1 00:00:06,266 --> 00:00:10,867 [narrator] Up next, these robbery teams appear to be skilled professionals. 2 00:00:10,867 --> 00:00:16,600 They got more bold and brazen with how they were committing the acts. 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,967 [narrator] So bold and brazen that a young store clerk is shot to death. 4 00:00:20,967 --> 00:00:24,567 The robber fires one round from a semi-automatic 9mm pistol. 5 00:00:24,567 --> 00:00:26,500 [narrator] The killers apparently don't care 6 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:28,967 that security video will catch them in the act 7 00:00:28,967 --> 00:00:32,166 and they make a crucial mistake that's caught on camera. 8 00:00:32,867 --> 00:00:34,233 There's no perfect crime. 9 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:38,200 And sure enough, that's when we got the lead 10 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:39,934 that would end up solving the case. 11 00:00:43,066 --> 00:00:45,166 [theme music playing] 12 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:05,600 [narrator] Shortly before midnight on May 20th, 2015, 13 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,200 20-year-old Sean Smith arrived at a smoke shop 14 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:13,700 called Smoke 911 in Woodstock, Georgia in the Atlanta suburb. 15 00:01:13,700 --> 00:01:16,867 He was there to see his friend, Enrique Delos-Reyes, 16 00:01:16,867 --> 00:01:19,867 whose shift at the store was just about to end. 17 00:01:19,867 --> 00:01:23,967 21-year-old Enrique was known to everyone as E.J. 18 00:01:23,967 --> 00:01:27,700 [Shannon Wallace] Being an only child his parents doted on him. 19 00:01:27,700 --> 00:01:33,867 E.J. had taken a job at the Smoke 911 in Woodstock. 20 00:01:33,867 --> 00:01:37,667 Um, pretty much, his first adult job. 21 00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:42,867 [narrator] Sean often helped E.J. close up the store. 22 00:01:42,867 --> 00:01:45,467 But this time something seemed different. 23 00:01:45,467 --> 00:01:47,367 [Ryan Hilton] They were gonna hang out after work. 24 00:01:47,367 --> 00:01:50,266 When his friend, Sean Smith came to the store, 25 00:01:50,266 --> 00:01:53,266 he, he saw a silver BMW. 26 00:01:53,266 --> 00:01:58,667 And in the driver's seat of the BMW was a black male wearing a red beanie 27 00:01:58,667 --> 00:02:01,066 and had a grey sweatshirt on. 28 00:02:01,066 --> 00:02:05,000 [Shannon] Sean made eye contact with the driver 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,100 and was a little unnerved just about the eye contact. 30 00:02:09,100 --> 00:02:13,100 [narrator] Sean mentioned the car to E.J., who had also seen it. 31 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:16,467 [Shannon] Sean asked him, you know, "Why haven't you called the police?" 32 00:02:16,467 --> 00:02:20,867 And E.J.'s response was, "They haven't done anything wrong. 33 00:02:20,867 --> 00:02:22,467 Why am I gonna call the police?" 34 00:02:23,767 --> 00:02:26,533 [narrator] E.J and Sean proceeded to close up the store. 35 00:02:28,667 --> 00:02:32,000 Within a few minutes, two men burst inside. 36 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,367 [Ron Hughes] They entered in to the front door of the business. 37 00:02:34,367 --> 00:02:36,400 Both brandishing fire arms. 38 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,667 Uh, placed both E.J. and Mr. Smith on the ground. 39 00:02:39,667 --> 00:02:44,500 Mr. Smith was searched and subsequently, moved to the bathroom area. 40 00:02:44,500 --> 00:02:47,066 While the other suspect when to the cash register. 41 00:02:47,066 --> 00:02:51,000 Started taking, uh, money and merchandise. 42 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,767 [narrator] While Sean was in the bathroom he heard a single gunshot. 43 00:02:54,767 --> 00:02:59,333 After hearing a car drive away, he rushed out to find E.J. covered in blood. 