Paranoid: On Justice and Compassion for Ronson Bush
Paranoia can make even the most impossible sets of circumstances real. People do all sorts of wild stuff and don’t realize what they’ve done until it’s over. It’s absolute terrifying for all involved. Such a condition is often brought on by drug use or mental illness. In the case of Ronson Bush, his paranoia was the result of a life filled with any and all of the above and more. The swirling cloud of factors created the perfect storm that led to the murder of Billy Harrington.
Ronson Bush and Billy Harrington were best friends. By all accounts, Harrington did everything that he could to try to help Bush through his various bouts of paranoia, including helping him get treatment on multiple occasions. Harrington was the type of friend that anyone would love to have. On December 22 of 2008, Bush checked himself out of psychiatric treatment at Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma. Just like he always had been, Harrington was there to pick Bush up.
When they arrived back at Harrington’s house, they drank from a bottle of vodka they’d picked up on the way home. In good spirits, Harrington and Bush shot guns, played with Harrington’s dog and Harrington gave Bush a haircut. All seemed to be right in the world. That is until the paranoia came back with a vengeance.
Sometime around 7:15, things went nuts. Later, Bush explained that he was set off by Harrington telling him that he bought Christmas presents for one of Bush’s ex-girlfriends named Stephanie Morgan and her son. Then, Bush said that Harrington said that he and a bunch of guys had slept with her. Whether such comments were true or not, one can never know. What is known, is that Bush’s paranoia kicked in and he shot Harrington with a revolved six times. Bush then tied Harrington to the back of his pickup and drug him out into a field. After, Bush went to confront Morgan, and was ultimately arrested for violating a protective order. At the time of the arrest, Bush tearfully confessed to having killed Harrington. In the coming days, Bush went in and out of the paranoia that had caused the entire situation to begin with.
Billy Harrington was Ronson Bush’s best friend. If not for Bush’s paranoia, Harrington would still be alive. Throughout his life, it was clear that Bush had struggled. While it is clear that Bush must be punished for what he did, I can’t help but think that the death penalty is inappropriate in this circumstance. If Bush hadn’t been so paranoid, Harrington would still be alive. If we lived in a humane society, Bush wouldn’t be sitting in a hole, waiting to die.
Since Bush and I’s initial conversations, I’ve grown to really love him as a friend. He is smart. He is creative. He is considerate. He is even hopeful. Things change when you begin to realize the source of the evil that one has done. When I look back at his crime, I’m not sure that one can even say that Bush killed Harrington. I think it’s more appropriate to say that Bush’s paranoia did.
Lastly, I think that it’s important to remember that if you were as paranoid as Ronson Bush was…you would be just as capable of committing murder as he was.
-The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood
