MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — A jury has convicted the roommate of slain Middle Tennessee basketball player Tina Stewart of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
The jury delivered the verdict Monday against 19-year-old Shanterrica Madden after deliberating for about two hours.
Stewart was fatally stabbed in the chest March 2, 2011, at the off-campus apartment the two shared in Murfreesboro. Madden acknowledged stabbing Stewart but claimed it was self-defense against her larger and more athletic roommate.
Prosecutors had argued for first-degree murder when they said that Madden was premeditated and intentional after Stewart reported her for smoking marijuana.
The 21-year-old Stewart was a veteran on the Lady Raiders team, which was preparing for the Sun Belt Conference tournament when she was killed. They lost their emotional opener in that tourney.