44 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:16,100 [narrator] First responders arrived minutes later to find E.J. fighting for his life. 45 00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:18,867 [Ron] He suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest. 46 00:03:18,867 --> 00:03:21,367 As he arrived to the hospital, he became unresponsive 47 00:03:21,367 --> 00:03:23,100 and they were unable to revive him. 48 00:03:23,100 --> 00:03:25,133 [ambulance sirens blaring] 49 00:03:26,867 --> 00:03:30,000 [Shannon] Law enforcement got on the phone with E.J.'s mom, 50 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,700 broke the news to her, and she was completely devastated. 51 00:03:34,700 --> 00:03:39,433 Um, fell to the ground and sobbed along with E.J.'s dad. 52 00:03:40,867 --> 00:03:44,600 [narrator] A single 9mm shell casing was on the store counter. 53 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,000 The silver BMW that had been in the parking lot was gone. 54 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,367 A visibly shaken Sean Smith was exonerated by the surveillance video 55 00:03:53,367 --> 00:03:56,967 and was now turned to as an eye witness to the crime. 56 00:03:56,967 --> 00:04:00,934 He described the attackers as black males in their early 20s. 57 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,767 [Shannon] Both of the suspects had their faces covered. 58 00:04:04,767 --> 00:04:08,700 One had a skull cap pulled over his face, 59 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:12,867 had slits in where his eyes would be so he could see. 60 00:04:12,867 --> 00:04:17,500 The other individual had, um, you know, his shirt kind of pulled up 61 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:21,066 and his hand covering his face to disguise it. 62 00:04:22,166 --> 00:04:25,467 There's a struggle between E.J. and the suspect. 63 00:04:25,467 --> 00:04:28,166 And you see the suspect pull the gun out 64 00:04:28,166 --> 00:04:30,166 and shoot E.J. one time in the chest. 65 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:35,867 [narrator] The smoke shop had no cameras outside the store, 66 00:04:35,867 --> 00:04:40,967 so there were no usable images of the BMW Sean saw earlier that night. 67 00:04:40,967 --> 00:04:43,266 Investigators were in a tough spot. 68 00:04:43,266 --> 00:04:47,567 Their evidence was thin, and their suspects gave every indication 69 00:04:47,567 --> 00:04:50,066 of being seasoned professionals. 70 00:04:50,066 --> 00:04:53,700 It was very apparent that these guys had committed robberies before. 71 00:04:53,700 --> 00:04:56,066 This wasn't an amateur job at all. 72 00:05:08,367 --> 00:05:12,200 [narrator] E-cigarettes, and in some states, legalized marijuana 73 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,367 have made smoke shops into lucrative business opportunities. 74 00:05:16,367 --> 00:05:19,367 They are largely cash businesses and that makes them 75 00:05:19,367 --> 00:05:21,667 an inviting target for criminals. 76 00:05:21,667 --> 00:05:24,166 A fact known to E.J. Reyes. 77 00:05:24,166 --> 00:05:28,467 [Shannon] There had been some other robberies in the area 78 00:05:28,467 --> 00:05:33,600 that his family knew about and were concerned enough to talk to him about 79 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,700 how to handle any robbery or anything 80 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:39,700 that might happen there at the smoke shop. 81 00:05:39,700 --> 00:05:41,467 [narrator] The problem for investigators 82 00:05:41,467 --> 00:05:44,467 is that these crimes are mostly random. 83 00:05:44,467 --> 00:05:47,867 They have nothing to do with the people inside the store. 84 00:05:47,867 --> 00:05:51,367 And everything to do with what's in the store. 85 00:05:51,367 --> 00:05:55,100 [Ron] Random crimes will always be the most difficult to investigate 86 00:05:55,100 --> 00:05:57,867 because there's no personal relationship 87 00:05:57,867 --> 00:06:00,367 between your victim and your suspect. 88 00:06:00,367 --> 00:06:04,000 When it's random in nature, it is often times hard 89 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,867 because you're trying to get suspects in millions of people. 90 00:06:08,867 --> 00:06:12,467 Even with a surveillance camera, which we had here, 91 00:06:12,467 --> 00:06:15,700 that captured the entire crime, 92 00:06:15,700 --> 00:06:21,200 it's difficult. It's often like trying to catch that one fish 93 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,266 in a giant ocean. 