LEE CO. WOMAN FOUND NOT GUILTY IN MURDER CASE OVER DISSATISFACTION – KWHI.com

A Lee County woman accused of murdering her roommate has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The verdict against 44-year-old Jennifer Redden Kramer, who is charged with the stabbing murder of 34-year-old Christopher Michael Gonzales in March 2021, means she will be committed to state mental health care for life.

Investigators with the Lee County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers say Kramer, who had lived with Gonzales in a home on County Road 314, confessed to stabbing him multiple times in the chest. His body was found in a ditch about 10 miles from where they lived.

After her arrest, Kramer was initially declared unfit to stand trial, but after being admitted to a state hospital, she was found competent to stand trial. She has been in custody since her arrest.

At the hearing last month in 21^st In District Court, presided over by Judge Carson Campbell, Kramer's attorney entered a plea of ​​insanity after her expert witness, along with two independent forensic psychiatrists, concluded that Kramer was insane at the time of the crime. They concluded that her actions, coupled with her mental state, met the legal definition of insanity.

Lee County Prosecutor Martin Placke said that while he does not believe the victim or his family received justice, the state of Texas recognizes insanity as a defense and that Judge Campbell had no choice but to find Kramer not guilty by reason of insanity.

Kramer's placement requires annual review for continued placement in the offender psychiatric hospital.