An Adams County woman will not serve prison time for the March 1999 slaying of her husband.

Katie Woods, 29 Davis Court, was given a 10-year suspended sentence Monday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in Adams County Circuit Court.

Judge Forest &uot;Al&uot; Johnson told Katie Woods her real punishment would not require her to serve time in jail.

&uot;You took the life of your child’s father and that’s something you’ll live with the rest of you life,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;I hope you really sit down and think about you’ve done.&uot;

She also was given five years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for shooting her husband Randy Woods to death during a domestic dispute at their house on Davis Court.

Johnson said she must follow the terms of her probation such as drug tests and curfew.

&uot;I’m not about to tolerate the first problem, if you violate any of these conditions,&uot; he said.

If she does, she can be required to serve the 10 years.

The ruling was expected by some but caused outrage in others.

&uot;I have a dead human being shot in the back and nobody is going to spend a day in jail,&uot; Sheriff&160;Tommy Ferrell said. &uot;And that is sad for this community.&uot;

However, prosecutors argue the state probably could not have convinced a jury to convict Woods on the charge of murder.

&uot;They had a pretty good self-defense claim,&uot;&160;said District Attorney Ronnie Harper. &uot;Under the circumstances (we) think this was a reasonable conclusion.&uot;

The murder case had been set for trial Thursday until the defense decided to enter a plea.

Harper said if the case had gone to trial the end result would likely have been the same.

&uot;I think the chances of a murder conviction in this case were very limited,&uot; he said. &uot;A jury could have found her not guilty by reason of self-defense in this case. I think the judge acted appropriately under the circumstances.&uot;

And if Randy Woods had not had been shot once in the back, Katie Woods probably would not have been indicted, Harper said.

Some members of the victim’s family said they expected a suspended sentence but Henry &uot;Doc&uot; Woods, Randy’s uncle said he does not think Katie Woods is entirely innocent.

&uot;We were made to feel it was premeditated,&uot; he said. &uot;We just have to learn to live with the sentence now.&uot;

However, Harper told the court there was no evidence that suggested Katie planned the shooting.

&uot;Our office’s perception is that (we) had no evidence of any premeditation,&uot; he said.

Officials believe that on March 11, 1999, Katie Woods shot her 34-year-old husband with a .38-caliber pistol during an argument at their residence after he assaulted her.

She is believed to have fired at least five shots, two of which struck the victim.

Her 15-year-old daughter witnessed the shooting and was also shot in the calf by a stray bullet, officials said.

The daughter’s testimony and the alleged assault would have made it a difficult case for the state, Harper said.

However Ferrell said he wasn’t convinced. Ferrell said he is suspicious of defense attorney Tim Blalock and what factors may have contributed to the light sentence.

&uot;I have suspicions enough to verify a further federal investigation on the defense lawyer,&uot; Ferrell said. &uot;It was a brutal murder.&160;He was shot multiple times — twice in the back. That’s doesn’t sound like manslaughter but that’s my own reaction.&uot;

During Monday’s hearing Katie Woods told the court the argument was drug related and not because her husband was seeing another woman.

The argument was over &uot;his use of drugs and his sale of drugs … He refused to stop doing it,&uot; Katie Woods said.

Judge Johnson said he felt the sentence was fitting since Katie Woods was unlikely to commit another crime.

&uot;Every case is different. In this particular case it didn’t make any sense to me to put her in prison at the price of $20,000 a year, when the likelihood of her committing another crime was almost nonexistent,&uot; he said.&uot;

Family members for both sides spoke at the hearing. Katie Woods’ sisters attested to her skills as a mother and provider while Randy Woods’ family expressed pain at their loss.

&uot;What gives anybody the right to take a human being’s life,&uot;&160;said Shirlean Davis, sister of the victim

&uot;He was a good boy,&uot;&160;said Henry &uot;Doc&uot; Woods about Randy Woods. &uot;I always observed him doing good things.&uot;

Katie Woods cried through parts of the hearing and made reference to her troubled marriage and her love for her husband.

&uot;I only want to say I am very sorry and (I) hope and pray that you can forgive me,&uot; she said.