The Tallahassee community has been plagued with gun violence for years. Last week, a case that highlights some of the driving forces behind that problem went before the 2nd Judicial Circuit court in Leon County. This case was in some ways typical: two at-risk young men, armed and heading for a fight. But it was set apart by the involvement of State Attorney Jack Campbell, who served as prosecutor – in order, he says, to call the community’s attention to the fact that despite our efforts, gun violence is ruining young people’s lives no matter which side of the trigger they’re on.
THIS STORY CONTAINS THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE.
The victim, Josh Purcell, died of gunshot wounds in the parking lot of Bethel AME Church in July of 2020. He was 16. The shooter, Danquies Anderson, lived nearby. He was 18 at the time and had been arrested at 14 for breaking into cars. Purcell had videotaped himself heading to Anderson’s house and posted the video online, hinting he had a gun. Anderson met him with one.
[Six gunshots]
Those are the shots that took Josh Purcell’s life. In court, Campbell played the video Purcell had posted to Instagram as he headed for Anderson’s home. Purcell’s family gasped to see him alive again.
“I pray for all the families affected by this senseless action, that they will find peace and hope,” said Purcell’s grandmother, Malinda Williams. She worked for the state Department of Agriculture for 35 years and says she’s the one who named him. “But you have also robbed your grandparents of joyful moments you might have shared.”
Royle King also spoke when the court heard victim impact statements. He’s the leader of the mentorship program Omega Lamplighters, whose goal is to “create a safe space for minority young men,” and of which Purcell had been a member. King said Purcell’s death has had a severe impact on the young men in his program.
“They are still in themselves grieving and struggling with that,” he said. “Myself, as a mentor and now father to a young Black male, and struggling with a loss to the team – a loss that did not have to happen.”
When the defense began to make its case, Alex Morris, an attorney who represented Anderson pro bono, brought the young man forward.
“I’d like to give my deepest regard to the situation at hand and reconcile with the family and give my greatest remorse and apologize for all the grief, hurt, sorrow and pain that the family has went through and hope for their forgiveness,” Anderson said. “Thank you.”
There was a complicated backstory, and it wasn’t always clear who was the attacker and who the attacked. There had been other fights between related parties. And according to court records, “The video demonstrated that the victim began broadcasting as he was walking through the neighborhood…He was seen to be angrily cursing and making threatening comments towards (Anderson).” But in a way it seems both young men were victims – of circumstance and of a community that has allowed the problem of gun violence to grow exponentially.
As the hearing drew to a close, Morris told Judge Stephen Everett that he was baffled as to a solution.
“Why children – why, in this case, Mr. Purcell, because of a fistfight that happens at football – why he’s armed with a gun, just the same as Mr. Anderson is armed with a gun, is an incredibly poor commentary on where we are in society,” he said.
Campbell says he hasn’t had a case that’s harder than this one and Judge Everett, in sentencing Anderson, said the case had presented a “unique difficulty for the court system.”
“Mr. Anderson, although it may not seem as if you are being provided with a break in this matter, you are,” Everett said. “I recognize the fact that you did have some mitigating circumstances in this. You are going to be punished with additional incarceration, but you will have an opportunity once again to be free in the community.”
Anderson got 15 years plus 10 years’ probation on the charge of second-degree murder. On the charge of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, he got time served.
Campbell met with reporters after court was adjourned.
“You saw a great family, but one thing you didn’t see is he came from a challenging background,” Campbell said of Purcell. “His mom and his dad weren’t here – there’s a reason for that. We had identified him as a young man who was at risk. We already had Lamplighters who were reaching out to him. He was exactly the kid we were trying to save. And honestly, I would say the same thing about Danquies.”
And why did Campbell try the case himself?
“Because by the time they’re this age, the horse is out of the barn,” he said. “We need to reach these kids – really, before middle school and start because we know, we know that when they go down this path and they’re angry and they’re frustrated – once again, at 14, we had caught him breaking in cars – and then the next crime we catch him doing, he’s killed someone. That’s the pattern.”
Anderson’s sentence includes the requirements that while on probation, he will earn his GED and complete 75 hours of community service each year. He will have a mental health assessment and begin counseling within 30 days of his release. He will be subject to random drug tests. And he will not be allowed to have weapons.
