Posted on 03/15/2011 10:12:58 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Chicago Hts. cops: Fiddling with gun led to fatal shot
BY CASEY TONER
ctoner@southtownstar.com
Last Modified: Mar 15, 2011 08:48AM
Ryan Fantasia couldn’t figure out why his 9mm handgun wasn’t firing correctly, so he was fiddling with it Friday night in the bedroom of his Chicago Heights home, police said.
His girlfriend entered the room and told him to stop playing with the gun, but he pulled the slide back and the gun then fired, killing the 19-year-old woman, police said.
Haley Pelock, of the 3100 block of Courtney Lane in South Chicago Heights, died from a gunshot wound in the chest, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Fantasia, 20, of 43 W. 26th St., was charged with felony obstruction of justice for hiding the gun and originally telling police a different story, police said. Cook County Circuit Judge Darren Bowden set bail at $5,000 Sunday at the Markham courthouse, and Fantasia is next due in court April 4.
While trying to figure out why the weapon wasn’t working, Fantasia put a loaded magazine into the gun and began pulling the trigger, police said. It still wasn’t shooting until Pelock entered the room.
Chicago Heights police received a 911 call about the shooting about 7:30 p.m., police said, and when they arrived, Fantasia told them Pelock had been shot and was lying on the floor of his second-floor bedroom. Officers went to the room and saw Fantasia’s brother, John Fantasia, 30, attempting to give Pelock CPR, police said. Chicago Heights police Detective Art Robles said Ryan Fantasia, who hid the gun in the back of the house, initially claimed someone else had shot into the house.
Robles said Fantasia and Pelock had been seeing each other for about two years and there was no argument between them before the shooting, which they ruled accidental.
“You shouldn’t be playing with guns,” Robles said.
How convenient.
It’s his story, and he’s sticking to it.
I see two scenarios possible:
#1 - this idiot has no business even touching a gun because he is so mentally defective as to be a danger to the world around him.
#2 - this guy is an idiot who committed murder and then made up a lie to cover himself.
either way - he is responsible for this death.
PLAYING with gun led to fatal shot.
Hang him. Next case?
I like how they accept the perp’s alibi as the unvarnished truth.
It couldn’t POSSIBLY be murder.
/s
Most local law enforcement in the know believe that the Chicago Heights police are Keystone cops.
“Sgt. Tom Rogers explained, in detail, what police believe happened in Fantasia’s upstairs bedroom in the first block of West 26th Street.
“What happened was, the victim just came back from school and went to visit her boyfriend [Fantasia],” Rogers said. “The boyfriend was on the bed allegedly trying to make and put together his gun that he had purchased. He was trying to be a gun guy, so to speak. As it was jamming on him he drew the slide back and it discharged. Unfortunately, his girlfriend was standing in the doorway, which was a couple of feet away, and it struck her in the abdomen area on the right side.”
Fantasia’s brother, John, then came upstairs and tried to administer CPR. After 911 was called, the police were told a different story than what had actually happened, Rogers added.
“The initial story was someone shot through the bedroom window, and that wasn’t the case,” Rogers said. “When we were able to get the boyfriend to the police station, his conscience just took over and he said, ‘I have to tell the truth about what truly happened.’”
Ryan Fantasia also initially hid the gun before the police arrived, which is partially what led to his charges, Rogers added.
“Because the gun was hidden in the back yard and he lied at first to us, he did get charged with felony obstructing,” Rogers explained. “There was no first-degree murder charge. The State’s Attorney’s office is ruling it as an accidental death.”
Certain that a very negligent act occurred between those two items...
Certain that a very negligent act occurred between those two items...
Murder, plain and simple.
Sounds like the Jason Williams defense. She would have committed suicide with just a little more time to work on his story.
Dam those cops!!!
And what was HIS test score?
He was simply checking if it was still loaded by pointing it at her heart and making it fire. Nothing to see here folks. Case closed. I hope the cops grabbed a beer after this solid police work.
I’ve never seen a slo-mo video of a Glock before that showed such frame flex.
Sounds like a murder made to look like an accident.
Good shot, Mr. Chicago man, but not really a very good story.
Center mass on the GF an accident?
Cherchez la femme, I say. Wonder what the new GF’s name is?
must be an ex-cop to be getting such incredible benefit of the doubt
Every article I’ve seen goes out of their way to excuse him. Those are huge red flags. Check the relatives and/or to whom they contribute.
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