July 24, 2023

186: Behind Closed Doors: The Janae Carroll Case

186: Behind Closed Doors: The Janae Carroll Case

In September of 2017, 30-year-old Janae Carroll was preparing to end her longterm relationship with her boyfriend—who was also her abuser. After years of suffering, Janae had gathered the strength and the courage to leave him. But when an argument...

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In September of 2017, 30-year-old Janae Carroll was preparing to end her longterm relationship with her boyfriend—who was also her abuser. After years of suffering, Janae had gathered the strength and the courage to leave him. But when an argument about the breakup escalated to an all-out fight between Janae and her abuser, she did what she had to, to protect herself and her children. Thus began her sad odyssey through the justice system.

Petition to release Janae: https://www.change.org/p/judge-letitia-h-verdin-reunite-mother-sentenced-to-15-years-in-abuser-s-death-with-her-childrenDOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/tiffany-janae-carroll

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Andrea Marshbank
Additional research and writing by Erica Kelley
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder of Southern Gothic & Erica Kelley

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/2975465/advertisement
WEBVTT

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Southern Fried. True crime covers cases
that are not suitable for young listeners,

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and there may also be some explicit
language used. Listener discretion is advised.

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When we fall in love, we
are following our hearts and rarely listening to

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our heads. That special butterfly feeling
in your stomach can drown out the common

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sense your brain is trying to transmit. You may not really be compatible or

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have nothing in common, but the
chemistry you feel trumps your doubts. This

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is often true for people who find
themselves in abusive relationships. You may even

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know about past concerning behavior and still
not listen to your head. He's changed,

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you tell yourself that's all in the
past. Or worse, I can

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change him. It will be different
with me. We are in love.

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The first time he loses his temper
and screams at you, you tell yourself

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that he overreacted, but it was
minor. He has calmed down, and

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you file away whatever it was he
said you did to upset him, even

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though you know in your heart it
wasn't really what you did. The first

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time he hits you, the shock
of the violence is more painful than the

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actual slap or punch. Then he
is so sorry. I love you,

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baby, I would never really hurt
you, but he already has. And

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maybe now you feel trapped in more
ways than just what your heart tells you.

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Maybe you are carrying his child,
so the lies you tell yourself to

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stay with him become even more desperate. Once the baby is here, he

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will change, he will stop this
violence. We're bringing a child into the

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world. But the baby doesn't change
anything. His behavior begins to escalate,

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and you now have to protect your
child. That's the most important thing.

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And what if your heart hasn't changed, What if you still love him?

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That is a difficult concept for many
people about women who stay in abusive relationships.

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Why doesn't she just leave? As
their mantra, as if leaving is

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so easy. You are now financially
tied to him as much as you are

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emotionally. But the people who don't
understand that really don't understand how you can

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still love him. But it happens. So you stay, despite the surging

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violence, despite the voice in your
head. You learn to run from him,

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You learn to shield your children.
You learn to accept that he rarely

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apologizes anymore. You learn that his
threats may one day come true. You

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learn that you're spiraling but can't see
a way out. Then he makes good

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on his worst threat. You fear
for your life, so for the first

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time, you fight back. Then
you find yourself caught in the wheels of

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the justice system, and now you
really see no way out. Welcome to

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episode one eighty six, Behind Closed
Doors the Genet Carrol Case. For over

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a decade, South Carolina has been
one of the most dangerous states for women,

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especially those who are victims of domestic
violence. At one point, the

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rate of women murdered by men in
South Carolina was more than double the national

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average. According to WCSC Live News, over eighty thousand South Carolina women are

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subjected to domestic violence each year.
If you live in South Carolina and are

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a woman, there is a forty
two percent chance will experience domestic violence in

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your lifetime. That is so high. If the lottery had that kind of

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likelihood, we'd all go broke,
buying gas station scratchers. But why is

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this happening? Why are women in
South Carolina in danger? How could South

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Carolina become the hotbed for domestic violence
that it currently is. There are a

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lot of moving and intersecting factors.
First, you've got South Carolina's strong but

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perhaps outdated beliefs about marriage and women's
roles within that marriage. Then you've got

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the lack of available women's shelters and
resources for domestic violence victims. And finally,

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South Carolina's laws tend to punish victims
when they lash out at their abusers,

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and that's because they make it hard
for the court to recognize a version

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of self defense that aligns with domestic
abuse. All courts recognize straightforward self defense

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pretty well, as in, you
hit me, so I hit you.

