dontoe
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2005
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- Taylorsville
Local News
Posted on Wed, Jul. 19, 2006
Wife killed when gun mishandled
Husband was trying to balance gun and plate of food, police say
MIKE TORRALBA
A Morganton man who has multiple sclerosis fatally shot his wife as he tried to handle a gun and a plate of food Monday night, police said.
Norita Honeycutt was handing plates of fried chicken to her husband, Kelly Honeycutt, and his friend J.D. Douglas, at the home on Salem Road when the gun Kelly Honeycutt was holding went off around 8:25 p.m., Burke County Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Beall said.
The Honeycutts had just moved into the home and had been setting up their furniture with help from Douglas when they decided to take a dinner break, Beall said.
While Norita Honeycutt went out to pick up the food, Douglas found the smudged .38 caliber revolver -- which police believe was an heirloom from Norita's father -- and began to polish it, Beall said. When he was done, he gave the pistol to Kelly Honeycutt.
After Norita returned, Kelly -- who also is legally blind and uses a wheelchair -- was trying to handle the gun and a dinner plate when it accidentally fired, hitting her, Beall said.
"His motor skills are very limited," Beall said. "He's in advanced stages (of multiple sclerosis), and we don't know if that contributed to the inappropriate handling of the firearm."
Sheriff's investigators questioned Kelly Honeycutt and Douglas for several hours but released them without charge, Beall said. The district attorney's office will decide whether to file charges.
For years, Norita had been her husband's caretaker as his MS worsened, he said.
"She was his everything," Beall said.
Posted on Wed, Jul. 19, 2006
Wife killed when gun mishandled
Husband was trying to balance gun and plate of food, police say
MIKE TORRALBA
A Morganton man who has multiple sclerosis fatally shot his wife as he tried to handle a gun and a plate of food Monday night, police said.
Norita Honeycutt was handing plates of fried chicken to her husband, Kelly Honeycutt, and his friend J.D. Douglas, at the home on Salem Road when the gun Kelly Honeycutt was holding went off around 8:25 p.m., Burke County Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Beall said.
The Honeycutts had just moved into the home and had been setting up their furniture with help from Douglas when they decided to take a dinner break, Beall said.
While Norita Honeycutt went out to pick up the food, Douglas found the smudged .38 caliber revolver -- which police believe was an heirloom from Norita's father -- and began to polish it, Beall said. When he was done, he gave the pistol to Kelly Honeycutt.
After Norita returned, Kelly -- who also is legally blind and uses a wheelchair -- was trying to handle the gun and a dinner plate when it accidentally fired, hitting her, Beall said.
"His motor skills are very limited," Beall said. "He's in advanced stages (of multiple sclerosis), and we don't know if that contributed to the inappropriate handling of the firearm."
Sheriff's investigators questioned Kelly Honeycutt and Douglas for several hours but released them without charge, Beall said. The district attorney's office will decide whether to file charges.
For years, Norita had been her husband's caretaker as his MS worsened, he said.
"She was his everything," Beall said.
