Sins of the City

In 2012, Sanford, Fla., would become the epicenter of a nationwide debate when George Zimmerman shoots and kills Trayvon Martin. Trayvon's death ignites the Black Lives Matter movement and puts the city on center stage for the trial of the century.

The violent murder of 21-year-old Justin Cosby inside a Harvard dormitory basement sends shockwaves throughout the city of Cambridge, Mass., and ignites a loving mother's fight to clear her son's name once the story goes public.

Austin's peaceful atmosphere is shattered when a wave of bombings appears to target the city's minority communities. Multiple law enforcement agencies descend upon the city to try and put an end to the carnage before the body count rises.

Twenty years before George Floyd's murder, Army veteran Roger Owensby Jr. was killed by Cincinnati Police under similar circumstances. His death at the hands of law enforcement would help ignite three days of violent riots throughout the city.

In 2013, mayoral candidate Marco McMillian was hoping to bring seismic change to his hometown of Clarksdale, Miss., before he has his chance, he's found dead under mysterious circumstances, sparking rumors of a political assassination.

The city of Flint, Mich., was plagued by deadly drinking water for nearly four years, as state officials repeatedly denied any problems. The crisis would become one of the most infamous State sanctioned public health disasters in American history.

When beloved Detroit rapper Blade Icewood is shot and paralyzed in 2004, he launches a war of words against his attackers. The salvo of revenge lyrics only heats up the rivalry, leaving Blade dead in a barrage of bullets just 7-months later.

In August 2013, Omaha residents are sent into an all-out panic when four victims are tragically found dead days apart. Soon after, Omaha native Nikko Jenkins is arrested, exposing a violent serial killer that a flawed system helped to create.

Beloved Wilkes-Barre DJ Mike Onley uses his celebrity status to encourage peace among the masses. When he's killed in a seemingly random crime, his murder sends shockwaves throughout the city and ignites a decadeslong fight to find justice.

In the early morning of New Year's Day 2009, Oakland resident Oscar Grant is shot in the back by a BART transit officer at Fruitvale Station. Within days, dramatic cellphone videos of Oscar's shooting go public, igniting a global fight for justice.

When two beloved young men are brutally gunned down in the streets of Roanoke, this typically quiet tourist town must face the harsh reality that no city, not even small-town America, is safe from gang violence.

After a beloved family of seven is firebombed in their sleep in the Baltimore neighborhood of Oliver, the Baltimore City Police fall under intense scrutiny, ultimately bearing as much blame from the community as the killer himself.

Long-standing racial tensions in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst neighborhood explode into months of protests after an unarmed Black teenager named Yusuf Hawkins is pursued, shot, and killed by a mob determined to send a message to Black communities.

In 2013, East Cleveland's reputation as a violent community would provide cover for a deranged serial killer. When the sobering truth is revealed, the city faces the harsh reality that three women were killed, all while no one seemed to notice.

In 2023, tensions in Memphis explode when 29-year-old Tyre Nichols dies, allegedly at the hands of a rogue unit within the Memphis PD. Activists take to the streets, igniting a furious backlash to a problem that has plagued the city for centuries.