A Connecticut woman who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for drowning her newborn baby in a toilet when she was just 17 will be released from prison early.
On Wednesday, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles ordered that Panna Krom be released Sept. 30, WFSB reports.
Now 26, Krom will be free after serving about half her sentence.
Leading up to the decision, Krom’s attorney, Vicki Hutchinson, argued her client had received more than 10 times the average sentence normally handed down in such cases.
Krom said she committed the crime because her parents, who are from Cambodia, did not approve of premarital sex. “I now know how irresponsible actions can result in dire consequences, a notion that my 17-year-old mentality could not accept,” Krom told the board.
Hutchinson also pointed out that Krom has completed her high school diploma, as well as six semesters of college, while serving her time.
“There is nothing more that I can do behind these prison walls to rehabilitate myself,” Krom wrote in her statement to parole board. “But I can help people on the outside and also continue to make myself a better person.”
The state opposed the early release, arguing that Krom’s attorneys had originally agreed to a plea deal that would have made her eligible for parole in 2019.
