Okay. I understand.
We'll just go with the police report if you want.
Okay. Now first thing, we come to the question head-on.
Where is your son?
Right? Where do we look?
Where do we look? What is your gut feeling, Brenda?
-He took off in a car. -Okay, well, let's say your son...
...woke up. Let's say the guy realized he had a kid in the car...
...sooner rather than later. So let's keep it within a mile.
But the fact of the matter is, it's been almost 2 4 hours.
So the odds of him still wandering the streets...
...not getting picked up by now are not so good.
Now, we looked at the map earlier today, and we came up...
...with four possibilities where a kid could conceivably get lost...
...or hide out for a whole day or night and not get noticed.
And then we drove around, we eliminated three of them.
This is a golf course. This is a cemetery.
This is a ball field.
There's no cover, no place to hide, if that's what he's doing.
Which leaves us...
...Freedomland.
Freedomland?
It's an old state children's home in the back of Cotter's Woods.
It was like a foundling asylum, like some kind of a youth house.
-It's been shut since the '50s. -It's not far from Armstrong.
-Cody could have-- -Yeah, okay. Okay.
So Freedomland?
I feel good about Freedomland for this one.
-Okay. -Okay.
Freedomland it is.
-You're coming too, right? -Absolutely.
What the hell's all this?
-I just need to get her to Freedomland. -And you will.
It's not gonna work if you make a beeline for it. Trust me.
Meanwhile, we have a little problem.
Look, you're here, you might as well get out.
Just let us open the door. How about that?
Excuse me, ladies.
Hey, Brenda. How you doing?
Heavenly father, we ask for your blessing and guiding hand today...
...as we send these volunteers down...
...to help the mother of Cody Martin find her child...
...and safely bring him home.
And we ask for the courage and fortitude...
...to see this task successfully done.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son...
...and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Amen.
Cody!
-Cody! -Cody!
So where's her bug bands?
Karen doesn't wear bug bands.
Jesus. Anything bit Karen, it'd lose its mind.
Really? Why?
Because Karen's son was abducted.
Our first kid.
You mean, Kent?
Ten years ago.
Tina here was a baby.
We all knew each other from the neighborhood.
-Karen got us together. -Cody Martin!
We had no idea what the hell we were doing...
...but we wound up combing every goddamn forest...
...field, drainpipe, creek, culvert.... Oh, everywhere.
And you know, we.... We still post flyers.
Well, what can I say? We....
We got better at it with practice.
Karen knows who took him too. The cops just can't prove it.
-We can't prove it. -Yeah.
God.
Me and Kent went to school together. So like...
...I know he's my own age and all.
When we find him, I'm still expecting him to be 8 years old...
...like the last time I saw him.
Cody!
-Cody! -Come on, Cody!
So why you all triple-teaming me...
...while Karen's got Brenda by herself all up in her ear?
Why?
-Sympathy. -Sympathy.
I never lost a child, Lorenzo. Did you?
-Cody! -Cody Martin!
Hey, Cody!
Cody Martin!
-Cody Martin! -Cody!
Watch that.
Stay together.
Watch your step. I've got you.
-All right. -Keep moving.
I'm so tired.
What do you want from me?
We're gonna have a look around.
It's a little dangerous. Half of these floorboards can go at any minute.
So I want you to stay in here and wait for us, okay?
What are you doing?
Just wait for us.
I can't be alone.
I swear to God, I feel like they're still here.
I tell you, when....
When they finally padlocked this place, it was....
It was like shutting down hell.
Do you have any idea of the generations of children...
...who suffered in here?
Thousands.
Thousands who were neglected...
...and abused...
...forgotten.
Just....
Just wasted.
Even your own family turns on you after a while.
You come downstairs, the other kids are like:
¡°Mommy, are you gonna be sad today?¡±
That's the only thing that can bring you back to some...
...charade of normal life, when it hits you...
...what you're doing to your other kids, to your marriage.
But with me, I couldn't even rally for that. I couldn't fake it.
This bastard, Jimmy, he took away my life.
He took away my family.
My husband's like, you know, ¡°Come on, Karen...
