A mother who went to prison for killing her alleged abuser is advocating for other domestic violence survivors.
Attorneys with the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence say in many cases courts are not considering the history of violence a survivor has endured before finding them guilty.
In this case, the survivor says she has a second chance at life after getting paroled from a life sentence.
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“I felt numb. It was like all my limbs had locked up on me,” Latoya Dickens told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln .
It’s a day Dickens says she will never forget.
The moment that a Gwinnett County jury sentenced her to life in prison after being convicted of stabbing and killing her abusive husband.
“Despite everything I’ve been through, that was the last thing I wanted to happen,” she said.
After serving 25 years in a Georgia prison, she now sits as a free woman after a parole board granted her release in September.
“This abuse went on for a period of 14 years,” Dickens said.