crime – Site Title

The Death Sentence

This is an issue that still grips me today. I used to be against the taking of a life and the death sentence was a no go as far as I was concerned until the day someone took my mother’s life.

My world got turned upside down and at the forefront was the issue of the death sentence. I was so sure that she (the perpetrator) would get the death penalty. I was so wrong but the problem was that I was sitting on the fence wanting it to happen, the death penalty to be handed down, and at the same time I wasn’t so sure. It was a time of deep unrest and turmoil of the worst kind.

I changed from someone who was against capital punishment to someone who thought that “an eye for an eye” was the way to go. Since I couldn’t do it myself, believe me I wanted to, I would let the justice system mete out the punishment. SHE deserved to die for what she had done! That was my rallying cry at the time.

The decision was not in my hands. The verdict was manslaughter to a lesser degree. Outrage? Absolutely. Why? I don’t know. Some technicality, it was said. Anyway, at some point in time while I was raging about the unfairness of it all, I looked in the mirror and saw someone else emerging. A person filled with anger, rage and revenge. I didn’t like what I saw.

I’ve changed my views on the death penalty since then. It’s a matter of survival for me. I needed to let go of the “demon” holding me in its grip. Rage and revenge had no place in my life. My mom is in a better place and so I decided to let it be. Basically, capital punishment does not deter crime but more importantly, the death penalty would not have brought my mom back to life.

I’ve changed my mind and I’m back to where I was in the beginning. No death penalty. One source says that capital punishment “constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, which is prohibited under international human rights standards.” I still ask the question, “Did my mom get the justice she deserved.” The answer is a resounding NO! However, capital punishment would not have made it better either.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?

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Beyond Evil! (Archives)

UPDATE:

Maxwell Anderson has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Robinson’s family spoke during the sentencing and called him a “demon” and suggested that “everything that he did should be done to him.” Justice in this case was served but it is never enough. The brutality of the crime and the fact that parts of her body have never been recovered speaks of the horror that Sade Robinson endured and the terror she must have felt.

There are some cases that make you sit up and take notice and this is one of them. The sheer brutality of the crime and the violence perpetuated on an innocent human being is beyond belief but there are monsters that walk the earth and here is one prime example.

Sade Robinson was 19, a criminal justice student and a beautiful girl enjoying being young and all that it entailed which included dating.

Maxwell Anderson was a 34-year-old bartender at the time with a lengthy criminal record which included domestic abuse, drunk driving, and disorderly conduct.

The two met and went on their first date on April 1, 2024. They first went to a restaurant, then to several bars, I lost count, and later to Anderson’s home. Video footage shows the young couple enjoying their time together and nothing seems out of the ordinary. However, in the early morning hours of April 2, 2024, her phone is located leaving Anderson’s home and traveling throughout Milwaukee County. Later that morning, her 2020 Honda Civic is found on fire and a male is seen exiting the vehicle before setting fire to it.

Around 5:30 p.m. the same day reports of someone finding a human leg belonging to a Black woman at Warnimont Park emerges. On April 4, 2024, Anderson is arrested and a search of his home reveals blood in one of the bedrooms and on the walls leading to the basement but it will later reveal that it didn’t belong to the victim. However, the true horror of the crime slowly unfolds. A human foot is found on April 6, 2024 in the city’s north side and it matches the leg found in Cudahy. Human flesh was also found in the area. Several body parts are found the following day. Robinson’s torso and arm are also discovered in another part of Milwaukee County but her head and neck have never been recovered.

The suspect is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson in the death of Robinson. If found guilty, he faces life in prison. However, he has pleaded not guilty to all counts and is currently in jail on a $5 million bail.

The criminal trial began on May 27, 2025 and is currently underway. In a legal system, “a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until the prosecution proves their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” It is hard not to jump the gun on this one because the evidence being presented is overwhelming and it points to one person and that is Maxwell Anderson as the sole perpetrator of this horrific crime. However, one other question arises. Was Anderson the sole perpetrator or were others involved in this horrific crime which resulted in the loss of life and in such a brutal fashion? Whatever happened that night, it was evil at work and there are no ifs ands or buts about it.

Monsters walk amongst us and sometimes they appear normal until they longer are.

Beyond Evil! (Update)

UPDATE:

Maxwell Anderson has been found guilty on all counts in the homicide of Sade Robinson. The jury deliberations lasted under an hour. Sentencing date is set for Aug. 15 at 10 a.m.

Sade Robinson was 19, a criminal justice student and a beautiful girl enjoying being young and all that it entailed which included dating.

Maxwell Anderson was a 34-year-old bartender at the time with a lengthy criminal record which included domestic abuse, drunk driving, and disorderly conduct.

