Jessica and Marshall Jones pose with their family at Fox Lake Correctional Institution in Dodge County. (Photo provided by Jessica Jones)
By Devin Blake
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Marshall Jones and his wife, Jessica, have an expression they use when worries about the future threaten to overwhelm them.
“Here is holy,” they tell each other.
“We have to continue to be mindful of the steps that we have to take to build this life today,” Marshall Jones said.
As Marshall Jones, who grew up on the North Side, serves two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, the way he and his wife build their today centers around faith in God and family.
‘A bond started to be built’
In 2019, Marshall was incarcerated at New Lisbon Correctional Institution in Dodge County, about 15 years into his sentence when he met Jessica Christensen, the prison’s new recreational leader.
He was assigned to be one of her workers.
“Then, being a normal human being, I stuck my hand out to shake his hand … and he threw his hands up and said, ‘I can’t touch you,’” Jessica said.
Initially offended, she learned that he was looking out for her.
Had they touched, she would’ve been written up for inappropriate contact, which the Wisconsin Department of Corrections explicitly regulates.
“I just saw in that moment that a narrative can be painted about a simple handshake … ,” Marshall said. “From that point, a bond started to be built.”
From acquaintance to fellowship
At New Lisbon, Jessica oversaw recreation, including exercise programs and athletic tournaments.
“I did anything that was active to get them off their sedentary lifestyle,” Jessica said.
The effects on the men were not merely physical, she said.
“You’re in there and you’re constantly thinking, ‘What did I do? I’m worthless, and there’s nothing good about me,’” Jessica said. “But you know, these guys started to feel better about themselves. ”
Eventually, Marshall began working more directly within recreational programming.
“I noticed he was a leader,” Jessica said. “He was all about helping the men around him.”
The professional relationship had an extra element.
“We learned we were brother and sister in Christ. So, there was a different level of conversation that we would have,” Jessica said. “It wasn’t crossing boundaries, it was sharing what we were learning about our faith,” she said.
Jessica and Marshall Jones on their wedding day, Nov. 1, 2022. (Photo provided by Jessica Jones)
After New Lisbon
After six months, Jessica was let go from New Lisbon for, she was told, not meeting probationary standards.
“I loved impacting the men that were incarcerated and humanizing them,” she said. “And I knew I couldn’t do that anymore.”
But something unexpected happened as she was leaving the prison.
“I remember walking away from the institution, and I audibly heard in my ear, ‘Write to him.’ And I believe with all my heart that it was the Holy Spirit telling me to write Marshall Jones,” Jessica said.
That same day, they began corresponding.
“And it just developed into this beautiful relationship,” Jessica said. “ It’s amazing because we’ve gotten to experience every level of relationship with each other – a professional relationship and then a friendship and then a relationship and, now, a marriage.”
Marshall said he was not expecting this transformation.
“I didn’t want to be in a relationship, to be honest with you,” he said. “I got crashed and burned so many times that I didn’t want no part of it.”
They cannot pinpoint a specific moment things changed, because it all happened organically, said Jessica.
Marshall proposed three different times – by letter, phone and, finally, in person.
Her family supports the marriage, she said, and her kids see Marshall as their stepfather.
“My mom has completely changed in this relationship,” said Falicia Jones, Jessica’s daughter.
“Marshall really knows how to just settle her down and bring a calmness over her life in a way that I’ve never seen,” she said.
‘The unseen of believing’
Marshall and Jessica married on Nov. 1, 2022, in commemoration of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
“That truly is our marriage,” Jessica said. “You know, the unseen of believing that my husband is going to come home and that I’m going to share a life with him.”
“Based on his circumstances, his attitude and frame of mind are pretty amazing,” added Andrew Reavis, Jessica’s brother. “Just knowing that he may never get out, and just the positivity he has and the moving forward and the faith he has that he is going to get out despite what the state says.”
Marshall and Jessica still put their faith at the center of their thinking regarding a release date.
“God doesn’t make mistakes, and He doesn’t put people together for no reason whatsoever,” Marshall said.
“We’ve entrusted our faith to God that He’s going to absolutely free me from this. But no matter where we go, and what problems we address, we still deal with today,” he said.
“Here is holy,” he said.