I feel a portion of guilt at this outcome. The state entered a plea bargain with the drug dealing killer because his first trial ended in a hung jury. I was the foreperson on that jury and it will always pain me that I could not find a way to convince the two hold-out jurors that the defendant was indeed the killer.
Before accepting the plea the judge (who also presided at trial) said, "What we do here today is not justice." The pain in his voice was evident; the pain the sentence caused the family even more so.
Jon Arroyo was one of the truly good guys. A devoted young family man, Jon was honorably discharged from the Army, studied criminology in college and worked in the Department of Corrections preparing to become a state trooper. His fatal mistake was showing his legally registered pistol at 4 a.m. that cold November night in 2007. He wanted to scare off the thugs who insisted on trying to sell him drugs. He told his killer he didn't want any drugs, that they were right outside his house and he was only going home. The dealer wouldn't take no for an answer, but when Jon showed his gun, the killer whipped out his and dropped Jon where he stood. Such a senseless, useless death.
A societal shadow further darkens this sad story. Had this fine young family man been from West Hartford or Avon, the court would have been packed with supporters. Cries for justice would have been front page news. But Jon grew up poor in Hartford's north end. For most people, he is just another statistic in a place where violence, drug dealing and murder are commonplace.
Jon Arroyo deserves better.
