Syracuse, N.Y. ― A woman who told a jury she acted in self-defense when fatally stabbing a Syracuse man has been found guilty of killing him but avoided a murder conviction.

Shandrika Kersey , 29, was found guilty Thursday of first-degree manslaughter but acquitted of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Markel Washington , 49.

Kersey now faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. If convicted of murder, she faced 25 years to life in prison.

Kersey never contested that she was the one who fatally stabbed Washington in the neck near a railroad bridge on the 900 block of South Clinton Street on Aug. 23, 2024.

She argued she acted in self-defense and had no intention of killing the man.

Her defense attorney, Donald Kelly, told the jury Kersey feared for her life and on

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