393rd Floor: When A Knock Changes Everything - Crystal's Account of Her Teen Brother's Murder

One knock at the door can rewrite a family’s entire future. GentheBuilder and Koryy welcome Crystal Davis, an educator and longtime community leader, to share a story she never expected to carry: the murder of her teenage brother and the years that followed. Crystal walks us through the day everything happened, from a normal routine at home to the frantic rush to Kaiser Fontana, and the moment she knew the case had become bigger than grief, it had become a fight for truth.

We talk candidly about the hidden damage that gun violence and gang intimidation leave behind. Crystal explains how a 12-year-old cousin became an eyewitness, what it is like for a child to be questioned and challenged in open court, and how a close-knit family tries to hold each other up when everyone is shattered at once. We also unpack the criminal justice process: the months the suspect spent on the run, the evidence that helped build the case, and the courtroom strategies that can keep victims’ families out of view.

This conversation is part one of a larger warning. Crystal previews why she’s returning for part two: to raise awareness about California propositions, sentencing, and how policy decisions can affect victims’ families long after a verdict. If you care about public safety, trauma recovery, and what justice really feels like in real life, this story will stay with you. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, and leave us a review with your biggest question for part two.

Look up, and let's elevate! 

Transcript

pening Mantra And Welcome

unknown 0:02

Every day. Every day.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Every day.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Hey, it's Jen the Builder.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

And Corey.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

And welcome everyone in Take the Elevator for an episode that I really encourage you to stay plugged into and share with everyone you know.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Absolutely. This is going to be one of those episodes that we will remember for a very long time. As a matter of fact, this story has been aired on uh some news stations and going to be airing on some other podcasts. And so this is one of those situations that I know for a fact need to be heard by many, many people so they can be aware of what's happening.

eekend Book Reading With Families

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Definitely. Definitely. It's gonna bring up a lot of emotions. I know everyone's gonna be able to resonate with a story in one way or another. Um, so we are looking forward to getting to that part. But before we get there, let's talk about our weekend.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Indeed, Jen, what did you do this weekend?

SPEAKER_03 1:12

What did I do? I did what you did. And what we did was at Barnes and Noble and Rancho Cucumonga.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Yeah, we had a book reading, had an amazing time. We got to read Kelly Kinga, and we were there from 11 to 12. There were so many kids, and it was cool to plug into their families and just see not just moms and kids together, but moms and dads and kids. That always is so refreshing.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Yeah, you know, I have to say this because I've noticed something in the world that's a little bit different than when I was a kid. Uh, fathers have really begun to step up.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Fathers are doing a different kind of work, and or they're putting in a different kind of work.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Their involvement very much as a much elevated level.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Yeah, but I I just had fun reading with the kids, playing, laughing, dancing, dancing, and then you did a little crafting at the end, and that was just so phenomenal. So we're looking forward to doing this work again. Uh, we're working on getting into other Barnes and Nobles. The this one has invited us back, which was in Ranch Cucumonga. Thank you, Tess, Betsy, and Jake for shout out. Like I said, knocking it out of the park for us once before, and you know, just showing up for us, and we really appreciate you guys.

hy This Story Must Be Heard

SPEAKER_03 2:25

So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Without further ado, moving right into this story that's going to change the way you think about things uh that are happening in our in our society. Uh, we have a special guest. Um, her name is Crystal Davis, and we're gonna welcome her in in just a brief moment. But Crystal is one of those kind of people that um just turn the tide for a work environment. We both work with Crystal. I work with her a little bit closer because we're on a committee together.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

A lot of closer.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Yeah, well, yeah, um, only because the committee we work with is the Black History Committee or the Ebony Committee. And so she's the co-chair and I'm the co-chair for that committee. And um, I all I can say is good things about Crystal and in hopes that people will get that same feeling as she begins to speak. So coming to the mic and to the elevator for the first time, definitely not the last time. Welcome, Crystal Davis.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Hello, welcome, Crystal.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Thank you guys both for having me. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Wanted to add to you before we get into your story, Crystal, is that um I just have to say, you working with Corey, Corey has always said that you lighten the space. And um, I feel that too. You've always had such a wonderful heart, a spirit about you. And so Corey had shared, like it's hard for him to distinguish or know when you're having an up day or maybe not such a good day. So when Corey shared a little bit of this story, I was pretty surprised. I would have I would not have known that there was this going on behind the scenes in your life. So we just want to let you know that we appreciate the fact that you're sharing this so openly on the elevator today.

