Letters seek mercy for young killer

Of nearly 40 letters, 24 ask for a light sentence for the 14-year-old convicted of murdering a teacher.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 26, 2001

WEST PALM BEACH -- Nearly 40 letters have been sent to the judge who will sentence 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill next month in the shooting death of his teacher. Most ask him to be lenient.

West Palm Beach resident Raymond Rawls wrote one of the 24 letters asking Circuit Judge Richard Wennett to go easy because of Brazill's age and the chance for rehabilitation.

"History can remember you as the man who revolutionized the juvenile court system," Rawls wrote, "simply by saying a child is a child and someone that can be saved."

But 14 letters said the judge should impose a harsh sentence because of the seriousness of the crime.

"Your honor, this person, regardless of age, killed another human being," wrote Florence Pavel, a Delray Beach resident who said her 38-year-old son was the victim of a carjacking seven years ago. She said he suffers from severe brain damage, but his attacker was released from prison after serving five years.

"We've got to start listening to the victims," she wrote.

Brazill was convicted May 16 of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Lake Worth Middle School English teacher Barry Grunow on last year's final day of classes. He is to be sentenced July 26.

But first, Wennet will hear arguments Friday on whether Florida's "10-20-Life" law applies to someone as young as Brazill. The statute requires mandatory minimum sentences for criminals who use a gun to commit a crime.

If Wennet agrees with prosecutors that the law does apply, Brazill would face a minimum of 25 years in prison. If not, the judge would have more discretion and could go under the sentence guideline recommendation of 22 years to life for second-degree murder.

Members of Grunow's family have said they want Brazill to serve a life sentence.

Palm Beach County Jail chaplain Andrew Pecoraro, who ministers to Brazill, wrote the judge that the teen thinks like a child and doesn't deserve an adult sentence.

He said Brazill attends the chaplain's weekly prayer service and, in a prayer book, writes letters to God expressing remorse.

"He certainly regrets what he did," Pecoraro said.

Most of the letters sent to Wennet were from Florida residents, but several were from other states, including three from a Tennessee man who asked the judge to be lenient.

The defense and prosecution said they also have received letters offering opinions about what sentence Brazill deserves. They said they plan to read the ones sent to Wennet, which are in Brazill's court file, before they argue their cases before the judge.

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