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A twenty four year old African American woman in Santa Barbara was convicted late last year of second-degree murder and drunken driving. Ayana Jonigan was intoxicated while driving on May 1st 2008 when her car crashed claiming the life of a well known white woman, Laura Cleaves, a senior investigator with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. Jonigan was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison despite having no previous felonies or DUIs. The victim, Laura Cleaves was married to a retired Santa Barbara Court Sheriff Department Sergeant, and Jonigan’s family claims that Ayana received an unfair trial because of the connection of the victim and her family to law enforcement and the Justice Department. They cite a previous case of a white woman named Heather Hulsey, in also in Santa Barbara, who hit a well known doctor while drunk and left him to die. Hulsey was initially sentenced to six years and four months in prison but had her sentence reduced to five years probation on account of being the mother of an infant. But Ayana Johnson is also a mother of a four year old daughter. She admits her intoxication on the night of the event and her culpability in the death of Cleaves but feels that vehicular manslaughter would have been a more appropriate sentence. As a former victim of rape herself, Jonigan claims she acted out of fear based on past trauma when the fatal accident occurred. The family is attempting to file an appeal by April 19th to repeal the murder charge and reduce her sentence. They are in the process of raising the $70,000 needed to do so through a public fundraising drive.

GUEST: Monyka Jonigan, sister of Ayana Jonigan.

Find out more at www.saveayana.com. Click here to donate: http://www.wix.com/SaveAyana/miracleshappen