BEAUMONT, Texas — A 40-year-old Southeast Texas woman has been charged in the shooting death of a 66-year-old man last week after Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies say she confessed to them.
A week ago, deputies were sent to a reported shooting at a home in the 8000 block of A and M St. off Hillebrandt Rd in the county at about 4:20 a.m. on September 27, 2023, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Tracy Marie Samuel, 40, had called 911 to report the shooting telling the 911 operator that she had accidentally shot Lewis according to the affidavit.
When deputies got there, deputies found Delbert Charles Lewis, 66, suffering from a gunshot wound according to the release.
Lewis was able to tell deputies on the scene that he had been asleep when he was shot according to to a probable cause affidavit in the case. Deputies found a Smith & Wesson M/P .40 caliber handgun on the floor near the bed where they found Lewis.
Investigators from the sheriff's office spoke to Samuel the next day and told them the couple had been asleep and that she woke up and went to the bathroom where she smoked crack cocaine according to the affidavit.
Samuel, who investigators learned lived with Lewis, told them the next thing she remembered was dropping the gun. She also told them she was shocked when the gun fired.
Lewis was taken by ambulance to a Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital where he had surgery but died six days later on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
A murder warrant was then issued for Samuel by Jefferson County Precinct One Justice of the Peace Ben Collins., Sr.
After Samuel was arrested she was booked into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility where she is being held on an $800,000 bond.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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