The Kids Serving 50+ Years For Murder (Prison Documentary) | Our Life

i'm blake layman i'm 17 years old i was sentenced to 55 years for murder i'm jesus from state of perez i'm 17 years old and i got sentenced to 65 years for murder [Music] this is wabash valley correctional facility in the american state of indiana [Music] this 90-acre maximum security compound is home to over 2 000 of the state's most notorious criminals [Music] the convicts are imprisoned by a 15-foot high fence topped with razor wire a secondary electrified fence six guard towers and over 750 staff block d is unique inside live 40 teenagers teenagers so troublesome and violent they've been tried and convicted as adults [Music] they've committed everything from armed robbery to murder serving sentences from two years to 65 years locked in their cells for 18 hours a day these youngsters are paying a huge price for their crimes [Music] boys reflecting on how a moment of madness has destroyed their lives [Music] 9 a.m two new teenage inmates arrive children are tried as adults when they've repeatedly reoffended in the youth system or their crime is considered so horrific that an adult maximum security prison is deemed the only answer 202.95 what's your name with over 50 teenage boys annually coming through their gates the officers at warbash know what to expect these guys they come in they don't use deodorant stuff they don't care i don't think they care jacob eldridge is back for a second visit to the juvenile bloc after breaking his parole on a previous conviction for carrying a handgun without a license we got a good program here but once in a while they just don't do the program they go out and get more trouble and come back and one of them here just did that he got out and now he's back again so how many times have you been here before once it's my second time back but it's my last time back she sounded very short i looking at the am the other new inmate story is typical of the youngsters at warbash a few minutes of their life followed by huge consequences my name is ireland mccain i'm 16 years old and i got sentenced for 10 years for robbery ireland owed money for drugs so he his sister and a friend decided to rob a family friend's house no i guess you can say i really didn't want to rob in the first so i i pretty much made myself because the way they planned really didn't go how it was going to actually go alan rang the doorbell when the homeowner a 64 year old man answered ireland beat him with a socket wrench well i'm just beating this dude up and i don't know why i just i guess since my adrenaline's pumping i really wasn't thinking to just stop but i just didn't yeah my hands were all bloody afterwards i couldn't see any white on my hands he ended up being in the hospital for like four or five days he lost like three and a half pints of blood broke his jaw he had contusions to the back of his head and what's happening i think that's about it enjoy your stay [Music] with all their possessions it's the walk to their new home the juvenile facility in block d [Music] completely separate from the adult prisoners these 40 teenage criminals eat sleep and learn in this one unit new guests nougat there to greet them is correctional officer morrissey a former military officer whose job now is to keep the peace in the juvenile bloc a new inmate will come in replace him in the cell he'll make sure he has all his hygiene all his necessities and he's ready to roll the teachers will interview him the case with manager counselors will interview him medical or interviewing and then he'll be on his own that sucks with 18 years experience officer morrissey has seen what it's like for new inmates scary especially if they're they've never experienced this type of environment they run the gamut between fitting right into isolating themselves in their cell we have to treat each individual as an individual some are very aggressive and the unit will respond the same way some of them are very passive it just depends on the personalities that come in [Applause] that's them all right you know they all said hey and what's up so you know it's seemed pretty cool so far so we'll find out i want to go home my family and get an education and just go home that's a big reason why i want to kind of you know stay out of trouble while i'm here you know do good and get out [Music] prison officers aren't the only staff to work in the unit new inmates jacob and ireland have an induction from the casework manager elita burnett okay on this first one as we're going through this i want you to check off when i tell you to check off what we cover on that the leader's job is to offer the boys counseling and guidance it'll be a good opportunity because we have some really great teachers here these kids are not coming from a healthy place period so they may feel like the whole system the whole world has given up on them long before they even got there and that wouldn't surprise me you know i mean what i like to say is these our children aren't throwaways you know we need to get them back out and be healthy they're just not healthy this is all the rules and regulations i really want you guys to read through these because ignorance of these rules and regulations is no excuse for conduct just like ignorance of the law is no excuse i try to be firm fair and consistent with all of the kids and a lot of them they don't like to displease me and you know that type of thing but i don't know if i want to be called the mama that's a lot of babies to have to take care of in there the majority of teenagers at wabash are in for sentences of 10 years or less however being tried as adults means that those who have committed horrific crimes will spend much of their life in prison i'm jesus from state of perez i'm 17 years old and i got sentenced to 65 years for murder jesus has been involved in gangs from a young age i've been drunk i've been hit with bats i got stabbed in my leg i've been shot at like ain't nothing new to me like i see this every day like for me i've been i live this life you feel me it ain't nothing so i never got shot though surprisingly one june evening out driving with friends in his hometown of elkhart he spotted a rival and an