Sometimes saying “Well, duh” just doesn’t seem to register with “The Establishment,” but recently, Insider Online ran across some criminal cases that provide ample evidence we have a criminal justice problem — not a gun problem.
Our first stop is King County, Wash., where a suspect identified in court documents as Larone Deshawn Charles, 48, is facing a second-degree murder charge, a second-degree assault charge and — surprise, surprise — unlawful possession of a firearm. Mr. Charles, you see, has a “lengthy criminal record,” according to Seattle’s KOMO News.
This guy’s background includes six adult felony convictions, 36 misdemeanor convictions and six juvenile felony convictions. He drew a 17.5-year prison sentence for kidnapping and assaulting a 16-year-old girl back in 1992. He couldn’t possibly purchase or legally possess a firearm, yet he was being held in jail on $5 million bail at last report for fatally shooting a man.
Charles allegedly shot dead one Anthony E. Parker at a motel in North Seattle back on July 21. The dead man was also armed, but Charles allegedly fired first, and then fled the crime scene. He was rounded up several miles away in the city of Kent.
By no small surprise, the suspect was also facing other criminal charges at the time of the shooting. He was wanted for possession of heroin and meth in addition to possession of a stolen vehicle. Even without the murder charge, this guy is what is often referred to sarcastically as “a model citizen.”
No trial date has been set.