Horror Blogger Describes Day She Killed Her Parents — and Says She’s ‘Free’ in Prison

Wisconsin teen Ashlee Martinson, the former blogger who penned dark stories about death under the pseudonym “Vampchick,” says in a new interview that she’s “happy” to be in prison for killing her mother and stepfather following extensive alleged abuse.

“I’m happy because I’m getting help right now,” Martinson says in an exclusive clip from an upcoming prison interview with Crime Watch Daily, which is scheduled to air Tuesday.

“My sisters are safe, and I know that sounds crazy because I’m in prison, but I feel like I’m free,” Martinson says. “I can have an opinion now. I can have my own thoughts. I can wake up everyday and know that I’m safe.”

In March 2015, Martinson, then 17, fatally stabbed her mother more than 30 times and shot her stepfather twice with a shotgun, before fleeing with her boyfriend, then 22.

She was arrested the next day. (Her boyfriend was not implicated in the killings.)

Martinson eventually pleaded guilty in the deaths and was sentenced in June to 23 years in prison.

While the self-proclaimed “horror fanatic”‘s blogging initially stirred speculation about her motive, Martinson’s lawyers described a long history of alleged physical, mental and verbal abuse that the teen both suffered and witnessed from mother Jennifer Ayers and stepfather Thomas Ayers.

Martinson said that Thomas physically abused her mother for years, and was further mentally and verbally abusive to her.

Horror Blogger Describes Night She Killed Her Parents — and Says She’s ‘Free’ in Prison

As a former neighbor told PEOPLE, ” I don’t condone murder, but an adolescent who has been abused for years can only take so much until they strike back.”

However, Thomas’ brother, Don, previously told PEOPLE that he was displeased with his sibling’s portrayal as an abuser: “Thomas and Jennifer are being judged right now by what she is saying about them, but they aren’t here to defend themselves because she killed them.”

“You know how people say that I’m a monster?” Martinson, now 19, says in her new Crime Watch interview. “I wish people could have met Thomas Ayers. The way he was — the way he really was. Then people would know that he was the monster.”

Martinson, who says she was afraid that she and her younger sisters were “going to get killed by” Thomas, also details the day of the slayings to Crime Watch. She claims that she initially planned to only kill herself.

“I took back in my room, and I was sitting on my bed,” she says. “This was it for me. I was done, I needed to get out. This was the only way. I even had the end of  in my mouth, playing with the trigger. It’s done.

“And then I heard my stepdad, and he was starting to go up the stairs, and in that moment I knew I didn’t really want to die.”

Continues Martinson, “I just reacted. The moment I saw him, I raised the gun and I pulled the trigger. It happened so fast I didn’t even realize what I’d done.”

The Wisconsin teen further claims she blacked out and only attacked her mother after Jennifer stabbed her in the leg with a “decorative knife” when she happened upon the scene.

“I’m not a monster,” Martinson says. “I never meant any of this to happen.”

Martinson also addresses the writings on her horror blog, “Nightmare,” for which she penned graphic stories about death and mutilation: “The truth is, my writings have nothing to do with what I did.”

Martinson’s full interview with Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen will air on Tuesday. Check local listings for times.