...you gotta think about the other kids. Think about me.
We gotta get on with the business of living.¡±
That's what he called it, ¡°the business of living.¡±
See, men, they always cave in.
Talk to you about the business of living...
...tell you to, ¡°Think about the others.
The rest of us.¡± Them.
And then they leave.
Because they just don't have the belly for it.
They just don't have the heart.
We....
We are the hunters, Brenda.
What can I say to my other kids? They're with my husband now.
All I can tell them is the truth:
If it had happened to them instead of their brother...
...I would be the same way for them.
I want them back, my family.
But until someone can tell me that my son is gone...
...here I am.
And here I'll stay.
Sometimes I just wanna grab...
...that murderous, perverted son of a bitch and say to him:
¡°Look, Jimmy, you took him. I know it and you know it.
Now, don't say a word, just nod your head.
Is he dead? Yes or no?
Do that for me, I will never bother you again.
No one's gonna nail you for nodding your head.
I swear I will go away. You will never see me again.
Is he dead?
Just nod your head.
I need to know. I need to know now, Jimmy.
Is he dead?
Sweet Christ in heaven...
...won't you please just tell me?
Just nod your head.¡±
A nod of the head, such a little thing.
And night becomes day.
Is he dead? Yes or no? That's all I ask.
Yes or no?
Put my heart at rest.
Put my heart at rest, Brenda.
It's so hot.
I feel like I'm in hell.
When I said I just wanted to know...
...if my son was dead or alive, that's not completely true.
I would like to give him a proper burial in sanctified ground.
The thought of him lying in some ditch...
...in some shallow grave in the forest where the animals can--
Shit.
My boy wasn't like those children in there.
-Okay. -He was loved.
He was cherished.
Okay.
He's not here.
You're in the wrong park.
Thank you, God.
Thank you.
Is he dead?
-What? -Yes.
-How? -He drank a bottle of cough syrup.
-When was this? -Two nights ago.
-The night you came to the hospital? -The night before that.
-Did you see him drink the syrup? -No, I wasn't there.
Was anybody else--?
He was all alone.
He was-- He was all....
All alone.
Where is he, Brenda?
He's not here.
Brenda.
Where is he?
Oh, God, please.
Oh, God. Please.
-God, I can't find him. -Just try to stay calm.
I can't find him.
Come here.
I think we've got something.
Copy that. We're on our way.
This is subsoil. It should be about two feet under.
And this formation here, this is man-made.
-Is this it? Is this where he is? -Yes.
-This is where you buried him? -Yes.
-You dug this up? -Yes.
-And then what'd you do? -What?
-You pile all these rocks on here? -Yes.
-All these stones. -Yes.
Over here.
What are they doing?
-I can't be here. I-- -Hey. Hey. I don't wanna be here...
-...any more than you. -I'll tell you.
I don't want a lawyer. Just please, just take me away.
Everything.
Yeah, I swear, but...
...just to you.
All right, come here.
We're gonna go, but I need you to do one thing for me, okay?
-What? -Show me how you carried the stones.
I need you to pick me up...
...that one right there.
Here. Just take it from me.
Come on. Take it.
Take it.
You know, Brenda, when you tell me everything...
...I want you to start by telling me who dug that grave.
And who carried those stones.
And please, please, do not tell me it was you.
Because if you start with a lie...
...you will have lost the greatest ally you've ever had in your life...
...and I won't even bother to take your statement.
I will charge you and dump your ass in the system.
You hear what I'm saying? You hear me?
Please, just-- I swear to God, I'll tell you everything.
Just take me away, please.
-Page me when he's up. -Right.
-Go. -Y'all know who this is?
This is me.
This is you, and you, and you.
This is all of us and none of us.
This is the nigger in the woodpile.
This is, ¡°A black man did it.¡± The hottest item in the store.
-But you know what? -What?
We ain't buying it.
-You know what? -What?
We ain't having it.
Gannon, heads up.
Hey, Dempsy, heads up.
Here's the point that you been missing Armstrong ain't no locked-down prison
Hey, Gannon, heads up Hey, Dempsy, heads up
Here's the point that you....
