Many times an impulsive action taken in the irrational fog of rage (without pausing for even a moment's breath of clarity) radically alters the course of our lives.
Trust me when I assure you, valued readers, facing the consequences to choices is one of life's immutable lessons.
Gary Holmes Sr. provides a textbook example.
He's the 33-year-old Little Rock landscaper about whom you've likely read plenty. Holmes stands accused of shooting to death 3-year-old Acen King, who was riding in the back seat of a car driven by his 47-year-old grandmother, Kim King-Macon.
While Holmes' guilt or innocence will be determined in a courtroom, I wouldn't care to be in his position. Locked today in a Pulaski County cell, he's likely imagining what life from now on will be like.
The story was shocking enough to receive days of press coverage across the nation and the world.
A police affidavit says Holmes was driving his girlfriend's Impala in Southwest Little Rock with a loaded 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol in his lap.
The King-Macon car was behind Holmes and apparently following too close for his liking. So he pulled aside and let King-Macon and her little passengers (Acen and 1-year-old Alijah, together in the back seat) pull ahead of him.
At a stop sign, police said, King-Macon hesitated too long to suit Holmes, who began honking. Police say she honked back and he left his car, pistol in hand, and fired it into and through the rear of the woman's vehicle, striking young Acen.
Police records say Holmes then got back in the Impala and reportedly told his girlfriend and a passenger in what I imagine to be an arrogant manner: "That's what you get for following me around."
Meanwhile, this beautiful little child, only a week from his third exciting Christmas, a sweet smiling boy far too young to understand rage, evil and murder, lay slumped in his car seat drawing what would become his final breaths.
After she heard the gunshot, King-Macon initially didn't realize Acen had been struck by the bullet. She told police she believed the man behind them had simply fired into the air. So, she continued to her destination to meet with her family. Once there, the fatal injury became obvious and Acen was rushed to Arkansas Children's Hospital. There, he was pronounced dead later that night.
Reports say Holmes had driven away in the opposite direction, only later to surrender to police. He remains in jail facing a capital murder charge and two counts of terroristic threatening.
Holmes did not attend his bond hearing. It didn't matter. District Judge Alice Lightle wisely refused to grant Holmes bail, saying he represents a danger to the community. Ya think, judge? He's apparently no stranger to Pulaski County's criminal-justice system.
A reporter for KARK later said Holmes had faced a charge of aggravated robbery and battery in 2002 and a domestic abuse charge in 2010. A news account says his hearing is set for Feb. 22.
A fund to assist Acen's family has been established at Gofundme.com.
If this incredible scenario as provided in official records proves valid and Holmes winds up convicted of such a senseless murder (well, aren't most considered senseless?), it will be recorded as one of the worst examples of easily avoidable, yet wholly self-destructive, road rage in Arkansas history.
Low on gas
The sign ahead offered regular gasoline for $1.79, so I swerved in and eased to the farthest pump. Four minutes later, the pump said I owed $14.84.
That was a month or so back. I remember several years ago when the same amount of gas would have easily surpassed $30.
The difference alone left enough for a large coffee and a $3 lottery scratch-off, with plenty to spare.
Since then, the price per gallon nationally has risen above $2, or about half of what we were paying not that long ago.
Yes, it's good to be living in the state that the American Automobile Association reported back on Dec. 5 had the lowest gasoline prices in the nation. Our per-gallon average of $1.95 at that time beat Oklahoma and Missouri, both at $1.97, and even oil-soaked Texas at $1.96.
Nationally, the average gas price since has been steadily increasing to stand at $2.29 on Christmas Eve, yet only a nickel or so more than $2 in Arkansas.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 12/31/2016