Dad Finds Son Crushed At Illegal Street Race

0:01 My baby, bro.

0:02 I'm not hungry.

0:03 I know you want to do something, bro.

0:05 13, man.

0:06 Car sold at a rain show.

0:09 This is 35-year-old Johnny Martin.

0:11 And just a few moments ago,

0:13 he found out his 13-year-old son, Ethan Martin, was brutally killed.

0:20 Bro, we should have stayed home.

0:22 I want I want to calm down.

0:26 Earlier that day, Ethan [music] begged his dad

0:29 and older brother to take him to see Cars Racing.

0:31 Yet, what none of them could have predicted [music] was

0:34 how that single decision would end in an irreversible fatality.

0:38 Your story stinks.

0:38 Why can't you just be straight with me, man?

0:42 12, bro.

0:42 He just got pronounced as a

0:44 As cops arrived on scene,

0:46 they were met with disorder as teenagers

0:48 and parents screamed and panicked on scene.

0:50 Yet, time was ticking as the witnesses

0:52 sped away and officers scrambled to gather information.

0:55 What they first thought would be a simple call out would turn into pure chaos.

1:04 Unfortunately, that's the only that I can uh get.

1:06 At first, I was scared cuz not just [music] on January 29th, 2023, St.

1:22 Petersburg, Florida.

1:24 At around 12:35 a.m., police responded to a call about a devastating crash.

1:31 Officers arrived to find [music] that during

1:33 an illegal street racing gathering on 28th Street North,

1:37 a motorcycle traveling at more than 100 mph

1:40 had struck a 13-year-old boy crossing the road.

1:43 According to investigators,

1:45 the impact killed the and seriously injured a nearby bystander.

1:50 By the time authorities arrived at the scene,

1:52 the racing event had already descended into [music] chaos,

1:55 leaving detectives to piece together exactly what had happened.

2:09 We got you, bro.

2:11 All right, bro.

2:13 Hey, bro.

2:13 It's your dad, bro.

2:14 It's your dad.

2:15 Don't do[ __] bro.

2:17 I know you want to do some[ __] to that[ __] bro.

2:19 I'm not I'm not

2:35 son.

2:35 Relax.

2:37 Back on the other side of the fire.

2:40 All right.

2:42 Hey, guys.

2:43 We got We got We got to move back.

2:44 All right.

2:45 Better get you back on the fire trucks.

2:49 My baby, bro.

2:51 I know.

2:51 You're my __] baby, bro.

2:58 I know.

2:59 I know.

3:05 [laughter]

3:07 Mr.

3:07 Martin, come on, man.

3:08 We got to We got to We got to move you.

3:10 Okay.

3:13 side.

3:23 The officers needed to gather evidence about what happened,

3:25 but they first needed to focus on the grieving Johnny and his older son,

3:29 William, who was also present during the accident.

3:32 Yet, William was falling into severe shock with what just happened.

3:36 And it was crucial to make sure he was safe.

3:40 [laughter] Mr.

3:50 Martin, I'm so sorry, bro.

4:06 We should have stayed home.

4:08 We should have stayed home.

4:11 need about two more officers over here outside.

4:18 I told him get in the[ __] truck.

4:19 He didn't[ __] listen to me.

4:21 It's my fault.

4:23 I should have stopped him.

4:24 I should have told him to go.

4:25 It's not your fault.

4:28 Not your fault.

4:29 Not your fault, man.

4:30 It's not your fault.

4:33 I should have stayed at the track.

4:35 You would have stayed with me.

4:37 It's okay, buddy.

4:38 It's okay.

4:38 I shouldn't stay next to you.

4:42 It's not your fault.

4:43 It's not your fault, son.

4:45 It's

4:45 not your fault.

4:46 It's not your fault.

4:48 [laughter]

4:51 No, it's okay, buddy.

4:52 Don't blame this on you.

4:53 That's all you wanted to do is play Fortnite with me.

4:55 We should have just stayed home.

4:58 It's It's okay.

4:59 Relax.

4:59 Relax.

5:00 Everybody else.

5:01 Don't blame this on you.

5:02 Don't blame this on you.

5:03 What the[ __] is Nico going to say?

5:06 What the[ __] is she going to say?

5:07 She's going to shoot you.

5:08 She's going to bleed and your life is[ __]

5:10 Your life is dealing everything from you, bro.

5:14 She's going to take the shot, the house, the car.

5:16 She's going to do anything.

5:17 Don't worry about that.

5:18 Over.

5:20 Relax.

5:21 I'm not worried about that.

5:22 I'm worried about the brother right now.

5:24 This person 20 minute.

5:26 No, you're not.

