The murder of Freddy Gray

Marilyn Mosby

Nobody can accuse Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby of being anti-black.  And nobody can accuse her of being anti-cop either because her father, mother and grandfather were all police officers.

She grew up in Baltimore and her African American husband is a city councilman.

When she was 14, her teenage cousin was shot dead in a robbery right in front of her house.  Diron Spencer 17 was an honour student who had just come back from lifeguard duty and was still wearing his swimsuit.  That tragic incident set Marilyn Mosby on the road to achieving her goal of one day becoming a prosecutor.

Mosby is new to the job, just six months yesterday.

Her husband Councilman Nick Mosby was quick to point out the real reasons behind the anger in the community - poverty, little or no education, no jobs and no hope for the future.

Freddy Gray

The six police officers are now in custory and one has been charged with "second-degree depraved heart murder."  So what does it mean?

In United States law, depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is an action where a defendant acts with "depraved indifference" to human life and where such act results in a death.  In a depraved-heart murder, a defendant commits an act even though they know their act runs an unusually high risk of causing death or serious bodily harm to someone else.  If the risk of death or bodily harm is great enough, ignoring it demonstrates a "depraved indifference" to human life and the resulting death is considered to have been committed with malice aforethought aka premeditation.  In most states, depraved-heart killings constitute second-degree murder.

Another example given would be a teen throwing concrete blocks off an overpass onto passing traffic below.  He would have "depraved indifference" to someone being killed.

Relatives of Freddy Gray and the people of Baltimore are pinning their hopes on Marilyn Mosby to bring these men to justice.  Let's hope she can deliver.