Mother dies after daughter’s arrest in Orange County shooting
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Orange County sheriff’s deputies arrested and charged a woman after they say she fatally shot her mother in the eastern part of the county Sunday morning.
Paula Lee Decoteau, 51, is accused of shooting 75-year-old Cheryl Garner Medlin in the forehead in a house on Spruce Pine Trail, a news release from the sheriff’s office said. Deputies received a call about the shooting just after midnight Sunday, the release said.
Medlin was transported by EMS to Duke Hospital, where she died of her injuries Sunday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said in an update that night.
Deputies interviewed “all people” at the scene, the release said. Two other people were in the house at the time, but in a different part of the house than Medlin and Decoteau. Those occupants said they overheard an argument between Decoteau and Medlin, followed by a single gunshot, but did not observe the shooting, the sheriff’s office said.
The occupants reported that after the gunshot, Decoteau came into the room where they were, then took their phones “and did not allow them to leave the room while she decided what to do next,” the release says.
After 15 to 30 minutes, according to the release, Decoteau allowed the occupants to leave to call 911. On the way out of the room, the release says one of the occupants was able to secure the weapon alleged to have been used in the shooting, a .22-caliber rifle, until deputies arrived.
Deputies arrested Decoteau, took her before a magistrate, then placed her in the custody of officers at the Orange County Detention Center, the release says. As a deputy arrested her, the release says Decoteau kicked the arresting deputy in the chest.
Before Medlin’s death, Decoteau was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of second-degree kidnapping and assault on a government official. She was under a $500,000 bond.
Deputies believe the incident was domestic in nature, and there is no known danger to anyone else in the community, according to the release.
Lt. Dawn Hunter is the lead investigator. Anyone who heard or saw anything related to the incident is asked to call Hunter at 919-245-2907.
This story was originally published December 11, 2022 at 10:35 AM.
