WEST MEMPHIS, AR - The city of West Memphis, AR, has been divided about the guilt or innocence of the West Memphis Three since May 1993. That's when three 8-year-olds were murdered in West Memphis. Now that the three men who pleaded guilty to the murders have been set free, the city is still divided.
West Memphis resident Darron Aikens is furious about the Judge’s ruling to set Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin free, “I think it’s a bunch of bulls**t they’re out right now. I think they did it, I really do. I don’t think they should be free.”
Other West Memphis residents, like Edna Robinson, were rejoicing, “I heard what’s on the news, it’s a blessing they got out and they need to stay out.”
Melissa Smith was in Kindergarten at Weaver Elementary, when Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers were killed. She says going to the same school as the victims makes this day even harder to deal with. “There's no justice for any of those boys, none of them,” she says.
The day of Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin's release is just another day 30-year-old Felicia Watson will never forget. She doesn't think the town will either. “I still think everyday it will still go on,” Watson says. “We’ll talk about it forever, it was close to me. It could have been my brother.”
Watson's brother, Arthur, was 8-years-old at the time of the murders and good friends with the three victims. He was supposed to be out with the boys the night they were killed. His mom made him stay home. Watson recalls that day, “The next thing we knew they wound up dead and it was a shock, because the last house they were at was mine. The last house they were at was mine. And the last place they were seen was at our house talking to my brother.”
She says God was on her brother’s side, that's the only reason he's alive. But knowing three men were released from prison with a guilty plea will continue to haunt her.
Robinson supports the West Memphis Three. She says their release was a long time coming. “It’s the only way they could get out, God blessed them to get out. They can get their lives straight and move on.” But she warns, with a town still angry and divided, “They better be careful in West Memphis.”
