Murdered woman's son FORGIVES killer and begs his execution is stopped

The son of a murdered woman forgave her killer and begged for his execution to be stopped.

Geoffrey West, then 21, shot Margaret Parrish Berry, 33, in the head during a robbery at an Alabama petrol Station on March 28, 1997. The mum of two sons was fatally shot as she lay on the floor behind the counter.

West has claimed he wishes each day that he could take back that moment. Will Berry was just 11 years old at the time of his mum's killing and has since exchanged letters with the killer.

West expressed remorse and Berry has offered forgiveness. The pair have asked to meet one another but prison officials have rejected the request. They exchanged letters ahead of West's scheduled execution by nitrogen gas on Thursday in Alabama.

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Berry said: "I forgive this guy, and I don’t want him to die. I don’t want the state to take revenge in my name or my family’s name for my mother."

Berry has spoken out against the death penalty. Alabama is one of 27 US states that still has it.

Prosecutors said Berry was murdered in order to ensure no witnesses remained following the robbery. A jury convicted West of capital murder during a robbery and voted 10-2 to recommend the death sentence.

West does not deny killing Berry and said he and his girlfriend needed cash and went to a store he once worked at to rob it. Now aged 50, he struggles to understand what he did at 21.

"There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret it and wish that I could take that back,” he said. He said the moment is replayed in his head, wishing he could make himself turn and walk away.

"I wish I had the opportunity just to swap places and let it be me and not her," he said. Berry sent a letter to Governor Kay Ivey that said West's death would "weigh heavily on me, and it would not bring my mother back".

Ivey replied that she appreciated Berry's belief but that Alabama law "imposes a death sentence for the most egregious form of murder". She added that it was her duty to carry out the law.

A spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office said in a statement that West has "been on death row for twenty-six years, and his sentence is due". The office noted the brutality of the killing.