March 5, 2025 • 54 mins
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In this episode of Living Reconciled, we talk with Felecia Marshall about her journey through grief after the murder of her daughter, Alexia. She shares how faith transformed her pain into purpose, leading to the creation of Grant Me Justice, a nonprofit supporting families affected by violent crime. Felicia’s story is a powerful reminder of forgiveness, empathy, and the fight for justice. Join us for this moving conversation about healing and hope.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
Nissan, St. Dominic's Hospital, Atmos Energy, Regions Foundation, Mississippi College, Anderson United Methodist Church, Grace Temple Church, Mississippi State University, Real Christian Foundation, Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church, Ms. Doris Powell, Mr. Robert Ward, and Ms. Ann Winters.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is Living Reconciled, a podcast dedicated
to giving our communitiespractical evidence of the gospel
message by helping Christianslearn how to live in the
reconciliation that Jesus hasalready secured for us by living
with grace across racial lines.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us on this episode
of Living Reconciled, episode 70.
I'm your host, brian Crawford,and I am with my good and
incredible friends NettieWinters, austin Hoyle.
Gentlemen, how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I'm great, I'm excited about being incredible
friends.
Man, I understand that that'san integral part of your life to
be an incredible friend.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you.
It's a very special place in myheart that gives me the
privilege to call you anincredible friend, Austin.
How about yourself?
Are you just happy to be myincredible friend today?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, unless you're just saying it,
you don't mean it.
But you know, I know you, Iknow you mean it, I mean it.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I mean it, you are.
You're an incredible friend.
Good friend, Good friend, but Iwant to also talk about some
other good friends sponsors likeMississippi College and
Anderson United Methodist Churchand Grace Temple Church,
Mississippi State University,Real Christian Foundation,
Nissan, St Dominic's Hospital,Atmos Energy Regions Foundation,
Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church and Ms
(01:31):
Doris Powell, Mr Robert Ward andMs Ann Winters.
Thank you so much foreverything that you do.
It's because of what you dothat we're able to do what we do
.
In fact, if you would like tojoin this incredible list of
friends by sponsoring MissionMississippi and this Living
Reconciled podcast, you can doso in a very easy way Just visit
missionmississippiorg.
(01:53):
Click on the button at the topright corner that says invest,
and you, too, will be investingin the work of reconciliation,
investing in this podcast andinvesting in episodes like today
, an episode that I'm incrediblyexcited about because we have a
really, really, really goodguest, Our incredible guest and
friend from Grant Me Justice.
(02:14):
She is the executive directorof Grant Me Justice, which you
will hear all about.
Miss Felicia Marshall.
Ma'am, how are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Oh, I'm incredible.
I feel incredible today.
Marshall ma'am, how are youdoing today?
Oh, I feel incredible today.
I don't know what it is, but Ifeel really really good today
and grateful, I guess, to becalled a friend as well,
Grateful to be here, Really am.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Absolutely, absolutely Well.
We're grateful to have you andyour story, by the way, is an
incredible one, by the way, isan incredible one, and so I
can't wait to unpack your storywith our listening audience,
because I believe there's somuch fruit for our audience in
your testimony and your storythat is just filled with all
(02:59):
sorts of grace and all sorts ofinspiration for us as we think
about this Christian journey andthis Christian walk.
If you don't mind, Felicia, whydon't you just start us off
with telling us a little bit ofa story that maybe other people
have heard about this journey,but maybe some of our listening
(03:19):
audience has not heard?
How did the Lord bring you tothis place where you're leading
this organization called GrantMe Justice?
Speaker 5 (03:28):
Well, my name is Felicia Marshall, and what
brought me to this place inspace?
My daughter was murdered onMarch 14, 2017.
And there were three peoplethat were actually convicted for
Lexi's murder.
It took three years to gothrough the criminal justice
system.
(03:48):
There were three people thatwere actually convicted for
Lexi's murder.
It took three years to gothrough the criminal justice
system and out of that came pleadeals.
Each individual were given anopportunity to plea out.
One received 15 years, one 12.
And one actually received fiveyears but only served two and a
half years.
Five years but only served twoand a half years.
(04:09):
And I walked away that dayreally, really heartbroken,
because I felt like mydaughter's life did not matter.
I felt like the people that Ithought would represent me in
the courtroom did not, and Ifelt like I was raped by the
system, and I left that day alsothinking that there were
probably other people like meyou know, moms that have gone
(04:30):
through the criminal justicesystem.
It had taken that long out ofmy life in that process,
grieving as I'm fighting and Iwanted to find those people that
felt the same way that I did,and actually what I first
started doing was interviewingpeople.
(04:52):
I just wanted to find thosepeople, whoever they were, that
had lost their children,specifically mothers at that
particular time that had losttheir children to violence.
And I put out a call and thefirst one was a family from Jeff
Davis County.
I met with the mother and dad.
The dad had actually found hisson murdered, with two gunshot
(05:15):
wounds to the head, and hisstory really, really just blew
my mind because his dad saidafter finding his son that
although he knew he was deceased, he put the son in his vehicle
and took him to the hospital andhe said that he talked to his
son the entire way and to me itjust shows the depths of hurt
(05:40):
and pain and also it's stillunbelievable.
Although we know that ourchildren are deceased, it still
doesn't feel real.
And the dad had to break thenews to the mother and they
talked about all of the details,the graphic details of a murder
that many people, because theyhaven't experienced this thing,
(06:04):
they don't really know and itseems as if they don't really
care.
But this family talked aboutthe fact that the funeral home
had to put her son's head backtogether.
We walked to the grave site andthe dad talked about how he
visited his son every day, howhe comes by and makes sure that
(06:25):
grave is clean.
The mom kind of danced betweenpresent tense and past tense.
She talked as if her son wasgoing to walk down the stairs,
and that just blew my mind.
It also blew my mind, too, thatI was able to sit with them with
(06:45):
empathy, without falling apart,and so I knew that that was a
God thing.
I knew that wasn't me.
That was a God thing, and Icould identify somewhat with the
pain that this family wasexperiencing.
And so I left that day knowingthat Grant Me Justice it wasn't
(07:09):
called Grant Me Justice at thatparticular time, but I knew that
what I was doing would be more,way more than just telling
stories, and I knew that afamily that had witnessed this
thing with their eyes neededmore.
You know, these are believers,this family is a faithful family
(07:29):
, faith-filled family, and Italked about.
You know that God is going tomake sense out of this thing.
But at the same time, theystill had this huge hole in
their hearts, right, yeah?
And so I knew that leavingthere, grant Grammy Justice
would, number one, providecounseling for families that had
(07:49):
experienced this type of trauma.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
When you, when you talk about this journey, felicia
, it sounds almost Like the Lordthrusted you into this, into
this work, this advocacy.
Work in in, in one sense as aas a help to others, but in
(08:14):
another sense, as a aid and ahelp to you.
I would love for you to help usprocess that a little bit more,
because when people think aboutforgiveness and grief in
moments like these, it'sincredibly.
It seems like it's almostimpossible to actually navigate.
(08:35):
What did the process of movingfrom grief, mourning, resentment
to mercy, forgiveness and hopelook like for you on this
journey?
Speaker 5 (08:52):
I went into the courtroom you know one person
and I came out a totallydifferent person.
And I say that because I feellike I had this false sense of
what being a believer really was, what forgiveness really meant.
And when I was able to gothrough the courtroom, one of
(09:12):
the plea deals was this youngman, and this young, the lady,
was sitting next to me and shewas weeping.
Like why is this lady weeping?
This is no one that's relatedto me, but she was the mother of
one of the defendants and whatis the likelihood of God placing
(09:33):
us side by side?
And there I realized that whatforgiveness really is and what
Christ had done and the factthat he died for those people
that were responsible for mychild's death.
And I went in with a falsesense of Christianity, prideful
(09:55):
in the fact that I didn't thinkthis thing should have been mine
, and now being able to trulysee what Christ had done and the
fact that, as a believer, I'mcalled to forgive these people.
You know, I am called for thosepeople that were standing there
, that were responsible for mychild's death.
(10:17):
Although I was seeking justicefor my baby, I also wanted them
to have an opportunity to knowthe same person that I knew that
had forgiven me for all of thelow down things I had done, and
I walked out a different, adifferent lady, a different
believer, a different Christian.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I walked out, really being able to resonate with what
Christ had done for me Wow,yeah, wow, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, when you say that you werecalled to to forgive, what did
that look like for youPractically?
What were some of the stepsthat you felt like you needed to
take Was?
Was it an immediate?
Was it a struggle?
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Did you have moments where you kind of resisted that
call?
To be honest, it was not hard.
It wasn't hard, of course.
My life, um, I've had toforgive people for things hard
things all of my life.
And and this was another hardthing that I had to forgive
people for I was never angrywith the people that were
(11:34):
responsible for.
I never understood why theytook my daughter's life, but I
was never angry with them.
I did want justice, though.
I did want them to pay for whatthey did, but forgiveness for
them was never hard.
As a matter of fact, I tried toestablish a relationship with
(11:54):
the mother and I was askingquestions about the son, and the
mother, I don't think,understood why, what my motive
was to know about her son and towish her son well.
She, she, she couldn't evenunderstand that.
But again, that that wasn't athing that I did.
I don't think that I did on myown.
(12:16):
That was the presence of God,that that was working within me.