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Self defense, right, But what
if I knew you were going to hit

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me, because you're my boyfriend who
always hits me, even if you hadn't

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yet taken the swing, I knew
it was coming, And what if I

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tried to stop you before the blow? Is that self defense? While in

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cases of domestic violence it probably should
be. The Post and Couriers said it

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best in their twenty fifteen Pulitzer winning
article Till Death Do Us Part. South

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Carolina is a state where the deck
is stacked against women trapped in the cycle

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of abuse, and in the case
of Janey Carroll, that's more apparent than

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ever. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. Tiffany Janney

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Carroll was born on February eighteenth,
nineteen eighty seven, to her mother,

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Deborah Darline Carroll. Janney has two
sisters and two brothers. For the most

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part, her family calls her by
her middle name, Janey. So that's

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what I'm going to call her.
From the way Jenney's family speaks about her

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now, I have to imagine her
younger years were full of love, big

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hugs whenever the family was able to
get together, lots of amazing food shared

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around the holidays. Jennet's family cared
and still do care about her, her

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children, and each other. Janey
attended Greenwood High School in Greenwood, South

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Carolina. While there, she was
a good student. She usually received bees

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or above and often made the honor
roll. She graduated in two thousand and

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five. Greenwood is a small city
in northeast South Carolina, and it's the

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county seat for Greenwood County. It
began as a piece of land a rich

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man built a summer mansion on before
burgeoning into a railroad town in eighteen fifty

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two. Today it has a population
of around twenty two and more equal demographics

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than you usually see. In the
two twenty census, black people made up

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almost forty four percent, while white
people were around thirty percent. The rest

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of the population is mostly Hispanic.
Greenwood is home to Lander University, where

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many locals go to attend. Most
of the civilian population is employed in manufacturing

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and healthcare. The summers in Greenwood
are warm, but not stifling, rarely

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going over ninety degrees. Greenwood is
home to the South Carolina Festival of Flowers,

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which continues to be named one of
the Southeast Tourism Society's Top twenty events.

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It brought in over eighty thousand visitors
in the past few years, with

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an economic impact of about three point
three million dollars. Also, in two

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thousand and eight, the Topiary Project
was launched, which has become the signature

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event. Presently, there are forty
two topiaries in the Beautiful Greenwood Square.

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Greenwood has long been known as the
Emerald City, though the origin of the

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nickname is not clear, many speculate
that the abundance of very green trees in

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the area led to the nickname.
Specifically, I'm sure the gorgeous topiaries.

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Also, the South Carolina Festival of
Discovery is the premier event of the year

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along with the Festival of Flowers.
The event started in two thousand, celebrating

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the history, culture, food,
arts, crafts, music, and people

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of South Carolina and Greenwood County.
There is a Blues Cruise that celebrates the

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sound of the blues with numerous local
musical artists performing at uptown venues, and

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the Kansas City Barbecue Society and hashcok
Off focuses on the rich tradition of Carolina

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barbecue. But along with the amazing
arts and culture is the grim economic realities.

