Justice For Marissa March & Rally May 29th Jacksonville Florida

Marissa Alexander, a mother of 3, MBA (Masters of Business Administration), had no prior criminal record; was attacked by her husband who has a known and documented history of domestic abuse on August 1, 2010.  Marissa was arrested after she fired a warning shot into the wall - after her husband threatened to kill her.

Join us on May 29th, 2012 at Hemming Plaza in Jacksonville, Florida at 8:00AM sharp as we march to the new courthouse. Speakers, Musical tributes & much more.

Marissa Alexander's Father Raoul Jenkins And First Husband Lincoln

Message of Thanks From Marissa Alexander

I would like to whole heartedly express my sincerest and immense gratitude for each and every person who has supported me in any form available to you.  I can tell you all that my conscience is clear and I can look in the mirror and love what I see and who I am because I have maintained my innocence and more importantly I am a daughter of the most high.  Moving forward, as facts come out and discussions happen and certain aspects spark dialogue, I ask that you try and place yourself in my situation, or perhaps, your daughter, sister, mother or friend.  This could have been anyone and it truly has been anyone and countless others that have been, can be or will be affected with issues similar to mine on one scale or another because my story is multi-dimensional.  So I leave you with this thought, please continue to do everything you are doing to support this and more.  Be cautious of the games of those that oppose, and that is to have everyone running around with fire extinguishers when there really is a flood.  Again, thank you for your support. 
                                                            -Marissa Alexander

WIS TV.com Marissa Alexander's Father and Step Mother - Interview

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A mother of three is looking at spending at least the next 20 years in prison for what she describes as "standing her ground."

DOCUMENTS

Click here to read the deposition in the Marissa Alexander case.

It's a case that's just starting to make national news -- given the similarities to the Trayvon Martin case.

How are the two cases similar? Marissa Alexander's family claims that she was protecting and defending herself on her own property.

Alexander, 31, who is a licensed weapons holder, says she took a stand against her abusive husband at their home 2 years ago and now she's being punished.

Her father, Raoul Jenkins, who lives in Columbia, says he didn't know half of what was going on with his oldest daughter in Jacksonville, Florida until she went on trial for her life.

"She told me why she did not tell me or her brother, which is my oldest son here in Columbia, because we would have went down there," Jenkins said.

According to court documents, Alexander's husband, Rico Gray, had a history of domestic violence toward her and other women. They were married in mid-May. Jenkins says he went down in June to get her to move out.

"I told her at that time, 'Marissa, if I'm coming down there, this is it, you make sure you press charges because he has no business -- no man should hit a woman. Make sure you press charges because I'm not going to run back and forth to Jacksonville because you're going back to him. I don't want that to happen,'" Jenkins said.

Unbeknownst to him, Alexander says the abuse continued. In August 2010, another incident happened. This time, fearing for her life, she got her gun from her glove compartment and fired a warning shot in her ceiling. No one was hurt, but she was arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

"When you're the abuser and you turn around and make the victim the bad guy and when the system allows that to happen, that's a sad story," Jenkins said.

Alexander's stepmother, Karen Jenkins, says she doesn't know why stand your ground is not a valid defense.

"If [George] Zimmerman, who killed someone -– an unarmed innocent child -– and was given that right, why couldn't someone that had documented in the system, been abused, said she was fearful of her life, why was she denied that right?" Karen said.

A judge said Alexander had other options and could have escaped out of a window or front door and she did not have to fire that shot.

"The whole family was devastated," Karen said. 

Alexander had a protection order out against her husband that was active at the time of incident. She was supposed to be sentenced Monday for the aggravated assault charges, but the judge delayed it since her attorney has filed motions for a new trial.