After a two week long trial in Solano County Superior Court, a man facing a murder charge in a Vallejo woman’s death was found not guilty last Thursday by a jury and has now been released from custody after more than two years in county jail.

Michael David Wilson, 49, was accused in the shooting death of 57-year-old Lillie Mae Christiansen, who was shot and killed in July 2014 on the front porch of her friend’s apartment along Mare Island Way in Vallejo. Wilson’s attorney argued that her client acted in self defense and that proved to be enough to sway the jury in favor of the man’s innocence. Wilson was released from Solano County Jail on Thursday following his acquittal.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard from Wilson himself and his account of the events that transpired on the evening of July 13, 2014 as well as testimony from Vallejo resident Reginald Posey, who’s porch was the site of the shooting.

On the final day of testimony, the court listened as Wilson described the fear he had for his safety on the night of the shooting.

“It was not a safe place to be,” Wilson said. “I was afraid for my life. I was afraid for my safety. I was afraid.”

During the trial, the court learned of the troubled relationship between Posey and Wilson — troubles fueled by racial tensions, according to Posey. Wilson, however, told a different story, saying his neighbors, including Posey, were often involved in drug dealing and shootings. Wilson said on the stand that he called the police more than 20 times in complaint of Posey and neighbors.

According to court testimony, the events leading up to the shooting began when Christiansen visited Posey’s residence along the 900 block of Mare Island Way around 10 p.m. July 13, 2014. According to Wilson’s testimony, he had gotten into a confrontation with Posey outside of his home as he was ordering pizza. When Posey saw Wilson on the phone outside of his apartment on the night of the shooting, Posey assumed his neighbor was calling the police again, which led to tension between the two men, Wilson said.

On the first day of the trial earlier this month, Posey detailed the flawed relationship between him and Wilson as neighbors along Mare Island Way in Vallejo. He described to the jury the ongoing racial tensions between him and the defendant, noting how Wilson called him names and used racial slurs nearly every other day. However, the tensions never became physical, he said.

“I didn’t speak to him a lot because I knew he was grouchy,” Posey testified. “Everyday I had problems with that man.”

Following the shooting as Christiansen lie on the front porch of his apartment, Posey sad he went back inside of his home in fear that he would be shot next. He said Wilson then began knocking on the door of his residence and yelling threatening racial slurs.

According to Wilson, Posey was armed with a gun during the shooting, though the former suspect admitted to never seeing Posey point the gun toward him.

Posey has prior felony drug convictions — something that made Wilson’s defense attorney question the man’s credibility as a witness throughout the trial.

After shooting Christiansen, Wilson allegedly shot at a car parked in front of a nearby park a total of six times, where neighbor Earl Brown was sitting with his niece. Neither Brown nor his niece were shot during the encounter, though both were nervous after the shooting, Brown testified during the trial.

Because of his acquittal, Wilson has been cleared in Christiansen’s death and remains out of jail. He was facing a murder charge, three counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling.