The founder of Forgotten Victims of Crime, Inc. is Sherrie Stone. My father is Alabama death row inmate , Thomas D. Arthur, Z-427. www.ThomasArthurFightforLife.com He has been on death row for over 20 years and first went to prison when I was 15 years old. I am now 48. The following is my story...
"Growing up with my father was difficult. He was a violent alcoholic. He and my mother divorced when I was very young. My brother and I lived with my father, and my sister lived with my mother. I had a couple of stepmothers. They were both very good to us. My father was so abusive, they both left. The second one and my father had a son together, my half brother. The last time I saw him was when he was around 2 years of age. When my second stepmother left with the baby, my father stormed off in a drunken rage to hunt her down. He did not find her, but found her sister and cousin. He shot them both. My stepmother's sister was killed and her cousin was almost killed. I never saw her or my half brother again. That was the first time he went to prison. He was released after 6 years and put on a work release program. A woman, with whom he was having an affair, husband was killed. That was the second time my father went to prison. This time he was sentenced to die. He has been in prison most of my life. My very short time with him was not anything I consider as pleasant. It was very violent and abusive.
When he went to prison, my brother and I were just kids. However violent our father was, he supported us. We were suddenly left with no home and no parents. I was told to pack one suitcase and was taken to some friends of the family home. They stole everything in our home of any value. I do not know what happened to our family pet or the remainder of anything we ever had. We were moved from one family to another before ending up at our grand parents. Our father's parents. They were alcoholics and verbally very abusive. I ended up leaving at 16 to try and find my way in life with no guidance. There was no help from the community. The community shunned us and treated us as if we were responsible in some way. Our family members rejected us. Our own mother rejected us and still does to this day. My friends just disappeared, with the exception of a few. The legal system did not welcome or assist us in any way. There were no instructions on what to do or what to expect. I just raised myself and went through the ordeal alone. It was all I could do. It was my only option".
"Early one morning, as I was walking and the sun was rising, the idea or vision as I call it came to me. Forgotten Victims of Crime, Inc. was formed".
"Hopefully, talking about my past and present struggles will give others the courage to speak up. I am not ashamed of my past, or my condemned father. If it were not for the struggles I have faced, I would not be the person I am today. I consider myself a survivor as do most families of the convicted . We are survivors."
"Due to the lack of support programs and educational materials. Based on what I have experienced and what I am still experiencing as the daughter of a death row inmate, I decided to create a support system."
"I have received letters from some people that are outraged. I have been asked many times by the public, the media, and victim support groups, how could you possibly consider yourself or any of these other people victims?"
"The term victim is used because that is the term our government and legislation uses for anyone who has suffered a traumatic or violent loss as a direct result of crime. I am pretty certain I fit that definition and so do the hundreds of thousands of other families. Truth be known, the majority of the country has little sympathy for the families and loved ones of the convicted. If you still love and support your convicted loved one, well, you must be guilty in some way for the crime. In many situations we are encouraged to hate or abandon this person or feel the revenge that others feel. In many situations, our own families turn against us."
"We must educate our own families, the public, and the government. We must also forgive them, for they do not know or understand. Through our love, forgiveness and kindness we can bring a better understanding to this serious issue."
"The manner in which the families of the convicted are treated is unacceptable. It has to change. Change is possible. It begins with a thought, then an action. It begins with you and I."