Prisons

by Rob Edwards

  JUDITH HIGGINS: The story is about Noah…a boy with ASD who was facing dwindling options. Whose future is always in doubt, because he can’t communicate like everyone else can.

  BROOKE On Camera: Noah Higgins was going to school. He attended The Keener School for Special Needs Children, in nearby Algonquin Township for one year, and here at Hanson Elementary in Two Rivers for the last two years. He had been learning. Noah can eat, and drink by himself, he can dress himself, clean up after himself, and handle personal hygiene like brushing his teeth, and going to the bathroom. But what Noah couldn’t do was speak.

  BROOKE Voice Over: That’s when this man entered the picture—Dr. Warren Fitzpatrick of Marmont State College. He selected Noah for a radical social experiment.

  DR. WARREN FITZPATRICK: It’s quite simple really. The idea was to pair a special needs child, with a person in a correctional facility, with the hope of having positive responses on both sides of the equation. The children would get special attention like they’ve never had before and the inmates would be able to make a substantial difference for good in someone’s life, and have the ability to test for certification in the areas in which they garnered the expertise.

  BROOKE On Camera: Dr. Fitzpatrick’s idea was to bring convicted criminals out from behind the walls of this prison, and place them in rooms with other people’s children. It was an idea that many in the community found crazy.

  MAN-ON-STREET 1: I remember first reading about it. I told Carla, ‘Mark my words, this is going to lead to trouble. And I just hope nobody gets hurt.’

  MAN-ON-STREET 2: It was crazy. And look what’s happened.

  MAN-ON-STREET 3: I couldn’t believe they even had parents agree to that sort of thing.

  WARREN FITZPATRICK: Well the idea didn’t just come to me when I was drinking heavily one night. It has an actual established precedent in reality, and a very successful reality at that. Just look at the Puppies Behind Bars program, and the remarkable results from that project.

  BROOKE Voice Over: The program Dr. Fitzpatrick is talking about has been a success. It has literally been responsible for training hundreds of canine companions and leader dogs. And it has also been a very uplifting program for the inmates who have cared for and trained them as well. But dogs are one thing— children are quite another.

  Darren and Susan Hall are parents to Billy, a nine-year-old with Down syndrome. They signed Billy into the program without hesitation.

  DARREN HALL: We were on board right from the start. We loved everything about the program, and thought it was a good idea.

  BROOKE: You weren’t afraid Billy was going to be mistreated or hurt?

  DARREN HALL: I guess I had confidence in Dr. Fitzpatrick— that he was in control of the situation, and that there wasn’t going to be any real danger of anything happening to the kids.

  BROOKE: And what are your feelings about the program now?

  SUSAN HALL: We’re actually sad it’s over. Billy loved going to spend the day with

  Ken. And Ken really liked Billy too.

  DARREN HALL: Yeah, Ken was good to Billy. They always had special activities for them to do together and Billy got a lot out of it. He misses Ken now.

  SUSAN HALL: But we’ll see him again. We’re making plans to have Ken over a lot after he gets out.

  BROOKE Voice Over: As the Halls attest, they and Ken Miller were on the same page from the start. And even though that is the picture that has been portrayed about Judith Higgins and Delton Hayes, that is not entirely the truth.

  Taysha Williams was the counselor hired by Two Rivers to oversee Hayes throughout the Marmont Program. She was with him every minute he was with Noah Higgins, and on many occasions outside of the experiment as well. She tells a different tale of their relationship.

  TAYSHA WILLIAMS: Everybody is going around saying, ‘Oh, Judith Higgins and Delton Hayes…they’re this big miracle team.’ But I’m telling you right now, they hated each other at the start. Screamed at each other. Couldn’t stand to be in the same room together.

  BROOKE On Camera: Judith Higgins has gone from a woman who intensely disliked the man her son was paired up with, to the mother who picketed out in front of this prison every day desperately seeking his release. What was it that caused her change in attitude?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: You have to understand, at the beginning I was concerned about my son being a part of this program.

  BROOKE: Then why be a part of it at all?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: It was something my dad said to me…he talked about…basically the idea that no one excels in a comfort zone.

  BROOKE: So when did your feelings change about Delton specifically?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: My feelings slowly changed throughout the program. When I came in each day, Delton had studied the night before and had some new thing planned for Noah. But the day Noah walked in and spoke his first words…I was convinced that Delton was a miracle worker.

  BROOKE Voice Over: This is the room camera footage of the moment Judith was talking about.

  RECORDING AUDIO: “My man.”

  BROOKE Voice Over: Noah Higgins enters the room, walks over to Delton and speaks the words, ‘My man,’ like he has been saying it every day for a year, when in fact, these are actually the very first words little Noah has ever spoken.

  RECORDING AUDIO: “My man.”

  BROOKE Voice Over: But that remarkable moment was only the first. Noah’s time spent with Delton Hayes was filled with unprecedented growth. In other recordings we can see and hear him asking questions, requesting different toys to play with, and even hear the laughter as Noah experiences moments of sheer joy.