Hey.
-You charge her yet? -I'm waiting on the body.
She kill him?
-I don't know. -You gotta go with homicide.
-Okay. -Otherwise, Armstrong--
-They'll raise the fucking roof tonight. -Hey.
I tried to get you to stop the blockade.
-Circumstances dictated-- -Circumstances?
You wanna talk circumstances?
The circumstances were, it was Armstrong.
The circumstances were, they were a bunch of mud-flat animals on welfare...
...that didn't deserve the consideration or respect you give a dog.
Look, Lorenzo, the prosecutor...
...if he has a press conference tonight to announce the arrest...
...he wants you by his side.
-Talk to people about keeping cool. -Oh, he does, does he?
Well, you tell that prosecutor he can kiss my black ass.
And when he's done, you can get some too.
-Where is she? -lnterview room.
Does she at least have a fucking lawyer?
Danny, wait. You can't--
So, Brenda, let's talk about those stones.
He didn't wanna have anything to do with it, but he did it for me.
-Who? Who did? -I dug that grave with my hands.
I did. I told myself...
...I was making his bed one last time, and that's how I got through it.
There was no way I could bring my boy to that place...
...so I begged him to do it for me.
He had to do it, Billy. I had no one else to turn to.
Billy? Billy who?
I told him he was responsible for what had happened too...
...but it was all me. It was always me.
But he had to do it. I had no one else to turn to.
Billy who?
Felicia's Billy.
I have spent all my life trying to get distance from other people.
-My family, men, other kids-- -Hey, hey, hey, Brenda. Brenda.
Let's stick to what happened three nights ago, all right?
No, no, you have to let me. Ever since I met you...
...I've been trying to think of a way to really, really tell you this.
And now you just have to let me.
With my family, my brothers, it was like, ¡°Everybody just leave me be.¡±
But with a child, when you have a child, it's yours, it's safe.
It's finally safe. And....
And when I got pregnant, it was an accident.
I mean, it never occurred to me to have a baby.
I was my own baby. But then I had this vision...
...of what it could be like.
The companionship, the secret...
...companionship.
I never told the guy who knocked me up.
And for four years with Cody, it's like life is this cliff...
...but we carved out a ledge together, you know? But....
But it wasn't enough, just being with my son.
You can't.... You can't live like that.
Did Billy have anything to do with what happened?
No, he barely even met Cody.
So Billy--
I had this thing that I did at the Rainbow Club. I--
I brought in professionals, teachers, lawyers, cops...
...to talk to the kids, to show them another way to be.
So Billy comes in. I knew he was unemployed and it was so sad...
...but he talked to the kids so earnestly...
...about stocks and bonds and investments...
...and it was way over their head, but it was so....
So sweet, you know. And I looked over at Felicia while he was talking...
...and she rolls her eyes like she's had it with this loser.
But I understood him so well, so fast, because it's like-- Like...
...he was me.
And so after the talk, I went over and I took his hand...
...and, yeah, he must have jumped a mile, but it was on, you know.
The whole thing took, like, 1 0 seconds and it was on.
After he came over to my apartment that night...
...I knew I was in trouble...
...because I had finally lain down with someone who was not a child...
...after all these years. I had...
...over-abstained, you see, and I was in deep trouble.
Before Billy, I used to love to lie down with Cody...
...or just watch movies with him before he went to bed.
And now, it's like I look at my son's face...
...in the TV light, and it's like he's....
He's un-precious to me. And it's, like, videos, you know?
I'm wasting critical minutes. You know, Billy's downstairs.
I gotta get this kid down. And you know, Cody takes--
Cody....
Cody took...
...an hour, sometimes 30 minutes.
And I-- I know he can feel my tension, and it's keeping him awake.
Sometimes I would think he was asleep...
...and I'd be halfway down the hall, like tippy-toe, tippy-toe...
...and I'd hear, ¡°Mommy. Mommy.¡± And I'd be like:
¡°Get to sleep!¡± And how fast would you fall asleep...
...if you have this half-insane giant hanging over you...
...who doesn't love you or want you anymore?
Who used to treat you like the sun, moon and stars...
...but no more, no more.
So I started giving him...
...cough syrup...
...to put him to sleep. You know, not much.
Just whatever you give a kid for a stuffed head.
And it worked.
It worked. And I told him it was night vitamins.
And it became part of our bedtime routine.
Look, Brenda, I hear what you're saying...
...but we gotta get back to what happened three nights ago.
-I need you to start telling me-- -He wouldn't go down, Cody.
You know, I had already dosed him and he wouldn't go down.
And that night, you know, I had to talk to Billy because...
...I knew that he was breaking it off and going back to Felicia.
And the thing of it is, I was kind of relieved...
...that Billy was dumping me and putting me out of my misery...
...and it was probably the last night I'd leave my son alone.
It was probably....
Probably the last, but he wouldn't go down.
So I said to him:
¡°You be a good boy and go to sleep.¡±
And he was-- You know, he was furious.
He said, ¡°I don't want you to go.¡± But like a man would say it, you know:
-¡±I don't want you to go.¡± -¡±I don't want you to go.¡±
You know, standing there all punchy with the cough syrup...
...and, you know, I wanna say to him, ¡°Tonight is the last night.
Just give me this one last....¡±
But I said, you know:
¡°You go to sleep. I'll be back soon. I promise.¡±
And he says, you know--
He says to me, ¡°If you go, you'll be sorry.¡±
But like a jealous husband, you know. ¡°If you go, you'll be sorry.¡±
And I almost, you know-- I almost didn't go.
You know, I'd never-- I never heard that tone from him.
If he'd only sounded like, you know, more....
More babyish or more pathetic.
But, you know, it was so hard, his voice...
...and it scared me. It, like, drove me out of the house...
...and, you know, he was-- He was only 4 years old.
You know, nobody has to tell me that.
So...
...I go downstairs...
...and sure enough...
...Billy says it's over. And I'm yelling and I'm crying...
...but really I'm just going through the motions because....
Because really, I'm kind of relieved. And I go back upstairs and I--
I don't see him, Cody, and I look for him in his bed.
And I'm-- I--
I'm like, you know, ¡°Oh, he's hiding,¡± you know, ¡°He's....
He's hiding. He's mad at me.
He's trying to scare me or punish me or something.
But that's okay, because I deserve it.¡±
And I'm kind of lighthearted now, you know...
...because it's all over and done with, so I'm like, ¡°Cody?
Cody?¡± Like, ¡°Where are you?¡±
And then I see him, you know, he's under the table. And he's asleep.
And I-- And I crawl over there because I'm gonna carry him back to bed.
And I put my hand in something wet...
...and there's the smell....
The smell....
And that's when I saw the empty bottle.
And I remembered, ¡°If you go, you'll be sorry.
If you go, you'll be sorry.¡±
Well, was he still alive?
-How do you know? -He was not alive.
-Did you try to revive him? -He was not alive.
Tell me how you knew he was not alive.
Because I'm his mom.
And us moms know these things.
He said, ¡°If you go, you'll be sorry.¡± And he was right.
-He was right. -Brenda.
-He didn't know what he was doing. -He was right.
-Brenda, listen to me.
It was an accident. If what you described is true, it was an accident.
-Don't you play me. -What happened next?
No.
-Brenda, we gotta keep talking. -No, I'm done. Just charge me.
Tell me, Brenda, you wanna see Billy go to jail?
-For what? -Well, if we stop now...
...I charge him with obstruction, conspiracy.
If all he did was carry a body, you need to take me to the end.
All I remember is putting my hand in something wet.
I remember the smell and then I was walking.
I was walking and thinking about...
...my son, thinking about...
...living without no--
Living every day with....
And I'm like, ¡°Just walk out into the road.
Just die.¡± But...
...I couldn't do it.
And I'm in this fog, you know. This fog. And I'm walking...
...and I wind up in that park, and I'm clawing and I'm making his--
Then I had-- I needed to go back and to get him, and how could I?
And so I called Billy.
And what did he do, exactly?
I was not there, but...
...he must have gone back up to my apartment and seen Cody...
