[tense music] - I was dropping off my friend.

Saw a car coming up.

The kid had left the car, and he hit the window with the gun.

I just punched it.

I heard a gunshot.

[gunshot, glass shatters] I'm thinking, "I gotta survive."

[machinery beeping] - State of Wisconsin versus Nathan King.

- Would you say that the rules were pretty strict in your household?

- Absolutely.

Deteriorated so fast.

- Milwaukee preys upon young Black men.

There are very few that become successful.

- I'm coming into the situation wanting him to be an example to everybody, and now it feels like I'm trying to get him.

What am I fighting?

Who am I fighting?

announcer: "When Claude Got Shot," now only on "Independent Lens."

♪ ♪ [soft tense music] ♪ ♪ - I was born and raised in Milwaukee.

I came back here for a 25th class reunion.

♪ ♪ There was a meet and greet before the actual reunion, and we met at a bar.

♪ ♪ I was dropping off my friend.

Right here.

It was, like, 1:30 in the morning.

It was pretty dark.

I saw that he was in, and I said, "Okay."

And I was about to get out, and I saw, just like right now, I saw a car coming up.

So I said, let me finish my emails.

And then another car came, and it was kind of in front of me.

The back seat was parallel with my window.

When I looked over, they kind of turned their head.

And I was like, "Oh, something is up."

So I'm thinking I gotta get out of here.

By the time I put the car in drive, the kid had already left the car.

And I saw him take the last step, and he hit the window twice with the gun.

[tapping] I just punched it.

[engine revving] I heard a gunshot.

[gunshot, glass shatters] I hit the back end of that car, and I pushed it back in and out.

I tore out, probably 70 miles an hour.

I turned left.

I turned right.

I was just going through the streets to make sure that I was not being followed.

I looked in the rearview mirror, and I try to close my mouth, but I couldn't.

And that's when I looked up, and I saw the gunshot.

And I looked down, and blood was just gushing out, just bubbling onto my shirt.

My whole shirt was red.

My pants was red.

It was pooling up between my legs.

I really start to panic.

I'm trying to think of where the hospital to go to.

I started to get a little woozy.

But I did not want to be found at the side of the road bled out.

No one knew where I was at.

[eerie music] ♪ ♪ Not only was the blood coming out, but it was going back into my throat.

I couldn't breathe.

Thinking about my kids, thinking about my wife.

I'm thinking, "I gotta survive."

♪ ♪ - The bullet came in through the soft tissues and then struck the jaw, the jaw bone here.

You can see the fracture here and here, an oblique fracture this way, this way.

Piece of bone here.

Hit here and then went underneath his tongue to the opposite side of his face.

And you can see here, where you can see all the little tiny pieces of bone coming through the soft tissue like this.

And I go across the back, and here it is, exiting the left side of his face.

And all the pieces are spread out this way as the bullet comes through.

- They actually cut me open.

They cut--started from here, cut open all the way up here and then came around here.

And peeled my face up, so that they could actually put a complete wire around the jawline and then do a jigsaw puzzle with the bones that were there.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ It's rolling.

- We're tied at 31 after the extra point.

We're in overtime.

- I can't get this thing--there we go.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ We left Milwaukee six years ago because of the violence.

When we had children, we definitely wanted to get them out.

♪ ♪ It is one of the most segregated cities in the country.

There's a ceiling.

♪ ♪ Now I live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

- This time of year, but I'm gonna do it.

- Oh, you're so sweet.

It's a beautiful neighborhood.

It was never really home.

Right, right, right.

- So we love it.

The quality of life is great.

The schools are good here.

What do you do?

- I'm in law school right now.

- You're in law school?

- Yeah.

- Ooh, that's awesome.

I mean, I think, especially to be an adult and go to law school... - I know.

I know.

I see, like-- - Yeah?

- Oh, that's great.

- Kim was across the world for nine months out of the year.

So I was raising the kids, I was in school, and I was working with her.

♪ ♪ It was hard but sweet.

♪ ♪ And then I got shot.

[gunshot] [glass shatters] [tires squealing] ♪ ♪ So you want to go down the road... - Yeah.

- That I took?

- Yep.

[turn signal clicking] Obviously, this happened pretty quick.

I'm trying to slow this down for you.

- Mm-hmm.

- You know, I'm 5'8".

He was my height.

- He was your height.

- Did you see his eyes?

- No.

- By the time he hit the gun, the gun just was in my view.

[tapping] - Do you know if he had short hair?

- He had, like, a little curly afro.

- How big was his afro?

- Probably, I would say, about that big on his head.

- You saw the hair, you'd be able to narrow it down a little bit more.

- That hairdo is probably on a thousand kids.

You know what I'm saying?

I don't want to start putting a face where I know I can't see a face.

I can't see a face.

- Are you okay?

- It just hurt.

I'm talking a lot.

- Okay.

[tense music] ♪ ♪ - Good.

Whole chin in now.

- Mm-hmm.

- Ahh.

- That feel good?

- Yes.

Oh, it feels so good.

- Hi, there.

- Hi, how you doing?

- Good.

- Come in.

Detective Lewans?

- Yes.

Lewandowski - Lewandowski.

- Hi, I'm Kim Motley, Claude's wife.

- Okay, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

- So I'm just gonna go over some of the reports with you.

These individuals that we have in custody, have you heard anything about them?

- No.

- They've been doing a spree of robberies for probably a month, taking people's cars and then doing other street robberies with them.

They did yours on the 21st.

On the 23rd, they meet up with a woman.

They see her as an easy target.

And she gets her .380 out and shoots one of 'em.

- Mm.

- Oh.

- That individual has admitted to me that he's the one who shot you.

He is 15 years old.

- Oh, wow.

- And he felt that he didn't shoot you.

He thought he shot through the window shield.

And then once he got shot, he was out of the picture, but they continued.

24th, 25th, 26th.

- Wow.

- They was just going hog wild.

- Yeah, they almost had a death wish or something.

[somber music] Since he lived off Capitol, I said, "Well, what about "all those robberies over off at Capitol that you did?

You need to tell me about them."

He just started rattling them all off.

And I said, "Well, what about the guy that you shot?"

And I'm just throwing it out there."

He's like, "Well, I didn't shoot him.

I just shot his car because he took off."

And I tell Nathan, "Well, you actually shot somebody."

"I did?"

♪ ♪ It wasn't gloating anymore.

"I did?"

The bullet went into his spine, and it, like, lodged in part of it.

It tore through his intestines, and he... - Wow.

- Has, like, one of those... - Colostomy bag.

- Yes, mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪ - That's good.

Told you.

- Wow.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪ - Okay, to make sure the sound is working, can you say good morning?

- Good morning.

- Okay, so you pulled up in front of your house at about 1:51?

- Yes.

- Okay.

And you were all by yourself in the car?

- Yes.

I see two cars.

I open my door, and I'm getting my gym bag.

