Former prosecutor weighs in on defense in "movie night" shooting case
COLUMBIA - A former prosecutor said the Fulton woman who admitted to shooting her boyfriend in the head while allegedly re-enacting a movie scene was properly charged.
Former Cole County prosecutor Bill Tackett said Kalesha Peterson deserved to be charged with felony second degree murder for shooting and killing David Dalton.
"The underlying charge for the murder is a felony for unlawful use of a weapon," he said. "To defeat this you would have to defeat the underlying charge, in other words there would have to be no intoxication and no discharging of the weapon."
Court documents claim the opposite happened.
According to the probable cause statement, prosecutors said Peterson admitted to officers she had the gun in her hand when it went off.
She also admitted she had been drinking whiskey and was drunk.
She also told officers she had been taking several medications. Officers found pill bottles with Peterson's name on them. Some of the medications were known to increase impairment when used with alcohol.
Tackett said the defense is unique.
"It's a difficult case in court, but points for creativeness, acting out a movie," he said.
KOMU 8 spoke to Dalton's sister Mary on Friday. She said she doesn't believe Peterson's story.
"I don't believe they were re-enacting a movie," she said. "That doesn't sound like David at all."
She said she's unhappy with the way police broke the news.
"I'm displeased with the Fulton Police Department posting that my brother was shot in the head and we weren't notified of that," she said. "I'm very unhappy and I want justice for my brother."
Tackett said the defense in this case is similar to the defense in the case of the St. Louis police officer shot during a game in the style of "Russian Roulette".