Zack Sowers' Death

Yesterday was a sad day for all of the people praying and supporting Zack and Anna Sowers. Zack was beaten into a coma last year and died on Monday evening as a result of his injuries.

The part that makes me angry is that f-in' thugs who killed Zack will not face murder charges, let alone face the death penalty. They curb-stomped him into a coma and only faced lesser charges.

According to The Sun:

Arthur Jeter, 18; Wilburt Martin, 19; Eric L. Price, 17; and Ramos were charged with attempted first-degree murder, robbery and related offenses. In December, Price, Jeter and Martin pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery after agreeing to testify against Ramos, who was accused of beating Sowers while Price watched. The other two had observed from the car.

In exchange for their guilty pleas, Price, Jeter and Martin received 30-year prison terms with all but 15 years suspended. They stand to serve about eight.

Apparently the Baltimore City prosecutors thought that they would not have enough of a case to pursue these killer thugs, so they plea-bargained to get them some minimum sentences. Part of the plea stated that if Zack died, they would not face murder charges.

If this had happened in Texas, Ramos would be walking to death row to be lit up like the fourth of July. Fortunately for him, he killed Zack Sowers in Baltimore where he will spend the next few years watching Sports Center, eating free meals, and working out at the gym while he perfects his criminal trade.

Baltimore's paltry record for convicting criminals reinforces the fact that they are more concerned for the thugs than the victims. To the Baltimore City criminal justice system, Zack Sowers is just another statistic to prove that we need to work harder with the community to help our children. To the rest of the state, his death is another statistic proving that you must be crazy to live in the city.

I grew up in Baltimore City, so I am not saying this with empty conviction, looking into the city from the safety of my suburban home. As a kid, my bikes were routinely stolen, as was my motorcycle. My parents' vehicles were vandalized and one of my neighbors was murdered. By the time I was 11 years old, we were not allowed outside after dark. It was too dangerous.

This year, there have been 41 murders in Baltimore City. I don't think there were 41 murders in Carroll County in the entire 20th century. In the past 10 years there have been nearly 3,000 (that's three-thousand) murders in Baltimore City. Is the convenience of living a block away from the nightclubs and bars worth risking your life?

Perhaps to some of our young urban professionals it is. There has been an influx of young residents in the past 10 years. Let's see how many of them stay in Baltimore City when they have children. Will they send their middle-class educated kids to chaotic and dilapidated city schools? I'm sure they will not. They may be willing to take a chance with their own lives, but they will not take the same chance with their own children.

Zack Sowers' death is sad and unjustifiable. But until the Baltimore City Prosecutor's Office starts putting away murderers for more than a couple of years, we can sadly expect more incidents like this with nothing more than a shoulder shrug from our elected officials.