MURDERED: Christion Olson

Summary

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Crime Junkie: "MURDERED: Christion Olson"

Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Ashley Flowers
Co-Host: Britt Prawat

Episode Overview

Ashley Flowers and Britt Prawat cover the mysterious case of Christion Olson, an 18-year-old who was found severely injured after a party in Brunswick Hills, Ohio, and died shortly after. Despite the presence of numerous friends and promising digital evidence, the investigation has produced more questions than answers. The episode explores multiple theories and highlights the pain and confusion faced by Christion's family.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

[01:33] – The Night of July 13, 2024: Setting the Scene

• Christion ("Christian") Olson, 18, attends a small party in Brunswick Hills, Ohio.
• Around 3am, his brother Chris Jr. receives a call from Christian's friends—Eric, Aiden, and Braylon—saying he's extremely drunk and they don't know what to do.
• An hour later, Eric and Braylon help Chris Jr. bring Christian into his home. Aiden stays in the car.
• Christian is mumbling, mainly saying "ow" repeatedly and appears to be in significant pain, not simply intoxicated.
• Christian's dad, Chris Sr., notes blood and a possible shoe print on Christian's face, suspecting something more serious than drunkenness.
• Christian’s condition rapidly deteriorates and he stops breathing.

Notable Quote:

"He looks like he got beat up. I mean, he's like drooling some blood, he's asking for help." — Ashley Flowers, [03:51]

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[05:40] – Tragic Outcome & Initial Investigation

• A 911 call is placed by the family as Christian stops breathing. Family performs CPR until paramedics arrive.
• Christian is taken to the hospital, but is declared dead at 5:56am.
• The coroner tells the family his death is "suspicious." Police withhold details, citing concerns about causing unnecessary emotional turmoil.

Notable Quote:

"In the end, his death is ruled blunt force trauma to the neck and abdomen and his manner of death is homicide." — Ashley Flowers, [08:49]

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[08:49] – Autopsy Revelations & Discrepancies

• Autopsy Findings:
  • Severe internal injuries: fractured ribs and collarbone, punctured liver and lung, minor external abrasions.
  • Police originally believe Christian was heavily intoxicated; toxicology shows no alcohol in his system, only a small amount of marijuana.
• Raises new questions about what happened during the crucial hours after he left the party.

Notable Quote:

"Not only was Christian not wasted to the extent his friends let on, he may not have been drunk at all..." — Ashley Flowers, [07:56]

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[11:28] – What Happened at the Party?

• Eric’s initial story:

  • Small, chill party at his dad's house.
  • Argument between Christian and Becca (a girl he'd been dating) about another girl led to a fight; Becca and her friends left, leaving only Eric, Aiden, and Christian at the house.
  • Christian leaves after the fight (despite Eric’s protest), supposedly “drunk.”

• Alternate accounts:

  • Eric’s story shifts: Christian was found 5-6 houses down, not just at the driveway.
  • Some details about who was driving, and a differing chain of events (including meetings with Braylon) emerge from differing police interviews.

• Neighbor encounters:

  • A group of local teen boys witness Christian lying in front of a house. They attempt to call 911, but the call doesn’t go through; they also take Snapchat videos for documentation.
  • The boys admit to not getting close enough to see his injuries.

Notable Quote:

"Not mentioning three other guys that were outside, like that's pretty strange." — Britt, [16:00]

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[18:31] – Timeline Gaps & Questionable Choices

• Eric and Aiden make multiple stops on the way back to Christian's home, including one at a golf course to meet Braylon.
• Police question why no one called emergency services sooner despite Christian’s deteriorating state.

Notable Moment:

Body cam segment emphasizing police confusion about the lack of a 911 call:

Police Officer: "And through all of this, why didn't...why didn't somebody call and say, we need to get the police or at the very least a rescue squad here?" [19:43]

Eric: "I just called his brother and he just told me to bring him home. And I...I was freaking out." [19:51]

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[23:00] – Forensics, Phones, and the Elusive Camera Footage

• Police analyze GPS and other phone data:

  • Christian's phone leaves the house around 2:06am; Eric and Aiden's phones remain inside.
  • Christian's phone goes silent ("goes dark") at 2:14am.
  • The phone is intact and with him when found.

• Surveillance frustration:

  • Despite numerous doorbell cameras in the neighborhood (Topaz Lane), residents uniformly report theirs were either inoperable or captured nothing—a suspicious claim.
  • Ashley and Britt discuss possible reasons neighbors might cover for each other, including racial bias in the community.

Notable Quote:

"It's not like others in this community are rallying around the family to get answers. It feels a little more like if something happened in this neighborhood, a lot of the neighbors might cover for each other." — Ashley Flowers, [26:40]

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[28:09] – Theories Explored: Accident or Attack?

• Accident Theory:

  • Hit-and-run possible, especially as Christian wore black and the road wasn’t well-lit.
  • A blue pickup truck frequently seen in the area vanished after the incident, but police consider this unrelated.

