♪ your sweet voice leaves me speechless ♪ ♪ like you will never know i really wanna talk to you ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, a sister's fight. >> if we stay silent, nothing changes. >> a young mother found guilty of killing her abuser. what were you afraid of? >> i was afraid he was going to

kill me. >> her sister fighting for her freedom, becoming an advocate along the way. >> a midwife documented her injuries that she had, medical records, police documentation, videos, photos. >> her release from prison and an embrace in the years in the making. why her case is offering others hope. plus, kylie kelce. the kiss seen around the world. pop sensation taylor swift and her boyfriend travis kelce celebrating his chiefs win. off-field brother jason and wife kylie cheering him on. >> we want to use only one side of our stick. >> kylie opening up about her own work in the sports world, and the brotherly love between those kelce boys. >> the great thing about travis and jason and the entire kelce family is they are extremely supportive of each other. >> and what she says about that shirtless stadium scene. also, royal release. members of the british royal family out of the hospital and recovering at home. >> "nightline" will be right back.

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but rather the beginning of a new chapter advocating for other criminalized survivors of domestic violence. >> reporter: it's been more than seven years since nikki adiamando has been fully free to embrace her children like this, holding them close. walking out of prison and into the arms of her family and supporters. tears flowing. >> it felt right when she walked out. it felt like we were whole again. >> reporter: nikki savoring her newfound freedom. on september 28th, 2017, nikki shot and killed the father of her two children, chris grover. >> reached into the couch, and i kneed him and it fell. >> reporter: after surviving years of documented abuse, both physical and sexual, sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, she was recently released early on appeal.

>> she has been home for three weeks today. i think we're all still like settling in, but also just kind of looking around amazed. like i can't believe real. >> reporter: nikki's rock through it all, her sister, michelle horton, a single mom herself, who immediately took in nikki's two kids, ben and fay, then just 4 and 2. how is everyone adjusting? it's not always happily ever after. it's rough the reentry. >> i'm getting my sister back. for her, it's like she is traveling to a different planet, and she is relearning life on the outside. >> reporter: the sisters' fight for nikki's freedom becoming a flash point how domestic violence violence is treated in the criminal justice system. >> for five endless years, nikki has been taken from her two young children. >> juju: what kind of price did the kids pay while nikki was behind bars? >> it's impossible to quantify the cost. they have internally for years knowing that their mom

should be with them and can't be. >> reporter: throughout her sister's incarceration, michelle brought ben and fay for regular visits. >> so this is a book of all of the visits? >> yeah. these were our family pictures. >> juju: she made 11 cents an hour, and each polaroid cost $2. >> so each picture represents 20 hours of work? >> yeah. >> reporter: along the way, the sisters garnered support from other criminalized survivors, and now they're hoping to mobilize others. >> one of the most remarkable aspects of my entire experience is very quickly, it wasn't just what was happening to nikki and happening to our family. we were brought into a much larger movement. >> reporter: michelle is sharing her story in gnaw memoir, "dear sister." >> i went through an experience that a lot of people go through, supporting someone who is incarcerated. but throughout it, you really can't talk about it, because there is real retaliation that can happen, retaliatory rulings, gag orders.

there is very real ways that the system silences everyone. >> reporter: to the outside world, even to her own sister, nikki and her partner chris grover seemed to be an idyllic family of four in poughkeepsie, new york. but when nikki started coming over with bruises, michelle said she had no reason to doubt her sister. >> there was always an excuse and an explanation, which in hindsight doesn't really make sense. but i think you just can't believe that something like that would happen to someone. >> reporter: but nikki was hiding a terrible secret. she was suffering violent abuse at the hands of chris. while nikki wasn't ready for an on-camera interview, she did speak to us in 2022 while in prison. >> i felt perilous. i knew i should leave. >> juju: what were you afraid of? >> i was afraid he was going to kill me. >> reporter: then on that fateful night in 2017, the unimaginable happened. police officers approached nikki's stopped car at a light at 2:00 a.m.

