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CNN Sunday Morning

Bombing Victim Relative Opposes McVeigh Execution

Aired June 10, 2001 - 08:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY SELLS, WIFE KILLED: I go and give blood once in a while. A little prick in the arm don't hurt very much compared to what happened to my wife, I'm sure, whether she had, you know, I don't know whether she was killed outright immediately or whether she had to suffer through falling and debris. I do know that she was crushed. So you don't know how much suffering she had to do. And so I think it's, he's really getting away light with just a little needle in the arm that he has to suffer with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Oklahoma City bombing changed thousands of lives in a flash. For some, the changes are still taking place six years after the bombing. Athena Roy's mother died in the bombing and she has gone back to college with money from the survivors' education fund. And she joins us from Oklahoma City this morning.

Ms. Roy, thank you for being with us.

ATHENA ROY, DAUGHTER OF BOMBING VICTIM: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: That gentleman who just preceded my introduction to you clearly favors the death penalty, I think, in this case. I know that you're not a proponent of the death penalty, but could you at all find a way for an exception in this case, given the heinous nature of this crime?

ROY: No, I don't believe so. In my opinion, I understand that various, you know, many, many people were victimized by this and affected and everyone has their own way of healing. But for myself and my immediate family, like my mother's parents, we don't believe in an execution. I feel that we should let -- we should send him to jail. You know, jail is all about being removed from society and that's where I think he should sit, like anyone else that's ever done, you know, horrible crimes.

O'BRIEN: Could you tell us a little bit about the stages of your healing and if at any time along the way over these past six years you felt otherwise, that you felt the desire for some kind of revenge?

ROY: I would say initially after the shock around about '96, I don't quite remember a lot of '95 or '96, and I was younger then and it was more anger of just obviously losing my mother. But as I matured and became to choose, have my own opinions, I decided that that wasn't going to make me feel any better.

O'BRIEN: And I assume that the anger was replaced by sadness. Give us a sense of your thoughts right now on this day on what is very likely the eve of the execution of Tim McVeigh.

ROY: I feel a little bit of sadness. I know that my mother is gone and she's not coming back and whether we or whether Timothy McVeigh is killed or not is not going to change that. And I'm a little saddened that we as Americans feel we have to kill someone else in retribution for all the other people that were killed.

O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of where you will be, what you will be doing, where your thoughts will be tomorrow morning when the hour draws near for the execution.

ROY: Actually, I have two small children that are at home and I recently have become unemployed and I believe that I'll probably be out with my children, probably catching fish or going to the park. My prayers will be with Timothy McVeigh. I hope that doesn't anger anyone, but that's just my beliefs and my family's beliefs.

O'BRIEN: Athena Roy, thank you for being with us. Proof, I guess, that life goes on. We appreciate your time on this Sunday morning.

ROY: Thank you very much.

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