Forgiveness and Bitterness
The Illinois Prisoner Review in Springfield on Thursday denied granting parole to a man who fatally shot a 15-year-old Danville teen during a gas station robbery nearly 34 years ago. … Dumas was denied parole for the 18th time since his incarceration in 1976 “because of the seriousness of the offense,” Tupy said.
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“Whenever he comes up for parole, I have to relive it again,” continued the [mother of the victim], who works to keep her son’s murderer behind bars. “Now I can put Dumas out of my mind. I don’t have to think about it for three years.”
I think what James Albert Dumas, the killer, did was horrible. He shot and killed a teenager and deserves to be punished according to our legal system. However, I feel incredible empathy and sorrow for the mother of the victim. Dumas has been eligible for parole since 1983 and has been denied 18 times because of the work of the mother. By her own words, every time his parole comes up, she relives her son’s murder. I feel sorry for the loss of her son but also for the prison of bitterness that she is trapped in. I don’t know her motivation for her continual campaign to keep Dumas behind bars but I speculate that she has not forgiven the man for what he did. That is 34 years of bitterness and anger pent up in her heart. She’s relived her son’s murder 18 times because she continues to deny Dumas parole. Perhaps if she were to forgive him and allow him to be paroled, she can allow her son to rest and let go of the bitterness and not have to relive the pain and sorrow. But at least for another three years, Dumas will be behind bars of metal and the mother will be behind bars of bitterness.