WASHINGTON, Pa. — The teenager accused of killing his girlfriend’s stepfather in Washington, Pennsylvania, maintains that he was protecting his home, his baby and mother when he opened fire.
However, according to police, Jerald Thompson, 18, of Washington, fired a rifle from a second floor window, and the man standing on the sidewalk below was no threat at all.
Investigators said Thompson shot and killed his girlfriend’s stepfather the night he and her mother tried to help her get out of a domestic violence situation.
"The victim was actually 19 feet away, looking up at the window when he was shot,” Lt. Dan Stanek, who interviewed Thompson the night of the shooting, said in court Wednesday.
Thompson’s 16-year-old girlfriend also testified Wednesday, saying that Thompson’s mother became angry when she couldn’t get the baby back to sleep.
"She called me a lazy, a no-good mom. She got in my face and was pushing me,” the teen said.
At that point, the 16-year-old said she reached out to her own mother and asked her to come pick her up.
Washington police said the girl’s mother and stepfather, 42-year-old Jerred Price, arrived at the Washington home on Addison Street at 3:30 a.m. The couple was outside of the house, and Thompson wouldn’t let them take the baby, police said.
"My husband was saying, ‘Can we just have the baby? We will just leave. It's not a problem,’” Price’s wife said during her testimony.
Price’s wife said she then yelled, “What’s he going to do with that BB gun?” She said her daughter responded, “Mom, that is not a BB gun!"
Price’s wife testified that she grabbed her husband’s coat and said, “Let's go now. That's not a BB gun!"
According to Price’s wife, she and her husband were slowly walking backwards when Price was shot in the face.
The coroner testified Wednesday that Price was shot in the eyelid and back and later died.
"Thompson said he only remembered firing once, not twice,” said Stanek.
Thompson was ordered to stand trial following Wednesday’s preliminary hearing.
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