unknown 4:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Thank you. So, Crystal, tell us just a little bit about your background, where you uh not come from, but what you do. Um, I I know that you're a professor at a at a college, and I just want you to give a little bit of background and a little understanding so the people listening will kind of get to know you a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah. So um I've been at IEHP now for about 12 years, almost 12 years, and part-time I teach psychology, sociology, and business. So that's kind of just what I do uh on the side. I really, really love it. I love to educate the next generation or any way that I can pour into other people or help educate other people. Um, I am a continual learner, so I love learning. So it was only natural that I actually take that next step and actually go to like a college and start teaching that way. So I have uh two daughters. I've come from I have a blended family myself. I have a 20-year-old that's about to be 21 and 18-year-old, both in college and just a new empty nester and just navigating this new uh my new norm of being 43 and just kind of, you know, no children in the house, uh just getting used to that. So that's been a journey that I've been on as of recently, just trying to figure out what is next for me in this space of, you know, you put so much of your identity into being a parent, so much of who you are and what you do and what your day-to-day and your existence is being a parent. And that's still there when they become adults, but it's just a little different to where you drive up and their car's not in the driveway, or you don't hear them talking in the room on their friends. There's nobody to pick up from uh practice or go see play their game. So just adjusting to that um has been really interesting, I think, uh, as of recently. So that's just kind of where I am at right now.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Nice, nice. And I'm glad to get a little bit of background on you, just so as we tell this story, we we know who you are and what you're about. Um, so I gotta just give a little background on how I came across this. Um this particular day I was asking Crystal how she was, and you know, as we do, you know, how's it going? What what's new, that type of thing. And this particular day she said, I'm going through something. And I said, Okay. And usually that's like a really light brush of, you know, oh, she's going through something. So, you know, I feel like she'll be alright. We'll we'll move on. And um, I seen the look in her face, and this is the first time I seen a hurt and and I noticed it and I said right away, Oh, this is not gonna be that little just move on type of situation. And I don't pry. I I hardly ever just ask deep questions of anybody, especially at work, because I'm not trying to invade that that space. Um, but I felt the need to say, Are you going to be alright? And I could tell she wasn't alright at that moment, and she she expressed to me that she was going through something very heavy, very deep, and she said, I will have to explain it, explain it to you at another time. And when that time came, I just realized my co-chair, my friend, is suffering on a level that I can't comprehend. I don't know how to put this into words, I don't know how to explain this, but I knew right away it's important that this word gets out, and it's important to have this story told. So, Crystal, give us a breakdown of the day, the time, and what was going on and how it all came about.

he 2009 Call That Changed Life

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah, definitely. So this was about uh gosh, this was um 2009, and um, it was just a regular day, you know, regular work day. Um just just a regular day for me. And um, I got a phone call, and that phone call was a phone call that I think um it well, I know it changed my whole life. Um, it's kind of like those traumatic moments, and what I can speak to is sometimes with trauma, things that are very traumatic to you. You will always remember certain things. Um, the perfect example I can bring up is um just for most people can probably connect with is September 11th. You'll always remember. I can tell you where I was when I found out, I could tell you what I was doing. I could just tell you so much about that day. Could I tell you what I ate two days ago? Probably not, but that certain day I could probably tell you where, you know, um when I found out what I was doing, because it was just that always lives with you. And to me, this was one of those tra uh traumatizing times. And um I got a phone call. I had a brother, and me and my brother were very, very close. And at the time, my brother was a senior in high school. And one of the things that was probably the whole family was kind of like, oh my God, about is we found out that uh a year before that his girlfriend was pregnant. So, you know, he was a teenage dad. And, you know, we were like, okay, he's gonna be a teenage dad. You know, the whole family kind of comes together and we're like, okay, you just make sure you finish uh high school. We'll help you support the baby, we'll support the girlfriend, we'll do everything we need to do, just get done with high school. That was kind of our biggest concern at the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Right.

