The 14-year sentence for a man who pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child has provoked outrage in the community, according to members of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence.
Jimmy Lee Branch, 30, pleaded guilty May 9 in the stabbing death of acquaintance Perlie Alston in October. Charged with first-degree murder, Branch accepted a plea bargain that lowered the charge to second-degree murder and wrapped in the apparently unrelated child-rape charge.
The latter charge alone could have put Branch in prison for 25 years; instead, he got a 14-year sentence for both convictions.
“He’ll be out of jail before she gets over it,” Cathy Ringley said at Thursday night’s Coalition Against Violence meeting, referring to the child-rape victim.
Ringley and Margaret Ellis led the criticism of the plea deal, and the consensus of the coalition seemed to be shock that such violent crimes could lead to such a short sentence. He’ll probably be out in three years, Ellis said.
“I’m furious about this,” she said. “People need to raise their voice.”
“It’s appalling,” Ringley said.
She said a woman called her, as a member of the coalition, to complain about the sentence and promise that she could deliver 30 mothers and their 30 daughters for a protest march or vigil if the coalition held such an event.
“It needs to be a girl thing,” Ringley said.
The coalition chose to hold off on any march in favor of an open letter to District Attorney Sam Currin III. Ringley is to draft a letter, perhaps with the help of Marolyn Rasheed, and coalition members will circulate the letter to get as many signatures as possible.
The letter will “send a very firm message that that sort of a sentence was insulting,” Ringley said.
The Rev. Peter White said the letter won’t change the Branch case but could make a difference in the future.
Ringley said the letter will be powerful because there have been so few examples of public outcry in Vance County.
Also Thursday night at the coalition meeting:
* The Rev. Todd Hester of Cotton Memorial Presbyterian Church reported that the committee working on creating the Boys and Girls Club of Vance County is making rapid progress while meeting each Tuesday night. A district representative of Boys and Girls Clubs of America is coming to town next week to provide guidance and information. The committee is drafting a slate of directors, is researching liability issues, and is exploring the best ways to work with the media and handle fundraising.
Coalition Chairwoman Elnora O’Hara praised the committee and its leader, Elaine Chavis Young, for making such fast and steady progress on the much-needed club.
* Summer bus transportation for youths from the city to the Aycock Recreation Complex is essentially a phone call away, Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce President Bill Edwards said. KARTS is ready to add the rec center to its Around Town Shuttle route whenever the coalition makes that request, Edwards said.
He also said Recreation Director Alan Gill likes the idea of kids getting to the center a dozen at a time on KARTS rather than 50 at a time on church buses, and Gill is happy to have church volunteers as chaperones during the summer to help handle bigger crowds. Edwards said Gill is uncertain how many teen staffers he’ll get to hire this summer.
The coalition empowered Edwards to work with Gill and KARTS to create bus and volunteer schedules to increase youth usage of Aycock this summer. Edwards also is to pursue special summer pricing for the bus and the rec center for youths on vacation from school or turn to the faith community for subsidies. The summer break starts next Thursday.
Terry Moore and Deryl von Williams offered to help Edwards.
* Clyde Davis III said he has the games and the screens necessary for his Gamers Against Violence tournament, which he hopes to hold in the fall or next spring. He also has three friends from video game companies who will demonstrate how the games are made. Now he just needs a place to hold the event.
Davis said 120 people have expressed interest in Gamers Against Violence, and those 120 people are talking up the event with their friends. “I need a very big place.”
* Ellis will write to Currin to urge him to attend a coalition meeting, just as he attended a VOICE meeting Wednesday.
* Ellis pointed out Knightdale’s approval of a youth curfew this week. Coalition members last week received a research report on the question of whether a curfew is beneficial; Ellis said she hopes to discuss that report at the coalition’s next meeting, set for 6 p.m. June 2 at the Gateway Center.
* The coalition should take a position on the proposed renovation of the Beacon Light Apartments, O’Hara said after von Williams raised the issue. The terrible condition of that 32-year-old complex threatens to limit or kill the Department of Housing and Urban Development financing for the project.