94 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:30,266 [narrator] Investigators poured over every second of surveillance video 95 00:06:30,266 --> 00:06:35,700 from the Reyes murder and noticed a mistake made by one of the suspects. 96 00:06:35,700 --> 00:06:39,667 [Ron] As suspect number two was moving merchandise around he picked up a tote 97 00:06:39,667 --> 00:06:41,667 that he was sticking merchandise in. 98 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,600 But before doing that he had to remove the top, 99 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,367 and the top was left behind on scene. 100 00:06:46,367 --> 00:06:50,100 [narrator] What made this important was that suspect number two, 101 00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:54,100 unlike suspect number one, was not wearing gloves. 102 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:59,000 Analyst's seized the lid of this plastic container and made an unusual decision 103 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,200 on how to treat it as evidence. 104 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:06,000 They opted for a possible fingerprint instead of the touch DNA. 105 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,567 DNA takes time to process. It has to go to the crime lab. 106 00:07:09,567 --> 00:07:13,200 [narrator] The surveillance video allowed analysts to target the exact spot 107 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,567 where suspect number two touched this item. 108 00:07:16,567 --> 00:07:20,800 If a print could be lifted, it would almost certainly be his. 109 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,767 So fingerprints, if you could get that immediately, 110 00:07:23,767 --> 00:07:29,266 and get that information now, you'd rather have that than wait on DNA results. 111 00:07:29,266 --> 00:07:31,800 [narrator] Especially with a killer on the loose. 112 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,767 But in a setback the prints were only partial 113 00:07:34,767 --> 00:07:39,600 and not good enough to get a hit in AFIS, the national fingerprint database. 114 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,700 Which was kind of a downer. We were hoping that those prints 115 00:07:43,700 --> 00:07:47,634 of the lain impressions off that lid would provide identity of a suspect. 116 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,667 But they did not. 117 00:07:49,667 --> 00:07:53,166 [narrator] Despite both suspects having taken considerable efforts 118 00:07:53,166 --> 00:07:57,367 to hide their identities, Sean Smith got a good look at one of them 119 00:07:57,367 --> 00:07:59,467 as he walked into the store. 120 00:07:59,467 --> 00:08:01,467 With the help of a forensic artist, 121 00:08:01,467 --> 00:08:04,100 a composite sketch was created. 122 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:08,867 This and still frames from the surveillance video were release to the public. 123 00:08:08,867 --> 00:08:11,767 Tips poured in and one looked promising. 124 00:08:11,767 --> 00:08:13,900 We got an anonymous tip from a young lady 125 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:16,100 who stated she believed the person responsible 126 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:18,100 for the robbery and homicide in Woodstock 127 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:20,467 was a Mr. Varner. 128 00:08:20,467 --> 00:08:25,000 She stated that he had a history of drug use and violent crime 129 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,700 and that the day after our homicide occurred 130 00:08:28,700 --> 00:08:31,100 she knew that Mr. Varner was in Canton, Georgia 131 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:33,767 attempting to sell a .40 caliber handgun. 132 00:08:33,767 --> 00:08:36,000 Uh, and seemed to be very nervous. 133 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,900 [narrator] And Varner who had two outstanding arrest warrants 134 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:43,166 had access to the same type of vehicle used in the Reyes murder. 135 00:08:44,266 --> 00:08:48,000 She claimed that prior to the robbery-homicide 136 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,467 she had seen Mr. Varner in his girlfriend's vehicle, 137 00:08:51,467 --> 00:08:54,367 which she described to be a four door BMW, 138 00:08:54,367 --> 00:08:57,100 uh, that was silver or grey in color. 139 00:08:57,100 --> 00:09:00,200 [narrator] On Varner's Facebook page, detectives found photos 140 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,867 of several people with known gang ties. 141 00:09:02,867 --> 00:09:07,900 One was wearing clothing similar to clothes worn by one of the murder suspects. 142 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:10,467 [Ron] Some of the people that he was standing with were wearing 143 00:09:10,467 --> 00:09:12,567 multi-colored ballcap 144 00:09:12,567 --> 00:09:18,567 that was very similar to what the second suspect in armed robbery-homicide was wearing. 145 00:09:18,567 --> 00:09:20,900 [narrator] Varner, when brought in for questioning 146 00:09:20,900 --> 00:09:25,567 claimed he had nothing to do with the murder and had an alibi to prove it. 147 00:09:25,567 --> 00:09:27,700 [Ron] Also, Mr. Varner was actually older 148 00:09:27,700 --> 00:09:29,767 than the two that were inside the store. 149 00:09:29,767 --> 00:09:34,600 So we were able to discount Mr. Varner as a suspect. 150 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,467 [narrator] The investigation was back to square one. 151 00:09:37,467 --> 00:09:43,100 But then another robbery at another smoke shop provided a possible avenue 152 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:46,100 to solve the Reyes murder. 153 00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:50,533 We firmly believed that the smoke shop robberies in Cobb and Cherokee County 154 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:52,533 were related. 155 00:10:05,266 --> 00:10:08,166 [narrator] Four days before the murder of E.J. Reyes, 156 00:10:08,166 --> 00:10:11,166 two smoke shops were also robbed in Kennesaw, 157 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:13,867 a town just 10 miles away. 158 00:10:13,867 --> 00:10:17,500 The surveillance video from the Kennesaw smoke shop robberies 159 00:10:17,500 --> 00:10:21,266 showed similar suspects acting in similar ways. 160 00:10:21,266 --> 00:10:24,500 Forcibly taking over the store, coming in fast, 161 00:10:24,500 --> 00:10:27,266 taking items and leaving fairly quickly. 162 00:10:27,266 --> 00:10:29,266 [narrator] There was another similarity. 163 00:10:29,266 --> 00:10:33,166 The vehicle used in the robberies was a silver BMW. 164 00:10:33,166 --> 00:10:37,767 A surveillance camera outside one of the stores captured high quality images 165 00:10:37,767 --> 00:10:38,767 of the vehicle. 166 00:10:38,767 --> 00:10:42,700 It was much more clear of an image of that BMW 167 00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:47,867 but still did not read a license plate or be able to identify the occupants. 168 00:10:47,867 --> 00:10:50,000 [Shannon] You could see the car really good. 169 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:54,667 In fact what you could see about it were the star-shaped wheels 170 00:10:54,667 --> 00:10:58,400 that did not appear to be factory wheels to the car. 171 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,400 [narrator] This BMW with custom wheels quickly became the focus 172 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,166 of the investigation. 173 00:11:04,166 --> 00:11:07,767 Detectives surmised the vehicle was likely stolen. 174 00:11:07,767 --> 00:11:10,367 Often in commercial robberies and other robberies 175 00:11:10,367 --> 00:11:14,200 a lot of people use stolen cars to commit those crimes. 176 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,367 They can destroy those cars, they can burn them, they can abandon them. 177 00:11:17,367 --> 00:11:21,967 I requested a list of stolen silver BMWs from, 178 00:11:21,967 --> 00:11:28,767 I believe, 2003 to 2015 models in the Atlanta Metro area. 179 00:11:28,767 --> 00:11:32,400 [narrator] The list included 135 vehicles. 180 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,266 And there was no guarantee that the BMW sought by investigators was on it. 181 00:11:37,266 --> 00:11:39,767 I always tell people, "This is the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 182 00:11:39,767 --> 00:11:43,100 Not the Georgia Bureau of we know everything already." 