ospital Wait And Devastating News

hat Happened At The Front Door

SPEAKER_00 9:54

And um he he actually uh it was his senior year, and so the baby was born, and um we had the baby's birthday on Sunday. So he his girlfriend got pregnant. His uh gosh, he was just a um a junior in high school. And we were just like, let's just just make it through, you know, high school, and um, which he did. So it was finally his senior year is here. He has a baby now, and that baby is um, I would say at the time she had just turned one. So we have the baby's one-year-old, we have her first birthday party. We had her birthday on Sunday. So, of course, I'm at the birthday party. I say goodbye to my brother, you know, you know, family get together, everybody's up talking, and I leave. And I'll never forget, I feel like I got to the door and something just kind of came over me, and I couldn't describe what it was, but something had just came over me, and I had gave my brother a hug and I had left. I had gone home because it was Sunday. My daughter was little, she had to go to preschool the next day, and I had to go to work the next day. You know, the birthday party was on Sunday, and um, so I woke up that Monday morning and um it was a regular day, went to it, went to work, and then I got home, and um, I will never forget I was in the kitchen cooking when I was cooking and I for I don't know who I was, but I remember I was popping popcorn. I just remember standing at the microwave and that I had got a phone call, and that phone call said that my brother had been shot at the house, and I just heard people in the background screaming, I heard yells, I heard kids. It just I just remember just hearing like my whole family just screaming. And I was just like, where is he? And they said the ambulance just took him. It was my sister, and so I immediately just fell to the floor because I had never um, I was so shocked that like, what do you mean? Like, I it just didn't make any sense for me. So I got to the hospital and um we are all waiting. And at this point, I'm just like, okay, I know my brother's at Kaiser Fontana. Like, what happened? We're still trying to get um get stories. And um the people were saying uh he had just gotten shot. And I'm like, shot, shot where? At the point, at the time I got to the hospital, I didn't even know. And they said at the house. What do you mean he got shot at home? What was he doing? So I'm asking people questions, and people are saying, oh, he was in the room playing video games and somebody knocked at the door. And I was hearing so many different things, and I was just in a in a fog at this point, just trying to figure out what had happened. And um, I will never forget there was a um I had to walk out of the emergency room at Kaiser because I just needed air. Because again, I'm trying to comprehend what happened. And as I was walking out, I remember that you know how the emergency doors kind of fly open. The emergency doors flew open. And I remember it was a guy, he had a suit on, and the his suit had kind of flown back, and I had seen a badge and a gun. And I'm like, that's a detective. Like immediately I went outside, I started crying, and I turned back around. I'm like, okay, so there's a detective here. And then once I walked in, a um, I went to the little room where they keep families, and the doctor walked in and said, I'm sorry, we did everything we could, but your brother passed away. And of course, my whole family's everybody is screaming. I I just still couldn't understand what exactly had happened. Um, so I left and we went to um the house. And as soon as you pull up to the home, of course, now it's a crime scene. So it's all, you know, you have the yellow tape, you have people in front of the house, you have so many different things um going on. So I remember just going home that night and going to bed and just not knowing what happened. And so the next day I was able to get what had happened. And what had happened was um there was a guy that my brother did have an issue with at school. So my brother and this guy, they did have some uh words exchanged, um, but he he disliked my brother's best friend. And you know, high school kids, they they get into it and you're like, okay, it nothing big is nothing's gonna come from this, right? Because it's just high school kids not getting along. Right. And um what had happened was the guy that my brother didn't get along with knocked on the door. Meanwhile, I have a cousin. She was 12 at the time. You know, teenagers have people who come to their homes. It's just, you know, oh, someone was at the door for this person when you're a teenager. So my 12-year-old cousin had um opened the door and somebody asked for my brother, and my cousin said, Yeah, let me go get him. You know, she went and got him. My brother was in the um his bedroom playing video games. So it was his girlfriend, you know, the the baby's mom. So it was his girlfriend, um, it was Kurt, it was Terry. So it was about four or five people, you know, young boys in the room playing video games, doing what they do. And um, so when my cousin said somebody's at the door, my brother just went up and went to the door. Uh, as soon as my brother went to the door, he kind of pulled the door behind him. And uh the same guy that he had an issue with um shot him. So he knocked on the door, asked for my brother, and shot him. And I guess my brother saw the gun, tried to turn around. So he shot him at the door. He um was up against the door, so my brother's girlfriend ran outside. Everybody ran outside. Um, one of his friends um took off running. You know, these are teenagers, so they're scared. Um so his one friend just took off running. And his girlfriend, of course, she ran outside and she drugged him into the house, and he was just saying, I can't believe I've been shot. I can't believe this. And they put him on the floor, and um uh yeah, they once they put him on the floor, they were talking to him. And my brother, they said my brother was talking. Um the ambulance got there, and um, when they got there, the ambulance were they the ambulance was my brother was still talking. He was still communicating. They were asking him his age. They were asking him if he could lift his right hand, if he could lift his uh, you know, his hands. And he was doing all that. And once he got into the ambulance, they took him away. And then that's when I got the phone call and sped to Kaiser Fontana. Then I had um found out that my brother um had passed away. So it was about three weeks before his 18th birthday, and um, so we were just all devastated, traumatized. Um the detectives had, you know, the police had got there, made it a crime scene, and um my brother's girlfriend, no one knew he had passed away because everybody that was in the home, they took them to the police station. So, you know, if you've watched any of these shows, they take everybody down. So they didn't know that my brother had um passed away. And at the time, I would say the grand, my grandmother, my grandfather, my cousins, the house was full of people. It's a home where it just everybody, the whole family's there. So my everybody watched my brother die on the floor that day. Um, they he was still talking. Well, he actually they watched him get shot and pulled in the house, but he actually passed away at the hospital. Right. And so the next day, um everybody's like, okay, we got to figure out what happened. And mind you, my cousin, she's 12. They're like, Can you describe who came to the door? And everybody's like, What did he look like? Who was he? So, you know, mind you, she's a little kid at the time. And so she was an eyewitness. So that was a whole uh issue for my um cousin. And she was able to go down to the police station, and we had we were aware of this person that my brother did not get along with, and um, she was able to point him out in a lineup and like, no, this is the guy I opened the door for.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

