A Pennsylvania woman who fatally stabbed her husband-to-be just hours before their wedding was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday.
After three hours of deliberation, jurors found 32-year-old Na Cola Franklin guilty of murdering her fiancé, 36-year-old Billy Brewster, on August 11, 2012. The two got into an argument at their Whitehall Township apartment around 2 am — their wedding was scheduled for 10 am that same day.
According to defense attorney John Waldron, Brewster came home drunk after an impromptu bachelor party and allegedly attacked Franklin before trying to leave with the couple’s 9-month-old son. Waldron claimed that Franklin, who stabbed Brewster in the chest and torso, did it to protect her child and asked for a voluntary manslaughter conviction. Prosecutors, however, said the child wasn’t in any danger, and pushed for a first-degree murder conviction.
Franklin said she “ did not mean to kill him on purpose ” at her arraignment, and couldn’t believe that her fiance was dead. She pleaded with the judge to “check again,” and the District Judge Donna Butler told her, “He was pronounced dead by he Lehigh County coroner earlier today.”
While she cried often over the course of the three-day trial, Franklin showed no emotion when she was convicted of first-degree murder. The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole in Pennsylvania, but Waldron asked that Franklin’s sentencing be delayed until July 16. Waldron added that Franklin would likely appeal the conviction.
First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa said the jury’s decision was “fair and just,” and that they were able to conclude that “at that moment in time, she had the desire to take his life.”
Billy Brewster’s first cousin, Nakia Kali — who was present when Brewster was stabbed — said he was happy with the verdict but declined to comment further. His wife Monique, who also witnessed the murder, had testified against Franklin.
