Women Behind Bars Tuesdays at 10p|9c

Sharon Mabry


Inmate Name: Sharon Mabry Charge: Felony Murder Sentence: 20 years to life in prison Prison: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York Sharon Mabry was born in 1956 and grew up in a middle class community in Detroit, Michigan. Although her mother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness, as Sharon became a teenager, she rebelled against her religious upbringing. By the time she graduated high school, Sharon was already into a life of crime, and was working for a pimp in Detroit, who started giving her drugs which led to a cocaine habit. In 1982, Sharon married 34-year-old Dennis Levy. They moved to New York where, according to Sharon, Levy said he could show her how to make more money in the high-class prostitution business. But after four years, Sharon left her husband to start her own escort service. Sharon was arrested and pled guilty to participating in a brutal assault of a young woman, and served a five-year prison sentence. She claims she never participated in the assault. After leaving prison, she became an informant for the police, and the FBI. It was in this underworld of crime that Sharon became romantically involved with Herbert Horton in 1993. Horton, also known as "Blackie," was a well-known pimp in the neighborhood. According to Sharon, she was the madam of the brothel and also worked as a prostitute. By 1995, she stopped showing up for parole meetings, and no longer provided information to the police. In addition, her drug addiction became more intense, and her relationship with Blackie took a turn for the worse. In December of1996, she left Blackie, working as a prostitute in Connecticut briefly before returning to Queens, New York where she became strung out on drugs in a crack house. It wasn’t long before Sharon ran out of money and was deep in debt to her crack dealers. On the evening of January 6, Blackie was murdered at his brothel by armed intruders. Sharon claims news of his death came as a shock. She went to the police precinct and identified herself as Blackie's girlfriend, asking permission to enter the brothel to retrieve her belongings. Police interrogated her, and finally Sharon confessed to planning Blackie’s murder, agreeing to give her confession on videotape for the district attorney. At Sharon’s trial, she was convicted of felony murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Sharon now asserts she was coerced into giving a false confession, and that Blackie had many enemies who wanted him dead. The police deny any wrongdoing in obtaining her confession. Sharon still maintains her innocence.