09x05 - One Last Ride

[bunniefuu]

[Jackie] All of a
sudden, I woke up.

It was midnight.

I hadn't heard her come in.

[door knocking]

I went to her bedroom,

[door creaking]

and she wasn't there.

All of a sudden,
I felt like this...

kind of [inhales]
uneasy feeling.

I say, "That's so strange
and she didn't call."

She would always call me.

She would always text me.

I stayed up, and I
turned on the news.

[TV reporter] Came out
of the car with his hands up

[Jackie] And they said
there was a homicide.

[TV reporter] And he sh*t him...

[woman] And they
were saying that

the female victim was
taken to the hospital.

I was thinking, no, it was
just nothing happening.

It was just gonna be okay.
It's just gonna be okay.

But...

No.

[narrator] Julian Soler is o
in his prized white Mustang

ready to celebrate
his 23rd birthday.

[Janine] We all
had a conversation,

and he was telling me, "I'm gonna
go and hang out with some friends.

We're gonna celebrate
my birthday tonight."

[honking the horn]

[narrator] Friend, Kennia Duran,

is joining Julian
for the celebrations.

[footsteps]

The minute she was born,
she was like a ray of light.

She had this
infectious smile, always.

[narrator] Kennia is a
mom to a six-year-old son.

[Jackie] As a mother, she
was an excellent mother

As young as she was,

because she had
him when she was 18,

to her, it was like, you
know, "This is my life,

and this is what I'm
gonna do with him.

And I love him, and
I'll take care of him."

Have a great time.

- Remember to call me.
- I will.

- See you later.
- Bye.

[narrator] Julian and Kenni
both share a passion for car

From a very young
age, he loved cars.

He was just so into,
like, all kinds of cars,

of course, racing cars.

[engine revs]

They both had a
love of Mustangs,

and that's what
brought them together.

[narrator] Julian and Kenni meet
up with friends at a local car meet.

- [Kennia] Hey, guys.
- How you goin', man?

Hey, look at this dude.

- Hey, man.
- Happy birthday, bro.

I mean, so far so good.

[Janine] This is, like,
the perfect evening

to talk about the
car. Show the cars.

See somebody else's car,
and see what they've done

in comparison to yours.

Smile.

Nice... okay.

They did photo
sh**t of their vehicles

for their little club
and things like that,

'cause they wanted
eventually someday,

to have it, you know, shown
in a magazine or something.

It was their moment, you know.

Young people moments.

As a parent, I think
you always worry.

There's always a
sense of, uh, uneasiness

when your kids go out, you know.

But we never had any problems.

We never had any issues.

[phone ringing]

[radio dispatch speaking]

[man speaking]

Any time there's sh*ts fired,

we'll get a large
amount of 911 calls.

[police siren wailing]

[Joseph] I got that phone
ca from my Sergeant

requesting that I
respond to the scene.

I know that location.

I start hypothesizing.

I start thinking what the
scene is gonna look like.

What I need to think about.

[police sirens wailing]

I start running scenarios
through my head.

[police sirens wailing]

It gives you a understanding
and helps calm you.

When I first pull up
to the gas station,

I exit my vehicle, and
I take a deep breath.

I made my approach,

and I see a deceased individual.

And I see his vehicle there

The female victim
was actually alive.

She was speaking to Fire Rescue.

She was sh*t.

She was suffering from
apparent g*nsh*t wound

to her flank.

She'd be able to
give a description

of the perpetrators
in this case.

I learned during the briefing

that the victims
were identified.

The first, Julian, was identified
through his driver's license,

and Kennia was also identified.

[siren blaring]

[narrator] While Kennia
is rushed to hospital,

Detective Zellner begins
processing the scene.

I make my way to Julian.

I take a look at him

and I see multiple
g*nsh*t wounds.

I do see some other
physical evidence

laying around by him.

Spent casings, stuff like that.

Why did this person
get sh*t so many times?

What caused it?

[narrator] Detectives
questi the gas station clerk.

