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A GANG MEMBER'S ANGER, A GRANDFATHER'S TENDERNESS
Tyrone’s incarceration kept him from his family—but thanks to Angel Tree, he was still present.
By Lexi Aggen
Tyrone describes himself as a die-hard family man. He regularly travels from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to visit his son and six grandchildren. He also attends church with members of his extended family.
But for many years, Tyrone’s relationship with his family looked wildly different. There was a time when the word family stirred up feelings of resentment, abandonment, and anger in him. Only the Lord could change this, but it was many years before Tyrone was willing to let Him in.
A GROWING TROUBLE
Ronald Reagan’s presidency was in full swing, Michael Jackson’s chart-topping music played on the radio, and the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world. Chicago in the ’80s was a lively place to be. This was Tyrone’s world.
But Tyrone’s parents both struggled with addiction. He felt a lack of love at home and soon developed his own mental health problems. School was a refuge. His mother was unable to care for him because of her addiction, and his father had remarried and started a new family. As a result, Tyrone started living in a shelter attached to his school, St. Cyril – St. Clara Catholic School. The nuns at the school treated him like a son.
The religious influences in Tyrone’s life were a conflicting mess. Many of his uncles were Muslims, but his aunts were Baptists. The nuns at school taught him about Catholicism. Outside his family, he saw men and women who professed to be Christians yet lived a life that did not reflect Christ’s teachings.
“[I was given] three different perspectives of religion, and I didn't know what to do,” he recalls. “For many years I was just agnostic and believing what I can see and feel and touch.”
Tyrone’s family life and confusing religious background left him feeling alone and angry. At the early age of 10, he was already involved in criminal activities and spent his time in and out of police centers. When he was 12, his family decided they needed to take action. His aunt in California assumed custody as his foster mom.
A CHANGE OF SCENERY
Tyrone traded deep-dish pizzas, the Cubs, and skyscrapers for the warm air and sandy beaches of California. Life in Long Beach looked different than the city streets of Chicago. He began playing sports. He split his time between baseball, basketball, and football. To participate in sports, he had to maintain a high GPA, so he made sure to excel in his studies.
But life in California wasn’t always sunny. Tyrone was filled with anger at his parents for not being around, and he struggled with mental and physical health problems. His rocky home life left him wanting a place to call his own and people to call his family.
“I felt that since no one wanted to raise me the way I saw my friends on the baseball team [being raised] … then I’m going to raise myself,” says Tyrone. “And I chose the streets as a blueprint. These guys is getting respect and love, and everybody is in their lives, so I’m going to be just like them.”
By 13, he had already been through the California juvenile detention system multiple times and had developed an addiction to drugs, alcohol, and the criminal lifestyle.
“It was so easy to be negative and violent and not ask for help,” he says. “It was so easy to say, ‘You know what? I’m going to take instead of give something.’”
When Tyrone turned 15, he became a father. And though he loved his son, he still wasn’t ready to leave his criminal lifestyle behind. His choices landed him in juvenile facilities over the next few years. While there, he heard of Prison Fellowship® Angel Tree, which enables moms and dads behind bars to send a gift and personal message to their children through volunteers from a local church.
He decided Angel Tree® wasn’t for him—his son was already receiving presents from his family members. However, he saw the value of the program, and spent time helping other men in the facility sign up their children.
By 13, he had already been through the California juvenile detention system multiple times and had developed an addiction to drugs, alcohol, and the criminal lifestyle.
A CONTINUING CYCLE
Whenever Tyrone was released, he would return to his criminal activities. Three years after his son was born, Tyrone was sentenced to prison for the first time. Prison felt as much like home to him as being out on the streets did—and in many ways, he feared his release. He was more comfortable living behind bars.
In prison, Tyrone’s aggressive lifestyle continued. Each time he was released, he knew he would be back. When he was released from Pelican Bay State Prison, a supermax facility, he told his cellmate to “keep my bed warm,” knowing it would only be so long until he returned.
In 2001, Tyrone did return to prison, this time with a 25-year sentence under the three-strikes law. Still, this hardened man had a soft heart for his son. A Prison Fellowship staff member visited his facility and encouraged him to apply for Angel Tree. This time, he was open to it.
