Marysville man charged in fatal shooting of 6-year-old daughter

Published 10:49 pm Tuesday, November 18, 2008

MARYSVILLE — A Marysville father has been charged in the shooting death of his 6-year-old daughter.

Richard Peters, 42, was charged Tuesday with first-degree manslaughter with a deadly weapon. The criminal complaint was filed in Everett District Court. It alleges Peters recklessly caused the death of his daughter, Stormy.

Prosecutors have until Dec. 5 to file felony charges in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Peters is being held in Snohomish County Jail on $250,000 bail. He was arrested Sunday after Stormy was found with a gunshot wound to her head.

The Quil Ceda Elementary School first-grader died early Monday at Seattle Children’s hospital.

Peters allegedly told investigators he accidentally shot his daughter while he was cleaning his .45-caliber Colt handgun at his rural home on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. He told detectives he’d been drinking and was intoxicated.

He’d asked Stormy to retrieve the loaded gun from his nightstand. He told detectives that all of his children handle guns, including his youngest, a 3-year-old, according to a police affidavit file Monday in Everett District Court.

He said Stormy was standing behind him when she handed him the weapon. He explained that he cleared the loaded magazine from the gun, pulled the trigger and the gun fired, police wrote in the affidavit.

Stormy fell to the ground. Peters held his daughter in his arms. He told detectives he froze and was unable to give her CPR or call 911.

Peters explained that his daughter may have been able to pull back the slide, loading a bullet into the chamber.

He also told detectives he’d consumed multiple double shots of vodka and would have been too drunk to drive, according to the affidavit. Investigators noted that Peters appeared to have been drinking. Police found vodka in the house.

Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said Tuesday she didn’t know if detectives requested that Peters’ blood-alcohol level be tested.

Peters’ wife and two other children, 3 and 8, also were home at the time of the shooting. The children were removed from the home by state Child Protective Services workers, Hover said.

Detectives continue to investigate the shooting.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.