FLORENCE — Debbie Morris, a woman who as a teen-ager survived kidnapping and repeated rape at the hands of two men — one the basis for the main character in the book and movie, Dead Man Walking, — will speak about how she came to forgive these people today at a Florence church.

        Mrs. Morris, author of Forgiving Dead Man Walking (1998), suffered hours of torture at the hands of Robert Lee Willie and Joe Vaccaro.

IF YOU GO

• What: “Forgiving Dead Man Walking,” a talk by Debbie Morris, who survived an attack by the killer featured in the book.   • When: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. today.   • Where: Florence Baptist Temple.   • Cost: $15 per ticket (includes lunch).

        She testified at her attackers' trial, which led to the death penalty for Mr. Willie, whom Sister Helen Prejean counseled on death row and wrote about in her book, Dead Man Walking. But Mrs. Morris is not now a staunch supporter of the death penalty.

        “I did eventually find out that the death penalty doesn't make all those demons go away,” Mrs. Morris said. “This does not mean that people should not be accountable for what they've done. This just means that I give up my right to vengeance.” Mrs. Morris, then Debbie Cuevas, was 16 when Mr. Willie and Mr. Vaccaro attacked her and her boyfriend in 1980 outside Madisonville, La.

        The two men kidnapped the couple, put Mrs. Morris's boyfriend, Mark Brewster, into a car trunk, and drove into Alabama. They had murdered a woman named Faith Hathaway a few days earlier. The two hung Mr. Brewster from a tree, stabbed him, burned him with cigarettes and shot him in the back of the head.

        Mr. Willie and Mr. Vaccaro continued to drive and stopped repeatedly to assault Ms. Cuevas, threatening to kill her. Eventually, the men took her back to her hometown and dropped her by the side of the road. Mr. Brewster was found by police and survived his injuries.

        The two men were captured four days later.

        Still in high school when she gave key testimony at Mr. Willie's trial, Mrs. Morris said that she didn't think about the death penalty.

        She felt that she had a responsibility to the parents of Ms. Hathaway and to Mr. Brewster to testify against her attacker. She said that local papers credited her testimony with resulting in Mr. Willie's death-penalty conviction.

        “I remember thinking, "Whatever he gets, he deserves,'” Mrs. Morris said.

        Mr. Willie was executed Dec. 28, 1984. Mr. Vaccaro received life in prison.

        Mrs. Morris said that fear is often one reason victims seek the death penalty.

        “I knew that I had looked evil, in its purest form, in the eye,” Mrs. Morris said. “I was terrified of them. When I heard about the death penalty, that's why I was OK with it, because that was the only way I could feel safe. Many victims feel that way. Some think it's revenge and sometimes it is, but sometimes its just fear.”

        Mrs. Morris said that her forgiveness was a process that started four years after her attack, on the night of Mr. Willie's execution.

        “I realized that I had been hanging my hopes for healing on his execution,” Mrs. Morris said. “On the night of the execution, I panicked. I thought, "What if, once he's dead, I'm still not better?'”

        Now married and a mother of two, Mrs. Morris travels and speaks to people around the country about the process of healing.

        To those who seek the death penalty, Mrs. Morris has the following advice.

        “Examine why you're for it,” Mrs. Morris said. “If you're thinking that it's going to bring some type of healing, it's not. As Christians, our hope should be that that condemned murderer, that heathen, should turn to Christ and we as Christians should be willing to accept them into the kingdom of Christ with open arms.”

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