“She actually talked to me and was like, ‘You can never give a kid too many gifts,’” he recalls. “‘You can never give a kid too much love and support, and you could never overindulge or overdo it when it comes to letting the kid know how much you care about them.’”
A Prison Fellowship staff member visited his facility and encouraged him to apply for Angel Tree. This time, he was open to it.
A TOUGH GUY WITH A SOFT HEART
Finally, Tyrone signed his son up for Angel Tree—a moment he is forever grateful for. Over the next few years, his son received gifts in his name. Some of the gifts included a football, an action figure, and a treasured baseball glove. After each gift he received, Tyrone’s son wrote a letter thanking him. This moment of connection overwhelmed Tyrone.
“I call myself this tough guy and things like that, and I used to break down in the cell and put my face in my pillow and cry because I was like, ‘Oh man, I got a letter from my son,’” he says.
Tyrone’s son couldn’t visit him in prison because the facility was too far away. These letters, along with pictures and the annual Angel Tree gifts, became the lifeline that connected father and son.
During this time, Tyrone also came across Pelipost, a company that allows family members of the incarcerated to upload photos from their phone to send directly to their loved one. For Tyrone, receiving photos through Pelipost became a highlight.
“I’m one of those individuals that value and cherish every photo that I received,” says Tyrone. “I didn’t know it at the time, but when I started reaching out to family members to get a picture, I was basically saying to them, in so many ways, ‘I need motivation. I need inspiration to help me go forward.’”
THE WORD THAT CHANGES LIVES
The Lord was working to soften Tyrone’s heart in other ways too. His agnosticism had followed him into his adulthood. He often read the Bible, viewing it as a philosophy book filled with fun stories, but he didn’t believe in applying the lessons to his own life.
In 2008, Tyrone started attending Bible studies hosted by Prison Fellowship to pass the time. Through the lessons and encounters he had with the volunteers, things started to click. He realized the Lord had been calling out to him; he just hadn’t been listening.
“That’s when I really started paying attention to the principles and life skills of the Bible and how they’re applied to real life,” he says. “To this very day I still read the Bible. One of the best choices you can make at that moment in time, walking into those prison institutions, prison cells, is not only get right with yourself, but get right with your Lord and Savior.”
At first, it was hard for him to adjust to this new way of thinking. The lies he had held onto for so long had taken their toll on his mentality. But in time, he started to learn humility, patience, and kindness.
Eventually, Tyrone’s son had his own family. When his grandchildren were old enough, Tyrone signed them up for Angel Tree. Even though he couldn’t be there with them in person, he could connect through the gifts he sent and know that his family was telling them about him.
“When they got it at a certain age … they really started to know me,” he says. “Coming home and [them] knowing who I was and loving me and wanting to spend as much time with them as possible and stuff—it was a dream come true.”
When his grandchildren were old enough, Tyrone signed them up for Angel Tree.
A CHANGED LIFE
Tyrone was released in July 2023 after serving a total of 29 years in prison. His first six months back were a whirlwind. Upon reflection, he notes that the key lesson he learned after his release was to slow down and receive help from those offering it.
Like many people coming home from prison, Tyrone found aspects of reentry difficult. He loved his freedom, but quickly found difficulties with balancing his time between family and personal commitments. Instead of returning to his old ways, Tyrone sought out a therapist to help him regulate his emotions and balance his life.
Tyrone enrolled in school at California State University, Dominguez Hill, for a psychology degree, and is currently taking trainings for tech sales through Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs (CROP). CROP is a yearlong program that provides support and training in technology to formerly incarcerated people.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to actually be doing something,” he says. “A training program where I’m getting paid, and I’m having these opportunities to do these seminars with people that are thriving in tech.”
But Tyrone’s favorite moments are spent with his family. When he visits his son and grandchildren in Las Vegas, he gets to play catch with his grandson using the same baseball glove his son received from Angel Tree.
Tyrone hopes to one day receive a master’s degree and a doctorate in sports psychology. He dreams of working in a new sports program at the same university he currently attends. He is also working to get his son’s church involved in Angel Tree.
Tyrone is passionate about showing others that real change is possible for people in prison with God’s help and a commitment to transformation.
Tyrone is passionate about showing others that real change is possible for people in prison with God’s help and a commitment to transformation.
