The case against Traveontaye Berry was built on a foundation of procedural failures, forensic gaps, and witness contamination.

But what does a seasoned trial lawyer see when he reviews the entire investigation, the trial itself, and the conviction?

In this episode, Michael Leonard of Leonard Trial Lawyers in Chicago joins us. Michael has spent his career defending people charged with serious crimes. He knows what the law requires. He knows what happened here.

Michael sits down to dissect every piece of evidence we've examined, every decision that was made, and every moment where the system failed to protect a sixteen-year-old boy's right to a fair trial.

This is the legal reality of Traveontaye Berry's case: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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The jury deliberated for less than two hours.

When they returned, the verdict was guilty on Count 4: First-Degree Murder. Traveontaye Berry, sixteen years old, was facing fifty-two years in prison. The rest of his life, behind bars.

In this final episode of our series, Tray talks about that moment. What it felt like to hear the words. The reality of his sentence hitting him. The years ahead stretching out with no clear end.

But this is not where his story ends.

After more than a decade in prison, new evidence emerged. Two people came forward with sworn affidavits claiming that Myleka Avery, the state's only eyewitness, admitted to them that she lied. That she knew Traveontaye Berry was innocent. That she identified him anyway.

Based on these new affidavits, Tray was granted a post-conviction evidentiary hearing. For the first time in more than eleven years, his conviction could be challenged. New testimony could be heard. The truth could finally emerge.

This is Part Ten of Traveontaye Berry's story, and the beginning of his fight for freedom: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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By the time Traveontaye Berry's case reached trial in February 2015, he had already faced a choice most teenagers should never have to make: accept a plea deal or roll the dice in a courtroom.

He chose to fight.

In this episode, Tray walks us through what that meant. The deal he turned down. The prosecution's case against him. His defence. What it felt like to be 16 years old, sitting in a courtroom, watching a jury make a decision that would define the rest of his life.

He talks about the trial process itself: the evidence presented, the witnesses who testified, the arguments made on both sides. And he talks about his own experience of it all. The fear. The hope. The reality of watching a jury deliberate for less than two hours before returning a guilty verdict.

Six counts of First-Degree Murder. Fifty-two years.

This is Part Nine of Traveontaye Berry's story: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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Over the past seven episodes, we’ve examined the physical evidence gaps, the witness contamination, the unrecorded photo lineup, and the investigative decisions that led to Traveontaye Berry’s conviction.

But what does a professional murder investigator see when he listens to these police interviews?

In this episode, we sit down with Steve Keogh, a former Scotland Yard Detective Inspector with 30 years in the Metropolitan Police and 12 years investigating homicides. During his career, Keogh investigated over 100 murders across London. He’s written extensively on how murders are really investigated, consulted on major crime cases, and now examines murder investigations for television and his media work.

We played him the police interview recordings from the Traveontaye Berry investigation. We asked him to assess the interview methodology, the witness handling, the procedural decisions, and the investigative approach that shaped this case.

What Steve identified is a masterclass in how not to conduct a murder investigation. From leading questions to witness contamination, hear how a veteran detective works.

This is Part Eight of Traveontaye Berry’s story: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

Check out Steves podcast here

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Over the course of this investigation, a name keeps surfacing. Multiple times. Multiple witnesses. In interviews with police, in statements given in the hours and days after Carl Green Jr. was shot, three separate people mention this individual in connection with the crime.

According to witness accounts, this person was present that night. This person allegedly had a weapon. And perhaps most significantly, this person had previously threatened Carl Green Jr.

So why was Traveontaye Berry the only person arrested?

In Part Seven, we examine what investigators knew about this alternative suspect, what they chose to investigate, and what they chose to ignore as they built their case against a 16-year-old boy.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:

I need to be really clear about something. No one other than Trae has ever been arrested, charged, tried or convicted for the murder of Carl Green Jr. The other people mentioned in these interviews have never been charged with anything in connection with this case, and some have denied any involvement.

What we're examining here is what investigators considered, what witnesses said, and the choices police made in directing their investigation toward one suspect whilst potential leads involving others went unexplored.

This is Part Seven of Traveontaye Berry's story: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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In Episode Five, we heard how police brought two eyewitnesses into the same room and had them confront each other about conflicting accounts. Now, in Part Six, we examine something equally troubling.

Myleka Avery, the prosecution's only eyewitness, spent her first two police interviews stating she did not know Traveontaye Berry. She had no idea who had fired a gun in her home that night.

Then came the photo lineup.

