Denise Crump grew up in Philadelphia in an abusive household. At 13, she was raped by a group of neighborhood men. Denise dropped out of school in 10th grade and never had a job, home, or stability. Still, she makes no excuses for her actions and role in the crime she committed in 1987.

A year before this tragedy took place, Denise became addicted to crack. As her addiction tightened its grip on her life, she exhausted all her resources and lost custody of her 2-year-old daughter.

“I knew very little about the world and how to live in it,” she reflects.

On the night of the crime, Denise got high with her boyfriend and another person. Under the influence and needing money for more drugs, they went to the home of Denise’s neighbor and friend, Dave, who had helped her in a desperate situation months earlier. While Denise was upstairs looking for money, the others brutally injured Dave. He later died from his injuries.

“My heart hurts because the robbery I planned took a turn for the worst. Mr. Dave wasn’t supposed to be harmed in any way. If I had known that this was going to happen, I never would have set it up.”

Denise was 22 when she was found guilty of felony murder and sentenced to death by incarceration (DBI). Her boyfriend was found guilty of 1st-degree murder. The third person was never found.

Now 59, Denise has been incarcerated in Pennsylvania for 37 years. She’s sober, attends weekly church services, helps in the prison’s therapeutic recovery unit, and attends cosmetology school.

If granted her freedom, Denise plans to work as a certified peer support/recovery specialist and continue helping others who share similar struggles.

“Today I am a woman with dignity. I am a survivor of physical abuse and rape. I am strong, confident, intelligent, and willing to make the best out of my life because my past doesn’t define who I am today.”