By Pat Culverhouse –

A 34-year-old Shongaloo woman has been charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of her 78-year-old father Sunday afternoon.

Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker said Lacey M. Mann was arrested by patrol deputies shortly after she allegedly shot and killed Earl Benson at a residence in the 1300 block of Hwy. Alt. 2 in Shongaloo.

She is being held at the parish prison where she is also charged with battery of a police officer. No bond has been set.

Parker said deputies responded to a call of a shooting around 5:53 p.m. Sunday and found Benson unresponsive from two apparent gunshot wounds to the back. Mann reportedly was located in the front yard of the residence and placed in custody.

At the scene, deputies found Mann’s 11-year-old son who had made the call to report the shooting.

During interviews, detectives reportedly were told Benson had asked the youth to call 9-1-1 due to Mann’s erratic behavior. When Benson and the youth reportedly exited their vehicle at the residence, Mann allegedly grabbed a .22 caliber pistol from the center console, shot Benson and chased the youth when he fled. 

Officers found a .22 revolver in the driver’s seat of the victim’s vehicle. All five shots had been fired. Mann reportedly was swabbed for gunshot residue and both hands tested positive.

After she was placed under arrest for second degree murder and was being removed from an interview room, Mann reportedly became combative and assaulted one of the detectives.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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