Character Analysis
Prejean mentions tons and tons and tons of people in passing. Some of these individuals are included in our "Shout-outs" section (remember, this is a non-fiction book, so all the people mentioned are actual real-life folks). Others, less famous or more central to the story, are listed below.
Pat Sonnier's Family
Eddie Sonnier—Pat's younger brother. He is serving life in prison rather than facing the death penalty, which is ironic, since he may have been the one to actually pull the trigger. He also has a much harder time adjusting to life in prison than Pat does. Prejean works with him as well as with Pat, and she essentially becomes his spiritual advisor, as well.
Gladys Sonnier—Pat's mother.
Robert Sonnier—Pat's father, who died of liver cancer when he was young.
Marie—Gladys Sonnier's daughter.
Joan—Gladys Sonnier's sister, Pat's aunt.
Glenda Ann—Joan's daughter.
Star—Pat Sonnier's daughter.
Robert Lee Willie's Family and Friends
Joseph Vaccaro—Robert's accomplice during the murders.
Elizabeth—Robert's mother.
Mickey—Robert's oldest stepbrother.
Tim—Robert's middle stepbrother.
Todd—Robert's youngest stepbrother.
Hazel—Robert's aunt.
Junior—Elizabeth's husband, Robert's stepfather.
Reporters
Jason DeParle—Reporter at the Times-Picayune.
James Hodge—Reporter at the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Joseph Larose—Editor of the Clarion Herald, the New Orleans Catholic newspaper.
Liz Scott—Reporter for the Clarion Herald.
Corrections Personnel and Prosecutors
Willliam Alford, Jr.—D.A. investigator of Robert Willie's crime.
Frank Blackburn—Warden at Angola who replaces Ross Maggio (and had been warden previously).
Dracos Burke—Assistant D.A. who argues for Sonnier's death before the Pardon Board.
Catholic Priest, Chaplain at Angola—Old pre-Vatican Catholic, who does not approve of Sister Prejean. We are never told his name.
Major Kendall Coody—Official in charge of death row at Angola.
Lionel Daniels—Prison board member who votes against Sonnier's death.
Marion Farmer—Tammany Parish D.A. prosecuting the case against Robert Willie.
Ross Maggio—Warden at Angola.
Howard Marsellus—Chairman of the Pardon Board, later convicted of bribery.
Chaplain Penton—The chaplain at Sonnier's execution.
C. Paul Phelps—head of the Department of Corrections at Angola.
Captain John Rabelais—Captain of the Death House at Angola.
Slick—A guard on death row.
Murder Victims, Families, and Associates
David LeBlanc—17-year-old murdered by Patrick Sonnier.
Loretta Bourque—18-year-old murdered and raped by Patrick Sonnier.
Eula LeBlanc—David's mother.
Lloyd LeBlanc—David's father. He forgives Pat Sonnier and ends up wishing that Sonnier had not been executed.
Goldie Bourque—Loretta's mother.
Godfrey Bourque—Loretta's father.
Hubert Bourque—The Bourques' youngest child; he suffered from brain damage.
Faith Hathaway—18-year-old girl raped and murdered by Robert Lee Willie.
Vernon Harvey—Faith Hathaway's stepfather.
Elizabeth Harvey—Faith Hathaway's mother.
Elizabeth Harvey (younger)—Faith Hathaway's younger sister.
Dennis Buford Hemby—Killed by Robert Lee Willie in a fight over drugs.
Louis Wagner—Louisiana Deputy Sergeant killed by Robert Lee Willie's accomplices during a robbery.
Diane Kidner—A woman from Mennonite Volunteers who helps start the victims' assistance program in New Orleans with Sister Helen Prejean.
Mary Riley—One of the directors of the New Orleans victims' assistance program.
Janet Yessen—Crisis services coordinator of the Victim of Violence program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Prejean's Family and Friends
Mary Ann—Prejean's sister.
Charlie—Prejean's sister's husband.
Helen—One of Mary Ann's daughters, named after Prejean.
Louie—Prejean's brother
Julie and Marcy—Louie's children.
Jimmy and Wayne—Prejean's cousins, who worked on oil rigs.
Ann Barker and Leigh Scardinia—Prejean's roommates after she moves out of St. Thomas.
Elise Gautier—Prejean's friend and classmate when she was 12.
Lucy Schaff—Founder of Hope House, where Prejean teaches.
Don Alan Zuelke—A friend of Prejean's who administers the lie detector test to Robert Lee Willie.
Anti-Death Penalty Activists
Marcia Blum—Attorney director of the Louisiana Capital Defense Project.
Michael Baham—Pat's volunteer attorney, who was ineffective.
Chava Colon—Leader of the Prison Coalition who asks Prejean to become a pen pal for a Death Row inmate.
John Vodicka—One of the founders of the Prison Coalition.
John Craft—Local counsel for Robert Willie.
Tom Dybdahl —Leader of the Prison Coalition after Chava Colon.
Millard Farmer—Lawyer who takes Pat's case. He also encourages Prejean to become Robert Lee Willie's spiritual adviser.
Nancy Goodwin—An anti-death penalty activist who befriended Pat and Eddie.
Martha Kegel—Director of Louisiana branch of ACLU during early 1990s.
Barbara Major—An activist who suggests marching against the death penalty.
Julian Murray—An attorney representing Louisiana inmate Earnest Knighton.
Joe Nursey—An attorney on Millard Farmer's team.
Bill Quigley—An attorney from New Orleans and a friend of Prejeans.
Pat Quigley—Bill's young son.
Debbie Quigley— A former nun who married Bill Quigley.
Kimellen Tunkle—Millard Farmer's associate.
Sam Dalton—A lawyer whose offices Millard Farmer uses.
Robert J. Tybak—Attorney whose Wall Street firm works with Millard Farmer on Robert Willie's case.
Rose Williams—Mother of Robert Wayne Williams, executed in Louisiana.