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About twenty two percent of families and
forty percent of the population are below

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the poverty lineing thirty four percent of
those under age eighteen and eighteen percent of

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those age sixty five and dover.
These realities contribute to the crime rate,

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which is high in comparison to other
small cities in South Carolina and the rest

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of the country. You stand a
one and eighty four chance of being a

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victim of violent crime or property crime
in Greenwood, while it's one in one

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hundred and ninety two for the state
of South Carolina. But there is no

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denying that Greenwood is also a beautiful
city that flourishes more as a small town

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mindset. Janey grew up with this
city with a small town fill with so

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much cultural significance, and she initially
thrived there. Five miles away from Greenwood

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High School where Jenney went, on
the other side of town was Emerald High

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School, and this is the school
that a young man named William Jamal Johnson

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attended. He went by Jamal,
though his Facebook page says William let his

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family calls him Jamal, so I
will too. Despite their different high schools,

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Janney and Jamal actually knew each other
quite well. They were childhood friends.

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Jamal was only three years younger than
Janney. They had mutual friends in

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the small city and grew up knowing
each other. But as young adults,

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Janey and Jamal led very different lives. While Janney was a strong student and

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a personal young woman, Jamal struggled
more often. He just had more red

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flags. When he was nineteen years
old, he was charged with kidnapping.

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Throughout his twenties, Jamal would continue
to build a criminal record. On multiple

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occasions, he was arrested for sexually
assaulting, kidnapping, and beating women.

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Sometimes they were his girlfriends and sometimes
they weren't. But although Jamal wasn't on

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anyone's version of the straight and narrow, he was trying. He was interested

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in cars, so after high school
he enrolled in the automotive tech program at

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Piedmont Technical College, but it's unclear
if he was able to get a job

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working with cars. There were a
lot of pictures of cars on his Facebook,

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so he was clearly passionate about them. Sometime late in the year twenty

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fifteen, twenty eight year old Janney
and twenty five year old Jamal began dating.

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They might have had a bit of
a slow start, because it's sometimes

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reported that they began dating in early
twenty sixteen. You know how it goes.

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It can be hard to label a
relationship right away. Are we actually

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girlfriend and boyfriend? That's complicated.
But soon after Jane and Jamal started dating,

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they had to navigate an entirely different
set of labels mom and dad.

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And that's because only months into their
relationship, in June of twenty sixteen,

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Tiffany gave birth to their son.
Janee had already had three children of her

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own, so she wasn't new to
motherhood. It's unclear if Jamal had other

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children. Regardless I'm sure there were
many emotions going through both of them when

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they realized she was pregnant. After
all, Janey was aware of the rumors

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surrounding Jamal's checkered past with women.
She knew he hadn't always been kind towards

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his female partners, but Janey didn't
know the exact details of Jamal's violent behavior.

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She wasn't aware of every single arrests, charge punch throne or kidnapping,

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and Jamal certainly didn't tell her.
But still, there was reason to celebrate.

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Janey was going to have a baby, a brand new life was entering

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the world. It's exciting and so
far, Jamal seemed like he was okay

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to be her baby's father. In
fact, he reassured Janney that he would

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do better. According to Janee,
it truly seemed like Jamal wanted a happy

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family. But over time, Jamal's
true colors began to show. According to

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Janee, like so many abusers,
Jamal's abuse started slowly. She alleged that

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at first he would only insult her
and her but a few years into their

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relationship, his behavior greatly escalated.
He was violent and he frequently abused Jannae

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on at least one occasion, he
pushed Jenney, who was pregnant at the

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time, down the stairs, then
he strangled her until she passed out,

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and according to the Post and Courier, neighbors frequently saw Jannae hide bruises with

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sunglasses and makeup. At his worst, Janey alleged that Jamal would hurt her

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children. Neighbors also verified this information. They would often take Jeanne's children into

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their homes to help get them away
from Jamal's wrath, and they frequently saw

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Jannae protecting her children, sometimes even
Jamal's own newborn son from his harsh blows,

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and of course this didn't go unnoticed
by authorities. Between May of twenty

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sixteen and September of twenty seventeen,
the police went to Jamala Jenney's home at

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least eight times eight times, but
usually Jamal would leave before the officers arrived.

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Then when the coast was clear,
he would return. By that point

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he'd be a completely different man,
loving, apologetic, and Janet, who

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did care deeply for Jamal and wanted
to hope he would change, welcomed him

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back. Usually no one pressed any
charges, and the whole ordeal was forgotten

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until it happened the next time.
If you're familiar with the cycle of abuse,

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this is very familiar. It's the
perfect example of the horrific cycle.

