A YOUNG WOMAN TELLS POLICE SHE ACCIDENTALLY SHOT HER BOYFRIEND, AND LATER POLICE SAY SHE CONFESSED TO MURDER - BUT THERE'S A BIG PROBLEM

"48 Hours Suspicion" Examines "The Case Against Mary Katherine Higdon"

Higdon Tells David Begnaud: "I Loved Steven - and I Would Never Ever Do Anything to Hurt Him"

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 10:00 PM

Mary Katherine Higdon called 911 to report she had shot her boyfriend, Steven Freeman. It was all an accident, she told first responders. She said she was handing the gun to Freeman when it went off and that she didn't know the weapon was chambered. When she talked with investigators at the police station, they say she confessed to murder. But there was a major problem - the audio on the tape where she allegedly confessed was impossible to hear due to a feedback hum.

Correspondent David Begnaud and 48 HOURS SUSPICION report on what happened that night and the police investigation in "The Case Against Mary Katherine Higdon," to be broadcast Wednesday, Sept. 23 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"All I know is what's in my heart," Higdon tells Begnaud. "And I know what happened that night. ... I loved Steven. And I would never ever do anything to hurt him."

It's a case that rocked the small town of Griffin, Ga. Higdon and Freeman were high school sweethearts and were living together the night Freeman died. The investigation into what happened revealed a toxic relationship with allegations of abuse that left two families shattered. It's also a case that raised many questions about what went wrong and who was at fault for the violence that erupted that summer night in 2018.

"The gun going off ... I don't even see how, like, it even got him," Higdon tells Begnaud. "Because I wasn't even, like, really pointing it directly at him in the first place."

Investigators believed it was no accident. Prosecutor Kate Lenhard maintains the couple's relationship was unraveling and Higdon shot Freeman out of anger. Prosecutors believed crime scene evidence and Higdon's conflicting statements all led to a clear case of murder.

At her trial, Higdon testified that although she didn't know the gun had a bullet in the chamber, she had held the gun up that night because she was scared of Freeman. To the surprise of many in the courtroom, Higdon painted a picture of escalating abuse at the hands of Freeman. She read the jury multiple ugly, threatening text messages that Freeman sent to her a year prior to his death. She also testified that Freeman hit her and on two occasions raped her.

The prosecution was not buying it. In her cross-examination, Lenhard confronted Higdon about never having complained about Steven's alleged abuse.

What would a jury decide?

48 HOURS SUSPICION is from the team at CBS News' award-winning true crime series 48 HOURS. Broadcast Wednesdays at 10:00 PM, 48 HOURS: SUSPICION features intriguing cases where people live under suspicion but the truth is often elusive.

48 HOURS SUSPICION: "The Case Against Mary Katherine Higdon" is produced by Clare Friedland. Stephen A. McCain is the development producer. Charlotte Collins is the associate producer. James Taylor, Jack Pyle, Michael Vele and Marcus Balsam are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the Executive Story Editor. Judy Tygard is the Executive Producer.

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