God saved my life two times,” Thomas “Tommy” Rivera III told a classroom full of high school students Tuesday morning.

Rivera was invited by Powell High School’s Family and Consumer Science teacher Kandi Bennett to share his story, which includes two suicide attempts and serving more than two-and-a-half decades of a life sentence he was given at the age of 17.

In 1996 in Cheyenne, Rivera was convicted of murder after he shot and killed his 18-year-old classmate. In 2022, Rivera was released after Wyoming followed Supreme Court precedent that ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional.

Now, he works to share his story and make a positive impact. This includes speaking to students like those in Bennett’s classes through Strong Families Strong Wyoming, which partners with schools to promote “healthy relationships and life skills among youth,” according to its website.

Rivera has been involved with a number of programs, he told the Tribune, and when he saw a Facebook advertisement from SFSW looking for speakers, he knew instantly he wanted to be a part of it.

“[I'm] just sharing my story and trying to kind of let kids know that you just have to hold on, and there's a better tomorrow," he said. "The world's bigger than just high school, so I just have to try to get that message out.”

Rivera spoke calmly and softly to the class, his first of five for the day, as he spoke to the development of the teenage brain, his mindset at the time, low self esteem, the importance of community and life after high school for students.

“I  think back to when I was your guy's age, and I was totally lost, like I didn't know what I wanted to do in my life,” Rivera said of his youth in Cheyenne. “And right now, I'm 46 years old, and it's not until, like, my late 30s that I really started to understand what I was going to do.”

Rivera did not open the speech with his conviction, instead he showed students photos of a young and happy child who by his early teens, began to feel on the outside and had a visible change in his demeanor. 

“That was one of the hardest times in my life, because at 16, that was the first time when I was done. I was done dealing with that,” Rivera said. “I remember I sat at the kitchen table in my parents’ house, and I had a gun, and I was trying to get the courage to put it to my head.”

Rivera was a junior in high school at the time, and said it was the first time God saved his life. 

“I felt just a pinpoint of heat, kind of like right in my chest, right here and as that heat kind of spread, all of this heat just went through my body, and I remember it, I just uttered, I said, ‘Jesus,’” Rivera said. “As that heat spread, all that pain and all that depression just went away in the instant, and I was totally so lit up.”

The next year Rivera found himself flirting with another student’s girlfriend. There was an expectation within the school there would be a fight, and Rivera, who  had low self-esteem, was worried what his classmates would think if he backed down, he said. 

“I took a gun to school and after school, I shot and killed that boy, and that's one of the things at 17 I thought, if I shoot and kill the boy, all these problems are going to go away,” Rivera said. “There's no understanding that this boy is gone, I’m stealing his life, I’m robbing his family of him, and I’m probably going to go to prison. Those are the thoughts that didn't even occur to me at 17.”

Rivera spent the next seven years in prison avoiding participation in groups offered by his caseworker. Eventually, Rivera gave in and helped create a wooden map for the students of Rawlins Middle School.

“I'd say, for the first time in my life, I felt good about myself. I felt good about myself because I was able to use just these random little talents and skills that I had to do something to help somebody,” Rivera said. “I was a part of building this to give this to some kids, and I wasn't getting anything out of it, but it made me feel good, I had value.”

This was his ”aha” moment — Rivera worked with the idea of restorative justice, which calls for offenders to work to make the community and the people they’ve wronged whole. 

“I can never bring back that boy. I can never, I can never bring him back to life, but I can try to do other things, to try to help other people, instead of just living my own life,” he said.

He said each one of the students may be able to touch someone’s life.

“You may be able to see somebody like me, down the road that is going to be able to do something, because you are the one who reached out to them first,” Rivera said. 

After his release Rivera was accepted into a tattoo apprenticeship and eventually employment by Trinidad Serrano at The T.R.I.B.E. Zoo Tattoo in Cheyenne. He is also attending Laramie County Community College full time in hopes of eventually pursuing education in criminology and social services at the University of Wyoming. 

“Our mission is to save the life of at least one child,” Rivera told the students. “So that’s what I’m trying to do.”

If you or someone you know are struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 998 or visit smash.gov for more resources.