5:26 Relax.

5:28 Calm down.

5:30 Just calm down.

5:32 Hey, calm down.

5:34 Calm down.

5:36 Calm down.

5:38 Calm shut, please.

5:41 Calm down.

5:42 The officers got a message over the radio that they think

5:45 the team might have a clue for who was responsible for Ethan's death,

5:48 but that did not help the situation.

5:51 [laughter]

5:53 Whoever hit him, I want that[ __]

5:55 I want a[ __] murder.

5:57 I want that[ __] I want him dead.

5:58 I don't care.

6:03 Calm down.

6:03 Hey.

6:04 Hey.

6:04 Stop what you saying, dude.

6:06 Alpha,

6:06 stop what you're saying.

6:09 Take it out of anger.

6:10 You emotional.

6:11 I got a couple more units.

6:12 You guys need more up there.

6:14 Just calm down.

6:15 We need two people on the south.

6:20 We got emergency back once we get

6:23 calm down because uh couple cars are in retaliation.

6:34 more witnesses.

6:34 You need to handle this, man.

6:37 This is not right.

6:38 You need to come from the south on 28th Street.

6:40 We don't need anyone coming from the north anymore.

6:46 Okay.

6:50 Motor look at me.

6:58 And we're not gonna move anything here.

7:05 My baby boyc here, too.

7:11 Okay.

7:14 Let him do it.

7:16 Let him do his job.

7:17 Okay.

7:25 Let him do the damn job.

7:26 Okay.

7:27 for you, brother.

7:28 Father's right.

7:28 It's a traffic homicide investigation right now.

7:31 You need to be there for your dad.

7:32 Your dad needs to be there for you.

7:34 All right.

7:35 It's all you need to worry about.

7:41 Be one of these ones that vehicles out here by 110.

7:44 I have another tag when you're ready.

7:50 47 Bravo X-ray Charlie Sierra Silver[ __] [clears throat]

8:03 bastard[ __] ass[ __] piece of[ __] Come on, dude.

8:13 You're not my car.

8:15 This is[ __] gas can.

8:28 You're not trying way.

8:31 I know.

8:32 I would have took the impact.

8:34 It's me.

8:36 Oh, I don't give a about me.

8:38 It's 13, man.

8:42 14.

8:45 It was supposed to be just a car show.

8:47 Nobody racing.

8:48 Nobody was even racing at all.

8:53 What ended up happening?

8:54 All the people The only thing was people just spinning tires.

8:56 That's it.

8:58 And they just stopped 10 ft.

9:00 That's it.

9:00 10 ft.

9:01 20 ft.

9:03 Yeah.

9:02 But nobody was racing at all.

9:06 Okay.

9:06 But then I went over here to look to take a video of a car that I liked.

9:10 So I cross the street and then some motorcycle crash.

9:14 I ran to the motorcycle.

9:18 I didn't know he's he crashed because he hit my son.

9:21 I didn't know Ethan was behind me.

9:24 You're supposed to stay by the truck.

9:25 I told him stay by the truck.

9:30 He's supposed to stay by the truck.

9:33 It's a car zone, not a race show.

9:38 Nobody's supposed to be racing here.

9:42 It's my first time in seven years in a race track.

9:46 Oh, man.

9:51 This is my boy.

9:52 No, I'm not.

9:53 All right.

9:53 But

9:55 my boy,

9:59 my boy.

10:12 So sorry.

10:32 Though the father and brother's initial reactions

10:34 were heavy and they didn't say much,

10:36 the brother's expression at the end gave the cops

10:39 a big clue as to what [music] happened.

10:41 What William started kicking by the fence was

10:43 the motorcycle helmet of the driver who killed Ethan,

10:47 giving cops the first clue, despite initial suspicions that Ethan was hit

10:51 by a car since it looked like a car meetup,

10:54 it was a motorcycle that handed the fatal blow.

10:57 Yet, this wasn't about to be easy,

10:59 as the people on scene didn't want to tell the truth of what they saw.

11:02 [music] More specifically, the truth of who was on that bike.

11:06 Yet, the killer was closer to home than they first thought.

11:16 Yeah, we're going to try to get that.

11:17 I get that.

11:20 Trying to not have that come in view.

11:24 Do we have a

11:24 Can we go on the other side of that line?

11:26 Is that okay with you guys?

11:27 I know.

11:28 Well, we don't want to pass the body.

11:31 What?

11:32 See that[ __]

11:33 Hey, I'm I'm officer call.

11:35 Were we all over here witnessing?

11:37 We was literally one foot away.

11:39 We was walking in the He's his brother, but we were walking with him.

11:41 I want to hear what y'all saw.

