Faye Jacobs

Laquanda “Faye” Jacobs wasn’t even old enough to vote when she was thrown in prison for a Little Rock, Arkansas murder she didn’t commit. 

 

She was only 16 years old when the state sentenced her to life without parole, after a plethora of wrongdoing by officials. By the time she was released in 2018 — and resentenced to time served after a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled children cannot receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole — Faye was in her early 40’s and had suffered 26 years of wrongful imprisonment.

 

And yet, she’s always been innocent. At the time of the 1992 murder Faye went to prison for, eyewitnesses described the shooter as a woman in her 30s wearing all black. Faye was 16 and still in the white dress she wore to church that morning. Before Faye’s trial, her defense attorney spent no more than half an hour talking to her about the case.

 

After all that — and after spending the vast majority of her adulthood in prison for something she didn’t do — anger would be an understandable feeling. 

 

But that’s not Faye. 

 

“I don’t understand why this happened, how could it happen, and why is it still happening?” Faye said. “I have hurt. I have these thoughts but I refuse to be bitter.” 

 

Faye is much more focused on building solutions — and building the next chapter of her life. 

 

She started her own organization, Innocence Too, which helps formerly incarcerated people with basic re-entry needs, like getting a driver’s license or finding a job. 

 

She also moved to Kansas City after her release. A self-professed “snow girl,” she hoped to finally be in a climate where she’d get to experience the cold. Her mom is there with her now too, along with Faye’s two “fur babies,” Mercy (a Schnauzer) and Bella (a teacup chihuahua). 

 

The core tenets of Faye’s new life are the same that got her through those 26 years: her family, and her faith. Church has always been a huge part of her life — it was one of the last places she went in the free world, after all. When she was in prison, she even sang in a choir: still in her prison uniform and handcuffed, Faye still sang her heart out at the churches she got to visit. 

 

Now, though, she can go to church freely, without the prison garb. And yes, she’s still singing – “give me a mic, and I’ll sing all day,” she said. 

 

But it’s a freedom that’s still tainted.

 

Because Faye’s sentence was commuted and she wasn’t technically exonerated by the state, she still carries a felony conviction on her record. 

 

This affects her ability to apply for certain jobs and be promoted, be approved for housing, and virtually every aspect of her daily life. 

 

She dreams of one day owning her own home. She dreams of adopting a child, since wrongful conviction robbed her of two and a half decades of childbearing years. But with a felony conviction still in place, any of those processes become infinitely more complicated.

 

And until the state of Arkansas does what is right and removes Faye’s false conviction from her record, she will always live with an immense burden.

 

“I want to get this weight up off my shoulders,” she said. “I am free, yes. But I’m not totally free. And I desire to be totally free.”

 

You can support Faye’s transportation business and GoFundMe below:
Innocence Too Safe, Safer, Safest Transportation

Faye’s GoFundMe