By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer 

COLUMBIANA–A Harpersville woman charged with murder is returning to court after the first trial was declared a mistrial on Sept. 19.

 

Shonta Cohill, 37, was charged with fatally stabbing her boyfriend, 55-year-old Humphrey Keith of Harpersville, on July 18, 2012.

Police officers and rescue personnel responded to a call at a Harpersville residence and found Humphrey Keith unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Harpersville Police Chief David Latimer said following the incident in 2012.

“He had an obvious puncture wound in his chest, and several witnesses reported that they saw him be stabbed by his 35-year-old girlfriend,” Latimer said at the time of the incident.

Cohill was arrested on July 19, 2012, and was released from the Shelby County Jail after posting a $75,000 bond on Aug. 1, 2012, according to court documents.

After more than 30 hours of deliberation in September 2014, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict to convict Cohill and the case was deemed a mistrial.

Cohill, who lists an address in Childersburg, has a plea date scheduled for Jan. 27 and will have a new trial starting Feb. 9, according to court documents.