Letter to the Editor

Choose life, not the death penalty

Saturday, July 19, 2014

To the Editor,

Once I was with a retreat group who knew a man on death row and was able to get acquainted with him and witness his transformation. Skillicorn was his name.

I found out later that my husband, J.C. Bryant, had even worked with him earlier when he was in prison ministry.

Skillicorn was on drugs with friends when they killed a man, he did not remember anything of his crime. He was so repentant that he became an advocate for young people to help them "do right." He wrote three books plus while in prison and worked with those who wanted to "do better." His faith spilled over to help many even the do-gooders who came to visit him in prison.

When he was sentenced to death, he was a kid. When he "took the needle," he was an adult who had helped many and could have potentially helped many more while in prison. This didn't happen.

There are many stories which make me an advocate for life in prison instead of the death penalty. People make Big mistakes sometimes.

Prayerfully we can make big amends by choosing life.

Catherine Bryant

Poplar Bluff

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dennis James Skillicorn was executed May 20, 2009. It was the first execution under the governorship of Jay Nixon and the first to be carried out after a brief suspension of the death penalty was ordered on June 26, 2006.