Court details have shed more light on Friday night’s fatal shooting in Independence County.
The affidavit of probable cause for arrest said the incident began after a heated argument between Trey Allen Warner (pictured) and his wife in their mobile home on Caney Creek Road.
Warner told authorities that he became upset and told his wife to leave, and she did, going outside with two of the couple’s three children. A third child stayed in the residence, according to the affidavit.
The court information noted the argument continued outside as men from a nearby neighbor’s residence came over and became involved. The affidavit said when the men realized Warner would not let the third child outside, they began yelling at Warner to release the child.
Warner told police he knew two of the men while the others he did not, the affidavit said. Warner said one man aggressively approached him, picked up a shovel, and held it while he told authorities another man he did not know took off his shirt and began to approach him, according to the court information. It was at that point Warner told authorities he went back inside his residence, locked the door, and retrieved a .9mm handgun from the bedroom.
Warner said he went back to the front door, unlocked it, stepped outside, and came face-to-face with the unknown man, identified in the court information as Malicki D. Pizanowski, 21.
The affidavit said Warner told authorities as he started outside the residence, he tripped on the doorframe, tore the toe of his tennis shoe, and that’s when the handgun discharged, striking Pizanowski.
Warner told officials his wife usually kept the gun unloaded, so he assumed it would not be ready to fire. Warner said he did not intend to use the gun or shoot anyone; he only wanted to scare off the men so he could continue talking with his wife, the affidavit said.
Warner’s wife was also interviewed by investigators, and according to the affidavit, her story differed from her husband’s on several points.
She said the confrontation between her husband inside the residence became physical, with her husband allegedly striking her and grabbing her neck, the court information noted. She said as the argument progressed, she attempted to gather the three children and leave the residence. When she managed to get outside, she had two of the three children, with one remaining inside, the affidavit said.
While the neighbors started yelling at her husband on the porch to let the other child outside, Warner’s wife told investigators her husband went back inside, and when he later came back outside, he had a pistol and pointed it at the man identified as Pizanowski. According to the affidavit, she said the gun went off and wounded Pizanowski.
The court information said the wife also told authorities she kept her pistol with an unloaded chamber, but with a magazine inserted and the safety on. She also told investigators her husband’s shoe had been previously torn on the toe.
Police noted there was no evidence that Pizanowski possessed a weapon of any kind when he was shot.
Trey Warner has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $250,000 bond.
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