Background: The Washington County Sheriff”s Office in Potosi, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Josie Reed (Washington County Sheriff’s Office).

A Missouri woman claimed that her boyfriend attacked her before she fatally shot him. Now she has been charged with first-degree murder.

Josie Reed, 20, was arrested on Friday after deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to calls of a shooting at a residence in Mineral Point. When police arrived at the home, they found a 30-year-old man dead of a gunshot wound and Reed, who reported the shooting. Police questioned Reed, who allegedly claimed that the man, who has not been identified, attacked her repeatedly before she retrieved his gun and shot him.

According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, Reed told police that her boyfriend became “irate” with her on the night of Oct. 3 and “choked her unconscious three times.” She also claimed that he pepper-sprayed her and shot at her. During the purported attack, Reed located her boyfriend’s pistol and shot at him twice, believing she had missed him the first time. Reed told police that he was reaching for a shotgun when she pulled the trigger.

Police said that during her interview, Reed “showed [them] the markings on her body,” but police noted that none of the markings “were [consistent] with being choked.” There was also no pepper spray found at the residence, nor was there any gunshot residue on the alleged victim’s hand.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Reed had one more story to try. She also told police that she was a witness in a firearms case, and her boyfriend “would not allow her to come forward with the information.”

Reed was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and domestic assault. She is being held at the Washington County Jail on $1 million cash bail. Her next court date is scheduled for Oct. 14.