Family and friends hope for pardon for NC mom after nearly 30 years in prison

BY RUSS BOWEN | UPDATED DECEMBER 26, 2021 10:44 AM

After no word from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Christmas Eve, family and friends of April Barber continue to hope for a Pardon of Innocence for her by the end of the year.

Barber has been serving a life sentence for the murder of her grandparents in 1991.

Just 15 years old at the time, April Barber was pregnant with a 29-year-old man’s child. She had been living with her grandparents Lillie and Aaron Barber who had adopted her.

April and the Barbers did not agree on what to do about the child she was carrying. She and her boyfriend Clinton Johnson set fire to the Barber’s Wilkes County home, killing them both.

April Barber has been serving a life sentence since 1992. Attempts to appeal the decision and requests for a pardon have thus far failed.

Barber gave birth to a son named Colt Johnson, who went on to attend Appalachian State University and played on the football team the year it won the national championship.

Johnson spoke to CBS 17 about his mother from his home in California as he waited on any possible word from Cooper’s office.

Read more at: https://www.cbs17.com/news/north-carolina-news/family-and-friends-hope-for-pardon-for-nc-mom-after-nearly-30-years-in-prison/