(piano music)
- I had built up a reputation in the neighborhood
as someone who was fearless.
It didn't matter that I was the youngest,
I was given a gun.
- My daughters were three and one,
and it was the first time I had been out, really,
since I had my second baby.
I see these three guys walk up to the car,
and I wasn't really paying attention to them.
One of them asked, "You got any change?"
I heard from behind, "I'm serious, give it up."
- And, Debbie immediately screamed.
I immediately fired.
- Pow, he shot.
I saw one of my teeth fall on the ground.
- I put the gun in some bushes,
and went back to the neighborhood.
(sighs)
- My front tooth was gone.
All the teeth on the bottom left side,
all of them were gone.
Then, I found out who it was.
They said Ian Manuel, 13.
I'm like, 13?
There's no way a 13-year-old kid shot me.
He's just a child.
- My lawyer, at the time, he goes and gets my mom,
talks to my mom for about 15 minutes.
My mom's older than me.
My mom's been in prison before.
She's dealt with the criminal justice system before.
She tells me, "Ian, do what your lawyer says, baby.
"Do it for me, please, plead guilty for me."
I said, "Okay, Mom."
She went to her grave regretting that, man,
because I ended up being sentenced to life.
I'd been in prison about a year at this time.
It was around December 1991.
I had all my paperwork scattered out on the table.
The police report was in there with Debbie's phone number.
So, I got the idea, let me call Debbie.
- [Debbie] I got a phone call, and it was a collect call.
- You got a collect call from Ian
at Appalachia Correctional Institution.
Will you accept the charges?
- Morbid curiosity more than anything.
I said I'll accept the charges.
- The first thing I said was, "Ms. Baigrie,
"I called to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas,
"and Happy Holidays, and to apologize
"for shooting you in the face."
- He said he was sorry for what he did,
and if it wouldn't be too much trouble,
I would like to write you.
- She said yes,
and that's how our correspondence started.
- [Debbie] I was getting letters from him
from the time he was 14, and I'm reading them,
and I'm thinking, the way his sentence structure,
his vocabulary, he is way too young to be this articulate.
- I'm glad I had followed my heart
and picked up that phone that day,
because if not, I would've missed out
on a truly special friendship.
- I forgave him because he was a child.
I used this to make my life better.
I refocused.
- Ian had been sentenced to life without parole
for a crime at the age of 13.
I wrote him a letter.
We're thinking about challenging the constitutionality
of life without parole sentences for children.
We started taking cases to the U.S. Supreme Court
when the court ruled that it is unconstitutional
to impose these kinds of sentences
on children convicted on non-homicides.
We went back to the court where Ian's case was pending,
and we had you have to give him relief.
Debbie came to court, and she said these amazing things
about how she doesn't believe that this sentence
that Ian received was fair or just,
and she supports him being released from jail or prison.
- Ian got up, and made such a beautiful speech to the judge.
- I told the judge, me and Debbie have been waiting
for years for the judicial system to catch up
to my remorse and her forgiveness.
I was released that night.
Oh, god.
- It's really hard to step out into the world,
particularly now, when you're coming out
as an adult, but you left the world as a child.
You look like an adult, but you have none
of the life experiences that adults are supposed to have.
Ian had never lived alone before.
He's never rented anything.
He's never had a bank account.
He's never learned to drive.
He doesn't know any of the things
that people assume he knows.
- So, put your foot on the brake and then press this.
- [Attorney] Having some outside people
who are cheering for him, rooting for him,
it's obviously made a huge impact.
- [Ian] Just press that I guess.
- [Attorney] And, nobody has played that role
more enthusiastically, more lovingly,
and with more commitment than Debbie.
- You again.
(laughs)
I see Ian for who he is.
He still has a lot of growing to do,
and I don't glorify him,
but our relationship, it's spanned so many years,
from childhood to adulthood,
that he's almost like my child.
You can just put it in like a pan and stir-fry it.
- [Attorney] You don't overcome fear
and anger without courage.
You don't affirm the other things people are
when they make mistakes, and when terrible things
happen to them without courage.
- I'm not saying he wasn't responsible
for his actions, but when you're 13,
you should be given the opportunity to change, to grow.
What I feel is compassion
for another human being.
(soft music)