183 00:11:43,100 --> 00:11:46,634 It felt like, we were a long way from identifying the suspect. 184 00:11:47,967 --> 00:11:51,100 [narrator] In a major potential break, detectives now learned 185 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:55,166 of a string of video game store robberies in the same area. 186 00:11:55,166 --> 00:11:59,767 The thieves in these crimes appeared to be the same people hitting local smoke shops. 187 00:11:59,767 --> 00:12:03,867 [Ryan] We discovered that GameStop video game stores were being robbed 188 00:12:03,867 --> 00:12:05,367 in a similar manner. 189 00:12:05,367 --> 00:12:10,600 With speed and violence, taking over the store, 190 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:12,767 taking items from people's pockets, 191 00:12:12,767 --> 00:12:15,767 taking items from the store and then feeing. 192 00:12:15,767 --> 00:12:18,367 [narrator] The suspects bore the same physical description 193 00:12:18,367 --> 00:12:21,000 as those robbing Reyes's smoke shop. 194 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,867 These crimes were almost certainly linked. 195 00:12:23,867 --> 00:12:27,367 Investigators now went to a robbery at a video game store 196 00:12:27,367 --> 00:12:30,166 that happened two days before the Reyes murder. 197 00:12:30,166 --> 00:12:33,367 In this crime three suspects were involved. 198 00:12:33,367 --> 00:12:36,767 Surveillance video showed one of them was not wearing gloves. 199 00:12:36,767 --> 00:12:40,400 You can see one of the offenders grabbing items. 200 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:46,266 Headphones and smaller box items that are held behind the cash register. 201 00:12:46,266 --> 00:12:51,166 And in doing so, one of the items was touched and not taken. 202 00:12:51,166 --> 00:12:54,767 So that item stayed and remained on the shelf. 203 00:12:54,767 --> 00:13:00,100 [narrator] It was clear, this thief had touched the item with his bare hand. 204 00:13:00,100 --> 00:13:03,867 Investigators now made the same decision they'd made earlier. 205 00:13:03,867 --> 00:13:08,400 Since speed was important, they went for the fingerprints instead of the DNA. 206 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,667 The box was sent to the lab, where it was processed for fingerprints 207 00:13:11,667 --> 00:13:16,967 using cyanoacrylate, what can be bought off the shelf as super glue. 208 00:13:16,967 --> 00:13:20,767 [Eric Rich] We have a cyanoacrylate chamber or super glue chamber, 209 00:13:20,767 --> 00:13:24,233 an airtight tank that we process the evidence in. 210 00:13:24,867 --> 00:13:27,166 We place the item in that tank, 211 00:13:27,166 --> 00:13:30,667 heat the super glue and then seal the tank up. 212 00:13:31,767 --> 00:13:35,000 And after, say 30 minutes, 213 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,967 you should start to see if there are latent prints, 214 00:13:37,967 --> 00:13:41,967 um, on the item that you are processing. 215 00:13:41,967 --> 00:13:45,000 [narrator] Heat causes the super glue to vaporize. 216 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,500 The microscopic particles are attracted to the sweat and oils 217 00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:52,967 excreted by fingers and left behind on the surface of the item. 218 00:13:52,967 --> 00:13:56,867 The particles then crystallize leaving a white residue. 219 00:13:56,867 --> 00:14:01,166 The super glue process, basically hardens the fingerprint. 220 00:14:01,166 --> 00:14:05,767 So you're able to take multiple lifts 221 00:14:05,767 --> 00:14:08,967 of that latent print if it develops. 222 00:14:08,967 --> 00:14:14,000 [narrator] Four high quality prints were lifted and put into the AFIS database. 223 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,867 One matched back to a man named, Nathaniel Delay. 224 00:14:17,867 --> 00:14:22,000 [David] Mr. Nathaniel Delay had minor criminal history. 225 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,667 No felonies, um, never been to prison, 226 00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:27,600 um, nothing like armed robbery before. 