This is a guest opinion column
Will Berry’s words about his mother’s killing, I felt them deep in my spirit. Will said what too many of us are afraid to say out loud: killing the man who killed his mother will not heal him. It will not honor her life. It will not bring him peace. And he has the right to say so, because it was his mother, not the governor’s, not the attorney general’s, not the state’s.
I know his pain. In 1999, my son Mercury Colley was shot and killed. When I went before the judge, I asked for mercy, forgiveness, and grace. I didn’t want another mama to cry the tears I was already crying. The judge did right by me, he honored my request. Years later, that young man came up to me and thanked me for another chance at life. I didn’t even know his face. I had let go of it all through forgiveness. That’s how I knew my choice was right: nothing could bring Mercury back, but choosing mercy set me free…