I didn't want to go to jail. Okay. And I was really scared. That's okay, son. It was scared. You didn't want to go to jail. This is the exact moment that the mother of 16-year-old Nicholas Lindsay realized that her son is a killer. Nicholas Lindsay killed a St. Petersburg police officer when he was 16 years old. And now all she can do is watch as her son is sent to prison. Nicholas Lindsay Jr. should spend the rest of his days behind bars. Why? You had a choice. Come on, honey. Come on. Come on, honey. It's good. Officer David Crawford joined the St. Petersburg Police Department on July 13th, 1985, and spent most of his career working the midnight shift in the patrol division. To those who knew him, he was a compassionate officer, a devoted husband, and a proud father. But on the night of February 21st, 2011, during one of those routine shifts, everything changed. At around 10:30 p.m., he responded to a 911 call reporting a suspicious person near Third Avenue South. The caller described a young man walking through a backyard with a brick in his hand, a slender teenager, black, approximately 5'9 to 5'11, wearing a dark hoodie and shorts. By 10:37 p.m., Officer Crawford spotted someone matching that description and stepped out of his cruiser to approach him. What happened next was sudden and violent. The teenager opened fire, hitting him five times at close range. A nearby backup unit, which had been called moments earlier, arrived to find Officer Crawford in critical condition, lying on the pavement. He was rushed to Bayfront Medical Center, but died shortly after from multiple gunshot wounds. In the hours that followed, law enforcement launched the largest manhunt in St. Petersburg history. More than 200 officers from the city and surrounding agencies established a perimeter around the downtown area, combing every block for the suspect. And it wasn't long before they found their first real clue. CCTV footage from a nearby surveillance camera. The surveillance footage was released to the public in hopes that someone might recognize the person captured on camera, which didn't take long at all. Shortly after the video aired, the parents of 16-year-old Nicholas Lindsay contacted police. They believed the figure in the footage was their son. His clothing matched, and more tellingly, his Nike flip-flops were missing. That detail mattered. At the crime scene, investigators had recovered one black Nike flip-flop near Officer Crawford's body and the other several blocks away, which were clear signs that the suspect had fled on foot and lost his shoes while running. In the face of this evidence, Nicholas was brought in for an interview, but he wouldn't come alone. The following footage has been provided to us by the St. Petersburg Police Department with everything. Yeah. Slowly. I don't know how you don't want to do it. Do we need to leave? No. No. No. Just give us just sit down for a second. Just give us give us a second. Okay. All right. I'm so proud of you, son. You made a big step. You made a big step. I'll let you off your phone. You can't talk to nobody right now cuz they think I think you calling. I'm trying to kick Dominic out of this one right now. Okay. You did a good job. Dominic, I love him. I know. You'll see him again. You'll see him again. You'll see him again. You want us to move over? Yeah. You guys want to stay in? Stay in. Yeah. Could you could you move over there? I will. What's your name, sir? Nicholas. Nicholas. Okay. Detective Duca. Nice to meet you, M. You know who I am. These are Nicholas's parents, and they had been trying to steer their son in the right direction for years. For starters, Nicholas didn't grow up under easy circumstances. He was raised in a low-income neighborhood marked by gang activity and violence. According to family members, his father struggled with addiction and spent time incarcerated, leaving Nicholas to take on more responsibility at home from a young age. Despite the challenges, Nicholas appeared to be on a better path, largely thanks to the efforts of his mother, Denine. She involved him in local anti-gang initiatives and community programs aimed at steering teens away from violence. Nicholas even spoke to the youth in his community about his experiences, encouraging them to make different choices. At one point, the mayor of St. Petersburg even visited their home and remarked that Nicholas seemed like a young man with potential. That same commitment to helping him do the right thing carries on into this interrogation room as the two urge their son to tell the truth about what really happened. Jack and talk to these people. You doing the right thing right now. You owning up to your your responsibility. Nick, in order to talk to you, I got to read your rights. Okay, Nicholas. [Music] All right. You ready? Yeah. What I'm going to need you to do is answer yes or no when I ask you the questions. N I C H O L A S. Yes. What's your last name? Lindsay. L I N D S E Y. Yeah. What's your date of birth, Nick? 213. How old are you? I'm 16. What's your address where you live? I don't know. Oh my god. [ __ ] your face, man. Stop crying. Listen. Listen, man. Now, son, you need to be a bigger man than that. I need Yes or no to these. Okay, Nick. Yes. Are you not even saying prescription drugs? No. What's that? No. No alcohol. No. Illegal drugs. Yes. What have you taken? Are you talking about adding pills