A state board has voted unanimously to release Bonnie Foreshaw from prison. Foreshaw has served 27 years for fatally shooting a pregnant woman, but had garnered support from advocates who said she was unfairly tried and convicted.
State officials heard both from Foreshaw and from the family of the woman she killed before they ruled. Foreshaw is serving a 45-year prison sentence for premeditated murder. The 66-year-old said she was sorry for killing Joyce Amos in 1986.
"The remorse I live with cannot be conveyed in words because it is something that I will live with, regardless of how much time I receive," she said.
Foreshaw was scheduled to be released from prison in 2017 after 31 years. She and her supporters were asking for an earlier release. But Tamara Miller wasn't. She's the daughter of Amos, the woman Foreshaw killed.
"Inside, I just don't see why you don't just do your time for the crime that you committed and stop having everyone feel like you're the victim," Miller said. "Because you had a choice that March 26 night and you did not make the right choice."
Miller said that while supporters have spoken up for Foreshaw, few have done so for her mother. At one point, Erika Tindill, the board's chair, explained to Miller that Foreshaw was only asking to be released four years early.
"Okay, but that's 27 years that I've been without my mother," Miller said. "She has a chance. Her children can come up here and see her. If she has grandchildren, they can come up here and visit her. The only place that me and my children can go visit is a plot in Jenkintown, PA. I don't have any physical communication with my mother. Everything is now spiritual."
After a recess, the board came back to vote.
VOICE: Madam Chair, is the board prepared to vote?
CHAIR: We are.
VOICE: Madam Chair, how do you vote?
CHAIR: Grant.
VOICE: Mr. Sabetta. How do you vote?
SABETTA: Grant.
VOICE: Mr. Smith. How do you vote?
SMITH: Grant.
Foreshaw is to be released from prison on November 15.
