Writer and speaker Bobby Bostic will visit the campus of Central Methodist University on Monday, February 19, telling his story of being “A 16-year-old sentenced to die in prison for robbery.” Bostic’s talk will take place at noon in the Inman Lecture Hall (Stedman 200), sponsored by the CMU social science division.
Bostic was a teenager when he was given a sentence of 241 years in prison for robbery, armed criminal action, assault, and kidnapping. He was to serve the longest sentence in Missouri given to a juvenile for non-homicide offenses.
In the following decades, Bostic’s case gained attention from the media and legal community. Despite an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court in 2018, Bostic eventually was released after a new law was passed in 2021, allowing him to apply for parole. His application was approved, and he was released on parole in 2022.
Now a published author, the St. Louis native runs a charity alongside his sister and tells his story often, taking nothing for granted after 27 years in prison.
The on-campus event, titled “From Felon to Freedom: The Bobby Bostic Story,” will be open to all with no admission fee.