A case against a Weatherford shooting suspect has been continued to September 25.
Zachary Sherwood, 27 of Weatherford, faces a charge of second-degree murder, in the death of Ashley Barr.
Second-degree murder charges are defined as murder which was not premeditated, but out of “reckless disregard” of human life. Sherwood was detained at the scene of the incident May 11, following the reported homicide of Barr, 30 of Weatherford. He later was arrested and charged with second-degree murder as the primary suspect in Barr’s murder. Sherwood allegedly claimed the shooting was an accident, court records show.
At about 10:03 p.m. the night of the shooting, Sherwood waived his Miranda rights to speak with Detective Joe Cox. Sherwood told Cox he and Barr had just returned from Chicken Express and were going to smoke outside the motel room. Sherwood allegedly told Barr he was cold, so she offered him her hoodie and asked him to get her a blanket from inside the room. When Sherwood allegedly went into the motel room to get a blanket, he noticed his 410 shotgun on the bed, which had a shell in it, according to court records.
Sherwood allegedly grabbed both the blanket and the gun off the bed, then leaned the gun against the dresser and threw the blanket to Barr. Sherwood said he chambered the shell, but “never got to unchamber it before it went off.” Sherwood said he was not sure what direction Barr was facing when the gun went off, but he allegedly had the gun pointed up and to the left, court records show.
The gun was a 410 shotgun, which must be chambered and then unchambered in order to unload it. Sherwood allegedly said the gun went off when he pushed the bolt forward and he did not have his finger on the trigger. He said the gun had never done this before and he did not understand it, according to court records.
Sherwood has previous felony charges in Beckham County from 2014 of possession of controlled dangerous substances, and domestic assault and battery in the presence of minors to which he pleaded guilty in 2015, court records show.
He also has a previous misdemeanor charge in Custer County of assault and battery from February of this year. During that incident, Sherwood allegedly assaulted his sister by throwing a toolbox at her, according to court records.
He was due back in court on the Custer County misdemeanor case Tuesday.