As EMTs rush the man to the hospital,
officers secure the area...
And find a second victim
in the front parking lot, shot dead.
For those most affected by a homicide,
the first 48 is just the beginning.
He was laying on his chest
like he was asleep.
I guess when I saw the yellow tape, I already knew.
I found myself bawling in the corner
and crying on the floor in disbelief.
This is the story of the fight for justice...
We've got a hostile witness
willing to change their story for the defendant.
I don't wanna hold you in contempt of court, but I will.
In the weeks, months, and years...
I don't know if we're gonna be able to prove this case.
After the first 48.
I was born and raised here in Gwinnett.
Something just steered me towards policing,
and I kind of rolled with it.
At the time of this case, I had been in Homicide for 30 days.
When you add on that it was my very first homicide case,
it's very overwhelming.
One of the most motivating factors for me
is the victim's family.
I don't want to let them down.
The incident location was actually in the far back right.
I noticed that there was crime scene tape
that was blocking off large portions
of the apartment complex.
There was a large line of residents of that building
and then nearby buildings coming to see what's going on.
It was a massive scene.
Sirens everywhere, medical units there,
the fire department there.
It's definitely overwhelming,
even for experienced detectives.
But you have to stay focused.
Right now we have two people that are shot.
One is deceased.
One is in critical condition right now.
Male with gunshot wounds.
He was found along the fence line
of the property right on the other side of the complex here.
17-year-old Jamar Quarles
was rushed into surgery after being shot
in the face and chest.
We don't know if he's gonna make it or not.
In the area that Jamar was located at,
we found his clothing, some shoes, and then a ski mask.
That's the deceased?
Yeah. Kapri is his name.
29-year-old Kapri Ward
attended Wheeler High School in Cobb County
and was an assistant manager at a local pizzeria.
Kapri lived with his mother, stepfather,
and two step-siblings in an apartment of the complex.
Got shot in basically the middle chest.
Just 10 yards from Kapri's body...
At the scene was a dark colored sedan
backed into a parking spot just in front of the building.
Blood on the interior door.
And there's a nice big blood stain on the seat.
First responders found
two cell phones inside of the car.
Keys were left in the car.
At this point, we don't know
who the killer is, but we know this car
played a role in it.
This was our first really big lead in the case.
What was told to us, there was at least two,
possibly three other males.
A witness saw individuals
scale the fence where Jamal Quarles was found
and then flee the scene.
There's shell casings and everything up there.
OK.
We found one firearm
at the base of the stairway of Kapri's building.
Rounds on the stairs coming up.
There are two 9-millimeter shell casings
on the stairs.
There's quite a few shell casings up here.
And 16 more on the landing
outside of Kapri's apartment.
They're all 9-millimeter,
but they're all different brands.
We observed what appeared to be a firearm attachment
that emits a visible laser that helps with aiming.
There's defects all over the place.
On that door right there.
We had projectiles going
into one corner of the breezeway
and further down on the other side.
The angle in which the projectiles
were actually going into the walls showed me that
two individuals, at minimum, were on that stairwell
shooting at each other.
It could have been the victim that was sent
to the hospital was the one that shot
the decedent, and vice versa.
Now, why they did it we still don't know.
We gotta go interview
the victim's family right now.
Are you Mr. Ward's father?
Stepfather. OK.
My children came in.
My daughter was crying.
They said Kapri was on the ground.
I ran downstairs. I saw him on the ground.
And Kapri was laying on his chest like he was asleep.
So I wanted to pick him up so bad.
I guess when I saw the yellow tape, I already knew,
but I was fighting it.
Does he normally take his pistol
with him wherever he goes?
Kapri served time for misdemeanors
and was released just six months ago.
You said that he does sell dope?
Learning that Kapri sold weed
gave us an idea as to why maybe this happened to him.
Right off the top of our head,
probably a drug deal gone bad.
Thank you, sir.
Hey, mind if we step in just for a second?
Daniel and Dorminy speak with Kapri's mother.
Where was he today?
OK, so he left at 6:00, and he was going where?
Sure.
All this stuff is going on around me.
All these people are in my house, like detectives,
asking me a bunch of questions.
And that's when I looked over to the gentleman and I asked,
is my son gone?
And he looked at me and he was like, yeah.
