A 19-year-old Virginia woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after her “friends with benefits” lover was fatally shot during consensual gun-toting foreplay that investigators described as a game of “Russian roulette.”
Ember McSpadden allegedly pulled the trigger of a partially loaded handgun three times while counting the clicks before the weapon discharged and struck 26-year-old Shane Brooks in the neck, WAVY-TV reported over the weekend.
Brooks had allegedly handed McSpadden the gun — with one live round inside — as the pair engaged in foreplay involving firearms and knives, according to reports citing court documents and testimony.
The lead Virginia Beach detective described their relationship in court as a “friends with benefits” situation, according to 13News Now.
Brooks’ family, meanwhile, said the two were not dating and that they did not know McSpadden.
McSpadden allegedly told investigators that the cylinder would be spun and then checked to make sure it was not positioned on the live round.
But on the final pass, the lead detective testified, McSpadden clicked the trigger multiple times before a bullet fired into Brooks’ neck, according to 13News Now.
The fatal shooting unfolded in the early morning hours of March 5.
Virginia Beach emergency dispatchers received a report of a shooting around 1:09 a.m. in the 2600 block of Virginia Beach Boulevard, according to police.
Officers arrived to find Brooks suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators found a total of seven guns in the room where Brooks died, including two revolvers on the bed, according to testimony reported by 13News Now.
One of the pistols was identified as the weapon used to shoot Brooks and had one cartridge case in the chamber, according to the station.
Virginia Beach police initially described Brooks’ death as the result of an “unintended firearm discharge.”
McSpadden, a Virginia Beach resident, was subsequently arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The startling circumstances surrounding the shooting later emerged in court, where prosecutors presented testimony from a lead Virginia Beach detective and a forensic specialist.
McSpadden, who was out on bond, appeared at a preliminary hearing Friday, where a judge found sufficient evidence for the involuntary manslaughter charge to move forward to a grand jury.
Her attorney, Artisha Gregg, maintained that Brooks’ death was a tragic accident that McSpadden neither intended nor foresaw.
“This incident is a tragedy that my client deeply regrets, as evidenced by her emotional reaction during our hearing today,” Gregg said in a statement.
“As the evidence presented in court demonstrated, this was a tragic accident that my client had no intention or foresight would occur,” she added.
McSpadden faces a maximum prison term of 10 years if convicted.
Brooks’ family said hearing the details of his death laid out in court was difficult.
“There’s nothing we wouldn’t give to have him back,” his brother, Hunter Brooks, said. “We wouldn’t even care about going through this, if we could just have him back, even for a little bit longer.”
“And as that won’t happen, we obviously want to go through the court process and see a conviction at trial,” he added.
Brooks’ mother, Penny Brooks, was similarly unequivocal.
“We just want justice for Shane,” she said.
“We’d do anything to have him back, but, yeah, it’s just a lot to process being in there.”
Brooks was a lifelong Virginia Beach resident who graduated from Old Dominion University and served as a staff sergeant in the Virginia National Guard, according to his obituary.
He had roughly a decade of military service and completed a nine-month tour in Iraq, the obituary said.
Brooks was also remembered as a marathon runner, licensed pilot and outdoorsman. His family described him as “the glue that held our family together.”
Members of his running community organized a memorial run in his honor.
McSpadden’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 21.
The Brooks family has raised $31,628 toward a $35,000 GoFundMe goal to help cover Shane’s funeral and memorial expenses following his sudden death.
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