• Attack Theory:

  • Less visible trauma than expected for a severe beating, but internal injuries consistent with significant force (body slam, for example).
  • Physical evidence (cut on the shoulder, scuffing on face) doesn't definitively confirm a fight.
  • Christian’s friends’ stories are vague and inconsistent; Becca downplays the supposed fight.

Notable Quote:

"To slam someone so hard that they die, that's not just boys horsing around... I don't think that explains everything." — Ashley Flowers, [32:34]

• Police continue to focus on the critical missing hour.

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[35:31] – Suspect Pool & Alternate Theories

• Focus on Friends:
  • Christian's family believes his friends know more than they share. They’ve had no contact since the incident.
  • Aiden quickly lawyered up.
• Retaliation/Robbery Theory:
  • A robbery a week before at a local drug dealer’s home allegedly involved Christian (unconfirmed; no mention in court records).
  • Police consider the possibility he was targeted in retaliation.
  • DNA evidence from the robbery (left on a wave cap) hasn’t been publicly compared to Christian’s DNA.

Notable Quote:

"Even if Christian had nothing to do with the robbery, that doesn't mean that the guy whose house was robbed didn't think that Christian was involved." — Britt, [39:21]

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[41:34] – Final Reflections & Pleas for Information

• Phone/Social Media Data:

  • Major challenge: Encrypted communications (mostly via Snapchat or similar apps) slow investigation progress.
  • Police seek any remaining digital evidence before it disappears.

• Community Dynamic:

  • The family faces hostility and racial slurs during justice walks in the neighborhood.
  • Ashley lays out the urgent need for witnesses or anyone with footage/info to come forward.

Memorable Quote:

"Chrissy says that the person who murdered Christian didn't just take one life that night. They took six. Her family has not been the same since his death. And more than anything, they want justice for the boy that they so lovingly refer to as Fat Man." — Ashley Flowers, [44:08]

• Brunswick Hills PD has set up a website for tips. Ashley encourages anyone who was in the area or has footage/information to come forward.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• [03:51] "He looks like he got beat up. I mean, he's like drooling some blood, he's asking for help." — Ashley Flowers
• [08:49] "In the end, his death is ruled blunt force trauma to the neck and abdomen and his manner of death is homicide." — Ashley Flowers
• [19:43] "And through all of this, why didn't...why didn't somebody call and say, we need to get the police or at the very least a rescue squad here?" — Police Officer
• [26:40] "It feels a little more like if something happened in this neighborhood, a lot of the neighbors might cover for each other." — Ashley Flowers
• [32:34] "To slam someone so hard that they die, that's not just boys horsing around..." — Ashley Flowers
• [39:21] "Even if Christian had nothing to do with the robbery, that doesn't mean that the guy whose house was robbed didn't think that Christian was involved." — Britt
• [44:08] "Chrissy says that the person who murdered Christian didn't just take one life that night. They took six." — Ashley Flowers

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Important Timestamps

• [01:33] – 911 call placed for Christian, family performs CPR.
• [05:55] – Family describes Christian’s condition on the 911 call.
• [08:49] – Medical examiner rules death a homicide.
• [11:28] – Timeline and party details via police interviews.
• [19:43] – Police question Eric’s choices in handling Christian’s critical injury.
• [23:02] – Phone data and surveillance efforts discussed.
• [28:09] – Main theories (hit-and-run vs attack) explored.
• [35:31] – Focus shifts to robbery retaliation theory.
• [44:08] – Emotional plea from Christian's family.

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Final Thoughts

Ashley and Britt paint a portrait of Christian Olson as a beloved son and brother, snatched away by violence and still surrounded by secrets. The episode underscores the sharp pain of ambiguous loss, community distrust, missed opportunities for intervention, and lingering questions that grow as time passes without answers. Listeners are urged to share information and pressure for accountability, as Christian's family waits for justice.

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For more information or to submit a tip:
Visit the Brunswick Hills Police Department website (link in the Crime Junkie show notes).

Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

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[Britt]

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[Ashley Flowers]

Hi crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt and I have a truly baffling mystery for you today. And everything in this mystery centers around one night on a quiet cul de sac in Ohio on July 13, 2024. What starts out as a group of friends at a small party ends in the death of an 18 year old. But no one knows who hurt him or where, or even how he was injured. Not anyone at the party. Not anyone in the neighborhood. Or at least that's what everyone says. So we started talking to people, family, police, neighbors. And the strange things we found will leave you not knowing what to believe. This is the story of Christian Olsen. It's a little after 3am on July 13, 2024 when Chris Olsen Jr gets a call about his 18 year old brother, Christian. He'd been at a party that night with some of his teenage friends and these friends say that he is now wasted and they don't know what they should do with him. So Chris is like, okay, just bring him home now. It's a good hour before they pull up even Though the party was in Brunswick Hills, which is like a 20 minute drive away from Christian's house in Medina, Ohio. But around 4am, a friend of Christian's named Eric pull pulls up in his car with Christian and two other friends in tow, Aiden and Braylon. Aiden stays in the car the whole time, but Braylon and Eric Help Chris Jr get Christian inside the house. And as his brother gets him upstairs, Christian is mumbling some stuff. It's like not 100% clear what he's saying, but what they can make out is him just saying ow over and over like he's in pain. And Eric is saying like he didn't know how Christian got this true drunk because he's like, I drank more than he did. But he did say that he had been throwing up on the way back, which, I mean, maybe that's why it took so long to get there. Doesn't matter to Chris or even Christian's sister, who's also awake. They're just like, we gotta get him sobered up. And preferably without waking up their parents amidst all the chaos. But that doesn't last long. Between getting him cleaned up and drinking some water, all the commotion wakes up Christian's mom and dad. Everyone's still there, even the friends, and they admit that he's drunk. But Christian's dad, who's Christopher Sr. He's looking at him and he's like, are we sure that that's the problem? Like, are we sure he's drunk? He looks like he got beat up. I mean, he's like drooling some blood, he's asking for help.

