A rural Mountain Home man who is accused of firing shots inside and outside a residence January 4 pled not guilty to the charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Thirty-two-year-old Jeremy Kelley Mullins, who lists his address as along County Road 69, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault.
Baxter County Sheriff’s deputies responded to what was reported to be a suicidal subject at the County Road 69 address.
While on route, the deputies were told by dispatch that the man had “pulled a firearm” and fired a shot inside the residence, went outdoors and fired another round.
Mullins is alleged to have said he wanted law officers to show up so that he could commit suicide by cop.
A woman identified as Mullins’ girlfriend and her two daughters locked themselves in the residence while he was outside.
The deputies reported parking at the end of the driveway because they could see Mullins sitting on “an elevated screened in porch.”
A deputy called out to Mullins, identified himself and stated the reason the deputies were on the property.
Mullins is said to have replied he did not care why the lawmen were there and that they were trespassing. He said he wanted to be left alone, “so he could die.” He reported that he had a .22-caliber handgun with him on the porch.
Mullins is reported to have repeatedly refused to show his hands or put the pistol down.
One of the deputies moved his patrol car closer to the house and was able to get a better view of Mullins’ position on the porch.
Eventually, Mullins was reported to have become calmer, came to the door of the porch and “disarmed” the pistol.
With other deputies covering him, one moved slowly toward the house. He told Mullins he was going to check him to make sure he did not have other weapons on his person. Mullins agreed and was found to have been telling the truth.
While two deputies stayed with Mullins, another went inside the house to check on the occupants.
He encountered the girlfriend. She said her two mentally handicapped daughters were asleep in rooms to the back of the house.
The woman said she had been Mullins’ girlfriend for about seven years. She said Mullins was dealing with multiple mental problems and had recently been checked out of a treatment facility.
On the day of the event, the girlfriend said Mullins had been “drinking heavily and began to talk about suicide.”
According to the probable cause affidavit, the girlfriend told investigators the conversation “had begun to scare her” and she called 911.
She said when Mullins realized she was calling for help, he “went crazy.” He was then reported to have grabbed a pistol from a back bedroom, started waiving the weapon around and talking about killing himself.
At one point, the woman said Mullins stood in the kitchen and pointed the gun toward the rear of the house where her children were sleeping and fired.
The round was said to have “ricocheted” off the floor in proximity to the room where the daughters were sleeping.
He had claimed that the shot fired inside the house was an accident and that he did not remember firing a round after going outside.
When Mullins went outside and fired the second round from the pistol, his girlfriend locked him out of the house
She is reported to have kicked him out of the house previously but always let him return.
When he was interviewed after being booked into the Baxter County Detention Center, he told investigators he took possession of the pistol to hurt himself, not other people.
Mullins said he would “never intentionally harm” another human being and “that he is not a violent person.”
He admitted consuming beer and as “much as a bottle” of Royal Crown, a blended Canadian whiskey.
Mullins also takes several medications and he told investigators he understood those medications do not mix well with alcohol.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Mullins reported he did not understand why he was being charged with aggravated assault since he was not trying to hurt anyone but himself.
He did say he understood that in his intoxicated condition, he could have hurt or killed someone when he was waiving the gun around inside the house and it discharged.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI