By SCOTT CARLSON
North Platte Post
NORTH PLATTE, Neb.-A North Platte woman had the charges against her reduced in Lincoln County District Court on Monday.
Harlie Saathoff, 21, appeared in Lincoln County District Court for a status hearing.
As part of a plea bargain, Lincoln County prosecutors amended one charge, 2nd-degree murder to manslaughter, and dropped a use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony charge. Saathoff pleaded no contest to the manslaughter charge.
Prosecutors said it was Saathoff who called 911 on Nov. 12, 2020, to report she had stabbed Bryce Wood, 20, during an argument.
Court records say arriving officers and medics found Wood lying face down in a pool of blood in a bedroom. Investigators said they also found an 11-inch kitchen knife on the bedroom floor of the apartment Wood and Saathoof shared.
Saathoff admitted using the knife to stab Wood. Saathoff has said she retrieved the knife to protect herself from Wood, and her attorney has argued that the stabbing and Wood's death were unintentional.
Saathoff faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on August 6 at 10:00 a.m.