News

Interview – part II

 

I received many responses to what I wrote about a man on death row who killed his father. A lot of questions were asked … a lot of outrage was expressed over his conviction and sentencing. So, I went back to him and asked him a few questions that were asked to me.......

 

Q : Why didn't you fight your conviction ?

A : “Because I did the crime. I am guilty of murder. Laws are put into places for a

reason, and they must be respected. I knew what would happen to me before I did it. The law is the law, it doesn't change for people like me. I believed and still believe that I did the right thing. If I had reported him to the cops all that would have happened is that he would have been given a little jail time and he would have returned to hurt my mother again. Law has human flaw also, I knew that, so for me it came down to me making a choice.... and I made mine”

 

Q: Where are you with your appeal ?

A : “Appeals are automatic with capital cases. It is just something that must be done in my case. The truth is, I never wanted an appeal.”

 

Q : Why not ?

A : “Because I am not innocent ! You have to own up to the things that you do. I am no hero... I am no special, I just love my mom and sister ! I felt they deserved better than the crap that my father gave them most of his adult life. I love them more than my own life. Sure, it is sad, I guess, but to me it was necessary. You do what you must do for those you love, and I did.”

 

Q : But in light of the circumstances, don't you think you should have been given a lesser charge ?

A : “I think that I made my own bed, and I must lie in it. No one can rationalize there way out of the things they do... no one can romanticize the wrong they do. Right is right and wrong is wrong; I did wrong in the eyes of the law, there is a price to pay for that. Besides that, I don't want my mom and sister to spend more of their lives dealing with the mess I made. They both have a right to be happy. I demand that to them.... because to not be happy, to not live their lives as they were meant to live it... well, it would mean that all this was for nothing. And that … that would be worse than anything I will ever undergo here. It would mean that I failed, both as a son and big brother, and I could not live with that.

 

Q : A lot of people have sympathy for you … if you could say anything to any of them, what would you say ?

A : “Don't. I didn't tell my story for people to make me out to be something great, or good even. I just want them all to know that there are people here on the row worth saving. For me, the peace of my family means more to me than being free. So many people here are here because they trusted the wrong person or they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.... or did not have the money to fight the charges against them. Money rules this world... in this country. 77 % of the men and women convicted today are indigent, illiterate, or just plan old do not have the mental capacity to understand what is happening to them. Those are the ones you fight for ! No one should be sentenced to die because they do not have the money to fight the charges... or because they can't read or write, and the court appointed attorneys who handle the cases do not care one way or the other what happens, so they do just enough to make it look good. Because that is what happens to people in this system everyday. You fight for the people who really need it. Sympathy for me is not necessary, I knew what I was doing, fight for the men and women who didn't.”

 

Q : Lastly, what do you want people to know ?

A : “I want them to know that life is too short to play games... live, love, and stand for what is right. We are examples for somebody else... you may not even know it, but someone is watching you... someone wants just to be like you... be worthy of that honor, or die trying.”

 

I asked him once again would he consider giving his name, he said no. He said once people had his name, that it would be easy to get the names of his mom and sister. He thanked everybody for caring about him and his family,and then he returned things back to the other men and women of the row; He said “I am a minority... a small piece in this very big pie. If you waste your time in this one area : “Me”, you will leave others to die. They say in all military forces that no man is left behind... but they also say, you save who you can. That is what I ask of each of you : save who you can.”

 

Respectfully,

Tyra

Nov. 29, 2010