WEBVTT - "Please Dom’t Execute the Man Who Murdered My Mother” 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:05.760 Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, September twenty third, and 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:11.119 a man is pleading, begging it, the state of Alabama 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.320 not to execute the convicted killer. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:19.400 Who shot his mom in the head. Welcome to this 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:20.599 episode of Amy and TJ. 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:20.880 Rose. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:22.319 We hear this every once in a while, which we 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.560 right now have a man begging it to spare the 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:27.080 life of the man who killed his mother. 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:33.760 It's remarkable, and when you hear his impassioned plea, I 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.800 you can't help but feel for this man and wish 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.760 that more people could have his grace and his forgiveness. 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:47.040 And there's so much to be learned from what this 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.919 son feels for this killer. It's remarkable to me. 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:52.599 I didn't plan to go here yet, but you made 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:54.880 me think of something. Does it require faith? Because when 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.960 I hear about stories like this, oftentimes it's people of 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.480 very strong faith attached to it. 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.080 I think that that is almost certain and almost always 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.880 the case. I can't think of an example where it 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:12.520 hasn't been attributed to God, to being christ Like, to faith. Yes, 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:14.560 that's where it stems from. 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.959 Because we just saw and I obviously what we saw 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.840 with Erica Kirk was a chilling moment that most of 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:25.759 us cannot relate to in many ways, that level of forgiveness. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.440 It made us think about Charleston as well. You remember 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:32.480 how quickly those parishioners forgave that guy who goes and 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.760 shoots up a church full of people praying literally in 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.560 Bible class. They forgave him at It wasn't even at trial. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.240 It was like his bail hearing or something like, very 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:44.160 very quickly. I don't know how. I'm not a man 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:45.720 of that type of faith that grew up in the 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:50.480 church as did you. But that concept of that forgiveness 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.320 Christ on the Cross, forgive them for they know not 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.400 what they do as he's being killed. That's the spirit 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:57.920 of this, I. 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.360 Suppose, And it's that value of human life and what 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:05.680 we're hearing from this son in his plea to not 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.640 have his mother's killer killed, which his execution is set 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.400 for this week for Thursday, he talks about the value 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:16.360 of this man's life and the value of being able 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.920 to have conversations with him, and he even said ultimately 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.760 his wish would be to be able to see him, 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:26.320 meet him and pray with him. That is remarkable. 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:28.880 Yeah, we shoul I'll tell you what we were talking 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:31.760 about here. The killer is Jeffrey West. He is the 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.400 convicted killer, and he is as we speak, scheduled to 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.520 be executed in Alabama this week by nitrogen gas. This 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.880 is supposed to happen on Thursday evening, so the clock 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.520 is now ticking. He was convicted of a nineteen ninety 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:50.080 seven murder of Margaret Parish Barry. She was a woman 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.160 who was working in a gas station, had two sons. 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.400 She worked at a support obviously her family. She was 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.919 shot and killed. She cooperated, according to authorities, gave the money. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.040 It netted Jeffrey West and his girlfriend at the time 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.960 two hundred and fifty bucks. And this woman was shot 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.919 and killed as she laid on the floor behind the counter. 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.800 She was executed, according to police, because they did not 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.560 want to leave witnesses. That's the horror of the crime. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.400 Will Barry Robes was eleven years old at the time. 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.440 That then eleven year old, now an adult male is 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:25.960 saying that the man who did that to my mother 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.559 and robbed me at eleven years old, I want to spare. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.120 His life right. And Jeffrey West, the man convicted of 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.200 this crime, who admits the crime was twenty one at 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.640 the time Will Barry was eleven. Think about that, they're 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.280 just ten years apart. You know, they're almost in terms 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.560 of just at this point in age, he's forty and 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.520 Jeffrey West is fifty and he wants to have a 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.360 relationship with this man, which is remarkable to me. But 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:58.080 it is one of the worst crimes, being shot execution style, 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.680 This poor woman, knowing she's got two young sons at home. 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.240 I can't even imagine the grief and the horror and 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.640 the And that's not a crime that is one and done. 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:09.160 That is something that you live with for the rest 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.080 of your life, that has affected your life from the 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:14.520 moment your mom was taken away from you at such 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.640 a young age. So for him to be able to 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.080 be at this place and space in his life is 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:21.839 nothing short of a miracle. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.920 See I thought, even so, how this kind of all 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:26.560 got going here? In a lot of ways, spokes is 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:32.720 that Barry and West, yes, the convicted killer and the 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.640 son of the woman he's convicted of killing, have been 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:39.360 exchanging letters, and from all descriptions at least I've read robes, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.920 they're like almost pleasantries. I don't want to go that far. 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.200 But I'm saying these are notes in which they have 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.960 found some kind of peace with each within each other. 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.120 I mean, it's it's a beautiful thing because obviously, well 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.920 I don't say obviously, because not all convicted murderers feel 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.559 this way. But Jeffrey West has expressed true remorse, and 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.119 we can get into some of his specific quotes because 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:05.240 they are powerful. And then you have Will Barry expressing 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.920 this incredible desire to forgive and to have those two 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.200 things come together in this moment and to have them 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.400 share that back and forth where Will Barry is willing 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:19.599 to give him grace. That is just a something you 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:20.520 don't see every day. 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:24.280 And well, he's requested that's one Forgiveness is one thing. 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:26.400 Letting go its one thing. I mean people have forgiven 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.440 and still not try to stop at execution. This is 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.480 a different situation in which West and Barry have actually 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.760 requested no. I should correct that Barry was the one 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.440 who requested he wanted to meet with the killer. He 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.120 wanted to meet the man who killed his mother. He 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.720 put that request in through West's attorneys and through his team, 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:53.159 and they okayed it. But they're not being allowed to 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.400 see each other and Rome's I guess it kind of 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.000 makes sense to have these rules in place. 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:02.479 They say it's about security, that you can't have a 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.080 victim of the crime meet the criminal because there are 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.840 security concerns. They're concerned about what people's. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:09.320 Intent might be. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:11.320 You say, you want to go there to have a 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.120 pleasant conversation or to perhaps have some closure for something, 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.000 and then violence could ensue. So they just for they 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:22.039 just put out a general rule for everybody. Sorry, we 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.880 can't make exceptions, but this is a matter of security. 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.000 Which makes perfect I guess that I don't know if 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.000 exceptions or any safety exceptions could ever be made, but 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.440 this is how far he's going. I just find it 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.840 remarkable Robes that this man is not just he's not 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:41.760 just pleading for the sake of pleading and just saying 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:43.680 I don't want that on my conscious kind of a thing. 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.880 He's saying, there is something valuable in this man being 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:51.719 alive to his life that has been now denied so 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.080 much because he didn't have his mom to hear that 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:57.000 I need this man for something in my life. Please 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.600 don't kill him. That doesn't go far in the court 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.280 of the law, but in a heart in your heart, 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:05.800 like God, whatever. 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:06.479 I know. 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.240 We've seen this happen before, where you have victims' family members. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:16.560 The surviving family members literally beg authorities not to put 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.440 the murderer of the person who took away their loved 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:24.160 one to death because they don't want that on their conscience. 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:26.360 And I believe Barry said something to the effect of, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.040 I know it's being done on my behalf in the 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.720 sense that I am the person who suffered the most. 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.840 I am the victim of the crime because I'm the 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.440 one who lost my mother, and I'm the one saying, please, please, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.120 don't murder this man on my behalf. It's almost as 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:46.200 if he feels like it weighs on his conscience that 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:51.160 somehow he's responsible for now what will be almost certainly 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:52.360 the death of Jeffrey West. 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:53.760 Haven't I heard a time? 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:54.559 Please? 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:55.840 Maybe you can think of one off the top of 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.520 your head. I've heard some families not want a person 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.160 to be executed because no, we want to stay in 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:03.200 prison and suffer. 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:06.200 Right, So yes, I have to that. It's more punishment. 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.280 It's an easy way out is death. The hard way 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:10.679 out is to actually have to live with the crime 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:12.560 and wake up every morning behind bars. 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.440 I would be totally okay. I don't know how this 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:21.400 could work ever legally, but I think the victims family 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:26.040 should decide if they say no, we do not want 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.080 this person executed, then they shouldn't be executed. I don't 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.560 think they should be able to say yes, but if 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.640 the family says we don't wish. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.840 This, I would be so fine. If that were written 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.480 into the laws. They should have a veto basically, a 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.880 veto power basically where they could say, Okay, I understand 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.400 that the state has sentenced him to death. I understand 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.720 that a jury of his peers has sentenced him to death. 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:54.000 But I get a veto, and if the victims agree, 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.720 then I would be fully for that. That makes perfect sense. 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.960 We know we're not probably going to see that no. 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.320 That would also another thing I just thought about because 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.600 so many, how many victims feel as if there's no 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:14.360 one advocating for them, there's nobody on their side, victims, families, 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.760 even in this case of a Barry talking about he 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:18.719 didn't get any kind of heads up that there was 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.600 an execution date. He had to find out about it 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.160 on Facebook or something like that. Those types of things, 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.480 like they don't feel like they have any power or 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.640 say and oftentimes of what happens, and nobody's advocating for them, 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.760 So this would be some level of involvement or control, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:33.240 if you will. 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:34.920 Yeah, I mean, it's funny. As soon as you said that, 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.960 I thought immediately of the Epstein victims. But this is 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.760 just another example, and this is unfortunately the way our 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:46.120 legal system work. We don't give enough credit to or 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.560 at least we don't. We don't give them the bare minimum, 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.640 the victims and the people left behind, to not be notified, 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.760 to not be included in the process, to not be 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:57.680 listened to, regarded, or even have what you want to 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.200 happen be considered. That is that's tough, and I don't 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.600 think that's We don't treat victims and victims' families correctly 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:06.960 in our legal system period. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.120 We hear it all the time, right, getting victimized over 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.000 and over again. Yeah, he's getting victimized, victimized. Well, folks, 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:18.360 this one. Some of these details have been kind of chilling, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.200 and they kind of stir you, they kind of inspire 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.280 you to a certain degree as well. But I assure 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.520 you you ain't heard nothing yet. Stay here with us 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:27.480 when we come back. We are going to read some 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:33.240 of the most powerful words from the victim's son, words 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.880 in which he is making a very public plea, do 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.640 not kill the man that killed my mom. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.080 Welcome back to this edition of Amy and TJ, where 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:57.440 we are talking about a scheduled education execution that is 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:01.840 said to happen on Thursday. A man who murdered a 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.760 mother of two execution style during a robbery. He is 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.440 set to die by nitrogen gas in the state of Alabama. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.280 His name is Jeffrey West. He was twenty one at 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.400 the time at the crime. He's fifty now. But the 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:18.440 remarkable thing about this story is the son of the 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.520 woman who he murdered is now making an impassioned plea 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:28.160 to have that execution. State He would like to see 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.319 Jeffrey West live out the rest of his life behind bars, 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.160 but he would like the opportunity to meet with him, 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.480 connect with him, pray with him. And he thinks there 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.360 is value in letting this man live. And it is 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:46.040 a powerful, powerful letter that he wrote to authorities trying 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.840 to see if he can have any impact or any 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:52.360 influence over this execution again that is scheduled on Thursday. 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.880 And just to note, Jeffrey West. We have some quotes 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.920 from him about his level of remorse, not that that 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.360 makes it okay, not that it makes him any less guilty. 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.520 He says, there is not a day that goes by 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.040 that I don't regret it and wish that I could 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.400 take that back. Of course, he's referring to the murder. 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.800 I wish I had the opportunity just to swap places 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.320 and let it be me and not her. 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:21.160 Can you, I mean, it's hard to It is difficult, 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:24.120 but people can change see things differently. He's had almost 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.200 thirty years to think about this, and it's difficult to 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.760 have remorse or feel bad for someone who did such 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.920 a horrific crime. But can we be open to the 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:36.440 possibility that what he did then is who he was 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.480 and what he said now is who he is now. 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.520 I think that's absolutely possibly hard to do. He was 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.560 twenty one. Look, I'm not excusing anything that he did 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.079 at all. It's disgusting, horrific, and he should be behind 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.040 bars for the rest of his life. But he was 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.640 twenty one, and it was interesting for me to think 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.320 about the fact that this young kid, this son, now 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.720 who is standing up for this man who murdered his 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.960 mother was eleven at the time. They're ten years apart, so. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:03.600 There could be brothers. 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:08.679 They yes, right that ten years doesn't mean anything now 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.400 at this point in terms of a difference in how 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.240 they probably view the world. But certainly they've had very 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:19.040 different experiences, and certainly Barry has suffered greatly because of 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:20.160 what this man did. 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.400 And Will Berry, we want to let you hear it 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.880 in his words. He wrote an extended op ed a 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.520 little bit back that was put in a local paper there. 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.679 But he explains better than we can where his head is. 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.240 I will start with his first excerp. He says, quote, 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.480 mister West was sentenced to death for killing my mother. 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.960 His execution data set for September twenty fifth, But I 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.800 do not want the state of Alabama to kill him. 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.480 That won't bring back my mother. It will only add 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.080 to the pain I have lived with since the night 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.080 she was shot. I believe there is a better way. 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.800 Like hearing that line, how can you deny his request? 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.720 You haven't even heard that, like, oh, some of the 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.360 heaviest stuff. But that's just it's sincere, and I know 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.520 the law is the law. He wrote to the governor. 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.480 The governor wrote back, said she has to do what 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.160 the law requires her to do. I get it, but 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.560 she does have the options. 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.080 She said that she has stayed one execution, but that 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.480 was because there was some doubt into whether or not 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.720 that person had actually committed the crime, and that is 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.280 the only time she's done it. It doesn't sound like 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.560 she is willing to consider that in this case. 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.680 Should we do we remind me? Please? Don't prosecutors talk 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.440 to families ahead of time, say hey about a plea deal? 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.960 They often talked to them about. Do they also give 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.120 them and say, hey, would you like us to go 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:42.840 for the death penalty? Would you not do they? 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.800 I don't know. I think they should. But the problem 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.920 was will Berry was eleven years old at the time, 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.760 so they would never take the word or the thoughts 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:53.680 or sentiments of an eleven year old. They wouldn't put 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:55.360 that on him. So I think he was just too 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.000 young to weigh in. And I don't know what the 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.520 other family members generally speak. 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:01.640 I'm trying to think of cases. I'm thinking more so 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.000 law and order or something maybe right now I'm what 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:07.720 I'm trying to think of cases. Do prosecutors often consult 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.560 with the family and take into account their wishes. 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.200 Wouldn't it be at the discretion of the prosecutor. I 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.400 don't know that there's some hard fast rule. It probably 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:16.520 is case my case. 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.800 If they some maybe do it, some maybe don't. But yeah, 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:24.200 that was that's this guy. Your heart hurts for this guy. 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.640 We want to read some more of what he wrote 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.480 in this op ed because this will move you. My 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.160 mother was the person I loved most in the world. 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:35.120 Her absence and the senseless way she died has cast 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:38.520 a long shadow over my life. Even so, the weeks 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.400 since I learned that Governor Ivy set an execution date 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.600 for mister West have been some of the most unsettling 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.080 I can recall. My dearest wish is to meet with 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:53.160 mister West. Yet with only weeks left until his execution date, 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.760 it's not clear who has the power to make that happen, 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:57.400 or how to ask them directly? 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:03.120 Is life from eleven years old to now? That chunk 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.320 of his life he needs some resolve too, and he's 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.240 got the clock is ticking. Any answer he needs or anything, 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.800 any piece he wants. The clock is ticking for this guy. 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.800 That is It's yeah, it's a matter of days. And 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.400 here's here's a really really significant part of what he wrote. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:24.160 Because we were just talking about how victims are not 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.480 empowered in our legal system, and so he writes, I 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.760 was a child when mister West took my mother's life, 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.480 old enough to understand what had happened, but too young 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.760 to process it. I had no say at the trial. 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.080 I've had no say since then. No one from the 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.880 Alabama Attorney General's office called me in April to say 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.000 they had requested an execution date. No one from the 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.800 governor's office called in July when Governor Ivy said it. 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:50.560 If my wife hadn't stumbled across an article on Facebook, 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.360 I'm not sure when I would have learned. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:58.280 Obviously that's horrible. Okay, obviously that's awful. Obviously that's terrible. 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.800 And I think too many, so many victims have that story, 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:03.120 don't they. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.080 Yes, this is a common theme that we need to correct, 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.560 that we can correct in this country. 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.119 So he feels like a victim again, and now the 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.560 thing that can give him peace, He says, the clock 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.359 is ticking for him. I don't have you seen anywhere 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.560 in researching this story. I don't think he has any 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.240 options left. I guess the Supreme Court maybe would be 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:25.240 the only one with the governor. 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:26.840 The governor it's the end, you know, they've got the 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.160 phone sitting there, but she's already said, she's already said 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.120 she's not going to So it doesn't look like there's 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.919 much he can do. But just to hear this, this 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.080 man's plea, that this is causing him even more pain, 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:38.720 is just. 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:44.280 I don't know, how is there a a who are 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.119 you harming by not executing the guy? Right? So I 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.000 guess the state of Alabama can say, no, he's a 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:51.840 horrible person. We've decided, and we have laws, and we 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.399 want him dead. But the person impacted most by his 0:17:55.600 --> 0:18:00.640 action who gets whose word should count in this matter? 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:05.400 And this next excerpt here Robes is the one where 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.119 he really gets into and you give some insight into 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.800 how his faith is informing his belief and his decision 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:13.800 and his push and his plea to save this man's life. 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.919 Now, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and in 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.800 his words on the Mount, For if you forgive other 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.320 people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.040 also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.480 their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. My 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.959 faith teaches that every trial we endure brings us closer 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.439 to salvation. It teaches submission to God's will. 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.679 This next line here, he said that he believes that 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.480 in seeking his execution, the state of Alabama is playing God. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:44.280 What do we do with that? 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:44.640 Oh? 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:49.479 This is now a a what it's become now a 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.359 death penalty debate to a certain degree, and a lot 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:56.120 of people have an issue with that. I don't want 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:58.760 anyone to exactly revenge in my name, he says, nor 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:00.920 in my mother. I believe life without the possibility of 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.440 parole is just punishment. There is an ending to this 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.800 story where mister West and I find comfort in each 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.520 other and in the healing power of forgiveness. What the 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:11.879 actual wow. 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.480 That brings tears to my eyes? Because then he goes 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.199 further and says, I want to tell mister West that 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:21.720 I forgive him, and I want to ask questions both 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.959 about what happened that night and about who he is 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.439 as a man. In some ways, I suppose I just 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.520 want to be in a room with him. Through his 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:35.400 legal team, mister West has agreed to my request, even 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.439 in what may be the last weeks of his life. 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:40.040 He is willing to spend time with me and reckon 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:43.040 with the harm he has caused. I believe that speaks 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.439 well of him. Despite the deadly mistake he made the 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.080 night he killed my mother. I know that she forgives 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.240 him and that she would want me to sit down 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:54.280 with him. Oh that makes me like cry, how are 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:54.560 you going. 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.080 To deny that guy's request. I know it's a legal process, 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.800 but my good, sweet lord, the part there he sounded 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:03.359 like a guy that if you were in front of him, 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.399 it sounds like almost he said, I don't know, just please, 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:07.640 I just want to get in a room with him, 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:09.520 Like he doesn't have it all figured out. 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:13.000 I just need this just it's closure for him, and 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:16.879 it's a connection to his mother. He was the last 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:18.960 person to see his mother alive, but he was. 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.960 Also the one who caused her to have that last 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.440 moment of life. Whoo, this one is man. 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.400 Wow. And then he goes on to say, and this 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:31.280 is what we've been speaking to. The criminal justice system 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:35.120 is not built with victims needs, wishes and well being 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:38.200 in mind. I know that as well as anybody, because 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.280 what is being done in my name is not what 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.399 I need or want. I know the clemency is a 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:46.800 lot to ask for, but having spoken with a restorative 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:50.439 justice specialist who is also in communication with mister West, 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:54.000