An October trial date was set for 50-year-old Michael Nichols, the great-uncle of 8-year-old Chloey Neely, who was shot in the head while he was handling a pistol in her home in July 2018.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Erik Brown told Magistrate Sandy Holepit that he and Nichol’s attorney, Sean Cook, have discussed a plea offer but they have not reached an agreement and the matter needed to be set for trial. Cook agreed with that assessment and said plea negotiations would continue.
Members of Neely’s family, including her grandparents, attended Tuesday’s hearing but did not want to comment on her status. Cook also declined to comment on Neely’s status. At a Nov. 15, 2018, hearing, Nichols said Neely was back in school but he didn’t know more than that.
At the November hearing, Nichols did not have an attorney and he was advised by both Holepit and Brown to retain one. He appeared in court again on March 27, with Cook, who requested discovery — the process in which the prosecutor’s office turns over all evidence and documents related to a case. Cook also declined to provide an update on Neely’s condition at that hearing.
Nichols is charged with a misdemeanor, person prohibited from possessing firearms. If convicted, he faces 90 days to a year in jail and/or a fine of $100-$1,000.
Typically misdemeanor cases need to be prosecuted within a year of charges being filed. However, since Nichols requested several continuances, the deadline has been extended, Brown said.
“It was not intentional. It was just a freak accident,” Nichols told The Dominion Post, several days after the July 20 incident.
Nichols said he was at the Neely’s home to give his niece, Neely’s mother, a handgun for protection because of safety concerns she had.
“I was giving it to her,” he said. “I instructed the officers to test the gun to make sure, to check for defects because it just went off. And then destroy it.”
The bullet reportedly went through a wall and struck Neely behind the right ear.