Then the cars just come, and they stop about right here.

He said, "I want the keys, car, everything."

And he said, "Hey, bro, go get the cannon."

Like, go get the gun.

I was able to get my firearm out.

So as I was falling to the ground from them pushing me down, I was able to take the safety off of my gun and fire at Nathan King.

And he said, "Oh, [bleep], I'm shot."

And then he kind of was walking like this.

And he fell right here.

The dark-skinned guy, he runs off back to the black car.

And then he screeches off.

The white car screeches off.

And then I run up to the door.

I'm, like, banging on the door, like, right on this part with the butt of the gun.

I don't have any keys.

I can't get in the house.

So I'm looking like, "Oh, my gosh.

What if they come back?"

My husband finally came down.

And my husband called the 911 operator, and he said that I need a ambulance.

"Some guy tried to rob my wife, and he's been shot."

He's just laying there the whole time, throwing up.

I overheard the police ask him his information.

He's only 15.

I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, I just shot this boy who's 15 years old."

♪ ♪ So the guy's okay, though?

- Pardon me?

- Is he okay?

- He went to Children's Hospital.

He's a juvenile.

And they took him into surgery to look to see how bad it was.

That's the last I heard.

You're probably gonna be shaken for the next day or so.

You're gonna think through it.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause it's a terrible thing to go through.

♪ ♪ - Yeah.

[dog barking] - Hey.

- Hey, what's going on?

Come on in.

- I like your shirt.

- Thank you.

- Oh!

all: Surprise!

- Oh!

Hey!

Oh, hi!

What is going on?

I'm so happy.

I mean, I just truly appreciate everybody coming out and just showing me love.

Honestly, this was senseless, you know?

I should have been at the--you know, at the bar, dancing like, you know, Preston.

- Dancing like Preston!

[laughter] - It's gonna be a battle.

It's gonna be like, battle!

You know what I'm saying?

- [laughing] That's what he's doing.

- [laughs] - Oh, absolutely.

This is what I do for a living.

And I'm gonna make sure that my husband is not only protected personally but that also, he's protected legally by me.

You know, I don't freak out on him.

Just like I know, if I call him about stuff, he's not gonna freak out on me.

I still haven't freaked out about it.

Because that's not what he needs.

He needs for this [bleep] to be handled.

You know what I mean?

That's what I-- you know, legally, medically, that's what he needs.

He doesn't need someone to sit there crying with him.

His family can do that.

- But you know what?

You know what, though?

I'm glad everybody had another chance to get together, and I hope everybody have awareness of what we need to do here in Milwaukee too.

You know, I love this city.

It's too bad it's gone down the way it went.

- But you're here.

And we love you.

- We're grateful.

- Yep, grateful.

- I can't forget where I came from.

But I have to move forward.

Right after I got shot, I went right back and did my last semester at Charlotte School of Law.

And people, they just see this big jaw swole up, stitches all through his neck.

And so I have to keep on telling people, keep on reliving it, keep on being positive.

♪ ♪ Look at this.

That's gone.

- What is that?

- Bone.

- Oh, really?

- It's not there.

These are breaks.

I got, like, a thousand breaks.

- So the DA, she was saying that the kid, she's been told that he will be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

And so that he has, you know, intestinal damage and that he--she anticipates that she'll probably charge this probably about a month.

He does have to recover a little bit.

You know, we'll see.

- I'm gonna tell you.

That's a little hard to swallow.

- Yeah--what?

You didn't shoot him.

- No, I know that.

I know that.

We have to trust the judicial system in this.

We have to-- - We have to guide them.

- We have to guide it.

But we also got to think.

- This kid's a victim, too, to a certain extent.

- Yeah.

- That was us 30 years ago.

[chuckles] I was oblivious to the whole thing until the next day about--was that 3:00?

- Yeah.

I parked to drop him off.

And Scott was walking into the house right here.

- I got up to the door, got in, got my keys.

I looked back over my shoulder, and he was looking down at his phone, and I went in the house.

I was in the relative safety of my own home, you know.

And Claude was a few feet away being victimized.

My friend could have died that day.

He could not be here.

He could literally not be here.

I always knew Claude was gonna go on and do great and wonderful things.

He was bright, articulate.

He was an athlete.

He was popular.

He was a smart guy.

We had high expectations of each other.

You kind of push each other toward the light, so to speak.

I had a certain comfort that he was gonna be okay.

And that a lot of the crazy stuff that happens wasn't gonna happen to him.

♪ ♪ Most Black families know if you have the ability, you got to get your sons out of here.

Milwaukee preys upon young Black men.

There are very few that grow up in this environment and become successful.

In a segregated city, they do everything to limit a sector of society from opportunity.

♪ ♪ We're a bunch of individuals going after scraps on a daily basis.

And our kids are the result of it.

♪ ♪ That kid is a result of it.

I'd like to think our lives mean more than that.

♪ ♪ - I woke up, I was in a different hospital.

I was shackled to the bed.

[tense music] The nurse actually came in, and I'm like, "Why am I shackled to the bed?"

"Well, you were kicking, "and we had to do some work on you.

"And you were-- I think you were in shock.

You don't remember."

I was not granted a phone.

I actually had to ask a person visiting another patient that was in the ICU at the time to use his phone.

I'm treated as a perpetrator first before they knew anything.

♪ ♪ Can't tell me that wasn't in their brain.

Can't tell me.

♪ ♪ - I value your input tremendously because like I said, I wasn't the one shot.

- Right.

- It is about justice.

But it's about justice for you.

- Right.

- Right.

- What we have at Children's Court is called serious juvenile offender, which is a five-year order, in which up to three of them can be served in custody.

And it's only available for certain offenses.

Armed robbery is one of them.

- But the most is, like, three and two if he's in-- - Three and two is the most.

I never think that's enough.

- Mm-hmm.

- I think the chances are extremely slim that we will get waiver.

I'm just saying that from experience.

One of the smart things may be to fashion some sort of agreement that'll allow us to get the rest of the crew, the other kids that were with him that night, get those kids waived into Adult Court and, you know, get the best possible outcome there.

And then the other thing that I think would be really interesting, we can fashion a community service portion of whatever his order is.

So he has to roll his butt in every high school in Milwaukee and tell these kids what he did.

And say, "Hey, you want to play basketball this weekend?"

"Funny, I can't, "because this is a choice I made.

"And you make this choice, there's just as much chance it's gonna happen to you."

- Hello.

Claude Motley.

- Victoria Davidson.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you as well.

This my husband, Matthew.

- How you doing, Matthew?

- Nice to meet you.

- This is my wife, Kim.

- Hi, sorry, I'm, like, creeping up behind you, hi.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

Hi, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you as well.

They just told me that the both of you are attorneys, right?

- Well, I'm close.

I'm two classes away from being an attorney getting my JD.

- Oh, still, congratulations.

- Yeah, well, thank you.

