Maddison Hickson testified in her Newcastle Supreme Court trial she and her father wrestled over the weapon before the then-21-year-old grabbed it with her right hand.

"I stabbed him ... to protect myself," she said on Wednesday.

"I just wanted him to stop."

Hickson couldn't recall seeing blood but "felt, like, a pop and I heard a splash" and dropped the knife in the living room of the Maitland home.

"After that happened, I ran straight outside because I was scared of him and I didn't think he would stop," she said during her tearful evidence.

Hickson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Michael Carroll, 51, who died after being stabbed twice in the heart on January 16, 2021.

The court has been told Mr Carroll was a convicted criminal regularly in and out of prison whose rap sheet included attacking a pregnant partner over her refusal to get an abortion.

The evening of his death, Mr Carroll had been arguing with another person in the home before Hickson told him to "get the f*** out" and "shut the f*** up", the jury has been told.

Hickson says he then called her a "f***ing slut and a f***ing dog" but she didn't think he'd try to hurt her until she saw a silver blade in his hand.

"Being around Dad, I wasn't scared but I always had to be a bit wary because of how he was with everyone else," she said.

"That was the first time I had ever been like properly scared of him."

Under cross-examination, Hickson couldn't explain how she ended up with the knife, had only suffered minor cuts or how she could have maintained a grip of her phone and keys in her left hand.

"I don't know, I was just fighting for my life," Hickson said.

"I don't even know what was going through my head, it happened so quickly and then I just ran."

She repeatedly rejected crown prosecutor Brian Costello's suggestion that she was the only person who ever held the knife.

Police body-camera vision was shown to the jury of a distraught Hickson returning to the property and being embraced by her close friend Taylah McDonald.

Hickson couldn't recall if anything was said between the pair.

Moments later, with her head resting on McDonald's shoulder, Hickson told police "he tried to stab me".

"Did you say that because she was telling you to say that?" Mr Costello asked.

"No, I said it because that's what happened," Hickson replied.

The Crown alleges Hickson stabbed her father in a spontaneous response out of anger and frustration following the heated argument and had not been in fear of him or acting in self-defence.

If the jury believes Hickson had been fearful but her actions were not a reasonable response, they can find her guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

McDonald has pleaded not guilty to misleading police about the knife used in the stabbing and being an accessory after the fact to murder.

She allegedly placed the knife in a dishwasher and through a wash cycle, but denies ever touching it.

The trial resumes on Thursday.

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Australian Associated Press