http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091107/geo_198548073.shtml
A Coffee County woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death in front of a 5-year-old boy during a dispute over whether to buy liquor or crack cocaine has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Gloria Jean Henry, 47, of Douglas, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Monday in the Nov. 4 killing of Charles Collins, 38, also of Douglas, at their home.
Henry made the plea agreement just before jury selection was scheduled to begin for her trial on a murder charge in the case. Voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense of murder, meaning a jury would have had the option of choosing it as a verdict.
District Attorney Rick Currie accepted the agreement after Collins' parents agreed to it.
Upon her release from prison, Henry will be on probation for five years, according to the sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Michael Boggs.
Henry stabbed Collins in the throat with a kitchen paring knife while they were arguing about whether to buy crack cocaine or liquor, a Coffee County Sheriff's Office investigation revealed.
Collins' great-nephew, then 5, witnessed the killing but was not injured, Currie said.
Henry and the boy, whose name was withheld by authorities because of his age, gave the following account of the stabbing to detectives, according to the investigation. The couple had spent most of the day drinking liquor and smoking crack cocaine. Collins wanted money to buy more liquor, while Henry wanted to spend it on more crack. The couple began arguing and the boy yelled at them to stop.
A Coffee County woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death in front of a 5-year-old boy during a dispute over whether to buy liquor or crack cocaine has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Gloria Jean Henry, 47, of Douglas, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Monday in the Nov. 4 killing of Charles Collins, 38, also of Douglas, at their home.
Henry made the plea agreement just before jury selection was scheduled to begin for her trial on a murder charge in the case. Voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense of murder, meaning a jury would have had the option of choosing it as a verdict.
District Attorney Rick Currie accepted the agreement after Collins' parents agreed to it.
Upon her release from prison, Henry will be on probation for five years, according to the sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Michael Boggs.
Henry stabbed Collins in the throat with a kitchen paring knife while they were arguing about whether to buy crack cocaine or liquor, a Coffee County Sheriff's Office investigation revealed.
Collins' great-nephew, then 5, witnessed the killing but was not injured, Currie said.
Henry and the boy, whose name was withheld by authorities because of his age, gave the following account of the stabbing to detectives, according to the investigation. The couple had spent most of the day drinking liquor and smoking crack cocaine. Collins wanted money to buy more liquor, while Henry wanted to spend it on more crack. The couple began arguing and the boy yelled at them to stop.