Detroit Woman Doing Life In ’92 Schoolyard Slaying Pleads For Release
More than thirty years after a Detroit middle school teacher was shot and killed in a school parking lot, the woman serving a life sentence in connection with the case is asking state officials to grant her release.
Bernice Starks, who is now 79 years old, appeared before the Michigan Parole Board this week and argued that she has been rehabilitated during her decades in prison. She told the board she deserves an opportunity to return to society after spending more than three decades behind bars. Her request has brought renewed attention to a case that prosecutors say began with a romantic rivalry and ended with a deadly ambush outside a Detroit school.
The victim, 53-year-old teacher Betty Jean Roberson, was killed on June 9, 1992. She was shot in the parking lot of Webber Middle School, which is now known as the Sampson-Webber Leadership Academy. According to prosecutors, the shooting was carried out by Anthony Harris. Authorities said Mary Jean Williams helped organize the plan and paid a $350 down payment toward a promised $1,000 fee for the killing. Those details were discussed during the recent commutation hearing, according to reporting by The Detroit News.
The Michigan Parole Board conducted a public clemency hearing on Thursday using Microsoft Teams. Officials from the Michigan Department of Corrections said Starks is serving two life sentences after being convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy. Board members will review testimony from the hearing along with the case file before deciding whether to recommend that her sentence be reduced.
Several people spoke in support of Starks during the hearing. Fifteen supporters testified on her behalf, and a letter written in 2016 by a former student was read aloud. Darryl Woods also told the board he would help Starks if she is released. Starks acknowledged her role in the events but said she believed Harris was only supposed to frighten Roberson rather than kill her. She told the board she has accepted responsibility and believes her years in prison have led to personal rehabilitation.
Under Michigan law, the Parole Board does not make the final decision in clemency cases. After reviewing the hearing record, the full board will decide whether to send a recommendation to Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The governor alone has the authority to commute a sentence or grant a pardon.
No timeline has been announced for a final decision. For now, the case that has lingered over Detroit’s west-side school community for more than three decades moves from the public hearing stage into internal review by the parole board before any recommendation is sent to the governor’s office.
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