Helen Prejean her best-selling book, "Dead Man Walking" (1993), based on her experiences with two convicts on Death Row for whom she served as spiritual adviser before their executions. In her book, she explored the effects of the death penalty on everyone involved. The book was adapted as a 1995 film of the same name, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. It was also adapted as an opera, first produced in 2000 by the San Francisco Opera. Helen Prejean was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of Augusta Mae (née Bourg; 1911–1993), a nurse, and Louis Sebastian Prejean (1893–1974), a lawyer.
Dalton Prejean Dalton Prejean Dalton Prejean (December 10, 1959 – May 18, 1990) was an American murderer. He was tried, convicted, and executed by the electric chair in Louisiana for the murder of Louisiana State Police Trooper Donald Cleveland. The case received international attention because the defendant was a black man convicted by an all-white jury; had brain damage and tested just above mental retardation; and was age 17 at the time of the crime. Prejean was the second of four children. When he was two weeks old his parents sent him from their home in Lafayette to live with his aunt