Surveillance video shows four teenagers carjacking a 73-year-old grandmother. In the process, Linda Frickey got caught in the seat belt of the car and the teens sped off. Her clothes and her arm were ripped off while the rest of her body lay in the street.
Judge Kimya Holmes has set the pre-trial hearing in the murder case for September 19. Defense attorneys asked for a delay claiming there were issues with DNA results from an independent source. Obviously the defense attorneys want to delay the trial as long as they can because the videos of the teenagers committing the horrendous act are incriminating for the teenagers.
This crime sparked passionate discussions in the media and across the city because it came at a time when ruthless carjackings were reaching a peak in the public eye and a crime wave was under way in New Orleans.
The brutal nature of the crime was enhanced by the fact that it occurred on a Monday afternoon at 1:30 pm - a time when teenagers should have been in school. The idea of teenagers making the decision to not go to school and to occupy their idle time carjacking a grandmother who was savagely murdered in the process sent shock waves through both Black and White communities.
Mentioning the setting of the date for the pre-trial renewed a conversation about the case. I warned that on my talk show I would not allow race to become an issue or an excuse for the four Black teenagers involved. I made it clear that any discussions on the show will be about the behavior - not the race - of the teens.
There will be excuses made for why the teens didn't go to school and excuses made for their decision to carjack a grandmother. It is also important to recognize that the four teenagers could have stopped the process before Ms. Frickey died - but they chose to continue their malicious carjacking effort until she was dead.
This case, like so many cases, is not about race - it is about behavior and the more we as a society entertain excuses for this type of behavior, the deeper the problem grows. At some point it is imperative to the sustaining of a civilized society that attention be focused on the behavior of these 4 teenagers.
We can feel badly that they grew up in homes that failed to instill in them basic respect for human life - but we can no longer excuse the behavior. Accepting excuses only encourages other teenagers to sense that because of who they are - there are no consequences for their behavior. A basic understanding of human behavior tells you that society is giving teenagers permission to kill - oftentimes they are killing each other.
A new study just released shows that gun-related deaths of young people have reached a record high. How many children's coffins have to be made before we understand that the problem is behavior - not race.
The burden to focus on behavior falls on both sides - on Whites not to blame race and on Blacks not to excuse race.
Fortunately - many of our listeners understand that it's not about race and are willing to express their disgust over the behavior of teenagers. This is no longer an issue that divides communities - it has become an issue that is uniting communities to call out those making excuses and those refusing to be honest about the reasons for teen crimes and bring a new collective awareness to addressing the real issue - behavior.
