East Texan honors mother by fighting the death penalty



The following blog post was written by Chris Castillo, who was just named to a
new position with a national nonprofit group of murder victims' families that
opposes the death penalty. For more information about Murder Victims' Families
for Reconciliation, contact him at ccastillo@mvfr. org, or visit www.mvfr.org.

My mother, Pilar Castillo, was murdered on Nov. 20, 1991 in Houston. Now, I am
working as the Texas / National Organizer for Murder Victims' Families for
Reconciliation, a national organization of family members of victims of both
homicide and executions who oppose the death penalty in all cases. MVFR
includes people of many different perspectives. Because violent crime cuts
across a broad spectrum of society, its members are geographically, racially
and economically diverse.

I was working as a daily newspaper reporter when I got the news that my mother
had died. I didn't know for hours that she had been murdered. The men who
police believe killed her fled the U.S., and the crime remains unsolved.

It took me many years to find peace with my mother's death. The thing that had
the greatest impact was volunteering within the walls of state prisons with a
faith-based program aimed at showing inmates the impact crime has on
individuals. It was then that I began to view inmates as people, not just
criminals. Many of them are not much different from you and me. That really
surprised me.

I became more involved with programs like Kairos in prison. The more I
volunteered, the more I understood I could use this horrible act of violence to
help others. I decided to help others instead of letting the pain and loss of
my mother's death consume me.

I worked in public relations more than a decade until I was offered a job with
MVFR. Since I don't believe in the death penalty, I really wanted this job. For
me, it was the perfect fit.

I don't believe in the death penalty because I don't think anyone has the right
to take a life. I also feel that the estimated $2.3 million spent on each death
penalty case could instead be used to help us put more murderers behind bars
and solve cases like my mother's. Money used for expensive death penalty trials
also can be put aside to help crime victims and their families. After my mother
died, my family was able to pay off funeral expenses with assistance from the
Crime Victims' Compensation Fund.

It is my goal to make a difference within my world. I am honored to work with
abolishing the death penalty in Texas and various other states. For me, this is
more than a job. It is a calling.

(source: Dallas Morning News blog)

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