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Pellet gun is a deadly weapon when shooting Owyhee. Melba man charged with manslaughter

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Pellet gun is a deadly weapon when shooting Owyhee.  Melba man charged with manslaughter

A Melba resident who allegedly killed a man with a pellet gun last weekend has been charged with a pair of crimes.

Officers with the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office arrested Christian Price, 29, at his Melba home Saturday afternoon on charges of voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Price was waiting at the crime scene near victim Richard Vandecoevering, 41, when officers arrived, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Price told them he had been trying to remove Vandecoevering from the property for some time, and that the two had had “heated arguments” in the past. When Price saw the man leaving a shed, he told Vandecoevering to leave the property, and the two began shouting, according to Price’s statement. Price said he grabbed a gun and pointed it at Vandecoevering, telling him three times to leave.

Vandecoevering walked up to him and said, “You’re not going to do…,” according to Price’s statement.

“That’s when I shot him,” Price told a deputy as he showed him a spot about 40 feet from the victim.

The affidavit noted that “the decedent was lying on his back with a small hole to the left of the center of his chest. …The wound was about 5 centimeters in diameter. At the time, there was no blood around the wound, but blood was observed on both hands. There was no sign of an exit wound on his back.”

Price said he panicked, threw the air rifle on the ground and went to get two other people who also lived on the property. One person called 911. When Price returned to the scene, he said in his statement that he found Vandecoevering “gasping for air” and began giving him chest compressions.

When another person at the scene took over, Price said he panicked again and threw the gun under a shed. According to the affidavit, a deputy later received it.

During a hearing, Owyhee County Prosecutor Chris Topmiller said he did not believe Price intended to kill the victim.

Price remains in the Owyhee County Jail on $500,000 bond. His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Owyhee County Courthouse.

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