Kim Kardashian gets ‘enormous credit’ for release of abuse victim Dawn Jackson jailed for 25 years

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

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NEW JERSEY, NEW JERSEY: Kim Kardashian is getting “enormous credits” for her efforts in securing the release of prisoner Dawn Jackson, 53, who was serving a 30-year sentence for fatally stabbing her step-grandfather, Robert McBride, after years of sexual abuse.

On Monday, December 16, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced Jackson’s clemency, crediting the efforts of the 44-year-old billionaire reality star.

Speaking to People, Murphy announced, “Kim deserves enormous credit on this one," highlighting the SKIMS founder’s efforts in getting Jackson out of prison after 25 years.

Kim Kardashian praised for her role in getting Dawn Jackson out of prison

Dawn Jackson was sentenced to 30 years following her fatal 1999 stabbing and was incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon, New Jersey. Jackson, who initially filed for clemency in 2018, will finally be released this week, with Kim Kardashian playing a key role in securing her freedom. 

The SKIMS founder, who worked hard for Jackson’s release, said in the interview with People, “We were all so emotional, we couldn’t believe it.”

In her joint interview with Murphy, the Kardashian continued, “Just to know these people’s cases were heard and people believe in them the same way we do.”

Jackson, who faced severe traumatic experience when she was just a little girl, was advised by her public defender to plead guilty instead of going to a trial. She was not even allowed in the courtroom to narrate her case. 

Kardashian took an interest in her case when she learned about it in 2019 when Jackson wrote to her about her situation. 

‘The Kardashian’ star shared in her interview, “I could feel her pain through the letters.” Upon learning about Jackson’s case, Kardashian — who is currently pursuing a law degree and focusing on criminal justice reform — contacted the two lawyers she works with.

The businesswoman, who works with REFORM Alliance lawyers Erin Haney and Jessica Jackson, then asked the lawyers to help her in getting Jackson out of prison. 

She shared, “I said ‘Erin, we have to help this woman.’ She suffered so much abuse — from the time she was a baby. You think about how we want to protect our kids and to think that no one was there to protect her. None of that [testimony] was allowed."

Highlighting the bond that they formed through correspondence and phone calls, Kardashian shared, “I think it just is a bit more of an emotional relationship because I deeply feel the compassion that she deserves after everything that she's been through.”

Kardashian not only started advocating for Jackson on various social media platforms but also featured Jackson’s story on her ‘Kim Kardashian: The Justice Project’ series on the Oxygen Network.

The reality TV star, proud of her social work, gushed in the interview, “This has been a great journey of empathy,” before adding, “and has opened up my heart and soul to so many people that I never thought I’d have the opportunity to get to meet.”

Kim Kardashian says she wondered ‘how could no one help her’

Elsewhere in the interview, Kim Kardashian said that she was left in disbelief upon learning that Dawn Jackson received minimal help to plead her case. 

“I thought I'd stay with low level drug offenses,” shared Kardashian, before adding, “But after meeting people inside [prison] and hearing their stories and to look at the picture of Dawn Jackson at 5 and 6 and 7 years old” when she experienced everything, she could not stay calm. 

Kardashian questioned, "How could no one help her?"

Acknowledging the severity of charges against Jackson, Murphy said, “You’d be making a big mistake to not take the seriousness of that crime as a central factor, but at the end of the day, the judgement on Dawn was overwhelmingly that this was the right decision.”

“It’s the notion of throwing someone’s life away forever — especially if you don’t consider what they have been through, especially if it’s been abuse since they were a child. It’s a deeper conversation and a bigger issue,” Kardashian concluded.