Suspect high on meth in fatal shooting in Colorado Springs, victim identified
Daniel Gray, 40, will be charged with second-degree murder after admitting to shooting and killing Daniel Hunt, 35, while high on methamphetamine, according to the affidavit from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
Gray initially told deputies that he had shot 35-year-old Hunt in self-defense. Gray said that Hunt was upstairs with a woman, Barbara Bennett, when Gray heard a disturbance between the two.
Gray went upstairs to investigate and learned that the two were arguing about a text that a woman named Brandy had sent Hunt. Gray warned Hunt not to get physical with Bennett. He went back downstairs but then returned upstairs when he again heard a disturbance and thought the fight might have gotten physical. Gray described Hunt as speaking in a “monster tone”. Gray said that he saw Bennet behind the door “hunched up” and that Hunt was “pounding her with his right fist”.
Gray says that he pushed Hunt away from Bennett and Hunt reacted by lowering himself into a wrestling stance and lunging at Gray. Gray then says he fired in self-defense with a .40 caliber handgun he had in his pocket. He says he regularly carries the gun there. Gray estimates that he fired about five rounds.
However, Gray retracted his claim of self-defense later in the interview and conceded that he did not see any physical violence between Hunt and Bennett.
Detective Nick Brklich interviewed Bennett. Bennett said that when she and Hunt began dating he moved in with her. She said that they had been arguing over a text message Hunt had received. Hunt grabbed her face but did not hit her, although he had been physical with her in the past, when Gray knocked on the door to investigate the argument.
Bennett told Gray that everything was alright. She could not recall if Gray actually entered the room, if he later came back to the room, or if he was standing in the door frame the entire time. Bennett tried to continue the conversation with Hunt about the text message. The two were standing with their arms around one another when Bennett said she heard four shots in succession. She told the detective that there was no hesitation between shots.
During the interview with Brklich, Bennett described other incidents where Gray had been physical with Hunt because Gray though Hunt was holding her hostage. On March 6, 2019, Gray kicked in a door and assaulted Hunt with a Barbell.
Previous story:
Daniel Gray, 40, was arrested Wednesday night following a fatal shooting in a neighborhood southeast of the Colorado Springs Airport.
The victim in the shooting has not been identified. Law enforcement was dispatched at 4:28 p.m. and found a deceased adult male on the scene.
Another fatal shooting happened at the same address on Sept. 5, 2017. Jack Cole, 41, was killed in the 2017 shooting.
Gray has been charged with second-degree murder.
KRDO will continue to bring you updates on this developing story.