Um, you know, I've said fromday one that I think that this
thing, although I miss my baby,god called me to this work right
and in the midst of him callingme to this, he had to prepare
me for it right, and I think Ihave to set the example, because
(12:41):
everybody that has lost a childto violence doesn't feel the
way that I feel.
They don't and I don't expectthem to.
But I do have to set an examplebecause behind everything that
we do is to share the gospelwith people.
I want people to know the joythat I have in Christ Jesus,
(13:04):
outside of the resources that weare providing to families.
I want them to trust me enoughthat I'm able to sit down with
them and share with them thetruth of the gospel that sets
people free and they're freeindeed, whether behind bars or
not.
I want to be able to share myhope in Christ Jesus.
(13:25):
So, with God preparing me forthat, I, you know, I didn't tell
the whole story because therewas at the very beginning.
I couldn't even speak to God,like I couldn't pray.
I couldn't understand I knewGod to be sovereign and why he
(13:46):
did not stop this thing fromhappening to my baby.
I had no words for him and Ifelt like he left that.
He just, you know, this thinghappened and I couldn't hear
from him anymore and he justleft the scene and left me with
this thing to bear.
But in the midst of that thingand me trying to figure out how
(14:07):
he can make this thing out formy good, god showed himself to
be God to me, really God to me,faithful, present, ever-present,
redeeming God.
And I think I had to go throughthat process in order to really
have a right relationship withGod, for God to really know me
(14:28):
and I know him Because I don'tthink I really knew him prior to
then.
I had religion, but I don'tthink I really knew him prior to
going through this process.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, when I hear those words, felicia, I'm
reminded of Paul in his letterto the philippians, where he
says I want to know you in the,the power of your resurrection
and in the fellowship of yoursufferings.
And there's, there's a sense inwhich we, there's a depth to
our knowledge that comes, uh,only only through pain.
(15:07):
It's a very unfortunate andvery uncomfortable thing to say,
um, but in 20, 20 plus years ofChristianity, now watching it
and experiencing it, um, I cantestify with, with assurance and
clarity that there's just adepth of knowledge that only
(15:28):
comes through pain.
And so it's, man, it'sincredible to bear, it's tough
to bear.
Just even hearing your ownstory is drumming up some of the
emotions of my past experiencesand the past experiences that
I've watched and observed, andbrothers and sisters all around
(15:50):
me, just of a pain in how Godwas able to do something, A
Romans eight work, like youmentioned where he's working,
working things out for our good,those that love him and are
called according to his purpose.
And so we're just incrediblyencouraged by, by, by your story
and by your resolve and by yourfaithfulness to the call to not
(16:12):
just simply grow in yourtragedy, but also help others
grow as well.
Mr Winters, man, jump in.
I know you probably got somethoughts and some wisdom, some
sage wisdom, to share.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Oh, she talked about, you know, having religion.
You know I jumped on that rightaway and versus Christianity
and that during this process,how she went from religion to
Christianity, and so that justbeen resonating in my heart and
my spirit.
And so if you're going to speakto the audience, as you do,
(16:47):
felicia, tell me how you helpwith that transition.
I don't know if it was atransition, is the right word,
or awakening, or what that is interms of transformation taking
place from being a religiousperson going to church.
I'm thinking you got what youneed and then when something
happens, it changes everything.
Hey, help me with that a littlebit.
(17:08):
I'm falling a little bit.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Again, my journey through the criminal justice
system was a three-year journey,right, and so what God did in
my life wasn't something thathappened overnight.
It was a gradual thing, andwhat God really really showed me
was grace, what grace reallyreally means, and he showed me
(17:32):
that by allowing me, number one,to be merciful for the people
that were responsible for me andto recognize this.
You know, Christ went through atrial.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Wow, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
You know, he went through a trial and I felt
myself going, you know, beingthere, you know, and watching
the fact that Christ had gonethrough a trial, that he was not
guilty he was not guilty andbut allowing me to see that
process, of what that processlooks like, and allowing me to
(18:08):
look across the table, becausethe other thing about that was
the fact that I could haveeasily been on the other side of
the table.
Right, I have a son, who hasnot always made the right
decisions, who could have easilybeen on the other side of the
table, and one of the young menwas the same age as my son, and
(18:34):
as I was sitting there, thequestion I had to ask myself was
if this was my son's name isJermaine.
If this was Jermaine, would yoube here?
Yes, I would be here, I wouldshow up for my son.
If this was my son, I wouldshow up.
I would want him to takeresponsibility for what he did,
(18:57):
but I also would want him to getthe justice that he deserved.
And I also, even in the midstof that, I would also want mercy
, you know, because I think it'sone, it could be one decision
away from doing something really, really stupid Right that could
change everybody's life.
(19:18):
And I was allowed to super in mymind, at least supernaturally,
see this thing as it wasunfolding before me.
You know, what is thelikelihood of this one of these
young men being the same age asmy son and this young man
turning to me and addressing meand asking me for forgiveness?
And what is the likelihood ofme sitting next to this mom
(19:42):
who's also standing in the gapfor her son?
And what is the likelihood forme standing before these judges,
pouring my heart out to thesejudges asking for justice?
And I saw this whole thing.
Now I'm a special kind of girl,but I saw this whole thing as
(20:03):
being God-ordained, preparing mefor this work.
At the time I didn't know thatright, but looking back at it I
said you know, god has preparedme for this work, a work that I
couldn't have ever chosen.
I wouldn't have chosen thisthing and never in a million
(20:25):
years would I have thought Iwould be here today and watching
how God is faithful to his word, that he's close to the broken
heart, he's near to the brokenheart, and just watching how God
has provided and how God hascomforted, how God has loved on
how he's been near to, how hesent people here to love and
(20:48):
share the gospel and the hand ofGod with people that are
hurting.
He says as when we've done tothe least of these, we've done
also unto him, and I see thesepeople as hurting people and
being a part of the least ofthese people that people look
(21:08):
over, a part of the least ofthese things, people that people
look over and I feel like everytime I'm in their presence, I'm
in the presence of God.
I just feel like and I'm inGod's work.
This is his work and I'm in themiddle of his work.
I'm just a vessel.
God just used my circumstancesto be able to be a blessing to
(21:29):
other people and I'm soincredibly blessed that God
chose me.
I miss my baby.
I miss her, but I really dofeel like I'm in the perfect
will of God, perfect will of God, and I feel like I was born for
this thing, created for thisthing.
I feel like I was born for thisthing, created for this thing,
(21:50):
and I believe that I'll see mydaughter again.
I believe she loved the Lord,you know.
I believe that she had acceptedChrist as her savior.
So my hope is, according to therecord is that I'll be able to
see her again.
Right, that's my hope in ChristJesus, that we'll be able to
worship the Lord together.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And so that's.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
That's that's where my my tragedy has has ended up
in God's mission, how you wereable to place Jermaine in the
seat of those that murdered yourson and humanize those that
murdered your son.
Our theme this year is aboutimage bearing, living reconciled
by seeing the image of God inothers, and certainly this is a
(22:46):
story in which that takes on awhole new level of meaning and
significance.
You know, I'm reminded of Paul,and in Acts seven, being the
one that they, they, the thetormentors of of Stephen, laid
their clothes in testimony oftheir torment at the feet of
Paul.
And it was, and it was Paulthat God rescued in Acts nine by
(23:09):
by saving him and showed himmarvelous grace.
And, and I heard, I heard apastor say years ago does your
gospel make room for a tormentorand a terrorist?
As he was preaching through, uh, the passage, the testimony of
Paul, does your gospel make roomfor a tormentor and a terrorist
?
And if it doesn't make room fora tormentor and a terrorist?
(23:34):
And if it doesn't make room fora tormentor and a terrorist,
then it's not the true gospel,and that just it stuck with me
and hearing what you'redescribing just kind of brings
that back up to the surfaceagain.
Does your gospel make room fora murderer?
Does your gospel make room forpeople that have gunned down
others?
And Felicia, your gospel makesroom for a murderer.
Does your gospel make room forpeople that have gunned down
others?
And Felicia, your gospel makesroom for that.
It's incredible.
(23:55):
Let me ask you this question.
You've talked about the journeythrough the system and three
years dealing with the justicesystem and not always finding
comfort in how things were beinghandled as a critique, but as a
(24:31):
way for us to come alongsidethose that are serving in the
system and come alongside thosethat have to go through the
system to be of better serviceto them.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
I think the public needs to be aware and they
probably are that the system isbroken, right, and it's broken
because it's held up by brokenpeople.
It's not perfect.
Our system is not perfect whenwe look from the perspective of
the victim.
The judicial system, thecriminal justice system, is
(25:00):
really centered around thedefendant.
The defendant, once he'sarrested, is read his rights
right.
You have the right to remainsighted and all of the good
stuff that he's arrested is readhis rights right.
You have the right to remainsighted and all the good stuff
that he's read and he's he's.
He's given the opportunity tohave a, an appointed attorney,
(25:27):
and that to be appointed by thestate right.
But the victim does not.
The victim has to requestrights rights to be heard,
rights to be informed, rights tobe present.
You know we have to requestthat and many of us don't know
(25:47):
that.
You know you walk into acourtroom at least I did.
You walk into the courtroomthinking you have the upper hand
because you are the victim.
But the victim does not havethe upper hand.
When the the court proceedingsstart, it is the state of
Mississippi, or whatever stateit is against the defendant,
(26:10):
it's not Alexia Buckhalteragainst the defendant, and so
the state of Mississippi isgoing to act.
In the best interest of who?
