- Det. Julio Sanchez' little brother Oscar is shot and killed, leaving Julio beside himself with grief and seeking his killer any way he can, which threatens the investigation.
- When Det. Julio Sanchez' brother is murdered in a drive-by shooting, Brenda has the rest of her team put into full force to find out who was responsible, but finds her work compromised by residents in the South-Central L.A. neighborhood reluctant to come forward, and a vengeful Det. Sanchez determined to find the culprit on his own through any means necessary.—Anonymous
- Brenda and the team pull out all of the stops when Detective Julio Sanchez's younger brother Oscar is shot in what appears to be a drive-by shooting. He was walking down the street in his neighborhood with a young woman, Elena Contreras, when someone came up to him. Elena is scared and isn't keen on helping the police. Det. Sanchez, in shock, is ordered to take time off, but the team finds him investigating the case on his own. When the finger points to an ex-gang member named Puppet, Brenda manages to stop Sanchez before he metes out his own justice. Thanks to an undercover Federal agent, they get a lead on the murder weapon and the possible shooter, Juan 'Guzz' Guzzman. Even then, the story isn't quite over.—garykmcd
- Sanchez works on a motorcycle at home. He hears multiple gunshots. He runs down the block. A woman points him to a man who's been shot. Its Oscar, his brother. He asks Sanchez if he's dying. The ambulance slowly works its way down the block, Sanchez runs over and IDs himself. The girl with Oscar describes the car. Sanchez takes cell phone pictures of the scene and Elena and commands that she be brought to Parker Center.
Brenda shows up to the hospital. Oscar didn't make it. Pope tells her there's no limit on manpower for this. The whole team is there. Sanchez comes out, acting oddly giddy. He asks if anyone is hungry, to make sure to eat the pizza he ordered. He apologizes to Tao for screwing up his day off. He's calm, composed and starts giving Brenda his statement. Oscar was the youngest of seven children and was going to college in the fall. Sanchez says there's no one they should call. He's holding his brothers bloody hat. He hands it to Brenda, asking if she would like to put it into evidence. Sanchez starts to tell Brenda he's been in touch with his gang contact when Brenda cuts him off. She tells him to take time off. She's got it. One by one, they shake his hand and leave. Flynn and Provenza stick around. Sanchez sits down.
Brenda talks to Elena, still in the bloody clothes she was wearing earlier. She doesn't remember much. They'd been together almost a month. They were in the neighborhood so Oscar could introduce her to Sanchez. Brenda tries to calm her nerves.
They were walking and Oscar pushed her down. She saw a black man shooting from a blue car, but not much else. Brenda walks into the hall and is confronted by Sanchez, changed into a suit. He pulled the wire out of the mike before Buzz could tell Brenda he was there. Sanchez wants to know why Brenda didn't ask more. Brenda says she'll wait until she has a strategy. He argues to be let in to the investigation. Brenda tells him to leave it alone. He has a hard time leaving. He puts a picture of his brother on the murder wall. He checks that Brenda knows Elena lied to her. Yes, she does. Sanchez leaves. Gabriel asks what she lied about. "I have no idea," says Brenda.
After the funeral, they go back to the station. Tao suggests opening a fund for his family. They've talked to 137 gang members in three days.
Tao realizes no one followed up on the casings, he's upset. She says they're nowhere. It's hard to imagine how things can get much worse, she says. Then in walks Ricardo Ramos, the Times reporter. He has photos of other kids killed in the area and wants to know why they weren't priorities. She asks to see the front page articles on the victims. Touche.
Brenda tells him the case is a priority because Sanchez's life might be in danger. He asks where they are in the investigation. Commander Taylor walks in and she passes Ramos off to him.
Brenda walks into the room where a nervous looking man with a black eye says he has info. Brenda talks to him, trying to find out who forced him to talk. He says he's there of his own "violation." He says Elena's cousin and everything she told Brenda was a lie. Elena just broke up with someone named Puppet and he's a bad dude and she saw the car, he says. He wants protection.