And I was like, OK.
I believe it was shock.
After that initial reaction,
I kind of fell apart.
I found myself bawling in the corner
and crying on the floor in disbelief.
Five hours into the investigation...
So what's the update
on the victim at the hospital?
Jamar Quarles is out of surgery.
Doctor said he's pretty critical.
He got shot in his right cheek, and it got stuck right here.
And then got shot in, basically, the middle chest,
and it hit his liver and collapsed his right lung.
I talked to Mom.
She says they didn't know he was down here in Atlanta.
Detective Casey spoke with Jamar Quarles's mom,
who informed him that she was in Memphis
where she and Jamar lived.
But after hearing of her son's injuries,
she would be headed down to Gwinnett County.
I think our next step is to go figure out why this car
is here with blood in it.
Detective Carter and I,
we stayed there well into the late morning hours
as light was coming up.
We were gonna impound this vehicle
and send it to the Gwinnett County Police Department.
And then that's when the case took another turn.
Hey, this is Detective Carter.
A call comes in from dispatch.
I'm sorry, can you-- my phone went out for a second.
What did you say?
The car's not here anymore,
but I can find out for you.
You were driving, though?
OK.
I can't believe this guy's calling.
This is like a gift from God.
We're not calling them. He's calling us.
We should be over there in a bit.
Aaron Todd.
He's not the owner of the car, but he drives the car
that was impounded and had all the blood in it.
So we gotta go get his side of the story.
Now we have an individual
that has identified himself and put himself at the scene.
That's a big piece to this giant unsolved puzzle.
You're thinking, is this guy gonna say, you know what,
maybe this wasn't a good idea.
And before we can put it in park
and get out of the car, he's gone.
This is a magnet that Kapri
had placed on the refrigerator.
I believe Kapri wrote this to stay focused.
This is beautiful.
This is gonna stay with me till the day I die.
Kapri came home from jail January 2021.
While he was away, he wrote letters.
He made a list of all the things
that he wanted to pursue when he came home.
He was determined to fulfill that list.
That very first week he came home,
I'll never forget, he said, Ma, I need to look for a job.
I swear to you, he got the job that same day.
That's him with his car.
He bought this car with his own money.
We were so proud of him.
No matter what it was that he was ever gonna pursue
in life, he was gonna be very good at it,
and he would be the leader at it.
He just had that spirit about him.
Only had six months to spend with him,
and I'm thankful for those six months
as I watched my son become the man that I wanted him to be.
And I'm thankful for that.
Six hours into the investigation,
Carter and Dorminy head over to meet the driver of the car
found at the crime scene.
Me and Detective Carter drove to where he wanted to meet us.
It turned out that he was staying at a friend's house.
That's gonna be him. Aaron?
You tell us.
What's his name?
He told them that he had picked up
an individual named Woo and dropped him off at a park
and hadn't seen Woo since then.
You got Woo's number?
That's Woo's number?
Carter finds another contact in his phone.
Detective Carter noticed
there was some previous text message and phone calls
with a individual saved in the phone as Plug Bean Zaza.
The word plug in and of itself tells us that
that is likely going to be a marijuana or drug dealer.
Do you buy from anybody in there?
So basically, there was a shootout last night.
The reason your car was towed 'cause there's blood
all in your car.
Yeah.
He jumped back. He was aghast.
His mouth opened up.
What?
Who put the blood in the car?
He was not shocked at the homicide,
but shocked that there's blood in the car?
So they're gonna go collect DNA
and all that other stuff.
As soon as it's done, I'll give you a call.
We have an individual
who has admitted to bringing somebody
named Woo back from Memphis with him.
Now, whether Woo was Jamar Quarles or another individual,
we weren't sure, but we now have a connection with Memphis.
11 hours into the investigation...
Again, thank you for coming up here.
I know you're going through a lot.
Detective Randy Blackburn
interviews the mother of the surviving victim,
Jamar Quarles, and she has just arrived from Memphis.
So right now, your son can't talk to us
and tell us what happened,
so that's why we brought you here.
So let's just first start out.
When did Jamar leave Memphis to come to Georgia?
She says Jamar was staying
with his grandmother in Memphis
while she was out of town.
You said that he was going back and forth
to a friend's house when you left for Vegas.
