A Fulton County woman who shot and killed her son last year during an argument over a stuck lawn mower was sentenced to three years in prison this week. Through a negotiated plea deal, forty-four-year-old Tabatha Pebler pled guilty to manslaughter and was given 36 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. She was originally charged with second degree murder in the death of her son, 27-year-old Brandon Chrisco.
According to the probable cause affidavit from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened May 31, 2023 when Pebler got the mower stuck and asked her son to help. She told deputies he was upset about having to help her. She said she got it stuck again and he called her a name and shoved her off the mower.
Pebler said at that point, she went to her car and got a pistol. She says Chrisco was coming towards her and she fired a couple of warning shots and then shot at him. She told deputies she was not meaning to kill him, she just wanted to scare him.
Chrisco was struck in the upper left side of his chest. Investigators determined the fatal shot was fired within 20 feet of the victim.
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