USA | Victims’ Families in Kirk and Berry Cases Cite Religious Reasons for Opposition to the Death Penalty

Murder vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers hold a wide range of views about what jus­tice means. For some, the death penal­ty holds the promise of clo­sure, while for oth­ers, it is a source of con­tin­ued trau­ma and uncer­tain­ty. In two recent cas­es, vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers have pub­licly expressed their oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty, cit­ing their reli­gious views and need to forgive.

Will Berry was just 11 years old when Geoffrey West shot and killed his moth­er, Margaret Parrish Berry, dur­ing a gas sta­tion rob­bery in 1997. Mr. West was sen­tenced to death in 1999, and Alabama is sched­uled to exe­cute him on September 25, 2025. In a recent op-ed, Mr. Berry said that he oppos­es the exe­cu­tion. ​“That won’t bring my moth­er back; it will only add to the pain I have lived with since the night she was shot,” Mr. Berry wrote. ​“I believe there is a better way.”

The crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem is not built with vic­tims’ needs, wish­es, and well-being in mind. I know that as well as any­body, because what is being done in my name is not what I need or want.

— Will Berry, on the legal system’s treat­ment of vic­tims and their families.

As Mr. Berry explains, his oppo­si­tion to the exe­cu­tion stems from his deep Christian faith. ​“I believe in the teach­ings of Jesus and in His words on the Mount, ​‘For if you for­give oth­er peo­ple when they sin against you, your heav­en­ly Father will also for­give you,’” he explains, quot­ing Matthew 6:14 – 15. His mother’s death cast a shad­ow over his life, but Mr. Berry believes exe­cut­ing Mr. West would be wrong, not­ing that by exe­cut­ing Mr. West, ​“the state of Alabama is play­ing God. I don’t want any­one to exact revenge in my name, nor in my mother’s.”

What Mr. Berry says he wants most from Alabama is to meet with Mr. West face-to-face. He wants to tell Mr. West he for­gives him, and he ​“want[s] to ask ques­tions, both about what hap­pened that night and about who he is as a man.” Mr. West has agreed to meet with Mr. Berry, telling Tread that he would ​“like to ask for [Mr. Berry’s] for­give­ness” and ​“to tell him the truth”; how­ev­er, Alabama offi­cials have refused to allow them to meet. The state has denied Mr. Berry’s request because of his sta­tus as the victim’s son. He only learned about Mr. West’s sched­uled exe­cu­tion when his wife read an arti­cle on social media — no one from the state attor­ney general’s office, nor the governor’s office, had contacted him.

Alabama offi­cials will allow Mr. Berry to wit­ness Mr. West’s exe­cu­tion at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, but they will not per­mit them to have a con­ver­sa­tion. ​“When I go to Holman, I want to speak with Mr. West heart to heart. I want to tell him I for­give him, that my moth­er for­gives him, and that God loves him.” Mr. Berry believes his moth­er would sup­port his posi­tion, not­ing she loved uncon­di­tion­al­ly and taught him to do the same. ​“The State shouldn’t take a man’s life. I know my moth­er and what she would want. She wouldn’t want this.” Mr. Berry sees life with­out parole as suf­fi­cient pun­ish­ment and hopes for ​“an end­ing to this sto­ry where Mr. West and I find com­fort in each oth­er and in the heal­ing pow­er of forgiveness.”

Mr. Berry has called on Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to pre­vent Mr. West’s exe­cu­tion, and to allow for the heal­ing con­ver­sa­tions that both he and Mr. West desire. ​“I hope that Gov. Ivey will see her way to grant­i­ng me this mea­sure of com­fort, and I pray that she will find it in her­self to spare Mr. West’s life,” Mr. Berry wrote.

Like Mr. Berry, Erika Kirk, wife of con­ser­v­a­tive polit­i­cal activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, has relied on her reli­gious faith to guide her through her griev­ing. In a speech giv­en dur­ing a recent memo­r­i­al ser­vice, Ms. Kirk talked about the per­son arrest­ed for killing her hus­band, Tyler Robinson: ​“Our Savior said, ​‘Father, for­give them, for they know not what they do.’ That man. That young man. I for­give him. I for­give him because it was what Christ did in his. What Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.” Ms. Kirk added that many peo­ple have asked her if she wants to see Mr. Robinson sen­tenced to death, but she respond­ed, ​“I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger.”

Source: Death Penalty Information Center, Staff, September 22, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde