Schweain waives preliminary hearing

A Cape Girardeau man accused of killing his stepdaughter waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday.

Ricky L. Schweain, 54, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death of Melissa Luttrell, 27.

About 4 p.m. March 26, deputy Joshua Wiseman responded to the Schweains' home on Route F near Gordonville to find Luttrell not breathing, according to a probable-cause statement detective Cpl. Jamie Malugen of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department filed in connection with the case.

Just after 4:20 p.m., detective Cpl. Jamie Malugen observed Luttrell dead in the back of the ambulance from a single gunshot wound in the left side of her chest, Malugen wrote.

At the scene, Kimberly Schweain, Luttrell's mother, told deputies Luttrell and Ricky Schweain were the only ones in the house at the time of the shooting. Kimberly Schweain said she believed Luttrell had suffered a seizure when they first arrived, Malugen wrote.

Two Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputies later interviewed Ricky Schweain, who told them Luttrell had been threatening for a long time to have her friends beat him up, Malugen wrote. He said Luttrell had been living off him and Kimberly Schweain, and he was tired of being threatened.

Ricky Schweain admitted to pointing a .22-caliber pistol at Luttrell but said she had grabbed for the gun, at which point it went off, wounding her, Malugen wrote. At the time, Ricky Schweain said, he wasn't sure where she had been hit.

He told investigators after the altercation, he went to his bedroom, where he shot himself twice in the chest to try to kill himself, Malguen wrote.

Schweain is scheduled for arraignment May 26.

smaue@semissourian.com

388-3644

Pertinent address:

Route F, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701