Hamilton County woman shares her story after receiving pardon

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — A local woman was pardoned on Friday, and News 12 spoke with Catrina Cabe to hear her powerful story.

“I grew up in Ringgold, Georgia. I ran away from home when I was 13 years old,” said Catrina Cabe. “From the ages of 13 to 33, I was a victim of human trafficking.”

Cabe was a convicted felon who filed for a pardon, but she thought she was forgotten.

“Then last year, when Governor Lee pardoned several people and I wasn’t on the list, I thought that I had just missed it,” Cabe explained. “For some reason, it just didn’t go through. It just wasn’t for me.”

But things turned around on Friday.

“I received a phone call, I think at 10:03. And it was Governor Lee himself letting me know that as of noon today, I am no longer a convicted felon. When I was on the phone with Governor Lee, I was in the floor right here where the camera sits, just with arms lifted, praising our father,” Cabe said.

For Cabe, faith in God is everything.

“I just want to call on every survivor out there right now with those kinds of charges to have faith, to take strength, because we have a redeemer,” Cabe added.

She is grateful that her story is getting told and wants to give hope to others.

“I want to show every bit of my weaknesses to the world so that they can see God’s favor, even on a broken girl. I’m very humble because I don’t deserve such a beautiful thing,” Cabe said.

Cabe explained how much her life has changed over time.

“This is amazing. I mean we are sitting in my living room. I was homeless for 20 years, and the lord saw fit to allow me to purchase this beautiful home,” she explained.

When asked what she would say to her younger self, she responded, “I would tell her, first and foremost, before anything else, she is a daughter of God. And everything else is secondary to that.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pardoned 23 people on Friday, with six of those being around the Tennessee Valley.