wise? No. Illegal. You still get weed. You done? Yeah. What'd you do? Smoke weed. How long ago? Yesterday. So, right now you're not under the influence. You know where you're at. You know who he is. You know. Okay. So, you've been you haven't smoked weed for 24 hours now. No. Okay. Okay. So, the answer to that question is right now you're not under stop. What's the last grade you completed school? Ninth. Ninth. Can you read? Yeah. I need you to say it out. So, I need you to hear it out loud, son. You can write. Yeah. And you can hear me. Okay. I need to change that attitude, son. All right. Today is uh February 22nd, 2011. Yes. I'm Detective Duca. The time now is approximately 9:40 p.m. [Music] All right. And any yes or no? Again, do you understand you have the right to remain silent? Yes. Do you understand anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law? Yes. So that's why you need to tell the truth because it could be used against you. Do you understand have the right to have an attorney present for being questioned? Yes. Do you understand for a hire attorney won't be appointed representing for any question if you wish? Is that a yes? Yeah. Do you understand you can decide any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements? Mhm. Either yes or no. Yes. I mean, y'all don't got no time now. Wait, you got to wait a minute. Do you understand? Do you understand the rights I've just explained to you? Yeah. All right. What I'd like you to do is read this last question out loud and write your answer right there. You read it out loud. Read it so we can hear you. Right. Do you wish you talk to us now? And then write your answer right there. You wrote yes. And I need you to sign right there. Son, this the biggest step you made in your entire life. This is Oh my god. No, it ain't. It's okay, son. This is the price we pay for the things we do. Come on now. Straight up and talk to these people so we can do what we got to do. Okay. You both sign that. Before detectives begin questioning Nicholas Lindsay, they obtain a signed Miranda waiver, including signatures from both Nicholas and his parents. In Florida, police aren't legally required to have a guardian present when interviewing a minor. But the interrogation must be conducted fairly, and in serious cases like this, where a juvenile is facing a capital charge, having both parents in the room serves an important purpose. Their presence along with their signatures on the Miranda waiver helps ensure that Nicholas's statements hold up in court. Tell us what happened, Nick. [Music] I'm about [Music] You need to give names now. About that voice now. feel like you want to get a stool. I'm like, "Yeah, so I had go dropping off at the AAA building." Oh, AAA building where? Across the street where it happened. Okay. I said he was going to go uh cut down by the door. So I go there. It's a white neon. which I got in the car but I couldn't spike it. As I looked up and I seen the first police come so I'm like I get out the car jump me to stop tell me take my hand my jacket just This one. Who dropped you off? Javar. And where was he? He said he was going to car by the door. Okay. Jamar. Yeah. Okay. Where does he stay? I don't know. How old is he about? 16. What What school does he go to? Gibbs. Okay. Do you know his phone number off hand? Okay. Good. job. Excuse me. Mhm. So you he drops you off. So basically the guy's just trying to get cars. Yeah. Steal cars or break into cars? Steal. Okay. And drive them, right? Yeah. Just joy, right? No. I don't know. We're just going to take a car and do whatever. I was I don't have nothing to do on it. All right. But you were going to steal it. Yeah. Okay. So you go that AAA lot. What car do you look at? What car is there? It was a white neon. White neon. All right. Did you talk to him? No, it's not at the AAA lot. It's know where the store at? Yeah. Yeah. It's in that parking lot. So, it's in that parking lot on the across from the AAA lot next to that hotel/store thing. Yeah. Okay. It's in there. So, you go in there. You're going to steal a car. Did you break into one actually? Did you get into one or no? You got Which one did you get into? That white neon. The white neon. That's when the police car goes by. No. one of them parked parked right by the store. Yeah. Okay. You got out of the car? Yeah. Jumped over the wall and where'd you go? I crossed the street way over and then this the the light was red. So, as I'm coming walking, I look back, I see him coming around the corner. So, as I get to the AAA building, I just he tell me he get out the car. He tell me, "Uh, stop." So, I stop. I take your hand out your jacket. I said, "Where is my jacket?" And I had to take my hands out. I just said shooting and he fall. I took off. Wow. My slide. Your slide came off. Okay. All right. Where was the man parked at? He said he going to park by the dome. No, no, no. The officer. Oh, he had parked like right outside of the building. Okay. And when he told you to come here, were you starting to head toward the dome and you turned around and come back to him? I was walking towards the door. He told me to stop. Okay. Then he turned around and came back to him. I I just turned around. Okay. How far away were you from that officer at that time approximately? If me and you were 6 feet apart as a gauge, how far away were you from that officer? I don't