*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
*After spending 36 years behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit, Judy Henderson emerged from prison not with bitterness, but with unshakable faith and a mission to help others.
In her new memoir, “When the Light Finds Us: From a Life Sentence to a Life Transformed,” Henderson recounts her powerful journey from wrongful conviction to redemption — and the deep inner work that helped her not only survive but grow.
“What kept me fueled and what kept me going and what kept me fighting was the intense love I had for my children and the intense love and bond that I have with my family,” she said.
“They didn’t give up, and I wasn’t about to give up, and I was going to fight with every tooth and nail I could find to prove that I was innocent, no matter how long it took.”
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That fierce determination, she said, was grounded in faith and self-discovery. “It was a lot of soul searching. It was a lot of therapy, understanding how I got here, but it was also a lot of blessings along the way to see how mighty God is and how he just shows up and shows out, you know?”
A Mother’s Love, Even From Afar
While incarcerated, Henderson continued to raise her children as best she could– a heartbreaking reality that many incarcerated mothers face.
“You know, my daughter… she’s now 55. So she has a new perspective on everything versus a 13-year-old’s view of everything when I left her,” Henderson said. “But she said that she always felt safe talking to me because I was in a situation where she felt that she could be very open, very honest, and I couldn’t ground her,” she laughed.
Their bond remained strong, thanks in part to the deep foundation they had built early on. “When she was born, her father wasn’t present… it was just her and I. We bonded right off the beginning. I didn’t know what to name her, and God gave me Angel. And little did I know what an angel she would be to help me get through this.”
Reuniting with her children as adults brought new joys, and new adjustments.
“I still had that motherly instinct to say, no, you can’t do that,” Henderson said. “But it was amazing watching how they had evolved into adults… I was so proud to see that they had done as well. Because my daughter, she went on to college and graduated summa cum laude, regardless of the situation, and became a very strong, courageous woman.”
Her message to incarcerated mothers today is one of presence, patience, and connection: “It takes an effort. It has to take an effort on the mother’s part. You have to be present, even from afar… pretty soon you become these friends that you probably would not have become if you were on the street.”
Reentering a World That Moved On
Returning to freedom after more than three decades presented its own set of challenges, both emotional and practical.
“The whole environment had changed. The landmarks had changed. There were more cars. You wore seatbelts. Our phones were on the wall… now everybody’s looking down at them,” she said. “Even flushing the stools, you know, turning on the water in the bathroom was just bizarre. And everybody paying with cards in these little square machines by the cash register.”
Henderson embraced the transition with humility and humor. “I kept looking [at the card readers] like, oh my gosh, I’ll never figure that out. But I’ll tell you what — I love shopping.”
Despite the adjustment period, Henderson continued her lifelong mission to serve others. “I wasn’t on parole, so I didn’t have to do any programs… I stayed engaged [in prison] creating so many programs, doing so much legislation. So coming out here, I continued doing that same thing.”
Now, she works for Catholic Charities in Kansas City, St. Joseph, helping others navigate the same path she once walked. “I love, love, love giving back… helping those ex-offenders whenever they come in and they need a hand up.”
Lifting Others, Even While She Waited
Even while fighting for her freedom, Henderson became a paralegal and an advocate for incarcerated women. What pushed her to fight for others?
“I saw where there was just such a generational curse on all these families that were career criminals… somewhere that cycle had to be broken,” she said. “These women had to learn to be mothers, they had to learn to love themselves… pretty soon they became great mothers… and they became somebody that they were proud of.”
She also worked on clemency applications for other women, many of whom were released before she was. “It was kind of bittersweet,” she admitted. “However, I am the only lifer that ever got out immediately on the same day and given a pardon.”
A Call for Justice Reform
Today, Henderson is a fierce advocate for reform in the justice system. Among the most urgent changes, she says, is reducing prison populations so that cases like hers can receive the attention they deserve.
“You’re getting backlogged, you’re spending too much money… and [the system] is not giving these offenders the tools that they need,” she said. “We’re working on survivor bills… [so that people with PTSD or a history of abuse] can go back to court and get their sentence shortened and be released.”
She points to progress in Oklahoma and is working to push similar legislation across other states.
Finding the Light
The title of Henderson’s memoir is more than poetic — it’s deeply personal.
“Yes, there was [a turning point],” she said. “Whenever I went to a three-day religious retreat… the moment they started washing my feet, I just visualized Jesus… and the spirit came over me and it was like, he said, I’ve got you, trust in me.”
From that moment on, she embraced Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
“Prison was not my future,” she said. “It was the enemy’s… but not what God had ordained for me.”
Henderson hopes her story reminds others that their light has never left them. “There is a way out, always a way out,” she said. “You do not let anybody keep you in the darkness because there is light for everybody. You were born with light.”
And as for the woman she is today?
“I am not that woman [I used to be]. Today, I can kick King Kong’s butt.”
Watch our full conversation with Judy Henderson in the clip below.
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