NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont woman has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2016 stabbing death of her boyfriend in the town of Brownington.
Jennifer Simard, 49, who appeared by video from the woman’s prison in South Burlington, entered the plea Wednesday in the death of Kevin Smith, 38, in court in Newport.
“I recklessly caused the unlawful death of Kevin Smith … when I brandished a knife, a lethal weapon, during a physical altercation with Kevin Smith,” Simard said in a statement read into the record by Judge Gregory Rainville.
The Caledonian-Record reports it took two years from Smith’s death and a rare grand jury indictment before Simard was taken into custody in March 2018.
Simard was initially charged with second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. The plea agreement resulted in the dismissal of the second-degree murder charge.
A pre-sentence investigation will be held. A manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of between one and 15 years in prison.
Court records said Smith was trying to leave Simard the day he died.
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