Second Chances

When one first meets Robert Stephens, 41, and Melroy Givens, 47, it’s very obvious they’re close friends. To look at their relationship, one might think they’d been friends for years, but that’s not the case.

These two inmates — one a former member of a neo-Nazi prison gang, the other African American — currently housed at the Hopkins County jail, are the main characters in a story of redemption and friendship.

According to Kenneth Dean, Hopkins County jail administrator, the two men were in different TDCJ units in 2016.

“We bench warranted them back because of their job skills,” Dean said. “We have a lot of ministry here [at the jail], and they both got involved with that. It’s like God put them together.”

Stephens was reportedly an enforcer for the Aryan Circle, an elite splinter group of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood. New recruits — both male and female — are handpicked by members, and the group is reported to be involved in many prison gang riots, violent attacks and hate crimes, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The gang operates inside prisons and on the streets, and the total number of members is estimated around 1,400.

“Those two have come together, and they’re like brothers,” Dean said, “as close as any two brothers I’ve ever seen.”

“I look at Melroy as my big brother,” Stephens said. “He’s sharp with everything he does. I look to him for guidance. I lean on him, and he tells me when I’m messing up and what I need to do. I’ve never had that in my life. And even though we’re two different colors, that’s my brother. I’ll lay down in front of anything for him.”

Stephens said he grew up around Emory, and he’s known for being “a bad person, just a bad way of being ugly to people. I’m trying to make an example and try to give back to the community. I just want people to know that if God can change me, and I can change myself, then you can do the same too.”

Givens said he believes everything happens for a reason.

“It took me going through all that I went through to get me to where I am today. It may sound crazy, but the only friends I have [are] here — Mr. Dean, Robert, his wife, the sheriff and a few other people — I know they have my back. If I left here today, I’d want to still associate with that same small group of people. Pretty much everybody I knew before, I don’t associate with them now. I don’t want to put myself back in a situation where I can fail.”

Givens says he stayed to himself, not wanting to get caught up in others’ bad choices. When Dean asked him who he wanted to work with, Givens chose Stephens.

“I could see that he was trying to do the same thing I was,” Givens said. “We both made mistakes — look where we’re at; we’re here. But we’re both trying to do something different with our lives. I chose to work with him, because I could see we were both trying to do the same thing in our lives — do better.”

The two men participate in various cook-offs around the county. They’ve even talked about opening up a barbecue shop and cooking for the community. Givens, who is a licensed barber (He even cuts Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum’s hair.) wants to open a small shop and provide free haircuts for children.

“It’s not ‘I want to’ — it’s a matter of time,” Givens said. “I’m going to start a nonprofit organization for youth. I gotta do that, because I damaged a lot of people. I can’t change the past, but I know I can do something about [the future] personally. I was an influential person out on the street. Where I grew up, [people] looked up to me for the wrong reason, but I can use that for something good. I can still reach some in a positive way. A kid will do what he sees around him.”

Stephens said he’s always had a good life, although his dad was an alcoholic.

“I grew up watching that. My mom tried to do right by me. I just made wrong choices in my life. When I was 15, I lost my dad. I turned to alcohol, and then to drugs to ease the pain. That’s where my criminal life started. My family, they’re all into drugs,” Stephens said. “Then I got sent to prison for the first time in 2000. I joined up as an Aryan Circle gang member, and I did some real awful things I wish I could take back. But I laid all that down, because the only place it’s getting me is back in [jail]. Since I’ve been here, I’ve learned how to love, how to feel humble in my heart. I want to make my mom proud before she leaves this earth.”

Stephens has two sons, ages 22 and 16. Givens has three sons and two daughters.

Givens met with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Dec. 10, 2019 and expects to have an answer by mid-January. He hopes to be out in time to see his son graduate from college in May.

Stephens said he and Givens are already making plans for after they’re both out of jail.

“We’re going fishing,” he said.