The Killing of Greg Gunn

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Gregory Gunn was a man who was
all about one word family. He grew

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up in Montgomery, Alabama, during
the seventies and eighties, was one of

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eight siblings, and was absolutely determined
to make a better life for the people

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he cared about. He was the
first in his family to graduate college,

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and when his parents divorced, their
eldest son unfortunately passed away from cancer,

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greg was there to pick up the
pieces. He took over being a father

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for his younger siblings and did it
without hesitation. Kenneth Gunn, the youngest

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brother, said quote, he was
a guidance counselor. He guided me in

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the right ways of life. Big
brother, father figure. Kenneth now owns

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and runs a trucking company that he
attributes to his older brother. Many of

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the siblings, including Kenneth, went
right into the military after finishing high school,

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and their acts of service took them
all across the states and sometimes even

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to other countries, and Greg hated
that the one thing he could not stand.

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Kenneth went on, was that we
were not home with him, and

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he did everything in his power to
get us back to Montgomery, from college

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to finding work, whatever it took
in twenty sixteen, when Greg was then

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fifty eight years old. He was
living in the family home taking care of

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his ailing mother and a young nephew
when tragedy struck. It was February twenty

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fifth, at about three twenty in
the morning when Greg left a neighbor's house

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after playing a game of cards.
He only had a few yards to go

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before he made it back into his
own front yard, but in that very

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short distance, his and his family's
lives would be turned upside down. Greg

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was spotted by local police officer Aaron
Cody Smith, who then pulled his car

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over and ordered Greg to stop.
What happened next is up for debate because

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Aaron Smith never started recording devices on
either his person or his dash cam,

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so we're left to piece together the
scene from the remaining evidence. According to

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Aaron Smith, Greg didn't refuse to
partake in a stop and frisk, but

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when Aaron felt something hidden in the
waistband of Greg's pants, Greg became agitated.

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Greg then allegedly brushed Aaron aside and
made a run for it. Aaron

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then claimed to have first responded by
trying to subdue Greg with his taser,

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but when that failed, he pursued
on foot. When the altercation became physical.

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Aaron then claimed that Greg reached for
a metal pole, and, feeling

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threatened and in fear of his life, Aaron responded by grabbing his weapon and

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firing seven shots. Five of the
seven hit Greg, killing him in his

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neighbor's front yard and only yards away
from the home where his mother and nephew

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were sleeping. It turned out to
be a pole for a paint roller and

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his waistband. Crime rates in the
area were up, and it wasn't uncommon

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for the people in the area to
carry a stick or something to protect themselves

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when walking at night. What followed
after that went just as quickly as the

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altercation between Greg and Aaron. Aaron
Smith was suspended with pay while an investigation

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ensued, and the community rallied behind
Greg's legacy and his family. Greg was

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well known in the area and well
liked. Hundreds of people began searching Aaron's

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statements for discrepancies and gathering outside his
house, determined to defend the man that

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they had all known and loved.
Within days, Aaron Smith was arrested and

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charged with murder. He would keep
quiet as he awaited trial, but he

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did briefly speak up to justify his
actions. The area Greg had been living

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in with his family, and the
area that Arin was patrolling that night,

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had been the victim of a long
string of robberies, and the primary suspect

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was simply identified as a black male
in dark clothing. Arin believed that Greg

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fit the description, and when Greg
had allegedly brushed Erin away during the stomp

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and frisk, for Greg, he
had sealed his own fate. Once you

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place your hands on a police officer, you go to jail. It's simple

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as that, Aaron said, but
his trial would be anything but simple.

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By then, the prosecution had what
they believed happened that night, and it

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greatly differed from Aaron's version of events. There was no way, they argued,

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that Greg had reached for the metal
poll that Aaron had claimed he had

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during the altercation. Crime scene photos
showed that Greg had been holding his hat

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in his hands at the time that
he'd been shot, and even more damning

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to Aaron's case, investigators didn't find
Greg's prints on the poll either, Witness

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testimonies about Greg's character, the evidence
at the scene that contradicted Aaron's statement,

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and his lack of video footage of
the event, all stacked up against the

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officer, But the truth is that
this case was far from black and white.

