Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Forensic Files II: Desperate Stakes’ chronicles how 20-year-old store manager Enrique “E.J.” Delos-Reyes Jr. was killed inside his Woodstock, Georgia, store in May 2015. One of the victim’s friends was a witness to the killing, and his testimony, combined with old-school police work and forensic technology, helped the authorities solve the murder within two months.
How Did Enrique “E.J.” Delos-Reyes Die?
Enrique “E.J.” Delos-Reyes Jr. was born to Enrique Delos Reyes Sr. and Ana Gerio in Woodstock in Cherokee County, Georgia, on August 30, 1994. His family described him as funny and compassionate who made a difference in people’s lives. He enjoyed his dog Quazi, fishing with his dad, traveling, Asian food, cooking, and video games. Being an only child, his parents never controlled him, and E.J., 20, worked his first job as a manager of the 911 Smoke Shop in the 8200 block of Highway 92 in Woodstock in May 2015.
The store’s general manager, Gretchen Steed, recalled, “It was his energy. If you were around him, he had the vibrancy you want to be around.” Around 11:43 pm on May 20, Shawn Smith, then 20, arrived at the smoke shop to hang out with his friend E.J. and help him close the store. The show noted Shawn frequently did it, and they were chatting when two masked men walked in, brandishing firearms. While one dragged Shawn and made him lie on the bathroom floor at gunpoint, the other walked toward E.J. and the cash register.
Shawn told the officers he heard a gun go off minutes later and ran toward the cash register to find E.J. lying on the floor and the burglars driving away. He rushed toward his friend and saw he had been shot once in the upper right chest. Shawn called 911, and the emergency respondents arrived to find E.J. critically wounded and fighting for his life. He was taken to the WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The officers found a single 9-mm Luger shell casing. The store offered a $5,000 reward to help find those responsible.
Who Killed Enrique “E.J.” Delos-Reyes?
The police interviewed a distressed Shawn to learn he saw a silver four-door BMW, with a dealer’s drive-out tag, parked outside the store’s driveway when he entered the shop. He told the officers he saw an African-American male wearing a red beanie in the driver’s seat and felt slightly unnerved. When he asked E.J. about the car, the store manager laughed and stated he had also noticed it but did not call 911 since the passengers had done nothing wrong. As they talked, the masked men barged in and burglarized the shop before fatally shooting E.J.
The most tragic part of the shooting was that E.J. was not supposed to work on the night of the murder but was helping out. Gretchen said, “He wasn’t supposed to be working. We had an employee who was a no-call, no-show for two days, and he (Delos-Reyes) stepped up and took over the shift. He never complained.” The investigators checked the store’s surveillance footage that corroborated Shawn’s story and acquitted him of suspicions. The CCTV footage showed E.J. fighting with one of the intruders before he shot him.
Shawn described the two men as African Americans in their early 30s. However, the store did not have any CCTV cameras outside, and thus the police could not catch any glimpse of the burglars’ vehicle. But he offered a breakthrough when he helped the police artist to draw a composite sketch of one of the perpetrators. Shawn told the detectives he had seen a clear view of the individual while he entered the shop. Combined with the composite and snapshots from the CCTV surveillance, the police released the evidence on social media.
The show explained smoke shops attracted criminal attention since they dealt large amounts of cash. Cherokee County had seen a recent surge of burglaries in such shops and video game stores. The detectives went through CCTV surveillance of various robberies and gathered items the burglars touched. They decided to look for fingerprints instead of Touch DNA since the latter took significant processing time. While most articles provided partial ones, the forensic experts extracted a clear set of prints from a pair of stolen headphones.
They ran the prints through the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), and it matched one Nathaniel Delay. However, he claimed he had no connection with the murder or the burglaries when they brought him down for questioning. The detectives also went through hours of video surveillance footage from the numerous burglarized stores before they found a clear view of the silver BMW. While they could not see the registration plate, it had customized star-shaped wheels that helped the police identify the owner, Paul Jordan.
He told the police two men had carjacked him around nine days before E.J.’s murder and identified Nathaniel as one of the culprits. Faced with all the evidence, Nathaniel eventually decided to open up to the officers. He confessed to a string of robberies and told the detectives Justin Clay White, then 25, had called him hours after E.J.’s murder. Nathaniel claimed Justin sounded nervous and wanted his help to dispose of a gun he claimed he had shot E.J. with. He also identified the other perpetrator as Dominique Rashad Stevens, then 22.
Where Are Justin White and Dominique Stevens Now?
The police arrested Justin and Dominique from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on June 5, 2015. The Georgia Department of Corrections stated Dominique was previously convicted of felony theft by receiving stolen property and spent 2½ years in state prison. He was released from Smith State Prison in Glennville on June 2, 2014, while Justin had no previous criminal records, apart from a few traffic misdemeanors. Records showed they knew each other when they lived in New Orleans but moved to Metro Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina.
The duo faced multiple charges of racketeering, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The charges stemmed from at least seven burglaries and carjacking. Nathaniel pled guilty to armed robbery and got five years. Justin and Dominique pled guilty to the racketeering and murder charges. Dominique got life plus five years while Justin, the triggerman, got consecutive life sentences. Justin, 34, is incarcerated at the Ware State Prison while Dominique, 31, is serving his sentence at the Macon State Prison.
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