Watch Insight's double episode on Seeking Justice — and what it looks like for different people — on
One autumn Sunday morning in November 2004, I learned my father had been shot.
I was in Houston, Texas with my sister, packing and preparing to go home for Thanksgiving, when I got a call from a security alarm company saying there'd been a panic alarm at our family's petrol station in San Antonio, around a three-hour drive away.
The operator said they were unable to reach my parents, so I immediately tried to contact my dad, but he didn't answer. I rang my best friend Justin to ask him to check on my dad.
When Justin arrived at the store, he called me and passed me to a police officer.
“There was a robbery and your dad is in bad shape”, the officer told me. I pressed for more, telling him I was in Houston and needed to know.
I still recall the chilling words that made me drop to my knees.
"He didn’t make it. He’s gone.”
In the space of 20 minutes, I went from the fear of not knowing what was happening, to the fear of how I would continue my life without my best friend and father, Hasmukh Patel.
Mitesh Patel describes his father Hasmukh, who was killed in 2004, as his "best friend". He says he will never heal from the loss. Source: Supplied
An arrest, a death sentence and a personal message
It was later that Sunday morning, while driving from Houston with my sister and her family, that we learned who the murderer was.
A man called Christopher Young had been arrested and found with gunshot residue and my father's blood on his sock.
The following spring, Christopher was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
I spent the next 13 years eagerly awaiting his execution so that I could feel a sense of justice.
In the spring of 2018, we heard the State of Texas had set an execution date in July 2018. Justice was finally within reach.
Mitesh Patel (centre) says he feels the loss of his father Hasmukh (left) every time he experiences something new in life. Source: Supplied
The message was brief and to the point. It was an apology for his actions 14 years earlier.
One activist was a filmmaker, and asked if I was interested in working on a film highlighting the struggles Christopher’s daughters felt throughout his incarceration.
I declined. The idea was well-placed, but I didn’t want to align myself with any story that could help position Christopher as a victim after he had killed my dad.
The other activist was an actor named Chiké Okonkwo. He was more interested in my healing and the risk of re-trauma as a result of the execution.
This journey reminded me that justice for me would never be attained. No person on this planet can undo the wrong Christopher committed, as my father cannot be brought back.Mitesh Patel
Over the next few weeks, Chiké and I became close friends, and I continuously reminded him that I didn’t need to heal. At the time, I thought I had healed already.
Chiké told me stories of conversations he had with Christopher, and shared a video with me. The video was pivotal in my decision to help Chiké and Christopher’s attorneys fight for clemency.
In the video, Christopher sent a message to his daughter. He spoke of wanting to break the chain of violent choices and guide her to make better choices in life.
Even though this man was a hardened convict behind bars, I was struck by his desire to ensure his child and other troubled youth didn’t continue the cycle of violence.
For this, he deserved a chance to continue to speak out against his mistakes, to help save even one life.
No one should have to experience what I had experienced.
The fight for clemency
I spent the next three months talking to anyone who would listen and help me convince the State of Texas to agree to grant clemency to Christopher.
Chiké, myself and Melody Wilson (a producer working with Chiké,) spent days trying to get a positive outcome.
Sadly, we weren’t successful. In July 2018, Christopher was executed for the murder of my father.
Justice, as the state saw it, was served.
Now a child is left fatherless, a pain I can relate to all too well.
A voice that wanted to break the chain was silenced.
This journey reminded me that justice for me would never be attained. No person on this planet can undo the wrong Christopher committed, as my father cannot be brought back.
Mitesh Patel (right) says he could never attain justice for the murder of his father Hasmukh (left), because nothing can bring him back. Source: Supplied
I never have, nor ever will, forgive the young man who gunned down my father. And I will never “heal” from the loss of him, which I revisit every time I have a new life experience.
However, I could place value on the life of my father's killer when he was willing to help prevent future generations from walking in his shoes.
What has healed me is this process. I don't think our reactive and punitive justice system prevents crimes. But in seeking a better way, I hope to find justice for the death of my father.
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