A Family in Need of Your Help

To:  Mississippi Board of Parole

Petition to free a man that has paid for his crime even though he was a victim himself.

I am writing this on behalf of my brother. I think he has spent enough time behind bars for what happened when he was 18 years old. Emmett E. Weeks Jr. #77493 is my brother and is serving a life sentence with possibility of parole. He has successfully completed three set-off periods of 1 year, 18 months, and two years. He is again up for parole in June 2005. He has spent the last 14 years in prison.

There has been protest from the victim’s family and rightfully so; but, my brother also has a family who wants to see him released and we feel his side of the story should be told. Emmett plead guilty to homicide because of remorse and a guilty conscience; not to save himself. Due to the guilty plea his side of the story never came to light of how or why he did this.

In 1991, Emmett was 18 years old and deeply depressed to the point of contemplating suicide. He left suicide letters behind at a relative’s house and disappeared. This was not the actions of a hardened criminal searching for a victim or was thinking rationally when he accepted a ride from Mr. John E. Phagan of upstate New York. Mr. Phagan bought alcohol and after some time drinking he expressed an interest in having a homosexual relationship with Emmett. It was at that point Emmett asked to be let out but Mr. Phagan convinced him that he would bring him back if he would travel with him to New Albany.

This was a case of a professional older gay man trying to seduce a troubled, confused young teenager with alcohol and promises to help him with his problems. Mr. Phagan drove Emmett through the night to a wooded area in Union County where he pretended to be stuck on his property. After several failed attempts to convince Emmett to have sex with him they continued to Mr. Phagan’s sisters’ house. Once there Mr. Phagan made further advances and my brother panicked. He shot Mr. Phagan with the handgun he had taken to use on himself. He then fled in Mr. Phagan’s van. Nothing was taken form the residence so robbery was not the intentions, only getting away from Mr. Phagan. Emmett was in a very poor state of mind and he made very bad decisions, but he should not have to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Since being incarcerated, Emmett has gotten his G.E.D., some college semesters, and vocational training skills. He has spent 14 years in prison and is now 32 years old. He has worked for the MSP main maintenance program for 8 of those years as a skilled trusted worker. He has obtained letters of recommendation for release form over 20 maintenance personnel on staff, as well as correctional officers who have supervised his construction job. He got married in 1999 and has made every effort possible to prove that his life os on the right track. He has guaranteed employment upon release with respectful construction companies.

Emmett has the support of his family and community and we are asking for your support as well. By signing this petition you will be helping give a once troubled teenager a chance to mend past mistakes.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The A Family in Need of Your Help Petition to Mississippi Board of Parole was created by and written by Eva Weeks Daffron (evadaff2004@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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