HBO has released the trailer for the upcoming documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips? which explores the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett Phillips, and the subsequent murder trial of Clarkson University soccer coach Oral “Nick” Hillary, a black man living in a predominantly white community.
Directed by Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Liz Garbus (A Dangerous Son, Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper), the documentary explores racial bias as it pertains to the criminal justice system. "As a person of color, you're told: 'Don't talk to the police," Hillary says to the camera in the trailer.
In October 2011, Garrett Phillips was murdered in his hometown of Potsdam, New York, a small town upstate. It didn't take long before investigators suspected Nick Hillary, who previously dated Garrett's mother, Tandy Cyrus. Despite there not being hard evidence linking Nick to the crime, he was tried for murder years after Phillips' death. In the trailer, numerous members of the community can be seen reflecting on the case, including many who still believe Hillary is guilty.
According to the network, Who Killed Garrett Phillips? "looks at the case from the initial investigation through the arrest and numerous legal twists and turns that culminated in Hillary’s trial for murder five years after the crime."
Part one of the two-part documentary will debut on Tuesday, July 23 at 8 pm, with part two being released the following evening. Who Killed Garrett Phillips? is one of the three true crime docs coming to HBO this month, with I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter arriving on July 9 and 10, and Behind Closed Doors premiering on July 16 and 17.
