THE JUDGES OF HINDS COUNTY

If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?

If a woman falls at the feet of her lover, blooody and lifeless, does she make a sound? Apparently not because the screams of women like Doris Shavers, Heather Spencer and Latasha Norman were no more audible to the ears of the judges of Hinds County than the sounds from the inside of their coffins.

No longer able to speak for themselves even their memories are silenced as judges pay little more than lip service to their defense.

Heather Spencer was attacked with a flashlight for no apparent reason, her head requiring several stitches and George Bell got a trip out of the country. He later finished what he started and murdered her. George's mother, Robbie Bell, has been indicted for accessory after the fact. She's alledged to have sat with Spencer in her home for an entire night after the attack that took her life . She did not call police and the autospy revealed Heather lived several more hours after her fatal attack ended. Which judge will finally hear the call that never came from Robbie Bell? A call signaling Heathers need and her own?

Doris Shavers opened her home to an ex boyfriend and gave him a place to live because he was down on his luck. For her trouble she was shot in the head as she combed the hair of her 12 year old daughter in preparation for her daughter's birthday party. Her daughter will never be the same. Every year on her birthday she will remember the sights and sounds of her mother's death. Will the judges of Hinds County?

Latasha Norman never said a word. So says her Uncle Matthew Norman. Norman told reporters Latasha lived in his household on weekends and during summer breaks. He stated they never knew anything about any domestic abuse occurring between Latasha and Stanley Cole. Latasha finally spoke out in the form of charges against Cole for striking her in the parking lot of a Pearl restaurant Oct. 9, 2007. In less than a month she would be dead. Initially he was ordered to be held without bond, so what on earth made William Barnett decide the man who killed her, then rode around with her body for two days before dumping her like trash, deserved a bond at all? The slap in the face was the $250,000 bond that was set. For the mere sum of $25,000 Stanley Cole can walk away and never be seen again. Probably the last sound Latasha made was the gurgling of blood from her stab wound. Can you hear that Barnett?