Henderson County woman pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in stabbing death

A Henderson County woman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2024 stabbing death of her boyfriend.

The entrance to the Town Hall of Laurel Park.

District Attorney Andrew Murray announced the plea in a Jan. 29 news release.

Vanessa Annalee Ledbetter, 39, of Laurel Park, entered the plea Jan. 27 in Henderson County Superior Court. Judge William Stetzer sentenced Ledbetter to a minimum of 124 months in prison.

According to the district attorney’s office, Ledbetter was in a relationship with the victim, Robin Arnold Bracken, 58, of Laurel Park, when EMS and the Laurel Park Police Department arrived at the couple’s home in response to a 911 call from a neighbor.

“Upon arriving, Bracken was found laid out in a common area outside the couple’s apartment, unresponsive and bleeding from his midsection,” the district attorney’s office said in the release. “An investigation revealed he had been stabbed in the back in the bathroom of their shared apartment and had staggered out to the common area, asking for help before succumbing to his injury.”

The district attorney’s office also said neighbors told investigators that the couple had been involved in an often tumultuous and unhealthy relationship. But the investigation revealed that Bracken was not armed, and that there was no physical assault occurring when the stabbing took place.

“Ledbetter admitted to stabbing Bracken because she was scared and afraid of him,” the district attorney’s office said.

More: Henderson County woman indicted on 1st-degree murder in Laurel Park homicide

More: Woman charged with murder of Laurel Park man makes 1st court appearance

Jacob Biba is the Helene Recovery Reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Henderson County woman pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder of boyfriend

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