Term ends for longest-serving female inmate
Reporter: Craig Smith
Web Producer: Taylor Avey
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Arizona's longest serving female will be paroled today.
The Arizona Executive Clemency Board voted to free 70-year-old Betty Smithey today.
Smithey began serving her sentence in 1963, after she was convicted of killing a toddler she had been hired to baby sit.
Gov. Jan Brewer initiated Smithey's release from prison when she reduced her sentence from life to the time she has already served, making her eligible for parole.
In Monday's Clemency Board hearing, Smithey explained about how she received a letter from the mother of the baby Smithey killed.
The letter explained how the mother forgave Smithey.
Smithey went on to say that the news from the letter helped her deal with many mental and behavioral problems and become the stable, caring person the Clemency Board agreed to release.
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