The state of Mississippi, notme?
And so with that, many timesfamilies walk away with what I
did a plea deal and that's not,in my opinion, what many
(26:34):
families desire, because wedon't feel like our children's
lives matter.
Let's say it was 26 years oldwhen she was murdered.
She had a three-year-olddaughter when she was murdered.
She had a three-year-olddaughter when she was murdered,
and so when you look at thevalue of life, in my opinion
(26:55):
that was placed on my daughter'slife, it doesn't measure up.
It doesn't measure up that yougive somebody five years for
their participation in a murder.
That doesn't make sense, nor 12years, nor 15 years.
That does not make sense to me.
It makes sense.
Nor 12 years, nor 15 years.
That does not make sense to me.
But it is our system, right, itis our judicial system.
If you had asked me what mydesire would have been, I would
(27:18):
have desired to go through thejudicial process, go to court
and let the courts decide.
But of course, many times thereis not a court proceeding
because it costs money and forthe state, the state is going to
act on behalf of the state, andso many times we walk away, you
(27:48):
know, with these plea deals,because of saving money.
Now, most people don't feel theway that I feel, you know.
I can walk away with that,knowing that God is my Avenger.
He's going to avenge me.
I can walk away with that,knowing that, you know.
But I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here because God is a God ofjustice.
So I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here because God is a God ofjustice.
(28:09):
So I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here.
But I can still walk awayknowing that if I don't get it
here, if I don't get justicehere, then I can depend on my
God to work on my behalf.
We have a lot of, you know.
We talk about reform.
We have a lot of work to do inregards to judicial reform.
(28:31):
There are people behind the bar, behind bars, that do not
deserve to be there.
There are, we know that.
But there are also people thatare walking out here that should
not be here either, and we needto be mindful of that.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
We need to be, mindful of that.
You know, felicia, you talkabout the value of your
daughter's life, which ispractice.
There's no value you can put ona human life, in a sense.
But now, what would justicelook like as it relates to the
value of the people?
And I think you touched on thisa little bit.
(29:07):
You might have kept on it allaltogether, but you talk about
the value of the three peopleand how you became, look at them
, different.
And so you know, how do you?
You know we have a lot of thingsin the reconciliation movement
talks about whose lives valuemore, and this goes way beyond
(29:28):
just what you know.
We get in arguments about bluelives, white lives, black lives
and all of those lives andthings.
And, coach, my perspective isthat every life is purchased in
the sight of God.
It's His image and likeness, asBrian has said earlier.
So how do we navigate incircumstances like that?
(29:49):
What would have if you'd havegone through the court system
and somehow, you know, in pastyears has been the OJs of the
world and others, and what wouldthat look like?
How could you satisfy that,that thirst for justice?
What did that mean in terms ofjustice?
(30:11):
Some says you can't havereconciliation unless you have
justice and all of those thingstake place in terms of that
forgiveness and justice and allthat has to take place If you
get justice.
I guess I'm rambling here, youknow, most privilege.
(30:32):
You might have to rescue us outof this, but you know I'm
rounding because that's a,that's a deep discussion and
maybe even an unfair question,felicia as that.
So you know, do your best andand and hopefully Austin and
Brian will help us out in that-oh, I'll save you the next
(30:52):
question, Nettie.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Well, our crime called for 40 years and again my
response to it is differentfrom other people.
I felt this is how I felt as,going through the process, I was
going to do everything I couldto seek justice for Lexi and I
(31:20):
wanted her to go through thejudicial process, go through the
courts and let the court decide.
If the courts had decided thatthey want free, I would have
been good with that because theyhad gone through the process
and a juror of their peers wouldhave made that decision.
(31:41):
I would have done that.
That was the thing.
When you go before the judge,the judge says I have the right
to either accept or deny thisplea, Right?
You go before the judge.
The judge says I have the rightto either accept or deny this
plea.
Ok.
So then they ask fortestimonies from the family to
(32:03):
come before and give yourtestimony of your loss, for
testimonies from the family tocome before and give your
testimony of your loss.
So you go before the judge andyou pour out everything, and
there were times when I couldn'teven stand at the podium.
That's how emotional this is.
My daughter was killed with anAK-47 assault rifle, an
(32:24):
automatic weapon.
The bullet went through mydaughter's heart.
So my daughter's body didn'tjust have a hole in it, my
daughter's body was mutilated.
So when I go before the judgeand I tell the judge my story, I
at least want you to be able toempathize with the fact that
(32:46):
this is what happened to my babyand this does not deserve a
slap on the hand.
Do you realize that people thatare convicted of drugs get 40
years many times they get 40years, whereas a person that's
convicted of a murder can walkout with 15 years or five years?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
To serve two and a half years.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
And serve two and a half years.
Yeah, it's just not balanced.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I was just about to say that You're speaking to.
The imbalance is what you'respeaking to?
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Yeah, you see the scale as the symbol, but it's
not balanced.
The scale is just not balanced.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
It's just not balanced.
So what does justice look likefor different people?
Different, you know, it alldepends.
I had one mom who went throughthe judicial process, who
actually went through court.
They received the young manreceived 30 years, and the
mother was not satisfied with 30years, right, but you have
(33:50):
other people in the backgroundsaying, girl, you need to be
happy with 30 years.
I only got four years or fiveyears or whatever the case may
be, but for 30 years that wasnot enough for her.
Why?
Because she heard her babybeing murdered.
She heard her being murdered andwhen she got her body back, she
only got the bones of her body,just the bones.
(34:12):
So to her 30 years was notenough, I think, the thing in
regards to victims.
We just want to be included aspart of the process.
Just let me share with you whatmy wishes are.
At least take those underconsideration and take under
consideration all of the piecesand parts to this murder.
(34:36):
Just think about the fact of ayoung man, 21 years old, who has
been with two gunshot wounds tohis head.
Think about those details andyou know why it doesn't matter
so much to a lot of these people, because it's not them.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Yeah, oh, jesus, ouch .
Speaker 5 (34:54):
It's not them.
If you ever get a call or evervisit a crime scene where a body
has been mutilated by anassault rifle, we're not talking
about .22s like they used to doa 9mm back in the day.
They're not using those anymore.
What do you tell a young ladythat has lost a son that's 12
(35:16):
years old to murder 68-year-oldgrandmother just last week going
home?
She's going home and she'smurdered.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
In her own home.
We just want them to take it abit more seriously and to look
at the fact that there are sometraumatic effects of gun
violence in our community andvictims should be taken more
(35:51):
seriously than we are.
We need people to really fightfor the rights of victims.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
You know, felicia, I get a sense now of what I heard
you say early on about victimBecause in essence, at the end
of the day, we all becomevictims of needless crimes like
that.
But you know, the view mostpeople have of the court system
(36:20):
I know I do is that a plaintiffand a defendant at each side get
to present their case.
Well, you know you don't havethat in cases like you're
talking about and most peopledon't see that.
They see the OJ trial.
(36:43):
You know where there's, he's ontrial and his lawyers get an
opportunity to present the caseand you know whether he's in.
Somebody's got to make adetermination, whether or not
enough evidence was there toconvict them.
And so we see the pair ofmasons and the matlocks of the
world and all of that stuff.
But wow, because I just wentimmediately to when you say that
(37:08):
Jesus went through a trial.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
You know, I've heard they hung him high, they
stretched him wide, they did allkinds of things to him at that
cross, but very few peoplereally actually walked from the
day he was arrested to the pointthat he was found guilty and
sentenced to death by the cross.
Trumped up charges.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
And you know, and certainly that was not a defense
.
I mean, you know, nobody wasthere to defend him, everybody
showed up there on the side ofthe government or the state to
execute him.
Everybody showed up there onthe side of the government or
the state to execute him and, ofcourse, the king in that case.
I mean, the judge in that casewas the king, and so whatever
(37:53):
the people wanted, he grantedthem.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
You know I'm reminded too, hearing what you just
mentioned, felicia.
I'm reminded of the Gospel ofLuke, where Jesus heals the man
with the withered hand, butbefore he heals him, he has him
on the Sabbath, because there'sgrumblings about Jesus wanting
to do this good thing on theSabbath and heal a man who needs
(38:17):
rest on the day of rest.
And before he heals him, he hashim stand up in front of
everybody.
He forces them to look at hissuffering, he forces the
audience to look at his pain,because there's rumbling amongst
them oh, why is he doing this,why is he doing that?
And he forces them to look athim, almost as if to say you
(38:38):
know, this is a technicality foryou guys, this is all
philosophy and theology anddogma, andity for you guys, this
is this is all philosophy andtheology and and dogma and
doctrine for you, but, but forhim this is personal.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
This is deeply personal.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
You can't get it more personal than that Right, right
and so, and so you know, when Ihear you describing these
things, it's like we can getcaught in the technicalities of
it all, as Nettie mentioned.
Plaintiff defendant, you knowlaw X, y, z, but but what you're
saying and what you're saying,and you serving as all, as a
voice for those, for the, forthe, for those that don't
(39:16):
oftentimes feel like they have avoice in these matters, what
you're saying is hey, these arepeople and we need you to look
at them, we need you to seethose, we need you to remember
those mutilated bodies.
We need you to remember thosegunshots to the head of a
12-year-old.
We need you to remember thatthat 68-year-old grandmother was
a grandmother and a mother, andshe was a community staple, a
(39:40):
community pillar.
