Testimony From Ronald, death row
My name is Ronald and I was arrested at 21 years old for armed robbery
and murder. That was February 7th, 1990.
Here I am some 26 years later still sitting in a 9x6... 54 square foot cage on Florida's death row.
A quarter of a century I've been warehoused by the State of Florida awaiting my date in the execution chamber. This has been a nightmarish existence and one that I would not wish to anyone.
I've had poor guidance my whole life. I grew up in a violent environment; don't get me wrong, there was love, just a lot of alcohol drugs and violence. My grandmother who I called Bigma was the love of my life. She lived in a rough neighborhood, but people knew not to mess with her. She had been to prison for killing two men with a butcher's knife. She beat my grand father with a baseball bat. She loved me to death.
Bigma would give me pornography hustlers and stuff that wine-os would leave in the room's that she would rent out to them. Mom used to get mad, but Bigma would say: "He's a boy, it's natural for him to want to see naked women". Her death was really hard on me, I was 8 years old.
My grand father, Bigma, father and mother all had issues with alcohol, which usually escalates violence. My mother and father fought like cats and dogs. They divorced and remarried twice before I was 6 years old. And their fights was knock down fist fights. At 8 years old, I had to stand in front of my mom as my dad stood there with a shotgun screaming at me to move. My sobs and tears was the only thing that stopped him from killing her. At 15 years old, I was selling drugs for my Dad. I had dropped out of school and had no parental guidance whatsoever. I was drinking, doing drugs and hanging out with hardcore thugs, most of which were 20 years older than me. So it is no wonder that I lived a destructive life that was riddled with bad decision making.
The advice that I have for future generations is:
1. Stay away from the drugs and alcohol, for they lead to a path of destruction.
2. Good decisions lead to a happy productive life.
3. Cherish your freedom for there is nothing like freedom and you will only realize after you lost it.
I wish you all peace, love and happiness. God Bless you.
Research has shown that
early intervention to families plagued with
domestic violence, drug & alcohol abuse
can help save lives and money.
Find out more about domestic abuse and how to keep
children safe with the NSPCC
Child abuse is any action by another person – adult or child – that causes significant harm to a child. It can be physical, sexual or emotional, but can just as often be about a lack of love, care and attention. It often happens over a period of time, rather than being a one-off event.
Spotting signs of child abuse
The signs of child abuse aren't always obvious, and a child might not tell anyone what's happening to them. Children might be scared that the abuser will find out, and worried that the abuse will get worse.
Sometimes, children don't even realise that what's happening is abuse. if a child develops more slowly than others of a similar age and there’s not a cause such as physical or learning disabilities, it could be a sign they’re being abused...
Children develop and mature at different rates. So what’s worrying for a younger child, might be normal behaviour for an older child. If a child looks or acts a lot older or younger than their age, this could be a cause for concern. Report a concern to the NSPCC
COMING SOON!
A r m e d R o b b e r y
Early years intervention include:
. Regular home visitation programs,
. Early parent training programs,
. School based programs
Diverting just one young person from a path of crime could save society a great deal of money. By contrast, reactive spending is eight times greater than spending on targeted interventions)
How domestic violence impacts children
WATCH this independent video made with Dr Robin Goodman on how domestic violence can impact children generally (3.50mns)
Domestic abuse is any type of controlling, bullying, threatening or violent behaviour between people in a relationship. But it isn’t just physical violence:
domestic abuse includes emotional, physical, sexual, financial or psychological abuse.
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14% of all men in prison and 36% of women in prison in the USA were abused as children, about twice the frequency seen in the general population.
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Children who experience child abuse & neglect are about 9 times more likely to become involved in criminal activity.
Did you know?