A 23-year-old Bath man who shot and killed his fiancée as he showed a handgun to a potential buyer has been charged with manslaughter, Maine State Police said Thursday.
Dylan Grubbs is being held at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. The shooting was described by police as accidental.
Grubbs was parked outside the Shaw’s supermarket with his girlfriend, Chelsea Jones, 22, of Thomaston, on Nov. 16, waiting to meet a man who was interested in buying the 9 mm Taurus pistol.
Jones was sitting in the front seat as Grubbs stood outside showing the pistol to the buyer when it fired, police said previously. Jones was struck in the head.
The prospective buyer has not been publicly identified because he is a witness in the case, McCausland said previously.
The manslaughter charge was returned by a Sagadahoc County grand jury Thursday, along with a second charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is prohibited from possessing one. Grubbs has a criminal history that includes a misdemeanor assault in 2014, drunken driving in 2013 and criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a felony, in 2006, when he was 14.
Maine law categorizes manslaughter in part as “recklessly, or with criminal negligence, causing the death of another human being.” Manslaughter is a Class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine.
Jones left behind two children, Kyleigh and Jordan, and a large family, according to an obituary published online.
Grubbs’ and Jones’ families could not be reached for comment Thursday.
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