Wis. man who killed neighbor teen gets life term

[GandD 5,966]

They captured the murder pretty well.

That's really the worst possible outcome for this guy.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 76-year-old Milwaukee man who fatally shot his unarmed teenage neighbor was sentenced to life in prison Monday, days after telling the court he killed the boy for justice because he believed he stole his shotguns.

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.

A jury found Spooner guilty of first-degree intentional homicide last week, a conviction carrying a mandatory life sentence. The judge could have allowed for the possibility of parole after 20 years, but rejected that option, citing Spooner's lack of remorse and desire to also kill the teen's brother.

Spooner, who has lung cancer and other physical ailments, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

__________

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.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130722/US-Teen-Fatally-Shot-Milwaukee/

Why would race be mentioned? Seems like a murderer went to prison and the state met their burden of proof.

Good news. Once again, the US justice system works.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Why would race be mentioned? Seems like a murderer went to prison and the state met their burden of proof.

Good news. Once again, the US justice system works.

Race was mentioned because being a black teenage male is what got this kid killed.

[Teddy B 17,252]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 76-year-old Milwaukee man who fatally shot his unarmed teenage neighbor was sentenced to life in prison Monday, days after telling the court he killed the boy for justice because he believed he stole his shotguns.

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.

A jury found Spooner guilty of first-degree intentional homicide last week, a conviction carrying a mandatory life sentence. The judge could have allowed for the possibility of parole after 20 years, but rejected that option, citing Spooner's lack of remorse and desire to also kill the teen's brother.

Spooner, who has lung cancer and other physical ailments, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

__________

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.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130722/US-Teen-Fatally-Shot-Milwaukee/

Good to see justice was done. Unbelievable the white guy didn't get off.

This case is so much more blatant than the TM/GZ fiasco, yet I never heard of it til now. Thanks Obama and the rest of the race baiters out there.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

TM/GZ was a big story before Obama said anything. That's WHY he said something - it was such a big story at the time that someone ASKED him about it.

In this story, there's no "other side to the story" ... it's all caught on tape. There's nothing to argue.

If tape existed of the TM/GZ incident, the story would have been put to rest fairly quickly.

There would have been no wondering who attacked first, no wondering what TM was doing to GZ, no wondering if GZ really was getting the beat down of his life, etc.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Penny Lane

[Teddy B 17,252]

TM/GZ was a big story before Obama said anything. That's WHY he said something - it was such a big story at the time that someone ASKED him about it.

In this story, there's no "other side to the story" ... it's all caught on tape. There's nothing to argue.

If tape existed of the TM/GZ incident, the story would have been put to rest fairly quickly.

There would have been no wondering who attacked first, no wondering what TM was doing to GZ, no wondering if GZ really was getting the beat down of his life, etc.

It wasn't big really. It was in the news and would have blown over fairly quickly had Obama not pulled the race card and sent special investigators to Florida. The rest is history.

In this story, you have a blatant case of cut and dry racism. Why wasn't this case national news? Why weren't the usual race baiters on the nightly news? Why didn't Obama say this could have been his son too? This is the smoking gun of racism, not the TM/GZ case. Why go on that witch hunt?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

It was big and was already making national headlines before anyone asked Obama his opinion about anything.

And these cases are somewhat similar.

Due to a number of break ins in the area, GZ thought TM was suspicious because he fit the description of who was doing the crimes.

Due to surveillance footage of what this man thought to be the suspects in the robbery of HIS house, this man thought Darius was one of the wrong doers.

Simply looking like someone who would have committed those crimes was enough for both TM and Darius to get unwanted attention.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Penny Lane

[Teddy B 17,252]

It was big and was already making national headlines before anyone asked Obama his opinion about anything.

And these cases are somewhat similar.

Due to a number of break ins in the area, GZ thought TM was suspicious because he fit the description of who was doing the crimes.

