She shot and killed her boyfriend on Kellogg. She won't be going to prison.

A Wichita woman who shot and killed her boyfriend on a Kellogg on-ramp last year is immune from prosecution, a Sedgwick County judge ruled this week.

Crystal Rotramel, 32, was charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 5, 2017, shooting death of 40-year-old Richard "Jimmie" Hamm Jr., the live-in boyfriend she'd been dating for about six months. Rotramel told detectives Hamm physically abused her and was threatening her life up to the moment she shot him once in the head, according to an affidavit released last year.

Rotramel's attorney, at a Feb. 27 hearing to determine whether the case should proceed to trial, contended that she didn't plan to shoot Hamm or remember doing so as they were pulling onto eastbound Kellogg from Meridian - she only was trying to escape so she could have him arrested, according to court records.

Prosecutors argued the shooting was intentional.

On Wednesday, Sedgwick County District Court Judge Ben Burgess found that prosecutors failed to show that the shooting wasn't an act of self-defense.

In Kansas, people who commit acts of violence in in defense of themselves or others may be granted immunity from prosecution.

"Rotramel is justified in the use of deadly force - a semi-automatic handgun - against Richard Hamm when and to the extent it appears to her and she reasonably believes the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm" at Hamm's hands, Burgess wrote in his 10-page ruling.

When the shooting happened, Hamm was shouting and shoving at Rotramel and threatening to throw her out of the car, the ruling notes. "Given these facts, this Court finds that immunity in this case is warranted," Burgess wrote.

Rotramel's attorney, Mark Schoenhofer, said they "were happy with the results in the case."

"We feel that the court made the right decision."

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said his office "believed the facts supported the filing of charges" against Rotramel. But after hearing the live testimony and evidence, the judge disagreed. "We respect the judge's decision," he said.

Rotramel has been out on bond since shortly after her arrest. The murder charge will be dropped.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 3:44 PM with the headline "She shot and killed her boyfriend on Kellogg. She won't be going to prison.."