Second degree murder charges have been filed in Newton County Circuit Court against Joshua William Ray Taft, 42, Joplin, following the shooting death this morning of Eric Whittington, 50, Joplin.
A warrant was issued for Taft's arrest and at this writing, he is still at large.
According to the probable cause statement, a woman called the Newton County Sheriff's Office at 3 a.m. to report her boyfriend had been shot. Whittington was dead when deputies arrived.
He had a busted lip and a section of his teeth were broken partially away from the jaw. He had a spot on the top of his head that had been bleeding.
From the probable cause statement:
Witnesses on scene told us that and Joshua Taft lived at the residence listed above together. A verbal argument broke out between the two because Taft had warrants and was trying to lay low. {Whittington} continually had people coming over and Taft was worried that law enforcement would find out his location.
The argument became physical and {Whittington} was on top when Taft's girlfriend hit {Whittington}with a cast iron skillet in the face. then went to his truck and got a machete, before starting back toward the house.
{Whittington} took cover behind the wall just west of the front door and he peeked through the doorway a couple of times. Taft was given a pistol from his girlfriend and he fired two shots in the direction of {Whittington}.
One shot went through a glass panel in the front door and one shot went through the wall of the house and exited through the vinyl siding.
A cast iron skillet was located on the stove. A spent 9 mm shell casing was located on the floor. No machete or firearm was located on scene.
Taft fled the scene prior to the arrival of law enforcement. I know Taft to be a multiple time, violent, convicted felon, Aryan Brotherhood gang member. He currently has multiple outstanding felony warrants out of multiple states.
9 comments:
Shocked havent heard Erics name in a long time . But I bet no one realizes that Whittington was accused and aquitted of murder
Wouldn't you love to live by these two Criminals. Both needed to be locked up and kept there.
POS x2. I hope that little boy is in DFS custody. Sounds like the girlfriend needs behind bars too. Good riddance to scum!
Nothing of value was lost in the incident.
He'll be in the company of his Aryan clown brothers real soon
Story time? Seriously interested if you don't mind filling us in about that.
Google his name. Cliff notes: He fought with his gfs dad. Dad dies jury says his heart attack was not connected to the fight and He walked.
My Brother , lost his life you how dare you. POS
Believe it or not, Eric had a family and despite his poor decisions, we loved him. He was my big brother. It would crush my mom to read that “nothing of value was lost” as she’s going through chemo for her third round of cancer and grieving her son. And by the way, the man he was accused and acquitted of murder for attacked him, in our high school gym and my brother defended himself just like you or I would. The man ultimately died of a combination of phenobarbital and alcohol, which is a deadly combination. My brother was no saint, but y’all need Jesus. Judge not lest ye be judged yourself.
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