Baseball People Pizza

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Throughout their childhood and adolescent years, Tyron and Aldwin McNeal shared the same violent, terror filled lives. The boys grew up in South Chicago with their mother, Cynthia Taylor, and her husband and the father of Aldwin, Hertie Jones. Jones was commonly abusive to the boy’s mother; he was a heroin addict, alcoholic and a pimp, even going so far as to force Taylor into prostitution. Growing up, the boys were subject to violence in school, exposed to drugs at a very young age, and were even raped by an elder relative whose charge they were left in. During this time, the boys spent a great deal of time together (Tyron was older by only a year). By the age of 12, both Tyron and Aldwin were drinking and smoking marijuana; it was not long before they began dealing drugs. These trends continued throughout the boys years in middle and high school. However, after dropping out of school in their respective junior and senior years, Aldwin and Tyron’s path’s finally parted ways. Sensing a need for order in his life, joined the Army went to serve in Germany. During his time overseas, he met a pastor and was converted to Christianity. After his service, Tyron went on to get married and find work as a deputy in the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. At the same time Aldwin, unlike Tyron, was unable to turn his life around. While Tyron was serving in the military, Aldwin continued his rebellion through a lifestyle of crime, violence, and eventually murder. After serving 7 years out of a 10 year sentence for armed robbery, Aldwin was released from prison in 1993. Soon after his release, Aldwin was involved in a robbery at Maude’s Pizzeria, where he murdered two men: Cory Gerlach and Perry Austin. During this same period he was also accuse... ... middle of paper ... ...if he is sane. Another way to put this is that one is only morally responsible if he is morally conscious. It is very questionable whether Aldwin was aware of right and wrong. While he was in prison, he was diagnosed with antisocial behaviors and paranoid schizophrenia, although there was doubt as to the latter diagnosis. These disorders may have caused Aldwin to be out of touch with reality, casting doubt as to whether he was actually aware of his actions and their moral value. Although, it would take a psychiatrist to determine the extent of this incoherence. However, whether he was guilty or not, Aldwin’s punishment will serve as a warning to others involved in similar crime. According to the soft compatibilist view punishment for moral wrongs can serve to deter others from crime. In essence, punishment will serve as a determining cause for someone else’s reform.

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