In January, 2013, Rodrigo Diaz, a
Gwinnett Tech student from Colombia, was going skating in suburban Atlanta with his girlfriend and three of their friends. They had one last person to pick up, and as they pulled into the driveway of Phillip Sailors, a retired Vietnam veteran, to pick up their friend, they soon realized that it was the wrong address.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Phillip Sailors stormed out of his house and fired a warning shot into the air with his pistol. Stunned, Rodrigo hurriedly put the car in reverse and attempted to get out of the driveway as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, Phillip Sailors never let that happen. Sailors, aiming at the vehicle, fired a shot directly at Rodrigo, hitting him in the head and killing him right there in the driveway.
Insanely, when the Lilburn Police arrived, with Rodrigo dead in the car, they arrested his girlfriend and the two other passengers and held them overnight in jail.
On this past Monday, Phillip Sailors struck a plea deal with Gwinnett County prosecutors that only required him to pay a $500 fine and have one year of probation.
An outrageous injustice, it's unimaginable to think that the roles could ever be reversed in a situation like this.
Does anyone truly think that if Phillip Sailors accidentally pulled into the driveway of some young Latino or African American and got shot in the head without ever leaving the car that they would be allowed to pay a $500 fine and never serve a day in jail?
What precedent is this setting? It's a dangerous day when a crime so heinous is given a sentence so light.