This was supposed to be the week that Zach and Anna Sowers planned what they would do for their first wedding anniversary on Saturday.
Instead, Anna Sowers will spend that day where she's spent most of the past four months: sitting at her husband's hospital bed, hoping, praying that he'll come out of the coma he's been in. She'll be thinking about whether her husband will pull through. She'll be thinking about how to pay for her husband's mounting medical bills when the insurance runs out in a few months.
Early on the morning of June 2, Zach Sowers was walking to his Patterson Park home from a bar in Canton. Two men attacked him, with at least one stomping Zach Sowers as he lay in the street. Those two then ran to a car with two other men and sped away.
Perhaps "men" is not an accurate word in that last paragraph. Four males face attempted murder, robbery and other charges in the near-fatal beating of Zach Sowers. [Police and prosecutors say a computer trail of purchases made with Zach Sowers' stolen credit cards led them to the suspects.] Trayvon Ramos was 16 when he was charged; Wilburt Martin was 18; Eric L. Price was 16.
And Arthur Jeter was just 15 days away from his 18th birthday.
On Monday, Jeter was in a Baltimore Circuit Court. His attorney, public defender Jennifer Davis, tried to persuade Circuit Judge Roger W. Brown to kick Jeter's case back down to juvenile court, also known in Baltimore as the Land of Wrist-Slap Justice.
Davis, to her credit, did her job. She presented a compelling case for Jeter, giving Brown details about why he should be tried as a juvenile, not an adult. (Those of you who claim public defenders aren't "real lawyers" can learn a lesson from people like Davis.)
"He's functioning more as a teenager than an adult," Davis said. "Mentally, it would be better if he were returned to the juvenile system." Davis added that Jeter was a special-education student in school and is unable to read, which led him to drop out.
Jeter's brother, Davis continued, was killed four years ago for being a cooperating witness to a crime. Davis said Jeter has cooperated with police and given details about the attack on Zach Sowers. Davis said Jeter has been attacked while in jail for his cooperation and that his mother has received death threats. Davis mentioned several times that Jeter has expressed remorse about what happened to Zach Sowers.