The clerk is actually
inside the store

when he heard the g*nf*re.

And that's what first
caused him to turn.

That's when he
sees a SUV speed off,

and head north
through the parking lot.

He was not able
to identify anybody.

He said that he
probably wouldn't be able

to pick anybody out of
a photographic lineup.

While I'm doing the walk
through as the lead detective...

you always want
to document where

those closed-circuit TVs,
those cameras, are located.

[narrator] The exterior cameras
cover the gas station forecourt.

It was the number one question.

Are the cameras working?

Can you take the tape
to around 12:30 a.m.?

So, what happened?

At that point then, I
wanna see it for myself.

You could see the
cameras were focused

on the gas pump that
we needed it to be.

There! That's the Mustang.

The victim pulls
up to the gas pump.

Just a normal, everyday
person filling up his vehicle.

I observe a SUV-like vehicle

pull into the gas station
off of 57th Avenue

very, very quickly.

It's almost as if it
was gonna drive by

and sees something
and wants to turn in.

As that vehicle turns in, it
comes to an abrupt stop.

Three individuals exit
that vehicle quickly.

Make their way to the victims.

One of the subjects,
the smaller of the three

actually makes
contact with the driver,

and the two other make
contact with the female victim.

It looked extremely organized.

It looked exactly where each
one knew where they were going,

and who they were
gonna deal with.

I thought it was extremely
well-orchestrated.

To know that you're gonna
watch someone's life get taken.

As a homicide detective,
it's the most important part,

but it's one of the most
difficult parts to deal with.

[g*nshots]

[Joseph] I observe him
confront the male victim,

and what I know at this point,

sh**t him multiple times.

[g*nshots]

I didn't see the victims at
any point put up a struggle

to cause these
individuals to sh**t.

What I gather from that point

that something set the
smaller of the three offenders off

to cause him to
take Julian's life.

Kennia kinda is just on
the side of the vehicle,

on the passenger
side, and she's sh*t.

And it's, like,
almost a reflex sh**t.

Maybe, because they
didn't want a witness.

[narrator] Detective Zellne attempts
to identify the suspects' vehicle.

Can you switch to
the other camera?

Stop.

Is it a Nissan?
Is it a Pathfinder?

Can't make it out.

Unfortunately, we're
not gonna get that tag.

This wasn't a
high-definition video

that everyone would like to see.

It was quite grainy.

[narrator] Detective Zellne
rewatches the footage.

Can we switch back to
the first camera again?

Rewind it to where
the suspects get out.

Okay, stop it right there.

Play.

Stop there.

Zoom in.

I see that an individual,

the shorter of the males,

ends up grabbing
the door-handle area,

touching the door-handle
area of the victim's Mustang.

This is the biggest
piece of evidence I have

at this point in
this investigation.

They immediately
preserve that door.

They take the fingerprints,

so that they can
use it to compare

to someone else's
actual fingerprints.

[cell phone ringing]

While I'm on scene working..

Zellner.

I'm notified...

She didn't make it.

Kennia ends up
passing at the hospital.

Okay, thank you.

It's very devastating.

As a human, when
you're told that

another human's
life's been taken,

it obviously affects you.

It means that the one witness
that you have in the case

is no longer alive.

And so you can't
depend on that person

to give you any information.

I knew that now I
have two victims

that are no longer with us.

And now I wanna say pressure
to solve this case is on me,

and I need to solve it.

[Jackie] All of a
sudden, I woke up.

It was midnight.

I hadn't heard her come in.

I went to her bedroom.

[knocking on the door]

[creaking]

And she wasn't there.

All of a sudden,

I felt like this kind of
[inhales] uneasy feeling.

I say, "That's so strange
and she didn't call."

She would always call me.

She would always text me.

[narrator] With no word

from Kennia, Jackie
checks the local news.

[woman on TV] Came out
of the car with his hands up

and still, he sh*t him.

Authorities are calling
them senseless...

The first thing that,
uh, was on the news

was Julian's car.

The Mustang.

