Beating victim, perpetrator stand as example of restorative justice
Updated: Wednesday, September 24, 2014GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - In the summer of 2009, Brady Middleton was heading to college on a basketball scholarship when three brothers, two adults, and one minor viciously beat and robbed him.
All 3 suspects were caught. The older brothers are facing several decades in prison still. The youngest, 18-year-old Marcellus Bennett, is out of jail and working with his new friend, Brady Middleton, to change the way our society views justice.
Their story has received a lot of attention. Thanks to that attention, tonight Middleton was able to host a forum on restorative justice in Grand Rapids.
Restorative justice is basically finding a way to pull a silver lining out of the worst situations. Bennett and Middleton believe their story is the perfect example.
Five years ago, Middleton himself wouldn't have believed that was possible.
"I heard a gun cock from my right, and by the time I turned around three individuals were already on top of me," Middleton recalled.
He was beaten, pistol whipped, robbed and walked to a wooded area.
"The man ordered me on my knees, and had the gun to the back of my head," Middleton said. "I asked him, are you gonna kill me? And he said yes."
His assailants took off, but not before costing Middleton his basketball scholarships.
"Severe head contusion, traumatic brain injury, somewhere around 70 stitches above the left eye," he said, listing his injuries.
About a year later, he faced the youngest of 3 brothers who attacked him.
"I first saw Marcel, I believe it was at his sentencing hearing," Middleton said.
He was 13.
"How does a 13 year old get here? And why did they do this to me?" Middleton asked.
He says the answer became clear.
"Which really can be summed up as hurt people hurt people," he said.
Middleton started finding common ground with Marcel, eventually doing something much more important.
"Letting him know that i believed in him," Middleton said.
He says he was honored to play that small role in his friend's transformation.
"Marcellus did all the hard work," Middleton said. "He started excelling at his placement in the juvenile detention center, he actually became a leader for his housing unit."
Now 18 years old, Marcellus is a high school graduate.
Both he and Middleton are advocates for restorative justice.
"With all crimes, victim, perpetrator, and action, that's not the model that needs to be followed, but taking bad situations and getting the best out of them, that's what should be" Middleton said.
