A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of his 8-year-old stepson earlier this year while trying to “look cool” by showing off his guns.
Steven Merkel, 53, is expected to be sentenced on November 20, the Town of Geneva said in a Facebook post.
Merkel called 911 at about 2 a.m. on January 20, telling detectives “he did something stupid,” as CrimeOnline previously reported. Merkel said he was showing this stepson, Michael Meagher, his guns “because it made the defendant look cool,” a police report said. He said he had taken the magazine out and assumed the gun wouldn’t fire, even though there was a bullet in the chamber, apparently because he was not very knowledgeable about guns.
The complaint said that Merkel retrieved his gun from the bedroom and exited, pointing the gun at the boy and pulled the trigger. He said he expected it to “click,” but instead it went “boom.”
Meagher was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Merkel also said he had “two little drinks of rum and RC that evening,” although there was no indication police checked him for intoxication.
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[Featured image: Steven Merkel/Walworth County Sheriff’s Office and Michael Meagher/GoFundMe]
