Garland Hampton: Former juvenile offender calls for change in legal system

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --A Milwaukee man who was charged and convicted as an adult when he was just 15 is sharing his story, in light of a recent case involving a 12-year-old boy that has sparked some debate and even made national headlines.

Wisconsin's juvenile code allows children as young as 10 years old to be waived into adult court for serious crimes. Next week, a judge is expected to decide if that will be the case for a 12-year-old boy who is currently charged as an adult for killing his own mother in Milwaukee back in November 2022.

In a sit-down interview, Garland Hampton told CBS 58 News he's hoping his story saves this boys' life because he too, was in a similar situation back in the early 90s.

"I grew up without a father, I grew up in a very dysfunctional household where there was a lot of violence," Hampton said. "My grandmother had been to prison, my mother had been to prison, two aunties had been to prison; I have two uncles that are incarcerated, serving life sentences."

Hampton said his early life on Milwaukee's north side in the late 80s and early 90s was tough.

"There had always been a lot of drinking, alcohol abuse, lot of arguing and fighting…it went from fist fighting to weapons being involved, such as knives, baseball bats, golf sticks," he explained.

At the age of 10, Hampton remembers seeing a fight between his then-pregnant mother and stepfather. It quickly turned violent once grandma stepped in.

"She ran to her bedroom, grabbed her gun, came back out and she shot him three times and killed him," he said.

Hampton said his mother took the blame, went to prison and as a result lost custody of all her children to foster care--except Hampton, who remained under grandma's care.

"Grandma taught me how to, you know, shoot, shoot the gun," he said. "I had seen it all, people get shot, stabbed, right in our house…the turning point was, I was, I want to say 12 years old; by this time, I'm fully initiated into the gang."

Three years later, Hampton was arrested and charged with killing a teen gang member after a dispute. At just 15 years old, he was waived into adult court.

"I'm scared, you don't told me I'm finna gonna go away for the rest of my life if I don't tell you the truth? I'm crying and I'm like, 'I just want this to be over with so I can go home to my grandma.'"

Unfortunately, he never saw his grandmother again as she passed away before he had the opportunity to speak with her one last time.

"My attorney say, 'listen, you're not going to beat this,'" he recalled. "Her exact words to me was 'don't deny what's in the statements,' and her strategy for defense was self-defense. Now, I don't know none, I don't know what none of this is, so I trust my lawyer s and I say 'okay.'"

A jury found Hampton guilty of first-degree intentional homicide while using a dangerous weapon and he was sentenced to life in prison.

"A guy told me, he said, you know, 'in the state of Wisconsin now, life means life,'" Hampton said. "I'm like, 'whoa, wait a minute, I got waived, and you mean to tell me as a kid, I'm only a kid, they told me I can never ever get out?'"

In 1996 Wisconsin altered its juvenile code to allow for children as young as 10 years old to be waived into adult court for first- or second-degree murder or reckless homicide.

Hampton described his situation as a nightmare he thought he would never escape.

"So, I'm sitting in prison and I'm saying, 'wow this is, this is it, so I'm gonna die here,'" he added.

But Hampton did get out on parole in 2020. Since then, he's become a juvenile justice activist who founded the organization known as STAND (Standing Tough Against Negative Decisions) -- to help juveniles share traumatic experiences.

A new bipartisan bill that would've given convicted minors sentenced to decades in prison an opportunity to apply for early release after 15 to 20 years, failed to pass in April of this year. It also would have ended “life without parole” sentences for minors.

But Hampton tells CBS 58 News his fight to fix the criminal justice system is far from over.

"I don't believe that a kid should spend the rest of their life in prison," he said. "Most definitely, kids deserve a second chance."