In 1995, I had a previous conversation with a drug dealer where I explicitly asked that he not give drugs to my 15 year old brother to sell.

In my absence I learned that he gave my brother a package that he ended up mishandling. Because my brother did not have the proceeds from those drugs, the dealer placed a gun in his mouth and threatened to kill him. My mother being a witness to this threat, the same threat was made against her.

Because of what I knew about him, he was more than capable of acting on his threat. Having buried the second youngest of my mother's four children to gun violence at the age of sixteen in 1992, the fear of loosing another sibling terrified me.

Taking someone's life was not something I wanted to do. However at that time all I could think of was keeping my family safe.That decision turned into a 60 year prison sentence at the age of 25. I've now been in prison 23 years with a projected release date set for 2055.

At that time I was a twenty-one year old immature young man who thought that I had to live according to the environment I was raised in, indoctrinated with the ideology that law enforcement could not be trusted to enforce the law on the lawless.

Regardless, I understand that there are no excuses, and I have to live with his death on my conscience for the remainder of my life. I wish that I could go back in time and make a better choice because he was once my friend and I am truly remorseful.

I understand that I cannot undo the harm that I caused the victim's family, nor can I undo the harm I have caused mines by my actions. What I am prayerful for is that the circumstances surrounding my actions may be construed as a bad choice, and not a choice that dictates that I spend 60 years in prison.

Since my incarceration I have utilized the institutional resources mad available to me that has helped me with conflict resolution and also academic and vocational accomplishments that has prepared me for a second chance in society if given the opportunity.

Amongst these achievements I have taken programs such as Victim Impact, Restorative Justice, and Thinking For A Change.

I am currently employed in the Virginia Corrections Enterprise Tag Plant (License Plates), on a minimum security institution where I've worked since 2018.

Prison has allowed me to discover my untapped potential in which I think I could not have realized otherwise. I am regretful that the path traveled to uncover my self worth and selflessness had to come at the expense of a loss of life and the relinquishment of my freedom.

As a father of three sons, I came to prison when they were 6, 3, and 5 months in his mother's belly. They are all grown men now. I would love nothing more that to be able to build a relationship with them beyond these barbed wire fences.

I pray that my story may move you to sign my petition for clemency, and support second chances.

Thank you for your support.

Truly,

Kermit Williams

#deservesasecondchance #IncarceratedLivesMatterVAFoundation