EP 61 | Javier Evans Part 1

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised. In this week's episode of Voices of a Killer, we talk to Javier Evans, a man convicted of killing his childhood friend in a fight gone wrong.

Raised in a crime ridden neighborhood, Javier navigated a world of drug culture and gang politics that eventually led to a fatal confrontation with his longtime friend. Today, we revisit the fateful night of Antonio Long's untimely death and hear the full story that the news articles didn't publish.

Where did the bad blood between Javier and Antonio originate? Who pulled the fatal trigger? Are the witnesses in Javier's case reliable or motivated by their own interests? As we dig into these questions, we'll also unpack the personal choices and systemic challenges that have led Javier to the prison cell he's in today, sadly following the criminal footsteps of his father.

So sit back and listen closely to Javier Tell his story in his own words in this episode of Voices of a Killer. So Javier, where'd you grow up? St Petersburg, Florida. Neighborhood called Auburn Park. Yeah. Would you say that was a rough part of St petersburg? Yeah, pretty much. What would you say your family life was like when you were growing up?

Was it rough? Did you see violence or drugs in your family? No, it was actually good. I had my grandmother, I had my granddaddy. So he passed, I had his mother, so she passed. I had her mother, so she ended up passing. I was like 11, 12 ish. I actually had a good childhood. I just chose to do, be grown at an early age.

Are you saying that you were raised by your grandparents? No, I was raised by my mother and my grandparents. Where was your father at? He had went to prison when I was five years old. Do you remember him before he went to prison? Yeah. What was your experience with your dad before he went to prison? He used to take me, like, take me out to eat.

Took me to Olive Garden a lot. Olive Garden, when I was a kid, in a place called Hoffman. I used to go there a lot with him. You know, I used to spend the night with his girlfriend and stuff, so I remember a lot of things. So you do have some memories of him, and what did you go to prison for? Yeah. I don't know, he was in federal prison when I was like 5, he did 10 years, got out when I was 15.

And how old are you now? I'm 27. Is he still in prison or is he passed away or what? But no, he's still out. I be talking to him every now and then. Yeah. You think it had a negative affect on you by your father going to prison when you were so young? It kind of did because then I had to, so my grandfather had to take the place of me and he died around 2005, so that kind of, had an effect on me. Yeah. Did you ever get into any trouble, legally, before you became an adult?

Yeah, I used to get in a lot of trouble when I was a juvenile fighting in school, you know. Why do you think that you had, that were getting in trouble at such a young age in school and fighting and stuff? What would make you take that path? Because it really is just long being raised by women. They always at work and basically I could do what I want.

I'm the only boy in the family, I'm surrounded by girls, so, I gotta grow up tough somehow, so I chose to be in the streets, cause I used to see the guys with the flash, money, gold teeth, gold chains, nice cars, I liked that stuff. Yeah. Did you actually get into legal trouble before you became an adult, like getting arrested? Yeah, I have actually, my first charge was when I was 9 years old, possession of cr**k coc**ne.

And then I reached 10, and now I'm like a lot of, yeah. What were you doing with cr**k coc**ne at nine years old? I actually stole it from one of my big cousin's house. Wow. How much did you steal from him? I actually stole one, about a crazy bull back in the days. Used to keep it in crazy blue containers, about a c*ke.

Now. So there's, there's two ways to go about this. Did you, did you use it or did you try to sell it? I, I actually sold it. One of my cousins actually, he actually helped me sell it. My first time selling, I was nine and I had me $50 and I was like, blowed because I never had a $50 bill at the time. So it was like, okay, I just get $50 off this.

I like this. And I, that day, I was just making money, so it was just like, okay, I could do this. Right. So at 9 years old, that's a pretty major drug to be selling. How did you find somebody to buy that from you? Well, the Southside St pete, they'll buy anything as long as it's good. Are you saying you kind of lived in an area that just had a lot of drug activity, so you just kind of hopped right in and were able to sell it?

Yeah. Do you feel like making that $50 like that, it kind of hooked you to where you, that's what you wanted to do? Yeah, pretty much. You said you got arrested at 9 years old, though? Yeah, one day I was supposed to go home, and I didn't. I stayed out all the way until 12. One in the morning, my mama called the police, and they came to the neighborhood looking for me, and they eventually caught me, but I had a bag full of snacks, meat snacks and stuff, because I was h*gh, and the officer was like, "can I search you?"

I'm like, "no," and he was like, "well, I have two," and they searched me, one in my pocket. I had a M&M, it was a king size, and it was full of drugs. Yeah, they took me to jail. What did that officer say whenever he caught a 9-year-old boy, basically with such a hard drug? Yeah. And he was, questioning where I got it from, and stuff like that.

Kept asking me questions and I was like, "man, it doesn't matter. I found it." What did your mom say about all that? She told them to take me to jail. Told the cops to take you to jail? Yeah, pretty much. Now as at such a young age, when they bring you to jail, did they actually take a photo of you and everything?