227 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:31,000 [narrator] Delay flatly denied involvement in any of the robberies 228 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,333 or the Reyes murder. 229 00:14:38,767 --> 00:14:40,000 [detective] I believe it. 230 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,000 [David] Nathaniel Delay's telling us that it'd been years 231 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,166 since he's been in Cobb County. 232 00:14:44,166 --> 00:14:46,266 That's actually a good thing for investigators. 233 00:14:46,266 --> 00:14:49,000 Because if he would have said that he had been to GameStop 234 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:50,967 and he had been there just a day before, 235 00:14:50,967 --> 00:14:54,867 it kind of eliminates and cuts our legs out of finding that fingerprint 236 00:14:54,867 --> 00:14:56,000 on that box. 237 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,166 And kind of gives him an out. 238 00:14:58,166 --> 00:15:00,266 [narrator] Nathaniel Delay had no explanation 239 00:15:00,266 --> 00:15:03,500 for why his prints were at the scene of one of the robberies. 240 00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:08,300 But what investigators were really after was who killed E.J. Reyes. 241 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:12,400 That murder and this robbery appeared to be directly connected. 242 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,266 And Nathaniel Delay seemed to know a lot more about both crimes 243 00:15:16,266 --> 00:15:17,667 than he was letting on. 244 00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:20,066 If I had a nickel for every time somebody told me a lie, 245 00:15:20,066 --> 00:15:21,367 I wouldn't have to be a cop. 246 00:15:21,367 --> 00:15:23,700 [Ryan] Nathaniel? My name's Ryan Hilton. 247 00:15:23,700 --> 00:15:25,567 -How are you? -[Ryan] I'm with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 248 00:15:25,567 --> 00:15:27,266 -All right, man. -How you doing? 249 00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:41,600 [narrator] From the start detectives attempting to solve the murder of E.J. Reyes 250 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,100 were on the lookout for a silver BMW with custom wheels 251 00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:48,767 that was seen outside the smoke shop where E.J. was killed. 252 00:15:48,767 --> 00:15:53,767 They soon learn that nine days before the murder, a BMW fitting that description 253 00:15:53,767 --> 00:15:56,800 had been carjacked in Atlanta. 254 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:01,166 The victim had told law enforcement that there were two suspects 255 00:16:01,166 --> 00:16:06,266 that had, uh, put a gun to him and robbed him-- carjacked him. 256 00:16:06,266 --> 00:16:10,367 [narrator] The carjack victim called Jordan was shown the composite drawing 257 00:16:10,367 --> 00:16:13,100 and video images from the Reyes murder. 258 00:16:13,100 --> 00:16:15,567 But could not make an identification, 259 00:16:15,567 --> 00:16:18,100 then something unexpected happened, 260 00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:21,166 which led investigators straight back to their only suspect. 261 00:16:21,867 --> 00:16:23,567 Nathaniel Delay. 262 00:16:23,567 --> 00:16:25,600 [Ryan] Nathaniel Delay has a unique look. 263 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,934 He has the word "success" tattooed across his forehead. 264 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,367 I was just swiping through my phone 265 00:16:30,367 --> 00:16:34,700 and I came to the driver's license photo of Nathaniel Delay. 266 00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:40,734 Mr. Jordan stopped and said that is a 100% the person who took my car. 267 00:16:41,367 --> 00:16:42,433 [man] What's you reaction to that? 268 00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:46,100 Hot damn. [laughs] 269 00:16:46,100 --> 00:16:47,867 [narrator] The problem was that Nathaniel Delay 270 00:16:47,867 --> 00:16:52,100 did not look at all like the suspects in the murder of E.J. Reyes. 271 00:16:52,100 --> 00:16:56,233 And Delay was clear, he wasn't there but knew a lot about the murder. 