TOWSON, Md. — Coming home from a night of celebrating his 27th birthday, Sebastian Dvorak's path would intersect with that of a 16-year-old seen in a surveillance video who was looking to rob someone.
But it's footage of the popular bartender's last moments that has struck hardest at his family.
"I think watching your son in his last minutes and after he's been shot trying to breathe his last breaths is pretty excruciating," said Lisa Richard, Sebastian’s mother.
"You just want to scream, 'Someone please help him! Please stop time!'" added Sebastian’s father, David Dvorak. “In essence, because you're watching your son die on camera and the whole thing is so senseless, and from my own perspective, I get no satisfaction from the trial at all."
A trial for now 18-year-old Malik Mungo, the alleged triggerman, who according to testimony from a fellow 500-L gang member stepped out of his role peddling marijuana on the streets for the subset of the Bloods to go in search of some easy money with a gun in hand.
In the aftermath of the killing, Mungo told other members of the gang that he shot Sebastian when he failed to comply with the robber's demands.
"The whole incident took no more than just a few seconds, so the idea that he was putting any sort of fight up I think is a stretch," said Sebastian’s father.
Since the murder in Canton in June of 2017, Baltimore has witnessed approximately 600 more killings, with arguably 600 more families like the Dvoraks awaiting justice, and, amidst speculation that Sebastian's alleged killer could take the stand in this trial, it appears they could not care less.
"When you say you're sorry and you're on trial, at the end of the day, when you could have come forward for two years, and you could have come forward right away,” said Richards. “I think for us, at this point, there's really not a lot that we could hear that would bring us closure. Really now, it just about getting Sebastian some justice and getting some consequences in the city for things that are just... It's too much. It's too many deaths."
As they have over the last two weeks, Sebastian's parents spent the day in court today – a day, which had he lived, would have marked his 29th birthday.
