(electrical buzzing, clicking) - [Juror] As to count one malice murder, we the jury find Quaneesha Johnson ... (tense music) - [Host] In the American Criminal Justice System, the outcome of murder trials can be highly unpredictable. Cases that appear clear cut with substantial evidence pointing towards a definite verdict, can be complex and nuanced; such as the trial involving Quaneesha Johnson. The verdict in such situations depends on various factors, including how the jury perceives the case, the persuasiveness of the defense and prosecution, the reliability of witnesses and the emotional impact of the evidence. These elements make the trials riveting to the public with the final decision often hanging in the balance until the end. On November 27th, 2022, Quaneesha Johnson ended a man's life citing self-defense as her motive amidst fears for her safety. However, a deeper investigation into the case reveals legitimate questions: was her action a necessary act of self-defense or a case of a woman who snapped and took the law into her own hands? Let's dive in. Quaneesha Johnson is a 30-year-old behavioral health technician, who most recently lived in Atlanta, Georgia. She was born in May, 1993 and has deep roots in Philadelphia where she spent most of her young life. By all accounts, Quaneesha was an ambitious mother of four, including a two month old baby. On December 1st, 2021, she moved into a three bed, three bath, two story rental property on Edenberry Lane in Lithonia. She was the sole person on the lease and all utilities were in her name. 30 days before the incident we'll discuss in this video, Quaneesha allowed her former romantic partner, Demonte Smith, to move into her home. According to Quaneesha's testimony, the 29-year-old Demonte had been going through a rough patch legally and financially and had nowhere else to go. Father to three kids of his own, he had recently been released from prison on a felony charge. According to some published reports, Demonte is the biological father of Quaneesha's infant son. But, as you will find later, this becomes an open question. Nevertheless, things quickly went in the wrong direction for the couple, as they often bickered. Quaneesha publicly shared that during disagreements, Demonte frequently threatened to cause her physical harm. His threats became a reality during the week of November 6th, when during a heated verbal altercation, he caught Quaneesha off guard, grabbed her and forcefully slammed her to the ground. This incident profoundly impacted the independent, strong-willed mother of four. On the evening of November 26th, 2022, two weeks after being assaulted by Demonte, friends invited Quaneesha to spend the evening at a nightclub for a birthday celebration. After nine months of pregnancy and working full-time, she looked forward to a night out. She left three of her children in Demonte's care at home and assured him she would be back home by 6:00 AM the following morning. Sometime during the night or early morning hours, Quaneesha told Demonte that she and her friends had gotten into a shouting match with other patrons at the nightclub, which concerned Demonte. When 6:00 AM rolled around and Quaneesha had not yet arrived or called, he wondered whether the shouting match had become something more significant, but his concern quickly turned to anger when he believed she had switched her phone off. Disturbed by her failure to return home as promised and that Quaneesha was taking him for a fool, he reached out to two of her aunts. Demonte and Quaneesha's family contacted local hospitals and jails to locate her. On or about 9:00 AM, Quaneesha reactivated her phone and found several messages from Demonte waiting for her, including threatening text messages such as "When you get home, I'm gonna beat your ass on crip." Declaring that he would physically assault Quaneesha upon her return home, guaranteed. With the memory of the previous assault still on her mind, Quaneesha called her aunts and then included Demonte on a three-way call. During that call, Quaneesha's aunts overheard Demonte claim, "Where the F have you been? I've been trying to get in touch with you!" and "When you get home, I'm gonna f you up." Quaneesha would later testify that she took these threats very seriously, and was frightened to go home to Demonte. Before leaving her current location to return to her house, She called 911 to request a police escort. (phone dialing, ringing) - [Dispatch] DeKalb County 911, what is the address of your emergency? - [Quaneesha] 796 Edenberry Lane. - [Dispatch] Okay and what's going on at that location? - [Quaneesha] I'm getting, okay, so my boyfriend, (indistinct) - [Dispatch] And how long until you arrive at the location? - [Quaneesha] I'm about ten minutes away, nine minutes. - [Dispatch] From there? Nine minutes? - [Quaneesha] Nine or ten minutes, yes. - [Dispatch] What kind of car are you in, color and make? - [Quaneesha] I'm in a white Dodge Ram pick-up truck. - [Dispatch] Okay, what's your name? - [Quaneesha] Quaneesha. Q-U-A-N-E-E-S-H-A, Johnson. - [Dispatch] And what did you need an escort for? - [Dispatch] Are you trying to get him out of