Lucedale Woman Convicted Of Killing Husband Going Free

All Tonya Simpson Miller has to remember her father by is this grainy picture.  Donald Simpson was shot to death in his Lucedale home in December of 2003.  Prosecutors say Donald's wife and Tonya's step-mom Patricia Simpson pulled the trigger--she was convicted of manslaughter--but gets out of jail today.

“I was sick and hurt and now anger has slipped in,” says Tonya Simpson Miller.  “I trusted the judicial system to put these criminals behind bars where they can't hurt us and [Haley Barbour] let them out.” 

Miller says she wants answers from Mississippi's former governor.  Haley Barbour commuted Patricia Simpson's sentence but did not grant her a pardon, meaning she gets out of prison, but is still guilty of the crime.

“I think Patricia Simpson has not served enough time in jail for the crime she committed,” says Mississippi District Attorney Tony Lawrence.  He prosecuted the case in 2006.  He says the newspaper notice is inaccurate and incomplete--for example it asks for comments without giving an address or phone number to respond to.  Whether a weakly written public notice is enough to overturn an executive order remains to be seen.