Into the Abyss Page #6

until I got here...

what happened

if I would've fell out

and got eaten by an alligator?

Who would've been responsible?

You know, did my parents sign

some type of waiver?

Because there was

alligators everywhere.

- Well, a young man of 13,

you better watch out

and... and handle

the alligators well, yes.

- Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

- But what happened then?

You didn't...

- Well, I think it was on

the third or fourth day.

We would canoe until, like,

nighttime and pull in.

I guess they had certain

designations marked,

and sometimes we'd pull in,

like, at midnight.

There's bugs... you can reach out

and grab a handful of bugs,

and then they'd want us

to cook dinner,

and, you know, I'm like,

"Man, I can't."

And one of the things

of the program was

to teach you immediate...

you know, every action

there's a... there's a reaction,

so immediate consequences

to your decisions,

and one of the things

I learned is that

if I don't pay attention

to the lessons...

we had these bags

for our property,

and you had to seal them right,

or they wouldn't be waterproof.

Well, I didn't listen,

and it fell in the water,

and all my stuff got wet,

so I didn't have my own tent.

I didn't have no

toilet paper any more,

and I didn't like that.

So basically, I... I was

my typical stubborn self,

and I told them, "You know what?"

I ain't doing this no more.

Take me home."

- But you were not attacked

by alligators, but...

- No, we were attacked

by monkeys, though.

- By monkeys.

What happened?

- Absolutely, monkeys

were jumping from one side

to the trees

on the side we were at

and come... trying

to come over there,

and they couldn't figure out

where the monkeys came from,

but there was

a whole bunch of them,

a whole bunch.

I wanted to get out

and get one,

but they said

they have diseases, right?

- So best... case scenario,

if you are granted parole

in 2041,

how old would you be then?

Does this ever occur to you?

Do you want to think about it?

- I'll be 59, 60.

I was 19.

I have to do 40 years from 19,

which will be 59 years old.

Long time.

- When it came to the phase

after your trial was over,

for punishment phase,

your father showed up in court.

Can you describe the scene?

- I knew he was coming,

and I knew what he was gonna

testify to,

but to hear him testify,

it's like...

I was born with neuroblastomas.

I... I had 18 surgeries

by the time I was five,

and I... I don't know

a lot about it

because it's something

that I try to shy away from.

I knew he was gonna testify

to my raising,

and I was a...

in pain all the time,

and he'd watch me cry to sleep,

and...

It was difficult,

because I seen him cry.

I mean, if you ever see my dad,

he's 6'6 ", 6'7", 300 pounds,

big old guy, tattooed.

- And they brought him

in from... from prison.

- He came in from prison.

- Is he still incarcerated?

- He's right across the street

on Ellis Unit.

- Mr. Burkett,

how are you doing?

- Just... I'm doing fine.

Doing fine.

Little sick.

- How fine?

- Little bit sick.

- Mm-hmm.

You are in here

for how many years?

- 40.

- 40 years.

- Yes, sir.

- Eight felony counts,

is that correct?

- Yes, sir.

- That's pretty serious.

- Yes, sir.

- And you spent some time before

this 40 year sentence in jail.

Is that correct?

- Yes, sir.

- Yeah.

- I've been in prison

five times.

- How many years already?

- A 2 year sentence,

a 5 year sentence,

a 30 year sentence,

and then this 40.

- That's a lot.

- Yes, sir.

- What went wrong?

- Drugs and alcohol.

- Can you explain?

- Well, I started using drugs

when I was about 13,

drinking and drugging,

and, uh...

Selling and manufacturing.

Some stealing and burglarizing

going along with it

to sup... support the habit

and always end up

back in prison.

- There's one significant moment

when Jason, your son,

was found guilty

for capital murder...

- Yes.

- And triple homicide.

During the sentencing phase,

you appeared in court.

Can you describe what you said

to the jury?

- Well...

I explained to 'em

what prison life was about,

and I explained...

I explained to 'em

that I didn't think killing him

was gonna bring back those

people or really, you know,

do anything to correct

what happened,

and I asked

the jury to, you know,

"Please, you know,

don't kill my son."

I asked 'em.

I said just,

"Please, don't kill my son."

He never had a chance.

He didn't have a father.

I told 'em that, you know,

he did... I was never there,

and his mother was a, you know,

single mother

with four children,

and... and she had handicaps.

She... she's on disability.

Most of that time,

she was living on disability,

and so they...

they really didn't...

they lived off food stamps,

and, you know, HUD housing

and that type of thing,

and... and he...

he really...

he really had a real poor life

growing up.

I just asked 'em

not to kill my son.

It wasn't his fault.

I... it... I wished I could...

I wish that I could

take the time, his time.

I wish I could, 'cause I feel

like that it's my fault.

I... I... really do.

I feel like it's...

I'm as much at fault as he is,

'cause if I'd have been there,

it, quite possibly, maybe not,

but... but it might possibly

have been different.

He'd have had a better chance.

You know, he'd have

a whole lot better chance,

if I'd have been there

helping his mother raise him,

but I wasn't.

The jury got up to leave,

and the door was right here

to my right,

and as the door closed

behind them,

I heard two ladies break down.

I'm... I'm real emotional,

and I'm crying

through the whole thing,

but as they went through

that door, and the door closed,

I heard two ladies

break down crying.

They broke down,

and then the...

when it... it was all over

and his lawyer come told me,

he said...

I remember the... his words.

He said, "You got him."

- You saved a life.

- He said... he said,

"You got him."

I said,

"What do you mean?"

He said, "You got him."

And that's where I...

that's what saved...

there was two votes.

It was ten to two,

and there was two votes

that voted not to kill him,

and I think those were the

two ladies right there that...

they're the ones

that saved his life.

- But you can be proud

of this moment.

- Yeah.

I had some help too.

God helped me.

He did.

I asked God to help me,

and I think He did.

I didn't deserve

any help for him.

He may not deserve the help,

but we got it

from some place, so...

- The hardest part

was to look at him

and for him to look at me,

and I seen that he was sincere,

that he really was sorry for,

you know,

what he had done throughout

my whole childhood,

and he had been in prison.

I don't blame him for it,

but I seen right there

that he understood

that it did affect us,

and I cried that one day,

that was it, through the...

the whole trial.

Even after conviction,

the only thing that hurt me

was my... my dad testifying.

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