An off-duty security guard was indicted Wednesday by a Jefferson County grand jury on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a Beaumont woman after he shot at a car driven by a man who had allegedly stolen beer.
Michael Ray Turner, 67, of Port Arthur, was arrested on the charge and is in the Jefferson County Jail.
His bond has not been set.
Shalala Sharelle Fletcher, 36, of Beaumont, died in the July 2, 2016, incident after being shot while in the back seat of a car at a Port Arthur convenience store.
Turner fired eleven shots at the car according to Jefferson County DA Bob Wortham.
“I do not believe at any time Mr. Turner was ever in a threat of danger or ever in fear for his life,” Wortham said.
The incident began when two men allegedly entered the Express Mart at 2920 Jimmy Johnson Blvd, grabbed several cases of beer and heading to a parked car where Fletcher was sitting in the back seat according to a release from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
Turner pulled up in his vehicle and attempted to box the car in as it attempted to leave the release said.
The off-duty security guard then pulled his 9mm handgun and fired multiple shots at the car in an attempt to shoot out the tires the release said.
One tire was hit and one bullet entered the car striking Fletcher in the back according to the release.
The car traveled several blocks before the men abandoned the car at parking lot near Community Bank leaving Fletcher in the car where she was found dead the release said.
According to the release “criminally negligent homicide occurs when a person causes the death of another and was criminally negligent in doing so.”
Criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony offense with a maximum penalty of 2 years confinement in a state jail, and up to a $10,000 fine.
In response to the indictment, Fletcher's cousin Carlton Mitchell said, "We are a God-fearing family. There's never a winner in a circumstance like this."