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(NewsDakota.com) – A jury of eight men and four women took up deliberation Wednesday afternoon in Stutsman County District Court during the murder trial of 22-year-old Janelle Cave.

Cave and 34-year-old Leron Howard are charged with murder and criminal conspiracy in the death of 18-year-old Abdi Ali Ahmed, whose body was found in a ditch near Spiritwood on April 30, 2011. He had been stabbed and suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

Howard’s trial is scheduled for August.

If found not guilty of murder, Cave could still be found guilty of lesser counts of manslaughter or negligent homicide.

Cave took the stand in her own defense Tuesday afternoon and faced about 70 minutes of cross examination Wednesday morning. Closing statements in the case were made Wednesday afternoon, and the jury was given the case for deliberation at about 3 p.m. It’s unknown how long it will be before the jury returns a verdict.

In his closing argument, Cave’s attorney David Ogren painted a picture of Cave being afraid of Howard, who Cave testified struck Ahmed, knocked him unconscious, and later stabbed him. Cave testified she later threw the knife he was stabbed with in the James River because she was afraid.

“Compliance gained through fear or intimidation is not an agreement,” Ogren said, in reference to Cave facing a count of criminal conspiracy.

“The State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “I submit to you (the jury) there is plenty of reasonable doubt in this case as it applies to Ms. Cave.”

In his closing argument, Stutsman County State’s Attorney Fritz Fremgen said Cave had given four different versions of events since the incidents on April 30, and was never telling the whole truth because the truth could make her culpable.

He said her given motive for why Howard struck Ahmed — that Ahmed did not want to leave Cave’s residence and started crying because he said he had no place to go — was not believable.

“Abdi (Ahmed) left in a hurry with Leron (Howard) chasing him and there’s a reason for it and it’s not because he was crying,” Fremgen said.

“She can’t give you the real reason because if she does, she’s saying ‘I knew it all.'”

Before receiving the case for deliberation, jurors sat through six and a half days of trial, including five and a half days of testimony by witnesses.