A University of Central Missouri student has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a fellow student who was fatally shot earlier this month in a student housing apartment in Warrensburg, Mo.
The Kansas City Star reports that Jeremy Allen Manley, 24, of Kansas City, allegedly told investigators he was teaching Stephon Abron, of St. Charles, Mo., about guns when the handgun he drew discharged and struck Abron in the chest.
Manley, 24, has been charged with one count of second-degree involuntary manslaughter.
Emergency personnel responded to a report of a gunfire at Greenwood Park Apartments in Warrensburg on Nov. 4. Officers found Abron lying on his back in the dining room of an apartment. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and Abron was pronounced dead.
Greenwood Park is made up of townhouse-style units on university property south of the main campus in Warrensburg.
In an interview with police, Manley said he was showing and teaching his friend, Abron, about guns. He initially denied firing the gun but later told police he drew the weapon from a holster and it discharged. Manley said he thought Abron had unloaded the weapon.
Court records state that evidence showed Manley “failed to ensure the handgun was unloaded and cleared, and pointed it in an unsafe direction, at Mr. Abron, when it discharged and struck Mr. Abron.”