11:43 Do you mind if we just go ahead and step outside on himself?

11:44 I saw his brother get hit.

11:46 Do you mind if we go over here and

11:49 Yeah.

11:49 Come on.

11:54 Are you able to come over here too, man?

11:56 Alex, come on.

11:56 Come on.

11:56 Come on.

12:04 What's your name, man?

12:07 What's your name?

12:09 Mason.

12:09 Casey.

12:09 Casey, I want to Mason.

12:11 Mason.

12:12 Mason.

12:12 Right.

12:13 Is it okay if we go speak over here?

12:15 Why don't get away from this part over here?

12:18 Half of the youth on scene was too emotional to talk

12:21 and the other half didn't have anything useful to say.

12:26 What's going on?

12:27 How you doing?

12:28 Were you guys out here for all this whole stuff that happened?

12:31 No, we got involved in our friend and our friend.

12:33 Do me a favor.

12:34 Turn the car off, please.

12:35 Dude, so we had an accident that was a Oh, sorry.

12:38 You hit me with the door, man.

12:39 Oh, my bad, man.

12:41 Uh, whose uh glove is that without touching it?

12:44 Don't reach down and touch it, but is that your glove?

12:46 Sure.

12:46 No, it's not.

12:47 Okay.

12:48 Um, were you out here?

12:50 Did you see uh maybe what happened down there?

12:54 No.

12:55 No.

12:55 No.

12:55 I mean, you weren't out here or you just didn't see it?

12:57 I just got a call.

12:58 Here, put your hand out of your pocket for me, will you?

13:01 Yes.

13:01 Let me just take everything out.

13:03 No, no, you're fine, man.

13:04 Just

13:05 if you can just while you're talking to me.

13:07 All right.

13:07 What's your first name?

13:09 Anthony.

13:09 Uh, whose car is this?

13:10 This is uh You got any ID on you?

13:12 This is my buddy's car.

13:13 Yeah.

13:14 Okay.

13:14 Your buddy's car?

13:15 Yeah.

13:15 Yeah.

13:16 Who's your buddy?

13:17 He's He's already over there.

13:19 Who Who is it?

13:20 He's with them.

13:21 That's He's with them.

13:22 What's your buddy?

13:23 What's his name?

13:25 David.

13:25 David?

13:25 What?

13:26 Uh what's his last name?

13:30 He's your buddy, but you don't know his last name.

13:31 Well, I don't know his last name, obviously.

13:34 But it's his car, though.

13:37 All right.

13:38 Uh

13:39 What time did you guys get here?

13:41 I got here probably about 15 minutes ago.

13:48 All right.

13:48 So, what did you see down here, man?

13:49 I mean, obviously, we have a pretty bad accident.

13:52 So, what happened?

13:55 Yeah.

13:55 I pul I pulled up and I saw the ambulances and everything and my buggy

13:59 my buggy was here.

14:00 My other buddy was here already and I pulled up and I just

14:04 Your buddy David, right?

14:05 No, no, no, no.

14:06 Another buggy.

14:07 He already left.

14:08 I had his car keys and I got it.

14:10 You got whose car keys?

14:12 David's.

14:12 This car?

14:13 Yeah, this for this car.

14:14 And he me how did you get here?

14:15 What were you driving?

14:16 My truck and my buddy.

14:18 My buddy took my buddy took my truck.

14:21 Your GMC truck there that left.

14:23 I was going to just drive his car to his house and that's it.

14:26 Who has the keys to this car?

14:27 I have the keys to his car right now.

14:29 Oh, okay.

14:29 But that's David's car.

14:30 That's David's car.

14:31 I was just going to drive it to his house.

14:33 Okay.

14:33 So, were you out here when the accident happened?

14:35 Help us out here so we can figure out what happened.

14:37 No, I was not.

14:38 I was not.

14:40 You're going to tell me that you guys rolled up after?

14:42 Yeah, cuz I got a call.

14:43 I was already in the area.

14:45 Uh-huh.

14:45 Okay.

14:46 So, where were you?

14:47 I was in the area.

14:48 I was on I was I was down there.

14:51 So, I was coming from I was coming from the I was on the[ __] the bridge.

14:56 Listen, you're not being honest with me, man.

14:57 Now, I got to go back and tell them

14:59 that you're not being honest with me for whatever reason.

15:00 I don't really know why at this point, but your story stinks.

15:04 Why can't you just be straight with me, man?

15:07 you know, because it's all going to come out in the wash anyways, you know,

15:12 and it's going to look really not great if

15:14 they come to find out you were directly involved somehow,

15:17 which they will find out.

15:18 You know what I mean?

15:19 So, that's what I'm I'm asking you now.