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There's a tension building stage where the
abuser creates a sense of fear and hostility.

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Little arguments become big arguments very very
quickly, and then there's a violent

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episode where the abuser hurts someone either
verbally, physically, or both. And

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finally, the abuser tries to reconcile
the situation through apologies, gifts, and

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promises. They assure they're victim,
so this is the last time they swear.

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I can't imagine how frightening that was
for Janet, especially since before the

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fall of twenty seventeen, she had
given birth to a second child by Jamal.

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The cycle of abuse is already so
challenging to escape with children on the

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line, it can feel nearly impossible. According to the Greenwood Police, they

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tried to point Janney towards support and
resources for domestic violence victims, but according

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to police spokesman Jonathan Link, all
efforts were rejected. And we have to

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remember that that's not because Janney thought
things were fine. She didn't. She

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would later tell her psychologist that Jamal
had explained to her, the only way

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you'll leave me is to kill me. Janey probably feared for her life and

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her children's lives if she took steps
to get out from under Jamal's thumb,

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but she knew she couldn't live like
this forever. So on Monday, September

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eighteenth, twenty seventeen, Janey and
Jamal had been together for almost two years.

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She was thirty years old and he
was twenty seven, and on that

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particular evening, the couple was nearing
an intense, unavoidable boiling point. A

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fight broke out, and it was
a big one because Janey was finally done.

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She was ready to leave Jamal,
but he could not let that happen.

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I'm going to pause now for a
short commercial break. Janey had gathered

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her belongings into bags, but Jamal
took them from her and threw them out.

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When Janey told Jamal he could keep
everything because she just wanted out,

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he still wouldn't let her go.
He blocked the exits with his body.

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If she had any doubts about ending
her relationship with Jamal before, she didn't.

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Now she knew this was the right
decision. Jamal's sister was at the

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scene during this altercation, and she
took Janney's children outside to get them away

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from the fight. After that,
no one is sure of the specific details

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of what happened between Janee and Jamal. According to Janet, Jamal had grabbed

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her by the hair to stop her
from leaving the home. After a brief

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struggle, she escaped his grasp.
Then she fled to the kitchen and grabbed

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a knife. Jamal then threatened to
break Jenney's arm, which according to Janet,

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he had done before. Jamal allegedly
said you'd better not cut me,

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and then Janey blacked out. She
has some memories of the following events,

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but not many. Luckily, the
police found evidence that painted a general picture

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of what occurred. Wielding the kitchen
knife, Janney sliced Jamal on the arm

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and the ankle. Then she stabbed
him in the chest. As soon as

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she realized what she had done and
how much Jamal was bleeding, she tried

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to apply to his chest to stop
the bleeding. Then she wiped off the

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knife and threw it behind the stove. It's unclear who, but someone called

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nine one one and emergency responders arrived. The police smoked to Janet, and

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medics took Jamal to the hospital,
but it was too late. Twenty seven

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year old William Jamal Johnson died from
the chess stab wound and self regional medical

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at six thirty two pm. As
Janney explained what happened to the police officers,

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her story shifted pretty significantly. One
officer said that Janet had originally told

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him she was the one to throw
the first blow, but she would later

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deny that. She said she had
never ever initiated violence against Jamal. Another

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officer explained that Janney said she had
found Jamal already bleeding, then when them

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bleeding, Jamal had charged her,
she had fought back. These tricky details

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are important. They would help or
hinder Janee's self defense case in court,

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So establishing that Jamal was at fault, not Janet, would be very important

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for Janet's potential trial and sentencing,
especially in South Carolina, a state notorious

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for convicting victims for killing their abusers. The next day, on Tuesday,

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September nineteenth, Tiffany Janney Carroll was
arrested. She was charged with murder and

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possession of a weapon while committing a
violent crime. While in police custody,

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Janey said, I didn't mean to
hurt him. I swear I usually just

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leave. It just got out of
hand. Janet was clearly battling her own

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emotions. According to her conversations with
a psychologist, doctor Lois Veronin, Janet

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was feeling incredibly guilty about Jamal's death
and about not getting herself and her children

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out of that relationship sooner. Doctor
Veronin also diagnosed Jenney with PTSD and major

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depressive disorder linked to severe domestic violen. According to The Post and Courier,

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doctor Voronin said she was caught in
a difficult trap of ever increasing violence.

