AUSTIN — The jury in the murder trial of an Austin choir teacher heard the defendant's confession in court Friday.
Shawn Gant-Benalcazar is accused of breaking into Austin choir teacher Kathy Blair's home in 2014, where he allegedly stabbed her several times. Gant-Benalcazar has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and a burglary charge.
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The jury in the trial saw the video in which Gant-Benalcazar confessed to killing Blair.
"She woke up," Gant-Benalcazar said in the video. "She lunged at me, grabbed the knife, tried to wrestle it out of my hand and it was a struggle. And I stabbed her in the neck. I didn't even want to do it. I was trying to get the jewelry without doing it."
He's now changing his story in this trial. Gant Benalcazar's defense team said the confession was coerced.
If convicted, he faces an automatic life sentence. Even though this is a capital murder trial, the district attorney's office took the death penalty off the table.