Discussing Repeal of the Death Penalty

SPEAKING IN MIDDLETOWN

FORMER CONVICTED MURDERER & MOTHER OF MURDER VICTIM

Saturday, January 28th, 4:00pm, Shiloh Baptist Church

Two people whose lives have forever been changed by murder, Fernando Bermudez, who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit and Victoria Coward, whose teenage son was murdered, will join forces in Middletown on January 28th at Shiloh Baptist Church.

“It is shameful that we undertake something as permanent and serious as the death penalty when we know full well we can, and do, make mistakes,” said Reverend Dr. W. Vance Cotten, Sr., Pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church of Middletown.

Bermudez was convicted in 1992 of shooting a teenager outside a New York City nightclub. His conviction was based, in part, on questionable eyewitness testimony. The witnesses recanted after Bermudez was convicted and the Innocence Project intervened. Bernudez was exonerated in 2009.

Bermudez is anxious to tell his story in Connecticut. “I knew that if I always told the truth that one day I would get to share my story as a free man.”

Victoria Coward also feels it’s important for people in Middletown to hear her story. Coward’s 18-year old Tyler was shot to death on the streets of New Haven in 2007.

“We never use the death penalty in Connecticut yet it sucks up millions of millions of dollars that could be put toward crime prevention or victims' services,” Coward said.  “What I wouldn’t give for a tiny slice of those millions to give my grieving daughters some professional help to process the death of their brother.”

This event is open to the public.

When: Saturday, January 28th @ 4:00pm

Where: Shiloh Baptist Church

              346 Butternut Street

              Middletown, CT

Contact: Ben Jones, CNADP Executive Director

                860-231-1489      ben.jones@cnadp.org