Reason First: How Evil Emotions Can Lead to Horrific Acts

Two students from Newark Charter School in Newark, Delaware hung out a lot. They had not noticed each other much in fourth grade but in the next few years, they became fast friends.

There didn’t seem to be anything untoward between the two girls. They enjoyed each other’s company. Madison Sparrow and Annika Stalczynski remained buddies until Madison’s bloody murder at the hands of Annika and Noah Sharp. He had once dated Madison and split for reasons unknown. He then began dating Annika. This caused no rift between the two girlfriends, however. They were so tight that (apparently) Annika asked Madison to go get some ice cream together.

Previously, Sharp and Annika exchanged damning text messages that included cruel jokes about the murder weapon. Sharp pointed out that he didn’t want to use some other device besides his bat because it wasn’t “gruesome enough” and that he “like[d] his bat.”

What came thereafter was like a team of humvees going into an unexpected fire fight at the height of the American-Iraq War. Sharp wielded a baseball bat and struck Madison. He and Annika proceeded to trounce Madison’s sleight frame until she lay lifeless. They then took her body under a highway to be found in a few days. The jury weighed all of these items including videos and pictures of the deceased Madison.

The brutality of this case spells out a vicious streak of emotionalism. Sharp and Annika felt their way through all of their horrific acts. No thought remained. They just took it upon themselves to be brutes and snatch away Madison's life.

All of the time, which includes a possible twenty-five year sentence for Annika if convicted, could bring her closer to thinking. Since she had not taken the time to use her brain and coupled with Sharp to kill Madison, Annika may have plenty of time to decide what to do after she serves her sentence.

Sharp is on the hook, too. For his role in wanting Madison to feel the pain he experienced post his breakup with her, he should be condemned for the same reasons.

Madison was said to have been a bright light amongst family and actual friends. In October 2020, at the time of her death, the outpouring of grief was true and overwhelming.

This is the split between emotions. Feelings of jealousy, envy, and malice sometimes lead to disgusting behavior like the kind that Sharp and Annika exhibited. But the sincere sense of sympathy expressed by those who loved and cared for Madison are on the complete opposite side of one another. Though diametrically opposed, the root of these emotions is the collection of words and deeds that one picks up over time.

To harbor feelings of aggression and the propensity to murder marks someone as evil. The willingness to show emotion such as grief is a proper response to events that rock the soul.

Sharp and Annika committed their crimes out of a lust for destruction and mayhem. They turned off their rational faculties and opted for emoting on the side of vice.

Madison fell victim to the lack of rationality. Had Sharp and Annika employed reason to settle their differences with Madison, she’d still be alive today. Sadly, she was snuffed out due to feelings.

Though the possible prison sentences will not bring back Madison, time will only separate her dying day from the rest of days, not heal anything.

For the remainder of their lives, Sharp and Annika will experience nothing but little nicks in their consciousness, reminding them of their wickedness. The reality of their crimes will haunt them and they will never be the same. Because of their stunted emotional growth found somewhere in their youth, they acted out the most malicious deed known to man: extinguishing another life without defense or other good reasons. This is cause for those who are against the death penalty to rethink their position.

Madison’s memory will forever be held up by the power of her spirit that she possessed while alive. No one can take that away.