A Fresno man is accused of killing his 31-year-old son after fighting about how to raise children. A Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the man will be tried for murder.
Judge John Vogt decided that the proof against 53-year-old William Wright III was strong enough for the case to go forward.
On June 15, 2022, police said, several members of the Wright family were sitting at their kitchen table in their Fresno home near Marks and Ashlan avenues when Wright III and his son, William Wright Jr., a corrections officer and former junior college football coach, got into an argument.
The tweet below verifies the news:
William Wright Jr. was a 31-year-old father of two and a corrections officer when he died last June. https://t.co/cGIl9ANNuI
— Fresno Bee (@FresnoBee) June 22, 2023
Wright Jr., who has two young kids, was talking with his father about how to raise good kids, said Blake Wright.
“Little Billy, my younger brother, told my dad, ‘You couldn’t even raise me right. “Don’t tell me what to do,'” Blake Wright said in court.
Blake Wright said that the talk quickly turned into a fight, which then turned into “grappling.”
Wright Jr. put his arms around his dad’s upper chest at one point to try to hold him down. David Balakian, who is defending Wright, called the move a chokehold and said the father said he couldn’t breathe.
Balakian also said that the son had thrown the father against the wall, which broke a light bulb.
Blake Wright said in court that he was afraid his dad would get the gun he kept in his room. He said that his father had talked about getting his gun before, but he never did.
Blake Wright tried to stop his father by grabbing him by the arms, but his father got away and ran to his bedroom, where he locked the door. Wright told prosecutor Liz Owen that he could hear his father taking the gun out of a drawer and dropping bullets on the floor as he filled it.
Blake Wright said that Wright Jr. kept fighting with his father and told him to meet him in the backyard.
Wright Jr.’s brother heard him say, “If you are going to shoot me, shoot me.” He was standing at the screen door that goes to the backyard.
Then there was one shot, which hit Wright Jr. in the shoulder.
“Billy is yelling, ‘He shot me! “‘He shot me,'” Blake Wright said to himself.
Wright Jr. stumbled back into the house and sat on the floor, leaning on a couch. Blake said he asked his father why he did it when he saw him. Blake said, “He shouldn’t have threatened me,” which is what the father said in response.
Blake Wright said his dad started CPR on his brother when he saw that his son was dying right in front of him. He also told Blake that they needed to go to the hospital with his brother.
Wright Jr. died at Community Regional Medical Center in the evening of the same day.
When the cops got to the house, the suspect told Officer Gerald Sepeda that his son had been shot by accident. He said that when the gun accidentally went off and shot him, his son rushed to help him get it away.
Click on the following links for more news from the California Examiner:
- The Facts Behind the Murders of Three Brothers in Ohio
- A Student Who Was S*xually Attacked by a Teacher at a Vadnais Heights Charter School Will Get $325,000
If William Wright III is found guilty on all charges, he could get 50 years to life in prison.
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