"From the day after I committed that horrible act, I was focused on bettering myself."
Benard McKinley was convicted of murder as a teen and was set to spend his entire life behind bars. Still, he was eager to get an education.
“My objective and goal was to better myself, no matter if I had to spend the rest of my life in prison,” said McKinley, 38. “I allowed my prison cell to be my university.”
In 2001,
McKinley shot and killed Abdo Serna-Ibarra, a 23-year-old man, during a fight. McKinley, then a member of a gang, was 16. The victim was on his way to play soccer at a park in Chicago when the fight broke out.
“It was the worst
mistake I’ve ever made. I took an innocent person’s life over a senseless argument,” McKinley said. “I regret it with everything in my heart.”
In 2004, he was sentenced to 100 years in prison. His sentence was revised in 2019 to
39 years, and a few months later, it was cut to 25. In the time since McKinley’s conviction, courts across the country have reconsidered how they handle juvenile offenders.
The Illinois appellate court determined that McKinley’s original sentencing was too harsh, as it did not take into account his age,
or his commitment to rehabilitate...read more
