The Ambush of Kevin Harris | Full Episode

[Music] [Music] oh my oh my Lord it was disguise a limit for a 21y old that was talented and that everybody [Music] loved I'm Kevin Harris's Dad okay he's my son and he was named after me it was going to be a Sunday like any other even if he didn't go to church that day he was naive Kevin trusted in Soul maybe a little too much he'd say why you got to tell everybody I'm your son I said because I'm proud of you my best friend my teammate I haven't been able to watch a a father take his son to the park with a ball you know for a while [Music] so [Music] he was making a name for himself cuz I heard where Britney and Rihanna actually were interested in some of his material Kevin always had it the Beats were great I knew he was going to make it some people have that thing where it's like you're Relentless to a point where nothing can stop you the stuff that he would send me was a lot of like an R&B feel mixed with like pop pop and Hip-Hop Church like gospel like those chords a lot of things were happening too quickly it videos camera shoots Ice Cube track and he went to that dog on Studio that night and that happened last day and he kissed me on it on my left cheek he hugged me and he just helded me and I said what's wrong Kevin and he said nothing mom he said everything's just happening so fast I feel like something's going to happen I said don't think like that 10 to 17 shots two different handguns how much do you have to kill him a lot of suspicious things happened that night the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that one Smoking Gun [Music] [Music] [Applause] time is of the essence I've hate how long my breath takes those are the words of Kevin Harris on his Twitter account in the summer of 2009 Kevin was just 21 when he was gunned down shortly after 8:00 p.m. on a September Sunday that same year he had been sitting in his car alone in Englewood California a small City in Los Angeles close to LAX get a call at 9:15 are you at the hospital I said for what what happened what's wrong Kevin's been shot Kevin Harris senior is Kevin's dad we ran every light just to be told that we couldn't see him I was in denial Catherine is his mother the night that he was murdered and I do say murdered people like to say he passed he did pass on but someone actually took the time to murder him the harrises couldn't believe that somebody wanted their son dead this is this is Kevin this was during the the the photo shoot that they had so handsome confident very confident tell me about your angel our Angel our Ang she called him angel face his mother his mother I wish he could have met him he was beautiful man and he was still close with his childhood friends like Cameron Woods we've known each other since we were like 2 3 years old we continue going to the same school with each other all the way to all the way to here um it's still so fresh yeah hold on sorry what are you thinking I don't want to cry it's a little harder a little H yeah it's okay you know that right what do you miss most about him his smile his generosity never heard anybody tell me anything bad about him say anything bad about him never really heard him say anything bad about anyone besides my beard feel you know I mean no one's perfect but he was he was close he was close to that the harrises led by example were working hard dad at the LA airport and selling cars and Mom working retail they were regulars in church and they sent Kevin to a Catholic school she and I were like helicopter parents under surveillance at all time as a form of protection yes if he hadn't come home at a certain time I would text a question mark just knowing the the possible hearts that lay out there in the street one of Kevin's Hobbies Cameron says was hanging out with his mom spending time with his mom really yeah he love you wait wait wait a teenager enjoying spending time with his parents I don't know if I should say it but he was like kind of like a mama's boy but I mean I'm a mama's boy so there's nothing wrong with that Kevin was a perfect date Jasmine Tanner was Kevin's High School sweet sart not really a huge dancer but like you know he had his little twostep that he would do everything that he did was in from a very loving place the harrises kept their son involved in sports especially basketball I'll take you through my house right now right here in my room but his real calling was music much of the music you're hearing in this broadcast is his see this all you need right here is a little kid right here you turn up the music for a second see got all that got the turntables mix [Music] s he taught himself to play he taught himself he had Rock he had Classics he had Jazz uh East Indian music soon after high school graduation Kevin landed a gig apprenticing at a local music studio yeah he start boobing that head and then he just the next thing you know he's like oh oh listen to this and then he'll click something it's like going to the next level by the summer of 2009 he'd stacked up hundreds of hours in the studio he began breaking into the Los Angeles hipop scene but he just wanted to be the best producer ever Kevin's Vibe was he was comfortable with himself Sonia techly is a poet and singer one of a number of artists working with Kevin I had never felt comfortable in recording sessions until my sessions with him and a lot of times like you know guys are just trying to like get at girls and do all these things but he was just he stayed in his Lane he was focused on his work as Kevin's career picked up speed he bragged about working at a big fancy Studio where Michael Jackson once recorded Thriller and he was like right there like you know like a pin ball and you get your ball ready and