15:20 Like, what's going on, man?

15:22 All right.

15:23 Uh, well, the cops on scene had to deal with scared teenagers,

15:28 and none of them wanted to speak with detail

15:31 as they were all present at an illegal car race,

15:33 which resulted in a fatality of a minor.

15:36 And this severely stalled the cop's investigation.

15:39 Yet that wasn't the only thing.

15:41 As parents began flooding the scene,

15:43 unaware they're running around just feet away from Ethan's lifeless body.

15:53 That's[ __][ __] __] shut the[ __] up.

15:58 Now imagine seeing so much more.

16:00 Well, that's why we went all out and decided to create channels

16:03 in every niche which are still based on true crime for you to enjoy.

16:07 I mean, who doesn't like seeing people's reactions like these?

16:11 Spit on you.

16:11 I want to cry.

16:12 Oh my god.

16:16 Jesus.

16:15 From no commentary to just interrogation because

16:18 I know some of you guys hate that.

16:19 [music] But that's not the end.

16:21 We really enjoy what we are building.

16:22 So, we have an exclusive Patreon community where they get firstirhand

16:25 [music] access to anything we post and all uncensored footage and images.

16:29 And some of the things are truly horrifying.

16:34 I know.

16:35 I know.

16:36 Miss, what's going on?

16:37 My son.

16:38 Who's your son?

16:39 Christian.

16:39 How old's your son?

16:40 17.

16:41 He was his best friend's brother's the one that got there.

16:44 Listen.

16:44 Listen.

16:44 I need to see my son.

16:45 Listen.

16:46 I I understand, but we have Listen.

16:48 Listen what I'm saying.

16:49 We have an active scene over there,

16:50 and I can't just have you running over there just

16:52 just because you think maybe he's there, maybe he's not.

16:55 We don't know where he is.

16:56 No, I know.

16:57 So, what I can't have you doing is run through

16:59 an active scene cuz you're going to run into problems.

17:01 Understand that I'm panicking.

17:02 I get it.

17:03 But I'm going to need you to stand by for a second.

17:04 Let us handle what we got to do up there.

17:07 Let us figure it out.

17:08 Okay.

17:08 But I can't have you just running through there yelling your son's name.

17:11 Find him.

17:12 Just Just give us a minute.

17:13 Okay.

17:14 We don't even know your son's name yet.

17:16 We don't even know your son's name yet.

17:18 Christian.

17:18 All right.

17:18 So, Christian.

17:20 Okay.

17:21 Besides the constant hurdles, what cops didn't know yet was that two

17:25 boys still at the scene saw the whole ordeal

17:28 and they were about to come forward with information

17:30 that would set the investigation back into motion.

17:38 And then uh were you like involved or were you going?

17:42 My buddy was on the bike.

17:43 Your buddy was on the bike.

17:44 Yeah.

17:45 He was just cruising down.

17:47 You can't see[ __] down there.

17:48 And the kid ran in front of the Whatever.

17:51 So, your body was going this way.

17:55 Yeah.

17:55 Okay.

17:55 And then uh somebody hit him or he hit somebody.

17:58 No.

17:59 __] pedestrian ran across the road and you hit the pedestrian.

18:01 Hit the pedestrian.

18:02 Gotcha.

18:03 Was this like a meet up spot that you guys meet up?

18:07 Yeah.

18:07 I don't really come down here much cuz I live in Pasco County.

18:09 So, um my girl and her cousin I just picked up her cousin from the airport.

18:14 So, yeah,

18:15 we knew that might be some car just a car chill car meet going on.

18:19 Yeah.

18:19 Yeah.

18:19 the night that you guys meet up like on for street sometimes.

18:23 Yeah, I just like seeing the cars and stuff,

18:24 right?

18:25 Right.

18:25 Right.

18:26 So, this all the spots you guys meet up.

18:29 Yeah, I guess.

18:30 Yeah.

18:30 So, this is not like the first time basically like you're here in this spot.

18:34 This is the first time I've came to this spa.

18:35 Usually, I go over to like the Walmart or like that racrack gas station.

18:39 Right.

18:39 Right.

18:39 The race.

18:40 Yeah.

18:40 Cuz I mean I'm not really here to race my car.

18:42 I don't got it set up for your body.

18:44 Is this his first time or no?

18:46 Um he's in the military.

18:47 He's a marine.

18:48 Um, he used to live here and then he got stationed.

18:51 He's just down here for the weekend.

18:55 Yeah.

18:55 Was he on this lane or like

18:57 he was on this side?

18:59 Yeah.

18:59 Okay.

19:00 There was the cop's first clue.

