David Bonds, Poster Child

I decided to wait until today to write this New Orleans blog. It seems that David Bonds has become the new poster child of everything that is wrong with the young black males in New Orleans. His list of faults seems to be the typical list for most that are arrested, and this young man has become the symbol of them all.

I first heard the name David Bonds in connection with the murder of Dinneral Shavers. Dinneral was murdered in December 2006, and the shots were meant for his stepson and Guy McEwen. Dinneral is the first person that I can remember knowing who has been murdered. That was tough itself, but to know that the shots were meant for the kids was even tougher. I had to realize at that point that it was just a matter of time before one of the bullets meant for the kids would hit one of them.

When David was arrested, I looked him up on the OPCSO website because part of me just had to know what he looked like. If you go to OPCSO's website, you can look up the mugshots of those who are currently in jail and the court dates of those who are charged. I just had to put a face to the name so that I could humanize him a bit. After all, it was not just the life of the family of Dinneral that lost someone that day. David Bonds family lost their son that day as well.

Dinneral's murder resulted in a lot of press because he was a member of a popular band and was part of the band program at one of the local high schools. It seemed that for months following the murder, the newspaper ran an article a week (at least) on something that included his name. Dinneral came to represent everything good and Bonds to represent everything evil. Then the unimaginable happened. Bonds was released because the witness that identified Bonds originally backed out, so the prosecutors decided not to pursue the case. Bonds took on a new role of representing everything that is wrong with the system as well. Eventually, through a new grand jury proceeding I believe, Bonds was reindicted and the case continued to trial. Of course, all of this was hashed out in the newspaper and in protest speeches so that the name of Bonds and Dinneral remained ever present in the public eye.

In early April of this year, Bonds finally was put on trial. In what turned out to be a circus of a trial with one juror having to be disqualified because he (or she) saw Bonds make a gun symbol with his fingers as one of the teenage witnesses took the stand and the public defender representing Bonds threatening another witness that the public defender's office would not represent him in his criminal charges should he testify against Bonds, the jury acquitted Bonds 11-1. Guy was a witness at the trial since part of what Bonds was being tried for was his attempted murder. The press reported heavily on the trial (including showing pictures of Guy and maybe even stating his name on one of the news stations), and the public was outraged at the not guilty verdict. During the trial, Bonds sad story of being a drug dealer and having a mother that allowed him to go into foster care around the time of the hurricane came out. Soon it was apparent that this boy's story was too typical of others young black males in New Orleans.

In what can only be described as strange timing, Guy's murder happened only a week and a half after he testified at Bonds' trial. It is well known in New Orleans that you do not testify against someone or you will be retaliated against. Guy did not really testify against Bonds because he stated on the stand that he could not identify the shooter, but that did not matter to the press. Bonds' name was back in the headlines, even making national news pages such as Fox News since Guy had been a reluctant witness at Bonds' trial. It was difficult to see the press blaming Bonds when we knew that Bonds did not kill Guy or even have him killed. In some weird way, it almost would have been easier if it had been Bonds because then it would have made some sort of sense. But it was not. And the fact that the press blamed Bonds did not help. I still think that the New Orleans police and prosecutors would like to find a way to blame Guy's death on Bonds, but he did not do it. Yet, here his name was in the paper again with reference to all that is wrong in the city and with the system.

In early May, Bonds' name ended up in the paper again, this time wanted for attempted murder. Reading the article you would have thought that he was wanted for killing Guy instead of attempted murder. Two paragraphs were devoted to the story on the attempted murder, and the rest of the story dealt with Dinneral's murder, the trial, Guy's murder, and the funeral. Soon they caught Bonds, and his face was back in the paper being transported back to jail. Guy's name was still in the articles. Most murders are numbers, but it seems that Guy and Dinneral's became symbols to the newspaper.

Now, Bonds is the poster child of everything that is wrong. He is being made an example of even in the judicial process. He is accused of attempted murder for shooting someone in the stomach. There are two witnesses that positively identified him as the shooter (wonder how they will testify at trial). Right now it looks like he is charged with second degree murder. The magistrate judge made Bonds an example by setting his bond at $750,000. The district judge further sent a message by upping the bond to $1 million, I think for no other reason than to make sure it was reported in the press. As comparison, another person that I know in New Orleans that is charged with second degree murder (but did not hit any victims) is being held for a $50,000 bond. Also, when he was originally indicted for the murder of Dinneral and attempted murder of the other three in the car, his initial bond was $550,000 (at reindictment in August 2007, that amount went up to $2.5 million).

I think that it is unfair to this young man to make him the poster child of everything that has gone wrong. First, I think that all of the attention is going to affect his right to a fair trial. Do not misunderstand me -- I hope that he goes to jail and for a long time. I just think it is unfair for him to go to jail for a crime that he did not commit (Guy's murder) and a crime of which he has been acquitted (Dinneral's murder). That is the way that our justice system is supposed to work. Evidentally there was reasonable doubt in at least one juror's mind. I wish that juror did not feel that way, but that is the way that the jury system works. Second, none of the newspaper articles seem to be addressing the fact that a solution to this problem does not lie in governmental programs or even the justice system. People need to invest in the lives of these boys before they take up guns and start shooting. Investing does not guarantee that the boy will turn out alright. However, investing in the lives of these boys may enable a few of them to turn out ok instead of leaving them to run loose like Bonds. Third, this boy does have a family and I am sure that family is hurting right now. It sounds like his mother has issues and that his father is absent, but there are probably people that love this boy that are having to see him represented as the poster child for everything bad in New Orleans society. I am sure that hurts. To someone, he probably was a good kid. To someone, he may have been a loving son/nephew/grandson. We need to remember that these people are human and hopefully are loved by someone.

There is a war going on in inner city America and there are many young black males that are going down as casualties of that war. Bonds is a casualty in that war. Most of us just turns our heads and ignore the war, or say things like "At least they are killing each other." More of us need to join in the fight. More of us in the church need to pay attention to the war, even if it is outside of your community. It is a war where it is worth it to win the battle in at least one life. It is a war that is guaranteed to hurt you at some point if you decide to join the battle because you will watch someone you love become a casualty or die in the war if you invest enough time in it. Bonds may represent all that is going wrong in the inner city, but he also represents all that is wrong in our attitude towards the inner city.