And they said there
was a homicide

at a gas station.

And they were saying that

the female victim was
taken to the hospital.

Hello, yes.

I tried calling the
Ryder Trauma Center

and they wouldn't give
me any information.

So, I was thinking,
"No, it was just...

Nothing happened. It
was just gonna be okay.

It's gonna be okay."

But, uh...

No, it wasn't that way.

[sirens wailing]

[Janine] I'm asleep. It's
about 5:00 in the morning.

[knocking on door]

And it's never good when
you have a knock on the door

at 5:00 in the morning.

Good evening, ma'am.

I'm Detective Zellner.

This is Detective Wagerman.

May we come in please?

Thank you.

[Joseph] One of the
worst, worst things

that we can ever do as
a law enforcement officer

is we have to go make
contact with the family

In the middle of the night,

wake them up and tell
them that their loved one

is no longer with them.

I looked at him and I said,

"sh**ting? What do you mean?"

I just felt, like, somebody
knocked me out.

Somebody punched me in the
stomach and knocked me out.

[sobbing]

The worst possible thing

that a parent can ever hear

is that your child is gone.

Your brain just cannot
register that your child is gone.

It just doesn't and it can't.

For a long time, it didn't.

[narrator] Detective
Zellne receives a new lead.

[Joseph] We're told that there
is a vehicle that's been located,

that is fully engulfed.

And I hear the location go out.

And the location immediately,

it causes my suspicion.

We're talking about a
fully engulfed SUV vehicl

matching the description

of a car that just fled from
the scene of a homicide

[Michael] The car
was found burning

in the Miami Gardens area.

Of course, we know
that it's been burnt

to obviously, get
rid of any evidence.

We're not gonna
get any fingerprints.

We're not gonna get any DNA

[Joseph] If there's anythin that
I'm gonna get from that scene,

it's most likely,
been destroyed.

Fire did damage most of the
particulars in the license plate

and they were unreadable.

We're able to identify
the vehicle via its VIN,

vehicle identification numbe

We run that VIN
through our database

and we learn that it was
a green Nissan Pathfinder

and who the owner was.

And we also learned
that it was reported stolen.

[narrator] Detective Zellne
visits the owner of the Pathfinder.

[Joseph] He was out of town

And while he was gone,

this vehicle was taken.

And he has some evidence,

such as closed circuit TV

that can maybe help
with the investigation.

Can you go ahead and press play?

Anytime we're notified
that there's possibly

video footage of an incident,

as a homicide detective,

we're praying that
there is gonna be a face.

We're gonna know
who that person is.

I see that individuals
approach the vehicle.

They actually enter the vehicle.

And they steal the
vehicle out of the yard

of the complainant's home.

You see them back it up
and then put it on the stree

and then leave the area.

Damn it.

The problem with the video,

with the light being there,

it's burning constantly

and it's actually causing
the resolution of the video

to be affected.

It just, it doesn't reveal
anything that's gonna say,

"This is the person
who stole the vehicle."

We're not gonna see that face.
We don't have that close up.

[narrator] In a
hunt for suspects,

investigators switch
focus to their victims.

[Joseph] During an investigation,
any homicide investigation,

we always wanna take a look

at our victims'

past and present.

We wanna see, are
they involved in any type

of criminal activities?

Have they been arrested?

Are they out there
committing crimes?

I could not find anything

that would show
that either victim

was involved in any
type of criminal activity,

or had committed any
type of criminal activit

Generally, when there's
some sort of homicide,

where there's been overkill,

meaning a lot of
b*ll*ts fired at the victim,

it's usually personal.

It's usually the perpetrato
knows the victim.

When we realized that
there was no vendetta

against Kennia or Julian,

it really actually made
the investigation harder.

Um, because there wasn't
anything to follow up on.

The Miami Gardens
Police Department

is currently investigating
the brutal m*rder

of one, Julian Soler

and one, Kennia Duran.

[narrator] Janine and
Jacki appeal to the public

for any information that
might lead to the sh**t.

