The Atlanta Child Murders

Narrator: TODAY, ATLANTA'S DOWNTOWN SHINES BRIGHTLY

AS THE CAPITAL OF THE NEW SOUTH.

Big Boi: I THINK ATLANTA RIGHT NOW IS A MELTING POT

FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND BUSINESS.

Dupri: YOU LOOK AT ATLANTA TODAY,

THERE'S NO CITY LIKE THIS CITY.

HOLLYWOOD OF THE SOUTH IS WHAT THEY CALL IT

BECAUSE OF PEOPLE FILMING MOVIES AND SO MUCH TV HERE.

IT'S THE NEW MOTOWN OF THE SOUTH.

Packer: IT'S AN AMAZING CITY.

IT'S A PLACE WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE COME TO THRIVE.

A LOT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS COME AND THRIVE.

IT'S LIKE CHOCOLATE CITY, MAN, YOU KNOW.

YOU COME HERE AND YOU CAN MAKE IT.

Narrator: BUT AS THE CITY THAT'S TOO BUSY TO HATE

LOOKS FORWARD TO A BRIGHT FUTURE...

ATLANTA HARBORS A DARK SECRET THAT HAPPENED 40 YEARS AGO,

AND STILL HAUNTS THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED THROUGH IT.

IF YOU DIDN'T LIVE HERE THEN, YOU WOULD NOT EVEN KNOW

THAT THESE CRIMES OCCURRED.

Narrator: FROM 1979 TO 1981,

THE CITY OF ATLANTA DEALT WITH THE UNTHINKABLE.

ALL THE CHILDREN ARE BETWEEN 8 AND 15 YEARS OF AGE.

Narrator: THE BODIES OF BLACK CHILDREN

KEEP TURNING UP IN THE WOODS...

AND I WALKED OVER, AND IT WAS A HUMAN SKULL.

Narrator: ...AND THE RIVERS.

Reporter: THIS LATEST DEATH IS APPARENTLY CONNECTED

TO THE OTHERS.

Narrator: MORE THAN TWO DOZEN VICTIMS.

THE PERSON WHO DID THIS WAS A PSYCHOPATH AND A MONSTER.

Taylor: I WAS HOLDING ON TO HER BODY, SAYING,

"WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?"

Narrator: FAMILIES ARE DEVASTATED.

Rogers: THE ONE PERSON YOU HAD, HE'S GONE.

AND YOU DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE.

Narrator: AND LONG-SIMMERING TENSIONS

REACH THE BOILING POINT.

ATLANTA WAS ON THE BORDERLINE OF EXPLODING.

Rogers: IT HAS TO BE THE POLICE.

WHO ELSE COULD PULL THIS KIND OF STUFF OFF?

IT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE KU KLUX KLAN

KILLING THESE BLACK KIDS.

IT WAS LIKE, OKAY, THEY'RE TRYING TO START RACE WARS.

AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL IS RACISM.

EVERYBODY WAS A SUSPECT.

Narrator: UNTIL ONE BIG BREAK CHANGES EVERYTHING.

THAT'S A BODY HITTING THE WATER.

McComas: SO I SAID, "DO YOU KNOW WHY WE'VE STOPPED YOU?"

"YEAH, IT'S ABOUT THE MURDER OF THOSE CHILDREN, ISN'T IT?"

Narrator: IT'S THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY.

I HOPE LIKE HELL THAT THEY HAVE MORE THAN FIBERS.

Narrator: 40 YEARS LATER,

PARENTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS STILL HAVE QUESTIONS.

AND IT JUST HURTS SO BAD THAT SHE'S JUST SO FORGOTTEN,

ALONG WITH THE OTHER KIDS.

SO FORGOTTEN.

Narrator: WAS JUSTICE EVER TRULY SERVED?

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK OVER THE STORY, HELL NO.

THEIR CASE NEVER WAS THAT WELL INVESTIGATED,

AND THERE'S POSSIBLY STILL A MURDERER OUT THERE.

ONE DAY, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED.

Reporter #2: THIS MARKS THE EIGHTH TIME

A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED IN A RIVER.

Reporter #3: POLICE ARE STILL LOOKING

INTO THE MURDERS OF AT LEAST FOUR OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE.