Yeah. Fingerprinted me. I was a juvenile, yeah, so they fingerprinted me. It was a jack thing, a juvenile thing. So they, they fingerprinted me, then took my picture, and I sat in the little holding room for a couple hours, and ate juice and crackers every hour, two hours, until they let me go the next day, and then I went to court, and then they took me to JDC for court.

It kept. How long did you stay in jail? Did you get out that night and your mom come got you? I did 21 days. 21 days? Yeah. In a jail cell At nine years old? Yeah. In a juvenile jail cell at nine. Were you around other juveniles? Yeah, a lot of us. Was that kind of scary for you or it didn't bother you or what?

At the time, I used to be like, I used to miss home. I didn't want to be away from home, so it bothered me. But as I got comfortable, I ain't gonna say comfortable, I got used to going to jail and knowing how to get out. It's just like, alright, I'll be here for 21 days from now, or I'll go to a program.

Do six to eight months and get out. Javier at, at whenever I was nine years old, I definitely never even really, I don't even know if I heard a cr**k or, or I definitely didn't see it. I didn't really have much experience. That's a pretty, pretty big, vast difference between you and I. It's pretty abnormal for a, a 9-year-old boy to have cr**k coc**ne on them. At nine years old, when most boys were out riding bikes or playing video games, Javier Evans was in a juvenile jail cell for selling cr**k coc**ne. In large part, we can break Javier's early troubles with the law down to the challenging environment he grew up in. In his inner city neighborhood in St pete, crime was rife, infrastructure crumbling, and everyday folks battled to make ends meet. Stuck in a dismal life of poverty that offered him few opportunities and grim prospects, Javier was quickly drawn to the easy money of dealing drugs. His father had spent most of his son's childhood in prison, leaving behind a painful vacuum in Javier's life.

With no father figure to keep Javier in check, the young boy was easily drawn into the allure of street life, the wealth and possessions flashed around by high profile gang members. After his first stint in juvie, and with a black mark against his name, Javier had no intention of backing away from the lifestyle he'd had a taste of.

In fact, he found himself living up to his father's criminal legacy. We'll hear more about that after the break.

So after you sold that amount that you stole from your cousin or whatever, what, how did you get the next round to sell again and how long after nine years old? I used to always be around the older guys that used to go in. So we used to have a trap house. I used to always go in there and play the video game and smoke and stuff.

So they used to be like, "Yeah, man. Chief, man. What's up, man? You gonna make some money today or what?" 

"Yeah, man. How much I need?" "$200." Yeah. Hey, explain to me what a trap house is. It's basically like a drug house. Yeah. So after this little episode where you're so young, nine years old, and you get to experience juvenile detention, and you get out and everything, that, did that deter you at all?

A little bit, but not really. Just made you more cautious? I was, yeah, I was young. It made me think about a lot of stuff. I used to wanna do stuff just to get away. If I do it, I have to get away. Yeah. So it used to be like, I don't want to go to jail, keep going to jail, but I have my days, I get caught doing nothing.

Yeah. Like it was just the petty stuff. So it was like the major stuff didn't get caught for. The petty stuff I always got caught for. So it was like when I do certain stuff, I used to be cautious. Yeah. Looking back, do you wish that you would have never messed with cr**k and selling drugs and stuff?

Certain stuff? Yeah. Or do you feel that's kind of like your culture and that's something that you enjoy doing? I wouldn't say it's a part of my culture, but it's a part of the environment that I grew up in. It's like, as I got older, I realized, I can't, you only do things so, so much, you only do so much, and then you get tired of doing it. And it was like, I gave up on that, I started working, I started doing good and stuff, started working, I told my, I stopped selling drugs when I was 15, but I still got into selling marij**na and stuff like that.

Then it just got to the point I stopped, just stopped working once and just started working. So did you ever contemplate about how the drugs you were selling might be like ruining people's families and ruining their lives and stuff like that? Yeah, because I had cousins that did it and knew people that did it.

And it pretty much destroys their lives. Did that pretty much, you just kind of "Well, that's their issue, not mine," and just continue to sell it? Yeah, I really didn't know at the time, because I, like I said, I was young. I didn't know, I didn't know any better, and there wasn't nobody teaching me, so go for what you know, because you learn from your mistakes.

Yeah. So, how did you do in school? You're messing with all these drugs and stuff. Did you make decent grades, or did you flunk out, or what? Oh, I paid good grades in school. I used to go to school and do all my work. And after I'm done, I used to be so fast at doing my work. By the time I'm done, everybody else is still testing it.

So I used to be like a class clown and stuff. So being funny and stuff. I used to get real good grades. Did the teachers like you? Yeah, I had a couple teachers that loved me. So did you end up graduating high school? No, I actually dropped out when I, in 11th grade because my grandmother had died and my mom stopped working.

I had, I got three little sisters I had to make sure we all eat at night. So I started, I got back in the streets, started doing crazy stuff, robbing people, and it was just, wasn't using my head at the time. Now you say you're, you were robbing people. Did you ever get arrested for like robbery and stuff? No, never.