the 28-year-old telling officers she'd killed chris in self-defense. >> he is laying on the couch. he is just laying there. when i saw he was asleep, i got up, and i went to go get the kids. he said i will kill you and i will kill myself. >> reporter: she was taken into custody and questioned. eventually she was charged with second-degree murder. it would be months before she was able to see her children. >> mom, i have never been a day without them. it hurts so baddeleying there every day. >> i know. >> i'm only going to be able to see you guys twice a week. i don't -- what if they don't even remember when they go to see me? >> reporter: nikki would spend the next year and a half in and out of jail until she went to trial in 2017. how much of nikki's decision to move forward with the trial and not take a plea bargain had to

do with wanting to break the silence? >> what nikki said to me is if we stay silent, nothing changes. and she felt a responsibility to not hide anymore and not keep anymore secrets. >> reporter: during the trial, nikki testified that chris was threatening a murder/suicide, that on that night, it was kill or be killed. nikki's defense also presented excruciating details of the abuse she suffered. >> her abuse was filmed. it was uploaded. it was watched. there were safe exams where it's like a forensic nurse went to collect evidence and documented extensive injuries, a midwife documented her injuries that she had. medical records, police documenta documentation, videos, photos. these things -- victims don't usually have these things. >> reporter: the prosecution called it intentional murder and said if she were being abused,

she could have left. >> juju: how did the criminal justice system in your mind revictimize or retraumatize? >> the whole legal proceeding was predicated on course of control. it was all about power and control, and that's what domestic violence is. they were restricting her. they were strip searching her, they were degrading her, dehumanizing her. >> juju: and think didn't believe her? >> and they didn't believe her. >> reporter: on april 12th, 2019, nikkis was found guilty of second-degree murder and later sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. >> i don't think i've ever felt rage so clearly in my life. i felt like i had a scream in me that was so big i could crumble buildings. >> reporter: kim brown knows a lot about the hurt and rage nikki and her family experienced. in 1991, after years of abuse, she shot and killed her boyfriend as he tried to strangle her. she spent 17 years in prison for manslaughter. >> i had police reports.

i had hospital records. every scar on my body is from him, and no one cared that i was forced to defend myself. i felt like i had no other choice. i just wanted to live. and to be prosecuted for that seemed surreal in the worst way. >> reporter: but kim made it her mission to help other criminalized survivors. her work culminating in the passage of the domestic violence survivors justice act in new york state, known as dvsjj, which gives courts the discretion to shorten sentences if survivors can prove that abuse was a contributing factor to a crime. >> i don't want any other woman to end up where i was. i have to leave this place better than how i found it. >> reporter: in 2021, a new york appeals court reduced nikki's sentence to 7 1/2 years. in a statement to abc news, the district attorney's office that prosecuted nikki said after hearing all the evidence, a jury found nicole addimando guilty of

murder in the second degree, adding that chris grover was a loving and caring father and nikki shot him in the head. but the appeals court noted the abuse was a contributing factor to the defendant's criminal behavior. how did you tell your kids? >> ben had skittles. so i opened them up and lined up 19 skittles on the table. and i let them know how many years that's how many years the judge wanted mommy to stay here. and then i removed some and showed them how many mommy has left. gave them something concrete to hold on to that i would be coming home. >> juju: what did that decision symbolize? >> it validated nikki. i know that for a fact finally the system said yes, you were abused. yes, the evidence and your testimony was enough. yes, we believe you. >> reporter: a 2005 report found that 67% of women sent to prison for killing someone close to them were abused by the victim of the crime. >> this is an issue that

advocates have been screaming about for a really long time. >> juju: and it disproportionately affects women of color. >> disproportionately affects women of color, immigrants, gender nonconforming people, marginalized communities. >> reporter: while nikki's freedom now offers hope to others, the sisters say not enough is being done. >> it took ten years for the dvsjj to be passed in new york. these things take time. but women don't have time. like women are dying. and we need -- we need our court system to catch up, quickly. >> reporter: nikki was released just after the new year and is still counting her blessings. >> the fact that nikki is coming home and her family has a house waiting for her is incredibly rare. the truth is most of these women who have spent sometimes decades behind bars come out as felons, have trouble getting jobs, have trouble finding housing, and have to start with little to no support. >> reporter: and so nikki is one of the lucky ones? >> absolutely nikki is one of

the lucky ones. >> reporter: after nikki's release, chris grover's mother gail told abc news in part i don't have much to comment on because everyone is pro-nikki and no one knows about the truth. i don't have more to say because i love my grandkids, and i get to see my grandkids, and i am very grateful for that. they are my world. how do you feel about where things stand with the grovers? obviously they're still in pain. they've lost their son. >> i never want to add more pain to their life. i care about them deeply, and i have a good relationship with them for the sake of the kids. i admire the way that all of us have handled this. >> reporter: michelle says that for them, healing is not a straight line, but that working on behalf of other criminalized survivors is part of it. >> she has said she didn't go through all of this to stay silent, you know. when she is ready and she has some time to process and is on her own terms, i know she has a

really powerful story to tell that's going to help a lot of people. >> juju: the book, "dear sister" is on sale now. and if you or someone you know is in danger, there are hotlines ready to help, including the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233. 1-800--799-safe. when we come back, one-on-one with kylie kelce. her inside perspective on the most famous brothers in football. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

