0:00:24 > 0:00:26911 emergency?
0:00:26 > 0:00:31Gunshots on Florence at the car wash right off of Crenshaw.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37"100% assassin.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39"I kill."
0:00:39 > 0:00:40That's what he had on his chest.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46The gang situation in LA is very depressing.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48I can only say that if I was a young black man,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50I wouldn't live in Los Angeles.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57You can get mistaken for anyone.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Just by the way you dress,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01just by the way you look.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04You might walk down the street and somebody might be at the corner and
0:01:04 > 0:01:06they gonna ask you where you from.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12You were right there with the victim that got shot,
0:01:12 > 0:01:13was right there, next to you.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15- I ain't saying nothing to you. - You don't have to say nothing.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18All right, then I don't have to say nothing.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19GUNSHOTS
0:01:26 > 0:01:29VOICE ON RADIO: What's going on? What's crack-a-lacking, my peoples.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32I'm Jerry Quickley and this is happening.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35MUSIC: For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
0:01:35 > 0:01:38# There's something happening here
0:01:38 > 0:01:43# What it is ain't exactly clear
0:01:43 > 0:01:45# There's a man with a gun in his hand... #
0:01:45 > 0:01:48We're going to be talking about gun culture in Los Angeles
0:01:48 > 0:01:51in these very, very scary times.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54- CALLER:- People are dropping like flies over here.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55People are dying every day.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59You walk out your house and pop-pop-pop.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05We were going to get some pizza and go to the beach.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Tavin was really happy about that.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10He said he wanted to take his feet out and walk in the sand.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11Put his feet in the water.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12So I was like, that's cool.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16MUSIC: I Want You Back by Jackson 5
0:02:24 > 0:02:27This is the block where we spent most of our, our childhood at.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Everybody on this block can remember my brother.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33He was bad, you know what I'm saying? He was real bad.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37And he would always run out the house, he'd tear the house up.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39He didn't care.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42If it didn't go his way, it wasn't going no way.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58We was driving down Manchester and Tavin said, "Take me to that smoke
0:02:58 > 0:03:01shop on Crenshaw. I need to get some cigarettes."
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I was like, "I'll just buy you a pack."
0:03:03 > 0:03:05"Nah, I just want four cigarettes."
0:03:06 > 0:03:10So, I took him over there anyway.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11And I always used to tell him,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14"Them cigarettes going to get you in trouble.
0:03:14 > 0:03:15And it cost him his life.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27When I pulled in, I just pulled in and said,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29"I might as well wash the car."
0:03:29 > 0:03:30So I pulled in stall number three.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39A friend of mine, she went to go get the cigarettes.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Tavin ran behind her.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Los Angeles, California is probably the only state that actually
0:04:05 > 0:04:07divide gangs by colour.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09The gang thing out here is...
0:04:11 > 0:04:14..if you a Crip, you a Crip. If you a Blood, you a Blood.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Um, if you a Blood, you don't like Crips.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20If you a Crip, you don't like Bloods. You know what I'm saying?
0:04:20 > 0:04:23That's just how it go out here, they run off of colours.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26So if you got red shoes on with red shoestrings in them,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30the chances of you being a Blood, that's what they're going to think.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16I was vacuuming the car when Tavin walked up
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and told me what was going on.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23He said, "Mommy, these guys banged on me."
0:05:24 > 0:05:27And I said, "Well, who banged on you?"
0:05:27 > 0:05:29He said, "Some boy in the smoke shop."
0:05:29 > 0:05:30And that's when I said,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33"Well, you know what, Tavin, let's go."
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Cos ain't nobody around here ever banged on you,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37so let's get up out here cos that's not cool.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10I heard something say, "Pop-pop", I was talking to Tavin,
0:06:10 > 0:06:11his head was bent in the car
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and he has his cigarette like this when he hit it.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16And all of a sudden I heard something say, "Pop-pop".
0:06:19 > 0:06:23The cigarette dropped
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and his eyes went.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28And I say, "You just got shot?"
0:06:28 > 0:06:30And he...
0:06:31 > 0:06:34And I see some legs right there and I was like,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"Oh, my God, you just got shot."
0:06:36 > 0:06:38I raise up, I say, "You just shot my son?"
0:06:38 > 0:06:40And the boy shot him two more times in the heart.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44I was like, "You motherfucker."
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Those were my exact words.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49911, emergency, 671.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55Did you see who shot him?
