The Community of Sant’Egidio mourns the passing of Sunny Jacobs, internationally renowned symbol of the fight against the death penalty and of human resilience. Sunny tragically died on 2 June at the age of over 70 after a blaze at her home in Casla, Ireland.
Sunny spent 17 years in prison in Florida, five of them on death row, following an unjust conviction for the murder of two police officers in 1976. At the time of the shooting, she was in a car with her husband Jesse Tafero and their two children. While she and Tafero were sentenced to death, the real killer, Walter Rhodes, confessed years later. Tafero had already been executed in 1990, while Jacobs was released in 1992 thanks to a review of her case.
In prison, Sunny coped with isolation by practising yoga and meditation. Upon her release, she did not give in to bitterness but dedicated the rest of her life to preventing others from being wrongfully imprisoned, helping those who had been released to heal, and campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States and around the world. She used to say, “‘It meant so much to me to make that choice to heal, rather than waste the gift of a new life looking back at the wrongs done to me.’ Suffering from multiple sclerosis for many years, Sunny was confined to a wheelchair, but she never stopped fighting for the abolition of capital punishment.
She had deep ties to the Community of Sant’Egidio, which had met her in 1998 and then invited her several times to Rome and other Italian cities, where she spoke — with strength and gentleness— about the need to abolish the death penalty and build a culture of non-violence. At many international meetings organised by Sant’Egidio, Sunny shared her testimony of hope and reconciliation especially with young people.
In her last phone call with friends from the Community, she promised to return soon to Rome to talk to young people and encourage them to always fight using non-violence.
During a conference against the death penalty in Ireland, she met Peter Pringle, pictured with her, who also survived an unjust death sentence in Ireland.
They married in 2012 and settled in a house in Connemara, where they opened the Sunny Centre to welcome innocent former death row inmates – particularly those who, like her, had received no compensation or even official recognition of their innocence – helping them to overcome the trauma of death row.
Author of the best-selling book Stolen Time and the subject of numerous plays and television programmes, Sunny leaves us a legacy of civic engagement, hope and forgiveness. As she said in an interview: “In prison, I learned what really matters in life… Love. Peace. Kindness. Being true to yourself.”