LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : A recent episode of NBC's 'Dateline' features the story of Jonathan Crews. The director of an urgent care facility from Coppell, Texas, Crews, 27, was found laying in bed dead from a gunshot wound. His family filed a lawsuit claiming that his girlfriend shot and killed him in a jealous frenzy, despite the fact that his girlfriend at the scene said he committed suicide.
On February 2, 2014, at about 11:30 pm, Crews' girlfriend Kelly, called 911 to report that her boyfriend had shot himself to express his love for her but his mother doesn't believe it. “I knew it didn’t make sense,” said his mother, Pam Crews. “He didn’t do this. I know he didn’t do it.” So what exactly happened during the trials of Jonathan's murder?
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What happened on the night of Crews' death?
“We were just having a discussion and we were just talking and he just said that he loved me. And I didn’t believe him. He said he was gonna prove that he loves me. I didn't know he had a gun," claims Kelly.
Following a night watching TV and Chinese takeaway, Kelly later admitted to the police that she and Jonathan Crews were fighting about another woman. She informed authorities that when he commanded her to cover her ears, he was in bed and she was at the foot of the bed. She claimed that after that, he fired the shot.
However, according to Crews' friends and family, he never once mentioned suicide. As his family didn't think he committed suicide, the police started looking into the death of Crews on February 2, 2014, as a murder.
They now claim that, three years later, they lack sufficient proof to be certain of what actually took place. According to an autopsy report, the 27-year-old's cause of death is unknown. Family members, however, believe they know what happened so they went to seek help from the civil court.
What happened at civil court trial for Jonathan Crews' murder case?
The Crews’ lawsuit accused Kelly of the murder of Crews and also fabricating a tale that he committed suicide. It referred to Kelly's allegedly contradictory statements to her friends. A friend claimed Kelly informed him that Crews had shot himself in the head while she allegedly informed a different friend that he shot himself in the chest.
After deliberating for about two and half hours before reaching a unanimous verdict the civil jury said Crews' death was not a suicide and awarded his family $206 million in compensation. The burden of proof for plaintiffs in a civil trial is significantly lower than for prosecutors in a criminal prosecution. Jurors had to find that Kelly killed Crews with a probability of just over 50%, or "more likely than not." There was enough evidence that pointed towards Kelly being the perpetrator.
A retired Houston police investigator named Darrell Robertson testified on behalf of the Crews' family. He claimed that for Crews to inflict the cut on his left side of his chest, he would have needed to twist his body. Crews had visited a doctor two days earlier for a right shoulder pain, which supported his notion. Robertson remarked that it "defies common sense" that Crews would have endured shoulder pain in order to aim the gun at the spot where he was shot. Robertson also mentioned the gunshot debris that was discovered on Kelly's palms, backs of her hands and sweater.
Shaw, Crews' lawyer contended Kelly was furiously jealous of the women Crews interacted with. She was particularly upset at Crews' close friend Emily Ramsey after seeing them hug at a dinner two months before to his death. Ramsey was dating Crews' longtime buddy, Jacob Ramsey, and Crews invited Kelly to the dinner to meet them. The night he was shot, Crews had discussed ending his relationship with Kelly in text exchanges with his sister. Just before midnight, Crews had sent Ramsey a text message that simply stated, "I want to die." Ramsey claimed that she believes Kelly had sent the message.
A neighbour said she heard a gunshot around 30 minutes before Kelly came to her door, asking for the address of the apartment complex. Kelly was unable to provide a location for the 911 operator since Crew had just recently moved into that apartment. In order to locate her, the operator advised her to ask a neighbour for the address of the apartment building. The Crews' attorney, Shaw, indicated that she delayed seeking assistance on purpose.
“Well, we’ve heard the jury’s verdict, and Brenda (Kelly) maintains her innocence as she has from the beginning. It’s important for people to realize the standard of proof and the amount of evidence needed in a civil court is very low. But we respect the decision of the jury”, said Kelly's defense attorney Andrew Jee.
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