The criminal trial began on May 27, 2025 and is currently underway. In a legal system, “a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until the prosecution proves their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” It is hard not to jump the gun on this one because the evidence being presented is overwhelming and it points to one person and that is Maxwell Anderson as the sole perpetrator of this horrific crime. However, one other question arises. Was Anderson the sole perpetrator or were others involved in this horrific crime which insulted in the loss of life and in such a brutal fashion? Whatever happened that night, it was evil at work and there are no ifs ands or buts about it.

Monsters walk amongst us and sometimes they appear normal until they longer are.

Beyond Evil!

UPDATE:

Sade Robinson was 19, a criminal justice student and a beautiful girl enjoying being young and all that it entailed which included dating.

Maxwell Anderson was a 34-year-old bartender at the time with a lengthy criminal record which included domestic abuse, drunk driving, and disorderly conduct.

The criminal trial began on May 27, 2025 and is currently underway. In a legal system, “a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until the prosecution proves their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” It is hard not to jump the gun on this one because the evidence being presented is overwhelming and it points to one person and that is Maxwell Anderson as the sole perpetrator of this horrific crime. However, one other question arises. Was Anderson the sole perpetrator or were others involved in this horrific crime which insulted in the loss of life and in such a brutal fashion? Whatever happened that night, it was evil at work and there are no ifs ands or buts about it.

Monsters walk amongst us and sometimes they appear normal until they longer are.

Stephon Clark, A Senseless Killing

LEST WE FORGET

March 18, 2018 dawned like any other day for Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American male but before the day was done, he would belong to the same club as all those killed before him, the likes of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin just to name a few who are now card-carrying members of the “shot dead by the police” club.

On that particular evening, the officers of the Sacramento Police Department were looking for a male suspect who was captured on film breaking windows in the Meadowview neighborhood. The police camera shows officers breathing heavily as they run around the neighborhood trying to apprehend the suspect. They come across Clark standing in the yard of his grandmother’s house with a cellphone in one hand. What ensued is hard to watch as is and was the case in many other shootings involving black males in the U.S. The camera footage takes you through the encounter and then one officer is heard shouting, “Gun! gun! gun!” and a barrage of shots follows. The aftermath shows the victim on the ground his life seeping away. The officers had fired 20 rounds, eight shots found their mark, six of them in Stephon Clark’s back. He died about 3 to 10 minutes after being shot. The officers opened fire just seconds, six seconds in all, after they encountered Clark.

This is nothing new. The “overkill” by law enforcement of black males is nothing new. It is a recurring event. The horror and anger is nothing new either and so are the protests that ensued as hundreds if not thousands took to the streets looking for justice. We have yet to see justice prevail in such shootings because police officers are held to different standards and they march to a different drum beat or so it seems in this country.

According to the police, they believed that Clark was holding a weapon in his hand as they chased him into the backyard and opened fire at an unarmed man. The weapon was a white iPhone. The officers have claimed that they “feared for their lives.” We’ve heard this excuse too. Take Michael Brown for instance. Officer Darren Wilson, who shot him claimed that he feared for his life against an unarmed Brown. The young teenager had been shot six times at least twice in the head, those were the last two shots delivered. According to Darren Wilson, it was a “fight for survival” and he shot him because he feared for his life. Sound familiar?

Coming back to the case at hand, no aid was administered to Stephon Clark after the shooting. It took about 5 minutes before a female officer is heard saying, “We need to know if you’re OK. We need to get you medics, so we can’t go over and get you help until we know you don’t have a weapon.” Right, how many bullets does it take to believe that a shooting victim is no longer a threat? After five minutes, they walk over and handcuff the man bleeding on the ground. More officers arrive at the scene and one officer is heard saying, “Hey, mute,” and that was the end of the audio recording.

This is just another shooting of yet another black male in the scheme of things. The use of deadly force is also the norm where black males are concerned. Shoot first and ask questions later is the stance law enforcement takes when it comes to black suspects. The latest incident has sparked protests but this too is nothing new. The anger will simmer long after the protests have died down but justice will take a long time coming, if at all.

California lawmakers are pushing to make it easier to prosecute police officers who kill civilians. According to the author of the bill, Shirley Weber, “It seems that the worst possible outcome is increasingly the only outcome that we experience.” How right she is. These killings can only be described as an “overkill” to say the least.

In the meantime, another black male is dead, the victim of a police shooting. Far too often we hear, “we feared for our lives,” from the officers after emptying their barrels into the victims but in most cases it was not the officers who had to fear for their lives, it was the victims who had no weapons to protect themselves and are no longer here to give an account of what took place.

Stephon Clark was the father of two young boys, ages 1 and 3 and at the time of his death, he was trying to turn his life around. He had a criminal record but that is not the point here. His record is irrelevant, the shoot to kill mentality is. The case is under investigation but don’t hold your breath. The killing of black males will continue in a culture where it is condoned by the system.