...and put him in my car.
And I guess I must have told him where to go because--
And the stones....
I guess he did that to make it proper.
And then the next night...
...I-- I must have known what I was gonna do...
...but I don't remember thinking about it.
I went to Martyrs Park and I threw my bag in the dirt...
...and I just started jamming my hands in the--
In the shit, just shoving them in. I just wanted to get every fucking...
...broken, like, rusted-- Like, you know, all of it, like, in my skin.
And then I walked through Armstrong, and I'm--
I guess I knew I was going to the hospital...
...and I guess I knew what I was gonna say, but I don't remember...
...knowing the story, you know, the lie, before it came out of my mouth.
And I think of it now, I guess I knew somewhere in my head...
...that Armstrong could take it. And that nobody...
...no individual would really be hurt by it...
...and that I could go on, you know...
...with some kind of life, but...
...no, you can't.
You can't.
No.
-What? -What?
What is it? They have Cody?
-Is he okay? -What?
What--? What did I do?
Okay, Brenda.
At this point, I'm gonna have to charge you with homicide.
Now, personally, I have no reason to disbelieve...
...anything that you've said to me.
I wouldn't have always been able to be there for him.
Well, because of all the obstruction you put in our path...
...this is what's required of me. You understand?
Now, once the forensics are in, the charge will probably be downgraded.
This is Dempsy Detective Lorenzo Council.
I'm in the interrogation room of the Southern District Precinct House.
It is May 4th, 4:55 p.m.
I'm with Brenda Martin, a 3 7-year-old white female...
...who resides at 1 6 Van Loon Street, Gannon, New Jersey.
Phone number, 1 20-72 1 0.
Social Security number, 983-40-394 7.
-What have I done? -Statement is in relation...
...to the death of 4-year-old Cody Martin.
Brenda! Hey! Hey! Stop it. Stop it.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop!
Can I get some help? Somebody help me!
Can I get some help in here?
Calm down! Calm--
Calm down. Calm down.
Just take it easy, guys. Take it easy. Don't hurt her.
-Okay. It's okay. -Easy, easy.
Detective Council.
How bad was what I did?
I mean, look in your heart.
How bad was what I did?
Come on, Billy. Let's go. Come on.
Look, I don't care what you say.
-Don't touch me, man! -No.
There's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do.
Oh, my goodness. Nothing I can do. What do you want from me?
For heaven's sake.
All units, Code Three. Code Three at Armstrong Houses.
This is car 1 2 responding to Code Three.
Code Three at Armstrong Houses. All units respond.
-At Armstrong Houses. -Car 1 4, Code Six.
Potential riot disturbance developing at Armstrong Houses.
-All units, Code Six. -Reinforce Unit Three at Jackson.
All units respond, Code Three.
All units, Code Three. Code Three at Armstrong Houses.
I got it! I got it!
Do it!
Help!
Get the hell out of here!
Everybody, please. Go back to your homes!
Forget you, man! See, you a punk!
You need to back off, please. Everybody.
-What is it? -What?!
Forget it. Don't-- Put your shit back on!
For your own sakes, do not let this happen.
This is not gonna help!
Come on, SWAT.
-This is not gonna help! -Forget it!
What's wrong with you?
This is yours. This is for your family!
Yeah, I'm coming at you. Forget y'all, man. Forget y'all!
Y'all know you ain't supposed to be doing all this.
That's right. I wish y'all would move so I could do something.
I should bust y'all in your face. You. Forget y'all.
Get out of here.
Lorenzo! Lorenzo!
Why don't you come up in here now, motherfucker?
I just saw that nigger with that bitch's kid.
-Don't let him get away, now. -That jacker's right under my bed.
-Y'all need a SWAT team. -Y'all want them to come in here?
-Hell, yeah. -No. No, you don't.
-Man, fuck you! -Look, you see these cops?
They are just the tip of the iceberg.
Every cop in Dempsy and Gannon is on alert.
There's a hell of a lot more of them than there are tenants in here.
So if this shit jumps off...
...they gonna turn into one big-ass police force...
...that's gonna be in here kicking down our doors!