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The violent and degrading acts perpetrated by
Jamal produced cognitive, effective and behavioral changes

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in Janet have come to be known
as battered woman syndrome. But while Janet

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was conflicted over killing Jamal, many
others were not. In fact, her

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family applauded her actions. According to
the Post and Courier, Janney set them

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free when she killed the abuse of
Jamal. Janet's community and others rallied around

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her. Many many people contributed money
for childcare and an online petition in support

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of Janet has received about thirty three
thousand signatures. Originally, it looked like

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Janney was going to trial. It
even looked like she might win. Sure,

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the prosecutors were preparing to argue that
she had not acted in self defense,

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but there was a lot of empirical
evidence that Jamal had abused Janney and

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her children in the past. Even
if Janey struggled to prove this instance of

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abuse, Jamal had a known track
record of serious violence against many women,

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and Janee was figuring out her own
defense strategies and legal team. But then,

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in a shocking turn of events,
Janey pleaded guilty but mentally ill,

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to voluntary manslaughter. Her younger sister, Danielle, said that Janee felt pressured

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to plead guilty. Someone had explained
to her if she went to trial,

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she risked a thirty year prison sentence. Danielle said, she was scared,

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and you know what, it is
a scary situation, and it would be

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a difficult decision for literally anyone,
let alone a single mother of five children.

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It makes sense that she would want
the least amount of prison time possible.

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A trial might have felt too risky. In December of twenty nineteen,

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a judge sentenced thirty three year old
Tiffany Jenney Carroll to fifteen years in prison

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with time served. She would be
released in twenty thirty two, when she

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is forty five years old, but
Janet and many others hope they won't have

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to wait that long for her release. When sentencing Janey Carroll, Circuit Court

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Judge Latitia Verden allowed Jenney to be
eligible for parole after serving twenty five percent

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of her sentence, which means she
could be out of prison after serving three

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years and nine months in prison,
which would give her time to still raise

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her own children. This specific twenty
five percent to parole decision is important,

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and that's because it honors Jennet's experiences
as a domestic violence victim. Typically,

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people convicted of manslaughter serve at least
thirty three percent of their sentence before they

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are eligible for parole. On the
other hand, twenty five percent is standard

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for domestic violence victims acting in self
defense. The judge believed Jenney's version of

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events. She believed Janney had been
abused, and then Judge Verdon did Janney

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00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:11.039
won better. She gave her permission
to spend the Christmas holiday with her family,

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so Janey was able to go home, get in matching pajamas with her

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smiling kids, open some presents,
and have a nice holiday before beginning her

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prison sentence, and on December twenty
sixth of twenty nineteen, Janey turned herself

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in and continued serving her time.
Shortly after that, Christmas of twenty nineteen,

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COVID hit the United States like a
ton of bricks, and extra cautious

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prison protocols were enacted in prisons across
the nation. These protocols ended all opportunities

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for visitation. In December of twenty
twenty one, they were lifted, but

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Janey still hasn't seen her children since
two nineteen. According to The Posting Courier,

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We're not sure why Janney has not
been forgotten, not by her family

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00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.680
and even by the public. Actually, the public continues to be pretty outraged

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by Jennet's case. Domestic violence advocates
have been pushing for her release. They

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00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:15.359
feel strongly that her punishment did not
fit her crime, and they were heartbroken

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when her first attempt at parole in
September of twenty twenty two failed. During

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00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.079
the meeting, when the board asked
Jenney why she killed Jamal. She said,

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00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:27.039
I was trying to protect myself.
I was trying to leave when he

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00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:30.559
leaped out at me and hit me
again. I just kind of blanked out.