Thank you.

- I think I read or heard somewhere you're a nurse?

- I am an LPN now.

I have a year and a half still to go before I finish my nursing degree.

- I know the feeling.

You just want to, you know, keep on striving to do better.

You know, and you know, and that's one of the things that was such a tragedy.

They were going after people with such a reckless abandon.

- I don't know if the detective shared with you the Facebook pictures and things like that.

So this is Nathan King's Facebook.

- Yeah, this is the first thing when we got online, and we saw this, we're like, "Oh, my God.

That looks sort of like the gun he shot me with."

- I want to make sure that, as survivors, that your voice is heard, not just in court, but with regards to this whole process.

If you wanted legal representation, I'd be happy to represent you pro bono.

- He needs to know how he affected my life, your life, even your life.

You know, because you have to see your husband suffer.

Your kids, they have to see their father suffer.

- You're a survivor just like me.

I feel empowered by being here, being able to tell my story and tell people that you know what?

I'm standing up to it, you know?

[tense music] ♪ ♪ - Calling case 14JV624 in the interest of Nathan King.

- Thanks, everyone.

Good morning.

I want to find out how things are going with the current order, which is an unsecure order in Nathan's place at home.

- He knows who he's not supposed to be hanging out with.

He knows who got him into that wheelchair and what got him into that wheelchair.

Now he has to earn that trust.

- From Victoria Davidson's standpoint, she is asking that Mr. King be held in custody while this matter is pending.

We'd also ask the court to require that Nathan be put in educational programming.

We do think that's an important part of what he needs to participate at wherever he is.

- Let me ask the parents of Nathan.

Is he enrolled in any sort of school at this point?

Or is he going to be able to attend any school in the fall?

- He's enrolled in Greenfield High School.

We sent our kids out of the city.

Nathan was a 220 student, and that's where you get to choose where you want your kids to go to school not in the Milwaukee Public Schools system, which is, in my opinion, not real good.

So I sent Nathan to school at Greenfield.

There was literally a handful of Black kids that went to those schools, and nine times out of ten, they were 220.

He did not want to go to school out there.

He didn't, but we said everything we could to make him understand, "This is your ticket out of here."

♪ ♪ Just wanted my kids to have a sense of normalcy.

The "American dream."

You know, buy a home and raise your kids in 'em and send 'em to decent schools and watch 'em play sports.

- When we played basketball together, seeing his shots, I would just be like, I don't know how he did it.

Three tricky shots.

He can attack the basket.

All-around player.

- Just a very smart, gifted kid.

♪ ♪ - I've talked with his principal.

I explained to her that he was in a wheelchair now and possibly will be paralyzed when the school year started back.

- She said, no, she's not kicking him out of the school.

He's still a student of Greenfield High School at this time.

- I'll be honest, in this type of case, with these types of charges pending, it's very unusual to have a child placed outside of secure detention.

But because we have a child in this case, Nathan, who is possibly, you know, paralyzed for life, frankly, which is obviously devastating for him and for his family.

I'm gonna continue Nathan's placement at home.

I think it's clear that's the only place he can get the type of medical care he needs.

You have to be there for every check.

You have to be exactly where you said you were going to be and where you're supposed to be.

Okay?

You understand that, Nathan?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

All right, thank you, everyone.

- I mean, he rolls in as cute as a button.

And then you think about what you went through.

I mean, talk about that.

- That was the same person that did not care about my life at the time, recklessly shot into my car.

- I think it is important to note, too, that he's from a two-parent household, a great school.

The neighborhood is not that bad of a neighborhood that he lives in, you know.

This was a real choice that this child was making.

And we were all 15-year-olds in Milwaukee.

- Exactly.

We weren't picking 'em guns and shooting people.

- Exactly.

- You know, so... [soft tense music] Every time I drive past different points in Milwaukee, it just reminds me of that night.

♪ ♪ When I went back to Charlotte, I thought that maybe, you know, if I get out of this community, if I get out of this situation, that I will feel better, but I didn't.

I still was looking over my shoulder.

I still didn't want anybody behind me when I got into the car.

But it's not time to feel sorry.

It's not time to feel sad.

It's time to get determined.

That's what I want to be.

That's who I want to be thought of.

That's who I want to think of myself to be too.

- Oh, look.

[laughter] - Daddy ain't played a damn basketball in his life.

[laughter] - Oh, my goodness.

- We moved in the 1970s.

We were the second Black family on this block.

- When we moved in here, you know, signs, you know, was going all up all over.

- For sale signs.

- For sale sign, you know.

"You better sell now because Black people are moving in."

You know, that stuff.

- You know, I was a outdoor kid, so I was all over the place.

I really truly was pushing the boundaries when it came down to going places.

- Our father had a whistle for us.

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- 'Cause we would be--we could only go as far as he could whistle.

Our neighborhood was much different than it is now.

- Yeah.

- It's been changing for years, of course, you know.

I saw a young man get shot across the street there.

People get shot up and down the street.

- When I think about how I live or how I'm always checking and watching, it was a realization that I don't have the freedoms that I thought I had.

I thought I had freedom.

After you was shot, my first thought was, "Oh, my goodness.

Why was he sitting still on 63rd and Capitol at night?"

And I shouldn't think that.

He should be free to do whatever he wants.

- I just thank God for that situation turning out like it did.

You know, I've always loved him, but the love just grows deeper, you know.

You're blessed to have him around.

- It was unbelievable.

It was so--it was so random.

It's been devastating to our family.

It really has.

Emotionally as well as mentally.

Because we know the scars run deeper than just... [soft music] ♪ ♪ - You don't think too hard about it, you know?

- Right.

You kind of keep moving, keep going.

Keep going, keep going.

That's what you keep doing.

Just keep going, you keep going, you keep going.

♪ ♪ - Sorry.

- It's one thing to say I'm blessed, I'm blessed.

But to know how close... - I'm good.

I'm good.

- Yeah, I know.

We know that.

- I'm good.

It's just--I don't know.

♪ ♪ It's a close call.

You don't think about it, but you got a lot to lose, you know.

- Mm-hmm.

- Yes, we know.

- And you know... this little dude almost took everything away from me.

- Not only from you, you know.

- I know, it affected everybody.

- Right.

♪ ♪ [fanfare playing] - Thank you and welcome to our 11th Annual Honoree luncheon to acknowledge citizens who have demonstrated bravery, courage, commitment.

- My husband, he said, "You got a letter from the sheriff."

And he said, "Well, they want to honor you for your act of bravery."

And I said, "I didn't have an act of bravery.

"I had an act of, you know, what I felt was life or death.

I don't think that was really bravery."

- It was the fighting spirit of Ms. Davidson that carried the day for her.

For her quick reactions in defense of her life, leading to the apprehension and disassembly of an armed robbery and carjacking crew, the Sheriff's Office is proud to present Victoria Davidson with a Citizens Medal of Valor.

