WILSON — A North Carolina woman has died after years of fighting for her husband's release from a Georgia prison because of the state's "stand your ground" self-defense law.

Tracy Dew said Sunday her sister Anita McNeil of Wilson died Saturday after breast cancer spread to her bones.

Anita McNeil had spent weeks hoping that her husband John McNeil would be freed from prison where he is serving a life sentence for shooting a man in his Kennesaw, Ga., yard. Supporters say the 2005 killing was in self-defense.

A Georgia judge ruled last fall that John McNeil should be released because of multiple errors at trial, including that the jury was not properly instructed on a person's right to use force to defend himself, his home or another person from violent attack.