This is about something that happened this week but really it happened in February 2008. I arrived at work and found out that the previous night one of my friends and coworkers had been shot and killed. The version of events I heard was that Kevin was arguing with his girlfriend who called this guy and then he showed up argued with Kevin, returned to his car to get a gun and came back to the apartment where Kevin was leaving and shot him in the back. We all went to the funeral and I was a mess, crying through most of the part where people get up and tell there memories of the deceased. The good news that followed was that they caught the guy who did it soon after. He was on parole for some other gun related offence, so it was good to know he had easy access to a firearm. Things got back to normal or as much as possible. Last week Kevin's mum let us know that the trial was going ahead and by Friday, he was found guilty. Sentencing is this week and we were asked to write letters to the judge to help. Below is the letter I wrote"The Honorable Judge Senterfitt
My name is Stewart Morris and I am a friend and co-worker of Kevin Jackson. I was born and raised in Geelong Australia and moved to Jacksonville three years ago when I married my wife. I started working at the Ambulatory Pharmacy at Shands Hospital soon after. When Kevin began working at the pharmacy I helped to train him and we quickly became friends. He was always smiling. We talked everyday about the latest sports news and what our respective teams need to do to win. It didn’t make sense that we would bond over this with me being a Red Sox / Celtics fan and him being a Yankees / Knicks fan but it worked. We even made a bet over the Yankees getting into the playoffs, which I lost, however the Red Sox did win the World Series, so in a way I won. Kevin was the baby in the pharmacy and everybody loved him. He was always willing to help anybody who asked and even if you didn’t. He never had a bad word to say to anybody and was planning to return to school. Even now I expect him to show up and make some comment about the Yankees beating the Red Sox. I really thought that we would be friends for a long time.
I ask that you sentence the man who shot my friend to the maximum penalty.
Thank you
Stewart Morris"
I thought it would be easier than it turned out. I didn't end up putting much of anything. I feel like my communication ability was limited I didn't say things that I should have included, but I know that most of the people in the pharmacy wrote letters so hopefully they will help to get the maximum sentence.
