By KAYLYNN DAY
Contributing Writer
On the fateful night of November 23, 2012, 17 year-old Floridian teenager Jordan Davis was shot and killed by a man named Michael Dunn. Dunn had pulled into a gas station around the same time Davis and the SUV full of his friends.
Loud music was playing from the car Davis was in, which was parked next to Dunn’s vehicle. According to Michael Dunn, he politely asked the teens to turn their music down. Respectfully they did, but seconds later they began to blast it again. At this moment was when the incident began to take a deadly turn.
Words were exchanged between Dunn and Davis over the volume of the music once again, turning into a heated verbal altercation. What was said between the two has been told differently from both the prosecution and defense, each claiming the other’s argument is far from what actually happened. Dunn claimed Davis threatened to kill him, and that he began to exit his vehicle.
Dunn then alleged that while Davis was making these “threats” against his life, that he saw him pull out what he believed in the moment to be a gun or a lead pipe.
Michael Dunn then fired three shots into the vehicle, all hitting Davis directly. Even as the SUV began to drive away, Dunn continued to fire four more shots into the car.
After the shooting, Dunn managed to leave the scene as if nothing had happened. He and his girlfriend drove 40 miles into the next town and stayed in a hotel for the night where they ordered food and movies. It wasn’t until he had heard that a teenage boy had been killed at a gas station the night before that he turned himself in.
This is the first indication that should raise red flags that Dunn was not in the least bit remorseful for what he had done the night Jordan Davis was killed. In a sensible person’s mind, you would think that Dunn would’ve stayed at the scene to make sure he hadn’t injured anyone and to get his claim of “self-defense” known to law enforcement. The fact that he left the gas station without doing any of this raises the question as to whether he really did shoot in self-defense. If he was trying to protect himself, then why would he not stay and make that clear?
It seems to me that Dunn knew he was wrong and walked away from the situation in hopes thought he would maybe be able to fly under the radar of suspicion, being able to skate away unharmed.
Investigators searching the scene made it clear that the teens were unarmed, shattering Dunn’s “self-defense” claims and raising suspicion that Jordan Davis was killed in cold blood. Dunn was then taken to trial and found guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle.
Dunn was also charged with first-degree murder, but was found not guilty and it was ruled a mistrial due to the jury’s inability to come to a unanimous decision. Although Dunn has been cleared of the first degree murder charge, the Florida State attorney’s office is making plans to take it back to court for retrial.
In the wake of Dunn’s conviction, I am beginning to see a pattern in the Florida justice system. This is the second time in the past year that they have not given, in my eyes, justice to the people that deserved it.
This case to me is a repeat of the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman trial. Justice was not served when all the signs pointed to it. The Florida justice system is using the idea of self-defense and their “stand-your-ground” law as a crutch to avoid putting guilty people in jail.
The reason behind it is unclear to me, but the fact that they are trying to protect the wrong people is as clear as day. If it was a black man who killed an innocent white teenager, the case would’ve gotten more attention and the murderer would’ve gotten a much harsher sentence. Race is a contributing factor in this case, whether people choose to see it or not.
Cases like this as well as the Trayvon Martin case show that racism is alive and well in our country, especially in our justice system.
So, what is next? How many more young, innocent teens have to have their life taken away by the hands of an irresponsible person before a change is made? How many more mothers and fathers must lose their children before justice is served?
Our entire justice system, as well as our gun laws, needs to be revamped in order to stop senseless killings like this from happening. But when all is said and done, these families deserve justice, and in order for that to happen, a change needs to be made. It is up to us as American citizens to get our voices heard in order to see that change. If cases like this don’t spark up the fire needed to do so, then I’m not sure what will.
