From The Marshal Project:
On Mother’s Day in 2011, Sidney Webb stunned his mother by suggesting that they visit his younger brother Allen in prison. As boys, he and Allen fished and got into mischief together but over the years had grown estranged. Allen struggled with alcohol and occasionally landed in jail, while Sidney built a life as a fire chief and funeral supply store owner near Houston. When their father, who had lung disease, fell and suffocated to death while Allen was with him, Sidney blamed him for not calling 911 sooner.
In 2009, Allen called from prison. He had been convicted of robbery. “I told him he was dead to me,” Sidney said. “I didn’t mean it, but I was trying to reach him, to say, ‘This is the end of the line.'”
While incarcerated, Robert Allen Webb (his full name) was diagnosed with below average cognitive ability and housed with other developmentally disabled prisoners. Over time, Sidney grew to see his brother’s behavior as more than just a series of bad choices. “Christ forgave us all,” his wife told him. “What gives you the right not to forgive your brother?”
That May morning, Sidney believed that God wanted him to make amends. He helped his mother into his truck and drove three hours north, past the pine forests that dot rural east Texas, to the state prison known as the Hodge Unit. Through a window in the visitation room, Sidney saw a man shuffling toward them, escorted by officers.
That can’t be Allen, he thought. Continue reading >>>
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