Nathan Morris and Devereaux Christopher Johnson could not be more different. 

Morris, a loving 35-year-old husband and father of two, ran for school board in Canton, Michigan, where Johnson also lives. Locals praised him in the papers as a candidate “whose moral compass is tuned to true north.” Morris became politically active with the Michigan GOP after Ford Motors, where he worked as an engineer in laser technology, mandated COVID-19 vaccines for employees. In contrast, there’s not much to note about Johnson, a 47-year-old man with criminal sexual misconduct charges from the 1990s and a history of assaulting neighbors and fighting with police officers.   

A week ago Sunday, Johnson allegedly shot Morris dead while Morris was out on a walk with his wife and daughters, ages two and five. One of the Morris girls touched some mulch on Johnson’s property. Thereupon Johnson initiated a confrontation and pulled a gun on the family. Nathan told his wife and kids to leave, as any father would, so that he could try to calm tensions and prevent an escalation. Instead, Johnson shot him multiple times and then barricaded himself in his home before surrendering to police, shouting “Praise to God Almighty” over and over as Morris lay dying in the street.  

Johnson has been charged with first-degree murder, along with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and more. A more fitting punishment than prison would be a mechanism by which he could, democratically, of course, be turned into mulch or biodiesel—something more useful than the human form encumbering both him and society. A permanent stint behind bars or ordinary capital punishment might suffice.   

A neighbor named Vish Vadari said his wife was outside gardening when gunfire pierced the air. “It was crazy. It happened so quickly all I remember is when I heard the loud shots I didn’t know what it was,” he said. “I realized it was not Diwali or July 4th so I couldn’t correlate to what it was but I knew it was something scary because it was very, very loud.” Vadari’s next door neighbor, who has three kids, found a bullet hole in the family’s kitchen.  

Diwali is a Hindu festival that symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil. It’s hard to see how light and good prevail in a society that is exceedingly tolerant of people like Johnson, who, in the 12 years that he had lived in the neighborhood, tallied up a record of multiple encounters with Canton police over his erratic and violent behavior. Indeed, several residents told local news that they had discomfiting interactions with Johnson, describing him as “combative.” They treated his corner of the block as a place to be avoided or transited on eggshells. Vadari said that everyone had been “been telling their wives and kids be careful, don’t (make) eye to eye contact. Don’t walk across alone.”   

What kind of system allows a single, unproductive member of society to tyrannize an entire neighborhood? Johnson was a clear nuisance and a danger. Yet he was permitted his freedom, even as he deprived others of it by inspiring fear. People like Johnson are able to terrorize others because the legal and law enforcement mechanisms that are supposed to keep people safe from creatures like him no longer function—and this gives Johnson’s sort the advantage. Had the system worked the way it was intended, a woman would not now be widowed, and two little girls would not be robbed of the man who held them at birth and brought light into the lives of others.  

“Nathan is one of those few guys who are near perfect. He would do no harm and think no harm. He is just an amazing and gentle soul. He will be missed dearly,” the Michigan GOP wrote in a statement. 

Until t things in this country work as they should, all the good and decent can do is support one another in whatever small ways they can, like souls huddled around a fire in the wilderness. 

A fundraiser has been set up for the Morris family. You can find it here.