Stephenson trial reclassified

The trial of a 23-year-old Manassas area man charged with killing his father will continue Monday.

Ryan James Stephenson pleaded not guilty earlier this week to strangling 46-year-old James Dale Stephenson to death at their Davis Ford Road home on July 1.

Stephenson was originally charged with murder, but Thursday a judge ruled that the case will go to the jury as a manslaughter charge.

Thursday jurors twice heard Ryan Stephenson talk about what happened the day his father died.

He spoke first through a recording of a police interview, conducted just a few hours after the fight that left James Stephenson dead, and second from the witness stand.

Both times, Ryan Stephenson said that his father attacked him first that morning, and that he defended himself.

He said his father was angry that he had not done some chores and that he "had been avoiding him."

Ryan Stephenson said his father pushed and punched him first. He later put his father into a headlock to try to "calm the situation," he said.

He said that when he noticed that his father's face was discolored and he was not breathing, he immediately called 911.

The trial will continue Monday when attorneys will make closing arguments and jurors are expected to begin deliberating.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.