argument began he was throwing gangsters or something and he stood like i don't know he said something i got possessed or something like something came over me that's when like that's when i felt like something just that's when i felt that in a fit of anger jesus fired one shot yeah i seen his face too like i remember seeing him like like you know a surprise face sixteen-year-old braxton barhams was dead i know like me and him didn't get along but then i just for me i just took his life like what the [ __ ] what i just do jesus is now spending 65 years at warbash reflecting on that one moment i guess i don't like talking about it or something what's the main reason you think you did not talk about this because that's that's what changed my life that's what filming that's what changed everything that's like i feel like when that happened my life stopped too like for me because i don't know like everything else is like just gone [Music] [Applause] [Music] the teenagers at wabash get one hour of recreation in the morning and one hour in the evening part of the staff's philosophy not to punish but to rehabilitate no if you have just punishment and no rehabilitation then you're doing nothing you're just housing people and you know you're not helping them turn around and then you're going to dump them back onto society so basically you just shot yourself in the foot because they're going to go out and be the very same they were when they come in and maybe worse i'm tired of being locked up i'm in the penitentiary ain't got no money on my books and i'm so hungry man i'm locked up i'm markeisly i'm 18 years old uh and i got 15 years for aggravated battery cause i'm tired of talking to my people through these letters man i'm locked up i'm trying to make it in the industry i'm trying to go i'm trying to get big marquis was 16 and on probation for theft when he committed his crime for which he was tried as an adult some people say it ain't fair because we're under age but then again i'd be like you feel me we did like that you ever heard of the saying you feel me you can do the crime do the time himself that's why i'm like if it me i i did it so i mean i really i'm owning up to whatever you feel me they charge me like i was a man i'm going to step up like a man and do my time [Music] the victim had assaulted marquis's mother so he decided to get revenge with his accomplices his uncle and mother excited i was just trying to get to him i was ready to get to him more than what i already did if you want to join him i want him to know like he had the right one this time like he he messed up i want him to know that like yeah you're not gonna get away with this so i'm gonna get you i ran up on him and we just got the fist fight we got the fight you know he failed i dropped him he failed and he crawled to the door that's when i seen him chance so he hit me i took out the gun off sorry wow when i shot him he dropped i the first shot uh when i i learned the um court first shot hit him in the back in the spinal cord and it paralyzed him his uncle then also fired the victim died at the scene he got what he deserved that's how i was feeling like you hit me if he did he did if he just got shot he deserved what i gave him he shouldn't hit my mama [Music] marquise recently turned 18 and is due to move up to adult prison however he's been allowed to stay in the juvenile unit in order to complete his education as long as he avoids getting written up for the past six months he's essentially stayed out of trouble this is part of our reward program at 180 days they're entitled to get a loan or tv and an hour of extra record weekend it's motivation to not get in trouble i'm gonna get thinking like oh man i won't lose my tv so if i could stick today yo i'm gonna be straight you're responsible please all right okay you are now proud owner of a tv take it back to yourself dealing with children here is different from the adults because you do tend to adopt a parental role i don't know all their stories i don't know all their home lives i don't know if they think of me as a father i think some of them do and i have to fulfill that obligation to them as well as do my custody position be what they need to grow you have cable i don't want to see any of them come back if they go out onto the civilian population and i take that responsibility very [Music] seriously from reward programs through to mandatory schooling the staff inside the juvenile unit of warbash attempt to provide as stabler life as possible for the boys in their care four multiplied by a number plus six equals forty-six but some of these are teenagers trying to cope emotionally with long sentences indiana law states that with good behavior an inmate has to serve a minimum of half their sentence leaving jesus macedo perez still facing being imprisoned until he's at least 49 years old i'm not calm about it but i must come instead of good people just try to kill themselves or go crazy like thing for me like you know what i'm saying like [ __ ] don't eat the same i ain't the same no more but i'm not trying to deal with it like that i'm not trying to go nuts i'm not trying to kill myself i still got even though i'm here i still got something to live for jesus is looking for any way to shorten his sentence he's come to casework manager elita burnett everything goes into play as i told you from the very beginning and conduct so you keep your conduct you keep going to school get everything you can so they see you're trying to improve your life then you can try to get some of these things it's tough i know i can see it in your eyes that you're upset whatever i can do if it's just like one thing i can do i'm gonna try to do that one thing but don't get all down in the dumps yeah you're gonna make the best you can of everything you know dude so you know um just because i can't run out here and save you for this that doesn't mean that i don't i'm not interested in which way you're going okay that'll work yeah okay all right all right i just can't even imagine being that young and being in that situation it just doesn't even compute with my mind i just see it but it still doesn't compute i think he'll be okay but i mean i would be devastated but of course