Cover photo of the incredibly threatening and dangerous victim - 26-year-old PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant Botham Jean.
Just a quick follow up to my post below about the death penalty the other day:
First, it seems as if Christa Pike is still alive and we’ve all… just moved on?
Second, the head of the Tennessee Department of Correction resigned due to the botched execution:
Of course, he gets to resign at his leisure (the end of the month) while Christa Pike’s insides slowly rot away from poison in a hospital. Note that the Commissioner - Frank Strada - had been involve in overseeing multiple previous botched or improperly administered executions in Arizona and Tennessee prior to Christa Pike.
Maybe the cruelty is the feature, not a bug?
Finally, let’s look at another egregious murder case and the end result:
The ex-Dallas police officer sentenced for murder in the 2018 shooting of a Black man in his apartment has been approved for parole.
Amber Guyger, 38, shot and killed Botham Jean, then 26, in 2018 after she said she mistook his apartment as her own and thought Jean was an intruder. She was convicted of murder and given a 10-year sentence.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Oct. 1 approved her for parole after seven years of her sentence had passed. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has not yet scheduled a date for her release from the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit, the women's prison where she has been incarcerated, spokesperson Hannah Haney said.
The case drew nationwide attention and protest amid a wave of attention to police shootings of Black Americans. Guyger, who is White, was fired from the Dallas Police Department after the shooting.
…
The shooting of Botham Jean
Jean was sitting in his apartment eating ice cream the evening of Sept. 6, 2018, prosecutors said. Guyger, who lived one floor below Jean in their apartment building, came through the door and shot him.
Guyger said that after a long patrol shift, she went to the wrong floor and believed she was entering her own apartment. She thought Jean was an intruder and acted in self-defense, she said.
She shot Jean in the chest using her police firearm. Prosecutors said Guyger called 911, but didn't render aid to Jean.
Guyger's trial was notable for an action taken by Jean's brother, Brandt Jean, who hugged Guyger after her sentencing.
Poor Amber. Long shift. Very tired. Wrong apartment. A black man eating ice cream. What’s a cop to do but shoot first and ask questions later?
Plus, she cried at her trial:
Reminds me of another trial crier who got away Scot free with killing two people:
** I’m not trying to minimize Amber’s distress at her trial. I’m sure she felt bad about killing Botham Jean (I still think Rittenhouse’s tears were crocodile tears). But she killed an innocent man in cold blood.
The Texas Board of pardons understood Amber’s hardship. Per the article, they said that “Guyger didn't have a record of a pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions. She "maintained a satisfactory institutional adjustment".
Poor Amber. She’d served 7 years of her incredibly long ten-year sentence. For murdering a guy eating ice cream. And she adjusted well to prison. She might even have earned a gold star next to her name. who knows?
In all seriousness, among all the problems I have with the death penalty, its uneven application is just another reason for it to be abolished.
Christa Pike is abused as a youngster, has mental health issues and committed a heinous crime. Yes - she needed to serve serious time.
Amber Guyger shoots an innocent 26-year-old guy eating ice cream in his own apartment. And 7 years of incarceration seems appropriate?
Give me a break.
Dolly Parton - My Tennessee Mountain Home