Being in front of all those
people, strange people,

you know, and talking
about a very difficult subject.

But it's something that you
know you have to push through

because it has to be done.

[Jackie] I was still in shoc from
everything that had happened.

Because they were just,
were two innocent people

that were just sh*t.

[narrator] The
investigator discover,

on the same night Julian
and Kennia are sh*t,

a distressed 911 call is
mad to police dispatch.

[officer speaking]

[Mario Rivas speaking]

[woman speaking]

[officer speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Mario speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Mario speaking]

[Joseph] There was
an armed car jacking

less than 20 minutes
prior to the m*rder,

at the gas station

[narrator] Victim Mario Riva

is brought in for questionin

[officer speaking]

[Mario speaking]

[Joseph] They're at a casino

They had won some money.

They were making
a deposit at the ATM.

They were in a high-end
vehicle, which was an Escalade.

The green Nissan Pathfinder
pulls directly in front of their vehicle

and blocks their path,
so they cannot exit.

They are blocked in and
they have nowhere to fle

[Mario speaking]

[Joseph] Mr. Rivas is robbe

but Mrs. Rivas
is held at gunpoint

and forcefully taken
out of the vehicle

and placed on the ground.

[narrator] The attackers
drive off in the Rivas' vehicle,

closely followed by
the stolen Pathfinder.

I'm 100%, there's
no doubt in my mind

that that's the vehicle
that ends up going up

to k*ll Julian and Kennia.

[narrator] Three days later

- Detective Zellner receives a tip...
- [phone ringing]

from a fellow investigato

Detective Zellner.

[Joseph] Detective
approache me and says

that he might have informati

regarding a call
that he responded to

on individuals that were
allegedly f*ring firearms

in a residential area, uh,
weeks before this crime.

[sirens wailing]

[narrator] The
location of the incident

isn't far from where the
stolen green Nissan was found.

When they arrive on scene,

there's individuals seen
fleeing from officers.

They're able to
locate these individuals

and they're able
to locate a firearm.

[narrator] Police arrest


eighteen year old Wayne Williams

and 16-year-old Dylan McFarland,

but they are
released later that day.

It could be the lucky
break that I'm looking for.

It's a lead that is
gonna possibly point me

to who the individuals are

that were involved in this
double m*rder investigation.

[keys clicking]

[phone ringing]

Detective Zellner.

I'm actually notified that

Dylan McFarland's
gonna be brought in

to the Miami Gardens
Police Department

on an unrelated case, burglary.

All right, thank you.

It's my opportunity
to get to know him.

An individual that
I'm investigating

for a double m*rder,
armed carjacking,

arson and a robbery.

Where's your whereabouts
on the evening of July 25th?

[Joseph] He has an alibi.

He says he's actually at
home playing video games

And he never leaves.

That he's there and
he knows nothing

of what I'm talking about.

Do you have any affiliation

with a Eric Ellington
or a Wayne Williams?

[Dylan] No.

He doesn't even bat
an eye, blink an eye.

He just tells me that he does
not know these individuals.

I know that this is false 10

because I have a
detective in another unit

who has dealt with him and
did a field interview card with him,

placing all three
of them on a scene

where sh*ts were fired
and they fled from officers.

He acts as if I'm speaking
another language to him.

[narrator] Detective Zellne also has
Wayne Williams brought to the station.

We wanted to question
him about the homicide

and the carjacking
of the Rivas'.

[Joseph] I want them
to see each other.

I want them to know that they're
both in the interview rooms,

separate interview
rooms at the time,

but I want them to know
that I got both of them.

It's, uh, an investigative tool
that homicide detectives might use

and I wanna see their reaction
when they see each other.

They pretend like they
don't know one another.

Of course, Detective
Zellne knows this isn't true.

The look is, "Please
don't say anything.

I hope you're not
saying anything."

[narrator] Detective Zellne
sits down with Wayne William

Do you happen to know

Dylan McFarland
or an Eric Ellington?

I have no idea
who those guys are.