  RECORDING AUDIO: Noah’s laughter.

  BROOKE Voice Over: So who is Delton Hayes—the enigmatic figure who was imprisoned for armed robbery, shows dedication and tenderness for a child, and is now portrayed as a cold-blooded killer?

  TAYSHA WILLIAMS: He’s a young man who cares to the extreme. And that deep concern and passion for those he cares about can lead him to make wrong decisions.

  BROOKE: What do you mean by that?

  TAYSHA WILLIAMS: Just look at why he’s in prison in the first place. They call it armed robbery. But he didn’t rob a convenience store because he was trying to score a few bucks. He robbed it for a few cans of SpaghettiOs and some cookies because his sister was crying from being so hungry, and his mom had spent the last of their money on a fix.

  BROOKE Voice Over: Rena Blossom is a Marmont graduate student. She was part of the Two Rivers project, and the individual assigned to Noah Higgins and Delton Hayes. It was her job to watch and record the interactions every minute the two were together. She is not only a fan of Delton Hayes’, she is a staunch defender of the man.

  RENA BLOSSOM: He was good to Noah and he was good in the program. When he wasn’t with him, he studied hard on his own to be the best guide…companion…teacher, that Noah needed him to be. He connected with Noah, and it wasn’t just some miracle connection. Delton struggled a lot at the beginning. Delton worked at forming a connection. He worked so hard at it. And I think that’s why they were so good together. Delton wasn’t just putting in his time every day. He put Noah first every single minute.

  BROOKE On Camera: This is the building where the Marmont project took place. It is an abandoned office park on the outskirts of Two Rivers. This is where Delton, Noah and the other nine pairs met every weekday for just over two months. And where Rena Blossom watched the interactions. When she said Delton struggled in the beginning, she was putting it mildly.

  BROOKE Voice Over: In this video, Delton is seen trying to restrain an obviously upset Noah, and a guard enters with his gun drawn. And then in walks Judith Higgins. Rena Blossom explained that what Noah was experiencing was called a meltdown, which has the potential to be dangerous for an autistic child.

  RENA BLOSSOM: Noah started screaming very loudly and hitting himself. When this happens, it is important to restrain the child or they can hurt themselves. Taysha had called
Miss Higgins and asked her to come back. A guard heard the noise, looked in and thought Delton was hurting Noah. We tried to tell him that everything was fine but he didn’t listen; he went in and pulled his gun. That was right when Miss Higgins showed up. So you could understand how a mother could be a little bit freaked out about the situation. But up until that point Delton was doing everything right.

  BROOKE: Explain a meltdown.

  JUDITH HIGGINS: Oh…you saw the video too.

  BROOKE: Yes, and I want to know the difference between a meltdown and a tantrum. Why doesn’t someone just give an autistic child a timeout when they’re acting so badly?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: Okay, well, they’re completely different. An autistic person doesn’t understand how to process their emotions, and quite often they can’t process outside stimuli either. Things like loud noises, or…they don’t even have to be that loud. Large crowds, lots of flashing lights, and lots of movement…those kinds of things can take an autistic child over the edge. It’s like taking a bottle of soda and shaking and shaking it. All that pressure builds up and there’s no rational way to release it. And just like a plastic bottle can’t keep the top from blowing off, an autistic child can’t keep from blowing either. It’s not like a tantrum, where they’re whining because they didn’t get what they want. An autistic child has no control over the explosion. And they lose the control until all the pressure is released.

  BROOKE Voice Over: This video is from just last week. Noah joined Judith during one of her pickets in front of the Two Rivers Correctional Facility. Noah’s meltdowns become very self-destructive, so it is important that he is restrained to avoid causing any serious injury to himself. To the onlooker who doesn’t understand autism, this can look a great deal like child abuse, when in truth, it is exactly the opposite.

  BROOKE On Camera: So how did Delton Hayes handle the situation? Well, as Rena said, he studied everything he could get his hands on about autism spectrum disorder. He made sure that he was ready, so when the situation inevitably arose again, he would know exactly how to handle it.

  BROOKE Voice Over: Here he is with Noah, days later. Noah is upset, begins his meltdown, but Delton is ready. He prepares a tool he discovered in his studies: a beach blanket to create a special hammock that wraps around the child to help soothe him.

  JUDITH HIGGINS: I didn’t tell him about that. And neither did Rena or Taysha. That was something he figured out on his own by studying. And I thought ‘hmm…you know, maybe this kid has his ______ together after all.’

  BROOKE On Camera: So how did this caring and capable young man become such a brutal killer behind bars? Well, just like the image of him restraining young Noah was not all it seemed, so too is the image of him as a murderer.

  BROOKE Voice Over: Hector Sanchez was a good friend of Delton’s on the inside, and he was there when Rick Simpson was killed.

  HECTOR SANCHEZ: It has been totally misrepresented. Delton was attacked by Rick Simpson because he squealed on him.

  BROOKE: Squealed about what? Drugs?

