ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — A Triad woman behind bars for the past 30 years, convicted of killing her grandparents in 1991, is now free after being granted clemency.
April Barber left an Anson Correctional Facility early Thursday morning. She entered prison at 15 years old and was expected to serve two life sentences. She’s now 45 and a free woman.
We were there the moment the gates opened for Barber. Corrections officials drove her to a nearby parking lot where family and friends greeted her, including her husband and son.
Barber was pregnant with her son when she killed her grandparents with the help of her 29-year-old boyfriend Clinton Johnson. Johnson died in prison in 1999.
Gov. Roy Cooper commuted her sentence on the recommendation of the Juvenile Sentencing Board.
Barber met her husband, William Scales, while incarcerated, so this was the first time many of her loved ones have ever seen her outside of prison.
She left the prison with her husband and a caravan of cars following them.
Barber’s lawyer tells us she’ll begin working as a paralegal. She received her paralegal certificate while behind bars.
A Charlotte-based group gave her a check for $500 to help her as she adjusts to life outside prison.
The 1991 murders
Barber was just 15 years old and living with her grandparents in 1991. She got pregnant by a man twice her age. Together, the pair devised a plan to set fire to her grandparents' home. Barber Aaron Barber died in the blaze. His wife Lillie died days later.
Barber spoke to WFMY News 2 exclusively in 2015 from prison. She told us why she thought she deserved clemency.
"I think I have proven myself as far as that I have changed, that I'm not the same irrational person, and I think that my story in itself could help deter people from making the same mistakes that I did," Barber said.