Baltimore is outraged over the video below showing two teenage girls laughing as a man is robbed and then shot at a Chinese carryout. After Darren Brown and David Jefferson (both 17) shot the man, the carryout reportedly did nothing to help him, refused to let him behind the counter for protection, and continued to take orders.
Prosecutor Jen Rallo observed: “[The 46-year-oldvictim] is left crumpled on the floor of the carryout, bleeding. He is left to live or die on his own. … No one helps [him]. He is in pain. He asks to go behind the counter because he is afraid these individuals will return and shoot him again. And the store actually continues serving customers as [the victim] is bleeding on the floor.”
Brown and Jefferson have been arrested and will be charged as adults with first-degree attempted murder. Brown’s attorney Lewyn Garrett said his client should be tried as a juvenile because he suffers from lead poisoning and has a learning disability. Of course, it was not quite as bad as the lead poisoning that he gave the victim.
Baltimore has been debating the loss of humanity and decency in the city for years due to the steady grind of drugs and the drug culture. The Baltimore Sun covered one such story involving a former mayor:
In 1998, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke rode with city police officers who responded to a call for a man shot four times in the back. “A friend of his comes along and looks down,” Schmoke said then. “And he doesn’t say to the police or to me, ‘How’s he doing?’ He says, ‘What are you-all going to do with that boy’s cigarettes?’ That is showing no regard for human life.”
The witnesses will not be charged. The question is whether any action will be taken against the carryout for failing to act in any way to assist the man. My great hope is that the victim will sue the owners for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The story is disturbingly similar to the recent case where LaShanda Calloway was stabbed in the aisle of a convenience store in Kansas and no one helped her. People continued their shopping and one woman was on video actually taking a picture with her cell phone before continuing to shop. Calloway later died.
For the video, click here.
For the full story, click here.
JT,
While I find the behavior of the people here appalling, I’m keen to guess how you’d check off the elements of negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Remind me to stay out of Baltimore. That is one sick video starring some sick and myopic people. How you can ignore a person who has been shot is beyond me. Just another reason to not eat Chinese food, I guess. The people in the video should be charged with the violation of the law of common decency. Where is that atheist Elvis minister when we need him?