Willie Mae Harris, an Arkansas prisoner whose life sentence for the murder of an abusive husband became the subject of newspaper columns and a successful commutation request, was released from the Wrightsville Unit on Friday morning after 34 years behind bars.
Harris wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey and facemask as she was walked out of the prison around 9 a.m. and was met by her two adult daughters. At 72-years-old, Harris is blind and wore dark sunglasses.
"I was a young woman that didn't stand a chance and I was able to be able to rise above a lot of hurdles in life," Harris told reporters minutes after her release. "I just knew that I would be able to rise above this hurdle."
Harris was convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting her husband, Clyde Harris, at their home in Bradley.
Both Harris and her daughter, Silvia Harris, have said that Clyde was growing more abusive toward Willie Mae. At her trial, Willie Mae Harris said she had tried to beat her husband back with a gun to defend herself when it accidentally discharged.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved Willie Mae Harris' commutation request in March, and her parole application was approved in late May. At that point, Harris still faced a potential 45-day wait for release while officials in Texas reviewed her request to live in the Dallas area with her daughter.
Both Texas and Arkansas officials expedited that request, according to Harris' attorney Lee Eaton, and her release was officially granted earlier this week.
Silvia Harris, her daughter, said she would drive her mom back to Dallas this afternoon and Saturday a fish fry was planned for her extended family.