I lost my parents to murder, and I want Gov. Cooper to commute all NC death sentences

BY MEGAN SMITH | DECEMBER 27, 2022 5:30 AM

Earlier this month, I stood in front of the N.C. Governor’s Mansion and asked Gov. Roy Cooper to remove all 135 people from our state’s death row and commute their death sentences to prison terms. I am the daughter of murdered parents myself.

In 2001, my father and stepmother, Terry and Lucy Smith, were brutally murdered by two teenagers in Pennsylvania. As I made the request of our governor, I stood arm in arm with other North Carolinians who have felt the pain of homicide, having lost children, siblings, mothers and fathers. We are all survivors of senseless violence that devastated our families.

While we all desire safety, accountability for offenders, and healing for our families, none of us believes that a death sentence will achieve these needs. We reject the idea that more killing could bring justice or closure, and we told that to Gov. Roy Cooper in a letter we read aloud outside the mansion on Dec. 10.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article270278922.html