He thought gun was unloaded when he fatally shot girlfriend, man tells deputies

A Statesville area man told deputies he was goofing around with what he thought was an unloaded gun when he fatally shot his girlfriend in the head late Monday.

Jason Rashon Tenor, 21, called 911 at about 9:45 p.m. to report that he’d accidentally shot his girlfriend, Cortney Smith. Tenor lives in the 100 block of Treeline Drive, off Bethesda Road and U.S. 70 east of Statesville.

Two witnesses in the home said they heard the couple laughing in a bedroom just before a shot was heard. Tenor immediately left the room, told the others he’d accidentally shot Smith, and called 911, the witnesses told Iredell County sheriff’s investigators.

First responders and deputies performed CPR on Smith but were unsuccessful. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.

Tenor was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, possession of marijuana and possession of drug praphernalia. He was jailed on $15,000 bail. Tenor was on unsupervised probation for prior marijuana-related offenses, the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 4:26 PM with the headline "He thought gun was unloaded when he fatally shot girlfriend, man tells deputies."