An Athens woman was indicted last week for what she claimed was an accident shooting at her home that killed her boyfriend.
Heather Nicole McCall 26, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, according to the indictment filed Aug. 27 in Clarke County Superior Court.
McCall was arrested on June 12 after she shot and killed 31-year-old Jeremy Howard early that morning at her home on Nowhere Road.
According the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, McCall and Howard had formerly been in a romantic relationship that involved domestic violence.
After the shooting McCall explained to police that her landlord had told Howard to stay away the home because he had previously beaten her.
When Howard showed up unexpectedly, McCall told police, she grabbed a gun from her roommate’s bedroom and, while screaming at the victim, she “tensed up and the gun went off.”
McCall said that she hadn’t even realized that her finger was on the trigger, according to police.
A man who was at the house visiting, told police that when the pair began to argue he went outside to give them space
Soon afterwards, the witness said, a single gunshot rang out and Howard came out the front door clutching his stomach, and he collapsed to the ground.
McCall came out right behind him, according to the witness, and she applied pressure to the gunshot wound in an effort to staunch the bleeding.
Howard was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
McCall has been in pretrial detention after having been denied bail.
In Georgia, someone commits the crime of involuntary manslaughter when they cause the death of another person without intending to do so.
It is a felony that is punishable upon conviction by one to 10 years in prison.