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NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice

  • Who We Are
    • Mission & History
    • Our Values
    • People Most Proximate
    • Coalition Members
    • Staff & Board
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  • What We Do
  • Why End the Death Penalty?
    • Column 1
      • Racism
      • Innocence
      • Intellectual Disability & Mental Illness
    • Column 2
      • Public Safety
      • High Cost of Death
      • Waning Support
    • Column 3
      • Lethal Injection
      • Antiquated Sentences
      • Unfair Trials
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Search NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

People Most Proximate: Stories

We cannot create justice without getting close to places where injustices prevail. We have to get proximate.”

Bryan Stevenson

People directly affected by murder and the death penalty are not just important to our movement; they are the key voices that will help end the death penalty in North Carolina. It’s because of that belief that we are committed to sharing their stories in their own words. This page includes the stories of those who have lost loved ones to murder, those who have family members on death row, and those who work directly with people facing execution. We will continue to expand this story collection. Please get in touch if you know a story we should tell.

Jean Parks

The feelings I imagined were so similar to what my family experienced after Betsy was killed: grief, rage, helplessness. I was horrified to think that our state, “We the People,” is using a form of punishment that creates new grieving families unnecessarily.

Andre Smith

I’m not trying to seek revenge. I am content. And so therefore I am able to experience some happiness as a result of that.

Pat McKoy

More and more people, including many family members of murder victims, hope we will stop using it, and make that fabric of our society stronger by doing so. My family and I are among them.

Lynda Simmons

So much money, time and resources are put into the death penalty that could be better used to serve victims in their healing. It’s in our personal healing where crime prevention begins and solutions are found.

Tessa Hale

As advocates, we are haunted by the horrific traumas our clients have experienced and if we are lucky, we are healed by witnessing the joy and the beauty that can emerge amid suffering. I know this was true for me.

Gretchen Engel

I wished so much then and still wish now that I’d been able to convey Quentin’s humanity to the judges who ruled in his case and the governor who decided against commutation. Perhaps they, and the jurors who sentenced Quentin to death, thought they were rooting out evil, teaching a lesson, meting out justice. What I saw was another killing that perpetuated a cycle of violence and trauma that continues to play out in many lives, including mine.

Brenda Hooks

It’s been nearly twenty years since Brenda has truly seen her son. While she, Kayla, and their family friend Gale visit often, the prison’s visitation rooms separate the visitors from the loved ones with wire, bars, and a thick, scuffed glass that reflects glare from overhead lights. In order to see through the glass to her son, seated less than two feet away, Brenda must position her body to block the light, lining up her reflection with Cerron’s face, looking through her own face to see glimpses of his.

Tawana Choate

It’s heartbreaking. He missed out on a lot of family things. Sometimes we don’t want to do nothing because he wasn’t here. It was times that we had family functions and I said, This is Quintel’s seat. Nobody sit there. When I go to church, I take his picture and I say This seat is taken. He’s sitting right here by me.
Last Updated: February 17, 2022

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Contact

NCCADP
123 West Main St., Suite 700
Durham, NC 27701
noel@nccadp.org
919-956-9545

The Latest via Twitter

How we tell the story matters. Who tells the story matters. And if you don't think this has anything to do with today's death penalty in North Carolina, please visit the Racist Roots website: racistroots.org/film… twitter.com/RDunhamD…

About 6 hours ago

At the end of THIS week, listening to the voice of someone with the lived experience of losing a loved one to murder. Thank you @RisherRev twitter.com/RisherRe…

Yesterday

RT @kristie_1979 I didn’t want to give birth while shackled. “I made the decision to enter into second-class citizenship permanently,” Puckett-Williams said. “So that my children could be born free. That’s not a decision that anybody should have.” twitter.com/CrassHys…

Yesterday

TONIGHT 6 pm (ET) Join us for this sure to be powerful conversation about Islam and the death penalty. Register here: bit.ly/MuslimLensDP #NCDeathPenalty

About 2 days ago

AEDPA unpacked in light of Monday's ruling by SCOTUS. A reminder that procedure is more important than justice. themarshallproject.o… via @MarshallProj

About 2 days ago

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