Due to surveillance footage of what this man thought to be the suspects in the robbery of HIS house, this man thought Darius was one of the wrong doers.

Simply looking like someone who would have committed those crimes was enough for both TM and Darius to get unwanted attention.

Yes the GZ/TM case was on the national news before Obama got involved, but it would have died out quickly had he not got involved. I don't remember what was in the headlines last week and I'm sure most people don't. Obama pulling the race card is what got this case to where it was. This was a witch hunt and I fail to see the reasoning behind it.

In the Darius case you have everything one would want to claim racism and put this case in the spotlight for everyone to see. It's there and it's very cut and dry. The only thing lacking is the involvement of the President. Why wasn't this case brought into the spotlight? It would make much more sense to me to chose this case.

[Karee 4,191]

This case is so much more blatant than the TM/GZ fiasco, yet I never heard of it til now. Thanks Obama and the rest of the race baiters out there.

Yep. What's that old saying about choosing your battles?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

This case didn't have the mystery surrounding it. The questions were all answered pretty quickly, given that it was all caught on tape.

The first comment Obama made, other than the "he could have been my son" part was ... "listen, there needs to be an investigation as to what happened here so we have all the facts."

That wasn't necessary in this case.

I'm not sure if this man acted with racist intentions, or if he honestly thought Darius was one of the people who broke into his house. Either way, like TM, he was doing nothing at the time to warrant suspicion. All he was guilty of was fitting a description.

This case should have made the news more. It did here. This is a perfect example of who SHOULDN'T own a gun, but can.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Penny Lane

[GandD 5,966]

I wonder who took the guys shotguns

[Karee 4,191]

Yes the GZ/TM case was on the national news before Obama got involved, but it would have died out quickly had he not got involved. I don't remember what was in the headlines last week and I'm sure most people don't. Obama pulling the race card is what got this case to where it was. This was a witch hunt and I fail to see the reasoning behind it.

In the Darius case you have everything one would want to claim racism and put this case in the spotlight for everyone to see. It's there and it's very cut and dry. The only thing lacking is the involvement of the President. Why wasn't this case brought into the spotlight? It would make much more sense to me to chose this case.

Once again.

Where's the outrage in this Darius case? Where's Al and Jesse and crewe? Makes me wonder if all the race baiters thought that GZ was innocent all along, yet wanted to push their agenda to see if they could influence the outcome of the trial.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Where's Al and Jesse and crewe?

I wish people would stop giving them the attention they clearly want. They don't have anyone's best interest in mind.

[Karee 4,191]

It was big and was already making national headlines before anyone asked Obama his opinion about anything.

And these cases are somewhat similar.

Due to a number of break ins in the area, GZ thought TM was suspicious because he fit the description of who was doing the crimes.

Due to surveillance footage of what this man thought to be the suspects in the robbery of HIS house, this man thought Darius was one of the wrong doers.

Simply looking like someone who would have committed those crimes was enough for both TM and Darius to get unwanted attention.

I don't see anything similar in them at all, except that a person was killed by a bullet. The shooter was never physically attacked. There was no self defense claim.

[Teddy B 17,252]

This case didn't have the mystery surrounding it. The questions were all answered pretty quickly, given that it was all caught on tape.

The first comment Obama made, other than the "he could have been my son" part was ... "listen, there needs to be an investigation as to what happened here so we have all the facts."

That wasn't necessary in this case.

I'm not sure if this man acted with racist intentions, or if he honestly thought Darius was one of the people who broke into his house. Either way, like TM, he was doing nothing at the time to warrant suspicion. All he was guilty of was fitting a description.

This case should have made the news more. It did here. This is a perfect example of who SHOULDN'T own a gun, but can.

After seeing what the prosecution put forth as evidence in the GZ trial, I think it was pretty clear from the beginning that there was no case against GZ. There was no mystery in the GZ trial, until the President and the other race baiters invented the "mystery".

Darius was shot and killed in cold blood for being black, the same cannot be said about TM.