Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – A 21-year-old man is being held in the Pickaway County Jail facing charges in a shooting death Monday evening in Darbyville.
Garret K. Gartin, of Main Street, Darbyville, is charged with voluntary manslaughter and reckless homicide in the death of Charles L. Huffer, 54, according to Sheriff Robert Radcliff.
Deputies responded to a 911 call about 7:40 p.m. Monday to Gartin’s residence at 16814 Main St. and found Huffer dead on the living room floor with a gunshot wound to the head.
Radcliff said the victim was Gartin’s uncle, who did not live at the residence but may have occasionally stayed there.
He said Gartin went to a neighbor’s house after the shooting, and 911 was called from that location. Deputies found him waiting on the neighbor’s porch when they arrived, he said.
Voluntary manslaughter, defined as purposefully causing the death of another in the heat of the moment, is a first-degree felony, punishable by three to 11 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Reckless homicide, defined as causing the death of another due to a reckless act, is a third-degree felony, punishable by one to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The incident remains under investigation by the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