What was your whereabouts
on the evening of July 25th?

They both stick to alibis

that they weren't
anywhere near the m*rder,

that they weren't anywhere
where the robberies occurred.

That one was
playing video games,

the other was at his house.

[narrator] With both suspect
denying they know each other

Detective Zellner looks
for another connection

After the interview, I end
up looking at his phone

and his phone reveals that

he does know Wayne Williams.

Because Wayne Williams'
contact information

is actually in his phone.

It's plain as day.

It is right there
for anyone's eyes.

You just have to scroll down
to the number under the name

and he's located right there.

This point I know
that they're lying.

I know that they have been
untruthful the whole entire interview.

I know this and I
knew this going into it.

If I wasn't gonna get a
confession out of them

at this particular moment,

that I was gonna
have to let them go.

[narrator] Detectives
show Mario Rivas

a photo line-up of
the potential suspects

to find out if they
robbed his car.

[officer speaking]

[Mario speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Mario speaking]

[Joseph speaking]

Mario is able to
sort of narrow it down

to two people in the lineup.

One of them is Wayne Williams,

and then another one is one
of these random photographs

of people that are
unrelated to him,

but wasn't able to go
any further than that.

[narrator] Jackie and Janin

- wait for news on the case.
- [phone rings]

[Jackie] I wanted
them to get caught,

I just wanted them
to get caught so badly.

Still nothing?

Okay, detective,
thanks for calling.

[Jackie] I don't
think I could go on

knowing that

they could just get away
with murdering people,

murdering our kids.

You're fighting,
like half of you

is already seeing
all the evidence

that you're child is gone,
and the other half is saying,

"No, it's not
true, it's not true."

He's gonna walk
in through that door

and it's gonna be
as it always was.

[phone rings]

Detective Zellner.

[Joseph] I received a phone call

from the latent print examin

that the print that we lifted

from Julian Soler's
white Mustang

comes back as a match, 100%

It is nobody else's fingerprint

except Eric Ellington's.

And the power tracking?

[Joseph] He also
identifies the slap mark

on the Revas' Escalade

on the passenger side
window to match Eric Ellington.

All right, thank you.

[narrator] Eric Ellington
is brought in for questionin

He is 15 years old.

When you are
interviewing an juvenile,

you don't want to
be too aggressive,

because you're an adult

and then you're also a
law enforcement officer.

So you want to be able to
so of put the juvenile at ease

to understanding that
they'r there to be spoken to.

At some point.

[Ellington speaking]

[Joseph speaking]

[Ellington speaking]

[Joseph speaking]

[Ellington speaking]

Eric has an alibi, I believe
he says he's at home,

playing video games,

hanging out on the
computer just hanging out.

He has no knowledge

of what I'm speaking about.

He does not know
about a double m*rder,

he does not know about
any crimes committed,

he knows nothing.

[Joseph speaking]

[Ellington speaking]

[narrator] Detective Zellne
applies pressure to the suspect.

[Joseph speaking]

[Ellington speaking]

[Joseph speaking]

[Joseph] He could
not give himself an out.

Why?

Those latent prints
were on two vehicles,

at two different crime scenes,
at two different locations.

[Joseph speaking]

[narrator] With Eric
not cooperating,

Detective Zellner
brings in his mother.

His mom eventually arrives
at the police department,

and wants to sit
in the interview,

it's her right to sit
in there with her son.

She has no clue,

and now she's about
to hear for the first time,

why he's actually there.

[mother speaking]

She's just in utter shock.

That's the best
way to explain it.

She get hysterical,
she can't believe it.

She's just... She's shaken.

We decided to go
ahead and remove mom

from the interview room,

and have her watch the CCTV
from the Mobil gas station.

Eric is becoming
extremely upset about this.

He does not want his mom

to see what she's about to see,

and what he's capable of doing.

Do you recognize
anybody in the video?

[quietly] My son.

Mom immediately
identifies her son

and lets out a screech.

There's no doubt in her min
that she's watching her son

commit a m*rder.