there? - [Quaneesha] Yes, out of there. The house is in my name. I just need him, he's threatening me so I just want (indistinct) - [Dispatch] Okay, and what does he look like? - [Quaneesha] He's light-skinned, he has dreads. He has a dent on his face. Medium build, he's around 5 foot 4. - [Dispatch] Okay. - [Dispatch] We'll go ahead and get somebody out there. It'll take you about nine minutes? - [Quaneesha] Yes. - [Dispatch] Okay, all right. (indistinct) - [Dispatch] No problem, I'll send somebody in there for you. - [Host] Two additional 911 calls and nearly two hours later, Quaneesha finally arrived and two deputies were present to meet her outside her home. As the officers questioned Quaneesha, she told them she was worried that Demonte might become violent because she was out late and didn't immediately return his calls. In later testimony, she said she didn't tell officers about Demonte's criminal past or show them the text messages, because they didn't ask. Shortly after that, Demonte came out of the house carrying the two month old baby dressed only in diapers. The sight of her son shirtless in the 60 degree weather, considered cool for a region used to warmer temperatures, infuriated Quaneesha. This led to a heated exchange in front of the deputies. Both Quaneesha and the deputies insisted that he hand over the child. However, Demonte's refusal prompted Quaneesha to escalate the situation by yelling, "That's not even your baby! You're not even on the birth certificate! I'm gonna disappear again for three hours, what are you gonna do then?" The officers noted in their reports that of the two, Quaneesha was particularly aggressive towards them. The deputies instructed the couple to go inside the house and cool off. Demonte returned to the house first, but before Quaneesha went inside, she was captured on body cam audio in an ominous exchange with the deputies. - [Officer 1] All right, do you need anything else? - [Quaneesha] He said I'ma get my ass beat tonight, so if I shoot him, from self-defense, then what? 'Cause I'm licensed, so if I shoot him in my residency, because he's in here putting his hands on me for the second time in two weeks, am I gonna have to kill him? You heard him, right? You heard what he just said, I'ma get my ass beat tonight. So, when I shoot him (indistinct). - [Officer 2] If you think that you can articulate what is going on, - [Quaneesha] I can, I can, I'm sure. - [Officer 2] You better really be able to articulate that. - [Host] Following this exchange, Quaneesha entered the home and the deputies positioned their patrol vehicles nearby. They intended to wait a few minutes before seeing what happened next. Suddenly, Quaneesha returned outside, retrieved a gun and a tire iron from her truck and returned to the house. Moments later, (gunshot) chaos ensued. Demonte is captured on doorbell surveillance, exiting the house and stumbling towards the deputies. He told one officer, "She hit me with the metal thing first, bro. And then she shot me. Hurry up before I die!" Demonte then fell to the floor. An ambulance transported him to Emory Hillandale Medical Center, where he succumbed to his wounds. Minutes after the shooting occurred, an Uber arrived at the house on Edenberry Lane. This ride, arranged by a friend upon Demonte's request, was meant to help him leave the scene. According to a press release by the DeKalb County, district attorney, Quaneesha struck Demonte in the head with a tire iron before shooting him once in the chest. Right after the shot, Quaneesha repeatedly said "bye" to Demonte as he struggled to leave the house. Officers immediately took Quaneesha into custody and booked her into the DeKalb County jail. She remained there without bond until her trial on multiple charges, including murder. Quaneesha's defense team sought immunity from prosecution under Georgia's "Stand Your Ground" law, filing a motion accordingly. Judge Shondeana Morris oversaw the immunity hearing on June 20th, 2023, where both sides presented their evidence. The defense brought forward four witnesses, including Quaneesha herself; while the state relied on the testimony of the lead detective. However, inconsistencies in the defendant's evidence and contradictory testimonies led to Judge Morris's decision on July 21st to deny the motion for immunity. She concluded that the defense did not successfully justify Quaneesha's use of deadly force. As a result, the case was bound over to trial, leaving it to a jury to determine if Quaneesha was acting in self-defense or cold-blooded murder. Opening arguments in the case of the state of Georgia versus Quaneesha Johnson were heard on August 22nd, 2023. - On November 27th, 2022, this defendant went downstairs, she went to her car. She grabbed not one, but two weapons. She grabbed a metal tire rod and a firearm, put the firearm in her pocket. She went upstairs, but before she went upstairs, she told her 7-year-old to call 911. And before she went upstairs, she told her 7-year-old to let the police know that Demonte hit her. The 911 call is placed, and in the background, you can hear the defendant go upstairs. She hits Demonte with a metal pipe, and then