PITTSBURGH — A judge denied bail on Thursday for a woman accused of killing an FBI agent during a drug raid that led to her husband's arrest on cocaine-dealing charges.
Christina Korbe, 40, was arraigned early Thursday on a homicide charge in the shooting death of Special Agent Sam Hicks on Wednesday.
Korbe told investigators she thought her home was being burglarized and that she was shooting at an intruder.
Hicks and other law enforcement officers had gone to Korbe's home to serve a warrant on her husband, Robert, as part of a drug sweep.
Christina Korbe called 911 during the raid and said her house was being robbed and that she had fired at a burglar. She was arrested while still on the phone with an emergency dispatcher.
She later told investigators that she never heard police announce themselves, according to a criminal complaint.
Allegheny County Police, however, said the team that went to the home to arrest Korbe's husband knocked on the door around 6 a.m. and shouted "police!" several times. The officers then saw Robert Korbe run through the house, according to the criminal complaint.
Christina Korbe was with her 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son when agents arrived and may have feared for their safety, said her attorney, Sumner Parker.
"It became very chaotic and confusing and based on some other things taking place. ... My client may have taken actions that she thought was appropriate and ultimately called 911 to get local police to her house based on what she thought was happening," Parker told The Associated Press.
Robert Korbe, however, knew police were at his door.
He told investigators that, when he heard and saw agents pounding on his front door, he ran to the basement to retrieve some cocaine and pour it down a drain, according to the criminal complaint. He allegedly told investigators that, when he was finished, he was surprised that no police were in the basement, so he ran into his backyard, where he was arrested.
Robert Korbe, 39, was one of 35 people charged Wednesday in the 27-count indictment that accuses the defendants of conspiring to traffic cocaine and crack from October 2007 through September. Christina Korbe was not named in the indictment.
On Wednesday afternoon, Robert Korbe had a brief appearance in federal court on the drug charges. He was represented by a public defender, but told the judge that he intended to hire his own attorney.