A Milwaukee mother couldn't contain her tears yesterday as she described the horrifying moment her white neighbor allegedly shot dead her son, a black 13-year-old, in front of her eyes after he accused the boy of stealing guns from his house.
Patricia Larry testified that John Henry Spooner, 76, warned her son, Darius Simmons, that he'd teach him not to steal before he fired a single shot into the boy's chest, killing him, in May 2012.
The shocking account came in the second day of Spooner's trial as jurors watched footage from the elderly man's own surveillance video, which showed him confronting Simmons on the sidewalk outside their houses, pointing a gun at the teen's chest and firing from just a few feet away.
'We will focus on what was Mr. Spooner's intent when he pointed the gun and pulled the trigger,' Gimbel said.
In the surveillance footage, Spooner emerges from his house that morning and confronts Simmons.
He points a gun at the boy, who quickly moves backward a few steps. Both Spooner and the teen direct their attention toward a porch at Simmons' home, where Simmons' mother is standing.
Moments later, Spooner points the gun back at Simmons and fires, hitting him in the chest.
As the teen stumbles and runs away, Spooner fires a second shot that misses him.
The defense has conceded that Spooner fired the fatal bullet at Simmons as they argued on the sidewalk.
But defense attorney Franklyn Gimbel said the two issues for the jury to decide are whether Spooner intended to kill the boy, and whether Spooner was suffering from mental illness that prevented him from knowing right from wrong at the time.
Richard Martinez, one of the Milwaukee police officers who responded after the shooting, testified that Spooner offered an unsolicited confession upon his arrest. Martinez said he ordered Spooner at gunpoint to drop his weapon and Spooner bent down and laid his handgun on the ground.
Martinez testified that he was handcuffing Spooner when Spooner said, 'Yeah, I shot him,' referring to the teen. Martinez said Spooner had another bullet in his pocket.
Martinez's partner, Michael Urbaniak, testified that he and Martinez placed Spooner in the back of a squad car while they investigated the scene. While being detained, Spooner commented that he had reached his breaking point and that his house had been broken into two days earlier, Urbaniak said.
The officer said Spooner claimed he knew the culprits were the kids who lived next door, and that they were part of a family that recently moved next door and had caused nothing but trouble.
Other police officers who testified included Lori Borchert, who responded to the burglary report two days earlier. She said two windows on Spooner's home were broken and Spooner told her four shotguns were missing.
The day after the burglary, Spooner called Borchert and told her that his surveillance video captured images of the suspects. She said she viewed the video and that it showed two different black teenage males coming from the area of Simmons' home and moving toward Spooner's home.
She said she didn't arrest anyone because there wasn't enough probable cause. She said the faces on the video weren't clear, and the teens didn't appear to be holding any of the missing guns.
Gimbel, who limited his cross-examinations, told jurors during opening statements he intends to raise questions about whether Spooner actually had the requisite intent to commit homicide.
Some have likened the shooting of Simmons as 'vigilantism and rogue police behavior' and similar to the killing in Florida of Trayvon Martin.
In both cases, an older man allegedly killed a black teen because the shooter believed they were su ious.
Spooner shot Simmons last May after accusing the boy of stealing $3,000 worth of guns from his home.
The teen, who had lived with his mother next door to Spooner for only a month, was taking out the trash around 10 a.m. when Spooner accused the boy of the theft and demanded he return the shotguns.
The teenager was unarmed when he was shot in the street outside their homes.
The boy told Spooner he had not stolen the guns and his mother, Patricia Larry, told the elderly man to go back inside.
Spooner then pulled out a handgun and shot Simmons in the chest from only five feet away, killing the boy. There were at least two witnesses.
'I condemn in the strongest words possible the murder of Darius Simmons,' Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said after the shooting. 'To have a boy who's taking out the garbage at 10 in the morning murdered should shock the conscience of the state.'
If convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, Spooner faces life in prison.
At the time, neighbor Toni Johnson said she was watching TV when she heard a commotion outside her door.
‘I looked out the door and saw the mother kneeling over her boy at the curb, screaming, 'my son!' and the old guy was standing right over there by the stop sign with his dog, just waiting,’ Ms. Johnson said.
Neighbor Robert Delatorre said Spooner lived alone with his two dogs and often walked around the block.
Larry said Spooner told her son he 'wanted his stuff back and that he wanted his shotguns back.'
'My son, Darius Simmons, was shot and killed in front of me,' Larry said earlier. 'It's affected me, my friends, my work.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...black-son.html
inb4 darius is labeled as a thug.
thank God for the suirvellance.
I don't think this is anything like the Trayvon/Zimmer case. For starters, there's actual evidence of a crime being committed. There is no SYG component because this was a naked confrontation 2 days after Spooner's house was burgled (I know, that word doesn't look right). This is straight up murder...pre meditated at that.
This is nothing like the Trayvon cir stances at all. This is incredibly sad and this guy will serve time. He's pleading insanity FWIW.
nothing I've read so far leads me to believe he was anything but stone cold sane and wanted some kind of justice for his house being robbed.
Yes - the house was broken into by a black male per the report/surveillance video, but the police obviously did not think it was the neighbor kid. Even if it was, you don't do this. He's going to jail and the system will prevail.
The white guy was wrong and deserves to, and will go to jail. Why the hysteria Trill?
/thread
i think they're drawing comparisons of the young men being profiled as su ious when neither were in the act of committing any crimes. but i hope you're right and they send him to prison for the rest of his life,even though he only has a few years left.
quote the hysteria for me
seriously? nothing like the zimmerman case and this dude will obviously serve time
Do you start threads on every murder you read about? What was different about this one?
There will be a crime if Trill shows up at the gtg and he doesn't look like his avatar.
That video was unbelievable difficult to watch for me. Damn.
not hysterical but i'll answer. stay tuned for threads where the suspect is an older white male and the victim is a young black or latino male. i will be posting at least 1 thread per month on the subject.
Can we just get past the race ?
lmaooooo welp be prepared to be disappointed.There will be a crime if Trill shows up at the gtg and he doesn't look like his avatar.
i ask myself this question every day. so sad that a young man can't even take out the garbage or walk home without being accused of committing a crime.
If only we had some footage of the Martin case like this. Pretty sad, dude looks like a pedo too
Anyone who tries to compare this to the Zimmerman/Martin cause is a ing re just looking to stir up racial tensions.
I hope that crazy old is shot on site. No reason for him to see a courtroom.
And Trill, you're a bit late on this oneWhere've you been?
i'm only one man, fam. every 28 hours a black male is murdered by police or vigilantes like this man and zimmerman. its impossible for me to be on top of every case, but if you would like to help bring awareness you can post the stories that i miss. godspeed.And Trill, you're a bit late on this one
Does that every 28 hours include other black men murdering blacks?
if the police and vigilante is black, yes.
I am confused. Of the 91% of murders that happen against blacks being perpetrated by blacks, how many of the 91% are considered police/vigilante and what are the frequency for black on black murders that are not police/vigilante?
*insert teyshablue's headinhand emoticon*
dpg, if you are truly interested(i doubt it) pick up this book. it has all the answers to your questions
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