she shoots him. And while he's screaming in pain, she says, "Bye." "Bye." And then a full 30 seconds goes by and she comes and she runs downstairs, and she says, on the 911 call, "tell them, tell them he just hit me." And what does the 7-year-old do? And you'll get to hear that 911 call in a few moments. That 7-year-old repeats what her mom says. So let's talk about the parties that were in the house on that day. We have the defendant, we have (censored) and then we have the victim, Demonte Smith. And then they have a shared child who's an infant, also inside of the house. So let's talk about it. So at some point between November 26th and 27th, late at night, the defendant leaves the home and she's out all night. She's clubbing, she's missing for multiple hours, and then she doesn't return to the house till 11:00 AM. Demonte, like I said, is taking care of the three children all night by himself, and all morning. And at some point in the middle of the night, the defendant reaches out to Demonte and lets him know that she's been in some sort of physical altercation, or her friends have been in some sort of physical altercation at the club and that they're going somewhere else, and then her phone dies. And she told him originally I'll be back at 6:00 AM, and she's not. So what does Demonte do? Demonte calls her aunts in Philly, Rochelle and Andrea, and he's worried. And the aunts will testify that, they were worried. So based on that physical altercation that happened, they all start calling local hospitals. They all start calling local jails to try to find out, where is she? And then ... I apologize ... At 9:00 AM, or around 9:00 AM, the defendant goes back to her car. She realizes her phone was dead, she plugs it in, she sees messages, she sees calls, so she calls her aunts. And the aunts yell at her like, "where have you been? We've been worried about you." And at that point, they three-way in Demonte, and Demonte makes a threat. He says something along the lines of, "I'm gonna kick your ass." Now, members of the jury, we're not gonna shy away from the threat he made. The defendant heard it, the aunts heard it, I'm assuming you'll hear them testify to it. The detective saw a message. But what I want y'all to pay attention to, is the defendant's own statement. 'Cause she made a statement to the police and you all will get to hear that. And in that statement she says, "Oh, I was just joking it off. I was laughing it off. I didn't take it serious." And this is two hours before she even shows up to the house, but the evidence is gonna show what actually happened is, she set her plan into play. She was embarrassed in front of her family when Demonte made that threat, so it was time to get rid of him. - Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I don't recognize the case that the prosecutor just talked about, at all. Quaneesha Johnson pleaded for protection. Cried for help, and she was left defenseless by police officers, who knew better. She was left defenseless against a serial abuser, by police officers who knew better. You see, on the night in question, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Johnson had just come through her fourth pregnancy. She was two months postpartum and finally was going to get a night out for her friend's birthday; a night well deserved after caring, through maternity leave, eight weeks, for her two month old. She was going to get a night out, just to celebrate a friend's birthday. She left about 11 o'clock that night or so, went out to celebrate a friend's birthday, went to a couple of after party spots. Her friend got into a disagreement at one of those spots. She let Demonte know about the disagreement, dropped him her location so she would know where he was at, and went to another spot, so he would know, and dropped him her location so he would know where she was at. You will hear that my client has two phones: one because she owns a business and one is her personal phone. So, my client leaves her business phone in the car, takes her personal phone inside with the location drop. While she's inside hanging out with her friends, her phone dies. When she comes back out of the place ready to go home, she plugs her phone up. And as the charge makes its way up, gets a call from her aunt, Ms. Rochelle. Ms. Rochelle says, "Hey, where have you been? We've been looking for you. Demonte's been looking for you." She says, well, I dropped him my location so he knows where I'm at, says, well, he's been looking for you. We've called hospitals, we were wondering where you were. And she was like, well, I'm right here. I'm headed home. She said, well, let me three-way Demonte in. And as soon as Demonte gets on the phone, you'll hear from Rochelle and her other aunt, Ms. Gonzalez. As soon as they get Demonte on the phone and he asks questions, (phone ringing) Get in touch with you. She says, I'm on my way home. I dropped you my location. He says, When you get ... the aunts corroborate that, they were on the phone listening. She also looks at her text messages that Demonte had been sending her when her phone was dead. And unlike the prosecutor's categorization of it, he says in