Paula Cooper was sentenced to death in 1986 and is now a free woman according to CNN.
Cooper spent 27-years in jail for murdering Ruth Pelke, a 78-year-old Bible teacher. She was released from the Indiana Rockville Correctional Facility on Monday.
According to the New York Daily News, Cooper and three of her friends planned to rob Pelke during their school's lunch break. Pelke welcomed the girls into her home after they showed interest in Bible lessons. Cooper then stabbed the defenseless woman "33 times with a 12-inch butcher knife." The teens "ransacked" the home and left "with the woman's car and $10." Cooper confessed to the murder.
Cooper's conviction stirred controversy as she was the youngest person on death row at the time. According to reports, Cooper's accomplices were sentenced to 25 to 60 years for their role in the crime.
Human right activist and anti-death row supporters joined forces to lessen the teen's sentencing on the grounds that Cooper was a "victim of a racist criminal justice system."
According to the Huffington Post, amongst Cooper's supporters was Pope John Paul II and Pelke's grandson, Bill.
"For a year and a half I thought about how my grandmother died, and it was horrible. I started thinking about my grandmother's life and all the wonderful things about her," Bill told CNN. "I realized I no longer wanted Paula to die. I wanted to help her. I realized forgiveness had already taken place, and it brought a tremendous healing to me."
Bill and Cooper reportedly sparked a friendship and he is expecting a call from his grandmother's killer.
"We're suppose to meet and go shopping. I told her whenever she got out, I'd treat her," he said.
