'It Reminds Me Of The Central Park Five': Filmmaker Liz Garbus On HBO Documentary 'Who Killed Garrett Phillips'

(CBS Local)-- Eight years ago, the small town of Potsdam, New York was rocked by the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy named Garrett Phillips.

While officials concluded that Phillips was strangled to death, many questions still remain about the day Phillips was killed and the man who was accused of killing named Nick Hillary.

Emmy award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus dives into the complexities of this case in a new two part HBO docu-series called "Who Killed Garrett Phillips." Garbus first discovered the case after reading a story in the New York Times.

"There is a mystery that has captivated the entire town and devastated his family," said Garbus in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "There was one person targeted for this crime and we still don't know who killed Garrett Phillips or if there will be any justice in this case."

Garbus' documentary features interviews with members of the Phillips family, Hillary, as well as law enforcement officials involved in the case. Within 12 hours of Phillips' death, Hillary was targeted as the main suspect for this crime.

"Nick Hillary is a Jamaican-American, African-American man, military veteran and an All-American soccer player who had a very successful collegiate soccer career. He dated the mother of Garrett, who lost his life. It's reasonable that you have a dead little boy and you want to interview the mother's ex-boyfriend. The mother had other ex-boyfriends, one of whom was the sheriff's deputy. The way that he was treated by the criminal justice system was quite different than the way Nick was treated."

While Garbus spoke to Phillips' mother Tandy Cyrus, Garrett's mother didn't sit down for an on-camera interview in the docu-series.

"Tandy was always a kind and lovely human being," said Garbus. "In her mind also, the only person she could think who could ever have a reason to hurt Garrett was Nick. But, she also knew Nick really well. As you can see in our documentary, their relationship was a very deep, profound relationship. They traveled together, they moved in together, they raised their kids together. I have to imagine in her mind there were maybe some doubts that this person she loved and trusted so much would be capable of such a thing."

In September 2016, Nick Hillary was found not guilty in the murder of Garrett Phillips. This docu-series will take viewers on an emotional roller coaster and Garbus wants people to feel a range of emotions when they watch her film.

"I think that some outrage might happen," said Garbus. "I think some empathy. I think sadness for this family, who was not delivered justice despite an extremely long and exhausting criminal justice process. There's one bit of archive that we brought into the film of the first time Nick is interrogated by the police. I think when you watch it and think of the small ways in which this policing is done, it reminds me of The Central Park Five. It reminds you of the way in which African-Americans have been targeted by law enforcement and the subtle and not so subtle ways they try to get convictions."

"Who Killed Garrett Phillips" airs July 23 and July 24 on HBO.