When Byron was sentenced, his sons were not yet a year old.

In the courtroom that day, as a father was about to be taken away for decades, the judge refused to grant permission for Byron to kiss or hold his babies goodbye.

No embrace.
No whisper.
No final moment of reassurance.

That moment matters — because it was the last time Byron would see his sons as infants.

From that day forward, Byron missed every holiday.
Every birthday.
Every first step, first word, first day of school, graduation moment, and milestone that shapes a child’s sense of identity and belonging.

Those babies are adults now.

They grew up without their father’s physical presence — not because he chose absence, but because a system chose excessive punishment over mercy, rehabilitation, and family preservation.

This case is not only about Byron’s sentence.
It is about the generational cost of a justice system that treats fathers as disposable and children as collateral damage.

Punishment should never include:

The denial of a final goodbye
The erasure of 

a parent from a child’s life
Or the permanent fracture of a family without proportional accountability
Justice that ignores humanity is not justice at all.

We are asking for review, accountability, and correction — not only for Byron, but for the children who paid a sentence they never earned.

Please continue to sign, share, and speak out.
Time cannot be returned — but justice can still be done.

Rev. Jamesina E, Greene

President & Founder, A Mother's Cry