Who's his friend?
She said Jamar has a friend
named Woo that lives down the street
from where we live in Memphis.
Aaron Todd said he brought somebody back from Memphis,
and his name was Woo.
So all the dots are being connected.
And we don't know Woo's real name?
You have his social media?
That's it?
I'll get you back to the hospital, OK?
We'll see what we can come up with this.
There we go.
Just 16 years old,
Woo lives with his mother and younger brother in Memphis.
We know that Jamar is from Memphis,
and he is connected with Woo,
who is also friends with Aaron Todd.
He was withholding some information from us.
Hey, this is Detective Carter.
We had come up with a plan to get them
into police headquarters to speak with us by telling him
that he could come up here and sit around for once
we got done processing his car.
Thank you.
But we didn't tell him that
while you're waiting, we're gonna have a chat.
This case was a very complex case,
a very complicated first case.
And Detective Daniel was on the right track, without a doubt.
Hey.
But we still had some holes
that needed to be filled.
He has questions. You know what I'm saying?
OK.
Well, I've got an issue with what happened last night.
The other dude that's critically injured,
he just happens to be from Memphis, Tennessee.
And I think you know who it is.
I think something went wrong last night
and you may not have been involved,
but you know what happened, because it's not a coincidence
that he's from Memphis.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Aaron Todd told us that Plug Bean Zaza
in his phone was actually Kapri Ward.
And he told us, yes, I know Kapri.
I've bought marijuana from him.
He claims that Woo had the idea to rob Kapri
after staying in Gwinnett County last summer.
OK, so who are the other two friends
you said you brought back?
Junior?
He admitted to going to Memphis
and picking up an individual named Woo,
an individual he called Murk,
and then a third individual, Junior,
which was good information,
but we're trying to piece together
the timeline and a motive.
He says Woo, Murk, and Junior
wanted to rob someone...
And that they went to a hotel.
OK.
If there's anything else you need to tell me,
we need to talk about it right now, OK?
His body language was just off
for people telling the truth.
I think Aaron's lying,
and there's more that needs to be dug up here,
so I kind of pressed in on him hard.
This is your chance to be either a witness or a suspect.
You were supposed to be the getaway driver, weren't you?
18 hours into the investigation...
Aaron finally admitted to being involved,
but we needed him to tell us the full facts
of what happened.
So start from the beginning with the truth.
He says that Woo, Jamar, and Junior
all rode with him to the apartment complex,
and they sat in his car in the parking lot.
OK, so what happens when he gets out the car?
Explain everyone's movement.
Mock? Jamal?
He now admits that the plan was for Jamar and Woo
to rob Kapri as he was walking up to his apartment.
The individual he called Murk was identified
as Jamar Quarles, which was important
as far as finding the other individuals involved.
Everything's coming together, and Aaron Todd
is the one that is filling in the blanks for us.
I have no doubt that Aaron Todd was shocked
when he heard gunshots coming from that breezeway,
and panic immediately set in, because he's not stupid.
He knows what happened.
Either his friends got shot,
or the victim got shot, or both got shot.
And I think there was this small piece
of conscience telling him
to just come out and tell the truth.
So there's blood in your back seat.
I'm curious as to how it got there.
Who had the gun?
Where are they at right now?
Give us one second, OK?
In Aaron's mind during the interview,
he didn't pull the trigger of any of those firearms.
In his mind, he had no involvement whatsoever.
And because of that,
he was trying to help the investigation
and identify those responsible.
However, when you conspire
to commit a robbery, even just the planning portion of it,
it's considered party to a crime.
So right now, you're gonna be placed under arrest, OK?
Based on Aaron Todd's own admittance,
he was charged with aggravated assault and felony murder.
Based on the information he provided to us,
we had enough at that time to charge Woo for also
aggravated assault, felony murder.
We already knew who Jamar Quarles was,
but we were still working on the identity
of Junior at that time.
All right. Bye-bye.
According to the hospital staff,
Jamar's still considered critical.
He was brought out of sedation, and apparently
he didn't do too well, so they had to put him back under.
And unfortunately, this is really impactful
on the investigation,
because you can't get information from somebody
that can't talk to you.
Six days later...
This is Detective Daniel.
Daniel gets news from the hospital about Jamar.