know. From here to the wall, from here to that wall in the other room or what? Probably from here to that to when you walk in when you first walk in. Okay. That's about 20 ft. 20. I'm not a scientist, but that's about 20 22 feet. And he walks toward me and and he tells you to take your hands out of your jacket. Yeah. Okay. What kind of jacket you got on? I had on a black jacket. Did it have a hood on it? No. No. No. No. No. Go ahead. I had on a black jacket though. You sure it was black? Or Huh? You sure it was black? Yeah. It had a hood on it. You know, you know how like the gray one is that I was wearing? Mhm. It's kind of like that. When the officer asked you to take your hands out of your pocket, did you take your hands out of the pocket? Yes. Okay. And you were facing him? Yes. Okay. And you say you're about from here to that door? Yeah. Right there. The not this door, the other door. Okay. And where did the shots come from? I don't know. It's just I just heard it and then when I heard him, I just took off landing. You went out of your slides? Yeah. I came out of one of them and one of them stayed on my feet. What did you do with the jacket you were wearing? H What' you do with that jacket you were wearing? Burned it. Burned it. Where at? Over there. When I was telling you by over by 8th Avenue, 14th Street. Who burned it? You did. Who was there? Nobody. All right. So, you're in this white car. You said you couldn't jack the column, though. H You were in this white car, but you couldn't get the column popped. Yeah. I couldn't get the ignition to come out. Okay. That's okay. That's how you start them, obviously. Yeah. Okay. So, you just left it. Yeah. Yeah. How did you get in the car? I got through the door. Did you pop it or just work it? I popped it. Not the window. I had Yeah. Did the lock. You Okay. You have a screwdriver? Yeah. Okay. Did you leave the screwdriver there or did you take it with you? I threw it while I was in. Okay. After the shots? Yeah. Okay. And who else was there besides Javarus? Just Okay. And who? We've interviewed some of your family members to be honest with you. Your ne your uncle and stuff like that. Who did you tell what happened? Yes. When you walked in the house, dude, we talked to some folks. I told my cousin. Who's that? I didn't tell him that the other person did. Cuz I didn't What' you tell him? When I walked in, I was like, "Bro, the officer got shot, bro." And I was it was like, "You lying." I just left it at that. Who' you tell that to? My cousin. What's Which cousin? His name is Cer. I don't know his hair. How is he tall, fat, skinny? He tall and skinny. What's his hair? Kind of. What kind of cars drive? I don't know. He be all type of car. What kind of old lady drive? Huh? What kind of cars does baby mama drive? I don't know. He got so many. I got All right. Who else you tell? That's it. Before moving any further, it's important to understand Nicholas's story so far. He claims that he and a friend had planned to steal a white neon parked near an AAA building. However, Nicholas avoids giving a direct answer on how he broke in. But this is something the 911 caller can answer for us, who had originally stated that he saw the suspect holding a brick in his hand. Presumably, Nicholas used this brick to break into the vehicle. According to Nicholas, the car wouldn't start, and that is when Officer Crawford pulled up nearby. So far, parts of his story align with what investigators already know. But what comes next doesn't hold up. Nicholas says he heard gunshots, saw the officer fall, and then ran away, which is a lie. What he doesn't realize is that police are holding back a critical piece of evidence. Something so significant that even his parents will step in and pressure him to finally tell the truth. Anyway, You think I'd be able to be back home? Well, here's the thing. I want to be able to be like my brother. That's okay. I wish happened. I wouldn't be able to go through this. Why? Why did it happen? That's the question. Why did it happen? It didn't have to happen. You got You were just boosting a car. Why did it happen? I don't know. I really don't. Do you have an idea? I don't know why this happened. I haven't even talked to him since. Well, there is a little bit of an issue. Okay. And you already know what the issue is. Okay. And you're having a hard time with it. You're obviously having a hard time with it. Cuz I want to be able to be home. I understand that. But I think it's even it's a bigger issue than that. That is. You don't want to say you don't want to say mom and dad. You don't want to disappoint them. Were I disappointed? No. That's That's the true statement. Listen, this is important. What he's about to say. There's a witness that saw this happen. Okay. That saw everything that happened. Okay. There's only one person there, but the officer. So, with your parents here, we'd appreciate the whole truth. And there's a reason why you did what you did. And he needs to know it. It jumped off quick. We know that. But there's a reason why. Scared. What? Tell us what happened. You're boost. You're trying to boost the car. You're right. The officer told you to wait up. You turned around. There's a witness that saw the whole thing. Tell the truth, son. It doesn't matter. Just tell the truth. Just say it, son. That's why we say don't lie. Tell the truth. Just go ahead. You can't just turn