19:02 The vehicle that supposedly hit the victim was a black gypsy motorbike.

19:07 Yet somehow the cop forgot to ask the name of his buddy.

19:10 But luckily, another boy was ready to give that information up.

19:13 Run me through.

19:14 How are you related to anybody here?

19:15 Just I'm not related.

19:16 I'm really good friends with him.

19:17 Got you.

19:18 Pretty much.

19:18 What?

19:18 What did you see?

19:19 What happened?

19:20 So, he was on the bike.

19:21 He was coming this way.

19:22 Do you know who was on the bike?

19:23 Yeah.

19:23 His uh Carlos.

19:25 Do you know Carlos?

19:25 Like you guys?

19:26 Yeah.

19:26 Your friend?

19:27 Yeah.

19:27 He's my He's my close friend.

19:30 Okay.

19:29 Um he was riding this way on the bike

19:31 and a group of people tried to like run across the street,

19:34 I'm guessing what they were doing,

19:35 but they ran across the street and they ran in front of him and he hit them.

19:39 Gotcha.

19:39 And what you remember what like was all running the same direction?

19:42 People like were they crossing this way?

19:43 Were they crossing this crossing that way.

19:44 They crossed on that side of the road

19:45 going that way and they were crossing that way.

19:49 Gotcha.

19:48 The detectives were one step closer to discovering what happened.

19:52 Yet, no one so far admitted to witnessing any

19:54 racing or the motorcycle traveling at an illegal speed.

19:58 And that is something the cops needed

20:00 to correctly charge Carlos as without that information,

20:03 Carlos could walk away with little consequence.

20:06 So, the next course of action was to try to gather any footage.

20:10 As this was a teenager meetup spot,

20:12 there had to be someone that filmed the crash.

20:14 But this was going to prove to be much harder to obtain than they imagined.

20:18 But first, they had to speak with Carlos.

20:26 Man got to stay over here.

20:27 Okay.

20:28 Hey, I got to let him know soon, bro.

20:30 We'll let him know.

20:30 We'll let him know.

20:31 Just come back, man.

20:32 Man, can't be coming back in the scene.

20:33 Okay.

20:33 Can't be coming back in.

20:34 I got to let him know, bro.

20:35 I'll let him know, man.

20:38 Trying to be cool with you.

20:39 Just between me and him.

20:40 Just between me and him.

20:42 Going to come over here, too.

20:42 Okay.

20:43 Between me and him.

20:44 Let me talk to him.

20:45 Let me talk to him.

20:46 Let me talk to him.

20:47 Come on.

20:49 Please.

20:49 Let me talk to him.

20:50 Let me talk to him.

20:51 Let me[ __] talk to him.

21:01 We're just trying to clear people out right now.

21:02 We don't want anyone.

21:05 The[ __] bro.

21:06 What the[ __]

21:07 You was 13.

21:08 12, bro.

21:09 Dude is 12.

21:10 13.

21:11 13.

21:11 Same[ __] Hey, he's not Bro, he just got pronounced as a[ __] teenager, bro.

21:17 Oh god.

21:17 Bro,

21:19 what the is this[ __] bro?

21:25 Luckily for the cops, Carlos wasn't [music] denying involvement,

21:28 but due to his emotional state, he wasn't able to say much.

21:32 The cops were getting more and more questions with no answers.

21:35 That's why the cops had to obtain footage

21:37 or else they would find themselves in a dead end.

21:41 Um, I remember Carlos wanting to try his friend's bike.

21:45 Okay.

21:45 And that was the black one.

21:48 Okay.

21:47 But he was riding blue one all night.

21:49 Carlos was riding a blue one all night.

21:51 Yes.

21:51 But then he wanted to try his friends or uncle's.

21:54 Was he racing?

21:55 H was he racing?

21:57 He went out alone.

21:58 I don't think he was racing anywhere.

22:00 Okay.

22:01 He went that way and then I think he turned around.

22:06 Okay.

22:06 But he turned fast.

22:08 I went to go record on my phone and my phone was dead.

22:14 On my phone.

22:15 The race.

22:16 The races.

22:17 It just went like record like my friend go by and my phone was dead.

22:24 And then my cousin Natalie in the car,

22:29 she's afraid to tell you that she has a video on her phone.

22:36 But at first, I thought it only recorded him like, you know, like zooming by.

22:43 But we went back and we watched it and you can hear everything happen.

22:48 Okay.

22:48 I'm going to need to see that.

22:50 Yeah.

22:51 But she's scared to talk to.

22:55 But that's Do you know how fast he was going?

22:58 Roughly?

22:58 No, but there's a video.

23:01 This cop was the only one able

23:02 to get some valuable information about possible footage.

