In addition to trying to navigate through the grieving process, because my son was murdered, I have the added stress of learning first hand about the court system. It’s all very complicated, and nothing moves fast.
This is where we are at the moment, Gunnar was arraigned in juvenille court, and after a 4 hour preliminary hearing, the judge decided that he would be tried as an adult and set a $1 million dollar bond.
Then the whole process had to start over at adult court. At that arraignment, the judge who only had the case in front of her for 10 minutes, decided to lower the bond to 1/4 of that to $250,000. I spoke up and requested to make a statement. I let the judge know that Gunnar and I live in the same neighborhood, he knows where I live, and it would be terrifying to have him that close. She made an amendment to her original ruling, kept the bond at $250,000, but required that he find another court appointed place to live if he were to make bail. Small victory?
Next the case is sent to a new judge. He will be the judge for the rest of the time, and he made a ruling that he not be released (even though they have the bond money) until there is a bond hearing.
That happens today at 2pm.
As a victim, I have the right to make a statement to hopefully influence the judge’s decision. I prepared the statement below, and I’m not worried about reading in court, in front of Gunnar and his parents, but I am absolutely terrified that the old ruling will stand, and he will be released until trial starts.
Good afternoon, your honor, thank you for allowing my voice to be heard today. Lawrence Morgan is the victim in the case and I am his mother.
I understand that a bond is not intended to be a punishment, however if there is reason to be concerned for the safety of the community the amount of the bond can be increased.
I have every reason to believe that Gunnar poses a clear threat to the peace and security and safety of our community. I know Gunnar personally; we live in the same neighborhood. There’s about 1,000 feet between his front door and mine. I’ve welcomed Gunnar into my home many, many times. I’ve fed him dinner, driven him to the mall and drove him home when he didn’t want to walk.
Gunnar and Lawrence were friends. I’ve never been a teenage boy, but I’ve known a lot of them. And from my experience, it is pretty typical that friends get into arguments over girls or games or other things that prove to be insignificant in the long run. I’ve never condoned it, I hate fighting, but many times teenage boys settle these arguments with fist fights.
Gunnar and Lawrence were no different. That is, they were no different until June 21st of this year.
On that day, these 2 friends met at an intersection in a quiet, residential neighborhood less than a quarter mile from our home. And the difference between these two friends and other angst-filled teenagers fighting was that Gunnar brought a loaded gun to this fight, and Gunnar fired his weapon 7 times, 4 of those bullets finding purchase in my baby’s chest.
On that day, my sweet boy, my only child, my reason for everything, died in the street. My heart was broken and my world went forever dark. And, there is absolutely nothing they could be fighting about or over that is worth more than my son’s life.
Gunnar didn’t kill a scary stranger in a dark alley in the bad part of town. Gunnar killed his friend, my son over some insignificant argument, in broad daylight, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in our quiet neighborhood, where families with children live in nice homes with nice yards. It wasn’t in a dark scary alley; it was on the actual street where Gunnar lives with his parents in the home I’ve driven him to when it was raining and he didn’t want to walk those 1000 feet from my door to his.
Our neighborhood; our community will not be safe if Gunnar were to be released. In the months since this happened, I have heard from many members of the neighborhood and they have expressed how much safer they and their families feel since Gunnar has been incarcerated. Because Gunnar doesn’t argue when he has disagreements, he doesn’t fight about them. He brings a gun, kills, lies and shows no remorse.
That is why, your honor, I beg you to adjust the amount of bond to reflect the severity and hideousness of this crime and to protect the safety of myself and my neighbors.
Thank you.
After the end 