and you pull it back and then let go but everything would soon come to an abrupt and violent end my naive loving son probably just could have been possibly Sleeping with the Enemy and had no [Music] idea [Music] to this day no one has been charged for the murder of Kevin Harris they thought we're going to do this sneaky stuff here and we'll get away with it they effed with the wrong father this [Music] time Kevin Harris senior is determined to change that he spent the past 11 years Seeking Justice for his his namesake I never got to speak to Kevin that day at all I went to work 9:00 a.m. he was still asleep and I looked in on him and I left that Sunday morning in the summer of 2009 Kevin shared breakfast with his mother Catherine I saw have the plate the paper the napkin the last carton of juice I have all of that from that day you Memorial realized him I just love him I love him retracing their son's steps the harrises say nothing seemed unusual that day from what I hear at some point he wound up at a Pop Warner football game and then later on he went to his aunt's Karen Staten is the last known person to see Kevin alive he was his regular happy go-lucky self hi Auntie how you doing what'd you cook and he stayed we ate we laughed we talked and after a few hours Kevin left saying he was headed to the music studio I said Kevin don't go we're having too much fun I don't want you to go yet and he said auntie I have to go because the studio is quiet no one's there I can record I can go over some things I can write can perfect what I'm working on and we hugged each other and he was out the door he drove to the studio in his beloved Green Camaro he was supposed to meet up with a friend known in the community as a wannabe rapper but that friend was a no-show a lot of suspicious things happened that night the studio was in a converted Garage in a residential neighborhood Kevin arrived but never made it out of his car he was shot multiple times from two different guns I never expected anything like this to happen to Kevin Kevin's friend Jasmine says he didn't have a chance to find out that he was shot outside the studio that he loved to go to so much it was just like nowhere is safe the harrises went to the crimes seen no more than 3 hours after their son had been shot the police were already gone it was already cleaned up it was so weird and strange it was like why is this crime scene already done car was gone everything it seems as if they were more expeditious in cleaning up their crime scene than they were in trying to find out who did this within the proverbial 24 to 48 hours that's what it seemed like C Catherine took what was left behind I walked around in front of the studio and I saw blood wipe the blood up off the street and uh the glass from his window was on the ground and I used my hands as a broom to gather the glass this young man deserves better than what happened here there was early speculation that Kevin's death was Gang Related an assumption that upset his father you hear shot and kill and the first thing you want to say drive by was he in the game no no he wasn't he was just a loving young man with a heart as big as his church music journalist Raman Duke says no matter how innocent the victim is people assume a crime like this is Gang Related cuz there's a young black man so it's automatic yeah and in that and specifically within that neighborhood 100% young black man shot in the music business yeah those are all elements and the odds of solving crimes with those elements are slim for one thing witnesses can be hard to find people in these communities they stick together when these situations occur they're like I'm not not dealing with with the law enforcement they weren't here to help us why we going to why we going to help them I have seen people step forward but the majority of the time that doesn't happen why a lot of times cuz they're afraid that person still has to live in that neighborhood there there might be some retaliation there's this mentality where it's like just mind your own business as time passed Kevin's parents felt that the police pushed their son's case to the back burner even when they tried to help and they would tell me just go home just go home we'll take care of this we let the law enforcement handle it unfortunately it didn't work it was sat on the police told 48 Hours quote our hearts go out to the parents and family of Kevin the Englewood police department has done everything possible to bring closure and Justice to the family the harrises continued to push for answers they held memorials for Kevin inviting the police and local officials but the stress of losing their son took its toll the gun kills more than this intended victim and it always will and after he died not right away but a lot of everything that meant everything to our family was destroyed two years after Kevin's murder the harrises ended their 23-year [Music] marriage it was a dark time for Kevin Senior he searched for [Music] Solace and he found it in church a Baptist Church in the Los Angeles community of [Music] Watts my heart it's broken but God has piece by piece put it back together Pastor Winford Bell helped the heartbroken father Channel his grief into a newfound purpose speaking out against gun violence for Bell's organization Silver Lining of hope my heart has been ripped Smither I really Revel in this because it's medicine to my soul to speak about the loss of my son Kevin stepped up when they kill your baby it's few people that want to fight to fix it so that your baby or my baby or anybody else's baby doesn't suffer the same [Music] thing now more at peace with himself Kevin Senior found more will to keep up the long fight to find out who murdered his son and