Marissa comes from a military family and was born and raised on Ft. Jackson army military base in Columbia, S.C. Her family relocated to Florida and remained there where she grew up and later graduated from high school and continued on to college earning a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology, and later earned her MBA working full time as a manager in a payroll firm. While gainfully employed she took great pride in the nurturing and rendering of her 3 children. Marissa was in an abusive relationship in which she was arrested and charged with aggravated assault in August of 2010 for firing a single warning shot after being attacked by her then estranged husband. In August of 2012, after trial and was found guilty, she was sentenced to twenty years in prison under Florida’s harsh minimum mandatory sentencing policies. In 2013, an appellate court overturned my case as a result of faulty jury instructions. In November 2013, she was released on bail and required to stay on house arrest. After a long journey fighting for her freedom, Marissa accepted her original plea agreement of three years and completed her sentence of 65 days in the Duval County Jail. Upon release, Marissa remained on an ankle monitor under strict probation supervision. Her story gained national attention and shed light on harsh minimum mandatory sentencing policies as well as the Stand Your Ground Law.