Pregnant woman who killed intruder in justified shooting now faces felony gun charge due to previous marijuana conviction
Authorities gave her a felony gun charge despite deeming the shooting justified.
A pregnant woman who shot and killed an intruder who attacked her in her Arkansas home is facing felony gun possession charges -- even though authorities ruled that the shooting was justified -- due to a prior marijuana conviction.
On the afternoon of Dec. 7, Fort Smith resident Krissy Noble, 21, shot and killed Dylan Stancoff when he attacked her in her apartment, according to a press release from the Sebastian County Prosecutor's Office. Noble was 11 weeks pregnant at the time, according to a police report from the Fort Smith Police Department.
When officers arrived to the scene that day, witnesses pointed them to the living room where Stancoff lay dead on the couch, a pool of blood on the floor next to him, according to the police report.
Noble, who was standing in the dining room, pointed to the living room coffee table to show officers the gun, which was loaded with one bullet in the chamber, the police stated.
During questioning, Noble told officers that earlier in the day when she had returned home from doing community service at the local courthouse she noticed a grey car parked in a ditch in front of her apartment, according to the police report.
When Noble heard a knock on the door, she became "a little nervous," since her husband was not home and there had been attempts to break into the apartment in the past, she told police. So, she then went to the bedroom to retrieve one of her husband's guns and placed it in the living room, the report states.
Noble told police that the man who knocked at her door seemed to be a "nice man" and that she relaxed after he asked for her husband, Brendon Tran, because she assumed they were in the same unit in the military.
Noble then informed the man that Tran wouldn't be home until later that afternoon, the police report stated. When he asked if he could come back at 5 p.m., she said yes.
After the man left, Noble tried to look him up on Facebook, but couldn't find him, according to the report. She then called her husband, and he told her that he did not know anyone by the name Cameron White, the report states.
Minutes later, Noble heard a car pull up in front of the apartment while she was still on the phone with her husband, who then told her that he would call her right back and that he was going to have a neighbor come over to the apartment, according to the report.
When Stancoff came back and knocked on the door a short time later, Noble opened the door, and he shoved her back inside, according to the report.
Once inside, the man tackled her and began trying to cover her mouth with his hand, which she thought smelled of chemicals, the report states. He then started hitting her in the face with his fist.
After she was able to break free, Noble grabbed a pistol off the coffee table and shot the man three times before running to her neighbor's apartment and telling her to call 911, according to the report.
Noble told police that "she feared not only for her safety but for the safety of her baby, and felt that she had no other option in this situation, according to the report.
Stancoff's girlfriend, Krishna Bragg, told police that she had previously lived with Tran when they were dating and that she had left all of her clothing and personal items with Tran, according to the report. She was sitting in the front seat of the gray vehicle when the shooting occurred, the report states.
Bragg and Stancoff were planning to head to California, where Stancoff lived, and she wanted to get some property back, according to the report. Bragg had "no idea that Tran had a new wife that lived with him at the apartment," the report states.
Authorities initially ruled the shooting as justified.
But, investigators later found several firearms in Noble and Tran's closet in addition to the .40 caliber handgun used to shoot Stancoff, including a .20 gauge shotgun, a .22 caliber pistol and a bolt action rifle, prosecutor Daniel Shue stated in a press release on Thursday.
Noble is now charged with felony gun possession by a convicted felon and for allegedly possessing firearms between Nov. 7 and Dec. 7, Shue said. A warrant was filed for her arrest on Tuesday, records show.
On Feb. 1, 2017, Noble had pleaded guilty to felony possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver and felony possession of drug paraphernalia, and was given a five-year suspended sentence that included a condition that she "not possess or use any firearms," Shue said.
The incident occurred in June 2016, ABC Fort Smith affiliate KHBS reported. Noble told the station that she was in the car with other people when police found drugs inside the car, but no one claimed them so everyone in the car received the same charges.
A petition to revoke Noble's suspended sentence has been filed, Shue said.
Tran turned herself into the Fort Smith Police station on Thursday, KHBS reported. She was released on $2,500 bond and will appear in court next on Sept. 6.
She has since given birth to a baby boy, but could face up to six years in prison if convicted, she told the local station.
"He's not gonna know what happened to his mom," Noble told KHBS while feeding the baby a bottle.
The new mother said she doesn't understand why she's being charged now, more than nine months after the shooting.
"They already knew about my past charges," she said of authorities. "They were OK with it then, why aren't they OK with it now?"
It is unclear if Noble entered a plea. ABC News could not immediately reach an attorney for her.
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