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Mr. Spooner was convicted of First Degree Intentional Homicide, as with the help of a surveillance camera that captured the shooting on video, the prosecutors were able to prove that not only was Spooner sane when he killed the teen but that he also shot Darius Simmons with the intent to kill him. This was easily proven when the video showed Mr. Spooner shooting Darius Simmons in the chest at close range and when Darius ran away, Mr. Spooner shot at him again and missed. Justice prevailed and Mr. Spooner was sentenced to life in prison.
I am extremely saddened by the savagery in this case. Another youth dying senselessly at the hands of an armed citizen again trying to take matters in their own hands instead of allowing the law enforcement to handle the situation. So many questions are now floating around in my head. Why did he accuse his neighbor of stealing his guns? How could this situation have been prevented? Do we really need to revisit the gun laws within this country? Why are our black youths prone to gun related violence and deaths?
I firmly believe in the Second Amendment which is the right to bare arms, but there are clearly individuals out there who are abusing the constitutional right and making it bad for the other responsible gun owners that exist within this country. The right to bare arms is not the right to murder at whim. We cannot become a society of savages and barbarians. Let us make the Second Amendment count for something more than senseless murders for heaven sake.
I am also so tired of hearing about our black youths dying like dogs in the street. Whether it was done by someone of the same race or someone of another race. We need preemptive and preventative actions to be taken against such a phenomenon, as it is obvious that black youths are a high risk group that is prone to gun violence and gun deaths. The difficult question that faces our society is, what can be done?
As a mother of two beautiful black children, I worry about the security of my children daily, as all loving mothers do. I would do whatever it takes to protect my children from the dangers that awaits them in this dangerous and volatile world that we live in. I want my children to live to a ripe old age and not fall victim to hate crimes, gun crimes or even a life of criminality. What do I need to do as a mother to ensure this?
I do not have the solution for these questions but my advice is for us as a society to unlearn hatred. Also, as black parents, we need to somehow equip our children with alternative ways of resolving conflicts that does not involve violent altercations and insults that can lead to dangerous situations or death. We need to caution our children against "bad company" and "dangerous areas and places" that can cause them to lose their lives. Clearly as parents, we can't supervise our children every minute of the day, however, paying attention to their after school activities and whereabouts is definitely a place to start. Our children need us to protect them and unfortunately, in some cases, we can't. However, let us take affirmative action and protect them as much as we can whenever we can through guidance, parental supervision and parental intervention.
On a final note, please, let us allow the police do their jobs and handle situations like these. Let's not pull our guns out and gun down innocents. Community policing and community watch is more effective and safer when we allow the the police to intercede as the police is obviously trained and more equipped to handle dangerous situations. However, when we try to take matters in our own hands, we stand the risk of losing our own lives or jeopardizing the lives of others as is clearly shown in the case of George Zimmerman and Raul Rodriguez who both ended the lives of individuals in an attempt to take matters in their own hands. Let us learn from these examples.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBKogMxbRAU (please be advised that this is a video of Darius being confronted by Spooner when Darius was shot and killed).
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