All right. Thanks.
So his mom basically found out that her son got shot
over an armed robbery and immediately
went to the hospital and pulled him out of the hospital
against medical advice.
Innocent people don't run.
Nope.
We never said that we believe your son
to be a suspect in this,
but Jamar is involved in this to an extent
that even his mom knows it.
And he has a three hour head start on us.
So Mom goes and pulls him out of the hospital
and runs back to Memphis.
That's where they had family.
That's where they knew that they could lay low.
It's always important to get every side,
every person's story.
Jamar may be willing to provide more information,
so there was a sense of urgency with locating them
and to identify Junior.
Eight days into the investigation...
All right. I appreciate all the help.
Thank you.
So that was Memphis PD.
They told me that Woo
does have what appears to be a younger brother named Junior.
He's 15 years old.
I'm hoping this is the same individual.
What we'll do is put him in a photo lineup.
We already knew Jamar Quarles was Murk,
based on Aaron Todd's interview and because
he was found at the scene shot.
Aaron Todd and Jamar Quarles' mom helped us identify Woo.
So we really needed Aaron Todd to positively
identify the person who we believed to be Junior.
Several weeks later...
If you could just have a seat right here.
After bonding out of jail,
Aaron Todd arrives with his attorney.
My first meeting with Mr. Todd,
obviously, was very somber.
I could tell this was the most serious thing
that had ever happened to him, and my only advice was,
you have got to be honest.
Mm-hmm?
I'm Detective Jorstad.
Because Aaron Todd only named them off
by nicknames, it's very important
to have him pick those individuals out
of a photographic lineup to further show that
he knows who he's talking about.
I'm gonna read you all--
this first one we'll look at.
He positively ID's Woo,
Jamar, and Junior
as taking part in attempting to rob Kapri.
Good. Picked them all out.
Right then and there, we had enough probable cause
to swear out arrest warrants against Junior.
I went ahead and contacted the U.S. Marshals
and let them know about the active arrest warrants
for Woo, Jamar, and Junior.
Three months since Kapri's murder...
Gwinnett Homicide. Detective Daniel.
OK, cool. All right. Thank you.
Well, looks like the U.S. Marshals
have arrested all three of my guys up in Memphis.
I immediately called Kapri's mom
and let her know that they had been arrested.
But we were informed that,
based on the ages of the juveniles,
we were not able to interview them
without their legal representation being present.
It didn't bring Kapri back,
but I was so happy they were caught.
Now they're off the streets,
and I want justice to be served.
Now the case can move
into the follow-up investigation
and then prosecution.
All right.
From those who wear the badge to the prosecutors
in the courtroom, we all have that pressure
of making sure that justice is done.
I like to compare it to the starting pitcher in baseball
and the closing pitcher.
It's my job to close the game.
The biggest lead on the case was
a suspect vehicle that was found,
and he immediately was interviewed.
His interview explains that he drives up
to the Memphis, Tennessee, area to pick up three people.
Who are our main players?
Aaron Todd identified
Emarion Boyland as one of the people he drove from Tennessee.
That would be Woo. Correct.
One of the defendants, Jamar Quarles,
was found at the crime scene.
Lastly, Aaron Todd says he also picks up
Woo's younger brother, who is Theus Hopson.
Junior, Theus Hopson.
Correct.
I was very concerned about the evidence,
because what we had was Aaron Todd's testimony,
but we needed some other evidence.
Georgia law prohibits
that there be a conviction based
solely upon the accomplice's testimony.
There must be some form of evidence
to corroborate what the testifying witness has to say.
If this is all we have is just Aaron Todd's interview
and we don't have anything else,
I don't know if we're gonna be able to prove this case.
There was a very interesting break
that came after this murder.
When I got the file, I did see a note
that the federal government, through the ATF,
had investigated this case.
A Taurus G2C firearm was recovered
in a completely separate incident.
That Taurus hits as being used in this crime scene.
The Gwinnett County Police Department
responded to a domestic disturbance call.
A firearm was collected.
That firearm actually is linked
to the murder of Kapri Ward.
The next step was, of course, how we were going to connect it
to one of the defendants in this case.
The two cell phones that were found
inside Aaron Todd's vehicle, one of the cell phones
clearly belongs to Jamar Quarles.
