Forgiveness

Sharletta Evans tells her story of forgiveness as she not only forgave the stranger who killed her 3-year old son Casson, she now calls him son.

Because of the attention of her immediate public declaration of forgiveness towards her son’s shooters, Sharletta turned the spotlight both personally and politically towards fairness for juvenile offenders. 2012 Sharletta’s testimony was shared at the US Supreme Court case of Miller vs. Alabama, which the United States Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for juveniles to receive life without parole sentences. The 2016 Miller vs. The Alabama case was ruled retroactive, where Sharletta heavily campaigned for both rulings in Washington DC. In 2012, she campaigned and testified for HB 1271, limiting direct file cases Colorado prosecutors can call against juveniles. HB 11-1032, a Colorado bill that expands restorative justice for adults, was also signed into law in 2011, and Sharletta was instrumental in sharing her testimony while working with Representative Pete Lee (D-Colorado).

In 2013 Sharletta became a national advocate, trained and volunteer lobbyist for the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth in Washington DC. Honored in November 2016 with The Hope and Healing Award by the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. In May of 2012, Sharletta was chosen by the Department of Corrections Executive Director to be the first crime survivor and victim family member to participate in the Pilot High Risk Restorative Justice Conference. she met with the boy, now a grown man who pulled the trigger that fired the fatal bullet, killing her son, making her one of the few people in the country who has been on both sides of the Restorative Justice process. In Sept of 2016 she met with the Co-defendant in a Restorative Justice High Risk Dialogue. 2016 was instrumental with the organizing of testimonies from crime survivors and victim families on bill HB 16- 181 that passed and gained a resentencing opportunity for 47 Juvenile Lifers with Parole in the State of Colorado.

Sharletta is a professional national speaker and is currently enrolled at community college of Aurora where she is majoring in Psychology. She continues to share her journey of healing, restoration, redemption, and forgiveness.

https://cfsy.org/

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/sharletta-evans-raymond-johnson-casson-evans-deadly-shooting/

https://theimagineproject.org/