[applause] - Thank you so much.

- Three armed gunmen... [speaking indistinctly] - Thank you so much.

Thank you.

- At 37th and... [speaking indistinctly] - I really don't feel like a hero.

I think the police think that maybe I showed bravery because I didn't become a victim.

But I do feel like a victim.

♪ ♪ And I broke one of those, you know, nursing oaths to do no harm.

Like, I did do harm to him.

I could have possibly killed somebody's 15-year-old son, somebody who's only two years older than our oldest son.

♪ ♪ Hey.

- I got my hat back.

- You got your hat back?

Okay, good job.

- How you doing?

- Good.

- You have a good day?

- Mm-hmm.

- Do you have any homework?

- No.

- You have your colors and your number of the week?

- I've done enough my homework.

- Okay.

Don't pull that, please.

- It's just hard seeing my daughter go through all these changes that she has went through.

She's not this happy-go-lightly person.

She's just like... like this all the time, tense.

That's what it is, tense.

The boys, they used to go outside all the time, and she used to sit outside, and they'd be playing.

And now she's in.

Or if she's not, my son-in-law, he's out with her because she's not by herself at all ever.

- From my perspective, we're very shocked that Nathan went AWOL.

And especially, myself being a former Public Defender, he had a pretty good deal.

And so I guess our question is, where did he go?

Who was he with?

And why did he go AWOL?

- I'm gonna go back to Ms. Bruyette about what probation's best information is right now.

- I do want to hear from Mrs. Ragland.

Does the family need the court to place Nathan outside of the home at this point?

- I'm not gonna say that.

I'm his mother.

I'm not gonna say that, no.

[crying] - At this point, based on the record I'm seeing, I'm gonna maintain the current placement, which is placement at home.

You are facing a possible waiver into Adult Court, where you would be facing a very long sentence.

And if you AWOL again, well, first, you won't be going home again, okay?

- Yes, Your Honor.

- Okay, and second, you're pretty much telling the court you have no interest in participating in the juvenile justice system, where we expect juveniles to work to get better.

If you have no intention of getting better, we'll find somewhere where you can stay.

- I just feel that the judge is not looking at how things are affecting me, you know, and the cost it's costing me to actually go through this.

I still have to talk to the bill collectors about the insurance thing.

I still have to--I have to go through all of this stuff just for sitting in my car.

- Right.

- You know?

And this guy has a bad attitude about it.

And it bothers me to--you know?

And it bothers me because, you know, all this has been heaped upon my shoulders for no reason at all.

At least we want to go ahead and show him that this is serious.

- We had the violation, which I think was pretty bad, honestly.

It's the violation of the agreement.

He was supposed to do everything right.

And honestly, if you are home in a wheelchair, how hard should it be to do everything right?

And the fact that he took off, first of all makes me believe he's taken off before, and this time, he just didn't come home when he was supposed to.

I'm not comfortable anymore with the deal.

One of the problems we have with the kids with their criminal thinking that we deal with is they're still not getting it.

And we have numerous kids who have been killed in the city since last spring into the summer.

And it has not deterred their friends.

In fact, you know, they're doing memorial robberies for the kids who have died.

So it's--they're not putting two and two together.

And I don't think this kid's putting two and two together either.

- This isn't a game, and this isn't a joke anymore.

And we--you know, this isn't just gonna be, "Oh, we're all under 17.

So nothing bad is going to happen to us."

Well, you know, they have to realize that absent major life changes, this is where you're going to end up, the adult system.

And that's bad.

[somber music] ♪ ♪ - Does it hurt going in?

- No.

- Just cold?

Any pain?

- Mm-mm.

So you're ready for the holidays?

- No.

Actually, I'm taking the bar.

- Like for law?

- Yeah.

- Oh, goodness.

- Yeah.

I had my last exam yesterday.

- Oh, my gosh.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Wow, that's pretty exciting.

- That's loose.

And that's loose.

We've reviewed your CT scan, and we kind of showed on the area on the inside of the tongue is that exposed bone.

So I think the plan today is hopefully just to stay within the mouth, no more incisions in the neck, and take out that segment of bone.

So you're likely gonna wake up missing these two teeth.

- That's fine.

- And then we're gonna take out that exposed piece of bone.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- Okay, okay.

- What we need to let you do is let that tissue heal over and get closure, and then we're gonna have to go back in through the neck.

And then graft that area with your hip bone.

It's the best source of bone.

Take that and graft it into the area.

Let that heal, and then we can go in and place implants in there.

Okay, but we got to do it in a stepwise fashion.

Exactly.

Alrighty.

We're gonna get the operating room set up.

We'll come and see you when they wheel you back.

- Sounds great.

- All right, thank you.

- All right.

[sighs] Can't believe this.

[groans] - Your room is a disaster, Seoul.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ - No, she doesn't have to wear a dress.

- It's too cold to wear--okay.

- It's not that cold.

- I had leggings for her.

So if you were influencing her--huh?

- Which says something about you.

How old are you?

[laughs] I have the silliest hat in the world.

It's one of them soft hats.

- Is that what it is, a doctorate hat?

- Yeah.

- Maybe I should know that.

My father only reached the third grade.

My mother barely graduated from high school.

Not saying anything bad, but I was told by my parents, "As long as you get a C, you're fine."

I had nothing to strive for because their expectations were so low.

Obviously, you all know that I'm going to be graduating.

And we know how we got to this point.

It's been a long trek.

- I am glad that you're graduating because you don't eat that--you don't eat food that much.

And I feel like you don't sleep that much.

- Hm, wow.

- How about you, Deiva, what have you learned from this?

- That I guess, the world isn't really a good place sometimes.

- Wow.

- No.

I mean, 'cause it was just like--no, it is a good place.

It's just, like, there's just a lot of things change.

I don't know, it was just what happened.

It's just I realized a lot of stuff.

- You can't allow people to make your destiny.

You have to think for yourself at all times.

[lively music playing] ♪ ♪ - Claudiare L. Motley.

[cheers and applause] - Whoo!

Oh.

[tense music] ♪ ♪ - Case 14JV624 in the interest of Nathan King.

- Well, we're in court today for a hearing on the state's petition for waiver.

- When I was coming to the courthouse, they were getting out the car.

So we went through the metal detectors together.

And we kind of like, finally really the first time, looked at each other and said hello to each other, you know.

I didn't know if I wanted to talk to him.

♪ ♪ I didn't know what to do.

That was kind of a surreal moment for me right there.

I'm coming into a situation wanting him to be an example to everybody.

This whole situation in Milwaukee, this whole situation of violence and young kids picking up guns, and I just wanted--I wanted to be an example.

And now it feels like I'm trying to get him.

♪ ♪ What am I fighting?

Who am I fighting?

♪ ♪ - I've never had a waiver case in which I thought the child should be tried in the adult system.

There's a point to having a children's court system.