It's horrible.

I felt bad for her, actually.

I felt very bad for her.

[narrator] Detective
Zellne tries one last time

to get Eric to tell the trut

I continue with the pleading,

mom's continuing
with the pleading.

Eventually, Eric breaks dow

he reaches over and
he actually makes contact

and whispers to his mom.

He looks at me.

[Ellington speaking]

"I sh*t him."

[narrator] Detective Zellne
continues to get all he can

from the suspect.

[Joseph speaking]

[mother speaking]

[Ellington speaking]

[Joseph speaking]

He ends up telling me
the co-defendants names,

Dylan McFarlane,
and Wayne Williams.

At this point, Eric Ellington's
placed under arrest,

for the double
m*rder of both victims,

and transported to
juvenile assessment center

where he's going to be held,

until he has his hearing.

I can't solely base my arres

off of what Eric
has relayed to me.

I need more concrete evidence

to place Wayne Williams

and Dylan McFarlane
at the scene.

I got search warrants

for their cell
phone information.

Call log, call history,

text messages.

Dylan McFarlane
and Wayne Williams'

cell phones were actually

pinging off of
different cell towers

as they travelled
throughou Miami Gardens,

and Miami-Dade County.

It showed they happened
to be in the exact place,

at the exact time
of all the crimes

on the night of the
murders and carjackings.

[narrator] Dylan McFarlane

and Wayne William are arrested.

The mere robbery

wasn't enough for them.

The mere intimidation

of the victims wasn't enough.

It led to them

taking two innocent lives

of two beautiful people

for it finally to end
their criminal activity,

and their criminal
spree that they were on.

[narrator] Police develop
a theory on what happened

after the three young
men robbed the Revas's.

They were actually
passing that gas station,

but they saw a white Mustang

in very good condition,

at the gas pumps,

and they wanted that Mustang

They knew they had
to have that Mustang.

Once they make
contact with the victims,

Julian just didn't
look scared enough.

And Eric Ellington
decided to sh**t him.

And my theory is that

Eric was actually there
to drive the car and take it

and when he looked
inside the vehicle

he couldn't drive stick.

So he could not
drive a manual vehicle.

He didn't know how
to operate the clutch,

and that's why, when he realized

it was a manual vehicle

he had to flee back to
his only means of escape,

which was that green
Nissan Pathfinder.

[narrator] Eric
Ellington is found guilty

of the murders of Julian Sol

and Kennia Duran.

And receives a
life-sentenc plus 50 years.

He receives an additional 50
year sentence for carjacking.

Dylan McFarlane
is sentenced to life

on two counts of
first degree m*rder,

and for the carjacking.

Wayne Williams pleads
guilt to armed robbery.

And is sentenced
to 17 year in prison.

There's still days that
I'll think about this case

or something will recall it.

I'll drive by the gas station

and still won't use that pum

I won't even pull
into that lane.

I do think about them often,

even though it's been
almost 11 years now.

I still remember that day.

[Michael] It felt like we had
gotten justice for the families,

of course, you never
can bring the victims back.

And I know they
went through a lot,

and it messed up their
heads, and their families,

and everything was going on,

but it was, in my opinion,
the best we could do.

We got the appropriate verdict,

three guilty young
men went to prison.

[Jackie] Why they did
it, I'll never understand.

Just that they're pure evil.

I always remember her smile

Always, and her hugs.

She was a great
hugger. [laughs weakly]

So I remember that and...

I'm tell you, she was
very, very infectious.

She really was.

And very much present
in what she would do.

The worst travesty of all

that he did not get to spend

the rest of his
years with his mother

because of their, such a pure love
they have between the two of them.

That was the
greatest loss of all.

You know?

[Janine] I had to turn it
around and instead of thinking

he can no longer
live out his dreams,

he can no longer have
the life that he wanted

of the family that he wanted.

I had to focus on the 23 years
that I did have with him.

I had to focus on that
as being a gift

that I was able to raise hi
and love him.

And be proud of the person
that he, that he was.