Accused killer shares his side of the story: “I didn’t do it, it was just an accident”

A Mid-Missouri man accused of murdering his wife says he didn’t do it and that it was just an accident.

Ricky Harding Jr. is charged with murder for the May death of his wife, Summer Harding.

Court documents show the two got in a fight and Summer had a gun. Ricky allegedly tried to take the gun from her and during the struggle, it went off. Summer was shot in the leg, near the pelvis.

But Harding told ABC 17 News his wife shot herself that night — but not on purpose.

“It was a freakish accident,” he said.

He claimed his wife had taken pills or threatened to kill herself with knives during arguments before, so he believes that’s what she was doing on May 25.

Summer’s oldest daughter witnessed the whole incident.

In the original incident report, she told police she didn’t know who pulled the trigger.

But in an interview with the Rainbow House, she clearly stated her mom’s finger slipped and then the gun fired. Notes from Harding’s lawyer on the 911 call also show that the daughter told the 911 operator that her mom accidentally shot herself.

Harding tells a different story of how the gun went off, saying it wasn’t during a struggle.

“She got up from the couch and was walking towards the kitchen and I was walking behind her and as soon as she lifted her leg up to walk up the stairs, the shot went off inside her hoodie,” Harding said.

Harding was also accused of dragging her to the garage and leaving her to die, along with leaving 4 minor children in the home while he fled.

But he had an explanation for that.

“My daughter and I were trying to get her in the truck and take her to the hospital…once I moved her, there was a large amount of blood so I didn’t want to move her anymore, didn’t want to take the change of making it worse,” Harding explained. “Then I left the house to get help, get help in some way, because my wife is literally dying in front of our kids.”

Harding also wanted to “set the record straight” about the 911 call.

In a Report of Examination by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troopers write that they checked four phones and no 911 calls were placed.

But Harding said he did call 911 and that there are transcripts to prove it. He also told ABC 17 he believes the police tampered with the phones to delete the call.

“When we got the phones back and turned them on, these phones weren’t on the correct date or time. My phone, for example, had May 16, which is nine days before the situation happened,” Harding said.

He said, in his opinion, there isn’t evidence to be charged with murder. Harding told ABC 17 News he didn’t kill his wife, so he won’t accept a plea deal.

“I’m definitely going to trial. It’s not possible, ma’am, that I’m going to be convicted of this,” Harding said. “It’s not possible.”

Harding’s next court appearance is October 31.

ABC 17 News reached out to the Audrain County Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Shellabarger and Shellabarger said he couldn’t go into detail why because the case is open, but he fully believes Harding is responsible for his wife’s death.