Guardian (Season 25, Episode 7)
Premise: A 15-year-old basketball prodigy is beaten to death in his old neighborhood, and the adoptive father who managed his deals claims the boy attacked him first.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 25, Episode 7
- Detectives
- Det. Vincent Riley (Reid Scott), Det. Theo Walker (David Ajala)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy), ADA Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi), DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn)
- Guest stars
- Ryan O’Nan as Jim Pickett, Lindsey Broad as Kate Pickett, Harold Surratt as Caleb Banks, Michael Lynche as Creston “Hollow Point” Reeves, Dylan Baker as defense attorney Sanford Rems
- Director
- Carlos Bernard
- Writers
- Story: Jolie Huang; Teleplay: Art Alamo; Story & teleplay: Ajani Jackson
Summary
The Investigation
“Guardian” opens with Omari Kemp, a 15-year-old basketball prodigy, helping an older man whose cup has been knocked over and giving him a $100 bill, minutes before someone beats the boy to death with a metal pipe. It is the first homicide for Det. Theo Walker, newly arrived from Narcotics. The witness, Caleb Banks, saw Omari back away with his hands raised but never saw the attacker’s face, only a black cap with a gold letter.
Orphaned and placed in foster care, Omari was taken in by Jim and Kate Pickett, whose son Tyler played on his youth team, and Jim handled his sponsorship deals. Jim admits quarreling with Omari that morning over his effort on the court. A doorman recalls a heated argument with coach Adrian Brown, who took fees from colleges and says Omari mentioned trouble at school. A security guard traced the words “go home” sprayed on Omari’s locker to Tyler, but Tyler was at a gym when Omari died.
Deleted texts lead to Omari’s girlfriend, Tamara Wise, and his secret Instagram account shows him with Creston “Hollow Point” Reeves, a rapper with a gangster past. A confrontation at a nightclub nearly turns into a gunfight until Walker calms things. Reeves says he was recruiting Omari for his new sports agency and that Omari meant to drop Pickett as his agent that day. Garage video shows Pickett driving out after Omari, and when Walker presses Kate, she says her husband came home and admitted lashing out at the boy. Pickett is arrested.
The Trial
Defense attorney Sanford Rems claims self-defense, saying Omari flew into a rage and threatened Pickett after learning that Pickett, as his guardian, could block the agency deal. Marital privilege keeps Kate off the stand, and when Price tries to bring in her statement to Walker as an admission against her own interest, the judge sides with the defense. Rems attacks Banks’s eyesight, his panhandling, the money Omari gave him and his felony record, and the prosecutors see the defense playing on fears of young Black men.
Pickett testifies that Omari choked him in a school hallway two weeks earlier. Walker reviews footage from the guard’s private hallway cameras, which appears to show a violent struggle, yet tells Price the cameras missed what they needed. Price then presses Pickett on why no one else ever saw or heard of the attack.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury convicts Pickett of second-degree murder. Riley later hears from the guard about the video Walker said did not exist. Walker insists Pickett is guilty and that he broke no laws, and Riley tells him he will not work with a lone wolf: either they operate as a team or Walker finds another partner.
Why it stands out
- David Ajala makes his first appearance as Det. Theo Walker, a former narcotics detective working his first homicide as Riley’s new partner.
- Dylan Baker returns as defense attorney Sanford Rems, a character he first played in Season 14 of the original series.