Crystal Mangum was found guilty of second-degree murder Friday in the stabbing death of boyfriend Reginald Daye.
Judge Paul Ridgeway immediately sentenced Mangum to serve a minimum of 14 years in prison. The 2011 stabbing in Durham, N.C., came five years after Mangum falsely accused members of the Duke lacrosse team of raping her at a party where she’d been hired to perform as a stripper.
Reginald Daye
Mangum and her attorney Daniel Meier argued that she was in fear for her life at the time of the murder.
“He was bigger than her. He was on top of her. He was choking her. [She gave him a] single stab wound to the flank,” said Meier.
Mangum testified in her own defense Wednesday. She told jurors Daye was angry with her because she had “disrespected” him by flirting with another man.
Mangum said she locked herself in the bathroom, but Daye kicked down the door and grabbed her by the hair, before pulling her into the bedroom.
“He straddled me, hit me, and then he started choking me,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe. My head hurt real bad.”
Mangum said she was afraid.
“I was just trying to survive and I felt like Reginald was trying to kill me,” said Mangum.
Mangum made national headlines in 2006 when she falsely accused several members of the Duke University lacrosse team of raping her while she worked as a stripper at a party.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dismissed all charges against the athletes after it was determined that Mangum lied about the assault.
Stand your ground?