His grandmother asked, “Why didn’t you shoot him in the arm? Shoot him in the legs? Send in dogs? Send in a Taser? Why? Why? Those are my questions too. but I will add one more question to that. Why was Clark shot six times in the back if as the officers claimed that they had feared for their lives when they delivered the shots? Finally, did Stephon Clark deserve to die even if he had broken some windows on that late March evening? What do you think?

Update:

As of 2024, Stephon Clark’s family is still waiting for justice to prevail in this case. The body camera video sparked national attention, outrage and calls against police brutality. It was announced in 2019 that then District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert wouldn’t file charges against the two officers who shot him, Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in the Stephon Clark law in 2019 altering the Sacramento Police Department’s body-worn camera policies. And that was it.

The Killing of Christopher Lane

LEST WE FORGET

A series on murders that made sensational headlines because of the “senselessness” of the crime.

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He was a young man from Melbourne, Australia. He was handsome, he was ambitious, he was in love and he had everything going for him. He was two weeks away from celebrating his 23rd birthday when his life came to a screeching halt when a bullet from a passing car found its way to his back and he was pronounced dead within a matter of minutes.

Christopher Lane had won a baseball scholarship with Oklahoma’s East Central University and he was feeling on top of the world on August 13, 2013. What happened on that hot, humid day and how he lost his life is beyond imagination. His father, Peter Lane, put it this way as he tried to make sense of his son’s death. “It is heartless and to try to understand it is a short way to insanity. There is not gonna be any good to come out of this, cause it was just so senseless.” He was right. The senselessness of the killing would make headlines around the world and would make many of us sit up and take notice at man’s inhumanity to man.

They are James Edwards, 15, Chancey Luna, 16, and Michael Jones, 17, and they were at the other end of the spectrum. All three were restless with no future in sight. They had spent the night partying away, smoking meth amphetamine, drinking alcohol and taking Xanax. On the day of the murder, Edwards and Luna stepped into Jones’s Ford Focus for a joyride. It would quickly turn into tragedy for Christopher Lane. He was jogging, minding his own business when Chancey Luna saw him and decided to take aim from the backseat of the car. The bullet penetrated just below Lane’s shoulder blade piercing his heart and lungs leaving him gasping for breath in a roadside ditch. There was no chance for survival.

According to Jones, “We were bored and didn’t have anything to do so we decided to kill somebody.” Remorse was a long time coming if at all. Instead they were on an euphoric high and the exact words used were, “You got that n***a, you shot him, you got him.”

The three teenagers were sentenced as adults. Jones 17, was charged with accessory after the fact of first degree murder, later upgraded to first-degree murder. James Edwards, 15, was sentenced to 25 years jail with 10 years off the sentence suspended and triggerman, Luna was sentenced to life in prison without parole. However, in 2016, Luna’s conviction was overturned by the appeals court because, “the juvenile’s chronological age and immaturity” were not taken into account at time of sentencing. No date has been set as to when a new sentencing will be held.

This is a story that needs retelling because no matter how much time has gone by between then and now, the senselessness of the crime is horrific to say the least and will never get old. Violence has become an all too familiar part of our lives and killings are nothing new. Each new day brings another story of killing or killings and we have become jaded to the violence all around us. However, in this case, the brutality of the crime stands out because the victim and perpetrators had no prior history. Christopher Lane lost his life because he was seen as a thrill-inducing object not as a human being and therein lies the horror of this specific crime.

“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.”

Terry Pratchett

Update:

A Stephens County Judge has upheld the sentencing for Chancey Allen Luna in the shooting death of Chris Lane. He was convicted of first degree murder but Luna attempted to appeal the conviction because he was a juvenile at the time. However, rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld that a juvenile can be sentenced to life without parole.

When Murder Comes Calling

Wade Wilson’s jury voted in favor of the death penalty for the murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz on October 7, 2019. I am not talking about Marvel’s Deadpool character who is described as a wisecracking mutant mercenary. He is fun to hang out with but only in small doses. I am talking about Florida’s strangulation serial killer of the same name and hanging out with this character will silence you forever.

It took five years to bring justice to the case. His own father took the stand and testified that his son not only confessed to the murders but bragged about them. His exact words were, “I’m a killer – there are two people gone who are not coming back.” He further added that when he realized that his victim was still breathing, he ran her over with his car until she resembled spaghetti.

On October 7, 2019, a tattooless Wade Wilson, at least on his face met Kristine Melton 25 and her friend Stephanie Sailors at Buddah LIVE, a Fort Myers bar. They spent time together and later that night, Wilson strangled Melton as she slept. A short time later having killed one person, he was ready to kill again. The evil within him had awakened and he wanted to snuff out another life. He coaxed Diane Ruiz into his car and attacked her, beat and strangled her before pushing her out of the car and running over her repeatedly.