We need you to see them in themidst of this, and so there's
something powerful when you'reable to actually challenge
people, to see people beyond thetechnicalities and beyond the
statistics and start identifyingthem as real people, as people
that could have very well beenthem.
There's something incrediblypowerful about that.
(40:02):
Felicia man, this has been anincredible interview.
Austin, I know you got aquestion man, so jump in and
we'll try to wrap up here.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Yeah, yeah, I was just going to say, Felicia,
listening to your story remindsme a lot about Habakkuk, because
when he looked around and hesaw violence and justice and
people doing wrong and gettingaway with it, he cried out and
this is Habakkuk 1-2,.
How long Lord, how long do Ihave?
to call for help and you don'tlisten.
How long do I have to shoutviolence and you don't save
(40:33):
Habakkuk?
He wanted justice, he wantedthings to be made right, but
when God answered him it wasn'twhat he expected.
God basically told him I'mdoing something you wouldn't
believe, even if I told you, orless, what the message he got.
And that really does feel a lotabout what you've walked
through and you're helping a lotof other people walk through.
(40:54):
You've been through just anarduous system and everything
you absolutely could do for Lexi.
And you said that if the courthad let them go free, you would
have been good with that becauseit would have been all out
there presence.
And that's really not how mostpeople think about justice.
Most people think justice meanspunishment, that it means
(41:17):
making sure that somebody pays.
But you've talked about seeingthose three young people very
differently, about yourperspective shifting, and that's
not just justice, I don't think.
I think it's something a lotdeeper than just justice.
I mean.
So how do you hold all thattogether?
(41:38):
I mean that's a remarkablething to hold together.
That is that tension, mygoodness, when people say you
can't have reconciliationwithout justice, what does that
mean?
Because Habakkuk, he never saweverything made right the way
that he wanted, but he still gotto a place where he could say
(42:02):
yet I will rejoin the Lord.
That's that's kind of myconcluding summary thoughts of
just the story and what I'vebeen able to listen thus far and
you know how long Lord you know, is still stuck in that moment.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
It feels moment it feels this is incredibly heavy,
but I do want to, I do want tolift it into the, into higher
heights of what you're doing,and and and give you an
opportunity, felicia, to talk alittle bit about your work, in
(42:42):
particular now, today, becauseyou've you've turned your, your
pain and your grief into verydeliberate and direct purpose.
So what advice do you?
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe work that you're doing today
in particular, but also talk tous a little bit about the
advice that you would givesomeone who is trying to wrestle
with pain you know, maybe evenpain and racial healing, and
(43:06):
maybe pain and justice and theyand they don't know where to
start and where to begin.
So talk to us a little bit aboutyour work and then give us some
advice for people who are kindof spinning their wheels just
trying to make sense of all thehurt, pain that they're
experiencing experience since weum Remedy Justice.
Speaker 5 (43:27):
What we, what we desired to do, was when I walked
out of the criminal justicesystem, I wanted families to be
healed holistically and I knewthat the number one thing that I
, that people, would need, wouldbe the hope in Christ Jesus.
But I knew that I wouldn'talways be able to present that
(43:49):
to them initially and I knewthat there were tangible needs
that they needed here.
So what Grammy Justice does isthe desire is for holistic
healing emotional, physical andfinancial.
So we provide.
We have three components.
The first is advocacy, andthat's just preparing families
(44:12):
when they get ready to go intothe courtroom, that they make
sure that they complete theirform to request their rights.
We make sure that they completethe form for the benefits
through the attorney general'soffice and we make sure that
they know what's going to happenwhen they get into the
(44:32):
courtroom.
So advocacy is the first part.
The second part is awareness,and that's just keeping the
community abreast of the effectsof homicide in our communities.
Each year in Mississippi welose over 800 lives to murder.
In Jackson last year we lost111 lives.
(44:55):
Now the statistics show thatthere's a trend, a downtrend of
murders, but we still have hadover 100 murders every year in
the past five years, and alsowe're still rated number one in
regards to murder per capita inthe nation, we're still number
one.
(45:15):
So we don't have anything tocelebrate, in my opinion,
because any life lost is a lifelost and our community, I think,
is devastated by just one loss.
Also, the attorney general, Imean, I'm sorry.
The auditor, state auditor dida research a couple of years ago
that said that each murder costus between nine and $1.2
(45:42):
million.
Each murder cost us between$900,000 and $1.2 billion.
That's a lot of money.
That also tells us that murderis profitable.
It's profitable.
So we have to kind of thinkabout that, the fact that why do
(46:03):
we have so many murders?
What can we do to prevent someof the murders?
Why is it so easy for a15-year-old to get an AK-7
assault rifle?
Why is that?
Why is it so readily available?
What are the motivations behindmurder and what can we do about
those things, motivationsbehind murder and what can we do
(46:26):
about those things?
So advocacy, awareness, andthen we have allies and direct
support and we provide groupsupport to our families.
We even provide financialsupport If there's people that
(46:49):
need housing needs or utilitypayments.
We've done that.
We've helped with burial costs.
Just imagine a family that'salready broken and you pile onto
that a criminal justice systemand a homicide, and just imagine
the toll that that must have ona family.
Just think about a mom that haslost three of her children to
murder, three Under the age of18.
It's hard for her, in myopinion, to get back to it, to
(47:14):
get to work, because you havethree anniversaries, three
birthdays three everythings.
That's a constant reminder ofwhat you don't have.
So, we want to be that safeplace for families of homicide.
And we now, which I'm superexcited about we've started a
ministry just to men.
We didn't do that in the past,but there was a man that showed
(47:38):
up and said no one is doinganything for us.
We've lost our children too.
What can you do to help us?
And so we're excited about whatGod is doing through that and
just drawing men to himself, andthat's been exciting.
What I would tell someone thatis going through this process?
(48:00):
I would tell number one thatyou can be honest with God, you
can pour out your heart to him,you can lay your head on his lap
and tell him all about it.
And then I would tell thatperson to trust him to do it,
trust him to comfort, trust himto lead, trust him to even
(48:22):
answer Cause I don't think wewould think he's going to
comfort.
Trust him to lead, trust him toeven answer because I don't
think we think he's going toanswer and to trust that he's
going to be present.
He's going to be present in themidst of, even in this turmoil,
even if we can't see or feelhim.
Trust him to be present, so,and just be encouraged.
Trust him to be present.
So, and just be encouraged, godis a lifter.
(48:44):
I think we forget that he is alifter and he's close to near
the broken hearted.
That's what I want to tell themAmen Amen.
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Amen, amen, dear sister, thank you so very much
for sharing, thank you, yourstory're.
We're better for it.
We're better for it, and I knowyou've mentioned on several,
several occasions that that youmiss your daughter.
But you understand, um, thatgod has done a work, even in
(49:18):
your life, uh, through throughthe pain, and I can just tell
you in just 45 minutes, he'sdone a work in all of ours
through your story of pain, andso thank you for the work that
you do.
We are incredibly enriched andencouraged as a result of it.
How can people keep up withFelicia Marshall and Grant Me
Justice?
Speaker 5 (49:39):
I just want to mention that it's coming up on
eight years and it seems like itwas just yesterday.
But to get in contact with us,our website is
wwwgrantmejusticeorg.
You can go there and you cansee all of the work that we are
doing.
My telephone number is601-540-2817.
(50:02):
And you can email me atfmarshall at grantmejusticeorg.
I also want to end with sayingto God be the glory for what he
has done.
He has done an awesome work inmy life.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
I need you to repeat all of that you just said,
because you did it so fast Icouldn't even get it, and I know
I ordered you to come and getit.
But go to that website, thattelephone number, that email and
talk as you're talking tograndmama, all right, OK, the
website is grandmagrantmejusticeorg.
Speaker 5 (50:42):
My telephone number is 601-540-2817.
And my email address, mrWinters, is fmarshall at
grantmejusticeorg.
Speaker 3 (51:02):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Felicia.
Thank you for helping GrandpaAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
Thank you for helping Grandpa Felicia.
Well, can you tell us a littlebit about the upcoming gala as
well?
Speaker 5 (51:15):
Yes, I'm so excited.
This is our first fundraisinggala that we've done and you
know God has done.
This is our first fundraisinggala.
It's on March the 15th, whichis a day after the eighth
anniversary of Lex's death.
It's going to be at the WesternHotel.
It's at 6 pm and we inviteeverybody to come.
(51:38):
For the information you can goto wwwgrantmejusticeorg and all
of the information is there.
Speaker 3 (51:49):
You hear that, grandma, you can get it all on
the website wwwgrantmejusticeorg.
Grandmama got it.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
So again, Ms Marshall .
What a privilege, what aprivilege and a pleasure to sit
with you to hear you share allthat you have shared on today.
We are enriched as a result ofit.
So thank you so much and forour audience, feel free to
(52:20):
continue to listen to not onlyincredible stories like this,
but we have many others on ourpodcast.
You can subscribe by going toLiving Reconciled on any podcast
app and you'll find us.
We are 70 episodes in withgreat stories of reconciliation
like the one that we just heardtoday.
So feel free to subscribe, butalso like episodes and also
share episodes with your friendsand family and coworkers and
church members.
(52:41):
We would greatly, greatlyappreciate it.
It's been a privilege and apleasure to spend some time with
Ms Felicia Marshall.
On behalf of Nettie Winters,austin Hoyle.
I am Brian Crawford.
We're all signing off sayingGod bless.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
God bless, god bless, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Thanks for joining Living Reconciled.