272 00:17:10,867 --> 00:17:13,867 [narrator] Delay told detectives that a man named Justin White 273 00:17:13,867 --> 00:17:17,967 called him the day after the Reyes murder and was extremely nervous. 274 00:17:38,767 --> 00:17:42,000 He told Delay, specifically, to google that incident. 275 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,934 To look up that incident in the news. 276 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:54,400 [detective] Mm-hmm. 277 00:17:57,767 --> 00:18:00,166 [narrator] Nathaniel Delay told the police that the other person 278 00:18:00,166 --> 00:18:04,100 in this robbery-murder was a man named Dominique Stevens. 279 00:18:04,100 --> 00:18:06,266 [Ron] Dominique Stevens had previously been in prison. 280 00:18:06,266 --> 00:18:11,700 But Justin White had nothing but traffic offenses prior to this. 281 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:18,867 Uh, so, no. No indication that he was a violent criminal prior to these incidences. 282 00:18:18,867 --> 00:18:23,266 [narrator] Multiple items from the robberies were found in their homes. 283 00:18:23,266 --> 00:18:25,867 [Ryan] The evidence located at the scene was huge. 284 00:18:25,867 --> 00:18:30,100 It was a huge factor in proving that Justin White and Dominique Stevens 285 00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:33,367 were responsible for the death of E.J. 286 00:18:33,367 --> 00:18:36,367 [narrator] Dominique Stevens maintained his innocence, 287 00:18:36,367 --> 00:18:39,600 but when faced with the evidence Justin White came clean 288 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,900 about what happened the night E.J. Reyes was shot to death. 289 00:18:42,900 --> 00:18:46,667 His story was that he never intended to harm anyone. 290 00:18:46,667 --> 00:18:49,867 He just reacted when E.J. fought back during the robbery. 291 00:19:09,767 --> 00:19:12,166 [Ryan] None of the blame for this can be placed on E.J. 292 00:19:12,867 --> 00:19:14,100 None of it. 293 00:19:14,100 --> 00:19:16,567 Justin White knew what he was doing when he got into it. 294 00:19:16,567 --> 00:19:21,433 The fact that E.J. fought back... however tragic and noble. 295 00:19:22,900 --> 00:19:27,066 Not his fault he got shot. Never will be. That rests on Justin White. 296 00:19:30,567 --> 00:19:33,900 [narrator] Nathaniel Delay who was not present at the murder 297 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:37,166 pleaded guilty to armed robbery and got five years. 298 00:19:38,266 --> 00:19:41,266 Justin White and Dominique Stevens pleaded guilty 299 00:19:41,266 --> 00:19:44,667 to a racketeering charge that included all the robberies 300 00:19:44,667 --> 00:19:47,467 and the murder of E.J. Reyes. 301 00:19:47,467 --> 00:19:51,266 Dominique Stevens got life in prison plus five years. 302 00:19:51,266 --> 00:19:56,100 Justin White, the shooter got consecutive life sentences. 303 00:19:56,100 --> 00:19:57,900 [Shannon] The way I look at armed robberies is, 304 00:19:57,900 --> 00:20:01,900 it is just one second away from being a homicide case. 305 00:20:01,900 --> 00:20:07,467 Any time you go into a place brandishing a firearm. 306 00:20:07,467 --> 00:20:12,166 You're showing that you are willing and able to use that firearm. 307 00:20:14,867 --> 00:20:18,467 [narrator] Investigators readily admit that if not for the discovery 308 00:20:18,467 --> 00:20:22,767 of a single fingerprint, inadvertently deposited during the well-planned 309 00:20:22,767 --> 00:20:24,767 but still chaotic robbery, 310 00:20:24,767 --> 00:20:28,266 the murder of E.J. Reyes might never have been solved. 311 00:20:28,266 --> 00:20:32,166 The fingerprint was really the lynchpin in this case. 312 00:20:32,166 --> 00:20:36,100 Without that fingerprint we would have never been able to identify 313 00:20:36,100 --> 00:20:37,166 anybody that was involved. 314 00:20:38,266 --> 00:20:40,667 [David] In this case it reminded me of the basics. 315 00:20:40,667 --> 00:20:43,266 The best professionals, in whatever field it is, 316 00:20:43,266 --> 00:20:47,100 do the absolute best at the basics. 317 00:20:47,100 --> 00:20:49,266 Process the crime scene, look at the evidence, 318 00:20:49,266 --> 00:20:51,266 review surveillance video 319 00:20:51,266 --> 00:20:53,667 and have good evidence collection procedures. 320 00:20:53,667 --> 00:20:56,367 If you can do that you can solve cases.