compared it to the Biblical story of Herod the Great's Massacre of the Innocents. Howard was charged with second-degree murder and pleaded self-defense. Fitzpatrick's alleged use of racial epithets was denied by Howard's wife in the resulting trial. But she did testify that he said "Doing things like this has set your race back five years." Howard testified that he angrily cursed at Fitzpatrick and that led to the altercation. The widow, Mary Fitzpatrick, testified that a security guard separated the two men during the scuffle but Howard then pulled a knife from his jacket and lunged at Fitzpatrick with it. Howard and witnesses testified that while Howard was pinned against the wall, a woman handed him a nail file which he used to stab Fitzpatrick. But the nail file was never recovered and the unidentified woman never came forward. According to the jury foreman, Jack Petro, "the issue of race did not come up as a factor in the jury room." After a long deliberation, Howard was convicted of manslaughter and received a sentence of 1-to-25 years in prison. After 11 months, Howard was paroled for good behavior. Howard had no previous criminal record before the incident. He and his wife divorced shortly after his release from prison. Terrence Howard's version of the events While promoting the film Crash on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Terrence Howard spoke about his father's involvement in the "Santa Line Slaying". It was the first time he publicly spoke of the incident. As the cast of the film discussed racism in American society, Howard gave an emotional account of the altercation, which he claimed was racially motivated. In Terrence Howard's telling, when he and his mother joined the line Fitzpatrick assumed Tyrone, whose complexion is much lighter than the other Howards, was Caucasian and asked him "Why did you let those niggers cut you?" Howard said that his father told Fitzpatrick that they were his wife and kids and turned around. Terrence claimed that Fitzpatrick then grabbed his father by the throat and pinned him to the wall. He claimed that Fitzpatrick was 6' 4" tall while his father stood only 5' 8". His father's incarceration caused the family to move from their suburban home to a housing project in a ghetto. Tyrone Howard's version of the events Tyrone was invited to appear on the program with Terrence but refused. Shortly after Terrence's account