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I ran around the car,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I grabbed Tavin, I laid him on the back-seat.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15He said, "Mommy, am I going to be all right?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17"I'm not going to die, am I?"
0:07:17 > 0:07:19I was like, "No, Tavin, you going to be all right.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22"You going to be all right."
0:07:22 > 0:07:23And he said, "I can't breathe."
0:07:26 > 0:07:28And that's when Officer Roberson pulled up.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33And I said, "They just shot my son."
0:07:33 > 0:07:36And he threw his bike down and he grabbed Tavin.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39He threw off his helmet and he...called for backup.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44He tried to help my son, but...
0:07:57 > 0:07:58911, emergency.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01Hello?
0:08:27 > 0:08:29The day that he got shot
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I just kept telling myself,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33"I wish it was me, why'd it have to be him?"
0:08:33 > 0:08:36I was my little brother's protector
0:08:36 > 0:08:37and he knew that.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41We protected each other.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48It was like we loved each other to death.
0:08:49 > 0:08:57But we didn't... We didn't understand this part right here.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Once you go, how much you going to miss that person.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02We didn't understand...
0:09:02 > 0:09:04We didn't understand that.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09And when I think back
0:09:09 > 0:09:12on my mom telling me when he got shot,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15his last words was, "I don't want to die.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20"Am I going to die, Mommy?"
0:09:53 > 0:09:54Most of our victims are gang members,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58I'd say 90% of our cases involve gang member on gang member violence.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03It doesn't matter to me what they were doing when they were killed.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07They deserve the same level of investigation.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11When we got there, all we knew was that
0:10:11 > 0:10:13the victim's mother was still at the scene,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Jennifer Rivers was still there.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19And that she had relayed information that somebody inside the smoke shop,
0:10:19 > 0:10:24there at the car wash, had inquired about Tavin being a gang member.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27And then shortly after that, the shooting occurred.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44It's this area right here where the car was parked
0:10:44 > 0:10:45and where he was found.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48It's probably only the second or third case I've had where the...
0:10:48 > 0:10:50The parent was a witness to the murder.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I only seen like a partial side of his face,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01but I will never forget that face like that.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Like if you cover that up, I'll never forget that side.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13At some level we form a relationship
0:11:13 > 0:11:17with our victims' families, and really what it's about is bringing
0:11:17 > 0:11:21them some sense of justice out of this whole senseless incident.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23We have to take their phone calls and we have to
0:11:23 > 0:11:26explain to them, "I'm sorry, I haven't solved your case yet."
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Tavin, he loved shoes.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44He loved them.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48And he had just bought these red Chuck Taylor's
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and I specifically told him that morning, I said,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53"Tavin, take those red shoestrings out those tennis shoes."
0:11:53 > 0:11:55I said "You know, people be thinking you a Blood or something."
0:11:55 > 0:11:59He said, "I ain't no Blood, I wear whatever I want to wear."
0:11:59 > 0:12:01And they knew he wasn't no Blood.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03They knew that.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05They was just punking him because they knew he had special needs.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08You could look at Tavin and tell he... He had issues.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16He happened to be at the ice cream truck,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19my cousins were supposed to be watching him.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He got hit by a car, it was a man on his way to church.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24He was speeding down the street
0:12:24 > 0:12:25and the man hit my brother,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27he flew I think about 50 feet in the air.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36This is when he first got out the coma and he had just turned four.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40He was still in the hospital when he turned four, that's him.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42See him with his long pigtails?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46When he got out the hospital from getting hit by the car,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48they said that he was a walking miracle.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51That he was supposed to have been a vegetable.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53I just thank God that he still was able to walk
0:12:53 > 0:12:55after he got hit by that car.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57He went through a lot of trauma.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Honestly my brother, he had a mental issue from that.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04But me being his brother,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08I didn't think anything was wrong with him.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12He was 20, but he never grew into 20.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15He was 20, but he had the mind of a 12-year-old.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17This is his actual size of his height.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21That picture is 4"11 exactly.
0:13:21 > 0:13:234"11.5, 4"12.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Here, let me see.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30- Yeah.- So he was kind of small, right?