Gabriel, Brenda, Flynn and Provenza look into one Puppet who was pulled over in the car with Elena. They visit one group in a lawn pool and get an address that they already gave to another cop. They head there and find Sanchez's bike outside. There are crashing noises from inside.
They go inside and find Sanchez with a lamp in his hand and Puppet on the floor. Brenda's not pleased with her guy, tells him to be downtown in an hour.
In her office, Brenda reads Sanchez the letter Pope sent her when he offered her the job, which mentions how she's supposed to clean up corruption. She mentions Sanchez's witness intimidation falls under that category. He claims he's found everything for them so far, that Elena lied about the color of the car, but Brenda doesn't know that because she threw him out. She knows someone inside tipped him off to Puppet. She tries to explain how a defense attorney would use his presence to undermine the case. She asks him to let her do her job. She orders him to see a counselor. She asks to see the picture of Elena on his cell phone. She keeps it and sends him home. She dials his last number. Tao answers.
Brenda talks to a very looped Puppet. He doesn't speak highly of Elena. He says Oscar confronted him about her. He knows Sanchez is a detective. He drives a blue Honda Civic. He denies doing anything. Buzz tells Brenda through her earpiece that someone is waiting for her in her office. She sees a gangster-looking dude slouched in the chair. She worries that Sanchez sent him. But then Fritz walks in and identifies the man as an ATF agent. He's been undercover, buying back guns on the street and tracing them. After the shooting, he put out word he was looking for a .40 and he heard right away from a guy trying to unload one. He bought it and it's already being looked at by ballistics. He doesn't know the seller's name, but the guy was on parole. Brenda asks him to come look at Puppet. It's not him. Brenda sends a busted Tao to wait on the gun results, no matter how long it takes. ATF guy looks at mugs of parolees and recognizes one, Juan Guzman. They can't pick him up because it'll blow ATF guy's cover. Pope says he'll call his parole officer for a random search, surely find something, and bring him in.
Guzman's mom and younger brother follow after him and wait in the hallway. Flynn returns and tells Brenda they found .40 casings in his sock drawer. His mother drives a blue Chevy. Tao reports the gun ATF guy brought in is the murder weapon. He apologizes to Brenda. He was trying to be a friend. So was she, by not letting their friend with the temper ruin the case.
Brenda talks to Guzman. The bullets are already a parole violation. But he's not talking. She shows him Oscar's picture. Earpiece news: Gabriel is there with the witness.
Brenda talks to Elena in front of Sanchez in the viewing room. She tells Elena she knows she wasn't truthful before. They show her Guzman. She instantly says it's not him. He's scary, she'd remember him. Sanchez is angry, but they let her go. She walks out into the hallway and freaks. The killer is sitting right there. Guzman's younger brother. Sanchez turns to see him take off running. He catches him easily and slams him into the wall.
They've got him in the other interview room. Sanchez wants to talk to him. Brenda says no. They need a confession, they don't think Elena will be a good witness.
She tells little bro that Juan confessed. He says they just drove around looking for an East 18 gang member because one of them snitched on him in prison. The name Oscar Sanchez means nothing to him. They thought maybe he was a gang member, based on his hat. "So, just to be clear, you shot him because he wouldn't show you his hat?" Brenda says. He says he couldn't let Oscar laugh at him like that in front of his brother.
Brenda shows him Oscar's bloody hat and asks him how old he is. 14. She tells him because Juan was driving, he's just as guilty under the law. Sanchez watches quietly.
Later, in the office, he looks at his brother's bloody hat. Provenza walks in. Sanchez, finally showing his hurt, says it's his fault. He says Oscar died because he was wearing that hat. Sanchez gave it to him for his birthday last month. He breaks down sobbing and crying in Provenza's arms, crying that he's sorry.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content