A Benson woman initially arrested for aggravated assault after shooting her husband of 45 years on Valentine’s Day in a dispute about watching Netflix has been indicted on premeditated attempted murder.
Nancy Jane Reid will be arraigned Monday on the new charge, which was added last week to the five original counts against her. She remains in the Cochise County jail in lieu of a $500,000 secured bond.
Reid, who turned 75 last week, has admitted firing a .22 revolver at her husband during an argument on the evening of Feb. 14. The husband, who had returned home the day before after a month-long trip, suffered a serious gunshot wound to his left leg just below the knee.
“Nancy told me she doesn’t want to divorce (her husband), she just wants him to do more around their home,” Benson PD Sgt. Molly Ingram noted in a probable cause statement for Reid’s arrest.
Court records show the husband told detectives he was making himself dinner when his wife said she wanted help to download Netflix to watch a show.
“(The husband) advised Nancy became upset because he didn’t stop what he was doing and come help her,” Ingram noted. “(The husband) advised Nancy told him she was going to go get her gun. (He) stated he said, ‘go get it.’”
Reid, who uses a mobility walker, retrieved the revolver from her bedroom and pointed it at her husband, he told detectives from his hospital room.
“(The husband) advised he believed at one point the gun was pointed at his stomach area. (He) advised he doesn’t remember everything but believes he may have pushed the gun down and that is why he was shot in the leg.”
The husband did not immediately realize he had been shot, but he “began to feel a weird feeling in his leg and then saw the blood,” Ingram noted.
There is some question as to whether Reid attempted to fire again before her husband took the gun away and hid it in another room. Both Reid and her husband placed calls to 911 immediately after the shooting.
“(The husband) stated he didn’t believe his wife would shoot him and that was why he told her to go get the gun when she said she was going to get it,” Ingram noted. “(The husband) advised he did not even know the gun was loaded.”
In a post-Miranda interview, Reid told investigators she also did not realize the gun was loaded.
“Nancy said she just intended to scare him,” Ingram noted, adding that Reid “believed it to be empty of ammunition.”
Reid said she was “surprised” when the gun went off and her husband said he had been shot, the sergeant noted.
A Cochise County grand jury initially indicted Reid in February of two counts of aggravated assault domestic violence and one count each of disorderly conduct domestic violence and unlawful discharge of firearm within city limits. A second grand jury added one count of attempted premeditated murder on April 13.
A few weeks after her arrest, Reid was taken from the Cochise County jail to an outside medical provider for some health concerns, and was then transferred to an Intensive Care Unit in Tucson when her condition worsened.
Reid’s medical needs led Legal Defender Sara Dent to request Judge Joel Larson drop the secured, or collateral, element of the $500,000 bond so Reid could be immediately released from custody. This would allow her family to be at the hospital and take Cochise County out of the decision making process about Reid’s medical decisions.
There was also concern that Reid would need medications and care she could not receive while in the county jail, Dent argued. But Reid was discharged from the hospital and returned to jail before Larson ruled on the release motion.
However, Deputy County Terisha Driggs advised Larson of concerns with the risk Reid poses to the community as well as the victim. The husband, Driggs noted, is “very worried” about his wife being released and remains “very fearful” of Reid.
“The State has spoken to two of the Defendant’s children who both describe the Defendant as being abusive and easy to anger,” Driggs noted, adding that while in jail, Reid “intentionally hit the television several times with her walker, causing it to break.”
As a result, jail staff placed Reid into lockdown.
A trial date could be set during the April 24 arraignment.