23:06 And as [music] suspected, a lot of teenagers had videos,

23:09 but they were scared to involve themselves.

23:11 Thankfully, when they located Natalie,

23:13 they received a crucial piece of the puzzle.

23:21 You're not in trouble.

23:23 Okay.

23:26 Do you got your driver's license on you or anything?

23:29 In the car.

23:29 In your car.

23:30 Okay.

23:31 Go ahead and grab it.

23:38 She's just got to get her driver's license.

23:44 She's going pretty fast.

23:46 And my cousin was on the floor.

23:48 She took a video of it.

23:50 And then in the video you can hear the crash

23:53 and you can hear the crash in real life.

23:55 Then we ran down and then there was a blue bike and I just seen the one

24:00 body and I then my cousin still had my phone and I had her call 911.

24:10 Can I see the video?

24:18 I'm trying to rewind it back.

24:33 When she handed the video over,

24:34 the cops now had a clear image of the motorcycle,

24:37 Carlos riding it, and an estimate of the speed he was traveling at.

24:40 When comps reenacted the video, they were able to determine Carlos had to have

24:45 been traveling way above 100 mph when the crash occurred,

24:49 along with measurements of how far Ethan's body was thrown.

24:52 This was extremely strong evidence against Carlos.

24:55 Yet, he wasn't the only person who was facing trouble.

24:58 Yes, sir.

24:59 Owner of the uh the bike that was involved in the accident.

25:03 Yes.

25:02 With your nephew.

25:05 Okay.

25:05 Uh what I'm asking you now is consent to basically

25:10 do DNA swabs on the front of the bike.

25:14 Basically.

25:14 Oh yes.

25:15 To prove uh you know that that's the bike that hit

25:19 the juvenile and that your nephew was the one that was riding the bike.

25:24 Just to eliminate everything.

25:26 So you're okay with me doing DNA swabs on the bikes?

25:31 Yes, I sure am.

25:34 That's unfortunately that's the only two that I can uh give because

25:40 it's the only thing that didn't have any blood or anything on it.

25:43 Okay.

25:43 [snorts] So, where we're at in the case,

25:48 uh I've been discussing with the state attorney

25:51 about possibly filing charges and stuff like that.

25:54 Okay.

25:55 I guess the motorcyclist and even the uncle

26:00 for basically allowing his nephew to ride the motorcycle.

26:07 No, no, he he he's he's of age,

26:09 but the thing is is he doesn't have a motorcycle endorsement,

26:12 so he shouldn't have been riding that bike.

26:14 [snorts] Uncle was there, the owner,

26:16 like and everything, and obviously the nephew was, too.

26:20 All right.

26:21 So, that's where we're at on the investigation.

26:23 I'm still conducting it.

26:25 It's still kind of early, but I have discussed it with the state.

26:31 Okay.

26:30 Have my lawyer on top of this, too.

26:33 I'm going let the law do it thing.

26:35 That's that's exactly what you said.

26:36 Cuz I know that night did say a lot of things.

26:37 I was pissed.

26:40 Yeah.

26:39 And I was hurt, but I'm letting you guys handle this.

26:42 [sighs]

26:44 Okay.

26:43 At first I was scared cuz when I put him in danger[ __] car to go to jail.

26:50 Just trying to have fun on my side.

26:53 So all right.

26:54 Go ahead.

26:56 Ever took a fishy fish.

27:00 Okay.

27:01 deserves.

27:02 I'll explain to you.

27:04 Both Ethan's dad and Carlos's uncle were charged.

27:07 Yet, the case was far from over

27:09 as an anonymous witness came forward with new information.

27:17 The very next day, detectives [music] were informed

27:19 another vehicle was possibly involved in the tragedy.

27:22 Detectives located the owner of the car and made their way

27:25 to find out whether he was involved or just another witness on scene.

27:30 It was crucial for them to take a calm approach

27:32 as the majority of the teenage witnesses refused to speak [music] to them,

27:35 so they had to make this count.

27:42 Hi.

27:42 Hi, Jennifer.

27:45 Jasmine.

27:44 Jasmine.

27:45 I thought your mom said, "Uh, Jennifer,

27:48 do you got your license on you?"

27:49 Uh, it's upstairs.

27:50 I have my number.

27:53 No,

27:53 that's Christopher.

27:54 Oh, okay.

27:55 Uh, hang tight.

27:56 I'm going to Yeah.

27:58 So, let's go over here.

28:00 Okay.

28:00 Actually, no, never mind.

28:02 It's not in the car.

28:04 Okay.

28:04 Okay.

28:06 Can I ask what this is about?

28:08 Well, let me just get your name and all that stuff.

