'm here.
That's right when they arrived.
And then at 12:25 a.m.,
the suspect texted, "Here."
♪ ♪
See someone walking right there?
♪ ♪
The exact time the suspect says "here" on the messages.
The video mirrors the messages,
so popshots-ej is going to be one of the suspects
that killed John and Aiden.
♪ ♪
[Brian] That's definitely huge.
This is a photo from Aiden's phone.
Popshots-ej--underscore--
that's going to be the Instagram profile
that was talking to Aiden.
- That's a nice break.
♪ ♪
[Brian] I'll check the suspect's mutual friends.
♪ ♪
Let's see...
His profile has been deleted.
♪ ♪
I just find that really suspicious.
♪ ♪
Norris Lake is a small community,
and he looks to be around the same age
as the girl we talked to last week.
She might know him, or she might know of him.
♪ ♪
I don't have anything to go on,
so we kind of have to talk to her.
Right here.
[car door opens, closes]
How you doing?
[indistinct chatter]
[Brian] All right.
I have something I wanted to show you
we got from the victim's phone.
♪ ♪
That's the Instagram that was messaging Aiden.
♪ ♪
Who is that?
♪ ♪
[Brian] Who's EJ?
[Brian] Well, you know something
'cause your mouth dropped when you saw his picture.
[narrator] She says she and a friend met EJ
at Norris Lake,
a community beach near the park.
♪ ♪
[Brian] All right, well, I guess we're going to go up
and talk to your friend.
Can you give me her address?
♪ ♪
[Brian] All right, we appreciate your time.
[car door opens, closes]
♪ ♪
[car door closes]
[Brian] She lives right down the street.
♪ ♪
Here we go.
♪ ♪
[car door closes]
♪ ♪
My name is Detective Pierson. This is Investigator Stevens.
We're with the Gwinnett County Police Department.
Don't be nervous. You're not in trouble.
Do you know who that is?
EJ?
Do you know anything about EJ?
- Um...
- What do you know?
♪ ♪
[Brian] So did he message you on Instagram?
♪ ♪
[Brian] May I see the calls and stuff?
♪ ♪
So is this him?
"When are you going to start on my hair?"
That was two weeks ago.
So, according to this, you went to his house.
[Stevens] So you got a pretty good idea
of where his house is at.
[Stevens] What school does EJ go to?
[narrator] She says EJ attends a local high school
for troubled youth.
[Brian] He did murder two boys, and us getting an address
of where you did his hair a week before the murder
is going to be big for us.
♪ ♪
[Brian] What if we drove by in his Durango
with the blacked-out windows?
[Brian] I'm just going to wait here,
and then you guys are going to go with him in that car.
♪ ♪
[narrator] Minutes later...
[Brian] Thank you. I appreciate it.
[Stevens] As soon as we got over there,
she's like, take a right.
I'm like, OK.
And she's like, we're going to have to speed up a little bit
because it's really close on this side, and then I'm like...
- Oh, it's that yellow house with the fence?
♪ ♪
- [sighs]
I want to get into that house.
♪ ♪
[Brian] This is a big lead for us.
They drove right by that same house the K-9s tracked to.
♪ ♪
Here it is.
♪ ♪
Now that I have a house, I want to get to it.
But we have to be safe about it
and kind of brief about it before we just go in there
and start kicking the door in,
because they did murder two people.
She also said that EJ went to either GIVE East or GIVE West.
I think it's definitely going to get us close
to whoever EJ is.
So...
♪ ♪
Now I'm just a little anxious.
I'm not going to sleep at all tonight.
♪ ♪
Hey, it's Detective Pierson, Gwinnett County Police.
How are you?
[narrator] Pierson reaches out
to the GIVE's school resource officer.
[Brian] So I'm working a double homicide in Norris Lake.
The suspect, his Instagram name was popshots-ej.
And a couple kids in the neighborhood knew that profile
and said that that was EJ.
Can you figure out who that student is?
OK, cool. Thanks, man.
I would like to think there wouldn't be too many kids
nicknamed EJ.
I just got to wait for a little bit
and see if he can track down that name.
♪ ♪
[telephone rings]
Hey, Hills.
♪ ♪
So it's L-E-Q-U-A-N Leroy Dempsey.
♪ ♪
And the address...
OK. All right.
I appreciate it, dude. Thanks.
He asked around, all the teachers,
and they know a kid that goes there by the nickname EJ.
His name is Le'Quan Dempsey.
♪ ♪
He just turned 16.
Sounds like that's going to be my shooter.
♪ ♪
The text message chain isn't enough for an arrest warrant.
I still need to put him there.
[narrator] Pierson will submit a search warrant
for Le'Quan's cell phone records.