Cause I looked at it as a job. It was a job to me. So something that you're good at, you're not going to get in trouble for it. So I, I did that until my mom got her head back right on the right track from losing my grandmother and eventually finished off and got with my first child mother and started staying with her and her family and made another family.

The rest was just history. I was just hooked on doing stupid stuff, robbing people, stealing cars. Then I had got shot when I was 18, didn't I? That really turned up. What happened when you got shot? Oh, a week before I got shot, allegedly, they said I shot someone. But I didn't. It was just, oh, my name got brought up because of certain stuff that goes on in the neighborhood.

People just be talking. So the technist came and saw me, talked to me and stuff like that. And they told me, don't come outside on Martin Luther King Day because we don't want to come to a homicide scene and see you up under the sheet. I said, I don't, in my head, I'm like, I don't do anything. I be home now with my child.

So, I went out anyways and I got shot at Martin Luther King and it changed my life. So, when it, when it changed your life. So are you saying that police officer said, he basically predicted you'd be shot on a specific day? Yeah, it actually happened. Wow. When I was in the hospital, he actually came and saw me.

Sh*t, he told me, "yeah, I'm working your case, so how are we going to do this? I know you're not going to tell me." I was like, "I don't know who shot me." I was just hearing his advice. And most people know there's a street code out there. Even if somebody tries to hurt you, you just don't talk to the cops.

Do you actually know who shot you? No. I actually don't. I was actually in the supply center. It was just like, it was like a life learning lesson. The day Javier was shot on Martin Luther King Day was a stark indication of how far he'd fallen. Although still young and earning good grades at school by now, Javier was deeply immersed in criminal activity.

It all began out of necessity, as Javier had to support his family financially after his grandmother's death. But over time, he progressed to harder crimes, such as stealing cars and robbing homes, and this cemented his reputation on the streets. Getting shot was a pivotal moment for Javier, a shock to his system that suddenly highlighted the violent world he was in.

Eerily, a local cop, who had taken a personal interest in Javier, had predicted his shooting weeks earlier. The incident seemed to be a warning about the dangers of the lifestyle Javier led, suggesting that if he continued down this path, he would end up dead or in prison. Near death experiences can often provide a sudden new perspective.

Did Javier attempt to change his course? We'll explore that in the next installment of Voices of a Killer.

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That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast if you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voicesofakiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast.

Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you You get your podcasts, your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in.

I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer. 

EP 61 | Javier Evans Part 2

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised.

Welcome back to Voices of a Killer and our second episode of Javier Evans story. Last time we heard how Javier was deeply entrenched in criminal activity. However, a near death experience gave Javier a new perspective and an opportunity to change his ways. Did Javier take that opportunity or did he spoil it?

We'll find out on this episode of Voices of a Killer.

So, your crime happened when you were 24 years old, which was not too long ago. What kind of person were you at 24 years old, Javier? I actually was, I was working at Wheelhouse, currently a new father, yeah. Where were you working? I was working at Wheelhouse. What is that? A restaurant. Okay. I was basically like a sport bar.

You can go eat wings and stuff, watch the football game, stuff like that. So you had an honest job, were you also hustling drugs on the side? A little bit, like marijuana every now and then. But I really was just working and making sure my, my new child at the time was okay, and being a father, that's all I was doing at the time, and then COVID 19 hit and I took a bad turn, because they shut everything down, so I lost my job, went to self unemployment, and stuff started happening, so I had to go for what I know, and then I went to making money as usual, a lot of money as usual, and then stuff happened.

So, the victim in your case is actually somebody that you know, and his name is Antonio Long. How long did you know him? Half of my life. He was a little, he was a couple years older than me, but me, him, his brothers, his other two brothers, we all grew up together. We were bad kids back then, stealing cars and stuff like that together, so we grew up from childhood.

Are y'all pretty close? Yeah, we was. And y'all actually lived together, y'all were roommates? That's how they put it, but like I said, it was a trap house, we was selling drugs out of our house. Everybody stayed, but we had other places we lived too. Yeah, so not officially living there, but you probably slept in the same house together at certain points maybe?

Okay. Yeah. So, what kind of person was Antonio Long? Was he the same kind of guy you were, just kind of getting by and working and maybe selling drugs here and there? Yeah. Yeah, you know, we do what we do, he was good, he was good people, he was an honest man. So if I were to ask Antonio Long, the victim in your case, About you at the age of 24, how do you think he would describe you?

He would probably call me crazy. Why? Because the stuff I do, I like to be wild. Not wild, but the life of the party. No, excuse my language, no, no Fs, no Fs. Pardon and stuff like that. So, do you agree with that? Are you pretty walled out or what? Yeah, I used to love to hang out, tricking with girls and stuff like that.

So he, that's what he used to love to call me, a tricky, a tricky d*ck, a tricky d*ck. I was like, man, just chill man, you do what you do, I do what I do. We sometimes used to be in a convocation and stuff like that. We used to hang out. So this, your victim Antonio, had you before the day that this crime happened, did you ever have a fallout with him?