28:11 So, first name is Jasmine.

28:15 Jasmine.

28:14 So, the reason we're here is I'm I'm a traffic homicide investigator.

28:18 Uh I had a case probably a couple weeks

28:21 ago and we're just trying to get all odds.

28:26 When do you guys go out like together like all the time?

28:31 No.

28:31 Like no.

28:34 Okay.

28:33 Typically I work at night.

28:35 Okay.

28:36 So, I'm going to show you a series of photos.

28:42 What is that?

28:45 Is basically your car.

28:47 You don't recognize it?

28:48 I can.

28:49 I I bad vision.

28:50 Yeah.

28:51 Um, so I see my car.

28:54 Yeah.

28:54 Did you hear about a crash that happened a couple weeks ago?

28:57 I saw something on Facebook.

29:00 Yeah.

29:01 So,

29:01 there was a kid who died.

29:03 Yeah.

29:03 So,

29:05 there's your car.

29:09 Okay.

29:08 There's one person that uh got hit.

29:13 My car didn't hit them, did it?

29:15 No.

29:15 No.

29:16 No.

29:17 That's your car again?

29:22 Yes.

29:20 That is the kid that got hit.

29:25 Yeah.

29:26 And then here's a closeup.

29:29 Oh my god.

29:32 And I I won't show you anymore.

29:34 Um

29:37 Okay.

29:36 Were you with Christopher?

29:38 No, I was home.

29:39 You were home?

29:41 I don't go I

29:43 unless it's like a birthday or something.

29:46 I don't go out.

29:46 Okay.

29:47 Does he generally go out to these?

29:51 I mean, I'm not going to lie to you.

29:52 I know that, you know, we like we go to like Bington,

29:56 the Showtime drag strip over there.

29:59 Legal.

29:59 Yeah, I've been there once or twice, but I don't go frequently.

30:02 Yeah.

30:02 Well, this this is on 28th Street,

30:04 which is that it's a road by the dump where it's very poorly lit.

30:13 It's a known area.

30:17 You're

30:18 telling me he was racing car?

30:19 I know it's a hidden bus.

30:21 Hi caller is going to be a step up the res information as I get it.

30:31 So we're just trying to like and how we got your tag

30:35 is basically he drove through the dump and very good possibility

30:40 it was just before the accident did a U-turn came back then

30:44 parked and then shortly after that is when the accident took place.

30:49 Um so he may have been jail for hitting the kid.

30:52 He didn't hit the kid.

30:55 Oh,

30:54 like the what what happened is he was hit by a motorcyclist.

31:01 Okay.

31:01 Unfortunately, the child slid against the ground, hit another person,

31:05 broke their leg, and then we believeing hit the car because of the speed

31:13 that the motorcyclist was going [snorts] after hitting the kid.

31:17 kid had to have went at a high rate of speed off the bike

31:24 and came to final rest pretty much at your car.

31:29 Okay.

31:28 Um and we're just trying to get

31:32 if he got information no he did not hit Nope.

31:35 Nope.

31:37 Um does he frequently go to these?

31:39 I I don't know to be honest.

31:41 I I mean he goes out with his friends fishing.

31:43 He does random things.

31:44 Like I don't necessarily know.

31:47 But that particular night you were here.

31:49 I didn't say anything about it.

31:50 And you were here.

31:52 Yeah.

31:51 Were you?

31:54 No.

31:53 I was dating my brother.

31:54 I'm dating her brother.

31:55 I was at the stockyard.

31:57 So I was there till 2:00 a.m.

31:59 Okay.

31:59 Okay.

32:00 [snorts]

32:01 So that's why we're trying to track down and see what he actually

32:07 witnessed, saw or Yeah.

32:10 So he may have just went to watch.

32:14 Okay.

32:16 Um, so will he get arrested for watching?

32:19 Technically, there is a statute or what they call it as a spectator.

32:25 Okay.

32:26 It'd be a citation.

32:27 Okay.

32:29 But

32:28 we're not looking at that because

32:32 we're hoping that he saw something

32:35 prior to the accident that could help in the investigation.

32:38 Well, I'm going to go talk to him.

32:39 I like to stay out of jail, so I don't go to illegal things.

32:42 Yeah.

32:42 Um, so we're just trying to cover all of our bases.

32:47 Okay.

32:47 And that because obviously Well, I mean, whatever you need.

32:51 Yeah.

32:50 It was clear to the detectives the girl had no involvement in Ethan's death,

32:55 but they couldn't say the same for her boyfriend, Steven.

32:58 What's your name?

32:59 Uh, Steven.

33:00 So, I'm a traffic homicide investigator.

