PANAMA CITY — A man who accidentally shot and killed a father during his newborn son’s homecoming celebration has been sentenced to 14 years in prison just weeks before he was scheduled to go on trial, according to court records.
Charles Shisler, 63, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine Friday for the June shooting death of 33-year-old Steven Justin Ayers.
Shisler was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the death of Ayers, who hd just brought home his baby boy to a gathering of several close family members, court records indicated. Police found Ayers’ lifeless body near the entrance to his home.
Ayers and his wife had gathered family members June 17, 2014, to celebrate the homecoming of their 3-day-old baby — born on Father’s Day — but the celebration at 2502 Michigan Court ended shortly after 6 p.m. when the stray bullet entered the home from more than 200 feet away.
Family members initially thought the house was under fire from a sniper or someone “using a scope,” police reported. In fact, a single gunshot had entered the Ayers’ house through a sliding glass back door, traveled about 30 feet across the living room and struck Ayers in the head as he was walking toward the front door to retrieve takeout food for his relatives.
He was killed instantly.
Glancing out the sliding glass door when they arrived moments later, police could see Shisler standing at a 60-foot-wide, medium-density tree line that separated the nearly 150 feet between the homes. As officers confronted Shisler with guns drawn, he told them, “I don’t have a gun; I just set off an M80 (firework) earlier,” police reported.
Inside the patrol car, once he was informed his neighbor had been shot and killed, Shisler told officers he had a 9mm handgun under a mattress in his bedroom. The gun belonged to his wife. He’d been putting the gun under the couch in the living room when it accidentally went off earlier.
“The damn gun doesn’t usually shoot,” Shisler’s arrest report quoted him as saying. “You have to squeeze the hell out of the trigger to shoot it.”
Investigators determined the bullet traveled out of Shisler’s window screen, through the woods, through the Ayers’ back porch glass door and into their home before striking Ayers in the back of the head.
Shisler was arrested and a blood test taken more than four hours after the incident indicated he was not under the influence of narcotics and had a blood alcohol content of 0.079, slightly below what is normally considered intoxicated, officials said.
During their investigation into the shooting, officers also found a glass pipe and “shake and bake” kit in Shisler’s residence, which both tested positive for methamphetamine residue. However, Shisler’s attorney protested the manner in which that evidence and the gun were obtained. He also claimed Shisler’s comments following his arrest were illegally obtained and no evidence existed that Shisler was read his Miranda rights or understood those rights.
The motion to suppress that evidence from being heard in court still was pending as Shisler pleaded guilty Friday. He also waived his right to appeal the pending motion.
Shisler was sentenced to the minimum mandatory prison stint of 14 years, according to court records. He will have to serve all 14 years of his sentence.