Mary Jo Buttafuoco Forgave Amy Fisher for Shooting Her, Asked Judge for Mercy

Amy Fisher, dubbed the “Long Island Lolita” after shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the face, was released for prison after seven years. At the resentencing trial, Buttafuoco asked the judge for mercy and advocated for Fisher’s release. The story will be featured on tonight’s episode of ABC’s 20/20. 

Amy Fisher was a 17-year-old high school student in 1992 when she shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the face. She’d met Buttafuoco’s husband when she was 16 years old and had begun an affair with him. The crime caught the attention of tabloids around the world, which dubbed Fisher the “Long Island Lolita.”

Fisher was convicted in December 1992 and was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, according to Biography.com. She ended up serving seven years total in prison at the Albion Correctional Facility in New York. Fisher has since changed her name in order to look for privacy and has turned down multiple TV appearances.

Mary Jo Buttafuoco Said She Forgave Amy Fisher

Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s shooting sparks media frenzy that spans decades | NightlineMary Jo Buttafuoco was shot by 17-year-old Amy Fisher, who was having an affair with her husband. He continued to deny it for years while Mary Jo stood by him. WATCH NIGHTLINE EPISODES: https://abc.go.com/shows/nightline ALSO AVAILABLE ON HULU: https://hulu.tv/2wSmSrZ #Nightline #Buttafuoco #AmyFisher #MaryJoButtafuoco #Shooting2019-11-09T12:00:04Z

Mary Jo Buttafuoco chose to forgive Amy Fisher and wanted to tell the public what really happened, according to Fox News. She said she was angry and resentful for years, but she eventually came around and knew she had to forgive her shooter in order to move on with her life.

“For a long time… I hated her,” she said. “I hated what she did, I hated that she came to my house, interrupted my life. The audacity of this punk to come and do this.”

Buttafuoco added that she was taking medication to deal with the injuries and had bouts of feeling okay and made sure that her children never saw her when she was angry, though she dealt with addiction because of the drugs she was on for her recovery. She told the Fox News that it was during her time in rehab that she decided she needed to forgive the woman who had shot her in order to let go of all the anger and pain.

“I sobered up and I realized, ‘You’re right… I can’t feel like this anymore… I got to let you go because you’re killing me all over again… It sounds so cliche… it’s just a process that when you have something like this, you have to move forward. To move forward you have to forgive, you have to.”

The New York Times reported that Mary Jo Buttafuoco attended the resentencing hearing for Fisher and plead for the judge to release Fisher from prison. After the release, Fisher was on probation until February 26, 2003. She underwent periodic drug testing during that time.

Buttafuoco’s Daughter Has Spoken Out About the Shooting and Aftermath

She survived a gunshot wound close to her right ear after a 17-year-old girl shot the mother-of-two on the front porch of her own home. Now, what does Mary Jo Buttafuoco say about the incident, nearly three decades after the shooting? Tonight at 9/8c on #ABC2020. pic.twitter.com/zNR7skwyf4

— 20/20 (@ABC2020) September 4, 2020

In the episode of ABC News’ 20/20, Buttafuoco’s daughter Jessie, who was 9 years old at the time of the shooting, opened up about her life and shared never-before-seen home videos from her childhood. She said she has tried to heal and has used many different outlets to get there.

“Growing up for me, the performing arts was my outlet,” she said. “When I was on stage, I was a character. I wasn’t Jessie Buttafuoco, and it was so nice to get out of that reality.”

She said that her friends would call her “Showtime,” but all along, she was in pain over what had happened to her mother. She shared that, although she has been trying to find peace and move forward, she has a hard time loving.

“What makes me the most sad, to be honest, is my complete inability to be able to love somebody because of all of this,” she said in the interview. “Since I was 9 years old, all I’ve known is that sex and love and intimacy leads to bad things. It’s extremely hard for me to even think that love exists.”

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