i've never put myself in that position having worked in the unit for seven years elita sees how a child's upbringing can ultimately lead to a crime that puts them behind bars they come from families that you know we have generations of this stuff going on generations of the drugs generations of of uh prison and you know it's it's it's sad you know we have several in there right now that has seen a parent kill the other parent and then we wonder you know um it's uh almost heartbreaking in some ways you know some of the things these young little kids have gone through [Music] pesos is from elkhart in northern indiana his father left home when he was a toddler the things i remember about my dad they were not good memories i remember him on top of my mom he was hitting her and i i couldn't take him no more i just i grabbed something i hit him in the head with it and i was young and then like he hit me and i flew i flew across the room and i just remember that part his mother irene is unemployed and is bringing up her five remaining children in their two-bedroom apartment a five-hour drive from the prison they haven't seen jesus since he was taken to warbash he's my blood to blood brother like he's my real brother and it hurts me a lot because we were like um me and him have been through a lot together and stuff and like but we still like flight i don't know it's just hard and i don't want him nothing to happen to him with his family living just yards from where jesus's gangland shooting took place his fear is that a rival gang will seek revenge on his family that just stretches me out too like thinking about like i can't be there for my family like and all the enemies i had like i hope they don't try to hurt my family like i just think about that but it's not just on the outside where his gang life can catch up with him officers have caught jesus carrying a letter containing gang-related material it never surprises me what these guys try to get it get away with it's some of them who are facing life sentences you know really what do they have to lose i mean they've already lost their life or possibility of life out on the streets so now it's just up to them as to the type of quality of life that they want to have and a lot of them get persuaded with the gang activities thinking that that's going to give them more creature comforts here inside but eventually it catches up to him do you want me to read all this to you i don't even care for it do you understand what it is yes many of the teenagers at wabash join gangs at a young age some of them are not getting nurturing the way that they need to have it and so they get into a gang everybody wants to belong and then they'll get them when they're very very young you know they just want to belong to something and a lot of them get pulled in how do you plead guilty guilty for jesus this is his first write-up in prison more than ever gang membership is hard to escape probably one of the hardest things you can do is get out of the game because the only way you really do get out of the game is for me you know dead [ __ ] okay i don't know i don't even care i don't care about [ __ ] [ __ ] it man i'm tired of this [ __ ] while many of the teenagers at wabash have absent fathers many of them are fathers themselves today is visiting day and it's particularly special for one prisoner my name is anthony sanders i'm 17 i was sentenced to eight years for two council robbery [Music] anthony has a son and today will be the first time he's seen him since he arrived at warbash over a year ago i'm looking forward to it because i ain't seen my son in a long time and i just wanted him to feel my presence you know feel get the feeling of his dad being around again talk to him his girlfriend nene and his two-year-old son anthony junior have made the two-hour drive from indianapolis to visit it's hard to explain but we're excited we ain't seen them in over a year so yeah we're happy i'm gonna tell him i love him see if he's helping me love me back and stuff like that that's really it oh my god there you go julia who did i'm your daddy say that you want your mommy you gonna leave me what's up say daddy what's up you don't even remember me huh it's crazy it's food say what's up mama daddy mama that day mama daddy that's who you always talking about say daddy he wants to have a family he wants that so badly they're children themselves so you know that's quite a responsibility even for somebody who hasn't gone through some of the things they've gone through already i don't even don't even know who i am you may be mad you look the same i didn't see how i would do it i got a little senior no you don't a lot of the kids are in relationships and of course you know they're wanting them to their girlfriends to marry them and all of this i meant it is crushing for them when they move on and it's crushing for them especially if they have a child with that person because that happens quite a bit i'm not gonna let you guys say that yeah big boy huh it was wonderful at first i was kind of mad he acted like he didn't know who i was he was a little shy but i figured it out but overall he started calling me daddy he came through he made my day it was fun [Music] make you feel like you're important you know i mean let me let me know i really do got some people that love me because when you ain't got too many people out there at home you know when somebody looking up to you to make you feel important in some type of way make me feel good man bye daddy say love you [Music] i'm ready to go back to my room just to it's memorial day a public holiday in america and the prison put on a special meal for the boys in block d [Music] they are getting extra food extra calories uh special treats that they don't normally get throughout the week what is on the menu today what do they have barbecued chicken seasoned pork tossed salad dressing and fruit cooking hey look chicken look burnt shallot always look good corn cool you know what they must be bro if they don't like the prison food inmates can also buy treats with their own money blake layman has been at wabash for over a year and has saved up for some ingredients to make a cake the bottom i got like honey buns like crushed up