Wed, Feb 10 2010
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Published November 12, 2009 10:46 pm - Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Blankenship testified Thursday that he feared for his life when he shot an Oronogo man in the face during a domestic-disturbance call earlier this year at the man’s home. Blankenship was the lone witness called to testify at the preliminary hearing of Wayne E. Stewart Jr. in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin on a felony charge of assault on a law enforcement officer. Deputy recounts shooting of man By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Blankenship testified Thursday that he feared for his life when he shot an Oronogo man in the face during a domestic-disturbance call earlier this year at the man’s home. Blankenship was the lone witness called to testify at the preliminary hearing of Wayne E. Stewart Jr. in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin on a felony charge of assault on a law enforcement officer. At the conclusion of the hearing, Associate Judge Richard Copeland found probable cause for the defendant to stand trial and set Nov. 20 for an initial appearance in a trial division of the court. The Jasper County deputy had described how Stewart, 34, gained the upper hand on him during a scuffle May 6 in the front yard of a home on Webbwood Drive in Oronogo. Stewart had defied repeated orders by Blankenship to get down on the ground, and he fought back after being sprayed three times with Mace, the deputy told the court. When Blankenship finally took Stewart to the ground in a headlock, Stewart slipped out of the hold, got the deputy on his back with a forearm across his throat and started gouging one of his eyes, the deputy said. He said the forearm pressing down on his throat was cutting off his air supply. Mortal fear “I was in fear for my life,” Blankenship said. “I could not get out from beneath him.” He said he drew his service weapon with his free right hand, pressed it to the side of Stewart’s head and pulled the trigger. The gun failed to discharge. He withdrew the weapon a slight distance from Stewart’s head and squeezed the trigger a second time. The gun fired, and the bullet struck Stewart in the face. The defendant got up off him at that point, Blankenship said, although he continued to scuffle with other officers who were arriving at the scene and attempting to subdue him and render first aid. The deputy said he thought he had shot Stewart in the side of the head and did not learn until much later that the round actually struck him in the face. Stewart was taken to a Joplin hospital in serious condition but survived the shooting and appeared in court on Thursday. Stewart originally was charged with first-degree domestic assault and felony resisting of arrest as well as assault on an officer. The other two counts were dropped by the prosecutor’s office before the hearing. Initial call Assistant prosecutor Jeremy Crowley said the defendant’s girlfriend, Nikki Ann Ford, 33, no longer wanted to pursue prosecution of Stewart for the alleged attack on her that drew the deputy to the scene of the shooting. 
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