Veteran prosecutor Melba Pearson learned something the day she wheeled a paralyzed shooting victim into a courtroom on his hospital bed so that he could tell his story to a jury.

As the witness, a 38-year-old African-American named Michael Smathers, described the shooting incident and recounted his murdered friend’s last hours, she realized that everyone in the courtroom was crying, including the jury, the families and the court clerk. Even the judge was tearing up, she said.