Reporter #4: ALL THE CHILDREN ARE

BETWEEN CERTAIN AGES, 8 AND 15 YEARS OF AGE.

Reporter #5: TODAY THERE WAS YET ANOTHER FUNERAL,

THE 20th CHILD FOUND SLAIN.

Reporter #6: ANOTHER YOUNG BOY WAS FOUND DEAD.

Reporter #7: INVESTIGATORS ARE STUMPED.

Woman: I JUST WANT MY LITTLE GIRL FOUND SAFELY

AND BROUGHT HOME.

I MISS HER AND I LOVE HER.

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

Procopio: THE TALLEST BUILDING WHEN I GOT HERE

NOVEMBER 11, 1970,

WAS 24 STORIES TALL.

NOW IF YOU LOOK AT THE ATLANTA SKYLINE,

IT'S ABSOLUTELY DWARFED BY EVERYTHING AROUND IT.

IN 1972,

THROUGH THE END OF THE '70s AND INTO THE '80s,

THE CITY WAS ON THE VERGE OF A POPULATION EXPLOSION

THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

IT'S KIND OF STRANGE TO THINK ABOUT IT NOW,

BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT '73 '74, '75,

IT WAS BASICALLY JUST A DECADE

SINCE THE MAJOR CIVIL RIGHTS BILL.

SO THERE WAS THIS REAL KIND OF SENSE OF A METAMORPHOSIS

IN THE SOUTH WAS TAKING PLACE.

ATLANTA WAS SOMEHOW SPARED FROM ALL

OF THE REAL TURMOIL OF THE '60s.

Smith: I REMEMBER ONE OF THE FIRST STORIES THAT I DID

WHEN I CAME DOWN HERE WAS A STORY

ABOUT AFRICAN-AMERICANS MOVING BACK TO THE SOUTH.

Narrator: IN 1973, THE GROWING BLACK POPULATION

VOTES IN THE FIRST BLACK MAYOR, MAYNARD JACKSON.

Smith: POORER COMMUNITIES PUT THEIR FAITH AND TRUST

IN MAYNARD WERE A BIG PART

OF HIS WINNING THAT FIRST ELECTION.

Narrator: ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS MAYNARD JACKSON DOES

IS RESHAPE THE POLICE FORCE.

Procopio: HE WANTED THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

TO BECOME "MORE BROWN," WAS THE TERM HE USED.

UP UNTIL THAT TIME, IT HAD BEEN MAINLY A WHITE FORCE.

THE DEPARTMENT WAS STILL RACIST,

STILL DISCRIMINATORY.

THIS I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

AND THINGS I HAD TO ENCOUNTER.

AND THEN MAYNARD JACKSON BECOMING MAYOR,

IT GAVE US HOPE THAT THINGS WOULD CHANGE.

Narrator: IN 1978, MAYOR JACKSON APPOINTS LEE BROWN

AS THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY,

AND GEORGE NAPPER AS THE POLICE CHIEF.

CHANGE IS ON ITS WAY.

DESPITE THE STRONG ECONOMIC GROWTH,

THE BLACK POPULATION OF THE CITY REMAINS VERY POOR.

A SERIOUS CRIME PROBLEM DEVELOPS

THAT MAKES ATLANTA THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

Agan: EVERY YEAR WAS 240 MURDERS PLUS PER YEAR.

THIS IS LIKE WORKING AN ASSEMBLY LINE OF MURDER.

JULY 28, 1979, NISKEY LAKE ROAD.

THERE'S NOTHING THERE.

IT'S JUST WOODS, BRIARS, BRUSH.

SOMEBODY'S LOOKING FOR ALUMINUM CANS OUT HERE

IN THIS DESERTED STRETCH OF ROAD IN SOUTH ATLANTA...

AND STUMBLES UPON THE REMAINS OF A DECOMPOSING BODY.

SO WE WORK THE SCENE,

AND SOMEBODY SAYS, "LET'S DO A CONCENTRIC SEARCH."

SO EVERYBODY FANS OUT, AND WITHIN A FEW MINUTES,

SOMEBODY WALKS UP ON ANOTHER BODY.