[Britt]

He's like, in this state, I, I.

[Ashley Flowers]

Know, but before mom and dad woke up, it was all kids basically trying to take care of the situation. And I don't think his siblings had any clue that something more serious was up. Especially because you've got Eric telling everyone that he's just wasted, like he was there, right? He even tells that to his parents after they get him in the bathroom where he's throwing up and in and out of consciousness. At one point, Chris Sr. Says that he noticed what looked like a shoe print on his son's face and a cut on his shoulder. But still his friends are trying to assure them, no, he's just drunk. So Christian's dad starts asking him over and over, like, what happened. But Christian is still just mumbling. And the only thing they can really make out is him saying that he just needs to lay there. And at one point he's able to say that he wants A Coke. So they try to get him to drink some soda, seeing if that'll shake him out of this, but that doesn't work. And then suddenly it looks like Christian just stops breathing.

[911 Operator]

911, what's the address of your emergency? Please hurry, please hurry. He passed out. I don't know what's wrong with my little brother. Okay, how old is he? He's 18. 18? Yes.

[Ashley Flowers]

Okay.

[911 Operator]

Is he breathing? No, I don't think so.

[Ashley Flowers]

He just.

[911 Operator]

He just passed out. He just burst through the door and he couldn't walk and he kept saying, please help me. And he started throwing up blood and it starts coming out his nose. And then he just passed out.

[Ashley Flowers]

Christian's family performed CPR until the Medina police and paramedics arrived. Christian's still got a faint pulse, so they rush him to the hospital where they try all of the life saving measures they can, but it's not enough. By 5:56 in the morning, Christian is declared dead. And his family is just in shock and denial. I mean, it all happened so fast, they can't even wrap their heads around it. One minute their son is leaving their house to hang out with friends and now he's dead. And to add to their confusion, the coroner tells them that his death is suspicious. But that's all. They don't know anything else. Not there in the hospital, and not for a while after. Because police told the family that they wouldn't be giving them a lot of information because they don't want to take them on a roller coaster ride. But instead of the roller coaster, they're just in limbo. And I don't really know what's worse. I mean, the family is calling the police often for updates, but not getting much. So without much official information being put out, rumors begin to swirl. Ones that the family know can't be true. Like that Christian's death is a suicide or an overdose. And they know because they saw him, right? Like they knew it was more than that. They had the coroner tell them it was something suspicious. And his friends were saying that he was wasted. They don't know what the combo of all of that means, and they know that no one will until the autopsy results come back, which takes a full two months. But when they do get them on September 26, their worlds are turned upside down because Christian wasn't just wasted like his friends had said. He had severe internal injuries. His ribs and collarbone are fractured, his liver and lung is punctured, but there are no stab wounds or anything like that. He has some bruises on his face and neck and torso and abrasions on the left side of his body. And guess what? Not only was Christian not wasted to the extent his friends let on, he may not have been drunk at all because toxicology results show that there was zero alcohol in his system. Now it is possible that he drank something because police said that that alcohol could have metabolized and gone through his system by the time he died. Right. Like he didn't die right away. He had that time where we don't know what happened between two and three and then he's at home and then they finally get into the hospital. But you would imagine if he was as drunk as they said he was.

[Britt]

There would still be something.

[Ashley Flowers]

Right now there was a small amount of weed, but nothing that would have put him in that state. In the end, his death is ruled blunt force trauma to the neck and abdomen and his manner of death is homicide. But what the ME can't determine is how this would have happened. I mean, there is no one easy answer that explains all all of his injuries. Certainly not with the story his friends had given. So what really happened in the hours after Christian Olsson left his home?

[Britt]

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[Ashley Flowers]

It'S quickly determined that whatever happened to Christian likely happened in Brunswick Hills where the party was, since that's where his friends drove him from. So Brunswick Hills PD begins their investigation immediately. Like same day Christian died. So let me rewind to that. It's July 13th. While Christian was still being rushed to the hospital, police were talking to Eric and the other two kids who brought him home, Aiden and Braylon. And they're doing that right in Christian's driveway. They're trying to figure out what led up to Christian being in the state he was in. Now Eric's the most talkative and he told detectives that there was a party at his dad's house on Topaz Lane in Brunswick and he and some others had picked Christian up from his parents place in Medina earlier that night. And Eric said that they got to his house sometime after 10pm now there was some alcohol, specifically four locos, some weed, but he said it was pretty chill, just like this small group hanging out. And he gives them a list of other names, maybe like seven in total, one of them being the girl Christian had kind of been dating, Becca.

