A case against a Weatherford murder suspect has been continued until October 30 when a preliminary hearing conference has been rescheduled.
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 seconddegree 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 hotel 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 hotel room 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.