Prison From The Inside Out

In 1993 Mecca was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced at the age of 23 to spend his natural life in prison. He had been dealing drugs, shot a gun and a man had died. Mecca fired in self-defense, but the jury disagreed. Before trial, Mecca was offered a plea that required he plead guilty to murder with intent. Mecca refused to sign. For the next 24 years he lived as a "lifer" in eleven North Carolina prisons.In 2011, Mecca learned about the MAPP, a program that offers offenders who committed crimes before October 1, 1994, the opportunity to be granted a parole. In 2012, Mecca was granted a MAPP, awarded honor grade and moved to the Orange Correctional Center, a minimum security prison. On Dec. 15, 2015 he was released.
Since regaining his freedom, Mecca has committed himself to outreach. He works with youth through RSN, a support network for young people with problems related to addiction. He is involved in prison ministry, mediation, arbitration support, and teaches job-readiness workshops at Step Up Ministries in Durham. Mecca is a founder and lead facilitator for Wounded Healers, a program that brings together people who have been released with the incarcerated., and a member of the board of The Human Kindness Foundation. Outside of work, Will is an avid athlete and a certified personal trainer.

Prison From The Inside Out is both a book and an act of trust: A black man from New Jersey and a white woman from New York meet in a workshop at a North Carolina prison. They decide they have something to tell the world about incarceration, self-esteem, personal growth, survival, and the power of trust. Together they have created this book.


On March 30, 1991, William "Mecca" Elmore fired a gun toward a parked and occupied van in an attempt to protect a friend who he thought was actively involved in a drug deal gone bad. In court two years later, that same friend testified that Mecca had aimed directly at the van's occupants, one of whom died of his wound before reaching the hospital. Mecca admitted to firing the gun, but he did not plan to kill anyone, so although the public defender urged him to take a plea bargain, he insisted on taking the stand. Today, Mecca sees giving that testimony as a turning point in his life.


Mecca was sentenced to "mandatory life," a sentence that meant he would spend the rest of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Prison From The Inside Out tells the story of how that sentence was served.