Korean Job Discussion Forums

[madoka]

An 18-year-old college student died from a bullet to his chest as he chased three teens who robbed him and his girlfriend when he was buying a computer advertised on Craigslist for $600, a prosecutor said Friday.
Details of the killing emerged at an arraignment for three 17-year-old males who were charged as adults with murder, robbery and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Brannigan entered not guilty pleas on their behalf and set bail at $5 million each � $3 million higher than the amount sought by prosecutors.

Prosecutors have said Garrett Berki died late Wednesday after he and his girlfriend met suspects Rashon Abernathy, Seandell Jones and Shaquille Jordan in San Diego to buy an Apple MacBook Pro. One teen pulled a gun and robbed the couple of cash and their cell phones, authorities said.

A car chase followed, with Berki pursuing the assailants on a freeway and city streets before he was shot as he tried to box them in on a dead-end street, prosecutor Kristian Trocha told reporters. Abernathy is suspected of firing a single shot from the back seat, shattering Berki's windshield, Trocha said.

Police said Berki, a San Diego community college student, was trying to read his assailants' license plate during the pursuit. Officers found him slumped over the steering wheel, and he died less than an hour later at a hospital.

All three suspects were arrested within minutes of the shooting, hiding in back yards after crashing their car in a cul-de-sac about two blocks from the shooting scene, authorities said.

Patricia Dykes, Jordan's mother, told reporters her son was "hurting" because someone got killed. She said he was a straight-A student preparing to graduate from high school. She emphasized that he was not accused of pulling the trigger.

"He told me he's going to write a letter to the (victim's) family that he's sorry for whatever happened, but that he didn't ... do anything violent to anyone," Dykes said.

Shearese Johnson, the mother of Jones, said her son didn't kill anyone and called the charges unfair. Jones is suspected of being the getaway driver after the robbery.

"All I'm going to say is I love my son, and I'm here, and this just isn't fair," Johnson said.

If convicted, the three teens could face maximum sentences of life in prison, prosecutors said.

Trocha told reporters all three were equally responsible for the death, even though Abernathy is the only one accused of firing a gun.

"All of them participated in the robbery. The murder was part of this robbery in trying to escape," Trocha said. "It's as if they pulled the trigger themselves."

Trocha said all three defendants were gang members � a claim met with skepticism by the two mothers. Kevin Milmoe, a public defender, said Abernathy and Jordan had no criminal record. The judge said he would appoint a public defender for each of the three teens.

[caniff]

I just got done moving a ginormous bedroom set from one end of Boston to the other (a fifth floor apt to the second floor of a house). I advertised on Craigslist for a guy to help and who had to supply the truck for a $100. That's one hundred beans.

I received about 30 responses and picked one that I had a good feeling about. The guy picked me up and then we spent about the next 6 hours busting our asses to finish this job.

Long story short, he should have murdered me. I would have understood (this was super heavy crap). But we hit it off and he left happy.

Maybe this story belongs in the Depression Thread.

(In case you're interested, the bedroom set looks fantastic in its new home.)

[sirius black]

Sad story. But extremely foolish to chase someone who has a gun. He could have followed them long enough to get the license plate number and call 911 and even that is dangerous.

Throw the book at the assailants though. Also a word of caution to always meet someone you don't know whether its craiglist, dating site, etc. in a very public place. No exceptions.

[Adventurer]

[nw25th]

screw those kids...they deserve the years of rape they have coming in jail...for the record, pretty sure "good kids" don't magically have handguns at the age of 17....

[Adventurer]

[sirius black]

