Jury acquits woman who claimed self-defense in stabbing

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RAPID CITY (AP) – A jury on Friday acquitted a Pine Ridge woman who said she fatally stabbed her boyfriend in self-defense.

Jurors deliberated about four-and-a-half hours before finding Doreen Brown, 44, not guilty of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in the June 27, 2019, screwdriver stabbing death of 43-year-old Donald McMillan Jr.

McMillan was found dying on Brown's couch with wounds on his back and another in his chest that pierced his lung and heart. Brown said she stabbed him with a screwdriver she found on the ground after he attacked her with a tree branch.

After the jury's verdict, Judge Jeffrey Viken told Brown she was free to go. Brown had been held at the Pennington County Jail since last July, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Brown and her family members quietly cried as the verdict was announced while McMillan's family sobbed and walked out of the courtroom at the federal building in Rapid City.

Brown testified Thursday that McMillan abused her for 15 months and was attacking her moments before she stabbed him.