HERADIA, JULIO: Why Did You Kill Me? TV - Cinemaholic online -
24 February 2006 8:45 a.m.: ‘We didn’t even make it pass the end of the street. There’s a guy with a hooded sweater, with a gun probably just a foot and half away from me, and bang, bang, bang. I look over at my sister [Crystal Theobald] and she was just motionless. Why Did You Kill Me? Justin, Belinda’s son, Netflix 2021
Why Did You Kill Me? is a true-crime documentary from Netflix directed by Fredrick Munk. It details the utterly random killing of 24-year-old Crystal Theobald as a result of gang violence and her mother’s relentless fight to catch the people who murdered her. By using MySpace, the mother tracked down people that were involved with the shooting leading to a big break in the case and, eventually, arrests and convictions …
Around 8:40 PM that night, as they were driving by an intersection, the car which Crystal was in was shot multiple times by someone who got out of a white SUV. Crystal was hit in the head, and Juan was hit in his stomach. Justin was unharmed. Crystal’s mother, Belinda Lane, who was in another car ahead of Crystal’s, had witnessed the shooting. While the suspects fled, Crystal was rushed to a hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries two days later. Back at the scene, multiple shell casings were collected, and an investigation ensued …
Once Belinda told police about William and the conversations on MySpace, they brought him in for questioning. In a voluntary interview, he told the police about the events from that night and gave the police a few more names of the people that were in his car at the time. The police let him go after his interview, and he disappeared shortly after. Equipped with more information, they started questioning other members of the gang who were present in the car that night, and Manuel ‘Tripper’ Lemus became an important witness.
While Manuel, a member of the gang at the time, was initially reticent to talk about the events of that night, he eventually went back and told the police what happened. It was stated that the gang members wanted to retaliate after one of them was shot at earlier by someone from a rival gang. At the intersection on the night of February 24, Julio ‘Lil Huero’ Heredia opened fire on the car with Crystal, mistakenly assuming that they were members of the rival gang, after which he left the scene with the rest of them. It was William Sotelo’s car that was used at the time, and he was the one driving it.
As a result, the authorities started looking for Julio, who was eventually arrested in Mexico. In 2011, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder, attempted murder, and a few other charges. William Sotelo was at large for almost 10 years before finally being apprehended in Mexico as a direct result of a tip that Belinda had received on Facebook. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Ultimately, ten people who were involved with the murder pleaded guilty through the years for a number of different charges. The Cinemaholic online article Viswa Vanapalli, ‘Crystal Theobald’s Murder: Who Did She Die? Who Killed Her?’
HERBERT, RYAN & HARRIS, BRENDAN et al: see LANCASTER, SOPHIE & ROBERT MALTBY murders
HERNANDEZ, CARLOS: The Phantom TV - Guardian online -
Corpus Christi, Texas, 4th February 1983: 26-year-old Wanda Lopez was working alone behind the counter, and while on the phone to a police dispatcher, she was stabbed to death. The Phantom, news, Netflix 2021
That was not his [Carlos DeLuna] manner of committing crimes. He just was not the type to go and pull a knife on somebody. ibid. rozzer
The only evidence is eye-witness evidence. That’s the worst evidence in the world. ibid. prosecutor
When they pulled him out from under the truck, they found a wad of bills in his front pants pocket totalling $149, which was about the amount of money that was taken from the cash register. ibid. Carrico
If he stabbed her, why is there nothing on his clothing? ibid. old boy
He gave us the name Carlos Hernandez. ibid.
The jury convicted and gave DeLuna the death penalty. ibid. news
He [DeLuna] should have had some blood on his shoes. ibid. post-mortem old boy
He didn’t even know he was on Death Row. ibid. pen pal
14 years later, New York City, Professor Liebman: We found another case in Corpus Christi … We wanted to learn everything we could about this Carlos Hernandez … An entire story unfolded … A lot of it had to do with robbery of a convenience store. ibid.
The subject was found in her van in a vacant lot in Corpus Christi. She had a large X scratched – more scratched than cut – on her back … What kind of a murder was this? ibid. post-mortem old boy
The wrong Carlos: how Texas sent an innocent man to his death: Groundbreaking Columbia law school study sets out in shocking detail the flaws that led to Carlos DeLuna’s execution in 1989. Guardian online article Ed Pilkington in New York 15th May 2012
HERRMANN, URSULA murder: viz Murder Cases & Miscarriages of Justice: Mazurek, Herrmann
HERNANDEZ, AARON: Hernandez, Aaron: Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez TV -
Sports Illustrated reporting yesterday that Patriots’ tight end Aaron Hernandez has been questioned in connection with what is now a homicide investigation. Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez I, Netflix 2020, news
I’m perfect with structure, you know. ibid. Aaron on arriving at Bristol County nick
He was the biggest baddest thing in Connecticut. He won state player of the year. ibid. observer
Odin Lloyd Laid To Rest: The semi-pro football player was found shot to death in an execution-style murder. ibid. television news
I was a small piece of Aaron’s sexual activity. ibid. early male friend
This double-murder that Hernandez is now indicted for happened in July of 2012. About a month later he signs a five-year forty-million-dollar contract with the Patriots. ibid. television news
If this stuff is true, then I’ve been duped and our whole organisation has been duped. Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez II, Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft
2006: Aaron visits the University of Florida. ibid.
Odin Lloyd: This was an incredibly sloppy crime: there’s now a grisly murder in a field right next to Aaron Hernandez’ home. ibid. observer
That’s when the dualities started to surface. ibid. re Hernandez’ lifestyle
He was hanging out with a very dangerous, very violent, guy [Alexander Bradley]. ibid.
My body’s so fucked up just from Football. ibid. Aaron
I feel the same in here as I did on the streets. Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez III, Aaron
I loved the Harry Potter books. ibid.
The jury was out for a week … Guilty of murder in the first degree. ibid. observer
Why would a guy who gets so enraged at a drink being spilled on him that he would go out and shoot up a car? ibid. observer
19 April 2017: Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez found dead in his prison cell overnight; apparently he killed himself. ibid. television news
He had very advanced [brain] disease … especially in the frontal lobes … The first case we’ve ever seen with that kind of damage in such a young individual. ibid. Dr Ann McKee, neuropathologist
HERNANDEZ, LAURA: see GARCIA, EDGAR