From pen pals to out-of-the-pen pals

Twenty-nine years ago, Lamar Johnson went to jail for first-degree murder after being convicted of killing one of his closest friends, 25-year-old Marcus Boyd. 

But Lamar always denied any involvement in the case. And for nearly three decades, the Missouri man sat behind bars. 

(Don't worry, it gets better- this is Positive DONUT after all).

📝 Send me a letter... Lamar was a few years into his sentence when he began writing letters to churches in hopes of connecting with someone "who could give [him] support and friendship.”

• He eventually received a letter back from Ginny Schrappen, a woman in her 50s who was struck by Lamar's story. Ginny was impressed with Lamar's handwriting and English skills, and "could see immediately how intelligent he was.”
• “From that point on, we just wrote," Lamar told the Washington Post, "and she became a source of support for me.”

For twenty years, Lamar and Ginny wrote to each other. And the letters got deeper as time went on. Ginny explained that from the very beginning, she believed Johnson was innocent. “I knew that he was a very, very good person.”

• The duo eventually started calling one another, and met in-person a few times with other members of Ginny's congregation. They all became somewhat of a "surrogate family." 

Ginny also never missed any of Lamar's legal proceedings when his case was reopened after another man confessed to the crime.

•  “I always told him, ‘Lamar, I’ll be there. I was one of the people that kept him connected to the world.'"

🙌 Free, at last: After wrongfully serving 28 years, Lamar was finally cleared of all charges – and the 80-year-old Ginny was one of the first to spring to her feet, cheering in the courtroom.

• She hopes their story inspires others to be more open-minded and accepting of others, regardless of their circumstances or backgrounds.
• “Reach out to somebody that might need a friend,” she shared with WaPo. “It could mean more than you know.”