The next day, Red was assigned a job at the kitchen. The kitchen was located at the back of the chow hall. Right after morning count, Red went to the kitchen. He was first given the job of washing pots and pans up. During the 11:00 a.m. count, he and the other guys working there were quickly counted and then they ate a quick lunch while count was still being completed in the dorms. Then they went back into the kitchen and he was assigned to handle the trays as the guys put them into the tray slot after finishing eating. As each guy brought his tray to the tray slot, he had to take the trays, spray rinse them, along with the plastic sporks and cups and then put them all into the dishwasher. One of the other inmates who worked there was Tim Sanders. Tim was also a Christian. Red and Tim quickly became friends and Tim invited him to attend the next worship service with him.
A few days later, just before the service began, Red and Tim sat down. The church service was held in the same room where visitation was held and there were a number of tables and chairs in the back of the room as well as some vending machines. The floor gleamed with fresh polish. Chairs were lined up facing a podium and behind the podium was a large rectangular box, shaped something like a coffin. This was the baptistery. Normally, it had a lid on it and did double duty as a communion table but today someone was being baptized so it was filled with water. A couple of the inmates passed out hymnbooks, which were paperback and then the service started.
“Turn to page eighty”, said the chaplain.
Red and Tim both found their places and joined in the singing.
“…Amazing love! How can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!”
Red didn’t have all that good a singing voice but he could make a joyful noise. After singing several more songs, the chaplain, who was a volunteer rather than a paid employee, preached a short message on the meaning of baptism, how it was the a testimony that one was saved, “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.”
After the baptism was over, those who would like to be baptized were invited to come forward. Red went forward to talk with the chaplain.
Later that night, as he and Marcus returned to their cell for lockup, he spoke to Marcus.
“I’m getting baptized next month at the next baptism service. I’d like for you to come.”
“I’ve never been to a service before. I don’t think I want to start going now.”
“Please come. I’d really like you to be there. My friend Tim will be there too.”
“I don’t know about that.”
A couple of days later, Red was through working for the day and was relaxing in the common area of the dorm. Florida sat down beside him.
“You still want to know about how I got my name?”
“Sure.”
“Well, it happened like this...I was a senior in high school and I was flunking out so for spring break a friend and me decided to steal a car and go to Florida. After we got there, we ended up getting in trouble with the law there too. We got caught. I was tried first for the car theft in South Carolina and then for my other crimes in Florida. I did my time here first and then Florida sent a transport bus to pick me up to extradite me to Florida. The bus picked me up on its way north. There were already a couple of prisoners from Georgia when I got in. We went to North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. We stayed two days at a jail in Pennsylvania and then went to West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama before making it to Florida. The whole trip took ten days and except for the two days in the jail in Pennsylvania, we had to sleep sitting up in the bus. When I got to Florida, after I was processed, I went to the Yard. The first day there, they made us stay out in the sun all day long and I was so sunburnt that I ended up in the infirmary. After that, they gave me a shade pass. A couple of years later, a hurricane passed right over the prison. I sat at the window of my cell and watched it. Stuff was flying everywhere. It tore off the roof of the library and half the roof of the chow hall. It also tore down part of the fence. Then it got completely quiet for about ten minutes. After that, it all started up again. When it was over, we didn’t have no power or water for over a week. You want to talk about hot, try being cooped up in a prison with no AC during the summer time in Florida. After three or four days, all we got to eat was beans and rice. They thought they were going to have to evacuate the institution but finally they got supplies in and started getting things back to normal. When we watched it on TV later, almost the whole county was leveled. That’s one thing good about buildings, in a prison, they got so much reinforcement to keep people from escaping that you don’t have to worry about the building coming down, even in a hurricane.”
“When I finally got out of prison there and came back to South Carolina, people started calling me Florida, I guess cause I like to talk about it a lot.”
“That’s a pretty interesting story.”
Red wasn’t sure if he believed it all or not.