he was about to get some unexpected help we're going to put as much time and energy as it takes we will not stop we will figure this [Music] out [Music] Kevin Harris Senor continued to speak out 6 years after his son's senseless murder his heartbreaking story finally had an impact the local police brought in the FBI to work the case when I heard I was going to get a call from the FBI I felt that all my aggressiveness wasn't in vain have you met the parents I have the parents are fantastic and as soon as I met them we immediately bonded and they have begged us to just find the people that did this and that's my commitment to them Vette Morgan is in charge of FBI criminal investigations in Los Angeles I'm vested so we'll find them and we'll hold them accountable Welcome to the New [Music] FBI I think the there was a tough case with you know not a lot of evidence there was no DNA there was no actual physical touching FBI special agent Sean sterley got the case he started with the crime scene photos and with what witnesses that did speak out saw a dark sedan that pulled up next to Kevin Harris's Camaro the shots were fired from that car we believe there were probably three people in the car the driver and two Shooters they were approximately about 6 in door Tod door so close that the shell Cas casings from the shooters guns two of them end up inside Kevin's [Music] car also new to the case former LA detective John Skaggs know the streets and I know how to talk to people where are you taking us right now we're going to the crime scene where Kevin was killed there's a couple things I need to look at and then there's a uh resident that I want to talk to scags came out of retirement to work with the local Cold Case unit and assist the FBI so is this a hopeless case or a stalled case uh it is stalled and absolutely not hopeless and what's the difference well there's still clues that haven't been burned out this is the street where Kevin was murdered exactly [Music] detective scags walks into the house attached to the music studio hey John skags from Englewood police and comes out a half an hour later with owner Randy Thomas Hi how are you I'm Michelle Miller 48 hours so Michelle had a really good talk with Randy uh he was friends he knew Kevin for about four years and Kevin would use his studio for for his music Randy says by the time he got outside that night the shooters were gone I heard cap cap cap I thought it was firecrackers then the neighbor came outside and said somebody shot and you saw Kevin's I saw the green camear I said oh my God oh my God the amms came in the fir truck and they pulled him out tried to revive him but it was bad to see him here on the street in front of your house broke my heart it's almost like someone had to have follow him here so you think it was someone he knew that I don't know but I know that no one comes here on Sunday [Music] nights the new detectives confirmed what Kevin's parents and friends had said all along Kevin Harris was really quite a remarkable kid and we probably did somewhere close to 70 to 80 interviews we could not find anybody who would say anything you closely remotely uh negative about [Music] him and they learned that in the months before his death Kevin's career was on a roll this studio was his home base there a lot of steps be very careful okay so you have a sound mixer right you have a sound booth right so this is where we do the music at and Kevin had key he can come anytime he' like to come in the summer of 2009 Kevin was becoming better known by his stage name track bully I think he was just really positive about the way his life was going I mean his name was track bully for exactly cuz his tracks was crazy one of the artists Kevin was closest with was jizzel a hip-hop poet and rapper seen in this video with Diddy I look at this picture and what do you see oh man that was just bro when he was hungry like just trying to figure it out he got the TV on his hat for track bully but by then he was already like lit kind of huh yeah yeah he was lit and I used to go by Lady g at the time so he' be like what's up lady G like man you got to mess with me on the music man and so he finally like sent me a a like a at your beat we can get it we get it get it jizzel and Kevin work together on Poppin a catchy tune they believe could break through and become a hit this is poppin this is poppin wow that's you yeah man is that him right there yeah willly right there off to the side yeah Kevin was clearly proud of that song jizzel may have been the star but Kevin made sure everyone knew he was the force behind it and then there was his Triumph of scoring a really big saale it was to hipop Star Ice Cube once again proudly tweeting about his feet right before he was killed he had sold the track to Ice Cube I mean how big of a deal was that it's a very big deal Ice Cube was a legend in music not just hip-hop it's music it's a really big deal Kevin's career was skyrocketing and his dad was feeling a little uneasy if I would have had a chance I would have reeled him back in just a little bit looking back Kevin Senor believes his son was playing with fire put it this way there's not this evil Grim Reaper with a hood that's just standing around on streets normally is someone that you know or someone you've had an acquaintance with a friend one day enem me the [Music] [Music] next the new detectives continued to study the crime scene photos kind of like you see his life right there I mean high school basketball player great outside shooter his laptop and his uh hard drive with all his his music so in his car for all his loves and horribly that's where he died since Kevin's reputation was golden they wondered if his death could have been a case of mistaken identity they learned Kevin wasn't the only one in town with a green Camaro there was an active gang member that lived less than two blocks away from Kevin at the time that gang member they say had a lookalike car I was able to interview him the guy's changed his life and he's told me about some of the stuff that he was doing back in that day there could easily be a cause for somebody to retaliate against anybody driving a green Comm when you grow up in La no matter how sheltered you are or how strict your parents are you're going to run into the culture it's no secret that Los Angeles does have a gang culture even though he wasn't in the streets I think we all kind of know what that's like you know your parents can't protect you from everything but detectives now say they took a hard hard look at that mistaken identity Theory and ruled it [Music] out they believe that Kevin rolled down his window to talk to the people who drove up next to him that night and that he would not have done that unless he knew them so they're looking at each other eye to eye that kind of dispels gang retaliation shooting where Kevin was misidentified for another gang member they were convinced Kevin Harris was the intended target Target but why were there clues in his surging career for one thing in the hip-hop business you can get rich overnight you have like really young artists like 18 19 years old and they're millionaires two three years before that they probably have $10 in their pocket Kevin hadn't made any big money yet but he definitely was a prospect a kid with big potential he was really hustling trying to get artists and putting music together and getting his music heard Kevin was all over the place he was putting himself out there more people more parties and his tweets show it party in Baldwin Hills pool party at the [Music] custom there's no other way to kind of attain your goals and aspirations without going at it 24/7 I could just see that in him you're just showing up where you're supposed to show up and yourself out there putting himself out there he was getting a little more flashy he put extra wide chrome wheels on his Camaro his dad didn't approve now you're kind of blinging a little bit too much for maybe the average young man you have to be less visible and Kevin was also getting louder on Twitter Kevin got real cocky his name was like really getting out there I did feel like you know maybe he was kind of feeling himself a little fluffing his uh his little feathers I felt like blessing people with my presence he tweeted word was that Kevin didn't want to work with people who weren't up to his level when you start getting hot everybody wants a piece of you you just can't work with everybody and Sometimes some people get offended by that things could happen out of those situations and Kevin wasn't shy about calling some people out that's clear in his tweets I'm getting bored by my so-called peers and here he says someone was quote exceeding their talent in the music business words like that could be a problem there's no difference between that and dissing someone in the streets what is a diss a dis is disrespect it's a very real thing and again it goes back to like these Street rules so a lot of this conversation is through social media Twitter specifically I'm sure that Kevin was aware of it did he think it would lead to him potentially losing his life I don't think so just who was Kevin dsing in those tweets no one knows for sure could it have been that wannabe rapper who stood him up at the studio that night what was there bad blood between them the people who knew Kevin best sensed he was uneasy in the weeks before his death his demeanor did seem a little different I couldn't really pinpoint like what it was but I can tell when someone's Vibe is off he'll come home couple times I'd see him look back out the door I'd say Mr Wrong Man somebody following you n no I'm okay the Harris is that prepared Ed Kevin for life growing up in a tough neighborhood there was sometimes gunfire in the area but they believed they taught Kevin how to avoid it still Kevin Senior was taken aback by a question his son had at one point he did ask me about what do you think about bulletproof windows I said why I said Kevin is somebody bothering you no it's all right I'm okay I said just let me know I left here long enough we could we could speak on it we can get it taken care of peacefully no I'm all right Dad it was always I'm all right Dad I love you Kevin but something must have been wrong after Kevin died Catherine was surprised to learn that he was thinking of joining the military and getting out of town a week after uh he was murdered I received a letter from the recruiter's office for him to go see the recruiter you know a lot of people say timing is everything and gosh I wish I kind of wish it would have came a week [Music] [Music] earlier get we get we get a we can get a we can get it get it Kevin Harris never lived to see his recording played on the radio that song by jizzel I was at work and then someone told me that it would be coming on and then I hear it and I kind of broke down right there everybody came running over you know I said that's that's Kevin that's my son 11 years later his father is putting his faith into the the new investigation the clues are absolutely out there we just need that one piece that one Smoking Gun that we need to solidify this this is an active case so the detectives won't name the names of anyone they have in their sites but scags did drop this clue about Kevin's last day he had made plans with one of the individuals who's definitely a suspect in this case to meet him at the studio at 8:00 as far as I know that individual was the only other person that knew that Kevin was going to be at the studio at 8 p.m. we have now learned that that man was Desmond Carter the wannabe rapper that Kevin was supposed to meet at the studio that night he definitely caught the attention of the police in fact 48 Hours has learned that Desmond Carter was arrested for the murder of Kevin Harris in 2017 and here's the record Carter was questioned but never charged with anything authorities told us the evidence they had did not cross the threshold of Reasonable Doubt still Desmond Carter remains a suspect that's partly because there had been bad blood between Desmond and Kevin word on the street was that Kevin had dissed Desmond by refusing to give him beats whatever it was that brought Kevin to the studio that night authorities suspect it was a trap I believe Kevin Harris was set up Kevin's own words may support that theory 10 days or two weeks before his death when he told one of his best friends that something's come up missing I'm getting blamed for it I didn't have anything to do with it but I'm really scared of what might happen [Music] what had gone missing that Kevin was being blamed for was it money drugs police have told 48 hours they do not believe that Kevin was dealing drugs somebody blamed him for doing something that they did and blamed him to some big hitters that were going to seek revenge this is a classic story of a kid who trusted too much in several other people that he didn't really know that well but he gave them all his Trust and he ended up being killed as a result we reached out to Desmond Carter he didn't want to go on camera or comment directly but through a friend he said he had nothing to do with Kevin's death and that he thought of Kevin as one of his best friends I'm angry yes I'm angry I'm angry with certain people that were hanging around my son because it has all the ear marks of someone that he knows knows well that was in the circle I grew up at the beach I really love the ocean and it's always been part of my life detective Scag says walking on the nearby Beach helps clear his head and reminds him to be patient it does not discourage me it's if these cases were easy they' all be solved I know that some of the people that I'm interviewing are not telling me the truth so you know just makes it so hard detectives are hoping for new information there was a ton of circumstantial evidence that kind of end ends up adding up into one big significant theory that I think we're very close to proving we think we're 80 85% there I am fully confident that this case is going to be solved yeah so anybody who has any information about what happened to Kevin that day whether they were an eyewitness overheard something at a later date or later got knowledge of what happened to Kevin and who Hur him that person needs to come forward for so many reasons first of all for justice justice for Kevin and his family it's the right thing to do and could be preventing these bad guys from hurting more people we really need help from the public and anybody who knows anything about this case and what happened to him and what happened that night to come forward and that's what our plea is to uh to the public as the case stands today the murder of Kevin Harris remains unsolved you still miss him what do you miss most I just miss his spirit I think um it's just not knowing you know not knowing not supposed to cry but um just not knowing like to see all that potential just to see that the path that he was on to know the support support that he had from everyone around him it's just really unfortunate to not be able to see that just you know reach his full potential you know so I just I just miss the spirit I miss having him around I miss I miss the fact that I that we all missed the chance to see how he would grow you know Kevin's parents say they'll never give up I have nothing else to do with the grief that I feel every day but to be motivated by when I walk out the door each day let's kick some doors in this stay Relentless with this you can't hide from God you can hide here on Earth duck and Dodge go to another state go to another continent whatever but you can't hide from God the FBI helped fund Billboards to help get new information they've also contributed to a $50,000 reward the harrises say the reason they agreed to talk with 48 hours is their hope this will finally bring Justice for their son but when I go to sleep and I dream he's always there with [Music] me for my son I'm never going to stop [Music] grieving murdered he was a murdered these pictures are in my room and to be honest with you since we resemble each other so much I turn them backwards it's kind of hard to look at him all the time like that Kevin Harris Senor doesn't need to look at those pictures anymore because the image of his son is fresh in his mind every single day and he is consumed with solving this case for one reason so I can lay my son soar rest properly his mother and I will make sure his passion and his dream lives on [Music] the FBI is asking for information from the public the tip line phone number is 3104776565 take an in-depth look into the investigation to find who killed Kevin Harris at 48 hours.com I just my boyfriend the night but police say she confessed to murder i l one big problem you can't hear it how do you mess up the confession what will a jury believe 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on [Music] CBS

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 771,445

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, Kevin Harris, ambush, hip hop producer, music producer, premonition, Kevin Robert Harris II, Los Angeles

Id: 5qiH6znXTpA

Length: 41min 50sec (2510 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 30 2024