BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) __ A southwestern Illinois woman is jailed on $1 million bond after being accused of killing her husband. St. Clair County prosecutors charged 24-year-old Nicole Brown of Caseyville with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 28-year-old Montez Brown.

Police say they were called to the couple’s home Friday morning and found Montez Brown shot in the abdomen with a pistol. He died at a hospital.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that police say Nicole Brown insists the shooting was self-defense after long-term physical abuse. Police had been called to the house twice in recent
years on domestic disturbances, but Nicole Brown hadn’t filed charges against her husband.

Nicole Brown couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, and it isn’t clear if she’s retained an attorney.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press