Mother Faces Son's Killer in "The Redemption Project"
SAVIDGE: CNN has a powerful new original series that you definitely won't want to miss. It is called "THE REDEPEMPTION PROJECT" with Van Jones. The show takes us inside the Restorative Justice process when a crime victim and an offender sit down face to face in an attempt to heal and move forward. CNN's Ryan Young has the remarkable story about that healing process between a mother and her son's killer.</s>MARY JOHNSON, FACES SON'S KILLER ON TV: I am your spiritual mother and he's my spiritual son.</s>RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Johnson says some people think she's crazy. Oshea Israel, her spiritual son, is also the man who killed who biological son, Laramiun Byrd, during an argument at a party in Minneapolis over 25 years ago.</s>JOHNSON: I am just grateful. I don't know what would have happen if we weren't able to meet. I guess I would still just be full of anger and hatred for him.</s>YOUNG: Johnson said eventually she sought a meeting with her son's killer through Restorative Justice, a process that brings together offenders and victims of crime as part of the healing process. She now looks back on the day she met her son's killer.</s>JOHNSON: Why am I sitting here waiting for them to bring in this man that's taken my son's life? And he came in and we shook hands. And we talked for a couple of hours. At the end of that meeting, he asked me if he could hug me, and I said yes.</s>YOUNG: After several more meetings, a bond was formed with forgiveness and respect for each other at the center of their relationship. And when Israel was released from prison, Johnson even helped throw a homecoming party for the man she once called an animal who needed to be caged.</s>OSHEA ISRAEL, CONVICTED FOR KILLING LARAMIUN BYRD: To be able to look in the face of someone who I caused so much pain and grief and to be able to identify and communicate with the pain that I caused, I think that made a great difference in helping me become more compassionate.</s>YOUNG (on camera): Supporters of Restorative Justice across the USA say justice for many crimes, should not be measured only by prison terms.</s>TIMOTHY EVANS, CHIEF JUDGE, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT: The idea is for the perpetrator to see what the harm has been on the community, and for those who were the victims of the perpetrator's act, to have an opportunity to participate in the solution to the problem.</s>JOHNSON: People say I'm crazy, but I don't think so. I'm grateful to be in the place that I'm in.</s>YOUNG (voice-over): Ryan Young, CNN.</s>SAVIDGE: And be sure to tune in. The all-new CNN original series "THE REDEPEMPTION PROJECT" with Van Jones premieres tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.