A Butler County jury could decide the fate today of an 18-year-old Hamilton man who admitted killing his stepfather on Father’s Day.

The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations in the Michael Ray case Tuesday, retiring after two hours of work. But prior to that, jurors heard testimony from Ray and his mother, Bonnie Schmidt, who said her husband, Brian Schmidt attacked her son.

“I saw him hitting my son,” she said through tears. “I loved my husband very much, despite what all of you think.”

The altercation stemmed from an argument over Ray and a friend drinking alcohol while the rest of the family was at a Little League game, Ray testified Tuesday. He said he lied about drinking at first, but then confessed after Brian Schmidt was going to confront his friend.

Ray testified that his stepfather punched him four or five times and backed him into the side of a dresser. Ray said he had his arms up and his head down as he tried to deflect the blows.

“I was panicking. I was freaking out. I couldn’t see anything, so I reached behind me and felt for a knife,” Ray said. “I took it up and stabbed him. I didn’t know what he was going to do. He was mad, and it takes him a long time to calm down.”

Schmidt testified she found a multi-tool clutched in her husband’s hand and gave it to police. Ray said his stepfather hit him on the top of his head with something metal.

Ray was caught on video and audio tape talking to himself in an interrogation room at the Butler County Jail. During a snippet of that conversation, he said Schmidt wasn’t going to hurt him. Assistant Prosecutor David Kash brought up the tape during cross examination, and Ray admitted during his testimony that his stepfather probably wouldn’t have hurt him.

“Looking back on it now, I don’t think he was going to hurt me,” Ray said. “But at the time, when I’m getting punched in the head, it’s hard to come to that conclusion.”

The only other incident of violence Ray testified to was when he was six and Schmidt allegedly threw him across their trailer home.

The essential element of self-defense is that the person must have a reasonable belief they are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.

“Everybody has a right to a self-defense, if they qualify, if they meet the criteria,” Kash said during closing arguments. “That’s where this case rests. That’s the crux; that’s the linchpin. His state of mind.”

Greg Beane, one of Ray’s attorneys, raised questions during closing arguments about why police didn’t order tests to determine whose blood was on the multi-tool and on Ray’s neck. He also said detectives conveniently couldn’t recollect certain facts — like the presence of the multi-tool — that reflected favorably on his client.

“I found it strange that not one person from law enforcement who was there on the scene that day, had any recollection of the multi-tool,” he said. “Again, no recollection, you don’t have to talk about it. Why don’t they want to talk about it? Because it doesn’t bolster their case. It bolsters the case for self-defense, but it doesn’t bolster the state’s case.”