BATON ROUGE — A woman accused of murdering her ex-girlfriend was indicted on lesser charges than she was initially arrested on. 

Paulasia Banks, 20, was arrested in January on first-degree murder charges after she allegedly shot and killed Kassidy Jackson, her 18-year-old ex-girlfriend. 

On April 29, an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted Banks on charges of second-degree murder and illegal use of weapons. 

Banks' legal counsel has maintained since her arrest that the incident was "an accidental shooting."

"The indictment returned by the grand jury reflects substantially reduced charges from those initially asserted, which is consistent with the defense’s position from the beginning that the evidence does not support an intentional homicide narrative," Banks' lawyer, Sandra James Page, said in a statement on Thursday. 

Banks is due back in court on May 26 for a bond review.