  HECTOR SANCHEZ: Yes. Rick was getting drugs from the mother of his kid in the program, and Delton was worried about the kid. So he told the powers-that-be, and got Rick thrown out of the program. Well, in prison they don’t like squealers. So Rick and some of his buddies attacked Delton and cut him up real bad. But Delton fought back, and Rick slipped and fell on his own blade and killed himself. Delton didn’t even kill him. But they had to lock Delton up by himself to keep him safe, and they had to stop the program because…I don’t know, liabilities, I guess.

  BROOKE On Camera: Far from the drug-crazed madman that the media has tried to make him out to be, Delton Hayes was, once again, trying to do the right thing, and it turned against him. He has recently been transferred to El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas, under the guise of protection, but many believe it was to get Judith to stop picketing out here. We requested the opportunity to interview Delton and were turned down. But we were granted the opportunity to talk with the young man over the phone.

  BROOKE: How are you doing today, Delton?

  DELTON: Same as yesterday and the day before.

  BROOKE: Just wondering what’s going to happen?

  DELTON: Pretty much.

  BROOKE: We understand you behaved pretty remarkably during your time with Noah Higgins.

  DELTON: Well, he’s a pretty remarkable kid.

  BROOKE: Why do you say that?

  DELTON: I got a chance to know him. There’s a lot of life in that kid. You just gotta know how to get to it.

  BROOKE: And you now know how?

  DELTON: Yeah. He taught me a lot.

  BROOKE: From what I understand, you did a lot of the learning on your own.

  DELTON: I did. But it wouldn’t have happened without meeting him first.

  BROOKE: Tell me about your relationship with him.

  DELTON: It took work, but I think that’s what made it all so special. I think the reason people don’t necessarily hang around with autistic people is because it actually takes work. You can’t just have a conversation with them like you can with anybody else, you feel me? It ain’t always easy, and people only want to do what’s easy for them. But if you put in the work it takes to get to understand them, it’s a pretty great experience.

  BROOKE: So you liked your time with Noah.

  DELTON: Probably one of the best experiences of my life.

  BROOKE: And how is it, now that you don’t see him every day?

  DELTON: It’s like…living life without…joy.

  DR. WARREN FITZPATRICK: Quite honestly, Delton Hayes’ experience was what I was hoping for when I first proposed this project. I wanted a truly transformative relationship between two people, and the story of these two…is just…I’ll call it a win.

  RENA BLOSSOM: He was definitely the right person for Noah and even after all of this, I’m glad I had him with me.

  BROOKE On Camera: And so Delton Hayes remains locked away in another state, as he said, in a life without joy, wondering when and if he’ll be released. On the outside is a little boy on the spectrum, very depressed because he can no longer spend time with the best friend he’s ever had. And a mother, who is losing everything in her fight to help free the man who can rescue her son once again.

  BROOKE: I understand you lost your job over this.

  JUDITH HIGGINS: Oh well, yeah, but…they had always had problems with Noah.

  BROOKE: What do you mean by that?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: The leadership at Fillmore National never really tried to understand what it took to raise a child on the spectrum. Anything that took your full attention away from the task at hand meant you were a slacker and not really serious about your job. So when the first major bump in the road hit, they had had enough.

  BROOKE: What will you do now?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: Keep fighting the good fight.

  BROOKE: Why keep fighting such an uphill battle?

  JUDITH HIGGINS: I’m too scared not to. I’m too scared about what will happen to Noah if I stop…so…I won’t stop.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  “Wake up, Noah. We need to get you over to Aunt Dar’s.” Judith reached in and flicked on the switch in his room, then walked into the kitchen to get his cereal out of the cupboard. She heard two little feet thunk to the floor, and pad on into the bathroom.

  Judith knew she was no closer now to getting Delton out of prison than she had been two weeks ago, before the entire GINfo crew showed up to do their story, but somehow she felt a little more hopeful this morning.

  The segment on Noah had appeared the previous night on the GINfo show, “Deep Dive,” and it had turned out better than Judith could have hoped. In the twenty-minute segment, Brooke Winthrop had done an excellent job explaining the project and sharing her concerns. And Brooke had never mentioned that they had garnered a phone interview with Delton. Perhaps that occurred after they left. It surprised and delighted Judith to hear that Delton missed Noah as much as he
r son missed him. But if she were to describe the piece in one word, it would have to be, “validation.” The GINfo segment validated the project, the struggle of parents with autism, the plight of autistic children, and especially who Delton was, and his impact on Noah’s life.

  Her phone chimed in the pocket of her robe. She pulled it out to see a text from Neil. “Watched you on TV last night. Very proud of you.” Judith put her hand on her heart and gulped at the cry that tried to break free. The last person who ever said he was proud of her was her own father, and when he passed, she thought she would never hear those words again. With all the dealings with Noah and the fight for Delton, those four words seemed more important to her right now than the three words a woman normally wants to hear. Judith wanted to hit dial and tell him that she appreciated him, and wanted nothing more than to be near him forever.