to make like a dough i put some cookies on top of that some peanut butter and then more cookies and then some honey buns and then this is some icing that i made because it's close thing dyson we can get chocolate and some peanut butter a little bit of milk mixed it up he's celebrating a big moment in every child's life his 18th birthday this is the second birthday i spent in jail so you know it's really just another day so that's why i made a cake so i try to make it special you know it's my 18th birthday a little bit more chocolate yeah yeah i think it looks good that's nice birthday the best best you can do really don't get them better than that my name is blake clement i'm 18 years old i was sentenced to 55 years for murder happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday happy birthday to you as a teenager blake was involved in petty crime and had been expelled from his high school i hung out my girlfriend a lot you know we were close i was getting high every day i was smoking i was i wasn't really worried about a lot of stuff you know i didn't wasn't thinking too much about nothing blake and four friends decided to break into a house in search of some quick money once kicked the door to the back and uh got inside and there was another door to the kitchen that was locked too i think someone kicked that too i didn't know anyone was there until there was actually gunshots you know that's when i kind of figured out you know somebody's home i didn't know and i didn't hear anything i just heard the gunshots turned around ran the other way you know and that's what all of us did we all in run run away you know so three all three of us me denzel and jose ended up in the closet but as denzel was running towards the closet he got shot in the chest and you know so he's climbed in the closet and he's bleeding you know and as i'm climbing in the closet i got shot in the leg so we're out there in the closet and you know i'm bleeding denzel's actually dying and you can almost see like his you know spirit leave his body you know like you could just tell it was it was over you know it was bad it was real bad with their friend denzel dead in the house the homeowner called the police the remaining four were arrested and taken to the local jail i found out while i was sitting there that they were charging us with murder you know and at the time i kind of thought okay you know they don't know what happened i'm like you know they haven't talked to anybody you know they must think you know we killed denzel they must think you know something they must have something switched around something mixed up or something but there was no mix-up under indiana law if someone dies during a burglary all those breaking in can be held accountable the prosecutor said there was a murder committed you know the homeowner was just in what he did which you know it is what it is you know it was his home that's right but and he said someone has to be held responsible so he felt we were going to be held responsible because our actions resulted in what happened the jury found the four guilty of murder blake was given 55 years behind bars time to reflect on how it had gone so badly wrong my biggest regret about that day is the whole day i mean hell i should have just went home why was i following when i should've been leading you know why was i you know not thinking for myself you know not thinking farther ahead not thinking about what could happen what go wrong you know so yeah i definitely regret that day i regret a lot of everything about it [Music] there's been an incident in the youth block marquis lee is charged with assaulting a custody officer and is about to go through the disciplinary process the previous evening lee threw liquid at another offender which also hit the night shift custody officer i know it may not sound serious but it is very serious if they throw liquid or anything else or any assault to staff if we would not take that seriously we would be assaulted all the time can you tell me what happened he told us the best i mean you fit me so you threw it on a fender buchanan and it hit it hit the officer yeah if it's urine and all of this and you throw it at somebody could contain viruses so it's very serious tell me how you're going to plead um i'm going to tell you right now you're probably not going to stay in here you're 18 years of age and you're i i can't have you even whether you meant to do it or you were playing around i can't have you doing that on a youth unit you're 18 right yeah so how are you going to play i don't get high poster please guilty or not guilty oh yeah i'll please hopefully guilty i did it if he's moved out of the juvenile block marquis will miss the chance to complete his education i'll get it if i intentionally meant to do it for me to get it on the ceo but i didn't hit me and that's us hearing officer sarah chapman is responsible for deciding the i sentence you guilty don't throw a liquid substance on staff or and or offenders one month phone three months said 45 good days i don't play when it comes to throwing stuff you're gonna have to go sit and save and think about what you did the seg or segregation unit is the solitary confinement wing for adult prisoners how many days it's a sad day but if anybody's heard me talk in orientation or talk to them i tell them how important those conducts are and you know if you want to take a risk then you know that's on you [Music] he was on this unit even though he was 18 years old he has been moved to an adult unit where he will be treated as an adult he is not being segregated from the other influences like he would be over here therefore even though he is in a cell by himself he will still be influenced by the the voices and the comments of those around him over here we tend to try and shield them from that as much as humanly possible over there if the shield's gone they make a mistake it doesn't surprise me after all they're here for mistakes they've made it's it's just a repetition of behavior our job here is to try to correct and change that behavior are we successful not always no are we successful some of the times yes we just be happy for our successes and go on our business because we can't dwell on