those text messages, "When you get home, I'm gon beat your ass on crip." On crip. "I'm gon beat your ass on crip." That's what he says in those text messages. So what does my client do? She does what the prosecutor, what the state, what every law enforcement agency tells you to do. Don't take matters into your own hands, call the police, ask for help. So my client calls the police. Calls the police, calls 911. You'll hear that 911 call. And she says, I'm getting threats from my baby's father, who's at home with my three children. I am getting threats and I'm scared to go home. I'm in fear. They say, well, we'll dispatch an officer to you. She says, I'm about 30 minutes from home. She's driving home and there's some issues with them getting the address. You'll hear the 911 call, the operator can't quite understand where the address is, and you'll hear that call. And she says, I'm on my way home, I'll be there. The officer beats her home and then the officer makes a personal phone call, which was not recorded, to Ms. Johnson's phone, which she got from the 911 operator. Ms. Johnson says, I'm about ten, 15 minutes away. I'm almost there, I'll be home in a second. Please don't leave. I'm scared to go into the house, because of the threats she's received from Demonte Smith. The officer calls her back and says, I've gotta take another call. I've been dispatched. Don't go into the home, just wait. What does my client do? She follows the officer's instructions. She gets into her neighborhood, waits in the cul-de-sac for the officer. She calls them back and says, I'm here. This is her second time calling 911. She says, I'm here, and I'm waiting. I'm scared to go in the house, I want an escort. I don't want to go in the house by myself with Demonte Smith. That's three times she calls 911. 2 times. She continues to wait, she continues to wait, and she calls 911 a third time and says, hey, I don't know if y'all remember, but I'm the person who was waiting for someone to come and escort me into the house, I got the threats. And this time she says, look, I'm really concerned because he was irate on the phone. And you'll hear from Ms. Rochelle Newell, Ms. Gonzalez, that outside of their conversation on three-way with Ms. Johnson, they were also texting Demonte and talking to him and saying, don't put your hands on her again. You can't do that again. We're not gonna go for that, again. You see, because they took the threat seriously. So she waits and then she does a fourth thing. She triggers the alarm in the house, so that her alarm company will call her. And when her alarm company calls her, she says, please dispatch a police officer. I do not wanna go into the house with Demonte. He's in there with my three children, I don't want to go into the house with him. He's been threatening me and I'm scared. It's her fourth time, trying to get in touch with police. She waits, she waits, and no one comes. Still doesn't go into the house. Here's why that's important. Here's what you will learn, why that's important. She had no duty, no requirement to call police at all. Ms. Johnson could have gotten those threats, went in that house with her gun, waited for him to fulfill his promise, and she could have shot him in self-defense. Never called the police at all. Never waited for a dispatch, never done any of that. The importance of that, as you will learn, is that goes to her intent. As the judge just described to you, every crime requires two things. It requires an act, it requires an intent, in your state of mind. She had no duty under Georgia law, no obligation, no requirement to wait for any police officers, but she did. And when they didn't come, you know what Ms. Johnson does? She drives around the corner in her neighborhood, she flags down a police officer, finds one, flags him down and says, I've been waiting for a police officer. I'm scared to go in the home. My three children are in there. Will you follow me to my home? And he says, I heard that call. Yes, I'll follow you. And he may have been on his way already, but she flagged him down. - [Host] While Attorney Shah presented the state's belief that Quaneesha had already made up her mind to kill Demonte, Attorney Sterling evoked emotion and portrayed the accused as someone who did everything she could to obey the rules first, only taking action when she felt there was no other choice. The State's first witness was an ex-girlfriend of Demonte's, who testified that he was planning to come over to her house on the night of his shooting death to get away from the situation with Quaneesha. She had even ordered an Uber ride for him, which investigators corroborated. - A great person. He always laughing, caring, very oriented, always laughing, joking. He was just a great person. - [Prosecutor] Did he have a nickname he went by? - Dolo. - [Host] By commenting on Demonte's good nature, the ex-girlfriend's testimony was deemed character evidence by the court. Attorney Sterling capitalized on this misstep by the state, arguing that discussing Demonte's background was irrelevant, since Quaneesha was the one on trial. But since they spoke of his good character, Sterling appealed to