What do Danny Dahlquist and Katrina Kelley have in common? They were both the victims of a prank gone wrong.
Four friends of Dahlquist’s (Daniel Cox, David Crady, Ryan Johnson and Nicholas Mentgen) are accused of setting off between one and three roman candles under the door of Dahlquist’s room while he was sleeping. The result, obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense but completely escaping the minds of this group of college students, was that the roman candles set the room — and, ultimately, the house — on fire. Dahlquist apparently tried to get out (he was found near a window), but was overcome and died of smoke inhalation.
Rakiem Campbell “was headed home from a party early July 14 when he and a 12-year-old boy allegedly decided to pick up two concrete patio blocks, walk 150 feet to the Broadway Street bridge over Interstate 74 and wait for a car to pass by,” according to the July 21 Journal Star. Predictably to anyone with an ounce of common sense but completely escaping the mind of this 15-year-old, the patio block crashed through the passenger side of a car’s windshield, hitting Kelley in the chest, causing massive injuries from which she died.
Campbell is being charged by the state’s attorney’s office with first-degree murder. Dahlquist’s friends are being charged with aggravated arson.
“The charges state Campbell’s actions caused a ’strong probability of death or great bodily harm to motorists on Interstate 74′ before specifically mentioning Kelley,” the Journal Star explained back on July 21. Why not the same charge for Dahlquist’s friends, whose actions also caused a “strong probability of death or great bodily harm” to Dahlquist?
[State's Attorney Kevin] Lyons said he considered first-degree murder charges but opted for the lesser counts, saying he didn’t believe the four men had the intent to cause a catastrophic act.
So, evidently the state’s attorney believes that four college students (ages ranging from 19 to 22) were too dumb to realize shooting off roman candles in a sleeping man’s room might cause great bodily harm to that man, but a 15-year-old kid (the age of a high-school freshman or sophomore) was smart enough to realize that his throwing a brick off an overpass would kill someone.
It’s also worth noting that “Lyons says everyone was drinking,” according to 1470 WMBD. That means two of them were drinking illegally, being only 19 and 20 years old. Presumably 15-year-old Campbell was sober.
Is it just me, or does something seem inequitable here? Either Campbell’s charge is too harsh or Dalquist’s friends’ charges are too easy. It seems like the same charge should apply to both crimes. What’s the difference between them?