BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Wendy Howard, the Tehachapi woman charged with murder in the shooting death of her ex, has been assigned a courtroom for trial.
Judge Charles R. Brehmer will preside over Howard’s trial and on Tuesday afternoon is expected to hear motions in limine, where attorneys seek to exclude certain evidence due to irrelevance, inaccuracy or other factors.
Defense attorney Tony Lidgett and prosecutor Eric Smith have said the trial could last about 20 days.
Howard, whose case has received significant attention in the community and spawned a group seeking to have the matter dismissed, told police she shot Kelly Rees Pitts, 57, during an argument in which she confronted him about his alleged molestation of her teenage daughter. Pitts drove his quad toward her and ran over her foot, she said according to court documents.
She said she felt threatened during the June 5, 2019, confrontation and pulled a gun from her waistband and shot him, according to the documents.
Pitts suffered gunshot wounds to his upper chest and neck and a bullet graze to his cheek.