the failures one of the goals for the boys at wabash valley prison is to complete their high school education 18 year old blake layman recently took his final exams i have some good news for you yes you passed your high school equivalency congratulations thanks man yeah no problem no problem good work all right thanks so much maybe you can move forward from here right yeah that's that's fine okay good work appreciate it yeah thanks for coming now i don't know it means i got an education now i don't know i don't know i'm happy though i failed the first time so you know i'm just glad i got it done with his schooling complete and having turned 18 blake is now eligible for the next stage of prison life the adult wing where he could spend the next 53 years you hear all these stories and stuff like that i just you know i'd see it for myself and i guess i got a lot of time to do i'm not i could sit over here for time like 21 or something like that i don't want to do that you know i'm gonna have to do i'm gonna have to go to the general population eventually i'm gonna have to go to the doll block eventually so you know get it out the way let's go [Music] blake's mother angie visits every two weeks she is in less of a hurry for black's move i'm nervous about him going to the adult side i know he's got a couple buddies over there that are waiting but i just know that there's a lot of grown men over there that have actually committed murder and horrifying crimes hi honey i miss you she's come with blake's brother sister and girlfriend to see him for the first time since his 18th birthday oh yeah that's right as well as bringing up her other two children and holding down a job working with people with disabilities angie's had to deal with the stigma attached to being the mother of a convicted murderer i've heard things such negative things through the last year even us parents should have been convicted or we should have been charged things like that but as a parent we can only do so much i mean we can only leave them so far we can only give them so much advice as teenagers we all know we all make dumb choices and do things that you wish you wouldn't have done from her perspective the mistakes juveniles make is not taken into account in the u.s system of trying children as adults i think we have a juvenile justice system for a reason i think all juveniles should be charged as juveniles they're not adults they don't think like adults they don't they haven't learned like we have these kids should have a chance to learn from their mistake and they didn't get that opportunity for blake and other teenagers at wabash such as jesus at the beginning of sentences longer than their life so far hope of release is something to cling on to being locked up for this much time i want to find out things i can do i know there's something out there give me some time cuts or something the prison library could help jesus find an answer adult prisoners work as clerks to help guide fellow inmates through the complex u.s legal system how can i learn about the this like that and this his murder charge combined with his gang activity meant he was looking at a sentence of a hundred and thirty years so he took a guilty plea in court in return for a reduced sentence of 65 years so basically it's your first step trying to do anything about a pcr you know what a pcr is for though right yeah i know it stands for post conversion really reduce your sentence so they can reduce your sentence and get your sense overturned it can it could be a anything go back and get you retried you know what i mean like but i took a place so it doesn't matter though i don't play yeah oh um you know [Music] i don't hold a lot of hope that he's going to get a shorter sentence out of this nobody's going to get him out of here in a year nobody's going to get him out of here and two unless they overturn his whole case it's just not going to happen every prisoner whatever age whatever crime has to come to terms with the consequences of their actions i regret everything i did i regret making money even though it was it was it was good i regret making money the bad way i didn't realize it was affecting people it was affecting people that were addicted to drugs like i don't know like stuff like that i just i guess i was too young to realize i was [Music] i mean i'm 17 i was 12 13 14 15. [Music] i hate myself for what i did and i understand why people hate me i get it i know why i feel them like i hate myself too whatever a child's future holds it falls to the staff to guide the inmates through their time as best they can if one of the young men have years and years and years the only thing i can do is help them endure it i guess [Music] giving them hope is not i i can't do it i would like to see them have a better life and i think that takes a lot out on you when you know you can't really provide that i'm always trying to bow out of the air it's hard on me so i'm ready to pass that crown over to somebody else i'm tired of being locked up i'm in a [Music] penitent [Music] my back against a wall and i'm all alone man i'm locked up cause i'm tired of talking to my people through these letters man i'm locked up being locked up in this room driving me crazy and my brain is getting lazy man i'm locked up i'm in a penitentiary i ain't got no money on my books and i'm so hungry see this right here gonna change me for the better cause i'm tired of talking to my people through these letters man i'm locked up being locked up in this room driving me crazy and my brain is getting lazy [Music] you

Channel: Our Life

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Keywords: our life, documentary, world documentary, documentary channel, award winning, life stories, best documentaries, daily life, real world, point of view, story, full documentary, history, prison, prison documentary

Id: osLL-kgsh7c

Length: 45min 0sec (2700 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Pruedrive]

I’m all for not judging folks for the worst thing they have ever done, especially kids, cause they are all idiots.. (but) if you been shown to repeatedly to commit crimes over and over again, or ones that are so severe, my patience and empathy for you start to wane.