By: Teresa Mull

A 15-year-old girl is being credited with saving her mother’s life in North Carolina when she shot and killed her mother’s boyfriend, who was choking her and yelling death threats.

“Investigators determined that [Steven Kelley] had attacked [Chandra Nierman] and was choking her, yelling that he was going to cut her throat and kill everyone in the house,” WBTV.com reported. “Nierman’s son went and got a gun, and her 15-year-old daughter took the gun from her brother and fired it twice, hitting Kelley in the chest.”

Kelley was a convicted felon and “had multiple guns in the house and frequently carried one,” the report said. He had also threatened Nierman before, assaulted her, and “fired a gun several times inside the home to threaten and terrorize her.”

According to WBTV, “The DA’s office concluded, based on the facts and the evidence, that the shooting was justified and no charges will be filed.”

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].

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