California man charged in Versailles shooting
VERSAILLES, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man from the state of California was charged on Tuesday in relation to a Nov. 19 shooting that was reported in Versailles.
Stephen Michael Brayley, 39, was charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful gun possession. Brayley appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty. He is being held at the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office without bond. A bond appearance hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Jail records indicate that Brayley is also accused of being a fugitive from out of state and an extradition hearing was held last week. A waiver of extradition was signed by Brayley and the judge on Nov. 21. A case review to see if the state of California has taken custody of Brayley is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, according to Casenet.
According to a heavily redacted probable cause statement, police arrived in the 200 block of North Hunter Street for the report of a gunshot victim. A woman who -- police stated knew lived at the residence – allegedly showed police where a man was shot. A man – who was previously reported as being 19 years old – then was found and told police he was shot by Brayley, according to the statement.
A vehicle was described as “missing from the driveway” in the probable cause statement and it was learned Brayley took the vehicle after shooting, the statement says.
An interview was conducted with the victim after they were released from the hospital. The victim allegedly said he was waiting at the city park waiting for a juvenile to arrive and stated someone took money out of his wallet while at the park and two people had left the area.
According to the statement, he went to get his money back and was speaking with a guardian of one of the juveniles, but then got into a fight with Brayley after Brayley stepped out of a house.
The victim allegedly told police that he saw Brayley go into the house and come back out in a “shooter’s stance” and pointed a gun at him, the statement says. The victim told police that he heard the gun being fired but didn’t realize he was shot until after a couple of moments passed, the statement says.
After he realized he was shot, he ran back to his residence, which was close by, according to the statement.
The vehicle was found near the intersection of North Thurston Street and East McNair Street, the statement says, but Brayley was not with it. He eventually turned himself in at around 10 a.m.
Brayley allegedly told police in an interview that he heard yelling outside of the residence and he asked the victim to leave, the statement says. He stated the victim did not leave so he, Brayley, decided to pull out a gun and a “struggle” ensued. He claimed the gun went off and that he went into the house, but realized he wasn’t hurt, the statement says. He then said he left in the vehicle parked it and walked to a bike shop, the statement says.
