‘Slap in the face' Family of North Texas native murdered in 2020 protest calls pardon for Daniel Perry

For Sheila Foster, grieving her son’s death has become a full-time job four years after 28-year-old Garrett Foster was shot dead while attending a Black Lives Matter protest with his fiancé in Austin.

"It's like I'm in the twilight zone. Anytime that we get any kind of relief, normalcy, healing, light at the end of this tunnel, here they come with another hammer, and it's just been one thing after another,” said Sheila Foster.

The latest came Thursday when Governor Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry, the man convicted of Foster's murder last year.

In a statement, the Governor wrote in part, “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney.”

Perry, who drove his car into the crowd Foster was marching in 2020, said he shot Foster in self-defense after Foster, who was legally carrying a semiautomatic rifle, approached his car.

"He was practicing his First and Second Amendment rights, and this was Greg Abbott's Second Amendment rights. He says you can open carry in the state of Texas. But in the same breath, he says you deserve to be shot for open carrying in the state of Texas. That's basically what he's saying. It makes no sense,” said Foster.

Today, Daniel Perry’s attorney Doug O’Connell told NBC 5’s affiliate in Austin that his client is thrilled to be released from prison.

"It was very clear from the evidence admitted into trial and some of the evidence that the jury did not get to see that Daniel absolutely acted in self-defense,” said O’Connell.

Both out of fear and frustration, Foster said she now plans to leave the state, a place where she's had the support of family, including her father Milton Wright.

"It's a slap in the face to the judge, the jury, all the attorneys that spent thousands of hours investigating," said Wright.

"Years," added Foster.

Now, Foster finds herself fighting for justice again.

"I will not stop. I will not stop until Governor Abbott is removed from that seat, and I don't care if it kills me,” she said.

Friday, O’Connell said Perry is spending his first few days of freedom with family. Then, they'll focus on a misdemeanor charge he still faces for deadly conduct and trying to get his military discharge upgraded.