This is a fairly recent story, and not a lot of details so far, but as time goes by could prove to be more interesting in terms of the minute details r/t the legal aftermath. (particularly when the alleged victim defending themselves is a spouse of the alleged attacker)
The attorney for the Middletown woman charged with murder said she shot and killed her ex-husband Monday night in self defense and planned to plead not guilty to the first-degree felony charge.
After the arraignment Wednesday morning in Middletown Municipal Court, attorney Jason Phillabaum, representing Dawn Rachel Shearer, 46, of the 3600 block of Ellis Way, said evidence will show she was “in fear for her life when she used deadly force to repel the attack.”
He said Shearer was chased outside the home Monday night by her ex-husband, Anthony “Tony” Shearer, 45, and she couldn’t “escape” because his van was blocking her Nissan Altima that was parked in the driveway.
When the couple went back inside around 8:30 p.m. Monday, Dawn Shearer, a licensed CCW owner, shot her ex-husband in the living room, police said.
After the incident, she called 911 and told Middletown dispatchers: “I think I shot him in the head.”
The 911 call is a “good indicator” that she wasn’t “trying to hide guilt,” her attorney said outside Middletown Municipal Court. She called as soon as the “threat was eliminated,” he said.
According to witnesses, Phillabaum said, three shots were fired and police said the victim was struck at least once.
Phillabaum said the couple was divorced, but they were living together trying to reconcile their marriage.
I haven't seen any reporting yet about what all of the exact words that she said to police prior to her attorney talking to her. There is this additional link however.Phillabaum told Middletown Municipal Court Judge Mark Wall that his client has lived in the Middletown and Cincinnati areas her entire life; she had passed a background check to get her CCW license; she wasn’t a flight risk; and her criminal history only included an OVI charge a few years ago.
He asked for a “reasonable bond” from Wall.
After hearing the facts in the case read during the arraignment, Wall set bond at $250,000 and scheduled her preliminary hearing for next week. She faces 15 years to life in prison and a $15,000 fine for the murder charge, Wall said.
http://www.journal-news.com/news/new-de ... cM6tRIQgJ/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm not really surprised at that even if it was a legit case of self defense, under the circumstances. It's mentioned by her in the 911 call prior to the shooting that they were arguing, (which I'm sure wasn't the first time) but not specifically what may have lead her to get a gun or shoot him. It's not been reported yet what she said to investigators following the 911 call r/t that issue.“As I was pulling up to the residence, I saw a (female) walking out with what appeared to be a phone in her hand up to her ear. I advised her multiple times to put the phone down and walk backwards to me,” Sorrell said in the report.
“She appeared to be in shock,” Sorrell wrote.
Dawn Shearer told the officer multiple times that she wanted someone to go inside the home, that she didn’t know what had happened to her husband, and that she didn’t know “what she did,” according to the report.
Here is an audiolink to the 911 call“We were just arguing over stuff,” she told dispatchers as officers responded to the shooting. “We were married 20-something years. I moved back in to work things out. I think I shot him in the head.”
http://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/pd-middl ... n-the-head" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;