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

COMANCHE, Okla. (AP) – An Oklahoma man who fired a gun he received as a Christmas gift has been charged with manslaughter after authorities said a stray bullet left his yard during target practice and fatally struck his neighbor sitting on a porch blocks away.

Cody Wayne Adams, 33, was charged with first-degree manslaughter in Stephens County on Friday. Court records show the man was taken to jail and later released on $100,000 bail.

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 to the ground.

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

Authorities contacted Adams, and he told deputies that he had recently purchased a .45-caliber handgun for himself and fired at a canister in his yard, located about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from where Phelps was shot. When deputies told Adams they suspected him of shooting Phelps, “Adams became visibly upset and began crying,” Stephens County Sheriff’s Capt. Timothy Vann wrote in an affidavit.

A phone message left Monday for Adams’ attorney, Carl Buckholts, was not immediately answered.

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

Oklahoma law defines first-degree manslaughter as a murder committed “without intent to effect death” while a person is engaged in the commission of a misdemeanor. It is punishable by life imprisonment. Charging documents allege Adams engaged in conduct with a firearm that showed “conscious disregard for the safety of others,” which is a misdemeanor crime in Oklahoma.