Dentist killed girlfriend with shotgun after hearing her smash things in the kitchen, cops say

A Bartlett, Tennessee, dentist with no known criminal history is facing first-degree murder charges after police say he killed his girlfriend with a shotgun blast to the chest when she made noise in the kitchen, WREG reported.

Sheila Scott, who had been living with 73-year-old Bobby Massengill for about three months, was pronounced dead after police arrived at the house around midnight, according to the Commercial Appeal.

“Shocked, shocked. You never know what’s going on behind closed doors,” a neighbor told WMC.

Police said they were called to the area before midnight Aug. 2, where they found Scott bleeding out on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound, Local Memphis reported. Police say they asked her whether Massengill shot her on purpose, and she was able to nod her head yes, the station reported.

Scott was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.

In an interview with police, cops say Massengill told them he and Scott were in a relationship and had gone to do errands before making dinner, WREG reported. After dinner, police say, Massengill told them Scott made a drink, then he worked on the computer and went to bed, according to the station.

Police say Massengill told them he didn’t drink much because he “didn’t care for the fruity drinks” Scott made, according to WMC.

Later, police say Massengill told them he heard the sound of Scott smashing things in the kitchen, so he picked up a 12-gauge shotgun, “walked around the corner and shot her,” Local Memphis reported.

Police say he then tried to reload the weapon and shoot himself but could not do it, according to the station.

“They were quiet peaceful folks, never had an interaction with them. Its definitely surprising for a Bartlett neighborhood to have something like that happen,” a neighbor told WREG.

Police noted that Massengill seemed coherent and was not slurring his speech, the Commercial Appeal reported. Neighbors told the paper the man was “reclusive” and said they had not noticed police at the house before.

Bartlett faces a charge of first-degree murder and is in jail with a $1 million bond, according to the paper.

“I don’t know what’s becoming of this world,” a neighbor told Fox 13. “This neighborhood is usually very very good. I don’t usually hear things like that happening, and it really shocks me.”