Oklahoma man firing gun in yard fatally shoots neighbour sitting blocks away, authorities say

The Stephens County courthouse is seen in Duncan, Okla., June 17, 2014.

COMANCHE, Okla.— An Oklahoma man firing a gun he bought as a Christmas present has been charged with manslaughter after authorities say a stray bullet left his yard during target practice and fatally struck a neighbour who was sitting on a porch blocks away.

Cody Wayne Adams, 33, was charged Friday in Stephens County with first-degree manslaughter. He was booked into jail and later released on a $100,000 bond, court records show.

Stephens County deputies were called to a home north of Comanche on Christmas Day after Sandra Phelps was shot while sitting on the front porch of a home and holding a child, according to a sheriff’s affidavit. Witnesses said Phelps said “ouch,” and then collapsed.

Investigators determined Phelps suffered a gunshot wound, and she was pronounced dead about 20 minutes after deputies received the call about the shooting, the affidavit states.

Authorities contacted Adams, who told deputies he had recently bought himself a .45-caliber handgun and had been shooting at a can in his yard, located about a half-mile (0.8 kilometres) from where Phelps was shot. When deputies told Adams they suspected he shot Phelps, “Adams became visibly upset and began to cry,” Stephens County Sheriff’s Capt. Timothy Vann wrote in the affidavit.

A telephone message left Monday with Adams’ attorney, Carl Buckholts, was not immediately returned.

Court records show Adams is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 25 and was ordered to have no contact with the victim’s family.

Oklahoma law defines first-degree manslaughter as a homicide that occurs when perpetrated without a “design to effect death” while a person is engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor. It is punishable by up to life in prison. Charging documents allege Adams engaged in conduct with a firearm that demonstrated a “conscious disregard for the safety of others,” a misdemeanor crime in Oklahoma.