the judge that the state opened the door for the defense to introduce character evidence of their own. The judge agreed, marking a significant victory for the defense. The jury then heard of Demonte's criminal record, highlighting his arrest in July, 2022 for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm during a felony and several traffic offenses. At the time of his arrest, he had active warrants for stalking and violating probation, as reported by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. During the trial, two pivotal moments occurred. The prosecution called one of Quaneesha's daughters to testify, who had previously stated to forensic child interviewers that she witnessed Quaneesha hitting Demonte with a pole before the shooting. However, while testifying, she changed her account claiming it was Demonte who had struck her mother with the pole. The prosecution suggested, through their questioning, that the young girl might have been coached to make statements in her mother's favor. The second pivotal moment in the trial involved a disputed statement by Quaneesha, right after the shooting. Prosecutors and detectives claimed that as she left the house, Quaneesha stated, "I told y'all I was gonna do it." In contrast, the defense argued she said, "I told y'all he was gonna do it." Reporters had varying interpretations of what they heard when the court played the audio clip multiple times at the trial. The trial's biggest moment came when Quaneesha Johnson, the accused, took the stand. By now, viewers of this channel know that the decision to have a defendant testify is a critical one, that defense attorney's weigh carefully considering the specifics of the case, the defendant's demeanor and the overall strategy. Attorney Sterling aimed to achieve two main goals with Quaneesha's testimony. One, to present her as a remorseful, credible, and relatable individual to the jury. And two, to introduce reasonable doubt about her guilt. - What was going through your mind, Ms. Johnson? I know it's difficult to go back to that moment, but, tell me what was going through your mind at that moment? - I knew I was going to be beat. - So why did you feel, why did you feel that you had to defend yourself? - I couldn't beat him. I mean, I knew he was gonna hurt me. I didn't call the cops. The cops left. I knew he was mad about that. I knew he was mad about me and how he said he was gonna beat me. He done it before. I just knew it was going to happen. - And he lunged at you? - He did. - And at that moment, you just pulled your gun out? - I did. - One shot? - Yes sir. - And you've heard the recording, did you say "bye?" - I did. - Tell us what was going through your mind. - At that point, I can't even tell you, honestly. I just know, I shot. and it was just like, I don't know. But I just know that I had to defend myself. - And where were your daughters at? - They were downstairs. - And do you remember telling your daughters, tell them he hit me? - As we were walking out, I do recall saying it as we were like, once we got outside, I do recall saying that. - But you told the detective, he didn't hit you? - Yes. - He just came at you, lunged at you? - Yes, I told him that he didn't hit me that day. - And you felt like you had to do it, to defend yourself from being injured by him again? - Yes. - And did you go down and give the police a statement? - I did. - Did you fully cooperate? - I did. - Did you tell him what had happened? - I did. - Did you give him access to your cell phone? - I did. - And what about the surveillance video on your house? - I gave them access to that as well. - [Attorney Sterling] And when you went outside, what did you say to the police who were still waiting outside? - That I told y'all, he was gonna do it. - [Attorney Sterling] And what happened after that? - I was handcuffed and put in to the police car. - [Attorney Sterling] So you didn't have your phone or anything on you at that point? - I didn't. - [Attorney Sterling] Did you ever go back to that location? - I didn't. - [Attorney Sterling] Did anybody in your family ever go back to that location? - They went once. They went to retrieve some of my items for my daughters, because my daughters were transported to Philadelphia. Once they got there, my house was flooded, my cameras ripped out of the wall, everything was damaged and my roof was caved in. So, there wasn't nothing really salvageable. - Ms. Johnson, how did it make you feel knowing what had happened? - It still made me feel the same way. I never wanted to happen. I didn't intend for it to happen. I didn't mean for it to happen. - [Attorney Sterling] But in that moment, you felt like you had to defend yourself? - I did. - [Attorney Sterling] No further questions, your honor. (Quaneesha whimpering, crying) - [Attorney Shah] Judge, may we take a break for Ms. Johnson? - [Judge] Yes, five minutes. - [Host] Quaneesha's direct examination ended with a display of raw emotion. The question remained, however, whether the jury would believe Quaneesha's emotion was genuine. Of course, along with the potential rewards of testifying, come risks. In this case, the accused must withstand