Oh my gosh, Christopher, I gotta jump in here real quick. And um, this you just described a 12-year-old witnessing something so traumatic and devastating. Uh I I know you're not her and you can't tell me what she felt, but did you see the effects of that happening to her over the years?

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Oh, yeah, definitely. And you know, I think the the the trauma that it has on her now, she's she's in a good place, she's gone to counseling, and I can tell you uh later on in the story what I found out recently, how she had dealt with this.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Um, but I will say um it's so traumatizing because she was 12 and her birthday was the next day.

unknown 18:23

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

So her birthday was on the very next day. So her 13th b birthday was horrible. Right. Her birthday was the very next day. So everybody was out of it for her birthday. Um she, you know, she's currently, I would say she's in a she's in a good place. She works at Kaiser, you know. Uh she's in a good place, but I didn't know until recently um how it had impacted her because she had to write a letter. And I um I I read the letter. Right. Um, and we'll get to how I got to got a letter from her and how I got to read the letter and how I was able to truly understand how it impacted her as the being the person who opened the door those years ago.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Before you jump in back into the story, um in a situation like that, where you have multiple people, you said that pretty much the the family, whole family is there. Yes. Who's supporting who? Who's able to bring a little bit of understanding, a little bit of peace, or any kind of normality to a situation like that? Who's there for who?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

And you know what? And when I look back, I think everybody was just equally hurting. And I think that was no one, everybody tried to support everybody by just literally just being there. Like we always have been a very close-knit family, and everybody just kind of being there to support. But I would say, um, you know, we say my grandfather, he passed away right after from a broken heart because he was just so traumatized because he was so close to my brother.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Um, so I think everybody just kind of came together. Um, but nobody was able to support anybody. We were all grieving. We were all um, we were all walking in a home um that had uh bullets in the door. We no one really could understand how this had happened. So it was hard for um, everybody was just leaning, I think, on their own strength at the time and just trying to make sense of it all. But I could say honestly, my grandfather was the one that like a bullet went through the, he was in his chair, a bullet went through his chair and he he died right after and he was good, but it just he had so many health issues after that that he just passed away right after. So we had to, of course, right after that, you know, bury my grandfather too, because he was just too it it broke his heart.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

Yeah. When you say right after, Crystal, like what's the time span? Oh, about seven months. Wow. Okay.

anhunt Anxiety And The Arrest

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Yeah. So we were at where your cousin was able to identify. Um can you jump into the I want to say the the uh going to the court part of Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

So we were able to, my cousin was able to identify him in the hard part, which I think was um what was a struggle too, is he was on the this person who committed this crime was on a run for six months.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

So for six months we we knew that they didn't get along, but we really didn't know like, dang, what made you do this? We found out later he was trying to prove himself to a gang. And um we so for six months, uh I'm sorry, I I stand correctly, it was about four or five months. He was on the run. So every day we were worried, you know, we didn't know if this guy was gonna come back. We we didn't know anything. We just knew that he was a gang member from um and we knew that he was somewhere around the Ontario area because that's where this gang that he was trying to prove itself to uh lived. And I would say we got the phone call maybe five months later, about seven o'clock in the morning, that they had caught him at a park over in Ontario. Um, I'm I swear I try to avoid that park like the plague. If I'm driving somewhere in Ontario. I will not go down that. I will not go down there that just that particular street in that park. It just brings because I know exactly where they caught him at. It just brings some memory. So there are there's one street in Ontario that you will not catch me go down because it's just again, it's just it it brings back memories. And I don't know what he was doing at the park. So he got he got caught.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Um let me let me jump in there real quick. Um would you say there's multiple places you don't like to visit? Would you say there's multiple situations you try to avoid if you're confronted with them? Or is it just the park, one of those places?

