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Oklahoma Man Charged After Backyard Target Practice Kills Woman Blocks Away on Christmas

Investigators say bullets from a newly purchased .45 fired without a safe backstop tracked with the path of the round that fatally struck Sandra Phelps on her porch.

Overview

  • Cody Wayne Adams, 33, is charged with first-degree manslaughter, released on a $100,000 bond, and due for a preliminary hearing in February.
  • The victim, identified as Sandra Phelps, was seated on a front porch holding a child when a single bullet hit her arm and entered her chest, and she was pronounced dead shortly after.
  • Responders were dispatched around 3:15 p.m.; family members reported hearing five to seven shots from the north just before Phelps collapsed.
  • Deputies documented spent casings, a Red Bull can target, and a broken tile in Adams’ yard, with the shooting position aligning visually with the scene where Phelps was shot.
  • Adams told investigators he had been firing a Glock .45 he bought for Christmas, neighbors reported about 20 shots, and he became visibly upset and apologized when told his shooting may have caused the death.