“Justice can not be for one side alone, but must be for both.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt

In Milwaukee, another trial is underway where a black teen is shot and killed by a white man.

In this case, the victim is 13, and the 76 year old shooter is charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide.

Unlike the Trayvon Martin – George Zimmerman case … evidence in this case includes video.

May 2012, John Henry Spooner shot his neighbor, Darius Simmons. Spooner says the teen had been breaking into his home to steal guns.
Spooner had a surveillance camera and it shows him walking out of his house to confront Simmons.

The boy’s mother was standing on her porch next door, and she claims that Spooner accused her son of burglary and said he would teach him not to steal, then fired into his chest. Spooner also fired a second shot, but missed.

Wounded, Simmons fled from the view of the camera and collapsed as his mother rushed to him and says that she held her child as he took his last breath.

One of the Milwaukee officers responding testified that as he was handcuffing Spooner, the man said, “Yeah, I shot him.” Later in the squad car, officers say Spooner commented that he had reached his breaking point and his house had been burglarized two days earlier

Spooner said he knew Simmons was a member of the black family that moved in next door and had caused nothing but trouble.
Previously, police had responded to a burglary report and found two windows broken and Spooner claimed four shotguns were missing.

In that instance, police did view surveillance footage from Spooner’s home, and the video showed two different black teenage males coming from the area of Simmons’ home and moving toward Spooner’s house. The images were not clear, and they did not appear to be holding any guns.

The defense conceded that Spooner fired the fatal bullet, but is asking the jury to decide whether Spooner intended to kill Simmons and whether Spooner was suffering from mental illness which prevented him from knowing right from wrong at the time.
Many will say the “mental illness” defect is a bogus defense, but it is somewhat stronger by the fact that the shooter is 76. That argument that can get the charges reduced which may be the only thing the defense can hope for in this case.

So, again, we have a case of a white man shooting to death a black teen … and this shooting was captured on video.

The shooting is not defensible under the Castle Doctrine as it took place outside Spooner’s home, and Stand Your Ground Defense is not applicable as video showed Spooner was not under direct threat.

In my opinion, Spooner had no reason to shoot Darius Simmons.

I don’t make that statement based on the fact that Simmons was black or that Spooner is white.

My opinion is based on the facts as I know them.

“I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.”
Malcolm X