Retaliation

Some victims leave punishment to judges and juries, confident that those individuals have their best interests at heart. Others feel the legal system is a joke, too slow, and often fails to provide justice in such a way they deserve. In these cases, victims and/or their families may take the law into their own hands and seek retribution outside the bounds of law.

A Father’s Love

Julia Maynor was raped numerous times by her grandfather from the ages of 4 to 9 years old. Raymond Earl Brooks was sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison for raping his grandaughter, although served only 27 months before he was released.

Jay Maynor, Julia’s dad, was infuriated by the sentence and even more angered by the early release. The rage inside him grew by the day.

In June 2014, Jay finally exploded. He decided if the courts would not give his daughter justice, he would get it for her. He drove to a grocery store where Julia’s abusive boyfriend worked and shot at the man through the glass window. No one was injured.

He then drove to Brooks’s home, where he fatally shot the 59-year-old man.

Police arrested Brooks for murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 40 years for the murder and an additional 20 for attempted murder.

Prosecutors in the case said that Maynor would remain incarcerated despite an online petition calling for his pardon garnering more than 5,400 signatures.

https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/supreme-court/2017/1170018.html

https://www.imdb.com/news/ni60493565/

Melvin Harris Case

In August 2018, Phoenix man Melvin Harris stopped by a convenience store with his daughter and her friends as they headed home from a day out. Harris sat in the car, and the girls went into the store to grab drinks, snacks, and to use the bathroom.

A homeless man named Leon Armstrong walked up to Harris’s car and asked him for money. Harris gave him some change, and Armstrong walked into the store.

When the girls returned to the car, they told Harris that Armstrong tried to enter the bathroom stall where his daughter was inside. As he backed out of the parking spot, he saw Armstrong and confronted him. The confrontation led to Harris beating the man and driving away.

Armstrong was transported to a hospital where doctors determined he suffered brain swelling and a broken nose. He died from his injuries five days later.

Surveillance footage helped police track Harris down. He was arrested on charges of second-degree murder. He initially claimed Armstrong attacked him first and denied kicking him while the man was on the ground, but witnesses testified that he kicked and hit him after he fell.

In 2019, Harris was sentenced to eight years in prison.

https://www.12news.com/article/news/crime/phoenix-father-gets-8-years-for-killing-man-who-tried-to-get-into-his-daughters-bathroom-stall/75-88d8b9e4-fe83-40d4-9588-9c848a3a07b9

A Gunshot Would’ve Been “Too Nice”

On July 16, 2014, Vincent Phillips ran into a store near his home in Kent, Washington, screaming for help. He was on fire; his wife had just tried to kill him. Phillips fell to his knees and shoppers called 911.

Tatanysha Hedman poured gasoline on Phillips as he slept in their bed. He then threw a lit match on his body.

This wasn’t some act of revenge against a cheating spouse or other trivial matter. Hedman suspected Phillips had raped her daughter, his stepdaughter.

Phillips suffered severe burns to his chest and head, but survived the attack. He was arrested on charges of child molestation.

Police arrested Hedman, who confessed to burning her husband because a gunshot would have been “too nice.”

https://abc7.com/fire-set-on-molestation-charges/248675/

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