On June 2nd of this year, at 1369 Kingsley Avenue in Dayton, OH, there was an aggravated robbery and felonious assault by two men that resulted in the shooting and killing of another man, Richard A. Pogue Jr.  Both killers were indicted by a grand jury regarding the drug-related murder.  Six days later, one of the killers of Pogue’s death shot and killed another 29-year-old man in the back on the 400 block of North Williams Street.  On August 25th, this 20-year-old cold-blooded fugitive was found and apprehended by the Southern Ohio US Marshals.  He was hiding under housing insulation in an attic at a home in the 3000 block of Nicholas Street.   What was his name? Dalcapone Alpaccino Morris…

A British poet by the name of William Ernest Henley once wrote a poem titled “Invictus.”  The name of the poem is Latin for “unconquered.”  In the last stanza of the poem, Henley wrote:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

With that quoted, I’ve always truly believed people were ultimately responsible for controlling their own destiny.  Despite the hardships they encounter like nobody else, even Black men in Amerikkka don’t have to be statistics if they really don’t want to be them.  And a man who has a name, which is a combination of a nefarious Chicago crime lord from the 1920s and an actor famous for playing Mafioso-roles, is still not exempt from that sentiment.  It is quite conceivable Morris’s pitiful future is partially consequential from his upbringing.  In an effort to provide a reasonable explanation for his name, it is “heard” his parents were always fans of gangster flicks – especially Scarface (no surprise, huh?).  It’s okay to be a fan of gangster movies.  I’m one myself.  However, if I were to ever be blessed by a loving wife who carried my seed in her womb and birthed me a precious son, I would never give him the first and middle name Carlito Brigante just because Carlito’s Way is my favorite movie.  That’s just plain idiocy.

Dalcapone Alpaccino Morris’s name is simply an added reflection of his parents’ negligence in raising him to be a law-abiding, affluent, tax-paying member of society.  As Morris got older, it is evident he eventually discovered the meaning behind his name, and it was his decision in living to criminally glorify it with no shame.  After all, it is what his parents named him.  Rather than feel insulted, Morris chose to be a criminal but he didn’t want to go to prison for it.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have attempted to elude law enforcement authorities.  Whether he thought it was immoral, against the law, or both, Morris knew his behavior as a miscreant was wrong.  Yes, his parents were idiots and played an influential part in his current disposition.  But Morris is the one who has to be held accountable for his actions.  Personally, if I had the power to do so, I would still jail the parents for deliberately stirring a child down a path of crime.

Moreover, this story is not entirely unique whatsoever.  Actually, it is reminiscent of another tragedy that occurred nine years ago in 2000.  A kid named Nicholas Markowitz was kidnapped and held for ransom in exchange for drug money owed by his older half-brother.  Later, a verbal contractual agreement was made for Markowitz to be killed.  Ryan Hoyt, the man who carried out the murder, would have his debt to the man who ordered the killing waived in exchange.  What was the name of the individual who ordered the murder?  Jesse James Hollywood.  I don’t expect that name to go over many heads.  If it does, just google “Jesse James.”  But again, that name is just an added reflection as to how this particular person was raised.  It’s almost symbolic.  And Hollywood is currently serving a life sentence with no parole in a California prison.  As he rots in a cell, there is absolutely no question it was he who chose to be a thug.  The only real question to ask is does he have any regrets to his past decisions?

Of course, most thugs do not hold the names of famous hoodlums from documented history or fictitious gangster films like Morris and Hollywood.  Depending on their success as criminals, they will give their very own names notoriety.  Surely, several police agencies around the country can provide detailed information on incarcerated people who were provided decent upbringings and still subsequently turned out to be notorious menaces to society.  Needless to say, there are cases of vice versa because we are the masters of our fate whether we know it or not.  So don’t rule out the possibility of meeting a guy named John Gotti Smith who works in the IT department of the company you work for.  It is just more likely a guy with a name such as that to have his mugshot on the five o clock news.