Attorney: Cranberry woman to tell judge she killed boyfriend in self-defense
A Cranberry woman will tell a judge she shot and killed her boyfriend Feb. 12 in self-defense, her attorney said Monday.
Amanda Mariah Hughes, who turns 27 on Friday, faces one count of criminal homicide and is being held without bail in Butler County Jail. She is set to be formally arraigned on May 16 in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.
Cranberry police told the Tribune-Review last month that they responded to reports of a disturbance in the 500 block of Brandywine Drive shortly after midnight Feb. 12. There, police said they found Anthony Smith, 30, of Cranberry, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was flown to Allegheny General Hospital, where he died at 1:49 a.m.
Hughes told officers there was a physical altercation, and she shot Smith in self-defense, police said.
Ken Haber, Hughes’ attorney, said Monday that will be the argument she brings to court.
“I think the evidence has already demonstrated and will continue to demonstrate that (Hughes) was being attacked by Mr. Smith,” Haber said. “She already suffered wounds … and she acted in self defense.”
“Had her firearm not been nearby,” he added, “she would be seriously injured or dead.”
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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