-¡±Our doors,¡± huh? -Please.
What you talking about, man? You ain't one of us. Come on.
We ain't tolerating!
Leo?
Oh, so you all concerned with city lines now and shit.
You take care of your town, we'll take care of ours.
Just get them out of sight, all right?
You about to start the very thing you supposed to be here preventing.
-When they step off, we'll step off. -No, you step off, then they'll step off.
Just back them up. I'll handle my end, all right?
Everybody play it cool. Play it cool.
-Wanna piece of me? -What the fuck you looking at?
You have a good night now, you hear.
Rafik! Rafik!
-No! -Can I help you with something?
No!
Hey!
-Come on, Rafik. Rafik! -Don't do it.
Don't do it!
Get him out of here.
Miss Martin.
I have a charge here of criminal negligence in the death...
...of Cody Martin signed by Detective Lorenzo Council...
...of the Dempsy Police Department.
Do you understand the charge as read to you?
Miss Martin?
How's your reception, counselor? Can you see us?
Yes, we can, Your Honor.
Miss Martin?
Do you understand the charge?
Yes.
They gave us some deluxe elbow room in here, huh?
So they got you in protective custody, huh?
On suicide watch too.
It's just standard procedure.
You know, you aren't the only person I got to visit in here today.
My son, Jason...
...he's over in the state wing doing two to four for armed robbery.
No.
-Used my gun too. -Oh, no.
Yeah.
All my friends say to me:
¡°Lorenzo, it ain't your fault that boy landed where he did.
He got to take responsibility for that his own self.
I ain't seen no pacifier in his mouth the last 1 0 years.¡±
Well, between you and me, it is my fault.
I do feel responsible because the kind of man he is...
...is the kind of man I showed him how to be.
High all the time.
Selfish. Out of control.
I was never there on a day-to-day basis.
And when I was, I was fighting with his moms.
Yeah, well, that's who I was.
I'm so sorry.
Back then...
...I just didn't give a shit.
Now Jason's in prison...
...and he'll probably be in and out of prison the rest of his life.
It's kind of late in the game...
...but all I wanna do now is be there for him.
But with kids...
...no matter what you did or how bad you think you messed up...
...God always finds a way to give you another shot at it.
It might not be with that particular child, but....
What I'm trying to say, Brenda...
...is that God's grace is sort of, like, retroactive.
So every little kid out there is Jason for me now.
And, no, they're not my blood, but I can live with that.
And I'm happy. My life is good.
There's a lot of young women in here, Brenda.
Some of them are good mothers, some ain't. But they all need help.
On visitors' day, in the nursery, even in prenatal.
And the warden in here is an old running buddy of mine--
I love you.
What?
I love you for the way you talk to me.
I've loved you for the way you talk to me...
...ever since I first met you in the hospital.
I wish I had your heart.
Look, I don't know if your lawyer is gonna do a plea bargain...
...or whatever, or if you're going to trial.
But you'll still be a young woman. Lots of things that you can--
I'll-- I'll-- I'll come see you.
Brenda...
...reach out to people in here, all right?
Jas, how you doing?
Wasn't you just here on Tuesday, man?
You want me to leave?
No, it's all good. It's Christmas in July.
So like I said, how you doing, kid?
You know, the Aryan Nation was asking me to hook up...
...but I was a little bit nervous about the whole initiation thing, you know?
Hey, Dad, you--? You okay?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm good.
I'm real good.
-So, what you think? -I was looking at that.
What's going on with you?
You know, out there roughnecking.
-So you fell off your bed. -Yeah, right....
I thought you should see this.
Hey.
You know that thing with the carjacker?
I know I'm supposed to find it in my heart to forgive.
But....
And her with Billy.
I mean, he wasn't getting none from me, so....
But, Lorenzo, did he have anything to do with hurting that child?
No. No, he didn't.
Thank you. Thank you.
¡°This child's life was not in vain.
He brought us together in a common bond of sadness.
He reminded us how human we are...
...and how hurt and pain touches us all.
Go to God, little angel. And thank you.¡±
I really appreciate you bringing me out here, Bobby.
I truly do.