[Britt]

And were there any adults around?

[Ashley Flowers]

No. Which is like kind of the key to a high school party. Usually Eric lived at this house with his dad, but his dad was out that night with a new woman that he'd been dating for about a week and the two of them didn't get back until like midnight. But when they did get back they went straight to the basement and the kids were upstairs in Eric's room. And there's actually some photos and videos of the kids that Becca shared with us from that night. I've seen them and they're all hanging out up there like everyone including Christian are laughing and having a great time. Eric said that he and Christian left at Some point for a bit to go grab donuts that had been thrown out after the donut place closed. Then they come back to the house. They're all eating them, having fun. But shortly before 2:00am, things turned sour. Or as Eric told police, quote s hit the fan. Now, I don't know what prompted this now in the night, but Becca accused Christian of sleeping with someone else. And Eric said that this prompted a giant fight. And after the fight, Becca and her friends left. So the only people left there at the house were Christian, Eric, and Aiden. And Aiden backed this up with police, but Christian didn't stay much longer. They said that after Becca left, his mood changed and he stormed out of the house shortly after 2am And Eric said he tried stopping him because Christian was drunk, but Christian grabbed him and pushed him into the wall. So Eric just let him go and, like, didn't think it was worth the fight.

[Britt]

But we know now that Christian wasn't drunk, so there's that.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, but police didn't know that during their initial questioning in the driveway.

[Britt]

That's all like autopsy stuff that happens two months later, right?

[Ashley Flowers]

So Eric tells police this, and then he says a little While later, around 3am, he went to drive Aiden home. And the two of them spotted Christian laying on the ground near the end of Eric's driveway. And they stopped to see if he was okay and noticed that he had some, like, drool and vomit on his face. They asked him if he's okay, but all he said was that he couldn't move his upper body. So that's when they say they called his brother, got him into the truck and got him home, which is where our story began. After talking to them in the driveway, police then take Eric and Aiden down to the station for a more formal interview and to get official statements. Now, it's not clear to me why they didn't take Braylon, given that he also brought Christian home, but it might be because they do end up finding out that Braylon wasn't actually at the house party. They end up meeting up with him later, which I'll get into in a minute. All I know is that Braylon ends up staying at Christian's family's house for a little while after while the other two go to the station. But anyways, as police continue to question Eric and Aiden, Eric's story shifts slightly in his telling. Now, Christian wasn't laying near the end of his driveway when they found him. He was five or six houses down at the bottom of a neighbor's driveway. Andy said the teen boy who lived there was standing outside with two of his friends and those guys told them that Christian had knocked on their door. Everything else though in the story stays the same. Except there is one detail that stands out to me. So Eric told police that he was driving when they dropped Christian off, but Aiden told police that he was driving. Now Aiden also told police that he didn't drink that night. So maybe he was trying to cover for Eric who admitted to police that he had been drinking that night. Like I don't know if he was trying to make sure he didn't get in trouble or, or what.

[Britt]

But okay, the my driveway versus neighbor's driveway is like whatever to me. But not mentioning three other guys that were outside, like that's pretty strange.

[Ashley Flowers]

I know.

[Britt]

So what's with these kids? Like what's their story?

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, so obviously they go talk to them. Easy to find since one of them lives on the same street.

[Britt]

Right.

[Ashley Flowers]

And the boys told them that they were hanging out, having a sleepover or something when they heard someone yelling for help outside. At around 3am they go out, saw Christian laying on the ground, but they didn't know who he was or what he was doing.

[Britt]

Did they say he looked beat up?

[Ashley Flowers]

I don't know if they ever got close enough to see if he had any injuries. Like they just assumed that he was maybe high or drunk. So they went back inside. But then there was like this knocking at the door. It was Christian obviously and it scared them so much that they grabbed a knife and started taking three second Snapchat videos of Christian from inside the house.

[Britt]

But they didn't go out and help him?

[Ashley Flowers]

Well no, I mean it's a random person knocking on your door at 3am but like they also didn't just stand there and watch. They actually tried to call 911 but for some reason the call didn't go through. They say they watched Christian go back to the end of the driveway and collapse. And then just a few minutes later they saw two guys truck pull up, stand over him for a second and that's when they went back outside and told the two boys what had happened. And then those two teens loaded him up and left. And that story matches what Eric told police the second go around and when they check these kids phones, everything lines up. Even though no call came into 91 1, it's right there in their call log. They had tried to call and they show them the Snapchat videos that they took, which in one just shows Christian laying on the ground and the other Shows Eric and Aiden looking down at Christian.

[Britt]

So when does Bren come into the picture? Because he's not in Eric's story when he's taking Aiden home. He's not in the Snapchat videos. We know he's there when they get to Christian's house, though.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, so he's not at the party that night, but he is friends with Christian and Eric. So apparently Eric called him when he was calling everyone else to try and figure out what was wrong with Christian or, like, what to do. But something isn't quite adding up for me. So police actually go back and talk to Eric at his dad's house. And this third time, he adds another detail that he previously left out. He says he didn't drive just straight to Christian's house once they found him.

