/*Timothy Shepherd*/ could get life in prison for last year's murder of Tynesha Stewart. He was convicted of her murder last week.
Everyone in the court room was holding their breath as Shepherd described how Tynesha Stewart died. Shepherd said the couple got into an argument in March of last year and during that argument he was asking her about another man she was seeing and then suddenly Stewart grabbed a knife and swung at him, cutting his fingers. Shepherd said at that moment he went to grab the knife away with his left hand when he began to choke her with his other hand.
Shepherd said, "I snapped all of the animosity building up, I squeezed harder. I don't know if I was holding my breath while I was doing it -- I blacked out." Shepherd said when he came to that 'blackout' that both he and Stewart were on the ground and that Stewart was dead. He said he could tell she was dead -- as to what happened after that, he panicked and just knew that he had to get rid of the body. His lawyer asked him why he didn't just call 911 and tell the authorities what happened. Shepherd said he didn't believe anyone would believe him.
Prosecutor Marie Prim got Shepherd to admit as the search went on for Stewart he lied to her mother, her sister, her friends and even investigators.
From the stand Shepherd expressed regret but at remained defiant and said, "I'm not all bad and I'm not all good but every bad thing that was said up here about me is not all true."
Defense attorney Chip Lewis says he is doing all of this is that he is trying to humanize his client, Timothy Shepherd. He is trying to make his client is something other than a killer and trying to get a lesser punishment.
Shepherd could receive up to life in prison.
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