Alyssa Shepherd released early from prison, dodges cameras
ROCHESTER, Ind. -- The woman convicted of killing three children and badly injuring a fourth at their Fulton County bus stop in 2018 walks out of prison early Wednesday.
Alyssa Shepherd is back home after serving just two and a half years of her four-year sentence.
The mother of those three kids says her release brings division to the community.
“She saw me screaming over my dead children’s body and showed no mercy. Alyssa Shepherd not only stole the lives of my three children, she destroyed my family.”
October 30, 2018 is a day Brittany Ingle describes as the worst day of her life. It’s the day Alyssa Shepherd blew past a school bus with its stop arm extended hitting and killing her three children as they were crossing the road.
“I mean she literally has not accepted the role of responsibility for my children’s death,” Ingle said.
March 9, 2022 is another day Brittany will never forget. The day Shepherd walked out of prison.
“I’m still kind of in shock. We knew this day was coming. We just didn’t expect it to come this fast,” Ingle said.
After completing a bible course, shepherd was granted release six months early.
She was sentenced to four years in prison in 2019. Now, she’s serving three years on house arrest followed by another three years on probation.
Shepherd dodged an ABC57 crew waiting outside of the Rockville Correctional Facility Wednesday. She was released from a backdoor around 6:45 a.m.
The Shepherd family was not ready for cameras either. Outside her home Wednesday morning, her family declined an opportunity to speak.
Fulton County Prosecutor Mike Marrs says he worries how the community will accept the transition.
“I can understand if you’re the one doing the time, you want to get out as quick as you can,” Marrs said. “On the other hand, that’s really been the state’s major issue with the case as far as the defendant from day one. We just haven’t seen any remorse.”
Marrs explains on house arrest, Shepherd is only allowed to go to and from work.
She’s expected to start working at ‘Renewed Brew,’ a coffee shop being opened by her parents in Rochester that saw protests last year.
“We said from day one, it was an accident. There’s no way she woke up that morning and intended to go run over kids, everyone knows that or should know that. But, her actions were reckless and in Indiana if it’s reckless, it’s criminal,” Marrs said.
Brittany is focusing on the path forward but she says the lack of empathy Shepherd shows for her dead children is something she’ll always struggle with.
“I’ll never understand that,” Ingle said. “I’m going to continue focusing on my children and the legacy we’ve already built so much. We’ve impacted a lot of people around the world. And you know, how many children’s lives we’ve possibly saved because of them… it’s kind of an honor.”
In 2019, Indiana adopted the ‘MAX strong’ bill into law, named after Mason, Alivia, and Xavier. It has strengthened bus safety laws, making it illegal for a bus to pick up or drop off students in a spot that makes them cross a road.