An Ironton woman accused of shooting her husband will have to wait to find out if the charges against her are dropped - in spite of her husband's testimony that the shooting was accidental.

Karen Lewis-Holroyd, 36, formerly of 515 Hawk St., appeared in Ironton Municipal Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

Judge O. Clark Collins said he will take time to review the information presented by both Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Bob Anderson and defense attorney David Reid Dillon before deciding whether to drop charges against Lewis-Holroyd or send the case to the grand jury.

Collins also said he will review Dillon's request for bail reduction. At her arraignment Tuesday, bond was set at $50,000.

During the Thursday hearing, Lawrence County Sheriff's detective Aaron Bollinger testified that Lewis-Holroyd had actually given three different stories before finally admitting she shot her husband in the chest Aug. 10 during an argument at the Coryville Road home of a friend commonly known as "Wild Man."

"On the 11th, (the day after the shooting occurred) she said she would tell us the truth," Bollinger said.

"They were arguing and she was trying to leave 'Wild Man's' house and he (Holroyd) was blocking her way. She had picked up the gun from inside the trailer and she had carried it to the car.

"He was at the passenger door and she was inside the car with the door closed and the window down. There was yelling and screaming and arguing. She stated he had started to back off and go away and she pointed the gun, she wasn't going to shoot him but to just scare him and she ended up shooting him."

Bollinger said a person who was also at "Wild Man's" house at the time of the shooting corroborated this third story.

But Robert Holroyd, 51, told the court the incident was accidental and his wife does not belong in jail.

Holroyd said indeed they were visiting "Wild Man's" house and he and his wife were outside the residence and she was attempting to shoot the .22 caliber revolver that was to inflict his wound.

"She was standing on the porch and I was on the ground about 6 or 7 feet back from the bottom of the stairs and she was trying to shoot the pistol," Holroyd said.

"She pulled the hammer back and pulled the trigger and it didn't go off, and she tried it again and it misfired and I said, 'is it loaded?' She said 'no' and I said 'hand it to me and I'll load it for you.'"

Holroyd said he thought that was when the gun went off and he was injured,

"She went hysterical and ran to me crying, trying to blame herself for an accident," Holroyd said.

Holroyd said his wife then helped him into the car and took him to King's Daughters Medical Center.

"When we were going to the emergency room, she was blaming herself," Holroyd said. "She loves me."

But during cross examination by Anderson, Holroyd could not give an explanation why his wife would admit to shooting him during an argument if such an argument never took place.

Lewis-Holroyd remains in the Lawrence County Jail.