Truer Crime Podcast: Keith LaMar + The Lucasville Prison Riot Part 3

Host: Celisia Stanton
Episode Date: September 15, 2025

Episode Overview

In this deeply personal and meticulously reported episode, host Celisia Stanton continues her investigation into the life and conviction of Keith LaMar, focusing on the aftermath of the infamous 1993 Lucasville Prison Riot. This installment intertwines Keith's early life, the circumstances around his first murder charge, and the legal proceedings that ultimately landed him on death row. With intimate interviews and sharp commentary, the episode raises vital questions about systemic injustice, the power of narrative, and the search for humanity amid violence and chaos.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Keith LaMar’s Path Before Prison

• Youth in the Crack Era

  • Keith recounts his teenage years immersed in drugs, crime, and a fast lifestyle.
  • Quote:
    “We were shooting dice, smoking weed, some of us lacing the weed with crack cocaine. ... I was living a real dangerous life.”
    — Keith LaMar, 04:38
  • Keith describes his role as a drug dealer, living with material wealth but oblivious to the dangers around him.

• Tragedy and First Murder Conviction

  • The pivotal night: during a chaotic, drug-fueled evening, Keith responds to a home invasion by shooting at the intruders, one of whom, Kenyatta Collins, was a childhood acquaintance.
  • Quote:
    “Before they could even turn the corner, I was already firing my pistol. And Kenyatta was the first one to kind of come ease around the edge of the hallway.”
    — Keith LaMar, 06:39
  • Keith, wounded in the leg, recounts moments of fear, confusion, and ultimately hearing Kenyatta’s death pronounced in the hospital.
  • He’s advised to plead guilty to murder (despite his claim it was self-defense), and begins an 18-to-life sentence at nineteen.

2. Survival and Transformation in Prison

• Entering Adult Prison at Nineteen

  • Keith describes the shock of entering an intensely violent environment and feeling “afraid…naked human being in every sense of the word.” (14:33)
  • Survival strategies included joining the prison’s boxing team and carrying a knife for protection.

• Psychological Toll and Insight

  • Keith offers a powerful metaphor about being forced to “drink water out of a toilet”—a reflection on the limited choices available in both prison and the world he grew up in.
  • Quote:
    “I would drink spoiled water if I had to choose between that and a glass of urine. ... But that's a fact of something somebody have done. ... You judging me because I'm drinking this dirty water.”
    — Keith LaMar, 17:09 & 18:31
  • He connects systemic neglect, such as redlining and Jim Crow, to the limits imposed on people in marginalized communities.

• Support and Redemption

  • The turning point: mentors in prison encourage Keith to value his inherent worth—“the root word of education is Educe...to bring forth that which is already there.”
  • Quote:
    “I was already in prison before I even arrived to the physical place. It was a worse prison because I didn’t even know I was in it.”
    — Keith LaMar, 19:55

3. The Lucasville Riot: The New Accusations

• Facing New Murder Charges

  • After the Lucasville riot, the state charges Keith with five murders (including Dennis Weaver) that occurred during the chaos.
  • Quote:
    “They said that we're not saying you killed anybody. We're saying that you ordered deaths.”
    — Keith LaMar, 12:17

• Refusing the Plea Deal

  • Though most prisoners take pleas, Keith refuses this time: “I just wasn’t willing to give up myself again.”
    — Keith LaMar, 22:00
  • The state seeks the death penalty; Keith faces trial represented by two white, court-appointed attorneys—Herman Carson and Bob Toy—“Hi, we’re two white guys. We’re here from the government to help you” (23:04, Herman Carson).

4. The Trial: Legal Hurdles and Questionable Witnesses

• Obstacles for the Defense

  • The state withholds key exculpatory (Brady) evidence, providing only vague summaries unconnected to individuals.
    “They wouldn’t tell us which other residents had made which statements...it’s bullshit. It’s not confidential. It’s under Brady vs. Maryland.”
    — Herman Carson, 27:37
  • The defense is effectively unable to cross-reference inconsistent testimonies, crippled in trial preparation.

• Heavily Coached Informants

  • The prosecution’s witnesses are mostly incentivized prison informants, dubbed as products of “Snitch Academy.”
  • Several key informants have histories of lying or changing their stories; some receive early parole or other rewards for their testimony.
  • Quote:
    “Do you think people lied?”
    “Oh, no doubt, no doubt about it.”
    — Celisia Stanton & Herman Carson, 30:25
  • The defense’s own witnesses collapse on the stand, some confronted mid-testimony with contradictory statements the state withheld until the last minute.