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah, it's it's the park in Ontario is one. And probably this the skate park over in Fontana, that's one where my brother, oh, he stayed at the skate park. And so that place kind of brings back some some memories, but probably those two places. And of course, I mean I have Kaiser, so I try to avoid Kaiser ER like the play, because again, it brings back those memories. Um so um I'll go to Kaiser, Ontario before I go to Kaiser Um Fontana ER, but just those certain things, um, those places I try to avoid because again, there is those memories that always come back.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Gotcha. Okay, I'm sorry.

rial Rules And Who Gets To Sit

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah, yeah, no, no worries. So they caught him, and of course, he wasn't trying to uh of course he said it wasn't me. So he he he denied it all the way till we got to um the trial. And again, the detectives they were like, let us just take care of this. And I have there was a detective, he's retired from um Fontana Police Department. And when I tell you he was just an amazing detective, he really helped our family. And we felt like we were a team with this detective because he made it a point to make sure that he told him, I'm gonna get justice for your family. And um, his name was Detective Hare, and I'm I'm on LinkedIn with him. Um, he is a retired detective for Fontana, but he and I tell you he was just an amazing person. He really helped our family get through such a devastating time. So shout out to Detective Hare, he was just just a really good detective. So um they caught him. The we were trying to go through our own personal healing, and you know, it took a while for the trial to come. So the trial came about um six months later.

SPEAKER_03 24:12

And during the trials, six months after he was caught in the park.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Six months after he was caught in the park, the trial came.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

I have a question too. Yes. Um, were there any other witnesses that were strong in court aside from your cousin?

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Uh not I would say the strongest in court was the cousin because she was the one that ID'd him and actually opened the door for him.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

But his other um friends uh knew who this guy was, so they were pretty good um witnesses to s to have the account of who my brother had an issue with. And there were some things that came up in the trial that there were some things that he did, I would say before I go into the story, the guy that um that that murdered my brother, when he took off running, he dropped a cell phone. So that was some of the um, that was some of the things that the detectives picked up from the crime scene. And when he picked up the, when they picked up this phone, the the police were able to go through the phone and see the phone. And what was so heartbreaking was um, I this is something I'll never forget. He um was just a menace, just someone who was just not a good kid, just going down the wrong uh direction. Before he murdered my brother, he had robbed somebody and took their cell phone. So that cell phone was the cell phone he had dropped. And so, of course, this just happened to be a foreign exchange student that was out here studying. So the police went and picked up the poor foreign exchange student, you know, like, hey, this was found at a murder.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

So this uh foreign exchange student was just like, you know, no. And of course, my my cousin was able to say, hey, no, that's not the guy. But yeah, he had he had robbed somebody at the park for their phone. And um, after he robbed them, he um murdered my brother, and that was the phone that he dropped, and that was some of the evidence that was collected. Right. So once he had gotten caught, the that was one person that during the um trial, the foreign exchange student. I mean, poor thing, I'm not sure where his life is now, but he had to identify, I forgot what country he was from, but of course he had to be a witness at a murder trial. Like, this is the guy who robbed me for my phone, robbed me for the phone that was actually dropped at the crime scene.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Right.

