A Theodore man has been charged with manslaughter after authorities say a handgun he was handling went off accidentally, fatally wounding a friend at a home on Pioneer Road.
Mobile County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of a shooting at the residence on the evening of Aug. 7. According to a criminal complaint filed in Mobile County District Court, the man had a .45-caliber pistol in his hand and was spinning it on his finger when it discharged unexpectedly.
The bullet struck a 24-year-old friend in the cheek, and he died from the wound. Early the following morning, deputies booked the 23-year-old Theodore man into Mobile County Metro Jail on one count of manslaughter in connection with the shooting.
Investigators continued working the case in the days that followed, though the Sheriff’s Office had not released additional details about the exact circumstances leading up to the shooting. Court records also show the man had separate pending menacing and harassment charges out of Mobile, tied to confrontations from 2013, though authorities said there was no clear connection between those older cases and the fatal shooting. He had no other previously known arrests in Mobile County.
The case highlights the risks associated with careless handling of loaded firearms, an issue Mobile County authorities say surfaces periodically in accidental shooting cases involving friends or family members rather than confrontations between strangers. Sheriff’s officials have previously urged gun owners to treat every firearm as loaded and to avoid handling weapons in ways that could lead to an accidental discharge.
The man was scheduled to appear before a Mobile County District Court judge later in the month for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors were expected to lay out additional evidence gathered during the investigation. The manslaughter charge carries the possibility of a prison sentence if he is ultimately convicted, though the case was still in its early stages as of the initial court filing.
Sheriff’s officials said the investigation remained open, and it was not immediately clear whether any additional charges might be filed as the case moved through the court system.