Ashley N. Hunter, the Foristell woman accused of murder for the 2015 shooting death of her husband, has been found not guilty on charges of murder and armed criminal action.The jury heard six days of testimony in Warren County Circuit Court in front of Senior Judge Keith M. Sutherland. The jury deliberated nearly four hours Monday night, the circuit clerk’s office said. In reaching their unanimous decision, the jury of 10 men and two women had to consider drastically different versions of what happened the night Nick Hunter, 30, was shot to death.Ashley Hunter, then 27 years old, called 911 Jan. 15, 2015, to report that she had shot her husband during a physical altercation at their home on Old Cotton Road. A recording of that 911 call was played at trial.In it, Hunter can be heard crying and speaking in a strained voice, sometimes difficult to understand as she describes what happened and a 911 operator attempts to collect information about her husband’s condition. She helps first responders locate the home, at one point asking the 911 operator to please stay on the phone with her as she waits for emergency crews to arrive.Law enforcement officers who testified at trial said they found Nick Hunter dead on the living room floor. He had been shot multiple times in the chest and back. Attempts to revive him failed.Two children that were inside the home, ages 5 and 7 at the time, were not harmed, authorities said.Jurors were read text messages from the hours leading up to the shooting, which showed a back and forth argument that eventually turned into a verbal confrontation, attorneys said. Nick Hunter was quoted as stating several times that he wanted a divorce.That’s where the two sides diverge on what happened next.The DefenseDefense attorney Scott N. Rosenblum said those text messages were indicative of the Hunters’ brief and troubled marriage. Rosenblum said Nick Hunter was often erratic, his moods alternating between loving and enraged. He said Nick had previously physically and sexually abused Ashley, and often brought up divorce but never followed through.Ashley Hunter made similar statements to law enforcement during more than 10 hours of interviews the night of the shooting, video of which was played for the jury. That night, she said, the abuse was different. She said she was afraid Nick was actually going to kill her.Rosenblum described his client’s actions as self-defense in fear for her life. He said the verbal altercation became physical, and that Ashley went upstairs to comfort her two children, who are from a previous relationship, and tell them to stay in their room. She came back downstairs to find Nick with a gun in his hand, Rosenblum said. He said Ashley was assaulted again, and fought back as she was pushed up against a wall.At some point Nick dropped the gun, and Ashley picked it up and began shooting wildly, without thinking, Rosenblum said.“In her soul, she knew she was going to die right there in that living room, with her kids in the room above,” Rosenblum told the jury.ProsecutionProsecutors and investigators described a different interpretation of the evidence.Kelly King, the prosecuting attorney, said deputies did not observe any signs of injury or trauma on Ashley, despite the fact that Nick outweighed her by at least 100 pounds. If there had been an assault, King reasoned, Ashley would surely show some sign of injury, and items would be disturbed in the living room where it happened.Showing a photo to the jury of Ashley Hunter, taken after the shooting, King pointed out a lack of injuries. “This is not a photograph of a woman who was just in the fight of her life,” King said.On top of that, King said Ashley made conflicting statements to investigators about how events had unfolded that night, such as how or when she got the gun. That is not the behavior of someone telling the truth, King told the jury.What investigators concluded is that the Hunters had a verbal argument with no assault for around 30 minutes, King said. At that point, the prosecutor said, Ashley Hunter walked upstairs, had time to reflect on what she was doing, got a gun and went back down to shoot her husband.“Whatever happened was over when she went up there,” and the shooting could not be justified as self-defense, King told the jury. She said investigators could not corroborate Ashley Hunter’s claims of prior abuse.Based on an autopsy report describing the direction bullets had traveled through Nick Hunter’s body, King said the most likely explanation is that the shooting began as he was standing up from a seated position, then continued as he fell to the floor.Rosenblum dismissed the prosecutor’s description of events as “unsupported theories and speculation.” He said Ashley Hunter might not have appeared injured because people bruise differently and marks might not have shown. He pointed out that Nick Hunter could have assaulted Ashley without disturbing any of the furniture.Rosenblum also attacked the credibility of the chief investigator on the case, Lt. Detective Scott Schoenfeld of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department. Rosenblum described Schoenfeld as a “dog with a bone,” saying the detective had an agenda to charge Ashley Hunter with murder.Schoenfeld defended the objectivity of the investigation while testifying at trial.DeliberationLeft to reconcile these two very different versions of events, the jury was given explicit instructions from Judge Sutherland. While jurors could consider a range of lesser charges, including involuntary manslaughter, the burden was on Warren County prosecutors to prove Ashley Hunter had committed a criminal act when she shot her husband, Sutherland said.The judge instructed jurors that shooting and killing someone is permissible under Missouri law if the shooter is not the aggressor, is in fear for their life, and believes deadly force is necessary to defend themselves.The jury was released from court to deliberate on their verdict just after 3 p.m. They returned at 6:45 p.m., and delivered a verdict of not guilty for the charges of murder and armed criminal action.Hunter is being released from custody and allowed to return to her family nearly four years to the day after being arrested and incarcerated at the Warren County Jail.

Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum, left, and prosecuting attorney Kelly King, right, conference with Senior Judge Keith Sutherland during the murder trial of Ashley Hunter, who was charged with the 2015 killing of her husband.

Record photo/Adam Rollins

Defendant Ashley N. Hunter and her attorneys listen as the prosecution delivers closing arguments Jan. 21. Hunter was accused of murder for the shooting death of her husband in 2015. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins

Warren County Detective Jeff Doerr, while testifying at trial Jan. 15, displays a handgun used to kill Nick Hunter in 2015. Ashley Hunter is on trial for murder in the killing. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins

Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum rebuffs accusations of murder in the trial of Ashley Hunter Jan. 21, arguing to the jury that his client shot her husband in self-defense. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins

Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King delivers closing statements to the jury Jan. 21 in the trial of Ashley Hunter, who was accused of murdering her husband. 

Record photo/Adam Rollins