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 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 5:01 am |
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Local News 
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Jury will decide accident or murder in girl's shooting death Father goes on trial in shooting death of girl, 6 EVERETT — A Tulalip Bay firefighter stood next to a projector screen lit up with a school picture of a smiling, dark-haired girl.That was the 6-year-old he found lying in blood a year ago Monday. That was the girl whose mom he saw leaning over the child’s motionless body, crying for her baby. That was the girl whose heart had stopped beating. Joshua Graham was the first firefighter inside the Tulalip-area house last year. On Tuesday, he carefully pointed to the picture of Stormy Peters. His finger came to rest on a space between Stormy’s brown eyes. That’s where her father shot her, Graham told a Snohomish County jury. The murder trial of Richard Peters began Tuesday. If convicted, Peters, 43, faces more than 20 years in prison. Dressed in a dark blue suit, Peters kept his head bowed during most of the opening statements. He appeared shaken when Stormy’s photo was shown to jurors. Prosecutors believe Peters was drunk on Nov. 16, 2008, when he sent Stormy to his bedroom to retrieve a gun from a nightstand. Peters is accused of pointing the gun at his daughter’s head and pulling the trigger. “He was trying to mess with her, trying to scare her,” Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said. “He expected to hear a click. Instead he heard a boom.” Stormy was shot right between the eyes, Stern said. Medics were able to restart Stormy’s heart. The first-grader was rushed to a Seattle hospital, where she died a few hours later. Peters told investigators he didn’t think the .45-caliber Colt was loaded. He told police, he was cleaning the gun when it went off. The shooting was a horrible accident, his Everett defense attorney Karen Halverson told the jury. “She did not deserve to die. The person responsible for her death is Richard Peters,” Halverson said. “His actions don’t amount to a crime.” There is no evidence that what happened is anything other than a tragic accident, she said. “As human beings we want to blame someone ... but often times things are just what they appear,” Halverson said. Prosecutors initially charged Peters with first-degree manslaughter. They alleged that while the shooting may have been unintentional, Peters recklessly caused his daughter’s death. He knew the risks of having loaded guns around children, Stern told the jury. Two other children, ages 3 and 8, were home at the time of the shooting. He had a gun safe and locks but he failed to properly handle the weapons, Stern said. He allowed his children to carry the guns, the deputy prosecutor said. Stern in August added a second-degree murder charge. Homicide detectives uncovered evidence indicating that Peters intentionally pointed the gun at Stormy’s head, Stern said. Pointing a loaded gun at someone is second-degree assault. Because the assault led to the girl’s death, that’s murder, Stern wrote in court papers. Detectives in May learned that Peters allegedly told a cellmate in the Snohomish County Jail that he pointed the gun at the girl. He said he didn’t realize the weapon was loaded, Stern wrote in charging documents. Detectives returned to Peters’ home to recreate the shooting and analyze the path of the bullet. They believe Stormy was facing the gun when it was fired. The new evidence demonstrates that what Peters told police is “forensically impossible or at least significantly unlikely,” Stern wrote. Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. |
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COMMENTS
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This father was reckless and stupid in his actions. Why blame alcohol or guns in this matter. Stop blaming everything else and hold this man accountable. This man was reckless and the mother was neglectful. I feel for the children. They were in the home at the time they lost their sister and possibly witnessed her murder.
The father should be billed for the cost of his tria. Why should tax payers pay for his recklessness. The cost of the trial, cost of his incarceration and the cost to raise his children now.
B. L. | Nov 20, 2009 10:27 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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Twenty years is about 50 years too short a sentence. They haven't even invented the words for the level of contempt I feel for this despicable excuse for a human being. He needs to NEVER get out of prison.
Cheryl Fontaine | Nov 18, 2009 2:48 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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I say this case was straight out MURDER,
he was careless and drinking booze all night and should have had the sense to leave his gun alone.
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/388155_girl18.html
>
> Dear Editor,
> we need to ENHANCE all "drug crimes" with a gun
>
> I am heartbroken as a parent over the news of yesterdays
> shooting of a six year old girl my her father who
> accidentally shot her and then was so distraught over his
> own stupidity in asking his six year old girl to go upstairs
> and get his gun so he could clean it - after he had consumed
> an amount of Vodka .
> He couldn't even get off the floor to give her CPR.
> although it was probably such a devastating head shot that
> there was no hope of trying to administer first aid- we
> don't even need any new laws concerning this crime- that
> would only enrage the gun owners who are responsible and
> would never handle a gun while they had been drinking.
> Alcohol is a drug and it should be treated just as if he was
> using a so-called "illegal drug" such as marijuana.
> I haven't heard of such a tragic shooting like this since I
> read of a tragedy involving a stray bullet hitting a young
> girl in the face in a police raid on a
> home that was being busted in a marijuana growing
> operation.
> I say if you use a gun while intoxicated or "high" the
> penalty should be enhanced the laws are already on the
> books.
> If you shoot your friend in the face while on a hunting
> expedition after you have been drinking- that should be
> reported as a "drug crime"!
> Darral Good
>
>
> here's a blast from the past:
>
> Alberto Sepulveda
> 11 years old
> Modesto, California
> September, 2000
> Alberto was killed by a shotgun blast to the back while
> following police orders and lying face down on the floor
> during a SWAT raid. He was a seventh-grader at Prescott
> Senior Elementary School.
>
>
>
>
> innocent deaths- could it happen to your family?
> -
> http://www.dallasnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3349&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45
>
> Cops Say Legalize Drugs, ASK ME WHY!
>
darral good | Nov 18, 2009 11:35 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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Perhaps in some religions the Holy Trinity is "Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." I only have two of those. No kids, no car, no guns. Don't Drink and Drive, Don't Drink and Dad. Dadgum it.
Brian Caldwell | Nov 18, 2009 8:00 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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We already know you can get drunk and go kill someone with your car and do very light jail time if any. Is it now going to be ok to shoot people when you are drunk? If this man truly loved his little daughter, he is surely suffering every day, a punishment worse than imprisonment. However, we cannot send a message that it is ok to shoot other people and use drinking as your excuse.
T G | Nov 18, 2009 6:33 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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What kind of moron has a six year old retrieve a gun? And why is it that these fools don't aim the weapon at their own heads when engaging in the ************* sport of cleaning a gun while drunk? What a meat-head.
Moon Dance | Nov 18, 2009 4:44 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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