If you would like moreinformation on how you can be a
part of the ongoing work ofhelping Christians learn how to
live in the reconciliation thatJesus has already secured,
please visit us online atmissionmississippiorg or call us
at 601-353-6477.
Thanks again for listening.
This is Living Reconciled, a podcast dedicated
to giving our communitiespractical evidence of the gospel
message by helping Christianslearn how to live in the
reconciliation that Jesus hasalready secured for us by living
with grace across racial lines.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hey, thanks so much for joining us on this episode
of Living Reconciled, episode 70.
I'm your host, brian Crawford,and I am with my good and
incredible friends NettieWinters, austin Hoyle.
Gentlemen, how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I'm great, I'm excited about being incredible
friends.
Man, I understand that that'san integral part of your life to
be an incredible friend.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you.
It's a very special place in myheart that gives me the
privilege to call you anincredible friend, Austin.
How about yourself?
Are you just happy to be myincredible friend today?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, unless you're just saying it,
you don't mean it.
But you know, I know you, Iknow you mean it, I mean it.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
I mean it, you are.
You're an incredible friend.
Good friend, Good friend, but Iwant to also talk about some
other good friends sponsors likeMississippi College and
Anderson United Methodist Churchand Grace Temple Church,
Mississippi State University,Real Christian Foundation,
Nissan, St Dominic's Hospital,Atmos Energy Regions Foundation,
Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Christian Life Church and Ms
(01:31):
Doris Powell, Mr Robert Ward andMs Ann Winters.
Thank you so much foreverything that you do.
It's because of what you dothat we're able to do what we do
.
In fact, if you would like tojoin this incredible list of
friends by sponsoring MissionMississippi and this Living
Reconciled podcast, you can doso in a very easy way Just visit
missionmississippiorg.
(01:53):
Click on the button at the topright corner that says invest,
and you, too, will be investingin the work of reconciliation,
investing in this podcast andinvesting in episodes like today
, an episode that I'm incrediblyexcited about because we have a
really, really, really goodguest, Our incredible guest and
friend from Grant Me Justice.
(02:14):
She is the executive directorof Grant Me Justice, which you
will hear all about.
Miss Felicia Marshall.
Ma'am, how are you doing today?
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Oh, I'm incredible.
I feel incredible today.
Marshall ma'am, how are youdoing today?
Oh, I feel incredible today.
I don't know what it is, but Ifeel really really good today
and grateful, I guess, to becalled a friend as well,
Grateful to be here, Really am.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Absolutely, absolutely Well.
We're grateful to have you andyour story, by the way, is an
incredible one, by the way, isan incredible one, and so I
can't wait to unpack your storywith our listening audience,
because I believe there's somuch fruit for our audience in
your testimony and your storythat is just filled with all
(02:59):
sorts of grace and all sorts ofinspiration for us as we think
about this Christian journey andthis Christian walk.
If you don't mind, Felicia, whydon't you just start us off
with telling us a little bit ofa story that maybe other people
have heard about this journey,but maybe some of our listening
(03:19):
audience has not heard?
How did the Lord bring you tothis place where you're leading
this organization called GrantMe Justice?
Speaker 5 (03:28):
Well, my name is Felicia Marshall, and what
brought me to this place inspace?
My daughter was murdered onMarch 14, 2017.
And there were three peoplethat were actually convicted for
Lexi's murder.
It took three years to gothrough the criminal justice
system.
(03:48):
There were three people thatwere actually convicted for
Lexi's murder.
It took three years to gothrough the criminal justice
system and out of that came pleadeals.
Each individual were given anopportunity to plea out.
One received 15 years, one 12.
And one actually received fiveyears but only served two and a
half years.
Five years but only served twoand a half years.
(04:09):
And I walked away that dayreally, really heartbroken,
because I felt like mydaughter's life did not matter.
I felt like the people that Ithought would represent me in
the courtroom did not, and Ifelt like I was raped by the
system, and I left that day alsothinking that there were
probably other people like meyou know, moms that have gone
(04:30):
through the criminal justicesystem.
It had taken that long out ofmy life in that process,
grieving as I'm fighting and Iwanted to find those people that
felt the same way that I did,and actually what I first
started doing was interviewingpeople.
(04:52):
I just wanted to find thosepeople, whoever they were, that
had lost their children,specifically mothers at that
particular time that had losttheir children to violence.
And I put out a call and thefirst one was a family from Jeff
Davis County.
I met with the mother and dad.
The dad had actually found hisson murdered, with two gunshot
(05:15):
wounds to the head, and hisstory really, really just blew
my mind because his dad saidafter finding his son that
although he knew he was deceased, he put the son in his vehicle
and took him to the hospital andhe said that he talked to his
son the entire way and to me itjust shows the depths of hurt
(05:40):
and pain and also it's stillunbelievable.
Although we know that ourchildren are deceased, it still
doesn't feel real.
And the dad had to break thenews to the mother and they
talked about all of the details,the graphic details of a murder
that many people, because theyhaven't experienced this thing,
(06:04):
they don't really know and itseems as if they don't really
care.
But this family talked aboutthe fact that the funeral home
had to put her son's head backtogether.
We walked to the grave site andthe dad talked about how he
visited his son every day, howhe comes by and makes sure that
(06:25):
grave is clean.
The mom kind of danced betweenpresent tense and past tense.
She talked as if her son wasgoing to walk down the stairs,
and that just blew my mind.
It also blew my mind, too, thatI was able to sit with them with
(06:45):
empathy, without falling apart,and so I knew that that was a
God thing.
I knew that wasn't me.
That was a God thing, and Icould identify somewhat with the
pain that this family wasexperiencing.
And so I left that day knowingthat Grant Me Justice it wasn't
(07:09):
called Grant Me Justice at thatparticular time, but I knew that
what I was doing would be more,way more than just telling
stories, and I knew that afamily that had witnessed this
thing with their eyes neededmore.
You know, these are believers,this family is a faithful family
(07:29):
, faith-filled family, and Italked about.
You know that God is going tomake sense out of this thing.
But at the same time, theystill had this huge hole in
their hearts, right, yeah?
And so I knew that leavingthere, grant Grammy Justice
would, number one, providecounseling for families that had
(07:49):
experienced this type of trauma.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
When you, when you talk about this journey, felicia
, it sounds almost Like the Lordthrusted you into this, into
this work, this advocacy.
Work in in, in one sense as aas a help to others, but in
(08:14):
another sense, as a aid and ahelp to you.
I would love for you to help usprocess that a little bit more,
because when people think aboutforgiveness and grief in
moments like these, it'sincredibly.
It seems like it's almostimpossible to actually navigate.
(08:35):
What did the process of movingfrom grief, mourning, resentment
to mercy, forgiveness and hopelook like for you on this
journey?
Speaker 5 (08:52):
I went into the courtroom you know one person
and I came out a totallydifferent person.
And I say that because I feellike I had this false sense of
what being a believer really was, what forgiveness really meant.
And when I was able to gothrough the courtroom, one of
(09:12):
the plea deals was this youngman, and this young, the lady,
was sitting next to me and shewas weeping.
Like why is this lady weeping?
This is no one that's relatedto me, but she was the mother of
one of the defendants and whatis the likelihood of God placing
(09:33):
us side by side?
And there I realized that whatforgiveness really is and what
Christ had done and the factthat he died for those people
that were responsible for mychild's death.
And I went in with a falsesense of Christianity, prideful
(09:55):
in the fact that I didn't thinkthis thing should have been mine
, and now being able to trulysee what Christ had done and the
fact that, as a believer, I'mcalled to forgive these people.
You know, I am called for thosepeople that were standing there
, that were responsible for mychild's death.
(10:17):
Although I was seeking justicefor my baby, I also wanted them
to have an opportunity to knowthe same person that I knew that
had forgiven me for all of thelow down things I had done, and
I walked out a different, adifferent lady, a different
believer, a different Christian.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I walked out, really being able to resonate with what
Christ had done for me Wow,yeah, wow, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, when you say that you werecalled to to forgive, what did
that look like for youPractically?
What were some of the stepsthat you felt like you needed to
take Was?
Was it an immediate?
Was it a struggle?
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Did you have moments where you kind of resisted that
call?
To be honest, it was not hard.
It wasn't hard, of course.
My life, um, I've had toforgive people for things hard
things all of my life.
And and this was another hardthing that I had to forgive
people for I was never angrywith the people that were
(11:34):
responsible for.
I never understood why theytook my daughter's life, but I
was never angry with them.
I did want justice, though.
I did want them to pay for whatthey did, but forgiveness for
them was never hard.
As a matter of fact, I tried toestablish a relationship with
(11:54):
the mother and I was askingquestions about the son, and the
mother, I don't think,understood why, what my motive
was to know about her son and towish her son well.
She, she, she couldn't evenunderstand that.
But again, that that wasn't athing that I did.
I don't think that I did on myown.
(12:16):
That was the presence of God,that that was working within me.
Um, you know, I've said fromday one that I think that this
thing, although I miss my baby,god called me to this work right
and in the midst of him callingme to this, he had to prepare
me for it right, and I think Ihave to set the example, because
(12:41):
everybody that has lost a childto violence doesn't feel the
way that I feel.
They don't and I don't expectthem to.
But I do have to set an examplebecause behind everything that
we do is to share the gospelwith people.
I want people to know the joythat I have in Christ Jesus,
(13:04):
outside of the resources that weare providing to families.