the scrutiny of cross-examination. - You found it okay to leave your three children with him overnight, again? - [Quaneesha] So on the day of that incident, the problem wasn't that I was adverse to me leaving my kids with him to go out for my friend's birthday, yes. I didn't feel like he would do anything to them. - [Prosecutor] - Okay. And you were gone all night, right? - [Quaneesha] I was at work, yes. - At work, gone all night, yes? - [Quaneesha] Yes. - Okay. And two weeks after, on November 26th, you decided even though this man has put his hands on me and he has been violent to me, I'm gonna leave my three children under the age of eight with, in his custody, all night. Is that right? - He was never violent to my daughters, so yes. - [Attorney Shah] Okay, so that's what you found fit. And you shoot him and then you say, you say "bye." But on direct, you said you kind of blacked out, right? - Yes. - [Attorney Shah] And your last words to the dying man, were "bye" multiple times? - I guess, I don't recall. I don't recall saying that, if I'd been to my senses ... but yes, I did say bye. - [Attorney Shah] Okay, but you tell detectives what you did was, you kind of followed him down the stairs and made sure he was okay? - I did. - [Attorney Shah] Okay, but you didn't do that 'cause you said bye and that's the only thing that's heard, right? - I did walk him down the steps. - [Attorney] Why then is she saying to 911 on the third call, quote, "I'm not worried about my safety?" But now here, in court, it's, I was scared for my life. I was crying for the police not to leave. I thought my life was in danger. When minutes prior, she's telling 911, I'm not worried for my safety? She announces her intention. She announces her intention to the police. And by that I mean, she says to them, okay, when I shoot him, when I shoot him. And the police tell her, Officer Lamey tells her, well, you know, you better be able to articulate that. And what was her response? If I could switch to it on there, I would right now. But I trust that you recall this. She says, oh, I can. Oh, I can articulate it. Ma'am, how can you articulate the need to use deadly force, when nothing has happened yet? She has decided she's going to do it. She has announced her intention and she has decided beforehand, that she's justified in using deadly force. That is not how it works. - [Host] After both sides presented their evidence, witness testimony was heard and closing arguments were passionately delivered, the moment had arrived for the jury to retreat to their chamber, sift through the facts and render a verdict. The charges against Quaneesha included malice murder, which requires intent, felony murder, which does not require intent, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and two counts of cruelty to children. If found guilty of the highest charge, Quaneesha faced a sentence of life in prison and possibly the death penalty. - [Juror] As to count one, malice murder, we the jury find Quaneesha Johnson not guilty. As to count two, felony murder, we the jury find the defendant Quaneesha Johnson, guilty of voluntary manslaughter. As to count three, aggravated assault, family violence, we the jury find the defendant Quaneesha Johnson ... guilty. - [Judge] Okay, so we'll schedule sentencing for Monday, August 28th, 2023 at 8:00 AM. Okay, so we are in recess. Do you all want to talk to the jury? - [Attorney Shah] Judge, I did. I know Mr. Sterling did ask if Ms. Johnson could remain on bond, and I know your honor did make a ruling. The state would ask the defendant be to remanded into custody. - [Judge] So I'm gonna allow Ms. Johnson to remain out of bond. Ms. Johnson? - [Quaneesha] Yes ma'am. - [Judge] You need to appear here Monday morning, August 28th, that's 8:00 AM. If you are not here at 8:00 AM Monday morning, an arrest warrant will be issued for you and you will be sentenced to the maximum, if you do not appear. Okay. - [Attorney Shah] Thank judge. I would like to speak to the jury. I don't know, not to to speak for Mr. Sterling. - [Attorney Sterling] Yeah, I'd like to speak to them as well. - [Judge] Okay, so I'm going to go back, speak to them then. - [Host] While the jury acquitted Quaneesha on charges of malice murder, they found her guilty of all other charges. For those convictions, the state asked the court to have Quaneesha put away for 25 years, with an additional five years on probation. Three days after the verdict, Quaneesha received a sentence that many legal experts deemed unusually lenient for voluntary manslaughter: 20 years divided between 10 years of incarceration and 10 years of probation. Of her confinement, five years are to be spent in prison and the remaining five under house arrest. Following her conviction, the state asked that she be immediately locked up, but Judge Morris granted Quaneesha an appeal bond. This decision means she will be under house arrest while her attorney challenges the conviction on appeal. What are your thoughts on this highly challenging case? Did the jury get this one right? Do you lean more towards self defense or vigilantism? Feel free to share your thoughts below. (tense music)