Saw this come up across the Kansas City Star and the headline nearly made me fall out of my chair. Turns out shooting your mother-in-law doesn't carry with it as stiff a penalties as you might think. In all fairness it look like it was an accident and she was threatening him. Sounds like a pretty hostile home to live in if everyone has a gun and a knife at their ready disposal when a fight breaks out.
Here is the article.
Jury Recommends fine after convicting KC man of Killing his Mother-in-law
By: Mark Morris
A Jackson County jury convicted a Kansas City man late Wednesday of
involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 22, 2011, killing of his
mother-in-law. But jurors found Michael S. Tittone, 28, not guilty
of armed criminal action and decided that he should be punished with a
fine, rather than imprisonment, a prosecutor’s spokesman said. A judge will determine the fine at sentencing.
Tittone
originally was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Pamela
J. Groves, 52, in a home they shared in the 3500 block of St. John
Avenue. In testimony Tuesday, Tittone said Groves often became
abusive and violent when she had been drinking. On that evening, he was
afraid that she might again threaten him with a large knife that his
defense lawyer showed the jury. Tittone said he pointed a handgun
at Groves and ordered her to her room. She then punched him in the
throat and he lost his balance, he said.
“I can’t tell you if I pulled the trigger or if it happened while I stumbled backward,” Tittone said.
Tittone became emotional during his testimony, weeping as he described his long and conflicted relationship with Groves.
“She was like a father to me in a weird way,” Tittone said. “I loved that woman. I didn’t want this to happen.”
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