But here's the problem: it was never recorded. The officer conducting the identification procedure failed to document the moment Myleka allegedly picked Tray out of a lineup. Instead, the recording only begins after the fact. We hear the officer ask: "Now I just showed you a photo lineup and you picked someone out. Who did you pick?"

The witness identification is one of the most critical moments in any criminal investigation. A recorded lineup protects both the witness and the accused. It prevents suggestion. It prevents influence. It creates an objective record of exactly what happened.

This didn't happen. And the witness who couldn't identify Tray two interviews earlier suddenly could identify him in a process that was never documented.

This is Part Six of Traveontaye Berry's story: 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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In 2013, 16-year-old Traveontaye Berry was arrested for the murder of Carl Green Jr. in Freeport, Illinois — a crime Trae has always maintained he did not commit.

In Part Five of 52 Years in Just 2 Hours, we hear a crucial moment in the investigation as police bring the two eyewitnesses together.

Their accounts of what happened that night do not match. Now, investigators put them in the same room in an attempt to resolve those differences — and, in particular, to get one of the witnesses to change her version of events.

We hear what happens when the women come face-to-face, what police are trying to establish, and what the encounter reveals about the evidence that would eventually be used against Trae.

This is Part Five of Traveontaye Berry's story, 52 Years in Just 2 Hours.

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The police interview with Myleka Avery continues — and by the end of it, her account of the night Carl Green Jr. was murdered has changed significantly.

In Part 4 of 52 Years in Just 2 Hours, Myleka now tells investigators that the shooter had actually been inside her home, firing from the kitchen towards the outside. But despite placing the shooter inside the apartment, she continues to maintain that she doesn't know who he was.

As the interview continues, another significant admission emerges. Myleka tells police she had hidden a second bullet casing — meaning she had now admitted to concealing two pieces of potential evidence connected to the shooting.

With Myleka's account having shifted during questioning, investigators return to the interview room with the first witness, Mikelle Brown, as they continue building the case that would ultimately see 16-year-old Traveontaye Berry convicted of murder and sentenced to 52 years in prison.

Trae maintains that he did not kill Carl Green Jr.

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As police investigated the murder of Carl Green Jr., they interviewed Myleka Avery, one of the women inside the Freeport apartment that 16-year-old Traveontaye Berry ran from shortly before his arrest.

In Part 3 of 52 Years in Just 2 Hours, we hear Myleka's police interview and her account of what happened inside the apartment that night.

Like her flatmate Mikelle Brown, Myleka's account evolves as the interview progresses. Investigators question her about who had been inside the apartment, what she had seen and what happened in the chaotic moments surrounding the shooting.

But as the questioning continues, the interview takes an important turn. Myleka eventually admits that she had concealed evidence connected to the case.

We hear that admission in her own words and examine what it meant for the investigation that would ultimately lead to Traveontaye Berry being convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 52 years in prison.

Trae maintains that he did not kill Carl Green Jr.

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After 16-year-old Traveontaye Berry was arrested for the murder of Carl Green Jr. in Freeport, Illinois, police began interviewing people who were inside a nearby home on the night of the shooting. One of those witnesses was Mikelle Brown.

In Part 2 of 52 Years in Just 2 Hours, we hear Mikelle's police interview and examine what she told investigators in the hours after the murder.

During the interview, Mikelle says she believes multiple people had run through the house that night — an account that officers question and ultimately appear to dismiss as they try to establish who was there and what happened.

We also hear Mikelle say she doesn't know Trae, something Trae disputes. He says he knew both of the girls who were inside the house that night.

As the investigation into Carl Green Jr.'s murder begins to take shape, we hear the evidence as police heard it and start examining the accounts that would become important in the case against Traveontaye Berry.

Trae maintains that he did not kill Carl Green Jr.

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Traveontaye Berry was just 16 years old when he was arrested for the murder of Carl Green Jr. in Freeport, Illinois. Trae says he did not commit the crime. He would later be convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 52 years in prison.

But before the arrest, the trial and the decades-long prison sentence, Trae was a kid being raised by his mother and grandmother who dreamed of one day playing professional football.

In Part 1 of 52 Years in Just 2 Hours, Trae takes Jack back through his childhood — the people who raised him, the influence of his older cousins, hanging around the wrong crowd and the trouble that eventually saw him spend time in juvenile detention.

He talks about his dreams of playing football and why he eventually walked away from the sport, before taking us through the events of the night that would change the course of his life forever.

By the end of that night, Carl Green Jr. had been shot and killed and 16-year-old Traveontaye Berry was under arrest for his murder.

Trae has maintained that he was not the person who killed Carl Green Jr.

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