ntimidation Tactics And Key Evidence

uilty Verdict And Living With Loss

SPEAKER_00 26:32

And um, so six months had gone by and the trial had started, and everybody that was in the home was put down as a witness. Um, and what was kind of heartbreaking about that is everybody that was in the home was put down as a witness, therefore they could not actually be sitting in the courtroom. So I learned so much from this process. If you are on the if you are um put to testify, you're not allowed in the courtroom because you can start putting, you know, to sway you. So everybody that was in the home that day was so heartbreaking. They could not come into court. But I was that one person who was not in the home that day. And my brother, I have another brother who um he actually confronted the guy that was trying to fight my brother. So he was a witness. Um, so again, nobody who was in the home that day, unfortunately, could sit in that courtroom, which was heartbreaking. And I said, um, I remember the the detective told me, they said, Crystal, this is a strategy that the defense is using. So the jury won't see the family in there crying. So they they will they will, but he said, luckily we have, we, we, we have you. I know you weren't there that day, but luckily we have you. So you will be in that courtroom. And um, there were um the neighbor who lived across the street, which was my brother's best friend's mother. She worked at Kaiser as well, and she tried to resuscitate my brother. So she was in there with me. Um, and there were just a there weren't many people from the family that were allowed in there because they made sure to put all the family on a witness stand. And so that time finally came, and um, it was a very long trial. It was um a six, it was a six-week trial, and it was long, it was draining, it was, you know, going through the point of, you know, them having the exhibit of, you know, my brother's body coming up to show where he had been shot and the wounds that, you know, uh had ultimately uh taken my brother's life. And the guy sat in there and kept on saying, it wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me. Um, he had a lot of his um friends from the gang come into the court trying to intimidate the family. Of course, there were um, we had let the we had let the detective know. And it was one of the greatest things which I think made me feel good, even though I was just going through so much at the time, is I told the detective, like, hey, he's have some of the guys from the gang um at the courthouse. And I'll never forget I was sitting in there in the courtroom, and the the one of the guys went like this, and he kind of showed me his uh gang tattoo to let me know that was the gang he was from, and I was just like, oh, okay. So I told the um detective, and the tech detective was like, okay, then tomorrow we're gonna make sure we have all the police here, and I'm sure some of them have warrants. And so the next day they brought the whole crew in and they had they all um they took them all to jail because they all had something. So that made me feel good. And we never saw them at the court again. So that was some um wow, that was that that was good. So they all had um, they all had whether it was some type of warrant, um, something. The police took about six people to jail that day. So they were trying to intimidate at the court. So that made me feel good. And um, so we went through the six-week court trial. His mother was saying, it wasn't my son, my son didn't do it. It was it was so much because of course this is her son. She's trying to say her son didn't do it. And um, of course, this is just another crazy thing. There was a video during the court trial that they played, and then this video, um, he was rapping with a gun, and you've seen his mom like passed out on the couch in the background. So this same lady who's sitting in court saying it wasn't my son is in one of these videos being played at court. Um, so we went through this six-week trial, which was just devastating to have to sit in the room with this guy and go through everything that had happened um to listen to everything, and he was found guilty. And they said, You are giving they gave him 50 years to life. So it felt like justice. We were able to read our victim impact statements. Um, my brother's girlfriend at the time, she read her victim impact statement. Um, and it was a journey. It was it definitely was a journey. It made me feel I never got over it. I feel like I adjusted to life without my brother. Um, we were very, very close. We talked on the phone every day. So it was just me adjusting to this new normal or even to this new part of my life that would be my story that I had someone in my family that was murdered. You watch the news and you watch things, and I'm a true crime junkie. I'm always watching the TV shows, and um you come up, you become a little bit desensitized because you're like, wow, this stuff happens, but when it happens to you, it's like, wait a minute. Like, I know this happens, but I didn't think this anything like this was gonna happen to me. So I think that was the part that was just adjusting to like this is gonna be your story, Crystal. And what you can do now is just be there for your brother's daughter, help your niece understand who your brother was, and just try to be there for your family and help your mom and just everybody just get through this because this is a lot. I mean, most people again, you'll a lot of people will hopefully never go through something like this. So he was found guilty. We felt like there was some closure um up until recently.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah, and and that's exactly where we want to go. But we're gonna go and go into that story in a part two. Okay. And um we thank you so much for providing this this beginning half because it's gonna give so much clarity to why it's so important to you in the second half.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Yes, yes. What's uh happening now is probably just as devastating and it brings everything back. Once you think you've gone to therapy and you've worked through things emotionally and you've healed from it, something else happens. And it's just like, oh man. So yeah, part two.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Yeah.

ross-Exam Pressure On A Child Witness

SPEAKER_03 32:32

Part two. Before we go to part two, um, just have a question or two about the part that you did share. Um, I believe in a criminal case, the jury needs to be totally in agreement. How long did it take for that jury to come up with the verdict?

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Ooh, they were only in, they it was, I would say it was not even uh a day, four hours.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

It was immediately they came back um with um the verdict. And I think it was because it was the eyewitness of my um little cousin and of course the foreign exchange student that he had robbed, and you know, ever everybody else who knew that he had a problem uh with my brother. So I think all of that led to it, and just being being the fact that he was on the run for so long, it's like if you didn't do anything, what are you running from? You know what I mean? So it was those things. So it was very quickly, and I remember the detective telling me, if it takes a while, uh, that means that they're not really they're going back and forth. But if the verdict comes back fast, it's gonna go in our favor. So once it came back fast, and I will one thing I just want to share, I'll never forget. I was sitting in that courtroom just crying. And so when it was time to read the verdict, I didn't think it was gonna come back that fast. So I had actually left the court. I I left because I didn't know it was gonna come back that fast. And on my way back, once we got the phone call, you know, immediately when you get the phone call in this court, everybody gotta just get back to the court and the the, you know, the judges, there, everybody's there. And once I had got in there, how long did you have to get back? Ooh, I would say it was like 30 minutes. Okay. And I didn't get back just for them to actually say, you are we, the jury, find the above defending. I wasn't in there for that um because I I didn't get back in time. Um, I really thought it would have taken a full like day or two. I thought they were gonna have to, I just didn't know it was gonna be so quick. Um, we got the phone call, the jury has um a verdict, and by the time um I got back there, the verdict had already been read. And um, I would say I will never forget this lady's face. It was a lady on the jury. I was getting in the elevator, and I didn't know if they had found him guilty or what yet. I was getting in the elevator and she smiled at me and she gave me a head nod, and she was one of the jurors. And I just broke down as I was going up because I I I felt it. I was like, I knew he was guilty. And once I got to the the the the second floor, all my family was outside crying. And but that I'll never forget this juror. She looked at me, she smiled, and she just gave me a head nod. And we just that was it. So I didn't get, I was not in the room at the time, but I was in there. Um, of course, when they actually, because you know, they have the verdict read, and then you have to actually go to the sentencing. So that was where I was able to read uh impact statement and actually was in the room for the whole thing.

unknown 35:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:25

Did you have any doubt, Crystal? Like, or any thoughts of what if they don't find him guilty?

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Yeah, I I did. Um I did have a lot of doubts just because they really they did a number on my my my niece, and at the time she was 13. And it if she was so young, and I remember her being up there on the stand, she had put her head down, and they're like, What's wrong with you? And she said, I'm tired. And because they were trying to confuse her, and she's a she she's traumatized from the situation, and she was like, Yeah, that's him, but they're like, Didn't you say he had messed up? She she didn't you say his teeth were crooked at the bottom? And they're like, uh, she's like, His teeth are crooked at the bottom. And um, she was they were like, Show her your show her your teeth, and she kind of looked away and they were like, Are you sure it was him based on what so they put her through so much that it was like sickening? I remember I walked out um when she was on the stand because it was so hard for me to watch her go through. She was basically, I mean, the defense, they pretty much tormented her up there on the stand, and they made her think like they were trying to mess with her mind, and she's like, No, that's him. And they're like, Didn't you say his jacket had was yellow? She's like, it was yellow, but they're like, he was wearing a yellow and brown jacket. She's like, Yeah, yellow and brown. They're like, Oh, but you didn't say brown. She's like, So they they, I mean, the defense really was trying to get him off, and they really did. I would say the number that they did on my little cousin made me kind of like, oh man, because you know it needs to be proven. And you know, the jury has to all agree. But um, so yes, there was one moment after my cousin who identified him, because she was so young, and I never forget, she's like, Do you guys have some water? You know, she was a kid. And she just it it, I was like, I hope nobody's doubting what she's saying because she is a kid. So I would say, Genevieve, that was one time where I was a little bit like, oh man, is it just what my cousin said is not gonna be the the contributing factor, or are they doubting her because she is a kid and like, oh, it was it was it was dark. Are you sure? And she's like, but the porch light was on, but they're like, Oh, the porch light was on. So the porch light was right here. Are you sure? Like they just did they, I mean, I felt so bad. So that was uh there was a piece of me that thought that maybe they wouldn't find him guilty.

SPEAKER_03 37:41

Yeah, I was I'm obviously not part of the jury. I think too though, when lawyers um behave that way, yes, I think the jury is like, what are you guys doing? She's she's 13 and you're really trying to crack it. What this is how you're gonna try to prove this man innocent, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 38:02

I'm so glad you said that because I've I was feeling that in my in my core, like to torture and to purposefully try to mislead a 13-year-old, that that's a level of of abuse I just don't agree with.

afety Fears After Sentencing

SPEAKER_03 38:14

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so you weren't before I know uh the second episode is gonna bring a whole nother level to the story. Um but before we leave this story, my question is, what was the murderer's mom's reaction? What was that experience like for you and the family?

