So what? They can be convinced that Tyreke was in the wrong. Doesn't mean they are right. They are emotional about the whole thing. The investigators went after the person they felt was responsible for the young man's death. He's in prison. That's enough.
From your link:
“They’ve [speaking of the defendant and family] got a moral victory. They were smiling,” said Dan Rivera, a brother-in-law of Reason. “(Evans) should be serving life in jail."
Rivera said even if Evans serves the entire two decades behind bars, he’ll still be able to walk around free when he gets out. “Marcus isn’t ever coming back. At the end of the day, they’ve come out winners.”
This is my whole point. I don't know why people think the justice system is set up to make the aggrieved family feel better. Their emotions are not a part of the sentencing process. I feel bad for them, and so does everyone else. They lost a son, a brother, a nephew, an uncle. It's one of the worst things you can experience in life. But this vindictive attitude is incredible to me. Give the shooter the death penalty, and you
still don't have your loved one. I can understand wanting him to pay for his crimes. I just don't get what difference it makes what his sentence is. Sure, you can feel that justice isn't served, but even if justice is served, you still lost. No matter what. Marcus isn't ever coming back. The whole sitting in the courtroom hoping for the harshest sentence possible thing is beyond my ability to grasp. I just don't get it.
Now, if the DA asked me and my family to be there during the trial and wanted me to speak to the judge before sentencing, sure. If they need my help to get the person put behind bars, that's another story. But I'm not going to go home and pray that he rots in prison, or worse. His punishment, no matter how harsh or lenient, won't make me feel better. It would suck if he got off completely, but he's in prison for 9-20 years. And he's the one who pulled the trigger. Tyreke didn't have anything to do with it.
By the way, I think it's worth noting that Tyreke didn't testify in his cousin's behalf, as he had been expected to. It's not like he stood up in front of the courtroom and took his cousin's side.
Maybe he was guilty of poor judgment somewhere; what makes him different from every other 17 year old in the world? The thing about it is that, even if he did the wrong thing in driving away, that is not what led to their son being killed. It was after the fact. We can argue that he should have stayed there all day long, but him driving away didn't contribute to their son's death.
I think it's obvious what their main motives are. What else would they gain from a $50,000 check? It won't hurt Tyreke. I can understand that they feel that the only way they can personally hold him responsible is by suing him in civil court. I just don't understand why they want him to be held responsible. The person responsible is behind bars already.