The episode The Witness/The Trunk” of the film “The First 48” showcased two murders. The first case, “The Witness,” involved the murder of a young African American couple in Miami, Florida. In the second case, “The Trunk,” a young African American man was killed in Memphis, TN.
“The Witness” took place in Miami and involved the shooting deaths of Grace Armstrong and her husband Adrian Johnson. They were both twenty-eight and twenty-nine years old respectively, had been together for fifteen years since high school and had three children – two sons and one daughter.
Their ten-year-old daughter, Adriana Johnson, witnessed her mother and father’s murder. Detective Rick Martinez led the investigation into the double homicide. During questioning, Adriana told detectives that she saw her dad talking to a boy who then gave him a look and was slapped by her dad. The boy went back to the alley and retrieved a gun. Her mother walked in front of the truck and the boy shot her twice. Grace died on the way to the hospital while Adrian died immediately at the scene of the crime. The suspect used an AK-47 rifle, and according to Adriana, had two cross tattoos on his face.
During the investigation, a woman approached Martinez and claimed to know everything about the case except for his name. However, she refused to speak in public, possibly due to fear for her own safety. Additionally, the detectives received a tip that a man named Carter had gotten into a fight with Adrian. They searched for Carter in their system and found his record. Although he did not have any facial tattoos, they suspected that the picture on file might be outdated. To confirm their suspicions, they printed out pictures of Carter and other individuals to create a lineup for both witnesses.
The lady did not recognize any of the men in the lineup. Another tip came in from a family member, stating that she had received information that the suspect’s street name was Bo”. Detectives had no luck finding “Bo” until they involved the media. During a news report, mother Pamela, sister Rachel, and the victim’s ten-year-old daughter spoke and expressed their grief and upset to encourage anyone with information to come forward. Information about the suspect, including his street name “Bo” and his distinguishing facial tattoos were released to the public. The detectives’ use of media worked.
An anonymous caller provided the suspect’s real name, Benito Santiago. Detectives printed out his picture and showed it to the lady in a lineup, and she identified him immediately. One of Bo’s family members informed detectives about his whereabouts because people were making death threats if they didn’t give him up. When police finally had him in custody, he refused to answer questions and claimed there was nothing to talk about. Although he did not ask for a lawyer, detectives continued talking with him and even showed him pictures of the victims to see if he would show any emotions that would reveal his involvement.
Instead, he just laughed. Benito Bo” Santiago was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after receiving a positive identification from the victim’s ten-year-old daughter in a lineup. “The Trunk” is set in Memphis, TN and begins with a 911 call from a girl reporting that her boyfriend borrowed her car three days prior and has since gone missing. The vehicle was found abandoned in a playground parking lot with blood on and leaking from the trunk. Sergeant Ron Collins of the Memphis homicide unit led this investigation.
NayNay was the 911 caller and owner of the car. When she was interviewed by Sgt. Connie Justice, she told her that her boyfriend had dropped her off at her house on Saturday afternoon, then left with her car and never contacted her again. Collins had the car towed to CSI for processing. After finding no fingerprints, they opened the trunk where they discovered a dead body. Detectives searched through the victim’s pockets and found an ID which identified him as twenty-four-year-old DeShawn Ellington, also known as New York.
He had been missing for three days. Ellington moved from New York to Memphis and lived with his girlfriend NayNay. Detectives noticed that DeShawn’s cell phone was missing from his belt holder after searching for him. When the detectives informed NayNay about finding her boyfriend’s body, she revealed that he had another girlfriend named Arizona Brown. Ellington told Arizona about NayNay, which led to her breaking his truck window and threatening to kill him.
After examining his phone records, detectives discovered that Arizona was the last person to speak with DeShawn. They brought her in for questioning. During the interrogation, she revealed that he had come over on Friday to collect his clothes and had planned to return on Saturday but never did. Arizona also disclosed information about DeShawn’s wife and other girlfriends. Despite this, detectives do not consider her a suspect as she had her mother and children with her on Saturday, which can be verified, and appeared genuinely shocked by his death.
Ellington’s best friend Jooke” contacted detectives and informed them that he and DeShawn were recently targeted by a man named Lil’ Hubert who shot at them. Ellington rented a house from Hubert’s mother but owed him money which could have been the motive behind the shooting.
When Sgt. Kevin Lundy went to bring Lil’ Hubert in for questioning, he was unable to find him. Three weeks later, Hubert was arrested for another crime and brought in for questioning. Hubert denies shooting at Jooke and Ellington or even knowing Ellington at all. He said that if he had a problem with him, Ellington should go see him. Lundy doesn’t think Hubert has anything to do with the homicide as there is no evidence that he was involved or even had a problem with DeShawn. Detectives are still searching for Deshawn Ellington’s murderer.
