Nov. 16 – A woman who told dispatchers she shot her husband “in an attempt to escape a domestic violence situation” will be sentenced Monday after a previous hearing continued.
Cynthia Agnew, 55, was initially charged with first-degree murder for the Jan. 19, 2023, shooting death of her husband, 59-year-old Jan Michael Agnew, according to documents filed by the District 18 District Attorney’s Office.
Agnew was brought to trial in August 2023 for first-degree murder, with the trial initially scheduled for the January 2024 docket, before the case was continued until the August 2024 docket.
Court documents filed in the case show the charge against Agnew was amended to second-degree murder in July
The new indictment alleges that Agnew shot her husband with a handgun “while under the influence of alcohol” and that the shooting “was carried out without any premeditated intent to effect the death of any particular individual.”
Records show Agnew pleaded guilty to the murder charge in September and entered into a blind plea, meaning no negotiated plea deal was reached and a judge will decide sentencing.
Formal sentencing was initially scheduled to take place on Oct. 23, before a Pittsburg County judge agreed to move the hearing to Monday.
The penalty for second-degree murder is 10 years to life imprisonment.
A probable cause affidavit filed in the case says a woman identified as Cynthia Agnew told dispatchers she shot her husband twice “in an attempt to escape a domestic violence situation.”
“Police stated that the woman refused to return to the home to check on the man because she was afraid he was angry and would shoot her,” the statement said. “Dispatch also informed us that both parties were heavily intoxicated.”
After officers arrived, the woman told officers that her husband and the gun were both in the kitchen and that she was unsure “if he had control of the gun,” the affidavit said.
The man was found unconscious in the home with at least two gunshot wounds, the report said.
Officers then detained the woman, with PCSO Deputy James Pitts writing in his report that the woman told him “she deserved to be in jail.”
Pitts wrote in his report that he saw no visible injuries on the woman, while Cynthia Agnew told the deputy that there had been no physical altercation before the shooting and that it was all verbal.
A 9mm handgun was found in the home that contained “five live rounds of 9mm full metal jacket ammunition,” the affidavit said.
“There was a spent casing remaining in the barrel in the chamber that was not ejected, likely due to a shot at extremely close range,” Pitts wrote in his report.
Jail records show the woman remains held in the Pittsburg County Jail on a $1 million bond.
