March against death penalty comes through Chillicothe

CHILLICOTHE — In the basement of the Chillicothe Community of Christ Church, a group of people gathered with a shared interest: to bring an end to the death penalty in Ohio.

Some joined the group that evening, just to hear form and ask questions to those who opposed the death penalty, others were part of a group that is marching from the Lucasville prison, where executions are performed in Ohio, to the Statehouse in Columbus.

Ohioans to Stop Executions, who all donned matching red shirts with a stop sign pattern on the front, have marched about 26 miles in two days on their journey to the Statehouse.

But the march stands for more than their combined desire to bring an end to the death penalty: They are also aiming to raise awareness on World Day Against the Death Penalty on Oct. 10, the day the group plans to arrive in Columbus.

"The people walking down the road have been reaching a lot of people," said Abe Bonowitz, with Ohioans to Stop Executions. "We have a message that there's something other than the death penalty."

Before their stop for the gathering in Chillicothe, the group of marchers had visited a gas station in Waverly. While they were there, Jake Stamport, who just moved to town, stopped them for nearly 30 minutes to ask them a few questions.

Stamport is originally from Texas, the state with the highest number of executions in the country — 528 since 1976, according to a state-by-state database — and said he is a supporter of the death penalty. Ohio has performed 53 in that same span.

Stamport spoke to the group earlier Monday to try to understand the position and decided to join the group that evening for the meeting in Chillicothe.

"Meeting Mr. Jamison made me think about it. I'm still all for it, but I'm open for anything," Stamport said. "As far as I'm concerned, if you kill one innocent man, you should abolish it all. It's not right."

Derrick Jamison, of Cincinnati, was a prisoner on death row for 20 years. He was convicted of a murder and robbery in 1985. But in February 2005, three years after his conviction was overturned, a judge dismissed all charges against Jamison.

Now, Jamison joins the Ohioans Against the Death Penalty march to share his story and speak out against what he experienced in his time on death row.

"I was in hell on death row. I try not to dwell on it too much. I'm trying to push forward and move on, but it will always be on my mind," Jamison said.

Locked up with the same people for years, Jamison said, other death row prisoners became friends to him,

"To be talking to a guy you know is going to die in a couple of days, what do you say to him?" Jamison said. "They were my friends, and human beings."

During his time on death row, Jamison got to know a man who worked for the prison system for more than 30 years.

During that time, Terry Collins held many positions in the correctional system, including director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. On Monday night, Collins addressed the group gathered in the church to share his experience with the death penalty.

Collins witnessed 33 executions in his 32 years of work, and he said Monday night that it took its toll on him.

"I think I wiped it out of my mind after I left," Collins said. "I think that was my way of coping."

He has seen the death penalty affect more than just the prisoners. Collins said he has see the toll it takes on families of victims who have the cases brought up again and again over the span of decades while those who have been sentenced to death row file appeals. There is also the staff who Collins said volunteer to work on the death penalty team.

"The people on the death penalty team are very compassionate. Usually older, religious, and the most compassionate people," Collins said.

For Collins, who has only come out against the death penalty after his retirement, there is an alternative to capital punishment. Collins said in his address Monday night that the sentence of life without parole has been in use for years. As of Sept. 1, Collins said, more than 500 prisoners in the state of Ohio have received that sentence.

Over 52,000 people are held in state prisons, Collins added, with 141 currently on death row. However, Collins said, there have been nine death row inmates exonerated from their sentence.

"We have the best criminal justice system ... but it can make mistakes," Collins said.