Death row inmates give $5K to criminal justice student

In April 1992, when Zach Osborne, of Jamestown, NC, was only six years old, his four-year-old sister, Natalie, was raped and killed by his mother's boyfriend.

Haunted by his sister's death, Osborne dreamed of one day going into law enforcement.

"Natalie's death has haunted my family since the day she was found," Osborne wrote in an essay.

"Through realizing this dream [of becoming a police officer], I would play a key role in preventing situations like this from ever happening again."

Osborne's dream is now coming true - and he is receiving a little help from the most unlikely of sources.

Death row inmates from 36 different prisons throughout the country have raised $5,000 to help Osborne pursue a criminal justice degree at ECU.

Through their bimonthly publication, Compassion, the inmates have raised over $21,000 to help send murdered victims' family members to college. Osborne's scholarship is the seventh such award given by the inmates.

Compassion started in 2001. It was the creation of Saddique Abdullah Hasan, a convicted killer currently on death row in Perrysburg, Ohio. Hasan wanted to find a way for him, as well as other death row inmates, to help repair some of the damage they had caused with their crimes.

With the aide of the members of St. Rose Parish, a local church in Perrysburg, Hasan started the publication which features the artwork, poetry and essays of death row inmates from across the country.

The profits of the publication, which is sold by subscription, are used to fund scholarships such as the one given to Osborne.

The inmates receive no compensation or special treatment for their efforts.

"Despite our bad choices, we still believe in the concept of right and wrong," said Dennis Skillicorn, Compassion's editor since 2003.

"We support what is right, our intent is genuine."

Skillicorn, who has been on Missouri's death row since 1998, said the inmates were touched by Osborne's story and his plans to stop future violence.

"We know it may seem extremely weird for a group of inmates to want to help this kid become part of the same system that put us on death row," said Skillicorn.

"But most of us now believe in the system and believe in the law."

Skillicorn said that he hopes subscriptions for the publication, currently around 5000, will continue to increase, especially to younger readers.

"For some reason, younger people tend to look up to and idolize inmates, especially those on death row," he said. "We want to warn them and to get through to them that the choices we made are not the right ones."

However, Skillicorn also said that the message of Compassion is not only one of warning, but one of hope.

"We want to demonstrate to people that even those of us who are in the worst possible circumstances can make a difference," said Skillicorn.

"We want to make every last day count."