FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
Becky O’Neil McBrayer’s mother and step-father were murdered in 2006. On Oct. 20 she’ll be in Spokane to share why she believes the death penalty should be abolished.
McBrayer is the director of community programs at St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church in Portland and has worked as a campaign manager and an activist. She also serves on the board of directors of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and is a member of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation.
The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is hosting McBrayer as part of its ongoing campaign to bring an end to the death penalty in Washington State.
” We believe the death penalty is an unjust, unfair, and irrational punishment that does not deter crime,” PJALS stated in an announcement. “Join us to lift up the voices of murder victims’ families in the movement to end the death penalty. Becky O”Neil McBrayer will share her powerful story of loss, healing, and why she supports ending the death penalty.”
The event will be at St. Aloysius Church, 330 E Boone Ave, at 6 p.m. on Oct. 20.
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.
