Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom: The long-term impact of violent loss
Casey Smith is one of Oscar Franklin Smith's two living sons he shared with estranged wife, Judy Robirds Smith
Photo by Tasha A.F. Lemley
“For all intents and purposes, he’s been gone since I was 2,” Casey said of his father. “Whenever I quit blaming him for everything, he quit being a factor in my life completely. … But, if this man’s killing three people is deserving of death, why would anybody think it of any benefit to go and watch the state do the same thing to him?”
In this feature I was assigned and produced, we hear from three individuals personally affected by violent loss — including the death penalty.
This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU in Kentucky and NPR and includes content from my long form interview with Casey Smith on This Is Nashville.