(AP) — Jodi Arias said in a post-conviction interview with a TV station that she prefers the death penalty over life in prison.

Arias talked to members of the media in the courthouse minutes after she was convicted of first-degree murder. With tears in her eyes, she said she feels overwhelmed and that she was surprised because she didn’t believe she committed first-degree murder.

She said she would “prefer to die sooner than later” and that “death is the ultimate freedom.”

Arias has previously said that she considered suicide after killing her lover Travis Alexander. The county said that Arias was placed under suicide watch.