David Bonds was acquitted yesterday for the murder of Dinerral Shavers.
Again there is an Ashley Morris connection.
Ashley loved the Hot 8 Brass Band, for whom Dinerral played the snare drum. So when we marched on City Hall in January of 2007, Ashley played his snare in honor of Dinerral.
As you can see in this great picture by Alexis, he was not alone.
As for Bonds’ acquittal, was justice served? Was he innocent? I don’t know, of course. I accept the jury’s verdict. But I can’t accept the bigger picture. The Silence Is Violence organization reports a troubling pattern of witness intimidation and poor policing. And the whole case reveals ugly aspects of our society — poverty, lack of education, babies raising babies.
All of these things are on my mind as we prepare to go to Ashley’s funeral.
The judge in the Bonds case called upon citizens to sustain their outrage. Ashley would have agreed, I’m sure. I wish he was still with us. We’ll have to work extra hard to sustain our outrage in his absence.
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RIP Ashley Morris
Your sentiment about babies raising babies makes you sound–well–almost conservative. Isn’t it true that conservatives have been arguing for years that the radical transformation of American culture that took place in the 1960s brought today’s urban underclass into existence? And that one of the major (and tragic) consequences of this transformation was a shift in the attitude towards marriage and childbearing. Suddenly having kids out of wedlock, and at an ever younger age, became not only accepted but the norm. And now we are paying the price.
As for this case, it’s no accident that the 14 year old witness got a sudden case of amnesia on the stand. Either her mom told her to clam up or she was intimidated into doing so. And another (alleged) killer goes free.
[…] Ashley was a passionate, generous soul. His funeral was a fitting tribute to a friend and again closed a sad circle. […]
And now the people that testified are already being targeted. Over 20 shots fired tonight Uptown felled a young man who testified at the trial.