around. You put yourself at the scene, so you might as well go ahead and tell it. We still gonna be sitting right here smooth. Just want to go home. Tell the truth, son. Let's Let's do this now. Come on. Let it out. Come on, son. Let it out. You did it. You did. You came this far. Come on. Just tell her it doesn't matter. We still got We still feel the same way. It's still true for you. We're not turning our back on you. What did I tell you? Take responsibility. Get it off your chest, bro. Please. Please. For me, I'm asking you to do this. Everything I told you that happened. This is true. But you killed some Japan out of it. Okay. Then tell us what happened when the officer came up and told you turn. Tell us what happened. He told me stop. I stopped. I was already scared cuz I I seen him coming out scared cuz I had the gun on me. I didn't want to go to jail. Okay. And I was really scared. So what happened? Tell us what happened. Tell us. Okay, son. Tell him. Tell them something. Go ahead and tell them what you did. You were scared. You were scared. You didn't want to go to jail. Tell on you. What happened? When I put it out, you pulled it out. Come on. You It was already there. Come on. Let's take it over to the door. I thought it was on safety, but it wasn't. When I pulled it out, I wanted my finger on the chair. I started shooting resiz. Let me ask you this. Daddy, I'm sorry. Nick, let me ask you this. Why? Why you had a choice? Why did you pull the gun versus raid your hands? Cuz he when I pulled it out, he was already He already went to reaching and it went off. Cuz you were pulling. Okay. It had went off. Okay. How many times it go off? Yeah, he went it went off the first time. It went off and then he went to reaching for his gun. As he went to reaching for his gun, just went to aiming at him. And you shot how many times? How many times the gun go off? I don't know. How many? All right. You shot till it was empty. Yes. Nicholas's claim that he believed Officer Crawford was reaching for a gun is contradicted by two critical details. First, evidence from the scene indicated that Crawford was reaching for a notepad, not his firearm. Second, he wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest, making it unlikely he would have initiated any kind of confrontation, especially one involving a firearm. Where's Where's the gun? I don't know. I don't where I was on the interstate. You could You could show us the area about I was on the interstate. We put you we put you in a car. Can you show us where you threw it? About where you threw it? I mean, might Exactly. You might not be able to, but I got to believe there's an area that you can show us. No. No, no, no. We'll go there. We won't take you there. Yeah, sure. Did you get nicked at all? Did you get nicked by gunfire at all? Which Tell me the route that you ran. Oh, and real quick, I'll be honest with you. And you've been truthful. That's you on the video. When you walked by my desk, you had your hands in the pocket the same way that video was. You feel you saw me listen. I just want to be able to be my Emily. So you're going to see us. We're here right now. Your family's right here right now. That's all it matters. Honey, you're sorry. You're sorry. You did it, Nick. You knew the day. Come on, honey. Come on. Come on, honey. It's done. It's done. You know, one thing I was wondering is which which route he took out of there. Took Did you go past the flat place through the Tropicana or which way? The overpass over the catwalk. Oh, no. Well, tell them which way you ran. I jump across the interstate interstate. Yeah. Where did it go from there? I laid in the uh little bucket street thing. For how long? Police was coming. I waited for the two cars to leave in. There was two cars there. It was two cars riding past with the lights on. I just like hid. How long did you hide? Did you get in the water? No. Okay. Just down in the gully way. Yeah. Did whose house did you go to after that? Home. Straight home. Or did you sit more in the park or straight home? You got that? We got a black hoodie. Is that Did you throw that off? You take that off? What' you do with the black hoodie? Okay. How close were you when the gunshots went off between you and the officer? Be honest. I think you're a little bit closer from from here to there. How close? Probably from here to halfway in there. Halfway in there. About 12 15 ft or so. It's okay. It's okay. We don't It's okay, baby. We love you. We love you. We just want you to tell these people the truth. Credit where credit is due. All Nicholas's parents want for him is to be truthful and take accountability for what he has done. even if that means they never get to see their son again. And Nicholas's next statements will be the consequences of his parents being upright and honest people. You made a bad decision. You get off of my little brother. Well, baby, you made When you said you aimed it at him, where what part of his body did you aim at? I aimed like towards his stomach. How many times you think you shot him in the stomach, do you think? You know, the guy don't really like shoot straight. It's not jump. So, I don't really know. Okay. Can you point to the gun where the gun's at? What kind of gun is it? Revolver. Semi-automatic. Then shoots little casings out. Yeah. Things fly out. Where'd you get it at? I bought it for somebody. You test fired