Saturday, August 15, 2015

Black Behavior Matters Part 2: Good Little Boy Edition

From the Orlando Sentinel:
Three more suspects were arrested Friday in the violent carjacking of a federal agent vacationing with his family in the International Drive tourist corridor.
Dante Askins, an 18-year-old gang member, was arrested first Thursday afternoon driving a stolen car less than a mile from the previous night's carjacking, arrest records show.
On Friday morning, a 15-year-old suspect accompanied by his parents turned himself in at Orange County sheriff's headquarters, 2500 W. Colonial Drive. Hours later, a 16-year-old suspect was arrested, and 18-year-old Gregory McDonald was arrested Friday night, according to Sheriff Jerry Demings.
At least three of the four of them have criminal records:
The carjacking was Askins' sixth arrest, records show.
In 2013, the former student at Oak Ridge High School was charged as an adult at 16 with attempted first-degree murder after a drive-by shooting between two Pine Hills street gangs, Death Over Mercy and the Gorillas. A 15-year-old girl was wounded in the shooting, records show.
...
The Orlando Sentinel is not identifying the juvenile defendants unless the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office decides to prosecute them as adults.
The 15-year-old was charged a year ago in Apopka with kidnapping and causing great bodily harm. The 16-year-old has five prior felony arrests starting at age 13 that include burglary, robberies and stealing a car, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The mother of the 16 year-old was SHOCKED to discover her son had done such a thing, despite his prior felony arrests. His family alleges that he was just along for the ride and didn't know the others had a crime spree planned. He didn't know nuthin'. Don't worry, Levanti Redding is a football star at Jones High School, so he'll be coming to a college near you soon.

Looking at the Orange County Clerk of Courts records, I see the other member of the party, Gregory McDonald, has several prior arrests with at least 14 felony charges against him in the past, and two misdemeanor charges. He has even been charged with armed car-jacking and kidnapping before, as well as armed robbery, sexual battery on a minor, and other charges. More often than not he has been "Found Incompetent to Proceed". Wonderful.

Why highlight this case? Because of the multiple arrests these four have had, despite their youth. Because at least one of them has belonged to a gang called Death Over Mercy, which has feuded with another gang called the Gorillas. Because they decided to go far afield from their own stomping grounds to look for victims. Because they didn't have anything in mind OTHER than going out and kidnapping someone and pistol whipping them and stealing their vehicle JUST for a night of fun, no real profit expected. Because it was just so stupidly violent. Because they're likely to be back on the street in no time, because they will be "Found Incompetent to Proceed" or because the prosecutor will plead them down because Black Lives (and ONLY Black Lives) Matter.  Because it's just so fucking typical.

1 comment:

  1. WAY too frequently, I hear on the news of such savagery. Always in the news segment , it gets mentioned about the rap sheets with multiple felonies, sometimes dozens of violent acts. At this point, I always ask myself the question: Why aren't there more prisons? Seems like an obvious solution. I know in a progressive society such as ours, we look to redeem and rehabilitate. But, honestly, is it really that bad of an idea to simply build more prisons and be done with it?

    ReplyDelete