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Montco woman pleads guilty in fatal stabbing of stepfather

A Norristown woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing her stepfather during a quarrel last year.

Shakira Hayward, 24, was arrested in March in the death of Kenneth Bullock. She pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, according to a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

By pleading guilty to that charge, Hayward avoided potential conviction at trial on the more serious charges of third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors said Hayward got into a quarrel with her stepfather at his home in Norristown on the day of his death. She later told police that he had slapped her in the face and they had threatened each other with knives, according to an arrest affidavit in the case. Hayward admitted stabbing Bullock in the hand and leg.

Her lawyer, Matthew Quigg, said Tuesday that Hayward, who grew up in Norristown, put herself through college, and was two months pregnant at the time of Bullock's death, is "a remarkable young woman." Hayward posted bail in June, he said, and wasn't in jail when she gave birth to her baby.

"She's been wracked with remorse since this happened and she wanted to take the opportunity to accept responsibility for what happened and put this behind her," Quigg said of Hayward's guilty plea.

The sentencing guidelines for involuntary manslaughter call for a sentence between three months and one year, said Kate Delano, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. The sentence is ultimately up to a judge.

Hayward will be sentenced at a later date before Judge Todd D. Eisenberg.