An East Tennessee convicted felon who turned over his life to God and ended up forgiving a man for his mother's 2020 murder received a state pardon Friday.
Tylor Trotter, 38, was convicted of robbery in Knox County in 2011. He robbed a North Knoxville pharmacy of narcotics, records show.
Trotter subsequently sought a new life through faith and now lives in the Jacksonville, Fla., area. He calls himself the "Believer Barber" on Facebook and YouTube.
On Friday, Gov. Bill Lee's office announced he was granting a pardon, an official statement of forgiveness, to Trotter. In total, Lee granted more than 20 pardons Friday to people across the state.
Trotter, who had sought the pardon, wrote on Friday on his Facebook page: "God is faithful. His Word is true. He doesn’t forget what He said, even if we do."
Trotter, who readily talks about hitting bottom while abusing substances as a young man, has faced other painful challenges in life.
In March 2020, Desmon Rhea murdered his mother, Barbara Rogers, and two other women who shared a West Knoxville home during a meth-fueled craze. Trotter attended Rhea's trial earlier this year in Knox County Criminal Court.
A jury convicted Rhea, now in prison, of the three murders in March.
After the killings, Trotter told WBIR he had forgiven Rhea. He said he hoped Rhea would find God.
"When I think about everything that I've been forgiven for, and I think about everything that God has done in my life, God removes the hate, and the anger and fear. There's no fear, there's just love," he told WBIR in 2020.
According to Lee's office, executive clemency is something granted after consultation with the Tennessee Board of Parole.