LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is the target of a defamation lawsuit by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys slain in West Memphis. Maines spoke out for three people convicted of the slayings and alleged the stepfather was instead involved in the killings.

Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines, identified by her married name of Natalie Pasdar.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claim she suffered loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress.

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