- He doesn't have an address in Norris Lake,
but that doesn't mean he's not friends with people
on the address that K-9 tracked to.
[Jason] So what if we went out to the house
and just kind of did a knock-and-talk,
turning it into a lock-it-down?
♪ ♪
[indistinct radio chatter]
♪ ♪
[car door opens]
[indistinct chatter over police radio]
♪ ♪
[knocking at door]
[Brian] Police department.
[door opens] Hey.
[officer] How's it going?
[Brian] Can I talk to you for a second?
You heard about the murders, right?
You've lived here a while, right?
You didn't hear about the murders across the street?
Two boys were killed two weeks ago.
OK.
Is EJ here?
Le'Quan.
Mm-hmm.
[Brian] Where's he?
[Brian] I know he had his hair done here
a couple weeks ago, right?
[narrator] She says Le'Quan is a friend of her brother.
[Brian] I need to talk to your brother and Le'Quan.
[Brian] Can I come inside?
No?
♪ ♪
I think we could do the search warrant now.
[Brian] I'll go get it right now.
♪ ♪
[officer] We got the search warrant.
♪ ♪
[Brian] There's going to be a black backpack.
I don't know if it's still here.
The victim had 2 ounces of marijuana in it,
and they took it after they shot him.
9-millimeter handgun.
♪ ♪
There's nothing.
♪ ♪
We'll just talk right here.
I'm telling you, the shooters ran to this house.
♪ ♪
K-9 tracked to this house,
and, particularly, they tracked into this yard, OK?
Do you want to talk to me?
♪ ♪
- Now's not the time to mess with me.
♪ ♪
[Brian] This isn't going away.
I will not stop until I figure out
who the two people were that met John and Aiden.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Sure.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Did he tell you who?
♪ ♪
[Brian] So are you telling me this
because you think it's linked to the shooting?
[Brian] What do you know about the shooting?
[Brian] I know you know something.
[Brian] Yeah, but that was what happened in June.
I need to know what happened two weeks ago.
Was Quan the one that tried to buy weed from these guys again,
and they tried to rob Quan?
♪ ♪
[Brian] You don't know? All right.
♪ ♪
She was telling me a story that Le'Quan had told her.
He was trying to buy some marijuana
from a white kid, and that person robbed him.
It sounds like this could be, like, payback.
♪ ♪
[narrator] The next day...
[telephone rings]
- Detective Pierson, Gwinnett Police.
[narrator] An attorney for the young man
who lives in the house that was searched calls Pierson.
[Brian] There's a suspect, EJ.
We had a couple people in the neighborhood point out
that address as the one that EJ was staying at
when he's in the neighborhood.
That's why we were out at the house.
I just wanted to kind of talk to him about EJ.
♪ ♪
All right, sir.
All right, you too. Bye.
[clears throat] All right.
He's like, if you have any warrants, I want them.
I said, I don't have any warrants.
I wanted to talk to him about a suspect called EJ.
I heard he was friends with him.
He's like, well, I don't want to come up and talk
if he's going to be roped into this felony-murder thing.
♪ ♪
The GIVE school provided me with a phone number
for Le'Quan's grandma.
I want to get a statement from them.
I don't really have any other avenues right now.
♪ ♪
[narrator] Two days later...
- I talked to Le'Quan's grandma about talking to Le'Quan.
She said she's going to bring him up today.
We're going to talk to him about that conversation
with him and the victim.
We're going to try to figure out what his story is
about all this stuff.
♪ ♪
Ma'am, if you'd like to have a seat right there.
Le'Quan right here, please.
Um, I know we spoke on the phone briefly.
And I know you guys already kind of know
why we're here talking.
It was about the murders down in Norris Lake.
[Brian] Sure. Mm-hmm.
One of the things that I did do after the homicide was,
I got into one of the victim's phone, which was Aiden.
And there was an Instagram conversation
between your Instagram account and the victim's,
leading up to...
the homicide.
♪ ♪
[narrator] He says he shares his Instagram account
with the friend who lives at the house that K-9 tracked to.
♪ ♪
- And I can show it to you,
but I don't want it to shut you down because the conversation's
between Aiden and the person using this account.
They're over buying marijuana, OK?
The person using the account says,
we're going to meet at sunset.
And then Aiden and John show up at sunset.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Where were you?
At home? Who was at home with you?
♪ ♪
[Brian] Is there anything else about either you being
at the house and them going down to the park
or you being around and not knowing
that this was going to happen?
♪ ♪
- I can see it in your mannerisms right now
and your face that you want to tell more.
- What was "bump home"?
What was that?
[narrator] He says the friend
has been trying to bring him into a gang.
