Marine, back from Iraq, killed in his home town
On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.
Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield was attacked on January 5 while he and his girlfriend were waiting for a bus. He had heeded the warnings of commanders that a Marine on leave might be seen as a prime robbery target with a pocketful of money, so he only carried $8, his military ID card and a bank card.
“They took it, turned his pockets inside out, took what he had and told him since he was a Marine and didn’t have any money he didn’t deserve to live. They put the gun to his neck and shot him…”
Feeding and breathing tubes kept him alive 4½ months, until he died of an infection on May 18…
The two men charged in the attack were identified as Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland. Their attorneys did not respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.
This is why I don’t have an all-encompassing position on capital punishment. I feel, case-by-case, we have to consider protecting the public, legitimate likelihood of rehabbing an offender, a number of qualities including aspects as dry as cost-benefit ratios.
And, then, there’s justice.
