Governor commutes sentences of two women who killed their abusers

Only days before leaving office, Governor Matt Blunt has commuted the sentences of two women who were victims of rape and abuse before committing crimes against the men who victimized them.

Stacey Lannert was 18 in 1990 when she murdered her father who had raped her and abused her for about nine years. She was later convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action and was sentenced to life without parole. The commutation reduces Lannert’s sentence from life without parole to twenty years incarceration. She is eligible for an immediate conditional release, and it is the intent of the governor that she be granted one.

In 2000, Charity Carey murdered her husband and was later convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 30 years. The woman and her son suffered extreme emotional and physical abuse at the hands of Michael Carey. The commutation reduces Carey’s sentence from thirty years to ten years, the recommended sentence for second degree murder with mitigating circumstances. This will allow her to be eligible for parole later this year once she has served 85 percent of her sentence.