[narrator] He says two days before the shooting,
the friend and another young man
showed up at his house asking to borrow his phone.
♪ ♪
[Brian] Did he tell you what happened?
- Um...
[Brian] Yeah.
I appreciate you spending so much time with us tonight.
♪ ♪
Basically, he told me they gave him his phone, which sounds--
like, it's ridiculous, but--
Is he high enough to place this kid in fear?
- He was training Le'Quan as his little pup.
That's what he called him.
[James] This guy has as much control over him.
I could see him saying, give me your phone,
and there's no questions asked.
This kid's only 16 years old.
So I mean, he's still trying to figure out how to survive.
- Could still not be telling the truth.
I just--
I don't know.
- So how can you back up his story?
'Cause now the location data for his cell phone
is going to put him in Norris Lake.
[Brian] His Instagram won't matter.
Just have to wait for his call-detail records
and see where we go from there.
♪ ♪
[narrator] Ten days later...
- This is the phone records I got for...
Le'Quan.
♪ ♪
So here's the coordinates
for the cell tower that he used.
♪ ♪
Norris Lake.
The 19th here,
he called the 916 number
and then again on the 20th,
the afternoon before the homicides.
And then right here, the 21st, 11:30 in the morning,
11 hours after the homicide, he called again.
Let me see if I can figure out who it is.
♪ ♪
That 916 number is to his grandmother.
[detective] Really? [Brian] Yes.
And you can scroll down.
And each one of these, he's in Norris Lake.
In the interview, Le'Quan was talking about,
his friend came up, picked up his phone on the 19th,
and he didn't get back until the 24th.
His friend's not talking to his grandma.
Le'Quan is going to be involved.
♪ ♪
I know he was in Norris Lake.
I know it was his Instagram.
And I know it was his phone talking to the victim.
Now that we know that
what he's telling me in the interview is false,
I can confront him with that.
Hopefully he'll come off of it and tell me he was there.
♪ ♪
Detective Pierson, Gwinnett Police.
How are you?
[narrator] Pierson calls Le'Quan's grandmother.
♪ ♪
- OK.
[narrator] She says Le'Quan's mother
retained representation for her son.
- I don't believe he was by himself.
But if that's y'all's decision,
I won't reach out to him anymore.
♪ ♪
I'll probably end up getting warrants for Le'Quan.
I'm telling you that straight up.
♪ ♪
All right, bye-bye.
♪ ♪
I have more than enough evidence to charge Le'Quan.
At this point, there's nothing else I can do--
just get him into custody and we'll go from there.
♪ ♪
[narrator] Five days later...
- They took Le'Quan into custody
at his grandmother's house.
♪ ♪
I wish I could have talked to Le'Quan again.
I wish I could have talked to his friend
to get some more information.
I do believe he's involved,
but I don't know to what extent.
But I do believe Le'Quan is the main suspect.
♪ ♪
I did speak with Aiden and John's families.
They were appreciative of everything we did for them.
It's just a tragic incident,
with two teenagers that are now gone.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[narrator] Three years after John and Aiden were killed...
[line trilling]
- Hi. - Hey.
Are you wearing the shirt?
- I wore John and Aiden, and she wore Aiden.
[Donna] John and Aiden--
once they met, from that day on, they were inseparable.
[Debra] Yeah.
[Donna] Remember when John and Aiden
were saying that they were going to get face tattoos?
- Oh, my gosh.
- I think they just would say stuff
just to give us a hard time.
[Debra] Always! - Let's see what Mom will do.
- Oh, I know. I could hear the two of them
just masterminding that, too.
- Crazy, crazy boys.
- They were good kids. They really were.
This time of year is always hard, you know.
♪ ♪
I try to forget that day.
Like, change my memories and my thought pattern
to, like, something good.
- I'm glad that they were together, though,
♪ ♪
As much as I hate it.
♪ ♪
Bound forever.
- So are we. [Debra] Yes, we are.
We are definitely bound by the blood of our sons.
- I always have somebody that knows
exactly where I'm at because you're right there, too.
♪ ♪
- I love you, and it was good to see you.
[Donna] OK. I love you, too.
- I look for signs from Aiden to help me cope,
a song that comes on the radio,
finding dimes and pennies--
that's kisses and hugs from heaven.
I look for him in my dreams.
♪ ♪
- He just brought so much joy and fun.
The world is quiet now.
[voice breaking] I just would give anything
to just hear his voice.
- I feel like the day he died, I died, too.
I lost all my joy. I lost all my happiness.
I didn't even know how to laugh anymore.
- You got to really be thankful for every minute,
every day that you get with your kids.
I miss you.
♪ ♪
I love you, John-John.
♪ ♪