Defense lawyer: Missouri woman shot gun in self-defense at Torch Lake boat launch
Aug. 12—BELLAIRE — A defense attorney representing a suburban St. Louis woman who is accused of shooting and trying to kill another woman during an argument at a Torch Lake boat launch said his client was physically attacked and she defended herself with a gun.
Antrim County Magistrate Sarah Lorigan of Antrim County's 86th District Court on Thursday arraigned Lauren Marie Hunter, 36, of Fenton, Missouri, on charges of felonious assault with intent to murder and firearm use. The court set a restricted $250,000 cash surety bond and agreed Hunter could leave Michigan to return home.
Antrim County Sheriff Dan Bean said previously that a Tuesday evening argument at the Torch Lake boat launch on Cherry Street in Torch River village ended with the defendant shooting another woman with a .38-caliber handgun, striking her in the arm and chest with the bullet passing out her back.
The wounded woman remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, hospital officials said.
East Lansing-based defense attorney Lucas Dillon on Thursday waived formal reading of charges against Hunter and entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.
Antrim County's Chief Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Truesdell argued for a large bond requirement because of the circumstances of the case, including its seriousness, the Hunter's lack of state residency and no local resident willing to vouch for her return to court. She also requested daily alcohol-breath tests for Hunter because investigators believed alcohol use to be a factor in the shooting.
"This was a crime of intent. This was an unprovoked attack ... over a boat launch, with a gun," Truesdell said.
"There is a real danger to our community and perhaps any community with respect to this sort of crime," she said during Thursday morning's hearing.
Hunter's attorney argued the exact opposite.
"This is a case of self-defense. To say this was unprovoked — that would never be the case — that is not going to be the facts of this case," Dillon said. "The defendant never swung. In fact, she was the person who was first hit several times."
Hunter works as a nurse practitioner and emergency room nurse in St. Louis, Missouri, and both she and her firefighter husband immediately provided the woman who was shot with first aid and "essentially prevented her from dying," the lawyer said in a telephone interview.
"She was hit in the head a few times. This was not unprovoked," Dillon said. "She was attacked and then she shot."
He contended the Missouri couple would not have rendered medical care if his client intended to kill the other woman.
Dillon told the court Hunter's only criminal record is an 18-year-old impaired driving charge in Missouri.
A probable cause affidavit on file with the district court shows a witness was interviewed by Kalkaska County Sheriff's deputies before deputies from Antrim County arrived at the scene Tuesday evening. The witness told deputies Hunter's husband was "yelling at others at the boat launch and trying to fight" before he saw Hunter exit their vehicle with a gun and shoot, court records show.
Deputies reported Hunter smelled of alcohol and had slow, slurred speech when interviewed at the scene. She told deputies she fired "one or two rounds" at the other woman in self-defense, according to court records.
Hunter was arraigned by video from the Antrim County Jail in Bellaire.
Court records show the handgun belongs to Hunter's spouse. Lorigan ordered her not to possess any weapons for any reason while on bond awaiting trial.
Dillon said Hunter, her husband and their two children, were together in northern Lower Michigan for vacation this week and intended to head home two days ahead of schedule after posting her bond Thursday.
The court scheduled a probable cause conference for Aug. 25, followed by a preliminary examination on Sept. 1 before Judge Robert Cooney.
Dillon told the court his client agreed to a delayed preliminary hearing, depending on the medical condition of the woman who was shot.
