Dear friends of Hamilton County:
Our current election is just as important as any presidential one. Over the next few weeks, I urge you to exercise your right to vote and, further, encourage you to use that opportunity to vote to re-elect Neal Pinkston as our District Attorney General. Here’s why:
Days after accepting a position in the DA’s office, I drove down from Knoxville to begin looking for a place to live in my new home.
After driving back on I-75, I learned that a truck driver, Benjamin Brewer, had killed and injured several people on that same interstate an hour after I had left the city. My second day on the job, I watched the news with my new colleagues as reports of the Fallen Five streamed on our breakroom TV. A little over a year after working here, I watched our community’s heart break as we learned that some of our tiniest and most innocent souls had been hurt and killed in the Woodmore bus crash by Johnthony Walker.
In the wake of these tragedies, I knew that I had made the right decision to move to Hamilton County. These are events that shake communities, but we all rallied and united around the hope that Justice would be served in spite of this trauma and heartache.
Neal often says that we save our words for the courtroom. I agree, but I also know that this office demands more than words and empty promises. It requires action and that’s what General Pinkston did in the midst of the chaos in these cases. He and our staff coordinated with law enforcement, victim’s families, and witnesses and made every effort to gather and present evidence in order to successfully prosecute these matters. Brewer was convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication, Walker was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, and both received appropriate sentences for these crimes.
Neal has been intentional about looking for candidates from all backgrounds to hire as support staff and prosecutors in his office. When I first started seven years ago, I was the only person of color on our staff. I was excited about the opportunities before me, but I also know that representation matters to victims, defendants, and jurors. Once again, Neal took action. Over the years, I have seen more and more people that look like me in our hallways. We have been assigned to some of the most difficult cases. Some of us have been promoted to supervise divisions. Many of the people that he’s hired have gone on to accept phenomenal positions in other companies (Director, Vice President, judicial candidate).
Action is important, but this job requires difficult decisions on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. In the face of these decisions, our county needs someone that is both educated and experienced in what is required. Neal is that person and he has shown us that he is more than capable for decades.
The primary election is on May 3rd. Early voting continues until April 28th. Please remember to go vote and vote to re-elect Neal Pinkston as your District Attorney General.
AnCharlene Davis