As the First 48 ran out on Phoenix detectives, 16-year-old Lonny Bassett stood accused of brutally killing his two friends with a shotgun. Would his claim to self-defense hold water or would the evidence detectives collected in the first 48 be enough to convince jurors of his guilt? In Miami, a minor altercation on the highway ended with a shooting that took the life of an innocent young man. The offender was facing a minimum 25-year sentence with the charge of second-degree murder. But will his defense team convince the jury that the homicide was an accident.

On a warm, clear night in the desert near Lake Mead, the body of a man–shot dead–was found in the middle of the road. When Las Vegas Metro homicide detectives began investigating the death, they had no idea the case would lead them to a conspiracy that involved five people. Or that it would take six years to bring down the man behind the murder.

After a 17-year-old girl is found with a bullet through the back of her head in the woods of Katy, Texas, a young man comes forward who claims to be an eyewitness. Investigators are shocked by the unusual deal he’s made with the DA. Is the eyewitness telling the truth — or is he involved in the murder? And will the prosecution convince the jury that the defendant is the real killer?

An unexpected tip helps police crack the case involving an unidentified shooting victim in Louisville, Ky.; three scared co-defendants are asked to testify against the killer.

A mother of five young boys is found shot to death in her Cleveland, Ohio apartment. A witness emerges, guiding detectives to a critical piece of evidence–and ultimately, a suspect. Going into trial, prosecutors think their case is airtight, but when their key witness falters on the stand, the veteran defense team is poised and ready to dismantle the prosecution’s case.

A residential Houston neighbourhood is rocked by an armed robbery and a vicious murder; four years pass before justice can be served.

In Birmingham Alabama a mother of a two-year-old boy is found stabbed to death in her own bedroom. Investigators have a mystery on their hands when they learn the killer opened the victim’s front door with a key and stole her diamond ring. In Cleveland Ohio, two 19 year-old men are shot and killed during a party at an abandoned house. All signs point to a good friend of the victims’ as the shooter but no one actually saw him pull the trigger. With no DNA or murder weapon found, the state needs to convince a jury the defendant is a cold-blooded killer.

A Houston woman is beaten, set on fire, and left to die in an attack that police investigators suspect was committed by someone the victim knew.

A mugging turns deadly for a man at a petrol station. Police detectives arrest two young men for the crime.

In Cleveland, a 14-year-old girl was gunned down at her own birthday party when rival gangs opened fire. After interviewing eyewitnesses, detectives hunted down several suspects. But would the prosecutor be able to bring all of the defendants to justice? 1200 miles south, in Miami, a woman was shot over a dozen times during a drug deal gone wrong and lived to tell about it. When the woman identified the man who shot her and killed her boyfriend, Det. Manny Castillo hoped her story would be enough to convict a killer.

In Harris County Texas, a 38-year-old man is stabbed to death in his own home leaving behind two children and his wife. Investigators track down the suspect thanks to surveillance video and some good old fashion detective work. But when the defendant claims self defense, the state must put together a case that will convince the jury the dead man was in fact the victim and not a predator.

In Dallas, Detective Rick Duggan arrested two suspects for the murder of Leonel Valle. Now the justice system needed to determine which of them was most responsible - the girlfriend, Marsela Cortez, whose fingerprints were found on his empty safe, or her jealous ex-boyfriend, Gerardo Hernandez?

In Dallas, detectives investigated the disappearance of a 20-year old woman who suddenly went missing. After a six-day search, detectives arrested Douglas Edwards who confessed to the murder of his ex-girlfriend, found strangled and burned in a remote field. Two years later, in the hope of begging the court for mercy, Edwards opts to have his sentenced determined by a jury.

In Birmingham, AL, a woman, her son and her young niece are stabbed more than 75 times then set on fire inside their apartment. Investigators zero in on the victims’ relative. But at trial, the defense claims the suspect’s IQ is too low to qualify for the death penalty. It would be up to the prosecution to paint a gruesome, vivid picture of this brutal crime to secure a capital murder conviction and the ultimate punishment.

Detective Robert Arredondo and his team find themselves involved in a cross country manhunt for suspects in the brutal shootings of three young men.

Just before Christmas, a man is killed during an armed robbery gone wrong. Tulsa detectives and the District Attorney’s Office will try and convince a jury to convict one of the armed men for murder, even if he didn’t fire the fatal shot.

Detectives in Tulsa, Okla., have only one witness -- a 12-year-old girl -- to a domestic dispute that has escalated to a double homicide; at trial, their case hangs on whether or not she will be able to testify.

In February of 2009, 21-year-old James “Jamo” Allen was gunned down outside of a Louisville, Kentucky housing project. After discovering that his ex-girlfriend knows the truth about the crime, detectives work quickly to track down the alleged killer and elicit a confession from him. Nearly two years later, what should have been a straightforward trial goes haywire when a detective stumbles on the stand and the defense calls a surprise witness. Will justice be served or will the confessed murderer go free?

When a homeless woman is raped and murdered, Tulsa detectives team up with prosecutors and the suspect’s previous victim, hoping to stop him before he strikes again.

A father of five found stabbed over 50 times shocks friends and family. Cleveland Homicide follows a bizarre trail of evidence that takes the case someplace they least expected.

A robbery at a Cleveland convenience store turns deadly when a store clerk is shot and killed. As police track down the men responsible, they discover more robberies and a second homicide that can be tied to the same suspects. But when the killers are brought into custody, the real drama begins, as they turn on each other--each bringing a very different story to the witness box.

A young mother and her friend are murdered in a parking lot, sending Tulsa detectives and prosecutors on a mission to put the shooter behind bars.

In Tulsa, a 19-yr-old woman is killed in a drive-by shooting, but the bullet was meant for someone else. At trial, justice hinges on a witness with close ties to both the victim and the suspect.

Evidence at the crime scene leads detectives in Mobile, Ind., to believe a young victim was murdered by two gunmen; a high-stakes trial leaves the jury wrestling with the question of whether one of the suspects could be found not guilty.

On a Sunday night in June 2007, Christian Marton and his girlfriend Monica Stafford drove two hours from Axtell, Texas to Dallas where Christian had arranged to buy a 1995 Chevrolet Caprice. By the end of the evening, Christian was dead - shot in a robbery attempt.