Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Handsome Cat Lover, 28, Gunned Down Near UGA Nightspot: WHO KILLED DANIEL?

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Daniel Macias enjoys the downtown Athens nightlife scene, but on Saturday, August 13, he forgoes a night on the town.  He leaves his job at a local restaurant, and crosses the street to a store. Inside, He gets a phone call, sets his purchase items down, and walks out. Macias continues the conversation as he walks to his car. The call lasts 7 minutes. As the phone call with Macias ends, the sound of 5 gunshots rings out.     Daniel Macias collapses in a bed of landscaping mulch. Someone calls 911 while two men chase the gunman. He picks up the pace and can outrun them Police on foot and bikes canvass the area all night, knocking on doors, and looking in the woods, but the gunman is gone.   There has been no arrest in the murder of Daniel Macias.  Investigators say there are no suspects in the murder. And Detectives do not have a motive.  Crime Stoppers Anonymous Tip Line: 706-705-4775 Joining Nancy Grace Today: Christy Rohmer - Daniel’s Former Sister-in-law; GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/justiceformacias  Erin Lahey - Former Coworker and Friend of Daniel Macias  Darryl Cohen –  Former Assistant District Attorney (Fulton County, Georgia) Former Assistant State Attorney (Florida), and Defense Attorney: Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC; Facebook: “Darryl B Cohen;” X: @DarrylBCohen Dr. Chloe Carmichael – Clinical Psychologist, Women’s Health Magazine Advisory Board;’ Author: ‘Nervous Energy: Harness The Power of Your Anxiety;’ X: @DrChloe Mark Malueg -  Original Detective on Daniel’s case, Former Athens-Clarke County Police Department; Currently a Law Enforcement Technology/Software Consultant   Dr. Jan Gorniak – Medical Examiner, Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (Las Vegas, NV), Board Certified Forensic Pathologist Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories; X: @swimmie2009     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Handsome, loving, smart, the apple of his family's eye. Have you heard the name Daniel Macias? Not many people have. Why is his death not being covered? And forget about covering it. Solved.

Who killed this brilliant, wonderful young man? There was actually video surveillance in the area. It's very hard for me to believe that no one knows anything about the death of Daniel Macias. I'm just not buying it. First of all, I want to give you the tip line 404-244-2600 and even better 706-705-4775. Repeat 706-705-4775. Do you know how I found out about this young man? He's just a few years older than my son, John David Lynch. I found it online on Twitter because Daniel was murdered near where Lakin was murdered near the UGA campus.

And while the news had electrified so many in law enforcement and so many legal eagles, I happened to find out about Daniel Macias. Joining me in All-Star Panel to make sense of what we know and figure out why this case has not been solved. But first, I want to go to a co-worker of Daniel's, Erin Leahy,

who worked diligently to help get answers. Erin, thank you for being with us. I don't know that I would ever have known about Daniel Macias being killed if it hadn't been for you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I've been told I have a big mouth and I have always told Daniel's family and Daniel's mother that I will not stop saying Daniel's name. It unfortunately has not gotten the coverage that other cases have his murder. And it's been important to me. And when it first happened, I think his family and I felt like we're

going to put flyers out, we're going to get the word out. And within two weeks, we're going to see who did it and we can get justice. But unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. All I know to do is to say his name whenever I can and hope. I know that the Athens-Clarke County Police Department has had a lot of turnover. So we've had a lot of different investigators. I have been working with the family because I live in Athens and they do not. But it's been difficult, I think,

because it's been passed around and we still want to know why. Guys, you're hearing Erin Leahy, if it hadn't been for her, going on Twitter when we were all trying to solve the Lakin murder. I would never have even known about Daniel Macias. But first, let's go to Alexis Tereszczuk joining me.

CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter who coincidentally went to, attended UGA. Alexis, thank you for being with us. You know what struck me about this case to start with is that Daniel loved going to hear music. And there's a music row, as I understand it. And in this case, I know, in fact, I think you've met my nephew, Dan, who honors student at UGA when he graduated he went and worked in connection related to Homeland Security just brilliant but he is a teetotaler like myself and he would always go up and down music row because he you know is a musician to hear the music. And that's the way Daniel Macias was, too.

He loved music. And I'm wondering, Alexis, if he had been going up and down. I call it music row. But you know what? You're the reporter. You tell me. Tell me about Daniel Macias. So Daniel Macias, he went to the University of Georgia.

He graduated from there, and he decided he loved Athens. Athens is a great town, and it is known for its music. It is. It's a college town. It's not that big. Everybody kind of knows each other. There's a lot to do. Lots of restaurants downtown where he was.

