About 470 of those serving life in prison in Pennsylvania are there for crimes committed as teens. Trina Garnett is one of them.
Trina was prosecuted at 14 as an adult for setting a house fire that killed two boys. Even though she was so developmentally disabled that she could not read or write, she was sentenced to life without parole.
Trina had barely begun serving time when a guard raped and impregnated her. Her son has never known his mother outside of incarceration.
Now at age 50, Trina suffers from multiple sclerosis. The prison programs she used to enjoy, like helping train service animals, are not wheelchair-accessible. Trina deserves to live the rest of her life outside of prison walls.
A case on Trina's behalf filed by Equal Justice Initiative is pending before the PA Supreme Court. To even hesitate to free Trina at this point would be beyond cruel.
Young teens like Trina do not deserve to be sentenced to life in prison. Demand freedom for Trina and others like her today!
We, the undersigned, ask the State of Pennsylvania to not pass up this opportunity to do the right thing on behalf of Trina Garnett.
If the recent science proving that teens lack the brain development needed to make proper or adult decisions, Trina's disability or her past trauma, taken separately or together, are not enough to convince the PA Supreme Court that the state made a grevious error in sending her to prison, the crime committed against her by a prison guard should be, and should have been long ago, justification enough to free her.
Not only should Trina be granted her freedom, she deserves an apology from the State of Pennsylvania.
We ask now, and without further delay, that you give back the life you once took from this troubled and developmentally disabled child. Please don't let Trina die in that prison.
Thank you for taking this request very seriously.