33:02 Yes, sir.

33:02 And I'm investigating

33:04 a crash that caused the death of somebody.

33:07 Yes.

33:07 Yes, sir.

33:09 Um,

33:09 so I'm going to show you a series of photos.

33:12 um that we got.

33:13 [snorts] So, this is a first photo.

33:17 Do you recognize the car like the headlights or anything?

33:21 I know it's kind of like because of it's dark.

33:25 Uh yes, sir.

33:25 I do.

33:26 Yeah.

33:26 What do you How do you recognize that?

33:28 The car.

33:29 That's your car.

33:32 Um Yes, sir.

33:33 Okay.

33:34 So, there's the second one.

33:36 Obviously, this is a little closer.

33:39 I won't go any further cuz obviously you're already you know what

33:44 we sto that's the only reason why I left a very strong even wet papers.

33:54 Okay.

33:56 So you were there?

33:58 Yes sir.

33:58 Yes sir.

34:00 Why'd you leave with a weak stomach?

34:03 And then actually in those pictures I'm pretty sure you got that from the video.

34:07 Yes.

34:07 Yes.

34:07 The guy, he said, "Back up." Back up.

34:09 Yeah.

34:10 He said, "Go." Okay.

34:12 That's literally the only reason.

34:13 Who told you back up?

34:15 The dude that was recording.

34:16 I don't know.

34:17 Okay.

34:18 Okay.

34:19 What did you see?

34:21 Like, um, so I'm going to be 100%.

34:23 Yep.

34:23 That's fine.

34:24 And that's what I want.

34:25 No, no, no, no.

34:25 The the biker was not racing at all.

34:28 Okay.

34:28 See how fast he was going?

34:30 100 something.

34:31 100 something.

34:32 So 100 something.

34:33 But he he was not racing.

34:35 Were you in the car when it happened?

34:36 No.

34:36 No.

34:37 No.

34:37 Sure.

34:37 No, I was actually like standing like 5t in front of where the kid was.

34:41 Like 5t.

34:42 I was uh on the side of the road.

34:43 You know how there was a center lane

34:46 uh the lane and then there's another lane and the road

34:49 like the turn that turn lane.

34:50 Yeah, I was I was standing over there by that.

34:52 Okay.

34:52 Well, a little bit down from the turn lane.

34:56 Um Okay.

34:59 So, you weren't in the car itself.

35:01 No, no, sir.

35:01 Uh the kid the kid and the brother were in the middle lane

35:04 and the kid at the last minute tried to run across the bike.

35:06 He was like a deer in headlights.

35:07 That was crazy.

35:10 Okay.

35:09 Um the pictures he showed me, there is a lot of different.

35:12 That was disgusting.

35:13 I could not look at that all day.

35:16 Yeah, unfortunately.

35:18 I'm still choking down.

35:21 That poor kid's family.

35:23 Yeah, without a doubt.

35:24 Without a doubt.

35:25 You sound Tell you tell that to me out

35:27 of context and it sounds like a horror movie.

35:29 Like there was a 13-year-old on road.

35:32 Yeah.

35:32 I know that they they shut that down.

35:34 Like they closed all the things.

35:35 Mhm.

35:36 Cuz that was something that a few of my friends

35:38 when I was in high school used to go to.

35:39 Oh, really?

35:40 But it's been years.

35:41 I graduated 2015.

35:42 So that's when I started high school.

35:44 You're like, "Yeah, years." [laughter]

35:47 You graduated and I started basically the same year.

35:49 My body feels like it's 90.

35:51 So [laughter] don't touch that road.

35:54 Don't go near that road.

35:55 Don't go within 10 miles of that road.

35:59 In cases involving teenagers, misinformation and rumors are very common.

36:04 But every tip has to be explored.

36:06 Yet with detectives now having a bigger picture of what occurred that night,

36:10 they were met with only one conclusion.

36:15 [music] In the end, officers had their evidence,

36:19 and Carlos's uncle was charged with street

36:21 racing as a spectator and culpable negligence

36:24 as he allowed his unauthorized nephew to ride

36:27 the bike that ultimately killed 13-year-old Ethan Martin.

36:31 Ethan's dad was initially charged with street

36:33 racing as a spectator and felony child neglect,

36:36 yet his charges were later dropped.

36:39 Finally, 20-year-old Carlos Fernandez was

36:42 ultimately charged with vehicular homicide,

36:44 reckless driving causing serious [music] bodily injury,

36:47 street racing, and operating a motorcycle without an endorsement,

36:51 [music] and sentenced to 7 years in prison,

36:53 followed by 13 years of probation for the death of 13-year-old Ethan Martin.

37:03 [music]