A great-grandmother who had triumphed over cancer five times tragically lost her life on Christmas Day due to a stray bullet from a neighbor’s target practice, as reported by the police.
Seventy-four-year-old Sandra Phelps was celebrating the holiday with her family at her residence in Comanche, Oklahoma, when the unfortunate incident occurred.
While standing on her porch and holding a child, Phelps was struck by the bullet just before 3:15 p.m. on December 25.
Family members recounted to deputies that they had heard between five and seven gunshots coming from the north of their house for several minutes before Phelps was shot.
Just moments before the tragedy, Phelps had commented that it seemed someone nearby had received “a new gun for Christmas,” as noted in the affidavit.
The bullet had entered her upper right arm and continued into her chest cavity, according to the official document.
Police identified the person responsible as Cody Wayne Adams, 33, and said he was using Glock .45-caliber handgun he bought for himself as a Christmas gift when one of his bullets struck Phelps.
‘Our mom was the most amazing person you’ve ever met,’ her youngest daughter, Sharon Marie Brooke, 50, told Daily Mail. ‘She gave life everything she had. Anyone who was lucky enough to meet her loved her.’
Sandra Phelps, 74, was enjoying the holiday with family at her home in Comanche, Oklahoma when she was killed by a stray bullet
Phelps was sitting under a covered porch and holding a child in her left arm when the bullet hit
Adams was arrested later that evening and charged with first-degree manslaughter.
He appeared in court Friday and was released on a $100,000 bond. He has been ordered to not contact the victim’s family.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February.
Deputies said they canvassed the area and discovered Adams’ property lacked a suitable backstop for shooting.
Investigators recovered spent shell casings and a broken ceramic tile near the target, which they believe may have altered the bullet’s trajectory.
Adams admitted to firing about 20 rounds using two magazines of Winchester .45-caliber ammunition according to the affidavit.
He told deputies he had been firing toward a Red Bull can on the ground, per the charging documents.
When Adams was informed his shooting may have caused Phelps’ death, he ‘became visibly upset and began to cry,’ and told officers he was ‘sorry,’ according to the affidavit.
Cody Wayne Adams, 33, was firing a Glock .45-caliber handgun he bought for himself as a Christmas gift when one of his bullets struck Sandi Phelps
Law enforcement told Adams ‘there was nothing behind his property to stop any bullets from traveling beyond his property and hurting someone’.
The charging document alleged Adams acted with, ‘conscious disregard for the safety of others,’ creating an unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm.
Brooke said her mother ‘loved with all of her heart’ and that her favorite thing in the world was spending time with her family.
‘She was the definition of beauty, grace and love,’ she said.
Phelps was known affectionately as ‘Nanny’ to her grandchildren, who range in age from 11 to 39, and to her great-grandchildren, whose ages span from just seven months old to 21 years old.
‘If you were her grandkids’ age, she was Nanny,’ Brooke said. ‘If you were our age, she was Mom. She was Mom to everyone.’
