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Abject poverty is as common as welfare. The African-American
infants there – like their counterparts in the rest of the country
– have a mortality rate twice that of white babies. While
politicians thump their chests about declining crime rates, somehow
the crime reductions never seem to happen in places like Kansas
City’s north side.
But it’s also a neighborhood where thousands of decent people try
to scrape by, a place where single mothers do what they can to keep
their kids from falling into the traps of crime and violence.
Sappington’s mother was one of them. A hard-working single mom
who relied on her religion for solace, she had struggled to raise her
son, Marc, alone. The boy’s father vanished before Marc was born. In
fact, Marc never even met the man. That meant that his mother had to
be particularly strong, and one of the ways she tried to instill a set
of values in her son was to drag him to church every Sunday.
For the most part, her efforts appeared to succeed. Sappington
developed into something of a choirboy, a rarity in a neighborhood
where gangsta wannabes ruled the streets.
Although never a particularly good student, Sappington’s
intelligence was revealed in a quiet charm. His engaging
personality drew people to him – teachers, parents and other kids.
Among the kids was Freddie, a skinny little 16-year-old whose real
name was Alton Brown. Freddie genuinely admired Sappington. He saw him
as something of a big brother, authorities would later say.
By that point though, Sappington was hardly the perfect role model
– despite his mother’s best efforts. As he reached adolescence,
Sappington acquired a taste for PCP, a drug which some say can make
users paranoid, even psychotic.
Sappington loved his “danks,” the street slang for cigarettes
soaked in embalming fluid, dried and then smoked. Typically, his
drug use resulted in a few minor and routine encounters with the
police.
“There were never any crimes against people,” says Jerry
Gorman, the assistant Wyandotte County prosecutor who is handling
Sappington’s case.
At least not until March 16, 2001.
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