Details Emerge as Family Wants Suicide Designation Removed in Shooting Death
(Crystal A. Proxmire, March 31, 2014)
On Feb. 23 an Independence Township man put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The man had been drinking and was showing his girlfriend how safe guns were by putting one after to his temple and pulling the trigger, police said. He died in front of his girlfriend, with her children in the next room. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, but now the family wants the death certificate changed to “accidental,” according to The Detroit Free Press.
The medical examiner told the Free Press “The victim pulled the trigger and pointed the gun and applied the gun to his temple, unfortunately, and pulled the trigger, which all constitutes a set series of purposeful acts.”
The man’s live-in girlfriend shared details of his last day alive, emphasizing his happiness and desire to live. The article also notes that the man had firearms in his home registered to another family member even though as a felon he was not supposed to have any. The girlfriend said he and her children had just moved in the week before, and the man started a new job just four days prior. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and he’d been taking prescription painkillers.
For full details, see The Detroit Free press report at http://www.freep.com/article/20140331/NEWS03/303310012/accident-or-suicide-family-contest-medical-examiner-ruling.
For the police press release about the death, see https://oaklandcounty115.com/2014/02/24/gunplay-turns-deadly-in-independence-twp/.