"no, jesus," she screamed and began beating on the window. "god, he felt that. they killed my baby..."

these were the agonized words of brenda reese as her son lamont gasped his final breath ...

“please jesus,” she cried and pleaded. “don’t do it. oh, god, jesus, please don’t,”...

lamont was one of more than 300 people executed in texas since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the mid 70's...one of more than 1000 executed throughout the united states - over 80% of them in former confederate states...

family members surrounded reese in the witness room at the huntsville "walls" unit, trying to comfort her in the moments after her son's death. "oh god, jesus," she began to chant. "oh god, jesus. my baby's gone,"...

one of the core issues that emerges in discussions of the death penalty is, "what about the victims?"... we at tcask are deeply concerned about victims - all victims - without hierarchy or judgement ...

can we deny that brenda reese and her family members are victims ... if we kill their loved one do they not suffer, do they not hurt, do they not grieve???

our communal response to homicide, to murder, should include addressing the needs of murder victims family members - what it should not do is create a new set of victims whose pain, suffering, and needs we then ignore...

peace out - <3