Murder gives sheriff cause for ‘rant’ against system

Murder gives sheriff cause for ‘rant’ against system

Allen calls out early release program for violent offenders

news@theeveningtimes.com

Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen has been in the law enforcement game for a long time. So, when he sees something that gets him riled enough to, as he put it “rant” on social media, it’s probably fair to say it’s worth a listen.

And that’s just what Allen did last week following the beating death of a West Memphis man at the hands of a convicted attempted murderer.

Lester Thomas, 39, of West Memphis, was charged with one count of Murder in the First Degree following an incident last Wednesday afternoon that left a young man in his early 20s dead, the result of what was described as a “bludgeoning” at a residence on Balfour Road in West Memphis.

“My rant for the day!” Allen posted.

“I get so aggravated with this system of Justice we have in America.”

What was it exactly about the case that set Allen off?

“Just yesterday we had a murder that occurred where the police did their job and not only found the deceased victim, but made an arrest in the case, and as always deserve a pat on the back.”

That wasn’t it.

“The suspect, on the other hand,” Allen said, “was out on parole from prison, where he had pled guilty in 2008 and received a 288 Month Sentence for Criminal Attempt Capital Murder.”

That was it.

“The police did their job in 2007 in arresting the suspect, where he stabbed a women several times in the neck as she went into her father-inlaw’s apartment in West Memphis (who was out of town) to check on his pets,” the Sheriff recalled.

“She interupted a burglary and almost lost her life.”

“Now math wasn't always my strong subject, but I'm smart enough to figure if you plead guilty to a crime and get sentenced to 288 months that you take 288 and divide it by 12 months in a year and you come up with 24 years,” Allen wrote. “Meaning someone that commits a violent crime and is sentenced should not have been released in 2013 on parole. If you do the math it should be more like 2032.

Maybe 2031, if you gave him jail credit since he was first charged. The end result is that a 20-year-oldman would still be alive today if the justice system was tougher on violent crimes.”

And in case you needed an example: “Now if you stab me in the neck mulitiple times and leave me for dead, thats a violent crime,” Allen said. “Trust me on this one.”

Allen closed his report with, “Rant over.” He also advocated “prayers for the victm’s family,” and encouraged “everyone please pray about a solution.”

By the Evening Times News Staff