Margaret Stockstill faces murder charges in the shooting death of a Folsom, La., man, authorities say. (St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office)
Witness Kristin Copeland said she remembered her fiance’s final words before murder defendant Margaret Stockstill allegedly pulled the trigger.
“He said, 'Oh yeah, what are you going to do, shoot me?' And she shot him,” Copeland said.
“He said, 'Oh yeah, what are you going to do, shoot me?' And she shot him.”
A video of her statement to investigators in St. Tammany Parish, La., was played in court Tuesday during Stockstill’s trial in connection with the April 2017 shooting death of Cody Couch, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
According to the newspaper:
The three had been drinking that night and things got crazy.
Kristin Copeland testified Tuesday in a murder trial that was delayed in part because of her arrest in a separate case, authorities said. (St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office)
Copeland testified that she had gotten angry with Couch because he went to play pool with one of his friends. She said she consumed “half a bottle of tequila,” then set fire to some of her deceased mother’s clothes, and texted a photo of the blaze to Couch, saying the clothes were his.
When Couch returned to their Folsom, La., home, he got into an argument with Copeland and her friend, Stockstill.
"Everyone was shoving everyone," Copeland said. "It was a drunken argument that got out of hand.”
"Everyone was shoving everyone. It was a drunken argument that got out of hand.”
Copeland said she and Stockstill tried to get Couch to leave the home. That’s when Stockstill allegedly grabbed a .22-caliber pistol and pointed it at Couch.
After the gunshot, Copeland said she tried to put pressure on the wound while Stockstill called 911. Couch was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead.
Couch was angry, but Copeland testified that she “never felt in danger.” Stockstill’s defense attorney, however, said that his client feared for her life and fired in self-defense after being roughed up by Couch.
The trial is continuing. It was supposed to have begun last November, but was delayed because witness Copeland was arrested in October for allegedly stabbing a man multiple times in an unrelated case, the Times-Picayune reported.
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