Stephanie Clark was sentenced to 25 years in jail for fatally capturing her boyfriend on March 5, 2020, after telling police she wished him to cease speaking, based on prosecutors.
Hennepin County Sheriffs Workplace
A Minnesota girl will spend 25 years in jail for the homicide of her boyfriend after she instructed police she “wished him to cease speaking,” based on prosecutors.
Stephanie Clark, a 31-year-old mother from Maple Grove, will obtain 124 days of credit score for time served following the March 2020 homicide of Don Juan Butler.
The 2 met on the Loads of Fish courting app, however Butler, a convicted felon, moved into her house and “nearly instantly” started a sample of abusive and controlling conduct, her lawyer wrote in court docket filings.
“Butler started taking management of each side of Ms. Clark’s life, together with when she might go away, the place she might go, who she might speak to, who she might see, the place she might work and what she might buy,” a court docket memo reads.
He set guidelines and allegedly beat her when she broke them and even made her give up her building job and take a place with a lot decrease pay “as a result of he forbade her to work or work together with males,” protection lawyer Eric Doolittle wrote.
He additionally allegedly threatened her whereas holding a .45-caliber handgun referred to as the “Raging Choose.”
In accordance with the legal grievance, Clark shot Butler to dying shortly earlier than 6 p.m. on March 5, 2020.
A neighbor instructed police she heard gunshots that night, after which Clark knocked on her door and instructed her, “he’s useless.”
“I shot him as a result of he hit me,” Clark instructed the witness, based on the grievance.
Police discovered Butler with “quite a few bullet holes on his again, facet and again of his head.”
Clark later instructed police that Butler assaulted her at dwelling after he noticed her speaking to a male in a comfort retailer earlier that day after he despatched her inside to “purchase some blunts.”
At one level, she grabbed a gun and adopted him into the toilet – then shot him within the chest throughout the argument. She stored firing till she ran out of bullets, then picked up one other revolver and shot him within the head, based on the legal grievance.
“Defendant mentioned ‘she wished him to cease speaking,’” the grievance reads.
Police discovered her with bruises after they arrested her. Her then-5-year-old son was dwelling on the time of the capturing.
Nevertheless, the court docket rejected her protection’s argument that Clark suffered from “battered girl syndrome,” and jurors convicted her of second-degree homicide on Oct. 14 after simply 4 hours of deliberations.
She had been anticipated to obtain a sentence of between 21.75 and 30.5 years, court docket paperwork present.
In a collection of character witness statements, buddies pleaded with Choose Peter Cahill to point out leniency following Clark’s conviction.
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