[Britt]

Which could explain why the 20 minute drive took an hour.

[Ashley Flowers]

So first he says that him and Aiden made a pit stop so that Christian could throw up. Eric says that he had stopped for that reason several times in that ride home. And in one of those stops, they specifically stopped at this golf course. And based on what police told us, it seems like Eric told Braylon to meet them there. Apparently, Eric said that they wanted him to help get a hold of Christian's brother, and then they all took Christian home.

[Britt]

But do they not know where he lives? Like, I don't know why they're taking time to meet up with Braylon.

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, no, they. They know where he lives. Remember, they actually started the night at his house. He picked him up. So Eric definitely knows where he is. But I guess Braylon was closer to the family than Eric was. Like, both of them are Christian's childhood friends, so maybe they just felt more comfortable having Braylon with them. I don't really know. But either way, he meets up with them, and then he follows Eric and Aiden in his own car.

[Britt]

And in all of this interaction, no one is seeing how bad off Christian is.

[Ashley Flowers]

I mean, it's certainly the question police can't get out of their heads. I actually have body cam footage of them standing in Eric's driveway asking about this in particular.

[Police Officer]

And through all of this, why didn't. At some point, why didn't somebody call and say, we need to get the police or at the very least a rescue squad here?

[Eric]

I. I just called his brother and he just told me to bring him home. And I. I was freaking out. I didn't.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Eric]

I was just calling people who I first met.

[Ashley Flowers]

Okay.

[Police Officer]

And the ride from here to Ivy Hill, my understanding is you guys stopped.

[Eric]

At Bunker Hill Golf Course on Port Ride.

[Police Officer]

Why did you stop there?

[Eric]

He. Chris was like, I gotta. You gotta pull over. I gotta. He's like, I'm not feeling good. Even though he was already blown up.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Eric]

I was like, I'm still gonna pull over.

[Police Officer]

So at that point, he was talking?

[Ashley Flowers]

Yes.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Eric]

Yes.

[Police Officer]

So, like, if you asked him specific questions, was he just giving yes or no answers?

[Eric]

No. Most of the time it was just. And then.

[Police Officer]

Okay.

[Eric]

Because I kept asking him he. If he needed water or something to eat. I was like, I stopped to get something to eat. He's like, okay.

[Ashley Flowers]

While they were talking to Eric in the driveway, police were also inside searching the home, but they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. One of the officers said that the home looked a little too clean. But, I mean, that's certainly not a crime. And no matter how many ways they ask him, the part of his story that never changed is that Christian left the house, was on foot perfectly fine at 2am and then they didn't see him again until 3 when they found him messed up in front of the neighbor's place. Whatever happened to Christian likely comes down to that critical hour. But the data that police get, or rather the data they don't get from that time only deepens the mystery. This is an ad by BetterHelp. A call on the drive home seems so small, but I have gotten my friends on days when they were down and just needed a friend to talk to. And as the seasons change, there are shorter days and colder days. The days don't have to weigh you down. And this season, Better Help encourages you to reach out, check in on friends, reconnect with loved ones, and remind them that you're there. Just like it takes courage to send that text or grab coffee with someone you haven't seen in a while, reaching out for therapy can feel difficult, too, but it can be worth it. It can leave people wondering, why didn't I do this Sooner? With over 30,000 therapists worldwide, BetterHelp is one of the leading online therapy platforms. BetterHelp therapists are fully qualified, and BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals this month. Don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist, BetterHelp makes it easy to take that first step. Our listeners can get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com crimejunkie.com. that's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com crimejunkie Police pulled Christian's phone data, hoping that might give them insight into where he was or who he might have been communicating with within that missing hour. But the results are odd. They have some data points that shows he did go out of the house like Eric said, at 2:06am like location data? Well, they say yes, location data. I get a little confused. It doesn't totally make sense to me. But that's what police say.

[Britt]

Okay, and where were Aiden and Eric's phones, like, around that time?

[Ashley Flowers]

Police would only tell us that their phones were inside eric's house between 2 and 3am but what's not clear to me is how police know that, like it. They know Christian's phone's outside, they know their phones are inside. They make it seem like it's location data, which at first I thought was like, like pink, like pings, you know what I mean? But that's just a general area, like.

[Britt]

As a more of a triangulation than anything.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah. So I kind of wonder because I know they end up getting search warrants. Like that's how they get all of this. They get search warrants for Christian, Eric and Aiden's phones. And so I wonder if it isn't like, like health data or movement data or something like that, or even based.

[Britt]

On like pictures of what they were posting or sending to other people to like locate them in those times.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, they wouldn't go into detail with us. All I know is they are certain, at least to us, that Christian is outside and these two phones are inside. Now, in getting the search warrants, I know one of the things that they were hoping to see were communications from that night. But police told us that the way that the phones are set up, and teens being teens, a lot of the apps that they use, like Snapchat, are encrypted. So it's not super easy for them to get that stuff. In fact, Eric told police when they took his phone that they might not see regular calls on his phone because he just uses Snapchat to call people. So really the only other data point that they have to work off of happens at 2:14am that's when Christian's phone goes dark. Police don't know if he turned it off or if it just died or what.