No, never had a fallout. So what I want to know is, and not to get into the story entirely yet, but what was the basis around your argument with this victim? To be honest, it was really about money that he owed and money that, stuff that was just going on around us at the time that happened and he felt like it was my fault and I felt like it wasn't my fault.

Then when money gets involved people get jealous. Yeah. Did you make more money than him? Honestly, I don't know at the time. I was just coming up. I was just now getting money, getting my money right. So I wouldn't say I had much, but I was doing good for myself to be coming from a month ago, not having nothing but 400 and for a month, not even a whole month later, to have $40-50 000, $60 000 type stuff, so. So you had that kind of cash on you, $40-50 000?

Yeah, at the time, because the stuff that we was into, we was into credit card fraud and selling weed, and I was doing other stuff that, you know. With it being illegal activity, you probably don't have a bank to put your money in, right? So, what do you do with all that cash like that? I used to just put it up at like my mom's house, or girlfriend's house, or auntie's house, or hell, the, I used to just walk around with a lot of money.

I take so much pictures with, with money you'll never know. I might have $20,000 of me one day and they have 15,000 or 8,000, something like that. Are you not afraid that that would make you a target? Somebody out there that maybe's on cr**k or doesn't like you and just sees pictures of you with money and go and get you?

At the time, the lifestyle I was living, I wasn't worried about it because I had a name for myself around it. As growing up, I had firearms, or known to fight, or I really didn't have my time. Did you have pretty, pretty strong street cred? A little bit, you could say that. Yeah, so he actually owed you money?

Yeah, something like that. Why did he owe you money? 'Cause I was actually finna buy a car from him and I gave him the money one night and I gave him like $2500 and he was like, alright, he was like, man, he was like, "whenever you ready man, we'll go, we'll be at the DMV we'll switch it over" and stuff started happening and then he wasn't going I don't, like, I really don't know what happened up there.

So to the point with the money part, but we did fall off about it. So you had already given him the money, but you didn't actually get the, the title switched over yet. And he was kind of giving you the runaround, as you were saying? They basically gave me the runaround and I got to the point, I was like, man, I just want my money back, see?

And he's giving me half of it back. I was like, I gave you $2500, I could have gave you all of the money if I would have gave you all the money and you throwing me like this man. Why do you think he kept your money like that? To be honest, I don't know. We got a lot of stuff going on. We got family issues and kid issues.

He had other cars at the time and I had another car at the time, so it was like, I don't know. But we was like, we was continuing making money as far as on going in on our packages and stuff, getting money, but it wasn't nothing like I know I ain't gonna get it, but I knew I was gonna get it, but just didn't know when.

Javier's relationship with Antonio Long went way back. They'd grown up in the same block together, running petty crimes and breaking into cars as kids before they graduated to more serious drug-related offenses. And although Javier made several efforts to straighten up his act, by early 2020, when COVID hit, Javier was laid off and was financially pressured to return to his old ways of making a living. Come September, he was back selling drugs out of a trap house he shared with Antonio, and the two men resumed their partnership in crime. The feud between Javier and Antonio began as nothing more than a slight irritation.

Javier had given Antonio $2500 in exchange for Antonio's old car. But months went by, and the car never materialized, with Antonio offering up weak excuses. Why Antonio kept delaying the exchange isn't clear, but it left Javier feeling snubbed by his old friend, and over time, the incomplete transaction amounted to a falling out between them.

Perhaps the criminal world they both inhabited bred a growing mistrust and resentment between the two old friends. Although annoyed, Javier was confident that Antonio would eventually make good on the deal, however long it might take. This was not a strong motive to kill somebody. So what happened on December 21st of 2020 that caused Javier to shift gears?

We'll hear more about that after the break.

How long before the, the day of the crime happened did you give him the $2,500? I was actually trying to get the car for my birthday, so it was like, right, like right before my birthday. I'd say like September 9th. The crime happened in December. My birthday is in September, so I gave it like 10 days before my birthday.

Okay, so it was months that he had this money, and you never got a vehicle? Yeah. Well, you basically, you kept asking him every time, like, "hey, where's it at?" No, it wasn't, it wasn't like that. It wasn't like, I wouldn't ask, because I see him every day. A situation happened with another, one of, one of our other friends was, I guess a gun came up missing out the house and they didn't know where the gun went.

Nobody knew where the gun was. And so we start, everybody start arguing. They thought I took the gun and I'm like, "I ain't take the gun." They say "oh such and such took the gun. Such and such didn't take the gun." It was just like crazy stuff going on. Did you take the gun? No, I didn't even know the gun was missing.

Then it was just like, start arguing about oh, what they, what this and that stuff. And then I brought it all up. We've been doing this for a couple months, but by a cost that I didn't get a chance to do. So, were there other people that were around whenever you and Antonio Long got in an argument about this money?

A couple people was, but you know, you know how it was, about how it is in the neighborhood. Friends, REC would just be thinking, just be talking and stuff like that. So, nobody really never paid any attention. Yeah, did you approach him and basically say, listen, this is, you're giving me this money, or else?

