HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — A jury has convicted a Hot Springs man of first-degree murder in the point-blank shooting death of his girlfriend.
The jury deliberated about 45 minutes Thursday before convicting 24-year-old Charles Eugene Williamson. He was charged in the April 23, 2010, shooting death of 19-year-old Jessica Noles.
The Sentinel-Record reports that the jury deliberated another 30 minutes before recommending a sentence of life in prison.
Prosecutors say Williamson held a gun less than an inch from Noles' head and pulled the trigger.
Williamson's attorney admitted his client fired the fatal shot, but argued that he should be acquitted by reason of mental disease or defect. Williamson testified that he blacked out at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors called the shooting a "textbook domestic violence case."
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