There was videos on the cell phone of him
with a face mask holding a Taurus G2C firearm.
Having not only the shell casings match the gun,
but having the video showing that same
or similar looking firearm in that video
certainly was corroborative evidence in this case.
In the case against Theus Hopson,
we have Aaron Todd, who identifies
Theus Hopson being at the crime scene
and being involved in this robbery.
But again, even if we could prove he was there,
we had the second question.
What was his role in this robbery?
Mere presence is insufficient.
But also Mr. Hopson's DNA was found at the crime scene.
Is that right?
It was found on a piece of a firearm,
a tac laser that was sitting right next
to multiple shell casings.
It showed he was likely one of the shooters.
Jamar Quarles, we had him at the crime scene.
Theus Hopson, we had his DNA on a piece of a firearm.
In the case against Emarion Boyland,
the biggest lead that we found
was another cell phone inside Aaron Todd's car.
But was Emarion Boyland actually there
at the crime scene using that phone,
and did he leave that phone when he fled the crime scene?
The last person the user of this phone was messaging
was a female, and the user of that phone
sent a screenshot to her showing
where that user of the phone was,
and it showed the person who sent that message
was at the crime scene.
We had our investigators go out and locate her.
I asked her who was the person that she believed
she was texting in these messages.
She told me it was Woo, Emarion Boyland.
So as soon as she tells us that,
we put a subpoena in her hand and say,
we need you to show up for trial.
Four years since Kapri Ward's murder,
the trial begins.
It is a packed courtroom.
Two prosecutors at one table
facing three different defense attorneys.
All rise.
Morning. Morning.
When Mr. Ward was killed, I believe Theus
was 15 years old.
Each attorney is going to try to get the jury
to look at the defendants like a kid,
as opposed to someone that the State is alleging
gunned down Kapri Ward.
Thank you, Your Honor.
The state calls Tirrell Acevedo.
Anytime you are trying a murder case,
you need to make sure you humanize
that victim for the jury.
And no one can relay that to a jury
better than a family member.
Make sure you speak into the microphone.
I felt good to be there, testify,
but I had anxieties,
because I felt like I was representing
for my son to get justice.
Hearing the testimony of a loved one is always tough.
Mr. Acevedo talked about the Slim Jims that his son loved.
It's the different little innocuous details.
It brings a tear to your eye.
I wanna make sure that the jury
sees and feels the same thing that I hear, see, and feel.
I want these defendants to see that
you took something from us that we'll never get back.
I want the jury to see who lost a child to murder.
The State calls the woman
Emarion was texting the night of the murder.
State, call your next witness.
State calls [bleep].
To get this evidence in, we actually needed her
to come in and testify
as to who she was texting the night of this murder.
She was an important witness in this case.
Do you swear or affirm the testimony
you're about to give in this case will be
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
She was not thrilled about showing up.
We didn't know what exactly she would say
when she got on the stand.
So you were shown some messages
when you met with the investigator, correct?
Do you admit or deny that you were asked,
Emarion, he is the person you would have been messaging
there, and you saying, yeah?
When I asked her who she was messaging,
she played the "I don't remember" hand.
I knew she wasn't being truthful.
Do we need to send the jury out?
Yes, ma'am.
When you've got a hostile witness,
that's kind of a sick feeling you have as a prosecutor,
because they are not telling the truth
and showing that they were willing to get up
and change their story for the defendant.
Do we need to send the jury out?
Yes, Judge. Pardon.
All right, the door is closed.
She denied knowing about Mr. Boyland's presence,
and she denied the text messages exchange
about Emarion's locations
in 2021 between the two of them.
Miss [bleep], the court admonishes you.
You are under oath.
You can be held in contempt for being untruthful.
She told law enforcement who she was texting
before she had that subpoena,
and I had her recorded statement
of what she said when she said it.
The 8:02 mark.
So we sent the jury out and confronted her with her tapes.
Pausing at 8:34.
I'm gonna ask you again.
Will you later deny that you said yes?
OK, is it your intent
to tell the truth in front of this jury?
Thank you.
Judge, we're ready to bring the jury back in.
All right.
With her testimony,
she might be trying to say things
that might help the defense, and that's not necessarily
always a great thing.
This is not going to help our case.
