Woman gets six-year sentence in teen’s slaying

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A Golden Valley, Ariz., woman was the first of four co-defendants to be sentenced in the August 2006 robbery-related slaying of a Kingman teenager.

Shannon Blair, 34, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault in the death of Christopher Marcus, 18.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez said he imposed the mitigated sentence because attorneys agreed that Blair's involvement was coerced as co-defendants had threatened her life and the life of her son.

There was no dispute in court that Blair struck Marcus with a pipe before the co-defendants killed him. Prosecutor Jeremy Huss said Marcus was targeted because he had been paid several thousand dollars in an insurance settlement.