I don't expect a verdict in the penalty phase is too far away. The jury took just over 3 and a half days to find Brothers guilty. And there was much more evidence to consider in the guilt phase. Closing arguments start Wendesday morning. Deliberations could begin shortly thereafter.
Over the last week, we've heard from those impact by these crimes: Eddie Harper, Sr., who lost his mom Earnestine and his sister Joanie. Harper explained how his family has been able to move forward, but not move on. Harper said his mom Earnestine paryed for hours at a time. When he asked her why she was praying, she said she was praying for her children, that they grow up to become productive, spiritual members of society. Harper and his brother would both grow up to become ministers.
The defense presented a series of childhood friends who said Brothers was a good person. He studied hard, was a stellar athelete and was going to make something of himself.
Cherry Jensen, a teacher at Fremont Elementary, said Brothers had a rapport with the children. They all crowded around him on the playground and when he came into her classroom.
"He wants to see you working," Jenses told her students.
Barbara Williams is a retired Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. She says she has had the priviledge of knowing Brothers for 12 to15 years. At Emerson Middle School, Brothers learned Spanish in order to communicate with the many Hispanic kids at the school, Williams said.
"He did some fabulous things," Williams said.
Donald Collier described what Brothers was like in high school. He described a close-knit, working class community in Bellport, NY where Brothers grew up. Brothers was a part of a group of 10 friends. They wanted to make something of themselves, Collier said, pull themselves up by the bootstraps.
"We started a trend in Bellport, we were going to make something of ourselves," Collier said. "We sent several black young men off to college."
"We never dealt with guns," Collier said.
