Christie Commutes Homicide Sentence Of Point Beach Woman

TRENTON -Four days before he left office, Gov. Chris Christie commuted the sentence of a Point Pleasant Beach woman who was convicted of stabbing her fiancee in the heart just days before their 1991 wedding.

Christie commuted the sentence of Lisa Pyatt, 50, on Jan. 12, according to the Governor's Office.

A commutation does not mean a person was absolved of a crime, but that their sentence for the crime was reduced.

Pyatt was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1993 for the murder of Kevin Patrick McGowan. Former Ocean County Prosecutor William P. Cunningham, who tried the case against her, told app.com he never bought her battered woman defense during the 1993 trial.

“Not only did I prove she was not a victim of domestic violence, but that she’s as phony as the day is long," Cunningham said.

Pyatt had accused a previous boyfriend of domestic violence, and the state proved the accusation was false, he said.

Cunningham said at the trial that Pyatt stabbed McGowan once with a filet knife after he realized he couldn't marry her and went home to tell her. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison and was required to serve at least 30 years before being considered eligible for parole. She served 24 years.

She was released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women on Saturday, according to the state Corrections Department.

Mitchell Ansel, who filed the application for the commutation on Pyatt’s behalf back in 2011, said Pyatt was "thrilled" to be returning to her family.

She will live with her son and daughter in Ocean County, but Ansell declined to disclose the town.

“We felt as though she had a defense," Ansell said. “She believes and we believe to this day that she was a battered woman acting in self-defense."

Pyatt had previously exhausted appeals because of inadequate representation by her former attorneys, he said.

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