Brother of Tacoma drive-by victim responds to lesser-penalty proposal: 'We were blindsided'
By: David Hackney (MyNorthwest. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Jan 4, 2022, 1:34 PM | Updated: 3:19 pm 
Corey Pittman (Photo courtesy of the Pittman family) (Photo courtesy of the Pittman family)
BY DORI MONSON SHOW Weekdays on KIRO Radio 12pm-3pm
Calling the news "a shock," Tacoma native Damian Pittman says he's "baffled" by three Washington state lawmakers who have pre-filed state House Bill 1692 that would lessen penalties for drive-by murderers to "promote racial equity."
Damian Pittman choked up on The Dori Monson Show while recalling the love and respect he had for his older brother - Corey Pittman, then 19, who was gunned down 24 years ago on Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood while on summer break from Alabama State University.
The proposed bill comes despite Seattle drive-by shootings soaring at least 100 percent in 2021, with eight shootings in Seattle and Tacoma over the New Year's weekend alone.
Saying current law unfairly targets Black and Brown people, bill co-sponsor Tarra Simmons (D-Bremerton) calls the aggravated first-degree murder case against Corey Pittman's killer, Kimonte Carter, an example of "systemic racism." Simmons, who is the first felon elected to the Washington State Legislature, is joined on the proposal by David Hackney (D-Tukwila) whose district includes Kent, Renton, Tukwila and South Seattle, and Cindy Ryu (D-Shoreline).
Rantz: WA Democrats' bill says it's 'racial equity' to go easy on drive-by murderers
Damian Pittman says none of the three legislators reached out to him regarding their proposed bill - even though Carter's conviction for killing his brother appears to be the only current case in Washington state that would be affected.
"There's an important human side to this," Dori shared with listeners. "It sounded like Corey had some big-time plans." A Lincoln High School graduate, Corey Pittman served as senior class treasurer, homecoming king, and president of the school's Martin Luther King Jr. Club before heading off to study political science with goals to be a lawyer.
"Corey was very funny, smart, ambitious," Damian recalls. "You'll be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't admire him. He had a way of making the community better, making the world better.
"There's nothing better than having a brother," he says. "I was born with a best friend."
Carter, meanwhile, is 39, and still serving a life sentence for the drive-by shooting. Dori points out that, if passed, the legislation could get Carter out of prison - "maybe right away."
Damian Pittman calls it "baffling" that lawmakers point to Carter's good behavior in prison, and makes it clear that this "doesn't mean that you're absolved from punishment. . . They can spin it in whatever way they want, but I'm a Black man. This isn't about party lines. This isn't about racial equity."
What would Damian Pittman say to the legislators promoting this bill?
"My family was destroyed in one night. I haven't been right since. Even just talking about it brings pain," he says. "I implore you. No parents should have to bury their kids. Say his name. Corey Pittman. He was not a name a nameless victim. He was a person."
Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon - 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here .
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Only in America can less time for crime be considered racial equity....
I guess now the gang bangers who commit drive by murders can have a field day since they really don't want to put them behind bars...
Real progressive there isn't it? {chuckle}
And an guest editorial piece from the Seattle Times...
That's really fucked up. Black Lives Matter - until they don't - says the white chick. She's going to be hard-pressed to splain that mess.
Well you know they don't want to talk about black on black crime....
We could probably grossly reduce the national murder rate by solving that one issue...
Drive-by shootings are one of the most cowardly violent crimes, it's an assassination. I can understand why people in bad areas carry guns, it's because they need to protect themselves against armed criminals. I can even understand a gun fight, it's the way they fight in some areas and you can't always avoid a fight and having and using a gun is the only way to survive in certain situations. But to drive up on somebody with a car and spray bullets at them and whomever else happens to be there is just an act of cowardice, it's a crime totally instigated by the shooter when there's absolutely no threat to their life or property. Of all the crimes why would they look to lower penalties for such a scumbag crime.
Black Lives Matter, except when they are law abiding black people with a future...
That is the truth and it is truly sad