I want them to trust me enoughthat I'm able to sit down with
them and share with them thetruth of the gospel that sets
people free and they're freeindeed, whether behind bars or
not.
I want to be able to share myhope in Christ Jesus.
(13:25):
So, with God preparing me forthat, I, you know, I didn't tell
the whole story because therewas at the very beginning.
I couldn't even speak to God,like I couldn't pray.
I couldn't understand I knewGod to be sovereign and why he
(13:46):
did not stop this thing fromhappening to my baby.
I had no words for him and Ifelt like he left that.
He just, you know, this thinghappened and I couldn't hear
from him anymore and he justleft the scene and left me with
this thing to bear.
But in the midst of that thingand me trying to figure out how
(14:07):
he can make this thing out formy good, god showed himself to
be God to me, really God to me,faithful, present, ever-present,
redeeming God.
And I think I had to go throughthat process in order to really
have a right relationship withGod, for God to really know me
(14:28):
and I know him Because I don'tthink I really knew him prior to
then.
I had religion, but I don'tthink I really knew him prior to
going through this process.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, when I hear those words, felicia, I'm
reminded of Paul in his letterto the philippians, where he
says I want to know you in the,the power of your resurrection
and in the fellowship of yoursufferings.
And there's, there's a sense inwhich we, there's a depth to
our knowledge that comes, uh,only only through pain.
(15:07):
It's a very unfortunate andvery uncomfortable thing to say,
um, but in 20, 20 plus years ofChristianity, now watching it
and experiencing it, um, I cantestify with, with assurance and
clarity that there's just adepth of knowledge that only
(15:28):
comes through pain.
And so it's, man, it'sincredible to bear, it's tough
to bear.
Just even hearing your ownstory is drumming up some of the
emotions of my past experiencesand the past experiences that
I've watched and observed, andbrothers and sisters all around
(15:50):
me, just of a pain in how Godwas able to do something, A
Romans eight work, like youmentioned where he's working,
working things out for our good,those that love him and are
called according to his purpose.
And so we're just incrediblyencouraged by, by, by your story
and by your resolve and by yourfaithfulness to the call to not
(16:12):
just simply grow in yourtragedy, but also help others
grow as well.
Mr Winters, man, jump in.
I know you probably got somethoughts and some wisdom, some
sage wisdom, to share.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Oh, she talked about, you know, having religion.
You know I jumped on that rightaway and versus Christianity
and that during this process,how she went from religion to
Christianity, and so that justbeen resonating in my heart and
my spirit.
And so if you're going to speakto the audience, as you do,
(16:47):
felicia, tell me how you helpwith that transition.
I don't know if it was atransition, is the right word,
or awakening, or what that is interms of transformation taking
place from being a religiousperson going to church.
I'm thinking you got what youneed and then when something
happens, it changes everything.
Hey, help me with that a littlebit.
(17:08):
I'm falling a little bit.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Again, my journey through the criminal justice
system was a three-year journey,right, and so what God did in
my life wasn't something thathappened overnight.
It was a gradual thing, andwhat God really really showed me
was grace, what grace reallyreally means, and he showed me
(17:32):
that by allowing me, number one,to be merciful for the people
that were responsible for me andto recognize this.
You know, Christ went through atrial.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Wow, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
You know, he went through a trial and I felt
myself going, you know, beingthere, you know, and watching
the fact that Christ had gonethrough a trial, that he was not
guilty he was not guilty andbut allowing me to see that
process, of what that processlooks like, and allowing me to
(18:08):
look across the table, becausethe other thing about that was
the fact that I could haveeasily been on the other side of
the table.
Right, I have a son, who hasnot always made the right
decisions, who could have easilybeen on the other side of the
table, and one of the young menwas the same age as my son, and
(18:34):
as I was sitting there, thequestion I had to ask myself was
if this was my son's name isJermaine.
If this was Jermaine, would yoube here?
Yes, I would be here, I wouldshow up for my son.
If this was my son, I wouldshow up.
I would want him to takeresponsibility for what he did,
(18:57):
but I also would want him to getthe justice that he deserved.
And I also, even in the midstof that, I would also want mercy
, you know, because I think it'sone, it could be one decision
away from doing something really, really stupid Right that could
change everybody's life.
(19:18):
And I was allowed to super in mymind, at least supernaturally,
see this thing as it wasunfolding before me.
You know, what is thelikelihood of this one of these
young men being the same age asmy son and this young man
turning to me and addressing meand asking me for forgiveness?
And what is the likelihood ofme sitting next to this mom
(19:42):
who's also standing in the gapfor her son?
And what is the likelihood forme standing before these judges,
pouring my heart out to thesejudges asking for justice?
And I saw this whole thing.
Now I'm a special kind of girl,but I saw this whole thing as
(20:03):
being God-ordained, preparing mefor this work.
At the time I didn't know thatright, but looking back at it I
said you know, god has preparedme for this work, a work that I
couldn't have ever chosen.
I wouldn't have chosen thisthing and never in a million
(20:25):
years would I have thought Iwould be here today and watching
how God is faithful to his word, that he's close to the broken
heart, he's near to the brokenheart, and just watching how God
has provided and how God hascomforted, how God has loved on
how he's been near to, how hesent people here to love and
(20:48):
share the gospel and the hand ofGod with people that are
hurting.
He says as when we've done tothe least of these, we've done
also unto him, and I see thesepeople as hurting people and
being a part of the least ofthese people that people look
(21:08):
over, a part of the least ofthese things, people that people
look over and I feel like everytime I'm in their presence, I'm
in the presence of God.
I just feel like and I'm inGod's work.
This is his work and I'm in themiddle of his work.
I'm just a vessel.
God just used my circumstancesto be able to be a blessing to
(21:29):
other people and I'm soincredibly blessed that God
chose me.
I miss my baby.
I miss her, but I really dofeel like I'm in the perfect
will of God, perfect will of God, and I feel like I was born for
this thing, created for thisthing.
I feel like I was born for thisthing, created for this thing,
(21:50):
and I believe that I'll see mydaughter again.
I believe she loved the Lord,you know.
I believe that she had acceptedChrist as her savior.
So my hope is, according to therecord is that I'll be able to
see her again.
Right, that's my hope in ChristJesus, that we'll be able to
worship the Lord together.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And so that's.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
That's that's where my my tragedy has has ended up
in God's mission, how you wereable to place Jermaine in the
seat of those that murdered yourson and humanize those that
murdered your son.
Our theme this year is aboutimage bearing, living reconciled
by seeing the image of God inothers, and certainly this is a
(22:46):
story in which that takes on awhole new level of meaning and
significance.
You know, I'm reminded of Paul,and in Acts seven, being the
one that they, they, the thetormentors of of Stephen, laid
their clothes in testimony oftheir torment at the feet of
Paul.
And it was, and it was Paulthat God rescued in Acts nine by
(23:09):
by saving him and showed himmarvelous grace.
And, and I heard, I heard apastor say years ago does your
gospel make room for a tormentorand a terrorist?
As he was preaching through, uh, the passage, the testimony of
Paul, does your gospel make roomfor a tormentor and a terrorist
?
And if it doesn't make room fora tormentor and a terrorist?
(23:34):
And if it doesn't make room fora tormentor and a terrorist,
then it's not the true gospel,and that just it stuck with me
and hearing what you'redescribing just kind of brings
that back up to the surfaceagain.
Does your gospel make room fora murderer?
Does your gospel make room forpeople that have gunned down
others?
And Felicia, your gospel makesroom for a murderer.
Does your gospel make room forpeople that have gunned down
others?
And Felicia, your gospel makesroom for that.
It's incredible.
(23:55):
Let me ask you this question.
You've talked about the journeythrough the system and three
years dealing with the justicesystem and not always finding
comfort in how things were beinghandled as a critique, but as a
(24:31):
way for us to come alongsidethose that are serving in the
system and come alongside thosethat have to go through the
system to be of better serviceto them.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
I think the public needs to be aware and they
probably are that the system isbroken, right, and it's broken
because it's held up by brokenpeople.
It's not perfect.
Our system is not perfect whenwe look from the perspective of
the victim.
The judicial system, thecriminal justice system, is
(25:00):
really centered around thedefendant.
The defendant, once he'sarrested, is read his rights
right.
You have the right to remainsighted and all of the good
stuff that he's arrested is readhis rights right.
You have the right to remainsighted and all the good stuff
that he's read and he's he's.
He's given the opportunity tohave a, an appointed attorney,
(25:27):
and that to be appointed by thestate right.
But the victim does not.
The victim has to requestrights rights to be heard,
rights to be informed, rights tobe present.
You know we have to requestthat and many of us don't know
(25:47):
that.
You know you walk into acourtroom at least I did.
You walk into the courtroomthinking you have the upper hand
because you are the victim.
But the victim does not havethe upper hand.
When the the court proceedingsstart, it is the state of
Mississippi, or whatever stateit is against the defendant,
(26:10):
it's not Alexia Buckhalteragainst the defendant, and so
the state of Mississippi isgoing to act.
In the best interest of who?
The state of Mississippi, notme?
And so with that, many timesfamilies walk away with what I
did a plea deal and that's not,in my opinion, what many
(26:34):
families desire, because wedon't feel like our children's
lives matter.
Let's say it was 26 years oldwhen she was murdered.
She had a three-year-olddaughter when she was murdered.
She had a three-year-olddaughter when she was murdered,
and so when you look at thevalue of life, in my opinion
(26:55):
that was placed on my daughter'slife, it doesn't measure up.
