A Lancaster County jury found a man not guilty today in the stabbing death of a Manheim man.

Just before noon, the jury pronounced its verdict, freeing Timothy Lee Lagrone, 26, who had stabbed Barry Moore Jr., 38, of Manheim, in Lagrone's East Lampeter Township home.

Lagrone had admitted stabbing Moore during an October 2008 fight witnesses said erupted over a woman.

Moore had called the woman, who was his ex-girlfriend and Lagrone's live-in girlfriend at the time, and then showed up at the couple's home to pick up some belongings.

He went into the couple's Pine Drive home, and a fight erupted.

Witnesses said Moore threw the first punch, knocking off Lagrone's glasses. The two men struggled, and Lagrone  stabbed Moore 17 times, killing him.

Defense attorney Mark Walmer said Lagrone's actions were in self-defense during the trial, which began Jan. 4.

The jury deliberated a little more than two hours before reaching its verdict.

The courtroom was full, and Lancaster County Judge Jeffery Wright urged everyone to stay calm when the verdict was announced.

But when she heard the words "not guilty," Lagrone's grandmother, who had traveled to the trial from Louisiana, threw her arms up in the air and rose from her seat in the second row in the courtroom.

His mother doubled over, crying in relief at the news.

"I was scared because it was taking so long," said Nora Lagrone-O'Connor, Lagrone's mother, who lives in South Carolina. "But according to the U.S. Constitution, he had a right to protect himself."
cstauffer@lnpnews.com