Suvechha Sarkar
On a cold night in February 2014, the quiet suburb of Coppell, Texas, was shaken by the sudden and mysterious death of Jonathan Michael Crews. What followed was a tangled web of conflicting accounts, emotional testimony, and his family’s relentless pursuit of the truth. NBC’s ‘Dateline: Behind Door 813’ dives deeper into the final hours leading up to the tragedy, the initial ruling of suicide, and a civil suit trial that found one of his closest persons responsible for his death. The episode also features interviews with his loved ones, officials, and footage from the civil trial.
Jonathan Crews Was Found Dead in His New Texas Home
Jonathan Michael Crews was born on June 10, 1986, in Newport Beach, California. He arrived in this world as a beacon of light in the lives of his parents, Pastor John and Pamela Crews. Growing up, he was showered with love and support from his parents, brother, Christian, and sister, Danielle. Besides playing guitar, Jonathan was a gun enthusiast with formal firearms training. From the early years, his grandfather taught him how to use guns, keeping safety in mind. After graduating from Carrollton Christian Academy, he pursued higher education at Baylor University. In 2008, Jonathan finally earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History. In order to save up money for further education, he served as a Manager at the Men’s Section of Dillard’s.
Jonathan later joined Concentra as the Center Operations Director, managing the Occupational Health and Urgent Care Center. He was an athletic person and joined a martial arts school to learn Kung Fu. During that time, he met Brenda Lazaro, a trainer at that same school. She was also his sister’s best friend, and they began dating in November 2013. Around three months later, he moved out of his parents’ house and into his new apartment, Riverchase Apartments in Coppell, near Dallas, Texas. Brenda helped Jonathan find that new place and even helped him settle in. Everything was going perfectly until his life came to a sudden halt on February 2, 2014. Jonathan initially planned to go to a party with his close friends, Emily and her boyfriend, Jacob.
However, that night, Jonathan insisted on staying at home with Brenda. Around 11:30 pm, she called 911 to inform them that he had allegedly shot himself. She frantically claimed that she did not know the apartment address and sought help from a neighbor to get the location. When they arrived at the scene, they found Jonathan deceased on his bed with a gunshot wound to the left side of his chest. They reportedly discovered his SIG Sauer 9 mm handgun resting on the bed near him, and the bullet was lodged in the mattress. Detectives noted that the gun had no magazine, which was later found in a tie drawer. The autopsy determined his cause of death to be the fatal gunshot wound to the chest, and his manner of death was reportedly declared as undetermined.
Lack of Evidence Led Authorities to Mark Jonathan’s Case as Inactive
Investigators questioned Brenda since she was at the scene when the shooting happened. She claimed that she and Jonathan were having an emotional conversation about their relationship when the latter allegedly said he wanted to prove his love to her. She continued that he allegedly asked her to put her hands on her ears and then shot himself. When she was questioned again at the station, she claimed they had an argument in the afternoon regarding his friend, Emily, so he didn’t answer her call. Hence, she allegedly went to his house and sorted out the issue before ordering food. Brenda claimed that after having their food and watching TV, they spoke in his bedroom, where she sat down at the edge of the bed. Police collected samples of Jonathan’s blood from her hand and did a gun residue test, in addition to collecting her sweatshirt for blood spatter.
When officials questioned Jonathan’s neighbor, she informed them that she had heard a gunshot just before 11 pm. That provided a time gap between the supposed shot and when Brenda made the 911 call. So, questions arose before them about whether it was a suicide or a homicide. Emily also reached out to say that she had gotten a text message from Jonathan the previous night, reading, “I want to die.” Investigators discovered from his loved ones that Brenda was often a very jealous partner. Furthermore, hours before his death, he had reportedly said to Emily and Jacob that he wanted to break up with her. Similarly, Jonathan’s sister, Danielle, also received a text from him, in which he stated four possible opinions on how to deal with Brenda’s dislike of Emily.
According to Danielle, Jonathan decided to break up with Brenda on that fateful day. When expert results came in, detectives reportedly found that he had gunshot residue on his right hand. On the other hand, Brenda had residue on both of her hands. They also noted that the gun that shot Jonathan could work even without a magazine if it was loaded. They reportedly presumed that it could have been an accident that he didn’t know the firearm was loaded. Despite an intensive investigation, the officials believed there was insufficient evidence to present the case before the grand jury. So, they didn’t arrest Jonathan’s girlfriend and classified the case as inactive in July 2015.
Jonathan’s Family Found a Sense of Peace in the Final Verdict
Jonathan’s family hired a private investigator, Sheila Wysocki, to look closely into the matter. She discovered from the person who delivered the food to him and Brenda on that fateful night that they were reportedly engaged in a loud verbal altercation. Moreover, the investigator contacted Brenda’s ex-boyfriend, Matthew Kirk, who informed her about an incident when he wanted to break up with Brenda. She had set out for his mother’s house with a pair of scissors, and he reportedly had to call 911 to get help. Furthermore, there was no evidence suggesting that Jonathan was depressed or even sought help for mental health.
The fact that Brenda had reportedly helped Jonathan pick out his apartment and could not tell the officials the address during the 911 call also raised suspicions. Expert analysis of the bullet trajectory indicated that it did not corroborate her statement. The private investigator noted that Jonathan had a shoulder injury for which he had gotten medical help a few days before his death. She reportedly deduced that his shoulder injury would not make it possible to keep a similar bullet trajectory as stated in the autopsy. She also observed that although he had formal firearms training, it was suspicious that he would hold the gun in an awkward position to shoot himself.
Brenda reportedly gave conflicting accounts to her friends and co-workers. She claimed she was in the bathroom or the doorway when the shooting happened, unlike what she alleged during her police interview. Ultimately, his family filed a civil lawsuit for wrongful death against Brenda in January 2016. The civil trial began in September 2022, and after a three-day jury trial, they found Brenda liable for Jonathan’s death. The jury awarded the family a total of $206 million in damages, exceeding their request of around $129 million.
Read More: Where is Brenda Lazaro Now? Update on Jonathan Crews’ Girlfriend