Or, how did that, I mean, where did it come from? It was just like, oh, you know, you'll get your, excuse me, you know, "you'll get your money back." Then I got to the point where I don't even want the car no more bruh, just get my cheese back. Yeah, funny. He, oh yeah, get your money back. I get your money back. When we get done doing what we're doing and stuff like that, she wasn't.

Did he do hard drugs? Did he smoke cr**k? No. No, he smoked weed and drank liquor and stuff and popped pills, but it wasn't no hard drugs. So, did Antonio carry a weapon with him? Yeah. A pistol? Yeah, we all did it. Everybody around us did it. Or if you didn't, we'll get you one. Did you have a gun on you that day?

No, I actually didn't. So at some point it got heated enough, did Antonio threaten you at all? Not at first, but then physically, yeah, when we pushed him, I pushed him, and then we start physically fighting. So y'all actually started swinging on each other? Yeah. Who was getting the best of the other? It really wasn't nobody getting the best of each other, it was just going at it, just hitting each other.

Yeah. Did y'all draw a crowd around you? No, it wasn't a crowd because there wasn't that many people around. Was it out in the front yard or in the house? It was in the house. Did y'all have some other people there besides you two? Yeah, another friend of mine and then a lady that actually stayed there that was like one of our customers, like a buddy.

One of our customers, yeah, she was up one our cr**k head. She stayed there with us. Did they try to intervene and cut, you know, tell y'all guys to cut it out or just They just watched one. My, one of our friends, he just watched the lady, I don't know where she was at the time, but one of, one of my other friends, he just watched until he actually started attacking him.

It was just stuff went left from there. Oh, so he kind of jumped in and helped you? No. He, me and Antonio was fighting, then me and him and Antonio started fighting, and then... why did this guy fight him? Cause he was mad about the spot being junky and stuff like that just going on about a lot of other stuff.

So at some point in time, was there a weapon that was produced? Yeah. Who produced the weapon? Antonio did at firSt did it fall out while he was fighting, or did he pull it out? He actually grabbed it from by his book bag. I guess he had it when he came in that morning. He had it with him. Whenever he pulled that out of his book bag, were you a ways away from him, or you right there with him, or what?

I was a couple feet away from him, then I walked up on him and stuff like that. Whenever you saw him pull that gun out, what was your first reaction? "Right, you ain't gonna shoot me brother, we homies, you my brother, you ain't gonna shoot me". And you did look at him as a homie, didn't you? Yeah, that was my brother, that was like my big brother.

But he did pull out a gun on you, did he actually point it at you? Yeah, not at first, until I got up, and got up a little more close to three. Did he just kind of brandish it and try to scare you with it? Yeah, pretty much, and it kind of did scare me. Yeah. What kind of gun was it? It was like a rifle gun, like a little small rifle gun.

Oh, it was a long gun? Yeah, kind of. Wow. So, what was your reaction? Did you try to take it from him? Or you try to keep fighting him while he's holding it? No, I tried to take it from him. Were you successful at getting away from him? No, not at first until, as I was rational, but the gun started going off, and I didn't know what a shot was going, but he was getting hit, I guess, at the time.

So y'all, y'all were struggling for the weapon and somehow you were able to, somehow you were able to direct that towards him and did you actually hold the gun yourself and shoot him? Nope. How did he get shot? It was just going off. I guess at the time, like there's fighting over, he was going off and rationally back and forth, I guess.

Well, he kind of overpowered him. So it being a longer gun, it's kind of hard to picture someone else holding the gun and then shooting themselves. Where did he get shot at? That I don't know at firSt I know it was like his leg is like somewhere like down below and stuff. Whenever he first got hit. Did that make him stop or he kept rassling around?

Well, we kept rassling around until the shooting stopped. What was the final shot that made him stop? Where did it hit him, do you know? I don't, because when it stopped, he went past me and fell on the floor. Did he have any shots in his back? Not at the time until my other friend picked the gun up and was like, oh bro, man, we're gonna be scraped, ain't gonna Then he did what he did with it and then left out with it.

So the other guy that was there, you're saying he picked up the gun and shot Antonio? Yeah. Did he get convicted? No, he actually didn't. Wow. He actually went to court on me. So He said I did everything. Wow. Yeah. Let me guess. I'm going to guess what may be have happened. Y'all both got arrested and he, you didn't talk and he took a deal and said it was you so he turned state's evidence?

No, I actually turned myself in the same day it happened and Well, I'm just talking about the trial because you said that he took the stand against you, right? Yeah. Basically, that's what it was. He took a deal with the state. Made a deal with the state. So, did you actually watch him shoot Antonio?

Yeah. And he never got convicted, right? No. Months of long simmering tension broke out in a sudden fight that left Antonio dead. It's worth mentioning that after Antonio's death, conflicting accounts would emerge about exactly what happened to him in the St pete trap house. For now, here's Javier's version of what took place.

The trigger that sparked the altercation was a separate issue altogether. Antonio wrongfully accused Javier of taking a gun, and this provoked an explosive argument and a physical struggle. But Antonio upped the stakes of their fight when he pulled out a short barreled rifle. A brief scuffle ensued, during which the gun was accidentally discharged, and Antonio fell, injured, to the ground.

