Marissa Alexander had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a gun over the head of her abusive husband during a violent confrontation in 2010.

Alexander claimed that during the fight she’d fled to her garage, but was unable to open its electronic door. She then grabbed a gun that she’d stashed there and returned to the kitchen, where she fired a shot above her husband’s head. Her husband was standing with his two sons at the time of the shooting.

Despite widespread protests and calls for Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law to be evoked in Alexander’s favor, the judge ruled against her. According to the Grio, the judge felt that “by returning to the house, she demonstrated that she was not in fear for her life.”

But for many it is still not clear why the infamous “Stand Your Ground” law could not be used as a defense for Alexander, especially when considering her ex-husband’s record of domestic abuse.

From the Grio:

“Gray had two previous arrests for domestic violence, including one against Alexander while she was pregnant. Alexander, for her part, pleaded no contest to domestic battery in an incident between her and Gray four months after the gunshot incident.

Lincoln Alexander said he last had the opportunity to speak with Marissa two days before the sentencing, and that she has been ‘positive this entire time.’

‘We’ve known from day one what this sentence could be, and once the verdict was given, we knew at that time that it was the mandatory minimum of 20 years,’ he said. ‘What we wanted to do was put the facts out there and ask the question, why wasn’t she able to use stand your ground as her defense, when other people have been able to use that defense.'”

Read the rest of this article at TheGrio.com

Do you think Marissa Alexander deserves a 20 year prison sentence?

Why didn’t the “Stand Your Ground” law protect her?

Sound off below!