I totally agree they all deserve jail time but to varying degrees depending on involvement and complicity.
Also, with regards to the mother, she's doing what most mohters would do. She's wrong. Her son is a criminal. However, a parent, especially mothers are only going to see the good in their child. Even a serial killer's mother would say 'he was so good as a boy'. So, I understand her defending him.
Prison rape and the overall brutality of US prisons is in my opinion a violation of human rights and I would welcome Amnesty International and the UN to put pressure on the American government to prevent it as much as they can. Although we may be happy (and I confess I would find some joy and little sympathy) for a child rapist, serial killer, muderer, etc. to face that kind of brutality, the fact is its wrong and I believe a violation of 'cruel and unusual punishmement' part of our constitution. Although its not part of the sentence it is expected a prisoner will be brutalized and nothing is done to prevent it. My issue is with the prisoner who has committed a non violent crime and sometimes even something as innocuous as overdue traffic tickets that have gone to warrant stage as it is in some states, writing bad checks, having pot, etc and those people aren't allowed to carry out their sentences quietly and without incident. I had a class in college that was about crime and punishment andt he professor had written his thesis on the American prison system and the stories he told us were horrific. If what happened in American prisons happened to an American jailed in another country for a non violent, victimless crime we'd all be in up in arms about it. That same American can be in Jail in the USA for a similar offense, face that kind of brutality and no one would care and some would feel its deserved.

[ThingsComeAround]

not many positive stories from the African-American communities, eh Mad?

[sirius black]

[ThingsComeAround]

lol- sirius black

i meant Madoka can't seem to find them. Lets suppose they are too boring for him.

[madoka]

[sirius black]

[sirius black]

One more....

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Players-chip-in-to-save-coach-8217-s-life-after?urn=nba-wp184


Players chip in to save coach�s life after Clippers decline medical coverage
By Kelly Dwyer
Seven years ago, former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Kim Hughes was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the ensuing aftermath will change the way you feel about several NBA types significantly.

Up until Tuesday afternoon, the only functional knowledge I had of former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Kim Hughes was that he was, in fact, a former Los Angeles Clippers head coach, and that he once touched his elbows on the rim in a lay-up line at a high school tournament in Illinois, which really impressed my father.

Beyond that, nothing. Until Tuesday afternoon, when Howard Beck brought this column to Trey Kerby's attention, and he brought it to our attention. And now we're passing the feel-good savings on to you, in the form of an anecdote that reveals that NBA players Corey Maggette(notes), Marko Jaric(notes), Chris Kaman(notes) and Elton Brand(notes) all chipped in to pay for expensive life-saving surgery for Hughes, after the Clippers organization (read: Donald Sterling, noted worst person in the world) declined to cover the costs.

Declined to cover the cost of a surgery that would save their employee's life. While playing rent-free in an often sold-out arena in America's second-biggest television market. Unyieldingly evil.

Gary Woelfel has the original story:

"Those guys saved my life," Hughes said. "They paid the whole medical bill. It was like $70,000 or more. It wasn't cheap.

"It showed you what classy people they are. They didn't want me talking about it; they didn't want the recognition because they simply felt it was the right thing to do."

Hughes said he will be forever grateful to Brand, Jaric, Kaman and Maggette. In fact, Hughes said every time he runs into any of them, he thanks them from the bottom of his heart.

Maggette said that was indeed the case, laughing how he has repeatedly told Hughes over the years it wasn't necessary.

"Kim thanks me every time he sees me; he does that every single time," Maggette said smiling. "I've said to him, 'Kim, come on. You don't have to do that. You're good.'

No, you're good, Corey Maggette. You're pretty fantastically good. And so are you, Marko Jaric, Elton Brand, and Chris Kaman.

[Adventurer]

[sirius black]

I tend to see crime as a socio-economic issue. Poor people commit crimes. Prisons are diverse but almost all share the same background. Under-educated, dysfunctional family, etc.
I think if we want to solve the crime problem. We need to do a few things. First education. People who have hope based on a decent K-12 education tend not to commit crimes. The fact is that the K-12 educational system for many African Americans in these high crime areas are....well, criminal, for lack of a better word.
Second, the war on drugs is a joke. Third, change or eliminate programs that break up the family unit. The manner in which social welfare is dispensed in some cases replaces the father with the government. The Moynihan report on this issue many years ago suggested that much be done to structure social welfare that keeps the family unit intact. Almost the opposite was enacted. Enough said on that. There are other things that need to change but those three alone would put a serious dent on not only the African American crime rate but all violent crime. High unemployment gets a lot of blame but if you're educated sufficiently and have employable skills even in times of high unemployment you tend not to revert to crime, sell drugs or use drugs as an escape.