dme court

CHICORA — A defense attorney and assistant district attorney disagreed on whether a Marion Township man’s actions negligently endangered a child after he was accused of firing a gun inside a home with a 6-year-old boy present before his charges were held for court.

Harrisville police were alerted June 18 by a Children and Youth Services report that Christopher T. Ray, 42, had allegedly fired a gun inside a home, Lt. Jordan Waclav testified at a Tuesday, Aug. 25, preliminary hearing.

A woman testified the incident occurred May 18 after Ray asked who she was talking with on her phone.

When the woman said she wasn’t talking to anyone, she testified that Ray grabbed the gun from his side, pointed it up and said, “maybe this will make you talk,” before a shot was fired.

The woman said she then grabbed her son and ran outside. She said the bullet had an upward trajectory as it traveled through the bathroom wall into the laundry room. Assistant district attorney Robert Zanella submitted photos as evidence that showed bullet holes in the wall.

Ray said in a later interview that he intended to kill himself, Waclav testified. However, defense attorney Mike Jewart of Zunder and Associates argued Ray never said during the incident that he intended to hurt himself, the woman or the child.

Jewart argued the act was not child endangerment because the bullet traveled in the opposite trajectory from where the child was believed to be located.

Waclav and Zanella countered the round could ricochet after being fired, and it was unclear whether the walls contained material the bullet could easily pass through.

“Once you fire that round, you have no idea where it will go,” Zanella said.

Jewart also highlighted Waclav did not go to the home or talk to the child about the incident. Waclav said Ray failed to bring the child to a scheduled interview with the county Children’s Advocacy Center, and it was unable to be rescheduled.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton held all charges of felony child endangerment and one misdemeanor count each of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief for court.

Ray’s formal arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 13 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.