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welcome back. it's a lot being part of the most famous family in football, and it's a lot more adding taylor swift to the mix. just ask kylie kelce, the wife of eagles center jason kelce spills the tea on tea-swift and all else. laurie adimado making her "nightline" debut. >> you got to fight for your right to party! >> reporter: overnight, the world saw taylor swift and travis kelce in his kansas city chiefs celebrating on the field after the afc win. his brother jason and wife kelsey cheering him on too. the talented center for the eagles has made a name for himself. >> great job, jason kelce. run him out of the building. >> reporter: and off the field. >> if you don't run for president, this all is going to go twaste. >> reporter: while his wife kylie, a high school field hockey coach and mother of three has found herself in the spotlight as well. do you feel like each year it's

like this new stratosphere of attention on you guys with just the way the last two years have played out? >> i almost feel a little guilty that people are so interested and invested in what i'm doing. i am trying to scrape apple sauce off the couch. you don't -- you don't -- this is not fascinating. it's funny . i deeply appreciate the support. >> reporter: one moment football fans really connected with, jason's viral celebration after brother travis' touchdown during the chiefs' divisional play-off game against the bills. >> it sounds like in the end, yes, he ultimately did put his shirt back on. >> he put his shirt back on to leave the stadium, yes. >> reporter: jason explained the viral moment on the brothers' podcast new heights. >> she is already telling me to be on my best behavior because we're meeting taylor. she said do not. be on your best behavior. kylie, the first day i met you i was drunk and blacked out at the

bar. this is part of the charm, the jason kelce charm. >> tay said she absolutely loved you. >> reporter: otheir unconventional love story started online. the couple revealed all about their first tinder date in the documentary "kelce". >> right away the moment she walked through the door, the most beautiful woman i've ever seen. very much like that love at first sight. >> 45 minutes later, he fell asleep at the bar, like just out. like asleep asleep. >> not the best first impression for me. >> reporter: but eventually, he won her over. and now jason is a role model for girl dads. can you tell us a little bit about what his relationship is with the girls? >> he's very, very good at being present and loving them in a way that they need to be loved. >> reporter: and as the sports world anxiously waits to see if jason will return to the eagles for another season, kylie says she'll stand behind whatever decision he makes. >> i think that whatever he does, he is going to be

successful in, and i'm not just saying that because i'm his wife. i think that he, his personality. >> field hockey, we like a challenge. we want to use only one side of our stick. >> reporter: kylie keeping herself busy, running field hockey clinics and coaching her own team. now partners with dove and their self-esteem project for young female athletes ahead of the super bowl. what do you tell your own girls about body confidence? >> i am now hyper aware of how i talk about myself and my body, not only in front of my daughters, but in front of my players. i think it's important to model that positive body talk about yourself, because then they're taking that away from what you're doing. >> reporter: whether on the field hockey pitch, a football stadium, or even a concert hall, keeping up with the kelces is proving to be a full-time job. >> the great thing about travis and jason and the entire kelce family is that they are extremely supportive of each other, and we absolutely love that it seems that everyone is

having a very fulfilling time right now. >> juju: our thanks to laurie. welcome to the "nightline" family. when we come back, the british royals now recuperating. if you're living with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis or active psoriatic arthritis, symptoms can sometimes take you out of the moment. now there's skyrizi, so you can show up with clearer skin... ...and show it off. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ with skyrizi, you could take each step with 90% clearer skin. and if you have psoriatic arthritis, skyrizi can help you get moving with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. thanks to skyrizi, there's nothing

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and finally tonight, two members of britain's royal family are on the mend. king charles now released from the hospital in london and recuperating at home. the king leaving the hospital today with queen camilla, following a procedure for enlarged prostate. the princess of wales also released today away from public view following abdominal surgery earlier this month. windsor castle saying in a statement she is making good progress. we wish them both well. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right backer same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.