of the four taped statements he had made to the police. It turned out that I could not only get a transcript but could actually listen to the tapes themselves, the sound of the exact words in Kendrick’s own voice. That was why Deborah and I were there. I’d wanted her to come because I wanted to see how she, an outsider, would interpret what we heard. I wanted to know if the part of me that still believed Kendrick might be innocent was simply deluded.
The deputy finally located the tapes in the box of evidence. I had the transcript before me, which I tried to place so that both Deborah and I could see it. The deputy loaded the first of four mini-cassettes into a small black dictation recorder, and I took out my notebook and pen and we began.
This is a taped statement of Kendrick Donovan King, K-I-N-G. Black male, date of birth 9/20/82, currently residing 700 Avenue F, Westwego, his mother’s residence. Statement is being taken on August 30, 2003, at approximately 6:14 by Detective Ray Lagarde of Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division in reference to item F-94857-02.
lagarde: Mr. King, uh, is it not in fact true that, oh, maybe twenty minutes ago, sometime before 6:00 p.m. on this date, you called the detective bureau, looking for me?
king: Yes.
lagarde: Okay, and what caused you to do that?
king: Well, because my mother had called me and told me that two detectives had come by the house. She said you gave her your card, so I called you right away.
lagarde: And so, after a brief conversation, we came back here into this interview room.
king: Yes, sir.
lagarde: And I said that this was in regard to Damien Martin, who had been murdered the week before.
king: Yes.
lagarde: And I asked you if you knew him.
king. Yes.
lagarde: And you indicated that you did know him.
king: Yes.
lagarde: And I asked you if you had been around the building at all on the day of the murder, in the morning hours, in particular, on the day in question. If, you know, you could account for your whereabouts, during those morning hours. And what did you say?
king: No, I wasn’t there during the morning hours.
lagarde. Okay. That’s right. You indicated that you were not there in the morning hours.
king: That’s right.
lagarde: And when you first told me that, only then did I start filling out this form I’m showing you now, entitled Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Rights of Arrestee or Suspect.
king: Yes. That’s correct.
As we listened, Martin’s bucket hat, the envelope containing the bullet fragments, and the photographs of the crime scene were still on the table. I noticed that Deborah and I weren’t looking at them. We were looking at the mini-cassette player, which sat at the center of everything with a strange, almost necromantic aura, transmitting these captured voices from ten years ago. Lagarde was reading Kendrick his Miranda rights now. It would have been the second time that evening that he had done so. He pointed out that Kendrick had already waived these rights and already initialed and signed a form to that effect. In less than half an hour, in other words, Kendrick had gone from being a potential witness to being a suspect. On the tape now, Kendrick agreed once again to the terms Lagarde repeated to him. I understand what my rights are. I’m willing to make a statement and answer questions. I do not want a lawyer at this time. I understand and know what I’m doing.
They resumed the narrative, Kendrick saying again that he wasn’t at Martin’s apartment building during the morning hours, that he was at his girlfriend Janelle Bryers’s house, nine miles away. Janelle had taken their daughter, Aysha, to day care that morning, then gone to work, leaving him alone all day in Janelle’s trailer house.
lagarde: And had anyone seen you between the time Janelle left for work that morning and when she returned home that night? Can anybody account for your whereabouts that day?
There was silence, then Lagarde reminded Kendrick that he was being recorded, and Kendrick began a blurry recollection of waking up that morning and calling a friend from Janelle’s home phone. Lagarde listened—patient, not accusatory, just someone who wanted to get this task taken care of as quickly and efficiently as possible. He asked again if anyone had seen Kendrick, rather than just speaking to him on the phone, and Kendrick said, no, no one had actually seen him that day, not until Janelle came home a little after six o’clock. He had not gone anywhere else that day? No. He had stayed inside the trailer the whole time?
king: Yes.
lagarde: All day long. Okay.
king: Until six fifteen. Six thirty.
lagarde: Okay. Six fifteen. Six thirty. And where did you go then?
king: I went to Athena Street.
Athena Street was the location of Damien Martin’s apartment building. Kendrick’s responses so far had been confident, eager, like someone answering quiz questions with impatient mastery, but now he began to rush, his voice deeper and louder.
lagarde: You went to Athena Street?
king: Yes.
lagarde: You left your girlfriend’s and the first place that you went was Athena Street.
king: Yes.
lagarde: And why was that?
king: I sometimes go to Athena to see friends.
lagarde: Friends?
king: Yes.
lagarde: Okay. And who in particular were you going to see that night?
king: Normal times, I had pulled into the second driveway. No . . . you see, Athena. I always pull up there and, you know, just stand outside and holler to whoever it is to come outside.
lagarde: So on the day of the murder, you weren’t going there to see anyone in particular? You just happened to go there?
king: Yes.
lagarde. Okay. Uh, but that’s when you discovered there’d been a shooting. A shooting involving Damien Martin?
king: I seen Antoinette. She said Damien got shot. You know what I’m saying? He got shot! He got shot! I was coming out the car and I seen her. He got shot, you know? That’s why I had walked through the police tape. I wasn’t thinking. I saw Antoinette and I just walked through it.
lagarde: Now, who is Antoinette?
king: Antoinette. She live next door to Damien.
lagarde: Okay.
king: She said he got shot. He got shot. She walking up the street and I said, “Y’all, you know, where y’all was at? Y’all didn’t see nothing?” She say, “Oh, we ain’t even . . .” She said, “We ain’t even . . . we was inside the apartment.” She said they was inside, in the apartment next door, and all they heard was
