Was a fight between two teenage girls that turned deadly deliberate or an act of self-defense?

That is the question a Franklin County jury will have to decide as Bryanna Barozzini, now 20, goes on trial this week.

Barozzini is charged with two counts of murder and one count of voluntary manslaughter in the March 26, 2023, fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Halia Culbertson.

Barozzini was 18 at the time of the stabbing and has been free since posting a $750,000 bond shortly after her March 2023 arrest.

Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin Monday morning.

How did Halia Culbertson die?

Around 11:45 p.m. on March 26, 2023, Columbus police received a call about a person being stabbed outside a convenience store on the 5600 block of Emporium Square in the Northland area.

Officers found Culbertson with a single stab wound. She died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

Witnesses told detectives that an argument inside the store escalated into a fight in the parking lot. Witnesses also identified Barozzini as the person who stabbed Culbertson. Barozzini was not at the scene when police arrived.

Barozzini told detectives in a later interview that she had a knife and had swung it during the fight.

What is Bryanna Barozzini charged with?

Barozzini is facing three charges:

• One count of murder, accusing Barozzini of purposefully killing Culbertson

• One count of murder, accusing Barozzini of killing Culbertson while committing a felonious assault

• One count of voluntary manslaughter, accusing Barozzini of killing Culbertson “while under the influence of a sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage”

If convicted on all charges, Barozzini faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years.

What does Byanna Barozzini say happened?

Barozzini intends to argue at her trial that she stabbed Culbertson in self-defense.

If a defendant says an assault or homicide was in self-defense, Ohio’s law requires prosecutors to prove the action was not in self-defense. Before the law changed in 2019, defendants were responsible for proving to a jury that it was self-defense.

According to a motion filed by Barozzini’s attorney on May 29, prosecutors are looking to present evidence of text messages Barozzini sent to another person. Barozzini’s attorney is asking Judge Mark Serrott to prevent the messages from being introduced because they were sent a week before the stabbing occurred.

The text messages include statements like “I’d sooner slice (Culbertson’s) throat if she comes near me again” and “I will cut that (expletive) on my whole family if she tries showing up to my family’s home again.”

How the two girls knew each other, and the nature of their past interactions has not been made public.

bbruner@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Woman who fatally stabbed Ohio teen in fight arguing self-defense