JAY — A Delaware County father, accused of fatally shooting his 13-year-old son, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder.
Tony Rutherford, 47, of Jay, is free on $100,000 bail and is expected to appear Wednesday in Delaware County District Court in connection to the death of Kyle McDowell.
"This is all a tragic accident," said Winston Connor II, Rutherford’s attorney.
Initially Misty McDowell, Kyle's mother, told a Delaware County dispatcher that her husband accidentally shot the teen with an AR-15 because he thought the teen, who was sneaking out of the family residence, was a burglar, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The shooting occurred around 1:43 a.m. on Saturday in rural Jay.
Rutherford was notified by neighbors after many vehicles were seen at his older son's house which was supposed to be vacant.
Rutherford drove to his older son's vacant house and witnessed someone driving his son's pickup. Rutherford gave chase and fired his rifle at the driver several times unknowingly hitting his son, according to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation press release.
When Delaware County Sheriff deputies arrived at the scene they discovered Rutherford and McDowell preforming CPR on the teen who was laying outside his pickup which had crashed into a fence through a field and was being blocked by another vehicle, the affidavit states.
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