24-Year-Old Killed in Drive-By Gang Violence
A lot of people are killed in war. A lot are killed for sex, in order to cover up crimes, for revenge, or out of hatred and spite. Some people are killed for absolutely no reason at all. Or at least, no discernible reason. Some people just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and fall victims to human error. Crystal Theobald, famous for the Netflix documentary Why Did You Kill Me? was one such person. Most people find out about the killing of loved ones after the fact, but Crystal’s family bore witness. Crystal was a 24-year-old mother of 2 from Riverside, California, and she was the victim of a drive-by murder in the midst of gang violence.
The Old Hit-and-Run:
Crystal was killed by members of a local gang, 5150, in what police think was a case of mistaken identity. She, her boyfriend, and her brother Justin were all sitting in a car at an intersection, when the gang drove past, firing weapons at the white SUV. Crystal’s boyfriend was injured, and Crystal was killed from a shot to the head. Crystal’s mother, Belinda Lane, was sitting in the car in front of Crystal, and witnessed the attack but was unharmed.
The attack was not fully random, though. Earlier that night, Crystal’s other brother Robert left the house in a similar car. According to him, the other SUV – a white Ford Expedition owned by the assailants – was tailing him for some time. He attempted to flee, but the other car followed him. After a brief car chase, Robert managed to escape and went to the house of his daughter’s mother. The confusion seemed to have been born from misidentification. The gang members apparently mistook Robert’s car, and later, Crystal’s, as cars belonging to a rival gang, with whom they were upset over a recent hit. As Belinda and Crystal’s cars pulled up to the intersection, a man stepped out of the gang’s SUV and began firing at Crystal’s car. Minutes later, Justin drove the car to a nearby store, where he was caught on camera helping his dying sister out of the car and crying for help. Crystal didn’t survive the encounter. Official records state that she died in a clinic two days after the attack.
But Who Was It Who Killed Her?
The great breakthrough in the investigation is credited to Crystal’s cousin Jaimie, who helped Belinda set up two fake Myspace accounts using one of Crystal’s photos and false names. One of the accounts managed to connect to William “Jokes” Sotelo, who drove the Expedition and admitted he owned the car. In a voluntary interview with police, Jokes implicated Julio Heredia as the gunman. He also claimed that they thought the vehicles belonged to a rival gang that had recently hit 5150 territories and were moving weapons. As the police didn’t have enough for which to keep holding Jokes, they released him.
He then disappeared for over a decade. Not long after, investigators identified two other gang members who were believed to be in the car: brothers William “Rascal”, and Manuel “Tripper” Lemus. Both cooperated with detectives, and as a result, were not charged with Crystal’s murder. Jokes resurfaced a decade later, was arrested, and charged with accessory to murder. Apparently, Jokes, who wanted to be a chef, fled to Mexico, where a tip to Belinda helped police expose and apprehend him. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, as well as a number of other firearms and gang charges. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison. For his part, Julio Heredia was captured in 2011 and accused of 1st-degree murder by the court. For his murder of Crystal, as well as another elderly gentleman in another instance, Heredia was sentenced to 138 years of life without parole in California State Prison.
Crystal’s Complicated Legacy:
Crystal’s death orphaned her two young girls, both from a previous marriage. They were placed in hope after the murder, and are now aging out. Belinda is putting together a fundraiser to make sure they have enough money to get a decent start in life, including shelter, transportation, and the ability to find work. It’s currently raised $1,710 out of its $25,000 goal. Belinda herself, who admitted to being high on meth at the time, has had a long history of drug addiction and has even done some time in prison for selling them. After Crystal’s murder, Belinda went cold turkey and has been clean since. She started running a Facebook page in order to help in solving other murders and disappearances in and around the troubled neighborhood, collecting and sharing information about cold cases.
On April 14, 2021, well-known streaming service Netflix released a documentary on the murder called Why Did You Kill Me? The documentary focused on Belinda’s struggles in pursuing Justice for Crystal’s murder. The documentary helped publicize the murder but left a lot of people very confused and upset with either a lack of detail or conflicting details. One of the details that people got very frustrated over is the case of Jaimie’s age; the documentary introduces her as 23, but she claimed to be 14 in 2006. Another detail that got people riled was how Belinda seemed to be trigger-happy regarding the use of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) as a weapon, inciting gang warfare, harassment of people with no connection to the case, setting fires to random people’s Ford Expeditions, as well as her overall lack of credibility in her account.
Another critical review of the documentary pointed out the glaring absence of key pieces of information, namely: Crystal’s ex-husband, her kids, her boyfriend, anecdotes of her early life, and a great deal of background information including likes and dislikes, occupation, aspirations, etc. Many people felt that very little about the entire affair truly added up, such as the severity of imprisoning Jokes for merely driving the vehicle, or the lack of fallout Belinda or Jaimie faced for gang-bating on Myspace.
Overall, it seems that while the case itself seems to have been solved and taken care of, its coverage and presentation to the general public have left much to be desired, and left many people with far more questions than answers. People ended up caring less about the murder and its victim, and more about the oddity and acute strangeness of the people surrounding her and their circumstances. Where there ought to be a relief for the triumph of justice, instead there is discontent and restlessness. One thing is for sure, the proceedings of the affair would really stand to benefit from greater clarity.