Florida

Woman Uses ‘Stand Your Ground' Defense in Strip Club Shooting

A woman accused of shooting and killing a man outside a southwest Miami-Dade strip club last year took the stand Monday to claim the shooting was self-defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.

Kimberly Matthews, 32, is charged with second-degree murder in the April 20, 2014 shooting of 25-year-old Terrence Henderson outside The Playhouse Gentlemen's Club at 13045 Southwest 87th Avenue.

On the stand Monday, Matthews claimed she fired to protect her brother and herself after a fight broke out in the parking lot. The defendant and the others all knew each other.

It was her brother, who according to surveillance video, threw the first punch.

Henderson's family was in court Monday, many of them wearing T-shirts in his memory.

"He was a good person, a very good father," mother Belinda Henderson said.

"She didn't have anything to do with it, I don't think it's self-defense," brother Tracy Henderson said.

If the judge rules that it is a "Stand Your Ground" case, Matthews walks away from the charges. If not, she could face life in prison if convicted. The hearing will continue Tuesday.

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