Lorenzo Harrell largely had to figure things out on his own.
His grandmother did her best to pass along life lessons, but Lorenzo was raised by a single mother who was not ready to be a parent in a rough Detroit neighborhood.
“We kind of grew up in the wild, me and my sister,” Lorenzo said. “Basically, the streets raised us.”
Lorenzo grew up surrounded by violence and started selling drugs at just 13 years old. He said he remembers actions like stealing or vandalizing property were normal for kids in his neighborhood.
“When you live an abnormal life, you only want to feel normal and normal is defined by the people who are around you,” Lorenzo said.
When Lorenzo was 17, he, his cousin and another man became involved in an altercation that ended with Lorenzo shooting the other man. At the time, Lorenzo did not understand the seriousness of what he had done.
“My mindset at the time was it really doesn’t matter, I don’t care,” he said. “I just hate it that I had that mentality at that time,”
Lorenzo was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For years, he could not comprehend spending the rest of his life locked away from society.
“The older guys, they knew what was going on,” he said. “But my peers, we just wanted to play basketball, we wanted to lift weights, we wanted to do everything attributed to keeping our mind off what we were going through.”
Lorenzo said at around 25, the reality of the life sentence started to set in, and he fell into a depression. It was also around this time that Lorenzo started to realize the harm he’d caused. His thoughts constantly gravitated back to his victim, a tendency that continues to this day.
“I really wish I could bring this guy back,” he said. “Even if it [meant I] sacrifice myself, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
Eventually, Lorenzo started working in the prison’s law library. There, he learned to transcribe braille—a skill that serves him to this day.
“I’m just so fortunate that I had people around that saw me for more than what I was in there for,” Lorenzo said.
Following a Supreme Court ruling that required all juvenile life sentences be reviewed, Lorenzo was released in February of 2019. Today, he works for Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, where he transcribes braille for blind people, a profession he loves.
“That braille profession has done so much for my life, and even for other people’s lives because I’m able to help more people,” he said. “I’m just so appreciative for that. I’m just blessed.”
