Hear their stories
Kevin R.
Age at time of event: 18
Current Age: 34
Sentence: 23 years
Kevin's Story
When Kevin was 18 years old he was part of a drug deal gone wrong. Kevin did not kill anyone and did not want anyone killed. Yet like all of the other persons shared on this page Kevin was charged with First Degree Murder under the felony murder laws of Minnesota. Kevin shares being in a jail cell and in the early morning hours a piece of paper was slid under his cell door. It was his indictment for first degree felony murder. No lawyer there to explain what was happening. No one to educate this 18 year old on what was happening. Kevin becomes physically distraught as he shares this story and the impact this moment still holds on him.
Kevin, like so many others, was forced to take a plea deal for aiding and abetting second degree murder to avoid life in prison under the felony murder laws. Kevin was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kevin spent 15 years in the Minnesota Department of Corrections prisons and was released in July of 2019 at the age of 32. Kevin’s formative years where a person discovers who they will become were spent locked in a prison cell.
Who is Kevin today?
While in prison Kevin took part in many programs including the Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop. Kevin discovered he was an artist and poet. He also started a support group for men behind the bars to share their trauma, a safe space that would promote healing and to become who they were made to be. During his time he also heard Vina Kay from Voices for Racial Justice (VRJ) on a radio show. He reached out to her via letter and this started a path for Kevin that has helped him become the active and important member of the criminal justice reform activists in Minnesota. Kevin worked with VRJ while serving time and became the Director of Racial Justice upon his release.
Kevin has also started his own organization Until We Are All Free. This organization is a human rights organization, led by formerly incarcerated people, that uses their direct experience with human rights violations to create pathways toward freedom.
The list of Kevin’s achievements is lengthy. He is a 2018 AWP intro journals project award winner for poetry published in the Hayden Ferry Review. He can be found featured in Emily Baxter’s internationally acclaimed book We Are All Criminals. He has a running column in the Minnesota Spokesmen Recorder. His writing is centered around humanity, organizing, transformative movements, and ancestral visionary poetry.
In summer of 2020, Kevin and Until We Are All Free started mass support efforts to bring help and resources to the communities most affected by the murder of George Floyd. His work brought countless amounts of food, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene as well as emotional support to many hard hit communities within Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Support Until We Are All Free here
Check out videos featuring Kevin on YouTube
Articles written about Kevin:
https://www.bushfoundation.org/story/darkness-and-light
https://spokesman-recorder.com/2019/10/14/who-is-coming-back-to-us/
https://turtleroad.org/2020/09/14/kevin-reese/
https://www.spmcf.org/blog/rewriting-destiny-after-incarceration
More Stories
Megan C.
Age at time of event: 19
Current Age: 22
Sentence: 13.5 years
Roberto L.
Age at time of event: 16
Current Age: 35
Sentence: Life without parole
Maureen
Age at time of event: 28
Current Age: 34
Sentence: Life Without Parole