And I will remind you again,
I don't wanna hold you in contempt of court, but I will.
Given her second chance,
she then started to admit to texting with Woo, Mr. Boyland.
That's a screenshot of maps.
Is that fair to say?
And that's sent from Woo, correct?
It was Emarion who was
texting her on the night of the murder,
30 minutes before the murder.
That put Emarion at the crime scene.
Having her admit under oath that she did in fact
say something she didn't wanna say on the stand,
that's impactful for a jury.
Judge, let us know whenever you'd like us
to bring Mr. Todd in.
You can bring him in now.
At the end of day two,
Aaron Todd takes the stand.
We had corroborating evidence,
but the jury is gonna want to know
what, in fact, happened during this murder.
I explained to him, nobody can guarantee you
some sort of a deal on the front end.
You have to do this blindly.
What happened next?
Mr. Kapri pulls up.
He gets out the car and starts walking.
They go around the front way and then Junior,
he come and go around the back way.
I hear a whole bunch of gunshots,
and then I just take off running.
Did all three of them have firearms?
Yes, sir.
When he had to face them,
that's a scary moment for anybody, but certainly
for someone very young and certainly
for somebody in that setting.
But he did it.
Day three,
all three defense attorneys cross-examine Aaron.
How did you come about
driving up to Memphis to pick them up?
He was asking me over the course of a couple
of weeks to go pick them up.
It's our job to convince the jury
the State hasn't presented enough evidence
to find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The best way to go about defending my client
was to discredit and make Aaron Todd look unreliable,
someone that can't be trusted.
They was going to give me
a firearm when I get there.
This is someone that planned out a crime,
involved a 15- and a 16- and 17-year-old to get a firearm.
What caused you to get out of the vehicle?
I heard Mr. Kapri yelling.
You knew they were going to rob him.
Is what you're testifying to? Yes, sir.
He's the one that knew this dealer.
He brought them there to the parking lot.
But when it all goes down, what's he doing?
Aaron Todd has minimized
whatever involvement he may have had in this crime.
What we were trying to get across to the jury is,
the State's gotta prove that whatever he's saying
is true, and you can't believe him.
If this was a great plan on his behalf,
I can guarantee you the car would not have been
left at the scene of a murder.
This was not something that he had planned,
and I think that goes to his innocence in this case.
All right. May this witness be excused?
No objection. All right.
Thank you, Mr. Todd.
It always came down to, this is the right thing to do,
and I have to do this, and so he did.
And we were just glad that it was behind him.
After two days of deliberation,
the jury reaches a verdict.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
Are they gonna look at the age of the defendants
and allow that to factor into their decision
of whether we've proven our case?
Mr. Quarles, we, the jury,
find the defendant guilty.
Mr. Hopson, we, the jury, find the defendant guilty.
Mr. Boyland, we, the jury, find the defendant
guilty of felony murder.
All of the defendants were found guilty of felony murder,
criminal attempt to commit armed robbery,
and aggravated assault.
They turned their fantasy into reality,
and that reality turned into a tragedy.
Nobody was blind to the fact of the ages involved here.
Teenagers should not necessarily be doomed
for the rest of their life because of a decision
they made as teenagers.
Unfortunately, it's just hard to wrap
your head around spending that much time in custody.
Our next question we had on this case
is what to do with Aaron Todd.
Knowing that Mr. Todd had cooperated
with the State and had ultimately
assisted in the conviction of three other individuals,
it was our office's decision that Mr. Todd
should not serve any additional time in custody.
The final offer that we received in this case
was basically a dismissal of the murder charges,
and Aaron pled to an attempted armed robbery.
I feel that he should be in prison too.
'Cause if it wasn't for him, my son would still be here.
You took something very precious
away from me and my family.
I can forgive, but I will never forget what they did.
I just miss him.
His energy, his spirit, his smile, his jokes, his laugh.
He loved his mother.
He loved everybody,
but you know he loved his mother.
He's missed.
I ain't know how much I loved him.
There's not a day that goes by that I don't look
at that picture, and it just reminds me of a time
when I was able to hold him.
He comes to me in dreams all the time,
but he's always a little boy.
Funny, running around free.
That's Kapri now.
I'm never gonna forget him,
but I know he's always in my heart.