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I really don't remember what happened.
I've been having a hard time for

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00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:41.000
giving myself and what happened with the
whole situation. The judge asked why I

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didn't leave him or why did I
stay? But it was hard leaving someone

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you love, and I had a
lot of faith in him and I just

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wanted to see him get better.
After a thirteen minute long meeting, the

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Pearl Board denied Jenney for three reasons, one the seriousness of the offense tow

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00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:04.119
the violence involved, and three the
use of a deadly weapon. No other

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explanation was given. Jenney will be
up for parole again this September in twenty

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twenty three, but until then,
her supporters are seeking what the Post and

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00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:19.960
Courier described as a long shot pardon. To receive this pardon, Janey would

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have to qualify for the most extraordinary
of circumstances, and according to the South

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00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:30.480
Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and
Pardon Services, Jenney doesn't have the correct

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00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:37.799
extraordinary circumstances. They don't think she'll
qualify for this pardon, but state representative

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00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.319
an attorney, John mccravy says otherwise. He told the Post and Courier that

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he's filing the pardon application regardless of
any naysayers, and along with the pardon

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00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.319
application, mitcravy will include a binder
full of letters and support of Jennet.

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Mtcravy assured the Post and Courier that
he's sure they can expedite it. Janee's

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00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:04.400
family continues to stand behind her.
Her sixteen year old daughter spoke to journalists

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00:26:04.440 --> 00:26:11.160
explaining we just need her and Janet's
aunt, Brenda mcculliffe had this to say

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00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:15.279
in front of the Greenwood County Courthouse. She never should have been sentenced to

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00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:21.039
jail. What she did was for
survival for herself and her children. Brenda

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00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:26.279
went on to add the Janet we
know would never have harmed a flee on

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00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:29.920
the day of Jamal's death. She
was not herself. She was not the

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00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:33.359
Janet we know, and we want
her home. She should be with her

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00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:38.880
family today. Janney's children are being
raised by her family, and Janet is

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00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:45.279
at the Camil Graham Correctional Prison.
While there, she has received several work

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00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:51.920
certificates. She's worked as both a
landscaper and a custodian. According to Janet,

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00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.640
She's received counseling and as in parenting
classes, and if she were to

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00:26:56.680 --> 00:27:00.480
be paroled, Janet wants to get
her children into counseling as well. Like

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00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.319
I mentioned before, she is up
for parole again in September of twenty twenty

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00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:10.359
three. All COVID restrictions have been
lifted, so her many supporters will join

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00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:15.440
her, and state Representative John mccraview
plans to be there too. Janet's case

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00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:22.680
has inspired mccravy to propose legislation to
update South Carolina's laws on battered spouse syndrome.

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00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:26.680
As reported by The Post and Courier, mcravy said, it is important

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00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:30.799
for us to have awareness of this, not just for her, but for

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00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.200
other women who suffer from battered women's
syndrome, and needs some understanding of what

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00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:40.119
this is and how it can affect
women who've been abused. As it stands,

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00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:45.359
this twenty eight year old law does
not specifically include non marital relationships like

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00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:49.000
Janet and Jamals, and it doesn't
have enough procedures about how to diagnose the

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00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:53.680
syndrome. In South Carolina, which
often ranks as the worst state in the

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00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:59.759
US for rates of women murdered by
men, domestic violence laws should better reflect

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00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:03.000
the victims needs, and it's good
to know that at least one politician is

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00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:08.519
on the case. Janet's case is
an important example, and if these laws

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00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:12.480
are changed, it can make a
big difference in future domestic violence cases.

