After David Joseph Nanovic’s death, Jennifer Lynn Lieber said the gun fired by accident, but jurors found her guilty of second-degree murder.
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — A contact gunshot wound to David Joseph Nanovic’s head became a key fact in the murder case that sent Jennifer Lynn Lieber to prison for 25 1/2 years in Scott County.
Lieber’s defense rested in part on a claim that the fatal shot was accidental. She told deputies the gun fired after she kicked it out of Nanovic’s hand during an argument. Prosecutors pointed to a different set of facts: a child who said Lieber had the gun, earlier threats, a confrontation outside the home and an autopsy finding that showed the weapon was at or near Nanovic’s head when it fired.
The physical evidence gave investigators a narrow starting point. Nanovic, 45, was found covered in blood at the bottom of stairs inside the Credit River home he shared with Lieber. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The autopsy later determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the head and that the wound was a contact wound. In a case where the defendant said the gun went off because of a kick, that finding mattered. It suggested the firearm was not across the room or tumbling away when it discharged. It was pressed against or very close to Nanovic.
Witness accounts filled in the hours before that final moment. Nanovic’s 10-year-old son told deputies that he, his father and Lieber had been watching television in the living room when Lieber became agitated and grabbed a handgun. The boy said Lieber held onto the weapon through the night. He said she insulted Nanovic, used racial slurs and had abused him before. He also told deputies the time he and his father spent in Lieber’s home felt like “living in hell.” When authorities located him after the shooting, he said, “Jennifer is probably freaking out because she had the gun in her hand.”
The same child described a warning shot or threat outside the house before Nanovic was killed. He said he and his father had left for the pool house after Lieber’s behavior escalated. Lieber’s two children later came out and said their mother was acting erratically. After they returned inside, one of them called and asked Nanovic and his son to come back to check on the dogs. The boy said Lieber pointed the gun at them as they approached, told them not to come in and fired. Nanovic and his son retreated. Nanovic later went back toward the home alone to check on the dogs. His son said that was the last time he saw him alive.
The first law enforcement call came from outside that immediate confrontation. Lieber’s estranged husband requested a welfare check after hearing from the children. He told authorities Lieber was acting strangely. Deputies reached the property around 10:23 p.m. and found Lieber outside with a female friend. Lieber told deputies she and Nanovic had argued and that she had “really f—ed up.” The friend told investigators Lieber had called her in a panic and said there was blood everywhere and that it was not her fault. The friend said Lieber wanted to call 911 after she arrived at the home.
The state’s case did not rely on one witness or one phrase. It combined the autopsy finding with the child’s account, the reports of threats, the movement between the home and pool house, Lieber’s statements and the friend’s account of the call after the shooting. Prosecutors argued those pieces showed that Lieber controlled the gun before Nanovic died. The defense version required jurors to believe that Nanovic had the weapon at the fatal moment and that Lieber’s kick caused a close-range shot to his head. The jury rejected that version after a two-week trial.
Lieber was found guilty in January 2026 of second-degree murder. She was 47 when Judge Caroline Lennon sentenced her April 7 to 306 months in prison. The judge gave her credit for 232 days already served. The conviction followed the March 2024 charge filed after deputies arrested Lieber at the scene. Reports from the case said the charge carried a maximum 40-year prison term. The imposed sentence was lower than the maximum but still keeps Lieber in state custody for decades, with supervised release expected after the prison portion if standard Minnesota rules apply.
The case also left a record of children placed close to adult violence. Nanovic’s son was present through much of the night and gave statements that became central to the investigation. Lieber’s children moved between the main house, the pool house and phone calls to their father as the night unfolded. Their statements helped explain why deputies were called and why the initial response was a welfare check, not a shooting dispatch. The reports reviewed did not show that the children were physically injured, but their accounts helped build the murder case.
Scott County officials said the sentence marked accountability for Nanovic’s death. Sheriff Luke Hennen said investigators worked with prosecutors to seek justice for violent crime victims. County Attorney Ron Hocevar said the sentence could not undo the harm but brought a measure of justice to Nanovic’s family. The official statements centered the verdict on the evidence jurors accepted: the killing was not an accident caused by Lieber’s foot, but second-degree murder.
With sentencing complete, Lieber’s 306-month term is the controlling court result. The next public development would come through any post-conviction filing, appeal record or custody update not yet identified in the reports reviewed.
Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.