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Orlando preschool teacher who killed abusive husband works to empower domestic violence survivors

ORLANDO, Fla. — In 2014, Alyssa Hogan went from being a preschool teacher, mother and wife, to an accused murderer after stabbing her husband to death during a fight.

“It ended in a way that I never dreamed of, or wanted,” she told Channel 9.

Hogan was arrested, went to trial and was acquitted by a jury about seven months ago.

In court, she argued that she had no choice but to defend herself after nearly a decade of abuse.

Now, she has started Alyssa Hogan LLC, a company she said would be dedicated to empowering the survivors of domestic violence.

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She also wants to be there to warn women about the warning signs of an abusive relationship.

“The control, the extra phone calls, the demands, the telling you how to dress,” Hogan said.

Hogan said she left her husband at one point, but she ended up going back because, ironically, she felt safer when the situation was more visible.

“I thought I was safer to be with him,” she said. “When I was separated from him, I was being stalked, I was looking over my shoulder. I didn’t know if he was going to show up at the school.

“So if I go back, then this is a safer environment. He has what he wants.”

Hogan said she wants to help prevent other women from going through what she did, or worse.

“This process has given me a voice,” she said. “The woman who are dead don’t have a voice.”