Kriti Mehrotra
After Jeremiah “LJ” Henry George Garrett III was found dead in the residential area of 2nd Avenue South in Great Falls, Montana, on January 5, 2022, his family was left shattered. It was quickly ascertained that the 41-year-old had been murdered and the person responsible had lied to authorities, but ensuing investigations only yielded even more complexities. This case has since been carefully explored in Investigation Discovery’s ‘911: Did the Killer Call?: The First Suspect,’ underscoring why no one was ever convicted on the charge of homicide.
Jeremiah “LJ” Garrett Was Shot to Death
Since Jeremiah Garrett III came into this world on December 18, 1980, in Portland, Oregon, to Angela Campbell and Jeremiah Garrett Jr., he was nicknamed Lil Jerry early in life. His nickname eventually earned its own moniker of LJ, so that’s what most of his loved ones usually referred to him as by the time he’d graduated from Lincoln High School (LHS). These loved ones included his 9 siblings: Demiko Hernandez, Justin Jones, Jaye Jones, Jarell Gaters, JereMia Broussard, Almond Canyon, Alexandra Campbell, Kayla Wilson, and Jerrelina Thompson.
According to all accounts, LJ was a man of charisma, kindness, optimism, and quick wit, so what he adored more than anything else was spending quality time with those who understood him. Whether it be his family, friends, or 3 sons – Jeremiah Lopez, Donovan Moore, and Coby Keele – he truly appreciated the safe space they provided for him to express himself. That’s how he was able to embrace his passion for cooking and earn a degree from Portland’s Culinary Art Institute before ultimately choosing a career in the sales industry.
With LJ having gradually spread his wings into managerial sales roles, it was his work that took him to Sacramento, California, in 2014 and then to Great Falls, Montana, in the early 2020s. Little did anyone know everything would get pulled from right underneath his feet on January 5, 2022, as he was found dead outside a home on the 900 block of 2nd Avenue South. As per his autopsy report, he had been shot at least twice, with one bullet slightly grazing his torso and the other causing fatality by hitting him in the head through his baseball cap.
Jeremiah “LJ” Garrett’s Assailant Gave Two Different Accounts to Officials
It was around 8 am when a local resident named Raymond Charlie Durham called 911 to report a disturbance right outside his home, claiming he heard two individuals arguing and fighting. He told the dispatcher he looked outside upon hearing a “a lot of commotion” and “big old boom,” only to find his motorbike fallen over and a younger man lying on the ground. When asked whether everyone involved was still present at the scene, he calmly replied, “I don’t know, sir,” before vehemently stating that he did not know the male lying in his yard.
According to records, the dispatcher subsequently requested Raymond to provide them with a number so they could contact him again if need be, but he alleged he didn’t have one. This raised eyebrows because he had used his cell phone to dial emergency services, resulting in officials asking him to come to the police station for a formal interview within hours. By this point, investigators had already identified the victim as LJ, ascertained he was fatally shot, and recovered a small, bloody hunter’s knife lying 6-8 feet away from his remains.
They’d also started looking for Nicole Booker, because the front of the caller’s house was freshly spray-painted with the words, “Don’t sell dope to Nicole Booker, or it’ll be your last breath.” Raymond initially came across as cooperative to detectives, but his entire narrative had changed – he told them he hadn’t seen or heard anything regarding the alleged disturbance. Therefore, he was then questioned about why he previously claimed to have heard a “big old boom,” why he hadn’t given officials his number, and more, driving him to close down.
Jeremiah “LJ” Garrett’s Assailant Was Taken Into Custody Within Days
Raymond was allowed to return home at the time, yet things changed following Nicole’s interview, as she revealed the victim was a recent ex-boyfriend trying to make her quit drugs. She said that while LJ did not personally know Raymond, he knew of him through her because they were close friends and had even hooked up occasionally over the past few years. She claimed LJ believed she was getting her supplies from her friend, so he likely decided to confront him. Unprompted, she also added, “He (Raymond) didn’t have to kill him.”
Investigators eventually executed a search warrant on Raymond’s home, from where they recovered a weapon, the ballistic of which was an exact match to the bullets that took LJ’s life. That’s when the 60-year-old was arrested on the charge of deliberate murder and unlawful possession of a firearm owing to his past felony conviction in an unrelated matter. The authorities theorized the resident had likely woken up to or heard the victim spray painting the outside of his home, which led to an intense argument and the fatal shooting in a fit of rage.
Raymond Charlie Durham is Currently Incarcerated in a Montana Prison
It was while Raymond was detained in a county jail and awaiting court proceedings that the truth about this case really came to light, thanks to his phone call with an unnamed friend. During it, he alleged that his actions against LJ were purely self-defense, claiming the latter pulled a knife when he went outside alongside his dogs to confront him about the spray-painting. He claimed LJ ended up stabbing one of his beloved pets before continuing to come at them, making him feel as if he had no choice but to open fire to protect himself and his dogs.
When detectives listened to this recorded jailhouse call, they decided to look into it and uncovered that Raymond was most likely telling the truth. They learned that not only did one of his dogs have a recent stab wound, but the hunter’s knife recovered from the crime scene also had animal blood on it. The knife was soon confirmed as LJ’s, too. So, the deliberate murder charge against Raymond was dismissed, and the case was ultimately closed on the grounds of self-defense.
On the show, a former detective claimed that if Raymond had been honest about what transpired from the get-go, he never even would have been charged. However, since he was in unlawful possession of a weapon and had used it, his parole in connection with his previous unrelated offense was revoked. In the end, in May 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years (120 months) in prison on the charge of sexual intercourse without consent from an incident dating back to January 9, 2020. Therefore, today, at age 64, he is incarcerated at the mixed-security Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby, Montana.
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