Two charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting

Two men were charged with manslaughter Tuesday in connection with the Sept. 28 shooting death of 30-year-old Brent Johnson of Cape Girardeau.

Richard L. Jenkins, 30, and Laterrius M. Triplett, 22, both of Cape Girardeau, face charges of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon after police say they shot Johnson while struggling over a gun.

According to a probable-cause statement filed by Sgt. Jeff Bonham of the Cape Girardeau Police Department in connection with the case, several people were at a party at 1213 S. Ellis St. when Triplett and another man, Darieth Nunley, got into a physical altercation outside the home.

When the altercation ended, Nunley left the immediate area, but Triplett “felt Nunley had gotten the best of him” and was still angry, Bonham wrote.

Johnson and Jenkins — who was carrying a loaded handgun — walked out of 1213 S. Ellis St. to a spot near the street, where Triplett attempted to take Jenkins’ weapon with the intent of “going after Nunley in retaliation for the physical fight,” Bonham wrote.

As Triplett and Jenkins struggled over the gun, it went off, striking Johnson in the chest, Bonham wrote.

During interviews with investigators, Triplett and Jenkins admitted struggling over the gun when it was fired, but each man blamed the other for firing it, Bonham wrote.

Online court records show both men have felony convictions.

In 2012, Triplett pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in Malden, Missouri, and was placed on three years of supervised probation.

In January 2014, Malden police arrested him again, this time on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, to which he pleaded guilty the next month. His probation on the earlier case was revoked, and he was placed on 120 days of shock incarceration and five years of supervised probation.

Jenkins pleaded guilty in June 2015 to possession of a controlled substance and resisting or interfering with arrest and was sentenced to 30 days in the Cape Girardeau County Jail and seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

He has pleaded guilty to several other prior offenses, including resisting or interfering with arrest in 2013; peace disturbance in 2011; driving while revoked in 2011; domestic assault in 2009; possession of a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest in 2008; and third-degree assault in 2005.

In addition to the charges in connection with Johnson’s death, Jenkins was charged Tuesday with two counts of domestic assault, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon stemming from a Sept. 18 case.

The day of Johnson’s death, Jenkins was charged with driving while intoxicated in Mississippi County, Missouri.

Family members have said Johnson — a father of four — was trying to break up a fight when he was shot.

“He was being the good Samaritan,” his sister, Chelsea Johnson, told the Southeast Missourian.

She said the group had been celebrating her brother’s girlfriend’s birthday when the fight broke out.

Jenkins and Triplett are scheduled for arraignment Monday in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court. Bond for both men is set at $200,000 cash or surety.

In a news release Tuesday, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh said the charges came as a result of investigation by the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad and the Malden, Missouri, Police Department.