Dear Reader,
My name is Marlon Johnson, and I’m so much more than my conviction. I’m a father, a son, and I’m a brother. But in here, now, I’m just inmate 1066348, even as there is so much more to me than what the official court documents read.
I started off my journey raised by a single mother on the east side of Henrico County, VA. I was a very curious kid growing up, not knowing that my curiosity would one day play a big part in a lot of decisions I’d make in life. Now, I’m incarcerated for 2 involuntary manslaughters and a DUI, which sounds so bad to me, so violent in so many ways and its something that’s haunts me a lot. Not a day goes by that I don’t relive my mistakes, but I am so different from how those convictions sound on the surface.
So let’s start at the beginning. Growing up, I made lots of friends but over time living a responsible life makes us distance ourselves from everyone, not by choice but by force. And my force was working. I worked a lot, 12 hour days, overtime, you name it. I saw my workplace more then I saw my home. I was a machine operator at a plastic bag plant called Novolex, and that was pretty much all I did anymore.
That’s why, on one of my rare days off, my cousin called me to hang out. Me being me, I declined. He went on about how I don’t do anything anymore–all I do is work–I need to live a little. I gave in and we ended up picking up a close friend who wanted to ride with us. She was always there for me when I needed her and now she needed me to take her a few places so I did, feeling like I was helping. But before we left we talked over a few beers, laughing and joking. I drank no more than 3 beers, and then we left. After everything was done, all the riding around, I was taking them home and the worst tragedy possible happened. I crashed into a tree, killing two people very close to me and nearly killing myself. In the blink of an eye, my whole life changed. It was almost impossible to accept what had happened without any criminal charges, that two people so close me had died because of me. I missed both of their funerals because I was in the hospital for nearly a month, nearly having killed myself, too. I beat myself up so much about that day. Why didn’t I stick to my initial word about not going out? Why did I take roads I had never driven before? Why did I have a beer at all? All type of thoughts went through my mind. No matter what, they were gone because I made bad decisions.
Then things got worse 4 months after the accident. That’s when my lawyer called me saying that I was indicted by a grand jury for the accident. So the whole trial was nerve wrecking. I know it was my fault. I never denied it. Yet to sit there, listening to person after person from the prosecution making me out to be a monster, really broke me down. They were painting a picture of me as some villain who knowingly put these wonderful people’s lives at risk. As if they were not incredibly close to me, as if i wasn’t hurting as much as anyone. Yes, I was the driver. Yes, I was drinking and driving. But the person they described didn’t feel like me or even slightly resemble me at all.
On top of that, I was dealing with a lot of my own demons born of this disaster. A few months before the trial, my girlfriend had become pregnant. It was a happy and sad moment for me at once finding out. Knowing that I would miss out on so much really bothered me but I couldn’t steal her joy with my thoughts. Life was crazy to me here on one hand, as I caused two people their lives to end and on the other I was creating a new life. There were so many complicated thoughts going through my mind.
Then at my trial I was sentenced to 12 years in prison. It was something totally my fault. I knew I was going to do some time. My lawyer prepared me for it. But this sentence, neither of us saw coming.They gave me the high end of my sentencing guidelines–even as I had no violent history and was already hurt the most by my mistakes–which I thought was over the top.
Today, I say all of this to say that I’m so much more then my conviction. It misrepresents the events and certainly doesn’t define who I am. I’ve been in prison now for 3 years and I have never fallen victim to my surroundings. I never catch any charges in here, never let my situation define me. I am still a dedicated part of my kids’ life from phone calls, email messages, and every visit possible. But it’s hard parenting from behind bars. My oldest is 14, and she is starting to discover who she is and not having a father’s input in her life can make things complicated so i do the best I can. Before COVID changed the world I was getting a chance to see them. Now, it’s more calls and more kiosk action we have to rely on. This is hard because my two year old can’t talk so great yet but I talk to her so she’ll know my voice. I know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for me and that there is a loving family waiting on me to come home and be the father, the son and the brother they know I can be.