TOLEDO, Ohio — A woman found guilty of stabbing her boyfriend to death in Toledo in 2022 was sentenced to four years of community control Wednesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Nichole Kazan, 44, withdrew her not guilty plea to a murder charge in June. She then entered an Alford plea and was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Court documents show that Kazan's boyfriend, Jeff Barker, had a history of domestic violence against her and that she suffered from Battered Woman Syndrome, a term used to describe the psychological damage domestic violence victims have after prolonged abuse to the point they feel that they themselves must use violence to be free.
In the early morning hours of May 3, 2022, when Kazan, 44, stabbed Barker, 44, court documents describe a domestic violence scene that resulted in the stabbing.
When Barker, Kazan's on-again-off-again boyfriend, showed up at her west Toledo apartment and she asked him to leave, he refused.
Kazan called 911, and in response, Barker threw her onto a coffee table and beat her. As Kazan rose to her feet, Barker rushed at her again. She then grabbed a kitchen knife off the counter and stabbed him in the chest, killing him.
"I've had survivors tell me that it's either me or him," said Deidra Lashley, executive director of the Bethany House, a long-term housing center for domestic violence survivors. "It often comes to a point where someone is going to get hurt really bad or killed to make that escape."
Lashley said a story like Kazan's is all too common, and it starts with people who feel trapped with abusive partners and don't know how to escape.
"This is someone who is supposed to love and protect you, so to make that split and to finally take that step to leave, it's very complicated," Lashley said. "And to add in the component of, 'I could have my life in danger if I leave,' that's a very real threat."
When the threat feels inescapable, the victim resorts to violence. Courts sympathize, sometimes.
Kazan was initially charged with murder and was in jail during court proceedings. But new details in the case led to her Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter.
A defendant entering an Alford plea does not admit to committing a crime but admits the state has sufficient evidence to get a conviction that could lead to a more severe sentence.
The eight years of physical abuse complaints Kazan filed against Barker, the bruising on her body and perhaps most importantly, a psychological profile that revealed she had Battered Woman Syndrome, all played a role in the reduced charge.
Defense Attorney Jerome Phillips said designations of Battered Woman Syndrome are crucial in the legal defense of victims under Ohio law.
"For a long time, it fell under self defense," Phillips, one half of the Toledo-based Wittenberg & Phillips law firm, said. "But now there are cases where women -- typically women -- will shoot the perpetrator while that perpetrator is sleeping and the battered woman syndrome can still apply and be a defense in that case."
Lashley said Kazan's case is an instance of a victim being heard in a court system that doesn't always listen.
"I think that's needed more than ever, to see the nuances and context for the violence, and that survivors have a chance to explain," Lashley said.
Kazan is now free, but if she violates the rules of her community control, she could get 11-16 and a half years in prison.
Lashley said not every victim of domestic violence is as lucky, as some victims with similar stories to Kazan still end up behind bars.