Nanon Willliams, 29
Williams was convicted of capital murder for his role in a drug deal that ended in a death. He's been in prison since the age of 17.

"In my eyes, I was trying to do the best I could for my family. As a kid growing up, I was selling drugs and (doing) burglaries—I became the provider. To look at those you love smiling when you're struggling—it overshadowed everything else until you grow older and you realize that those consequences have a great bearing on your community and family.

"My childhood was a struggle like most. If you look at ghettos and barrios around the U.S. it's the equivalent of putting a chicken in a den full of wolves. Once the wolves get the chicken it's making the wolves turn on themselves because that's what happens when jobs are not open for everyone and everyone is not educated.

"I grew up in Los Angeles, a gang-infested area. It didn't matter whether you belonged in a gang or not. You had other gang members that would find out where you lived. You'd be held accountable for others... Gangs are actually a lot of young angry kids. You know they're trying to organize to do right but they're not.

"My friends and families (are) asking me "When are you coming home?" I'm not here to come home. I'm here to be killed. I no longer fear death— I'm here to be killed."

Randy "Abdullah" Arroyo, 24
Arroyo was convicted on capital murder charges for a crime committed in March, 1997, when he was 17.

"Until the age of 13, I was never really in any trouble. However, when [my mom] passed away, that's when my life changed around because I didn't have that guidance. I had no one to turn to, so I had to emulate my surroundings, and my surroundings were bad. My surroundings were nothing but gangs and drugs. You're raised around it at all times. You become involved. It's kind of hard to explain right now.

"It's essential for us to make mistakes. And we learn from those mistakes. It's what we do with those mistakes that becomes our future.

The love that [my mother] gave me is a love that I haven't felt since she passed away. Her last day is one of the hardest days of my life.

"Many times people tell you the pain will heal. And you know, I've come to understand that that's not the case at all. The pain stays. You just learn to deal with it better. It's kinda like coming to death row. It never goes away, but you learn to live here.

I never had a childhood. When I read books and when I listen to the radio, I hear about kids going to proms or school parties or going bowling or to football teams, things like that. I never had those things. Those are things I would love to do. You know, they always say, 'Well, you can't miss something you never had.' Well, yeah, you're right. I can't miss it, but I would love to do it. I would love to have the experience of knowing what it feels like, and because I didn't, I don't have it."

These interviews were conducted by the following Children's PressLine [1] news team members: Brittany Beckett, 9; Gabriel Decker-Lee, 10; Laurence James, 13; Elizabeth Negron, 12; and Nily Rozic, 18.