Chris dying wouldn’t do anything to change our journey.
He killed my dad, you’re killing him.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
My dad was doing positive things,
and Chris took that opportunity away from my dad.
Now, I look at Chris wanting to do something positive,
and if the state takes that away from him,
they’re no different than Chris.
What are your hopes? If you could just summarize your hope for clemency.
I feel like the governor should listen to me -
because I’m the victim’s son.
I’m forgiving the man that’s alive today -
who's remorseful and wants to change
other people.
I can’t forgive or forget Chris Young from 14 years ago.
I look at death row as saving my life.
I don’t think like, I would’ve been able to explain to my daughters ‘life’,
like the appreciation of it because I didn’t have any appreciation for life.
Even if he wasn’t remorseful, there was no positive aspect of him being executed.
Then I started thinking, ok, what negative comes from this?
Well, Crishelle loses her dad.
Well, I know what it’s like to lose a dad.
I don’t wish that on anybody.
[Crying] I miss my daddy. I miss my daddy a lot.
And I don’t want him to go.
Because I don’t see him a lot.
And I don’t like seeing him behind the glass.
For that matter, he deserves to live,
and I’ve spent the last two or three weeks banging on whatever door I can to make that happen.
And I think probably a lot of people in the criminal justice system think I’m crazy for it,
but something better needs to come from this.
They put me on the phone, and the officer said,
‘Oh there’s been a robbery and your dad’s hurt’,
I’m like, where is he, what hospital, what’s going on?
And he paused, and I yelled at the police officer and he said he didn’t make it.
And so then I
I remember dropping on the phone and falling on the floor.
Um
My sister walked out of her room
and she just came over to me because she knew.
My Mom’s sitting on the floor of our house,
my grandmother’s laying there crying,
my dad’s brother's on the floor crying,
my aunt’s crying, my mom’s crying... and I just…[crying]...ran to her.
Unfortunately I saw my dad’s murder on video a day or two days after
because SAPD couldn’t watch the tape.
And so they brought it to the store to ask if they can watch it,
and instead of leaving, I stood there and watched it,
and so I actually remember it more than I want.
I had a lot of anger; I remember not even wanting to look to my left
when I was on the witness stand.
Not even wanting to acknowledge any of Chris’ family.
What were your feelings on the death penalty at the time?
I thought it was great and couldn’t come fast enough.
Chrishelle didn’t pick her dad,
and I know what it’s like going through life with when you need your father the most and not having the guidance.
This next picture – it’s actually kind of tough because I didn’t get to see this look on my dad’s face for my kids.
But this is probably the happiest day of my dad’s life and it was six months before he was taken from us,
and it’s holding his first grandson.
So how has that just influenced your decision for clemency?
Chris has to live for his kids so that he can support them
even though it’s from prison, it’s support.
Crishelle can go to Huntsville and talk to her dad if she’s having a bad week.
I can’t – and I don’t want her to have those days where you can’t turn to somebody
or you can’t turn to your dad specifically.
My hopes would be that the governor would grant clemency.
My hopes would be that the 7 pardons and paroles board members would
suggest clemency and that the governor would offer it.
I feel like the governor should listen to me - because I’m the victim's son
if the victim’s family is saying, look, we don’t want another family to go through this lifelong healing process
because you can’t heal from this.
And I felt my sitting in front of them, telling them who my father was,
what he stood for, and why now Chris is a positive force for his daughters,
is wanting change, is wanting to break the chain,
then he needs to live for those reasons for my dad’s legacy.
That’s a better outcome than Chris being executed.
Isn't there a danger with letting emotion into the judicial process?
Couldn't that lead to verdicts based on - a perhaps understandable - desire for vengeance?
Um
I feel like the death penalty already is vengeance, right - you’re already giving someone that satisfaction.
No one’s saying ‘let them out-let people run free and let them do whatever they want to'.
There’s gotta be a better way to deal with these situations.
Again, killing him — two wrongs don’t make a right.
He killed my dad, you’re killing him
Now all you’ve done is kill two people.
With intent.
Right?
So if- the more profound thing is if Chris walking into my dad’s store with a loaded weapon
wanting to rob and shoots and kills with intent
you cart him into a room with
sedation drugs and other drugs to end his life,
that’s intent.
So there’s nothing good that can come from it.
And the emotional piece, it just counters the vengeance piece that’s already in the justice system.
You know, that day
that I took that man's life
– I took Hash’s life –
I wasn’t trying to kill Hash.
Circumstances just went wrong, and I wish ‘till this day now that I never went into that store.
So I really wanted to apologize for doing that.
I lost a father when I was young and so I understand how it feels to lose a father.
And it’s all my fault.
I really haven’t had a chance to really apologize to my family either,
because although I thought I was being protective of them,
I really hurt them too.
I do apologize for putting them through this stress.
I hope they can appreciate what I am now.
I miss my daddy a lot, and if I don’t get to see him no more, I’m not going to have a dad to see.
You know, every person - again -
this goes back to my thought process,
has a 50/50 chance of ending up like him, or ending up like me.
Honestly, it was my dad who told me to focus on education and caring for the people
and your family.
So that kept me going.
I don’t know what his family circumstances were when he was growing up.
Obviously they weren’t great if you have an 8 year-old joining a gang and getting into that lifestyle.
I really believe that if he would have had the guidance he’s gotten in the last ten years,
at the time when his dad was murdered,
he may not have killed my dad.
He may not have been the person that he is.
I don’t want to take that chance on his daughter, actually.