Nathan was the poster child for a non-developed prefrontal brain.

He was so clearly a kid, not a mature even young adult, much less an adult.

Nathan has no prior criminal record prior to this terrible situation.

Is that true?

- That is correct.

- Would you say that generally, the parents' attitudes are pro-social and appropriate attitudes?

- Yes, it's quite rare for us to have a family in which there is a mother and father figure, both employed, nice home in a nice neighborhood.

This is just highly unusual for me.

- "I didn't expect your son to come "from this two-parent home, nice house, nice neighborhood."

Like I should have been in the center of the ghetto with roaches and problems.

- It's okay.

Before he started skipping school and skipping out from home, would you say that the rules were pretty strict in your household?

- Absolutely.

- And have you been continuing with the family therapy sessions?

- Yes, ma'am.

- And had you been continuing with his physical therapy sessions?

- The physical therapy got discontinued 'cause his leg is locked in the sitting position and has been for months now.

- And the--what do you understand to be the long-term result of that?

- If he doesn't get in the physical therapy, he will stay in that chair forever.

- What were the notable things to you about Nathan?

- His father had separated from the mother while she was still pregnant.

He was in and out of jail for much of his development.

He had little contact with him until about 2014.

At that point, the father resurfaced.

There was an attempt to reestablish contact.

And it was very disappointing.

Father did not follow through with developing a relationship with him.

And that was viewed by Nathan as a pretty significant area of depression and disappointment and anger.

- He was supposed to come get Nathan one weekend.

And Nathan waited and waited and waited.

Just sitting in that window for hours, hours.

7:00 comes, 8:00 comes, 9:00 comes, no show.

I was like, "Nathan, please stop looking out that window."

Finally, Nathan just stopped calling him, and the running away started right away.

Like, right away after that.

I want to say within a week's time, Nathan was running away.

Then the phone calls started coming home.

His grades are slipping.

He's not gonna be eligible for the basketball team anymore if he can't keep his grades up.

- I know he hated the fact that he couldn't play.

I know a lot of people who took the other route because sports didn't work out for 'em.

- Just deteriorated so fast.

- Is there a particular crew or area of the city that Mr. King identifies with?

- Yes, he was claiming Meadows, which is an area up on the north side of Milwaukee.

- They call themselves, like, the Meadow boys.

That's where his identity went.

And that's when things started to go because of the choices he was making.

But he always just want to display, like, even though I'm in Greenfield, I'm in the suburbs, I'm still from the hood.

Like, deep down, I'm still Nate, and I'm still a Meadow boy, you know?

- Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you give in this matter is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

- Yes, I do.

- Is this is the first time you've seen Nathan?

- This is, except for last time I was here for court.

- Are you familiar with 15-year-old boys?

- I was actually one at one point in time.

- Do you think that they have mature reasoning abilities?

- I do know that a 15-year-old boy knows what happens if you pick up a gun and shoot it at someone.

This is not a juvenile situation.

This was an adult crime.

I think he really needs to understand that by going through the adult court system.

- And you see the benefit of the programs that he's been able to be involved in here?

- It seems to me that there's a resistance to change.

I understand that you have to always be looking forward to the future and be positive about the future.

But you also have to take responsibility for what you do every day.

[solemn music] ♪ ♪ - Mom said she was there to pick him up.

She states that two guys in a van picked Nathan up out of his wheelchair.

- I'm like, "I see you!

Don't you dare pull off with my son in that car!"

I'm screaming out the window.

They're slamming the door, and they take off.

They take off at such a high rate of speed that they leave Nathan's wheelchair in the parking lot.

So I'm like, either I chase these kids down with my baby in the car, or I just let 'em go, so I just let 'em go.

- So you get picked up at school in a stolen van.

How were you supposed to get home?

- You were planning on staying out?

- Yes.

- Is there a particularly targeted robbery crew of carjackers that is terrorizing part of the city right now?

- Absolutely.

Mr. King was arrested in the house of one of the associates of this particular crew, along with property that was recovered in a carjacking that had just occurred.

- He was in the same house as some of the property.

He was not in any personal possession of any stolen property, correct?

- He was not in possession of any stolen property.

- What happened to the GPS?

- I took it off.

- And where did it end up?

- When we was driving, I just threw it out the window.

- Threw it out the window.

Was that a good idea?

- No.

- So what--really, what were you thinking at that point?

Why did you do this?

"Dear Judge Swanson, "I want you to know that I think about the crimes I did, "Mostly when I shot Mr. Motley in his face.

"I think about that all the time.

"I just don't know how to speak about it.

"All I'm just trying to say, at least give me a break "and keep it in the juvenile system.

Sincerely, Nathan King."

- These offenses weren't just serious.

They were violent, aggressive, premeditated, unlawful.

There's no question here.

This case has been in this court for eight months.

We had three months of Functional Family Therapy.

It didn't appear to have any impact.

The fact is, after months of effort, Nathan chose to AWOL again.

And not just AWOL, but AWOL with a bunch of young men who were involved in the exact same crimes that led him to commit the crimes he was charged with in these cases.

The court grants the waiver petition filed by the State in this case.

It hereby waives jurisdiction in this case to the adult court.

- [sobbing] [somber music] ♪ ♪ - My jaw broke two weeks before I had to take the test.

When I say my jaw broke, one of the hinges broke out of the bone, and my whole jaw shifted to the side.

So I could not take the bar the first time.

I had to wait another six months.

They're going to once again go in in my scars, cut this all out, and raise my face up, and taking out my whole plate, cleaning out the infection, put in a new plate.

- Good luck.

- Major surgery that I wasn't prepared for.

You know, these bills are killing me.

I was going through-- I was sitting here just going through my stuff.

- The state doesn't pay for it?

- Nobody pays for that?

- The state is capped at 40,000.

- It's not transferred to that boy who did that?

- No, I mean, what you gonna get from them?

What you gonna get from them?

With Froedtert alone, I'm at $85,000.

The Medical College, I'm $40,000 into.

- That's 125.

- Here's all the individual doctors.

- You know what?

That's unbelievable.

- I had insurance.

- Mm-hmm.

- But the insurance dropped me.

- You are kidding.

- What?

That is scary.

- I was paying, like, $330 a month for our family with the insurance I had.

I went back into the marketplace, $1,200 a month for the family.

And then I have a pre-existing condition, so I got denied by, like, three different insurances... - They do that.

- Before I finally found one.

I'm still two or three surgeries away from even being finalizing this stuff.

So I don't even know where I'm at.

- We are here.

- Yes, we are.

- Well, you always are gonna be here.

Because by birth, you all have been recruited to be my support system.

all: Amen.

[laughter] - So you have no choice.

[laughter] ♪ ♪ - We've been moving almost every weekend.

Moving more stuff from the house over.

It seems overwhelming.

♪ ♪ I felt my kids were, you know, being prisoners in their home.