• Racist and Biased Environment

  • Keith’s jury is all white; he is the only Black person in the courtroom, including the defense team.

5. Keith’s Perspective and Final Speech

• Keith’s Approach on the Stand

  • Keith’s strategy in trial is to repeat that he wasn’t involved, but he reflects later:
    “You asking us to believe that these good people would stoop to the level of lying...now the jury is upset with me because I’m saying over again, I don’t know what you’re talking about...It’s genius, what they did.”
    — Keith LaMar, 34:02–34:33

• The Verdict and Sentencing

  • The jury convicts Keith on all counts. The courtroom fills not with those who heard evidence, but with people watching the spectacle.
  • Quote:
    “It was like a horror movie. But this your life, though...everybody’s standing like this is the most righteous shit in the world about to happen.”
    — Keith LaMar, 38:14

• Keith’s Final Address to the Court (Courtroom Speech)

  • Quote:
    “Whole trial has been said, repeatedly said by the prosecutor that every man must be held accountable for his actions… I agree with that. …I don’t believe in what took place in this courtroom. Prosecutor hid evidence. He encouraged witnesses. Well, every man must be held accountable.”
    — Keith Lamar, 39:27

6. The Aftermath: Sent to Death Row

• Keith’s Realization and Resolve

  • On the ride to death row, Keith describes “being submerged underwater, being buried alive, basically watching a hole being dug and slowly coming to awareness that I was going to have to live in that hole...”
    — Keith LaMar, 41:32
  • Determined not to acquiesce—“I just knew that I wasn’t going to go along with it...my resistance, but I knew I would resist.”
    — Keith LaMar, 42:04

• His First Act of Defiance

  • On arriving at Mansfield Correctional:
    “I stopped walking...I just told them to stop moving, stop. And they drug me down this long corridor to my cell. That's how my tenure on death row began.”
    — Keith LaMar, 42:44

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On childhood friends becoming adversaries:
  “But one of the consequences of the crack epidemic is that it divided community.”
  — Keith Lamar, 07:07

• On being judged for ‘bad choices’:
  “It’s real disingenuous, this narrative about crime and criminality. ... Everybody trying to live, everybody trying to survive.”
  — Keith Lamar, 19:27

• Keith’s growth in prison:
  “My life has meaning. Not because I had Mercedes Benz, not because I had money... Your life has meaning because you was born with something inside of you that was meant to be brought forth.”
  — Keith Lamar, 19:55

• On being alone in court:
  “A white judge, white prosecutor team, and even the defense team. My attorneys were white, so I was the only black person in the whole courtroom.”
  — Keith Lamar, 29:07

• On defiance and survival:
  “I just knew that I wasn’t going to go along with it...I didn’t know the law. I didn’t know how to write. I didn’t have a support network, didn’t have anything but my feet. And I just told them to stop moving, stop.”
  — Keith Lamar, 42:04 & 42:44

Important Timestamps

• 04:38 – Keith describes his early drug dealing life
• 06:39 – Keith recounts the night Kenyatta Collins was killed
• 08:51 – Wakes in hospital, hears Kenyatta pronounced dead
• 13:57 – Describes entering prison at 19
• 17:09–18:31 – The “toilet water” survival metaphor
• 19:55 – Keith learns about intrinsic value from other prisoners
• 22:00 – Refuses plea deal, deciding not to “give up” himself
• 27:37 – Herman Carson on being denied witness statements
• 30:25 – Herman Carson emphatically affirms, “People lied” under oath
• 33:52 – Defense witness undermined by withheld prosecution statement
• 34:02–34:33 – Keith reflects on the impossibility of his defense
• 39:27–40:25 – Keith’s defiant final courtroom speech
• 41:32–42:44 – Keith’s psychological state as he is sent to death row
• 43:15 – Keith’s “first day” of refusal on death row

Additional Resources

• Book Recommendation:
  Keith LaMar's memoir Condemned: The Whole Story, written from death row, details his account of the Lucasville uprising and alleges state suppression of evidence. Available via keithlamar.org.

Episode Tone & Narrative

Celisia’s approach is both empathetic and probing, blending personal testimony with systemic critique. The episode is unflinching in its portrayal of violence, trauma, and institutional failures, yet it also foregrounds moments of humanity, dignity, and resistance. Keith’s own words—often philosophical, sometimes poetic—anchor the narrative, challenging listeners to reconsider what justice, survival, and transformation mean within the American criminal justice system.

The story continues in the next and final installment of this series.