Florida mother will serve 65 more days in jail and will also be subject to two years of house arrest.
by Patrick Peck
The controversial criminal case against Marissa Alexander, the Black woman in Florida who was facing a possible 60-year prison sentence for shooting at her estranged husband, concluded with a plea deal on Monday, the Florida Times Union reports.
Alexander 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.
Alexander must also spend two years under house arrest with a monitor following her jail term. The order permits her to attend church, doctors’ appointments and work.
According to AP, Alexander could still be sentenced to five years in prison at the hearing on Jan. 27 because the second count against her is considered an “open plea.”
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 of her allegedly serially abusive estranged husband Rico Gray.
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