MEDIA, Pa. — A pastor from suburban Philadelphia has admitted fatally shooting his eldest son after a violent confrontation at the family's home on Christmas.
Forty-four-year-old Kirk Caldwell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Delaware County Court on Monday. Judge Frank Hazel sentenced Caldwell to two to four years in prison, minus time served.
The pastor testified that 21-year-old Jordan Caldwell had a history of violence that erupted in assaults on friends and family on Dec. 25.
Kirk Caldwell says he felt threatened and fired a single shot when his son refused to leave their Darby home.
Caldwell was a pastor at End Times Harvest Mission in Philadelphia. Many court witnesses praised him as a strong family man and leader.
This pastor-killing-son incident has become another recognizably American phenomenon. I first heard of it when Marvin Gaye was killed. Then Spike Lee portrayed it in his great movie Jungle Fever. I imagine it's happened a few times in between too.
Do you think the good reverend got off light? Even if he is a "strong family man and leader," he did shoot another man to death with a gun and it wasn't ruled a DGU.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
...recognizably American phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I first viewed this as similar to the honor killings prevalent in Islamic societies.