Melton was described as a cat lover and a great friend. Diane Ruiz was the mother of two sons, Brandon Cuellar 29 and Zane Romero, 19. She was described as “the heartbeat of the bar. She always had everybody’s back. She just had that personality that was really magnifying. She has this really loud laugh that you could hear it like a mile away.”

Perhaps that was what attracted Wilson to her or that she was readily available. Whatever it was that hearty raucous laugh came to a standstill later that night when evil in the form of Wade Wilson came calling. Was he remorseful? Not at all, he later told detectives at an interview, “I would do it again.”

The killer would later brag about the murders to the police, three days after the killings. He said his biggest concern after the murders was getting a burger and fries while one of his victims, Diane Ruiz lay silenced in a field, bugs eating her face.

Assistant State Attorney, Andreas Gardiner told the court, “This case was about killing for the sake of the killing. Strangulation is the epitome of life slipping through someone’s hands.” A different looking, Wade Wilson sat in court, his face emotionless, tattoos all over his face resembling Jared Leto’s, Joker character. There was a swastika tattoo on his face and one under his hair but it was that stone-cold look that caught everyone’s attention. He portrayed the killer image perfectly.

Defense attorney, Lee Hollander had his work cut out for him. All he could do was ask for mercy saying, “We are not claiming that he didn’t do it. I suspect the drugs. I’m not arguing insanity, I’m arguing the state is claiming premeditation. I’m arguing he’s whacked out of his mind for any of this.” That didn’t work.

Very little is known of this deadly character and his earlier years. What turned him into this remorseless killer? According to his biological father, both he and Wilson’s mother were teenagers when she became pregnant and Wade was placed for adoption after his birth. There was very little contact between him and his father during the growing up years. Is this a case of nature vs. nurture? “The main argument for nurture is that the environment is what makes us who we are.” It basically says that nurture is more dynamic and plays a more important role in one’s life. However, this debate is still ongoing. What makes a person so evil that taking a life is like eating burgers and fries that it makes you crave for more of the same?

Wilson will be housed in a cell measuring 6 x 9 x 9.5 feet in Florida’s death row at Union Correctional Institution until it is time to go meet his maker. He could choose Florida’s three-legged electric chair, “Old Sparky” or he could choose death by lethal injection when the time comes. If you ask me, both will be easy on the killer. His victims went through a worse fate. When murder came calling, two innocent lives were taken and that is the crux of the matter.

Apple River Stabbings

Nicolae Miu, a 51-year-old mechanical engineer from Prior Lake is accused of killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and stabbing four of his friends, Rhyley Mattison, A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson. The victims were between the ages of 17 to 24 years of age. He says it was self-defense and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The incident took place at the Apple River in Wisconsin on September 2022. State prosecutor, Karl Anderson, calls the deadly attack, “senseless and horrific.” According to Anderson, “All Nicolae had to do was walk away. He eventually did walk away, but not after stabbing five people.”

What started out as a fun day on the river for the teens ended in tragedy when they came into contact with Nicolae. Words were exchanged and when a group of adult tubers intervened things escalated. In a video shot, Nicolae is shown holding a knife in his hand. He was wearing bathing trunks so how did he manage to hide the knife and why carry a weapon? Within a span of 25 seconds, he had killed one person and stabbed four others.

Defense attorney, Aaron Nelson is saying that Miu stabbed the tubers in self-defense because he feared for his life. The defendant who is of Romanian descent immigrated to the U.S. as a teen and has been described as an “intelligent” and “peaceful” man. He had also undergone a quadruple bypass surgery two years before the deadly incident.

The teens are being described as unruly and drunk and had been “smoking stuff.” Isaac Schuman’s autopsy revealed he had a blood alcohol level of .219. They are also being accused of heckling and humiliating Miu calling him a raper and a pedophile and that “he was looking for little girls.” Video footage of the incident does show the teens circling Miu and pushing him into the water but there was no other weapon in sight except for the one in the defendant’s hand. This is a hard one folks.

If convicted, Miu is facing a life sentence in prison but than again he did take the life of a 17-year-old not to mention the tremendous psychological trauma he caused the surviving teens. This was clear to see as we watched each of them take the stand only to break down in tears at the memory of what had taken place and over the loss of their friend. Self-defense has often been used in cases where the victim had no weapon and the aggressor was the only one who had the ability to cause damage and in this case he did. Will this defense fly? Will he walk? Remember, he had the choice to walk away but didn’t. He was the adult in this situation but he chose to stay and showed his anger to a group of teens who didn’t know any better. You’ve heard the saying, “Children will be children?” Well in this case, teens will be teens but it still means the same thing. They are noisy and when in a group boisterous and do things that they wouldn’t do if by themselves. Miu should have walked away BUT he didn’t.

Trial is continuing.