It feels like 2015 has not been a good year for Warren County. I’m beginning to wonder if people are getting up in the morning and eating a big bowl of stupid for breakfast. If not, some members of the population have definitely stopped using common sense in their decision-making processes.
Take the recent case of Christopher Hollandsworth and Frankie Jo Spurlock, who reportedly lured a young girl to a location so she could be assaulted by two teenage girls. There was definitely a lack of common sense in this situation. Who does these things? It’s crazy. If not for the intervention of a Good Samaritan (a person who didn’t wake up and eat of bowl of stupid for breakfast), that situation could have easily been a murder charge.
When it comes to the case involving Jack Redmon, Brooke Hale and Tracy Bouldin, I’m not going to weigh in on who’s right and wrong. At this point, I don’t have enough information. We have Facebook for people who want to speculate. While I’m sure all the details will eventually come out in trial (if it gets there), the one thing I keep hearing is this was all over a woman. That may or may not be true.
I will make this statement: When it comes to situations where two people are arguing over one love interest, I’ve never understood it. If you are fighting over a girl, she isn’t worth it. If she thinks she is, she’s wrong. If you think she is, you’re wrong. That statement is gender neutral. If you are fighting over a guy, he isn’t worth it. If he thinks he is, he’s wrong. If you think he is, you’re wrong. Period.
Maybe I’m wasting my time here and some people are destined to join the inmates on Ten-nessee’s death row. Here’s something to consider: a group of 10 death row inmates are suing over lethal injection and the state’s backup option – the electric chair and if they have the right to know the name of the individual who flips the switch. I’m sure the lawsuit has nothing to do with fairness and is just an attempt to keep from being put to death.
Death row inmates shouldn’t have the right to select when, where or how they die. They didn’t give their victims that option. They didn’t try, I’m sure, to be humane. When people start arguing the rights of death row inmates, I always like to look at the crimes they committed. The next inmate up for execution is Billy Ray Irick on Oct. 7, 2015. He raped and murdered a 7-year-old Knoxville girl in 1985. As hard as I try, I can’t find any compassion for Irick. His victim would be somewhere around 37 years old today and he’s lived 30 years longer than he allowed her to live.
Use common sense. Stay away from bowls of stupid and you won’t have to worry about how the state plans on executing you.
Standard reporter Lisa Hobbs can be reached at 473-2191.