Nike executive Larry Miller, 72, has met with family of innocent teen, 18, he murdered in 1965 to ask for forgiveness after they were 'blindsided' by his book where he revealed the killing
Nike executive Larry Miller has met with family of the innocent teen he murdered in 1965 and asked for forgiveness, after they were 'blindsided' after reading an article that revealed the killing.
Miller, 72, met with the family of Edward David White twice after announcing in a Sports Illustrated interview in October that he served time in prison after fatally shooting the then-18-year-old when he was a 16-year-old member of Philly's Cedar Avenue gang.
Miller pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, serving four and a half years in prison and five more years for a series of armed robberies before turning his life around, eventually becoming chairman of the Michael Jordan brand at Nike and a former president of the Portland Trail Blazers, The New York Times reported.
On December 17, Miller held an emotional meeting with White's son, daughter and sister in a law office in Philadelphia's Center City district after a family member happened to read the article about the murder that also mentioned his book, and his book, 'Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom,' according to The Times.
The family also met with Miller last week, and said they felt 'blindsided' by the reveal.
Hasan Adams, 56, was only eight months old when his father was gunned down while Azizah Arline, 55, was months from being born and never got to meet her father.
Nike executive Larry Miller, 72, (pictured) met with the family of Edward White twice after announcing in a Sports Illustrated interview he served time in prison for fatally shooting him
Miller decided to share his story in the newly released book Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom that he co-wrote with his daughter, Laila Lacy.
Arline told The Times that because her father was not named in the book, 'it was like he was a nobody' and that Miller not giving the family a head's up before the Sports Illustrated article and book were published made her feel like 'we were truly an afterthought for him.'
Miller told The Times that he always planned on reaching out to the White family, even hiring a private investigator, but that he 'was nervous about it, I was anxious about it.'
White's 84-year-old sister Barbara Mack said during the first meeting that she read Miller a letter about her younger brother, telling him about White's twin sister, young son and baby on the way at the time he was killed.
She also told Miller about her younger brother's job at a diner, that he attended Job Corps training and all about his 'swag' - which included his love of fedoras and The Temptations.
Mack told The Times that she chose to forgive Miller for the murder because 'if I didn't forgive him, God wouldn't forgive me.'
According to Mack, Miller apologized and teared up through out the meeting and by the end when he asked if he could hug her she agreed but told him 'If I was 30 years younger, I would have been across that table at you.'
Miller turned his life around, becoming chairman of the Michael Jordan brand at Nike and a former president of the Portland Trail Blazers (Miller pictured with Jordan)
Miller says he took to the streets drunkenly and in search of revenge after one of his friends and fellow gang members was fatally stabbed by a member of the rival 53rd and Pine gang.
The business tycoon didn't know White but wanted to avenge the murder of a fellow gang member, and says he ended up shooting and killing the first person he saw.
White did nothing to provoke him and died on the spot after being shot with a .38 Miller had gotten from his girlfriend.
Miller decided to share his story in his book, 'Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom,' which he co-wrote with his daughter, Laila Lacy.
Miller told The Times that he hoped the meeting allowed for White's family to feel his 'remorse and sorrow for what happened,' and said Mack's comments about coming after him if she were younger 'was an appropriate comment from my perspective.'
Mack told The Times she did not attend last week's second meeting where preliminary discussions about establishing a scholarship foundation in White's name were discussed because 'I don't have to see him anymore.'
The foundation would help White's family members and others attend college and trade school, and, according to White's daughter Arline, ensure that her father 'did not die in vain.'
Miller said that while the details had not been worked out, 'I think we have agreed that we wanted to do something that allows his name to live on and something that also is a benefit and positive to other folks that come from our community.'
Arline told The Times that she plans to hold Miller accountable.
'I will call him on the carpet every single time,' she said, to ensure 'that this legacy for my father comes to fruition.'
Arline also reprised the letter she read to Miller during the meeting, in which she said that 'it wasn't fair,' that she never got to meet her father, or 'to see him smile or hear his voice,' to have him 'give me away at my wedding' or to see him welcome his grandchildren.
She told him about how her mother planned on marrying White but instead was forced to be a single mother who struggled to make ends meet.
She added that learning the details about how he actually died made it 'as if we've lost him twice in one lifetime.'
White's 56-year-old son said he also forgave Miller.
Miller called the meeting with White's family 'full circle' and that over the years he has worked on forgiving himself, doing good for the community and getting forgiveness from God, 'And now for the possibility of Mr. White's family also forgiving me, I think that kind of completes the circle for me,' he told the The Times.
Ultimately White's family said they harbor no ill will toward Miller and view him as someone who has to make peace with himself.
'You can apologize again and again, but you have to be right with yourself at the end of the day,' Arline told the newspaper. 'He has to make peace that he took a man's life.'
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