A man who accidentally shot his friend in July 2020 pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter before the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday, Dec. 2.
The man was identified as John Nelis who accidentally shot Christopher Jacobs who reportedly had a bulletproof vest on at the time of the incident.
It was also added that Nelis had consumed a drug called GHB at the time. He, along with another friend, visited Jacobs on that day intending to swap or sell a gun to the deceased.
When they arrived, both saw Jacobs dressed in a bulletproof vest but was improperly fitted with anti-ballistic panels. Regardless, Nelis pointed the shotgun which he thought was not loaded.
Jacobs got shot in the chest and abdomen and eventually died.
“This was just a tragic event with no intent to hurt, no intent to cause any injury whatsoever, by unfortunately a drug-affected man who, in very dangerous circumstances, has a loaded firearm,” defense barrister Dermo Dann QC explained via The Guardian.
Dann also added that before the incident, everyone was in good spirits. There was no animosity nor arguments and everything that happened was an accident.
According to the father of the deceased, Jacobs was well-loved despite his flaws. He described his son as a special person.
“You do not expect your children to die before you,” Nicholas Jacobs stated. “You think about whether you could have done more, that somehow would have prevented him from being killed.”
The partner of Jacobs named Hilary added that Christopher was a misguided hopeful, trusting, gullible and loveable young man.
“So much promise was snuffed out and so much love was removed from the world. Chris, the eternal optimist, had his belief in the goodness of everyone proven to be so badly misplaced,” she said.
For Nelis, he is set to appear before another plea hearing on Jan. 31, 2022.
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