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By Rose Hooper
The Jackson County Grand Jury returned a bill of indictment for
murder against Stephanie Lynn Smith Hornbuckle, 30, charged in
the June 17 shooting of her husband, Ronnie Ray Hornbuckle.
The action against the Cullowhee mother of two was handed down
Monday, Sept. 29.
Ronnie Hornbuckle, 32, who had been shot several times, was found
dead in the bedroom of the couple's Cullowhee Mountain Road home.
A paralegal in the Cherokee Tribal Prosecutor's Office, he had
worked in the domestic violence program.
Sheriff Jimmy Ashe, in consultation with the District Attorney's
Office, charged Stephanie Hornbuckle with second-degree murder,
which, according to Assistant DA Monica Leslie, is "a standard
charge." In order to prove first-degree murder, motivation
must be shown, Leslie said.
Since her arrest, Stephanie Hornbuckle has been free on a $50,000
bond.
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