My son hasn't even rode his bike that he got, like, from two Christmases ago.

♪ ♪ We researched a lot of the suburban areas that were safer.

We looked at places where we knew that people who did crimes wouldn't want to go to.

Where is an area where the police basically harass you?

Because if they're harassing you, then we know that it'll keep other people who don't belong in the area out.

- Out of all of these buildings, I've only seen two other families.

We went to the office, and she said, "Oh, by the way, "I didn't want to call you and talk to you about it, but we got a complaint of a domestic disturbance," was her exact words.

Then we had the police called on us.

We were in the bed sleeping.

They, you know, banged on the door and they said, "We got a call of--" again, they used the same word, "Of a domestic disturbance."

They said there was a lot of fighting, yelling, screaming.

He told his partner, he said, "Yeah, there's nothing here.

I don't know why they called."

And I said, "I know why they called.

They called because they're racist."

♪ ♪ For us, the trade-off is being in a better neighborhood.

I definitely think that being in a safer neighborhood for the sake of my kids is definitely better.

♪ ♪ - Hey, how've you been?

- How you doing?

- Good, good, good.

How you doing?

- How you doing?

- Good, good.

- A big shoutout to my man Claude Motley, who in the building.

From the last time, you know, we had a tragic incident but God kept me.

Y'all make some noise for Claude in the building.

Y'all make some noise for Claude in the building.

- Thank you!

- After Claude's situation, my daughter was carjacked at gunpoint coming home from a friend's house.

She's still petrified, terrorized.

I saw something on Facebook the other day.

Little kid was on there talking about, "Oh, you know what, it's fun.

It's something to do."

Like, they have no remorse for human life.

I mean, with something like that, when you saw him, did you feel like you could forgive him?

- Forgiveness comes with what he does.

You know, what he does with his life.

- He could still better himself, you know.

Maybe prison is where he need to be, you know.

- And get that structure that he needed.

- Yeah, get the structure that he need.

- We don't need one more young Black man who entered the system.

It's very easy for you to make a mistake as a young man in Milwaukee and then get caught up in the juvenile justice system.

But in order to be successful, there's no roadmap, there's very little support system.

It's like you got to know somebody, you got to be lucky, you got to be in the right place at the right time.

You got to be smart enough.

But if you're on a bad roll, it's like, step over here.

And it's done.

- It's a small house.

Wow.

I can see myself in Nathan's shoes, taking that wrong turn, making some bad choices, being influenced.

When I was 16, I left the house too.

♪ ♪ This is my Aunt Ruth's house.

This was a lifesaver.

My room was right here, right up here.

I was 16 when I moved in with her because just, you know, just some things that happened with my father.

The strictness of his rules and punishments had gotten intolerable, to the point where he was actually hitting me.

You know, because I got too big for him to just whip, like, you know.

And so we began to get into--I wouldn't say we began to get into fistfights.

He began to fighting and hitting.

And so that was intolerable.

So I had to leave the house.

Because it was either me hit him back or me leave the house.

- When Claude finally opened up and said something to me, you know, it had been going on for a while.

It started with his mom and then moved on to him.

He's the youngest.

So pretty much everybody else has moved out of the house.

- Fortunately, my auntie, she had a boarding house here.

So she allowed me to stay above her.

There was two other guys living there.

And this is where end of my sophomore year and my junior year, I lived in high school.

Fixed my own meals, had my own phone.

I was on my own.

- I learned about that, like, months later, that he had moved into a rooming house.

He'd kept that from everybody.

- To all gang member territory, I just didn't feel safe.

I would carry a knife.

Ended up costing me.

But I ended up getting caught with it at school and getting expelled because of that.

This was the beginning of the year and was getting a lot of recruitment by different D1 and D2 colleges.

All that fell off.

Lost all of that.

Being out of school, they couldn't set up scouting dates.

Just everything fell through.

It was devastating.

♪ ♪ - He never, like, talked bad about his father.

I don't necessarily know where he gets that strength to forgive like he does.

It's almost as if he has not forgotten some of it, but you know, it's like he truly left it back there.

♪ ♪ - Have you thought about the sentence for Nathan?

- This becomes a lot bigger than just me.

It's pretty much a statement toward how I feel the community should feel about crimes that's going on, like, and how innocent victims should have justice brought to them.

What do you think would be a good sentence for him?

- I've sort of withheld what I think he should be sentenced.

I know you asked me a couple times, because I'm like, I wasn't the one that was shot.

- Right.

- But you're asking me now.

You know, yesterday, I went on this prison tour here.

We went to this one block.

They were all young Black guys.

They couldn't have been over 25.

They were in solitary confinement for 23 hours of the day.

A lot of them were just going crazy.

I mean, they were banging on the door.

They were running their bodies in the door.

You know, and I think about a 16-year-old like Nathan.

You know, he's gonna be toast in prison.

He's not gonna be able to... And I don't think prison is the best place to rehabilitate him.

There's so many people locked up here.

Boys under the age of 30, half in Milwaukee, under the age of 30, Black men are locked up.

- I mean, I see the statistics.

And even though half of people locked up, have that stemmed any of the crimes that we're seeing?

It becomes, are we talking about--are we trying to do this as a deterrent?

Or are we trying to get justice?

- United States.

State of Wisconsin.

The Honorable Thomas J. McAdams presiding.

- State of Wisconsin versus Nathan King, case number 15CF1040.

- I believe we're here for sentencing.

Is that correct?

- Yes, that is correct, Judge.

The state in this case is asking for a range.

We're asking for somewhere between 10 and 15 years initial confinement, followed by 8 to 10 years of extended supervision.

Given the opportunities that Nathan has had while this whole case has been pending--it's been over a year now.

He has shown an inability to learn from the mistakes and an inability to change his behavior, to keep not only our community safe, but to keep him safe as well.

- Nathan King took away my peace.

Before, I could just go outside and feel normal.

Now I don't.

There may be another Nathan King.

That's what I'm always thinking about.

What if I run into another Nathan King?

All the time.

At some point, I want to feel safe again.

- Your Honor, the last person we'd like to hear from is Claudiare Motley.

- What would you like to say about the sentencing, Mr. Motley?

- I'm conflicted.

[breathing shakily] I almost died two times that night.

[clears throat] I almost died two times that night.

I was shot.

The bullet could have hit me three inches, one way three inches up, it could hit my jugular.

It could hit my--anywhere in my head.

I've been through five operations at this point in time and looking to either go through three or four more.

When you do wrong, you have to be punished because you learn from those punishments.

But I hope that he understands that he can do better.

He can be a better person.

I would like for you to be lenient with him.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ And I hope that this example can be something that can start a change in his life and the lives of others who choose to continue to do the things that he did and maybe make a difference.

♪ ♪ Thank you.

- Thank you, Mr. Motley.

I appreciate the information.

- So we'd ask the court to take our recommendations and to consider giving him five years of prison with credit for time served and five years of extended supervision.

