An Oklahoma man who was firing a handgun in his backyard on Christmas Day is accused of fatally shooting an elderly woman several blocks away, according to authorities and court records.
Cody Wayne Adams, 33, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting, court filings show.
The woman was sitting on a covered front porch with relatives in Comanche on Thursday afternoon when she was struck, according to a probable cause affidavit. She was seated on a love seat holding a baby in her left arm when a bullet hit her in the right upper arm and then traveled into her chest cavity, the affidavit states.
First responders were dispatched to the home at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office said. She was pronounced dead shortly afterward, according to the affidavit. The sheriff’s office did not publicly identify the victim or her age, describing her in a news release as an “elderly female.”
Family members told a responding deputy they had heard five to seven gunshots over several minutes coming from the north, according to the affidavit. The woman reportedly remarked that someone “got a new gun for Christmas,” and then, moments later, said “ouch” before collapsing, the affidavit states.
Investigators canvassed homes north of the shooting and concluded that all but one property — Adams’ — had “suitable shooting backstops or firing locations,” according to the affidavit. Deputies also received information that Adams had received a Glock 45 for Christmas and that neighbors heard him fire “about 20 rounds” Thursday afternoon, the affidavit states.
Adams allegedly told deputies he had been shooting a Glock 45 he recently bought for himself for Christmas, aiming at a Red Bull can in his backyard, according to the affidavit.
When a deputy suggested the shooting may have caused the woman’s death, Adams “became visibly upset and began to cry,” the affidavit states. The deputy also told him that, even if he was shooting toward the ground, there was nothing behind his property to prevent bullets from traveling beyond it and injuring someone, the affidavit says. Based on the addresses listed in the affidavit, Adams’ home is about 0.3 miles from the residence where the woman was shot.
After being advised of his Miranda rights, Adams allegedly acknowledged that he had been shooting south from his residence Thursday with the Glock handgun, which had been loaded first with about eight rounds and then 10 rounds of Winchester .45-caliber ammunition, according to the affidavit.
Deputies arrested Adams on Thursday evening after consulting with the local district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office said.
The charging document alleges that Adams caused the woman’s death “by engaging in conduct with a firearm that created a situation of unreasonable risk and probability of death, or great bodily harm, to another person and demonstrated a conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
At his initial court appearance Friday, Adams’ bond was set at $100,000, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26. ABC News said it was unable to reach Adams or his attorney for comment.
