Woman seeking relief for killing abuser gets support from woman freed under Oklahoma Survivors Act
By Chantelle Navarro
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — An Oklahoma County woman hopes a new state law will help her be released from prison sooner.
Tyesha Long was sentenced to 27 years for killing a man who she says was abusing her. The Oklahoma Survivors Act allows for reduced sentences for women like Long who say their crime was fighting back against physical and emotional abuse.
If approved, Long’s sentence would be reduced by 15 years.
The state spent the day trying to poke holes in Long’s credibility, saying she lied about most of the abuse she accused her former partner, Ray Brown, of. But she insisted that she was physically and emotionally abused to the point that she feared for her life.
Long had support in the courtroom on Tuesday.
“I’m here to support Tyesha and will be there to support all the other ladies coming up behind me,” said Lisa Wright, who was the first person freed under Oklahoma’s newly passed Survivors Act.
The law provides leniency when domestic abuse survivors kill their attackers.
Wright spent the last two days in court supporting Long, who has served three years of her 27-year sentence.
In Nov. 2020, Long visited a hotel in Bricktown where Brown, who was 55, was staying. Police said the two argued before Long shot Brown after he raised his hand to strangle her.
Long said she feared for her life after years of physical and emotional abuse.
“It was prolonged abuse. There was a vehicular assault and a miscarriage that took place in the course of the relationship that was caused by the abuse. She was strangled multiple times. It’s a very difficult case,” Colleen McCarty with Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law said.
An abuse expert with YWCA said Brown groomed Long into a relationship that turned violent. A forensics expert testified about images that show bruises on her body from the alleged abuse.
But the state accused Long of lying, arguing that she didn’t bring up all the alleged abuse in the past and called the domestic abuse “convenient” to qualify for the Survivors Act.
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