We understand that this is an extremely lenient sentence.

But collectively, we all believe in Nathan.

Nathan is worth coming back to our community in a positive way.

- Okay, take your breaths.

♪ ♪ - "I really feel terribly wrong for what I did.

"Can you show me some mercy so I can be something in life "instead of being institutionalized?

Sincerely, Nathan King."

♪ ♪ - Thank you, Mr. King.

Sentencings are always hard, and I think this one is harder than most.

There will be no winners here.

And I understand the recommendation made by the attorney for the victims.

And I'm certainly going to take it into account.

I'm not sure if the issues I have here this morning are exactly the same as they have.

Clearly, what you have done not only hurt Ms. Davidson and Mr. Motley, it has hurt this community as a whole.

I suspect the people you hurt have lost some things that can never be given back.

So I am going to impose the 20 years on each of the two counts.

I believe that means essentially 12 1/2 years in prison and 7 1/2 years on extended supervision.

You'll be about in your late 20s when the incarceration aspect of this case is over.

- No!

Oh, God.

[sobbing] Oh, God!

I love you, son.

♪ ♪ [sobbing] ♪ ♪ I knew they was gonna railroad my baby.

I knew it.

I knew it!

I knew it!

I knew they was gonna railroad my son!

♪ ♪ [somber music] ♪ ♪ - Why do you want to meet with him?

Why do you want to do this?

- Maybe I'm searching for something in him.

You know, some remorse, something, I don't know.

I really want to know where he wants to go with this.

Is there hope?

- You know, I'm optimistic as I can be that he'll be willing to meet with you.

- Yeah.

- Most offenders do.

- Yeah.

- The whole concept of this victim-offender dialogue is really the humanity of all of us.

If anything is going to get to Nathan, it's going to be your story, and for you to hear his story, whatever that may be.

- So many people that I grew up with went to prison and everything like that.

I was teammates with murderers.

And I--these guys were good guys.

They were my friends.

I have a hard time reconciling that.

And I would want a second chance.

I wanted a second chance.

When I was struggling, I wanted to tell everybody that's not who I am.

I'm a different person than what you all--you know, yeah, you see me expelled.

You see me having a knife.

I live in a bad neighborhood.

That's not who I am as a person.

And I'm just hoping that he might be that same person.

- Go get me the... - That was Daddy's salt.

- They're all the same.

- Please give me the pineapple.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Got all over my sock.

Well, not really.

- Mmm.

- You like that?

- Mm-hmm.

I bought this from Malaysia.

- One of the things I'm just trying to fight right now is to not let this tear me apart.

I'm making garlic butter shrimp.

I'm having my own struggles.

Everything's kicking in.

Student loans, medical bills, and I'm still going through surgeries.

I'm in debt, serious debt.

And I thought the law degree would actually pay for itself.

And I'm--you know, it's not.

- So what's going on with the insurance?

- I had a couple of things that has gone to collections.

- So this insurance is supposed to cover which bills?

- I don't know which bills were going to which at which time.

- Right, but this one-- - 'Cause I've had, like, nine different surgeries.

- Has the victim witness paid anything?

- No, I'm gonna call them next to find out.

- They haven't paid anything?

- I don't think so.

I got to make sure.

- All right, so the ones you have checked are the problems?

- All of these are problems.

- Everything?

- 'Cause they're on my credit report, right.

- Thank you for calling HCC Life, a premier provider of domestic and international medical insurance.

- My credit report.

- Hey, just tell me you need it.

You don't have to be a smart ass, Jesus Christ.

- What are you talking about?

- Because you're acting testy.

You're acting [bleep] defensive.

You're acting like all this [bleep] for no reason.

- Can we cut this?

Cut we cut this off?

Can we stop this?

- [sighs] So what questions do you have?

Let me ask you a question before we get on this phone.

- Just because you're ready to come back and talk about it doesn't mean I'm [bleep] calmed down.

- Well then, like I said, you could take a walk.

- No, I don't need to take a walk.

- Well, then calm down then.

Then calm down.

- No, you calm down.

- That's the problem.

- I don't want to talk right now.

- Okay then, calm down or walk away.

- I don't need to walk because I don't need to walk to [bleep] calm down.

- So you're just gonna be here, and be arguing, and be mad, and just talk about it?

- I'm gonna sit here and take my minute, just like you walked away.

So I'm gonna sit here and [bleep] calm down.

And then we can do this.

- I'm gonna get started on it.

- Yeah, of course.

That's effective.

- Because I don't know how long it's gonna take for you to calm down.

- Like I said, a minute.

So I guess it's a smart thing to keep riling me up.

- All right, I'll give you a minute then.

I will give you a minute.

- That's effective?

- Yeah.

Yeah, 'cause the only person that gets mad.

- Right, 'cause I didn't--I didn't go running after you after you walked away.

- Thank you for calling HCC Life, a premier provider of domestic and international medical insurance.

- I was calling because I've had--I think I've had multiple claims that were denied.

I just wanted to see what those denials were based on.

- I did pull up a couple of the claims here.

For example, the one that was $17,504, as well as the one for $2,233.

- Correct.

- Both of those show that they were complications or consequences of a pre-existing condition, and that's why that they were denied.

Your policy does not cover joint replacement or other treatment of joints, spine, bones, or connective tissue, including tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.

- Those are state-mandated benefits.

- For the state of North Carolina, there is not a state mandate for that.

- Okay.

- Is there any way you can just let us know now over the phone the claims that have been denied by Allied?

- $57,000 has been denied for an exclusion against your policy.

- Okay.

- Oh, my God.

- Okay, okay, first of all-- - Yes?

- High five.

Hug?

All right, I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry too.

I'm sorry too.

- Well, at least we're knowing more, so that's good.

- Yeah.

- Could be worse.

- Could it?

- Yeah, it could.

- Yeah, bankruptcy might even have to be part of the thought process.

- I hate to go to the bankruptcy route.

- Especially trying to start my career.

Definitely would not put a lot of confidence in new clients.

♪ ♪ Been studying for about three months.

I have not been taking care of my body properly, don't get lot of sleep.

So right now since I'm doing it for the second time, I'm putting a lot of pressure on it because it's very hard mentally and physically to actually do this.

And so I don't want to do it again.

♪ ♪ Oh, man.

It's funny because I had a little budget, and I got like $7 left, and I'm trying to decide where I'm gonna have my celebratory meal on $7.

[laughs] Got to get to--get back to working.

Work, goals.

♪ ♪ I don't think I'm the same person as I was a while ago.

Because now this is having more of a long-time lingering effect of my life, you know, that I don't think I deserved, and it's just--it's pissing me off.

You know, I hate to say it, but this is some bull[bleep].

♪ ♪ - It's still healing.

I think it's going--doing pretty good though.

That's it.

- You putting that right next to the shadow, right?

- Yep.

- All right.

- I just wanted something, you know, pretty, feminine.

And with the Arabic that goes, "I learned, I changed, I suffered."

I haven't even went back to work because I'm afraid that I will have a patient that is similar to one of the people that robbed me and may have a flashback.

I'm trying to take back my sense of security.

I'm trying to move on from the whole situation and not, you know, remain stuck in the past.

- Oh, my stars.

I'm exhausted again.

[groans] - Here, I can take this.

- I'm fine.

- You sure?

Yeah, they got me again.

They went and took some bone from my hip.

- Bye, good luck.

- Thank you.

They did a bone graft, got in there nice and clean.

So now they'll be able to put implants in.

And it feels good.

It's not scarring up really at all.

So I'm not getting that scar tissue, that coarse scar tissue.

June 20, 2014, was when I got shot.

And then my last surgery was June 20, 2017.

So full circle, three years.

Hopefully, this is my last one.

I really feel good about it, though.

Because of how, you know, how strong it feels.

So I'm pretty sure this is gonna be the last one.

[tense music] ♪ ♪ I haven't pushed forward on it the way I wanted to.

I haven't, and I don't know why.

And I think that it's because I really haven't had any closure on it.

♪ ♪ I want to see him in a different light.

I want to see my potential in a different light.

♪ ♪ - Come on in.

Hi, how you doing?

Nathan is gonna walk over.

He wants to walk over to the seat.

So, Nathan, this is Claude.

- Hey, what's going on, man?

- And so here, let me give you your crutches.

And, Nathan, I'm gonna put you here.

And, Claude, if you want to have a seat across from him.

Can I move it a little more for you, or is it good?

- That's good.

How are you?

- Good.

How you doing?

- Okay.

- Regardless of how this conversation goes, let me just tell you one thing, that I'm proud of you that you were able to come here and sit down and do this.

It's not an easy thing to do, period, you know, for either one of us.

But, you know, you didn't have to do it.

So, you know, thank you.

I kind of really want to hear, you know, who are you?

I don't know who--you know, if you can just tell me, like, from before what happened?

How was your childhood growing up?

- It was kind of--it was good.

I mean, my real dad wasn't around, but I had my stepdad around as a role model.

So my childhood was-- I had a decent childhood.

- Did you?

- Yeah.

Before the situation, I started to play basketball for Greenfield High School.

But my grades weren't good enough, so I couldn't play.

But I played middle school basketball too.

In eighth grade, we won a championship, so... - Okay.

All right, well, so let me ask you then just about that night.

You remember it?

I mean-- - Yeah.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

I think about it all the times.

- What do you think about?

- What if I never shot the gun?

What if it never happened?

- Do you ever go back even farther than that?

- Yeah, before, like, what if I got my grades right, and just, I could have still been playing basketball.

- Do you think that's what pushed you into doing what you did?

- Yeah, I was basically-- but I planned on making it out and helping my family with playing basketball.

- But, you know, after you couldn't play basketball, you started victimizing people.

And that's what I'm kind of--and that's a big jump.

When you tapped on the window, I know I hit it, I punched it.

When--I mean, why did you shoot?

- I was nervous because it ain't never happened like that.

Usually, they get out of the car and just give us the car.

I guess I just panicked and shot.

- I just kind of want you to humanize the whole situation.

It hurt so many people, you know.

It was devastating.

You're injured too.

I'm injured, but what they don't see, what people don't see, is those scars inside, you know.

Those things that you don't realize that's always there until it just hits you.

When I was 16, I left the house too.

For different reasons.

But you know, I never made them choices.

I wanted to just look at you face to face just to say, you know, you didn't have to do that.

You know, you didn't have to take that route in life.

You're a Black male, you know what I'm trying to say?

We're both in a unique situation when we talk about our position in this world.

There is no easy way.

There's nothing easy.

- Why don't we take a little break?

Get my chance to check in with both of you.

What are you thinking?

- It's a kid in front of me.

It's a kid.

I mean, a kid, like, if he's that way at 18, I can't even understand where he was at 15.

- Yeah.

And he was really nervous.

He really wanted to show you walking on crutches.

He wanted to show you he could do that.

- Really?

- Yeah.

I mean, in a lot--you're a father figure to him, you know.

- Thanks.

- Which is really ironic.

- [laughs] - You know.

- It is.

That--I mean, that's--yeah.

- You want to say something, Nathan?

- I do apologize for what I did to you.

I put you through and your family.

I want you to let them know that I am sorry for what I did.

- I appreciate that, man.

I forgive you too.

You know, I do.

I see you, you know.

You're a kid, man, at 15.

You was a baby, you know.

Something that I wouldn't try to hold nothing over you like that.

Go ahead, man.

What do you want to say?

- And I plan on paying 'cause I got restitution.

But I plan on paying.

It's gonna take a while.

But I'm gonna plan--I plan on paying my restitution, so... - Pay all my bills, man.

I wish you--yeah, thank you.

[laughs] Hey, man, thank you.

But yeah, you just--you focus on getting better, man.

You focus on getting--I mean, doing what you can do.

- And I hope, like, me and you can, like, develop a relationship, if that's okay with you.

- It might take me a little bit.

- Take some time, yeah.

- It might take some time.

But I definitely won't close that door.

Is there anything else you want to express to me or talk to me about?

- No, just wish the best for you and your family.

That's...that's it.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ - Take it easy, man.

- You too.

♪ ♪ - I have to take baby steps.

Slow down.

I just had to, you know, maybe take a swallow.

- I'm Michael, and this is Claude.

- Pleasure to meet you.

- And we help companies small and large with controlling costs on their benefits programs.

- This gives people a chance to--if they're underinsured, they can get--for a very small price, they can get something that would at least protect them for, you know, minor injuries, or even catastrophic injuries.

I knew if I had that, it would have helped me out immensely.

If I think about the momentum that stopped in my life at that point in time, you know, you get depressed.

If you feel like the potential that it probably robbed from you, the time it robbed from you, you get a little grief.

But from the moment I got shot, every day after that is a blessing.

Because I'm breathing, and I feel... ♪ ♪ I feel that I don't deserve to feel all those other things.

♪ ♪ I'm still out there searching, looking for myself, I guess.

So we'll see where, you know, where that takes me.

♪ ♪ But take me home right now.

♪ ♪ - Okay, this is like the chef show.

What you making?

- When I was a child... - Oh, my God!

- We used to go to the restaurant one time a month, one time a month.

I never got the shrimp because I knew it wasn't gonna fill me up.

I always got the hamburgers.

But I always saw the garlic shrimp, and I always wanted to make it.

Thus, you get a chance to taste my garlic butter shrimp.

♪ ♪ - All right, so we got to vote.

So, Cherish, who do you vote for?

- Daddy.

'Cause one, too soggy.

- Well, good, Daddy won.

Good job.

[poignant music] ♪ ♪