April was 15 years old and pregnant when she received two consecutive life sentences.
These extreme sentences didn’t consider what led up to her horrible mistake – her own parents were in and out of prison so she was raised by grandparents.
These sentences also didn’t consider who she’d become – a loving mother, devoted personal care aide at an elder care facility, aspiring Certified Nursing Assistant.
During childbirth, April was shackled and under the watch of armed guards. She only spent three days with her newborn son until she had to give him up to be raised by someone else.
Through her teens, 20s, 30s, and 40s, she parented him through intermittent visits.
She felt robbed of her ability to be a mother to her son, saying, “My life sentence took away my life, which took away my son’s life.”
People like April change from the teenagers they once were. John, I’m asking for your support today so we can work to prevent what happened to April from happening to anyone else.
