An Indiana man has been charged with murder after he admitted shooting his girlfriend in the head with an AR-style rifle during an argument.
Bryce Leighton, 34, claims he killed Tara Langley, 48, in self-defense because she fired a stun gun at him. The Herald Times reported.
Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Unionville home by a neighbor at about 1:30 a.m. on November 4 and found Leighton in hysterics and covered in blood outside. Langley’s body was on the floor inside the open garage.
A detective said in a probable cause affidavit that Leighton said “everything went into a blur” when Langley turned on the stun gun.
“I asked him if the gun was in his hands at that time and he said yes,” Detective Andrew Rushing wrote.
The bullet went through Langley’s head and the garage wall and was found in the living room. The interior of the house, according to the probable cause affidavit, “was in a general state of disarray, with broken furniture, appliances and glass throughout.”
Leighton also claimed to be “having flashbacks” and was trying to grab his belongings and leave, but Langley had been drinking and was being aggressive. She “came at me,” the detective wrote, quoting the suspect.
Leighton pleaded not guilty at a hearing on November 7 and was ordered held without bond. He is due in court again on January 3.
Leighton previously served eight years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a woman when he struck the taxi she was driving while intoxicated and speeding in a stolen car.
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[Featured image: Bryce Leighton/Monroe County Sheriff’s Office]
