I have watched 4 people die before my eyes, 2 were natural deaths (my parents) the other 2 were violent, one moment the people were living their lives and then...... wham....they were gone, their life stolen away. To watch a person die is a strange event......how do you describe death, how is the spark of life there one second.....and then just gone. I remember sitting in a college classroom and hearing a PhD talk about how death is different depending upon the view. For instance, a pilot that drops a bomb from ten's of thousands of feet above is very different than killing a man in hand to hand combat. It so happens the four people I watched die were all very close.....
Watching a person die is a life altering event.....you will never forget it. There is power in life.....and in death as well for that matter.
I have not seen a person die by stabbing, but I was standing about 5 or 6 feet away from a person that was stabbed. Was it an attempted murder.... I don't know, let me set the scene: .....two young men began to argue (it has been decades since that night....and I just don't remember why they were at odds with one another). Does the reason matter? Think about all the things you have heard about why Karmelo Anthony killed Austin Metcalf.... If you try hard enough you can make excuses for anything...... but can you really ........?
That night so long ago two young men began to push and shove.... and like the Anthony-Metcalf situation the victim was quite a bit larger than the man that used the knife. What I witnessed was the smaller man with no warning pulling a knife and drive it into the torso of the larger man.......
Now this is where I suspect television and movies came into play, because the knife, though jamb into the man's body up to it's hilt, he did not fall.....nor die. The smaller man seemingly shocked his weapon had not won the day quickly ran away....... And that is why I think he was planning on killing the larger man......
In time he was rounded up, and months later I was brought into court to testify as to what happened that night. As it happened I was never called to the witness stand...... That did not keep me from forming my own opinions.
There was no justification for the stabbing to have ever happened.... either by Karmelo Anthony or the one way back then..... If you carry a weapon, whether it be a knife, gun or just a club it is not the end-all for every situation. This is a fact never far from my mind, I assure you I routinely work in areas that are dangerous. When I say I know a guy....... I mean I know a guy that can solve any problem you might have......
In the last 20 years I have only shown my weapon one time..... I was driving a new F-150 King Ranch, working in a North St. Louis. I group of young gentlemen were watching me from the next block.... it was easy to see they were talking about me, (the pointing was a dead give-away). Then they started walking toward me, while trying to act like they were not looking my way. Now I could assume, (since I am such a good looking man) they were walking down to get a better look at me..... but I assumed they wanted my truck.
I realized things were going South....but was I right? Was I in danger....? I truly thought I was in danger.....but those young gentlemen were not truly threatening.... or were they? Was it my imagination......? I was watching them out of the corner of my eyes,.....and to me it seemed they were doing the same thing to me.....
It is no small thing to pull a weapon...... and then I decided, pulling a weapon and pointing a weapon are two very different things. So, I never looked at the crowd coming toward me, but continued to watch them out of the corner of my eyes, pulled my 40, loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition and jacked a round into the chamber..... It became clear the young gentlemen were watching me, because when I jacked that round into the chamber the entire group of men turned in unison and walked away from me......
Why did Karmelo have a knife..... why was the person armed I witnessed? Hmm, well I grew up in the country, we all have knives.... hell we all had guns. I can say with complete honestly I drove to school every day with a least one gun in my truck..... I carried a 12 gauge shotgun, and I would bet nearly every other boy had a rifle or shotgun in their vehicles too....... But we didn't shoot people.....no school shootings took place back then.
In 2025 why did Karmelo have a knife..... here is the problem, none of us can really answer that question. We can speculate...... we can guess, but we will never know the truth. And let me just say, if Karmelo Anthony has a good attorney you never will. It doesn't matter why Karmelo had the knife, a good attorney will make sure they "tell the story you need to hear that best protects Karmelo Anthony....."
We all do know this, Karmelo Anthony is a convicted a murderer.... and he has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison. Was that the sentence he should have gotten?
I suspect most of my Facebook friends will say guilty was the right verdict. But, I also know that a few of my "friends" will completely disagree......
Was 35 years the right sentence.....? Hmm, do I want to weigh in...... Oh, man I am torn, when I heard it only took 3 hours to find him guilty I thought it was very possible he would be given the max, 99 years. This is where I am torn, did he deserve 99 years..... yes he did! Did he deserve a second chance...? Also yes. Life is hard, I can only imagine what Austin Metcalf's family has dealt with.....
I can also feel for Karmelo Anthony's family. Let me tell you a secret..... a member of my family has been convicted of murder every generation going back to the 1800's. (So far, I have broken the curse.....) But imagine the pain his parents feel too...... Surely they were dreaming of high school graduation, and then college...... Why I would bet they wondered what girl would share his life, and how many grandchildren would come their way. With just one questionable action all those dreams were crushed......
I am not without compassion.... So while it is true I would be ok with a sentence of 99 years, I can equally say I wish Karmelo could have a second chance.......but Austin Metcalf never got one.....did he?
What are your thoughts......? Try to keep your comments respectful, but be prepared to defend whatever you say......and know, I may play both sides.