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Oh gosh, yeah, there was she she would just say, Um, my son's innocent, he didn't do it. Um I know my mom and her exchanged some words that were not good. It was, it was that there, they they had to be separated at at the court. She just was saying my son didn't do it, and she was just saying, my son is innocent. But she um she knows what her son was like. I mean, her son was basically a menace. And what we found out during that time is um this guy was, I mean, he's and I think this will probably lead a little bit to um, you know, the second time we talked, but he he did a lot of terrible things. So I would say he got out of juvenile hall, and then two months later he murdered my brother. And so he got out of juvenile hall for putting a gun in somebody's mouth, robbing a leasing office for like trying to rob them for rent money. And he gets out, um he gets out, and then two months later he murders my brother. So this guy is um yeah, that's what he was doing as a teenager.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

Wow. What was his mom's reaction when the verdict came guilty and at the time of sentencing?

SPEAKER_00 39:54

She she she what what I heard because I was during sentencing when they gave him life, she took, she got up and she ran out. When they gave him the 50 years, she she she she left. And her son was behind her. I would say one person that um was there a lot was his brother. And his brother was in the gang. And uh this brother we'll talk about for part two.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

He was at every single court hearing. Um he was there every day by his mom's side, and um we'll bring him up again because here we are again. Um I'm gonna be in a room with these people again.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

One last question.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Please ask me as many questions as you want.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

Because they were in gangs, what does that look like for the safety of your family now that he's been found guilty? 50 years to life. The fear of retaliation or coming after your family, can you say something about that?

SPEAKER_00 40:57

Yeah, I think the fear was there. I mean, the family was like, wow, is is the especially after he was found guilty? And there was always um people thinking that they saw his uh family member somewhere. So that fear was there. The the fear was there, and I would say as of last year, finally, um, the home was sold. Um, but so the family still stayed in that home. I did I didn't uh you know, I was an adult, I didn't I didn't live there, but um that fear was there. I mean, it was it was there because we're like if you can just walk up to someone's door, knock on it, and you know, kill somebody in cold blood, what else can you do? What and and and you're a teenager, what are the people you're surrounding yourself around? What what can they do? What what what type of people are these? So there definitely was um a lot of concern. There was concern even at um, you know, my brother's funeral. There were police everywhere just making sure they wouldn't come harm the family. And, you know, I knew who Detective Hare was there. He was kind of stood off to the side again. Detective Hare was awesome. He didn't, they didn't we weren't police cars, there weren't the presence that you think you would see police, everybody that was there that were that were undercover, they looked like they were just there attending the funeral. Um, but so there was police presence there because that fear was there. And they did um, they went around the street and there was um something that the city did that I thought was very nice is um they um the house was on a code de sac. So of course when you go around the code de sac, it's kind of dark. So after my brother was murdered, there is a light at the end. There's two lights. The city put two lights at the end. So just so there's more lighting on that street now, and that came from what happened to my brother.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

Wow. Good on the city for doing that.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

Yeah, shout out, shout out to the city uh for doing that. Cause that is um, so every time I would pull up, I would see those lights, and that would just make me think of my brother, like, wow, they put these here because of what happened to him. Because I mean it was it was the in the end of the code de sac is very dark, especially at nighttime. So it was about um you gotta think daylight savings. I mean, we just went, so it was it was January. Um it was Jan the the day that it happened um was January uh 12th. And um it was six o'clock at night. But of course, it's you know, if it's summertime, it's light. But if it's around, you know, January, it's dark. So it was um it was pitch black outside.

unknown 43:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

So we're going to have a part two to this uh tragic but definitely educational story. And um we want to invite you back and make sure that you're able to give us some the rest of the information as well.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Yeah, happy to come back and just sit with you guys. Thank you guys for welcoming me and being able to tell this story. I I definitely want to come back um to tell you guys part two, because again, part two um is what I want to bring awareness to. And awareness to what's going on in California and propositions and things that can happen. And I just want to be able to put the word out because I know it's not just me that's dealing with this, it's so many different people. So yeah, for part two, happy to come back.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Thank you, Crystal.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 44:17

And thank you for sharing the story and reliving that with us.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 44:23

All right, everyone. Well, please stay tuned and share this episode, and we will definitely have a part two. And you know us that take the elevator. We say, look up and let's elevate every day.

unknown 44:40

Elevate every day.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

Elevate every day. Elevate every day.