LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – According to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, a Mountville woman was sentenced to 50 to 120 months in prison for fatally shooting her ex-husband.

The DA’s office states that Cherrelle Byrd, 36, accepted guilt in June that she shot Richard Williams, her ex-husband, intentionally.

“She has taken every tomorrow from Richard Williams,” Assistant District Attorney Janie Swinehart said. “The family has been overwhelmed with grief for the loss of their brother.”

According to the DA’s Office, West Hempfield Township Police arrived at the 400 block of Hillside Drive in Mountville around 9:55 p.m. on April 16, 2021, for a report that a male had been shot.

Upon arriving, an officer observed Byrd kneeling with her hands up behind the deceased male victim.

The DA’s Office says that Bryd told police “I shot him” while at the scene.

During a subsequent interview with West Hempfield Police Byrd told them that she and the victim had been in an argument about finances. Byrd also told police that after the argument turned physical she went to get the pistol, according to the DA’s Office.

The DA’s Office states that the first shot was taken about five to six feet away from the victim as he approached her.

According to the DA’s Office, the defense states that this occurred after years of domestic abuse before asking for a mitigated sentence.

The mitigated sentence was granted and Byrd faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“The law cannot fashion a true remedy or answer to this situation,” Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn said. “The answer would be for this to not have occurred. Pain from both sides is real. This court must look at the totality of the circumstances and apply the law to the crime of which was plead guilty to.”