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To catch a glimpse at the underlying
root of the issue, we have

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to look at Aaron Smith and the
system that put him in the car on

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patrol that night, especially when we
know that Aarin was only twenty three years

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old at the time he shot and
killed Greg Gunn. Yeah, only twenty

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three, and he was alone in
his patrol car that night. Almost unbelievably,

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Aaron had been a police officer for
years at that point. His records

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start back in twenty twelve, making
him only nineteen years old when he'd started

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his career in law enforcement. Twenty
three is certainly old enough to know right

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from wrong, but is it experienced
enough to know how to handle life and

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death situations. Should Erin have been
on his own that night, should any

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police officer younger or older than Aaron
was. There are those that argue that

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the system failed both men involved in
this case. Speaking at his hearing,

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Erin then still only twenty five years
old, said quote, with how I'm

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being treated in my district job,
it would have been a whole lot easier

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to turn on my music, text
my girlfriend, stay at my car,

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and never get out of the car. In the first place, I'd still

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be working. I'd still be on
the street doing my job. But I

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chose to do my job at three
in the morning with nobody looking over my

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shoulder. And I've been railroaded for
it. End quote. And also he

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didn't mention Greg Gunn would still be
alive. It was a compassionate plea in

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his own defense, but still nowhere
near to the whole of the issue that

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underlines this case. Only two years
before that night, another African American Montgomery

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resident filed a complaint against him.
This time, Aaron Smith had a senior

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officer with him when responding to a
noise complaint, but things had still gotten

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out of hand. When arriving at
the scene of a house party, Aaron

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ordered the homeowner to follow him down
off the porch. When the homeowner followed

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Aaron's instructions, Aaron responded by turning
the homeowner around and handcuffing his hands behind

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his back. As it turned out, one of the guests at the party

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was a lawyer, and both he
and the senior officer with Aarin that night.

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Knew Aaron had taken things too far
by trying to arrest the homeowner over

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a noise complaint. The senior officer
stepped in and let the homeowner go,

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trying to smooth things over by saying
that there were a lot of young officers

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on the force that night. The
homeowner and his lawyer friends were less than

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impressed and filed a complaint against Aaron. But that was another piece of the

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puzzle. Clearly, the officers at
the Montgomery Police Department were aware that their

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younger members needed extra guidance and care, and obviously they were aware of Erin's

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track record, all the more reason
why Erin shouldn't have been alone in a

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patrol car that night he killed Greg
Gunn. On November twenty second, twenty

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nineteen, a jury found Erin guilty
of manslaughter instead of murder, a charge

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that was not as strong but was
still enough to bring some level of satisfaction

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to Greg's family. Speaking at the
trial, his brother Franklin said, quote,

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they brought this case to a very
conservative county expecting a different outcome,

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But I believe that we have seen
the best of Alabama today. One bad

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apple in a bunch has been weeded
out. Erin was then sentenced to fourteen

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years in prison. But this is
not where the case actually ends up here

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today. A few months ago,
in February twenty twenty four, Alabama Attorney

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General Steve Marshall took over the case
and removed the prosecuting lawyers. He then

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agreed to a plea deal with Aaron
Smith that allowed Aaron to leave prison with

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time served, releasing him back into
society. This has been devastating to Greg's

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family and his friends. His youngest
brother, Kenneth Gunn, rounded up their

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feelings with a few simple words.
The only child my mother had who never

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left this city, and this city
killed him. That's ten minute Murder for

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today, brief and bingeable true crime. I'm Joe, I'm the host,

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and thank you so much for taking
the time to listen to ten Minute Murder.

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If you're a new listener here,
make sure you hit subscribe wherever you

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like to listen to podcasts. And
I know, before I even started talking

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today, that's me doing a podcast
episode on this subject was going to make

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some people angry. So let me
be clear about this. I and I

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cannot stress this enough. Do not
care. Being someone that lives in the

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South and has lived in the South
for a very long time, I can

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tell you that I see racism from
time to time. I don't experience it

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because I'm a white man, but
I see it, and I think that

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if you stay silent about it,
you become complicit. If you're a white

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person listening right now, think about
this. How many times have you ever

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heard the phrase you fit the description
and it being applied to you. You

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fit the description. That's why the
cops are talking to you. If you

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like me, zero times. If
you're black and living in many parts of

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the country, it happens all the
time. You fit the description because you're

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black. That is absolutely racism in
action. And Greg Gunn's story is just

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one of hundreds that have happened throughout
the years. This one just happened to

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be one that got my attention recently. Then that's going to do it.

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That is your episode for today.
Thank you so much for listening to ten minutes murder