Cocaine-using white woman sentenced in black student slaying

BEAR, Del. – A Delaware woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to killing a man who was driving by her home.

The News Journal reports that Cheryl Jennings’s defence lawyer insisted she’s innocent at Monday’s sentencing. She blames her husband, Ralph, for shooting 19-year-old Malcolm Evans. Prosecutors said they’re satisfied she’s the one who pulled the trigger.

Defence attorney Joseph Hurley says Jennings thought her home was being broken into when she ran outside and blocked the car of Evans, a Delaware State University student on his way to work at 4 a.m. Prosecutors say phone data showed the black man, an aspiring neurosurgeon, could not have been “harassing” the home.

Hurley said Jennings, who is white, had consumed cocaine and alcohol before the confrontation.

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Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com