ALTO, Georgia — Latoya Dickens couldn't contain her excitement behind the barbed wire at the Arrendale Transitional Center on Monday morning.
She smiled and waved on a video call with family. Then, the guard unlocked the gate to freedom.
"Oh my God — thank you! I'm free!" she enthusiastically yelled, hugging her dear friend. "This is amazing. I can't even describe how I feel right now, but I'm so glad to be free."
The woman who is a beloved mother, grandmother and friend was finally out on parole — ready to start her final chapter.
"I've been waiting for this day for so long, and I'm not going to say I thought it would never come because I knew it would. I just had to keep holding on to faith and be patient," she said. "I'm so ready to see my family and face the world. With all the challenges that I've been through on the inside, I know I'll make it outside."
A 2022 letter to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole said Latoya was just 13 years old when she met her future husband, who was 17 at the time.
"Their entire relationship was plagued by her husband’s controlling behavior through physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, including throughout her three pregnancies," advocates wrote. "The night of the fatal incident, Latoya was at the point of considering suicide after being exhausted by years of abuse."
In January 1999, Latoya made the decision to leave her husband, but he wouldn't let her. The two fought over a knife; he died several days later from his wounds.
In 2001, a judge sentenced Latoya to life in prison for felony murder.
"The story that they've heard is not my story. There's so much more to my story," she said. "This is the final chapter."
According to the Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness, 75% of domestic violence related homicides occur upon separation. Latoya hopes her final chapter will help lower that statistic.
"The rest of my life is going to be about helping people get to where I am today and that's on the other side," she said. " I want to make sure that I can remain a face for domestic violence and that I can help support the women that are still on the inside, because I feel like they all deserve a second chance, just like I've been given today."