ST. LOUIS — A story of forgiveness and a fresh start. A man charged with DWI and manslaughter after he killed his best friend in a car crash was able to walk free Wednesday. It happened after the victim's mother asked the court to let him go.
Michelle Disumte says she didn't want to contribute to what she calls a revolving door -- a man going to prison, getting out, and re-committing a crime because he's never learned how to be better. Instead, she supported a restorative justice program that she says works.
"I wanted him to be buried up under the jail,” Disumte said, explaining how she felt 5 years ago when she learned her 15-year-old son Nick Blackey was killed in a tragic car crash.
It was here near Kingshigway and Vandeventer. Nick's best friend, Bruce Tolliver was behind the wheel.
"You see Bruce, you see Nick and if you didn't see Bruce, trust me Nick was coming,” Dismute explained.
Authorities learned Bruce was drunk at the time. Earlier this year before sentencing, Disumte says she heard her son speak to her right in the courtroom.
"I hear Nick say ‘Mom stop this, stop it … I said ‘Your honor, can I please say something?’ I said ‘I don’t want him to go to prison’ and today I asked for him to be time served,” she said.
Wednesday, the judge honored her request. Disumte says she also did it because Bruce participated in a program that serves as an alternative to incarceration.
"For the last 9 months, Bruce has been with us in the nonviolence curriculum courses, doing group therapy, getting access to resources, and doing amazing work to transform himself … we helped him get connected to a construction trade and he learned the trade and ended up getting a job in that,” said Mike Milton with the Freedom Community Center.
Through the program, Bruce and Nick's mother went to counseling together, returned to the scene of the crime and even visited his gravesite.
It's created an unexpected bond that transformed her pain into forgiveness.
"Why would I want him to be a statistic and I truly feel he's that one who made that mistake and he learned from it. I really do … I know that my son is happy now,” Disumte said.
"As a policy, we are not supportive of diversion programs but if they have benefits and are proven to work out, then we as an organization would always consider anything for the safety of people on the road,” Mothers Against Drunk Driving spokesman Michael Boland told 5 On Your Side.
The Freedom Community Center is helping rehabilitate some 180 offenders. It also works to support victims, often financially.
"We can see clearly that there are alternatives outside of just locking somebody up in a cage in pre-trial detention in a facility like CJC. People can be out, they can make amends, they can be accountable, they can get jobs and that's what’s supposed to happen,” Milton added.
He says fewer than 5% of those who are in the program have re-offended.