Sometimes Death
Is Too Easy
BY CLARENCE BARR, II
As I sit here with pen in hand, I’m wondering if it’s right for me to hate a person whom I’ve never met? Growing up I know I was taught to hate a person’s actions and not the person themselves. But when it comes to this particular individual, I’m finding it hard to separate the two.
I imagine it’s because what he’s accused of doing is despicable beyond words. An act so vile in nature, that I half expect him to show up in court revealing a pair of horns protruding from his skull and carrying a pitchfork.
Of course I’m referring to Richard McTear, Jr. The man (piece of crap would be a more accurate description) who, in 2009, allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend’s 3-month-old son, Emanuel Wesley Murray Jr., and then proceeded to toss the child out of the window of a moving vehicle.
When I read in the paper recently that they were finally proceeding with his trial, all of the anger that I felt the first time I heard this story came flooding back. It was hard for me to believe that it had been four years since the incident occurred. It seemed like just yesterday that I was watching his perp walk on CNN and thinking to myself, “if what they’re saying is true, he deserves every bit of bad karma heading his way.”
I say that because, regardless of how hard you are or how dirty the so-called “game” gets, there are certain things you just don’t do in life. And bringing harm to a child, especially an infant, ranks at the very top of the list.
I mean, it’s true that we all make mistakes. But, at least as far as I’m concerned, this is one that falls in the completely unforgivable category.
It is not surprising that they’re seeking the death penalty. In all actuality, in cases like these, they should allow the family of the victim to choose the method in which death is brought.
For McTear, that would probably mean him coming face to face with the same stretch of asphalt that took little Emanuel’s life.
Personally though, if I had any say in the situation, I would let him live. Being that I can’t confirm that he’ll receive any kind of eternal punishment in whatever afterlife awaits, I’d rather see him receive his torment in the here and now.
Life-without-parole inside of the Florida State Penitentiary, hands down the absolute worse prison in the state would, no doubt, be a fate worse than any he could ever imagine. Being that he’s still in his early twenties, after spending at least the next 50 years fighting for his manhood every time someone recognizes him as “the baby killer” and slowly losing his sanity while trying to survive conditions that would make a cockroach throw up, he won’t just pray for death, he’ll curse the day his parents were born.
It still may not be enough to satisfy the loss for the victims’ family. But, it will be the justifiable ending he deserves after ending a life that never had a chance.
“And the mistrial won’t allow him to avoid the cost of repercussions. One way or another, there will come a time when he’ll surely have to pay.”
Anyone wanting to contact Clarence Barr can reach him at: Clarence Barr, II, 43110-018; P. O. Box 7007; Marianna, FL 32447-7007. Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company.
