Humanities Just Mercy Characters

Bryan Stevenson

Stevenson is the author, narrator, and protagonist of the book. He was born in a poor African American community in rural Delaware, attended Harvard Law School, and founded (with his friend Eva Ansley) the…

Walter McMillian

Walter’s legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. He had a large, tight-knit…

Ralph Myers

Ralph Myers is the man whose false accusation sends Walter to death row. Born to a poor, white, Southern family, Myers suffers from trauma-related psychological issues. Considered a low-life in Monroeville, Myers uses fantastical stories…

Steve Bright

Steven Bright is the director of the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee, an advocacy organization where Stevenson has an internship during law school and then works following his graduation. Steve is a mentor and inspiration…

Henry

Henry is the very first inmate Stevenson meets on death row, and their encounter is transformative for Stevenson. Henry is a young black man, about Stevenson’s age, who has a wife and kids. Henry treats…

Stevenson’s grandmother

As a child, Stevenson is especially close with his grandmother, who powerfully influenced his views toward the world and people. In particular, his grandmother is the source of the important advice that, in order to…

Judge Robert E. Lee Key

Judge Key presides over Walter’s original trial. He does not intervene in the State’s efforts to select an all-white jury and he collaborates with other state officials to secure Walter’s conviction. He calls Stevenson…

Harper Lee

Harper Lee is the author of To Kill A Mockingbird. She was born in Monroe County (where Walter is from and was tried), and the county continues to proudly associate itself with her fame…

Minnie McMillian

Minnie is Walter McMillian’s wife. Like Walter, she is from the poor black community just outside of Monroeville. She is resilient, patient, intelligent and hospitable. She supports and cares for her five children during Walter’s…

Karen Kelly

Karen Kelly is the younger white woman from Monroeville who has an affair with Walter prior to his conviction. The public scandal of their interracial affair defames Walter and infuriates some white residents of Monroeville…

Ronda Morrison

Ronda Morrison was the young adult daughter of an influential local white family in Monroeville. On November 1st, 1986, Ronda was found murdered at her workplace, Monroe Cleaners. The white community is baffled…

Sheriff Tom Tate

Tate is the sheriff of Monroeville at the time of Ronda’s murder. He is the most active participant in police and State efforts to suppress evidence in order to illegally convict Walter. Tate…

Vickie Pittman

Vickie Pittman was the woman murdered in Escambia County near the time of Ronda Morrison’s murder. Born to a poor, white, rural family, Vickie was beloved by her aunts, Onzelle and Mozelle. Due…

The older man in the wheelchair

After Stevenson’s experience of racial profiling, he gives a speech in a rural Alabama church. The older man in the wheelchair advises him to “keep beating the drum for justice.” The old man is…

Simon Benson

Benson is the ABI Investigator on Walter’s case. He works with Sherriff Tate and Larry Ikner to coerce Ralph Myers’ testimony and suppress evidence to secure Walter’s conviction. When the State finally launches a…

J.L. Chestnut and Bruce Boynton

Chestnut and Boynton are the attorneys who are hired by Walter’s family to defend him during his original trials. Though they have a history of civil rights litigation, they fail to effectively investigate State and…

District Attorney Ted Pearson

Pearson is the state prosecutor at the time of Walter’s indictment. He cooperates with police to suppress evidence and works with the courts to secure an all-white jury in Walter’s case. Stevenson speculates that…

Michael Lindsey

Lindsey is one of the first men Stevenson represents after founding EJI. Lindsey was given a life sentence by the jury, but it was overridden by a judge who insisted on a death sentence…

Herbert Richardson

The first execution that Stevenson witnesses is that of Herbert Richardson. Herbert is war veteran with a history of trauma and psychological health problems. He was charged with capital murder and sentenced to death after…

District Attorney Tom Chapman

Chapman replaces Ted Pearson as the District Attorney for Monroe County. Unlike Pearson, he has a history of working as a public defender. He initially defends the State’s conviction of Walter McMillian and opposes EJI…

Charlie

Charlie is the smart and well-behaved fourteen-year-old boy convicted of murdering his mother’s abusive boyfriend, George. He is sent to an adult jail, where he is repeatedly raped by other inmates. When Stevenson discovers…

Ian Manuel

Manuel is a young man from Florida who is convicted of assault and sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison. Because of his age, he is kept in solitary confinement. He develops psychological health…

Antonio Núñez

Antonio is a young man in California who was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager for a non-homicide crime in which nobody was injured. Antonio’s history involves family and neighborhood violence, including the…

Trina Garrett

Trina was a homeless teenage girl in the 1970’s when she was convicted of murder. She unintentionally set her friend’s house on fire after breaking and entering, and two people died in the fire. Trina…

George Stinney

George Stinney was a fourteen-year-old African American boy executed in South Carolina in the 1930’s. George helped a search party look for two missing white girls and was later falsely arrested for their murders. Decades…

Mrs. Williams

Ms. Williams is a respected elderly woman from the black community in Monroeville. Her presence at Walter’s Rule 32 hearing is significant because of her long history of involvement with civil rights battles. Having…

George Daniel

George is a man who suffered debilitating brain injuries related to a car accident. He is convicted of murder after an altercation with police that led to the death of an officer. George’s trial lawyers…

“The white guard”

This is an unnamed guard at the prison where Avery Jenkins is held on death row. Initially, he tries to intimidate Stevenson by drawing attention to the Confederate symbols on his truck and by forcing…

Marsha Colbey

Marsha is the poor white Alabama woman convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison after giving birth to a stillborn baby. The hard-working mother of six other children, Marsha was unable to afford…

Joe Sullivan

Joe Sullivan was a thirteen-year-old convicted of rape and sentenced to life in an adult prison in Florida. Joe maintained that he had robbed but not raped his victim. Joe, who had suffered childhood abuse…

Anthony Ray Hinton

Mr. Hinton was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the 1980’s. He served over 30 years in solitary confinement. Stevenson describes him as “clearly innocent” due to his alibi and the lack of…