It is a sad day in America.
A large group of people are trying to save Tookie William's life--a man who is guilty of murdering four people--while at the same time they ignore that a Missisippi man will be executed for protecting himself and his daughter from an intruder.
That man is Cory Maye...
It was close to midnight on December 26th, 2001 in Prentiss, Mississippi and the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force was about to go on a drug raid. The warrant they had was the result of information provided by Officer Ron Jones--the son of the chief of police in Prentiss, MS. Jones had recieved the tip from an anonymous informant. After recieving the tip, the task force asked Jones if he would like to participate in the raid. He agreed.
Donning paramilitary gear the task force commenced the raid. Some officers--Jones being one of them--decided to go around to a side door to find a larger stash of drugs. When one member of the SWAT team broke down the outside door, an unnarmed Jones charged in, and made his way into the bedroom.
A couple of seconds before this, Cory Maye and his 1 year-old daughter had been sleeping in his apartment. He awoke to the sound of the front door breaking in. Living in a dangerous neighborhood, Maye was the owner of a gun for his protection. He ran into the bedroom, grabbed his pistol and loaded it. He waited by the bed. Shortly after, his back door slammed open and an intruder charged into bedroom. Out of fear for his life and the safety of his daughter, Maye fired. He hit Jones in the abdomen, just below his bulletproof vest. Jones died a short time later.
That "side door" the officers had just entered was actually the door to someone else's apartment--The house was a duplex. The task force had been executing a warrant for Jaime Smith, who was alledgely selling drugs out of his apartment. Maye lived opposite of Smith.
Maye was not listed in the search warrant. On top of that, he had no criminal record whatsoever. This is just a side note--as Maye wasn't the subject of the warrant--but it shows the shady actions of the Prentiss Police Force in dealing with this case. You see, initial police reports concluded that no drugs were found on Maye's side of the duplex. Later on, they changed their tune and said they had found traces of marijuana and cocaine. Maye's lawyer says that the police found one smoked marijuana cigarette.
Drugs or no drugs, this was still a tragedy. A man had been killed.
Though, I think it is safe to say that Maye felt his life and his daughter's life were in danger. He merely acted in self defense. His actions were justifiable.
Unfortunately, a jury completely disagreed. Now, I could understand a manslaughter charge, but Maye was convicted of captial murder for shooting officer Jones in January 2004! He was sentenced to death by lethal injection; He is now on death row.
Now this is an injustice. How can we sit by when the state plans to kill this man for protecting himself? This cause is one that we can all get behind, regardless of one's political leanings.
I am both shocked and angry that there isn't more of an up-roar about this. Where is the outrage?!
Where are the celerities and activists on this matter?
This man deserves a pardon. Please follow this story and do what you can to help him.
You can follow the blogging of this story HERE
Please get involved and do something. Please take the time to get educated about the case and then write a letter to Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi, supporting a pardon for Cory Maye.
This man needs your help.