TWO MURDERS

My father is dead. Three weeks ago two guys held up his store and shot him. The trial was held and they both confessed. One is getting the death penalty for pulling the trigger. The other is getting 25 to life. Marcus Williams is going to be executed today. I feel nothing but anger and resentment. I hate the justice system.
     My father is dead. Isn't that enough? Why does someone else have to die? I can't understand the thoughts that went through Marcus Williams' mind. I can't understand his anger and hate towards my father. I can forgive him, though. I understand that he does have a life and a right to live. He needs time to realize that what he did was wrong. Maybe he has already realized this. I doubt it though. There must be a lot of anger and confusion bottled up inside him. He needs time to work through his emotions. Prison isn't the best place to be, but killing is wrong.
     We're in the car. My mother, her parents, my dad's family. We are silent. Some of us are comfortable with this. They don't seem to mind that we are going to watch someone be killed. The look on this man's face is going to be that same look of pain that my father had on his face. I am enraged at my mother. I tried to get her to make them change the sentence. She wouldn't listen. She wouldn't even tolerate it. I've lost my respect for her. She always seemed so open-minded, so loving of all life. Now this happens, this tragedy, and her whole belief system is altered. I admit I felt the same at first, but I realized my hypocrisy. I love my father, but I don't want to see someone else die.
     Marcus Williams is dead. No one is going to be punished for his murder. His name will be added to the list of others that have received the final punishment. And everyone's life will move on. We'll move on from our tragedy and Marcus Williams will be a statistic. I don't understand the hypocrisy of our country. Chalk one up for the home team. Us one, those nasty, little villains, nothing.
Maria Moss
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