THEY LOOK TO BE LIKE YOUNGER BLACK MEN OR BOYS.

Narrator: ONE OF THE BOYS HAS BEEN SHOT

IN THE UPPER BACK.

THE OTHER STRANGLED.

THE BODIES ARE LATER IDENTIFIED AS 14-YEAR-OLD EDWARD SMITH

AND 13-YEAR-OLD ALFRED EVANS.

Agan: AND THE PROBABILITY WAS,

THE BODIES HAD BEEN DUMPED THERE.

BUT NOBODY REALLY JUMPED TO THE CONCLUSION

THAT THE BODIES HAD BEEN DUMPED BY THE SAME PERSON.

AND THESE ARE NOT CASES

THAT ARE GOING TO BE FRONT-PAGE NEWS.

Narrator: THE POLICE HAVE NO LEADS.

OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS, TWO OTHER BOYS,

14-YEAR-OLD MILTON HARVEY

AND 9-YEAR-OLD YUSUF BELL GO MISSING

WHILE RUNNING ERRANDS.

MILTON'S BODY IS FOUND 12 MILES FROM WHERE HE DISAPPEARED,

THE CAUSE OF DEATH UNKNOWN.

YUSUF IS FOUND IN AN ABANDONED SCHOOL, STRANGLED.

Smith: BUT THE STRANGE THING ABOUT THE DISCOVERY

OF YUSUF'S BODY, HIS FEET HAD BEEN WASHED OR SOMETHING,

AND SO THAT INITIALLY SET OFF THOUGHTS

THAT SOMEBODY MAY HAVE BEEN ABDUCTING THESE KIDS

IN SOME KIND OF STRANGE, RITUALISTIC RELIGIOUS CEREMONY.

Taylor: IT'S AMAZING HOW IT'S BEEN ALMOST 40 YEARS

AND YET IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY,

BECAUSE THE PAIN IS STILL THE SAME.

YOU KNOW, NOTHING EASES THE PAIN.

I THOUGHT AS TIME GO ON THAT, YOU KNOW,

IT WOULD BE LESS AND LESS, BUT IT'S NOT.

I CRY JUST AS MUCH TODAY AS I DID THE DAY IT HAPPENED.

MY DAUGHTER ANGEL WAS VERY DIFFERENT.

SHE WAS DIFFERENT THAN ANY CHILD THAT I'VE EVER KNOWN.

WHEN I HAD HER, THEY SAID THAT YOUR BABY IS THE ONLY BABY

IN THE NURSERY THAT DOES NOT CRY.

AND SHE SAID, "SHE IS JUST AN ANGEL.

YOU NEED TO NAME HER ANGEL."

I DIDN'T WORRY ABOUT ANGEL.

SHE WAS COMING OF THE AGE. SHE WAS 12.

EVERYTHING WAS OKAY UNTIL ANGEL STARTED LOOKING REAL SAD.

AND I ASKED HER, "WHAT'S THE MATTER?"

AND SHE SAID, "OH, NOTHING."

MY SON SAID, "WELL, I'M GONNA TELL YOU, MOM.

ANGEL HAD A DREAM THAT SOMETHING BAD'S GONNA HAPPEN.

THERE'S NOTHING YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO ABOUT IT."

AND I STARTED CRYING.

"ANGEL, IS SOMEONE THREATENING YOU?"

SHE SAID, "JUST LEAVE IT ALONE, MOM, PLEASE."

Narrator: ON MARCH 4, 1980,

ANGEL IS LATE GETTING HOME.

00 P.M.,

AND SHE HASN'T RETURNED FROM SCHOOL.

Taylor: AND I SAID, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

SOMETHING AIN'T RIGHT.

THIS IS NOT LIKE ANGEL."

I'D ALWAYS KNOW WHERE SHE AT.

I JUST KNEW SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT.

I JUST KNEW IT.

SO I CALLED THE POLICE.

I BEGGED THEM, "SOMEONE HAS GOTTEN HER."

I HAVEN'T HAD NO SLEEP AT ALL.

I SAID, "WE BEEN WALKING.

I DONE WALKED TILL MY ANKLES GOT SORE AND SWOLLEN."

SIX DAYS HAD PASSED,