Oklahoma woman shot and killed on Christmas Day by a man doing target practice in his backyard blocks away, authorities say
An Oklahoma man who was practicing target practice with a recently purchased handgun in his backyard on Christmas Day is accused of shooting and killing a woman sitting on the front porch a few blocks away while holding a child, authorities said.
Cody Wayne Adams, 33, was arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter in connection with the shooting, according to court records. He was later released on $100,000 bail, records show.
The preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 25. CNN has reached out to Adams’ attorney for comment.
The woman, identified as Sandra Phelps, was struck with what appeared to be a single gunshot in her right arm Thursday afternoon as she sat with family members under the covered front porch of a home in Comanche, about 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, an affidavit said. Phelps was holding a child in his left arm while sitting on a loveseat.
Family members told investigators they heard five to seven gunshots “within a few minutes” from somewhere north of the house, the affidavit said. Phelps stated that someone nearby must have gotten “a new gun for Christmas,” according to the filing. After a short while he said “ah” and collapsed to the ground. No other gunshots were heard.
First responders were dispatched to the house around 15:15. Stephens County Sheriff’s Office in question. Phelps was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later, according to testimony. Investigators said the bullet hit Phelps’ arm and then entered his chest cavity. The filing does not indicate any gunshot wounds to the house.
Law enforcement searched the surrounding neighborhood and found a home less than a mile away where Adams lived, which did not have a suitable backstop from which to shoot, according to the affidavit. Investigators learned that neighbors “heard Adams fire approximately 20 shots throughout the afternoon,” the document said.
When deputies went to the home, Adams told them he shot “a Red Bull can sitting on the ground” in his backyard “with a Glock .45-caliber handgun he bought for himself for Christmas,” the affidavit said.
Investigators found “several spent shell casings on the ground and deck” in Adams’ backyard and a Red Bull can south of the house. From the point where Adams said he fired toward the canister, the red and blue lights of emergency vehicles at the home where Phelps was shot were “visibly consistent with the angle of fire,” the affidavit said.
Adams “became visibly upset and began to cry” when told the shooting might have led to the woman’s death, according to testimony. A deputy told him there was “nothing behind his property that would prevent bullets from going off his property and hurting someone.”
Adams, who was later informed of his rights during an interview at the sheriff’s office, allegedly fired multiple shots southbound from his home, using two loaded magazines containing approximately eight and then 10 rounds of Winchester .45-caliber ammunition, the report said.
The charging document alleges that Adams caused the woman’s death by using a firearm in a manner that “created an unreasonable risk and likelihood of death or great bodily harm to another person and demonstrated a conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
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