In 1987, Baltimore police officer Mytokia Fair shot and killed her abusive husband.

At the time, Maryland did not allow the use of battered spouse syndrome as part of a criminal defense.

But three years later, the state’s parole board ruled that Mytokia’s actions were the result of her husband’s “repeated physical and psychological abuse” and the governor commuted her sentence.

At StoryCorps, Mytokia sat down with her current husband, Thomas Fair, to talk about the events that led to her arrest.

Originally aired August 8, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.