It doesn't measure up that yougive somebody five years for
their participation in a murder.
That doesn't make sense, nor 12years, nor 15 years.
That does not make sense to me.
It makes sense.
Nor 12 years, nor 15 years.
That does not make sense to me.
But it is our system, right, itis our judicial system.
If you had asked me what mydesire would have been, I would
(27:18):
have desired to go through thejudicial process, go to court
and let the courts decide.
But of course, many times thereis not a court proceeding
because it costs money and forthe state, the state is going to
act on behalf of the state, andso many times we walk away, you
(27:48):
know, with these plea deals,because of saving money.
Now, most people don't feel theway that I feel, you know.
I can walk away with that,knowing that God is my Avenger.
He's going to avenge me.
I can walk away with that,knowing that, you know.
But I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here because God is a God ofjustice.
So I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here because God is a God ofjustice.
(28:09):
So I still have aresponsibility to seek justice
here.
But I can still walk awayknowing that if I don't get it
here, if I don't get justicehere, then I can depend on my
God to work on my behalf.
We have a lot of, you know.
We talk about reform.
We have a lot of work to do inregards to judicial reform.
(28:31):
There are people behind the bar, behind bars, that do not
deserve to be there.
There are, we know that.
But there are also people thatare walking out here that should
not be here either, and we needto be mindful of that.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
We need to be, mindful of that.
You know, felicia, you talkabout the value of your
daughter's life, which ispractice.
There's no value you can put ona human life, in a sense.
But now, what would justicelook like as it relates to the
value of the people?
And I think you touched on thisa little bit.
(29:07):
You might have kept on it allaltogether, but you talk about
the value of the three peopleand how you became, look at them
, different.
And so you know, how do you?
You know we have a lot of thingsin the reconciliation movement
talks about whose lives valuemore, and this goes way beyond
(29:28):
just what you know.
We get in arguments about bluelives, white lives, black lives
and all of those lives andthings.
And, coach, my perspective isthat every life is purchased in
the sight of God.
It's His image and likeness, asBrian has said earlier.
So how do we navigate incircumstances like that?
(29:49):
What would have if you'd havegone through the court system
and somehow, you know, in pastyears has been the OJs of the
world and others, and what wouldthat look like?
How could you satisfy that,that thirst for justice?
What did that mean in terms ofjustice?
(30:11):
Some says you can't havereconciliation unless you have
justice and all of those thingstake place in terms of that
forgiveness and justice and allthat has to take place If you
get justice.
I guess I'm rambling here, youknow, most privilege.
(30:32):
You might have to rescue us outof this, but you know I'm
rounding because that's a,that's a deep discussion and
maybe even an unfair question,felicia as that.
So you know, do your best andand and hopefully Austin and
Brian will help us out in that-oh, I'll save you the next
(30:52):
question, Nettie.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Well, our crime called for 40 years and again my
response to it is differentfrom other people.
I felt this is how I felt as,going through the process, I was
going to do everything I couldto seek justice for Lexi and I
(31:20):
wanted her to go through thejudicial process, go through the
courts and let the court decide.
If the courts had decided thatthey want free, I would have
been good with that because theyhad gone through the process
and a juror of their peers wouldhave made that decision.
(31:41):
I would have done that.
That was the thing.
When you go before the judge,the judge says I have the right
to either accept or deny thisplea, Right?
You go before the judge.
The judge says I have the rightto either accept or deny this
plea.
Ok.
So then they ask fortestimonies from the family to
(32:03):
come before and give yourtestimony of your loss, for
testimonies from the family tocome before and give your
testimony of your loss.
So you go before the judge andyou pour out everything, and
there were times when I couldn'teven stand at the podium.
That's how emotional this is.
My daughter was killed with anAK-47 assault rifle, an
(32:24):
automatic weapon.
The bullet went through mydaughter's heart.
So my daughter's body didn'tjust have a hole in it, my
daughter's body was mutilated.
So when I go before the judgeand I tell the judge my story, I
at least want you to be able toempathize with the fact that
(32:46):
this is what happened to my babyand this does not deserve a
slap on the hand.
Do you realize that people thatare convicted of drugs get 40
years many times they get 40years, whereas a person that's
convicted of a murder can walkout with 15 years or five years?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
To serve two and a half years.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
And serve two and a half years.
Yeah, it's just not balanced.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
I was just about to say that You're speaking to.
The imbalance is what you'respeaking to?
Speaker 5 (33:21):
Yeah, you see the scale as the symbol, but it's
not balanced.
The scale is just not balanced.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
It's just not balanced.
So what does justice look likefor different people?
Different, you know, it alldepends.
I had one mom who went throughthe judicial process, who
actually went through court.
They received the young manreceived 30 years, and the
mother was not satisfied with 30years, right, but you have
(33:50):
other people in the backgroundsaying, girl, you need to be
happy with 30 years.
I only got four years or fiveyears or whatever the case may
be, but for 30 years that wasnot enough for her.
Why?
Because she heard her babybeing murdered.
She heard her being murdered andwhen she got her body back, she
only got the bones of her body,just the bones.
(34:12):
So to her 30 years was notenough, I think, the thing in
regards to victims.
We just want to be included aspart of the process.
Just let me share with you whatmy wishes are.
At least take those underconsideration and take under
consideration all of the piecesand parts to this murder.
(34:36):
Just think about the fact of ayoung man, 21 years old, who has
been with two gunshot wounds tohis head.
Think about those details andyou know why it doesn't matter
so much to a lot of these people, because it's not them.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Yeah, oh, jesus, ouch .
Speaker 5 (34:54):
It's not them.
If you ever get a call or evervisit a crime scene where a body
has been mutilated by anassault rifle, we're not talking
about .22s like they used to doa 9mm back in the day.
They're not using those anymore.
What do you tell a young ladythat has lost a son that's 12
(35:16):
years old to murder 68-year-oldgrandmother just last week going
home?
She's going home and she'smurdered.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (35:31):
In her own home.
We just want them to take it abit more seriously and to look
at the fact that there are sometraumatic effects of gun
violence in our community andvictims should be taken more
(35:51):
seriously than we are.
We need people to really fightfor the rights of victims.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
You know, felicia, I get a sense now of what I heard
you say early on about victimBecause in essence, at the end
of the day, we all becomevictims of needless crimes like
that.
But you know, the view mostpeople have of the court system
(36:20):
I know I do is that a plaintiffand a defendant at each side get
to present their case.
Well, you know you don't havethat in cases like you're
talking about and most peopledon't see that.
They see the OJ trial.
(36:43):
You know where there's, he's ontrial and his lawyers get an
opportunity to present the caseand you know whether he's in.
Somebody's got to make adetermination, whether or not
enough evidence was there toconvict them.
And so we see the pair ofmasons and the matlocks of the
world and all of that stuff.
But wow, because I just wentimmediately to when you say that
(37:08):
Jesus went through a trial.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
You know, I've heard they hung him high, they
stretched him wide, they did allkinds of things to him at that
cross, but very few peoplereally actually walked from the
day he was arrested to the pointthat he was found guilty and
sentenced to death by the cross.
Trumped up charges.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
And you know, and certainly that was not a defense
.
I mean, you know, nobody wasthere to defend him, everybody
showed up there on the side ofthe government or the state to
execute him.
Everybody showed up there onthe side of the government or
the state to execute him and, ofcourse, the king in that case.
I mean, the judge in that casewas the king, and so whatever
(37:53):
the people wanted, he grantedthem.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
You know I'm reminded too, hearing what you just
mentioned, felicia.
I'm reminded of the Gospel ofLuke, where Jesus heals the man
with the withered hand, butbefore he heals him, he has him
on the Sabbath, because there'sgrumblings about Jesus wanting
to do this good thing on theSabbath and heal a man who needs
(38:17):
rest on the day of rest.
And before he heals him, he hashim stand up in front of
everybody.
He forces them to look at hissuffering, he forces the
audience to look at his pain,because there's rumbling amongst
them oh, why is he doing this,why is he doing that?
And he forces them to look athim, almost as if to say you
(38:38):
know, this is a technicality foryou guys, this is all
philosophy and theology anddogma, andity for you guys, this
is this is all philosophy andtheology and and dogma and
doctrine for you, but, but forhim this is personal.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
This is deeply personal.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
You can't get it more personal than that Right, right
and so, and so you know, when Ihear you describing these
things, it's like we can getcaught in the technicalities of
it all, as Nettie mentioned.
Plaintiff defendant, you knowlaw X, y, z, but but what you're
saying and what you're saying,and you serving as all, as a
voice for those, for the, forthe, for those that don't
(39:16):
oftentimes feel like they have avoice in these matters, what
you're saying is hey, these arepeople and we need you to look
at them, we need you to seethose, we need you to remember
those mutilated bodies.
We need you to remember thosegunshots to the head of a
12-year-old.
We need you to remember thatthat 68-year-old grandmother was
a grandmother and a mother, andshe was a community staple, a
(39:40):
community pillar.
We need you to see them in themidst of this, and so there's
something powerful when you'reable to actually challenge
people, to see people beyond thetechnicalities and beyond the
statistics and start identifyingthem as real people, as people
that could have very well beenthem.
There's something incrediblypowerful about that.
(40:02):
Felicia man, this has been anincredible interview.
