Mom Befriends Son's Killer, Shares Her Story in St. Michael
Mary Johnson now lives next door to Oshea Israel, who killed her son, and is like a second mom to him.
Mary Johnson of Minneapolis went on a journey of forgiveness that brought her to see her son's killer as a fellow human. Today, they are next-door neighbors, and she considers him a son, and she, his "spiritual mother." Johnson and Oshea Israel shared their story at Westbridge Community Church's services Sunday morning at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West. Israel shot and killed Johnson's only son, Laramiun Byrd, 20, in 1993. Israel, who was 16 at the time of the crime, was tried as an adult and sentenced to 25-and-a-half years in prison in Stillwater. Johnson, full of hatred, she said, worked through the grief to try to see Israel's humanity in the years to come. She asked to meet him in prison more than 10 years into his …
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Mike Schoemer
2:26 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Thanks to Westbridge for bringing her up to St. Michael! more ›