before that? Before that time, huh? You You've test fired it right before you bought it? No. You never shot it before last night or this morning? He said it didn't shoot straight jump. When? How do you know that? Cuz I shot it last night. You know how you shoot it? I know. How many bullets were in the gun? I don't know. Did you get it for free or did you buy it? How long ago? Probably about a week. How much you pay? 140. Cash. Yeah. All right. Who'd you get it off of? You know who'd you get it off of? I don't know. So, you're by yourself the whole time? You just going to boost the car? What about this rock thing? What was going on with that rock? I don't understand. You want to use it to break the wood? I mean, yeah. What was up? What was up with that? Hit the fly in the ignition. Oh. Oh, okay. But you people saw you. You're breaking pieces off and picking little pieces off your pocket. Slam it to get a nice size piece. I could just hit the rock. Okay. So, you never you never got the piece off the brick you wanted. What' you do with that piece of brick? Where did you throw that? I threw it in the I don't know where I threw it. I forgot. In the alley somewhere. Oh, all right. All right. Y'all satisfied it? I mean, I know you're not satisfied. I know. We appreciate being We appreciate him being honest. I mean, that's what I told him. That had to be hard. Yeah, I know it is. It's not easy. I I told you in a million years I would have never expected to hear him say all we'll get some more. We're going to let you sit here with him for a little a little while longer. Your thoughts. My son's still here. Uh we'll see. I think maybe maybe if he is here in so just be strong. Okay. All right. Okay. I love you. Just remember here. This is what we'd like to do. We're interested in getting that gun for a lot of reasons. You know what I mean? So, what we're going to do time man. We're doing good now. License now. Good job, man. Take care. He's going to be in my He's asthmatic. Okay. Do you Does he need a breather? He has a never last. Is there one at home? Yes. All right. We're gonna be a couple minutes. Write my cell number down. Okay. And uh we'll get to his phone. Yeah. I got it right here in my I can my car my cells on it. Yeah. Call him and we'll make sure he gets it. Okay. He has Can I go get something to eat? We'll get We'll get We'll get you some. We'll get you a burger or something. We want you to point to the area of the gun. Your family wants you to do that as well. Exactly. The hard part is over with. Okay. The hard part is over. Stay strong. You'll be okay. Okay. All right. You got your mother. Okay. Mr. Lindsay, I want appreciate these on you. Okay. That's all I want. Mr. I appreciate your cooperation. Not many parents are doing what you did. You don't keep it monitor. We're the best we can. You got to understand there's only so much we can do with that. They're actually following us around if you want to and then just stuff out here. I'm going to search it. Nothing on you. Go. Yeah. Hey. Hey. Just this. Yeah. In his pocket here. Can y'all get that number for me? Come here. Get it. This is no good, right? Chill. Get that to mom so we don't have to worry about this. No good, right? We got a dime. I want to give mom a dime. That's pretty much all. Yes. I think down our cruiser which is at the rear right. Ultimately the gun was never found and Nicholas was taken into custody and charged as an adult for firstdegree murder leaving his parents devastated. During the trial both parents took the stand multiple times describing the emotional toll the case had taken on their family. on behalf of me son and our entire family. Mr. Jesus sympathy to the family and his colleague that he work with my only son that happened. During Nicholas's trial, his defense team leaned heavily on his age since he was just 16 at the time of the murder. They argued he lacked the maturity to fully grasp the consequences of his actions. But the state saw it differently. Prosecutors emphasized that Nicholas not only shot officer David Crawford multiple times, but also tried to cover it up by burning his clothes and lying to police. On March 23rd, 2012, Nicholas was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And before his family never saw him again, his father had one last request to make. Yeah. I can't do that. I can't do that. Okay, sir. On page three, I believe Derek Little was brought to you this morning by detain. But the case took a turn in 2016. First tonight, a teenage cop killer gets a second chance at a re-sentencing hearing. Nicholas Lindsay killed a St. Petersburg police officer when he was 16 years old. Well, since then, the US Supreme Court ruled that life without parole for juveniles is unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, leading to a resentencing hearing. In October of 2013, Nicholas fought to appeal his sentence as a result of the US Supreme Court's ruling. He and his family were hoping for a lesser sentencing, but were instead devastated by the upheld sentence. In 2017, after yet another attempt to get his sentence reduced, Nicholas's sentence was upheld with his next review taking place in 2036. By the end of it all, two families were left shattered. Officer David Crawford left behind a wife and daughter. And while Nicholas Lindsay's parents still have a son, they may never see him live life as a free man again.