(WBIR - MARYVILLE) -- The song "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz plays on Kelli Heard's phone every time her husband calls.
She calls it "appropriate", as she is now fighting for Dustin Heard's freedom -- currently serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a 2007 Baghdad mass shooting.
At the time, he was working as security detail for Blackwater, which was contracted by the government for overseas work.
"He was still working for his country," Kelli said.
For the next seven years, it was a legal system roller coaster: case dismissal, then a court reversal, and finally a 2014 conviction, ultimately on six guilty counts of voluntary manslaughter.
"Complete shock to me that supports that they followed the rules of engagement, especially my husband," Kelli added.
She believed her husband was acting solely in self defense, and in the end, she said the government turned its back on her family.
"We're still receiving incoming fire from the rear," she said, recalling a statement from her husband. "The response from his teammate: 'Well, fire back.' My husband's quote, 'I can't fire back because I cannot ID where it is coming from.' That's not the words from a man who panics under fire."
Heard has since helped with a website for her husband and the three other men convicted in the attack, SupportRaven23.com. She said she will continue to fight the sentence.
