Step by Step: A Journey of Hope (2007)

"If your child were murdered, you'd want the killer executed" is the argument made by death penalty supporters to stop the debate in its tracks. STEP BY STEP takes viewers on a "journey of hope" with murder victims' families as they march for 17 days through Texas trying to change hearts and minds with messages of forgiveness, reconciliation and appropriate alternatives to the death penalty. Their viewpoint, formed out of personal grief and loss, is difficult to dismiss even by the most ardent advocates of execution. The documentary tells the stories of five victims who share their personal journey from wanting revenge to demanding mercy: Bill Pelke whose grandmother was murdered by a 15-year-old girl who became the youngest female on death row; Marietta Jaeger whose seven year old daughter was tortured and murdered by a serial killer; George White who was wrongfully convicted of his wife's murder; SueZann Bosler who was attacked and nearly killed by the man who stabbed her father to death; and, Ron Carlson whose sister was brutally murdered by Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed in Texas. Marching side-by-side with families of murder victims are families of death row inmates and death row survivors. These uncounted victims of the death penalty share their transformation from despair to activism: Tina Tafero whose father was executed for a crime he did not commit; Lois and Ken Robison who could not get help for their mentally ill son before he killed five people; Barbara Lewis whose son on death row has exhausted all his appeals; and Randall Dale Adams and Sunny Jacobs, innocent of their crimes, who survived death row to recount their harrowing experiences. Activists Sister Helen Prejean and singer/songwriter Steve Earle also join the journey, raising their voices in protest against the death penalty. STEP BY STEP is a unique portrait of ordinary people rising to the extraordinary. These victims take the death penalty argument to another level, offering a different way to look at justice and punishment, forgiveness and retribution and the value of life over death in the search to end the cycle of violence. Their personal stories of tragedy and triumph may even compel viewers to re-examine their feelings about the complex issue of capital punishment.