‘Don’t know why I pulled the trigger’: Smithville woman charged in death of fiancé
The Clay County prosecutor has charged a 47-year-old Smithville woman with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of her fiancé during an argument last week, according to court documents.
Lori A. Ackerman has also been charged with armed criminal action in the death of 48-year-old Shannon L. Tate, who was shot last week. Her bond was set at $1 million.
Smithville police responded to the shooting shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday at a home in the 100 block of Tipperary Street, according to news release posted to the police department’s Facebook page.
Arriving officers found Tate lying on the floor in the hallway with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital where he was placed on life-support and later died. The hospital notified detectives about 5:45 p.m. Dec. 11 that Tate had died.
Ackerman was questioned by police twice and allegedly gave variations of what occurred the night Tate was shot, according to court documents.
While being questioned by detectives from the Smithville Police Department and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Ackerman allegedly said she and Tate had been arguing throughout the night while at Shooter’s bar.
They returned home and were getting ready for bed when Ackerman went to Tate’s side of the bed and pulled a gun from under the mattress, according to court documents.
Ackerman allegedly told police she pointed the gun under her chin and told Tate she wanted to die. The two continued to argue and Ackerman pointed the gun at his face, according to court documents.
Ackerman allegedly told detectives she pulled the trigger and shot Tate in the left side of the head, according to court docuements.
“I don’t know why I pulled the trigger,” Ackerman allegedly told detectives. She said she was overcome with emotion and that they had been fighting for three weeks about her ex-in-laws and her ex-husband’s best friend, according to court documents.
Ackerman allegedly said Tate never believed her when she told him she was faithful to him.
According to the court documents, she told detectives that after the shooting, she ran out of the bedroom, dropping the gun in the hallway by Tate’s head. She got some towels from the bathroom and her phone from the kitchen and dialed 911. She allegedly told dispatchers that Tate had shot himself.
She told detectives, according to court documents, that it had “not registered” with her that she actually shot Tate.
This is Smithville’s first homicide of the year. So far this year, there have been 260 homicides across the Kansas City metro area, according to data tracked by The Star.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
