A personal look at the death penalty
Judy Kerr (right) and Janis Gay
By SUZIE RODRIGUEZ / Sonoma Valley Correspondent
Both Janice Gay and Judy Kerr know what it’s like to experience the effects of murder in the family, but their knowledge is derived from opposite sides of the spectrum.
Janice Gay’s grandfather murdered another human being and was later executed at Fulsom Prison for his crime. Judy Kerr’s brother was brutally beaten and strangled.
Both women are opposed to the death penalty, and next Tuesday (1/24), 7 p.m., they will speak in a forum on the subject at the First Congregational Church of Sonoma.
Although Gay’s grandfather was executed in 1924, the effects of shame and guilt on family members have descended through the decades. “The rope snapped,” she writes, “the sentence continued.”
Judy Kerr is still waiting for a suspect to be identified in the 2003 strangulation and beating of her brother, Robert. “My grief is raw and unremitting,” she has said. “But I am absolute in my conviction that another death will not serve me.”
Both Gay and Kerr belong to and have been helped by Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, an organization consisting of people whose family members have been murdered or executed. Gay serves on the MVFR Board of Directors, and Kerr is the Northern California Victim Outreach Coordinator for the organization’s California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Janis Gay and Judy Kerr will hold an enlightening discussion on the death penalty at the First Congregational Church on Tuesday (1/24), 7 p.m., 252 W. Spain Street, Sonoma. Fee: Donation at the door. Information: 935-6690 or sonomacongregational.org.
contact me