Red asked Marcus to come to the service with him every week. He also continued to witness to him. Finally, just before the baptism service, Marcus agreed to go.
Marcus was surprised to find himself at the baptism service. He had always avoided religion but Red seemed to really want him there and he hadn’t been able to keep saying no to him so here he was.
The preacher talked about how Jesus died for the sins of the world and how anyone, no matter how wicked he had been, could be washed clean if they trusted Christ in repentance and faith. He quoted a lot from the Bible during his sermon. None of it was familiar to Marcus. Later that night, the words seemed to come back to him. He felt uncomfortable thinking about the things the preacher had said but he couldn’t seem to put them out of his mind.
“Red, could I borrow your Bible some time?”
“Sure Marcus, you know where I keep it. Anytime I’m not reading it you go ahead and use it. A good place to start reading is the Gospel of John.”
“Thanks.”
Over the next few weeks, Marcus read through John and then kept going into the book of Acts. He also attended the weekly service and Bible study along with Red. Two months after Red’s baptism, he went forward during a service and got saved.
The next weekend, Karen and the children came to visit again. Red was really glad to see them.
A few days after this, Red was out in the rec area behind the dorm when he saw Kyle and another inmate named Lenny talking with Marcus. They weren’t that close but their voices carried and he heard their conversation.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you Marcus. You’ve never had any problem doing what I tell you before. Tyler’s stealing from me. He’s been warned already. If we let him get away with it, pretty soon, nobody will respect us. He has to be taught a serious lesson. I want you and Tay Tay to beat him up.”
“I just can’t do that, Kyle. Since I gave my heart to Jesus, I’m different inside. I don’t really understand it myself. It didn’t used to bother me but now I just can’t do it. I’m sorry.”
Kyle let loose a whole string of curse words. “You’ll do what I tell you”, he added.
Red walked up to them. “Leave him alone”, said Red to Kyle. “He’s just trying to do what’s right.”
“You don’t want us to bother him? If you hadn’t started teaching him this Christianity junk I wouldn’t be havin’ this problem! If I catch you talking Christianity to anybody else, I’ll kill you.”
Red walked over to an empty bench and sat down.
“Lord, now what? If I keep witnessing, he’ll kill me. What do I do?”
Red knew that God wanted him to keep witnessing to people. He picked up his Bible and turned to Acts 1:8. He read, “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He flipped to the back of his Bible to the concordance to look up the word “fear” and found Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He had been reading a lot in the book of Acts lately. People kept trying to make the apostles stop witnessing but even when they were beaten or thrown in jail, they wouldn’t quit. They feared God rather than man.
“Lord, I’m afraid but help me to fear you and obey you and not fear what Kyle can do to me. And Lord, please save Kyle.”
A week later, he was talking to a guy named Cal about Jesus when Kyle walked around the corner. Kyle didn’t say anything to him, he just gave him a dirty look and walked away. He knew Kyle had overheard him. What would happen now?
Two days later, a fight broke out on the Rock. Pat and Lenny were fighting and all the men in the room packed around them. Kyle slipped a shank out and stabbed Red, then released the shank, and moved away from him in a casual manner. The correction officers came into the room and ordered everyone back to their cells. As the officers focused on the two men fighting, Red collapsed onto the cold concrete floor.
Red saw the officers coming towards him but knew that it was already too late for them to help him. Then, he saw young men in shining garments standing beside him. He heard music. He tried to stand up but one of them told him to wait a moment so he lay back down. Suddenly, they were all standing before the Lord Jesus in heaven. Robin Sinclair was there also with a welcoming smile.
Kyle watched from his cell as the officers reached Red and he tried to sit up. He smiled, his eyes lit with joy. Then he lay back down. The life seemed to flow out of him. His face and body went slack and the color drained from him. He was dead.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) sent investigators to the prison immediately. The shank was sent to the crime lab where they were able to get a fingerprint that had been left on the metal piece under the cloth wrapping. The fingerprint turned out to be Kyle’s.
