Originally published in the Spring 2022 edition of the Virginia Defender, issue 68, printed April 21. Reproduced here for accessibility and archival purposes. To find other stories in the Spring 2022 issue or to download the full PDF, see this post. For other issues dating back to 2012, see the Full Issues page.

I’m asking you, the public, to help me, because I can’t do this by myself. I have been fighting for some kind of justice after my oldest son was killed and one of my youngest sons was almost killed and is still suffering from environmental poisoning.

Sergio, at the tender age of two, was poisoned with enough lead in his body to damage him for life. As a young single mother, what was I to do? I contacted a lawyer and sued the landlord. The building has since been demolished! They awarded my son $80,000. After the lawyers’ fees, he was left with $50,000. I continued to fight for him by reaching out to his teachers, school board members and medical doctors. They did what they knew how to do, which was very little. Virginia didn’t really know what to do.

As Sergio became a teenager, I did everything I could to help him get through what he was going through as lead ravaged his body. He was very hyperactive, so I signed him up for football. He made it to varsity and played varsity football for three years until he broke his wrist. He could read a paperback book with understanding in 20 minutes. So I signed him up for the Gentleman’s Club, a program established to build character, self-esteem and discipline for at-risk youth. Sadly, funding became an issue for Norfolk Public Schools, so they closed the program.

He never slept, was restless, his thoughts racing as the lead surged through his body. So I asked the school board for a mentor, but they laughed in my face.

Sergio hated loud noises. I took him to Riverside for counseling. He refused to talk and they said because he was 18 there was nothing that I could do. In school he could only be in a class with less than 12 students. He was said to be autistic as well. Nobody listened as I told them about his lead poisoning.

Finally, I went to circuit court because he was getting ready to receive his trust fund. I explained to the judge that he didn’t need to give him any money at this time. The judge didn’t listen at all to what I had to say, because my son was considered an adult.

Six months later, he was on his way to the penitentiary.

Now I’m asking the public to help my son, Sergio Gray, by supporting his appeal to the governor of Virginia for a pardon. In 2009, Sergio was sentenced to 45 years. Not for murder or rape. He has grown up in the system, again, with no help!

First they take his childhood and most of his adulthood. When does my son get to live a normal life?

Roycinda Alexander

NORFOLK