ERIE, Pa. (AP) - The attorney representing a northwestern Pennsylvania woman charged in a stabbing death says he will argue that she acted in self-defense and in the defense of her daughter.
The Erie Times-News reports that 67-year-old Delores White was ordered to trial on charges including first-degree murder and aggravated assault after her preliminary hearing Monday in Erie County.
Defense attorney Eric Hackwelder said 35-year-old Khalil Reynolds had a history of abuse and struck White’s daughter before he was stabbed during an April 14 altercation at the daughter’s home.
Hackwelder sought dismissal of the first-degree murder count, citing testimony indicating that his client told police she meant to stab Reynolds but didn’t intend to kill him.
A prosecutor argued there was evidence that White intended to kill Reynolds. Cellphone video taken by the defendant’s daughter showed that at one point she put down the knife only to pick it up again later.
A police detective testified that another video shows White holding a knife and lunging at Reynolds, who asks if she was going to hurt him. When the defendant answered in the affirmative, the detective said, Reynolds replied, “Do what you gotta do. I’m not hurting you.”
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