What "Dateline" said about the Jonathan Crews case
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Pam and John Crews recently spoke to "Dateline" about their son's mysterious death. Photo courtesy of "Dateline"
A "Dateline" episode pointed out possible flaws in the police investigation into a 27-year-old man's death in 2014.
Driving the news: The two-hour episode, which aired Friday, examined whether Jonathan Crews fatally shot himself in his Coppell apartment, or if his then-girlfriend was responsible for his death.
- Brenda Lazaro's attorney has denied allegations that she shot Crews and says that his death was an accident. She was never arrested or charged with a crime.
Flashback: Police found Crews fatally shot in the chest in his bed in February 2014.
- The manner of his death remains undetermined, per the Dallas County medical examiner's office.
- Last year, a Dallas County civil jury awarded the Crews family $206 million in damages in a wrongful death lawsuit against their son's former girlfriend.
What's new: The "Dateline" episode included an exclusive interview with one of the jurors in the civil trial, new footage from when police arrived at the scene, and statements that Lazaro made to investigators.
- "He just told me that he was gonna show me that he loved me," she told investigators, adding that he told her to cover her ears and then shot himself.
Details: The Crews family says Jonathan never indicated that he wanted to end his life and that he was planning to end his three-month relationship with Lazaro.
- A Houston homicide detective testified during the civil trial that the trajectory of the bullet and the contact wound on his body suggest that he couldn't have shot himself.
- "The biggest thing that led us to our decision was the trajectory of the bullet," Eddie Brown, who was the jury's foreman in the civil trial, told "Dateline."
The other side: Lazaro is now married to someone else, has two children and lives in Missouri. She goes by her married name, Brenda Kelly.
- Her civil defense attorney, Andrew Jee, called the Crews family's theories "speculation" during his interview with "Dateline."
- "She's been hounded now for nine years over this, and she would really like to put this experience behind her and move forward," he told "Dateline."
What they're saying: Coppell police chief Danny Barton said in a statement to Axios that the case is inactive.
- "The Jonathan Crews case is a tragic situation in which a life was lost," Barton said, declining to say anything else "because new facts could be discovered."
What we're watching: National publicity generated by one of the most popular true-crime shows could have the power to change the case.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say Lazaro lives in Missouri, not Kansas.