One name, two fates. That is the story of two African-American men, who not only possessed the same name, ‘Wes Moore,’ but who also came from similar backgrounds and coincidentally grew up on the same streets of Baltimore.
Wes Moore, a Rhodes Scholar and author of the new book “The Other Wes Moore,” had been a student at Johns Hopkins University in 2000 when he received a chilling and life-altering phone call from his mother who had informed him about another ‘Wes Moore,’ a young man wanted for the murder of an off-duty Baltimore police officer, Sgt. Bruce Prothero.
Moore, who had received this news while visiting West Africa, said he was haunted by the story because he believes that had he not been sent to military school at 12-years-old, he too might have led the same trajectory as the other ‘Moore.’
“The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine, and that the tragedy is that my story could have been his,” said Moore.
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In addition to attending military school, Moore said among the reasons why he was able to escape a life of crime was because of his mother’s influence and her value in education, along with the support from his mentors growing up.
Moore, who had written a letter to the other ‘Moore’ while he’s been in prison, said there is an even greater tragedy to this story – not only is a life lost, but the opportunity for a better life for a man imprisoned, is also lost.
“It’s a real tragedy that this is a person that could be making a contribution to society,” said Moore. “But because of the decisions that he made, not only do we have a hero – a 13-year-old veteran – who was killed that day, but in addition to that it’s all that intellectual capital that will spend the rest of his life in prison.”