It does have bars that have music. Even the famous band R.E famous band REM is from Athens back in my day but he so he was out at a bar nine days bar downtown it is literally three blocks away from the entrance the arch to the main old part of campus where the University of Georgia so he was at a bar enjoyed music and that bars close at 2 2 o'clock in Athens. So he left the bar at about 2.30 in the morning on a Saturday night, Sunday morning. Not that late. Everyone leaves the bars at that time.

It wasn't, you know, a time when he was the only person that would have been leaving a bar. Walked to his car, which he parked literally next to like where the police, there's a jail there and the prisoners will get transported through there. And it's also next to a courthouse. All of these places are public property. So he and it's very well lit. And he walks down, walks to his car. And that is where he was murdered. OK, this is what else we've learned. Take a listen to Rachel Bonilla at Crime Online. Daniel Macias is heading towards his car,

parked near the courthouse. When he rounds a corner, he's shot five times at close range. Daniel Macias collapses in a bed of landscaping mulch. Someone calls 911 when two men chase the gunman. They walk briskly behind him at first, but he picks up the pace and is able to outrun the two inebriated men. Police on foot and on bikes canvas the area all night, knocking on doors, looking in the woods, but the gunman is gone. It's amazing to me that if 911 is called immediately, according to Rachel Bonilla,

and the other two guys 911 is called immediately, according to Rachel Bonilla, and two guys, the other two guys, chase the gunman. They start walking briskly, and as he picks up his pace, he outruns them. Police on foot and on bikes canvass the area all night, but the gunman is gone. I don't think he was gone. I think he ducked into a bar or an all night fast food restaurant. He ducked into something or did he duck into a car and take off? Another thing that's really striking me is the fact that he was shot, Daniel Macia was shot five times. Alexis Tereshchuk, there was no robbery that we know of and no sex attack. So what is the motive of shooting the victim five times?

Did I get that correct? Alexis, he was shot five times? Five times in close range. It wasn't, from what I understand, the police have not really identified, they found shell casings at the scene, but it wasn't like it was a semi-automatic rifle that could fire, you know, multiple bullets very, very quickly. But he was shot five times at close range just by one person, because that's what the eyewitnesses said, that they followed. That he, the person, the man, followed him. And he was dressed in all black and then was very, very close to him when he shot him. But to hit somebody five times, you have to be very close or you have very good aim from very far away.

But this person was incredibly close, like right up. So it makes it seem like it was very personal it was targeted it wasn't and the police have said this if it was a simple robbery you know 2 30 in the morning hey give me your wallet give me your phone give me all your money you would shoot somebody maybe one time to give it to them and then you would take their stuff and run away this was five times to make sure that he was dead. Joining me right now, in addition to Christy Romer, relative of Daniels, Mark Malik is with us. The original detective on this case. Former Athens-Clarke County PD, currently law enforcement technology software consultant. Mark Malik, thank you for being with us and giving us some insight, because with what

we know, I'm not saying the cops did anything wrong at all. They raced to the scene. They go door to door. They're canvassing the area trying to find this guy. Tell me what happened from your perspective, Mark. Yes, thanks for having me, Nancy. You know, you mentioned how this guy ran away from the scene, and that is the case with a couple of witnesses in tow that were chasing him. Unfortunately, he was actually

running away from downtown, so leaving the downtown area and it's been it's right on the outskirts of where the bar scene is and even though it was the time of night when the bars were letting out indoors literally groups and masses of you know partygoers that were walking home because this was just outside of that area a lot of people were even unaware that it occurred. Even people in the immediate vicinity did not realize that that was gunfire, that was happening just, you know, a block away from them. But as he ran outside of downtown, you know, really, it kind of leaves the limelight of the downtown scene. And that's exactly right.

He kind of, even though he was being chased, he had a little bit of a lead on those witnesses. And he was able to slip away from them. And ultimately, you're exactly right. Even though police were in the area immediately following the shooting, there was police officers on bike that were literally a block, block and a half away when the shooting occurred. And they were literally probably 60 to 90 seconds behind where the shooter had run to. But being so late at night, there's a wooded area down on that side of downtown. There's multiple apartment complexes. Plus, there's groups of people who are walking outside of downtown. You're exactly right. He was able to simply slip away or to slip in somewhere. And even though we

searched the remainder of the night and then the days afterwards, that's exactly right. He just kind of up and vanished in place amongst the surroundings. And that's kind of how that happened. Well, a few things I want to ask you. Mark Malik is joining us, original detective on this case. There is a very, very heavy police presence in that area. In fact, anywhere you look, you're going to see either a UGA cop, you know, campus cop, you're going to see Athens police. They're everywhere.

And that is why the crime rate is really low in that area, which also makes this the aberration. There are very few homicides around UGA. So I'm thinking about the fact that there was such to retrace steps, see what we could dig up at this juncture. You know, Mark, you pull up and Aruba looks like an island paradise. But when you go past the first facade of buildings, it's like crack town. They're burned out homes. They're vacant buildings. In fact, one of the local residents told me that right before we had gotten there, that palm trees don't grow naturally, that they bring in palm trees and put them up for tourists to see

to make it like a tropical island. And one of them had actually fallen on a tourist and killed them because it wasn't deeply enough rooted into the ground. My point is, you're saying that if you go a very short distance in the direction the killer went, you are no longer in the limelight in the street lamps where all the people are you're out in the woods is that right well i wouldn't say that you're in the woods uh however you are outside of the main uh what you're referring to as music row uh and where where your main nightlife is at uh you're exactly right. You're just a block or two off of that main strip,

which just doesn't have the people, the places. You're getting outside of that main area. And so it's not that it's not lit or that there's not people around. It's just it's not the same. You get a block or two away, there's just less people. There's less businesses. There's less going on. And it's easier to slip into the darkness and not get caught. Joining me right now, Daryl Cohen, high profile lawyer, former felony prosecutor, now defense attorney. Daryl, thank you for being with us. You have handled a lot of how do I, movie, TV, entertainment, legal cases. It's one of your specialties. Have you ever seen a movie set and on one side it looks all bright and shiny and you go behind it?

It's crap. The truth is every sound stage, every set looks great from the front until you scratch it and go behind it, go in the inner workings, and then what you see out of all what you get as it happens. No, it's completely different. The back is not as good as the front. It's not as visibly appealing as the front. So just trying to figure out how this guy, the killer, got away. Joining me right now is Christy Romer, joining

us out of Jasper, Georgia, connected to the family. Christy, thank you for being with us. You recall, I'm sure, when Daniel was killed, correct? Yes, correct. How did you guys find out? What can you tell me about Daniel? Because this was targeted, I'm sure of it. Yes, that's the way we feel as well. That's the way we feel as well. That's the way we've always felt. So we all live in different areas. His father lives in North Carolina. And his mother lives in Jasper.

And his siblings are in different areas as well. One in North Carolina and two others in Georgia. So their father got the call first. And Russ Macias, he's in North Carolina, then he then called Daniel's sister, Erica, and Erica called Tasha, his other sister. And from there, we had to go and tell his mother. So we went to his mother's house and told her, which was probably one of the most horrible things I've ever had to do in my entire life,

tell the mother because her first words were, where is he? Can we go to him? Like, is he going to be okay? When we told her that he was not okay, I'll probably never get that scream out of my head ever. It's pretty bad, pretty horrible.

So that's how we all found out. But I don't know if I can or not, but to go back to him rounding the corner, he actually didn't round that corner. He actually walked the long way and came straight ahead, straight toward that man. They met, so he was walking straight toward him. He didn't just come around the corner and see him. We thought that at first. So he walked straight toward him. Okay. Hold on. Who walked straight toward who? The killer walked straight toward Daniel Macias? They were walking toward each other and they met right at that corner. Daniel's car was right across the street from that corner. So he never actually made it to his car.

It was right across the street where he was shot. Now, on the night that Daniel Macias was killed, I understand that he had been working his shift at a local restaurant. And after working, he went to the store across the street, and then he got a phone call from someone, and he had bought a beer in the store. He got a phone call. He put the beer down and walked out. Is that correct, Christy Romer?

Yes, that's correct. Okay. So do you believe whoever called him asked him to meet them? Seems that way. But we know the person that called him never went to the area and met him. Wasn't that his friend Sean called him and said, hey, meet me. But then Sean had what, wasn't it a headlight missing and he couldn't leave? Yes. Headlight was out. He didn't want to leave. Then who was Daniel speaking to for seven straight minutes as he was walking? That was Sean. You know what I was hoping, Alexis Tereshchuk, I was hoping that whoever he was talking to was the shooter

and that we could just look at Daniel's cell phone for answers. But that's not the case. No, that hasn't been connected at all. And in fact, you know, the police released a video of the shooter. There were surveillance videos. So they released it very quickly after he was killed, hoping that anybody could recognize him come by. They did not. They did not have anybody. They've obviously received tips, but nothing that has led to an arrest. But they did not connect the phone call with the shooter. At least they have not

shared that information publicly. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I want to talk about the video. I'm looking at it right now. To you, Mark Malig, joining us, original detective on the case. What can you tell me about what could be gleaned? I'm looking at the video. It's pretty good video. And I noticed the video was It's pretty good video. And I noticed

the video was panning back and forth. Where did I see him walking right now? Where does the video come from? It looks like security surveillance. So downtown Athens has an entire system of video cameras on various intersections. That's just one of many cameras that are downtown for safety features and things of that nature. And they are on pre-programmed panning, you know, to pan certain areas or certain streets. And they are constantly recording 24 hours a day. Yeah, I'm seeing it's really good video, but I think it's panning and I see Daniel Macia walking. Am I seeing Daniel or am I seeing the shooter? No, that's most. Yeah, we believe that that person either might have some information or could be the suspect himself.

