ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who was found not guilty Oct. 21 of stabbing her husband to death, told Channel 9's Nancy Alvarez that she didn't have any choice but to defend herself from an abusive husband.
Alyssa Hogan McCarthren, a former elementary school teacher, was accused of killing her husband in 2014 in front of their children.
McCarthren said that on the outside, they appeared to be a loving family.
“We were the perfect couple. We were in church every Sunday with the children,” McCarthren said.
But she said the abuse started shortly after she married Terrance McCarthren.
“(He was) spitting in my face, pushing me, slapping me,” McCarthren said.
McCarthren said she filed an injunction against her husband, but the abuse last nine years.
“In my mind, I said, ‘It's not abuse,’” McCarthren said.
McCarthren said in 2014, her husband punched her several times. She said she remembers grabbing a knife in the kitchen, then blood and then her husband’s voice.
“He cursed and called me a 'B' and said, ‘You stabbed me,’” McCarthren said.
She said she didn’t know her husband was dead until after her interview with police. She said she left out details of being attacked, hoping to protect him.
“I was going through scenarios in my mind of visiting him in the hospital and apologizing and him being mad at me,” McCarthren said.
McCarthren was charged with second-degree murder and was facing life in prison.
During her trial, her attorney used the "stand your ground defense," which he said is harder when the defendant is a woman.
“Women are expected to retreat and not defend themselves, whereas men are lauded for defending themselves,” said Roger Weeden.
That's why McCarthren’s case could be used as a reference for others like it across the country. She said she hopes other women can learn from her ordeal.
She has full custody of her children. She is starting her own business and hopes to become an advocate for domestic violence.
For more information on how to get out of an abusive relationship or to help someone who may be in an abusive relationship, click here.