A few weeks after he died, Red’s funeral was held at his sister’s church in Walhalla. Before the funeral began, Red lay in his casket at the front of the church. Matt and Molly walked up to the front of the church for one last look. It seemed strange to Matt and yet Red’s death hurt. He felt real grief for the man who had killed his daughter. They took their seats as the organ began to play softly. A few minutes later, the pastor walked up to the podium and started with a prayer. Karen walked up to the pulpit right after the prayer. As she went up to the podium to sing, she was a little nervous. The pastor introduced her and then she spoke.
“I want to sing We Shall Live. It was one of Red’s favorite songs after he got saved. I used to sing it for him over the phone.”
The pianist began playing and she sang.
When a girl, the Lord I found, in the morning of my days,
Then I walked on solid ground, and the Lord I learned to praise.
As I followed Him through life, rougher grew the paths I trod,
Old age, now, one final strife, and I go to meet my God.
Once a boy on trouble bent, I began my wayward path.
‘Til my soul by grief was spent, and I feared the Savior’s wrath.
I repented of my sin, put my trust in Christ alone.
I have lived for Him since then, now my life is all but gone.
I, a pris'ner on Death Row, without peace or hope did dwell,
I would reap as I did sow, I would die and go to hell.
I could not deserve His grace, yet Christ saved me from my sin,
And though death I still must face, Paradise I’ll enter in.
We shall live, we shall live, because Christ died upon that tree,
Bought us back, made us God’s children for eternity.
We shall live, because Christ rose, because He lives and reigns on High.
We shall live with Christ forever, never more to die.
When our life on earth is new, ev'ry day is fresh and clear.
As our childhood we go through, time, we’ve not yet learned to fear.
But then faster go the days, and we find that youth flies by.
Soon we’re old, set in our ways, and our death is growing nigh.
Like awaking from a dream, to the bright sunshine of morn,
Fleeting days, this life will seem, when our ties to earth are torn.
We will rise to meet Him there, in that place that knows no night;
In that heav'nly land so fair, where our Savior is the light.
We shall live, we shall live, because Christ died upon that tree,
Bought us back, made us God’s children for eternity.
We shall live, because Christ rose, because He lives and reigns on High.
We shall live with Christ forever, never more to die.
We… shall… live...
When she had finished singing, Karen stepped down and Matt walked up to the podium.
“My name is Matt Sinclair. As most of you may already know, Red Jones killed my daughter Robin during a bank robbery. What you may not know is that after he went to jail, Red trusted Christ. Some people make professions in jail so that they can get a lighter sentence but Red’s faith was real. Even when threatened with death, he continued to witness for Christ. I know that he is in heaven today with Robin. I just wanted to tell y’all this.”
Matt walked down the steps and back to his seat. Then the pastor approached the podium. He spoke for a few minutes about Red’s early life. He talked about how his sister Karen had prayed so faithfully for his salvation and how Red had come to Christ and started witnessing for Christ in prison. Then he spoke of his death.
“Red made some terrible choices in his life. He ended up killing someone. But then he learned to fear God. He did an about face. He trusted Christ and started living for Him. They killed his body but his soul is alive today in heaven. Red chose to witness for Christ even knowing that it could result in his death. Why did God allow him to be killed? We may never know that in this lifetime but God had a purpose for allowing Red’s death. Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”’
“It is my prayer that Red’s death will not be in vain but will bear fruit, both the fruit of sinners saved and the fruit of Christians who will sellout and give their lives to serve Christ.”
The pastor continued to speak for a few more minutes and then invited anyone who wished to trust Christ to come and speak with him after the service. Soon he was closing in prayer.
Part 2
Marcus agreed to testify against Kyle. Not only did Marcus witness the discussions that took place before the stabbing but he had also been standing close to Kyle when the stabbing happened and had actually seen it take place. His name was legally changed and he was sent to a medium security prison with a warning that if he ever tried to escape, he would be sent back to Hunter Correctional Institution.
