TIME

The university-bound mother who killed her child deserves forgiveness

Jones, 45, is at the center of a debate about crime, punishment and forgiveness

MICHELLE JONES IS NOT LIKE THE other Ph.D. candidates rolling up to New York University this year. First, she got out of prison only two days before school started. Second, folks at Harvard are still arguing over whether they should have admitted her. And third, when she was a teenager, she killed her 4-year-old son.

Jones’ story, which was recently uncovered by the Marshall Project and the New York Times, is an incredible one. She got pregnant at 14, and

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