[Britt]

And did he have his phone on him when they brought him home?

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, it was on him and it was in fine condition. So it's not like it broke or anything like that. It just goes dark at 2:14. I don't know what that means, but I kind of wonder if, like, whatever happened to him happened then. So that's what they have from the phones. The next data set they try to look at are the cameras. Because when police are looking around on Topaz Lane, it's 2024, and they see doorbell cameras all over.

[Britt]

Yeah, great.

[Ashley Flowers]

Someone in the neighborhood has to have surveillance footage. But when they go door to door asking the neighbors to see their footage, they are met with what I think is a strange response. Everyone said that theirs either wasn't working or their cameras didn't pick anything up that would have triggered their camera to start.

[Britt]

And did police check all that out for themselves?

[Ashley Flowers]

Police said they, quote, fully investigated this and that they don't have any ring cam footage with Christian on it.

[Britt]

What does that really mean? Like, they looked at everyone's cameras on Topaz Lane.

[Ashley Flowers]

I don't. They wouldn't tell us. Like, I. I don't have any specifics, and I'm not convinced that no one has footage, even if it were just of Christian walking away. Right.

[Britt]

It doesn't even have to be anything nefarious. Just like putting him in a place at a time would be helpful at this point.

[Ashley Flowers]

And if we don't have him walking away, like, also, what does that say?

[Britt]

Right.

[Ashley Flowers]

But, like, if he walked away and everyone's saying their cameras weren't working, like, are they lying? I mean, I think the interesting thing to note is this is a predominantly white neighborhood. Christian is a black teen. And we spoke with someone from the area. I'm going to call him James. He told us that that neighborhood and Brunswick Hills in general is not the most open minded community. And I think that's being kind of generous because Christian's sister Chrissy and their mom Rochelle told us that last year during one of their justice walks around Topaz Lane after Christian's murder, people in the neighborhood were actually yelling slurs at them and yelling at them to leave. And they say residents even called the police on them saying that they were on private property. Now, we obviously asked detectives about that. They said that they didn't receive any complaints for anyone at the march, but they did get several calls directly to the police station from concerned residents worried about the people yelling and screaming on the street. So they patrolled the areas just in case, but no reports were filed. And for clarity, I'm not saying that everyone in the neighborhood is like that. I mean, the neighbors that our reporters spoke to really want to help in any way they can. But it's not like others in this community are rallying around the family to get answers. It feels a little more like if something happened in this neighborhood, A lot of the neighbors might cover for each other. And that's something that resident James told us that he wouldn't be surprised by. So since police have no footage to go off of, they're left trying to piece together a third theory of what could have happened Based on the injuries Christian had. But even those just make no sense. Like I said, he died from blunt force trauma to the neck and abdomen. And he had some bruising, but only a small cut on his shoulder. But like, all of his internal injuries made it seem like he had suffered some type of hard blow, like he made abrupt contact with the ground or something.

[Britt]

One big impact.

[Ashley Flowers]

That's kind of what it seems like. Which brings two possibilities to the forefront. Not that either is right or necessarily even the only explanation. There could be other options that we don't know about. But my first two thoughts were fight or hit by a car. And honestly, hit by a car was.

[Britt]

My first thought that's what I was going to bring up. Because, like, that would kind of explain, like, even you said there was injuries, like, just on one side of his body. That would, like, kind of track with that, right?

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah. And Christian was wearing all black that night. So if he walked out of the house, maybe somebody hit him and then ran off. Our reporter got two neighbors on the phone. One of the neighbors lived where Christian was found, and this guy brought up a suspicious blue pickup truck. He said that this truck had basically been parked near their house in that topaz lane cul de sac for, like, almost a year.

[Britt]

Like, broken down?

[Ashley Flowers]

