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RIO RANCHO, N.M. — A jury in Sandoval County has ruled that a woman who shot and killed her longtime friend, a man she considered a brother, did so in self-defense and found her not guilty.

Amanda Jo Lucero, 25, was facing a first-degree murder charge for taking a gun from Emily Lucero, to whom she is related by marriage, and shooting 23-year-old Andrew Anderson in December 2013 in Rio Rancho. Lucero’s attorney, Thomas Clark, argued she had no other choice but to shoot Anderson after Emily Lucero, who was holding the gun, panicked as the victim threatened the women with rocks and a pair of four-inch beautician’s scissors. Clark’s client suffered a one-inch wound to the back of her hand, which she said she received when protecting her face from Anderson’s slashes.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Anderson did not present a grave threat to either of the women and that Amanda Jo Lucero’s act was premeditated. They pointed to a few details, such as how Amanda Jo Lucero ran away from Anderson as he died and pulled her hood over her face, to try to show that the defendant did not act in self-defense.

However, jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Amanda Jo Lucero was not acting in self-defense. They deliberated briefly on Friday, when the case was turned over to them, and continued deliberating Monday. The verdict was returned around mid-day Monday.

The ruling raises issues for Emily Lucero, who is scheduled to be tried for her alleged involvement in Anderson’s death in mid-July. She’ll be facing an accessory murder charge for a shooting that was just ruled to be self-defense. Emily Lucero’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment, and District Attorney Lemuel Martinez declined to comment about his office’s plans for the case.

“It looks like the jury either discussed for a while or was convinced by that self-defense argument and therefore thought it better to not convict,” Martinez said in a phone interview.

“…We thought we had it because we thought a .45 (caliber handgun) was a larger threat than a rock or scissors. Apparently we failed to convince the jury of that fact.”

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Clark said he was “relieved” that his client was found not guilty. He described a case that ripped apart a large, blended family, and relatives of both victim and defendant attended the trial on different sides of the aisle. Amanda Jo Lucero and Anderson, though not related by blood, were raised in the same household since adolescence and referred to each other as siblings.

“It’s just devastating,” Clark said. “… Nobody came away a winner.”

Clark said it’s possible his client could be called as a witness should the District Attorney’s Office move forward with the case against Emily Lucero, who is the cousin of Amanda Jo’s husband. She’s facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Judge Louis McDonald, who presided over Amanda Jo’s case, ruled in that case that there was no evidence of a conspiracy, so jurors were asked only to determine whether she was guilty of murder. Jurors could also have found her guilty of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.