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Terminally ill inmate released from Iowa prison

Doctors diagnosed Kristina Fetters with Stage 4 inoperable breast cancer in September after she experienced pain in her back that left her unable to walk

By Grant Rodgers
Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, IOWA An Iowa inmate, once sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in her great-aunt’s murder, was released this morning after the state parole board granted her a “compassionate release” last week.

Kristina Joy Fetters, 33, entered prison at age 15 after her 1995 first-degree murder conviction. Doctors diagnosed Fetters with Stage 4 inoperable breast cancer in September after she experienced pain in her back that left her unable to walk.

Now in a Des Moines hospice facility, it could take some time to bring Fetters’ pain back to a manageable level, said Jamie Ross, a friend and one-time fellow inmate with Fetters. Ross has become a regular volunteer at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville and saw Fetters in the hospice facility after her release this morning.

Full Story: Dying inmate Kristina Fetters released from prison this morning