Two 15-year-old boys and a 20-year-old man allegedly shot the pastor multiple times outside her Whitehaven home in broad daylight on July 18 when they tried stealing her car.
Click here to get the KWAM NewsTalk Memphis App — your number one source for political news in the Mid-South.Family members spoke out after Shelby County District Amy Weirich announced she would try the juveniles as adults. However, the pastor’s children said Wednesday they don’t feel that an adult sentence would be justice.
“We are not convinced that we have to send children to adult prison for them to suffer the proper consequences that will fit their crime,” the slain reverend’s daughter, Ayana Hampton, told reporters.
Eason-Williams’ husband, Darrell Eason-Williams, and his sisters said the young killers should not get off easy by being let back out on the street to commit more crimes.
“You didn’t just take her car, you shot her numerous times, pulled her out, and left her for dead. That ain’t no regular crime…My wife would not want these boys to be out here on these streets,” he told WMC-TV.“Like in most families, there are differences of opinions. This is one of those cases,” Weirich said. “I must weigh all of their wishes but most important is the safety of our community and citizens,”
The juvenile court judge will be the one to determine whether the two teens are to be transferred to adult court. The first hearing will be Monday, August 1.
