LANSING, Mich. — Karen Jackson and Crystal Grigonis have a lot in common, but there’s one traumatic commonality that has brought them even closer together. They both had loved ones who were murdered.
Grigonis' brother was killed in 2000, and Jackson’s son was killed in 2017.
“I don’t think it’s possible to understand unless you’ve been there, the feeling of shock that get through it, the feeling of shock that goes through you and the anxiety and stress,” Jackson said.
Jackson and Grigonis said that pain has motivated them to seek justice for themselves and others like them.
The two are a part of a Facebook group called Voices of Murder Victims, and recently, the group put out a petition opposing three bills in the Michigan Legislature that have been introduced that could end a the sentencing of life in prison without the possibility of parole for some prisoners.
“We’re very concerned that with the passing of these bills, they're being slanted to the guilty and not accounting the detrimental impact of the victims and what we go through,” Jackson said.
So far, the petition has more than 400 signatures, but some people have a different perspective on life imprisonment.
“No, I don’t believe that anybody should get a natural life sentence,” community activist Michael Lynn Jr. weighed in. “People can rehabilitate if that's what our agenda is supposed to be with the criminal, then what would be the reason why we lock someone up for the rest of their life?”
Jackson and Grigonis said they believe in second chances, but not for heinous crimes like murder.
“They took a life of someone, and I believe they need to pay for what they did,” Jackson said.