0:13:30 > 0:13:32He was tiny just like this.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35This is Tavin all the way right here.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38When I say this is Tavin, this is my baby.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41This is how he was.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43This is his size, and this is how he stood to me.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00In broad daylight,
0:14:00 > 0:14:07in the middle of a location with so many witnesses and civilians around,
0:14:07 > 0:14:13and he was only 19 years old, and he was developmentally disabled,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and he had done nothing to deserve what he did.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21He just dressed the way he wanted to dress and, for that reason,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24he really is one of what we would consider a true victim in the case
0:14:24 > 0:14:27cos he did nothing to instigate this.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37The events leading up to the shooting
0:14:37 > 0:14:40and the shooting itself were all captured on video.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43In this case, it was a high-definition camera.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Showing that video to some of our gang officers here at 77th
0:14:47 > 0:14:52that were able to say, "I know this person to be Dwight Smith."
0:14:55 > 0:14:57"I know this person to be Kevin Johnson."
0:14:59 > 0:15:02You know? Or Bang and Tiny Manson.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03That's the names they were going by.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10But we really didn't know who our shooter was based on video.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Well, really, the biggest key for us was just trying to find
0:15:14 > 0:15:16a cooperative eyewitness.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18You know, we had no reason to think that, you know,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21somebody didn't see the whole thing and know the parties involved.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24But for the most part,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27they weren't real cooperative in providing that information.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36I went every night in the 60 Neighbourhood,
0:15:36 > 0:15:37in the 58 Neighbourhood,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39looking for those boys.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Literally myself,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44with a gun. I didn't care.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46I didn't care about the police looking for them.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48I told the police, "You better found them before I do,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52"cos I'm going to kill 'em, I'm going to blow their heads off."
0:16:11 > 0:16:15People are frightened on these types of cases.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18There were numerous witnesses
0:16:18 > 0:16:22that did not want to be involved in the case at all.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Antheyst Jarrett was inside the smoke shop
0:16:30 > 0:16:33in a conversation with Kevin Johnson and Dwight Smith
0:16:33 > 0:16:36a short time before the actual confrontation
0:16:36 > 0:16:38between Dwight and Tavin.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43On the video, she can be seen as Dwight begins to confront Tavin,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46she walks out of the smoke shop as if,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49"I don't want to be involved in what's coming next."
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Later, when Ms Rivers is being interviewed by the police,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and she's giving the direction of she last the shooter as running,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00and said he went into a house where some gang members may live.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02And Antheyst jumped in and said,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06"Why you gotta say it's the gang members, snitch?"
0:17:06 > 0:17:08And confronted Jennifer about talking to the police.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12And so that was what originally led us to Antheyst being involved.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Antheyst Jarrett has said it was her ex that did it, and then we had
0:17:30 > 0:17:35somebody else that had called in and said that another witness told her
0:17:35 > 0:17:38that it was Bone, and that was the nickname we knew for Kanasho Johns.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47The video shows that you were actually outside
0:17:47 > 0:17:48when the shooting took place.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51You observed a male black that you knew to be Bone walking
0:17:51 > 0:17:52southbound across Florence.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Do you remember that that was what happened that day, though?
0:17:56 > 0:17:58And where was the last place you remember seeing Bone
0:17:58 > 0:18:00before the shots were fired?
0:18:02 > 0:18:05How long after you saw Bone did you hear the shots?
0:18:15 > 0:18:19If somebody could shoot an unarmed 19-year-old, Tavin Price,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23with special needs, who was all of five-feet tall and maybe 90 lbs,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26you know, then who would really be safe from someone like that?
0:18:26 > 0:18:29So it's important to get him in custody as soon as possible.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46We're investigating the murder, OK?
0:18:46 > 0:18:49We are talking to people that we believe
0:18:49 > 0:18:53are involved in the murder in some way. All right?
0:18:53 > 0:18:54I'm not saying you banged on that kid.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- Yeah.- I'm not saying you shot that kid, OK?
0:18:57 > 0:18:59But I'm saying you're involved in that murder. OK?
0:18:59 > 0:19:01- I'm not involved in anything. - All right.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Kevin Johnson was taken into custody,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and he was interviewed here at station.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07He admitted to being at the car wash.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09I'm going to be straight with you, all right?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- We're going to book you for murder today.- Why?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Because we believe you're involved in this murder, OK?
0:19:14 > 0:19:16We had him on video, we had him leaving the scene in his car,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18and we knew which way he went,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22which was consistent with picking up Kanasho Johns from the apartment
0:19:22 > 0:19:25where he was staying and bringing him back to the scene.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33If you see that camera, I don't be up there like that.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35- So why don't you tell us the truth then?- What's the truth?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39That I don't have nothing to do with it? That's the truth.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41I don't have nothing to do with it.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45I'm about to get charged for something, I clearly didn't do shit.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Didn't have shit to do with nothing.
0:19:47 > 0:19:54OK. I think the one thing you could do to clarify a lot of this is
0:19:54 > 0:19:58you could separate yourself as a suspect by being a witness.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- Man, I don't know nothing about that.- Oh, no, but...
0:20:00 > 0:20:03- Before, you said... - I'm not about to do nothing.
0:20:03 > 0:20:04OK, who's the guy that ran by your car?
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I don't have nothing to do with this shit, man.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- Cool.- I know where I was at, man.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- I know...- Yeah, you were right there with him.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12The victim that got shot was right there next to you.
0:20:12 > 0:20:13And I didn't say nothing to him!
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Yeah, you didn't have to say nothing.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17All right, then I don't have to say nothing.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19- You're not going to say the truth? - What's the truth?
0:20:19 > 0:20:20That I don't have nothing to do with it.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23That's all I know. I don't give a fuck about nobody else
0:20:23 > 0:20:25and what's the fuck going on, but I know...
0:20:25 > 0:20:28- Like my partner told you...- I didn't have shit to do with that shit.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Well, here's your chance to separate yourself from all that
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- by telling us who crossed the street.- I don't know.- OK.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36SIRENS WAIL
0:20:44 > 0:20:47My partner and I continued to drive through the neighbourhood
0:20:47 > 0:20:50in the following days, and we observed Dwight Smith
0:20:50 > 0:20:52not too far from the crime scene.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Dwight was standing in the driveway
0:20:56 > 0:20:59right here, and...
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Just stopped and looked at him, and just the look on his face,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04we knew we... That was the right person.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28We had to employ an FBI task force in order to try and get him located.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30We had him identified,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33we knew he was involved, we just had to catch him.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Every day for two weeks straight,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41every day, in front of that car wash,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44protesting, trying to get people to come out
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and protest with me to catch who shot my son.
0:21:52 > 0:21:59And then I got a call from Detective Crosson telling me they got him.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Oh, my God, I cried with joy.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03I shouted, "I thank you, Jesus."
0:22:04 > 0:22:08I was just so grateful that they caught this idiot.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24I had control that day.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28I should've made that decision not to go to that car wash.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33So I feel guilty about that because I was the adult.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39And I let him convince me to take him there.
0:22:40 > 0:22:41I just regret it.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44I feel like it was part of my fault.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47I just miss my child a lot.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54The boys, when they shot and killed my son, they killed me, basically.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Because I have to live with this for the rest of my life.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35He told us everything that happened.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Kanasho did it. He said, "I saw him, you know, get out of the car,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42"I saw him get out of the car that belonged to Kevin, you know,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45"and walk and then I watched him go do the shooting,
0:23:45 > 0:23:46"you know, then he ran away."
0:24:11 > 0:24:14One of the reasons that witnesses refuse to speak with
0:24:14 > 0:24:19or corroborate with police is because of fear of retaliation.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Fear of retaliation on the streets and while in custody.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Getting a conviction in exchange for having someone new injured or
0:24:29 > 0:24:32possibly killed is not something to take lightly.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54Victim of Crime relocated me right after the murder.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I moved out two days later.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02After the killer's family found out where I was at, I panicked.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05I was like, "Oh, my God, no, that's not happening."
0:25:05 > 0:25:11I'm leaving because I had got so many death threats from
0:25:11 > 0:25:13his friends, his family,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16people coming to court threatening me and my family.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21They literally harassed us every day.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29By the grace of God, I'm right here.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31This is my new house.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32Finally.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18They took his future away.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22You know? They took something so sensitive, something so soft,
0:26:22 > 0:26:23so precious.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27They should feel like cowards.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30You steal an innocent person's life,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33to be thrown in jail for the rest of yours,
0:26:33 > 0:26:34it don't make sense.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I miss you a lot.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49You're still my baby.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I know you're in a better place.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59I don't know if I can be at peace yet.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00I'm trying to be at peace.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03But it's so hard.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06It's really, really hard.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09All over these red Chucks right here.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12These are Tavin's shoes right here.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14These Chuck Taylors.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Are you scared to wear those shoes out and about?
0:27:16 > 0:27:17Uh-uh.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19I'm not scared at all.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22These are my shoes.
0:27:22 > 0:27:23They were Tavin's shoes.