******
Immediately after he killed Red, Kyle was sent to the super-max facility in Columbia to await trial. The cell he was placed in had two doors, a normal outer door with a food hatch and an inner door of bars. There was a concrete bed and shelf, a TV in the wall that was not working, a sink, a toilet and a shower. He was allowed to have a mattress, basic clothing, and hygiene items. The only book or reading material he was given was a Bible. There was also no radio. Because there was nothing to do and no one to talk to, he decided to read the Bible just to relieve the boredom. Over the next year and a half, he read it all the way through but didn’t understand much of it. To Kyle, it seemed like a book of fairy tales.
After a year and a half, Kyle went to trial and was found guilty. Because he was already in prison for a previous murder, he was sentenced to death. Once the sentence was given, he was transported immediately to South Carolina’s Death Row at Lieber Correctional Institution. When he arrived there, he was walked through the outside gate and then after a minute or two they came to another gate that led into the area where death row was located.
“Strip,” said the officer.
Kyle took all his clothes off.
&nbs
p; “Sit here.” The officer pointed to a chair like device that had a metal detector designed to check for weapons in bodily cavities. Once that was done, Kyle was given a “suicide blanket” (a blanket made of tough material which could not be ripped and formed into a rope.) Wearing nothing but the “suicide blanket,” he was placed in an observation cell where he would be observed for several days to insure that he was not suicidal. There was no pillow and no mattress on the bed, which was just a metal shelf. He tried to get comfortable but if he was covered by the blanket then the bare metal was under him and when he tried lying on the blanket, there wasn’t enough left to completely cover him. His neck also hurt because there was no pillow. He finally gave up and sat up for a while. Eventually, he did sleep for a little while but he kept waking up in discomfort.
After four days, they decided that he was not suicidal. He was given a mattress, a pillow, sheets and a pillowcase, an emerald green jumpsuit, a pair of boxers, a pair of socks, a cup and an orange plastic spork. A day later, a run around (a Death Row inmate whose job it was to run errands ) brought him two washcloths, a towel, another pair of underwear, another pair of socks, and two undershirts. “This is from a couple of the guys on the row. A welcoming gift I guess.”
“Tell them thanks,” replied Kyle.
Kyle soon found out more about Death Row. It had two sections: A and B. The cells of each section formed a U shape. Between the two sections was a sally port and a control area which, together with the two U shapes of the section, formed the Greek letter Theta θ. If you were on the rock on B section facing the top of the U, the sally port was to the left and the control area to the right. A section was a mirror image of B section. When you first got to Death Row, you were placed in B section. If you committed a major infraction after you arrived there, they moved you to A section and you stayed there as long as you were on Death Row. Although there were a few people in A section who had not committed major infractions but had been on A section before it became the policy to put the troublemakers there, most of the people on A section were troublemakers. A few of them were crazy. One person in A section was so mean that he would attack anybody who came within his reach. He had escaped from a prison in Georgia and then killed a police officer at a mall in the town of Edisto. Since coming to Death Row, at different times, he had attacked both officers and inmates. He had been sent to the super-max in Columbia for a while after he stabbed an officer but for some reason they later sent him back. He could not be taken out of his cell unless three officers were present. A section was also noisier than B section and a few of the inmates on A section had been known to through fecal material on both officers and other inmates. Kyle planned to stay in B section. The observation cell was the first cell on the ground level of B Section. There was also a second level. The second level was accessed by stairs and a walkway. The walkway was about six feet wide with a finished concrete floor. The walkway formed a rough U shape but the walls were not curved but had oblique angles after every few cells. In each section, at the bottom of the U, were four showers on each level for a total of 16 showers on all of Death Row. Around the walkway on the second level, there was a railing and floor to ceiling chain-link fencing to keep anyone from falling off. Looking down through the chain-link, you could see “the Rock,” an open area in the middle of the U with tables and benches secured to the floor. “The Rock” was not used much on death row.