A Different Trial, a Different Outcome

The story of the old man who shot a 13-year-old black kid in cold blood has ended in a life sentence for the killer. The details are particularly revolting.

John Henry Spooner's home had been burglarized two days before the May 2012 shooting, and he suspected 13-year-old Darius Simmons as the thief. So he confronted the teen, demanded that he return the guns and then shot him in the chest in front of his mother when he denied stealing anything.

Spooner's own home surveillance cameras captured the shooting, and prosecutors aired the footage in court.

His defense:

The defense had argued that the killing might have been reckless but not intentional, and said Spooner didn't mean for the shot to be fatal.

The surveillance footage showed Spooner confronting Darius on a sidewalk, pointing a gun at the boy's chest and firing from a few feet away. Darius turned and fled, and then collapsed and died in the street moments later as his mother cradled him in her arms.

Spooner fired a second shot that missed. He tried to fire a third one but his gun jammed.

The part about the gun jamming instills very little confidence in me about the efficacy of firearms as "protection." What's incredible is that the defense argued that the killing was not intentional: he pulled the trigger three times! And then there's this:

During the trial, race — Spooner is white and Darius was black — was almost never mentioned, except when Spooner referred to his surveillance footage from the day of the burglary. It showed two black teenage males walking near his house from the direction of Darius' home. Their faces are difficult to identify and neither is carrying Spooner's guns. 

Finally — and the reason that the 76-year-old Spooner got life without the possibility of parole — there's the utter lack of remorse when he spoke at sentencing:

"They had to rob the house," he said. "Why'd they do that to me? ... They pushed me over the edge, I guess. I don't know. As far as being sorry, I don't know if I did right or wrong." 

He doesn't know if he did right or wrong? The cops searched the kids' house within hours of the murder and found nothing. The victim was standing on the street with his mom, not currently engaged in any kind of illegal activity or threatening Spooner in any way. How could this man possibly have any doubt about whether killing a 13-year-old child in cold blood was wrong?

This is exactly why the black community is so outraged by the Trayvon Martin killing. Because, in their minds, this is what they think was going through George Zimmerman's mind when he stalked and shot Martin. They believe Spooner and Zimmerman had exactly the same motivations (as indicated by Zimmerman's comment about punks who always get away).

The main difference was that Zimmerman made sure there was no surveillance video and no witnesses.

The net result of this stupid old man's love affair with firearms: he's in jail for the rest of his life, one kid is dead, and two shotguns are out on the streets in the hands of criminals. Spooner's behavior and remarks show that having guns is not about protection: his guns didn't stop his house from being broken into or prevent his shotguns from being stolen.

Having guns is all about revenge and being able to kill the bastards who cross you.