By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA—A Childersburg woman was sentenced in the 2012 stabbing death of her boyfriend on May 5, 2015.

Shonta Cohill, 37, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after entering a plea of guilty to a Class B felony manslaughter charge on Feb. 9, 2015.

Cohill was arrested in July 2012 after fatally stabbing her boyfriend, 55-year-old Humphrey Keith of Harpersville.

When police responded to the call at a Harpersville residence in the 4600 block of U.S. 280, Keith was found unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was charged with murder in January 2013.

“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,” former Harpersville Police Chief David Latimer said following Cohill’s arrest in 2012.

The case originally went to trial in September 2014 and was declared a mistrial. It returned to court in January 2015 and Cohill pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter.

A visibly emotional Cohill was sentenced by Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves on May 5, 2015. Reeves commented the crime was the result of when “good folks let anger get out of control.”

“When anger gets out of control, it hurts everyone around them,” Reeves said.

Defense attorney Richard Vickers spoke on behalf of Cohill, noting “this is her desire to resolve this case with this sentencing today.”

“Obviously she is extremely upset today,” Vickers said. “Nobody wins today… it’s just a really sad situation.”