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We see national headlines nearly every day of violent offenders who commit new crimes while out on bond for previous violent acts. Messiah Nantwi in New York, Kirkland Warren in Washington State, Enrique Toledo in Florida, William McKay in California; from sea to shining sea, there are violent criminals committing acts of violence while out on bail.

And this insidious behavior is no longer just a metropolitan problem. It has quickly infiltrated the rural communities across America.


Last September, much of DeSoto County was on edge as Ezekiel Kelly brutalized Memphis, choosing victims at random, killing three and shooting three others. Kelly, previously accused in Memphis of two attempted murders in 2020, was allowed to plea guilty to aggravated assault. He received a three-year sentence, but he was released in March 2022, 11 months into that three-year sentence — a mere six months prior to his rampage.


DeSoto County is not immune to this type of recidivist violence.


Fast forward nine months ...

Olive Branch Police arrested two men, Brandon Brinkley and Marco Gentry, for an armed robbery and attempted murder that happened June 14, 2023. The sad part is both shooters should have still been in jail. One shooter (Gentry) was out on bond for attempted murder in DeSoto County stemming from a Horn Lake shooting in November 2022. The other shooter (Brinkley) had a previous DeSoto County shooting charge dropped by the DA’s office a mere 35 days before the June 14th shooting in Olive Branch. The police officers that work hard to protect us, often times risking their own safety, should not have to catch the same violent offenders over and over again.


The current criminal justice reforms are not working because they have allowed repeat offenders to go free. They have allowed especially violent offenders an opportunity for release via bail bonds. It is time to tighten restrictions for pretrial release of violent offenders. For the offenders that are convicted, it is time for honest sentencing, where violent and repeat offenders actually serve their time.


Matthew Barton
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