Listen up, y’all, I’m gonna tell you a story ’bout this woman, Joyce Brown. Don’t know much ’bout fancy writin’, so I’ll just tell it like it is. This here Joyce, she had a life rougher than a cob, I tell ya.
Who’s this Joyce Brown anyway? Well, there’s more than one, seems like. One Joyce Patricia Brown, they say she was also called Billie Boggs, passed away in 2005. But the one I’m talkin’ ’bout, that’s Joyce Ann Brown. Folks been writin’ and talkin’ ’bout her for years.
This Joyce Ann Brown, she got herself in a heap of trouble back in 1980. They said she robbed and killed some fella who owned a fur store down in Dallas, Texas. Can you believe it? A fur store! What kinda work is that for a decent person, sellin’ animal skins? Anyway, they threw her in jail, said she’d be there for life. They even wanted to kill her, like, put her to death! Came within one vote of it, they say.
- Robbery
- Murder
- Life sentence
- Almost got the death penalty
Now, Joyce, she swore up and down she didn’t do it. Said she was innocent as a newborn babe. And you know what? After a whole lotta years, they let her go. Said the whole thing was a mistake, threw out her conviction. Freed her in November, though I don’t rightly remember the year. Imagine that, spendin’ all them years locked up for somethin’ you didn’t do.
But her troubles didn’t start in jail, see? It all began with a phone call from her mama, Ruby Kelley, back in May of 1980. Don’t know what that call was about, but it sure started a whole mess of trouble for Joyce. Heard she even wrote a book about it with some fella, a journalist named Jay Gaines. Called it “Justice Denied,” I think. Guess she wanted the whole world to know her side of the story.
Life after prison wasn’t no picnic neither. I heard tell she was on TV once, talkin’ from behind some kinda glass window. Said she slept for like, 14, 15, even 16 hours straight! That ain’t right, sleepin’ that much. Musta been tired, real tired, from all that fightin’ and worryin’.
And then there’s talk about her bein’ in New York City. Seems they had this program there, pickin’ up homeless folks who were, well, not quite right in the head. And Joyce, they picked her up. Some folks said she was sick, mentally ill, you know. Others said she was just fine. Don’t know what to believe, but it sounds like she had it rough, wherever she went.
But here’s the thing ’bout Joyce. Even after all that mess, she didn’t just sit around and feel sorry for herself. She started fightin’ for other folks, the ones who were locked up or had been locked up. Became a champion for ’em, they say. Guess she knew what it was like to be on the inside, and she wanted to make things better for others. That’s what I heard, anyway.
So, this Joyce Ann Brown, she’s a complicated one, ain’t she? Falsely accused, locked up, freed, maybe sick, maybe not. But one thing’s for sure: she was a fighter. Fought for her freedom, fought for her name, and then fought for others. That’s somethin’ to admire, even if you don’t know all the details. And that, as far as I can tell, is the story of Joyce Brown, or at least, the parts I could piece together. It’s a messy story, like life often is, but it’s a story worth tellin’.
Keywords: Joyce Brown, Joyce Ann Brown, Dallas, prison, exonerated, mentally ill, homeless.
