She was in his cell, waiting to be executed, and he asked as a last

Most people never see these children before the worst day of their lives. They do not see the neighborhoods they grew up in. They do not see the instability, the fear, the violence, the neglect, or the circumstances that shaped them long before a courtroom ever learned their names. Instead, society often meets them at a single moment—a crime scene, a police report, a trial. By then, their story has already been reduced to one terrible act. A judge delivers a sentence. A courtroom falls silent. Families leave carrying grief, anger, relief, or heartbreak. And…