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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
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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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Lynda Simmons

Learn more: People Most Proximate: Our Creativity

The last photo Lynda Simmons has of her son, Brian Eddie Colletti

In 2004, my beautiful son Brian was senselessly murdered in Wilmington. He was 24.

I’m not a supporter of the death penalty. I believe all life is sacred and it’s not up to me to decide who lives or dies. Through my experience, I realized Brian’s family and friends were not the only victims in our case. The courtroom was filled with victims from both sides at the sentencing hearing; people struggling with the devastation of homicide who became victims through no choice of their own. My heart went out to the mother and grandmother of my son’s murderer; I would never want them to suffer as I have. There are other ways to hold offenders accountable within the justice system, and for me, accountability is the key to justice.

What’s more, capital cases often take many years to resolve. Each time there’s another legal proceeding, family members are subjected to more heart-rending testimony and news headlines.

Hanging over it all is the threat that our imperfect system will execute an innocent person. This isn’t a possibility; it has happened, more than once and one innocent life is one too many. How does that awful prospect honor the memories of our lost children?

Lynda Simmons and Jon Powell. Jon directs Campbell Law’s Restorative Justice Clinic in Raleigh

We can honor the victims by shifting our priority to the families left behind, lending support as they navigate this often hostile and confusing journey. We need more resources to help those profoundly affected by crime, expand our view of victims to include the family and friends of the offender as well. We need to stop the process of re-victimizing those whose grief is only complicated by the legal process.

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.

A heartfelt letter to Lynda from a man on death row

Filed Under: People Most Proximate, Stories

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Contact

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NCCADP
3326 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd.
Building D, Suite 201
Durham, NC 27707
noel@nccadp.org
919-404-7409

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Every year, NC spends millions of dollars to prese Every year, NC spends millions of dollars to preserve a racist, unjust, and overreaching punishment. It's time for state-sanctioned execution to go. Join us on Monday, June 30 at 7 pm to learn the facts and find your place in the movement to repeal the death penalty in our state.

📅 Monday, June 30 | 🕖 7 PM
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/NCCADPJune2025Info (or at the link in our bio)
On June 25, Mississippi took the life of Richard G On June 25, Mississippi took the life of Richard Gerald Jordan, a veteran of the Vietnam War who suffered from PTSD. He spent 49 years on death row. We remember Richard's life, and our hearts go out to all who were impacted by this state-sanctioned execution.
On June 24, Florida executed Thomas Lee Gudinas, t On June 24, Florida executed Thomas Lee Gudinas, the seventh execution carried out by the state in 2025 alone. We remember Tommy's life, mourn his loss, and reject the cruelty of state-sanctioned death. Every execution is a failure of justice and humanity.

#TommyGudinas #EndTheDeathPenalty #NoMoreDeathRow
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