What happened next is conspicuously missing from the official police reports and news articles that came later. Javier introduces a third person to the picture of that night, another member of the trap house also involved in the fight. While Antonio was left helpless on the ground, Javier claims, the third man picked up the gun and killed him.

This new information shakes up the case entirely. If true, Javier is not the man responsible for Antonio's death. Rather, the third man is the one who shot Antonio with a chilling calmness and certainty. Regardless, Antonio's killing highlights the volatile environment he and Javier lived in. With tempers running high, suspicions heightened, and weapons readily available, it took little for a small conflict like this to escalate into a fatal conclusion.

A conclusion that will have to wait for the next episode of this episode of Voices of a Killer. In the final episode of Javier's story, we'll hear how the law caught up with Javier.

If you want to find out what happens next, right now, you can sign up at patreon.com/voicesofakiller. There you can find bonus content early access, ad free listening, and access to our chat community. So go to patreon.com/voicesofakiller to sign up now. Your support is essential. is what keeps us passionate about bringing these stories to you.

That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voicesofakiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast.

Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners.

Thank you for your support and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future. Thank you for tuning in. I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer. 

EP 61 | Javier Evans Part 3

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listener discretion is advised.

Welcome back to the final part of Javier Evans' story, where we last left off, Javier and Antonio broke out in a fight and in the chaos that followed, Antonio was shot and killed. We now pick up just after the crime as Javier turns himself in and faces the police. How this story ends now on this episode of voices of a killer.

So how long after this crime did you go and turn yourself in? Well, probably like hours, not even hours. 'cause like I said, I had a, I had a lot of street cred and once the police got my name and they already knew who I was. The same officer that he, the detective at the time when I got shot, he actually became the sergeant over the homicide unit, and he actually came.

I was going to ask you if that same cop had, if he was involved in that. So that Yeah, yeah, he actually was. Yeah, that same cop all the way from you, from when you were a little young, youngster telling you not to come out that day, he's still watching you and seeing all this occur, and you knew this cop.

What was his reaction whenever he talked to you about this? It wasn't, he didn't really have a reaction, he was just surprised, you know, "I haven't saw you in a long time, Javier, how you doing?" "I'm doing fine, I'm alright. Staying out of trouble, staying out of the way. I learned from mistakes" because I was a child growing up doing little stuff with the neighborhood because I'm in a gang, gang affiliated stuff so it was just like, it was like a nonchalant.

Whenever you turned yourself in, did you ever bail out? Or did they lock you up and you never got out since then? They locked me up, I never got out. And then right before my trial they gave me a bond. I did two years in the county jail, in Pinellas County Jail, and three weeks before my trial they gave me a bond.

Did you bond out? No. Not at all. I didn't, I couldn't, because it was a high bond. If you would have bonded out, do you think you would have tried to run? I would have with me, and spent time with my kids, and tried to at least be there for the time being until I got through this situation. Because that's what I really have been around my kids.

I was a family guy. I wasn't, when I left the streets alone and wasn't doing well, I was just a family guy. I was around my kids. Every Sunday, I had the kids for the weekend, you know? The guy that turned state's evidence, did they put a warrant out for him? Did he turn himself in, or how'd that work out for him?

So, he took weeks, well I ain't gonna say weeks, months, to come give a statement. It sounds like they probably put a lot of pressure on him saying they're going to charge him and so that's why he turned state's evidence. Yeah. Did you have a paid attorney or a public defender? I actually had a public defender.

And how was that experience with a public defender? Do you think that you didn't get good treatment or what? But yeah, I feel like I didn't get good treatment because I feel like they let a lot of stuff go over my head and didn't tell me the truth. I feel like they was working with them and not against them in a way.

Did they offer you a plea deal? No, I actually offered one. I offered one for 20 000. He said they denied it. Then I offered one for 25 000. He told me they denied it. And that the whole time, every since the first day I met him, he kept saying, "I'm getting ready for trial. I gotta get ready for your trial." I was like, "I'm not trying to go to trial."

He was like, "well, I gotta get ready for your trial anyway." That's, every time. Then it'd be months, before I see him, months before I see him, he, he pop up and tell me a lie and then disappear. Be months before I see him, months before I see him. And then next thing you know. And so this is our last chance. We going to trial on this thing right here type stuff.

So I'm like, Whoa, they need to be here to see me or talk to me. So that's pretty uncommon for the person that's accused of the crime trying to cut a deal with the prosecutors. It's very uncommon. Actually, I don't ever hear that. It almost sounds like you knew they had something on you. So, it was what he was telling me.

He was just like, "you want to offer us a deal? I can get you a good deal." I said, you may be offering like 25 or 20. I was like, "yeah, I'll see you. I'll make an offer." He's like, you want to make an offer? I'm like, yeah, why not? They actually charged you with first degree murder? They, first they charged me with second degree murder.

