Man found guilty of 2nd-degree murder in North Mahoning Twp. shooting

INDIANA COUNTY, Pa. — An Indiana County man accused of killing his father-in-law last June was found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder.

The jury found Shaun Fairman guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Richard Shotts.

Fairman was also found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and one charge of burglary. He was found not guilty on one theft charge.

According to Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE, Shotts' daughter, Jessica Shotts, took the stand Tuesday against Fairman, her estranged husband.

Jessica Shotts testified that she heard gunshots inside her Washington Township home, went downstairs and found her father dead on the kitchen floor.

A video showed Fairman telling an officer, “I pulled up and shot him one time.”

“I smashed the window I shot through, then I tried to get my wife upstairs to help me with him,” Fairman said when the officer asked how he had gotten into the home.

Jessica Shotts shot her estranged husband twice in the shoulder, holding him until police got to the scene, police said.

Defense attorneys claim Fairman suffers from a mental illness that impaired his judgment.

Fairman will be sentenced on May 28.

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