Introduction

I've been called a father, a brother, a son. I've been called a criminal, a prisoner, a statistic. The truth is I am a human being who has made mistakes in his life and has strived to learn from them.

At the age of 21, I was sentenced to die by lethal injection for a crime that evidence proves was committed by someone else. Over the last 26 years that I've spent on Texas Death Row, I have tried to be more than just the number that the State sees me as.

​I've written to youth to share my story and counsel them about the dangers of becoming involved in crime and the gang life and about the pain that leading such a life would undoubtedly bring them and their families. I've learned to express myself through poetry and art, using my writings and art to speak out against the death penalty, the use of solitary confinement and the unchecked abuse of power by District Attorneys that care more about conviction rates than about protecting the innocent. For 26 years I have struggled to show the world that I can be more than just my past - that I can contribute to a better future. I am Tony Medina.