Woman convicted of third-degree murder in stabbing
After 4 1/2 hours of deliberations, a Fayette County jury convicted a Brownsville woman of third-degree murder Thursday in the stabbing death of her boyfriend. Dayna McMaster, 32, acknowledged that she stabbed Clarence Blair III, 46, on June 26, 2009 at a remote gas well in Redstone Township. She testified that she stabbed Blair to stop him from beating her, and feared he would kill her.
Prosecutors argued that McMaster committed premeditated murder, and had asked the 10-woman, two-man jury to return a first-degree murder verdict.
Before reaching their verdict, jurors asked President Judge Gerald R. Solomon to redefine involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, third-degree murder and malice.