Alabama mother of 4 sentenced for murdering accused rapist
10/12/2020 5:27 pm PDT
via WHNT:
JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) -- A Jackson County woman who killed a man accused of raping her has pleaded guilty to murder.
AL.com reports Brittany Smith was sentenced to 20 years -- but the sentence was split for her to serve 18 months in the Jackson County Jail and 18 months on house arrest, followed by probation. Because she will receive credit for the time she spent in jail awaiting trial, Smith will be released to house arrest in about seven months, according to her attorney.
Smith, a 32-year-old mother of four, was taken back to jail after pleading guilty in Jackson County Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt's courtroom.
Smith pleaded guilty to killing Todd Smith, an acquaintance -- no relation -- in the kitchen of her home in Stevenson. It happened early on the morning of Jan. 16, 2018, hours after Brittany Smith said Todd raped and strangled her. Brittany's murder case was set for trial next month. If the case went to trial and Brittany was convicted, she would have faced up to life in prison.
Brittany argued at a Stand Your Ground hearing earlier this year that she killed Todd in defense of herself and her brother, Chris McCallie. She testified that when her brother came over to confront Todd about the rape, the men fought. She told a judge that she fatally shot Todd while he held her brother in a headlock and threatened to kill them all.
Holt denied Brittany's request for immunity from prosecution under Alabama's self-defense law, saying she had not proven that the killing was legally justified.
The Jackson County Sentinel reports Brittany Smith was arrested Sept. 18, 2020 on a felony charge of second-degree arson. Smith allegedly set fire to two locations inside a mobile home at 64 Bolivar Street in Stevenson on Sept. 17.
AL.com reports if convicted on the arson charge, Smith's sentence would run concurrently with her sentence in the murder case.
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