
My apologies as this story is actually close to a month old.
Anyway, last month, 16-year-old Jatwan Cuffie was indicted for the shooting at Butler High School that left 16-year-old Bobby McKeithen dead. However, Cuffie was indicted for the lesser charge of second-degree murder. This could result in a sentence of 12 to 25 years behind bars. Cuffie has been charged as an adult.
While I do feel that Cuffie should spend the rest of his life in prison, I actually agree with the second-degree murder charge. While there had been friction between Cuffie and friends of Bobby McKeithen, I don’t believe that this was a premeditated murder but more of a heat of the moment crime. If you’ll recall, Cuffie took the gun to school after losing a fight to Bobby McKeithen’s friends the night before. McKeithen was only a witness to the fight. So Jatwan Cuffie may have had a target in mind but I doubt that target was Bobby McKeithen and only shot him after a fight broke out between the two.
But this is no consolation to the friends and family of Bobby McKeithen. They will no longer get to see or enjoy the company of Bobby. In a perfect world, Cuffie would go away forever, unfortunately, the law says otherwise.