Deshawn Smith

Home After 20 Years

Deshawn is Home For Good after serving 20 years in prison—a journey from a childhood marked by fear and anger to a life of purpose and compassion. 

Growing up was turbulent. He was raised in a household that believed in harsh punishments in response to what was deemed negative behavior. Beatings became routine, and Deshawn often ran away, returning in the back of a police car. Instead of fearing arrest, he found it a relief.

“I had so much anger, but instead of taking it out on my family, I took it out on society,” he said. Encouraged by friends who praised his petty crimes, Deshawn was ultimately kicked out of his house at 16, what felt like the ultimate abandonment. At 17 he entered prison, and at 22 he received a 45-years-to-life sentence for a robbery with use of a firearm, his “Third Strike.”

Facing a life sentence in his early 20s, Deshawn initially shut down any help. But a self-help class asked him to “go back as far as he could in his childhood and remember”—and it cracked something open. When he closed his eyes, decades of trauma resurfaced, revealing how deeply his childhood shaped his anger.

From that moment forward, he took every course he could. He earned his GED, studied psychology in college, and trained dogs to become service animals—feeling awe when a family sent a thank-you card for their pit bull’s transformed behavior. “My whole life was take, steal, destroy,” he said. “So from then on, I made it my mission to give back.” He also led programs supporting blind people in prison and became a certified literary braille transcriber, a rare and rigorous skill requiring specialized braille embossing machinery and passing exams through the National Library Service. Over the years, he rebuilt a strong relationship with his family, too.

Recognizing the magnitude of his transformation, the Riverside District Attorney’s Office resentenced Deshawn, removing his life sentence and allowing him to go before the parole board. The answer was unmistakable: Deshawn did not belong in prison.

Released in 2025, Deshawn is now home with his loved ones and thriving. Today, he runs his own dog-training company. One of his first clients came from going on a walk, when he noticed a dog pulling on its leash. “I asked the owner, ‘Do you want your dog to stop doing that?’ and within 30 minutes, we were on a better path.”