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A Weber County man — who police determined had shot and killed his girlfriend earlier this year in self-defense — was charged Wednesday with a handful of felonies related to alleged drug use and gun possession.

Scott William Sandlin, 41, was cleared by prosecutors of the February shooting death of 30-year-old Jenna Manuel at a Riverdale home, according to a Tuesday news release from the Riverdale Police Department.

Police said evidence collected at the scene corroborated Sandlin's account that Manuel had charged at him with a knife, prompting him to shoot her three times at close proximity.

But other evidence at the scene — including an odor of burnt marijuana, glass pipes and other paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana, and four firearms — led authorities to charges unrelated to the homicide.

Sandlin was charged Wednesday in 2nd District Court with one count of third-degree felony child endangerment because drug paraphernalia was left in the living room within reach of Manuel's 8-year-old daughter, charges state.

Police searching the home also uncovered two pistols, a shotgun and a rifle, leading to four third-degree felony counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person — Sandlin being a restricted person by virtue of ingesting marijuana.

An analysis of Sandlin's blood revealed THC and THC metabolite, charges state.

Sandlin also was charged with one count each of class B misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was booked into the Weber County Jail on Tuesday night and then released after posting $28,000 bail, a jail officer said.

An initial court appearance was set for Tuesday in Ogden.

In the homicide case, Sandlin called 911 on Feb. 7 and reported he had shot and killed Manuel, telling dispatchers that the woman "charged him with a knife," according to the search warrants unsealed in late February.

"Scott reported he feared for his life and acted in self defense when he shot Jenna at a very close proximity," the Riverdale police news release reads. "Evidence collected at the scene corroborated Scott's statement he gave in regards to the incident."

When police arrived, they found Sandlin on the front porch of the house, located near 1100 West and 4400 South. He informed officers that a handgun was holstered and sitting on the stove inside the home, according to the search warrant affidavit. Manuel's body was lying in the kitchen near the stove, and was "not very warm," according to the affidavit.

She had been shot three times, police wrote in the search warrant: twice in the chest and once in the abdomen. After medical crews tried to revive Manuel, an officer observed a silver kitchen knife in her right hand — but noted that the blade was in her palm, not the knife handle.

Police found Manuel's 8-year-old daughter in another room watching television, according to the affidavit. She told an officer that her mother and Sandlin had been arguing before the shooting about money and "how Jenna pays all of the bills while Scott sits and watches TV all day," an officer wrote in the affidavit.

"[The girl] told me that she was in her bedroom trying to go to sleep while Jenna and Scott were arguing," an officer wrote. "[She] said she heard some glass break so she got scared and started crying. [She] told me that she then heard about four gunshots and Scott went over to the bedroom and closed the door."

Sandlin was questioned by police after the shooting, but was not arrested at that time.

Manuel had recently gone by the last name of Spinya. She worked at the Funk 'n Dive Bar & Grill in Ogden.

— Tribune reporter Bob Mims contributed to this story.

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