Then three months later, they upped it to first degree murder. And I don't know why. Never got told why my charge got, went up. They always heard it going down, never up. Right. Yeah. That's, everything's a little bit odd about this one. Well, I mean, in your eyes, do you feel like it was all self defense or do you feel like it was manslaughter, second degree?

What do you feel like it was? I feel like it was manslaughter because we was friends. We wasn't enemies. I mean, we didn't hate each other. It wasn't like we had bad blood. We wasn't talking to each other. We didn't know each other. We grew up with each other. Like, I ate at his mom's house. He didn't eat at my mom's house, like.

Javier stands by his claim that he wasn't Antonio's killer, yet after his arrest, he was powerless against the legal mechanisms that have succeeded in keeping him locked up. The third man, who Javier says is actually responsible for Antonio's death, took a deal with the state and subsequently pinned all the blame on Javier.

We don't have access to any official records to know if there's any substantive evidence supporting this, but it's this version of events the state prosecution ran with. Javier's charges were bumped up to first degree, and he was held without bond in county jail. In the lead up to the trial, Javier tells me his story fell on deaf ears, and even his public defender did little to support him.

Once the dust on this crime finally settled, the futility of Antonio's death became apparent. It wasn't meant for us, Javier says, reflecting on the tragic end to their relationship. His voice is heavy with a sense of disbelief, knowing that Antonio is dead, and, according to official records, Javier will go down as his killer.

Next, I wanted to know why Javier's account of what happened didn't convince the jury. How do you, I mean, first degree is basically you Thinking it out premeditating and going through with it. Yeah. However, this is a struggle with a fight for a gun. Did the guy that took the stand, did he say that you got the gun away and just, and shot him with, when he had no kind of, no way to defend himself?

Yeah, pretty much at first, that's what he said. At first, he said something totally different, then, in trial, he said something totally different from what he said on his sworn statement. So, okay, so he had a sworn statement of one thing, and then he took the stand and said something different? Yeah, him and, him like, every, all three witnesses said something different.

Yeah, that's not good. Yeah. That's not good. One of the witnesses actually switched up their statement three times. Yeah, that's not good at all. That makes the whole process very confusing on how can they come up with a good solid answer. If all three people are changing their story, then I'd say that first degree is, it's really hard to come up with that.

You actually went to trial to defend yourself for first degree murder. Was it a jury trial? Yeah, and they convicted me in front of the jury. Sentenced me in front of the jurors. I got sentenced the same day I lost trial. Tell me about your jury. What did they look like? Everybody was white. Older? Yes, older.

And some military. I probably had one young person on there. He was like 18 or something like that. Did they look at you during the trial? A couple did, but when they sentenced me and they went to read and they heard it, everyone looked at me with a nasty look. Really? How'd that make you feel? I was heartbroken.

I was hurt. When they said guilty, did you have an outburst? Did you cry or anything? No. I was actually in shock, disbelief. Did you have any family in there listen to this? Yeah. My mom, my little sister, my brother, one of my baby mothers, and yeah, that's it. I only have my aunties. Did you say they sentenced you the same day?

Yeah, they sentenced me the same day. That's kind of uncommon, too. I mean, I don't know how Florida works, but usually the way, the reason they wait is they have a cool off period for the judge. Does the judge sentence you or the jury? No, the judge sentenced me. He gave me life with a mandatory 25, and then I found out the 25 is from a gun.

The gun, I guess, but he never, I never had a, I never had a gun charge. Never, no gun was found. The murder weapon wasn't found cause they haven't found it. I didn't take it. They don't know who got it. You still don't know who got it. Right. So what was the actual sentence? Life with a mandatory 25. So you do have a parole date?

It's 2024. No, not 2054, but that's when my 25 years are up. And then they say I get gained time for my life sentence. And I don't know how I'll get gained time, if I'll get life in it, but Huh, what do you mean by, what are you saying, gained time? Yeah, I guess it's like, where it's time every month, or every few years, I get time.

If I do 25, it's basically like the percentage. I do the percentage. Okay, yeah, I got you. So, have you went through appeals process? I'm actually in the appeal process now. I really don't know too much about the law. I be doing, I be getting a little help. But the state attorneys, I guess, the public defender's office, they need to appeal for me because I can't afford a lawyer for it.

You always hear these stories about people will warn young people, just like the police officer warns you when you're younger. "Hey, you get into this lifestyle, one of two things are going to happen. You're either going to die or you're going to go to prison." And at one point you almost died from being shot, and then you did end up going to prison.

And so That stuff holds true when they tell you these things, like, "hey, when you get into this lifestyle, two things are gonna happen, either prison or death," and you really did come close to death, and then you are in prison now, so Those people were right. How does that make you feel looking back? Do you think you should have made a different path?

Sometimes, but at the end of the day, this is what, it made me. I wouldn't have found Yahweh. I wouldn't have found my God if I wouldn't have went the path I went or went through the journey I went through. That's what made my life special. That's what made me special. So it's certain stuff I don't regret.

