MARTIN COUNTY − A Jensen Beach woman in jail on charges related to fatally shooting a man she said was in self-defense, has now been charged with second-degree murder, according to sheriff’s officials and records.
Lori Beth Hart, 46, in August told Martin County sheriff’s officials she fatally shot a man she knew and dumped his body on a rural county road. Deputies found the body of Chester Smith in some bushes near Southeast Darling Street and less than half a mile west of Southeast Willoughby Boulevard.
Already jailed on charges of felony tampering with evidence and failure to report a death to the medical examiner’s office, she was charged additionally this week with second-degree murder with a firearm and failure to report a death. Second-degree indicates a killing that was not planned…