Not broken down, no. Like, it came and went throughout the year. But, like, right after Christian's death, that truck just disappeared. And this neighbor said that topaz lane isn't well lit, so they always kind of wondered. But we brought this to detectives, and they said that they already checked it out, and they believed that that truck was in an unrelated wreck around the same time and that the owner of the vehicle got a new one. So the truck disappearing was just a coincidence. Moreover, the police said that if Christian had gotten hit by a car, There would be classic bruising patterns on his lower body that just aren't there. Now, a hit and run isn't totally out. They said, like, a very specific version of a hit and run could have happened here if he was hit and then thrown over the vehicle. But Christian's family maintains that they don't think it was a car accident at all. And I get why I mean, there is something about the logistics of it that don't feel totally right to me. The whole neighborhood, it's just this cul de sac. Right? Like, it's one street. I don't think anyone would be flying down it. So, okay, if. If a hit and run is a possibility, maybe Christian walked to the main road. That's Grafton Road, where the speed limit is 35. But then if that's the case, would he have been able to get all the way back to Topaz Lane in that condition? Obviously, police don't have a starting point. They don't know where the incident took place. But they do say that they think whatever happened to Christian could have happened where he was found a few houses down, but they are truly not sure because there was no crime scene or anything like that. And so if he's not hit by a car at a high rate of speed on Topaz Lane, then that leaves option two, some kind of physical attack. Some of the body cam footage we obtained showed that police directly ask Eric if there was a fight. But he's adamant that nobody got in a fight, that the only one physical was Christian when he pushed him into a wall on his way out because Eric was telling him not to leave. But a fight seemed to be Christian's dad's first thought. In the original police report, he said that when Christian got home, he looked, quote, scuffed up. Now, I've never been in a fight myself. There's still time. But the pictures I've always seen of somebody who's been beaten up, majority of the time, there is a lot of damage to their face, right? Like, swollen eyes, bloody nose, busted lip, even busted knuckles on the victim because they're trying to fight back. But so much of that isn't here. I've seen the photos that police took of Christian in the hospital. Now, there's only one clear shot of his left hand. I can't see his right, but, like, there's nothing there. Like, he was able to fight back. The only open wound is that one on his right shoulder. It's like an open gash, less than an inch long. That definitely bled. I mean, you could tell it's open, but, I mean, Christian's black sweatshirt probably absorbed it, which is why nobody saw that. Right now he has some scrapes and bruising on his face.

[Britt]

Yeah. And did you say his dad thought he saw, like, a shoe print?

[Ashley Flowers]

His dad did, yeah. Police don't see that. And I see what he's looking at. Like, I think we all agree something Hit his face or scraped it or who knows what. But shoe. Not a shoe. I don't think anyone can tell for sure. So all that to say if he got in a fight, it's almost like he got body slammed or something like that. That's actually what police say, which is for real, when you think about it. To slam someone so hard that they die, that's not just boys horsing around. And it's definitely not just one slam and done. I don't think that explains everything.

[Britt]

Yeah, I wonder if he was, like, kicked and stomped or something.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, I have no medical knowledge to back this up, but I don't know. I would think there would be a little more bruising in that case, like, especially on his abdomen. But there's. There's not. There's not any of that there.

[Britt]

So say it is a fight. Say it happens on Topaz Lane. Like, that makes the suspect pool pretty small, you'd think.

[Ashley Flowers]

I mean, the logical place to start is with the friends that he was with. Eric says there was a big fight. Christian leaves. He tries to stop them. All the pieces are there.

[Britt]

I also can't shake the fact that Eric lied about Christian being drunk, though. Like, that's not something you just get mixed up about when, like, he wasn't drinking at all that night. Right.

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, remember, like, he could have drank something that metabolized. We don't know for sure. But it's also possible that Eric could have just assumed that Christian had drank more than he really did. And when he saw Christian throwing up, that was the assumption he made. I mean, especially. Right. It's like he's drinking. Right? But in his story, he's saying that Christian was drunk even when he was, like, trying to get him not to leave, which I'm like, we know he wasn't. Like, it doesn't make sense. But Christian's level of intoxication might not have been the only thing he exaggerated. So we tried reaching out to all of the people who were there that night, and the only person who talked to us actually was Becca. And she said that she wasn't even really mad about him sleeping with another girl. She said that her and Christian weren't exclusive or anything. So, I mean, she was disappointed, but that was it. She said she went home, and police were able to corroborate that.

[Britt]

So then why would Eric say the fight was so big?

[Ashley Flowers]

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe his perception of it was different. I don't know.

[Britt]

What did Aiden say about the fight? Did he say it was, like, this huge blowout.

[Ashley Flowers]

Well, no. He told police something seemed off between Christian and Becca, but he didn't see a fight or anything. And then he said he was in the bathroom when Christian actually left, so he didn't really know what state of mind he was in. And we don't have a ton more from Aiden because he lawyered up pretty quickly after Christian death. In fact, Christian's family told us that they haven't heard from the boys that brought him home since the day Christian died, and they believe that they know more than they're letting on. We reached out to Eric, Aiden, and Braylon, but none of them returned our calls. Now, one thing Becca said on the call with us that I thought was interesting is that it wasn't uncommon for Christian to just go for a walk if he needed to blow off some stuff. Steam. So him leaving the house solo didn't seem out of character or anything to her.

[Britt]

And we've got police saying that they can confirm that Christian went outside and the boys stayed inside.

[Ashley Flowers]

Their phones were inside.

[Britt]

Okay, but if not them, then who?

[Ashley Flowers]

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[Britt]

Okay, that's what I was going to ask, if they have one of them. In theory, the first robber knows the other robber, too.

[Ashley Flowers]

You would think. But these documents say nothing about them. Now, Christian sister Chrissy said that she'd heard these rumors. More specifically, she heard that allegedly the guy whose house was robbed said that he was able to ID Christian as being part of the robbery based on his eyebrows that were shown in camera footage from inside the house. But Chrissy says that there's no way Christian was part of that robbery. He was not that kind of kid, and she doubts that he was mixed up in anything like that. There would be one way to know for sure, though. The charging documents said that one of the people involved in the robbery left a wave cap at the scene that had DNA on it. Now, that got tested. It got compared against the guy in jail. Not a match to him. So it has to be the second robbers.

