Leslie Harris has missed most milestones in his daughter’s life while serving a decades-long sentence in Louisiana for armed robbery and is unlikely to get out before her prom, her graduation and maybe even her wedding.

But for one night at Louisiana’s largest maximum-security prison, Harris made his own moment with his 17-year-old daughter while donning a custom tux and clutching a bouquet of roses: reuniting at the prison’s first father-daughter dance, where they embraced to Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” at a pink-heavy party this month that was widely shared on social media.

“Seeing her in a dress, crying and running to me just broke me down,” said Harris, who has nine years left on his sentence, in a phone interview from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. “It made me think of all the years I missed out on in her life.”

The lockup is the latest in the U.S. to hold a daddy-daughter dance, including one in Washington D.C. that was featured in the Netflix documentary “Daughters” last year. In Louisiana, prison officials say the dance could become another tradition at the rural lockup in Angola, which every October hosts the country’s last remaining prison rodeo. It has more than 6,300 prisoners, including dozens of people on death row, and is on the same grounds where a notorious lockup was converted into an immigration detention facility in September.

Assistant Warden Anne-Marie Easley said she hoped the dance would bring a sense of hope that can be elusive in a prison where many are serving decades-long or life sentences. For some men, it was a chance to reunite with their daughters for the first time in months or even years – an opportunity to rebuild relationships and heal wounds. For others, it meant a night where they wouldn’t be seen as an inmate but rather a dad.

The prison picked nearly 30 inmates to participate due to good behavior, among other factors. Videos posted from the event showed fathers in tuxedos – complete with pink boutonnieres – breaking down in tears as their daughters ran up to them in sparkly dresses, shrieking with excitement. They reunited in the middle of a pink carpet overlayed with petals, with breezy drapes hanging overhead. A dance space was setup in the prison’s Bible college.

The dance was put on by God Behind Bars, which hosts other reunification events and religious services in prisons nationwide. In videos the group posted before the dance, some prisoners said they wanted to apologize for all the years they missed. Others called the dance the most important prison visit of their lives.

The night included the men surprising their daughters with a line dance after weeks of practice. For Harris, the best part was when he and his daughter slow danced to ‘Butterfly Kisses,’ a song about a dad’s unconditional love for his daughter.

In that moment, Harris said memories rushed back of life before prison, when his daughter was just 2 years old. How she would sleep on his chest, play with his hair and how he would buy her little dresses. Before the night was over, he gave her a Bible with passages he highlighted.

“That’s really the heart of it at the end of the day,” said Jake Bodine, founder of God Behind Bars. “Show these individuals who is counting on them and once they realize the weight of that, they will hold themselves accountable for change.”

A Louisiana man who spent 27 years on death row was released on bail after his murder conviction was overturned earlier this year in the 1993 death of his girlfriend’s toddler, his lawyers said.

The release Wednesday of Jimmie Duncan, 57, marked a “significant step forward in his long fight for justice,” one of his attorneys, Chris Fabricant, said in a statement.

Fabricant noted the role of what he called “fraudulent forensics” in Duncan’s conviction and described his incarceration as “a gross miscarriage of justice.”

“His execution would have been a moral outrage,” Fabricant added.

Duncan, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 and had been incarcerated at Angola state prison, was released on $150,000 bond, The Associated Press reported.

The Innocence Project, whose attorneys have represented Duncan, said in a news release that 4th Judicial District Judge Alvin Sharp’s ruling finding Duncan “factually innocent” of the murder was appealed to the state’s high court and is set for oral arguments early next year.

The district attorney’s office that prosecuted Duncan could not be reached for comment Friday. In a statement cited by NBC affiliate KTVE of West Monroe, Louisiana, 4th District Attorney Steve Tew said his office is preparing to challenge the ruling.

Twenty three-month-old Haley Oliveaux died on Dec. 18, 1993, after Duncan briefly stepped away from the bathtub, according to the Innocence Project. When Duncan found her unconscious, he tried to perform CPR and sought help from neighbors who called 911.

She died shortly afterward at a hospital.

Duncan was convicted of the killing in part through forensic evidence. Experts for the prosecution linked what they described as bite marks found on the girl’s body to Duncan’s teeth, according to the Innocence Project.

In an April ruling, Sharp cited an expert for Duncan who rejected that conclusion and described bite mark analysis as “junk science” that is “not scientifically defensible.” Two experts who testified for Duncan said the toddler appeared to have died by accidental drowning and not homicide, according to the ruling.

The ruling from Sharp also found that Duncan’s trial attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel.

According to the Innocence Project, at least 39 wrongful convictions and indictments across the United States have been attributed to the forensic techniques used in Duncan’s case. The group said that of the nearly 3,800 cases that have been documented by the National Registry of Exonerations since 1989, false or misleading forensic evidence has played a role in a quarter of them.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Runners laced up their sneakers at Prien Lake Park Thursday morning for the Turkey Trot, a 5K fun run that brought the popular Thanksgiving tradition to Lake Charles.

The event combined movement, music and community while serving as a fundraiser for the Southwest Louisiana Law Center, a nonprofit that provides affordable legal services to families who fall between legal aid and private attorneys.

“The turkey trot is to benefit the SWLA Law center, we’re a nonprofit. We’ve been around since 1867. We exist to offer our services on a sliding scale income based structure, and so we do fundraisers like this to raise money and help us continue to provide affordable legal services to the community,” said organizer Misty Williams.

Participants said starting the day with a run provided both fun and health benefits. Doctors at the event said getting blood pumping early can help offset the big Thanksgiving meal many families look forward to later.

“We all know were gonna eat a good bit today, we’re gonna enjoy our days, our meal, and our families. So getting out before you start to eat helps you not feel bogged down, get that exercise in, and get those steps in. Keeping our blood pressure controlled, our weight controlled, even blood sugar and cholesterol,” said Dr. Donald Higgins, a participant and family medicine specialist.

Beyond the health benefits and fundraising, organizers said the goal was to bring people together, celebrate community and reflect on gratitude.

“I just love spending time with my favorite people, and with Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for these amazing girls I surround myself with,” said participant Mina Le.

Karen Seal said her visiting family members were eager to participate in the tradition.

“My brother and sister in law came into town for Thanksgiving, and they wanted to run a turkey trot, they were willing to drive to Beaumont to do so, but we found this one, so we came out here and ran and had a great time,” Seal said.

Organizers hope to build the same Thanksgiving morning tradition found in bigger cities, with the Turkey Trot quickly becoming a holiday staple at Prien Lake Park.

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