Haste. Road rage. Bad judgment. (Un)Lucky shot.
Structurally, not very much different from the Yalanda Parrish case...
One of our members here has posted the following the following thesis:
"ANGER/BOUNDARY ISSUES + LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY + CARRIED WEAPON = RISK TO SOCIETY."
I think he's got a good model.
Tue, Jul. 29, 2008
Witnesses describe shooting of teen bicyclist by driver
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A passenger in Charles T. Meyers' car told a city jury today that teenager Tykeem Law never threatened him or Meyers during the road-rage altercation that ended with Law dead of a gunshot wound of the chest.
"Was Tykeem Law doing anything more than acting like an annoying little boy who decided to pick a fight instead of moving his bike out of the way?" Assistant District Attorney Gonen Haklay asked John Sabalauskas, referring to the July 14, 2007 confrontation between Meyers, 19, and Law, 14.
"No," replied Sabalauskas.
"Did you see a weapon?" Haklay asked.
"No," repeated Sabalauskas.
"Did you ever feel your life was in danger?" Haklay continued.
Again the answer was no.
Sabalauskas, 34, described an everyday urban occurrence - angry, impatient driver vs. teenager with adolescent attitude - that turned deadly in seconds because of the presence of a gun.
In this case, the gun - a five-shot .22-caliber revolver - drew several gasps from spectators when Haklay displayed it in court because of its size: smaller than a three-by-five card.
"Small enough to hide, big enough to kill," Haklay told the Common Pleas Court jury in his opening statement.
Meyers, of South Philadelphia, is charged with murder and gun violations in the shooting in the 900 block of Federal Street near the Italian Market.
Meyers' attorney, Daniel Conner, said his client would testify, contending the shooting was self-defense because Meyers believed Law had reached under his shirt and might have had a weapon.
Law, a seventh grader who played on his middle school basketball team, was not armed. He died of a single gunshot that pierced his heart and a lung.
Three witnesses of the shooting testified today that they never saw Law make any threatening moves before he was shot. Sabalauskas and another passenger, Jason Squillace, testified that Meyers and Law got into a loud profanity-punctuated argument after Law failed to move his bike and let Meyers pass.
Police say Law was one of a half-dozen boys riding bikes and slowing Saturday traffic about 4 p.m.
Meyers was driving Sabalauskas, a neighborhood acquaintance, to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to get treatment for an infected neck. Meyers turned left on Federal from Ninth Street to avoid traffic ahead at the Italian Market.
Meyers allegedly approached the cyclists honking and yelling at them. When Law stopped riding and stood near the car, police allege that Meyers shot him with a .22-caliber handgun.
Both Sabalauskas and Squillace, 21, Meyers' close friend, said they did not know Meyers had a gun in the car.
Squillace nodded toward Meyers as he walked toward the witness stand and seemed especially conflicted about testifying against a friend he call "my family."
Describing the panic in the car as it sped a block from the shooting before getting into an accident, Squillace told Haklay, "I was scared. I just watched my best friend kill somebody."
In addition to Sabalauskas and Squillace, the jury heard from Philadelphia Police Officer Joseph Acavino Jr., who saw the shooting because he was driving to work on Federal Street when Meyers turned in front of his SUV.
Acavino said he saw Law pull his bike over to the side of Federal Street and shrug his shoulders with his palms open and pointing up as if asking, "What's the problem?"
Meyers' burgundy Mazda crept forward and Acavino testified he saw the driver lean in front of the front-seat passenger with his arm extended. He said he heard a pop and then saw Law grasp his chest, look down at his hands, and fall backward.
Acavino also demonstrated the firing mechanism of Meyers' .22-caliber revolver to show why Haklay argued that it would have been unlikely for Meyers to have fired in panic. The gun's trigger would fire only if the hammer was first cocked with the shooter's thumb.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...ibe_shooting_of_teen_bicyclist_by_driver.html
Structurally, not very much different from the Yalanda Parrish case...
One of our members here has posted the following the following thesis:
"ANGER/BOUNDARY ISSUES + LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY + CARRIED WEAPON = RISK TO SOCIETY."
I think he's got a good model.
Tue, Jul. 29, 2008
Witnesses describe shooting of teen bicyclist by driver
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A passenger in Charles T. Meyers' car told a city jury today that teenager Tykeem Law never threatened him or Meyers during the road-rage altercation that ended with Law dead of a gunshot wound of the chest.
"Was Tykeem Law doing anything more than acting like an annoying little boy who decided to pick a fight instead of moving his bike out of the way?" Assistant District Attorney Gonen Haklay asked John Sabalauskas, referring to the July 14, 2007 confrontation between Meyers, 19, and Law, 14.
"No," replied Sabalauskas.
"Did you see a weapon?" Haklay asked.
"No," repeated Sabalauskas.
"Did you ever feel your life was in danger?" Haklay continued.
Again the answer was no.
Sabalauskas, 34, described an everyday urban occurrence - angry, impatient driver vs. teenager with adolescent attitude - that turned deadly in seconds because of the presence of a gun.
In this case, the gun - a five-shot .22-caliber revolver - drew several gasps from spectators when Haklay displayed it in court because of its size: smaller than a three-by-five card.
"Small enough to hide, big enough to kill," Haklay told the Common Pleas Court jury in his opening statement.
Meyers, of South Philadelphia, is charged with murder and gun violations in the shooting in the 900 block of Federal Street near the Italian Market.
Meyers' attorney, Daniel Conner, said his client would testify, contending the shooting was self-defense because Meyers believed Law had reached under his shirt and might have had a weapon.
Law, a seventh grader who played on his middle school basketball team, was not armed. He died of a single gunshot that pierced his heart and a lung.
Three witnesses of the shooting testified today that they never saw Law make any threatening moves before he was shot. Sabalauskas and another passenger, Jason Squillace, testified that Meyers and Law got into a loud profanity-punctuated argument after Law failed to move his bike and let Meyers pass.
Police say Law was one of a half-dozen boys riding bikes and slowing Saturday traffic about 4 p.m.
Meyers was driving Sabalauskas, a neighborhood acquaintance, to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to get treatment for an infected neck. Meyers turned left on Federal from Ninth Street to avoid traffic ahead at the Italian Market.
Meyers allegedly approached the cyclists honking and yelling at them. When Law stopped riding and stood near the car, police allege that Meyers shot him with a .22-caliber handgun.
Both Sabalauskas and Squillace, 21, Meyers' close friend, said they did not know Meyers had a gun in the car.
Squillace nodded toward Meyers as he walked toward the witness stand and seemed especially conflicted about testifying against a friend he call "my family."
Describing the panic in the car as it sped a block from the shooting before getting into an accident, Squillace told Haklay, "I was scared. I just watched my best friend kill somebody."
In addition to Sabalauskas and Squillace, the jury heard from Philadelphia Police Officer Joseph Acavino Jr., who saw the shooting because he was driving to work on Federal Street when Meyers turned in front of his SUV.
Acavino said he saw Law pull his bike over to the side of Federal Street and shrug his shoulders with his palms open and pointing up as if asking, "What's the problem?"
Meyers' burgundy Mazda crept forward and Acavino testified he saw the driver lean in front of the front-seat passenger with his arm extended. He said he heard a pop and then saw Law grasp his chest, look down at his hands, and fall backward.
Acavino also demonstrated the firing mechanism of Meyers' .22-caliber revolver to show why Haklay argued that it would have been unlikely for Meyers to have fired in panic. The gun's trigger would fire only if the hammer was first cocked with the shooter's thumb.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...ibe_shooting_of_teen_bicyclist_by_driver.html
