Nicole Addimando

Nicole “Nikki” Addimando is a 33-year-old woman from Poughkeepsie, NY. She is the mother of two young children with no prior criminal history. She’s known in her community as a loving mother and caring friend.

She survived years of violent abuse and sexual torture at the hands of her longtime partner Chris Grover, as documented by domestic violence advocates, medical professionals, and police. On September 28, 2017, she shot and killed Grover to save her own life.

In April 2019, despite an abundance of evidence to corroborate abuse, Addimando was convicted of second-degree murder and gun possession. The gun was legally registered to Grover.

Prior to Addimando’s sentencing, New York State passed the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act and Governor Cuomo signed it into law. The new law took into account the mitigating factors of domestic violence when sentencing survivor defendants such as Addimando, and would change her sentencing structure from a minimum of 15 years-to-life down to a minimum of 5 years.

In September 2019, the Court held an eligibility hearing and the defense presented even more professional testimony to the rape and torture Addimando endured. Despite having more documented abuse than most victims, Judge McLoughlin denied her eligibility.

On Feb. 11, 2020, Judge McLoughlin sentenced Addimando to 19-years-to-life plus 15 years + 5 years post supervision for possessing her partner's legally registered gun (to be served concurrently). He said it’s clear she’s been abused by “other men,” but there wasn’t evidence it was Grover. (Addimando named one and only one abuser in medical and police documentation: Chris Grover.)

Judge McLoughlin said that he understood she “reluctantly consented” to “intimate acts” with Grover — acts including being raped with homemade objects, sodomized with his gun, burned on her genitalia while pregnant, and trafficked on PornHub.

In June 2021, The Court of Appeals’ Second Department ruled that Nikki was, indeed, abused by Chris Grover, and thus should have been sentenced under the DVSJA. Rather than send the case back to Judge McLoughlin, the Court resentenced her to 7.5 years (including time served) + 5 years parole. She will be released in 2024.