Certain stuff you kind of regret. It's petty stuff you regret, but Certain stuff made me a man, made me the person I am, so I see life different from when I was 15, 14. A few things strike me as odd about Javier's case. It's unusual for prosecutors to raise criminal charges over time, as they did to Javier.

What's more, Javier was sentenced on the same day his trial ended, which may suggest that the trial was rushed, not affording enough time for the judge to deliberate. Javier also felt that the jury was predisposed against him from the get go. Composed of older, mainly white members, the jury might have been influenced by their prejudice against somebody like Javier, with gang links and a criminal background.

Ultimately, Javier was sentenced to life in prison with a mandatory period of 25 years. The sentence devastated the 24 year old. You might say Javier has followed his father's example by ending up in prison and like his father will now be absent for most of his children's lives. However, Javier is still young and unlike many others I've interviewed on this podcast, he has a parole date some 30 years down the line.

This presents him with an opportunity to change his life for the better in the hopes he can one day appear in front of the parole board as a reformed man. After the break, we'll hear Javier's final thoughts about the years ahead of him in prison.

How does that feel knowing that you're going to spend so much time in prison? No, it hurts because I'm not, I'm not the type of guy that, so no one deserves this. Like, this is not the life for me. I'm missing my kids. I'm missing my kids. Growing up, I'm missing. I have kids I haven't got a chance to hold because they were still in their mom's stomach when I, when this stuff occurred.

So it's like, I'm missing, I'm missing. Did you have any backlash from the victim's family? A lot, like, you know, cause it hurts both sides, cause it's like losing two people that you know and you've got love for, so it's So if you were to get out today, do you think you would get back into selling drugs?

You know, I actually, if I get out right now today, I would actually focus on opening my own food truck, and owning my own clothing line, and finish writing my second book. The second book? Where's the first one? Yeah, I wrote an urban book when I was in the county jail. And I never got it published. I never did anything like that.

I just wrote it and I used to let people read it. Sure. What's the basis of the book? What's it about? It's about this guy going through all these obstacles in life and bouncing the streets like they're trying to leave the streets alone and focus on taking his street money and making it legit money so He could live happy and stress free due to how he grew up.

Basically, people that didn't grow up with money, their parents struggled. His mom was a drug addict. His daddy was a street guy who got killed in a robbery going wrong. And Noah left him by himself until he meets this girl that head over heels for the streets. And they take over the streets just doing like robberies and stuff like that and taking over territories.

She's trying to take over the streets, but he's trying to take over the financial world. Do stuff legit. Yeah, do you feel like, you mentioned something about taking street money and then making legit money. Do you feel like your position and how you grew up that you can't just start off with the legit money?

You have to do dirt first and then, you know what I mean? Um, to be honest with you, if you were to ask me this question like when I was like 16, 17, I would have told you, you gotta take street money to make it legit. You actually could take the legit money and just go legit. You just gotta, it's about saving and investing.

About being smart. Yeah. Because ... with what, you know... I mean, nobody can deny that some situations are more difficult than others. But I would argue that you can definitely start off with legit money and, and keep it that way. Yeah. But yeah, it, do you feel like the book you wrote is kind of a little bit based off of your situation?

Certain events, you know, but then again, no, it's just, I was just trying something where some of it, it is, and then some of it is not, but some of it is urban. So I have to pick it up over and over again, but certain like serious parts in the book, like life situations, yeah, I could say I relate it to my life.

Yeah. Well, Javier, it sucks that you had to go through all that situation. It sounds like. Your decisions that day, possibly even leaving the scene. Maybe if you would have stayed around, you could have at least told your story right there, probably running didn't help you, but it's just unfortunate for everybody, especially the fact that this guy was somebody that you'd consider a friend because you're not really bad mouthing him.

You're you, it's just an unfortunate situation all around. Yeah. But I appreciate you reaching out to me, man, telling your story, and I hope everything works out for you, and if you get that book published, let me know. I'd like to read it. Okay. All right, man. Okay, alright. You have a good day, sir. Alright, take it easy, man.

Bye bye. Alright, bye bye.

On the next episode of Voices of a Killer.

You actually put a gun to your head and pulled the trigger and shot yourself in the head, right? That's what they say. Well, that's what they say. Did it not happen? I mean, it's... It was a convoluted case for sure. Well, I mean, it's a, yeah, it's definitely a convoluted story. I mean, we got to think from a rational position here.

Aaron, you're sitting in prison right now for the murder of your wife, Julianne, are you guilty? Am I guilty? Yeah. If I'm guilty, I'm, I might, I don't believe I'm guilty of what I've been charged with. How bad did it get with the opiates? Those were bad. I want to thank Javier for sharing his story with us today.

His ability to be open and honest is what. what makes this podcast so special. That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. A big shout out to Sonic Futures who handled the production, audio editing, music licensing, and promotion of this podcast. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, make sure to visit our website at voicesofakiller.com. There you can find previous episodes, transcripts, and additional information about the podcast. Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback helps us improve and reach new listeners. Thank you for your support, and we can't wait to share more stories with you in the future.

Thank you for tuning in. I'm your host Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.