[Britt]

Right.

[Ashley Flowers]

We tried getting more detail from the Brunswick Police Department about the this different agency from Brunswick Hills Police since the robbery happened in their jurisdiction. We asked specifically if that DNA on the cap has been compared to Christian's DNA, but they told us they weren't allowed to comment on the robbery case since Christian's case is still an open investigation in a neighboring jurisdiction.

[Britt]

Even if Christian had nothing to do with the robbery, that doesn't mean that the guy whose house was robbed didn't think that Christian was involved.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, right. Like he doesn't have DNA evidence. Chrissy said if the rumors are true and it was retaliation for the robbery, she still thinks it's a case of mistaken identity.

[Britt]

But for him to, like, recognize his eyebrows, he had to have known him kind of well though, right?

[Ashley Flowers]

Possibly. Chrissy says that the whole family knows of this guy. It's just like a small community, a place where everyone knows everyone type of thing. But whether Christian knew him deeper than that, we don't know. No one has ever been able to give us anything to show that he does. But, you know, one of the thoughts that I, like, kept coming back to was Christian's phone. So we know Right. All the kids are using Snapchat to communicate, and so many kids let their location be seen on Snapchat, which is, like, wild. But what if that is why he turned it off? Like, what if he knew someone was trying to find out where he was that night, but by the time he shut it down, it was, like, too late, and maybe somebody already made it to him?

[Britt]

I mean, I feel like this is a wild goose chase, but can police not tell that based on his Snapchat.

[Ashley Flowers]

Data, they're still trying to, like, all this time later. And not just for Christian's phone. Like, for a lot of the phones that his friends had, too. But this is what I'm talking about with encrypted data and subpoenas. Like, it takes so long much time, but I think those communications will hold the answers. Becca told us Eric called her that night, panicking, saying that Christian wasn't looking good. He even told her that Christian needed to go to a hospital. They were on the side of the road when he called, and she told us she asked Christian directly if he needed to go to the hospital, and all he was saying was, mm or okay. She told Eric they should go to a hospital, and he said okay, and then hung up.

[Britt]

And then didn't take him to the hospital.

[Ashley Flowers]

And then made a pit stop to meet up with Braylon on the way home, who then followed him in his own car to Christian's.

[Britt]

I mean, yeah, the encrypted data is.

[Ashley Flowers]

The key to everything. Whether his friends are hiding something or if this drug dealer could be involved, who, by the way, is actually in prison now for unrelated drug and gun charges. Or maybe it's none of them. Like I said, Brunswick Hills isn't a very diverse neighborhood. What if he encountered somebody on his walk in the middle of the night? Like, here's this black teenage boy walking by himself. Maybe he came across the wrong person.

[Britt]

I mean, in any of these scenarios, I think someone on that street knows something or saw something or we're missing.

[Ashley Flowers]

A piece of the puzzle. One thing that really trips me up is, is the neighbor we talked to said that he'd had his windows open that night, and his dogs didn't bark and he didn't hear anything. The teen boys didn't mention hearing anything either until Christian started calling for help. So did whatever happened to him happen inside somewhere? Did it happen so fast that he didn't have time to make noise?

[Britt]

I mean, I'm tripped up on the fact that he could talk. He could ask for, like, a coke to drink. But he couldn't say what had really happened to him or who did it.

[Ashley Flowers]

Which I think could be a result of his injuries. I actually looked like some of this up and there are ways that his brain could have been affected by what happened to him, like not getting enough oxygen to the brain due to the punctured lung or low blood pressure from his internal injuries that affected his brain. Like he was probably even having trouble breathing from the punctured lung, too. And more trouble talking. I mean, I told you, there are still so many questions about Christian's death, and maybe the truth lives somewhere in the encrypted phone data. If that's the case, the clock is ticking because police are getting close to unwinding that. And I have a feeling if anyone is hiding anything, they might fare a lot better if they go to police before police have to come find them. So if you were on Topaz Lane on July 13, 2024, or if you have camera footage from that area and day, now is the time to come forward. If something didn't happen inside at the party, then it had to have happened nearby. And if you don't know the whole story, maybe you know a piece of it. Pieces that will help bring the whole picture into focus. Chrissy says that the person who murdered Christian didn't just take one life that night. They took six. Her family has not been the same since his death. And more than anything, they want justice for the boy that they so lovingly refer to as Fat Man. He just graduated and had big future plans to pursue a trade, but all of that was stolen from him and his family. The police chief at Brunswick Hills Police Department actually made a website specifically for Christian's case. It includes the number to their dispatch, a link to send info straight to investigators, and info on how to share tips anonymously. So we're going to put a link to that website in our show notes. This case is solvable. It's only a matter of time. And you can come forward now or you can wait for that knock on your door. You can find all the source material on our website, crimejunkie.com and you can.

[Britt]

Follow us on Instagram rimejunkiepodcast.

[Ashley Flowers]

We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. SA Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck production. I think Chuck would approve.

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