The Innocence Of Wess And Tony In The Death Penalty

In this quote, the Baltimore police department perform an intense search for the four jewelry store robbers, provoked by the fact that the man killed “one of their own.” The man that was killed was Sergeant Bruce Prothero, a police officer and father of five who had a second job working as a security guard at the mall. They captured the first two suspects within two days of the shooting. Mary watches as the news reporter publicizes that the final two suspects—Tony and Wes—are still on the run, and that they are being treated as “armed and dangerous.” Tony and Wes are in North Philadelphia, staying at an uncle’s house. Walking down the street, Wes notices that the same police car has been following him on more than one occasion and hopes it is just a coincidence. Tony says he is going out,

During questioning, Wes does not feel anxious, as he knows he has lost all control over his fate. He has waited almost a year to be extradited to Maryland from Pennsylvania for his trial. Tony was distinguished as the shooter and pleaded guilty in order to avoid the death penalty. The two other men involved also pleaded guilty. Only Wes has maintained his innocence, and his case goes to trial. Wes’s lawyer claims that Wes simply accompanied Tony to Philadelphia and points out that since being in jail, Wes has converted to Islam and calls his children every day. As Wes waits to hear the jury’s verdict, he is overwhelmed by feelings of isolation and indifference. Wes is found guilty of first-degree felony murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Wes reflects on his fate; he has been to prison before, but never anticipated to spend the rest of his life there. For the first time, Wes has a clear idea of what his future looks like. This quote is significant because Wes was always getting in trouble. Eventually, Wes got into so much trouble he was facing a life sentence in jail for robbery and