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Sorrow and redemption: Minnesota pardon board grants 33 pardons • Minnesota Reformer [1]
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Date: 2025-07-09
Jessica Persaud’s 13-month-old son accidentally drowned in her bathtub in 2008, and she pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter for the “biggest mistake of my life.”
Persaud, who sat next to her daughter Alana Perkins, tearfully told the three-member pardon board on Wednesday that she lives everyday with guilt and sorrow and had often thought about giving up. But she knew her daughter needed her.
“If I could have the opportunity to have this pardon, I can have the chance to finally process and mourn the way a mother should,” Persaud told the board, comprising Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson.
In 2008, Persaud, then 24, placed her 13-month-old son in the bathtub and ran the water, thinking the drain was unplugged. She left the bathroom to talk to her friend on the phone while doing some housework. When she returned, Persaud discovered a toy had plugged the drain and her son was floating in the tub, unresponsive. He later was pronounced dead.
Persaud’s daughter Perkins said she’s watched her mother “destroy” herself over the years for the accidental drowning. Persaud’s been a loving mother, Perkins said, and she asked the pardon board to give her mother a second chance.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons was moved by Persaud’s remorse and granted her a pardon on Wednesday 3-0.
“After the tragic loss, you poured all that love into your surviving daughter and obviously have done a great job raising a child who loves you,” Walz told her. “I just don’t see why this serves justice or society to have this on your record.”
Dozens of people with stains on their records Wednesday asked the Board of Pardons for a pardon or commutation.
The Minnesota Legislature in 2023 made it easier for people convicted of crimes or serving sentences to get clemency. In the past, the board’s vote had to be unanimous. Now the governor and just one other board member must vote “yes.”
Prior to 2023, Minnesota had the senior elected officials go through each case, in person, in public, flanked by a bevy of staffers and the state prison director. That’s one reason Minnesota has granted fewer pardons and commutations than most states.
Now the process occurs largely behind closed doors, similar to other states. Applicants and victims make their case to a new Clemency Review Commission, which reviews pardon and commutation applications and makes recommendations to the pardon board. The attorney general, governor and chief justice still meet publicly, but merely to review the recommendations and vote. It’s intended to streamline the process and get more people pardoned. Rather than considering dozens of requests twice a year, the board will go through hundreds.
Persaud said Wednesday that the pardon will help her mental health and her future employment prospects while empowering her to finish getting a degree.
“I am not the same woman I was all those years ago. I am stronger and committed to living a life grounded in love, growth and compassion for my daughter, for the memory of my son and for a future I still believe in,” Persaud told the pardon board.
By the end of the eight-hour meeting, the board granted 33 pardons; denied three and commuted one sentence; and denied two commutation requests.
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