CAROL BYARS
JOURNEY
OF HOPE...
from violence to healing™
“It is past time for being silent about the death
penalty. In Texas, we’re
executing record numbers each year. Things have gotten so bad because people have all been silent
and let things get bad. We are told
many times that we are not supposed to forgive – that when people do horrible
things to us we should do something just as bad in retribution.
Those of us who know better – those of us who know the power of
forgiveness – need to speak up. Every chance we get, we need to challenge the mentality that
compassion is a weakness. Compassion
is the toughest thing of all, but it’s the only thing that works to restore
peace in our live.”
Carol Byars
Houston, Texas
PROFILE:
Carol Byars’ husband,
James Hapney, was shot in 1977 by his mother’s next-door neighborhood during
an altercation. He died from his
wounds eight months later. Carol’s
mother-in-law immediately urged family members to get guns and retaliate, but
Carol knew even then that she wanted nothing to do with vengeance. “There had been enough bloodshed,” she says.
In court, Carol observed the
man who was ultimately convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison.
“I remember thinking he had the face of a baby,” she recalls, “and
I remember thinking about how he had a mama, and a young wife, and babies of his
own. I couldn’t imagine his
mother watching her child being put to death, or his children watching their
father being put to death. I never wanted that.”
Years later, Carol tried to make contact with the man who had killed her husband. “I went to find him to tell him I had forgiven him,” she says, “and I found out he had died. I’m sorry I never had a chance to tell him.”
Reprinted with permission from Not
In Our Name: Murder Victims Families Speak Out Against the Death Penalty,
a publication of Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation, Barbara Hood
& Rachel King, Editors; MVFR
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