Revenge plot turns into murder, now the state seeks justice

Revenge plot turns into murder, now the state seeks justice

The case of a double murder in Liberty Township in November is like an onion, with layers of evil that are peeled off to expose yet another evil and, ultimately the murder of two innocent bystanders, Wilneice L. Green, 28, and her 13-year-old daughter, Ja-Brajasia.

On the outer level is an accusation of sexual abuse against Semmie Shorter,38, of Youngstown the father of two of Green’s children. He is alleged to have molested a 14-year-old-girl while she was visiting Green’s home.

If guilty, Shorter certainly deserved to be punished. But rather than allow the law to deal with Shorter, five people decided they would extract revenge. In pursuit of their perverted brand of justice, they armed themselves and invaded Green’s home.

Shorter was not there. Which led to one of the five doing the unthinkable. He killed a mother within earshot of two of her young children, left her to die on a bed with two of her infant children and then shot her oldest child, Ja-Brajasia, in cold blood.

According to an affidavit based in large part on a statement by one of the men in the house on Northgate Drive, Melvin Turner, 36, shot Green as she pleaded for the lives of her children. As Ja-Brajasia ran for a door, he knocked her down and shot her at point-blank range as she lay on the floor.

When this case comes to trial, a lawyer may try to argue that these murders were crimes of passion, understandable in some small part because of the evil things that may have happened to another girl in that house. No one should buy that. This group of vigilantes invaded a home with the intention of killing a man whom they had decided would have to pay for a crime. Instead, they caused the death of a mother and child and traumatized four other children. The ripples from what this group did the night of Nov. 15 will spread for years.

And for that, all must be punished. One of the five, James M. Christian, has already pleaded guilty to lesser charges and will testify against the others. He could be out of prison in as few as 18 years. The law should not be so kind to the two women and other two men who set out to kill that night. Witness statements and forensic evidence point to Turner as the sole shooter, and if he is found guilty, he should face the death penalty. He killed two people for no other reason than that he could. Even Marquese J. Floyd, who was there that night and is related to the girl who was allegedly assaulted, told his girlfriend “it wasn’t supposed to go down that way” and he didn’t know why Wilneice and Ja-Brajasia were shot.

As for Shorter, the man accused of actions that set everything in motion that night — the law will never get to deal with him. Within days of the arrests in the Northgate shootings, he put a bullet through his own head, avoiding a court date and leaving people to reach their own conclusions.

The courts, however, will get to deal with Turner, Christian, Floyd, Appollonia Baker and Denise Jackson. They couldn’t wait for justice before; they’ll get to watch as the wheels of justice grind toward them.