That is the one individual that was in the immediate vicinity and just leading up to the shooting and then we have some other videos as well that's just the one we put out to the public guys i'm looking at the video trying to determine what i can from it mark malik can you tell is the guy white is he black is he hispanic Can we figure out how tall he is compared to the lamppost beside him? He's got on black pants and black shirt, t-shirt. It looks to me like he held up one arm right as the camera panned away. What can you tell me about this guy? Well, I can tell you that what you see in the video is consistent with the eyewitnesses to this incident, because there were several eyewitnesses that were just across the street, closer to where Daniel's car was parked,

who observed the individual and also described him just as what you're seeing in that video. And so they described him as being white or light skinned, possibly if it was mixed, it was light skinned. And so that's what we have to go on. And of course, with that description, I believe that individual in the video matches that as to what they witnessed. Joining me is Dr. Chloe Carmichael, clinical psychologist and USA Today bestselling author of Nervous Energy, Harness the Power of Your Anxiety. Dr. Chloe, I'm looking at this video and I don't know if the video is ever going to help us find the killer, but let's think about the killer. Time has passed. Don't you know he's had to have told somebody that he did it.

Yes, Nancy, I would agree. It would be almost impossible for someone to keep something, you know, like this to themselves, especially because he did this in such a very bold and public way. It's almost as if he wanted to make a display of power. And people like that don't typically just want to keep it to themselves. So I do hope that somebody out there listening may know something and come forward. You know, Christ most beautiful smile. He's been called a gentle giant with a booming laugh, a contagious smile and incredible sense of humor at six, five, 230 pounds. My son is 6'5". You know what? He was unarmed, and the perp had a gun. It makes a big man little and a little man big when one guy has a gun and the other one doesn't. Tell me what you can tell us about Daniel, his personality. I've never met anybody that didn't absolutely love him. Everybody that was friends

with him, strangers even. He never met a stranger. He loved everybody. He adored his family, his siblings, his parents. He adored his friends. He was, he was an extrovert. He was, he had a very big personality and he was very loved by everyone. I don't think, I've never heard anybody speak negatively of him ever. You know, I've looked and looked and looked and I haven't found any of a criminal history on him. Nothing of the sort that would suggest to me he has any type of an enemy. This guy is not dealing dope. This guy is not on the take. This guy is not involved in anything nefarious. Nothing. He works at a restaurant

just at UGA campus. He's with students all day, every day. Who would want to kill this guy? There is an $11,000 reward put up by the family and by Crime Stoppers. If you have to 400-7061. Guys, the shooting death of Daniel Macias has gone largely ignored. Why? Because you know what I see? I see a picture of his mother holding her son's photograph. Think about it. That's all she's got. And you've got Christy Romer with her, the screams from his mother still ringing in her ears. You know what?

Hold on with the surveillance and his personality. I want to talk to Dr. Jan Gorniak for a little reality check. Dr. Gorniak, renowned forensic pathologist, former medical examiner, Clark County. That's Vegas. Athens is also Clark County. But in Vegas, unlike Athens, there's never a lack of business at the morgue. Dr. Gorniak, thank you for taking your time to be with us and help us solve Daniel Messiah's murder, a brutal murder. I'm just thinking about that lonely sidewalk all by himself, and he bleeds out right there.

What did he endure? Five gunshot wounds. He was shot those five times, but obviously vital organs were struck, whether it's in the head or the chest where the brain is injured, the heart, the lungs, the liver. And like you said, he would bleed out. He would hemorrhage. And so depending on where those shots were, unfortunately, he wouldn't have died right away. He would have bled out and then gone into shock. So there would have been a period of survival. Short, but a period of survival, unfortunately. And, you know, like you said, he's there alone

and no one there to call 911 to get him to the hospital and maybe save his life. To Aaron Leahy, joining us, former co-worker and friend of Daniel Macias, what do you know about his particular wounds? My understanding is that they were all to his chest. He was a very tall guy, as you mentioned, and people called him a gentle giant. My understanding is that they were all to his chest and um that he actually called out um i don't know that i should say the phrase um either right before the first shot or right after the

first shot he called out to say what um oh an expletive um that that witnesses had reported. I think Mark Malik might be able to help more with that. Mark Malik, did Daniel say anything just before he was shot? According to the witnesses, there was definitely a confrontation that was very, very brief. Like she was saying, there was an expletive, and then immediately that led into gunfire, because when Daniel crossed the street as he was walking, he encountered this individual almost immediately at this particular street corner. There was not some drawn-out conversation or something that occurred between the two that would have led to this. It was literally walking, meeting face-to-face. There was an an expletive and then there was the shooting. I understand the shooting was at

close range, Mark. Yes, that it is definitely, you know, face to face with one another. What does that tell you, Mark? You know, the the scene definitely indicates that or would suggest that it was something personal or that they were familiar with one another. And the only reason I say that is because there wasn't anything that led up to this. It was so abrupt with the two individuals meeting. So, you know, the way that we see the scene and analyze that, that's exactly what it would suggest. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What led up to the phone call and the shootings?

Take a listen to Dave Mack, Crime Online. Daniel Macias enjoys the downtown Athens nightlife scene. But on Saturday, August 13th, he forgoes a night on the town. He leaves his job at a local restaurant crossing the street to a store. Inside, he gets a phone call, sets his purchase items down, and walks out. Macias continues the conversation as he walks to his car. The call lasts seven minutes. As the phone call with Macias ends, the sound of five gunshots rings out. Question to you, Mark Malik, the original detective on the case. Did the caller, Sean,

hear the gunfire or had he already hung up? So they had hung up because they were on the phone together as Daniel was walking downtown. But I think Daniel essentially put him on hold or said, hang on just a second, and hung up the phone. And that's when he encountered this individual. So he saw the guy coming up on him. Okay, this is what else we know.

Listen. On August the 13th at approximately 2.37 a.m., Daniel Macias was murdered in Athens, Georgia at the corner of East Hancock Avenue and Jackson Street. Athens-Clarke County Police Department investigators are reviewing hundreds of hours of security camera video footage that they have collected in the course of their investigation. Investigators would like to speak with the individual that is depicted in this snippet of video footage. He appears to be a white male dressed in all black. This person may have witnessed details that are important to investigators. If you are this individual, or if you can help identify this individual, call the Crime Stoppers Anonymous tip line at 706-705-4775. You know, listening to Mark talk about, you know, kind of the cold-blooded

methodical attitude of the shooter, you know, have people explored the possibility that the shooter was a hired gun as as opposed to you know personally having a vendetta can I speak on that because that's what this is Christy that's the theory that the family and I have have sought and brought to the attention of the police before in the past because I feel like we feel like that this person was there to do it like he was he was it was planned like he was there was a meeting set up at that time or or like, I think this may have been, Daniel may have even known this person or had met this person previously. I don't think that he was afraid of this guy because he walked right up to him. I do think the guy was probably a hired hit.

Yeah. That's what I was just thinking because there seemed to be such a methodical unemotional, you know, I was just thinking, because there seemed to be such a methodical, unemotional, you know, I hate to say the word, but efficient approach to the shooting. Correct. As if it was, yes, not the first time. And he had, he did his job and he left. Mark Malik is with us. The original detective on this case, Mark. You know, the only comment that I have on that is that we don't have any information that would indicate that. Not to say that that's not a theory. It definitely is a theory, but we don't have any evidence or information that would lead us down that path, or at least we didn't at that time. Now, it's been quite some time since I retired

from the department almost three years ago, so I don't know what information has come in since then, but, you know, it's tough to say. The scene definitely suggests something, and we're trying to put that together. And I will echo what was said earlier, is that what we're really missing is that one person or individuals that know about this, that the shooter or the killer has spoken to, has confessed to, or has confided in, that person definitely is the individual wanting to come forward and is kind of the missing piece of this puzzle. I just wanted to clarify in regards to the phone call with Sean, he had talked with Daniel when Daniel was in the store

and he asked Daniel to meet him downtown. Daniel did go downtown and was downtown, but then he spoke with Sean again when he was walking to his car. I believe it was a seven minute call. He was on the phone with Sean and we don't know that he actually said goodbye. They got disconnected, but Sean never called back. How can a vibrant, happy young man in the prime of his life be gunned down on a public street and the case is forgotten or it feels forgotten. We want justice for Daniel's mother. We want answers for his family. Daniel is never going to rest in peace until we get justice. There is an $11,000 reward for information on this case. Tip line 706-705-4775.

Goodbye, friend. This is an I Heart Podcast.