OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma City bail bondsman has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the fatal Thanksgiving shooting of a woman at a south Oklahoma City hotel.
Prosecutors say Howard Barnett, 49, was trying to arrest a fugitive at the hotel when he forced his way past Jennifer Dunn, 43, and into the room, then was fighting with with Dunn and the suspect when the gun discharged.
Dunn was struck once and died later at a hospital.
Barnett’s attorney, Joan Lopez, told The Oklahoman that Barnett denies wrongdoing.
“We believe that at the end of the day the facts and the law will support Mr. Barnett’s position and actions that he took that night,” Lopez, said.
Prosecutors say Barnett is to blame for Dunn’s death because he unlawfully entered the room.
The man Barnett was attempting to arrest, Todd Allen Willis, 53, was wanted for failure to appear and is in custody at the Oklahoma County jail on numerous drug, weapons and other charges.
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