Marcus Smalley was born on the Southside of Chicago in the Englewood neighborhood to a teenage mom.   His father was not in his life until he was four years old.  Although, his maternal grandmother and paternal grandparents were present, he had no male figure to help in his upbringing.  Marcus was in the Gifted Program at Randolph elementary school.  He attended Randolph up until the fifth grade at which time his mom got married and he moved out of the neighborhood.  There was discord in his home with the stepfather and Marcus became withdrawn and sought to live with his grandmother who still lived in Englewood.  Three years later his mother left the relationship with her husband and moved back to the Englewood area which had become a dangerous raise a child.   

Marcus has never been a troublemaker and tried to adjust to a neighborhood filled with conflicting gang members.  Marcus was raised in a loving home and attended church every Sunday either with his mother or grandmother and never had a criminal background.

Two months after his seventeenth birthday, Marcus was arrested for murder and sent to Cook County Jail.  Marcus felt that he acted in self-defense as the man had started, Marcus also was unaware that the house he had stopped in front of was the same house the other guy was visiting. The guy Marcus was with that night yelled for the people in the house to come get their people referring to the guy who was trying to start a fight with Marcus. The brother of the guy who was trying to start a fight came outside and yelled “there isn’t going to be a killing tonight!” The brother then tried to push his brother into the home, but that was not working, more words were said and that’s when the guy following Marcus and the other guy went for his waistband, and came towards Marcus. Keep in mind Marcus was only 160lbs, if a grown man could not keep this man back how is he going to fight this man. Till this day Marcus is very sorry for what happened that night and is extremely remorseful, but he was only 17 years of age at the time, he was very scared and it all happened so fast, he only had a split second to decide what to do. He knows what he did was wrong but, in that moment, he was protecting himself. One thing that was undisputed during the trial was in fact the other man was the aggressor. Six months after entering Cook County Jail where he was enrolled in GED classes, his teacher persuaded him to sit for the GED test feeling that he was able to pass the test, which he did. 

                It is scientifically proven that the brain maturation is not completed until the age of 24. It is also a proven fact it does not matter how smart a teenager is or how well they do in school, good judgment is not something a teenage excels at. It also is fact that in recent research it is found Adults think with their prefrontal cortex, the brains rational part, this is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment, and awareness of long team consequences were teens process information with the amygdala, this is the emotional part. Keep this in mind, this is how Marcus’s brain was working that night, he was not thinking about the consequences, or how this was going to affect his life forever. Now that he is grown and has had time to think about that night, he is extremely disappointed in himself.

Marcus is the father of two daughters, one born after his arrest whom he has parented from behind bars and another conceived while out on bond.  Both daughters long to have their father in their lives and he wants to be there for them physically and emotionally.   

While incarcerated at Galesburg Correctional Center, Marcus earned an Associate Degree, and graduated Magna Cum Laude, all done in hopes of bettering his chance of getting a decent job upon his release from prison. During his 22 years of confinement Marcus has held a job most of that time, participated in Anger Management classes, and depression classes, he feels that he has been rehabilitated as much as possible while being incarserated and can be a productive member of society.   Marcus also was on the following during his time while earning his degree, the presidents list, deans list, and honor roll.

Therefore, we ask for your support of Marcus and his loved ones by signing this petition to help Marcus to be able to come home to his family.  Thank you in advance.