Erie victims' advocate Betty Ferguson dies. She forgave killer of her daughter Debbie Gama

• Raymond D. Payne, a teacher at Erie's Strong Vincent High School, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1977, two years after the slaying of student Debbie Gama
• The killing upended the life of Gama's mother, Betty Ferguson, who gained solace by forgiving Payne and working with crime victims
• Ferguson, whose story gained national attention, died on Feb. 22

Betty Ferguson's life nearly fell apart in 1975. Sorrow overwhelmed her as she struggled to deal with one of Erie's most notorious murders — the killing of her daughter, 16-year-old Debbie Gama, by high school teacher Raymond D. Payne.

Ferguson became despondent.

She grew distant from her family.

The murder and its aftermath came close to crushing her spirit.

But Ferguson rebounded and thrived by doing what many might consider the unthinkable.

She forgave her daughter's killer even as he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no parole.

Ferguson never disputed Payne's guilt, but realized her anger at him was destroying her life and locking up her heart.

Payne killed Gama in the summer of 1975. He was sentenced in 1977. Ten years later, Ferguson met with him in prison and forgave him.

The act saved her.

"It hurt me, and I didn't want it to hurt me anymore," Ferguson, speaking of her rage, told the Erie Times-News in 2019. "To forgive, it will set you free. It set me free. Before, I was bungled up. Now I am free."

Ferguson spread her message of forgiveness — counseling victims and attracting national attention as she did so — until she died at age 80 on Feb. 22 at Elmwood Gardens, a skilled nursing facility in Erie. She had dementia and suffered from complications from several recent falls, said her daughter, Myshelle Will.

The Burton Quinn-Scott Cremation & Funeral Services is handling arrangements, which include a celebration of Ferguson's life at her residence. Services and burial will be private.

Will, 57, the youngest of Ferguson's four surviving children, was 10 when Debbie Gama, her older sister, was killed. Will considered her mother her best friend. The two bonded as they navigated the family's tragedy.

Will also forgave Payne, who was in his late 30s and an English teacher at Erie's Strong Vincent High School when he killed Gama. Payne died in prison at 83 after testing positive for COVID-19 in November 2020.

Will said she will be forever grateful for the lesson her mother taught her.

"She was on a mission to teach us kids to not hate," Will said. "She went on a journey to learn about forgiveness."

A message of forgiveness that traveled beyond Erie

Ferguson was raised in Erie, one of four daughters of the late Harold Palmer and Inez Heinonen. After Debbie Gama was killed, Ferguson started the career that made her well known among crime victims throughout the region.

Ferguson volunteered with Erie County Rape Crisis Center from 1981 to 1986, and was named volunteer of the year one year. Starting in 1986, she was employed for 25 years as a counselor with the Rape Crisis Center's Victim Witness Services, now the Crime Victim Center of Erie County. Ferguson founded the local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children in 1987.

Ferguson also volunteered as a mediator for the state Office of the Victim Advocate in its mediation program for violent crime victims, known today as Victim Offender Dialogue, in which she helped crime victims meet with those who wronged them. And Ferguson taught healing and the power of forgiveness at the Whole Life Health & Education Center in Erie.

Ferguson told her story beyond Erie and Pennsylvania. Not everyone embraced what she had to say.

After she met with Payne in prison and forgave him, Ferguson felt that she "was walking away from a friend," she told the Erie Times-News in 1992.

"That was the beginning of the most wonderful, peaceful time of my life," she said. "I came home and told the world, 'I have just done the most incredible thing I have ever done in my life,' and nobody agreed with me.

"I went to Parents of Murdered Children in Cincinnati and told them, 'I don't believe that I don't have to be angry anymore.' They got mad. They hollered at me, told me I was wrong, I was stupid, never should have done that. What if Ray gets out? What if he, what if he, what if he?

"My words to myself were, 'I didn't do it for him. I did it for me.'"

Ferguson expanded her audience in 2005. She appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" as one of three finalists for the show's "Story of My Life" contest, which sought compelling stories from ordinary people.

Ferguson recounted her meeting with Payne in a 2005 interview with the Erie Times-News about her getting featured on national television.

"All of this time I had thought of him as a monster," Ferguson said. "Now I see him just as a man, a man with these blue eyes and a sad heart. It felt like a truckload of pain left my heart."

Ferguson commented on all the attention she was receiving.

"I'm having a lot of fun with all of this, but I'm not a celebrity," she said. "Forgiveness is the celebrity."

A mother stood firm as her daughter's killer appealed

Ferguson recounted her experience with deep grief and forgiveness again in January 2019. Her daughter's murder was featured in the Discovery Channel series "The Lake Erie Murders."

Payne's case was still not over by that time.

Payne won a reprieve in April 2019 after filing unsuccessful appeals for decades. The state Superior Court ordered that Payne get a new hearing on his guilt in Erie County Common Pleas Court based on new DNA evidence. Payne made the request due to advances in DNA testing since he was convicted in 1977.

Testing in 2014 showed that Payne's DNA did not match the seminal fluid found on Gama's body. Payne argued that the DNA evidence showed he did not sexually assault Gama, and that he should not have been convicted of first-degree murder.

Payne confessed to killing Gama and pleaded guilty to a general count of homicide, and a panel of judges found him guilty of first-degree murder in 1977. He claimed the death was an accident.

Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender ruled against Payne in the final appeal. He found Payne guilty of first-degree murder based on evidence presented at a hearing in June 2020. Brabender resentenced Payne to life in prison with no parole in August 2020.

Brabender sided with Jack Daneri, the Erie County district attorney at the time, who argued the lack of a DNA match for the seminal fluid was irrelevant to the case. Brabender found the evidence still showed that Payne committed first-degree murder by strangling Gama after taking "bondage" photos of her in southern Erie County.

Gama's body was found on Aug. 12, 1975, floating under a clump of bushes in Cussewago Creek in Crawford County. Her wrists and ankles had been bound with wire, and wire was wrapped around her neck. An autopsy revealed she had been raped and strangled.

Ferguson attended the resentencing and other appellate proceedings. She wanted Payne convicted again. But she stood by her decision to forgive him.

"I think her forgiveness of Ray Payne and all the publicity that it brought — a lot of people, including myself, could not fathom that," said Daneri, who retired as district attorney in December 2021. "But as I got to know her I understood why she she did that. I came to understand her position with Payne and why it was necessary for her to make that journey."

Daneri described Ferguson as "an asset to the prosecution" because of the meticulous files she kept on Payne's case. Ferguson was always willing to help — and to offer her opinion, Daneri said.

"Although she was friendly, she was also a fierce woman, a matter-of-fact conversation person," Daneri said. "She was not hesitant to tell you what she was thinking."

Ferguson forgave, but sought closure in murder case

Ferguson did not spare Payne her persistence.

She pressed Payne even as she forgave him. As she met with him and wrote to him, she demanded to know who else was with him when he killed her daughter. The seminal fluid showed that Payne likely had an accomplice.

"Forgiveness had an additional benefit in that she could have conversations with him in the hope that he would reveal more information," Daneri said.

Payne never did.

"We tried all those years to get information," Myshelle Will said. "Tell us. Leave a letter."

"Of course, he didn't do that. We are just left with the unknown."

"The forgiveness was real," Will said. "But at the same time, I wanted information for my mom, for closure. And, unfortunately, I did not get that for her."

The day before Ferguson died, Will met with her mother. Ferguson was lucid, Will said, and the two talked about their shared travails and triumphs.

"It was very peaceful," Will said. "Our eyes were locked. I told her, "Go dance with Debbie.'"

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.