An Upstate woman charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend in 2022 testified in court, Wednesday. Nicole Heape took the stand in a Pickens County courtroom and claimed the shooting was done in self defense. She said her boyfriend Kennedy Drayton had threatened her and her child.
Drayton had been arrested for domestic violence the year prior in a separate incident. Heape testified there were a number of other incidents she never reported, because she loved her boyfriend and hoped he would change. Heape testified that she feared for her life the night of the shooting. She's leaning on the state's "Stand You Ground" laws.
The trial in the fatal shooting continued Thursday morning.
