Capital punishment -argumentativ paper - Essay Example

Though some people may be against the sentencing, especially with the belief that he might have been insane, the evidence that was presented against Middlebrooks shows that he got the sentence that he deserved. When the autopsy of Kerrick Majors had been released, it was determined that the cause of his death were stab wounds. Even though he had pinned Brewington as the one in charge of the actions against Kerrick Majors since he stabbed the boy, Middlebrooks also admitted to having stabbed Majors once.

Since the cause of death was proven to be from the stab wounds that Middlebrooks and Brewington horrifically administered to the boy, both men were directly involved in the death (Bohm 26). By claiming to have stabbed Majors, Middlebrooks essentially confessed to killing him. Furthermore, Middlebrooks claimed to have stabbed Majors to put the victim out of his misery. Not only did Middlebrooks admit to stabbing the boy, but he also admitted to stabbing him with the intent of killing him. Even though Middlebrooks and some of his character witnesses tried to claim that Middlebrooks was not fully mentally competent to understand what he did, he still made it clear that he had a concrete intention when he brought the knife down on Majors.

While Middlebrooks may have viewed his actions as helpful to the boy, albeit gruesomely so, the actions still resulted in Majors’ death. Middlebrooks’ argument during the course of his trial was that he only acted the way he had because Brewington, being a larger boy and angrier than Middlebrooks, frightened him. However, he later claimed to have taken part in the stabbing because he wanted to appear cool in front of his tougher friend. Regardless of the reason behind his actions, which kept changing throughout his trial, he still allowed himself to be swayed to the point of taking the life of an innocent boy.

Instead of walking away and seeking help, or trying to talk down his friend, Middlebrooks engaged in the beating. Since very little was looked into the role that Brewington played, it would be almost impossible to determine if Middlebrooks was acting of his own accord or if he really was being forced to join in on the torturing of the young man. As it is, simply by standing around as the violence took place, Middlebrooks just as well killed Kerrick Majors. This is in regardless of whether he actually physically caused Majors to die or did not seek the help that was desperately needed.

“Those who stand by and watch someone else die are just as guilty as the person who is causing the damage (Garland & McGowen 21).” However, as previously stated, Middlebrooks had already admitted to physically harming the boy for the sake of putting him out of his pain. No matter how he tried to condone his actions, someone else died because of his inability to control his own temper and his unwillingness to do something that would benefit the dying boy. On the other side of the table, it is believed that Middlebrooks had sufficient proof that he was not mentally stable enough to stand trial and therefore was not fit to receive the death sentence (Krzycki), or any such sentence.

Witnesses revealed that Middlebrooks had a past of molestation and abuse as a child, which caused him to develop borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, and a psychotic personality disor