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00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.319
I know I will get comments and
probably reviews about this episode that, like

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00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:25.160
many people, I just choose to
believe Janey. If Jamal had not had

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00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.920
such a serious criminal record, and
if the police had not been called to

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00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:32.960
their homes so many times, it
might be different. This is not just

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00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:37.880
one of those believe women cases,
and I'm not deriding those cases either,

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00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:42.079
but I know some listeners have a
problem with it, Janey said. Even

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00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:47.160
the judge asked her why she didn't
just leave. It's not that simple,

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00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:52.319
As Janey said herself, it wasn't
just because she was scared. She did

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love Jamal. It's a complicated issue
when you love the person and they promise

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00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:02.160
to do better. On average,
it takes at least seven times before a

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00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:07.119
woman leaves her abuser for good,
sometimes as many as nine. We cannot

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00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:11.279
judge women or men an abusive relationships, for that matter, for not being

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00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:15.839
able to just walk out. There
are so many issues at stake, first

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00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:22.599
and foremost as financial. So many
victims don't have the means. There is

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00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:26.559
a women's shelter in Greenwood called Meg's
House, but from Jannet's statements, it

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00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:32.200
would seem her main issue was that
she truly loved Jamal and wanted him to

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00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:37.359
get better, and we cannot judge
her for that. We can judge if

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00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:40.880
she acted in self defense, but
she was scared to roll the dice at

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00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:44.799
trial and it's hard to blame her
for that. But I want any local

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00:29:44.839 --> 00:29:48.119
listeners to know that Meg's House is
there for you and also has facilities for

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00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:55.920
pets. And Meg's House also supports
Janet. The executive director said, quote,

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00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:00.440
we can't say enough times that she
was a victim of domestic violence.

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00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:04.680
Let's look at the issue of sentencing
for women, although in Jennet's case it

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00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.400
would seem the judge did all she
could to be fair. Across the country,

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00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:15.000
according to the ACLU, women who
kill their partners will spend an average

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00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.599
of fifteen years behind bars, which
is Jennet's actual sentence, by the way,

350
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:25.119
while men who kill their female partners
serve much shorter sentences, on average,

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00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:30.880
between two to six years. Furthermore, some seventy seven percent of women

352
00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:36.279
in prison are there for killing men
who they reported abused them. I've covered

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00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:40.519
other cases where battered Women's syndrome was
used in trial, and the results are

354
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:44.640
certainly varying. It seems to depend
a lot on the judge in the case,

355
00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:48.799
and Janet Carroll was blessed with a
judge who had a great understanding of

356
00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:55.759
abused women who stand before her to
be sentenced. If Representative McCravey is unsuccessful

357
00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:59.440
with a pardon, then all we
can do is hope the parole Board eventually

358
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:04.559
honor the twenty five percent Judge of
Verden recommended. Janet will have served more

359
00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:10.440
than that much of her sentence at
her next hearing in September, but her

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00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.799
fate lies in the hands of the
Parole Board and they have already rejected her

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00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:18.039
once. If you would like to
sign the change dot org petition to release

362
00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:22.759
Jenney, please click on the link
in today's show notes. Like South Carolina,

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00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:26.839
many other states are slowly working on
legislation for battered Women's syndrome at self

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00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:33.200
defense. Meanwhile, the prisons keep
filling up with abuse victims. We can

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00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.640
only hope and pray that someday the
law will catch up with the realities of

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00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:48.960
domestic abuse and that Janet will be
released soon to raise her family. Southern

367
00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.480
Fried True Crime is hosted and produced
by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was

368
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:57.119
researched and written by Andrea Marshbank,
with additional research in writing by myself,

369
00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:01.720
and of course, all editorial opinions
are my own. Southern Fraud's original music

370
00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:06.519
is by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
and the original graphic artist by Collie Warner.

371
00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:10.319
Today's episode was edited and mixed by
Brendan scheck Snyder of Southern Gothic and

372
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:15.599
Erica Kelly. If you have any
case suggestions, please go to my website

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and click on the listener suggestion tab
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374
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You'll get lost in a sea of
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known cases. Y'all always send me. Please remember that I do not accept

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so much for listening, y'all.
Take care