ABOVE PHOTO: Marissa Alexander (AP photo)
Florida mother is on house arrest for two years.
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Marissa Alexander left a Duval County courthouse Tuesday one step closer to her freedom. The Florida woman, who was facing a possible 60-year prison sentence for firing a warning shot in a domestic dispute with her estranged husband in 2010, was released after spending three years in jail.
Judge James Daniel ordered that Alexander would not serve additional jail time. Daniel denied the State’s request that she face probation.
“Although the journey has been long, and there have been many difficult moments, I could not have arrived here where I am today without the many thoughts and prayers of so many people who have voiced their support and encouragement,” Alexander said to the media outside the Florida court house, according to First Coast News.
Alexander settled her case with a plea deal in December, but she is required to stay on house arrest for two years and must wear an ankle monitor. She will be able to leave her home for employment and to take essential appointments, such as doctor visits.
Organizers supporting her case have raised $58,712.00 for the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund. Some of that money will help pay for the ankle monitor she has to wear for the next two years.
The mother plead guilty to all three counts of aggravated assault against her husband and was ordered to serve three years in county jail. However, the 1,030 days she has already spent in jail will apply to the deal, resulting in 65 days in jail with release on Jan. 27.
The 2010 shooting sparked national debates around race and domestic violence.
Opponents of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law complained the law unfairly applied to George Zimmerman, who successfully claimed self-defense in the 2012 shooting death of Black teenager Trayvon Martin, and not Alexander, a Black woman who also claimed self-defense in the shooting incident involving her allegedly serially abusive estranged husband, Rico Gray.
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