BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The future of Wendy Howard's case, the Tehachapi woman charged in the shooting death of her ex-boyfriend, is still unknown after a hearing Friday was postponed.
Last month, a jury decided that Howard, was not guilty of first-degree murder. However, on one charge the jury was hung and the District Attorney’s office was expected to make a decision whether or not to retry Howard.
After attorneys and the judge met in chambers, though, no decision was reached and the court decided to postpone the hearing until December 2nd.
Howard was charged in the 2019 shooting death of Kelly Rees Pitts in Tehachapi. Howard said the shooting was in self-defense and in October, the jury found her not guilty on a count of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary self-defense, and involuntary manslaughter.
The charge of voluntary manslaughter while committed in the heat of passion had the jury deadlocked, meaning the DA had the option to either retry Howard, offer a plea deal, or drop the charges all together.
