COLUMBUS, Ind. – Charges have been filed in the shooting death of a Hope teenager.
According to court records, prosecutors on Thursday charged Joesph T. Kidwell, 18, with reckless homicide in Bartholomew Circuit Court after he allegedly shot and killed Jesse W. Bragg, 18, last Saturday.
In a copy of the probable cause affidavit obtained by LocalNewsDigital, Hope Police Department Officers Joseph Gordon and Bryce Loweth were summoned to 319 Elm St. in Hope at 9:52 p.m., arriving at the scene to find two people attempting life-saving measures on Bragg. The officers took over life-saving measures until EMS arrived, however, the victim was declared dead at the scene.
There were six or seven people at the residence at the time of the shooting, the affidavit states, and officers said they saw open alcoholic beverages and marijuana in plain view.
Officer Loweth secured the gun used in the shooting–a semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber– and Kidwell was read his rights and taken into custody. In an interview with Detective Dane Duke of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), Kidwell acknowledged firing one shot into the chest of Bragg but said he thought it was an Airsoft gun when he did so.
The affidavit states two semi-automatic handguns and an Airsoft pistol were found and seized at the scene. The expended .40-caliber projectile and casing were also recovered.
Witnesses told investigators that Kidwell grabbed the pistol, racked the slide, and pointed the weapon at Bragg who was seated on a couch across from him, ultimately pulling the trigger one time, according to the document.
A forensic autopsy was performed on the victim on November 28, with Coroner Clayton Nolting ruling that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death was a homicide. The affidavit states that Bragg had been shot one time, with the bullet entering the center of his chest and exiting his left shoulder area.