'I want to see change' - Sean Gathright and family address judge — Foolio Murder Sentencing

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: yeah thank you for allowing me to address the court um i'd like to say that this this everything has really um opened and brought a lot of attention to a lot of things that are going on in in the community and in the neighborhood um of jacksonville and also elsewhere shh mr snarty you're talking too loud i can't hear miss lyle elsewhere in the country um there have been we have received a lot of support a lot of comments about people who've learned a lot about the judicial process throughout this which i think is very very important and also has sparked a lot of conversation in regards to parents communicating with their children and letting people realize that just it doesn't matter uh what your situation is you never know what can happen in life and and where you can find yourself and i think uh with this trial being televised and and with a lot of uh uh what do you call it controversy and attention um it's really it's really sparked a lot of conversation throughout the community and brought a lot of awareness and um it i i hope that this will change uh a lot of things in people's lives and uh change their minds and and opinions and um as a retired member of the military i've always been one who has um strictly believed in in the rule of law and right and wrong and i've i've learned a lot all i can say is i've learned a lot and uh about the how the process goes and thank you for allowing me sure miss lyle and i just want to tell [00:01:51] Speaker 2: you um and i you know you've been a very devoted mother to your son i can tell you've been here throughout the trial and he's very fortunate to have you um as his mother um and i know your heart is broken i know it is because it's your child and i i do have sympathy for that and for you i really do i'm i'm very sorry for you and for your family that this is where you find yourself um but your your attitude and what you're taking away from it um i hope as well for the community's sake that there is some change because this this can't go on this this tragedy just cannot go on so um i thank you for your comments okay thank you um and miss gathray do you want to say something come on up [00:02:56] Speaker 3: i too want to thank you for allowing me to address the court um this tragic event occurred when sean was barely 18 years old and this is a time when the prefrontal cortex of the brain is not fully developed this development doesn't complete itself until they're at least 25 and this is the area of the brain that controls impulses and risky behavior is part of the immature brain that they have a heightened drive for risky behavior um logic is impulse emotions and impulses are their first priority and logic is the second one and i know that sean made a mistake but i really believe that the punishment is too severe i know sean is a bright young man and given the opportunity i believe he can make an outstanding role model for younger people he's a strong christian and he is liked by his peers as well as as adults this one event should not define the rest of his life thank you thank you thank you [00:04:21] Speaker 2: all right um and mr gathray do you wish to say something yes ma'am okay [00:04:27] Mr. Gathray: thank you all right your honor i just thank you once again for allowing me the opportunity um i prepared just a little something um i worked kind of thoughtfully on pretty thoughtfully on it so i just ask that you allow your discretion for me to yeah no go ahead thank you as long as it's respectful yes ma'am all right um here we are being sentenced for the murder of charles jones on the day he was killed two years later now some may say this is just a coincidence but i believe that nothing has been is or ever will be left up to chance and that everything in this world is predestined and there are many biblical promises of that belief holding true jeremiah 1 5 says before you were formed in the womb i knew you before you were born i set you apart jeremiah 29 11 says i know the plans i have for you plans for good and not for disaster and romans 8 28 says we know all things work together for good to those who love god and are called to his purpose and there are many more just like them god has full sovereignty over our lives he chooses our times of peace and prosperity our times of joy and laughter but he also chooses our traumas and our tribulations not to punish and tear us apart but to strengthen our character in our faith everyone wonders how and why i ended up in a situation like this despite growing up with a loving family nice home multiple opportunities and promising potential some act as if is it impossible or unheard of for someone like me to find themselves in a situation like this but in reality it is much more common than we think has been happening long before today there is a parable jesus shared with the world called the prodigal son a son who had the nice home loving family servants he had his every need catered to yet he still chose to take his inheritance and venture off to a far country where he indulged in prodigal living he soon ran down on money and a famine had struck the land he was in and while that would have been enough signs for most to turn back his eyes still hadn't opened and he still hadn't come to his senses hungry and desperate he found a job on the farm feeding pigs and during these times pigs and what they were fed were deemed as the filthiest most impure lowest of the low and worst of the worst but he was so hungry and so blind that the food he fed the pigs looked appetizing that's when he finally came to his senses he realized that even the servants back home had enough food to spare yet here he is dying of hunger amongst pigs after this eye-opening experience he decided to return home he was ashamed and planned to go to his father to ask for forgiveness and to become one of his servants because he no longer felt worthy to be called his son but when he returned his father embraced him with love and compassion dressed him in the finest clothes and jewels and celebrated his son's return with a feast exclaiming this son of mine was dead and has come back to life he was lost and is now found it is not uncommon for good young men who come from good families to get lost in this world but but discontentment often leads these good young good young men astray when scholars and historians look back on our times i believe they will label us as the age of discontentment and those of us who come from privileged upbringings are actually disadvantaged to the fight against it because of the high expectations any opportunities and options we grow up with we don't know what struggle looks like or how hard our parents had to work to provide these opportunities for us we don't know what we have until it's gone and it often happens after we go through our own eye-opening experience never in history has there been a time like now where there's so much available and so easy to consume but we still demand more and it is clearly seen in my generation young men and women want to grow up faster to try to keep up with the influencers that are idolized and this is in part due to us being so susceptible a study done by the national institute of mental health provided evidence showing that the brain doesn't reach full maturity until 26 to 27 years old for men about eight or nine years older than my time during the offense but society knows this and that's why laws set age requirements on certain activities amenities and substances as a way to protect adolescent adults yet those same laws don't extend to an adolescent adult when they are charged with crimes and allows them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent regardless of their age your honor it is heartbreaking that an 18 year old can't rent a car or a hotel or buy a home but can be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole they can't purchase alcohol or tobacco but can be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole they can't work certain jobs or even go on a cruise without a chaperone but can be sentenced to death without life or life without prison without in prison without possibility of parole and i'm a prime example of these circumstances at 18 years old with no prior convictions i was charged indicted and had to face the death penalty my point is society views anyone under the age of 21 is not being mentally mature enough to participate or partake in these activities amenities and substances because certain substances listed can negatively impact or stunt the growth of a developing brain while other activities and amenities have restrictions due to the lack of impulse and behavioral control or lack of situation awareness at times with teens it is very simple to understand that our brains have not developed enough that we live in a society where someone under the age of 21 can be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole leave no room for growth rehabilitation or redemption we don't account for the fact that they were a fully developed adult and the judgment and decision making abilities weren't developed either i believe it is cruel for someone under the age of 21 to be sentenced to life without parole or death before they're even old enough to be fully emancipated or to fully comprehend what consequences their actions carry i say all this because i want to see change change for those whose fates were sealed long before they were born change for the prodigal sons and daughters who ventured off too far in the world and got lost change for those who haven't reached full maturity or unlocked their full potential as adults change for the ones who never had the option to go around over or underneath or straight through their obstacles in spite of my current circumstances i still trust in all those biblical promises i believe that i am exactly where god planned for me to be a plan he created long before i was born it is also my belief that this chapter of my life will propel me to a much greater purpose than what we see here today because my journey has just begun