Austin, I know you got aquestion man, so jump in and
we'll try to wrap up here.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Yeah, yeah, I was just going to say, Felicia,
listening to your story remindsme a lot about Habakkuk, because
when he looked around and hesaw violence and justice and
people doing wrong and gettingaway with it, he cried out and
this is Habakkuk 1-2,.
How long Lord, how long do Ihave?
to call for help and you don'tlisten.
How long do I have to shoutviolence and you don't save
(40:33):
Habakkuk?
He wanted justice, he wantedthings to be made right, but
when God answered him it wasn'twhat he expected.
God basically told him I'mdoing something you wouldn't
believe, even if I told you, orless, what the message he got.
And that really does feel a lotabout what you've walked
through and you're helping a lotof other people walk through.
(40:54):
You've been through just anarduous system and everything
you absolutely could do for Lexi.
And you said that if the courthad let them go free, you would
have been good with that becauseit would have been all out
there presence.
And that's really not how mostpeople think about justice.
Most people think justice meanspunishment, that it means
(41:17):
making sure that somebody pays.
But you've talked about seeingthose three young people very
differently, about yourperspective shifting, and that's
not just justice, I don't think.
I think it's something a lotdeeper than just justice.
I mean.
So how do you hold all thattogether?
(41:38):
I mean that's a remarkablething to hold together.
That is that tension, mygoodness, when people say you
can't have reconciliationwithout justice, what does that
mean?
Because Habakkuk, he never saweverything made right the way
that he wanted, but he still gotto a place where he could say
(42:02):
yet I will rejoin the Lord.
That's that's kind of myconcluding summary thoughts of
just the story and what I'vebeen able to listen thus far and
you know how long Lord you know, is still stuck in that moment.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
It feels moment it feels this is incredibly heavy,
but I do want to, I do want tolift it into the, into higher
heights of what you're doing,and and and give you an
opportunity, felicia, to talk alittle bit about your work, in
(42:42):
particular now, today, becauseyou've you've turned your, your
pain and your grief into verydeliberate and direct purpose.
So what advice do you?
Talk to us a little bit aboutthe work that you're doing today
in particular, but also talk tous a little bit about the
advice that you would givesomeone who is trying to wrestle
with pain you know, maybe evenpain and racial healing, and
(43:06):
maybe pain and justice and theyand they don't know where to
start and where to begin.
So talk to us a little bit aboutyour work and then give us some
advice for people who are kindof spinning their wheels just
trying to make sense of all thehurt, pain that they're
experiencing experience since weum Remedy Justice.
Speaker 5 (43:27):
What we, what we desired to do, was when I walked
out of the criminal justicesystem, I wanted families to be
healed holistically and I knewthat the number one thing that I
, that people, would need, wouldbe the hope in Christ Jesus.
But I knew that I wouldn'talways be able to present that
(43:49):
to them initially and I knewthat there were tangible needs
that they needed here.
So what Grammy Justice does isthe desire is for holistic
healing emotional, physical andfinancial.
So we provide.
We have three components.
The first is advocacy, andthat's just preparing families
(44:12):
when they get ready to go intothe courtroom, that they make
sure that they complete theirform to request their rights.
We make sure that they completethe form for the benefits
through the attorney general'soffice and we make sure that
they know what's going to happenwhen they get into the
(44:32):
courtroom.
So advocacy is the first part.
The second part is awareness,and that's just keeping the
community abreast of the effectsof homicide in our communities.
Each year in Mississippi welose over 800 lives to murder.
In Jackson last year we lost111 lives.
(44:55):
Now the statistics show thatthere's a trend, a downtrend of
murders, but we still have hadover 100 murders every year in
the past five years, and alsowe're still rated number one in
regards to murder per capita inthe nation, we're still number
one.
(45:15):
So we don't have anything tocelebrate, in my opinion,
because any life lost is a lifelost and our community, I think,
is devastated by just one loss.
Also, the attorney general, Imean, I'm sorry.
The auditor, state auditor dida research a couple of years ago
that said that each murder costus between nine and $1.2
(45:42):
million.
Each murder cost us between$900,000 and $1.2 billion.
That's a lot of money.
That also tells us that murderis profitable.
It's profitable.
So we have to kind of thinkabout that, the fact that why do
(46:03):
we have so many murders?
What can we do to prevent someof the murders?
Why is it so easy for a15-year-old to get an AK-7
assault rifle?
Why is that?
Why is it so readily available?
What are the motivations behindmurder and what can we do about
those things, motivationsbehind murder and what can we do
(46:26):
about those things?
So advocacy, awareness, andthen we have allies and direct
support and we provide groupsupport to our families.
We even provide financialsupport If there's people that
(46:49):
need housing needs or utilitypayments.
We've done that.
We've helped with burial costs.
Just imagine a family that'salready broken and you pile onto
that a criminal justice systemand a homicide, and just imagine
the toll that that must have ona family.
Just think about a mom that haslost three of her children to
murder, three Under the age of18.
It's hard for her, in myopinion, to get back to it, to
(47:14):
get to work, because you havethree anniversaries, three
birthdays three everythings.
That's a constant reminder ofwhat you don't have.
So, we want to be that safeplace for families of homicide.
And we now, which I'm superexcited about we've started a
ministry just to men.
We didn't do that in the past,but there was a man that showed
(47:38):
up and said no one is doinganything for us.
We've lost our children too.
What can you do to help us?
And so we're excited about whatGod is doing through that and
just drawing men to himself, andthat's been exciting.
What I would tell someone thatis going through this process?
(48:00):
I would tell number one thatyou can be honest with God, you
can pour out your heart to him,you can lay your head on his lap
and tell him all about it.
And then I would tell thatperson to trust him to do it,
trust him to comfort, trust himto lead, trust him to even
(48:22):
answer Cause I don't think wewould think he's going to
comfort.
Trust him to lead, trust him toeven answer because I don't
think we think he's going toanswer and to trust that he's
going to be present.
He's going to be present in themidst of, even in this turmoil,
even if we can't see or feelhim.
Trust him to be present, so,and just be encouraged.
Trust him to be present.
So, and just be encouraged, godis a lifter.
(48:44):
I think we forget that he is alifter and he's close to near
the broken hearted.
That's what I want to tell themAmen Amen.
Speaker 2 (48:57):
Amen, amen, dear sister, thank you so very much
for sharing, thank you, yourstory're.
We're better for it.
We're better for it, and I knowyou've mentioned on several,
several occasions that that youmiss your daughter.
But you understand, um, thatgod has done a work, even in
(49:18):
your life, uh, through throughthe pain, and I can just tell
you in just 45 minutes, he'sdone a work in all of ours
through your story of pain, andso thank you for the work that
you do.
We are incredibly enriched andencouraged as a result of it.
How can people keep up withFelicia Marshall and Grant Me
Justice?
Speaker 5 (49:39):
I just want to mention that it's coming up on
eight years and it seems like itwas just yesterday.
But to get in contact with us,our website is
wwwgrantmejusticeorg.
You can go there and you cansee all of the work that we are
doing.
My telephone number is601-540-2817.
(50:02):
And you can email me atfmarshall at grantmejusticeorg.
I also want to end with sayingto God be the glory for what he
has done.
He has done an awesome work inmy life.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
I need you to repeat all of that you just said,
because you did it so fast Icouldn't even get it, and I know
I ordered you to come and getit.
But go to that website, thattelephone number, that email and
talk as you're talking tograndmama, all right, OK, the
website is grandmagrantmejusticeorg.
Speaker 5 (50:42):
My telephone number is 601-540-2817.
And my email address, mrWinters, is fmarshall at
grantmejusticeorg.
Speaker 3 (51:02):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Felicia.
Thank you for helping GrandpaAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (51:08):
Thank you for helping Grandpa Felicia.
Well, can you tell us a littlebit about the upcoming gala as
well?
Speaker 5 (51:15):
Yes, I'm so excited.
This is our first fundraisinggala that we've done and you
know God has done.
This is our first fundraisinggala.
It's on March the 15th, whichis a day after the eighth
anniversary of Lex's death.
It's going to be at the WesternHotel.
It's at 6 pm and we inviteeverybody to come.
(51:38):
For the information you can goto wwwgrantmejusticeorg and all
of the information is there.
Speaker 3 (51:49):
You hear that, grandma, you can get it all on
the website wwwgrantmejusticeorg.
Grandmama got it.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
So again, Ms Marshall .
What a privilege, what aprivilege and a pleasure to sit
with you to hear you share allthat you have shared on today.
We are enriched as a result ofit.
So thank you so much and forour audience, feel free to
(52:20):
continue to listen to not onlyincredible stories like this,
but we have many others on ourpodcast.
You can subscribe by going toLiving Reconciled on any podcast
app and you'll find us.
We are 70 episodes in withgreat stories of reconciliation
like the one that we just heardtoday.
So feel free to subscribe, butalso like episodes and also
share episodes with your friendsand family and coworkers and
church members.
(52:41):
We would greatly, greatlyappreciate it.
It's been a privilege and apleasure to spend some time with
Ms Felicia Marshall.
On behalf of Nettie Winters,austin Hoyle.
I am Brian Crawford.
We're all signing off sayingGod bless.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
God bless, god bless, thank y'all.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Thanks for joining Living Reconciled.
If you would like moreinformation on how you can be a
part of the ongoing work ofhelping Christians learn how to
live in the reconciliation thatJesus has already secured,
please visit us online atmissionmississippiorg or call us
at 601-353-6477.
Thanks again for listening.
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